So, cultivate the beginner’s mind, walk straight into your not-knowing, and take the risk of failing and falling again and again, then getting up again and again to learn-  that’s the path to a life lived large, in service of love, truth, and justice. -Parker PalmerAs you begin to allow yourself to risk moving, here are a couple of fun ways you can exercise your love of learning again: Go to Wikipedia and add an update to anything you know something about. See whether it sticks or if someone challenges you. Step up to the challenge. Watch a random Snapchat story of your choice, especially if you have never even seen Snapchat. I also like Mashable and Buzzfeed. Experience learning in seconds. For bonus points, get your kids to teach you how to use filters and barf rainbows. Seriously. Go to the Starbucks website (likely you've been there often) and find the area they have for people to suggest new products. Go ahead and suggest one and watch the feed to see what happens. If you do any one or all of these things and upload a post about your experience to the RMA Facebook page. If you are one of the first ten people who does, you will win a free signed copy of my latest book Managing Projects. It's a real book that you can hold in your hands! Or just let your heart sing a little. Blessed 2016!

We recently spoke with Mohaned from Libya, who has just completed his first Speexx Tutor course in English. The 6-month course was provided to him as part the Libyan Red Crescent’s collaboration with DisasterReady and Speexx. Together with DisasterReady, we have enabled thousands of volunteers from charities around the world to improve their language skills online. As a result, they communicate better with those in need, making their work quicker and more efficient. Mohaned is one of these volunteers - he loves learning English with Speexx and is highly motivated to continue. Here’s what he has to say. Tell me about yourself. I’m Mohaned, I’m 30 years old and I come from Tripoli, Libya. I’m a Project Planner at an Electromechanical Services company, and I also work as a volunteer with the Libyan Red Crescent. This is where I first learned about Speexx. My mother tongue is Arabic. Why do you need to learn English? For two reasons. First of all, English is the most commonly used language among all people! In my daily life, I face many challenges, especially when I travel or work. So sometimes I work with people from a different country, and we need to use English as the common language. Second, for using technology like the internet or while working with a computer in general, I need to have a good level of English. Sometimes I join online courses to benefit my career and these are often in English, too. Here in Libya, the English language not very popular in the street. However, at work, the situation is totally different, and I found it very difficult to communicate with people before because I didn’t speak enough English. What do you like most about learning with Speexx? Speexx is an amazing language platform. It gave me something that I couldn’t find elsewhere. For example flexibility - I can study when I have free time, or when I come back home. I can use it when I travel from one city to another. Especially during these difficult days with the unstable situation in Libya, I could not travel abroad to study English, or even attend normal classes. The portal is amazing, I think it’s very rich in knowledge, and I do not feel bored like I have done with other software. It’s also really interactive, like when I try to test my pronunciation, or test my understanding and get immediate feedback. I aim to continue to the next levels! What do you hope to achieve with Speexx? To be honest, I’ve become a bit of a "Speexx addict" on this course. I felt my life was on hold for a while when I was not be able to use it. Speexx will definitely reflect in my career, and my life in general. As part of my volunteer work with the Libyan Red Crescent, Speexx will help me to communicate well with people from other countries. I think the simplest answer is that Speexx will give me a better life. Thank you Mohaned!

In 2016, most people are accustomed to social media and the conventions associated with profiles, friends, posts, liking and sharing.  But how are these new social business behaviors influencing social learning features of today’s learning management systems (LMS)? We wanted to find out, so we surveyed 74 diverse LMS vendors about the social learning functionality available in their platforms.  We targeted the LMS vendor community because these organizations have a vested interest in developing and supporting only the features they believe the market wants and they know they can sell. To achieve a representative sample of global demand, we limited each LMS vendor to a single survey response. Here is what we found: What’s Going on with the Social Learning LMS? Technically, social learning features were built into learning management systems long before social media was invented.  In the 1990s, the social LMS feature set included threaded discussions, coffee groups, collaboration centers, forums, FAQ and chat — typically occupying a seldom-used tab in the navigation menu. In reality, this social LMS feature set was all sales sizzle.  Social capabilities were underutilized, mainly because no one understood how to deploy, promote and support them.  Common logic was flawed — assuming training professionals and subject matter experts (SMEs) would regularly visit these [...] The post Top Social Learning LMS Features appeared first on Talented Learning.

Elucidat partners are exhibiting at Learning Technologies 2016 (3-4 February, Olympia, London UK). If you want to learn more about Elucidat, I recommend you visit their stands. Cornerstone OnDemand (stand D19) Synergy Learning (stand E2) Mind Click (stand B17) Interested in booking a meeting with a partner? Use the form to schedule a time to chat. The post Visit an Elucidat partner at Learning Technologies 2016 (London, UK) appeared first on Elucidat Blog.

Benjamin Franklin once said "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest", and we think Mr. Franklin got it spot on. Training isn't something that's 'nice' to have in your organization. It's an absolutely vital part of a company's long-term investment and growth strategy.  This seems like a simple point, and it's something that nearly all companies, and L&D managers alike, will agree with. But do companies provide enough training? And what does current research say about the state of corporate training and eLearning? In this post, we look at ten key statistics, and what they mean for your company's future.

