Look for the skills not at the function. Expand your candidate search beyond the go-to pools.

True, giving feedback takes a certain amount of courage but, like any other skill, it really requires practice.

Learning Technologies is Europe’s leading Learning and Development exhibition and conference, taking place in London around this time every year. This year’s numbers are impressive on their own: 150 free seminars, 70 conference speakers, 250 exhibitors and around 7,500 visitors. It is always an eye-opener to attend events like this. You realize where you stand in the market and what the future trends are likely to be. Here are the 10 things you need to know if you did not attend: 1. LMSs are here to stay If you are a business that takes its workforce training seriously, LMS is not something you can do without. It is simply essential. Trying to make a business successful without an LMS is like setting up a reception desk without a telephone device. An LMS not only records and tracks all the training activities your staff have completed, but it also allows you to produce a number of reports on them. The variety is unlimited, ranging from solutions with free plans, like TalentLMS, to pricier but much more sophisticated LMSs, like eFront. It depends on the size of your company and the usage you accrue. 2. Show me the money The big players in the market are investing more in learning technologies. This is not just my impression. It is a notion backed by the CIPD Learning and Development Survey 2015, where it is reported that one third of the organizations have already increased their investment over the last year. Is this a trend that will surge? Over a quarter of the private sector say yes. 3. You get what you pay for This is a rule that applies to wine, gems and well… learning technologies. You can’t buy the best LMS or a great authoring tool on sale. You need to invest a proportionate amount of money for maximum benefit. What I see all the time is organizations with high training needs investing in the cheapest products of the market. The next thing they know is that they waste hundreds of work hours trying to rectify problems they would not have in the first place, had they invested in better technology. 4. Align your business and learning objectives Commissioning training just for the sake of it may help your staff feel they are being cared for, but it does not help your organization. The training that you both need is the one that will boost their confidence in their work and will improve their performance. For this to happen, the learning strategy has to be aligned to the business strategy. The outcome of any learning initiatives has to be measurable by business metrics and KPIs, otherwise your ROI will be impossible to calculate. 5. Continuity across multiple devices We live in a busy, fast-paced and multi-device world, so what we always opt for is simplicity. Most of us already use two or three different devices every day to check our e-mails or manage our social media accounts. Why should eLearning be different? Why be unable to finish a course on my mobile just because I started it on my work PC? Cloud computing is already available to allow continuity across multiple devices, so CTOs, L&D professionals and designers should take this into consideration. You can find the Part 2 here! The post 10 Key Points I Got From The Learning Technologies Event in London (part 1) appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Learning Technologies is Europe’s leading Learning and Development exhibition and conference, taking place in London around this time every year. This year’s numbers are impressive on their own: 150 free seminars, 70 conference speakers and 250 exhibitors and around 7,500 visitors. It is always an eye-opener to attend events like this. You realize where you stand in the market and what the future trends are likely to be. Here are the 10 things you need to know if you did not attend. Click here for Part 1 6. Gamification is the bomb! There is no way you have not by now heard of gamification. It is one of the top buzz words and it is for a reason: if you apply it correctly, it does work. According to Bernard Suits, a game is "the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles". Gamification provides you with the tools and techniques to disguise a learning activity not as a game, but as an interesting and challenging mission. BUT! Always keep in mind that just adding a few bits and bobs to make an eLearning course look and feel like Monopoly or Minecraft does not guarantee success. A prerequisite for both eLearning and gaming is engagement, and… 7. Interactivity is not engagement Wait. What? How is this possible when interactivity is what all instructional designers and developers are after? It is. Adding buttons or drag-and-drop activities in an eLearning course does not necessarily make it engaging. The learner is engaged when they are given a reason to do something; when they are tasked with a personal objective, just like in games! Instead of asking them to click here and there, allow them the freedom to lay their own path. Their sense of achievement at the end will function as positive reinforcement in the learning process. 