E-learning is a self-paced learning format where the learner is on his own. Many a learner drop out of eLearning programs due to poor engagement which is a result of the absence of an instructor. It is a big task for eLearning course designers to create an online course that can provide first-rate learning experiences. When eLearning courses are designed keeping some elements in mind, it is possible to increase the learner’s attention and engage him throughout the course. So, what are these elements? Let’s see. By adding these elements in your eLearning course, you can make sure that your people have memorable learning experiences. What do you think? Related Posts3 Interesting Ways to Design Elearning Intro Pages - Infographic7 Tips to Design Better E-learning Courses - An Infographic3 Tips to Instructional Designers for Effective E-learning - An Infographic

Blended Learning Still Ticks My Boxes - As Does Mobile Learning Despite What Some Reports May Say! I always relish reports about the learning trends, and the latest 2015 Good Practise UK Learning Trends Index is a really insightful read, casting light on the challenges and issues being faced by senior Learning and Development practitioners, the people with whom I work! I was delighted. I was to read in the Trends Index about a rise in the use of technology to deliver learning, with 77% of Learning and Development respondents predicting a rise in their use of technology to deliver learning in the coming six months. Of this number, 48% predict a minor shift, and 29% say it will be a major shift. What’s more - and this is the icing on the cake - 62% of respondents are predicting an increase in spend on learning technologies over the next six months. This clearly indicates that more and more companies are continuing to see and really understand the benefits offered by learning technologies. But according to the Learning Trends Index, the first initial enthusiasm around mobile learning and its practical uptake has slipped. Other types of learning technologies such as e-learning and online performance support tools are growing, but the use of mobile devices for learning has not gained the traction everyone had first hoped. How so? I don’t think it’s time to put in to the side-line, just yet. The Mobile Learning Value Mobile learning apps are very useful in certain situations, we all know that. But take BP, for example. The energy company recognizes the value of mobile learning, and in taking an unconventional approach, has chosen videos, checklists and games to deliver engaging learning content to employees’ mobile devices. The information can be accessed on iPads or smart phones anytime and anywhere. The new apps will be used by BP’s 25,000 business leaders and managers, providing them with support for key "transition points" in their careers. These "transition points" are things like new recruits to the company, someone starting their first management position or moving up a level in the management ladder, or a person moving to a new different department. I think BP’s use of mobile learning and the development of the new apps, perfectly encapsulates a company’s effective use of the ‘right’ technology, for the the ‘right’ learning style, for the ‘right’ group of people, at the ‘right’ time. Mobile Learning shouldn’t be used in silo: make it part of a blended approach First of all, let’s remember that mobile learning is not designed to be an educational tool that works in silo, but as a tool that complements other training measures such as classroom style training and virtual classes. For example, if one were to choose between a computer and a mobile phone for researching a subject in-depth, mobile learning probably wouldn’t necessarily be the best option. (Note that the BP use of mobile technology is to communicate ‘key learning messages’. ‘Messages’ generally won’t include information that is highly detailed). This being the case, the important thing is that BP is using the most suitable method for the delivery of information to specific members of staff in order that they can optimise the way in which their staff learn. If you visit their website, you’ll see that BP also uses structured courses online learning, mentors and a whole host of other methods for continuing its staff development, including the mobile approach; in  other words, blended learning. Mobile learning was the big buzzword in 2014 and despite what the Learning Trends Index has highlighted, I believe that with more organisations making mobile a part of their learning strategy and as mobile technology evolves and improves, stories of success will increase. The effects of using mobile for learning and development will become more apparent in terms of cost savings and ROI, and this will result in more organisations choosing to incorporate it into their learning blends. In order that they might target the growing diversity in the workplace, more and more of the companies with whom I work with are looking at new training models that connect and integrate a variety of tools to meet their training needs.  These blended learning models need companies and their training providers to focus on optimising the desired outcomes of learning objectives by applying the ‘right’ technologies to the ‘right’ learning style to the ‘right’ group of people at the ‘right’ time. Again, back to BP and its training app investment - it’s one of a whole range of methods used by the company. Really effective blended learning goes beyond good, basic training to a more systematic education that delivers ongoing learning within the workplace. By developing learning strategies that incorporate a wide variety of learning activities such as classroom instruction, virtual training, or mentoring, companies can give staff greater, more flexible learning and improved performance support. And isn’t that the holy grail for an Learning and Development practitioner? This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

