What does modern talent development look like? Today’s blog comes from Helen Cassidy, one of our senior learning consultants. Helen also teaches music part-time. Like many of us who find ourselves in the role of Instructional Designer, there is a ‘by accident’ nature to it! But reflecting on Helen’s journey over the last few years has given me pause to consider the value of a modern approach to talent development. My ID journey compared to Helen’s is very different, and the result? Well, Helen’s ID career has fast-tracked much of my early, formal, structured career development (read long, slow, painful and boring!)  Over to Helen… I meandered into an ID career via jobs I didn’t like and part time jobs I did like. The jobs I didn’t like felt purposeless despite requiring many years of courses and qualification hunting. The part-time jobs I loved were people-orientated and educational and relied more on my ideas about what made people tick. My first forage into the learning industry meant I had to lean heavily on my own understanding of how people learn rather than any theories or methodologies I’d studied in books. Luckily I worked in an environment that was also learning and growing, so right from the start I was encouraged to do things differently to how they’d been done for years.  There was a very clear vision in the organisation to be different, better, more effective. Even more luckily, I had a mentor that was ahead of the game and who told me my mistakes before I made them.  I was learning on the job and had to do it quickly - surely the methods which I myself was employing to learn should reflect what I expected our learners would want to use. I didn’t read the old theorists. I looked for good examples of learning that worked and listened to clients that had a positive learning experience, asking why. I examined my subject matter thoroughly - if I didn’t get it, the learners wouldn’t. I’d sort of been round the block so didn’t mind trying, failing and being laughed at. I was clear what I liked and didn’t and was never afraid to say it. I worked collaboratively with my colleagues and nurtured an environment where I could invite honest feedback, and where cases for new ideas were fought and won (and sometimes lost!). By proving to colleagues that an idea could work, I might prove it to a (Subject Matter Expert) SME. Learning from previous experience Through my own music teaching I constantly tweak my methods to reach each individual personality and brain of my students. The direct contact with them enables me to focus on individual needs. eLearning is different - it’s often a "one size fits all" program for an organisation and my personal teaching has shown me that an eLearning course that is all things for all people is a big ask. But the same way that I have to keep my music teaching fresh - for the kids! - an eLearning course should still feel fresh and modern for all involved. We’ve all done it, started with great ideas but gravitated to the expected norm - there are lots of reasons for this - time, budget or an inability to bring a conservative client to your way of thinking. I think that’s okay as long as you’ve challenged some of that norm along the way. There are none of us that have reached the airy Picasso heights of IDing just yet.. Last week I wrote six verses of hip-hop that I thought fitted really well into a course I was designing. Our designers were looking forward to bringing a rapper dude to life onscreen. But the client said no. That’s okay, rap didn’t fit with their corporate style and as I kind of knew that already, it was a bit mischievous of me to propose it. But clients still want our suggestions, they rely on us for exposure to new ways of thinking, it’s all part of the modern ID service. So how to become a modern ID? Look at your old stuff and do it differently. Re-use the bits that you know work well. Tweak the bits that are nearly great. Get down with the kids and see what they’re doing. And every time you learn something new, ask yourself why you’ve retained that particular bit of knowledge so well. Your learners won’t be any different. One of the most sobering things anyone ever said to me was, "you’re only as old as the way you dance." Fortunately I don’t believe this is case with eLearning.  I’ll get my hip-hop in somewhere soon. How did this talent development work? So reflecting on Helen’s story, I’d say the success of her journey was based on four key things: Helen’s attitude - she was willing to try things, to listen and had the confidence to ask questions and challenge existing views. The culture - the workplace environment supported freedom, experimentation, not getting things quite right, getting feedback and continuous improvement. Selecting the right mentor - someone who is just a few steps ahead; far enough to know some things better, but close enough to remember what it is like to learn. Hands-on, learning on-the-job - most of Helen’s talent development took place within the workflow as she worked on projects. In the beginning she worked alongside her mentor, gradually working up to running projects on her own. What’s your experience of workplace talent development? Could any of this work for you? We’d love to hear from you, IDs and non-IDs alike! Thanks for reading our blog today. p.s. - if you want a few verses of Helen’s rap, send us a comment The post Fast-tracking talent development appeared first on Logicearth.