8. Social learning is the next big thing Social learning is the learning process that takes place in a social context while we observe and interact with others. The idea is simple: why force staff to sit through a boring class when they can team up to complete a task that could lead them to the same learning outcome? Social learning includes coaching and mentorship programs, online fora, social media, virtual classrooms etc. Like with everything else, there is a catch: social learning is a seed that can bloom only when planted in a fertile land, that is a true learning organization where managers are willing to take ownership of informal training methods. 9. Are Virtual and Augmented Reality ready to go mainstream? Highly unlikely. VR and AR are great and very fancy technologies, but they are still in their infancy. Gamers like them, innovators like them, but only few have a vague idea of how they could implement them in the workplace for learning purposes. One of the biggest problems is the high cost. Buying the equipment is the easy thing. Having an application developed and tailored to your organization’s needs is the difficult and costly part. And then we have a series of other issues, like graphics, human interface, ergonomics etc. 10. Keep it simple No one can stress enough how much more effective simplicity is over complexity. We are L&D professionals. We want to train our people for their and our organization’s benefit, so don’t go far. Invest in an LMS and get to know what your staff like, what they respond to better and what they are more resistant to. If your organization lacks in learning culture, fancy ideas are probably unlikely to work, at least in short-term. Reinforce what works and drop what doesn’t, but always set your compass to where the market goes. Conclusion If you are an L&D professional or you are simply interested in how training can benefit an organization, make sure you attend events like Learning Technologies. You will meet inspiring people, you will have interesting discussions, you will see demonstrations of powerful products and you will get to witness first-hand some of the innovative ideas that will be commonly used in a few years’ time. The post 10 key points I got from the Learning Technologies event in London (part 2) appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

I’ll be honest with you. Those Beats by Dr.Dre headphones are nothing special. Sure, they look cool but, come on, they’re really just regular headphones with Dr.Dre’s name on them. That’s the power of social proof, though. We see all these celebrities endorsing different products, and we want those products too. Every time Oprah so much as mentions a product on her show, sales spike like Mount Everest. You could become a millionaire by just getting Oprah to endorse you. But, you don’t really need an Oprah or a Dre (is he a even a real doctor?). Of course, their influence does help, but social proof is more than just that. Think about your own shopping experiences. When you go to Amazon to buy a blender, would you look at the one with no reviews or the one with ten 5-star reviews? The answer is obvious. Both blenders could be great, and the one with no reviews may even be a new and improved product, but the 5-star reviews and raving testimonials on the other blender will influence you more. Remember, these are ratings from people you’ve never met! Yet, customer reviews are 12 times more trusted than product descriptions. It actually makes sense, if you think about it. We may not know the reviewer, but if we see lots of people talking about something, we’ll likely follow them simply because we are social creatures. It’s this social nature that allowed humans to form civilizations and evolve from the Stone Age. Are you starting to see how powerful social proof can be for your online course? It’s not a new concept. It’s something that we as a species have relied on for thousands of years. In this post, we’re going to show you how to capitalize on this. Side note: You can also download our Social Proof workbook for offline usage. How Social Proof Helps You Ok so social proof is awesome. But what exactly does it do for your online course? Here are three things it does - It builds trust - As many as 80% of us look to reviews when buying online, and potential students for your courses will be no different. Reviews and testimonials act as social proof that your products are genuine and trustworthy because others have purchased them before and had a positive experience. It improves sales - Use good reviews as a selling point. A high star rating is an instant and universally understood selling point for a product. You can set reviews to appear publicly on your course landing page to help seal the deal with new purchasers. It lets you charge more - Students are hesitant to make large purchases when they don‘t know what to expect. By showing testimonials and course reviews, you can ease your potential customer’s concerns and start charging more for your course. The Types of Social Proof In general, social proof can be categorized broadly into two types - Influencer Social Proof - The examples I mentioned earlier, with Oprah and Dre, are forms of influencer social proof. Any celebrity endorsement, press mention, or expert review can give you massive amounts of credibility and instantly build trust with your target market. For example, Brian Dean, who writes on the Backlinko blog, has a set of press logos where he’s been mentioned as well as testimonials from well-known experts in his industry. User Social Proof - Like I said, if you haven’t been mentioned in the press or received praise from influencers yet, that’s ok. The other form of social, user social proof, can cover you there. This is type of social