Lessons learned going virtual
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report May 2020
Online education can be highly efficient and effective.
STLE offers a selection of online learning resources for members looking to make productive use of time despite the disruption of normal business routines.
In a normal year, this is the month when STLE conducts professional education courses for about 400 individuals during the Annual Meeting. In addition, STLE Local Sections sponsor education programs that serve audiences in a local or regional area.
Obviously, this is not a normal year. STLE, like organizations and people around the world, has altered operations and taken extraordinary steps to help fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Illinois, where STLE’s headquarters office team is located, was one of many states to issue a stay-at-home order for workers. My colleagues and I quickly transitioned to become a virtual office during the duration of this order.
In addition to keeping basic operations and member services as close to normal as possible, we put an emphasis on utilizing online educational resources to learn more about how to operate remotely and to expand our professional skills and knowledge.
Personally, this experience created a new appreciation for the power of online learning. I attended several webinars that provided vital information on how associations, like STLE, could adapt to challenges presented by the pandemic. Likewise, there were other webinars that expanded what I knew about managing remote teams and strengthening an organization’s digital profile.
In short, these all were highly efficient and effective learning experiences. The quantity of useful content far exceeded the time and money invested.
Recognizing the need to provide similar experiences to our members, the STLE staff during the past six weeks took steps to spotlight online learning opportunities for members wanting to make productive use of time despite travel limitations and a disruption of normal business routines. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
We got a sign this would be true from information gathered through an extensive STLE membership survey earlier this year. In this study, 70% of member respondents selected recorded webinars as their number one learning format preference. Live webinars and podcasts also were rated as one of respondents’ top three preferred formats.
STLE still has more work to do to upgrade its virtual education program, but there is a considerable amount of quality content available right now. For example, there are more than 150 recorded webinars available on the STLE website. You will find them under the “professional development” menu tab. To supplement that, the site provides a digital archive of more than 140 issues of TLT magazine dating back to 2009. By conservative estimate, that’s more than 10,000 pages of valuable technical content that’s accessible at the click of your mouse.
Members looking for a more structured learning experience can utilize a self-paced website tool called Learning Pathways. It provides an individualized approach to professional development by categorizing educational resources on must-know topic areas for professionals in the lubrication or oil analysis field. These resources include access to CRC Press books, STLE webinars, TLT technical articles and online short courses.
Are we writing a final chapter to STLE’s 76 years of live educational programming? Not in the least. While online learning fills a gap and provides more educational options, remember our value proposition remains: Connect. Learn. Achieve. Watch for the return of live training and education offerings through STLE and its Local Sections soon.
Editor’s note: Please check the
STLE website for the latest information on the STLE 2020 Annual Meeting and other events.
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.