Darlene Christopher

ASTD Infoline: Facilitating in the Global Virtual Classroom

November 14, 2011

As the number of organizations with a global footprint continues to grow, the training function in an organization must keep pace with this trend by offering training solutions designed for global audiences.  To reach global audiences efficiently, many organizations offer training delivered in a virtual classroom using web conferencing technology. Successfully delivering training in the [...]

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When Daylight Saving Becomes Costly Online

November 4, 2011

This weekend marks the end of daylight saving time in the U.S. which means we will set our clocks back one hour. The times of year when daylight saving time goes on or off  can cause a confusing day or two as we adjust to the change, whether we had prepared for it or not. [...]

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Five Monsters That May Visit Your Virtual Classroom

October 31, 2011

It’s Halloween and a spookier day than normal with monsters out and about. Are there monsters lurking in your virtual classroom?  If so, here are a few ideas on how to handle them: Wireless Goblin: This monster likes to appear right as you are about to start your virtual classroom session, especially if the instructor’s [...]

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To Record or Not to Record in the Virtual Classroom

August 31, 2011

Has this ever happened to you:  you announce a training session that will be delivered in a live virtual classroom and someone who would like to attend but cannot asks if he or she can get access to the recording.  Recording virtual classroom training is usually just a matter of learning how to set up [...]

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Ten Ideas for Exercises in the Virtual Classroom

July 27, 2011

If you have either attended or facilitated training in a virtual classroom you know that maintaining a high level of interactivity is key to keeping participants engaged.  Here are ten ideas for exercises to try in your next virtual classroom session: 1. Discuss a picture Display a picture that illustrates a concept you are teaching.  Ask [...]

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What Online Facilitators Can Learn From Rock Stars

June 10, 2011

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a friend whose kids are Canadian rock stars in the band, The Trews, currently on tour with Kid Rock.  He mentioned that their performances have improved remarkably while touring.  When I asked what they attribute their improvement to he mentioned that Kid Rock, a music perfectionist, suggested that [...]

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Producing a Large Scale Webinar

March 26, 2011

Over the last two months I had the opportunity to work with ASTD to produce four large scale webinars that were part of the TechKnowledge 2011 Virtual Conference.  Each webinar featured a presenter who had presented a session at the actual conference, and then delivered a similar session via WebEx to a virtual audience.  Since [...]

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The Global Virtual Classroom: Five Keys to Success

February 12, 2011

Imagine yourself in a virtual classroom. The instructor puts an image of a game of cricket on the screen and says: “Sometimes dealing with pressures at work may feel like a game of 20/20 limited cricket where you are chasing a score of 220 and it’s the last over.  You have the best fast bowler [...]

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How to Enhance Your Images in PowerPoint for a Web Conference

January 24, 2011

Last post I wrote about fundamental concepts regarding using PowerPoint slides in a web conference.  This post covers ideas to enhance images to make your images and slides look professional.  Note that these tips are written for PowerPoint 2007.  For those who are visual, I recorded a 3-minute ScreenR demo of these tips. 1. Outline [...]

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Creating Great Slides for Web Conferences

January 13, 2011

Whether you are facilitating a web conference for a sales event, virtual classroom training or a knowledge sharing event, you will need  PowerPoint slides to support your content. You don’t need to be an expert in PowerPoint to put together a good slide deck, but when developing your slides, keep these two concepts in mind: [...]

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