TELECLASSES LEARNING

*Distance Learning For The Soul:

by Margie Kelley

"What risks are you taking?" a voice on the telephone asks. A succession of answers comes back over the wire.

"Well, my company moved and I chose to move with it. Now I am not so sure it was right," says M from Texas. "I want to do something else with my life, but I’m not sure what that is."

"I’ve decided to leave a very good job to start my own business," says another woman, from Massachusetts. "It feels fantastic but also terrifying to really be on my own."

Four more women, from across the country, weigh in on the phone call and then the first voice returns, telling the callers what to expect for the next hour.

"This class is on risk-taking," says Laurie Geary, a personal coach based in Boston. "I think you’ll come away from it with some solid ideas to help you muster up the courage to make changes—whether its in your career or your personal life—and to follow through to success."

Welcome to the teleclass — a hot new mode of distance learning aimed at helping you improve more than your grade point average. The teleclass lets you gain access to the advice and support of personal coaches, educators and trainers in a variety of fields, with out the hefty cost of one-on-one consulting.

A shared experience, the teleclass is aimed at helping "students" solve their own puzzles in career, health, business—life in general. For a modest fee, participants dial into a conference call where a coach, like Geary, will set the topic, facilitate the discussion and share knowledge to help callers set or meet their goals or learn new skills.

Promoted primarily over the Internet via web-based "tele-universities" like Coach University, Women’s U., and Teleclass.com, teleclasses focus on a wide range of self-help and self-improvement topics. Women’s U. (http://www.womensu.com) founder Elyse Killoran, touts the site as the first "virtual educational community by, for and about women." And its teleclass topics are as varied as the women who are visiting the site every day, from all over the world.

Need to change careers? Try "Risk Taking." Worried about going home for the holidays? Enroll in "Holiday Conflict: Ways to Reduce those Conflicts that Inevitably Occur." The lists are virtually endless, and change from week to week. There’s "Women and Leadership," "How To Achieve Financial Freedom," and "Fitness Training For Your Business," to name a very few more.

"A teleclass helps you to be more purposeful," says Geary, an accomplished educator and trainer, who graduated from Coach U. in October. "The people I meet through coaching and these teleclasses are people who have decided to move forward in their lives, who want to take some action. They tend to have already made some progress but just need some affirming. They’re already taking the risks.

"And teleclasses, are a less expensive way to gain access to a personal life coach," she says. "It gives people a chance to sample the benefits of coaching in a communal setting. It works very well."

Geary says she has met several of her clients through teleclasses. "My coaching clients pay about $300 a month for four half-hour one-on-one sessions,’ she says. "But the teleclasses can be free or cost as little
as $50 for four one-hour calls." According to Coach U. (http://www.coachu.com) founder Thomas J. Leonard, teleclasses offer a new way of learning which has several advantages over the bricks-and-mortar classroom model.

For one, students can dial in from anywhere in the world, which immediately adds to the discussion a wider range of perspectives than you might discover in a localized classroom, where everyone is likely to
share common attitudes due to their geographical proximity.

"We’ve had people from Japan, New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, and Germany," says Geary. "It’s very exciting and also, I think, comforting for people to discover that other people from all over the
planet are struggling with the same challenges to be healthy, happy, successful and self-actualized." "I love the format," says Sharon Hooper, an avid teleclass participant and Coach U. graduate who lives on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. "My interaction with people is limited unless I want to do a
lot of traveling. It takes more than an hour by ferry just to reach the mainland and it’s another hour to the closest city. Teleclasses have been a lifesaver!"

The format also allows individuals to cut to the "nitty-gritty" more quickly, says Geary, because the anonymity of the phone call eliminates the distractions of face-to-face interaction. "People are listening more closely, and they aren’t distracted by visual assessments of each other. They pay attention and they share more easily." Hooper agrees. "Teleclasses afford a freedom that you don’t have in person. I have found myself being more open on the telephone with people I’ve never met!"

In her teleclass on risking, Geary dispenses wisdom grounded in her own experience as mother, grandmother, teacher, Outward Bound instructor and coach. Geary is familiar with risk-taking and change and eagerly shares her personal experiences with class participants. But, she says it’s important that she works more as a facilitator and coach, helping the students in her risk-taking teleclass to learn from each other, rather than learning everything straight from her, as in a traditional teaching model.

"It sounds like M is having hard time getting support for her decision to quit," Geary says to her virtual gathering. "Does anyone else here have any suggestions for M? What’s has worked for the rest of you?"

"I found that the more resolute I was in my decision, the more support I got," chimes in a caller from the Midwest. "People can sense when you’re uncertain, and that’s why they won’t support you fully."

The lively exchange continues, with occasional laughter and acknowledgement of common experiences, until an hour has passed.

"Very often, we get to the end of a class and everyone is so energized that they don’t want to stop," says Geary. "It’s very stimulating and I often walk away with new knowledge myself!" Convenience is a major factor behind the growing success of the teleclass format. According to Leonard, the time commitment and cost of teleclasses are minimal, while the benefits of sharing across miles and experiences is invaluable. And, tapping into this knowledge from the comfort of home or office make it an unbeatable way to add learning to a busy life.

"Nothing beats taking a class in my pajamas," says one Massachusetts woman, who participated in Geary’s risk-taking class. "I can relax, and really focus on the topic at hand. And when it’s over, I don’t have to drive home, I’m already there!"

Who attends teleclasses?

"They’re very often people who see themselves as active participants in their own destinies," says Geary. "They want more passion, more motivation. They don’t want to wait for things to happen to them.
They’re the ones out there saying ‘I want my life to have meaning.’ Coaches are really the vanguard in helping people to self-actualization. It’s very exciting."

To participate, you need only a telephone, though access to the Internet is usually the only way to find and register for classes. Long-distance and conference call connection fees are additional, and run about $6 per call, depending on where the call is originated.

For more information, contact Geary at In Gear Coaching and Training at (617) 494-1422 or
email her at laurie@ingearcoaching.com.

Her website is at: http://www.ingearcoaching.com.