What is a Virtual Workshop?

Laptop screen view over woman shoulder during group videocall

To kickstart your professional development this year we have expanded our Virtual Workshop offering to include sessions on four key skills engineers need.

Find out what a virtual workshop is, how you learn, and what training courses are currently available:

What is a Virtual Workshop?

A Virtual Workshop is a structured live online classroom style delivery method for training and professional development.

Like our face-to-face training courses, they are facilitated by industry professionals and are outcomes focused.

The way we learn in person is very different to how we can learn in a virtual environment. To ensure the Virtual Workshop learning experience meets our education quality standards, the full-day training courses are broken down into easier to manage online sessions.

For example, Writing Winning Technical Documents, typically a full eight-hour day course can be restructured into four-hour sessions delivered over two days.

And a two-day course, like Engineering Due Diligence, can be restructured into two half-day virtual sessions delivered consecutively or a week apart to allow for reflection and application in practice.

How it works?

For the optimal online classroom learning experience, Virtual Workshops are interactive using tools such as break out rooms for discussions, activities based on practical case studies and two-way communication.

Participants have direct access to the industry facilitator and their extensive industry knowledge to resolve queries on the spot, discuss practical examples relevant to their work and go further into a specific topic.

Breaks are always structured into the sessions to increase engagement and reduce screen fatigue, and participant numbers are capped at 15 to ensure everyone can participate and interact with the facilitator.

Virtual Workshops also include a range of reference materials to help participants apply learnings in practice post-training and may also be combined with pre-reading or self-paced study elements to maximize the content covered in the course.

This combination of self-paced learning and live sessions ensures that the learners are engaged and driving their individual learning experience.

For example, the Financial Acumen for Engineers workshop has been designed in four training phases rather than running as a single event.

  • READY: pre-course preparation (starting with the online self-paced learning).
  • SET: the formal learning event (a mix of live virtual workshops and online self-paced learning).
  • GO: supporting and positively influencing participants to apply their learning at work and continue the learning journey.
  • SHOW: a results session sharing experiences of applying in practice and recognizing learning and achievement.

Another example is the Systems Engineering Tools for Delivering Transport Projects workshop. Prior to attending the live virtual workshop, participants are required to complete online activities to introduce the theories and concepts covered during the workshop.

What is available as a Virtual Workshop?

The following workshops are available for individuals to enrol in or for businesses requiring exclusive corporate training:

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