These are public postings of my writings for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University. Each week, we are also required to post three questions for the rest of … Continue reading →

Why UX design for eLearning is important Ux (user experience) design addresses the complete experience a user has with your product. It covers the behaviours, attitudes and emotions that interacting with the product invokes. In the case of eLearning, often we focus on presenting the content and engaging the learner in learning activities, and sometimes, the holistic user experience and user interface design (UI) becomes secondary - an after thought. Just to be clear on the terms UI and UX: UI - is the product the the learner uses to access the content - eg. could be a website, app, game, virtual world, kiosk, standard eLearning player etc. UX - is the complete experience and how that user feels while navigating the UI Bad UX design for eLearning = bad content There is no point in having fabulous, sparkling content, if your learners have to wade through layers and layers of bad UI design which causes a bad UX. At Logicearth, we’d argue that UX design for eLearning is every bit as important as Instructional Design (ID). For many years, IDs did not have to concern themselves with the user interface; most eLearning content appeared within a standard ‘click-next’ player, with the course menu navigation aid at the left or right side. More fancy companies allowed you the choice of showing the course menu or not! But with the ever widening spectrum of digital content options, our growing digital content ecosystem is firmly putting UX design back on the table for all designers to consider more carefully. Today’s blog post comes from Erin Doherty. Erin joined us recently and brings with her a wealth of fresh ideas and fresh thinking based on her passion for great design experiences.  Over to Erin - 10 tips for getting UX design for eLearning right 1. Plan Before putting hand to mouse, it is important that we have a plan of action. Jumping straight into the digital design of the interface will most likely result in lots of changes and wasted time. A clear plan of the content will ensure that time is used wisely and limit the amount of revisiting that will need to be done further ­­­down the line. When planning for the aesthetic element, it is often beneficial to sketch out your thoughts (user-flow diagrams, wireframes, site maps etc…) before applying them digitally. 2. Understanding the user The most important person in the eLearning design process is the person that will be doing the learning. Therefore, we must take care to understand what it is that the user needs to get from the experience. Keeping them in mind throughout the design process is a necessity if they are going to enjoy a seamless user journey. 3. Never ask ‘how?’ If at any point throughout the course, the user needs to stop & think ‘how do I…’ the interface design has failed. ‘How do I get to the next page?’, ‘How do I open this tab?’ or ‘How do I close this pop-up?’ are all examples of questions the user should never have to ask. The navigation should be designed in a way that what to do next comes naturally to the user. 4. Don’t assume Assuming that a user knows what you know is one of the biggest mistakes a digital designer can make. We should plan our design under the impression that the user knows absolutely nothing about how to use the interface. Something that may seem obvious to us as designers may be totally invisible to a different type of user. 5. Consistency A big step towards ensuring that the questions from point two never need to be asked is to keep the design and navigation consistent. If the next button is positioned on the bottom right hand corner on the first page, keep it there. If a pop-up box for a correct answer is green, don’t make the next one blue. Consistency is key in earning the trust of the user and making it simple for them to navigate through the course. 6. Is navigation everything? Simple answer? No. Navigation is a very important aspect of designing UX & UI for eLearning, but essentially the user is trying to complete a task rather than navigate towards a location. The navigation should be designed in a way that it compliments what the user is trying to achieve. 7. Pay attention to your daily life A great way to approach designing experiences and interfaces is to monitor your own daily digital experiences. Simple actions like making a phone call, using a self-service checkout or surfing the Internet are all user experiences that started with the same principles that Logicearth use  when designing for an eLearning course. Taking inspiration from the world around you ensures that you are staying in tune with the users emotions, as you are feeling similar emotions when interacting with your own devices. 