The thing today is not whether eLearning benefits your business; the real issue is whether you can afford not to join in the trend. Here are some statistics that show why your company should have already implemented this training method like, yesterday! These stats are so darn compelling; it’s really hard to imagine why companies would not want to start using eLearning to train its workforce.

Extended Enterprise Learning Management System implementations may look the same and employ many of the same tools as corporate or inward facing implementations but they are very different. First a definition… "extended enterprise elearning". Simply put it is outward facing implementations that are used to: Sell content Train customers Train potential customers (marketing function) Train other third parties So what’s different about Extended Enterprise Learning Management Systems? The Technology. Unlike corporate situations where the IT department has everybody’s machine locked down, here the audience can be anybody accessing the learning from any device using any browser (Almost…there are limits. Let’s not even talk about IE 7 or 8).  That has obvious implications for both the technology and learner support. The system is going to have to be especially friendly and the customer service reps are going to have to be especially responsive and compassionate. Integrations: Enterprise implementations are often integrated with one or two other systems like HR, ERP or CRM. Once the integrations are complete the system can be locked down and left to tick along smoothly. With an extended enterprise LMS often the need for new integrations never stops. Every client brought on to the system can have different integration needs and so the LMS and the company supporting it need to be flexible and responsive to help you take care of your customers. Branding: In many cases, especially those where you are selling to corporate customers, you will need to have multiple portals individually branded for each customer. This can range from a simple logo placement somewhere on the page to a full look and feel overhaul. Ecommerce: If you’re going to sell it you need to be able to…well, sell it. Seems simple but when you start to dig in there can be a lot a variability. Do you want to sell individual courses? Catalogs of courses? Subscriptions to your entire catalog? Do you want to set time limits? Do you want to sell renewals? And so on. Again, responsiveness and flexibility on the LMS vendor’s part is critical. The Audience: Learners need to want to do the training. Unlike internally focused elearning initiatives, your learning is not as likely to be mandatory. This means that you’re likely to have to invest in content that is multi-media rich, interactive and engaging and the LMS itself has to be incredibly easy to use. Okay, so what? Of course you need to start with a great, easy to use LMS for extended enterprise. Truthfully, there are a lot of great LMS’s out there of which KMI’s is one. The real differentiator is service. You don’t want a DIY LMS, there’s just too much you can’t do for your customers on your own. You also don’t want a behemoth LMS locked into a yearly build cycle where your only input is suggestions or complaints on a vendor sponsored forum. What you want is a vendor who will work with you to build an initiative that makes you money, promotes your brand, builds loyalty among your customers. That’s exactly what KMI has been doing since 2000. We’re experts in extended enterprise. We have a great LMS and the content development team that you need to do it right. Visit our Extended Enterprise LMS page to learn more. Or contact us at info@kmilearning.com for a discovery call and demo. The post Extended Enterprise Learning Management System appeared first on KMI Learning.

