With a track record of almost a decade and a half in eLearning, we are now able to draw patterns. How do our avid learners prefer to learn? What mode and medium do they use? Let’s explore and demonstrate the learner preference for eLearning. Training managers and instruction designers, take notes. Based on this information, you can make valuable changes to your current courses! 1. Gamification Think about credit cards! Companies issuying them have been notorious for hooking us with card after card. How do they do that? Simple: they create points and reward systems to keep you sliding your card in every possible slot! You spend more and they earn interest off your payments. This is gamification in disguise. In eLearning, we use points to motivate learners to complete the course or to collaborate with their peers in a fun and engaging way. Moreover, gamified courses are plumped up with augmentations, animations and compelling storylines. We must say, gamification is the way to go! Definitely one of the most beneficial trends in eLearning right now. 2. MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) MOOCs are jumping out all over the Internet. In fact, higher education giants like MIT, Princeton and Yale, all have a "MOOC presence". Virtual universities are growing rapidly. Learners are quickly becoming certified and getting better jobs as a result. MOOCs are usually free, but some do require fees. But what we know is that the future of eLearning will see a lot of MOOCs. Roll your sleeves and explore a MOOC for your own ideas! 3. Personalized learning Learners are now the ones to craft their own learning paths. Talk about learner autonomy and freedom. To be honest, today’s adult learners are more motivated and focused than ever! They are quickly able to determine which chapters in an eLearning module to hit and which ones to miss, and it is your job to try and make most of them appeal to the users of your course. Make sure you provide this flexibility in your courses. This one is not to be missed in your next course! 4. mLearning and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) mLearning is everywhere! It’s no surprise, as handhelds are hot stuff in every aspect, not just a trend in eLearning. Smartphones have finally replaced tablets, which replaced laptops, which in turn had replaced desktops! Smaller screens mean two things: Instruction developers need to know HTML5 and they need to break content into "nibble-sized chunks". Sorry, bite-sized chunks do not apply. 5. Augmented learning Augmented reality has stepped out of the movies and the games, like Pokemon Go. We talk to each other exactly like Master Yoda spoke through his virtual form with a Jedi in Star Wars! Learners can be placed in a replica of their work space, or a modeled 3D environment, with content pop-ups and features superimposed. It’s nowadays as real a feeling as it sounds! As an eLearning developer, you may not be required to create augmented figures, but you can use this option by hiring graphic designers. Not a bad idea for the beginning vignette, to hook your learners with one of the trends in eLearning! 6. APIs (Application Programming Interface) SCORM and TinCan are examples of APIs in eLearning; basically these programs have built-in instructions for applications to talk to each other, so that the content is compatible and platform-independent. TinCan enables learners to collect data online and offline. APIs aid in tracking learner progress and using your content through a multitude of software suites, seamlessly. 7. Cloud LMS  Cloud-based services for learning management systems and course authoring tools have taken the eLearning industry by storm! With flexible payment packages and easy-to-use features, many companies are opting for this kind of training programs, to avoid outsourcing instructional designers and eLearning developers. 8. Flash HTML5 conversion Platform-independence was almost impossible to achieve just a few years ago. What you saw on a tablet may not have been available on your laptop, and vice versa! Enter the magic of HTML5! It can play audio, video, 2D/3D graphics and animation, all without a plug-in. In addition, HTML5 also gives hardware access, offline storage, and supports cloud-based applications. If you know HTML, then HTML5 will be a breeze for you, and is absolutely the way to go in today’s device-agnostic environment. 9. Wearable learning You read that right! Smartwatches will soon be the talk of more than the town, and one of the hottest trends in eLearning. Do not underestimate the screen size. There are many apps available for in-the-moment, on-the-job performance improvement, such as alerting a worker when they are performing a task incorrectly or unsafely, through motion-sensor technologies. Personal tracking and coaching from remote areas is also a great application of smartwatches. 10. Video in learning By now, you must have created an instructional video of your own! Everyone can create videos! Truly, consumers have become developers of knowledge. We know of a certain business in cake art design that took off (and is still flying high) after the owner got inspired through some homemade videos on cake icing! Where do you look for how-to information when you need it? YouTube! As a training developer, ask your managers and other senior staff to record their videos to show how things are done. This will not only improve the performance in your company, it will also reduce costs! Video with audio and overlaid text can cater for many learning types and special needs. Not to be missed! Trends get a bad name in fashion as superficial, but trends in eLearning have a more substantial role to play, as they are based on new tech developments that add value to training programs. And this list contains only those trends that either have stood the test of time, or show great promise today. So keep it as reference and try to incorporate these exciting aspects into your next course! The post Top Ten Timeless Trends in eLearning appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

