Identifying The Difference Between Knowledge And Skills  Knowledge is information acquired through sensory input: Reading, watching, listening, touching, etc. The concept of knowledge refers to familiarity with factual information and theoretical concepts. Knowledge can be transferred from one person to another or it can be self acquired through observation and study. Skills, however, refer to the ability to apply knowledge to specific situations. Skills are developed through practice, through a combination of sensory input and output. As an example, social skills are developed through interaction with people by observing, listening, and speaking with them. Trial and error is probably the best way to achieve skills mastery. To make it simple, knowledge is theoretical and skills are practical. You can know all the rules of a sport, know all the teams and all players, know all the statistics, but this only makes you knowledgeable about this sport; it does not make you any good at it. To become good at a sport you must play it, practice its techniques, and improve your skills through experience. You don’t need to know all the teams or all the players to practice a sport and you can easily learn the rules as you play, through trial and error. The same applies to a job: One can know a lot about a subject matter, but might not have the skills required to apply that knowledge to specific tasks, since knowledge does not provide skills. However, developing skills normally provides some knowledge, as practicing those skills results in sensory inputs. As an example, an aerospace engineer may know a lot about avionics and flight theory, but this alone does not make him an aircraft pilot. On the other end, an aircraft pilot only requires a minimal level of knowledge about avionics and flight theory in order to be able to fly the plane, and this knowledge will continue to increase as he gains experience flying a simulator or an actual plane. Developing Skills  Therefore, if you want to better prepare individuals to meet a desired performance, they don’t need more lectures. What they need is more practice. The production of more presentations and more page turners will only make people more knowledgeable; it will not provide them with skills to better do their job. Seems logical, no? Why then are so many learning professionals still addressing performance gaps with lectures, online presentations, or other theoretical content? In order for people to achieve a desired performance at a task they must be provided with opportunities to perform the actions required so they can improve their performance at this task until they master it. While a lot of what is actually called training is basically nothing more than information dump, no surprise that such training programs fail to deliver results. Training should be about activities, scenarios, and simulation. When training is about lectures, presentations, and quizzes we end up with individuals who know a lot of things but can’t do much with it. Of course skills can be developed more easily if one has prior knowledge of the task to be accomplished: Learning to fly a plane through trial and errors without having a slight idea about how planes fly may be quite risky, but theory should be limited to the minimum required to be able to perform the task. You cannot learn how to drive a car without knowing where the accelerator and brake pedals are. However, the best way to learn the effects of acceleration and brakes is not to read about it, but to actually experience it. Practice is the only way to develop skills: The more you do something, the better you get at doing it. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

ICETA 2015 is the 13th International Conference on Emerging eLearning Technologies and Applications ICETA 2015 Objevtives Multidisciplinary platform for information exchange in research and multimedia and hypermedia applications, in a complex computer support of learning and in new telecommunication services Exchange of best practice in utilisation of advanced ICT for education Information about eLearning activities in the international measure Advertisement of technologies supporting eStrategy Supporting a collaboration among users and suppliers of eLearning solutions ICETA 2015 Topics Global Issues in Education and Research Emerging Technologies in Education E-content Management and Development, tools and content - oriented application Cases and projects New Trends and Experiences and New Challenges for the Higher Education Area The 13th International Conference on Emerging eLearning Technologies and Applications (ICETA 2015) will be held in Slovakia on November 26 - 27, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

What Are The Advantages And Possible Limitations Of Online Learning Asking an eLearning professional to point out the possible limitations of online leaning is like asking Garry Kasparov to list the disadvantages of playing chess; how can you disparage a true passion of yours? However, if we need to be fair, there might be some potential limitations of online learning, when this has not been designed properly. In this article, I'll share a complete list of advantages, as well as what might go wrong with online learning in order to present a complete picture of the online learning experience. Top 7 Advantages Of Online Learning  It's convenient. This is obviously the greatest benefit of online learning; as long as you own a computer and have an internet connection, it doesn’t matter in which part of the world you are. Learners can access information from anywhere, anytime. Furthermore, distance is no longer a barrier to learning, whether academic or professional. Especially for corporate training, the ability to reach an unlimited number of employees quickly and regardless of their location has greatly benefited organizations all around the globe. It's flexible. It is simple, really; learning becomes easier when aligned with one’s learning needs and preferences. Online learning allows learners to study at their own pace, whether