It is well-known that setting up a Learning Management System (LMS) for training is a big challenge. However, organizations face another major challenge after setting up an LMS - providing support to learners, managers, instructors and administrators. The cost for setting up an LMS can be one time or annual, which will be the fixed cost. But, for support, there are various options and companies incur variable costs. You should select the best option which suits your need and should be cost effective. Here are some of the options we suggest to our customers. 1. In-house support We recommend this option to our customers as it costs less and the LMS can be managed by the internal staff itself. We provide detailed training on learner and administrator level support, which is included in the LMS package we offer and send the recorded training videos for future reference. It is easy to provide both learner and administrator level support by the internal staff because of the intuitive features of the LMS. For providing administrator level support, a person should have basic technical knowledge of browsers, courses and other technical issues. As we provide the customized version of an open-source LMS, we provide the entire source code of the LMS which can be hosted on the customer server. This gives full ownership and security to the customer with respect to the LMS as they don’t have to depend on us. 2. Outsource to an LMS vendor We provide an optional service of LMS administration support. We allocate dedicated resources 24 x 7 or for specific time zones. We charge based on the number of users and support activities effort. We provide log report of each ticket. We will allocate one technical person to handle all technical issues or administrator level queries and one non-technical person who takes care of all non-technical and learner level issues. 3. Outsource only administrator level LMS support: Another option is the combination of the first two options. Most of our customers have selected this option because they don’t have a technical team. In this option, the administrative team of the customer will handle all non-technical and learner level issues. They will be the first point of contact for learners. Resolution of technical issues and administrator level queries will be outsourced. As we provide LMS administration support as an optional service, we suggest all these options to our customers, so that they can select the right option based on their need or resource availability. Usually two dedicated resources are enough to provide LMS support for 10,000 users. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsSeven Support Levels for LMS AdministrationReducing LMS Support Requests - Insider Secrets - Free PresentationGet Rid of Your LMS Administration Headaches

As you all know, scenarios are a great way to make e-learning interactive. Use scenarios when motivation to learn is low and application of concepts is important. Scenarios help in engaging your learners and reinforce the learning objectives you set for your e-learning course. Scenarios make content realistic and engaging, and this helps learn effectively. Scenarios are ideal to teach the learner a task he needs to perform at work. They work well as the learner can relate to something that he does on a day-to-day basis. One of our clients who is into the healthcare business wanted to train their new sales reps on products. After analyzing the content, we realized that the application of concepts is more important. Based on the content, we wanted to create highly interactive (level 3) slides supporting 3 audio voices; one for a sales rep, one for a doctor and one for the narrator who will first introduce the characters to the learner. When we shared this strategy with our client, it said, "We can’t pay so much for customization. Just create a static screen." As learning experts, we educated our client saying that the performance of learners is more important than mere completion of the course. We advised them to spend a little amount, so that we can create level 2 interactivities for the course. We used the same audio narrator for both characters by just modulating the audio. The client agreed for this strategy, and we started developing the courses. We reinforced the learning in the following ways. 1. At the end of the course, we added a clinical application slide with a scenario in which a sales representative communicates with a doctor. We have created a few situations that sales representatives might face in a clinic. The scenario enhances the representatives’ scientific and communication skills and improves the ability to handle queries and objections. 2. We have also given the application part of each topic of the content soon after the completion of the topic. You can make scenarios as complex or as simple as you want. It all depends on the topic you are presenting and what your learning objectives are. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesImportance of the Audio Component in E-learningWhat Exactly Should an ID do to Develop an Effective E-learning Course?

