Training Gone Digital: Strategies for Hosting and Learning in Web-Based Seminars

Web-based seminars, or webinars, are becoming ubiquitous not only in education, but in business and not- for-profit sectors. Professional organizations use webinars to offer professional development opportunities; universities are using webinars through extension services to educate the general public; educational programs are using webinars to build relationships with students and potential students; businesses are using webinars to promote new products and services; and libraries are using webinars to maximize training and demonstration opportunities. Webinars allow anyone with something to say to tell their stories to anyone willing to listen. Better yet, recording allows creation of a permanent archive of such presentations. The web conferencing industry was to soon be worth over $3 billion and growing (Biba, 2008). One characteristic common to those who host webinars is existence of an educational component. While the purpose of the education may vary, webinar hosts all want their audiences to learn and remember the content. This presents a problem as very few of the webinars are based on sound education principles nor do they incorporate strategies to engage adult learners. While webinar hosts can boast high numbers of attendees, they cannot know whether attendees are engaged in the presentation or concentrating on other tasks. A recent survey of mostly training and education related webinar providers indicated only 32% of respondents regularly evaluated the effectiveness of their webinars and 22% never evaluated (Learningware, 2009). Respondents voiced concerns that many webinars are boring, have little or no interaction, and are plagued with technical problems. This presentation looks to the published literature and the experiences of the presenters to establish webinar best practices. Attendees will participate in a discussion of webinar pitfalls and successes and develop strategies to get the most out of hosting and attending webinars. Upon attending this session, attendees will: • Come away with an awareness of the pitfalls common to webinars. • Have reflected upon their own positive and negative webinar experiences. • Develop strategies to get more out of attending a webinar. • Receive tips on how to help ensure success in webinar hosting.