A journey into rethinking hybrid conferences

A journey into rethinking hybrid conferences

This case study from Jo Cook and Laura Overton is about redesigning hybrid conferences, including the importance of the right vision, focus on both physical and virtual attendees and the preparation, planning and people involved.

Effective virtual classrooms: an evidence review

Effective virtual classrooms: an evidence review

Reviewing the current evidence to ensure virtual classrooms are effective is this CIPD report. Jo is quoted on evidence-based insight and practical recommendations for facilitating interactive online learning.

Interviews with Jo

Accelerating Change in HR & L&D

Accelerating Change in HR & L&D

In this interview with Speexx Jo advocates for positive change around moving to live online learning, the type of work done at Lightbulb Moment and about the Speexx Exchange hybrid conference.

Leading edge interview

Leading edge interview

Is it harder to keep attention in the virtual environment? Do some people have a resistance talking to a screen? These and many more questions answered by Jo in this interview with L&D publishing company Emerald Insight (PDF version also available).

How to make hybrid events equitable

How to make hybrid events equitable

With hybrid learning, meeting or other events, it can be really easy for the live online participants to feel a bit left out. Jo shares her insight into making sure everyone is involved, and nearly ending up in the technology weeds along the way.

Here for good, training is more crucial than ever

Here for good, training is more crucial than ever

“Our organisations are having to respond to, operate within, and support their people through uncertainty and chaos – and so workplace training remains a crucial part of an organisational strategy”, writes Jo in Learning Magazine, from the organisers of the World of Learning conferences.

What is blended learning? Benefits, best practices, and more

What is blended learning? Benefits, best practices, and more

With more employees than ever working from home, L&D teams need to broaden their horizons from in-person training to all that blended can offer. In this article for Big Think + Jo explores what blended learning is, the benefits and top tips for implementation.

People curiosity

People curiosity

What different types of curiosity are there, and how does this relate to you and what you do at work? Jo looks at some highlights from a the book The Workplace Curiosity Manifesto by Stefaan van Hooydonk and links to a recording of his session at the Speexx Exchange hybrid conference.

Avoid the Dreaded Zoom Fatigue

Avoid the Dreaded Zoom Fatigue

Is it really “Zoom fatigue” or is it actually “meeting fatigue”? Jo explores this in her article for the Learning Network, including advice about how to use your time and promote interactivity.

The Need For More Virtual Learning Research

The Need For More Virtual Learning Research

Evidence-based learning design and delivery is becoming more and more important as part of a professional learning intervention. In this LinkedIn article Jo looks at Workplace Learning Report data and the challenges of facilitating differently using technology.

Live online learning in lockdown and beyond

Live online learning in lockdown and beyond

A deep dive into the Emerald Works (previously Towards Maturity) data was granted to Jo to investigate how organisations with live online learning capabilities perform better than those without.

3 Digital Body Language Tips You Must Focus On Right Now

3 Digital Body Language Tips You Must Focus On Right Now

Digital body language is all about communications that aren’t physically face-to-face, looking at the nuances of what wording, profile images and much more mean. In this eLearning Industry article Jo explores digital body language for branding, live online events, data and shares top tips for improving your approach.

A group you cannot see: virtual training

A group you cannot see: virtual training

Most trainers and facilitators have started their life in the face-to-face world, helping people and managing the emotions in the room. A lot of professionals are wary of stepping into the online learning space due to the lack of face-to-face contact, not being able to see body language and a feeling that ‘virtual’ is not ‘real’. Jo shares her approach for Training Journal.

What is live online learning?

What is live online learning?

Jo Cook unravels exactly what live online learning is all about, and why understanding its capabilities (and limitations) can help deliver fantastic online sessions.

Is it about time we forget Ebbinghaus?

Is it about time we forget Ebbinghaus?

Even though the work if Herman Ebbinghaus is from the 1880s and is held up as one of the most overlooked learning findings, Jo writes for HR Zone and questions whether it’s time to move on.

