I don’t use as many job aids now, but back in my time with the military sector I was very well-acquainted with them. The military LOVES their job aids. I was inspired to write this post as I work through E-Learning Challenge #17 - Using Job Aids in E-Learning. Job Aids Job aids are just what they sound like - materials developed in order to aid you in doing your job! These often appear in the form of checklists (think back to the time you may have spent in retail - did you have a dreaded bathroom cleaning checklist? You know, the one you had to sign off on every 30 minutes?), worksheets, or FAQs. These job aids can serve to make doing certain tasks easier, especially if you have a lot to remember. They also serve to generate procedural habits. In e-learning, job aids might even be more effective than formal training. In a Training Needs Analysis, the Instructional Designer might determine that developing full-blown training really won’t address the need, but a simple Job Aid will do just the trick. Here, you can see how job aids can be efficient and cost-effective. I spent many moons working in retail, and one of my favourite job aids was the Starbucks drink recipe cards (click here for an example, found on a quick search of The Google). Each store had a couple sets of these, and they were easy index-sized cards that had an illustration of the drink and the steps to make the drink. I say this was one of my favourite job aids because, as a manager of an incredibly busy store, you sometimes had to toss a new trainee into the trenches, and these recipe cards really helped new baristas (and sometimes old ones who encountered an obscure drink order) get up-to-speed with the plethora of drink recipes there were. Each time a new drink came out, the recipe index received another magical card. What a perfect job aid! Within the military, there were always checklists for every little task; these checklists are critical in that while some might seem silly, others were the difference between life and death. Just think about what might happen if someone didn’t use the proper torquing value when tightening bolts on aircraft parts? The part might fail during a mission and the plane might crash. No one wants to have that hanging over their head, so checklists are necessary! Enough Examples! Here are some Resources: Use Job Aids to Improve Your Business Results by Leslie Allan Designing a Job Aid by ATD How to Build Effective Job Aids by Kari Loeffler Designing Effective Job Aids with Microsoft Word by Raul Esparza

2014 was a good year for our eLearning blog. I was curious to dig into the traffic numbers and uncover what posts were the most popular. What topics does our audience most respond to? As is often the case, the most popular posts weren’t necessarily our favorites, making it interesting to study this list every so often. While interesting that the topics seemed to vary, most notable is the variety in content format - text, infographics and video. Before we get into the list, let me ask that you leave a comment below letting me know what topics you would most like to see featured on the Expand eLearning Blog? And, if you have a preference, in what format? Now, without further ado…feel free to grab a cup of coffee and hang out for awhile! Our 10 Most Viewed Blog Posts of 2014 Why You Can’t Really Train Anyone: The Trainee Hierarchy of NeedsLearning facilitators have to understand trainees' needs in order to create a willingness to learn and the desired audience response. Read more in our most popular post of 2014. Why eLearning? [Infographic]This infographic explains why eLearning is the most effective way to train employees and see measurable results. 6 Sales Training Obstacles You Can Conquer with eLearningIt can be difficult to capture a salesperson's attention for training. In this post, we discuss common hurdles in delivering successful sales training. Why You Should Embrace Visual LearningTake a look at some of the science behind visual learning to see why it can be beneficial to embrace it in eLearning courses. Get Rid of Paper Checklists: Use Mobile Performance Support SystemsConverting paper forms and checklists to a mobile format eliminates paperwork, improves reporting accuracy and is easier for employees to use. Stronger performance support leads to greater results. The Benefits of Using Animation in eLearningHere are seven big reasons to use animation in your eLearning. Learning in the Modern Workplace [Infographic]There is plenty of compelling data to show how eLearning makes content resonate with the modern learner. Check out this infographic. Live Training vs. eLearning: A ComparisonCan you estimate converting live training into eLearning? Read on to learn our standard guideline. Why Learning Objectives are Critical (And How To Create a Good One)If you aren't sure of the objective of your training course, how do you know it was a success? Here, we discuss how to create good learning objectives. Meet The Team at Expand [Video]Who is Expand? Find out in this post. photo credit: FotoChaotin

