A vital part of any learning journey is testing your learners’ knowledge after the session. Herman Ebbinghaus hypothesized in 1885 that we forget around 70% of new information after a day of learning it.[1] By making an effort to revisit what we’ve just learnt, we can retain much more. Since the 19th century, a lot more work has been done in this area, and many learning journeys incorporate revisiting newly acquired information to encourage memory retention. One successful implementation of this technique can be seen in Duolingo, the language-learning app, which uses this theory of reinforcement by repetition (plus a passive aggressive owl!) to great effect.
A great option is scheduling follow-up sessions a phone in malaysia few weeks after your VILT. review of the content from the previous session and then focus on activities, giving learners more autonomy and the ability to practice what they learnt. But these aren’t always possible to organise around busy schedules. Don’t worry – there are many other ways to build repetition into your VILT using post-session materials.
An activity checklist: Put together a series of tasks or activities that learners can work through using their new-found knowledge and skills. This can be used together with a follow-up session, though you need to make sure that the checklist is achievable in the time between the sessions! You might not always be able to set specific tasks, but you can provide a framework for learners to work through and ‘tick off’ when they have practiced a process or technique using that framework.
Encourage reflection: Not all learning lends itself to ticking activities off a checklist. The opportunity to use new ‘soft skills’ might not come along often or on a schedule. An alternative is to ask learners to commit to a new way of working during the virtual classroom and then reflect on the success of these commitments when they implement them. It could be as simple as providing learners with a list of personal reflection questions they can work through after experiencing a real-life scenario that pulled on their new skills.
Helping your learners retain information using follow up sessions, quizzes, or questionnaires, also allows you to evaluate how effective your VILT was. You’ll not only find out what knowledge your learners retained, you can even ask them directly how useful they found the sessions.
As you’ve seen, a successful VILT is one that extends beyond the session itself. By prepping your learners with pre-work and setting up their expectations, using fit-for-purpose tools during the training, and rounding off the experience with reflection or review, you’ll not only maximise the benefits of your VILT but encourage learning and engagement beyond it. Laying groundwork and encouraging continued learning will enhance the effectiveness of your training and allow your learners to benefit from it long after the actual session ends.