How To Create A Work/School Balance While Taking Online Courses Read the following tips from National Real Estate Learning to learn how to have balance while taking online courses. Work on your time management skills. For example, if you are taking classes to get your real estate license online or if you decide to study real estate online, you will need to spend many hours each week learning your craft. To become a real estate agent, you must get a certain number of classroom hours and then be able to pass your exams to become an agent. For those who are not technical, learning the terms and phrases related to buying and selling property as well as learning the legal aspect of the job can be tedious. Therefore, it is important that you devote only as much time as you can spend effectively learning. In other words, if you have just worked a 12-hour shift, you should get something to eat or spend time with your kids instead of jumping on the computer. Your schoolwork should be reserved for when you don't have to work or have a shorter or less intensive shift to complete. Ask for help when you need it. If you have a big sales training academy lecture coming up or you need to complete an important sales technique training video, you should treat it as a top priority during the week. You should think about asking your boss for time off or a flexible schedule to complete the task on time and in a satisfactory manner. In the event that you cannot get time off from your boss, you may want to consider asking your friends and family for help with other tasks. For instance, you could ask your parents to take your child for a night or for a weekend. You could also ask a friend to mow your yard or take care of other tasks for an affordable fee or in exchange for a favor down the line. By asking for help, you can keep your workload manageable and stay on a relatively even keel mentally. As a general rule, you won't do well at work or school if your mind is thinking about the other stuff that you need to get done afterward. Therefore, seeking the help of others makes sure that you do well at both work and school, which ensures that you won't waste your time getting poor grades or risk losing your current job that pays for your education. Get used to working on a phone or tablet. If you can get used to working on your phone or tablet, you can get work done wherever you are. This means that you can respond to a professor's email or submit a paper during your lunch break or while you are commuting to or from work. You may also find that you are able to actually watch a video or listen to a lecture for school while you work out or while you complete a task for work. Instead of listening to music on your phone, you can listen to that video or lecture without losing focus on your task at hand, which enables you to do two things at once to save time. Review your course syllabus when you first get it. The first thing that you will want to do is review your course syllabus as soon as you get it. It will have all the due dates for homework assignments, group projects, and major papers. You can then reference your work schedule to determine if you may need to ask for time off from work or whether you need to start working on a paper right away. Staying ahead of your coursework enables you to get everything done without having to cram for an exam the night before or pull an all-nighter to finish a paper you forgot about. If you have chosen to study for a license or get your degree online, you will have a lot of flexibility as to how and when you do your work. However, make sure that you can put the right amount of effort into your courses to ensure that you get the most for your time and money. This means managing your time properly and asking for help from your professor, your boss, or your family whenever you need it. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Creating Courses For The iPad Using Rapid Authoring Tools  The marketplace is flooded with hundreds of rapid authoring tools which can be used to develop courses for the iPad. Of these, 4 tools are widely used by the eLearning world to create courses for the iPad: Articulate Storyline 2. Lectora Inspire 12. Articulate Studio 13. iSpring Suite 7.1. Let us have an analytical look at each one of them: Articulate Storyline 2. The latest avatar of Articulate Storyline is a wonderful tool to develop courses for the iPad. The rapid authoring tool has an in-built iPad app called Articulate Mobile Player (AMP), which can be used to deliver excellent learning experiences on the tablet. AMP is also available in the Android version. This rapid authoring tool is ideal for converting legacy courses, developed in Flash, into iPad-compatible learning content. This is because it can be used to recreate many effects which are possible with Flash. Articulate Storyline 2 has a very intuitive user interface which closely resembles that of PowerPoint. Anyone who is familiar with the Microsoft application can work with the eLearning development software very easily. Also, Storyline 2 comes with an in-built library of interactivities and 47,500 characters in various styles and poses. This makes the work of instructional designers (IDs) easy and helps reduce the time taken for developing mobile learning courses considerably. Lectora Inspire 12. This rapid authoring tool is used extensively to convert text heavy learning content into iPad-compatible eLearning courses. Lectora Inspire 12 has a very user friendly interface and comes with in-built templates which are very useful to create courses for the iPad in quick time. The online course development software comes with 3 powerful in-built applications - Camtasia, Flypaper, and Snagit. You can use this product from Trivantis to convert your audio and videos into MP3 and MP4 formats, to ensure better learning experiences. The MP3 and MP4 files