This week I wanted to chat a bit about gesture-based learning. The topic recently came up in discussion, and whenever I explain it in contextual examples (of projects I previously worked on), people always seem really wow’ed, so I figured it would be a great time to chat about it! Gesture-Based Learning Gesture-based learning allows users to learn practical movements through human interactions interfacing with digital technologies. This type of learning became increasingly popular with the emergence of readily available and affordable technologies such as the Xbox Kinect and the Nintendo Wii. The novelty is engaging enough for most users, and with the appropriate programming, you can develop incredible scenarios. In gesture-based learning, courses are developed around key gestures and body movements. Activities are often simulating real-life events, and the practical component of gesture-based learning activities is paramount (in my opinion) when it comes to mastering movements to be used in real-life events. An example of a gesture-based course I contributed to was an aircraft marshalling program, wherein the users were tasked with properly learning marshalling signals, and throughout the activities they were assessed. Incorrect movements would prompt sample scenarios of what might happen in the real-world field. It was one of the cooler programs I worked on, but I have to suppose that it was incredibly expensive and laborious for all resources involved. Resources Gesture Based Interaction NUI: An Overview by Dr. Manju Kaushik and Rashmi Jain "Alien Health": A Nutrition Instruction Exergame using the Kinect Sensor by M. C. Glenberg, C. Savio-Ramos, and H. Henry Gesture-based Learning with Kinect Teacher’s Guide to Kinect: How to Program for Kinect and Gesture-Based Learning

In 2013, we met a Director from SDMyers. After a few conversations, we learned that SDMyers was facing a similar problem as many of our clients. They needed to find a way to train more people without spending more time or more money. The answer lied in converting all of their existing, live training courses to online eLearning courses. Read on to learn more about this real-life case study. About the Client SDMyers is a mid-sized Facilities Services company offering industrial organizations the consulting, training and maintenance needed to keep their mission-critical electrical systems in top condition, with emphasis on transformer maintenance and testing. (No, not that kind of transformer…) A key piece of SDMyers’ business model is training clients on preventative maintenance and asset management to avoid equipment downtime and subsequent revenue losses. They’ve offered training since 1975 and have earned a reputation as an expert and client-focused organization in the industry. About the Problem Traditionally, SDMyers offered classroom training sessions in their Ohio facility, which limited client participation, because of both timing and travel costs.  The classes were popular, but expensive and inefficient, and only a portion of clients were able to take advantage of what had become an in-demand service. SDMyers’ leadership felt they could improve the client training while at the same time gain savings and economies of scale by shifting to an eLearning approach. The question, then, was how. They had many questions, and turned to Expand for instructional design and technology expertise to help them develop the best approach, tone, breakdown of content, delivery methods and how to get more out of each course with tracking and reporting. How eLearning Solved the Problem Expand’s team of instructional designers and developers converted much of SDMyers’ live training material into a series of eLearning modules that users can access anywhere they have an Internet connection, on any device. They can reach more people, and their audience benefits from having the training material at their fingertips without incurring travel expenses and significant time away from work. Training is shorter, more effective, more engaging and less of a drag on resources for all involved. SDMyers has strengthened their client-focused reputation while realizing significant cost savings. Watch a quick snapshot of the final product to see just how engaging eLearning, when done right, can be. Need to be more places at once? If you’re considering converting live training content into eLearning modules, but aren’t sure where to start, schedule a free consultation with our team. We can talk you through your project and help you bring it to fruition. photo credit: born1945

After a couple of weeks of relaxation (thanks, David!), this week’s challenge was to develop a unified template, and I really enjoyed developing this interaction. It gave me a break from my regular workload, and now I’m feeling a bit more inspired. The Concept Use three different templates to develop a unified template. The templates could either come from something existing you had kicking around on your hard drive, from somewhere online, or from the Articulate Downloads site. The Method The three templates I chose to use were: Storyline 2 Icon-Based Template Accordion Template Clean Resume Template Using the Clean Resume Template as a jumping off point, I changed the colour scheme, deleted most of the navigation elements, replaced them with accordion blocks from the Accordion Template, and added some headers, using the ball icons from Storyline 2 Icon-Based Template. It was pretty easy to put together, and definitely practical. The Result To view the full interaction, Click Here. To download this Free Resume Template, Click Here.