When SCORM was introduced about 15 years ago, the e-learning playing field was pretty different to today. With just one screen size and mode of delivery to think about and pretty slow internet speeds, e-learning courses were generally a basic, page-by-page affair. What is SCORM? SCORM is bit like the lego of the e-learning world. If you build an e-learning course and package it up as a SCORM file, you won’t have any trouble fitting it to a SCORM LMS. It’s a standardised form which means designers across the board can move between authoring tools and learning management systems and package courses up in the same way to deliver learning with relative ease. SCORM also tracks courses when they’re hosted through an LMS, giving some insight into exactly what your learners are getting up to during your course. Time spent on a course, pass/fail, a single score - of one learner at a time, only while they’re online, too. So while SCORM suited the e-learning world ten years ago, it’s a little bit rusty; we have BYOD strategies, loads of devices, complex learning blends and performance support tools to consider today. E-learning is no longer a static, desk-based activity, and we need a way of tracking modern learning experiences. Okay I get that… but what is Tin Can? As you’ve probably heard, Tin Can (also known as Experience API and xAPI) is SCORM’s successor, a software specification made with the 21st century in mind, capable of tracking the entire learning experience, online and offline. It’s a revelation to be able to track the complete picture of learning - from video’s watched to games played to how they transitioned across devices while completing a course of learning. Tin Can tracking aims to be simple and flexible, with what’s tracked (known as statements) being written using real nouns and verbs to allow you to record basically any learning activity. Tin Can opens so many doors for learning designers, which is why the latest version of gomo (and the gomo learning suite) comes with Tin Can output built in. The statements that come out of Tin Can courses are recorded to a learning record store (LRS), which can be shared with other record stores to allow you to emass Tin Can data from various sources - in and outside of an LMS’ and just about anywhere else you could ever wish to track. The newly launched gomo learning suite allows users to host courses in the cloud, delivering them to students through one of four hosting options. A browser-based dashboard makes sense of all of the Tin Can statements, analysing course performance. Find out completion rates, which questions students got wrong and how they’re interacting with your course across devices - a whole load more information than you’re used to with SCORM. With Tin Can data at your disposal, you can draw conclusions, target weaknesses and begin to cater for specific devices. Sound good? You can see more of gomo’s Tin Can goodness at our next webinar. The post The new standard - introducing Tin Can to gomo appeared first on gomo Learning.

Many multinational companies are using eLearning to train their global workforce as online courses are cost-effective, flexible and easily upgradable when compared to instructor-led training sessions. But, most organizations are delivering eLearning courses in English. But, are these programs effective in imparting high-quality training to learners who do not speak English? The answer is an obvious NO because these learners do not comprehend the content delivered in English, effectively. So, you need to translate eLearning courses into the native languages of your global staff members to meet their learning needs. Here is info-graphic which shares a few simple steps to translate and localize your learning course efficiently. Hope you find this post intresting. How do you translate your eLearning courses? We’d love to know. Related Posts3 Things to Consider while Translating Your E-learning Course - An InfographicImportant Points to Note Before Translating Your E-learning Course5 Proven Tips for Better E-learning Translations - An Infographic