As I pointed out in the last post, how we handle E-Learning Big Data is extremely important not just to the learner but to all of us who place a  high value on the paths that this generation follows. If you consider the fact that these learners will be the architects of the future that we all must live in, the decisions based upon the insights that are teased out of individual Big Data have consequences which will lead to cascading effects on all elements of human life. Insights drawn carelessly or as the result of questionable motives on the part of the interpreters could result in decisions that are made that will leave our societies much poorer in that identified needs are not met. The darker side to this is that through manipulation of Big Data, the insights drawn might be designed to favour or skew in favour of one element of society over another.Credit: www.sas.com I do not subscribe to conspiracy theories as much as I recognize that temptation has always been a human failing and in a world where there are so many shades of grey when it comes to ethical behaviour, motivation needs to always be under the spotlight but I am hopeful that we are about to witness a revolution in the way that business organizations and in fact education conduct their affairs using the paradigm "People Before Profit". In order for this revolution to happen in a global context, the generation and use of Big Data is the tipping point, especially in education.Highlighting and Addressing Practical Concerns With Educational Big DataThe Issue of Privacy: With respect to the combined data of 1000 or more learners, who gets to see the data? Who gets to see a single learner's data? How will this data be protected? We can not assume that such important data is safe because of the technology we use. The "fly in the ointment" is human behaviour and its propensity for flawed design and protocols when it comes to protecting sensitive data. With the recent break ins and the theft of detailed customer data from large retail organizations, the vulnerabilities of our security designs and protocols are highlighted.Having privileged access to information on people is big business in regards to identity theft and strategic information is also the new currency in all kinds of criminal activities. One of our problems is our level of arrogance when we adopt a new technology without considering its potential misuse. Consider the use of cloud computing. I have heard over and over again about how safe data is when stored on virtual servers but I am not convinced because time has not been taken to explain the security protocols to those who place their sensitive data in a stranger's hands.Transparency: The purpose for generating educational Big Data is to enrich education experiences for the people it serves. The goal is achieving high quality that will enrich the quality of life for the learners. Learners have the right to know how learning data will be used, shared and most importantly, leveraged. For example, should educational Big Data be available to politicians prior to an election? Keep in mind that the power of Big Data is in the insights that can be drawn from the Big Data. Those insights should be focused on with the motive of improving education for the learners but in the hands of those who have vested interests that really have nothing to with quality education and more to do with acquiring power at whatever cost, we have a good reason to tread carefully. It is very easy to draw insights from data that are not really supported.Expense: Acquiring some data that will be used in Big Data may require us to make a substantial investment if we are to acquire data that has an impact. The variation of Big Data sources needs to be carefully evaluated as to what it contributes to completing the big picture for learners.Many Factors Affect Learning: We need to be aware and prioritize factors in terms of the degree of impact that they have on learning. Data collected from the research findings of neurocognitive scientists needs to be carefully assessed as to the impact that it has on our understanding of the learning process.Considering the use of Big Data and learning in the business organization, the focus needs to change from its traditional emphasis to one that is more in line with the creation of a genuine learning culture in which employees are empowered to learn and apply their learning to the mission of the company. This means that the decisions makers of the business organization need to put into place infrastructure to handle Big Data as it relates to the learning of not only its lower level employees but also the levels of management. This might lead to a change from the traditional hierarchical structure to more of a flat structure. So, what does what happens in the learning culture of a business have to do with Big Data in educational organizations?You can answer that question by looking at the new generation of employees coming into the business organizations and remember that it was the insights gained from the use of educational Big Data that brought them to your door. This will either be to the gain of the organization or to its loss depending upon how the educational Big Data was interpreted and by whom and for what motives.Tread carefully, insights in educational Big Data affect the future paths that learners are led down.Next... Higher Education and E-Learning--Has there been any progress?