they are students, busy adults, or employees. Assignment due dates aside, your audience is given the freedom to personally build their own learning schedule and choose where and when to learn. Speaking of "where", mobile learning offers your audience the ability to keep up with their learning wherever they are, at home, on a bus, in the park, as long as they have a mobile device with them. It's cost effective. Especially regarding corporate training, the cost effectiveness of online learning is quite impressive; no more travel and accommodation expenses for trainers and employees, reusable online content, budget cuts on training materials. Especially if your company has an online training budget, online learning is the ideal training option for you. It can be tailored to different needs. Different people learn in different ways, and online learning does everything in its power to ensure that all learning needs are met. Instructional Designers and eLearning professionals create online courses that address almost all learning behaviors and accommodate all learning preferences. With online learning it doesn’t matter whether your learners are visual, acoustic, or kinesthetic; there is a very wide variety of learning methods and tools that can be used to support learning while meeting all needs. It's immediate. Not only learners are able to begin their online learning immediately, but they are also able to see immediate results; whether self-paced or instructor-led, online learning provides a variety of ways to offer constructive feedback to the audience. Furthermore, online learning allows for immediate access to additional online resources, which is always a bonus. It's unrestricted. With online learning location is no longer a barrier; neither are culture and nationality. Translating and customizing your online courses to address different cultures in various languages makes possible for your eLearning content to travel all around the world and reach the widest possible audience. This is particularly effective for your online training program, as you can use the same training material for your globally distributed workforce and ensure that all of your employees are aligned with your company’s brand, values, and vision. Immediate updates. Today’s online learning is better than yesterday’s; and online learning of tomorrow will be better than today’s. Multimedia, gamification, interactivity, constantly improved technology in general, provide a wide variety of applications and tools that not only update online learning, but also they make it more effective. The best part? You know that once you update your eLearning course, your audience will have immediate access to the updated version as soon as they click a mouse button. Top 5 Possible Limitations Of Online Learning If eLearning, however, is not based on solid instructional design theories and models it may lead to the following limitations: It may be a "solo" act. It is true that, although online learning might be convenient and flexible, it is also a solo act. It will not be easy for all of your learners to feel comfortable when participating in online discussions and engaging more actively with their online instructors or their virtual classmates. Furthermore, some people absolutely need personal contact with their educators or trainers in order to learn successfully. Constructive feedback can be very effective, but if not given properly or in time, it might also be limited. In addition, some types of learning problems may be difficult to be addressed online, and some questions can be lost in a sea of requests and inquiries. This sometimes makes learners feel they lack support and reassurance. It may be impersonal. No matter how hard we try to fully transfer human communication to online platforms, no matter how natural it seems to form relationships behind computer screens, a virtual environment is just not human. Nothing can replace human contact. Too much time spent in front of a computer screen may be harmful. Being constantly online is the new reality, but the truth is that using a computer or a tablet all the time can cause poor vision, strain injuries, and other physical problems. Consider sending guidelines about right sitting posture, desk height, etc. along with your eLearning course; it might be very useful to your audience. It requires self-discipline. If your eLearning audience lacks self-discipline, it is unlikely that they will be motivated to self study. Traditional learning and training have the benefit of easily tracking both progress and falling behind; this works for many learners as well, as some people prefer their progress to be closely monitored in order to perform. Possible lack of control. No matter how carefully you design your eLearning course, there is no guarantee that your messages will get across. You offer your learners control over their eLearning experience and this is great, but are they going to use it effectively? There is always the risk of your learners just going through the material without paying any attention. If your eLearning content is not built to make the most of the medium it will easily become disengaging. Furthermore, unless you know exactly what you’re doing with new technologies, it is very likely that you overwhelm or distract your audience. Creating effective online learning courses requires knowledge, time, experience, talent, commitment, great communication skills, and a true passion for learning. Have you got all that? If the answer is yes, then be sure that the advantages of your online training, outweigh its limitations. Now that you know all the advantages and possible limitations of online learning, you may be interested in learning the pros and cons of blended learning. Read the article Blended Learning Advantages And Disadvantages In Corporate Training to take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of blended training. