My Canadian friend told me that her son has a new job, teaching basic computer literacy skills. He is struggling with some of the challenges of training. I told her: “But wait, there’s more.”
There have always been challenges when it comes to training adults. But some have taken on new and bigger proportions with virtual training. I hope that if I share them with you, you will be kinder to us on your next course.
Talk to the dot
Welcome to the glamorous world of virtual training. Live on camera … with an audience of green dots! (Or blank silhouettes or black tiles)
Your face matters to us. It helps us know if you are bored, confused, or delighted by sudden understanding.
Even in real classrooms, people were sometimes unengaged. But we knew you were there. We knew if you looked at someone else’s screen to check their answers. We knew if you were sending messages on your phones. We could see if our jokes got a smile or fell flat. We could wake you up if you fell asleep.
At the beginning of lockdown, people struggled with internet access and band width. It was sometimes necessary to switch off cameras. But what’s your excuse now?
Imagine what it’s like when no-one has their camera on. We see the dots. We speak to the dots. We ask a question. Silence. We ask again. The dots stare back. Are the dots real? Are you there? Are you listening? Or have you wandered off to make coffee and watch TV?
This is Schrödinger’s delegate: there and yet not there.
Ask any question (almost)
We say it at the start of the course. We say it after every topic, before and after every break. We’re stuck on repeat: “Please ask questions.”
And we mean it. We want questions. A good question is a trainer’s love language. But we’re also delighted with not-so-good questions. I’ve often said that there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
But sometimes there’s a question that makes us die a little inside.
Like when you finally unmute only to say, “Sorry, I wasn’t listening — can you repeat the last 20 minutes?”
Or when you admit on the last day that you still haven’t got the software to run. That’s after we spent the first morning getting everyone set up. We ran "Hello World" programs or basic SELECT statements. We asked everyone to confirm.
It’s not the question that’s the problem. It’s the timing. It’s realising that while we were ardently explaining operators, you were watching TikTok.
A heartfelt plea
We present courses because we like sharing our knowledge. We want to see that AHA moment when you write your first HTML page, or understand C pointers for the first time.
We will speak to the dot. We will encourage questions. Because we believe that somewhere, behind the muted mic and the blank screen, someone is learning. Because knowledge matters. Because coding matters.
We don’t care if you haven’t showered and you are wearing your pajamas. Just turn on your camera, and ask a question. Show us you are real.
I’d love to know what you think about this.