GITP’s Jet Zantvoord about the success of virtual classrooms

“In our virtual classrooms there is a lot of room for personal attention”

Caroline van der SchaafDecember 20, 2021Examples

GITP’s Jet Zantvoord

about the success of virtual classrooms

The combination of learning and technology is irresistible to learning developer Jet Zantvoord. Not only in her work at GITP, but also in her free time, she likes to occupy her time with these two subjects.

Her online training course ‘Leadership: the Essence‘, won the aNewSpring award for GITP this year.

“ Our virtual classrooms are so popular that clients keep asking for online training. ”

Who is Jet Zantvoord?
• 1993 • lives with her partner in Utrecht • Education: General Social Sciences with a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Amsterdam • Business: Gemeenschappelijk Instituut voor Toegepaste Psychologie (GITP) • Function: learning developer, responsible for online learning • Likes: photography, dancing (salsa, bachata and ballroom dancing), running •

Was being a learning developer always your dream job?

“When I was younger, I wanted to be an actress; there was not much room in my head for alternatives. As I grew older, I abandoned that ambition. At the end of secondary school, I noticed that I found social issues very interesting. That is why I started studying General Social Sciences with sociology as my main subject. My focus was on behaviour within organisations. Why do people behave the way they do? And if you know that: what does that say about how we can motivate people?

Eventually I chose to do the Organisational Psychology master’s, with a focus on learning and development. For my master’s thesis I researched what the working elements of solution-focused coaching are: what makes people learn? During my studies I therefore discovered what I find interesting: getting people moving in order to develop themselves. And my work experience has taught me that I enjoy investigating the role that technology plays in this.”

In the meantime, you do many different things. In addition to your work at GITP, you have your own consultancy company and you take photographs.

“That is right. Photography is a hobby. I like the technical aspect of it, really understanding what I am doing, which is why I only photograph manually. In addition, the creative side of it appeals to me: it is a challenge to get the picture you have in your head onto the screen. I also like editing photos, I love technology and all the possibilities a computer offers. That you can turn a seemingly boring photo into something beautiful.

Recently I photographed ‘star trails’ for the first time, which clearly show that the Earth is rotating. You search for the pole star in the dark (with the help of a star app): then you get the effect that the other stars seem to revolve around it. It is a photo that consists of 138 loosely stacked photos. That means you have to be patient while shooting: I stood for 45 minutes in an open field in a forest at 4ºC. Then it remains exciting for a while, because you only know whether it was successful when you have stacked the photos on top of each other with the help of software.”

This photo was taken by Jet

What kind of projects do you do with your consultancy company?

“At the moment, I am mainly occupied with research into digital skills within the healthcare sector. In healthcare, almost everything is digitised. I am looking into what effect this has on a digital starter – we deliberately don’t use the term digital illiterate – and a team. I am also investigating the contribution of a digi-coach, someone who helps employees with their digital development. So, in a sense this is also a kind of learning and development issue. I also train these digi-coaches myself at Buro StrakZ, because by now I know what works and what doesn’t, how to get digital start-ups moving and what to look out for. I conducted a major study at 14 care homes for the elderly in Utrecht and I have just completed my research at Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland in Rotterdam and Schiedam.”

What makes this work so fascinating to you?

“My previous work experience at an academy in a large healthcare organisation has given me a soft spot for healthcare. It is such a beautiful profession with such great importance. When I see the struggles of people who are not digitally skilled yet, while they are expected to report every day and work with seventeen different systems… I hope I can change this with the results of my research. Besides, I just like to get totally immersed in something. That is a bit of my nerdy side.”

Why is learning important, in your opinion?

“ It sounds very cliché, but I do believe in it: the world around us and the competences needed are constantly changing, so it is important to keep developing yourself. ”

“In addition, I believe that learning only takes place under certain conditions: people only start moving if they are motivated, if they are challenged in a way that invites them to think about things a bit more deeply or to reflect on themselves.

I myself notice that learning new things keeps me sharp and that it gives me a lot of energy. I wish that for everyone: stepping out of your comfort zone, experiencing success, building self-confidence and seeing yourself grow.”

You have been working at GITP for two and a half years. Why did you choose this company?

“I feel completely at home at GITP. I find the themes we deal with very interesting and valuable. We help people to develop themselves, both professionally and personally. We create insight into people’s talent and their development potential. And then we help people develop through the training courses we offer. This involves subjects such as communication, cooperation and leadership in a valuable way.

From the perspective of psychology, I look at learning and development, and think about how we can best shape it. In addition, I am interested in technology and I find out how we can get things done or how I can make connections. I am happy with aNewSpring’s platform because you can build anything in it without having to be an IT expert.”

What is your role at GITP?

“I am responsible for online learning. All training courses we offer are blended. So, there is always a part that you follow via aNewSpring and for that part I am didactically responsible. Lately, I’ve been working a lot on our virtual classrooms.”

Who do you train?

“It is very diverse: we have clients from the profit and non-profit sector. From individuals with an organisation who like to follow an open training course with us, to large clients who purchase customised programmes from us. They are small, but also very large players. Experienced managers and new trainees.”

You won the title of Most Inspiring Learning Journey of 2021 with the training course ‘Leadership: the essentials’.

What kind of training is that?

“This is a training course from our open range. We offered it as a live and blended training, so the content already existed. Then COVID-19 came along and everything had to be online at once and all eyes were on me. Within a week, we had created a new design, the so-called virtual classroom, and the first training was already running. Really cool.”

“ Jet Zantvoord of GITP presented their solution at the aNewSpring in 2021 and landed first place with it. ”

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Why does this training course in particular stand out?