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Choose The Right eLearning Outsourcing Development Partner  "eLearning doesn’t just "happen"! It requires careful planning and implementation." - Anonymous According to the research report released by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., with a five year compound annual growth rate of approximately 9.2%, the global eLearning Market is expected to reach $107 billion by 2015. Many reports like this and several other studies have confirmed that eLearning is only going to grow. While traditional learning methods will stay, businesses of all types, right from schools to large corporations, are increasingly opting for online training. As developing eLearning in house is expensive, most organizations consider outsourcing as a viable option. A research by Bersin by Deloitte has found that that an online course development project could cost 20-40% less in India. India, with its large number of English speaking professionals and faster turnaround time, has become a preferred eLearning outsourcing destination. But, before you finalize your eLearning outsourcing partner, here are few things which you need to carefully evaluate: eLearning Background. Let’s be clear that eLearning development is not only a technology job. It is a highly skillful work which requires an understanding of not only the eLearning tools but also the business goals, the learning preferences, and needs of the learners. Only the trained professionals who have instructional experience can provide the real value. Unless eLearning development is their core business, your partner will not able to deliver the quality output to you. eLearning development requires the involvement of Instructional Designers, visual designers, learning experts, testing experts, Subject Matter Experts, and also authoring tools experts. Only a company which has been working in this domain for a considerable period can have such a cohesive team. Look for companies which are profitable and have been in business since long - that will actually be your insurance. I would go one step further and suggest that look for companies wherein the founders or key team members have a solid eLearning background. Experience. If you don’t want to be the Guinea Pig, you must evaluate the vendor for its experience of working on similar eLearning projects and its experience of working with multi-cultural teams. Don’t hesitate to ask for demos and sample work. Select a vendor who has won the praise and trust of well-known names in the corporate world. If required, speak to their customer and understand their experience on timely delivery, quality of output, technology competence, costs etc. Project Management And Processes. Yes, I know I have mentioned that eLearning development is not a technology development. But let’s accept it, eLearning project development is going to require adherence to the principals of project management. When you are looking for a vendor, look for someone who has well-established project management tools and processes and the teams are trained on those. You are going to need periodic reviews, demos, and status updates, and the vendor needs to have the required setup in place to facilitate this. Quality Assurance. The quality of output is probably one of the prime concerns with eLearning outsourcing. Unfortunately, unless the output is seen, it is hard for you to know the quality. However, by looking at the past work samples, demos, and quality assurance processes and systems which the vendors might have, you can take a call on how well a job the vendor can do on the quality aspect. The important aspects of quality checks in case of eLearning projects are linguistic testing (ensuring that there are no grammatical errors in the content and it is developed as per the learners’ backgrounds), technical appropriateness (ensuring that the content is adaptable to the technical environment of the learners), and the quality of the content. Flexibility And Scaling. Outsourcing your eLearning development to a small company with a couple of people might give you a cost advantage, but do know that you are running a huge risk of essentially depending on couple of people. Ideally, outsourcing should give you the flexibility to scale up or scale down the team size at a very short notice and there should not be a strong dependence on any one person in the team. Getting the right people on the job should not be your headache - really. Bells And Whistles: Licensed Software, Image Banks. You don’t want to get into legal troubles because of your eLearning vendors non-adherence to compliance. Make sure you confirm that the vendor has the licensed copies of the eLearning tools and technologies and access to licensed images. There is no excuse for using free images or pirated tools in the development cycle. You might also want to check which Learning Management System the vendor uses for checking and certifying the course compliance. We always believe that the eLearning vendor needs to work as a partner to the company and needs to be invested in it. The vendor needs to invest in building the understanding about the client organization and should always work towards continuous improvement. Don’t think "outsourcing", think "strategic outsourcing". This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Best Practices Of Google Classroom eLearning Professionals Should Know Create a class with just a few clicks? This is what Google Classroom allows you to do. This blended learning platform has just started to create its own generation by inviting literally millions of learners to create a Gmail account and familiarize themselves with the Google ecosystem. As everything else in this world, it comes with its pros and cons, but no one can doubt its biggest strength: Simplicity. Using Google Classroom is as easy as it gets; setting it up, communicating with others, saving time, organizing things. You can easily do all these, immediately after you get the suite of tools called Google Apps for Education. Google Classroom’s services and its inherent collaborative benefits have already replaced a number of teaching tools, but how can you make the most out of it? In this article, I