How To Use Facebook For eLearning: What eLearning Professionals Should Know Facebook is an increasingly popular social networking site that helps us keep in touch with friends and stay up-to-date with the latest news and events. While Facebook was not created as an educational tool, creating eLearning groups, sharing eLearning content and participating in eLearning course-related online discussions on Facebook, have been proven effective strategies for a large number of eLearning professionals. If you are not one of the 90,000 eLearning professionals who follow eLearning Industry on Facebook to keep up with what we’re doing, working on, and seeing great sources focused on eLearning, you are more than welcome to do so! The nature of this social network enables the enhancement and support of eLearning, as it makes it particularly easy for your audience not only to connect and build relationships with their virtual classmates, but also to exchange eLearning information. In this article, I'll present the advantages and the disadvantages of integrating Facebook into your eLearning strategy, in order to determine whether it will work for you. I will also give you 9 tips on how to use Facebook for eLearning purposes. Using Facebook For eLearning: Strong Points It is accessible to everyone. Facebook is a tool that almost everyone is familiar with. At the same time, it can be easily accessed anytime, anywhere. By safely assuming that the vast majority of your learners or employees are already using Facebook, sharing knowledge becomes particularly easy and efficient without having to search for another platform for their learning. It is ideal for social learning. There is a variety of ways to use Facebook for social learning, because by nature it encourages open communication, information sharing, and networking. When using Facebook as an eLearning platform, your learners are allowed to discuss ideas, ask questions, share experiences, and discover new information. Given that social interaction positively impacts the way that people learn and work, Facebook is the ideal platform to boost collaboration and active learning. It enhances learner engagement. Because Facebook is so popular and user-friendly it makes it easier for the more restrained members of your audience to motivate and express their ideas and concerns. Social learning platforms foster online discussion, and even passive learners, get motivated to participate in eLearning debates by asking questions or by making comments and suggestions. It is inexpensive. Last but not least, Facebook is probably the most cost-efficient way to share eLearning content with your audience. Imagine it as a default Learning Management System with pre-defined structure and navigation; the only thing you need to do is to decide how you want to organize and distribute your online course. Using Facebook For eLearning: Weak Points It is distracting. You are probably a Facebook user yourself, so you know how it works; you login to "just quickly check something" and, before you realize it, you have already spent two hours browsing pictures, watching videos, and reading posts on a variety of topics. Facebook empowers one of your worst enemies: learner procrastination. It is the ultimate temptation for your audience to wander around, thus it makes the learning process less effective compared to a more structured and formal learning environment that would probably better enhance knowledge retention. It is not secure. The difference between your Learning Management System and Facebook is that the latter opens up the possibility for fraud and virus attacks. There are many cases where Facebook users have fallen prey to the lure of seemingly legitimate and genuine online scams, resulting in information or identity theft. You certainly don’t want your learners to be the victims of fraud in your eLearning environment. It limits the control you may have over eLearning content. The uninhibited exchange among your learners makes it difficult to determine not only the exact type of information that actually reaches them, but also if this information is in synch with your eLearning content, objectives, and goals. Surely, knowledge is supposed to be as wide as possible; however, Facebook’s open nature may sometimes lead learners to confusion due to lack of specific structure in the presentation of your eLearning content. It cannot provide feedback on performance. Feedback is essential throughout the eLearning process, as it is critical for your eLearning course evaluation. Unlike many Learning Management Systems, Facebook cannot provide you neither with information about your audience’s progress nor about employees’ learning path. This is a major limitation as it makes it harder for you to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of your eLearning activities. 9 Tips On How To Use Facebook For eLearning Despite the disadvantages, there are a variety of ways to effectively incorporate Facebook in your eLearning course strategy in order to enhance the eLearning course experience of your learners. Below I share 9 useful tips to follow: Use Facebook to create a strong sense of community among your learners. Your learners, being humans, are social creatures; whether you use Facebook as an eLearning platform or not, you must admit that the colossal success of social media in general shows once more that people enjoy interacting with each other. Building a strong community among your audience opens up a wide range of opportunities for learner engagement. Encourage peer-to-peer discussion via Facebook Groups. One of the most convincing arguments for using Facebook for eLearning is that it boosts online collaboration. For example, if you are offering an asynchronous eLearning course where learners have very little, if any, interaction with their peers, Facebook can give you the opportunity to integrate peer-to-peer discussion into your eLearning course. Facebook groups can be used to spark discussions, share feedback on ideas or assignments, and even to work collaboratively to complete a class project. The possibilities are endless when it comes to informal learning on Facebook, especially for those who are thirsty for knowledge and want to broaden their understanding of the subject matter that is being covered in the eLearning course. Encourage collaboration and information sharing in your virtual classroom and motivate your learners to help others and ask for help as often as possible. Show them that they have much to learn not only from you and your eLearning course, but also from each other. Use Facebook messages to reach out to your audience. Facebook gives you the option to use its messaging system to stay in touch not only with learners and with other eLearning professionals too. In this sense, Facebook serves as a great support tool. If your learners have a question, they can check to see if you’re online and get in contact with you immediately. Rather than waiting for an email response, they can have their answers within a matter of minutes, and address any concerns that may be preventing them from fully participating in the learning process. Break your eLearning content into short and simple Facebook posts. Facebook studies have revealed that short posts gain much more likes, comments, and shares than long ones. Keeping also in mind that the average learner attention span is generally short, you might benefit from this data and follow a more "bite-sized" formula for your posts. When you provide your audience with a series of small pieces or sections of eLearning information, it is easier for them to pay attention and retain knowledge. Just remember that being short is not enough; in order for your eLearning content to be fully absorbed, it must also be meaningful and engaging. Create a group and post supplement resources for your audience. For learners who may be particularly interested in a topic, as well as for those who may be struggling to understand key concepts, you can post additional learning resources on the Facebook wall or create a closed group to meet the needs of these learners. You can even post assignments that learners can complete to earn extra credit, or links to videos and articles that they may find helpful. Facebook is a powerful networking tool ideal for eLearning professionals who want to reach out to their audience and provide them with extra resources and tools they need to succeed. Ask learners to carry out research on Facebook. Rather than using traditional research sites, like Wikipedia, you can ask your learners to research a topic exclusively on Facebook. They can do this by reaching out professionals in the field, as well as looking up Facebook groups who may have more insight into a particular subject matter. This not only expands their comprehension of the topic itself, but also allows them to develop their research and technology skills. They can learn how to search for key terms to find the information they need, as well as how to communicate with others in an online environment, which is becoming increasingly important to today’s tech-centric world. Get invaluable feedback for your eLearning course by using Facebook polls. Pinpointing weak spots in your eLearning course and gauging learner satisfaction is easy with Facebook polls. You can create a poll by developing a list of simple questions that can be posted on your wall. Learners then have the opportunity to give you feedback, which you can use to improve their eLearning experience and identify how you can make your eLearning course even more effective and memorable for future learners. Use Facebook to send reminders and notifications of upcoming deadlines and assessments. There are a variety of ways that you can keep your audience updated about upcoming events. You can post on your wall reminders of approaching assessments or assignment deadlines or even use the Facebook events section to let learners know about live classroom sessions or webinars that they may want to attend, particularly those that advanced sign-up is needed. This motivates learners by keeping them focused on projects, and keeps busy learners organized and on-track to successfully completing the eLearning course. You can also use the events sections and reminder posts to inform your audience about new eLearning courses that may be of interest to them, so that they can benefit from any additional eLearning experiences that you are offering in the future. Focus on visuals. Finally, it is obvious that photos and videos are shared and liked much more than text in Facebook, which means that people are more attracted to visual content. Carefully chosen images, animations, graphics, and videos grab your audience’ attention and drive their engagement, as they make it easier for them to focus. Of course, you should not bombard your audience with visual elements; being creative and careful with your text-image balance will both please your learners and effectively support your eLearning objectives and goals. Facebook is free to use, accessed by millions of users every day, and easy to use, which makes it the ideal tool for eLearning professionals. With Facebook, you can design eLearning experiences that are engaging, interactive, and collaborative for your audience. Now that you know how to evaluate the use of Facebook for eLearning you may be interested in reaching your audience via another social medium: Twitter. Read the article Using Twitter For eLearning: 8 Pros And 6 Cons To Consider and find out important factors to consider if you want to incorporate Twitter into your eLearning strategy. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