proof you find on sites like Amazon. Customer ratings, reviews, case studies, social media shoutouts, and even customer or sales numbers can do wonders. Yaro Starak, who created Entrepreneurs Journey, uses case studies as social proof to sell his information products. He interviews people who have bought his products, like students of his training course, and publishes those interviews as podcasts and blog posts. By seeing how successful his students are, potential customers are inclined to buy his training. Look at our ‘Thinkific Love’ Twitter box on the right for another example. If your customers love your online course, they’ll happily share it online and say good things about you. You can also get them to review your course on your site, so that when new people visit your course landing page, they see these reviews. Let’s look at how you can do that. Adding Social Proof To Your Courses By now, you should be convinced that social proof is important for your online courses. At some point, as more people find your courses, you’ll be able to get press mentions and testimonials from experts and influencers. But, if you’re just starting out, it makes more sense to focus on the quick wins, like getting students to add reviews and ratings to your site and online course. Here are the steps you need to take to do that. Step 1: Outline your value benefits A general testimonial/course review is great, but a strategic testimonials that has your current students highlight the benefits that make you stand out is even more powerful. So first, you need to be clear about what your selling benefits are. What makes you stand out? Why should a student take your course over another course? What benefits are your students getting by taking your course? Think deep here. If you are teaching a course on how to use Excel, your benefits are more than just learning Excel. It might be that your students save time and become more efficient at work, or maybe they can earn more in their business because they will have a better handle on their numbers. List the 3-4 main selling points for your courses. Step 2: Start gathering Your testimonials should address your key selling points. If your course is special because you include one-to-one coaching, find a testimonial that raves about your coaching style. If your content is super easy to follow, find a student who was able to learn a skill really quickly. If your course is new, you arguably need social proof even more. But how do you get reviews for a brand new course? Consider adding trial students to your course. Allow them to try your course for free and gather their feedback. Also, think outside your course. If you are a coach for example, get testimonials on your teaching style and credibility from clients you’ve worked with before. Here are some more ideas - Ask your fans: Ask! Reach out to some of your best students and ask them for specific reviews. Authentic reviews are the best, so let them be in your student‘s voice. You can however ask a student to give you a recommendation Ask that highlights a specific benefit. Scour social media: Students who complete your course may tweet about their experience or share positive sentiments on their social platforms. Search your own social platforms and also public comments for good reviews on your course. Try SocialMention.com to search for comments about your brand online. Turn on course reviews: With Thinkific, you have the ability to turn on Thinkific‘s Course Review feature and display reviews directly on your course page. Course Reviews include both star ratings and written testimonials. You have complete control over what reviews are displayed. Step 3: List your testimonials Hopefully, all your reviews are great and everyone loves your course! But there may be one or two reviews that are not so flattering. You probably want to select the best reviews to publish on your site. Now, that doesn’t mean you delete all the negative reviews and only publish the positive ones. In fact, negative reviews are actually quite helpful because they let you know how you can improve. The best way to deal with them is to talk to the reviewer and find out what you can do to give them a better experience. Then, if they are valid concerns, you can actually implement them and improve your course. And for all the other reviews, don’t forget to thank the reviewers! Let them know what it means to you and that you’ve published their review on your site. Step 4: Get the word out Now that you have a collection of strategic course reviews and testimonials, you need to share them with new potential customers. Add reviews to your course pages, incorporate them in your promotional material, and share them on your ‘owned’ media platforms: social media, blogs, website etc. You can enable Thinkific’s Course Review feature on your admin dashboard. To learn how to collect and display course reviews for your course, check out our step by step guide here. Start Collecting Social Proof If you’ve already got a course, start hunting for reviews. Follow the suggestions in Step 2 and go out and get them. There’s no better time to start than now! You can also download the workbook for reference. And if you haven’t got a course, what are you waiting for? There are people out there waiting to learn from you and your unique experiences. It’s time to start creating courses and making an impact on them. The post Testimonial Tweaking: How Social Proof Can Increase Course Sales appeared first on Thinkific.

