Written by: Marsha I hear it all the time…how do we sustain the learning? How do we get our participants to apply what they’ve learned back on the job? How do we transfer the learning from the classroom to the real world? Let’s face it, if they don’t use it, they’ll lose it! When you think about how much money it costs to train people, we better see some type of improvement back on the job. We also know how important it is to have management support and buy-in for training. We need managers to follow up and sustain the learning. If they’re not involved, how can they reinforce, guide, or encourage the use of new skills? But have you ever thought about what YOU can do to promote the transfer of training? It may require more effort but don’t we owe it to our learners? So, here are Langevin’s top five tips to make training stick: At the end of the session, have a discussion about obstacles that could impede progress in applying the new skills. Brainstorm and discuss ways of overcoming the obstacles. Give learners an on-the-job assignment to complete after training. Send brief quizzes out after the course to refresh learners on course content. A few weeks or months after the course, phone or send a memo to participants to find out what they have done regarding the course content. Collect the responses and send them out as a mini report to everyone who attended. Arrange a follow-up course a month or two after the original course. The purpose is to assess progress, discuss problems and find ways of solving those problems. Learners and their supervisors should attend this course together. Here’s another technique that I have found to be extremely motivating for learners. At the end of class, have each learner complete a document called a "Contract with Myself." The first sentence begins, "The most important or significant ideas that I’ve learned, thought, or heard while at this workshop are …" The second sentence is, "As a result of these ideas, I intend to do the following things within the next 30 days …" The final sentence is, "By doing these things, I will achieve the following results …" I collect the contracts and tell the learners that I will mail them in approximately 30 days. Experts say it’s very powerful to see a goal statement written in your own handwriting. I’ve asked learners to give me feedback when they receive the contract. I’m pleased to say that all the feedback has been very positive. Even if they hadn’t accomplished all the items listed, it was still motivating and a good reminder when they received the contract in the mail. Have you used any of these methods and how have they worked? What else are you doing to reinforce the training? I hope that I have motivated you to do MORE for your learners to make training stick!

How both happiness and depression spread through social networks. » Continue reading: Study Reveals If Depression is Contagious Between Friends » Read HealthiestBlog.com, the new site from PsyBlog's author Related articles: Little-Known Depression Symptom Confirmed by Study Hyper-Connected: What Depression Does to Your Brain Depression Distorts People’s Perception of Time, Study Finds Long-Held Belief About Depression Challenged by New Study The Type of Facebook Use Linked to Depression

How high intelligence could have a mental cost for some.  » Continue reading: A High IQ May Also Have This Mental Cost, Psychologists Find » Read HealthiestBlog.com, the new site from PsyBlog's author Related articles: Mental Health Problems Can Shorten Life More Than Heavy Smoking The Mental Quality Which Helps Protect Against Schizophrenia This Childhood Pet Increases Risk of Serious Mental Illness The Genetic ‘Advantage’ to Madness? Common Belief Supported by Study Higher Risk of Mental Illness for Those With Older Fathers

How to think more flexibly and grow a larger brain. » Continue reading: An Everyday Activity That Boosts Brain Size And Flexible Thinking » Read HealthiestBlog.com, the new site from PsyBlog's author Related articles: The Age At Which Learning a New Language Stops Strengthening The Brain The Amount of Exercise That Can Boost The Aging Brain A Handful of This Everyday Food Improves Memory, Concentration And Processing Speed 20 Everyday Activities That Keep Memory and Thinking Sharp Early Fitness Preserves Thinking Skills 25 Years Later

The functionality and design of the menu on a website is crucial. It’s where users manage their process of navigating your website, and it’s what helps them find the content they’re looking for and accomplish the tasks they want to, and ultimately fulfill the reason they came to your website. CSS3 has made menu design so much easier, and helped tackle situations that would otherwise be challenging, such as rotating menus, animated menus and mega menus. Thanks to charitable developers, there are tons of quality menus to use as examples or as drop-in code for your website, and here’s some of my favorite: 3D Cube Rotating Menu Horizontal Drop Down Menu Responsive CSS3 Menu Animated CSS Menu Responsive Multi-Level Menu Long Drop Down Items Menu Pure CSS Flat Menu Folding Widget Menu Accordion with CSS3 Simple CSS3 Dropdown Menu Related Posts Awesome New CSS3 Tutorials to Try Out Examples of Drop Down Menu Design Free PSD Resources for Web Designers Login & Signup Form Free PSDs to Download Delicious Looking Food Photographs

Hey guys, to make up for last week lack of free textures I’m sharing a double fix of gritty & grunge wall textures with you today. Below is a set of 10 high-res textures that you can download and add to your arsenal. For a quick download, use the copy.com download link at the bottom of the post (no signup needed). Enjoy! Download all textures as ZIP from copy.com (120Mb) Did you like these textures? Let us know by leaving a comment, and you can even post a link if you used them in your artwork. Related Posts Free Texture Friday - Old Stone Wall Free Texture Friday - Grunge Stone Wall 3 Free Texture Friday - Graffiti Wall Free Texture Friday - Seaweed Free Texture Friday - Raw Red Meat