According to Horizon Report, 2011, by 2015 about 80% of people will be accessing the Internet from mobile devices only; the main purpose being knowledge acquisition. So, quite naturally organizations are looking to harness this medium for training as indicated by a study by Maturity. The study states that 70% of organizations are planning to implement mobile learning in the next two years. Mobile learning is an effective training medium that enables users revisit essential concepts or knowledge from anywhere, through portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. So, how can you create an effective mobile learning course? Multimedia elements such as videos, animations and games are key features used to create mobile learning. How these features can be blended and used forms the multimedia strategy. Here are some tips to formulate a good multimedia strategy for mobile learning courses. Hope you find this post interesting. How would you create an m-learning course using multimedia strategies? We’d love to know? Related PostsMaking E-learning Courses Mobile: 5 Aspects to Consider - An InfographicHow to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using FlashAre E-learning and M-learning the Same…?

Good training plays a key role in the success of medical representatives, as it helps them promote their companies’ drugs effectively. Many pharmaceutical firms train their sales representatives in classrooms. However, these instructor-led sessions are not very effective in training medical representatives, whose jobs involve extensive travel. Problems with traditional training programs Sales representatives who join pharmaceutical companies undergo training in classrooms for a month. Many drug manufacturers try to deliver large volumes of information in one go. When heavy content is presented to medical representatives, they find it hard to ‘absorb’ and retain the content even if it is interesting and important. When a sales representative overloads his working memory, his interest in the training program is reduced, and this decreases the potential outcomes. Training programs which span for a long time: Distract sales representatives from their actual work Increase cognitive load on the sales representatives Make it difficult to apply the learning to work Once they complete the training, they start promoting the company’s products in the market.  How can pharmaceutical sales reps overcome this problem? Well, bite-sized learning is the best solution to the problem as it helps them access information at their fingertips. Bite-sized learning  Bite sized learning is the best solution to avoid cognitive load on a sales representative as complex and lengthy courses can be broken down into small, digestible units. When learning outcomes are precise, sales reps can retain their knowledge for a long time. They can process information easily and learn what they are actually interested in. For example, a busy medical representative, who wants to meet a physician, can instantly go through the required module on his tablet while travelling. Bite-sized learning enhances the ability of the pharmaceutical sales rep to handle the physician’s queries effectively and convince the doctor to prescribe his company’s drugs. Advantages of this approach  Bite-sized learning is easier to understand, digest, remember, and recall. Bite-sized modules deliver just-in-time support through mobile apps. They increase the speed of learning as modules are small snippets. Bite-sized modules significantly cut down development costs. Medical reps can access the modules anywhere, anytime using their mobile devices. Medical reps can save lots of time by focusing on a particular task for longer periods without pausing. Thus, bite-sized learning avoids cognitive load and provides effective JIT support for better business and learning outcomes. Related Posts5 Training Programs for Medical Representatives - An Infographic5 Types of Training for Sales Representatives of Pharmaceutical Firms - An InfographicE-learning for Better Training to Sales People of Pharmaceutical Firms

Articulate Storyline is a rapid authoring tool used to develop e-learning courses. This tool can be used to develop courses in quick time, easily. Storyline can be used to create engaging online courses containing characters, which help learners understand the content easily. In this blog, I would like to share 5 very useful tips to use Storyline efficiently. 1. Master Slide: The Slide Master in Storyline is similar to the slide master in PowerPoint. It allows you to re-design the default themes and create a new master slide with colors, fonts, text and objects. Helps you save a lot of time as its look and feel is applied to all slides in your course automatically. This eliminates the need to design each slide ‘individually’. 2. Triggers:  Triggers are the most useful feature in Storyline. Triggers are to use and can be utilized to make slides interactive. Once we create a trigger in master slide, the trigger can be used in all slides. 3. Variables: Variables play an important role in computer programming because they enable programmers to write flexible programs. Variables in Articulate Storyline serve the same purpose. They eliminate the need to write lengthy programs. Furthermore, it is easy to create variables using this tool. 4. JavaScript: JavaScript can be used to enable advanced functionalities, which can be used to make the course interesting to the learners. For example, we can display the date and time in the course using JavaScript. Furthermore, we can create complex functionalities with small pieces of JavaScript code. 5. Web Objects:  If you want to call videos into your course from the You Tube, Vimeo and other websites, then you need to use web objects. For example, we used a web object to insert a video into an online course of one of our clients from his website. ­ Hope you find these tips useful. How do you use Articulate Storyline? We’d love to know. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key Features4 Tips for Developing E-learning Course Using Rapid Authoring ToolsHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?

