It’s no more news that a larger percentage of schools and universities across the world are still shut down, due to the deadly virus, which has ceased to disappear since it came into existence.

Although lockdowns in several countries of the world are slowly and steadily getting relaxed, that doesn’t change the fact that COVID-19 is still very much around us.

According to some experts, there’s a higher chance that the second wave of coronavirus will occur. As such, it’s very important for trainers and organizations to transform their courses online.

In this article, we’ll be looking at a few steps that you can consider, to convert your courses online during this COVID-19 period.

5 steps to transfer your corporate or school learning online

1- Design your eLearning courses based on your learning objective

While it’s important to transfer your training online during this COVID-19 period, it’s more important that you add value to what you’ll be offering online. As such, the first step you can consider while transferring your courses online is to go back to your original learning objective.

Check whether or not it’s imparting knowledge. It’s also essential that you cross-check whether or not it’s capable of encouraging debate and interaction.

Like traditional classroom training, it’s essential that you consider taking the pulse of your learners during your online training class. That, you can do that through a number of ways, including through polling and question functions. Doing that, you’ll likely be able to engage your learners during the e-learning session.

2- Inclusivity is key

Apart from considering your learning objective, it’s also essential that you promote inclusivity while transferring your courses online. One way to make that happen is by reworking your online courses to take up less bandwidth.

That way, learners with weak internet connections can also be able to join your online training. Also, it’s paramount that you identify all technology and software available to individual learners. After that, you can then convert your content, adapting it to fit the available tools.

3- Relate using clear rules of interaction

One of the ways of creating better interaction is by reminding your learners of the essence of your course while inviting them online. Send them emails, clearly stating the learning objectives and guidelines on how they can adapt to the new learning environment.

Apart from that, it’s also essential that you check for any technical glitches, before commencing the online training program. Furthermore, it’s worth noting that teaching online can sometimes make interpersonal interaction go bad. So, to avoid that, ensure you carry your learners along by staring directly at the webcam and using the right body movement.

4- Make your courses concise and engaging

Gone are the days when long-form content matters in online training. These days, to keep your learners motivated with your courses, you need to be concise. According to several studies, most learners get distracted and lose interest after 10-15 minutes of taking notes.

So, in a way to balance your online training session, be sure to create classes that are not more than 45 minutes. The purpose of that is to prevent your learners from easily getting less motivated with your courses. However, in the case there’s a need for more time, you might consider multiple sessions with breaks in between.

5- Practice, implement, and improve

There’s a saying that practice makes perfect. So, to be successful in your online training session, you need to run a test class and practice transitions between videos and slides. That way, you tend to be sure you can perform outstandingly.

You can go ahead and implement your online training. However, you need to ensure regular evaluation of your technology and design decisions. That’ll help you to ascertain that you’re meeting your set goals and objectives.

While evaluating, it’s essential that you get answers to the questions below:

• Are you getting the same level of success with your learners, as you did during your traditional classroom training? If the answer is “NO”, you might have to pause, check what the problems are, and then provide solutions that matter to them.
• Are your courses concise and engaging enough to trigger success?
• How about the learning objectives, are your learners finding it easy to master them?
• What other support can you introduce, to help your learners become better?
• Do your online courses meet all your learners’ needs?

By getting answers to the questions above, you can be sure of successfully transferring your courses from the traditional classes to online platforms during this COVID-19 period.