Our Approach to Delivery of Virtual Learning Programmes 

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At Taylor Clarke we have transformed how we deliver learning programmes and are delivering live, interactive learning virtually. We are getting great feedback from participants and clients that virtual learning experiences are exceeding their expectations and are effective and engaging throughout.

 

Our approach includes:

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• Learning from our experience of delivering learning in a virtual environment and taking a continuous approach to developing and improving the way we do it

• Our facilitators have upskilled their design and facilitation skills for the virtual environment by participating in a series of workshops and peer practice sessions

• We are following and drawing on emerging research into on-line learning whilst continuing to apply respected learning theory to the on-line environment

• We have adapted our most popular programmes and designed new ones by using shorter cycles of learning and application to participants’ situations along with re-designing exercises to work in the virtual medium

 

We have learned that for successful virtual learning sessions that preparing learners is important – we give an appropriate level of pre-work and / or reading adapted to the learner group and purpose of the workshop or programme. We believe the optimum number of participants for a highly participative learning experience is twelve. We also deliver to larger groups and adapt our approach to facilitate social interaction The optimum module learning time depends on the learning needs and desired outcomes – our most popular duration is 3 hours with a break in the middle
 

Key design principles we follow include:
 

• Being clear about the learning outcomes expected and designing the structure and content to deliver outcomes effectively in the virtual medium

• Sessions are most effective when participants can discuss how the content relates to their context and how they will put what they have learned into practice

• Short amounts of facilitator input and breakout sessions are planned into the workshops to ensure participants are kept engaged

• We plan in the use of a range of tools to encourage engagement e.g. slides, use of chat function, short videos, exercises using whiteboard, polls

• We allow time for participants to record and share their personal insights and the actions they are planning to take following the workshop

• Action learning sessions are often interspaced between learning modules to enable learners to work together to put what they are learning into practice

 

Our facilitation style involves:
 

• Setting a relaxed ambience for sessions because we know that people learn better when they are enjoying the experience

• Connecting with participants on a personal level

• Agreeing simple ground rules at the start e.g. if people need to leave, let us know in the chat

• We encourage use of cameras whilst respecting any cultural and personal sensitivities

• Using a mix of inquiry and advocacy to facilitate thinking

• Drawing out and working with learners’ live work challenges

• Supporting and challenging as appropriate

• Ensuring that people are in varied breakout groups so they can discuss and learn from each other

• Building in regular breaks and encouraging people to get refreshments and move around

• We work with the group and participants and adapt our level of technical support depending on their level of familiarity with the virtual learning platform
   

The techniques and tools we use include:
 

• Pre-module questions to enable learners to prepare to get the most out of their session

• Short amounts of facilitator input

• Facilitated whole group discussions

• Discussion questions for small groups in breakout rooms

• Slides, used sparingly to communicate concepts, models and theories

• Interactive workbooks that participants can complete on-line

• Post-module mini assignments to enable learners to put what they have learned into practice
   

The platforms we use:
 

• We use Zoom and Microsoft Teams most often and are able to adapt to most platforms

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