Online Learning Day

A collaboration between Selina Chiarelli, RHG Learning Coach and Nathan Lord, RHG Client Relationships and Digital Marketing Assistant.

The internet has made the world of education almost infinitely accessible, with online courses seeing a massive 21 million extra online learners in 2022 compared to 2021 and showing no signs of slowing down. The 15^th of September is National Online Learning Day, which began in 2016 as a way to acknowledge and celebrate the successes of learning online.

At RHG we champion remote learning and all the fantastic opportunities it presents not only to our diverse learners, but also to the learning coaches who deliver the sessions. Don’t just take our word for it, take a look at the Q&A with Selina one of our business management learning coaches.

Thank you so much for joining me today to talk about Online learning, could you just start by introducing yourself and what you do at RHG?

Hello everyone, my name is Selina Chiarelli, I am a learning coach for the Bid and Proposal Coordinator apprenticeship, I also deliver our Education and Training qualifications.

Brilliant, so with you delivering so much online content, I wanted to know what you think are the benefits of remote learning from the perspective of a learning coach?

I would say that the major benefit for me is the opportunity to work remotely, I can pretty much complete my work whether it be at home, the office or a local coffee shop. There is so much flexibility in where I can work, so when I need a change of scenery it’s easy for me to do just that. I also really like the group and individual interaction with my learners, for example during a webinar or remote learning session they can use the chat function if they feel embarrassed about asking a question in front of other learners. 

With that in mind, do you feel that working online allows for you to get to talk to your learners a bit easier?

100%, I can get lots of learners together at once. All my learners are dotted about the UK, so if we could only meet face to face they might struggle to get enough time with me. Learning online takes away that potential barrier, so we can get lots of learners together at once, which is a huge benefit. My leaners who were apprehensive at the start of their learning journey, end up loving the flexibility of online learning, and how easy it was to book in for meetings when they need support.

Just on that, how does having lots of different learners from varying backgrounds all in one place effect the learning journey?

Really positively, it means that my learners get to see different peoples’ perspectives and experiences which helps drive a positive learning environment.

What tips would you give to other learning coaches who might just be starting to teach online?

I would say find time to discover new apps and tools. Online learning develops daily, and there are so many opportunities to explore new and creative ways to teach and it’s all out there to find. It’s about allowing yourself time to really explore and understand the many different apps and tools and the benefits that they have.

With so many different apps and resources being available, which ones do you use?

There are great apps on MS Teams already built in, as well as the Zoom platform. If you look further afield, there is Slido, an interactive app on which you can create polls and quizzes which can be answered anonymously, so if someone is feeling a bit nervous they don’t have to worry about speaking up. I like to use Kahoot, which is a competitive app, which you can link to your mobile phone or iPad. You can input any questions you like, so you can make it really specific to what you are teaching, and I like the  competitive element to it.

Does using these apps allow you to be more flexible in the way you teach?

Absolutely, you can easily adapt the session, you can send them links to support the information we have covered in the session.

 Are you able to easily signpost online, to anything extra that your learners might need?

Definitely, when you are in the online meeting, you can signpost your learners to other workshops and further learning opportunities, really anything. For example, I’ve guided my learners to join memberships online, like the Association of Bid Proposal Management Professionals. The great thing with that is you can send that to learners straight away in the chat function, we can discuss on the call, and I can give advice in real time.

That brings me to my final question, what do you think makes online learning enjoyable?

The key one for me, is the collaboration with no geographical boundaries. By a click of a button you can have a large group of people together sharing ideas and learning, which is just amazing.

So that’s an insight from one of our own Learning Coaches on what it’s like to teach online!

We truly believe that remote learning is a positive way to engage learners and to further their development. If you would like to have a look at the courses we offer then follow this link:

https://www.rhgconsult.co.uk/apprenticeships