ATD Global
ATD China
Designing Virtual Training Certificate
Organizations today are increasingly using virtual classroom platforms like WebEx, Adobe Connect, and others to convey information and build skills quickly, cost-effectively, and just-in-time, as learners need to know and apply the material. Virtual classroom platforms commonly feature tools such as chat, whiteboards, application sharing, and breakout rooms. Sure, these tools seem cool, but what is the best way to use them from an instructional perspective? This online certificate program enables participants to create learner-centric collaborative exercises using these synchronous tools and design instructional materials to support their online learning programs. Throughout the program, best practice tips for online training design that leads to maximum learning transfer will be explained, modeled, and reinforced.
The term synchronous means happening at precisely the same time, and refers to an online learning experience in which an instructor and a group of participants speak and interact in an online classroom. Designing learning for this environment requires a different way of thinking about participant engagement and interactivity. But the fact is most virtual classroom platforms provide the tools to allow participants to collaborate on meaningful group activities. This program, presented by ATD in partnership with synchronous learning experts InSync Training, provides twelve hours of live, online instruction. Templates for a facilitator guide and participant guide, and an interactivity planning tool will be provided. Participants will leave this program with skills and tools to successfully design synchronous training programs, including establishing learner engagement, creating collaborative activities, and creating appropriate instructional materials for a synchronous program.
- Apply collaborative design techniques to migrate online presentations to online learning events.
- Create collaborative synchronous exercises utilizing whiteboard, chat, breakout rooms, application sharing, and synchronized web browsing.
- Use the templates provided in the workshop to create synchronous facilitator and participant materials.
- Supplemental Resources: Participants will receive a downloadable participant guide to accompany the online sessions, as well as electronic tools and templates for synchronous design.
- Online Sessions: Live online sessions will be conducted once a week for six weeks. Each session is two hours in length. You'll participate via the WebEx Training Center platform plus a teleconference for audio. Special software is not required. All you need is a standard web browser and a telephone to participate! In addition, it is strongly recommended to use a desktop or laptop computer as using a tablet or phone severely limits your ability to fully and actively participate in the program. Active participation includes, but is not limited to, participating in virtual classroom activities, discussions, breakout sessions, and intersession work.
- Discussion Board: A discussion board will be available as a support tool throughout the program. The instructor will post information and discussion topics. Participants may post questions for the instructor and topics for discussion as well.
- Opportunities for Application: In addition to the interactive weekly online sessions, participants will also have the opportunity to design and get feedback on three synchronous activities using their own curricula and the interactivity planning tool provided in the workshop.
This program is for professionals whose current or future job responsibilities include designing synchronous online courses. Or, anyone who wants to improve the quality of their synchronous training programs.
Week 1: Creating Collaborative Synchronous Exercises
This two-hour session discusses and explores the concerns that many online facilitators have: how to keep participants engaged and active in the online environment so that the learning is of the same quality participants expect of classroom-based programs, and the same results and performance improvement organizations expect.
After this session, participants will be able to:
- Choose the correct event type from among meetings, presentations, and learning events.
- Apply a three-step instructional design technique used to determine which instructional objectives can be taught in a synchronous environment.
- Define online interaction and online collaboration.
- Explain when and how interaction and collaboration should be designed into synchronous events.
- Discuss the design of serial and concurrent collaboration.
Week 2: Using Whiteboards and Chat
This two-hour session introduces how whiteboards and chat can be used in innovative ways to create participant interaction and engagement.
After this session, participants will be able to:
- Design effective whiteboard and chat exercises that maximize interaction and collaboration.
- Develop instructions for participants to guide them through activities that use these two tools.
- Identify instructional uses, constraints, and best practices for each tool.
Week 3: Web Browsing
With online learning, the entire World Wide Web has become the classroom—the challenge lies in using it appropriately. This two-hour session provides creative ways to create interaction and collaboration in a virtual classroom setting using synchronized web browsing. Topics include instructional uses of the tool, frequently asked questions, best practices and techniques, ground rules for collaborative exercises, and exercise design.