As modern businesses and corporates grow in complexity and reach, the existence, use, sharing, and disposal of data is also growing exponentially. Businesses have huge amounts of confidential data, pertaining to employees, competitors, and customers. The usage, disclosure, sharing, and disposal of this data must adhere to strict laws and rules laid down by regulatory authorities. Individual organizations also have stringent rules in place to ensure the appropriate handling of such sensitive data. Protecting and handling confidential data has come into the limelight with the electronic boom. With multiple copies of the documents being available in electronic format, it becomes difficult to monitor their usage. Companies that misuse or inadvertently leak confidential data face multifold consequences ranging from lost reputation to expensive lawsuits and fines worth millions of dollars. Sometimes, though aware of the rules, employees are not aware of the consequences of not adhering to them and end up ignoring the rules. Employees might have doubts regarding what they ought to do and what to avoid. Given this context, it becomes a paramount concern to educate employees on the importance of handling data and adhering to the regulatory rules. E-learning courses provide an excellent, interactive, engaging way to educate learners on regulatory compliance procedures and the consequences of non-compliance. The most effective ways in e-learning can be through the use of scenarios and gamification. Scenarios In e-learning courses, scenarios can be used very effectively to teach learners the Hows, Whys, Dos, and Don’ts, and What-ifs of information security. It is very important to frame scenarios that mirror situations that employees will actually come across in their daily work related to the usage, handling, and disposal of data. Ensure that the scenario is well-defined, and use proper, umambiguous options that will compel the learners to pause, reflect, and select the best alternative. Thus, scenarios can also be used to build their decision-making skills. In this approach, feedback is a vital element. It should be used to reinforce learning and not just convey whether the answer selected is correct/incorrect. Case studies In this approach, a single, often fictitious case (maybe of a company/team) is used in the background of the course. After a few elements are discussed in the course, the case comes to the forefront to check how learners apply the knowledge gained so far. Here again, it is crucial to keep the case as realistic as possible and weave it right through the course. It should test learners on all relevant issues and should contain all the information needed to take well-informed decisions. Apart from these approaches, e-learning can be used to educate employees on Information Security and its importance very effectively. A guided approach with an avatar can be used to take learners through the course. The avatar can also be used provide feedback on assessments and focus on the important topics. This approach works well in cultures where learners are comfortable with guided learning and don’t view it as an intrusion. Using appropriate interactivities, visuals, and quizzes, e-learning can make Information Security a very interesting topic to learners so that instead of seeing it as an unavoidable issue, they will be engaged in the subject and retain and apply all its compliance rules and regulations. So, what are you waiting for? Use e-learning to educate your employees on Information Security; dispel their doubts, safeguard your reputation, and ensure you protect all confidential information in your company to build credibility - which goes a long way in fostering long-lasting relationships. Related PostsMaking E-learning Courses Mobile: 5 Aspects to Consider - An InfographicAdvantages of Curriculum Based E-learning DevelopmentHow Can You Train Employees On The New European Data Protection Directive?