can be played in a Flash player or using HTML5, depending on the device the course is being accessed. Lectora Inspire 12 can be used to ensure perfect compatibility of online courses on all devices irrespective of the platform. Articulate Studio 13. This is a very useful tool to convert PowerPoint presentations into eLearning courses. Articulate Studio 13 is a PowerPoint add-in, and is made up of 4 applications; Articulate Presenter 13, Articulate Quizmaker 13, Articulate Engage 13, and Articulate Replay. Articulate Studio 13 can be used to deliver wonderful learning experiences on iPads through AMP. The rapid authoring tool can be sued to retain several animations of PowerPoint presentations when they are transformed into eLearning courses for the iPad. The eLearning development software has several in-built packs of human and animated characters, which help develop highly engaging online learning content. But, a major drawback of Articulate Studio 13 is that it cannot be customized. iSpring Suite 7.1. This brand new version of the popular rapid authoring tool iSpring Presenter 7 is power packed with various features that help convert PowerPoint presentations into highly effective online courses for the iPad. ISpring Suite 7.1 is a PowerPoint add-in and has an in-built app called iSpring viewer which helps deliver good learning experiences on iPads and Android devices. ISpring Suite 7.1 preserves most animations and all transitions in a PowerPoint presentation, when it is converted into an iPad-compatible course. The eLearning development software supports a wide variety of instructional strategies and allows online course developers to insert YouTube videos easily. Thus, we see that these four rapid authoring tools can be used to create good eLearning courses for the iPad. Hope you find this post informative. Do share your views. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Key Decisions During The Making Of TalentLMS In a number of previous articles on eLearning Industry we have looked at various features of the popular cloud-based eLearning platform, TalentLMS. In this article we'’l examine the design decisions and the philosophy that shaped TalentLMS’ development and defined its feature set. Cloud-based. A key characteristic of TalentLMS is its cloud-based nature. We strongly believe that cloud computing brings many benefits to the table, and the continuous success of cloud and SaaS platforms in the market proves that many others share that opinion. Of course, we understand that the public cloud is not the appropriate solution for every enterprise and use case (for these, there's always eFrontPro, the flagship self hosted LMS offering). For enterprises and organizations without complicated infrastructure needs, though, the cloud, with its automated updates and backups, instant access to the latest version, and zero maintenance needs, is a no brainer. Intuitive. Most enterprise applications are notoriously difficult to use, with clunky and poorly thought-out interfaces, byzantine menus, and confusing configuration. It's often said that enterprise employees only use those apps because they're forced to. TalentLMS was built to be exactly the opposite: An application that's easy to understand and use, and even more so, and application that you'll love using. As we found out, it's not easy being simple. In fact, it took a lot of thinking and hard work, in order to design TalentLMS so that it's both easy to use and powerful enough to cover all kinds of training needs and business use cases. In the end, judging from the glowing customer feedback and reviews we get, almost universally praising TalentLMS’ intuitiveness and ease of use, it was well worth it. Flexible. We wanted TalentLMS to be as flexible as possible, while at the same time avoid making it a "jack of all trades, master of none". To achieve this, TalentLMS was designed to be flexible in the right places by avoiding endless configuration options and non essential features which would only serve to confuse users. At the core of TalentLMS is its well designed model, which covers everything from users (students, instructors, admins) to courses (online and physical lessons, webinars, etc.) plus everything in between (branches, lessons, tests, skills, etc.). Leveraging TalentLMS’ simple but surprisingly capable model, admins can adjust the platform to cover every common training use case, from a small business onboarding its employees to a large online learning website. Customizable. We wanted users to feel TalentLMS as an extension of their business. For this, flexibility to mold the software to your business needs is important, but it's not enough; you also need customizability. That's why we added lots of customization options to our cloud-based LMS, letting users change all aspects of its interface to include their own branding, color schemes and custom themes. TalentLMS lets users setup their own: Logo, favicon, color scheme, HTML theme, js scripts, certifications, automated emails, domain, landing page, and signup page (phew), all from within a user friendly customization interface, that even offers Live Preview. Oh, and for those who want a different look quickly with minimal effort, it also includes several pre-made themes to choose from. Interoperable. We placed special emphasis on TalentLMS being interoperable and compatible with all kinds of third party tools, protocols, and services. TalentLMS' extensive integration options include Single Sign On (SSO) support based on the industry standard LDAP and SAML2 protocols, as well as support for the Active Directory protocol and external federated identity providers. TalentLMS is also able to export its data in Excel format, and import all kinds of LMS entities (Users, Courses, Categories, Branches, etc.) using a simple text-based format, while also supporting the TinCan and SCORM standards