A virtual training environment is a digital educational tool used to provide training emphasizing hands-on experience. Organizations often opt for a virtual training platform to train employees, customers, or partners on using new software, practicing new workflows, or learning cybersecurity safety.

Modern training programs are often entirely virtual, including elements such as a learning management system (LMS), video calls with trainers, and a virtual training platform to provide a hands-on environment. 

How are virtual environments used when it comes to training purposes? We’ll break down some of the benefits and components of these to demonstrate why they’re effective and growing in popularity.

Key Benefits of Virtual Training Platforms

Why are online virtual training platforms becoming a staple of training, sales, and user education? Let’s explore some of the features that have made virtual and remote training increasingly beneficial to a range of industries and use cases.

Ability to Curate Your Environment

Being able to build the specific environment you need is crucial for a virtual training platform. Keep in mind, certain platforms offer more customization than others, so be sure to verify that the platform can address your specific needs. 

Additionally, the right platform will allow you to create templates so you can continually use the same or similar environments repeatedly. The ability to curate environments is especially vital when used by sales teams to provide hands-on demos to clients.

Lastly, we recommend looking for a platform that supports hands-on learning. Learning by doing is an incredibly effective way to make learning experiences fun while boosting knowledge retention. 

Content Management and Delivery

While virtual environments used for training vary from an LMS, they are still often used for managing and delivering training material. Since these environments are typically virtualized desktops, making different types of media readily available is quickly done — which can include LMS integration, which we’ll explore more below.

Trainers can develop and manage how training material is provided to students. For example, instead of starting a session with a long PDF full of text, trainers can split it up, use different media types, and make it available as the course progresses. This capability can go far in helping learners retain information and keep them engaged.

Scalability and Consistency

One of the most powerful features of these types of platforms is their ability to scale as necessary and provide a consistent user experience.For example, once a trainer has refined an engaging course over a few training sessions, the same environment can be reused at any scale. Going from 10 to 100 learners is a matter of creating more environments, provided enough trainers are available.

Scalability also works in the other direction; you can offer large-scale training to the entire workforce and then provide the same training to new hires as necessary.

Components of a Virtual Training Environment

Virtual training technology allows organizations to customize the perfect training environments for their specific needs. These environments are created out of a range of components to allow organizations to build the right solution for their needs. 

A few of the popular components used by businesses and other organizations are:

• Different types of resources and media: Some learners benefit from text, while others absorb training material more effectively from videos or images. Virtual environments allow trainers to use a wide range of media and external resources to accommodate learners. Using a variety of media also helps learners stay engaged.
• Digital whiteboards: This component allows trainers to host a live session where learners participate in a whiteboard discussion. Like in real-world classrooms, whiteboards allow teachers to expand on topics and address questions. Digital whiteboards shine when a class or individual struggles with new material, as they provide a dynamic way to elaborate further.
• Video conferencing: Based on your training environment vendor, you may be able to have video conferencing directly within the environment. Integrating video conferencing can be helpful for lessons involving screen sharing or step-by-step tutorials. 
• LMS integration: An LMS isn’t the same as a virtual environment used for training, but the two can be integrated. Including LMS software in your environment helps avoid switching between different platforms and creates a cohesive learning experience.
• Choice of OS and software: You may need to set up specific environments when it comes to providing hands-on training and experiences with new software. The right platform will let you choose the necessary operating system and install software in virtualized containers. From there, leads on a sales call can explore the new software, or trainees can practice working with the software directly.

You may have more or less features based on your chosen vendor. Depending on your specific needs, the right vendor will let you pick from available components to be used in tandem or left out entirely.