Today, many organizations are looking forward to leverage iPads for delivering on-demand training to their employees. The primary reason for this shift from desktops or laptops to iPads is the extensive use of these devices, in all aspects of our everyday lives. Learners no longer wish to carry "heavy" laptops or remain confined to their desks. According to the Chitika Insights Report, in 2014, 77% of mobile web traffic from tablets came from iPads. The International Data Corporation (IDC) stated that in the first quarter of 2015, 12.6 million iPads were shipped, representing 26.8% of the tablet market. Companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp are investing in iPads for delivering on-demand learning to their sales reps (Source: Wall Street Journal article). Given this trend, to fully capitalize on this opportunity, authoring tool manufacturers are coming up with power packed tools, which can assist in creating interactive courses compatible with iPads with the least effort. Today, I will share information about a few tools with you. Articulate Storyline 2  The brand new version of Storyline is a wonderful tool to develop iPad-compatible courses. It comes with Articulate Mobile Player (AMP), which ensures excellent experiences for learners on mobile devices. AMP is a native iOS app and is also available in an Android version. Our client, a leading medical equipment manufacturing company wanted to train its employees on its purchasing process. The client identified that most of its employees use iPads extensively and thus wanted to develop courses which can be accessed on these devices. We used Articulate Storyline to develop the course as it comes with useful default features, interactivities and pre-defined screen templates that enable us to create effective courses in quick time. The course was published to Articulate Mobile Player (AMP)to provide better learning experience. Adobe Captivate 8  Captivate 8 can be used to create responsive online courses that can be accessed on all devices, including mobiles and desktop computers. It is power-packed with responsive themes that help deliver courses which can be accessed seamlessly on all devices irrespective of the size of their screens. This is possible as the position and the range of the size of the objects in the course can be specified according to the size of the screen. It also allows you to include various interactivities such as drag-and-drop and learning games for the iPad. A multinational organization wanted us to develop an e-learning course to train their employees on its supply chain process. The client specified that the course should be interactive and compatible with the iPad. We used Captivate 8 for this project, as it enables the development of interactive and learner-centric courses that are rich in graphics. We used various features of Captivate 8 such as advanced actions, in-built enhanced interactions library and quizzes to develop the course. Lectora Inspire 12  Lectora Inspire 12 comes with templates which are very useful to create courses for the iPad in quick time. This tool is ideal for converting text-heavy content into highly effective iPad-compatible courses. It also allows us to convert audio and videos into MP3 or MP4 format providing better mobile learning experiences. A leading provider of financial and insurance services in Australia wanted to provide courses as references to its employees to help them succeed as leaders. The organization had existing classroom training materials and asked us to convert them into engaging learning resources which could be accessed seamlessly on the iPad. We used Lectora to develop the course. We utilized the tool’s features such as in-built templates and applications to create interactivities and published the courses to HTML5 to deliver them seamlessly on different devices, irrespective of their platform. ISpring Suite 7.1  ISpring Suite 7.1 comes with an in-built app called iSpring viewer which helps deliver good learning experiences on iPads and Android devices. This tool is a PowerPoint add-in and helps convert PowerPoint presentations into iPad-compatible courses quickly. It preserves the animations and transitions used in the presentation after the conversion. It comes with a wide variety of publishing options such as HTML5, Flash, and .exe formats. Our client, a leading electronic goods manufacturing organization wanted to train its employees, on performance management, through iPad-compatible e-learning courses. The client had several PowerPoint presentations and wanted to convert them into iPad-compatible courses. We selected iSpring Presenter 7 for the conversion, to preserve the design effects. We added interactivities and incorporated gamified assessments to engage the learner, and then, published the courses to HTML5, a format which is compatible with iPad, creating excellent resources for the client. The iPad is much more than a piece of hardware. These were some of our client stories. Hope you find this post informative. There are many more tools which can be used to develop iPad-compatible courses. Do share them if you wish to add to the list. Related PostsWhy Healthcare Industry is Moving to iPads?How to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using FlashHow to Add and Sync Closed Captions/Subtitles in Lectora?

