From the Classroom teaching to Online learning – A personal experience

In this article, UKGI Learning and Design Specialist, James Best, reflects on his transition from teaching in a classroom to developing e-learning content, and looks forward to delivering value to learners and positively impacting their CPD experience.

I joined UKGI Learning Solutions as Learning Design Specialist in January 2024, after working as a humanities teacher.

I loved teaching, relishing my role as an educator and creating exciting lessons to motivate students. It was incredibly rewarding to witness the progress students made throughout lessons and the academic and social metamorphosis each cohort made. However, over time, what I loved about the professional was outweighed by the stress, challenges, and obstacles I experienced. But, as I closed the door on my teaching career, I opened another when I began my career at UKGI Learning Solutions.

Nonetheless, I still consider myself a teacher- a teacher with a new and exciting role. Whilst I am no longer in a classroom, developing students’ knowledge and understanding, I am creating educational content for the workplace which will help people to grow professionally and maintain competency. The thought of each course creating a widespread positive impact for multiple people and improving industry standards by aiding the development of skills and knowledge, excites me and reignites my passion for education.

The biggest adjustment has been the move from delivering learning face-to- face, to producing asynchronous online courses. I am a teacher who doesn’t know his students. Whilst creating online courses which truly motivate and engage learners can present challenges, I am determined to enhance the learning experience of users. Ultimately, my goal is for courses to become engaging educational programmes that facilitates true learning and imparts valuable knowledge, beyond fulfilling CPD requirements.

When creating online courses, I have begun to implement elements of the teaching strategies used in the classroom. For instance, whilst reading and comprehension will always be a valid, and in some cases necessary, approach to learning, I have made a concerted effort to diversify course models to enhance motivation and engagement. I have also begun to design and structure courses with a greater focus on learning objectives, with learning material and corresponding tasks and activities relating explicitly to these objectives. This ensures that all material is relevant to the user’s learning and that the course has a clear structure and purpose, making it easier to self-assess learning when completing tasks and activities.

There are of course continued challenges ahead when creating courses. The goal is for firms to view fulfilling CPD requirements via online learning as an exciting and beneficial opportunity for employees to increase competency and expand professional and personal skills and knowledge. This will require learners to become immersed in the learning, embrace the experience and participate in activities as intended. Learning is an exciting opportunity and courses should support positive engagement with it.

Our new strategies surrounding course design and content are set to enhance learning and look forward to what we can achieve and the positive changes we can make as time progresses.

To find out more about how The Development Zone can enhance your firm’s learning and development, aid you in fulfilling CPD regulatory requirements and efficiently assign, track, and record training, get in touch with our team at devzone@ukgigroup.com, or 01495 708037