You should have all of your content and learning activities prepared well ahead of time. Both should link directly back to your stated learning outcomes. If your training is a single event such as an afternoon workshop, this will be fairly straightforward because you will need to have everything ready for that one day.
However, if your training is a series of events or an ongoing course, it can be tempting to only plan for the first session or the first module and then hope to add content as you go along. However, you should know what you are going to cover in each session or module and have it ready well ahead of time. In an asynchronous setting, you can choose to allow participants to move through the material at their own pace or you can post content and related activities at specific intervals. Some online learning technology allows you to have everything posted and set up well ahead of time, and you can make individual modules or sessions invisible until the appropriate time. This can be a very valuable feature if you include assignments, quizzes or tests with your training.
If you are including a discussion forum or even a live chat with your training, it is also important to have topics and individual posts prepared ahead of time. This can help get conversation started. For example, you can post an introductory message that lets participants know about you, your organization and the training you are offering. You can then in turn ask them to introduce themselves. As the discussion progresses, you can add informational postings and then ask questions about them. Similarly, you can pose questions about the training content. Encouraging participation in online training will be more fully explored in the Online Facilitation module.
