Instructor-led training is a more traditional, top-down, teacher-oriented approach to learning that occurs in online or offline classroom environments. The approach connects instructors with students to encourage discussion and interaction in a group or individual context, with many enjoying ILT over other methods as they can seek direct clarification on a topic from the source. Instructor-led training (ILT), therefore, encompasses any form of training provided by an instructor in an online or offline classroom setting.
Understanding instructor-led training
For companies, instructor-led training is also used to train employees on complex topics that require interactive, hands-on experience.
Most favor instructor-led training because of its effectiveness in increasing knowledge retention among employees.
Relatively recent data on ILT shows that the method comprises 66% of all corporate training and development.
There are three general types of instructor-led training available today. These include:
Location-dependent
Or any form of training provided in a physical environment such as an office, workplace, training center, workshop, classroom, or in the field.
Virtual
This describes instructor-led training that is provided in a real-time, virtual environment.
Virtual training occurs on video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and has increased in popularity due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Blended
A hybrid approach of location-dependent and virtual training that caters to a broader mix of learning styles and facilitates more collaboration and discussion.
Education may occur via live webinars, podcasts, videos, quizzes, and in-field or practical exercises that supplement theory-based content.
Advantages of instructor-led training
Open dialogue
As hinted at earlier, two-way communication between the instructor and student is a hallmark of instructor-led training.
This allows the instructor to leverage student queries and ensure they understand the information presented.
There is also value in face-to-face interaction and the ability for both parties to read the facial expressions and body language of the other.
Less distraction
While remote learning is now extremely popular, it cannot compete with instructor-led training in terms of a distraction-free environment.
In a classroom setting where the student is under direct supervision and has often paid to be there, there is a reduced likelihood they’ll be distracted by social media or other temptations.
Disadvantages of instructor-led training
Cost
For companies who sell or utilise instructor-led training, the costs can be significant.
Expenses include instructor fees, venue rental, travel expenses, training materials, and instructor-specific refresher courses.
Reduced productivity
Unlike some forms of virtual training that employees can do in their own time, instructor-led training is normally conducted in business hours and can take several days to complete.
For the business, this means reduced productivity as employees undertake the training.
Key takeaways
Instructor-led training (ILT) encompasses any form of training provided by an instructor in an online or offline classroom setting.
There are three types of instructor-led training: location-dependent, virtual, and blended, which caters to a more diverse range of learning styles and situations.
Instructor-led training increases knowledge retention as instructors can adapt their teaching style based on student queries and body language. There are also fewer distractions in a formal classroom setting. However, ILT tends to be costlier for companies, and productivity is reduced when employees are requisitioned for learning.
Active listening is the process of listening attentively while someone speaks and displaying understanding through verbal and non-verbal techniques. Active listening is a fundamental part of good communication, fostering a positive connection and building trust between individuals.
Active recall enables the practitioner to remember information by moving it from short-term to long-term memory, where it can be easily retrieved. The technique is also known as active retrieval or practice testing. With active recall, the process is reversed since learning occurs when the student retrieves information from the brain.
The phrase “baptism by fire” originates from the Bible in Matthew 3:11. In Christianity, the phrase was associated with personal trials and tribulations and was also used to describe the martyrdom of an individual. Many years later, it was associated with a soldier going to war for the first time. Here, the baptism was the battle itself. “Baptism by fire” is a phrase used to describe the process of an employee learning something the hard way with great difficulty.
The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition was developed by brothers Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980. The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition is a learning progression framework. It argues that as one learns a new skill via external instruction, they pass through five stages of development: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert.
The Kolb reflective cycle was created by American educational theorist David Kolb. In 1984, Kolb created the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) based on the premise that learning is facilitated by direct experience. In other words, the individual learns through action. The Kolb reflective cycle is a holistic learning and development process based on the reflection of active experiences.
The Method of Loci is a mnemonic strategy for memorizing information. The Method of Loci gets its name from the word “loci”, which is the plural of locus – meaning location or place. It is a form of memorization where an individual places information they want to remember along with points of an imaginary journey. By retracing the same route through the journey, the individual can recall the information in a specific order. For this reason, many consider this memory tool a location-based mnemonic.
The Experience Curve argues that the more experience a business has in manufacturing a product, the more it can lower costs. As a company gains un know-how, it also gains in terms of labor efficiency, technology-driven learning, product efficiency, and shared experience, to reduce the cost per unit as the cumulative volume of production increases.
The Feynman Technique is a mental model and strategy for learning something new and committing it to memory. It is often used in exam preparation and for understanding difficult concepts. Physicist Richard Feynman elaborated this method, and it’s a powerful technique to explain anything.
Learning organizations are those that encourage adaptative and generative learning where employees are motivated to think outside the box to solve problems. While many definitions of a learning organization exist today, author Peter Senge first popularized the term in his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organisation during the 1990s.
The forgetting curve was first proposed in 1885 by Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist and pioneer of experimental research into memory. The forgetting curve illustrates the rate at which information is lost over time if the individual does not make effort to retain it.
Instructor-led training is a more traditional, top-down, teacher-oriented approach to learning that occurs in online or offline classroom environments. The approach connects instructors with students to encourage discussion and interaction in a group or individual context, with many enjoying ILT over other methods as they can seek direct clarification on a topic from the source. Instructor-led training (ILT), therefore, encompasses any form of training provided by an instructor in an online or offline classroom setting.
The 5 Whys method is an interrogative problem-solving technique that seeks to understand cause-and-effect relationships. At its core, the technique is used to identify the root cause of a problem by asking the question of why five times. This might unlock new ways to think about a problem and therefore devise a creative solution to solve it.
Single-loop learning was developed by Dr. Chris Argyris, a well-respected author and Harvard Business School professor in the area of metacognitive thinking. He defined single-loop learning as “learning that changes strategies of action (i.e. the how) in ways that leave the values of a theory of action unchanged (i.e. the why).” Single-loop learning is a learning process where people, groups, or organizations modify their actions based on the difference between expected and actual outcomes.
Spaced repetition is a technique where individuals review lessons at increasing intervals to memorize information. Spaced repetition is based on the premise that the brain learns more effectively when the individual “spaces out” the learning process. Thus, it can be used as a mnemonic technique to transform short-term memory into long-term memory.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
