MOOCs, mobile, and Millennials—these three ideas often elicit some measure of discomfort in training and development departments, because while these three forces are greatly affecting businesses in general and workplace education in particular, they remain relatively poorly understood. This lack of understanding means that while Millennials are increasingly adopting a mobile mindset and seeing MOOCs as not only a viable method of training, but their preferred one, many companies are still slow about moving in these new directions. The result is a model of corporate training that is not well suited to its target audience. Let’s look at some data highlighting the disconnect between corporate training and these various factors. Here is what Millennials think about MOOCs: In a Software Advice study earlier this year, almost three-quarters of 18 to 24 year-olds, and nearly as many 25 to 34 year-olds, said they would participate in a company training MOOC. The same study found that more than half of Millennials would be more likely to apply for and stay with a company that used MOOCs for training. (Learn more about the study.) A recent study by QuestionPro found not only that respondents believed that MOOCs offer a high quality of education, but that 78% rated them as being a better experience than a traditional classroom. Millennials in particular are so positive about this learning format that almost 80% of 25 to 34 year-olds expect that in the future MOOCs will replace some parts of traditional education entirely. Now let’s see what employers think about MOOCs: According to a large-scale study by Duke University and RTI International, only 31% of employers have even heard of the courses. Only 7% were using MOOCs for employees’ professional development, and only another 5% were actively considering doing so. Recap: Nearly 75% of Millennials want MOOCs for training; less than 10% of employers are using them. What about mobile? Again, Millennials love it: A recent study by Zogby Analytics found that 90% of Millennials have their phones with them at all times. Eight in 10 check their phone first thing every morning, and almost the same number spend about two hours a day on their phones. Various studies have shown that mobile learners in general, and those in the Millennial generation in particular, are both more collaborative and more motivated. And again, businesses are a bit slow on the uptake: According to the Brandon Hall Group 2014 Learning and Development Benchmarking Study, only 10% of companies are using web-based mobile learning, 8% are using mobile learning apps, and 4% to 5% are using mobile performance sites and apps. Recap: 90% of Millennials are pair-bonded with their phones; only 10% of employers are using mobile learning. Taking these data together, we are left with a picture of corporate training that looks something like this:                           The biggest barrier to using MOOCs and mobile learning appears to be lack of knowledge about how to implement them. In the Duke/RTI study, once employers learned about MOOCs, they were generally positive about the courses’ potential for training, but there is a large distance between feeling positively about something and having the knowledge and skills to implement it. Similarly, the Brandon Hall Group Benchmarking study found that "most companies recognize that mobile learning solutions can improve adoption, expand global reach, and engage users better, but do not understand how to execute a mobile strategy." Now is the time for these organizations—who may have heard of MOOCs and mobile learning but are hesitant due to lack of knowledge—to gain the knowledge and skills they need to move in new directions. James DeBello, CEO of Mitek, the company that comissioned the Zogby Analytics study, commented that companies need to go mobile because "if you don’t have it, you’re considered old-fashioned, out of date and not a company [Millennials] want to do business with." He was talking about Millennials as consumers, but his point is equally applicable to Millennials as employees. The first rule of successful training is to know your audience, and that audience is becoming more interested in mobile and other alternative learning methods all of the time. MOOCs themselves are not entirely mobile yet. Some are, but most of the courses available from the major providers (Coursera, edX, etc.) are only partially mobile (i.e., students can do certain activities, like watch videos, but they can’t participate in discussion forums or take assessments). But this is changing. As MOOCs become more mobile, and as companies start to adopt both MOOCs and mobile learning on a broader scale, the corporate training landscape will slowly shift from the picture above to one that looks more like this: And for those of you who may still need a nudge toward exploring these new learning formats, consider this: Millennials will soon give way to the next generation (what Scott Hess refers to as the "post generation"), which is even more diverse, more digital, and more ready to ditch the traditional for the new.                   Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:Megatrends in MOOCs: #12 Training for MillennialsMegatrends in MOOCs: #8 Mobile LearningTraining in an Ad-Hoc, BYOD EnvironmentTraining and Education for Millennials through Gamification13 Megatrends in MOOCs(Visited 364 times, 1 visits today)

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are the education and training story of this decade (at least so far). In barely three years, they have expanded from a single course on artificial intelligence taught by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig in the fall of 2011 to thousands of MOOCs taught by instructors from leading colleges, universities, and companies on various platforms around the world. It’s impressive. However, while there is growing awareness of the existence of MOOCs, there persists a good deal of confusion about what they actually are and what they can do. This is unsurprising for two reasons: MOOCs have changed considerably since they first came out, and they are continuing to evolve as both the pedagogies and the technologies Many types of courses fall under the MOOC umbrella. Education insiders have developed an entirely new vocabulary surrounding the courses, but in popular parlance, they are all commonly referred to as MOOCs. The goal of this article is to clear up some of the confusion by exploring what a MOOC is and, perhaps more importantly, what it isn’t, and clarifying the roles MOOCs can play specifically within the context of corporate training. A MOOC is a framework, not a platform. One of the biggest sources of confusion I