So, a few months back (gosh…it’s been many months, actually), I purchased The Doodle Revolution on recommendation from many e-learning professionals. I have yet to finish it, but largely because I did a lot of the reading, but not as much of the exercises. Anyhow, the book is amazingly well-written and is not about making you good at drawing. It’s about making you think differently and communicate in a more visual manner. It’s awesome! However, as I previously mentioned, it’s been slow-going because I’ve been wanting to do the exercises and haven’t been particularly motivated to do so…that is until I discovered Pencil and Paper by Fifty-Three. Pencil is a stylus type of tool, and is meant to work with the app Paper (free). Last night my Pencil arrived and I promptly had my husband download the app on his iPad. I asked him what he wanted me to draw, and I ended up drawing this cat as my very first doodle: IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I cannot quite explain (except in all-caps) just how friggin’ fun it was to make that doodle. I didn’t need to be good at drawing. All of the tools I needed and colours I needed were there. I didn’t need a desk full of implements and other crap to choose from. I just needed to DO IT. My favourite feature is the watercolour option; it makes all of my artistic endeavours seem that much more artistic. Now my motivation for completing the exercises in The Doodle Revolution have been reinvigorated, and I’m excited to get moving! In any event…I just wanted to share these products by Fifty-Three with you (they aren’t paying me to tell you how awesome they are), because my husband and I honestly had the most fun in recent memory sitting beside each other and making silly drawings (his is less silly and more realistic, but it was so much fun)! Definitely check it out; I’ve added these items to my Resources page.

Have you ever watched a video or used a self-paced training module that was supposed to teach you something -- and it was a total fail? Undoubtedly, you have. It may have left you frustrated, bored, or even amused in a way the authors did not intend. If you are now working on the other end—meaning you are now involved in the creation of eLearning courses—you need to know what mistakes often lead to the audience feeling frustrated, bored or not taking training seriously. When Bad Instructional Design Happens to Good People There are nuances in every instructional design project. Each one is different and it’s important to have a keen understanding of the audience. A style that one group immediately responds to might alienate another group entirely. It’s also important to accept, unless you’ve dazzled them in the past, most of your learners are coming to the course fully expecting to be bored, to multitask and not devote full attention. Beyond the nuances, there are some fundamentals of modern instructional design that, if missed, will create immediate problems and decrease the overall effectiveness of the course. These targets are commonly missed, but the good news is it’s easy to correct your aim once you’re able to recognize and understand the problem. Let’s discuss six common instructional design mistakes and how to correct them: Cheesy Stock Photography: You know those pictures of ethnically diverse, good-looking business people with bright smiles and obviously impeccable phone etiquette? They do not exist in real life. Repeat. They do not exist. Even if they did exist, the average person would probably not be able to relate to them at all. Unless used in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, skip the phony-looking stock photos. Instead, illustrate your content with real photos or entertaining animated characters. Overdone Slides: Your eLearning course shouldn’t look like an episode of Hoarders. Remove the clutter by trimming excess text, bullet points and graphics. Keep the message succinct and design clean. Boring Tone: Let’s face it, voiceover work isn’t easy. But, it’s critical to have a voiceover personality that can relate to the audience and adapt his or her style to the project at hand. Fundamentally, voiceovers should be conversational, not flat. The learner should feel as though they are communicating with a peer or superior - whatever is appropriate for the course - and are talked to, not talked at. Voiceovers shouldn’t sound like what they often are behind the scenes: words being read from a script. Unrealistic or unrelatable examples or scenarios: It’s one thing to use oversimplified examples to illustrate a point. It’s another thing to overdramatize to the point of being ridiculous. Do your best to paint realistic scenarios that your learners may actually face in real life. Poor UX Design: As the learner moves through a course, it should be abundantly clear what action is supposed to be taken, whether it’s advancing to the next section, answering questions or playing a game. These interactions should be clean and clear, not cumbersome or complex. Use Apple as your muse, and you’ll be fine. No assessment or evaluation: You’re missing a huge opportunity if you aren’t scattering assessments throughout your course. Assessments help gauge course effectiveness and user engagement, as well as drive home important points through reiteration and application. If you have instructional design experience, what advice would you give to others about common mistakes and how to overcome them? Leave us a comment below! If you’d like to create an eLearning course but are looking to collaborate with an eLearning partner, let us know if you’d like to chat. We can schedule a time to discuss your project and offer our recommendations with how best to proceed! photo credit: striatic 