How can we approach live online learning to ensure good practice?

How can we approach live online learning to ensure good practice?

Best practice in any skill is really important to ensure consistency across a team and make sure that everyone has a positive experience. In this HR Zone article Jo looks at the issues people have with live online learning and how to develop the experience needed to perform.

We are always pleased to be a guest on webinars for other organisations, and here are some of the best recordings

Virtual and hybrid engagement webinar

Virtual and hybrid engagement webinar

This was a small ‘masterclass’ for the ILP Australia, focusing on virtual and hybrid engagement, including great discussion and questions from the audience.

Experience Design for the Virtual Classroom and Beyond

Experience Design for the Virtual Classroom and Beyond

Learning Experience Design, LXD, is focused on ensuring learning through activities. On this Training Magazine Network webinar, sponsored by Adobe, Jo explores what LXD is and how to make the most of this for live online delivery (needs a free Training Magazine Network account).

What virtual training still needs to improve

What virtual training still needs to improve

Virtual instructor led training has come a long way since the Covid pandemic – but there are still many areas for organisations and teams to improve, with Jo sharing her input with Speexx, the personal language and business coaching people (register for free recording).

Planning your hybrid meeting and training sessions

Planning your hybrid meeting and training sessions

Hybrid meetings, events and training sessions are becoming much more popular – but what is involved in planning an event where some people are physically together, and others are live online? Jo shares her insight on this webinar for the Boussias Project Management conference.

How to ‘see’ and connect with your attendees in live online learning

How to ‘see’ and connect with your attendees in live online learning

For so many people the virtual classroom feels like a barrier, as if they are talking at a computer screen and it can be easy to lack focus on the learners that are live and with you. For this Boussias L&D conference Jo shares different ways to be able to connect with your attendees live online.

What Your Virtual Learners Really Want

What Your Virtual Learners Really Want

The ‘new normal’ since the global pandemic has meant that virtual classrooms and digital learning offerings are more important than ever, and so is getting it right. What do our learners really think of the live online learning sessions we are offering? Jo shares research for this Learning Guild’s Learning Summit to gain insight into what we need to design and how we need to facilitate.

How to Improve Your Virtual Classroom

How to Improve Your Virtual Classroom

Challenges with virtual classrooms include trying to directly replicate a physical classroom experience and our own approach in understanding how current training and learning skills convert to work well in the virtual classroom. Jo Cook shares strategies on how to make the most of your live online delivery in this Speexx webinar (register for free recording).

Principles for Professional Virtual Classrooms

Principles for Professional Virtual Classrooms

We know that facilitating a virtual classroom learning session is different from face-to-face training, but just what is it that works live online sessions and what needs a rethink? This World of Learning webinar focuses on five principles to make sure your virtual delivery is engaging for you, your attendees and the meets the needs of the business. Check out the accompanying visual summary drawn by Krystyna Gadd

Coffee Chat: Fresh Virtual Activities

Coffee Chat: Fresh Virtual Activities

This is a low key chat with a group of learning professionals about ensuring our virtual activities stay fresh – by exploring Padlet, Mural and more. Hosted by Shannon Tipton of Learning Rebels.

Stepping Up: Virtual classroom brilliance

Stepping Up: Virtual classroom brilliance

Rather than just using virtual platforms as the back-up plan, how can you really ‘learn to fly’ online? How can you rediscover your depth of expertise as a learning designer or facilitator in a virtual classroom and be as confident as you already are face-to-face? In this webinar with Breeio, Jo reflects on how to deal with remote audiences, digital body language and more. All Breeio first steps webinar resources here.

Digital body language – How to ‘read’ your virtual audience

Digital body language – How to ‘read’ your virtual audience

Reading the virtual room is a fundamental skill for facilitators. When we’re in the same physical space as other people, body language and visual cues are essential for understanding those around us. On this Breeio webinar Jo shares some straightforward features available in any virtual classroom platform and how to use ‘digital body language’ to help interpret participant responses more effectively. Webinar resources here and here.