for sharing eLearning activity data. When it comes to online sales, our cloud-based LMS supports the PayPal and Stripe payment gateways, giving you instant access to all major credit cards and billions of users in over 90 countries. TalentLMS also supports the Zapier integration service, through which it can talk to hundreds of third party services, from Gmail and MailChimp to Trello and Salesforce. And if that's not enough, there's a powerful RESTful API that can be used to bridge it to any third party system. Putting It All Together Contrary to popular belief, the very basis of a software is not its code; rather it is its design philosophy, which is what drives all of its development. In the article we've examined the 5 design pillars of TalentLMS. If you'd like to learn more about the platform, visit TalentLMS and take a tour of its features, or sign up for your (forever) free account and take it for a test drive. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Humor In The Workplace? Why Use Humor?  More and more Human Resources departments are taking courses in gelotology, the study of laughter, and its effects on employees both from a psychological and physiological perspective. This study is name after the Greek word for laughter, gelos. Laughter has long been seen as an agent to enhance people's physical health. Research conducted by Robert Provine and his team at the University of Maryland showed that humor can hike the level of our infection-fighting antibodies and increase the levels of our immune cells. It now seems that laughter can also invigorate a workplace. According to scholar Giselinde Kupiers writing in The Sociology of Humor, the use of humor in the workplace creates shared experiences, solidarity and identity within groups of workers. It is also an effective tool for the promotion of communication and heightens creativity and productivity. The Use Of Humor In The Workplace   Whether working with employees or with focus groups, humor can add a dimension of breaking the ice between people, uniting people from different levels within the company, and creating a shared responsibility. This is not accomplished by telling jokes or smiling without reason. Humor is a more subtle force, introduced through quiet, funny exchanges in the course of our regular business operations. A prime example of how humor can foster innovation took place as far back as 1953 when a New England chef George Crum mischievously decided to play a little joke on customers who repeatedly returned his fried potatoes to the kitchen complaining they were not crunchy enough. Crum sliced the potatoes super-thin, added salt, and fried them literally to a crisp. The customer adored these first "potato chips" and shared them with other patrons who immediately wanted more. An entire industry was born. In this instance as well, humor was a tool to dissolve friction and help people solve their differences. Being able to laugh genuinely together makes people feel safe and comfortable with each other and willing to try again and try differently. The next time you have a weekly meeting, ask employees to use one unusual (but true) adjective to describe themselves and explain why it fits. Or ask a focus group to tell one funny thing about themselves. Best of all, introduce little islands of humor into training presentations. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Useful Media For Product Training Online   Many companies are using the online medium to meet the demands for quick delivery of effective product training. Today, thanks to various rapid authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora Inspire, and so on, a 60 minute online training module can be created in just 3 weeks. In this article, we will look at 5 very useful media to deliver effective product training online: eLearning courses. Webinars. eBooks. Videos. Mobile apps. Let us have a closer look at each one of them. eLearning courses Several firms use eLearning courses to impart effective product training. Highly effective product training can be delivered online, in an engaging manner, using instructional techniques such as interactivities and simulations. Webinars Webinars are very useful to educate learners about a product. They hold the attention of people for longer periods of time. Furthermore, live webinars can be recorded and provided on demand. They can also be translated into multiple languages to reach global audiences. For instance, one of our clients, a large pharmaceutical company, uses webinars to explain the features and benefits of its products to physicians worldwide. eBooks eBooks are the perfect tools to provide comprehensive training on products. Interactive eBooks can be developed using tools such as FlipBook Maker in quick time, easily. Many organizations deliver product manuals and brochures in the form of eBooks. For instance, a leading bio-medical equipment manufacturer provides user manuals in the form of interactive eBooks. Videos Videos go a long way in explaining the functioning of products effectively. They are very useful to demonstrate the working of a product when it cannot be demonstrated live. Many organizations use videos to educate learners about the features of their products, their advantages, their handling and any precautionary measures that need to be followed while using them. For instance, a consumer electronics giant uses videos to educate its customers on its washing machines. Mobile apps We live in the mobile age. Highly effective product training can be delivered through mobile devices using apps. Several companies use mobile apps to deliver Just-in-Time (JIT) support to their sales personnel. Consider the following scenario: A salesman of an insurance company is interacting with a potential customer and trying to sell a motor vehicle insurance product. The customer poses certain questions about the product. The salesman accesses a mobile app on his iPhone and gets the required information. He answers the customer’s question clearly, and the latter buys the product. Thus, we see that the five media -eLearning courses, webinars, eBooks, videos, and mobile apps- are very useful to impart effective product training online. Hope you find the post informative. Do share your views. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

