Have you seen the movies Apollo 13, Splash and A Beautiful Mind? How about the TV series Arrested Development, 24 and Empire? Do you know what ties them all together? What makes them all similar and somehow connected?Source: OWN - Oprah Winfrey NetworkAll of them are credited to award-winning Hollywood producer Brian Grazer. But more importantly, these films and TV series were a result of Grazer's "curiosity conversations." 'Curiosity Conversations' to Expand LearningGrazer defines curiosity as the "process of asking questions, genuine questions, that are not leading to an ask for something in return." The goals of a "curiosity conversation" is to learn an insight or the secret to someone's process or success and expand each other's lives. Courtesy of : Super Soul Sunday | Oprah Winfrey Network"Curiosity conversations" are basically informal discussions that Grazer had and is still having with individuals outside of the entertainment industry and which became the inspiration behind his creations.Tips to Integrating 'Curiosity Conversations' in eLearningAsking questions is a manifestation of one's curiosity. But other than proving someone has a thirst for learning, curiosity, or more specifically the asking of questions, is the oil we need to keep us going. Humans have been called the "ultimate learning machines," and as with any machine, we need to be maintained to continue working efficiently.How do trainers or designers trigger curiosity in learners? Here are some suggestions:1. Ask story questions In story-based elearning, story questions are powerful tools that stimulate learners to connect or relate new learning to their existing storehouse of experiences and memories. Asking what, where, when, why, and how questions-queries that can't be answered by yes or no-grants learners permission to open up or share their insights.2. Have curiosity conversations In line with asking story questions, elearning professionals can try using Grazer's "curiosity conversations" to dive deep into the minds of each other to spur the creation of new ideas or simply to gain insights and new learning.3. Provide an "exploration bonus" Although everyone has a baseline curiosity and curiosity itself is an intrinsic motivation, it might take more than a little bit of courage for learners to give in to it because that would mean going outside of their comfort zone. However, trainers and designers can give learners a little push by taking a leaf out of the evolution theory and provide an "exploration bonus" to learners. Reward learners for trying something new.ConclusionCuriosity is a trait which is in all of us. It's important for trainers and designers to be able to trigger or stimulate learners' interest since curiosity makes learning easier and fun for them.ReferencesTom Stafford (June 19, 2012). "Why are We Curious?". BBCGrubber, Matthias, et al. (October 2014). States of Curiosity Modulate Hippocampus-Dependent Learning via the Dopaminergic Circuit. Neuron.Tip #15 - How to Add Curiosity in eLearning StoriesTip #28 - Create Memorable Story-based Test QuestionsTip#42 - Provoking Learners with Story QuestionsRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Consistency of good leadership is essential to secure the loyalty of those around you at work and on the world stage.

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Creative companies are innovative,they are able to pull off the ground and stay viable for sustainable periods. As an up-and-coming organization, how can you be labeled as innovative? How can you create and disrupt the status quo to stay aloft? One tried and tested strategy is eLearning. In this article, we explain what innovation is and how you can achieve it for your organization through eLearning. Innovative organizations do not copy what other organizations do. Instead, they have a creative team that, based on extant research and best practices, comes up with out-of-the-box ideas to lure in more business. And these ideas, quite often, prove to be phenomenal! Case studies are published in universities where innovative business ideas become theories that are sworn upon. A common pattern in such organizations is the continuous upgrade of the human resources through training and development. Another prominent feature of innovative and creative companies is that they encourage the use of educational and productive technology to collaborate and disseminate knowledge. Knowledge is the main asset in these organizations. It is preserved and passed on as a heritage commodity from one generation of employees to the next. How do these organizations leverage their creativity with innovation for long-term success? Innovation is a product made of knowledge, curiosity and imagination. Innovation is a product made of knowledge, curiosity and imagination.Click To Tweet The larger the volume of the knowledge repository in your organization, the greater ideas you have to play with. This yields a variety of products and services that are unique and new. So, what do the innovative companies do to establish the process of creativity within their employees? Let’s uncover the three levels of creativity and knowledge that pave the way towards innovation through eLearning: Discovery The starting point of innovation through eLearning, or not, is