Dive Brief:

• To keep up with ever-evolving technology, Delta Airlines has begun remote training for the 10,000 staff members that service the airline's fleet, VC Daily reports.
• Delta was looking for a way to assist the training teams that spent most of their time on the road to provide ground crew training. Video conferencing served that need, with crews at their home bases, gathered around screens and guided through tasks, according to VC Daily. But the complexity of the information requires more effective presentation capabilities, so the training involves more than your typical video call.
• Working with Logitech and furniture designer Herman Miller, the company developed a virtual training room that "encourages natural human motion." Staff can move along the length of a fuselage while cameras track and follow them, among other features.

Dive Insight:

For most companies, the conference room serves a multitude of functions, from interviewing to presentations. But static environments, like a classroom, can make learning a challenge. For deskless employees, hands-on learning (or as close to hands-on as possible) can often better communicate knowledge tied directly to the work they perform. In Delta’s case, that's the aircraft itself.

The workspace is evolving, even outside of learning, with more focus on employee need than cubicle villages. Today's designs often look more at function than formality.

But learning and development professionals have long known they need to think outside the box (or hangar) when it comes to training employees, and technology is finally giving them the opportunity to do just that.