In Christa's memory and in keeping with her spirit 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference is designed to highlight the sharing of successful technology practices among educators. The conference serves as a forum for exchanging technology-based success stories, integration tips, instructional strategies, technical solutions, and management techniques, that really work in the learning environment. Based upon the concept of collegial sharing, the focus is on what is possible with the resources we have available today. The conference also provides a forum for investigating new and emerging technologies. 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference Themes Assessment Differentiated Instruction Digital Creation E-Learning Innovative Instruction Leadership & Professional Learning Library & Information Literacy Mobile Learning Technical Infrastructure & Support 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference Keynote Speaker Sara DeWitt is Vice President of PBS KIDS Digital and oversees day-to-day development of PBS’ multiplatform content for kids and families. Sara has led innovative strategies to build connected and immersive educational experiences for kids across media platforms. This includes the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning PBSKIDS.org site, which reaches over 13 million unique visitors per month and offers hundreds of games, videos and activities. Sara played an integral role in the launch of the PBS KIDS Video App, offering more free educational video content on mobile than any other children’s media brand. The app was named one of the "50 Best Video Apps for Parents" by Babble. Before coming to PBS KIDS, DeWitt worked as a preschool teacher and a management researcher. Travis Allen is a young visionary promoting digital learning in the classroom. Before graduating from high school, Travis created a viral YouTube video on revolutionizing America’s education through the use of mobile technology. Today, he is a senior at Kennesaw State University where he operates his growing non-profit organization, iSchool Initiative. With the support of his team, Travis has presented in over 40 states and 7 countries, allowing him to reach an audience of over 200,000 people! He has been featured on CNN, Huffington Post and Forbes. In 2011, he was the winner of Google Young Minds competition; and in 2012, he was invited to the White House for Education Datapalooza. Travis is quickly becoming one of the most influential leaders of the emerging digital learning movement. Dr. Sameer Hinduja works nationally and internationally with the private and public sector to reduce online victimization and its real-world consequences. The research at the Cyberbulling Research Center has been featured in hundreds of print and online articles, along with many national and international news programs and outlets. Dr. Hinduja has presented nationally and internationally to over 100,000 educators on the topics of cyberbullying and other forms of teen technology misuse. Research at the center has involved data from over 14,000 youth regarding their experiences with cyberbullying offending and victimization. The center is currently partnering with school administrators at a number of different districts to explore the nature of traditional and online victimization among their student body. The 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference will be held at the Radisson Hotel Manchester Downtown (NH, United States) on December 1 - 3, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

What Is The Future Of The Learning Management System?    Let’s face it; with regard to technology, things are changing pretty quickly out there. And it’s not so much survival of the fittest organisation anymore, rather it’s survival of the quickest to adapt to what might often be seen in retrospect as a risky and anti-orthodoxy option. We are literally living in an age where innovative ideas that work might be the most valuable resource on the planet. By way of introduction to this geek article, I should admit that I am not really a geek in the "Big Bang Theory" sense: I don’t read comics, play computer games, have any Doctor Who models, or like Star Trek/Wars. I am actually a humanist and I firmly believe human-to-human interaction is key to successful learning. Moreover, I also hold that real human-to-human teaching/learning is full of valuable subliminal learning events that may trigger, for instance, greater levels of motivation, self-esteem, critical thinking, emotional development, or compassion for others in society. I would even assert that technologies that break the traditional human-to-human learner-teacher bond (e.g. futuristic visions of artificial intelligence) may fail if used in a way that supersedes this bond. The topic of this article is, are the days of the Learning Management System providing "it all under one roof" services numbered? It might appear incongruous to question the future of Learning Management Systems when one considers the uptake of top educational Learning Management Systems such as Moodle or Blackboard. Here, however, is an interesting article on Learning Management Systems and app trends by Ryan Craig that really resonated with me; it is asserted that most students’ preferred tool for digital interaction is their smartphone and "in a world of apps, there is no LMS. Each app is designed from first principles