The American Psychological Association reports that the nation’s economic crisis has deeply affected the lives of millions of Americans. Skyrocketing foreclosures and job layoffs have devastated many families, particularly those living in low-income communities. The Census Bureau defines poverty on a sliding scale according to the size of a family unit, but for a family of four, the poverty threshold in 2014 was just over $24,000. For one person, it was just over $12,000. Below are a few facts about poverty in the United States. According to the Census Bureau, in 2014 there were: 46.7 million people in the United States living in poverty 15.5 million (21.1 percent) children under the age of 18 living in poverty 4.6 million seniors age 65 and older living in poverty Poverty is never an easy topic to discuss. The idea of hunger, homelessness, and the accompanying fear those ideas evoke make it difficult to talk about; especially with children. However, once students and adults alike learn about poverty and how it affects many Americans, they may become motivated to help. Learning the facts may inspire all of us to ask, "What can we do to make a difference?" What can you do to help children and families struggling with poverty, hunger and homelessness? The American Psychological Association suggests the following: Volunteer your time with charities and organizations that provide assistance to low-income and homeless children and families.  Donate money, food and clothing to homeless shelters, food pantries and other charities in your community.  Donate school supplies and books to under-resourced schools in your area.  Make your voice heard! Support public policy initiatives that seek to:  1.       Improve access to physical, mental, and behavioral health care for low-income Americans by eliminating barriers such as limitations in health care coverage.   2.       Increase the minimum wage, affordable housing and job skills training for low-income and homeless Americans.  3.       Intervene in early childhood to support the health and educational development of low-income children.  4.       Provide support for low-income and food insecure children such as Head Start, the National School Lunch Program, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) authorization.  5.       Increase resources for public education and access to higher education.  6.       Support research on poverty and its relationship to health, education, and well-being. Need inspiration? Take some time to research individuals and organizations that have made a difference in poverty awareness. Take Zach Bonner for example. As an elementary student in 2009, he walked 668 miles from Atlanta, Georgia, to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness about homeless children. Along the way, he raised tens of thousands of dollars to help children living in poverty. The Blessings in a Backpack program fights food insecurity in children by mobilizing schools and communities to provide food on the weekends to elementary school children who might otherwise go hungry. Many children depend on the federal free and reduced meal program at their school during the week and sometimes, these school-day meals are the only ones they get. When school lets out on Friday afternoons, Blessings in a Backpack asks, "Who will feed the children this weekend"? Educating ourselves about the social benefits and personal significance of helping others is just one of the valuable lessons that can be taught during National Poverty Awareness month every January. Empowering communities to come up with solutions to homelessness and hunger is something that can be done all year round. Sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-ryan-thrusts-poverty-into-2016-election-conversation/ http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf http://blogs.proquest.com/sirs-discoverer/national-poverty-in-america-awareness-month/        

Long time readers of the NCCE Tech Savvy Teacher blog will recognize this Tech Savvy Teacher: Kiki Prottsman as she created all of the wonderful examples of How to keep kids coding: Thinking Myself  Code Maven Auditorium Magic Pen Manufactoria Alice Logic.ly Dance Mat Typing Kiki will be at NCCE 2016 this year presenting both sessions and workshops for all of you that are interested in coding and bringing elements of Computer Science into your classroom. Links to the sessions and workshops are at the bottom of this post. Without further ado….Here’s Kiki! Name: Kiki Prottsman Location: Eugene, OR Current job(s): Education Program Manager for Code.org Current computer: MacBook Pro Retina Current mobile device(s): LG G4 One word that best describes how you teach or work: Playful   Show us a screenshot of your mobile device’s home screen! What apps/software/tools can you not live without? Google Keep is one of my favorite (lesser known) apps.  I use it to keep track of everything from what I need to do each day to what I need to buy at the store, or even ideas for KIKIvsIT videos!  