The most important part of mapping your career is realizing "If it's to be, it's up to me".  Waiting for your boss or HR to give you your Career Map clearly proves that you're not responsible for your own growth.  In addition, implementing a Career Map created without you is not an uplifting experience.     Here's an example of a Career Map.  Notice it is different than a Career Plan.  Plans have a specific path and outcome.  Maps have alternate routes, which is a priority in our approach to ©Talent GPS.  To build a Career Map, consider the following questions:   What types of work really makes my heart sing? You may change this answer at any time as you experience different types of work.  Consider volunteering to do different types of projects to learn about all the new and redefined jobs people do. Leverage your DISC behavioral strengths and your Driving Forces (priorities) to map to the job you think is best for you.  Learn more from our white paper.What income is best for my goals? Does it align with the type of work I want to do?  It's brutal, but if you really like to make donuts, it will be more difficult to pull down a $100K salary.  This is the internal choice each person must make - what is most important to me and what are the trade offs I'm willing to make.  All answers are correct if you make them for yourself. What are my options? Build branches for the types of work you have decided to go after.  Put an income range on each of these branches (check out job boards to validate the income in your area).   Add smaller branches from the trunk of the tree to the end of each branch with steps you'll take to get to the work  and income you desire.  If you want, put dates on the little branches - 1, 5 and 10 years out.   Put life events on the little branches if it's relevant.  For example, if you plan to have children, move, etc. consider how these play into your branches.     Share with your boss.    Here's a sketch:  There may be a 'secret list' at high levels of organizations with people who have been identified as high performers.  Networking while contributing positively to the organization can get you on that list if you are not on it.  Having the ability to navigate politics is a key driving force (Commanding) if you seek to climb.  If you are climbing simply for the salary, I recommend that you reconsider the golden handcuffs you are about to add to your accessories. They will get really tight down the road.   If you are climbing because you believe you can make a positive impact on the organization, go for it. You can change your choice at any time.   The Career Map above makes your goals for promotion explicit.  

Learn how these 10 common cognitive biases could be creating dysfunction in your high potential program.

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There are hilarious stories (many involving me) about hiring disasters based on our personal beliefs that we can 'read' whether a person will be a good employee or not.  By the way, you can't.  Nobody can.  You might have gotten lucky once or twice but there are huge problems with this:   There are no tricky questions that guarantee your candidate is capable or motivated to do the job you want them to do.  You come with pretty strong biases that you are not aware of.  These filters prevent you from being honest with yourself when hiring.    A big problem with hiring is your current Job Description.  It likely has 10 - 15 competencies that you expect the person to be able to do, in no particular order.  The candidate's resume has an additional 10 -15 competencies, promising brilliance in all of them.  The competencies themselves are not measurable, described with the same specificity as you describe 'World Peace'.  We believe that in general, disengaged less successful employees are not bad people, but they are likely in the wrong job for their strengths. In our Job Benchmark process, we facilitate the creation of 3 - 5 Key Accountabilities for a job based on input from SMEs and people who are currently doing the job well.  Key Accountabilities are measurable statements that describe the outcomes this person must contribute each and every day to support the vision of the organization.  Rather than look at how talented a candidate is at Communication Skills, the Key Accountability quantifies what you really need done, for example, 'Communicate with critical stakeholders to ensure project velocity is adequate for the business goals once a week'.  The next step in our process to build a benchmark is for the SMEs to describe the job with the Key Accountabilities. Next, these same experts complete our diagnostic Job Assessment and the results are 'smooshed' together into a Multiple Respondent Job Benchmark for that particular role.  It's good practice to test the benchmark on high and low performers to see how valid it is prior to using it in your hiring process.    Running a Gap Report compares each candidate to the benchmark for the job.  This allows you to see specifically the strengths, driving forces,  and competencies that are aligned (or not) with your unique job.  It also helps you compare candidates. You'll see areas for development which helps with onboarding (see below).  You'll find a sample Gap Report here.  We recently benchmarked five key Learning and Development roles using the Top 125 companies chosen by Training Magazine.  If you'd like to see the results, request our Free White Paper.

The Broadway Show Hamilton is much more than just entertainment. This award-winning musical also shares 7 ways Hamilton’s Legacy can make you a better leader.