will share 10 Google Classroom best practices, so that you will be able to take full advantage of this powerful online learning tool and understand why it is pioneer in online education. Go paperless. How about saving some trees, time, and money? Google Classroom eliminates the need for hard copies, as you can create online documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and so on, and distribute them to your learners digitally. You can also have instant access to the work of your audience, edit it, and return it as soon as you finish. In addition, you can create online assignments that include not only Google Docs attachments, but also web links, and YouTube videos! Collect students’ homework easily. Speaking of saving time, the process of collecting homework can be completed in literally no time, as your learners can submit their work digitally. Even if they have completed their work on paper, they can simply take a snapshot of it and submit the picture in Google Classroom. Offer immediate feedback. Instant access to learners’ work allows online facilitators to clarify common misconceptions by providing feedback whenever the audience needs it, that is, after they have submitted their online assignments, or while they are still working on them. Furthermore, ongoing interaction of Google Classroom allows for building on previous answers, after feedback, and resubmitting work. Finally, Google stream is a great way to offer positive feedback publicly so everyone can see it, to reward learners who made an extra effort and motivate the rest of the group. Create a personalized learning environment. Do you know that in Google Classroom you can create different classes for different subjects, materials, learning levels, and learning needs? This means that you can promote personalized learning by offering a variety of choices, online assignments, and resources to your audience to address different learning preferences. Making your learners feel that their needs are recognized and taken care of is a great way to engage them, isn't it? Access Google Classroom from any device. Google Classroom is obviously the ideal environment for a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) setting, as well as for mobile learning, simply because you can access it from a web browser on any device, PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or phablet. Especially the BYOD method can be very convenient for all learners, as it allows them to have access to online content from the familiar environment of their own devices and get immediate feedback from their online facilitator. Use the Google Classroom for real world applications. Google Classroom allows learners to easily submit real world material, for instance pictures or videos they take with their mobile devices, and create online presentations that include real life examples that spark interesting online conversations. This way, learners can bring their real experiences to the class and learn how to implement what they are learning to their real lives. Kick off great discussions. Starting an online discussion is a piece of cake in Google Classroom; all you need to do is post a topic or a provocative question to the stream in order to initiate an online forum where community conversation among online learners is encouraged and promoted, problems are discussed and solved, and ideas are shared and expanded. Share announcements. Google Drive in Google Classroom allows you not only to distribute handouts online, but also to share announcements. Your learners will be able to find your announcements by accessing the stream, and see reminders of upcoming online tests or assignment due dates. Provide a variety of support materials. By being able to attach any kind of multimedia to Google Drive, such as videos, audio files, PDF documents, and so on, you can support your audience’s learning and understanding of what is being taught using a variety of resources. You can also encourage your learners to create their own videos and attach them in Google Classroom to demonstrate their creative comprehension skills. Give shy online course participants a voice. Remember those people who may never raise their hand in class, but usually excel in every written assignment? The Google Classroom stream may not be as scary as the physical class environment for introvert learners given that you find creative ways to encourage every member of your class to express themselves by asking questions and commenting on what is being discussed. Consider even creating game-based learning experiences within the Classroom to promote trust and openness, and encourage teamwork and collaboration. Now that you know the 10 best practices of Google Classroom, you may be interested in learning how you can use another Google service, Google Hangouts, for the benefit of synchronous learning. Read the article 6 Tips To Use Google Hangouts For Synchronous Learning and find out how by using Google Hangouts you can develop, implement, and enhance your synchronous learning strategies. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

eLearning Designing Tips To Create eLearning Content That Aligns With The Habits Of Learners  Most modern organizations are becoming serious about training and learning to keep their employees abreast of the latest in their industry. Additionally, the need to continually give learners the opportunity to better themselves, even outside the strict realm of work, is very clear in the modern workplace. Employees now not only seek a good salary or work atmosphere, but also the opportunities the workplace provides to increase their worth as professionals. But in spite of emphatic efforts, some training endeavors fail to capture the interest of the learners and do not make their intended impact. This is true of both traditional learning and eLearning - the eLearning content has to be designed to pique the interest of the learners. Hence, understanding the learning habits of the group is essential for the success of training. Habits are repetitive behaviors