John Collins is passionate about cloud-based e-learning solutions which enable the delivery of online training anywhere and anytime. Today, John explains how to easily stream video through an LMS using inexpensive and user-friendly tools on the market - a highly effective alternative to buying and setting up a custom streaming media server with your LMS. […]

We are in the Learning Age. Today, more than ever in history, people must be able to learn and adapt quickly. Technology, jobs, processes, and knowledge are constantly changing and evolving. In order to keep up, people need to have the ability to learn, problem solve, question, and create. As instructional designers and facilitators, this is an exciting time, if you are willing to be more creative and think outside-of-the-box. Instead of training on boring repetitive tasks, you get to help people grow. Returning to The Accelerated Learning Handbook by Dave Meier, here is how he summarized the difference between how we used train to how we need to train in the Learning Age: Traditional Learning tends to be: Rigid Somber & serious Single-pathed Means-centered Competitive Behavioristic Verbal Controlling Materials-centered Mental (cognitive) Time-based Accelerated Learning tends to be: Flexible Joyful Multi-pathed End-centered Collaborative Humanistic Multi-sensory Nurturing Activity-centered Mental/emotional/physical Results-based Accelerated Learning involves the right and left brain, and the knowledge is not absorbed, it is applied allowing the brain to create a natural use and meaning for the knowledge. AL uses collaboration and engages the learner on many levels, such as multi-sensory, and paraconscious. AL recommends learning by doing, positive environments, and the use of imagery, whether pictures or metaphors. Learning has changed a lot over the decades. It is time that our training changes with it.

Previously, we defined the devMode variable and added an invisible button to turn it ON and OFF. Today, we will add a visual element to devMode to distinguish it from regular mode. So you’ve made devMode in Lectora® and you have a button to turn it on and off, but it doesn’t DO anything… yet. Basically, we made a light fixture and attached a light switch, but there’s no light bulb, so flicking the switch on and off won’t do much. Today, we’re going to add the words devMode on to act as our light bulb. How to add a devMode indicator At the top level of your course, add a textbox. This textbox is at the same level of your course as your devEntrance button so that the button can refer directly to the textbox. Presumably this is at the top level so that it can be inherited throughout the course. In the textbox, enter the words devMode on and style them as you like. I like to use Arial Black and an orange font color so that the text stands out. You can use whatever words or formatting you like. In the Properties ribbon, name the textbox dM indicator and select Initially Hidden as well as Always on Top. Feel free to also add an entrance and exit FADE transition. Next, we will make the button that turns devMode on and off ALSO turn this textbox ON and OFF. Select the devEntrance button and add a second action: Trigger: Mouse Click Action: show dm Indicator In the Conditions column, click Always and add the following condition Variable: devMode Relationship: is equal to Value: 1 Click OK. In English, what we are programming is this… "when the devEntrance button is clicked, show the ‘light bulb’ if devMode is ON. Otherwise, do nothing." NOTE: Actions run top to bottom, first to last. It is critical that THIS action run AFTER the action which turns devMode ON. In other words, the show indicator action MUST be below the devMode toggle action in the Title Explorer or else it won’t work. Also, whenever I create a conditional action, I like to add the word IF to the name. Finally, we will specify what happens if devMode is already ON when you click the button, which is to turn off the indicator. In the Else Actions area, add the following action: Action: Hide Target: dM indicator Feel free to test this functionality by previewing your course and clicking your hidden devEntrance button. You should now be turning your "light bulb" on and off. Now go to the next page. DevMode is still on, but your indicator text is NOT. We will now fix this. Select the dM indicator textbox and add an action with the following properties: Trigger: onPageShow Action: Show Target: this object Conditions: devMode is equal to 1 Else Actions: None In plain English: "when you go to a new page, if devMode is on, show this indicator. If not, do nothing." Now if you travel to a new page, your devMode indicator will remain on. Test this. Good work, today! Next time, we are going to give ourselves some superpowers in devMode . Download the Lectora and Lectora Online files for this course in the Trivantis® Community. John Mortenson is the Online Learning Manager for The Fresh Market. He has been developing online courses for over 10 years and is a member of the Lectora Advisory Board. He is also an Adobe Creative Suite Guru and cartoonist. You can contact him on LinkedIn and Twitter. Previous Tutorial The post Downright Sneaky Lectora Tricks Part 3: Add a devMode Indicator appeared first on .

This Saturday at 11am Eastern, 10am Central, 9am Mountain and 8am Pacific, digitally join educators from around the country and world at the Microsoft Hack the Classroom event! The event will feature outstanding speakers and thought leaders from from across the country that will introduce you to the powerful ways to use technology to "hack the classroom."  See the introduction below, or click on this link for more information and to sign up! See you there! The post This Saturday! Join Educators from Around the World at Microsoft’s "Hack the Classroom" Event! appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

Confused by the title of this post? Possibly. Allow me to explain. Since I’m unable to use Twitter in my classroom (hopefully this is coming soon!), I’ve gotten creative with reaching my students. I use Remind and Remind Chat to communicate with my students outside of the classroom, sharing reminders,[Read more] The post How I’m Using Twitter in my Classroom…Without Actually Using Twitter appeared first on Teaching with Technology.