DISTANCE LEARNING
We interviewed National Alliance CEO William J. Hold about how the company has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and what insurance professionals can expect from distance-learning. Mitch Dunford: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way educational organizations can provide the learning solutions our industry needs. Can you give us a summary of all of the online options currently available for National Alliance participants? William Hold: We have so many online options available right now. Participants can take a selfguided, self-paced course that includes online access to course content, including educational videos. All self-guided online courses have structured learning objectives for participants to work through at their own pace. Quizzes and interactivity are built into the self-paced courses so participants can take either a designation exam or review exam for CE credit. 12
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We also developed a distancelearning solution because we know our participants really enjoy classroom experiences and being able to network with peers and faculty. We love and cherish our faculty! Through our online instructor-led courses, faculty provide participants with the same practical education, claims examples, policy language, and endorsement issues, just like they do in the classroom. Online instructor-led courses are live sessions done via webinar. Instructors will often switch between the material in the course notebook and descriptions of their own realworld examples. Many will point out various online resources where participants can find information in real-time. This experience allows the participant
the opportunity to interact with faculty, which is great. We’re also experimenting with chat features to encourage interaction, so participants can ask questions and get answers in real-time. You can raise your hand via chat and get called on. Mitch Dunford: Are all National Alliance designation programs available in both self-paced and instructor-led formats? William Hold: That’s correct. Our newest instructor-led offering is our Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) designation program. Before, the only option for CISRs was the self-guided, self-study approach. But now we’re experimenting and expanding the CISR schedule with live faculty. Some courses are broken up and others can be completed in one day. Mitch Dunford: The National Alliance cancelled the Orlando MEGA Seminar in June due to the pandemic. Is the MEGA