I am no stranger to procrastination…by any stretch. So much so, that I tend to factor procrastination into my workflow and feel as though I produce better work under pressure…probably not true, but I’ll let myself believe it. Whatever you choose to believe, you should make an effort (like I do) to be more productive. That’s why I subscribe to the 45/15 rule! The 45/15 Rule The 45/15 rule is a great model for productive workflow (in my opinion) because it encourages you to break up each hour into 45 minutes of productive work and 15 minutes of procrastination, distraction, or time spent otherwise not working. For me, this rule works really well because I see it as a challenge - how many pages can I write in 45 minutes? How many emails can I respond to in 45 minutes? How much of a course can I author in 45 minutes? And then, I reward myself by 1 - ticking items off my to do list and 2 - watching cat videos or surfing social media for 15 minutes! This rule helps me channel my productivity while still allowing me to indulge in the procrastination I’ve grown to love and appreciate (and whom I have nurtured for many years). If it helps, you can use an alarm - I did this at first. However, I tend to find the actual alarm sound to be jarring, so I’ve opted to calculate my hour by using even hours on my clock. Resources Use the 45/15 Rule for Productive Procrastination by Freelancer Union The 45/15 Rule by Create & Thrive The ’45/15 Rule,’ Eating the Frog, and 5 Other Ways Freelancers Can Get Things Done at Home by Suzanne Levy

Let me ask you a quick question. Do any of the phrases below describe your role? A business consultant An HR professional A corporate training professional A departmental or operations manager Anyone that needs to teach something to others You might be wondering what these different jobs have in common. Anyone working in these roles is involved in the training of a team of people. They, directly or indirectly, oversee the dissemination of information to build skills, increase knowledge or change belief patterns. There are different methods of distributing educational information, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. eLearning is becoming a method of choice for transferring knowledge, skills and beliefs. However, before you can launch an eLearning initiative, it’s good to understand what will be involved in shifting from the current approach. Are You Ready for eLearning? You have buy-in. You’re fully convinced an eLearning initiative is a worthwhile investment, but convincing other internal stakeholders that don’t understand it as well can be difficult. It helps to plot out a list of convincing talking points before asking for buy-in. Here are a few ideas to get you started. You have budget. The purpose of training and performance support is to ultimately improve business performance so, like a good suit, it’s worth the investment. You have time. Especially if you’re new to eLearning, you want to allow enough time to get it just right. That could mean a few rounds of edits, so your eLearning project shouldn’t be treated like a race to the finish line. You have a delivery platform. Your shiny new eLearning course needs be put somewhere where your audience can access it easily when they need it. This usually involves some kind of LMS that allows you share content, track course completions, conduct assessments and report on course effectiveness, such as ExpandShare. Your audience has access to adequate technology. Advanced technology has become so prevalent, it’s easy to assume everyone has a mobile device or easy access to high-speed internet. Depending on your audience that might not be the case, so take stock of the technology available to your learners and make sure they can access what they need. You want to measure and report on results. This is arguably the biggest advantage to eLearning. How do you know it’s working? Assessment results are only the first step. You need to be able to determine whether the behaviors taught in the eLearning course are being successfully applied in the field. Notice that none of these statements have to do with the content itself? That’s because any training content can be converted to eLearning, whether it’s historically been delivered in a live, classroom setting, a video, a series of handouts, a job aid, etc. You can get an idea of how to estimate the live-to-eLearning conversion by checking out this previous post. Have additional questions? Give us a call; we’d be happy to answer them. photo credit: Jirka Matousek

This week’s challenge entry is probably my least imaginative, but I’m not feeling 100% and I gave it a go anyhow. For 2015, I’ve resolved to try to be less hard on myself. The Concept This week we were tasked with sharing a creative example of an invoice or invoice template. Invoices - exciting! No, but really…if you’re doing any sort of independent work, you need to have some sort of invoice or else you run the risk of not getting paid (or having a harder time getting your ducks in a row come tax time). The Method I developed two examples, one of which only involved modifying the information on my current invoice template for my own small business. The other was modified based on a word invoice template I found awhile back. Neither are particularly wow-ing, but they get the job done, and I can tell you first-hand that my first example gets me paid. Effective? I’d say so! Both invoices were created in Microsoft Word and then saved as a PDF format. The Result View the Full PDF Here. View the Full PDF Here.