8. On-the-go learning - be responsive! Mobile devices are a constant in the lives of most of us nowadays and we use them for many daily tasks, from checking the news to finding directions to posting pictures of what we had for lunch. We live in a world where information is instantly accessible, anytime and anywhere. So why should the way we learn be any different? It is important to consider how mobile devices work in comparison to desktop devices. Your interactions will not always be instantly compatible with a mobile device. In some cases they will need to be tweaked in order to make them more user friendly for a smaller environment, without disrupting the flow and consistency of the design. The user will often be in a distracting environment eg. a train, café or airport, so it is important to keep the learning interface simple and to the point. 9. Use existing practices Taking inspiration from existing apps and websites is a great way to keep your design consistent with the rest of the digital world. Figuring out what works for you goes a long way towards knowing what works for other users. Using basic web principles to form your design simply makes sense. Most people nowadays have been surfing the web for a long time and although we shouldn’t assume they know how to navigate a website, it is still a very strong basis for the design. 10. The journey never ends At no point during UX & UI design is the job ‘done’. Designers should constantly be looking for new, innovative ways to improve the experience. Keeping ourselves updated with the latest technological developments ensures that we can put the user in the best possible position to be able to take in the information given to them. And to finish - some great UX design inspiration from Erin: 52 weeks of UX UX Booth Creative blog A list apart Thanks for reading our blog today. As ever, we’d love to hear your comments below. What’s the best user experience you’ve come across? What did you like about it? If you use eLearning content, what types of user experiences do you have? The post Ux design for eLearning - 10 tips appeared first on Logicearth.

Learn what kids should be learning about computer science and why. Mel answers common questions parents have about their kids' education and what they should be learning to be prepared for the modern world.

These are public postings of my writings for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University. Each week, we are required to post three responses/reactions to queries posted by other … Continue reading →

Flourishing learning and development - what might it look like?   Maureen Gaffney, one of Ireland’s most accomplished psychologists and most respected and trusted commentators on everything from personal development to organisational, cultural and societal change, has a thing or two to say about flourishing. In fact she has written a book about it. It’s a brilliant ‘how to’ guide to help people achieve a deeper sense of well-being, meaning and purpose even when facing adversity. Flourishing is a personal and professional must-read! Maureen says: "Flourishing people are not just happier - they are more resilient, optimistic and creative. They spot opportunities, pursue goals with conviction and get on well with others. They are able to manage their emotions and they face set-backs with wisdom, courage and a sense of possibility. As they take on life’s challenges, flourishing people have a head start." In one of our recent LinkedIn articles, ‘Have I Got Good L&D News for You’, we looked at how L&D was faring in terms of the ‘alleged crisis of confidence’ facing the industry. Is L&D playing a vital and flourishing role in organisational health, wealth and future success? Or lagging behind the times and possibly past its sell-by-date? We asked what factors might be contributing to any underlying anxiety about the future role of L&D and what could potentially be done to shift such negative perceptions, if any, back towards a more realistic and positive viewpoint? The blog concluded that L&D would not only survive but thrive and flourish in the digital world if it can adapt and square up to some complex challenges. Peter Carlin, co-owner of Logicearth Learning Services said: "Learning is not a composite picture, but a moving, high-tech digital film requiring constant innovation and reinvention. It offers endless new opportunities for L&D to evolve, to do things differently and to deliver new exciting and dynamic ways of learning. It enables professionals to be creative in how services are offered today and in the future and to tailor all of that not only to what the customer, the end user really values and needs, but to overall corporate vision and strategy." This sense of change and optimism is shared in an article by Peter Casebow from GoodPractice.com. Its latest UK Learning Trends survey shows that confidence in L&D’s ability to meet business needs and support corporate objectives remains positive; 65% of Learning Managers predict their function will have an improved impact on corporate performance in the coming months. He writes: "Compared to previous results, latest surveys shows renewed