As 2015 comes to a close, find our roundup of the top blog posts for the year.  We wish you all the best for 2016:

From our families to yours, we hope you have a safe and joyous holiday season. See you in 2016!     photo credit: Christmas Tree via photopin (license)

  The learning and development technology industry evolves every year. Like many industries, ours is impacted by technological advances that allow for greater creativity, more powerful solutions, and deeper data analysis. Every year, we watch as some trends remain strong, some fade out of fashion and others ignite a craze that might just be "the next big thing." At the close of each year, our team reflects on emerging trends we’ve observed, and what we think may take hold in the next 12 months. Let us share what we’ve been chatting about during 2015. Of course, we’d love for you to join the discussion and leave your thoughts on the last year in the comments below! This time last year, what did we expect to see in 2015? How well did we predict major trends for 2015? Let’s review and find out. Ongoing Coaching and Mentoring via Learning Campaigns - It’s well-documented that, in order for information to really stick and change behaviors, it needs to be taught more than once. It requires follow-up and ongoing coaching. We’ve experienced growth in performance support and have worked with clients to develop coaching and mentoring tools to make sure participants are still learning after the initial training. Personalized Learning Experiences - As eLearning technology advances, it’s become unnecessary to make everyone sit through the same training courses. Training curricula can be customized for the individual user based on role, geography, experience, and other criteria. eLearning Will Grow in Developing Markets - Analysis from Ambient Insight suggests the regions that will see the most growth in eLearning adoption over the next five years is Africa and Eastern Europe, but notable growth is occurring worldwide outside of North America, where the market has matured. Big Data & Robust Reporting - In working with our SaaS customers, we built some of the most powerful reports we’ve ever designed. Beyond knowing that a participant completed a training and successfully answered some quiz questions, we’re now able to track KPIs and determine whether training is impacting business performance. Brandon Hall Group’s recent webinars covered extensively the importance of measuring training’s impact on performance, and shined a light on how few organizations are doing it well. So, while we saw forward motion in this area in 2015, there remains a lot of room for adoption and growth. Ongoing Growth in Mobile Adoption and Custom Apps - Arguably the biggest trend in 2015, our dev team has taken to a "mobile-first" approach to building eLearning solutions for clients. Our customers have come to expect solutions to work on mobile devices of all sizes. When polled, what did our employees say were the biggest trends of 2015? Wearables Start to Penetrate the Market - While we can’t be certain how soon wearable devices will take root in learning & development, the possibilities are endless. Already, smartwatch wearers are receiving SMS and email messages on their wrist. Imagine if performance support, training reminders or quiz questions could be delivered on a watch, embedding knowledge items even more seamlessly into the workflow? Speaking of... Embedding Learning in the Daily Workflow - With ever-improving technology solutions, we think we’ll see organizations looking to move a greater percentage of learning from a classroom to the daily workflow through desktop, mobile, and, eventually, wearable devices. Training content can have the greatest impact when it’s helping people complete a task in real time. Similarly... Continued Migration From ILT to eLearning - On-the-job training and performance support is most powerful when delivered electronically. eLearning makes it easier to revisit training, send reminders, distribute new or updated content and allow participants to only access the training the most need. Recent insight from Brandon Hall Group indicated instructor-led training remains the most popular modality, but we’re expecting that to shift in the new year. Industry-Specific Growth - Some industries move faster than others, so we’ll continue to see eLearning and learning technology advancements gain traction at different rates depending on industry. We’re seeing an increase in the franchise and retail industries and expect that to continue. Connecting Learning to Results - Organizational leaders are finally starting to ask, "How do we know the training program actually worked?" Greater emphasis is being placed on learning analytics and connecting training to business results. Are salespeople selling more after completing a training? Are maintenance teams responding to equipment downtime faster? Armed with results-oriented data, training teams can make the right adjustments to training content. Stay tuned for our next post. We’ve dusted off our crystal ball to anticipate what will be the trends to watch in 2016. If you’ve observed other major trends in 2015 that we didn’t mention, be sure to leave a comment below. photo credit: Happy New Year! via photopin (license)

