WLP295 Taking the Online Participant Experience to the Next Level

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Catherine Nicholson is the Director of</span> <a href= "https://www.thevirtualtrainingteam.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Virtual Training Team </span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She last appeared on the show in</span> <a href= "https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/online-workshops-training"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">episode 274</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, almost a year ago. Now she is back to let us know how the work with their clients has evolved, and how they have changed how they work as a team.</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The novelty of having to move online because of the pandemic has faded. Trainers, as well as other knowledge workers, are now looking at how to make the most out of the online space, once everyone has embraced the mindset that things can be done through technology. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Trainers can move onto the next level by taking “learning loops'' as a first design point, by looking for a routine that learners are used to so that they feel familiar in the environment. Before this familiarity turns into predictability and people “stop trying”, it might be necessary to “shake things up a bit” – but how? We need to enhance the learning experience, but maintain purpose.</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;">One of their approaches is to “be a kid in the sweetie shop”, the sweetie shop being the huge amount of tools, stories, research, technologies out there that they can use. (Although always coming back to the purpose of the training.)</span><span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Once they explore one of these “gigs”, they focus on what is going to be essential to deliver the experience they’re