In general, if Google makes it (and it’s free) it’s a safe bet that I’ve found a way to utilize it in my daily life. Share with us a time when you failed in your teaching or learning pursuits. How did you persevere? I’ve had so many!  As an educational perfectionist, I take note of my failures every single year, with every student that doesn’t recognize their most full potential.  That’s why I’m continuously revising my teaching style, my lessons, and my expectations.   Since the majority of my work is done in K-5, I consider my most important job the imparting of self-efficacy and growth mindset.  If students truly believe that they can learn whatever they want as long as they persevere, it adds hope to the years that follow.  If students lose hope, they lose progress. The most notable series of failures for me happens when the world is watching.  Whether in the Code.org curriculum or my online videos, if students aren’t enjoying the process of learning, I feel as if I’ve failed.  This is a constant reminder to stay in touch with the people who are interacting with my lessons so that each addition is better than the last! Other than your phone and computer, what gadget can you not live without? I LOVE my Instant Pot!  My sister had one, then my mom got one, and now that I have one, I almost never put it away.  I literally drop the food in and let the computer decide how long it should cook depending on the type of food it is. Isn’t technology amazing?? What is your best time-saving trick? I let my emails go once in awhile!  I have a certain category of emails that I won’t ignore (like parents), but I set myself a timeline for things that "must not be *that* important".  So, for example, if I set my limit to two weeks, then any email that has gone unanswered for two weeks or longer gets marked as read and I let myself off the hook until they contact me again. If you had $1,000 to spend on classroom tools and wanted to make the greatest impact on student learning, how would you spend it? Pizza parties!  Seriously, though, I think that the biggest impact comes from the love of learning.  This love happens when students are engaged and interested.  Events that are perceived as "out of the ordinary" leave an impression.  If you surprise the students with a 2pm ice cream party where you talk about concepts in terms of toppings, then let students EAT them, it will mean a whole lot more than completing another worksheet. What is your favorite avenue to connect with social media? I use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube…but I feel like if I were a more traditional classroom teacher, I would probably value Pinterest and Instagram much more. When you are not living the glamorous work life, what do you like to do in your spare time for fun? I exercise when I can, spend time with my kids (we love to go to movies), and paint…when I think I’ll have time to finish! What app or web service, not currently in existence, do you wish someone would develop? Top secret!  When Code.org is done with me, I’m going to develop it! As a tech-savvy teacher, what everyday thing do you feel you excel with/at versus other teachers/administrators/mentors? I teach computer science as an art.  In fact, I teach almost everything as art.  It gives a whole different spin to a topic when you acknowledge that everyone perceives it differently and that it means different things to each person.   In art class, students know that they need to learn techniques to create pieces that accurately portray what they need, see, or feel.  The same should be true for other subjects.  Students should truly believe that they are learning concepts so that they can apply them to the projects that inspire them everyday. What are you currently reading? I’m finishing Bluebeard by Vonnegut, then I’m going to switch over to The Nurture Effect, by Anthony Biglan.  I’m very interested in both non-fiction and wild satire. Did you get a chance to check out our in-depth interview with Kiki about the Hour of Code and the Future from last year? As promised here are the sessions and workshops to learn with Kiki at this year’s NCCE 2016! Have you registered yet? SESSION:Coding - Why we all should be teaching Computer Science! Thursday, February 25 | 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM | Room: Chelan 4 Description: Afraid that your principal will require you to justify your desire to bring CS to your classroom? Learn about the practical life skills that computer science enhances, and hear how early exposure to CS gives students a better shot at going farther with the technology that will dominate their adult lives. SESSION: Equity Think Tank - A Vision for Today’s Classroom  Friday, February 26 | 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM | Room: Chelan 4 Description: Come participate in this immersive experience, designed to help you better understand the importance of an equitable classroom. We will look at both sides of some extremely controversial issues, while putting ourselves into the shoes of an ever-changing group of students. Come with an open mind and leave with resources to help improve the quality of education in your district. WORKSHOP: Coding K-5 Should we be teaching Computer Science in elementary school? THUR, February 25 | 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM | Room: 400 Description: This hands-on workshop covers basic techniques for teaching entry-level computer science in grades K-5.  