encounter is the idea that a MOOC is an online learning platform, a learning management system (LMS). This misconception is understandable, since the language we use often equates MOOC providers like Coursera and edX with the courses themselves, but it is a misconception nonetheless. What Coursera and edX offer are essentially LMSs that are designed to be infinitely scalable. MOOCs are courses built using these LMSs; they are not LMSs themselves. Although MOOCs use a wide variety of technologies, they are not actually technologies at all. What do I mean when I say that a MOOC is a framework? What this signifies is that the courses are generally constructed using a common set of building blocks, such as bite-sized learning modules, video content delivery, and online discussion forums. Within that framework, however, the options are practically unlimited (e.g., videos can be lectures or tutorials; discussions can be held privately within a virtual classroom or publicly on social media), and in theory MOOCs can be delivered on any LMS capable of handling them, or even outside of an LMS altogether. A MOOC is flexible and adaptable, not set in stone. One of the biggest advantages of MOOCs is their flexibility. The building blocks of the courses are short, modular learning activities, which can be swapped in and out, reused in different courses, and updated quickly to reflect changes in content or learner needs. Unlike in traditional instructor-led training (ILT), which is typically delivered only once a year or so, or traditional elearning, which depending on the format can take considerable resources to update, there is nothing about a MOOC that is set in stone. Thus, the courses can be adapted based on the needs of the organization and the learners. A MOOC is one part of a solution, not a panacea for all of today’s training challenges. In the early days of MOOCs, Sebastian Thrun boldly claimed that in 50 years there would be only 10 universities left in the world. He stepped back from the idea that MOOCs could solve all of education’s problems after Udacity’s courses didn’t perform nearly as well as expected in a pilot program at San Jose State University. The problem was the idea that you could just turn a course into a MOOC and it would instantly be a success, an assumption that turned out to be false. MOOCs can solve many of today’s common training problems, but only if they are developed using a solid, research-backed pedagogical approach. Putting boring training online doesn’t make it engaging; putting well-designed training online in a format that resonates with employees does. When developing training courses and programs, learning professionals would do best to think of MOOCs as just one tool in a constantly expanding toolbox. A MOOC is a supplement for instructor-led training, not a replacement. There are some people who believe that MOOCs will eventually replace all forms of education, including ILT. I don’t think that’s true, but I do believe there are some courses that can be replaced by MOOCs so that trainers can focus more of their time, energy, and budget on high-value ILT areas, such as executive education. Research has also shown that students get the most out of MOOCs when the courses are used in a blended learning format. In this light, MOOCs are best seen as complementary to the training that organizations are already doing. A MOOC is not just one thing. It can take many forms. Finally, as I alluded to before, a MOOC is not just one thing. If you take a course on Coursera, you will get one experience; on edX, another experience; and on NovoEd (which is a collaborative online learning platform), a different experience entirely. Some MOOCs are self-paced, while others are moderated. Some use machine-graded assessments, while others use peer review. Some use a project-based model with learners working in teams, while others can be completed without any learner-learner interaction at all. Some are run on open platforms, while others are run on closed intranets. The point for trainers is that a MOOC can take whatever form necessary to meet your organization’s training needs. I hope this post has provided some clarity on MOOCs and their role in corporate training and development efforts. Contact me to learn more about how a MOOC can complement and enhance your training programs. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:What Style of MOOC is Right for You?Megatrends in MOOCs: #1 Adoption at Corporate UniversitiesWhat Type of MOOC Is Right For You?Strategies for Making the Transition from Instructor-Led…MOOCs: From the Classroom to the Conference Room(Visited 625 times, 1 visits today)

In the training world, we often refer to instructor-led-training (ILT) as the gold standard. We compare every other form of training to it and seek to replicate it as closely as possible when developing new training methodologies. But it recently occurred to me that the underlying assumption here might not be correct, and that ILT might not be the ultimate high-value training after all. Digital learning environments like massive open online courses (MOOCs) are starting to challenge the preeminence of ILT. Is it time we had a new gold standard? Why is instructor-led training considered the best? ILT became the gold standard not because it’s perfect (we all know that isn’t true), but because it’s better than other traditional methods of training. There is no question that ILT is superior to sending a new hire a booklet to read or putting an employee in a room with a computer to hit "Next-Next-Next" on a PowerPoint deck, but these are not exactly examples of high-quality training. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research about the actual effectiveness of most ILT (although we do know that without proper reinforcement learners exhibit a high level of forgetting). This is largely due to a lack of adequate assessment for training in general—happy sheets don’t reveal anything about what people have actually learned, and the summative multiple-choice tests typical of elearning aren’t much better. Basically, ILT got its reputation from being better than anything else that was available, but that doesn’t mean it is categorically the best. What are the top advantages and disadvantages of ILT? In terms of advantages and disadvantages, instructor-led training is usually compared to traditional elearning. From this perspective, the main benefits of ILT include: Learning from experts. Opportunities for instructor-learner and learner-learner interactions. Peer learning and network-building. The ability to ask questions and receive immediate feedback. Adaptability—the ability of instructors to tailor courses to learners’ needs, even