The purpose of a business is to create a customer. - Peter Drucker It is well-known that effective sales training goes a long way in enhancing the revenues of a company. But, with the marketplace flooded with thousands of products, how can today’s salesperson be trained efficiently? How can sales teams be provided with the needed knowledge and skills required to tackle ever-changing market conditions? Well, firms need to shift their sales trainings online. Here is an info-graphic that lists the benefits of using e-learning to train sales personnel. Hope you liked this post. How do you train your salespeople? Do share with us. Related PostsWhy E-learning for Retail Employees - Five Reasons - An InfographicWhy do You Need to Go Beyond ‘E-learning Development Cost Per Hour’?3 Tips to Create Successful Product Sales Training Content - An Infographic

E-learning translations play a key role in training global workforce. But, it is very important to produce high quality online course translations within the budget. Here, I would like to share a few very useful tips to prevent e-learning translation cost overruns. Finalize the English Version of the Course First: Before getting started with the translation, finalize the English version of the e-learning course. This will go a long way in ensuring a good translation of the online course. Also, it helps avoid re-work and extra expenditure. Create a Translation Template: Once the English version of the e-learning course is finalized, you need to create a translation template which can be used to send the course to the translator. The template should include the on-screen text, audio script and text on images if any. Also, we should include resources (MS-Word and/or PDF documents), if needed. It is very important that the template is thoroughly checked for quality and you need to make sure that no e-learning course content is missing. This step is required for translation of courses developed using Flash and other tools which do not provide an option to export the learning content. If the English version of the course is developed by using Articulate Storyline/ Adobe Captivate, we can export the entire content as an XML file and send it directly to the translator. If the course is developed using Articulate Studio/ Adobe Presenter, we can send the PowerPoint presentation directly to the translator. Translate the Content in the Template: While sending the template for translation, we should provide the English version of the e-learning course along with required reference materials if any. We should specify the languages into which the course needs to be translated. It is also necessary to specify the standard of the language. For example, if we need to get the English version of the course into Chinese, we need to specify whether we require the course to be translated into Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Also, we should provide notes to the translator for difficult/ technical terms, and we can consult the client if we need any clarifications in this regard. It is necessary to provide adequate time to the translator to ensure a high quality translation of the online course. Proofread the Template: Before developing translation e-learning course in the authoring tool, the template document should be proofread by a language/subject-matter expert. This helps avoid re-work at a later stage. Once you get the final proofread templates, pass them to the translator so that he will come to know of the corrections. He can save them in the memory of his translation tool and use the information for future projects and improve the quality of translations. Translate the Course: Once the proofreader has approved the translation templates, you can start developing translation of the e-learning course in the authoring tool. Make sure you are using the final proofread templates only for the translation. Translate the text on the images, wherever needed. Audio recording: Recoding audio in languages other than English is expensive. So, it is very important that we avoid re-recordings to the extent possible. Before recording the audio, we should send samples of narrators’ work to the proofreader/ client to select the right narrator for the course. Also, provide pronunciation notes to avoid wrong pronunciation of words. Make sure you do not miss any small text/paragraph which has audio. Send the audio script and pronunciation notes to the selected narrator for recording. By following these steps, we can avoid re-work and extra expenditure on e-learning translations. Hope you find this blog informative. Do share your thoughts. Related Posts3 Tips to Reduce Translation Cost and Time in E-learning - An InfographicWhy Do You Need to Translate Your eLearning Courses?5 Tips for Efficient Translation of Narration of Online Courses

E-learning uses technology to make learning easy. The instructors, developers and technology experts need to function in sync with each other to bring about an effective e-learning course. But, the first and the foremost aspect is to understand the clients and their requirements. This involves analyzing the training objectives by consulting the client. The analysis helps to identify the clients’ requirements in terms of content, the time lines, learning experiences etc. Analysis also determines the knowledge and skill gaps that need to be bridged. It is during the initial meeting with clients that we get to understand how the course needs to be developed; keeping in mind the benefits that client visualizes for their learners. This helps design an effective e-learning course with the desired objective. Here are a set of questions that may be considered to kick start a meeting with the clients. If you have more to add, please share your comments in the column. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning Courses4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Using Visual Elements in E-learningGuidelines to Design Matching Questions in E-learning Assessments [Infographic]