Using free tools, participants will walk away with a plan for integrating computer science into various existing classes. WORKSHOP: Coding 6-8 Add Coding/Computer Science to Your Middle School Classes FRI, February 26 | 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM | Room: 400 Description: Come explore middle school computer science in this hands-on workshop.  Within two hours, you will learn about free and exciting tools to bring computer science to existing classes, or to introduce entirely new technology courses to  your school.  This workshop will be a show & tell tailored to the audience, so bring your devices…and your questions! The post Meet a Tech Savvy Teacher: Kiki Prottsman appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

NCCE Member Highlights - Benson Kwok Benson Kwok, Instructional Technology Coordinator Glendale Unified School District Member Since 2013 * Share with us - what is one new initiative you are working on in your district? As part of the Educational Technology and Information Systems Department, I am currently leading the implementation of Office 365 and Microsoft Education tools in our district. We feel that offering Office 365 alongside Google Apps for Education will help meet the diverse needs of our learners in preparing them for a dynamic and fast changing world, while empowering our educators with a variety of tools to enhance instruction. I work closely with our district professional development team and other departments to organize, facilitate and spearhead training across the district. In addition to Microsoft Edu and GAFE we are focused on supporting the Open Educational Resources based math curriculum assembled by our coaches and Universal Design for Learning concepts in grades Kinder through twelve. * What is one strategy you use to have a more productive workday? I try my best to focus one task at a time. This is nearly impossible in today’s work environment as we are constantly bombarded with email, text, internet and phone related distractions. I prioritize my task list, choose one thing to work on and to a certain degree ignore other everything else. I often take mental breaks by talking a brisk walk, doing breathing exercise and stretching as I work on a my stand up desk. I find this keep me refreshed and focused on my work. * Name one thing your "Mama always told you"? Until you are able to openly admit your mistakes, you are doomed to keep repeating them. I try conduct myself openly and I freely admit my mistakes. Openness and honesty breeds trust. * When you "unplug" - what do you like to do? I play ice hockey twice a week, frequent the outdoors on long hikes with my dog, Hanna. * Where was your last training for NCCE? Tell us about it? A Conference presentation on "Blended Learning with Office 365" for the California Education Technology Professional Association in San Diego CA. I focused on tools such as OneNote Class Notebooks, Skype, Sway and OfficeMix. Participants were mostly IT professionals that work for school districts in California. I was happy to provide an educators view on how these tools can impact teaching and learning. The post NCCE Member Highlights: Benson Kwok appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

With more than 600 learning management systems available globally, selecting one can be a big challenge. When you have hundreds of options to consider, where do you even start? Luckily LearnUpon’s CEO Brendan Noud has overseen 200 LMS implementations during 11 years’ experience in the eLearning market. So when Brendan was asked to deliver a talk at Learning Technologies this year, he focused on the most valuable advice he could offer. Here are the 10 things you should consider to select the best LMS for your organization.     Presentation transcript 1. Unwanted Features Overly complicated system Difficult to use More training required Increased impact if key administrator leaves Paying for features you don’t need An unnecessarily complex LMS comes loaded with unwanted features you don’t need and won’t use. These features may be a waste of money, depending on the pricing model of your LMS. The more extraneous features included as standard, the more expensive an LMS is likely to be. Unwanted features can also negatively impact user experience, distracting and confusing learners from key goals. And the more complex LMS functionality is, the longer it takes to educate users. These delays can threaten the continuity of programs when a key administrator leaves. The inclusion of unwanted features may also force you to invest in additional training to help minimize user discomfort.   