5 Essential Skills Trainers Should Have Today

Today, trainers can harness the recent changes in the education ecosystem, and transform their ways of instruction to optimise learning.

Why have education needs changed today?

Education is the very pillar of our society, and hence it is a must for education practices to keep up with the changing times. This could not be truer during these unprecedented times brought to us by the ongoing global pandemic. In fact, as reported by the United Nations, the COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruptions of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in 190 countries and all continents. Furthermore, the ripples have also been seen in the form of shaky economies and uncertain job markets.

With a shift in all educational practices from physical spaces to virtual and remote conditions, it is absolutely imperative that the way things are taught also adapt with it. Fortunately, the world has realized this need and has started transitioning to e-learning, supported by the increased availability of affordable smartphones and data packs. This also gives rise to Blended Learning and its practices like the ‘Flipped Classroom’. Today, trainers have the opportunity to harness these changes and transform their ways of instruction, not only to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, but also to “build back better”.

This can be achieved by trainers through the acquisition of 5 essential skills:

Essential skills that trainers should have today.

1. Domain and Platform Skills.

With the large-scale transition to online learning practices, it is important that trainers are able to understand learner needs well, and to fulfil them with the help of technology. This ensures that training occurs smoothly and effectively, with minimal logistical friction despite the inability to be in the same physical space these days. Being comfortable with technology also enables trainers to enhance their ways of instruction with the help of digital means.

As concluded by a recent study, digital learning presents better positive effects on learning motivation and learning outcome than traditional teaching does.

2. Digital Literacy.

For enabling the effective use of these aforementioned means, to understand learner needs better and to tailor lessons accordingly, it is important that trainers acquire digital literacy. This also means being able to curate information well and to present it according to learner needs. Doing so opens up endless possibilities for effective learning.

Digital means facilitate more engagement-based learning through interactive content. Furthermore, digital content complements trainers’ lessons while also providing learners with the flexibility to pursue self-paced — and hence, more effective — learning.

Another possibility of beneficial digital literacy practices is the ability of trainers to revisit the taught content and recorded lectures; while this allows flexibility in terms of learning for students, it also enables trainers to add to and improve the existing content with ease.

3. Adaptability.

In order to be effective, trainers today must be adaptable. They should be able identify when lessons do not ‘click’ with learners, or when lessons do not deliver the intended outcome; and they should be able to adapt accordingly.

Effective trainers constantly strive to make their lessons optimally suited to the needs of learners, which often requires adapting to blended learning practices by acquiring digital literacy. Effective trainers do not teach different things; they teach things differently.

4. Interpersonal and Communication Skills.

Effective trainers have good interpersonal and communication skills — something that comes in handy while interacting with students and colleagues. They ensure that their content is delivered in a manner that is both engaging and beneficial for the learners. They realise that each learner has their own different needs while acquiring information; effective trainers strategise and are not afraid to approach the same lesson delivery through multiple ways. Through the key skill of communication, trainers convey complex concepts in ways that are easy to grasp.

5. Organisational Skills.

Being great at organisation is paramount for trainers. Effective trainers are able to organise their course material and lecture content in ways that are both engaging and practical, while also keeping track of time. This ensures not only efficient progression of learning and, but also the optimal retention of what is taught. Additionally, trainers with good organisational skills are able to devise activities and assignments in ways that are most beneficial and effective.

Skilling Disrupted: Impact of COVID19 on the Indian Skilling Ecosystem

In an opinion piece written for The Indian Express on July 15, 2020, M Venkaiah Naidu, the current Vice President of India, calls for “130 crore Indians to showcase the country’s collective resolve to overcome the setbacks caused by the pandemic.” He suggests that the solution lies in “harnessing India’s human resources and technological capabilities,” by focusing on “skills, scale and speed.”

The Vice President is not alone in pointing to the importance of skilling as a part of India’s strategy to recover from the social and economic impact of COVID19. Mahendra Nath Pandey, the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has also noted that “there will be heavy focus on re-skilling and up-skilling,” along with “blended models of learning,” in a post COVID19 India.

At Leap, we have been working for the education and skill development of thousands of learners across the country for the last seven years. We strongly believe that skilling our youth is the key to unlocking the country’s full potential. The first step toward getting prepared for this recovery has to be understanding the emergent issues in the skilling ecosystem.

We caught up with Rahul Khanna, Vice-President of Government Programs, over the last week, to get a clear picture of the ground concerns and the path forward. Here are some excerpts from our conversation.

Question: How are Sector Skill Councils and Training Partners impacted by COVID19?

“Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and Training Partners (TPs) have been impacted very significantly because of the country-wide halt on training. SSCs and TPs are trying to keep the students engaged with online sessions on Zoom and Google Meet etc, but there are no clear ways to gauge student learning.

There is a very active fear of losing students once normalcy returns. Several TPs have been forced to shut shop, others are trying to hang on by venturing into Apprenticeship and Placements, and some are finding new opportunities like content development, content digitization and Training-of-Trainers to venture into.”

Question: What are some important changes that you foresee in the Indian Skilling space?

“COVID19 has presented us with an opportunity to think about leveraging technology and making it an integral part of future training programs.

Traditionally, training has been imparted through a brick and mortar model with face to face interaction between trainers and learners. Post COVID, adoption of technology and innovation will play a key role in adjusting to the new normal and keep learners engaged throughout.

Along with this, we believe that an emphasis on Employability, Entrepreneurship, and better curriculum design, are the need of the hour. Upskilling the current set of trainers is of equal importance. They need to be up-skilled and trained on new technologies and online pedagogy. There is a need to shift the focus from enrolment to the quality of training imparted.