Designing brilliant virtual sessions

Designing brilliant virtual sessions

How do you design content for live online events that engages and excites learners? Is it possible to make virtual classrooms just as effective as your face-to-face workshops? Jo shares how to do just that in this Breeio webinar. Resources here and here.

Delivering engaging online learning sessions

Delivering engaging online learning sessions

Using online platforms to deliver live learning sessions doesn’t have to be a headache for facilitators or boring for learners. In this Breeio webinar Jo shares how to pack a punch so that your participants really remember your core messages and keep attendees motivated. Resources here.

5 Key Tips on Designing Stellar Virtual Classrooms

5 Key Tips on Designing Stellar Virtual Classrooms

Designing for the virtual classroom is different from face-to-face training – what translates to live online sessions and what needs to be different? This webinar for the Adobe eLearning World Conference looks at best practice tips and techniques to ensure that your session meets the needs of the business, the learners and engages them throughout (needs a free account on the Adobe Community).

How to move your learning into the virtual learning environment

How to move your learning into the virtual learning environment

Your face-to-face sessions have been running really well, but the world has suddenly changed. Now Zoom learning sessions are the way forward so how can you make sure that the great sessions you used to deliver can still work but in a webinar or virtual classroom format? Find out in this webinar for the Institute of Employability Professionals.

How to make Live Online Learning Engaging

How to make Live Online Learning Engaging

Technology has enabled us to learn separately but together. How can a virtual classroom create the right learning environment, and how can we as trainers and facilitators work with people we can’t see, through a computer screen and still keep people engaged in their learning? In this webinar with the Institute of Employability Professionals Jo tells you how.

Design and the virtual classroom

Design and the virtual classroom

We all know that various theories, methods and approaches to instructional design make a difference to our e-learning components, materials and face-to-face sessions. But what learning theories and approaches work for virtual sessions and how does the technology get in the way, or even enable learning? Jo shares her insight in this Learning Network webinar.

Can you really facilitate an online group?

Can you really facilitate an online group?

Part of the Training Journal series of webinar discussions with professionals in their field, Jo hosts and contributes to the discussion about whether true facilitation works when a group is live online. Spoiler: she knows you can!

The TJ Virtual Christmas Party 2018

The TJ Virtual Christmas Party 2018

The Training Journal webinars series ran a number of different virtual Christmas parties and this is just one example of having festive fun live online!

On a purpose quest

On a purpose quest

Join Paul Westlake and Jo Cook as they discuss the importance of understanding who you are, what truly matters to you, and the impact you want to create in the world on your as they search for their own personal purpose.

Running an L&D business

Running an L&D business

In this conversation, Holly, Bianca, and Jo discuss their business origin stories and the challenges faced by women in running their own business.

What Comes Next Podcast

What Comes Next Podcast

Live online learning has changed since the pandemic, Jo joins Tom McCallum to discuss just how so. Video option also on this page.

People Unplugged: You’re on mute!

People Unplugged: You’re on mute!

You’ve heard it a million times, “You’re on mute!” and other such virtual delights. In this virtual delight Jo joins Paul Westlake to discuss her approach to virtual delivery, reading digital body language and more.

Facilitating Virtual Classrooms

Facilitating Virtual Classrooms

How can facilitators enhance the online learning experiences they offer? Jo lends her voice to Emerald Works podcast episode 234 to explain all.

Running a Small L&D Business

Running a Small L&D Business

Jo joins the discussion offering tips and advice for people thinking of setting up their own L&D business in the Emerald Works podcast 228.

Producing Live Online Learning Sessions

Producing Live Online Learning Sessions

In the Learning Uncut Disruption podcast series from Michelle Ockers, Jo shares about producing live online sessions – just what a producer does and the amazing support they can be for any live online event.

Emotion at Work in Digital Body Language

Emotion at Work in Digital Body Language

Digital body language, being able to read people’s communication without them being right in front of you, is the subject for this in-depth conversation between Jo and Phil Wilcox on the Emotion at Work podcast.