The lakes, seas and oceans on Earth are full of diverse and strange creatures unlike anything else on the planet. Life has adapted for survival, and this includes techniques such as camouflage, barbs, defense mechanisms, swimming in schools and other techniques. Because of these different adaptations, marine life can both look and act quite strange. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to see, both due to the difficulty of seeing and photographing underwater, but also because like most animals, marine animals tend to flee from human presence. However, for the lucky photographer, the results from a marine life photography shoot can be quite spectacular: Sardines Tornado By Henry Jager Posing By Oren Cohen I’m feeling kind of jumpy today… By Sascha Losko The Nest Builder By Matthew Oxley Flying By Mato P. Blue Ring By Davide Lopresti Fish and a tree By Johan Lind Three Little Fishies By Malinthe Samarakoon Starfish by the Sea By Alexandra Zedalis Juvenile Sweetlips By Hafiz Itam Color of Red sea By Vitaliy Sokol Yellow Snappers By iVan Stingray By Adrian Nuñez Red sea diving big sea turtle sitting between corals By Vitaliy Sokol Clown Fish By iVan Sunset swim By Andrey Narchuk Red sea flower By Piet Flour Hide and seek… By LuckyGuy Marine turtle By Mato P. Sardines Firework By Henry Jager Get out of my territory!!! By LuckyGuy Big Green in The Sea By Vitaliy Sokol wave hello By Dan Pratezina Grumpy Fish By Katherine Shah Return of the Whales! By Lisa Skelton Clownfish hiding in an anemone By Arno Enzerink Oceonarium Lisbon By Oceonarium Lisbon Green Sea Turtle B&W By Stephen Ennis Photography Static For A Second By Jim Patterson Sunbeams By Stephen Ennis Photography Related Posts Chaos and Disorder in Photography The Art of Flour Abstract Art in the Simple Leaf Windows: More than Just an Opening in Photography Photographers at Work in Pictures

The iPhone 6 was revealed recently, and although stylistically, it’s relatively similar to the iPhone 5, it features a bigger screen while also becoming a thinner device, and it uses the new Retina HD display that has been a driving force in changing the design world recently. For designers, this means that when showcasing products, apps or screenshots, the iPhone 6 is now the most likely candidate to be used as a template. Since it’s just been unveiled, not a whole lot of templates exist yet. But, I’ve scoured the web and found some PSDs, Illustrator, Sketch and other mockup files that you can download and use to start featuring the iPhone 6 in your designs: iPhone 6 Free PSD iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Flat PSD iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Free Mockups iPhone 6 Free AI iPhone 6 Mockup Screens iPhone 6 Sketch Template iPhone 6 Layered Colored Mockup iPhone PSD Mockups iPhone 6 Scalable Mockups iPhone 6 for Illustrator Related Posts Perfect iPhone, iPad and FB App Interfaces Awesome Functional App Interface Designs Branding & Identity Design Mockup Templates Fresh Examples of Pixel Perfect iOS Icons Professional Looking iPhone Photographs

Todays textures are from an old Icelandic stone wall that was probably a part of a structure many years ago. The rock wall is handmade and close to the sea. With time moss and lichens have created another dimension of colors and texture. Enjoy! Download all textures as ZIP from copy.com (19Mb) Did you like these textures? Let us know by leaving a comment, and you can even post a link if you used them in your artwork. Related Posts Free Texture Friday - Grunge Stone Wall 3 Free Texture Friday - Old Worn Stone Wall Free Texture Friday - Gritty Wall Free Texture Friday - Graffiti Wall Free Texture Friday - Gritty Grunge Wall

Pink is a well known and popular color that is a pale reddish color, that is frequently associated with feminine qualities, softness, tenderness, politeness and romance. It’s named for a flower of the same name, that happens to be the color pink. Pink is quite a common color for fashion items, as well as for flowers, and even some foods (salmon, for example). Because of its unique (and somewhat unpopular status, particularly among males), it’s not frequently used as a dominant color in design, except when catering to a female audience, but that’s not to say that pink does not have its place among colors in design. Pink is commonly viewed as a pretty color, however, and as such, it works great in photographs as it can be bright or tame: … by Remus Tiplea Pink Daisies by Jenny Onsager Vine by Anna Rawka Pink by Liciu Tiberiu Pliable by Shihya Kowatari Pink Wall by miki The Alms Round of Buddhist Nun by Marcus Lee Pink Wall by Julio Saguar Catch the Bubble by Olga Fomina Pink by Tyson Davis The Girls Car by Piet Flour Spring by Elsa Berger Untitled by Geovanna Lucarelli Pink Candy by Patrik Lidholm Pink by Lessio Think Pink by Julien Oncete Mimosa Puff by Zsaj Lincoln Continental by Allan Wallberg Pink by Onixa The Life in Pink by Thierry Dufour Pink World by Aroon Kalandy Pink Riotinto by E Juan Greater Flemingo by Sambath Sweet Pink by Wil Mijer Sina by Florian Schollhorn Pink by Olga Berglund Anticipating Summer by Afif Jamal Crisantemo by Jose Munoz Pink by Empty Quarter Pretty in Pink by Roeselien Raimond Related Posts Free Texture Friday - Pink Colored Paper Abstract Art in the Simple Leaf Intricate and Elegant Examples of Human Body Art Geometry in the World with Photographs of Lines Valentine’s Day Heart Photography