Virtual training participants notoriously multi-task during live online sessions, which means they miss out on learning opportunities. In addition, there is a common misconception that an online presentation is the same thing as virtual training—it’s not. So virtual classroom designers and facilitators struggle to know how to capture the attention of their audience and keep participants engaged throughout a session so that learning transfer can occur.

Taking a hands-on technology class and providing it online can be tough. How do you keep the interactivity of the course? How do you transform the exercises? How do you make the lecture parts engaging enough? When an online session can match the effectiveness of its ILT counterpart, you can reach more learners, lower travel costs, and even generate revenue.

Producing virtual sessions can be a technical challenge, especially when some participants are located in areas with low or sporadic Internet connections, either domestically or around the globe. Virtual learning professionals located in such environments require effective, simple, on-time support: before, during, and after training deliveries.

Virtual classroom technologies are not new. In fact, you may already be hosting web-based meetings and training sessions. But are your preparation, delivery, engagement, and evaluation skills good enough to pass CompTIA’s trainer certification tests (CTT+)? Great virtual instructor-led training requires much more than logging in, turning on your microphone, and reading bulleted slides or demonstrating software features. You need to shift your approach to make the very best use of the resources available in WebEx, Adobe Connect, or GoTo webinar and engage learners in meaningful ways.