What happens in "failure of attention?"A lot of things are getting automated these days and it’s no longer limited to factories and industries. Automation now also allows us to control our home’s air conditioning units, lights, and appliances. It’s a good thing for sure, especially for those who benefit from them the most like the elderly and the disabled. However, automation is a double-edged sword and over-reliance on it can lead to dire results. In worst-case scenarios, failure of attention can lead to death as was the case of Air France Flight 447 which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. Cognitive TunnelingWhen things are automated, our brains don’t have to monitor our environment. David Strayer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah, likens this scenario to the dimming of a spotlight representative of the brain’s attention span. Strayer says this spotlight can go "wide and diffused, or tight and focused." When an emergency strikes that spotlight goes fully bright all of a sudden and gets confused on where to focus so it shines on what’s directly in front of it.For instance, when a plane on autopilot suddenly requires pilots to fly it manually, pilots need to abruptly switch their focus from a relatively relaxed state to that of panicked focus. Failure to transition from the former to the latter state results in cognitive tunneling, a "mental glitch" caused by automation.Cognitive tunneling then is misplaced focus. But is there a way to fix this? How can we correct mental glitch? Mental Models and StoriesAn example that’s often cited about how cognitive tunneling can be avoided is Qantas Flight 32. The flight experienced an uncontained engine failure—21 of its 22 aircraft systems were damaged. Despite this, all the crew and passengers arrived safely on the ground after an emergency landing at Singapore’s Changi Airport. It’s been called "the most damaged Airbus A380 ever to land safely." It was a very serious incidence but one that was definitely handled very well. How did the pilot and crew do it? One thing: Before each flight, Captain Richard de Crespigny would brief the crew on possible problems and what to do. In other words, the captain was drilling mental models during each pre-flight session so that when an emergency situation does arise, all of them would be ready; each member of the team would know what to do. Whether we realize it or not, we tell ourselves stories all the time. These mental images provide our cerebral spotlights something to focus on, "always jumping around inside our heads." As a result, these spotlights don’t dim. When we need to transition from relaxed to panicked states, we are not blinded by the glare, explains Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter at the New York Times. Mental Models and Learning DesignDesigners and trainers can take advantage of the principles of mental models in their workshops and courses by asking story questions. The best type of questions to ask are open-ended queries."What if this happened to me? What would I do?""How did it happen and why?"Open-ended questions help learners to delve deeper into each story or event by placing themselves in it. These questions aid learners in creating mental images about the unfolding event and what would happen if they go with solution A or solution B and so on.Revisiting mental models also advances learners’ experience since the brain doesn’t seem to differentiate between reality and imagination. Mental models have been helping agents of the U.S. Department of State create alternate realities to better handle real-life events.ConclusionsStories are very useful for more than just entertaining or sharing a lesson. They can also be used to help learners direct their focus on what matters most. By creating mental models, the brain’s focus doesn’t power off but instead transfers from one alternate reality to the next. Since the brain can’t tell imagination and real life apart, mental models help learners gather experience.ReferencesJeff Wise. What Really Happened Aboard Air France 447. Popular Mechanics, Dec 6, 2011.Charles Duhigg. Computer Says: Stop Relying on the Computer. Wired Magazine, July/Aug 2016 issue.Charles Duhigg. The Power of Mental Models: How Flight 32 Avoided Disaster. LifeHacker.com, March 16, 2016.Tip #42: Provoking Learners with Story QuestionsTip #99: Changing Behavior by Advancing Experience and StoriesRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Did you ever play a game as a child when you made up the rules as you went along? I’m guessing that those evolving rules often proved to be a source of contention! Leaders at work find the same to be true. When managers decide to disregard their moral compass as the official business handbook, they begin to make up the rules as they move along. Anything can happen, and the situation frequently proves to be a source of conflict.

