How Effective Are Webinars in eLearning Development
I love webinars! They provide such great opportunities for learning and connection that you just can’t otherwise get. The term “webinar” comes from the two words “web” and “seminar”. As you can probably guess, it’s essentially a one-way presentation that is done using web technologies like Zoom or AnyMeeting. One really great thing about webinars is that they don’t have to be live. They can be pre-recorded and delivered to your learners or audience at a time that’s right for you and for your attendees.
If you’d like to do a Q&A session following the pre-recorded session, you can always jump in at the end! And based on the stats, most people find those Q&A opportunities incredibly useful.
Webinars are great for a variety of different purposes—for generating sales, for growing your online following, and of course, for delivering information that your audience wants and needs. Did you know that, according to one report, most professionals say that video-based learning is their preferred learning format and that 94% of respondents report viewing webinar content on a monthly basis?
But the question remains: are webinars good tools in the eLearning process? Let’s take a look.
Webinars Create a Connection With Your Audience
With webinars, you can share information with your attendees in a variety of different ways. This can make learning a lot of fun! You can use PowerPoint presentations to present your workshop in a simple and direct way. You can live stream video and create a personal connection with your audience by showing them your face. You can transfer files, conduct polls and surveys, live text chat, and share what’s on your desktop for reference. This makes it easy to create an interactive experience for your LMS training course participants. You can keep things interesting by using the various tools that are at your disposal.
The Benefits of Webinars
We’ve looked at how you can connect with your learners using webinars. But you’re probably wondering what other benefits and advantages they have to offer, right? Here’s why webinars are so cool:
- You can reach a large number of people all at once. Plus, you can record your webinars and expose them to even bigger audiences later.
- You can easily share information with people on a global scale.
- Webinars are cost-effective. No one has to spend on travel, and from course creation to promotion, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a great return on investment!
- Learners can take in the information from the comfort of their own homes. This can help with absorbing and retaining the information you present.
- Webinar tools are usually very easy to use and don’t require you to download software.
Different Ways You Can Use Webinars for eLearning Development
So far we’ve talked about how you can present one-way presentations using webinar technologies. But there are other neat things you can do with webinars. You can use webinars to present eLearning training courses or online workshops. You can hold meetings, seminars, and even conferences. You can use it for collaboration or for information sessions. And you can also give lectures and presentations. This flexibility is so important in an eLearning development context, and something you should be looking for in any tool you use, including a learning management system (LMS).
Potential Challenges
There are basically three major considerations when it comes to giving an effective webinar presentation. They are:
- Technical challenges: Issues can sometimes come up in connection with signing in, incorrect passwords, software, audio issues, internet connectivity, and so on.
- Holding the attention of the learners: Since they can access the webinar from wherever they are, there could be distractions that get in the way of their learning experience.
- Presentations: Presenters have to master a style that works with webinars, which isn’t necessarily the same as classroom environments.
A Final Word on Webinars
Are webinars effective in for eLearning development? When you really think about it, it’s pretty amazing how well webinars fit into the eLearning ecosystem. One thing to be thinking about is whether or not you want to use just webinars to relay course information, or to integrate them with other material. But I think we can all agree that there are some major advantages to webinars in eLearning.
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