4 Advantages of Online Social Media Training Over Classroom Learning

When it’s done right, online social media training — which involves relaying key concepts, hands-on tutorials and best practices through prerecorded videos — is actually more effective than classroom learning.

In a recent survey of 1,021 experts, 60% agreed that by 2020 “there will be mass adoption of teleconferencing and distance learning…” And this will be particularly true when it comes to teaching online skills, where the internet browser serves as a virtual chalkboard.

Here are 4 big advantages of online learning:

1. Automatic Retention – You don’t have to take notes. When all the material is recorded, and people are spared from having to retain everything themselves, they can focus on trying to actually understand the key concepts and on demoing tools and services without having to write it all down simultaneously.
2. The Knowledge You Want First - When information is presented from a lectern, it’s shared in a linear fashion. You have to sit through long, drawn-out explanations, some of which you know, and some of which you don’t. But since everyone knows different things, the linear approach serves the group, but not necessarily the individual.  When on-demand content is broken down into bite-sized chunks, and tagged appropriately so it can be easily found, participants can laser in on what they want.
3. Learn at your Own Pace – Everybody picks things up at different speeds.  Good instructors try and teach to the center of the classroom, which under serves fast and slow learners.  When you can stop and rewind demos as many times as you like and learn at your own pace, everyone can learn and fast or slow as they like, and no one gets lost or bored.
4. Anytime, Anywhere – There is no longer a need to schedule time out of the office, wait until the right course is available, be forced to consume 6 hours of course material in a single day or board a plane.  Online social media training allows you to time-shift and place-shift your professional development when you want, where you want.

“A recent 93-page report on online education, conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a starchy academic title, but a most intriguing conclusion: “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction,” wrote Steve Lohr in the New York Times back in 2009.

What’s your perception of online learning? Do you think it could work for you?  How does your organization plan to broaden its digital literacy?

According to futurist Alvin Toffler, “illiteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and write, but by those who cannot learn and relearn.”

As social media matures, organizations will need a way to manage risk and scale social media engagement. In the old days, company’s media trained their spokespeople. Today, they need to social media train everyone, and they need to do it without disrupting day-to-day operations. And for these reasons, online social media training makes the most sense.

How will you social media train your work force?

via