After this session, participants will be able to:
- Use a facilitator guide template to design effective web browsing exercises that maximize interaction and collaboration.
- Develop instructions for participants to guide them through their activities.
- Identify instructional uses, instructional constraints, and best practices for web browsing.
- Critique a web browsing activity for appropriate use of the tool, clear instructions, interaction, and collaboration.
- Anticipate the issues and design solutions to address issues with participant’s self-management of activities.
Week 4: Breakout Room Activities
In a live classroom setting, there is no better way to involve students than to split them into smaller discussion groups. Now, similar capability is available in virtual classroom platforms in the form of breakout rooms. This two-hour session provides instructional techniques to encourage collaboration using breakout room activities.
After this session, participants will be able to:
- Design effective breakout room exercises that maximize collaboration.
- Develop instructions for participants to guide them through their activities.
- Create facilitator guide instructions for facilitator’s to manage the activities.
- Anticipate the issues involved with participant’s self-management of activities.
- Identify the producer’s role in supporting breakout activities.
Week 5: Application Sharing
Application sharing, or remotely viewing and controlling a software application on someone else's computer, is one of the most attractive features in the synchronous environment, but to fully engage participants we need to move beyond “watch me demonstrate” and allow participants to interact with the application. This two-hour session provides creative ways to encourage collaboration in a virtual classroom setting using application sharing. Topics include instructional uses for application sharing, best practices and techniques, ground rules for collaborative exercises, and exercise design.
After this session, participants will be able to:
- Design effective application sharing exercises that maximize collaboration.
- Describe instructional uses constraints and best practices for application sharing activities and the chat tool.
- Develop instructions for participants to guide them through activities.
- Create clear facilitator guide instructions for facilitators to manage the activities.
- Understand the importance of the producer’s role in supporting application sharing.
Week 6: Blended Programs and Materials
In order to achieve interactive and “high touch” synchronous programs, it is critical to have participant and facilitator materials that adequately support the content. This two-hour session provides design strategies for creating learner-centric materials, encouraging participant completion of self-directed work, and assisting the facilitator in managing the online program.
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Create a design document that includes asynchronous and synchronous components.
- Consider the overall curriculum design approach including pre-, post-, and intersession work.
- Assess what items are important to include in design materials and how they affect the course.
If you have not delivered learning in the virtual classroom environment or want to focus on delivery rather than design, we recommend our (CHANGE LINK) Facilitating Synchronous Learning Certificate Program.
Online: 6 sessions, 12 hours total
On-Site: Flexible dates & duration
Earn 1.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) upon successfully completing this program. This program may be eligible for up to 12 CPLP recertification points. This program may be eligible for up to 12 APTD recertification points. This program has been pre-approved for 12 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute. This program is valid for 12 PDCs for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit www.shrm.org/certification.
Face-to-Face Courses
Participation in all originally scheduled days of the program is mandatory in order to receive the certificate of completion and CEUs. Participants who miss more than two hours of the entire program will not be eligible to receive the certificate. Participants who fulfill the attendance requirement will receive a certificate at the end of the program.
Online Courses
Participation in all online sessions at their currently scheduled day and time is mandatory to receive a completion certificate and any applicable credits.
ATD requires active participation through the program to receive credit for the class. Active participation includes, but is not limited to, participating in virtual classroom activities, discussions, breakout sessions, and intersession work. Please note that using a tablet or mobile device severely limits your ability to fully and actively participate.
For programs with five or more sessions, one missed live session can be made up by listening to the session recording in full. Participants who miss more than one live session will not be eligible to receive the certificate. For programs with four or fewer sessions, attendance at all live sessions is required to receive a certificate. If you meet the eligibility requirements, a certificate will be issued to you through the ATD Learning Portal at the end of the program. All sessions will be recorded and available for participants to review throughout the program for your reference.
Click here to view our cancellation policy.
