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Last week I promised to delve more into Accelerated Learning, so I am making good on that promise. I am currently reading the book The Accelerated Learning Handbook by Dave Meier. In the book it lists these five things as the "major principles of accelerated learning: Total learner involvement enhances learning. Learning is not the passive storage of information but the active creation of knowledge. Collaboration among learners greatly enhances learning. Activity-centered learning events are often superior to presentation-centered ones. Activity-centered learning events can be designed in a fraction of the time it takes to design presentation-centered ones." Accelerated Learning is not a step-by-step approach like some instructional methods. It encourages trying different methods, techniques, and media to find what works and use them. Then keep trying more to find what works best. I like this approach because it fits with one of my core beliefs (and is part of my company’s vision) to "learn always." Things change, people change, times change. What works today may fall flat tomorrow. Try new things to keep those brain juices flowing. I will continue posting additional tidbits about Accelerated Learning as I read the book, and I will leave you with instructions for my Wake-up Bag. The Wake-up Bag is an element of Accelerated Learning by "waking up" the senses, making participants alert and engaged. I recently used them during a presentation on Technical Writing. Everyone loved them and they stayed energized the entire hour session of learning how to write in Simplified Technical English! I know! Amazing, right?! The Wake-up Bags are nothing more than beanbags stuffed with coffee, but here is what they do: Participants earn a Wake-up Bag by participating - asking or answering questions, sharing experience, etc. The bright colors wake-up the eyes. The squishiness wakes-up touch. The sound of the beans wakes-up the ears. The smell of the coffee beans wakes up the nose and triggers the brain to wake up (true story, check it out on "WebMD - Coffee’s Aroma Stirs the Brain"). Here’s how I made them.

I HATE writing assessments, especially multiple choice. It’s a struggle for me. If you struggle with assessments too, the blog post by Ant Pugh on Litmos, Top 5 Rules for Great Multiple Choice Questions | eLearning Blog may have the help you need to write great mulitple choice assessments.

5 Tech Tools for Teachers to Use in 2016 The future is now, and it’s a whole lot more advanced than we expected. Internet connected everything and there is an alarm clock that will wake you up with the smell of bacon. And this year, edtech is seeing a whole[Read more] The post Guest Post — 5 Tech Tools for Teachers to Use in 2016 appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

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Mobile learning has come a long way over the last several years. Some organizations have truly embraced mobile as a training delivery method, learning as they go how to create an impactful mobile strategy. Other organizations are still on the sidelines trying to decide if mobile learning makes sense for their workforce. Maybe it will be enough to just make those old eLearning courses work on a tablet? While enterprise mobile learning adoption continues to speed up, it is still far from ubiquitous. According to the ATD 2015 State of the Industry Report, 1.5% of training hours were completed via a mobile delivery method in 2014, up from 1.2% in 2013. A third of organizations had a mobile learning program of some sort in place by the end of 2014. Mobile is used as a reinforcement tool and placed within a blended learning curriculum rather than becoming a primary delivery method. Within the commercial organizations we work with, mobile learning adoption has moved at a much faster pace. Sales reps are often the most mobile members of the workforce, and their direct connection to revenue necessitates investment in the best tools and technologies for sales enablement. Customer training is also a big driver for the move to mobile. Organizations are realizing just how important it is to meet their customers where they are and provide learning at the point of need. These organizations know that if they don’t provide the education… someone else will. The five "must-haves" below are for organizations that are either just beginning to adopt mobile learning or are making plans to increase existing programs. These are simply the basics that your mobile learning solutions should include for them to be successful. 1. Make Sign-On Simple Single sign-on is an ideal solution, but not always practical when a solution is only being piloted. At the very least, make sure that your mobile app does not force users to log back in every time they open the app. Once users enter the app, the learning content should never be more than a tap or two away. 2. Get a Handle On Permissions Management One challenge with mobile content delivery is restricting access. How will you control who can see what information? Make sure your mobile learning solution allows you to easily control what learning content an individual user or group of users see. 3. Make it Mobile-First We explored the "mobile-first" concept in another article. Simply put, do not take the user interface of a desktop-oriented learning experience and "optimize" it for mobile. The result will be clunky and hard to navigate on the small screen. It is best to design a mobile interface from the ground up based on the user experience. Focus groups and extensive testing are a "must". 4. Plan for All Devices Your employees want access to learning on their smartphones… but they use a desktop or laptop, too. Perhaps a tablet is also in the mix. Make sure your mobile experience is available on these devices. If it is game-based, then progress, scoring and/or leaderboards should sync across all devices. 5. Use it to Drive Retention A mobile delivery format is the perfect way to help learners retain content. Use instructional strategies such as spaced learning and repetition in combination with short play sessions and automated reminders to sustain learning over time. Game elements can foster a spirit of healthy competition and motivate repeat play. See Mobile Learning in Action With KGuru Mobile We recently added a smartphone app to our award-winning Knowledge Guru learning platform. You can learn all about the app here. The post 5 Mobile Learning Must-Haves for 2016 appeared first on .