on the fly. Focus and attention—learning is not constantly interrupted by ringing phones, emails, etc. The most commonly cited disadvantages are related to cost and logistics: ILT is expensive and time-consuming. Instructors and venues are not always available. Once a Learner steps out of the classroom, returning to it for clarification is gone. It isn’t always possible to stagger the start dates of courses when giving consideration to learner schedules. When put in this context, ILT definitely wins—the advantages all focus on the higher quality of learning, while the disadvantages are mostly logistical. However, from experience, many trainers know that this divide isn’t quite so stark and that several of the commonly identified advantages of ILT exist only in theory. For instance, while adaptability can certainly be an advantage, too much variance in training is not. Instructors often go "off-script", and sometimes huge differences exist between instructors, resulting in a lack of training consistency across an organization. Also, though ILT does allow learners to ask questions in real-time, this can disrupt the training flow—too many questions and discussions during the formal training time can mean that some of the content gets short-changed and missed. In addition, although ILT provides the opportunity for instructor-learner interaction, in practice one-on-one instruction rarely takes place. It’s simply not always feasible for instructors to pull aside individual learners for extra help, and there is no way for learners to rewind and repeat a lesson to better understand a concept. Finally, while peer learning and network-building can occur, they are oftentimes short-lived because there is no infrastructure in place to foster those connections after the course has ended. Overall, while ILT may be better than training methods that offer no opportunity for questions, interactions, and so on, there is still significant room for improvement. Enter "Technology-Enabled-Learning". MOOCs as the new Gold Standard A gold standard should both reflect best practices and produce the best results, and not just in theory. By combining the best of ILT with the best of elearning, new digital learning environments, like MOOCs, have emerged as a new gold standard for training. MOOCs both have nearly all of the advantages of ILT and they can respond to the disadvantages: They are taught by experts, just delivered via video rather than in person. Instructors are never tired and are always available. Instructors cover all of the topics of the course. Instructor-learner and learner-learner interactions can take place on discussion boards and using other forms of internal and external social media. This provides not only interaction during the course, but also various forums for follow-up after the course has ended. Peer learning and network-building occur both using online communication platforms and through collaborative learning activities, and the since course exists online even after its official end date, these connections can continue to flourish. They can provide both adaptability and consistency. Courses can include a range of material with which learners can engage depending on their needs, while video-based delivery provides training consistency. Learners can stop, rewind, and review when necessary, even after the course is completed. Ability to create knowledge benchmarks both pre and post course. Assessments are built into the learning framework. In terms of focus and attention, learners can choose when to participate in the courses, accommodating their workflow. MOOCs are less expensive and don’t suffer from the same logistical problems as ILT. Of the ILT advantages listed above, the one thing learners may lose with MOOCs is the ability to receive "immediate feedback" to ideas and questions. The key word here is immediate—they can get feedback in the forums, but there will be at least a short delay. In today’s technology-enabled workplace and world, ILT is no longer the best we can do for training. MOOCs deliver 90% of the value of the live experience, while also overcoming many of the known ILT issues. To top it all off, they can do all of this on a budget approaching one-fifth that required for high-quality instructor-led training. In the end, that is what makes new digital learning environments so compelling: the ability to get so much more for so much less. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:What Style of MOOC is Right for You?ILT, Elearning, or MOOC? When to Use Common Training FormatsWhat a MOOC Is and What It Isn’tHow Much Learning Really Occurs in MOOCs?Why Your Existing E-Learning is Failing, and How MOOCs Can…(Visited 142 times, 1 visits today)

Corporate training used to mean one thing: "Here’s an orientation pamphlet and a couple of manuals. If you have any questions, ask Joe." Then it meant another: "Your training will take place October 14 through 18, from 9 to 5. Bring a lunch and try not to snore too loudly." And then another: "Just hit ‘Next’ on this computer presentation until you get to the end, and then take the test." I jest, of course, but only slightly. The point is that when many people, even in L&D departments, think about effective corporate training, they have one specific format in mind, and that format is usually either instructor-led training (ILT) or elearning. The popularity of each type of training has risen and declined according to various factors, including who’s in charge, training budgets, and what’s trendy. Today, however, with innovation and new technologies, there are many different types of training formats in use, including the classics (ILT and elearning) as well as newer developments like complex computer-based simulations and massive open online courses (MOOCs). With so many options, which one do you choose? The various formats are not mutually exclusive, and ideally you would not have to make this choice for an entire training program en masse. Instead, the training format you use should be the one best suited to the content to be learned, the needs of the audience, and the needs of the organization. Below are some guidelines for when to use traditional ILT, elearning, and MOOCs. Instructor-led training On this blog, I’ve talked a lot about the disadvantages of ILT, even questioning whether it is still the gold standard for training. One of the main downsides of ILT is that it is expensive, especially when items such as travel and accommodations must be taken into account. However, there are certain situations in which there is no reasonable substitute for face-to-face training. ILT is the best type of training to use when: The group to be trained is small and located