discovery. Discovery can be made when learning about a phenomenon, a protocol or a process in an eLearning course. Discoveries are usually those "stumbled-upon" ideas that are simply being viewed from a new perspective. When eLearning programs are meaningful and engaging to employees, they are able to connect their experience with new knowledge to make a discovery in practice or presentation of a product. Invention The second level of innovation is invention. By this, we mean a new tool, a new process or a new procedure that is adapted to the unique needs of the organization. eLearning development is based on filling the learning gaps of an organization. Once employees overcome these gaps, they are able to invent new ideas. In short, in the presence of existing knowledge, new inventions are made. Creation Creation is the ultimate level of innovation. There is still a wealth of unique ideas and products that can be created,and they materialize to respond to a customer need or a market demand. The success of these creations depends upon how well-informed employees are on the latest market trends. This is possible though learning and collaboration on a Learning Management System. Let’s look into the a few steps that lead organizations to innovation through eLearning: 1. Creative employees are well engaged and encouraged to talk. So what can you do? Have employees share their videos and audios for common knowledge throughout your company LMS. Then, create discussion board topics that promote active discussion, so that employees can share their thoughts and opinions. 2. Innovation through eLearning comes from knowledge. Keep fresh and new eLearning courses coming! Discover your employees’ learning needs by asking them what they would like to learn. Also, a good idea would be for you to benchmark learning strategies with leading organizations. Innovation through eLearning comes from knowledge.Click To Tweet 3. Multiple perceptions lead to innovation. You cannot imagine how much it helps when an idea is experienced through multiple eyes. So be our guest and find out: have teams collaborate and debate through the LMS and new, diverse ideas will pop. 4. Use educational and productivity enhancing tools to create ideas and share with team members. Have an Ideas page on the LMS, where learners share fresh ideas. It pretty much is innovation through eLearning in the clearest sense! 5. Provide healthy breaks from work and eLearning! Let the knowledge sink in by allowing your employees to take entertainment breaks, even through the LMS itself, in the form of a video posted, for example. 6. Broaden your employees’ experiences. Richer experiences lead to new idea generation, and eLearning offers a variety of experiences through interactivity and simulation. Also, new scenarios transport learners to a new location and encourage them to use their knowledge for decision making. The more updated your employees are though eLearning, the more innovative they will be. That’s what innovation through eLearning is all about! This leads to the notion of the upcoming big idea that everyone wants to hear about. In order to become a leading organization, you need to keep them hooked to your learning management system and communicate through its collaboration tools. The post 6 Steps to Innovation through eLearning appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Transformative learning is increasingly becoming the leading andragogy (adult teaching and learning) strategy in the current technologically competitive eLearning environment. So, how can eLearning developers and instruction designers adopt this trend within their courses? Is this trend only for the seasoned eLearning professionals or is it adaptable by any trainer wishing to produce in-house eLearning training programs. Find out in this article! Transformative learning is by essence learning that leads to direct transfer of learning objectives to the work context of the learner. Is it possible to have this phenomenon applied to the thousands of learners registered in your eLearning course? When you provide a training program to diverse learners who are geographically dispersed around the globe, providing the transformative learning edge becomes a challenge. Sometimes even an impossible feat! How can you, as a training provider, ensure that your next eLearning program promotes complete transfer of learning objectives? What is transformative learning and why should I care? Before we answer the question, let us explain the benefits of an eLearning program that is transformative in nature. If there is one justification an adult learner would give to themselves for allocating time from their busy lives to learn something new, it is this: what will this course do for me? Will I gain something meaningful and valuable to my current tasks at work? Will this course make me perform better, make a change in my end product? Or help me gain team-wide recognition? If the answer to all these questions is "yes", the adult learner will not hesitate to register for your eLearning course - and won’t drop out. Also, line managers and team leaders are specifically looking for eLearning programs that yield productive value for the organization. While it is nice to grow personally as a learner, growing professionally is more