Thanks to technology, corporate training sessions now have a valuable ally. Audience polling systems, using wireless keypads to answer questions programmed in PowerPoint, have opened the door to learning processes that are more convenient, simple and immediate.
Audience polling systems are especially useful in the pharmaceutical, medical and health industries. In fact, a growing number of companies are now using this kind of technology to train their employees.
Training finds an ally in technology
Training is one of the cornerstones of any company, for which reason the use of tools that reinforce in-house training programmes is regarded by many specialists as a valued added aspect when transmitting knowledge. These tools feature the voting keypads developed by PowerVote.
Thanks to technology, corporate training sessions now have a valuable ally. Audience polling systems, using wireless keypads to answer questions programmed in PowerPoint, have opened the door to learning processes that are more convenient, simple and immediate.
Audience polling systems are especially useful in the pharmaceutical, medical and health industries. In fact, a growing number of companies are now using this kind of technology to train their employees.
According to Angel Herreros Villoria, continuous training project leader and co-ordinator at the College of Opticians-Optometrists, voting keypads constitute “an extraordinary efficient tool for improving training methodologies.”
In the opinion of Sonia Solbes Godina, a technician working for the training department of Farma Prescripción (Boehringer Ingelheim Spain), these systems constitute an exceedingly useful tool for facilitating in-house corporate training. “We use the keypads to ask for opinions about specific topics, test levels of comprehension during training sessions, and examine delegates.”
Nonetheless, according to Angel Herreros Villoria, some continuous training providers are still reluctant to use these systems in their programmes because they believe erroneously that they are complicated to use. This fear “is totally unfounded, thanks to the effort made by the systems’ designers to provide a platform and a systems programming that are very intuitive,” he insists.
Use and experience
The level of use of this tool varies from company to company. There are companies, such as Recordati, which use the system on very specific occasions, as Marta Jarque de la Gandara, training manager at this pharmaceutical company, explains: “We have used the keypads on three occasions to conduct a training test at sales conventions.”
But there are also companies that use audience polling systems in practically all their training programmes. For example, Boehringer Ingelheim Spain has been using “voting keypads for some time now, and not only at training courses, but also for business and sales purposes.” The company owns 45 keypads.
Nevertheless, the College of Opticians-Optometrists has the greatest experience in this field. Back in 1998, the college was the first to conduct a training course for 80 Opticians-Optometrists using an interactive video platform. “The platform was not compatible with PowerPoint, which meant that it was exceedingly difficult to programme questions and answers,” Angel Herreros says.
Moreover, back then the keypads were large and heavy, “as well as being three times as expensive to rent or buy than they are now.” Despite the limitations of those first tools, however, Angel Herreros confesses that the experience “was much appreciated by the attendees and the trainer.” And it was undoubtedly a milestone for in-house training at the company, which still uses the interactive video platform, along with PowerVote’s keypads.
Attributes
Audience polling systems go a long way to facilitating training for both students and teachers, alike, simplifying, speeding up and personalizing the process. Those who habitually use these tools are quick to recognize these attributes. “Before, when asking a question or for opinions out loud, only the most extrovert attendees, or those most familiarized with the subject, answered or expressed their opinion. The rest said nothing. On the contrary, the keypads allow you to pose a collective question and receive individual answers, doing away with the traditional stage fright,” explains Sonia Solbes Godina.
Likewise, Angel Herreros puts the accent on the advantages that interactive systems offer teachers. “They allow you to know in real time the aspects and themes that you must concentrate on during training sessions,” he states.
In addition, on having access to personalized information about each student at the beginning of the training course, it is possible de compare results with the continuous evaluation and, basically, the final evaluation of acquired knowledge. “During training sessions, teachers can identify in real time the themes that they need to focus on to ensure efficient learning,” he concludes.
When asked about the advantages of using audience polling systems in training sessions, teachers point out that they are more flexible and time-saving than traditional systems. “The fact that corrections are done automatically is very useful, since this helps to avoid mistakes, which often occur when correcting paper tests with which you have to add up the points scored for each correct answer. The keypads allow us to save a lot of time,” Sonia Solbes Godina points out.