“We could in fact have submitted any training course in which we work with virtual classrooms. ‘Leadership: the essentials’ is a training course where it was quite exciting to see how it would turn out online. Because it worked out so well, we chose it. In my opinion, the set-up in particular makes it a success. We really looked through the eyes of the participants to see how this could become a good training. Because the dynamics and the energy are very different online than they are live.”

How is this set up?

“Everyone starts with a personal intake with the trainer, so they already know the trainer and have thought about what they want to learn. This way, the trainer gets to know the needs and learning requirements of a participant.

We also call the aNewSpring platform the cockpit. That’s where you do everything: you start there, arrange your intake, create your 360-degree feedback questionnaire there, contact the trainer and you find all the information you need there. The participant prepares themselves here and then meets with the other participants and the trainer in the virtual classroom.

A live training course in the virtual classroom never lasts longer than an hour and a half, and there is interaction every five minutes. This happens, for example, by handing out post-its, a poll, giving someone a turn or by breaking into break-out rooms. This keeps people sharp and involved. After that hour and a half, they have a break to do assignments independently and to get away from the screen for a while. Then there is another virtual classroom.

After the lunch break, there are personal development sessions. The group – with a maximum of eight participants – splits up. There, they practice in groups of no more than four with personal case histories, along with an actor and/or trainer. We often hear that working with cases has such an impact. There is a lot of room for personal attention, also online.”

You would expect that there would be a little less involvement than in a live training course?

“The deliberate choice to have small groups and the input of individual cases work very well. The trainer also asks a lot of questions online in order to understand your case well. I am very proud of how our trainers have mastered online training and how well they have learned to read online signals. We have also invested heavily in the training and coaching of our trainers.

Even now that on-site training is possible again, there are plenty of people who say: just let me do an online training, because I actually like it. For example, because it allows them to focus better, or because it makes them feel more comfortable than in a large group. The trainers themselves have experienced it so positively that nowadays they often advise clients to continue doing parts online. For trainers, the quality of a training course is the most important thing, so if they find this a worthwhile alternative, then that is a sign to me that it has been successful.”

So, this training is a keeper?

“Yes, the training will remain as it is now. So, you can always follow the training in a virtual classroom. A number of aspects work so well that we also use these elements in tailor-made programmes, such as online personal intakes or interim online intervisions. These new possibilities make it even easier to put together a rich programme with the best of both worlds.”

Why do you like working with aNewSpring?

“ That is actually twofold. I really believe in the power of the platform.

The adaptivity, the ease of use, the links that are offered, the possibilities that you have to build into the platform yourself: almost everything I need is there.”

“And if I miss something, I let them know and it gets added to the wishlist. Sometimes it can take a while, but I always get a message when they have included my wish in a new release. It is a platform that lets you think along, and I think that is very good. Every new release is valuable anyway, it always adds something…

The other reason I am so happy with this platform is the service of all aNewSpring colleagues. This ranges from the support heroes, who are really fantastic, to my customer success manager who thinks along with me so nicely and my account manager who is always easy to reach. I really enjoy working with a team that is so reliable and helpful. When I first started here, I called the aNewSpring staff almost every day and there was never one person that I found to be impatient.”

What would you still like to learn?

“I sometimes think about really going into the didactic side again, for example to do the master’s in Educational Science and Technology in Twente. That would bring together two interests for me: the educational side and technology. I would also like to learn to code, so I can make beautiful things myself in addition to the possibilities that aNewSpring offers. On top of that, I would be interested in gaining more knowledge on how to make beautiful programmes using virtual reality. And I would like to learn more about videography. Actually, there are a lot of things I still want to learn.”

About the author

Caroline van der Schaaf

Likes to ask a lot of questions, because by being constantly curious, you learn a lot about the most diverse people and subjects.

On the wish-list to learn: playing guitar, Italian

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“In our virtual classrooms there is a lot of room for personal attention”

GITP’s Jet Zantvoord

about the success of virtual classrooms

Was being a learning developer always your dream job?

In the meantime, you do many different things. In addition to your work at GITP, you have your own consultancy company and you take photographs.

What kind of projects do you do with your consultancy company?

What makes this work so fascinating to you?

Why is learning important, in your opinion?

You have been working at GITP for two and a half years. Why did you choose this company?

What is your role at GITP?

Who do you train?

You won the title of Most Inspiring Learning Journey of 2021 with the training course ‘Leadership: the essentials’.

What kind of training is that?

Why does this training course in particular stand out?

How is this set up?

You would expect that there would be a little less involvement than in a live training course?

So, this training is a keeper?

Why do you like working with aNewSpring?

What would you still like to learn?

Caroline van der Schaaf

Did you like our blog?

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“In our virtual classrooms there is a lot of room for personal attention”

GITP’s Jet Zantvoord

about the success of virtual classrooms

Was being a learning developer always your dream job?

In the meantime, you do many different things. In addition to your work at GITP, you have your own consultancy company and you take photographs.

What kind of projects do you do with your consultancy company?

What makes this work so fascinating to you?

Why is learning important, in your opinion?

You have been working at GITP for two and a half years. Why did you choose this company?

What is your role at GITP?

Who do you train?

You won the title of Most Inspiring Learning Journey of 2021 with the training course ‘Leadership: the essentials’.

What kind of training is that?

Why does this training course in particular stand out?

How is this set up?

You would expect that there would be a little less involvement than in a live training course?

So, this training is a keeper?

Why do you like working with aNewSpring?

What would you still like to learn?

Did you like our blog?

Check out more content like this

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