Pivoting to Virtual Classrooms

Online training needs well-conceived implementation strategies and tactics, as interaction among trainees and trainer changes significantly from the traditional learning environment. Mario Pierobon explores how some ATOs are approaching virtual classroom management.

As travelling became difficult this past year, if nigh impossible at times, virtual classrooms have flourished everywhere in the domain of aviation training. Early in the unfolding of the pandemic, replacing traditional classroom training with online learning was perhaps considered a temporary measure, and it came with some degree of improvisation. As it became clear that online training was here to stay, beyond the duration of the pandemic, the aviation training industry responded with more structure to online lessons.

Skyborne Airline Academy (Gloucestershire, UK) – which launched their Virtual Airline Training Platform (VATP) in March 2020 – learned that each of its ATPL trainees responds differently to virtual learning. One main difference between classroom and online learning is the method of engaging with the trainees.

“In a classroom, one can pick up on body language and engage with trainees easily by asking questions,” says Ian Cooper, Chief Operations Officer. “During virtual learning, this can prove more difficult as instructors do not have all the normal interactions and interruptions, such as trainees asking questions during the lesson.”

The interaction difficulties can impact non-verbal communication between students and the instructor. “The quality of the different internet connections of the students had a huge impact on our choices. In our experience, for example, it did not allow students to have their video on during the lessons, as it would severely affect the quality of the lesson of the students with the slowest connections,” says Luis Martins, Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor at FTE Jerez (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain).

Skyborne also found that the pace of online learning is quicker than lessons delivered face-to-face. “To prevent lessons becoming sterile, we are purposely asking our instructors to slow down and take their time. Another difference between face-to-face and online learning is space and movement. In a classroom, our instructors can move around the room and split the trainees into different groups to work on different tasks,” says Cooper. “Working online makes this slightly harder; however, we have taken to using virtual ‘breakout rooms’, allowing groups to work simultaneously.”

One disadvantage of the virtual classroom is the difficulty in reaching the learning style of each trainee in attendance. “Some of the more pragmatic trainees prefer the tactile approach that a classroom offers where they can discuss face-to-face with their peers and instructors. This is especially noticeable within navigation, flight planning and aircraft performance lessons in which we run through lots of worked examples using flight computers and charts,” says Tedd Pinkney, Head of Ground School at L3Harris (London Gatwick). “Unfortunately, remote teaching is a little lacking in these areas and require brush-up physical lessons prior to any assessment activity.”

According to Tim Nickel, Head of the Flight Operations Academy at Lufthansa Aviation Training (Frankfurt, Germany), the difference between online and distance learning overall is not as significant if the trainer can manage the change. “Our participants were used to sitting comfortably in a hotel and a cosy classroom, away from the routine, then suddenly they had to attend training from home. There was some resistance due to the missing social interaction component, so we did a social event online and people felt comfortable again because a spirit of togetherness was developed. Even people who would have been shy wanted to be part of the ‘buddy’ experience. So, in managing the transition to online training it is important to provide this social component,” he says.

Recharging Time

Rest breaks, not surprisingly, are one of the crucial aspects to the transition to virtual classrooms. The normal face-to-face schedule of theoretical training comprises six hours of training per day, usually split into three in the morning and three in the afternoon, with a 15-minute break between periods and a one-hour lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions. According to a white paper issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on training quality when classroom instruction is delivered via virtual classrooms, the amount of time spent in effective virtual classroom should not exceed five hours per day and a break of at least 15-20 minutes should be planned for every hour of online training.

According to Nickel, however, it is important to maintain a flexible approach and use the poll function of online learning platforms to ask the group and see what is best in terms of taking a break, a longer break or a shorter lunch break. “Participants should be engaged in these decisions so that the time is managed according to everyone’s needs,” he says.

Indeed, each training organisation has different experiences about the number of breaks and time management in general. In the experience of FTE Jerez, the 15-minute break was insufficient and too demanding on the instructors and students.

“After one week we moved to 1.5-hour periods, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, with a 30-minute break between lessons and the same one-hour lunch break,” says Martins. “This proved to be a very successful change because longer periods mean less subjects taught per day, which helped our students’ assimilation. We found out that switching between the mindset required for different subjects proved to be more complicated in the online instructor-led mode. Longer periods also mean more time per class to engage with the students and 30-minute breaks allowed for a more effective rest between lessons.”

At L3Harris, students may have a whole morning of principles of flight and then an afternoon of meteorology, but each topic would encompass two or three different lessons. “In a classroom setting, we would ensure students had a 10- to 15-minute break every hour, but this tends to be more regular online, allowing each student to ‘stretch their legs’ every 40 minutes or so,” says Pinkney.

