Abstract:

Sustainable E-Learning trainings basically require an interactive design adapted to the interests of the specific target group, to the didactical possibilities of the used E-Learning tools and to the technical and structural framework of the training participants. When offering Soft Skills trainings as part of Vocational Educational Trainings (VET) in an international context, the demands are even much higher. The training design does require considering culture-specific peculiarities in a high extent as well as knowledge about different Learning Tools Preferences in a specific country and different framework conditions concerning technical and social infrastructure. The paper refers to a multidisciplinary project about the intercultural transfer of vocational training content and methods, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, using the example of China. The planned paper describes insights about the demand and the design of hybrid trainings in a virtual classroom with the focus on soft skills for team leaders, an increasingly meaningful training topic in digital age.

Both - online trainings in virtual classrooms as well as soft skills trainings - are important topics when it comes to educational reforms on national as well as on international level. We understand “hybrid” learning as a mixture of face-to-face training parts and synchronous e-learning by using a virtual classroom, in this case the software vitero with its special graphic user interface and its specific functions for interactive communication. The growing diversity of hybrid learning formats with globally distributed participants (joining either as individuals or sitting together in a physical room) and instructors (acting either remotely or as part of a face-to-face setting) requires a constant monitoring to keep an overview about the range of technical and didactical possibilities. There is a high demand from training providers as well as from in-company training academies for guidance and assistance how to transfer existing trainings in attractive online-formats for local employees and students in a quick and economical way - especially if the concept and didactical approach comes from a foreign country e.g. where the parent company is located.

For the future, it will be necessary to exploit the still highly unused potential of global live e-learning in virtual classrooms in a. means of a well thought-out didactic and interactive design considering culture-specific requirements and b. selecting the appropriate tools and formats from the wide variety available.

Experiences of the pilot trainings and results of interviews with training experts within the German-Sino cooperation project, will reveal some success factors for the design of soft skills trainings in an interactive hybrid format. Furthermore, the potential of interactive hybrid E-Learning Scenarios in general – independent of the training content - is shown and discussed.

Keywords:

Online learning, hybrid learning scenarios, virtual classroom, soft skills, culture-sensitive didactics.