in one geographical area. According to 2012 statistics, as much as 85% of an organization’s classroom training budget goes toward delivery, including travel. When travel and its associated costs (accommodation, meals, entertainment, etc.) are eliminated, the numbers start to look a lot better. Elearning and MOOCs have a clear advantage when training programs need to be scaled up, but if you are delivering a managerial training program to 20 or so people once every few years, there is likely no benefit to moving from in-person to digital training. The training is light on content, but heavy on discussion. Digital learning environments have a huge advantage for content delivery, but not all training has content as its main focus. For training that is more centered on synchronous discussion and collaboration, ILT remains the top choice. When the content is highly complex or changes frequently. Both MOOCs and elearning rely at least in part on people’s ability to learn on their own. For highly complex content, which will likely inspire a good number of questions, ILT remains a top choice. In addition, it is much more difficult to change the content in an elearning course than a face-to-face one, so ILT is preferable for content that has a short shelf life. Elearning Interest in and use of elearning have grown exponentially in recent years, as technologies have improved and training budgets continue to be squeezed. While elearning can sometimes be frustrating to learners, used well it has significant benefits, especially in terms of saving both time and money. Elearning has been shown to reduce training costs by up to 50% and training time by up to 60%. Elearning is the best type of training to use when: Significant interaction isn’t required. Interaction among learners and between learners and instructors is advantageous in many circumstances, but it isn’t always necessary. Sometimes, all that is required of trainees is that they read information and acknowledge that they have done so. Content has a long shelf life. It doesn’t make sense to provide expensive ILT for content that is the same every time. Use elearning or a MOOC instead. The training needs to take place in different places or at different times. Both elearning and MOOCs allow organizations to provide training on an as-needed basis. Consistency is required. ILT often has a consistency problem, as delivery varies between instructors and even for the same instructor over multiple implementations. Elearning and MOOCs can deliver the same content in the same way every time. Learners can easily master the content on their own. For content that is not likely to generate many questions or initiate discussions, elearning does the trick. MOOCs MOOCs are the best of both worlds: they provide the interaction of ILT and the consistency, logistical benefits, and lower costs associated with elearning. Here are some additional situations where MOOCs have the upper hand: Training needs to be flexible and on-demand. Since MOOCs are module-based, they are highly flexible. Learners can access modules and lessons as needed. Performance support is required. In addition to providing video content, a MOOC can be a central repository for performance support resources. Learners are at different levels. In a MOOC, learners can easily skip over or test out of the content they already know; thus, the courses are well suited to groups of learners who have different levels of knowledge. Collaboration is required over long distances. Using a MOOC, companies can simultaneously train employees across the globe, and MOOC platforms provide forums where those employees can easily collaborate and network. The content has varying lengths of shelf life. MOOCs are more complicated to update than ILT, but it is generally easier to add or update modules in MOOCs than in traditional elearning. For courses where some of the content is long-lasting and other content changes frequently, MOOCs offer superior flexibility. All training formats have their advantages and disadvantages. As stated earlier, the key to success is matching the training format to the content and the needs of both the learners and the organization. Often, the best answer is to use a blended approach, such as a MOOC followed by high-value ILT. Contact me for additional information on how to leverage ILT, elearning, and MOOCs to get more out your training programs. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:What Style of MOOC is Right for You?Instructor Led Training…Is It Still the Gold Standard?Rapid Elearning and MOOCs: Keeping Up with ChangeBeyond Cost-Savings: Advantages of MOOCs for Corporate…Why Your Existing E-Learning is Failing, and How MOOCs Can…(Visited 230 times, 1 visits today)

If there is one idea I hope I’ve impressed upon you in writing about massive open online courses (MOOCs), it’s that, unlike instructor-led training and traditional elearning, MOOCs are highly flexible online learning environments. The popular media often refers to a MOOC as being just one kind of thing, and that one thing is usually associated with the types of MOOCs found on Coursera. But, this perspective doesn’t provide the full story—over the past year or so, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of experimentation and development of the MOOC, and today the acronym is an umbrella term that is used to refer to a wide variety of large-scale online courses. In the corporate training world, there are three main distinctions that are meaningful when determining what style of MOOC to implement: Scheduled versus self-paced Moderated versus non-moderated Fully online versus blended (or hybrid) In this post, we’ll look at each of these distinctions to help trainers decide what type of MOOC best meets the needs of their organization and their learners. Scheduled versus self-paced MOOCs can be either scheduled (they start on a particular date, have time-delineated activities, and end on a particular date) or self-paced (the learner starts the course at will and completes it according to his or her own schedule). Use scheduled courses when: Content needs to be delivered simultaneously across a group of learners. For example, when regulatory information changes, it is often necessary for everyone in a company to learn the new rules as quickly as possible. Courses require learner collaboration. Although it certainly isn’t impossible to have collaboration in a self-paced course, if the course involves any group activities, it is usually desirable to make sure everyone reaches the same level of knowledge at the same time. Courses are mandatory. If you want to make sure that all learners who are required to take your courses actually do so, use a