to maximise student outcomes and purpose-built". I am also a strong supporter of using purpose-built educational apps. And, I must admit in light of the speed of development of the big smartphone players, I have been moving further into a post-LMS camp for some time now. Additionally, the well known trends in smartphone worldwide usage suggest the innovative and challenging bite-sized approach to content presentation would also be utilised in specialised educational style apps which could eventually provide impressive optional ways of presenting such content. Some obvious challenges however will be the speed of wide scale implementation, the cost of future proofed app (re)development, the way management of apps is undertaken, or the way app content is provided across chosen platforms. Educational app courses and their app users would still need to be managed, hence we still need a management system, and, as stated, human-to-human interaction needs to be an important criterion of any online learning. In a nutshell, in the years to come, we have to move away from, dare I say, "Dropbox"-style Learning Management Systems that have a bias towards the purportedly-pedagogically-sound text-based (social)-constructivist activities, to much smarter, universally accessible Learning Management Systems; ones that can learn, think, adapt, and take action in a way that allows for personalisation of learning, and in a way that reinforces (live) human-to-human interaction. We also require a new name (e.g. not LMS, CMS or VLE). In short, we need a phoenix AI student-teacher facilitator system. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Tips For Effective Training (And Not A Punishment Program) My friendly pharmacist, who I have known for 15 years and who always greets me with a smile, scowled and said, "Yes, I have to finish 5 of those darn things today. Even though I have done them multiple times, they make us retake them every 3 months. The worst part is that I can’t move forward until it gets done talking even though I have it memorized". Being proud of what I do as an Instructional Designer, I said "Say, did you know that is what I do for a living? I build all of my company’s online training programs". He growled, while making the sign of the cross at me: "Get away from me Satan! I can’t believe you build things like this horror I have to endure!" Wow, now that is a violent reaction to training! After I recovered from my shock, I assured him that none of my programs "talk at" you or prevent you from moving forward if you are a fast reader; like the 5 programs he was trying to complete. I also assured him that my programs were fun and had gaming elements mixed into the content so that they are engaging. From the continued frown on his face, I don’t think he believed me. There were several things that I took away from this encounter, that I hope will continue to make me a better Instructional Designer. They are: Whenever possible, try to let learners who may already know the material (perhaps from taking it multiple times) test out up front if possible. In some circumstances this may not be a possibility; such as for regulatory reasons, but if it is possible it needs to be done. Try not to require multiple training programs be done all at one time. Having to take the same 5 training programs every 3 months is not an event anyone would look forward to; even seasoned designers like me, and I love training. Re-format programs that need to be taken multiple times within a year. Do this in a way that while the content may be the same, the look and feel of the program is different for the end users each time they have to take it. Everyone likes variety; so why not change things around a little bit each time someone needs to take a program. Try not to have programs read to learners. While children like to be read to, adult learners typically do not. So let them read at their own pace and don’t punish them if they can read faster than the narrator; if one is required. If you must use narration, make sure the person does not have a monotone voice. Use an animated voice worth listening to for an extended period of time. There will always be those learners who feel training is a type of punishment, but we must remember to create training that most people will want to take and learn from. The best thing we can do to make sure we stay on course with this is to solicit feedback and learn from what students tell us, so that no one ever compares us to a wicked witch or the devil himself again. As for me, I just hope my pharmacist has "forgiven" me for my occupation and once more has a smile on his face when I go see him next month. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Implementing eLearning In Africa: 3 Key Challenges    With education being seen as a key foundation for Africa’s development, eLearning has the potential to play a pivotal role in the transformation of the delivery of quality education across the continent. To achieve the level of scale required in the delivery of quality education, Africa needs to leap forward and maximize on the potential of eLearning in creating innovative learning solutions. The education delivery approach in Africa has to shift from one that is highly dependent on physical infrastructure such as schools and colleges, physical learning materials, and in class education delivery to one that makes extensive use of interactive education technology. Progress has been made over the past decade and according to a report by Ambient Insight, Africa has the highest growth rates in eLearning in the world for four out of the five self paced eLearning products and services, including packaged content, custom content development services, cloud-based authoring tools, learning platform services, installed authoring tools, and installed learning platforms. Despite the progress that has been