Traditionally, Autodesk used to hold tow annual training events for its partners in the United States and Canada. These events were attended, and more than 300 sales people, who learned about new product features and the customer base, and more than 700 engineers, who learned how to support the products. The high cost, planning demands, and logistical support needed for the annual training events motivated Autodesk to redesign the training.

Autodesk decided to convert the face-to-face, instructor-led training event to a virtual classroom, the program’s core content (which included Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and product demonstrations) was reviewed. Quality content was kept other materials were either revised or eliminated “rooms” from the program. To make the content more engaging, interactive and to keep participants motivated, polls, questions and answers, and quizzes were developed. Questions, exercises, and pulls kept learners’ attention and provided insight into whether learning was occurring. The instructional designers created rooms in which each case was held. They also developed pods that delivered a specific learning activity, such as conducting an exercise. Session maps were created for instructors to use as outlines for their presentations. This helped instructors organize content, plan interactions, and identify necessary technical support. All roles and responsibilities for the virtual learning event were carefully defined. To help facilitate the instruction and aid the instructor, each event had a producer, host, and moderator. The producer facilitated the learning event, loaded files sharing, was responsible for rehearsing and kept the session running on time. The hose presented an overview of the session, reviewed tools and providing closing comments. The moderator was responsible for answering learner questions and solving technical issues. The crew held practice sessions to help the instructor become comfortable with giving the class and keep the pace fast to maintain the learner’s interest.

Identify the design elements which help ensure that participants learned and put it into practice. Explain how these design elements encourage learning and transfer.