“It’s great to know that NobleProg exists” And so concluded a very pleasing delegate evaluation form from a recent course. Great to read but what did this statement actually mean?
Being relevant in the new normal
We know that the greatest driver to training effectiveness is catering for learner preferences so what are learners’ preferences at the current time, have they changed since the Covid-19 crisis and if so, how?
At NobleProg we have seen a significant surge in search traffic focusing on “remote learning”, ‘”live remote course”, “instructor led live remote course”. Forced by the current circumstances it is clear to us there is no shortage of ambition to continue to critically analyse and implement a learning needs plan (NobleProg’s own website analytics suggest, if anything, companies are clearly looking for the opportunity to train and identify what skills will be most in demand when the world exits the current stasis). What is equally clear is the desire to explore what remote training really looks like and researching the most effective modality for remote delivery.
Even before a time when we could not have imagined the world in lockdown NobleProg had already invested in the production and development of our own learning technology solutions, specifically the cloud delivery platform DaDesktop (“DD”). We have been delivering courses, both remote and classroom via the DD Training Room for nearly two years before the coronavirus wrought havoc on our ‘normal’ life.
So it was that NobleProg was perhaps in a very fortunate position to be able to respond to all our existing clients with expectations of classroom courses, for dates beyond the commencement of the restrictions (and eventual lockdown), with a proven solution to transfer to remote delivery.
The headline is that over 90% of the bookings were transferred to remote, live, instructor led courses from having been originally booked as classroom events but the story under that headline is what really matters. That success is not attributable to an urgent need, at any cost, for the training events to proceed. This is not how effective learning works, if it isn’t right and doesn’t meet the learner needs and preferences it just won’t work, however critical the training.
The NobleProg Training Room
The answer lies, in part, in the functionality of the NobleProg Training Room (for which see www.dadesktop.com) but all of its features can really be summarised as contributing to and creating a highly interactive learning environment. And it’s that word “interactive” (or rather, when looking at search behaviour “interactive remote course”) that lies at the heart of learners' preferences at the current time. The message seems to be, yes we want to continue implementing our learning needs (adjusting them to consider the opportunities of the soon-to-be new normal), yes we recognise the reality of remote delivery but we don’t want to feel isolated on a course or put in more positive terms, we want to experience the collective energy and benefit from collaborative learning in the same way we would do within a classroom environment. Those preferences are not a passing phase, they are here to stay. Fundamentally that is what NobleProg endeavoured to create with the DD Training Room and it is extremely encouraging to receive feedback that suggests we are hitting the mark in that respect. Even more so when we consider that this feedback has come from both delegates and NobleProg trainers:
What did you like most about the training:
“The fact that the trainer could interactively help us with the examples if we got stuck.”
“Worked really well having the remote sessions and the trainer being able to see all our screens.”
“Very great training, especially in these difficult times of working from home.”
Trainer feedback:
“The DaDesktop platform is very good. The ability to see the participants’ working live is a huge help.”
Meeting Learner Preferences
In essence, the Training Room enables the Trainer to create a cloud machine and upload all the materials, labs, exercises and slides (whatever is needed for the event). This machine is then cloned for all delegates (virtual desktops are initialised in seconds, opened inside the delegate’s browser). The delegates then have their own cloud desktop matching everyone on the training (so no risk of delay resulting from delegates not having installed what they need, for example).
Crucially, the trainer can then see all the delegates cloud desktops to ensure all are maintaining progress and if not, the trainer can take instant control of any of the cloud machines to provide hands-on help, modelling answers. As well as seeing and hearing the other delegates, all participants can share text chat and when tackling exercises or perhaps to undertake a collaborative workshop the trainer can create a Breakout room. Unlike conferencing platforms that have Breakout room functionality the NobleProg DD Training Room puts the participants in a virtual room not just limited to audio and visual separation but creating a space where the delegates assigned to the room can see each other’s cloud desktops. Further, just as the trainer can do in the main Training Room they can then also take control of each other’s cloud machines. We have seen this facilitate highly interactive workshops where multiple participants have contributed to filling a virtual noticeboard with post-its, for example.
This is the level of interaction that learners are responding too, this is their preference and this is why we are now consistently receiving training evaluations that suggest the learning is highly effective.
This is why is it great to know that NobleProg exists.
Cloud Desktops for Humans
Finally, the right learning solutions technology is obviously of the utmost importance to the effectiveness of training. But technology doesn’t amount to a hill of beans without a quality trainer so I’ll finish this piece with a message of appreciation for our NobleProg trainers. To adopt some adjectives deployed by delegates to describe NobleProg trainers in recent evaluation forms, you are “absolutely superb” and “excellent”. Thank you.
To see the DD Training Room in action you can either check out our YouTube NobleProg Channel (which contains a demonstration of a mock course and, specifically, the BreakOut Room function) or you can give us a call and request a bespoke demonstration.
Your classroom, wherever you want it
Your Training Room
We are also seeing a significant increase in L&D professionals searching for training providers who can help them solve their immediate problems – and those problems centre on the need to deliver on learner preferences in this new wholly remote training world, to achieve training effectiveness. DaDesktop is a scalable technology. If you are interested in how the NobleProg DD Training Room could help you deliver your own training give us a call. Visit our website at www.nobleprog.co.uk
DaDesktop™ is provided by NobleProg® Technologies Limited. NobleProg Technologies is the research and development arm of NobleProg International Limited. We are a team of instructors and engineers, whose goal it is to envision and create disruptive products that revolutionise the teaching and learning experience for people around the world, no matter their location. We build great products to solve IT education's biggest challenges.
Our products are designed for institutions and enterprises ready to make a leap in how they consume remote, live instructor-led IT training.
Ben Jenkins, Director of NobleProg (UK) Ltd and NobleProg (NL) BV, Barrister
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