scheduled format and use analytics features to track learners’ progress. Use self-paced courses when: Content is best delivered on an as-needed basis. One of the main advantages of MOOCs is the ability to have staggered start dates. For example, MOOCs are excellent for new-hire orientation, where they can provide consistent training even if one new employee starts every week. The self-paced format is also ideal for on-demand training as learners can access the resources they need at the moment they need them, rather than trying in November to remember the material from a seminar they attended in June. Courses are optional. Providing optional courses in a self-paced format means that learners can take courses based on their own interests or when have identified holes in their current knowledge and skill sets. Moderated versus non-moderated MOOCs can be moderated (an instructor participates in course discussions and provides feedback to learners) or they can be non-moderated. Use moderated courses when: Instructors are internal SMEs or members of the training team. MOOCs are often taught by subject matter experts and then licensed to different companies for training purposes. In this case, it is not always feasible to have the instructors themselves moderate the courses. However, when a course is taught by an internal expert, there is a lot to be gained by having that expert available to answer questions and provide input for discussions. Participation in course discussions is required. MOOCs may or may not have a social component, and even for those that do, that social component may or may not be required. If participation in course discussions is a mandatory activity, then having those discussions moderated by facilitator is recommended. Content is complex and likely to generate questions. Moderated courses are better when the content is at a high enough level that learners may have trouble getting through it on their own. Use non-moderated courses when: Content is basic or consists mostly of tutorials. These types of content are less likely to generate many questions, so moderation may not be necessary. Courses are self-paced. Most self-paced MOOCs are not moderated. In these cases, it is still recommended that learners have someone they can turn to for help or support if necessary. Fully online versus blended Finally, MOOCs can be delivered 100% online or in a blended online/in-person format. Use fully online courses when: It is not feasible for learners to meet. Only fully online courses can deliver training across geographical boundaries (and sometimes even across departmental boundaries). 100% consistency is required. Consistency of in-person training varies between instructors, and it can even vary when the same instructor teaches different sessions of a course. When 100% consistency is required, such as for training on regulatory topics, use a fully online approach. Budget is a main concern. Fully online courses are less expensive than blended courses since they don’t require any expenditures related to instructor time, travel, and so on. Use blended courses when: Parts of the course have only a small audience. There are times when different employees need different content, even within the same course. For example, new managers may be required to complete both the standard new-hire orientation and an advanced managerial orientation. If your company doesn’t train many new managers, then it is probably not cost-effective to use a MOOC for this aspect of the course. Instead, have all new hires complete the basic orientation online and then use instructor-led training for the advanced content. Course activities benefit from face-to-face interaction. In some courses, though the content can be consumed online, the activities themselves are best done in person. For example, a course on how to give business presentations will be most effective if learners are given the opportunity to practice in person what they learn in the online portion of the course. As you can see, MOOCs are flexible digital learning environments that can be easily adapted to meet your organization’s needs, whatever they are. The ability for the courses to be used in so many different ways is one of the main reasons I believe MOOCs will soon replace instructor-led training as the gold standard for workplace education. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:ILT, Elearning, or MOOC? When to Use Common Training FormatsTraining Reboot: Assessing Your Company’s MOOC ReadinessWhat a MOOC Is and What It Isn’tStrategies for Making the Transition from Instructor-Led…MOOCs at the 5 Moments of Learning Need(Visited 279 times, 1 visits today)

This is a question I hear often, and only recently has research become available providing us with an answer. But before we get there, take a moment to ask yourself two questions: "How much learning really occurs in instructor-led training?" and "How much learning really occurs in elearning courses?" The reason I call your attention to these questions is that for many trainers in many organizations, the honest answer is "I don’t know." But you should know. Whether learners are actually learning is important information for companies that are finding themselves increasingly required to provide more training, more frequently. Too often, however, we focus so squarely on training delivery that we fail to measure, or even notice, if anyone on the receiving end of that delivery is even awake, much less encoding any information. The problem of forgetting One of the main challenges for workplace education, what Art Kohn calls "the dirty secret of corporate training" is that learners forget, and they forget fast. Kohn cites research showing that learners forget 50% within an hour, 70% within 24 hours, and as much as 90% within one week. Perhaps the single biggest cause of this extreme forgetting is the fact that traditional training doesn’t gibe particularly well with how people learn. Bottom Line Performance President Sharon Boller puts it well when she writes: "A significant portion of what organizations label as training fits [a common but ineffective model]: it’s delivered as a single ‘glop,’ and large volumes of it are delivered up at once with nothing repeated. The intent in these instances is efficiency, but the result is the opposite because people don’t remember well in these scenarios." Will Thalheimer argues that the percentage of forgetting depends on various factors, including the type of material, the learners’ prior knowledge, and the power of the learning methods used, among others. The idea that the post-training flow of information out of the brain can be stanched is encouraging, and it’s up to us as training