in demand than ever. Transformative learning provides this organization-specific professional growth. The features of transformative learning are only implemented when the course mentor, instructor or trainer is progressive and accepting on the transformative learning strategies. Transformative learning provides this organization-specific professional growth.Click To Tweet When training your trainers, remind them that the success of the course will be impacted directly by their actions when mentoring the course. Inform them of the benefits of transformative learning and how they can promote it when leading their eLearning sessions. How do I create transformative learning experiences in eLearning? eLearning trainers need to create a self-reflection activity in which they think about their interactions with adult learners. Were there any unique problems in communication with the learner? How did the instructor solve them? eLearning instructors need to understand that they cannot encourage their learners in a transformative process, if they are unwilling to do it themselves. These ten questions should facilitate the self-reflection of the instructor and guide them towards transformative course implementation: 1. How do you view yourself as an instructor? Do you see yourself as an expert? Are you open to the views and opinions of others? How do you accept and/or process those views when you encounter them? 2. How much more do you feel you need to learn about teaching and learning, or about your current subject matter? 3. How do you generally run a class? Do you depend on the course materials and discussion methods or are you running your own agenda as well? 4. In the ILT (instructor-led training) discussion, do you empower the trainees to pursue knowledge on their own? Do you incorporate individualized, collaborative exercises during your course mentoring session? 5. How do discussions generally go in your eLearning courses? Are they usually dominated by a few participants? Are your discussions uniformly interactive? 6. How comfortable do you feel with the concept of promoting self-knowledge and experience in learners? Do you motivate learners to learn for the sake of learning and promote a culture of learning organization? 7. How comfortable are you when trainees disagree with your view point? How would you feel if a trainee suggested that you read material that they have discovered in their learning process? 8. Do you feel that you need to maintain control of the learning environment? How comfortable are you in giving over this control to learners and being equal participant? 9. How comfortable are you with receiving material from the students that is not grammatically correct or well-written, but is truly the expression of their self? 10. How do you define learning? What do you hope to see as learning outcomes from an eLearning course session? You can make transformative eLearning Transformative learning is not a special field of andragogy. Rather it talks about being mindful when addressing the needs of adult learners. Transformative learning can only be implemented if the course mentor has a self-reflecting attitude towards the process. eLearning program designers can also use these ten points to reinforce transformative learning practices for the course mentor. The goal of any eLearning program is to create a learning experience that is transferable to the learner’s work life. The time spent on the training program should return as a valuable performance driver. What do you do in your eLearning mentoring or development to create transformative learning for your trainees? The post 10 Steps to Create Transformative Learning Experiences appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

​There are a lot of imposters delivering fluffy edutainment which muddies the reputation of L&D.  Every year at the ATD International Conference (and all) & Expo, a new group of vendors show up with impossible promises, cool give-aways, free drinks, and the new God's-Gift-to-Training. The next year, they are gone and a new crop appears. Here are some of the one's I was most unexcited about:Giant libraries of micro- learning (subscription, of course).  Everyone wants to learn everything like they do on YouTube and Google, right? I don't. These tiny nuggets of learning guarantee that you can learn any (little) thing instantly. Plug and Play. I hope my doctor doesn't switch to a micro-learning strategy.  A growing number of LMS (Learning Management Systems) vendors and a growing number of consultants who want to help you remove your LMS.  #ironicFive different DISC vendors, some of whom are happy to explain to you that this single assessment can clearly categorize every one of your employees accurately. (Full disclosure: I am a big fan of TTI Success Insights' DISC and would love to help you learn to use multiple science diagnostics, but not just DISC by itself).Vendors who fill their booths with screaming craziness, talking only to each other and throwing back shots behind the counter. My IT side is offended by the tech-as-boy-wildman stereotype. That said, our mascot is a giant Goose, so perhaps I speak out of turn.

Readiness does not come with having the same job title for a period of time; it evolves as leaders face significant challenges.