Should all Face-to-Face Training be recorded and placed online?

Melissa,

You are right it will be long and boring. My question is do they want it online as a "reference" or resource for employees. Even that,
2-4 hour is a really long block of time to spend away from work-related tasks especially if you are only watching a non interactive training.

Are they open to any ideas from you? Because you can use your expertise to sway them in a different direction.

Good Luck!

...I usually refer to this as "Corporate Blairwitch Project".

They will be on their email after 5 minutes.

Bruce

We did a series of lectures entitled "an evening with" where we invited guest professors and recorded them.  My favourite was Sugata Mitra (the inspiration for slumdog millionaire).  We recorded them and then synched it to the slides.  They were the most viewed content on our site.

If done WELL, I agree that they can be excellent, and valuable - and the ones Phil produced obviously were.

When done poorly all they tend to do is fill up your servers.

Bruce

I can be done in a manner that makes it very useful and beneficial. Having said that, in order to make that happen you'll probably have a lot of time in post production cutting it all together so that is clear, concise and engaging. My opinion is that video should be chopped up into the smallest consumable pieces possible. Meaning that a 2 hr training can be chopped up into 10-15 minute "clips" that cover specific topics, it will get more use. Putting a 2hr video like this in front of someone is basically saying, "There is some cool and useful stuff in here...you get to try and find it.".  

I get these requests all the time, "We have a contractor coming in to do a single day training session. Can you video it?".  Who in their right mind is going to sit down and watch 8 hrs of instructor led training?

I like to use TED talks as a good example of what video training content should be. Rarely are they longer than 20 minutes. They use multiple angles and visual aids (slides, graphics, etc). The speakers are engaging and polished. A poorly done presentation is hard enough to sit through in person, it's worse on video. 

I wouldn't do it. Instead, I'd figure out a way you can create an online tool or resource for the information in the session to support sustainment efforts for the trainees and to support new hires who may need to learn about the information in the training.

We have done this approach, and it works out extremely well.

I always get agitated when lecturers request video equipment be set-up to record a long f2f session however expert the lecturer might be. We provide training for staff in the Community Services sector where they have very practical jobs which means that they struggle with sitting in front of a PC for any length of time. I definitely agree with Rich's idea that "video should be chopped up into the smallest consumable pieces possible.... a 2 hr training chopped up into 10-15 minute "clips" that cover specific topics." This is far more digestible and can be easily viewed at the learner's own pace.

I always try to rather obtain a lecturer's PowerPoint presentation as a basis for an eLearning module offering them a copy. At least their ppt presentations are usually organised into workable topics and subtopics. Adding a good recorded audio and/or video Q&A session with the subject matter expert can produce more succinct and focussed content to embed in eLearning modules.