made, there are three central challenges that continue to exist which hinder effective implementation of eLearning in Africa. Internet Access / Connectivity. Without access to the internet many eLearning projects in African countries are throttled before they even begin. U.N. Broadband Commission reported that 8 of the 10 countries with the lowest levels of internet availability in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa. The 8 countries are Ethiopia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, and South Sudan. Internet penetration in all 8 countries is less than 2 percent of the population. Providing all the students with internet access is a very expensive proposition for most African governments and this is more so in the case of rural centers and remote areas, where internet connections are bound to be erratic, if available at all. The countries that lead in eLearning on the continent and that have had the largest levels of foreign and local investments in this sector have the advantage of better than average Internet access and connectivity. South Africa’s peak connection speed was measured at 16.8 Mbps in the first quarter of 2015, giving it a world ranking of 112th. Kenya currently leads in Africa with regards to internet connectivity with the highest bandwidth per person on the continent, the fastest speeds, and some of the lowest Internet costs. International companies such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft have set up offices in Kenya and made concerted investments in education in the nation as a result. In Kenya -home to IBM’s Africa Research lab and a state-of-the-art innovation center- IBM is partnering with the Kenya Education Network (KENET) to deliver advanced hands-on certification courses to faculty and students of 50 Kenyan universities over KENET’s broadband network. Microsoft has also partnered with Intel East Africa and the Kenya Private Schools Alliance, to launch the 4Afrika Youth Device Program, which provides a bundle of affordable devices, educational applications, online services, data plans, and smart financing to Kenyan learning institutions. Availability Of Locally Developed Content And Curriculum Online. Content development is a critical area that is too often overlooked. Academic institutions in Africa have not made the level of investment needed in developing local content that is aligned with national curriculums and that can be utilized for eLearning. The majority of tertiary institutions still use textbooks from the United Kingdom and the USA and there has not been a consistent drive to develop local content. Given the unique facets of Africa, the diversity of languages and culture and the continent’s specialized needs, there is a great opportunity for African countries to develop targeted plans for content development. A large proportion of the educational software produced in the world market is in English. For African countries, such as Swaziland, where English language proficiency is not very high, especially outside urban areas, this represents a serious barrier to eLearning. There are significant challenges in terms of language patterns and local language usage (especially in serving the youngest populations), and as such there is a need for locally developed content. Training And Professional Development. Teachers on the continent have been brought up in education systems with limited technology and they find it difficult to utilize technology to engage and support learning. There is a great emphasis that needs to be made for teachers to understand that technology is not replacing them, but rather it is an enabler that will enhance their work. A huge challenge is to develop and implement training and professional development for teachers so they may embrace teaching with technology and understand the benefits of teaching with technology as a way to advance the academic outcomes of students. Partnerships with private entities play a key role in building the skills of teachers in ICT. In South Africa, Microsoft has trained over 31,000 teachers and school leaders on ICT integration with the aim of enhancing teaching and learning and having an impact on nearly 4 million learners. Over 800 trainers from the South African Department of Education have been trained to roll out, scale and sustain the Microsoft Partners In Learning program. Conclusion  The goal of delivering a high quality education to every child in Africa remains unfulfilled, but technology presents an opportunity for this to be a reality. eLearning has overwhelming potential to improve education systems in African countries and if implemented well with strategies that focus on overcoming these key challenges, radical transformation of the education system is possible. References: Ambient Insight Regional Report The Africa Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2011-2016 Forecast and Analysis U.N. Broadband Commission. The State of Broadband 2015: Broadband as a Foundation for Sustainable Development Microsoft Partners in Learning creates opportunities This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Digital Learning Digital learning is an exceptional teaching tool. It has enabled students to become more engaged in their learning both in and out of the classroom. Schools and universities have embraced digital learning as a significant part of their instructional delivery strategies. For students in K-12 institutions, one would be hard-pressed to find any classroom without a bank of computers, filled with learning software in all curricular areas. At both the secondary and university levels, students have options of in-class instruction, online courses, and blended instructional delivery that combines in-class and digital learning activities. However, in their zeal, educators have made some mistakes - mistakes which can be avoided with a careful