Online Methods Turn Workshop Teachers into Workplace Coaches

U of Ideas of General Interest ó November 1998 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Contact: Craig Chamberlain, Education Editor (217) 333-2894; [email protected]

TRAINING Online methods turn workshop instructors into workplace coaches

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ó Some 30 students from five continents are headed to Bangkok in December, six months after attending a three-week workshop there. In a sense, however, they never left; their training has continued, and their classmates and instructors have been with them since June.

The students are themselves teachers or trainers ñ from development agencies, universities and government institutions ñ learning the latest in training concepts and techniques.

The subject matter has included topics like understanding learning styles, learner-centered approaches to teaching, how to assess the success of training, and how to develop training modules and curricula. Participants also have learned how to make effective use of computer and network technologies in training, especially by means of long distance.

The workshop, ìImproving Training Quality Through Peer Learning and Distance Mentoring,î was sponsored by the World Bank, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois.

ìThe uniqueness about this activity is weíre actually trying to facilitate the transfer of learning,î says Tim Wentling, head of the U. of I. department of human resource education, which is supplying much of the expertise and coaching. ìWeíre trying to say ëOK, youíve learned some new things here, now letís figure out a way to get them implemented. And weíre going to be there to help you.í Ö Itís individualized to their setting, to what they need.î

When the students left Bangkok the last time, they left knowing that the workshop would follow them home by means of the Internet, and that they would have expertise and resources to call on. From Bangladesh, Brazil, China, or elsewhere, they knew they would have help at the ready from online coaches, support and feedback from regular online discussions with workshop peers, and specific advice, when needed, from a group of online experts.

With that support and those resources, students have been able to apply more of what they learned in Bangkok, noted Scott Johnson, a professor in Wentlingís department and one of the workshop instructors and coaches. ìUsing technology, weíre having weekly, sometimes daily, conversations with the students who we had in the class Ö itís just something you couldnít possibly do in the past.î

According to one participant, Ahmad Fuad Muhammad, a university extension educator from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, the workshop ìhas successfully opened up a new horizon in the development of training programs.î

Wentling, whose experience with training has included everything from overseas development to large corporations, definitely agrees. ìWeíre seeing, all the time, applications of this concept and this technology to other things we do,î he said. And among educators and trainers, ìa lot of eyes get wider when they hear about this stuff Ö I think the potential is just unlimited at this point.î

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