This paper will provide a structured overview of considerations of when online and when in-person training is more effective at conveying the content of a training. It is based on the experience of the “Software Curriculum” at Siemens Healthineers, a company active in the medical technology sector, but many of the insights are applicable for other use cases. We have almost 20 years of experience with a set of learning programs that address a core set of competences that is relatively stable over time. Although the content is relatively stable, the format of how the trainings are conducted vary – sometimes they are held in an online virtual format and in other cases they are held in-person. Furthermore, we have a qualification and certification process that is applied to determine whether the material is well-understood and applied – both in theory and in practice. Because we have a long-term setup with stable content and a systematic approach for measuring the results, we have learned in which cases online and in which cases in-person is most effective for training software practitioners. The bulk of the paper would summarize a set of insights related to the format of the training.

We would also address the need to know how to teach differently in these kinds of formats. For example in the online formats it is particularly important to also include “extracurricular” activities (for example cooking a meal together online or an online discussion about which part of the world the various participants are from) to get to know each other better. This happens naturally in in-person trainings, but we have to explicitly build that trust in online formats. Overlooking such aspects can significantly hinder how much the participant learns. One has to consider which aspects one should try to copy from in-person to online and which aspects can be done better differently online. For example, for our online trainings, we often have an online board which has different areas that are virtual rooms, virtual flipcharts, or virtual “water cooler” – this gives some familiarity with the typical structure of an in-person training. However, there are also areas where the virtual online world is more effective and it would not make sense to try to copy from the real world.

For some topics, learning in an online formats can very suitable. This is typically the case, for example, when learning technical content. But there are also topics that are better done through in-person training. A key example of this is a training that would change the way one thinks about problems or to change the “mindset”. We have recently had a number of “hackathons” which can also be a great learning experience. This approach often gives us a double benefit. On the one hand we can focus on new upcoming technologies and trends like ways to apply artificial intelligence as part of our software engineering activities. Secondly, it gives a community spirit and a foundation to discuss together what were the main, typically non-technical, things that were learned in the activity.

Although our experience is more as industrial practitioners, we welcome to discuss our perspective with others, also with those from an academic setting for example to hear about novel approaches for both online, in-person, or other kinds of formats to enable our participants to learn and apply the content effectively.

Keywords: Education, online, training formats.