attention to improving upon organisational efficiency and a broadening of L&D activity to include the development of middle managers alongside strategic leadership development opportunities. Further, informal learning and social media continue to play an important role across the learning landscape, with respondents predicting an increase in both these areas." These findings reflect just some of the dynamic changes taking place across the industry and forecast a warmer climate ahead for potentially flourishing learning and development teams. Enabled and enhanced by new technology, learning is becoming much more mobile, social and global. It is also more adult appropriate, immediate, accessible and self-directed. And it is becoming more flexible and progressive in investing and developing in the talent layers below senior management. This represents a significant and strategic investment into the future prosperity of any organisation. It also consolidates the important role flourishing learning and development has to play in offering richer learning solutions and processes that will assist professionals and organisations to achieve sustained superior performance through individual effectiveness, teamwork and enduring leadership. In shifting its focus form formal learning towards supporting performance in the workplace, L&D is no longer about producing, bigger, better courses, it’s more about supporting, enhancing and enabling business agility and allowing people the autonomy and resources to be able to succeed. These are all positive indicators that the 70:20:10 model (70% of people learn best on the job through experience and practice, 20% through learning with peers, coaches and mentors with the remaining 10% in more formal settings) is fully functional. Modern workforces are already successfully occupying this space 100% resourcefully finding their own solutions to work related issues, problem solving as individuals or in teams. 70:20:10, then is not a theory, application or an incremental process. It’s about people, real life and real jobs. It’s a fact, not a choice. What does this mean for L&D professionals? Peter Casebow in a short video on the future of learning, said: "People are just much happier in using the technology. Technology in itself has moved on but actually the end users, the learners are much happier using it. They don’t think about using it, they are just really happy to go and use what’s there to help them perform and learn better." The challenge for L&D is to keep up with their end users; the people they serve. The 2015 CIPD/Towards Maturity research report L&D: Evolving roles, enhancing skills, still presents a gap between L&D abilities and use of technology to support learning: 86% are using live online learning tools (for example, webinars or virtual classrooms) yet only 34% agree that they have the skills to deliver online 76% are developing online content in-house but only 31% have the skills 30% per cent say that they don’t know how L&D professionals develop the skills to use learning technologies in their organisation What are those 4 ways to flourishing learning and development? Maureen Gaffney believes that not only is it possible for all of us to flourish, but, in an increasingly uncertain world, it is essential that we PLAN to do so. Maureen has identified four essential elements of flourishing which when they work together to build towards a positive upward spiral. 1. Challenge A call or demand to you to do something, to get over an obstacle, to engage with some life task, to make something happen Rob Lauber, CLO at McDonald’s Corp sums this up. In an article by L&D expert, Jane Hart he said: "It’s not a matter of waiting for a change in mind sets to happen before you start your new work, it means starting your new work to bring about this change in mind sets. In particular it means working with teams and in groups and in new ways to support their continuous learning and performance improvement." The call to action is to progress, move forward and embrace change. Recognise there are few rights or wrongs in the digital age just a lot more choice. New technology and the platforms it provides is nothing other than a blank canvas on which Picasso style, L&D can create a brand new learning culture at work. Facilitate, create and encourage experiential learning opportunities, new positions, roles, job swaps and attachments. Power up middle managers to take on more responsibility essential to the success of 70:20:10. Give staff as much freedom through informal learning opportunities where and when they want it. No matter what directional change it takes, L&D has no choice but to find alternative ways to offer learning solutions and processes that are appealing. 