What happens in "failure of attention?"A lot of things are getting automated these days and it’s no longer limited to factories and industries. Automation now also allows us to control our home’s air conditioning units, lights, and appliances. It’s a good thing for sure, especially for those who benefit from them the most like the elderly and the disabled. However, automation is a double-edged sword and over-reliance on it can lead to dire results. In worst-case scenarios, failure of attention can lead to death as was the case of Air France Flight 447 which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. Cognitive TunnelingWhen things are automated, our brains don’t have to monitor our environment. David Strayer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah, likens this scenario to the dimming of a spotlight representative of the brain’s attention span. Strayer says this spotlight can go "wide and diffused, or tight and focused." When an emergency strikes that spotlight goes fully bright all of a sudden and gets confused on where to focus so it shines on what’s directly in front of it.For instance, when a plane on autopilot suddenly requires pilots to fly it manually, pilots need to abruptly switch their focus from a relatively relaxed state to that of panicked focus. Failure to transition from the former to the latter state results in cognitive tunneling, a "mental glitch" caused by automation.Cognitive tunneling then is misplaced focus. But is there a way to fix this? How can we correct mental glitch? Mental Models and StoriesAn example that’s often cited about how cognitive tunneling can be avoided is Qantas Flight 32. The flight experienced an uncontained engine failure—21 of its 22 aircraft systems were damaged. Despite this, all the crew and passengers arrived safely on the ground after an emergency landing at Singapore’s Changi Airport. It’s been called "the most damaged Airbus A380 ever to land safely." It was a very serious incidence but one that was definitely handled very well. How did the pilot and crew do it? One thing: Before each flight, Captain Richard de Crespigny would brief the crew on possible problems and what to do. In other words, the captain was drilling mental models during each pre-flight session so that when an emergency situation does arise, all of them would be ready; each member of the team would know what to do. Whether we realize it or not, we tell ourselves stories all the time. These mental images provide our cerebral spotlights something to focus on, "always jumping around inside our heads." As a result, these spotlights don’t dim. When we need to transition from relaxed to panicked states, we are not blinded by the glare, explains Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter at the New York Times. Mental Models and Learning DesignDesigners and trainers can take advantage of the principles of mental models in their workshops and courses by asking story questions. The best type of questions to ask are open-ended queries."What if this happened to me? What would I do?""How did it happen and why?"Open-ended questions help learners to delve deeper into each story or event by placing themselves in it. These questions aid learners in creating mental images about the unfolding event and what would happen if they go with solution A or solution B and so on.Revisiting mental models also advances learners’ experience since the brain doesn’t seem to differentiate between reality and imagination. Mental models have been helping agents of the U.S. Department of State create alternate realities to better handle real-life events.ConclusionsStories are very useful for more than just entertaining or sharing a lesson. They can also be used to help learners direct their focus on what matters most. By creating mental models, the brain’s focus doesn’t power off but instead transfers from one alternate reality to the next. Since the brain can’t tell imagination and real life apart, mental models help learners gather experience.ReferencesJeff Wise. What Really Happened Aboard Air France 447. Popular Mechanics, Dec 6, 2011.Charles Duhigg. Computer Says: Stop Relying on the Computer. Wired Magazine, July/Aug 2016 issue.Charles Duhigg. The Power of Mental Models: How Flight 32 Avoided Disaster. LifeHacker.com, March 16, 2016.Tip #42: Provoking Learners with Story QuestionsTip #99: Changing Behavior by Advancing Experience and StoriesRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

In our research on successful projects, leaders and teams, we've found that there are two key needs that employees have:  Clarity around the purpose of their work (Why am I doing this?)  A bad example to prove the need: A senior IT leader is trying to explain some system issues to the business sponsor.  The sponsor says "Did I ask you what was wrong?  Did I ask for your advice?  Just make the change I told you to make. "   This type of conversation is not uncommon.  In our crazed addiction to juggling multiple tasks, projects and work, we have little time to listen to each other.  The outcome? Impulsive decisions which drive irritating rework down the road and destroy collaboration between the people involved going forward.  It's very expensive and very unnecessary.    Ability to measure and make an impact   A bad example to prove the need: A company was struggling with very low engagement numbers in their annual survey.  They knew they had already lost some good people to other companies.  To raise engagement scores, they pulled people out of their work for Happy Hours.  Months later, when they re-distributed the survey, the engagement had gone DOWN.  Turns out, Happy Hour was just another task added to an already overloaded day for most employees.  The next step was to run the TTI Success Insights Stress Quotient, which measures the actual components causing the stress.  The results? People were overworked and the organization was under stress.  They were fine with each other (so Happy Hour was not needed) but they were tired and frustrated.  The company acknowledged the need to the employees and hired  more people. The engagement scores went up.   Look at the questions on your engagement survey and see if they are answering the questions you need answered.  Are you asking questions like this?  What if you asked people to rate the following statements from 1 Not True to 9 True:  I clearly understand why I do the work that I do and what purpose it serves in the organization.  My daily work allows me to makes a positive impact on this organization.  The responsibility of each individual is to be an equal player in any discussion around engagement.  He or she gets to choose whether to be engaged or not.  It is a choice, not a virus. Each employee is responsible for stating clearly to his or her manager what is needed to meet these two goals for them.  Sure, the manager should be asking but if not, each individual has the right and responsibility to ask.  If you want to be promoted, do more good than others, then ask for the promotion explaining why you are the best candidate.   Choose your path.