professionals to use scenarios that give learners at least a fighting chance at retention. The MOOC advantage MOOCs have many advantages over both ILT and elearning. The one I want to single out here is that, unlike traditional training formats, MOOCs take place over time. The content is not delivered in a "single glop." Instead, learners participate in the courses over several days or weeks. Because MOOCs are video based, learners can go back and review information, and MOOCs that incorporate real-world problem-solving and meaningful assessments give students the opportunity to use what they’ve learned. Both of these practices can lead to higher levels of retention. In addition, since the content and resource materials remain available even after the course is over, learners can go back and refresh their memory as needed. Learning in MOOCs So, how well does it work? Does learning occur in MOOCs? It has been a challenge to measure learning in these new digital environments. There are several reasons for this: For courses offered through major MOOC providers like Coursera, the completion rates are generally low. It took some time for the education community to accept the idea that for free online courses, completion rates aren’t particularly meaningful metrics. MOOC students come from different backgrounds (e.g., some are experts in the field; others are beginners) and have different intentions when taking the courses (some want a certificate of completion to put on their resume; others just want to learn something interesting). MOOC students engage in the courses in different ways. For example, some students are very active on discussion boards and complete all assignments, while others may limit their participation to doing the readings. Recently, though, researchers at MIT, Tsinghua University in China, and Harvard, analyzed data from more than 1,000 students in an edX physics course. Their results were both encouraging, and (to some) quite surprising. Here is what they found: Students in the course all showed relatively the same amount of learning gain, regardless of their prior knowledge about the course material. This finding is especially meaningful because the range of prior knowledge was huge—some students hadn’t even graduated from high school, while others were physics teachers themselves. The various student groups didn’t all achieve the same level of success, but they all demonstrated roughly equal amounts of improvement from pretest to posttest. In fact, the students who scored lowest on the pretest showed the most improvement over the course. Students in the free MOOC also learned just as much as MIT freshman who were required to take the course. In addition to the MOOC content, the freshmen had access to four hours of weekly instruction, as well as tutors, instructors, and other students. Even without these advantages, the MOOC students showed learning gains comparable to those of the MIT students. What these results show is that not only do MOOC students learn, but they learn at high levels. In addition, MOOCs appear able to cater well to student groups that are highly diverse in terms of prior knowledge. The forgetting problem doesn’t need to be corporate training’s dirty little secret anymore. Using MOOCs—which provide the repetition and experiential learning that is missing from most training—can create the conditions necessary for meaningful learning to take place. Read more about how to measure success in a training MOOC. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:By the Numbers: Learning from MOOCsPublic Libraries Are Failures (and So Are MOOCs)Key Factors in MOOC Success, Part 1Measuring Success (ROI) of a Training MOOC, Part 1Face-to-Face Learning is FAILED Magic(Visited 290 times, 1 visits today)

Often when we talk about the ROIs of any type of training, we focus on things that can be easily monetized. There is good reason for this—L&D, like every other department, must usually justify its existence by showing how its courses and programs are having a positive financial impact on the company. However, not all ROIs of training can easily be boiled down to dollars and cents. The intangible benefits of training in general are many. In an article for Training Journal earlier this year, Martin-Christian Kent identified six intangible benefits that are common to all types of training programs: Increased employee satisfaction Increased organizational commitment Improved teamwork Improved customer service and reduced complaints Reduced conflicts Reduced stress Even though these training results range from difficult to near-impossible to measure in monetary terms (at least immediately), they can have significant impacts on the success of a company. As training solutions, MOOCs can provide these benefits just as well as instructor-led training (ILT) or traditional eLearning. But as flexible, collaborative digital learning environments, MOOCs have the potential to provide even more intangible assets to an organization. Here are five non-financial ROIs of using MOOCs for your corporate training and development. Creating a sense of community ILT courses that involve group activities can result in improved teamwork, but the ability of MOOCs to create connections among people goes far beyond that. In ILT, group activities can foster better collaboration and communication for the people in the room, which is usually a small group at best. In a MOOC, collaboration and communication take place over an entire organization, even if that organization has 10,000 employees in different locations around the world. MOOCs are inclusive, not exclusive, and because of this they can create a sense of community across an entire organization. Learn more about MOOCs as relationship builders. Fostering a culture of learning In 2010, Bersin by Deloitte released a report representing more than six years of research into best practices in corporate training. Their main finding? "The single biggest driver of business impact is the strength of the organization’s learning culture." The report identified seven elements of a learning culture: "building trust, encouraging reflection, demonstrating the value of learning, enabling knowledge sharing, empowering employees, and formalizing learning." While all types of training may be capable of fostering these seven elements, MOOCs stand out particularly for encouraging reflection (courses are taken over a period of time, allowing for more reflection and discussion than time-limited ILT), enabling knowledge sharing (easy knowledge sharing and the building of personal learning networks are two main advantages of the MOOC format), and empowering employees (MOOCs encourage employees to take control