that all of us have, and are often the most difficult thing to change. Not all habits are bad - so if the training is not intended to change pre-existing habits of the learners, it can align with them, to be more impactful. Habits are formed of cues, behavior, reward, and repetition. We find cues all around us and some of them make us behave in a certain manner. This behavior, when rewarded in any way that appeals to the individual, then forms a repetitive pattern of a habit. Most e-developers often look at the behavior part of the habit cycle, but it is important to note that other parts, such as cues and rewards, are as relevant when designing to align to the habits of the learner. How cues can be built in eLearning? Cues are all around us, in our environment. They are the triggers to our habits and if learning provides the right cues, it can make the desired impression on the learners. Cues have to be picked up in the context of the learners’ real life or, more importantly, work life. Mentors can be part of the learning module; and if it’s someone they can relate to, learners will find an instant connection with them as well as the content. For instance, for a learning course for young adults on the effects of a debilitating disease, we introduced a young girl, who talked about the relevant issues with them. Though some of these topics were serious, the mentor was perceived by the learners as "one-of-their-own". Thus even the grimmest of topics became relevant and not scary. Similarly, for a group of learners who were experiencing technology-aided learning the first time, we created a scenario with a familiar background and known characters. The scenario helped the learners to get familiar with the new platform and more enthusiastic about accepting the learning opportunities it offered. How behavior can be built into eLearning? Behavior cannot be changed or created in a day. It is formed by hours and hours of practice. A learning course that aims to instill a particular behavior within the learner group should be built with interactivities that give the learners plenty of chances to learn and practice. Role plays, interactive assessments, and CYUs (Check Your Understanding) can give the learners the opportunity to practice and adopt a behavior through the online learning course. Behavior can also be inculcated through blended learning where the online session imparts knowledge, followed by classroom sessions that can provide the opportunity to practice with peers and instructors. This makes sure that the adopted behavior is up to the desired standards, and if the learners deviate, the peers or instructor can check that behavior. How rewards can be built into eLearning? Behavior can be suitably rewarded in many ways within the learning environment. This can be achieved by game based learning, where special games are built with a learning objective to provide the opportunity of "doing and learning".  These games can be built on ideas adopted from popular entertainment games like Jeopardy. Else if time and budgets permit, learning games can be built in as well, custom created for the particular behavior or skill that needs to be taught. The games provide rewards through points won, levels reached, or even successful attempts, timed or otherwise. The Learning Management System or the learning platform itself can be gamified as well to provide rewards through achiever boards, collectables, or badges that can be won with every e-course completed. Learning itself thus becomes the habit, perpetually helping the learners better themselves. Every organization wants to reap the benefits of training and get a positive ROI on its investments for organizational learning. With a strategy to include prevalent habits of the learners, eLearning content developers can make sure that the effects of the training are amplified and perfectly aligned to how learners want to learn. This surely spells a uniform impact of the training and consecutively, a positive ROI as well. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

With this theme, TTLC 2015 provides fertile ground to stimulate and compare responsive assessment approaches and practices on established as well as relatively new areas of assessment such as graduate capability assessment in view of the need of educational institutions to evidence graduate employability. By placing this topic at the heart of the conference, TTLC 2015 aims to explore in breadth, depth and quality the best models and practices, strategies, lessons learnt, success stories from implementation of assessment within the classroom to beyond its borders and up to the virtual space. Additionally, the conference aims to provide fertile ground to stimulate and compare responsive assessment approaches and practices on relatively new areas of assessment such as graduate capability assessment in view of the need of educational institutions to evidence graduate employability. TTLC 2015 Themes TTLC 2015 themes are set out below. Assessing extra-curricular activities for graduate employment outcomes Innovative Assessment Approaches Assessment in a technology-rich learning environment Assessing Professional Competencies & Institutional Initiatives Other Issues in Assessment for Learning TTLC 2015 Keynote Speakers Professor Dr. Colin Beard, Professor of Experiential Learning, Sheffield Business School, United Kingdom Professor Dr. Gordon Stanley, Honorary Professor, University of Sydney, Australia Dr. Christopher Charles Deneen, Assistant Professor, The National Institute of Education of Nanyang Technological University Singapore Taylor’s 8th Teaching and Learning Conference 2015 (TTLC 2015) will be held at the Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus (Malaysia) on November 28 - 29, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Storytelling In eLearning: Set Your eLearning Apart with Storytelling  Once upon a time in a faraway land, where dark forests grew and rivers of crystal ran, there lived a brave and creative Instructional Designer who was in a spot of bother. One hundred