Skyborne has split its lessons into manageable 20-minute chunks to allow for maximum concentration and more interaction between instructors and students. “We also factor in breakout sessions and question-and-answer time to switch focus and keep learning fresh. Our trainees have told us that these techniques have really helped their learning whilst at home,” says Cooper. “With regards to time management it is also important to keep to a schedule to maximise everyone’s time and avoid lessons overrunning. However, for our trainees who wish to run through topics in more detail, they can make use of Google Classrooms for valuable one-to-one time with their instructors.”

Connectivity Concerns

Certainly technology allows playing audio and video segments during a virtual classroom as much as during face-to-face. “The only challenge is if any of the trainees have bandwidth problems and may not be able to monitor videos at the same speed as their peers. However, there is sufficient flexibility and spare time should our instructors need to slow down the delivery, ensuring that each piece of material has been understood before moving on,” says Pinkney.

When students have connection problems, it is recommended that the trainer provide a link that the students can watch locally on their own devices, according to Martins.

Nickel recommends using the ‘flipped classroom’ technique whereby the participants are asked to play a file before classroom that provides ‘food for thought’ and enables engaging discussions during training.

Analysing Online Feedback

When online, it can be more difficult to receive feedback on whether the participants are following and/or comprehending, but there are ways to ascertain this in virtual classrooms.

L3Harris’ instructors are trained to encourage students to interact and give comments throughout – whether in a classroom or online.

“We always stress from day one, that a student should never go away from the lesson not understanding an aspect of the lesson. If a student does not understand something, they must make sure that the instructor is aware, and we can rectify this. Where necessary we arrange separate follow-up sessions to go over material or ideas,” says Pinkney. “Instructors have become very good at using the embedded chat function. When sharing a slide which features a question or example, the trainees can be asked to make their calculations and place it into the chat function. We also use the poll function which allows a series of questions to be posed to the wider group. It does require a little setting up but allows the instructor to gauge the responses of all the trainees. We tend to stick to the multiple-choice format, but it can be a good tool to quickly consolidate learning and act as a checkpoint.”

Every week throughout the remote training courses, Skyborne surveys its trainees to gather feedback on what is working and then adapt the following week’s lessons accordingly. “We ask all our trainees to turn their cameras on whilst they are learning, as this allows our instructors to engage with them and monitor how they are following the online lesson. Our staff are well trained to pick up when a student is struggling or losing focus, which is why it is important to have regular breaks,” says Cooper.

Yet, when bandwidth issues affect the online learning experience, it may be necessary that students join with video and audio muted, to ensure everyone can follow the lesson as best as possible. “To ensure everyone follows and to check comprehension at FTE Jerez we established a form of classroom etiquette, whereby priority is given to verbal interaction, rather than using the chat, and the students know how to use the ‘raise hand’ function of the virtual classroom software,” says Martins. “Whenever a student has a doubt, he must raise his hand and wait for the instructor to call on him/her. S/he would then unmute and ask the question.”

The online learning management system through Moodle that Skyborne created following the first lockdown in 2020 has numerous questions that have been set by its instructors and are released at certain points during the ATPL ground school modules.

“The trainees then have to answer the questions and share with our instructors for marking, who then deliver feedback. This is a great way of monitoring how our trainees are getting on and where they may need additional help,” says Cooper. “We also record every lesson for our trainees and upload these videos to the learning management system so they can watch them again. This is proving to be a good resource as all our lessons are in one place which helps with revision.”

Waterfalls and Zoom Rooms

According to Nickel, the so-called ‘waterfall’ is a valuable classroom management technique to use in virtual classrooms. “The trainer can use the group chat functions to ask a question to which the trainers should answer in the group chat but need to wait to press enter, then all answer at the same time. The answers appear as a ‘waterfall’ and seamlessly a discussion emerges with all the participants engaged. It is like everyone is coming to the blackboard,” he says.

Image credit: Skyborne Airline Academy.

Indeed, the instructors must make a point of having direct interaction with every single person in the class, to ensure they have fully understood the content of the lesson. “This not only makes the sessions more interactive but encourages maximum participation throughout a session as a trainee can never be quite sure when they will next be asked a question,” says Pinkney. “We have also trialled the Zoom rooms function. This allows trainees to collaborate and work through longer examples and come back to the larger group. It is certainly good for developing some competition or differentiating between groups of different abilities. For certain scenarios, case studies or discussions, it can be a useful method.”

A tip for instructors to ensure high levels of engagement during an online class is to ask open-ended questions, according to Cooper. “This enables students to get involved, set up their own group tasks and to lead their own mini-lessons or sessions for the benefit of their fellow classmates. Our instructors have set our trainees several presentation tasks and it has worked really well because it is a great indicator to see if our trainees have fully understood a topic or not,” he says. “These virtual presentations have really increased the confidence of our trainees and further enriched their ground school training. I have been particularly impressed with how well our newest trainees have taken to virtual learning.”