The demand for eLearning is increasing day by day. Many organizations are willing to implement eLearning, and some are already using online courses. In some countries like UK, Spain and Benelux nearly 40% of companies train more than 50% of their employees via e-learning. 75% of companies use e-learning to deliver training on core professional skills. (Source: 1st European E-learning Barometer by Cross Knowledge). Why is eLearning becoming very popular? What are the advantages of using the online medium to equip your people with the needed knowledge and skills? Let us see. Hope you find this post interesting. Do share your views. Related PostsWhy do You Need to Go Beyond ‘E-learning Development Cost Per Hour’?7 Tips To Create Effective Sales Training Courses For Gen Y Workforce - An InfographicE-learning - The Right Solution to 3 Major Business Problems - An Infographic

Organizations today need to cater to five generations of workers, not so much in terms of age but more in terms of the differences in their expectations and values. More specifically, it is the division based on the digital proficiency of employees in an organization. Sooner or later, senior management needs to take note that employees cannot be divided based as Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y or millennials but more based on how comfortable they are with digital technologies. This is going to influence the way they carry on their business on the job. At least this is what R "Ray" Wang, Principle Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Constellation Research, Inc. believes. He divided the five generations of workers, based on their proficiency levels in terms of digital literacy. His five generations of workers include: Digital natives: Those who grew up with the Internet, comfortable in engaging in all digital channels. Digital immigrants: Those who have crossed the chasm to the digital world, forced into engagement in digital channels. Digital voyeurs: People who recognize the shift to digital, observing from an arm’s length distance. Digital holdouts: People who resist the shift to digital, ignoring the impact. Digital disengaged: People who give up on digital, obsessed with erasing digital exhaust. (Source: R Wang, Constellation Research, Inc.) In short, Mr. Wang suggests that organizations should focus on digital proficiency and not age when rethinking work and this is relevant to training just as any other function in an organization. So, what could this mean to Learning and Development professionals who would be training workforce that constitutes these 5 different digital generations? At a very broad level, we can no longer standardize one training and assume that it will cater to the training needs of all employees. We need to accept and acknowledge the fact that people interact and use digital technologies at different levels and therefore training also has to be at different levels. In the context of eLearning, training has to be provided to employees with varying digital literacy levels. While some employees prefer a more traditional face to face training, there are others who wish to have access to knowledge while on the move through their smartphones or tablets. There are others who are between the two extremes. How do you cater to such a varied demand? Do you have any ideas? Please share them below. Related PostsHow to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using FlashThe Future of Organizations Is Gen-Y - Are You Ready to Train It?7 Tips To Create Effective Sales Training Courses For Gen Y Workforce - An Infographic