of their own training and development, which can lead to increased motivation and participation). Encouraging skill development outside of employees’ defined roles Once you start empowering employees to take control of their own professional development, you might be surprised at what they do, for example, taking courses to develop new skills that are outside of their current job descriptions. Most traditional corporate training is focused on helping employees perform their present jobs better. Financially, this makes perfect sense: with ILT, the cost of training additional people can be very high. But for MOOCs, the marginal cost of adding learners is essentially zero, which means that opening up courses to more employees can only benefit the organization. Employees can acquire a wide range of knowledge and skills, increasing their chances of mobility within the company and providing internal candidates for job openings. MOOCs allow businesses to provide vastly more training for all employees, which results in a winning situation all around. Forging a leadership role in employee training and development MOOCs are still relatively cutting-edge in education and training. They have been moving their way through the Gartner Hype Cycle, and it has just been over the past few months that they have started moving up the slope of enlightenment. We have seen significant advances in MOOC technologies—from enhanced video production technology to better tools for course discussions and collaborations. Many companies are watching these developments with a keen interest, but MOOCs have yet to go mainstream. Organizations that adopt MOOCs now have the opportunity not only to be seen as innovative, but also to play a leadership role in how digital training technologies will develop over the coming months and years. Appealing to the newest entrants into the workforce As I’ve touched on before on this blog, the new entrants into the workforce (Millennials and the generations that will follow them) are different from those previous. They are digitally minded and have likely already taken a couple of online courses, perhaps even a few MOOCs. According to survey data, more than half of Millennials say they would be more likely to apply for and remain at a company that uses training MOOCs. These new members of the workforce want to work for companies that are innovative, companies that are exploring new directions and new technologies, not companies that are stuck doing things the old way. Training of any kind is beneficial for businesses—it helps companies operate better, increases employee job performance and satisfaction, and can help organizations recruit and hold onto top talent. MOOCs, however, provide advantages above and beyond these basics in terms of employee relationships, enhanced skill development, and even business image. These ROIs may not be easily calculated with equations and formulas, but they are still investments you can take to the bank. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:Using MOOCs: Self-Directed Development and Workforce…Megatrends in MOOCs: #13 MOOCs as Relationship BuildersUsing MOOCs: Finding and Onboarding New EmployeesHow MOOCs Are Improving Traditional ILTMegatrends in MOOCs: #2 Facilitating Learning Organizations(Visited 162 times, 1 visits today)

Join me for my presentation to the New York Chapter of ATD on Wednesday January 14th, 2015. It seems like everyone is talking about MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) these days. But what are they? What are the advantages of using a MOOC? How do they apply to a corporate setting? All of htese questions and more will be discussed in the first ATD eLearning SIG meeting of 2015. In this interactive session, we will discuss: What is a MOOC How companies are using MOOCs Success Stories Nuts and Bolts (technology, transitioning from ILT/elearning) Trends and Future directions. Agenda: 5:30- 6:00 pm - informal networking/welcome 6:00 - 7:00 - presentation 7:00 - 7:30 - Q/A/wrap-up When: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 5:30 - 7:30 PM Where: CUNY School of Professional Studies 119 West 31st Street Room 103 - 1st Floor Between 6th and 7th Avenues New York City Presenter: Bryant Nielson, CapitalWave Inc. Registration: required Must register by noon January 12, 2015. Picture ID required for building security For in-person registration click here >>> About the facilitator: Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in "Technology Enabled Learning", Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is an entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual via technology. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:2015 the Year of "Technology Enabled Learning"Technology-Enabled Learning: What Will 2015 Bring?Public Libraries Are Failures (and So Are MOOCs)MOOCs Are Too Uncontrollable - People Could Do Anything!Are MOOCs Too Risky for Your Corporate Training Program?(Visited 43 times, 1 visits today)

MOOCs, gamification, social media, engagement, all of these are reaching out and asking for our attention.  All of them are being amplified, accelerated and enabled with technology.  It is our intent to provide you the reader with a host of perspectives that will entertain, delight and whet your appetite for knowing more about how Technology is Enabling Learning for the corporate environment. Join us by following our posts for this year.  It is our hope that we will provide a thoughtful perspective to you and your associates. Copyright 2014 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:MOOCs - What Are They? Why Should You Care?Technology-Enabled Learning: What Will 2015 Bring?Megatrends in MOOCs: #12 Training for MillennialsWharton Puts First-Year MBA programs online for FreeMegatrends in MOOCs: #8 Mobile Learning(Visited 45 times, 1 visits today)

