Many factors determine the success of a virtual training initiative. You need a good training strategy with clear objectives and milestones. You also need solid educational materials and an effective means of delivering them to trainees.
Above all, you need the right virtual training solution. This will generally take the form of a virtual training lab. These cloud-based training environments provide learners with an interactive, intuitive, and accessible experience that’s also highly scalable and cost-effective.
Bear in mind, however, that not all virtual labs are created equal. And not all of them will provide the necessary functionality for your training program. While your specific needs and requirements may vary, the solution you select should provide the following essential features.
Key Takeaways
Successful virtual training is as much about the platform you use as it is about the content you create.
Effective virtual training labs should offer a range of integrated features, including analytics, instructor support, and automated skill verification.
Ideally, organizations should choose a virtual training platform that is cloud-based, scalable, and compatible with multiple devices.
Reporting and Analytics
Self-paced and virtual instructor-led training share one common characteristic. At their core, both are data-driven. Without insights into learner behavior, neither training modality can be successful.
That’s why analytics and reporting tops our list as a must-have feature. The more aspects of your training you can measure and monitor, the better. With that in mind, choose a virtual lab solution with analytics functionality covering, at a minimum:
Attendance rate
Average time to completion
Course completion rate
Learner engagement and satisfaction
Return on investment
Knowledge retention
Learner behavior
Essentially, you want to know everything about how your learners interact with training content, down to the level of each component. Look for a solution that can generate easy-to-understand visual reports so you can more readily share insights.
Integrated Communication
Communication and collaboration are hallmarks of effective learning. Look for a training solution that either includes built-in chat and videoconferencing or one that integrates readily with some of the most common workplace communication tools. An over-the-shoulder view for instructors is also a key feature, allowing learners to receive direct support as needed.
Skill Verification
Particularly for certification programs and employee onboarding, skill verification is essential. You need to know whether your trainees have actually absorbed what they’ve been taught or if they simply went through the motions without retaining anything. If your training is primarily self-paced or operates on a larger scale, look for a solution that can automate the verification process.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
Unless you are certain that participants will exclusively access your training on a single type of device, look for a training lab that offers a seamless cross-platform experience. Learners should have access to the same training environment no matter what system they use. Avoid training solutions that are only available on certain device types — iOS instead of Android, for instance.
White-Label Branding
If you intend to use your training platform for customer education, find a vendor that allows you to apply custom branding to their solution. After all, your training is, in this case, a direct extension of your brand. That said, white labeling isn’t quite as important for a training solution that’s strictly for internal use but rather something nice to have, as it can help instill a sense of professionalism.
Instructor Engagement and Enablement
Your virtual training platform should be just as easy for instructors to use as it is for learners. Instructors should be able to quickly spin up custom training instances without requiring assistance from IT. You may also want to find a solution that enables easy course creation and management or one that integrates easily with an existing learning management system or browser.
Artificial intelligence is also a huge selling point where virtual training technology is concerned. In addition to helping with content creation, AI integration can offer guidance on how to improve training materials and support personalized learning paths for participants.
Intuitive Self-Service Support
One major goal of customer education is to reduce the workload of your support team. A virtual training solution that creates more work for that team is counterintuitive, especially if that workload comes from employees who can’t quite figure out how the platform works.
In addition to being easy to use, a good virtual lab should offer a range of self-service options to help users both troubleshoot issues and leverage the platform to its fullest potential.
Cost-Effective Scalability
Cost is one area where your choice of vendor makes an enormous difference. While the potential to scale is among the most significant benefits of virtual training, not every vendor will provide the same level of scalability. Look for a platform that allows you to take full advantage of on-demand cloud resourcing.
That means finding a vendor that offers a transparent pricing model with the flexibility to use as many or as few resources as necessary.
Find the Right Platform for Your Training Needs
Choosing a virtual training solution isn’t just about cost or features—it’s about finding the right fit for your objectives, use case, and team. Most importantly, you need a platform with the flexibility, scalability, and functionality to deliver real impact.
That’s where CloudShare comes in. Book a demo and see how we can help you bring hands-on training to life.
Virtual learning technology is an umbrella term for the platforms, tools, and systems used to deliver corporate training content in a digital environment. It provides many benefits compared to a traditional learning environment, including greater flexibility, improved accessibility, lower overhead, and support for immersive learning.
Instructor-led training: an expert leads a group of trainees through the learning process.
Self-paced training: trainees proceed through the material at their own pace and on their own schedule.
On-the-job training: the trainee learns while they work, usually under the supervision of an experienced mentor.
Blended training: combines one or more of the above training methods into a single consolidated learning experience.
What is the best platform for virtual training?
The answer to this question depends on what you’re looking for in a learning platform. Every organization’s training needs are unique, even within the same industry. That said, some of the top solutions and platforms include CloudShare, 360Learning, LearnUpon, and Docebo.
What is the difference between online and virtual training?
Online training is generally a catch-all term that applies to any training that happens over the internet. Virtual training, on the other hand, typically refers specifically to VILT — a live training session delivered through a platform like a virtual lab.
The two terms are closely related, but they aren’t strictly identical. eLearning is frequently self-paced, while virtual learning, as mentioned above, usually involves an instructor.