TeachT@lk is streamed live at 3pm AZ time every first Tuesday of the month. Come and join us at: http://connect.asu.edu/teachtalk!Students are actively engaged at ASU!Active Learning, in which students engage with content through "reading, writing, talking, listening, and reflecting" (Center for Educational Innovation, UMN), has shown to lead to higher learning outcomes and levels of engagement. Think-Pair-Share is one popular Active Learning technique that can be applied across multiple subjects and levels. But are there additional methods to foster Active Learning?In our latest TeachT@lk Webinar (April 5), we highlighted several useful Active Learning techniques that go beyond the tradition Think-Pair-Share. We discussed the implementation of activities, such as Fishbowl, Cases, Jigsaw, or Muddiest Point, and presented possible ways for face-to-face and online classes. If you missed this engaging conversation, please take a moment to review the webinar recording.If you have a favorite Active Learning technique that you would like to share, please add it by commenting on this post.Useful Websites:What is Active Learning (University of Minnesota)Active Learning (Cornell University)McGill University: Strategies to Support Active and Collaborative Learning Examples @ ASU:Student Presentation & Service Learning, School of Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies Case Studies, School of Life SciencesBooks:Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College TeachersCollaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College FacultyStudent Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

In every job, there’s a set of basic skills and simple procedures that a worker filling that job has to learn to perform. For an organization to perform at peak efficiency, it’s important that the workers in each job role know how to perform each of these skills and procedures. But how does a company go about teaching those basic skills and procedures? And how does the company know if the workers can perform those procedures? That’s what we’re going to look at in this article. Convergence Training is a training solutions provider. We make off-the-shelf e-learning courses, learning management systems (LMSs), custom training solutions, and more. Contact us to see full-length course previews, to demo an LMS, or ask a few questions. While you’re here, why not download one of our free guides (below): Guide to Effective Manufacturing Training Guide to Effective EHS Training Guide to Writing Learning Objectives Guide to Online MSHA/Mining Safety Training Blended Learning on the Job: An Introduction Before we get too deeply into this article, let’s set the scene  a little more. We join many learning & development experts in believing that a blended learning solution is the best way to train a workforce. If that’s a new idea to you, it means using different types of training, such as instructor-led, video, e-learning, OJT, etc., for different training needs. But that raises the question, how do you pick the best type of training for each training need? That’s probably a question with no single best answer. In a perfect world, you’d always pick the type of training that would lead to the best learning outcome every time. But in the real, imperfect world that we live in, where money, time, and human resources are limited, you sometimes have to shoot for something less than perfect (even if you will always shoot for as close to perfect as possible). And so one idea is to use training types that are less costly and/or use fewer human resources when they’ll still deliver good learning results, and to reserve more costly instructor-led training, and the limited human resources it requires, for the training needs where it delivers the most bang for the buck. Here’s a simplified view of that. First, we can break down the stuff people have to learn on the job into three general types: Advanced job skills: The advanced skills that take a lot of time, experience, and practice to develop, and that create great value for a company Basic skills and simple procedures: The important-yet-everyday stuff that people need to do to perform their job Basic job knowledge: The basic knowledge people need to know before they can learn to perform the basic skills, simple procedures, and advanced job skills associated with their job                     And for each of these three levels, we can assume that certain types of training might be more appropriate or advantageous than other types. In particular, some training needs (the more advanced ones) may require giving the employees more feedback and opportunities for practice, and other training needs (the simpler ones) may require less need for feedback and practice. Here’s how that breaks down: Training Need Example Need for feedback/practice "Best" Training Method* Advanced Job Skills Principles of lean manufacturing Troubleshooting Process optimization Extensive; continuous; repeated Intensive one-on-one Hands-on guided practice Scenario-based training Scenario-based "branching" e-learning Basic Skills and Procedures Simple machine operation Probable, but not extensive and most likely only once or twice Group instruction Limited one-on-one training; Job shadowing Videos Basic Job Knowledge What is this work area? What is this machine? How does this machine work? None or little Written materials Simple linear e-learning Videos (* These are general guidelines and not hard-and-fast rules you must follow every time. In addition, you may sometimes find yourself using a certain kind of training at different levels, but perhaps with greater or less frequency that at other levels.) Got it? Now that we’ve set the scene, what we’re going to focus on is training to help employees at that middle level. Teaching employees the relatively basic skills and simple procedures that they need to be able to perform to do their job on a daily basis.                   