Scenarios play a vital role in eLearning, as they add fun, create interest in courses and help people understand the subject-matter better. They help improve the analytical skills of the learner as he can relate himself with the real life situations and apply his learning there. Here are a few tips to create effective scenarios in eLearning courses. Determine the need Scenarios can be used for two purposes. They can be created to assess learners’ knowledge where we can check their understanding regarding a topic and know their response. The second is to explore and learn where we can give a deeper knowledge of a particular topic to the learners in an engaging and interactive way. For instance, consider the following feedback where the first template is an example of an assessment scenario and the second one is "Explore and Learn". Relate to a problem and give the solution To build effective scenarios, we need to know the target audience. We need to understand the problems that they are facing in their work and create a scenario based on it. A learner would be curious and interested to know the solution. We can also involve the learner by asking him to take a decision in such situation. Even if he makes a wrong decision, it can be corrected by giving him a proper feedback. Use realistic characters A scenario would become more effective when the learner is able to connect to it. Including realistic characters that he can relate to would make the scenario more effective. For example, here is the screenshot of a scenario that was used in a healthcare course. The scenario involves a conversation between a clinician and a sales representative. Effective scenarios can be created by paying proper attention to learner needs. Hope this blog was useful. Please do share if you have anything to add to the list. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesHow to Give Feedback in E-learning That not Only Teaches, But also Motivates5 Ways to Make E-learning Interesting - An Infographic

InSITE 2015 is an exciting conference which will cover topics such as Informing Science, It Education and Information Technology and more. InSITE is often quoted as the best conference delegates have ever attended. Its focus is todevelop the trust elationships needed to enable collaborative research with colleagues from other nations and other disciplines. It is a unique experience in which the leadership in the organization truly welcomes new and old researchers like. Unlike conferences that are designed for cliques of insiders, at InSITE you are the insider. In this, its 18th year, InSITE returns to the USA, this time in sunny Florida. InSITE 2015 Multi-Conferences Chairs Dr.T. Grandon Gill & Dr. Manish Agarwal, Muma College of Business The conferences of InSITE 2015 are: InSITE: InFORM, issues in effectively and efficiently informing clients through IT InSITE: TeLE, Technology Enhanced Learning Environments Teaching & Learning using IT InSITE: TeachIT, research topics related to teaching IT InSITE:Connect, Learn the local culturefirsthand InSITE 2015 multi-conferences will be held from July 1 to July 5 with paper sessions taking place on the campus of the University of South Florida, July 2-5 This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

By and large, product training is used to improve sales. The entire industry is aware that sales people no longer sell products, they sell solutions; and, to do this, sales people need the most useful information. So, as eLearning course designers, how do we make our product training courses for sales people relevant and ensure they cover what is most important to these personnel? In this post, we will look at some instructional design tips to develop an effective product training. Most sales people travel extensively. It’s important that they receive the right information at the right time, so that they can have a glance at the key takeways before meeting a customer. Tip 1: Start with Icebreaker Questions Ask questions such as ‘Do you know the target market for this segment? Do you know the profile of the potential customers or business?. These questions set the stage for the training. Then, provide a clear message about the position of the product in the company’s business portfolio. Tip 2: Clarify What’s In It for Them Always provide a clear, precise explanation of the product features/ benefits of selling the product. Sales people need to be equipped with this information so that they are able to confidently make a sale. Tip 3: Specify What’s In It for Customers In a research conducted by Forrester, it was found that 88% of executives who have had experience with sales people observed that while they were able to talk about their company’s products, only 27% actually understood the customer’s business and what they were looking for. Customers are buying the product benefits, not features. Your solution should help them solve their problem. They would always want to know how the product will benefit the customer, rather than what it is. Tip 4: Compare with Competitor’s Products Provide realistic information about the competitor’s products, along with proper unique selling proposition(s). Having this "competitive" information at fingertips is important because prospects choose your solution over the competitors’ solutions. Focusing on these tips will help you design an effective product training course. Hope you find them useful. Related PostsHow to Make Your E-learning Initiative WorkHow to Create a Customized E-Learning Course? Step 2 - Instructional Design ProcessReady, Steady, Set, Go - Tips to Decode Your SME’S Brain