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Karen Vieth is a synchronous facilitator and producer for InSync Training. Karen has been a leader in providing online learning solutions for the past ten years working with professional development teams across the nation. Karen's passion is coaching and mentoring others to lead engaging synchronous training sessions. Karen holds a master's degree in educational leadership with an emphasis in curriculum and design and a bachelor's degree in elementary education.Full Profile -
Helen Fong is a Synchronous Facilitator and Producer for InSync Training, LLC. With 15+ years of experience in the e-learning field, Helen has had the opportunity to work with many organizations to provide effective synchronous online learning solutions. She has helped transition many traditional trainings into successful and effective online courses. An early adopter of synchronous e-learning, Helen worked for WebEx where she contributed to building WebEx University as a Trainer for seven years. She later moved on to other roles and companies, where she continued to be a passionate advocate for synchronous online solutions. Helen holds a MBA in International Business and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. Based in San Francisco, CA, she currently facilitates, produces, and manages projects for InSync Training.Full Profile -
Jennifer Hofmann, a pioneer in the field of virtual classrooms, is the president of InSync Training, a consulting firm that specializes in the design and delivery of virtual and blended learning. Featured in Forbes Most Powerful Women issue (June 16, 2014) as a New England Women Business Leader, she has led InSync Training to the Inc. 5000 as the 10th Fastest Growing Education Company in the U.S. (2013). Hofmann is the author of The Synchronous Trainer’s Survival Guide: Facilitating Successful Live and Online Courses, Meetings and Events (Pfeiffer, 2003), Live and Online! Tips, Techniques, and Ready-To-Use Activities for the Virtual Classroom (Pfeiffer, 2004), and How To Design For The Live Online Classroom: Creating Great Interactive and Collaborative Training Using Web Conferencing (Brandon Hall, 2005). Additionally, she is a chapter contributor to The Handbook of Blended Learning (Pfeiffer, 2006), The AMA Handbook of E-Learning (The American Management Association, 2003), and The ASTD Handbook for Workplace Learning Professionals (ASTD, 2008, 2014). She has co-authored, with Nanette Miner, Tailored Learning: Designing the Blend That Fits (ASTD, 2009), a book focused on taking advantage of distributed technologies to create the best blended training solution possible. Her most recent projects include a monthly Training Magazine Online series titled Virtually There and her newest book Body Language in the Bandwidth – How Facilitators, Producers, Designers, and Learners Connect, Collaborate & Succeed in the Virtual Classroom (2015). Follow Jennifer Hofmann at her blog, Body Language In The Bandwidth at http://blog.insynctraining.com or on Twitter @InSyncJennifer.Full Profile -
Cindy Foster has spent more than 25 years delivering and designing training in telecommunications, education and healthcare. She now spends the majority of her time in the virtual environment. Currently she leads courses in Facilitating Virtual Training, Designing Virtual Training and various supervisory and leadership workshops. Cindy enjoys working with people all over the world who she never would have met if not for the virtual classroom. Building rapport and connections IS possible even when we can’t see each other! She delights in igniting enthusiasm for a collaborative, learner-centered experience in the virtual classroom.Full Profile -
TESTMark Durgee has a background in management consulting, hospitality, disability services, higher education, and sales serving in roles ranging from coffee-house barista to sales director with multi-million-dollar budgets. One thing that ties his experiences together is a passion for performance improvement through training and coaching.Full Profile
Over the last 10 years he has honed his competencies in virtual instructor-led classroom delivery and instructional design with a keen focus on building virtual learning cultures. He is driven by measured results.
Mark’s had the honor of working with some of the most talented practitioners, leaders, and change-makers in their respective industries. His client list includes Amazon, 3M, Cisco, Dropbox, Progressive, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Comcast, Cox Communications, National Australia Bank, Ingersoll Rand, GE Healthcare, and many more.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Clark University and a Master of Arts in Human Performance Improvement from Roosevelt University. He’s facilitated courses for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) since 2014 and was among the first recipients of ATD’s Associate Professional in Training and Development (APTD) certification in the fall of 2017.
Mark lives in Mérida, México with his husband, two cats, and an amazingly caring and supportive community of family and friends.