2. Mobile Support Responsive design Native mobile apps: iOS, Android, Windows Real-time updates - Is course progress bookmarked across devices? Browser support The demand for mobile learning, or mLearning as it’s also known, has exploded over the last three years. Learners now want to access and complete courses on phone and tablet devices, in addition to desktop. In order to support learning outcomes, training should be easy for users to access. That includes making courses available when and where learners want to complete them. If user experience matters to you, you’ll need to research the range of mobile options shortlisted LMS vendors offer. An LMS delivered with responsive design will adapt to the range of screen sizes users may require. You may also need to offer access to an LMS via mobile apps, depending on the devices supported elsewhere in your organization. Check that vendors have worked through all of the implications of mobile functionality. If learners can access content on multiple devices, the LMS must be able to track behavior across each one, for example.   3. Integrations (APIs, SSO) APIs and SSO options Standard industry protocols Extended often? Backward compatible? Cost involved? Security Webhooks Integration with features like an API, single-sign-on (SSO) and webhooks will allow you to customize your LMS to suit the specific needs of your organization. LearnUpon customers use our API for everything from integrating with third-party apps to generating gamified leaderboards. Using SSO will allow learners to access your LMS with the same set of credentials used for other platforms and applications. If webhooks are provided by an LMS vendor, they’ll allow you to send real-time information between your LMS and other systems to automate processes. If this kind of functionality interests you, inquire about important implications of each service, like cost and security.   4. Customer Support Support hours Are public holidays covered? Email or phone support? Average response time Other supports available? Knowledge Base, Help Guide, videos, Are they friendly, helpful? Do they care? The type of Customer Support offered by an LMS vendor should play a big part in your decision-making. To thoroughly evaluate support, dig past the vendor’s marketing blurbs and test the service yourself. The availability of basic information about hours and channels of communication will give you a sense of how much the vendor has invested in the service. Also consider your own experience from the point of inquiry onwards. The speed and thoroughness with which questions are handled will indicate the level of care you can expect if you become a customer.   5. Content Support Most support queries are content related: Bookmark data, Completion statuses, Browser issues Does your vendor have a deep understanding of content standards? SCORM, Tin Can, AICC, LTI, PENS Do they understand the main authoring tools? - Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora Ask if the support offered by a vendor extends to content. If you use an authoring tool with your LMS, your vendor should understand both the tool and its outputs. At LearnUpon, most of the support queries we receive are content-related. Integrating content into your LMS can throw up any number of issues, like the communication of completion statuses back to the LMS. That can be a problem for users when many vendors don’t offer support to cover these kinds of issues. If support only extends to the LMS itself, you may be left alone to struggle with courses that won’t track. Check that the LMS vendor selected has the expertise and resources required to keep your course content running and reporting smoothly.   6. Approach to pricing Active Users or Registered Users Hard cut-offs at different thresholds Content and course upload limits Number of administrators Feature based Long term contracts? Monthly, annual, multi-year Cancellation policy Hidden costs There are many different pricing models in use in the LMS industry. The differences between approaches can make it difficult to compare quotes from multiple vendors. Common approaches to pricing include charging by usage volumes or the number of Active or Registered Users required. Depending on your usage needs, different pricing models may return very different costs. Map out your organization’s projected usage and plug it into shortlisted pricing models. If the pricing model you’d like to select is based on user or usage limits, ask what happens if you exceed the limits. Automatic lock-outs can cause inconvenience and embarrassment for you and your users. Once you understand the pricing model itself, ask for a list of all additional costs. Charges for things like set-up, installation, training and cancellation aren’t always advertised upfront and can radically impact the perception of value.   