I know, its already the 15th of the month (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MLK!) and this is the first post of the new year for me. I’ve been a bit under the weather (I dislocated my knee in October and have been in various levels of pain ever since) and have made the conscious choice to do … Continue reading →

In our line of business, we interact with L&D leaders every day. They’re smart; they’re passionate; and they’re committed to creating a knowledgeable workforce. But they often come up against the same roadblock—getting a seat at the executive table. And they’re frustrated, to say the least. While shareholders and senior executives totally get that knowledgeable employees are critical to organizational success, they don’t always see how employee knowledge directly correlates to business impact. So, they simply don’t see why L&D needs to be part of boardroom discussions. But, there is a way for L&D leaders to make their voices heard. When we’ve seen L&D leaders change the way they approach the learning conversation and take advantage of advances in technology to prove the value of learning, they start to get C-level attention. Specifically, those L&D leaders who take a business-first approach to learning and can showcase the tangible, measurable results of their efforts, get invited to sit at the executive table. That means they: Work closely with business leaders to understand strategic objectives and how those objectives translate into job performance objectives for each employee. Identify employee job behaviors, that when done consistently, allow employees to achieve their objectives. Observe and document job behaviors, so that exceptional or substandard behaviors can be identified. Develop training programs that directly address the substandard knowledge and behaviors that drive poor performance. Constantly analyze behaviors and provide corrective learning to ensure that performance objectives are continuously being achieved Connect their efforts directly to business results that show increased revenue or decreased expenses In other words, successful L&D leaders understand that L&D must position itself to use business results to drive learning programs. (Stay tuned: we’ll cover this process in detail in a follow-up post). When that happens, learning can be clearly aligned with business objectives, and tangible results can be measured, proving the value of learning and its contribution to the success of the organization. L&D: it’s time to claim your seat at the boardroom table! Written by Carol Leaman The post Hey L&D — Want a seat at the table? Here’s what we’ve observed that works. appeared first on Axonify.

2016 sees the introduction of native apps to gomo, a new content distribution method we’re really excited about. Say hello to the gomo central app. What is it? The gomo central app is a groundbreaking advance in authoring and learning distribution technology. It solves the challenges of offline learning, tracking and updating faced by teams looking to deploy learning to devices on a global scale. The all-new app is the native version of gomo central, gomo’s cloud-based learning portal. gomo central is used by clients to give their global learners instant access to multi-device e-learning content. The app is downloaded from the app store, learners login and all of their gomo courses are within the app and ready to be used, either directly or downloadable for offline use. Learners are provided with easy native app access while L&D teams have a simple means of quickly distributing content to learners at scale. The app supports xAPI tracking, offline learning and dynamic content updates and will be available from the Apple and Android app stores. The gomo central app (top right) joins four other distribution methods included within the gomo learning suite. Benefits of the gomo central app: Gives staff instant access to learning on the smartphone or tablet of their choice No internet connection needed to consume content xAPI analytics are fed back to gomo as soon as the device connects to the internet Course updates are available to app users automatically Takes the hassle out of learning distribution L&D doesn’t have to deal with app store approval Gives learners a go-to app for learning when on the move. The launch Europe’s leading L&D event, Learning Technologies 2016, will be the first opportunity to see the gomo central app in action. The event takes place on February 3-4 and gomo will be sharing a huge stand alongside the rest of the LTG group (that’s us plus LEO, Preloaded and Eukleia). We have lots planned and we can’t wait to tell you more about it over the course of January. For now, you can register to attend Learning Technologies for free, or if you won’t make it to London, join us for a more detailed look at the gomo central app at our webinar ‘Harnessing native apps for learning’ on February 24th. The post Introducing native apps to gomo appeared first on gomo Learning.