Policy level changes are definitely required to formalize the change for good. Steps have already been taken in this direction. The New Education Policy and the eSkillIndia initiative by the National Skill Development Corporation are some examples.”

Question: Do we have the IT infrastructure for a digital skilling system?

“As per Union Budget 2020, Govt has allocated 99,300 Crores toward upliftment and improvement of Education, along with 3000 Crores toward skill development. In addition, there is a need for active participation from the private sector towards building a digital skill ecosystem. This could be done by setting up Centres of Excellence in every city, implementing the ‘Hire, Train & Deploy’ approach, imparting practical Training to ITI students etc.”

Question: Are the curriculum and assessment methods built for digital delivery?

“To be honest, the curriculum needs to be redesigned. Content which can be easily learned online and is constant globally can be moved online. This will save man hours and significant costs. Technical content can be taught in a blended fashion where trainers are making videos and giving online demos to their students to facilitate learning.

We need to aggressively move towards digitization of the content keeping factors like student

engagement in mind. Simply converting a text book into a pdf is definitely not the solution.”

Question: Are our trainers prepared for adopting digital training methods?

“Introduction of new technology or processes always comes with its own set of challenges. With investments in innovation, new tools, and technologies across the world at an all- time high, there is an inevitable need to upgrade the way we teach. Many trainers however are not comfortable with presentations and other specialised digital learning tools.

Training the trainers on the new training methods and innovative tools available is key to push student engagement and effectively gauge learning outcomes.”

Question: Are we prepared to recover skilling in a post-lockdown world?

“We do not think anybody was prepared for the world that we live in today. At the same time, the current situation has presented us all with a huge opportunity to upgrade the education and skilling systems. Learning is a continuous process, and keeping oneself up to date with the new innovations for a better tomorrow is the right approach.

The pandemic has pushed everyone to come together and build solutions that are, both, equitable and scalable. This cooperation across stakeholders is a massive advantage. We strongly believe that with this, we are very well-positioned to recover skilling. It is, of course, for us to lose the advantage.”

4 Benefits of Blended Learning for Your Learners

Blended learning improves the learning experience for both learners and trainers.

Key Takeaways:

• Blended Learning improves learner engagement by giving them greater control on their learning.

• The use of multimedia content makes learning more exciting for learners.

• Blended Learning moves the focus from delivering lectures to the specific needs of each learner.

• Every stakeholder can access quick and objective feedback on their performance.

• Cost-effective and time-efficient, Blended Learning is very suitable for businesses recovering from the impact of COVID19.

What is Blended Learning?

Blended Learning is a form of digital learning. It ‘blends together’ advanced technology and the traditional trainer-led classroom. Charles R Graham, co-author of the first important handbook on Blended Learning, defines it as a system which “combines face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction.”

One example of Blended Learning in practice is the ‘Flipped Classroom’ method. Learners are given self-paced learning material, accessible digitally, to go through at home. The classroom, with trained educators is, in turn, used for learning through application. This ‘flips’ the traditional logic of classwork and homework.

Several studies have verified the effectiveness of such systems. In one such study, researchers from University of British Columbia in Canada found that learners in flipped classrooms scored 33% higher, on average, than those who learned conventionally.

Why is Blended Learning important?

The global shutdowns in response to the COVID19 pandemic has made it impossible for trainers and learners to come together. This has pushed organisations to prioritise their transition to e-learning. They are also supported by the increased availability of affordable smartphones and data packs.

The hybrid approach of Blended Learning combines the best of both worlds. It makes it easier for learners to adapt to this new mode of education without facing too much friction.

Benefits of Blended Learning.

1. Increases Learner Engagement.

Blended Learning excites the learners by giving them access to interactive digital content. Trainers can use videos, images, and audio to deliver their lessons. This keeps the learners more engaged than the traditional text-book.

The learner can access this content at their own pace, which gives them greater control on their learning journeys. The blended nature of these programs ensures that they can also reach out to the trainers for support. These factors, multimedia content and ownership, work wonders together for learner motivation.

A two-year study, conducted by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Sattva Consulting, found that blended models saw far less drop-outs than purely online models. As on-ground mobilisation and training partner in this study, Leap had the opportunity to train over 8000 learners. We learned that combining trainer instruction and digital learning content is very effective. The learner does not have to sit through boring lectures and they can seek the support of trainers, if need arises — the best of both worlds.

The hybrid approach of Blended Learning combines the best of both worlds. It makes it easier for learners to adapt to this new mode of education without facing too much friction.

2. Allows Quick and Detailed Feedback.

Digital technology makes it possible for the trainers and learner to access immediate feedback. These feedback mechanisms allow the learner to gauge the success of their learning. They can timely revisit portions that are unclear. Feedback from trainers often takes time and is hard to turn into actionable insights. Moreover, self-evaluation builds important critical thinking skills in learners.

Trainers can use this feedback to adapt their lessons for individual learner competencies. This helps them support the learner to achieve their learning objectives, more effectively.

3. Customised and Personal.

Different people learn differently. Content can be customised for specific learner needs, if delivered digitally. The quick and immediate feedback facilitates customisation of learning by pointing toward each learner’s personal interaction with the course.

This helps trainers build custom modules for learners on different stages of the learning journey. Use of various communication channels, such as messages and phone calls, also helps trainers pay more attention to individual learners while communicating with them.

4. Cost Effective and Time Efficient.

Digital delivery of learning content makes Blended Learning more cost effective for organisations. Moreover, focusing on specific learner needs cuts out any duplication of work and costs associated with mass lectures.

Trainers can also become more time efficient because learners can access content anywhere and anytime. This allows them to focus more effectively on learner competencies and fill any particular gaps. Quick and detailed feedback also saves the trainers time from marking traditional assessments.