7. Product Roadmap Future product roadmap Also ask for past roadmap What did they release in the last 2 years? How often are new features released? How is roadmap decided? Can customers provide input, suggest enhancements? Are there upgrade costs involved? What kind of downtime is involved? The eLearning landscape evolves rapidly. In addition to features already delivered, inquire about impending plans for development. The availability of a recent product roadmap will give you a sense of the resources the vendor has already invested in improving and enhancing the product. You should see that the LMS has been consistently updated to feel confident it can keep up with changes in the industry. Also ask about how the process for adding features to the roadmap is managed. If you have requests for additional functionality, you need to know that the vendor will take them seriously.   8. Scalability, Reliability and Security Scalability: Total number of users & courses, concurrent users, request response times Reliability: Uptime, monitoring in place, Disaster Recovery Plan Security: SSL Penetration testing Previous data breeches: Security patches, updates, etc Scalability, reliability and security are three of the most important factors to consider when investing in an LMS. These issues have the potential to impact the viability of your programs and your organization’s reputation. Inquiring about a vendor’s approach to these critical areas will help you to decide if you can trust them with your business and data. The reputation of the LMS vendor should be easy to research, as breaches will be widely reported. Task the most technical member of your team with scrutinizing all information provided about security processes and contingency plans.   9. Implementation Timeframe Anywhere from 1 hour to 2 years (or longer!): 1. Requirements workshops 2. Solution design 3. Customizations 4. Data migration 5. Administrator Training 6. UAT 7. Bug Fixing 8. More UAT GO LIVE! Depending on the complexity of the integration and the efficiency of your vendor, implementation can take anything from a couple of hours to a number of years. The importance of a quick launch will also vary depending on your organization’s internal procedures. Include questions about timelines with your inquiry to ensure the vendor can help you to meet all important milestones and deadlines.   10. Hidden Costs Implementation & setup fees Requirements workshops Solution design Customizations: branding, workflow changes, custom reports, etc. Testing and bug fixing Data migration Administrator training Project management Customer Support (PSA) Hosting fees Upgrade costs And many more Beyond the basic pricing model, there are any number of essential or optional services an LMS vendor may charge for. Some of these costs will be included in packages offered at different price points by LMS vendors. Others will be free, and others charged at a set fee. Defining which costs affect you and how they’re priced by shortlisted vendors will help you to make an informed judgment of value.   11. Other things to consider Data location: EU Data Protection Legislation, EU-US Safe Harbor Agreement The company: Track record, customer list, reference calls, financial stability, vision, contribution to the community, partnership (e.g. content) While this isn’t an exhaustive list, it covers the considerations I’ve seen impact decision-making over 11 years in the industry. Two final factors worth considering include data and the company’s reputation. Data has become increasingly important over the past three years. It’s something that more and more prospective customers inquire about. Depending on the nature of your organization’s protocols, you may need to inquire about where in the world data will be stored. These questions will help ensure your organization remains compliant with the rules of your territory. You should also be confident that you like the vendor and their company values. A sense of their status and reputation in the industry will help assure decision-makers that you can trust them with the important work that lies ahead. Testimonials and references from companies of similar scale and background will help you to determine if the vendor is equipped to handle your programs effectively.   That’s the end of the presentation Brendan delivered to a full house at Learning Technologies 2016. We hope it provides you with a solid action plan that helps you to select the right LMS for your business.   Try LearnUpon free for 30 days .learnupon.com Agree to Terms of Service Start my free trial The post 10 things to consider when selecting an LMS appeared first on LearnUpon.

The subject of subcontracting and the management fees charged by lead providers made the news again this week which was bound to catch my attention especially with the headline of: ‘National Audit Office to examine provider topslicing scandal’. And as usual there are the claims to justify administration fees of up to 35% as in […]