Helping Workers Develop Basic Skills and Learn to Perform Simple Procedures Let’s take a moment for an analogy. They often say an army marches on its stomach (I guess Napoleon gets credit for coining that one, according to my "close personal friends" at Google). What that means is that you’ve got to feed soldiers to keep the army moving. In a similar way, you’ve got to teach workers to perform these basic skills and procedures for each job role to keep a company producing products. This is the everyday stuff people do to keep the company in business. So it’s important, and it’s worth giving some thought to how to do it well. So let’s do that. Before You Develop Training: Identify Job Roles and Tasks Workers In Each Job Role Perform It’s never a bad idea to start at the beginning. Actually, I think it makes pretty good sense. And in this case, for you, the beginning is coming up with a list of the job roles at your company and then identifying each job task that workers in each role have to perform. These are the tasks for which you’ll develop training materials. Here’s a longer article about identifying job roles and job tasks if you want to read more. Next Step: Perform a Task Analysis Once you’ve got a list of tasks a worker in a given job role has to perform, you’ll want to step back and figure out how the task is performed. It’s worth doing this, because if you’ve got to train workers to do it, you’ll want to know how to do it yourself The basic idea here is to perform a task analysis. That means taking the task and breaking it down into the steps a person has to perform to complete the task (in order). You’ll use this list to put together the training for that task. Here’s a longer article about the task analysis if you want to dive into that deeper. You may also find this article about the Training Within Industry (TWI) Job Instruction method of interest on this point. Design Your Training: What Training Delivery Method (Training Type) to Use? Now that you know the tasks you want teach, and the steps of those tasks, we turn to the topic of this article: What type of training (also called training delivery method, training modality, and similar catchy phrases) should you use? As described earlier, helping workers to perform basic skills and simple procedures may take "a middle" amount of feedback and practice. It’s not rocket science, so you won’t have to give intensive, one-on-one training over an extended amount of time (as you might for something more advanced). But it’s also not always super-simple, so your training should include some face-to-face interaction, feedback, and opportunity for practice. This isn’t true in all cases, but you’ll often find that very simple types of training will do just fine, at least for introducing the skills and procedures. This can include: Written training materials like PDFs and PowerPoint presentations (with photos or videos that show how to perform the procedure) Simple videos (you can shoot these yourself-even with your smart phone) Simple e-learning courses (you can have an e-learning provider make these for you or even make them yourself with an e-learning authoring tool) Classroom-style training with a group of workers featuring a demonstration of the procedure In addition, because you’ll want to provide an opportunity for Q&A, hands-on practice (with no real-world consequences), and feedback, you will want to build in some form of face-to-face training, too. This can include: A quick verbal "check-in" or discussion to see if the worker understands Individual one-one-one training in the field, including demonstrating the procedure, having the employee perform it, and evaluating their performance In some cases, you can even build a scenario-based e-learning course that lets the person practice, see the consequences of their decisions, and receive instructive feedback based on their actions. That’s beyond the scope of this article but check this article on scenario-based learning and manufacturing for more info on that. Skill Demonstrations and Evaluations It’s also a good idea to evaluate the worker’s performance to make sure they really are able to perform the skill or procedure. That means having the worker demonstrate the newly learned skill (in a safe, consequence-free environment, remember) while an experienced, knowledgeable trainer or supervisor evaluates the worker’s performance. This is generally done by having the evaluator watch the employee while checking off items on a checklist or giving the employee scores on a rating scale. It’s important to have some form of objective evaluation device, like a checklist, so that all people are judged fairly by any one evaluator and so that different evaluators don’t hold different people to different (incorrect) standards. To create the checklist that the supervisor will use while evaluating the employee’s skill demonstration, go back to the task analysis created earlier and used as the basis for the training. Digital Tools To Make Teaching Job Procedures Easier Some companies even go so far as to make digital tools that allow you to break a task down into steps and explain each step with a video and/or written explanation. Your employees can watch these online-maybe even with their mobile phone or a tablet. If you want to, you can follow that up by having a conversation with the employee, by demonstrating the procedure to the employee, and/or by having the employee practice while you give helpful feedback. Or you can do all of this.                   And you can even use those same digital tools to check the worker off for performing each steps of the task correctly and to collect signatures from the employee and the in-the-field evaluator (see an example, below). Even better, you can take these mobile devices with checklists into the field, where there’s no Internet connection, check the worker off on the tasks and collect signatures, and later sync the training data with your LMS when there’s an Internet connection.                 