2. Connectivity Being attuned to what is happening inside and outside you. Connectivity orients you to the challenge and gets you ready to deal with it Peter Casebow argues that L&D’s view of learning is only one side of the coin. What do learners think? He said: "Think about learning from the learning professionals’ point of view and then look at L&D from the learners’ perspective. They are quite different things. We have done two or three studies over the last number of years and have actually gone out and asked learners what they think. One of the things that comes out strongly is that learners don’t often realise they are learning, they are actually a lot more pragmatic….what they are looking for is things that will help them perform better, sometimes that’s learning and sometimes that is just a piece of knowledge." To sum it up, it’s about being in touch and in tune with who your learners are, it’s about treating them like customers, knowing what they want and catering to their modern L&D needs. Spend time getting to know colleagues, their aspirations and plans for the future. How else can L&D expect to play a meaningful role in influencing, individual, team and collective organisational performance? True customer orientation means developing a more marketing, communications and research led approach. 3. Autonomy Feeling free to move and to act in pursuit of the challenge. This gives you energy to get going and sets the direction of travel Shaking off some outmoded, time worn ways of working is a good place to start. In the post-Industrial world, aspects off the traditional L&D role are becoming redundant. It is time to let go of control and relax about the fact that the job will significantly change from being a ‘go-to’ provider of formal training to be an enabler of learning in many different forms, on-the-go, in-situ, on-demand, global, social and mobile. Encouraging and supporting people to get on with self-directing their own learning will free up your time from heavy-on-administration formal learning activities and will give you the latitude to do things in compelling and innovative new ways. Feel the freedom of becoming a consultant, a trusted guide empowering teams and assisting leaders to make and own informed decisions about what training and development needs matter most to them. The alternative is to continue to try and straight jacket sophisticated modern workers into formal learning patterns which far from being in the direction of travel, is swimming against the tide. 4. Using your valued competencies The experience of using your talents, the strengths you most value in yourself At Logicearth Learning Services we are beginning to see how many of our clients are now carving out personally rewarding, high impact roles that are core to business function. The role is becoming more sophisticated, market led and business orientated. Both the 2015 L&D CIPD survey and CIPD/Towards maturity L&D roles survey cited business acumen and business alignment as an increasing focus for L&D teams. Savvy or flourishing learning and development professionals are now playing to their core strengths as well as skilling up to meet new challenges. The priority skills L&D may need for the future may not be the valued competencies of the past. Business acumen will be just as important as the obvious skills of technology and instructional design for L&D to flourish, exceed expectations and contribute significantly to meeting the bottom line. As the Harp television advertisement says: "How do you look at the world as a wee insignificant speck in an infinite universe or as a great big ball of possibilities? When faced with the impossible do you panic or look at things from another angle? That’s it big man. And do you worry that the glass is half full or half empty or do you think to ask the important question. What’s in the glass? It’s all about perspective. Thanks for reading our blog today. Do you have a flourishing L&D team? Are there any particular barriers you have already dealt with? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Logicearth Learning Services specialise in designing, delivering and supporting modern workplace learning solutions, which brings results for individuals and organisations. We are learning technology experts and along with specialist interactive multi-device content development skills, we can provide a complete service for all your organisation’s modern learning needs. Logicearth has offices in Belfast and Dublin but deliver services worldwide, including Ireland, UK, USA and throughout Europe. The post Four ways to get to flourishing learning and development appeared first on Logicearth.

Before coming to We Can Code IT's coding bootcamp, Jasmine heard "You're not smart enough to finish." Jasmine proved them all wrong!

At Logicearth, we put ourselves in the shoes of our clients everyday; its the only way we can really design eLearning content that works. These seven principles help us step through important design considerations. The post If you could see inside the learner’s brain appeared first on Logicearth.

  WE CAN CODE IT FINDS NEW HEADQUARTERS AT SHAKER LAUNCHHOUSE The coworking space will be home to offices, classroom and event space Cleveland, OH — June 8, 2015 —...