years earlier, a deceitful storyteller swindled the king out of a large sum of gold. In his wrath, the king banned storytelling from his kingdom. Books were burned, their tales lost forever, and campfire narration became a perilous taboo. But one day, everything changed. Word spread that a mysterious Instructional Designer was using the forbidden art to pass on knowledge and engage and delight the people. The king was outraged. He summoned the Instructional Designer to his castle and gave his ultimatum: "Slay the Dragon of Fire that lives in the Deathcliffe Caves and I will allow storytelling back in my kingdom. Failing this mission will cost you your life, at my hands or by the force of the dragon!". An evil laugh exploded deep from the king’s belly as the Instructional Designer set off into the night… Everyone loves a good story. When done well, storytelling is a powerful mechanism for making eLearning memorable. In fact, adding context can increase knowledge retention, which in turn can increase the return on investment of your eLearning. Appropriate use of storytelling will set your eLearning apart from dull, traditional counterparts. In this article, PulseLearning recommends some dos and don’ts for how to use storytelling in eLearning. Storytelling In eLearning Dos  Set the scene. You get one shot to draw in your audience, so it’s important to make the first paragraph count. A successful story starts by introducing the scenario, characters, and the issue or conflict. The narrative then unfolds toward the resolution. Begin by framing the situation using an anecdotal introduction and, importantly, link to key learning messages. Remember to keep the intrigue so learners will want to read on and find out what happens. Heroes, villains, and damsels in distress. Using characters throughout eLearning can personalize the experience and create a deeper emotional connection with the content. Creating interesting characters can increase engagement, but be sure to make them relatable and relevant to the learner and the content. Consider opportunities for interactivity. Most people fondly remember the "choose your own adventure" books from childhood. Allowing learners to interact with the story and choose individual outcomes creates an immersive experience that enhances engagement. In an eLearning context, this translates to multi branching scenarios where your learners choose their own way through the content. Choose a thread and tie it through. As well as a strong narrative introduction and summary, ensure you tie the story in throughout your eLearning. You might start each topic with a section of the story and then refer to characters and situations throughout core content. Using language that supports the story theme throughout the course will also strengthen the story. A happy ever after. Leave learners with a parting thought that sums up the overarching learning message and the storyline. Refer to the introduction and tie up any narrative loose ends to bookend your story. Storytelling In eLearning Don’ts Here are a few cautionary tips for storytelling use in eLearning: Ensure key points don’t become lost in the story. Keep it structured and consider separating story sections from core content for clarity. Avoid complex storylines. The story should be simple to follow and support learning without distracting and creating cognitive overload. Be careful not to overdose on analogy, metaphor, and symbolism. Although these mechanisms have their place, they can also affect the clarity of your message. So, what became of the courageous Instructional Designer? Well, let’s just say, the kingdom is never short of a good story now, but no dragons were hurt in the process. How was it done? That, dear friend, remains an inner secret in the Instructional Designers' guild. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Learning Solutions 2016: The Event For Training And Learning Professionals - Save $200 Today! Today’s training and development professionals are under increasing pressure to deliver innovative solutions on time and under budget. Learning Solutions 2016 is all about connecting you with peers who are focused on sharing what works as you explore proven methods for leveraging technology in ways that enhance learning and performance in your organization. If you are looking to build new skills and expertise, find inspiration and new ideas, stay current on the latest industry trends, and network with the entire learning community, Learning Solutions 2016, March 16 - 18 in Orlando, is the must-attend event for you! Master the skills you need to advance your career with 175+ learning opportunities focused on current and critical topics like these: Instructional Design Tools Media Management Games & Gamification Mobile Performance Support Blended Data & Measurement And more! The $200 Super Early discount ends Friday, December 11, so register now to maximize your savings! Learn more or register now! Included with Learning Solutions 2016: Learning & Performance Ecosystem Conference! To support today’s fast-moving organizations we need to elevate our perspective—to see and engage with the whole of the organizations we support. The Learning & Performance Ecosystem Conference gives you a unique opportunity to explore how individual and organizational learning and performance can be enhanced by looking beyond just training, and by supporting people with a broad range of content, processes, tools, and technologies. The expanded perspective of the Ecosystem 2016 conversation affects all aspects of learning and performance and all of the roles that support them. As such, Ecosystem 2016 is now a conference within a conference, and is included with your Learning Solutions 2016 registration! Register Now to Save $200 or More Register for Learning Solutions 2016 by Friday, December 11 to take advantage of the Super Early discount! You’ll save $200 in addition to all other membership, organizational, and group discounts for which you may qualify. Combine registration discounts and save even more. And don’t forget, you’ll