Can you facilitate online?

Can you facilitate online?

Yes you can train people in virtual sessions, but can you really facilitate group discussions and activities? Training Journal Editor Jon Kennard interviews Jo about whether you can or can’t.

Why are most webinars so terrible?

Why are most webinars so terrible?

We’ve all been on terrible webinars of one sort or another. Jo joins the Good Practice podcast episode 120 (now the Emerald Works podcast) to discuss some of the sins but always ways to improve those live online events.

How do L&D professionals share ideas?

How do L&D professionals share ideas?

Obviously when we train people in virtual design and delivery, it’s about professional development – so Jo gets involved in the discussion on the Good Practice podcast episode 35 (now the Emerald Works podcast) to discuss how to do that.

Click here for the Lightbulb Moment YouTube channel

Key pitfalls to avoid

Key pitfalls to avoid

Conversation with virtual guru Roger Courville about virtual classroom design and facilitation pitfalls to avoid!

Human Performance Technology

Human Performance Technology

Video interview with Guy Wallace about how Jo got into learning and development and her approach to performance consulting.

Engagement in virtual classrooms

Engagement in virtual classrooms

Why is engagement in your virtual classroom so important? Jo highlights why in this Unicorn video recorded at the Learning Technologies exhibition.

Click here for the full Lightbulb Moment YouTube channel

The best of our free live online learning community conversation threads

Curated resources to help with your live online learning

Curated resources to help with your live online learning

Knowing where to start with your virtual journey can be a challenge, but this post can help you. From absolute basics, to focusing on design or advanced concepts, Mike’s curated content of podcasts and videos will point you in the right direction.

Does video increase trust and engagement?

Does video increase trust and engagement?

It’s tempting to put video in eLearning or dictate that everyone has their webcams on during a virtual event, but what does the evidence say? Whilst webcams increase engagement, it can also create anxiety. Read some info and make the best informed choice for your organisation.

Fees for virtual workshops?

Fees for virtual workshops?

When you are freelance or run an independent company it can be a difficult to know what to charge for your training or services. When they are live online some people may expect them to be cheaper, but others think that there’s more involved. Have a read of some of the recommendations from our Community to help make your own decisions.

Producer documents to assist in delivery

Producer documents to assist in delivery

Some trainers have producers or co-facilitators to help them with the delivery, others are out on their own. Whichever category you fall into, our advice and examples on producer documents will help you work as a team or cut down the workload of an individual.

Design: how to decide about your interactions

Design: how to decide about your interactions

When we design our live online sessions, we want interactions, but we don’t want them repetitive and boring. Just how do we select the right approach? This tool, designed in associated with Breeio, can really help you consider which activity to use in which situation for your session.

Pictures, text on slides and narration – research

Pictures, text on slides and narration – research

Should you talk through the text on your slides, or let your learners read it for themselves? Does it add something when you talk but also have text-rich visual aides? Luckily the answers are all here for you.

Where to find free apps?

Where to find free apps?

There are so many free ‘apps’, or programs you can use on websites, but where can you find them? Some are shared here, and of course you are welcome to add to the list and tell us about your favourites!

Online fatigue and how we should design our online programmes

Online fatigue and how we should design our online programmes

Zoom fatigue became quite the buzzword, and we know we don’t want to put our colleagues and learners through another boring virtual session. This post explores how the design of our sessions should look at cognitive load and avoid that dreaded fatigue!

Should you use chat in large webinars?

Should you use chat in large webinars?

Using the chat panel in a virtual classroom is a given, it’s an amazing way to interact with everyone. But what if you are running a webinar with hundreds of people? What if those people might be competitors out to sabotage you or learners that might be a little naughty? We think you should still use chat, and this post discusses why.

Hardware considerations for your organisation

Hardware considerations for your organisation

Just what should you be buying when you are delivering live online events? Do you spend on monitors or microphones, headsets or accessories? We share our top tips for affordable and professional level hardware to make the most of your live online delivery.