It’s the beginning of the year—the time to make predictions about what the coming year will bring so that we can congratulate ourselves when they come true and make up excuses when they don’t. So, what will 2015 look like for corporate training and technology-enabled learning? This is going to be a big year for technology-enabled learning. Many trends and movements have been bubbling just under the surface, and I expect that this will be the year they start making some serious waves. Here are my seven predictions for workforce education and learning technologies in 2015. More companies will experiment with MOOCs. Over the past year, companies have started dabbling with MOOCs, but the courses have yet to take off big time. There are a variety of reasons for this, including a lack of awareness, uncertainty about how to do it, and concerns regarding security, control over the information employees are learning and sharing, and so on (I’ll be addressing these and other objections to MOOCs in a series starting soon). However, in nearly every survey I’ve seen, while only a small percentage of companies are currently using MOOCs, many are interested in them. There is now a growing list of high-profile MOOC success stories (such as those highlighted in this Extension Engine infographic), and hiring managers are starting to see more MOOCs on resumes of job applicants. As awareness about what MOOCs are and the benefits they can bring increases, we will start to see companies shift from the "We are considering using MOOCs" category to the "We are currently using MOOCs" category. New technologies will emerge that will significantly boost the effectiveness of online learning. Some great new technology-enabled learning tools came on the scene in 2014, including the enhanced video player LectureScape, technologies that create immersive online learning environments (such as simulations), and tools that foster better communication and collaboration. We will much more of this type of innovation going forward, as more research is done into how people learn online and more emphasis is placed on providing not just training, but engaging and meaningful training. Training will become more personalized and adaptive. One of the biggest sources of frustration for learners—in both instructor-led training and elearning—is having to sit through courses that aren’t particularly relevant to them. For example, they don’t see how the content will help them in their daily work activities, or the course is too fast or too slow. Especially in a training environment, learners all come to the table with different levels of prior knowledge, different abilities, and different needs. As trainers, we need to remember that the goal is not to have employees attend courses, but rather to have them acquire new knowledge and skills. New technologies aimed at personalizing training programs so that they are adapted for and relevant to individual learners can help L&D departments achieve their desired training goals. Training will become more networked. While the world in general is becoming ever more networked and connected, many areas of the business world, including training, have remained siloed. In 2015, however, we will see this situation start to change. MOOCs and the technologies that support them are bringing networking to training by making the learning environments more social and more collaborative. As companies start to focus less on simply providing training and more on becoming learning organizations, we will see training programs that foster networking, peer learning, and collaboration among employees, departments, and even those outside the organization. Training will become more data-driven. Big data has been a buzzword in business for a couple of years now. But for training the key component isn’t so much the size as the data. Training has not historically been a particularly objective endeavor. This is largely due to a lack of using relevant metrics (or sometimes any metrics at all) to quantify the results of training programs. The well-known problem is that instructor-led training sessions are often evaluated according to how the participants felt about them, rather than how much participants actually learned. The result, unfortunately, has been that employees don’t learn as much as they are supposed to and quickly forget what they do learn. Collecting data and using analytics to make sense of that data can help training departments significantly improve the effectiveness of their courses and programs. MOOCs provide a huge amount of data, including how many times learners access various resources, how long they spend interacting with those resources, and how many times it takes them to reach the correct answers on assessments. Using this data, training departments can both track the learning happening within their organization and link that learning with measurable ROIs. Training lessons and courses will become more integrated into daily activities. MOOCs, mobile learning, and other technology-driven learning initiatives are changing not only the how of learning, but also the where and the when. By facilitating a "pull" rather than a "push" model of learning, these technologies are expanding learning far beyond both physical and virtual classrooms. When employees have access to learning resources, such as performance support, on their smartphones, learning is transformed from something that happens once in a while on designated training days to something that is happening all of the time. In 2015, as companies further adopt BYOD policies and on-demand learning formats, training will become even more integrated into employees’ daily activities. We will see more high-quality examples of gamification. In 2012, Gartner predicted that "by 2015, 40 percent of Global 1000 organizations will use gamification as the primary mechanism to transform business operations." This has not happened. While the use of gamification has been growing, particularly in training environments, that growth has been much slower than predicted. This is not necessarily a bad thing—while gamification done well can make training highly engaging and motivating, gamification done poorly can have a de-motivating effect, which is not what anyone wants to see. In 2015, I predict that we will not necessarily see a huge increase in the number of companies using gamification for training. Instead, what we will see is a significantly higher-quality examples of gamification that move beyond points, badges and leaderboards (PBLs) to game elements and mechanics that are more meaningful to learners. There you have it, seven predictions for technology-enabled learning in 2015. Now to wait and see how they all play out. Copyright 2015 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Bryant Nielson - Managing Director of CapitalWave Inc.- Being a big believer in Technology Enabled Learning, Bryant seeks to create awareness, motivate adoption and engage organizations and people in the changing business of education. Bryant is a entrepreneur, trainer, and strategic training adviser for many organizations. Bryant’s business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual. Learn more about Bryant at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bryantnielson Related Posts:Strategies for Implementing Gamification in Your Training…Why Your Existing E-Learning is Failing, and How MOOCs Can…On the MOOC Horizon: Tin Can API5 Corporate Training Trends You Can’t Afford to IgnoreMegatrends in MOOCs: #7 Gamification(Visited 247 times, 1 visits today)