At this point of time, we see that countries are laxing travel restrictions and businesses are reopening as we optimistically hope for a better future recovering from COVID-19. The same goes to employers having to make the decision whether to let their employees continuously work from home or return to their offices while observing social distancing of course. Eventually, when this is all over, should we abandon the practice of doing all things virtually, especially virtual learning? 
When businesses were affected by COVID-19, trainings were halted, as instructors could no longer be transported, and having a large crowd assembled in one space was definitely not an option. But does it mean it is wise for organisations to put a pause on employees’ developmental needs? Can organisations afford to have their employees underdeveloped and untrained due to the current situation?
Organisational leaders must be proactive in looking for alternative ways to ensure their employees are upskilled regardless of the situation and this has led them to explore virtual learning as an avenue. Frankly speaking, the idea of virtual learning has been discussed in the working realm but not necessarily materialised until COVID-19 played a catalysing role in the equation. For an organisation to remain competitive, it has to be disruption-proof, where businesses are unaffected despite of current events. Thus, to remain unaffected, training needs of the people has to be met in a timely manner. We are too familiar with the common benefits of virtual learning from saving the company’s budget, the flexibility it offers, its accessibility regardless of location, the convenience of training being scalable which are all logistical advantages. But what value does it actually bring to adult learners?
The skillsets that we value in this century have evolved but ironically the way people are trained remain the same and outdated. Training needs are rapidly changing thus there is an urge for learning programmes to keep up with these demands and detach from the conventional delivery that is majority heavily instructor-based. The traditional method involves instructors playing an active role while learners passively receiving information which are imparted to them. Since learners and instructor(s) are confined in a shared space, there is a need to maintain eye contact. However, that does not necessarily guarantee real engagement. However, through virtual learning, leaders and instructors felt the importance to purposefully design the learning programme, choosing topics that are highly relevant resulting in content that are more concise and create highly structured tasks within limited time which increases learners’ accountability through active involvement which generates engagement.
In general, conducting virtual learning makes leaders more conscious of the training’s quality content and be mindful that a pragmatic approach must be taken in its design so skillsets that were taught can be applied in solving real problems. The shift towards virtual learning definitely forces leaders to rethink about adult learning altogether as learners’ perspectives becomes the main focus. And for that, virtual learning will be significant in years to come and is here to stay.
Stay tuned to our next post which covers how behavioural sciences principles can be leveraged in designing virtual learning programmes.
Key References:
Kshirsagar, A. (2020). Adapting workplace learning in the time of coronavirus.
Maher, M., Simonoff, S. J., & Clark, S. (2001). Learner-centered open virtual environments as places. Proceedings of CSCL 2001, 22-24.
Rainie, L., & Anderson, J. (2017). The Future of Jobs and Jobs Training. https://www.pewresearch.org.