Is xAPI really something to get excited about? We think it could be… This is just a quick blog post to write up some thoughts and insights I had from a recent, excellent Webinar - Empowering Continuous Learning with the Tin Can API (xAPI). (Delivered by Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting and co-presented by Mike Rustici from Rustici Software) I’ve also been learning from the very well organised #learnxapi MOOC run by Ben Betts (@bbetts), Martin Cousins (@martincouzins) and Sam Burrough (@burrough). Before the Webinar, I wrote down six questions and I have recorded the answers below. Why would L&D bother with xAPI? It is about better suiting the needs of the modern learner - who is mobile, flexible, uses different content sources and tools, multiple devices, needs content ‘in the workflow’ and on-demand. Traditional corporate learning usually means one central formal source for staff to access learning resources - the LMS. But in reality, the modern learner uses many different and often informal sources, ranging from blogs, watching YouTube videos, participating in online communities, and much more. Modern learners aren’t happy with the current lack of flexibility for learning through the traditional LMS and want L&D to provide a richer, more continuous learning eco-system. So it is no longer about the one-off, 30 minute eLearning course; it is about matching the reality of the learner in the workplace: "Help me access the most appropriate content or tool, when I need it, in the form that I need it in, using the device of my choice." So if your organisation provides lots of tools and content sources e.g. using an internal Intranet site, PDFs, templates etc, which aren’t tracked on an LMS, considering xAPI for L&D could help to manage and track access to these. How does xAPI work? xAPI is based around activity statements, which records the natural way that people learn, such as: I watched a video I read a blog I read an article For xAPI to work you need: Activity provider, and An LRS (Learning Record Store) The tool or content that the learner accesses needs to be set up to produce the activity statements (activity provider) and then send these to the LRS. Many modern eLearning authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate already do this. The Learning Record Store is a cloud based data repository that will collate the activity statements for registered learners and usually provides a rich set of data analytics. These data analytics are more like webmaster tools such as Google Analytics. Typically, you could expect to get analysis of: The Learner’s path through the content - useful to help other staff who might need to learn something similar The most popular content - useful to know so you can add more of this The least popular content The date/time content was accessed How is xAPI different to SCORM? SCORM, for most people, is a more limited form of data capture for learning activity. For most learning content that uses the SCORM standard, you typically capture: If/when the learner started using the content If/when the user passed/failed/completed At what point the learner stopped so you can return to your last place A revised version of SCORM also allowed you to capture interaction feedback, but overall the SCORM standard was quite ‘black box’ - concerned mainly with completion status rather than specific types of learning activities. Do I need an LMS any more? It depends! Many modern LMS are building in a LRS too. But often, the data/learning analytics still follows the same SCORM type structure. As the LRS gets more sophisticated, expect richer learner analytics and also look for possible integration between multiple LRS. So, I as a learner might chart my learning in one company, and then more easily be able to take my learning record with me if I ever leave. But it is also likely that the LMS will evolve to make better use of learning analytics, so watch the LMS space carefully. Ask your LMS vendor a few questions: Can you allow for accessing and tracking different types of content, and not just ‘scorm eLearning courses’ What learning analytics can you provide - not just the same traditional LMS reports? Can you show me an example of xAPI working on your LMS? What are some of the possible future ways L&D could think about xAPI? Start thinking - an expansive range of learning options, rather than ‘locked down’ courses. Think about the normal, natural ways your staff are probably learning on their own - reading blogs, watching YouTube, Google searches. Imagine each staff member being able to share their learning pathways - especially high performers helping many others. Learning eventually becomes better situated with individual staff and their teams, rather than being controlled and administered by L&D. What L&D are then free to do - analyse the learning data and think about better ways they can support staff to direct their own learning. Jump straight to learning strategist! What is the best way to get started? Start with asking yourself a question: What do I need to know about my current training/learning initiatives that I either can’t already capture or don’t already know? I’ll be working on series of blogs with Holly MacDonald from www.sparkandco.ca to tease this out - we’ll post updates on Twitter and LinkedIn. Feel free to post some questions here and we’ll do our best to answer as we learn out loud. In the meantime, you can check out this great explanation of TinCan/xAPI. p.s. - in case you are wondering, TinCan, TinCan xAPI and xAPI and Experience API all mean the same thing! The post Quick insights into xAPI for L&D appeared first on Logicearth.