You cannot do that! Why not? It is not yet part of the training sanctioned by the Toastmasters International policy. But it could be in the future! In D73 we are exploring the potentials for providing such training sessions regularly for a continuous learning opportunity. Later we will request that our club officers in regional and remote locations in Australia be enabled to attend online training sessions as an alternative to f2f.
In Central Division of D73, regional SA, online attendance at the physical division led TLI by geographically disadvantaged club officers was successfully implemented in February 2017. This was quite different from “attending online training sessions as an alternative to f2f sessions” and separate from the division training. Says Mark Reynolds.
Similar types of Online Club Leadership Training and special arrangements with TI have been trialled by District Officers in D21 and D96, for club officers in Canada who are disadvantaged by their climate and terrain, especially in winter months. Says Ashwani Kumar Sinha.
As an innovator and a passionate advocate for the benefits of online training in many elearning fields for adult learners, I thought that it was time to ‘just do it’! Then share the learning with you.
Today we trialled some MicroTraining (4 x 20 minute workshops) with interactivity, among a small test group in GoToMeeting! The 1.5 hours online was perfect timing to capture and maintain the attention of the participants. Attendees were either individually connecting on their device or attending as a group. In all cases the audio and video and screen sharing worked well.
Here are my personal learning take aways from this experience:
ONLINE CLUB LEADERSHIP TRAINING:
Report on lessons learned 25 February 2017
Preparation
1. Discuss plan A and B for presenter options – device specific
A presenter may be in a car on a mobile device or on a ship using a laptop.
2. Provide plenty of Q & A opportunities – notes in text chat and using webcams and microphones
3. Provide link to room for presenters – enter room early and provide timely advice for attendees.
Perfect the use of PowerPoint or Keynote. Explore the viewing of embedded videos from the presentation. Like this presentation from Kevin Broughton.
Facilitation
1. Enable & encourage audience members to participate and interact – ask people by name and ask for volunteer responses
2. Keep to a tight time schedule – timing of each segment to 20 mins
3. Provide opportunities for text chat – summarise or paraphrase
Follow UP
1. Provide link to recording asap after event – to participants and in social media
2. Provide copies of presentations to attendees – slides, documents, diagrams
3. Provide followup discussions for wider audience for what’s next – social media forum
What did you learn from reading my post?
What did you learn from attending the Trial D73 Online Leadership Training?
What did you learn from viewing the recording of the Trial D73 Online Leadership Training?
Feel free to comment here in this blog, or join the Toastmasters Without Borders group in Facebook and contribute to the discussions there.
Thank you to Toastmasters Without Borders for hosting this first exploration into the potential of Online Club Leadership Training for D73.
3 replies on “Online Club Leadership Training”
I have just finished attending your Officer Training session, Having been an officer in several Traditional, Traditional with Online Members and Guests, and in three 100% Online Clubs; I find this is one of the very best training presentation I have been to in the 11 years I have been attending.
I stand by you Carol in your quest to establish Online Training for Officers in Toastmaster Club. As far as I know our Traditional District teams do get online training already, along with the training they receive at the International Convention. Do they think we are not capable of learning Online, if we have not risen up to their level?
Under the Pathways program we are going to be able to meet with members we are mentoring or coaching online, and yet they still cling to the idea that any training online is not as good as in person in a room that has a floor.
I challenge any of those people to attend an online club meeting, provided you come with an open mind.
Stay tuned as we xplire the potentials for online training!
Hi Carole, Thank you always for your attractive and enthiastic activities. I’m interested in being part of this eLerning and WordPresss.