Time is of the essence to get your team trained and ready for in-person programming. If you haven’t moved your professional development online yet, there’s no time like the present. Follow these steps to get jump started.

1) Identify how your staff accesses online learning content. Are they smartphone, tablet or laptop users? Most staff use mobile devices to access learning content, but if you’re training managers and coordinators they are more likely to use laptop or desktop computers. Why does this matter? When you design learning content, you want to think about how much space will be taken up on the user’s screen. If you’re planning for mobile users, you need content that is brief, succinct and to-the-point.

2) Choose a tool to deliver the training. A learning management system is really helpful here. If you already have one, great. Now is a good time to get to know the in’s and out’s of the LMS. If you don’t have one, that’s OK. You still have some quick and inexpensive options to develop your trainings:

Narrated PowerPoints. You can take existing slide decks and record yourself giving the presentation as you would if you were live or in-person. Loom is a super-easy screen recording tool that allows you to record your slides as well as the video of you talking. If you take this approach, keep your presentations short—like 20 minutes or less.
Flashcard-Type App. If you’ve got staff who learn best on their phones and content that includes text, video links and images, you can offer micro-learning through a flashcard type app. Think about content like A Quick Start Guide to Setting Community Agreements with Youth, 5 Go-To Facilitation Strategies, Ten Routines that Support SEL, Emergency Procedures Quick Access…you get the idea. We like TalentCards as a tool. They are so easy to develop and can be deployed quickly by sharing a link with your team to download the app. A subscription can be costly depending on the number of staff you have, but you can also cancel at any time. So, if you only need this kind of training for summer…you might cancel after 3 months.
Quick Start LMS. Yeah, it may be a little late to start the process of selecting, managing and building out content within a learning management system for summer training. If you want something but really have no time to develop it, you could jump to something like Rise.com. This has the popular course authoring software Articulate Rise as part of the LMS. And you can develop your own courses fairly quickly. There are also ready-made courses that could be applicable to your team like Developing a Growth Mindset. This system is a bit on the costly side if you have more than 100 people to train, but it does come with a free 30-day trial and you can purchase on a monthly basis, cancelling any time.
LEARN>Without Limits. We’ve launched a set of must-have courses to prepare front-line staff for summer programming. These three courses will ground staff with a positive youth development framework that helps them understand and navigate the trauma of COVID-19, racial injustice and the social-emotional toll young people have endured this year. Then, staff will get ready to support a positive culture and climate that fosters belonging. The benefit with these courses is that you don’t have to develop them. Just sign your team up!

3) Design the learning for an online environment. You are already coming to this work with assets, knowledge and experience that will transfer readily to the development of online PD. Take our quiz, What’s Your Online PD Super Power? to find out what you bring to the table and how to use it in the development of online PD. Then, take steps to get that learning online. To train your staff ASAP, you’ll need to get these pieces in place now. And, you know what? It’s totally doable. Start with the staff development you’ve used in the past, boil it down to the 3-5 absolutely critical knowledge and skills for staff to start the summer programming. Then, make it! You can (and will) supplement with regular staff meetings, check-ins and observational coaching.

Get Started Designing and Developing Your Online Professional Development