Zoom fatigue. Remember that? What started as a lifeline for virtual meetings and learning soon became overwhelming with endless sessions and tech issues. Now, in 2024, remote and hybrid work remains popular, making online learning the norm.
Engaging remote teams in online learning can be tough due to distractions, lack of support, and isolation. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Discover our four key tips to enhance engagement and make online learning more effective for your teams.
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Zoom fatigue. Remember it?
Virtual meetings conducted from our homes were our lifeline to interact with colleagues. And learning and development quickly moved online.
However, the sheer number of meetings, the technical glitches, and the occasional mischievous hackers made these sessions an exhausting experience at times. Researchers at Stanford University even created a ‘Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale’ in their quest to solve the issue.
Fast forward to 2024. While many of us are back to the office, many people still prefer remote or hybrid work. As a result, online meetings and learning have become the norm.
It can be challenging to engage remote and hybrid teams in online learning. Distractions at home, a lack of immediate support, technical issues, and the feeling of isolation can make it challenging for them to stay focused and motivated. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
With careful learning design, delivery, and assessment, you can create engaging and effective online learning experiences.
Curious to learn more? Discover our four key tips to engage your hybrid and remote teams and make their online learning more effective.
Tip #1: Reduce distractions with engaging learning design
Did you know? Multitasking – doing something else – during an online meeting or course can reduce our ability to focus by up to 40%.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can help reduce distractions with a structured, yet flexible approach to learning design. By combining interactive, trainer-led sessions with flexible self-directed learning, you create a more engaging and balanced learning environment.
Trainer-led sessions provide real-time interaction, immediate feedback and opportunities for discussion. Make sure content incorporates relevant practice activities and moments for reflection to keep learners engaged. Trainers can foster a sense of community and support participants, is crucial for maintaining focus and enthusiasm.
Flexible self-directed learning allows learners to absorb information at their own pace, revisit challenging concepts and personalise their learning journey. The increased autonomy encourages deeper understanding and retention, as learners can focus on their specific needs and interests.
Self-directed learning can also play a key role in ‘flipped learning’ approaches, by providing targeted content and resources to prepare for synchronous sessions. You can also prompt learners to complete self-assessments and set learning goals before the live training. Trainers can then focus on interactivity rather than presentation.
Use your Learning Management System’s (LMS) features to track and analyse learner engagement data. Use metrics such as participation and completion rates, interaction levels and data from course feedback. You can then adjust your learning content and methods to better capture attention and maintain focus.
Tip #2: Make learning social to build connections
Online learning has really opened doors. Your remote and hybrid teams can easily get to know colleagues they would never meet in their everyday work.
Make sure your learning initiatives build these connections through providing opportunities to collaborate with different people and groups on task-based learning, simulations and case studies. Producing something together or overcoming challenges can strengthen bonds between learners.
To maintain these connections and boost motivation, you can make use of social learning tools such as chat forums, interest groups, communities of practice and social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook Groups. Encourage learners to share success stories, engage in challenges and exchange tips and ideas through these groups to motivate each other.
Tip #3: Make online learning accessible to all
Maximise your learners’ engagement by making learning content equally accessible to all employees regardless of their locations, work arrangements, abilities or learning preferences. By fostering inclusivity, can you help everyone to feel valued and motivated to learn.
How?
Pause for a second to think about your learners' circumstances and ensure your initiatives are flexible, adaptive and personalised to meet their needs.
You can curate a range of resources and use varied learning methods to cater to different learning styles and needs. Make sure your LMS is responsive to different screen sizes and devices supports those who need assistive technologies, such as e-readers. When designing content, think about contrast and audio quality to ensure everyone can access it effectively. And don’t forget to screen materials for diversity, equality and inclusivity to make sure everyone feels represented and included.
You can also incorporate learner training into your courses. This means helping learners at all levels to understand what learning style suits them best. Do this and you can empower them to take control over their own learning journeys, boosting their confidence and engagement levels.
Tip #4: Communicate progress to encourage course completion
Your learners will be more engaged if they can see they are making progress, celebrating milestones during the programme. The more they see the impact of online learning, the more likely they will be motivated to give it their attention.
This directly impacts their workplace performance too, with increased learning transfer.
To ensure learner engagement remains high, track learner progress and actively support those who may be struggling or disengaged.
But dashboards aren't just for L&D teams.
Introduce real-time individual learner dashboards, allowing them to monitor their own progress instantly. Make sure the data is visually appealing and easily accessible to encourage them to check it regularly.
And let's not forget about the trainers. By giving them access to progress data and participant feedback during learning, they can enhance the user experience, refine content, and adjust methodologies.
Final thoughts
By using engaging design and making online learning social, accessible and trackable, you can increase learner motivation, participation and engagement.
Take some time to review your existing online learning materials and carefully check any content from learning providers to ensure it meets these criteria. By making a few tweaks, you can ensure your online learning is engaging, inclusive and accessible to remote and hybrid teams.
By enhancing engagement, you can ensure your learning initiatives meet their goals, leading to improved performance, productivity and agility – key factors for adapting to ever-changing markets and driving organisational success.
Bonus tip:
For data to support your case for online learning, maximise your budget and boost efficiency, read our blog: Leveraging online learning: How L&D can thrive in uncertain and challenging times.
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