Top 5 Learning Technology Trends for 2016. https://t.co/BFXIcJOFkB #edtech #utrgvedtech #elearning https://t.co/UeaRu8SN9E

[…] "New Year is coming and we all are at the edge of planning and redefining a lot of things, so do the businesses and their learning departments. If there is something quite certain about the future, it’s the emerging eLearning."  […]

Top 5 Learning Technology Trends for 2016: #Gamification #AugmentedLearning #BigData https://t.co/tIbTVTlphL @hbrzycki

5 Learning Technology Trends for 2016 https://t.co/Q5rYjTJQpf

If E-Learning is to be truly an effective tool to creating a more dynamic learning culture both in the education sector and the business sectors then creating irresistibly engaging learning experiences are vital. This means such learning experiences must truly be interactive in nature.The Problem of Interactivity in the PastThe way that interactivity was created in the past was predicated on the idea that through constant repetition of response to a stimulus that learners would be conditioned to respond the same way. This was controlled through the use of "carrot vs. the stick" approach to reinforcement. Credit: www.gettyimages,comThis method of "Operant Conditioning" found its way into the design of interactive training and E-Learning. The problem with designing this into the learning regimen of business organizations and education today is that it runs counter to the very skillsets that are needed in order to promote innovation and especially, divergent thinking that is required to solve complex real world problems.Credit: www.wisegeek.comThis type of creative thinking demonstrated in the above image would never be tolerated then and would in fact be punished. The type of conditioning that is in place shows up in programs where the only real thought is to push the right menu button, then read the content, then push the continue button, read the content and then answer a quiz which is then graded. If you fail the quiz then you are re-directed to re-training where again repetition is the key. This type of "learning" treats the recipient as a passive receptacle that can only learn by the administration of reward and punishment."It ignores the very important understandings that all learners are thinking, creative, intuitive and resourceful individuals who do seek to learn but it must be learning that respects them and capitalizes on their gifts and talents. They want to be mentored in order to stretch and grow their abilities but first and foremost, you have to get their attention and hold it. Negative artificial extrinsic motivators are not conducive to developing what is needed in a digital economy." We need to break free from the "command and control" mindset because it is a product of a dated industrial economy. Laying the Foundation for Effective Interactivity Using E-LearningIf engagement is what is required then interactivity needs to be designed that respects the skillsets that nurture collaboration with other learners in real world problem solving where divergent thinking in combination with active critical thinking become the de facto way of approaching learning.Here is a thought to consider:"If you are using the type of "Operant Conditioning" described at the beginning of this post that requires the mechanisms described, then perhaps the required task for learning in such a technological age that we are in, might be better done by robots or other intelligent machines rather than human learners! This is not meant to suggest that people should lose their jobs but it is meant to suggest that we need to make better use of the awesome human capital we have available to us."If you really want to get a clear picture of how much this "command and control" approach is an affront to human ability, Google the following :"The Stanley Milgram Experiment" and then ask yourself whether or not your organizational training culture has similar elements. Next--- a better model for building interactivity in E-Learning.