What’s more, you can even make these lists available to workers on the job, once they’ve completed training, for on-demand performance support. We all need a little help now and then, right? Some devices can even bring up the relevant SOP by scanning a barcode placed on a machine or in the work area.             Who says technology isn’t making life easier, huh? Summary: Teaching Workers Basic Skills and How to Perform Simple Procedures So that’s our look at using certain training delivery methods to teach workers to perform basic job skills and procedures. Remember, this is part of a method for determining the "best" training type for each training need within a blended learning solution. We’ve already written similar articles on the best training type for other training needs, and you may find them interesting as well. Here they are: Blended Learning for Manufacturing Training (An Overview) Helping Employees Learn Basic Job Knowledge Scenario-based Training for Advanced Job Skills Of course, we are interested in your opinions, too. Let us know your thoughts, below. The post Helping Workers Acquire Basic Job Skills and Perform Standard Procedures appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

Want to know the hidden secret to developing effective EHS training materials? Actually, there’s no hidden secret. But there ARE some well-known, tried-and-true methods, and they’re documented in ANSI Z490.1, the national standard of Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training. In this 30-minute, recorded, on-demand webinar, we introduce you to ANSI Z490.1, and focus in on four aspects of developing effective EHS training: Writing learning objectives that pass the ABCD and SMART tests Using a blended learning solution for EHS training and selecting training delivery methods based on the need for "adequate feedback" Tips for developing effective EHS training, including using credible information sources and following some best practices of instructional design Evaluating EHS training using Kirkpatrick’s four-level evaluation method If you want to get started listening, go right ahead, just click the "READ MORE" button and listen and watch away. Also, know that we’ve got a series of related helpful links for you below the webinar video, and we’ve also included our helpful Guide to Effective EHS Training as a free download below that, too (that’s the guide that we talk about during the webinar). Enjoy! OK, welcome to "this side" of the READ MORE button. Convergence Training is a training provider with a strong EHS offering. We make off-the-shelf EHS e-learning courses, several different learning management systems (LMSs), and more. Contact us to set up a demo, see full-length previews, or just ask some questions. As a reminder, here’s what we’ve got for you below, in order: The recorded webinar A series of links to resources related to topics covered in the webinar A free Guide to Effective EHS Training (the guide that’s mentioned in the webinar) Let us know if you have any questions. And leave any thoughts in the comments section at the bottom. Hope you enjoyed that webinar. As promised, we’ve got more for you below. Links to Resources Related to the Webinar If you’re the curious sort, and/or want to dig deeper into the information the webinar introduced, we’ve got some helpful materials below. Z490.1, ANSI, and ASSE Buy Z490.1 ANSI ASSE Convergence Guides and Blog Articles about Effective EHS Training Effective EHS Training Guide (you can also download this from the bottom of this page) Z490.1 Overview Sections 1, 2, and 3 Overview Section 4 Overview Section 5 Overview Section 6 Overview Section 7 Overview Learning Objectives Guide to Writing Learning Objectives Robert Mager’s Performance-Based Learning Objectives Training Delivery Methods and Selection Blended Learning Best Practices Blended Learning Overview Training for Basic Job Knowledge Scenario-Based Learning for Advanced Job Skills Effective Training Development Adult Learning Principles How People Learn How to Write Training Materials 25 Graphic Design Tips for Training Visuals Training Evaluation Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation Training, Business Goals, and KPIs Some Best Practices for Workforce Training Testing How to Write Multiple-Choice Questions Tracking Training-Related EHS Leading Indicators Mentioned During the Webinar Julie Dirksen’s Book Design for How People Learn Will Thalheimer’s book Performance-Focused Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of a Dangerous Art Form Hemingway Editor website How Keep in Touch with Convergence Training Here are some ways to learn more about us or keep in touch: Our EHS and mining safety e-learning courses Our learning management systems (LMSs) Subscribe to our monthly email newsletter The Convergence Training Blog Or just click the Chat feature on your screen to say hi or ask a question Our Free Guide to Effective EHS Training And of course, you can click the button below to get the free guide mentioned during the webinar. The post On-Demand Webinar: Developing Effective EHS Training appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

As a gamification novice, I will be the first to admit that I walked into Mission: American Government (the name of our "game"), I really wasn’t sure how it would work out. After establishing how students would earn XP and what tools they would be able to use at the various levels I’d created, I […] The post Gamification: My Plan for the Badges appeared first on Teaching with Technology.