My company offers web-based training for each of our products (software programs) using web-conferencing software. I have been tasked with revising the existing training programs to increase learner engagement. Currently the trainer delivers information on each module and then does Q&A. What are some novel ideas/activities to increase knowledge transfer and the "fun" factor of this training?

Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Use situation based questions - second person (you) job-related questions. Example, "You log into the system and check the status of an order. You see that it ... What would you do? Now part of the interest you can build is NOT just "correct" or "not correct" but rather to give feedback as to what would happen if you did that (a or b or c or d). Natural consequences. You can give the feedback yourself or you can ask the class, "What would happen if we did A (or B or C or D)?"

By using second person questions, you automatically engage the person. By making the job-related, you increase transfer to the job.

Beware of "fun" games that do not support transfer to the job. Possible exception is rote memory kinds of things.

I suggest a couple of books by Jennifer Hofmann and one by Ruth Clark.

The Synchronous Trainer's Survival Guide
Live and Online!
The New Virtual Classroom

Also visit www.insynctraining.com to see the courses they offer on this topic and they also have free events on their calendar-- such as "games synchronous trainers play" etc.

In addition to Ben and Amy suggestions adding up Inline questions and show me/try me activities in a course would also help in making it more engaging and interactive for the learner.

Since you are doing synchronous training (learners will be on the web conference at the same time), there is the potential to stimulate interaction among the learners, as well as between the learners and the instructor. I wonder if it might be possible to create a game? This can be challenging for software training, but, for example, I've seen a PowerPoint-based Jeopardy-type game used via web conferencing as a review in training on Microsoft Office applications.

I find that with web conferencing there is always the potential for technical issues to interfere, and if this happens, doing something so interactive could increase the level of frustration. Still, in the right environment, some kind of game might be worth a try. I find that nothing engages learners like a little competition!