A background in IT, good people skills, and confidence in oneself are the beginning Virtual Assistant’s essential tools. Perfect service for our clients – if that’s what we’re aiming for – takes practice. A lot of practice! But to get there and stay on top of the game, we need to invest in training and continuing education. That translates to finding the time to learn and keep abreast of industry developments and office management practices.
A sure way of making time is to venture into the World Wide Web. Over the years I’ve learned to surf the Internet looking for education and training possibilities that I can do from home. I discovered Coursera last May while searching for an art course.
Today, I start another one, Foundations of Virtual Instruction where I hope to know more about the “history of virtual education, explore innovative tools, and examine key issues related to K-12 virtual instruction.1” I’m looking forward to improving my teaching skills as well. Below are three learning sites that may prove helpful to VAs.
Offering free online classes, Coursera partners with more than 80 universities. The courses are varied and topics range from plant research, virtual instruction, and art. In the course Foundations in Virtual Instruction, learners are provided with “the foundation for understanding the movement towards virtual instruction. It introduces fundamental knowledge needed by teachers to succeed in a technology-dependent, instructional environment.ibid”
An initiative by Canvas.Net, the course X-word Grammar: The Simple Sentence is “intended for English language teachers and students, world language teachers and students, and everyone else wishing to understand the structure of English.2” The course will strengthen writing and editing skills and solidify grasp of sentence mechanics.
Elance University offers over 23,000 online courses that are available for a fee. Registering in courses relevant to a Virtual Assistant’s career will pay huge dividends in future.
These three are just a drop in the sea of learning modules made available by the Internet; let’s use them, learn and stay ahead of the virtual industry game!
1 https://www.coursera.org/course/virtualinstruction
2 http://www.class-central.com/mooc/1141/canvas-net-x-word-grammar-the-simple-sentence
Written by Yoli P- The Help