In the last post, it was noted that the E-Learning used for training purposes in business organizations and in the education sector was tied to a Skinnerian model that in fact treated learners as passive entities that needed to be conditioned through the application of reward and punishment in order to acquire the desired responses. One point that should be made is that given the industrial economy mindset with regards to what it suggested should be the goals of education, that perhaps it was appropriate for the times. It is also interesting to note that people such as Nikola Tesla who had creative and quite original ideas were considered to be exceptions and odd compared to the conforming majority. Tesla himself summed up the problem quite nicely.Credit: www.quotesgram.com"In order for us to move forward in the design of irresistibly engaging learning experiences that enrich the learning cultures of business organizations, we need to stop living our lives on a bell curve and as I suggested in the last post to capitalize on the gifts and talents of the intellectual capital found in our employees and learners. In this age, having an organizational learning plan is just as important as having a business plan."A Hybrid Model for Building Interactivity into E-LearningIf you have been reading my posts dealing with the importance of using well designed simulations and scenarios you would have noticed that there are some recurring ideas that lend themselves to making interactivity dynamic and a type of engagement by the learner that is governed by a strong intrinsic motivation. In this digital age, thoughtful engagement leads to deeper sustained learning and an increased level of transference of skillsets to novel situations that require real world problem solving. The posts titled: "The Search for the Emerald Key" (Dec. 27,2014-Jan. 29, 2015) were a first attempt to translate these ideas into a practical scenario. Some of the important concepts were as follows:Context: In order for learners to see a clear connection between what they learn in theory and its application after the learning experiences are complete, the E-Learning information must be in context. It is important that learners know the relevance to their own individualized life situations. In the "Search for the Emerald Key", the focus was on being able to collaborate with other learners in order to solve a real world problem. Contained within this scenario were opportunities to assess skills both individually and as a collaborative group. Unlike the Skinnerian model, the response of the learners was the factor that developed the story. This involved the development of what is called "Branch Scenarios" and also provided an opportunity for immediate feedback and mentoring. In an adjoining scenario, the collaborative group was provided with a novel scenario which was a "proving ground" used for the learners to test out their newly acquired skillsets. This was also important in building confidence which ultimately impacts on performance as it relates to the employee work situation.Ultimately, change in the education culture can not take place unless we can demonstrate the necessary entrepreneurial drive that will take us out of our comfort zone and place the educational well being of nations ahead of all our fears and defence mechanisms that are keeping us in place while the world moves on. This begins with having powerful conversations with each other as leaders in our respective sectors. Without that, we are part of the problem and not part of the so desperately needed solution.[ If you want open and powerful conversations, take the initiative and share the ideas found here.]Next---Summary of practical ideas for context and the next concept in the model

  Ever since the first arrival of the computers, technology has always been seen as a den for scammers, cheaters and hackers. Within the education sector, technology is always treated suspiciously at the world of fake degrees, leaked exam papers and uncertified courses.   But education and technology don’t have to be separated-combining interactive software for student with other educational materials has proved to enhance the learning process and promote more effective and innovative ways of retention than textbooks can ever do. This article discusses how student software have transformed the learning process.   Students can record lectures   The software allow students to record their lecturers for future referencing. With these student software, students attending lectures will not have to spend their entire time scribbling tirelessly on notepads in order not to miss an important piece of information. With lecture recording software for student, students can record and listen back to all their classes without having to spend money on some expensive recording equipment. Most of these student software act as both notepads and audio recorders. Students can therefore, store a complete lecture in both audio and visual forms.   Assists students in revision   The revision software for student is now in big business and it appears like technology has finally achieved what we never thought possible-making revision enjoyable.This kind of student software uses revision notes to quiz users on what they have learnt from their revision. Other software uses some tools to hide and give clues for answers to revision topics, thereby making it possible for students to quiz themselves. Some of these software offer resources to create mind maps, revision charts, flash cards, quizzes and notes in colourful and fun programs.   Prepares students for exams   There are software for student available which prepare students for some exams such as GRE and LSAT tests used by graduate schools in their admission process. The software utilize a social networking style functionality that allows students to connect with fellow test takers. Students are able to peruse through unlimited revision material with notes, quizzes and more. Students are able to effectively keep track of their learning process which makes revision easier.Some student software feven keep track of the days and hours until each exam.   Allow students to plan   Organisation is a part and parcel of a healthy learning process, and this is the main reason why planner software for student is becoming more popular. The software not only saves on paper but also send alerts and remainders straight to your device.This type of student software features sharp and clean interfaces that allow students to map their timetables easily.   Wake up software   If you happen to be a sleepy student who always wakes up 30 minutes late for your lectures, then wake up software is for you. Some of this software will even give you weather updates such that you can know whether to carry an umbrella before leaving home. Other student software aims at correcting students’ sleeping patterns such that it wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase. This software does this by monitoring both your movement and the time you went to sleep. This will ensure you will wake up feeling fresh and sharp.   Software for student has enhanced learning by making the whole process both simple and enjoyable. Any student looking to elevate his/her grades should consider going for such student software.   The post How Software For Student Helps In Advanced Learning appeared first on Fedena Blog.