get Ecosystem 2016, too! This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Paradiso LMS Review: A Cloud-Based Multi Tenant Learning Management System Paradiso Solutions has been designing and building business software for nearly seven years to great success. In 2010 they released version 1.0 of Paradiso LMS and launched the company into the eLearning market. Now, at version 7.3, Paradiso LMS has undergone some considerable changes and has adapted to the times, encompassing the latest trends in eLearning and now finding itself as a cloud based multi tenant Learning Management System. With extensive customization, cloud based hosting, the latest eLearning technology and over one hundred integrations with popular enterprise software, Paradiso LMS’ offer is strong compared to other LMSs on the market. Users Clearly there are two different standpoints from which to view the question of users and usability: The end users (learners and students) and administrators. The good news is that the whole system has been redesigned with the user at the center. The intuitive and clear menu system, together with easy to use customization and authoring tools, make the platform easy and enjoyable to use. Paradiso has kept the user interface for learners very simple and easy to use. At the same time the administrator user interface can get fairly advanced and complex since they have provided more customization options than many other cookie cutter LMS platforms currently on the market. Multi Tenant LMS Multi tenant LMS platforms mean the administrator can create multiple versions of the LMS under just one license, and this is a functionality that Paradiso has fully adopted. This means that different departments, customers, vendors, or channel partners can each have their own learning environment, complete with personalized branding and access rights. Tracking & Performance Management The ability to track and measure performance effectively is, or should be, a key part of the decision of any company when they are choosing a Learning Management System. There is no use in having tons of learning data if you don’t have the tools to get to it. With constrained budgets overall, the first thing to go is the training budget, given that results are often intangible. Without data which informs business decisions, it may be that some would view the training budget as something they can lose. With Paradiso LMS there is a number of ways in which employee progress and the effectiveness of the online training can be assessed through reporting, but the platform also comes with other tools such as 360° feedback where peers, supervisors, and managers all provide direct constructive feedback. Reports When talking about actionable data, it is clear that what may be crucial for one company may be irrelevant for another. Paradiso LMS comes with a custom report builder that lets organizations generate their own reports in order to retrieve the specific data they need. Customizations More than any other LMS on the market, Paradiso LMS is highly customizable and can be adapted to the specific needs of the purchasing organization. The Paradiso team will work with you to define your needs and build a custom White labeled LMS, but it should be noted that there is also the option of a quick off the shelf version for those who may be in a rush. Paradiso LMS UI, recently redesigned to be more user friendly, can be personalized with your own branding. Likewise you can create your own designs for certifications that are awarded to your learners. Administrators can personalize the layout of the dashboard easily thanks to its modular drag and drop design, without the need of any programming experience. Integrations Nowadays most companies rely on a suite of software to take care of different parts of the business, for instance CRMs, ERPs, or HRICs. These programs are indispensable, and for this reason Paradiso LMS thankfully can integrate with many popular programs to make switching between them and training seamless. From the dashboard of programs such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Adobe Connect, or SAP, among others, thanks to Single Sign On, users can get one click access to all of their online training. Important information is also synchronized automatically between the two systems, ensuring that all is up to date and current. Likewise admins are just one click away from a wealth of training data which can be pulled from both the LMS and the integrated program to streamline company processes. Issues As strong as it is, Paradiso LMS is not without its faults and there is still some room for improvement. With Paradiso LMS there is no back end access, which may be a problem for companies that want to develop the solution further. A skills matrix would also be a good addition in future versions so that trainers and training managers can easily visualize the available talent in the company and develop focused training plans. One final feature that would be extremely useful for learners is the inclusion of recommended training for learners on learning paths. If a learner is on a learning plan and fails to make the grade, then it would be good to have recommended training suggested to them as a way to fill that skills gap. Conclusion As a feature rich LMS, Paradiso LMS is hard to beat. Obviously every company differs in their requirements, and this is reflected in the level of customizations available to Paradiso customers. All of the key features one would expect from a top end LMS are present, as well as a number of other cutting edge ones that are just now starting to become regular features, such as gamification and multi-tenancy. More than any other Learning Management System on the market, Paradiso LMS is highly customizable and very feature rich and can be adapted to the specific needs of the purchasing organization. Its user interface looks great, and the 100 plus integrations, multi-tenant features, and gamification really make it one of the best LMSs around. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.