Why Businesses Need a Purpose-Built Virtual Classroom

When your organization needs to quickly transition to a distributed workforce or expand its training programs to include a virtual component, new technology is required to support your learning initiatives. Virtual classrooms are the best way to not only continue reskilling and upskilling your team members but also unlock next-level data, embrace easy scalability, and enjoy many other benefits.

In this article, we’ll explore what a virtual classroom is, three key ways your business can use virtual instructor-led training (VILT), and the benefits of synchronous virtual training in a business or corporate environment.

What is a virtual classroom?

By definition, a virtual classroom is “software [that] enables instructors to deliver distance learning experiences through a combination of video conferencing, collaboration and participation, and assessment features. Educators use this software to provide engaging eLearning experiences, both in real-time and through playback recordings, for students to access material wherever and whenever. Virtual classroom software can be sold as a standalone product or an integrated feature within a larger platform. It is quickly becoming a must-have tool for educators, allowing them to maximize student learning beyond the physical classroom setting.”

Crucial for a best-in-class virtual classroom platform is the ability to provide learning opportunities in both synchronous and asynchronous models. This variance of deliverability not only enhances the learner experience but can also better accommodate more students’ life schedules. Look for virtual classrooms for corporate training that are browser-based, which not only allows for heightened accessibility, but also ensures all users are engaging with the most up-to-date version of the virtual classroom platform. One of the key differentiators of a top-end virtual classroom is the ability to seamlessly integrate into your tech stack while providing automation and deep analytical insights.

Three key business use cases for virtual classrooms and their benefits

There is a myriad of advantages businesses and corporations can achieve by leveraging the power of a virtual classroom platform. Below, we’ll explore three of the most common uses.

Reskilling and upskilling team members

As the nature of worker contribution continues to increase at an increasingly rapid pace, it’s more important than ever before to reskill and upskill your team members effectively and efficiently. The best way to do this is to ensure each team member gets accurate, consistent training—and this works even better when you can do so at scale. The utilization of synchronous training also provides for better retention of learning materials.

As human skills continue to differentiate, training for more cognitive and less programmatic tasks means giving your team members access to those who are best at these abilities. Since those individuals are busy putting those skills to work, capturing their insights in repeatable, scalable ways allows you to bottle that knowledge and distribute it infinitely via your virtual classroom platform to get your teams up to speed even faster.

Employee onboarding

Ensure your newest team members are getting the best insights possible, build valuable rapport with other new hires and current team members, and track their progress with targeted data analysis. Leveraging the power of data analysis is another key differentiator with in-person training, as a top-end virtual classroom platform can track and uncover key trends that would be lost in a physical classroom, including instructor talk time versus new hire talk time, the number of hand raises per individual and the connection to successful completion of training modules.

With the scalability of a virtual classroom platform, each new hire can get the same best-in-class training. Additionally, with breakout rooms, synchronous and asynchronous delivery, and easy accessibility, you can engage your workforce like never before.

Leadership development

Just like upskilling and reskilling current employees or onboarding new hires, fostering a culture of learning and development is a necessary step for successful businesses and corporations. This happens from the top down, and creating opportunities for leadership to further develop their abilities is vital to not only increasing those leaders’ contributions but also encouraging their direct reports to take part.

A virtual classroom platform not only facilitates this distribution of knowledge but can also help foster the community by which learning grows exponentially. Your organization can leverage breakout groups for virtual group discussions, cross-departmental brainstorming sessions, peer-to-peer tutoring/mentoring opportunities, and more. Within training modules, learner engagement can be increased by utilizing collaborative tools and communication mediums, from interactive whiteboards to chat groups, and from video conferencing to topic-based forums.

Next-level engagement, insights, and results

Virtual classroom platforms allow your business or corporation to build on the success of your traditional training by bringing consistency—utilizing your top performers’ insights each time—into the process. A top virtual classroom platform allows for scalability so that your organization’s most successful methods can continue to be distributed throughout your business or corporation as you continue to grow. The flexibility of best-in-class platforms, especially those that utilize browser-based access, means synchronous and asynchronous modules can be integrated alongside high-engagement features such as breakout rooms to enhance the overall experience and increase knowledge retention. Perhaps most importantly, every level of your organization benefits from this approach, from leadership development to reskilling and upskilling of current team members to successfully onboarding new hires.

Is your business or corporation looking for the best virtual classroom platform available to ensure every potential advantage is found to distance you from your competition? Class offers powerful, instructor-led tools that integrate with existing corporate systems to support learning and development initiatives. Ready to take your organization to the next level? Talk with a Class team member today.