Internet Ideas for the Resourceful Trainer

This loose-leaf toolkit is designed for non-technical trainers who would like some practical ideas on how the internet can be used to enhance their training. All of the activities make use of on-line technology that involves no cost whatsoever - other than the cost of the internet connection and a telephone call. You'll have a harvest of no-cost ideas that can be used in all types of training situations and organisations.

Section One: Pre-event Resources
How to use the internet before a training course for research, web-based communities, e-mail invitations, pre-course publishing learning methods … and many more.

Section Two: Distance Learning Resources
How to use the internet with virtual groups - remote individuals who may never come together as a face-to-face group. You'll be able to save your organisation time and money by connecting with trainees in different locations. They'll be able to access your training at work, at home, in a library, or Internet café - anywhere where there is a computer with internet access.

Section Three: Classroom Exercises Using the Internet
The eleven tools in this section are designed to be used in a traditional training room - but making use of modern technology. They'll add another dimension to your learning. All the exercises have detailed instructions, including a section called 'Carrying out the review' which gives the trainer hints and tips on how to make sure that learners get maximum benefit from discussing the learning points of the exercise.

Section Four: Post-Event Resources
How to use the internet after a training course for online evaluation, action planning, learning review groups, online coaching by e-mail… and many more Reap the benefits of using the internet as an additional training resource at virtually no cost to you or your organisation.

CONTENTS:

SECTION ONE: PRE-EVENT RESOURCES

1: Using the Internet as a research tool
This resource gives the trainer information and tips on how to use the Internet to get all the information you need when carrying out research for your courses or learning events. It includes how to get the best from a search engine, and using networks and professional websites.

2: Web-based communities
This resource explains what a Web-based community is, and how you can use this free resource to enhance many areas of your training. It gives background information as well as practical tools and tips.

3: Marketing your course on a Web-based community
This resource looks at how to use a Web-based community to market your course or other learning event to the best possible advantage. It includes guidance on how to make your marketing appealing to the widest variety of potential learners and the essential information that you need to include.

4: E-mail invitations
How to design effective invitations to invite attendance at a training course.

5: Establishing pre-course learning needs
This resource looks at various ways of establishing the learning needs of the learners before they attend a training course or other learning event. It also focuses on how to use electronic means to collect and store this data.

6: Web page introductions
This resource looks at how to invite learners to join a web-based community, and how you can use this community to introduce learners to each other before they attend a training course or other learning event.

7: Chat room introductions
This resource looks at how to use an Internet chat room to host participant introductions prior to a training course or other learning event. It provides some useful guidelines on how to invite participants to join the chat room, and looks at the skills needed by the trainer when working in a virtual environment.

8: Setting pre-course work
This resource shows how to use the Internet to set work that can be carried out by learners before they attend a training event, and includes some useful examples.

SECTION TWO: DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES

1: Using a virtual classroom
This resource looks at how a free Internet chat room can be used as a virtual classroom for live training events. It then goes on to look at the skills needed by the trainer when working in any type of virtual environment, whether in a Web-based community or a more sophisticated online classroom.

2: Virtual learning groups
Here we look at how to use the Web to bring together a group of people in a learning experience. As well as covering the logistics of running a learning group, this resource looks at the sort of subjects that can be covered.

3: Setting a research project
This resource looks at how to bring people together in a virtual group to undertake a project that will be both a learning experience for them and of practical benefit to the employer.

SECTION THREE: CLASSROOM EXERCISES USING THE INTERNET

1: Researching the competition
This exercise gets learners working together to research the products or services offered by their competitors in order to analyse the competitive advantages of their own organisation.

2: Customer service
Learners work together in teams to experience the different levels of service offered by online retailers (or other organisations which offer an online service). They then link this experience to the service that they offer to their own customers and plan for any appropriate improvements.

3: In-tray exercise
Groups of learners put themselves into the shoes of an imaginary manager and plan activities for the coming week. Once they have completed this, they are presented with a number of interruptions that have to be dealt with. This means that they will constantly be having to review their priorities for the week to make sure that the most important tasks get dealt with.

4: Riddle treasure hunt
Teams of participants solve riddles and then find images of the appropriate object on the Internet.

5: The communication game
This exercise explores how we communicate in a modern working environment. Two teams communicate with each other using e-mail and then evaluate the effectiveness of the communications and draw conclusions about how to use e-mail effectively.

6: Deal with that!
Learners are presented with four scenarios that require them to make a response by e-mail. All of the situations are potentially difficult. The review of the exercise asks the learners to consider whether e-mail was the most effective form of communication, and to consider some dos and don'ts of e-mail communication.

7: The big quiz
In this exercise learners work together in teams to answer a set of ten difficult questions. It is unlikely that they will know all the answers to the questions, so they have to use the Internet to find the information they need.

8: Answers please!
Teams of learners work together to set questions for the other teams to answer. The scoring system means that it is in each team's interest to make the questions as difficult as possible.

9: Dream homes
Groups use their questioning skills to establish the lifestyle requirements of a prospective homebuyer. They then set out to meet those requirements by searching the Internet to find the buyer their dream home.

10: Mission impossible?
A seemingly long list of Internet tasks is given to teams to achieve in a short space of time. On the face of it, the task facing each team is impossible. If, however, teams pool their resources they can each meet their targets.

11: Where in the world?
Teams are shown a picture taken from a live Webcam somewhere in the world. They are then allowed to ask ten questions in order to ascertain the location shown in the picture.

SECTION FOUR: POST-EVENT RESOURCES

1: Action planning
An example of a simple action plan that can be completed at the end of a training course or other learning event and which is reviewed and followed up online.

2: Action planning - an e-mail to myself
At the end of a training event learners are asked to prepare a document detailing the changes that they will make as a result of their learning. This document is saved by the trainer and e-mailed to the learner at an agreed time after the course.

3: Feedback - an e-mail to the group
Shortly after attending a training course learners are sent an e-mail asking them to send feedback to other members of the group.

4: Evaluation
This resource centres around a simple document which is kept electronically in a shared file. The document allows learners to assess the value of the training that they have received over a period of time. This, in turn, gives the trainer direct access to the best source of evaluation data - the learner's own progress.

5: Learning review groups
How to set up learning review groups so that learners who have been on a training course can review their learning together after the course has finished.

6: Online coaching by e-mail
A means for the trainer to set up and maintain a coaching relationship to improve the performance of learners after a learning event.

7: Online coaching in a chat room
This resource helps the trainer set up and maintain a coaching relationship which allows learners to improve their performance.