Remote delivery of education is coming! There’s no doubt. We’ve talked about why and about how to prepare for successful remote delivery. This is the second of a three-part series (Preparation, Facilitation, Logistics) about best practices in remote delivery.

The heart of the craft in remote education delivery is effective facilitation.

Without walls, many of the factors that keep disengaged learners in the “room” disappear. Without body language and other clues from participants, facilitators easily lose touch with their state of engagement.

Participants commonly consume entertainment from their computers — a virtual replacement for the television screen. They mentally disengage quickly if the remote delivery is one-sided, push-only. The challenge for remote facilitators is to make a course engaging and to distinguish it from video-viewing. (Sadly most workforce education practitioners have a long way to go to rise to the online-video standard for engagement. Compare the last PowerPoint-drenched webinar you attended with the experience of watching a video with Terry Tate whipping office workers into line.)

Remote delivery practices that make the difference

Abandon standard lecture practices when delivering remotely.
• Substitute more interactive modes of communication, such as group activities.
• Directly pose questions to participants on a regular basis.
• Keep explanations and monologues brief.

Invite questions from participants at a much higher rate than you would in the classroom.
• Have learners provide answers to their questions or those of others.
• Have them provide their understanding and experience with course topics.
• Ask them to describe how they’ll use new skills immediately on the job.
• Reinforce the relevance of the material, and they will stay in their seats.

Pace delivery to ensure success.
• Intersperse expository elements (what we sometimes call “facilitator noise-making”) with short activities. Even in a large population, you can use tools exclusive to the online medium such as short survey questions to draw them actively into the learning experience.
• Spread your attention among participants and pose questions at irregular intervals so that they’ll expect to be called upon to answer or act at any time.

Include regular breaks in a predictable pattern.
• Allow participants to count on opportunities to address issues that may be arising in their job. A 10-minute break at the top of every hour provides sufficient time away from the computer. (This also gives them reflective time — a key component in learning!)

Acknowledge the tenuous nature of the remote environment.
• Communicate confidence about the platform, but be direct and realistic about the possibility of technical glitches. Explain fail-over methods that will be used to deal with technical interruption.
• Suggest techniques that learners may engage to fend off those distractions that come from co-workers or the boss.
• Ultimately, invite them to assume primary responsibility for active engagement and learning.

Play music during breaks and activities.
• This will minimize dead air in the learning environment and have participants feel connected to the session. For breaks, a gentle musical stream can invite the productive use of reflective time.
• During activities, more engaging or active music can prevent the conclusion by some learners that class isn’t happening because the facilitator isn’t speaking.

Remote delivery of education will expand dramatically in the next decade, not only driven by current (and transient) economic conditions, but also because the medium provides new opportunities. Mastering the practices now will provide educators the chance to participate in a thrilling new age of abundant education projected everywhere!