and reasoned approach. Taking time to think things through very carefully. Educators love anything that will make their teaching tasks more efficient. When digital learning began to appear, it was only natural to become excited about a new tool that would allow students to become more engaged, to practice skills individually, and that would provide immediate and automatic feedback on mastery. And the individual nature of assessment allowed teachers to diagnose lack of mastery and to provide additional remediation for those students in need. All of this was a huge improvement over traditional methods. In response to this enthusiasm on the part of educators, textbook and educational software companies began to develop entire curricular offerings in virtually every subject and to attempt to sell these as complete packages to schools and school districts. They took the bait. Schools have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars purchasing huge software packages and online courses for classroom use. What they failed to realize was that these all-encompassing packages did not honor all learning styles, and were not a "fit" for certain parts of their student populations. What they also failed to realize was that, without proper teacher training and support, these packages would lie dormant in classroom computers, without teacher "buy-in." Have a look on this publication about digital learning costs that perfectly describes all estimated expenditures in 2012 year. Schools are now learning from mistakes that they have made. Like any adoption of learning materials, there needs to be a process in place for teachers to be introduced to the software/courses and to have time to make judgments as to their efficacy. Ensuring student access. In the classroom, all students have access to the digital environment and to the interactive learning experiences that software and web-based activities offer. Most of these same students are able to plug-in to these environments at home as well, with portals that have been provided by their schools. Unfortunately, there remains a large student population without access to these out-of-class and/or online experiences because there are either no devices in the home or because they reside in areas so rural that access is not available. Educators must still accommodate these disparities by ensuring that these students have other learning materials which will allow them to practice skills and reinforce concepts. And providing these students with more time for research within the school day, or allowing them to print off materials to take home is essential. Preserving the student-teacher relationship. Computer-assisted instruction and practice certainly relieves the teacher of some of the traditional classroom duties, and it becomes very easy to become an inactive supervisor rather than an individual who remains personally involved as students engage in learning activities remember that students are very different. Teachers must remember that the relationship they have with their students is an important one, and encouraging and supportive interaction must continue to occur. There are times when nothing can replace the personal attention of a teacher. Mindfulness of disparity of student technical skills. Students who have enjoyed technology from a very young age are quite tech-savvy; however, those without technology in their homes will not be. It is a critical task for the teacher to ensure that every student has the skills to use devices, the Internet and the software for maximum benefit. Teachers must not assume that there is a level playing field here. There is a good list of basic computer skills for students that can be used as a checklist or guideline. Privacy and security. Fortunately, most schools have installed "parental controls" that prevent students from accessing inappropriate sites; however, these are not fail-safe, and students may fall prey to "click-wrap" agreements that include charges or require the submission of personal information. Vigilant monitoring on the part of classroom teachers of minor students is absolutely essential - no instructor should be sitting at a desk engaged in another activity while students are at computer stations. Failure to assess and evaluate the efficacy of programs/courses. In this age of accountability for educational delivery and student progress, it is surprising that regular and systematic assessments of digital learning are not more prevalent. While a number of studies exist that demonstrate good learner outcomes through digital learning, these studies also point to the importance of interaction with peers and with teachers, particularly when students are engaged in fully online learning environments. Studies by individual schools and school districts, in terms of learner outcomes based upon their own curricular goals, are lacking, however, and no educational delivery system can be adequately evaluated without such studies. Preparing Students For A Fully Digital Learning Environment  Access to online coursework on the part of teens and adults has exploded in recent years, as both traditional and non-traditional students take advantage of the flexibility such coursework allows. These courses can be more rigorous, however, and instructors must prepare students for the challenges that lie ahead: While interaction with fellow students and instructors is almost always available, it is not as intimate as the interaction in a physical classroom environment. Instructors must ensure that there are ample and worthwhile opportunities for student-to-student and for student-to-instructor interaction. Students who are not skilled and rapid readers will find themselves bogged down in front of their device screens and may need to find ways to enhance their reading/comprehension abilities though these speed reading tips might come in handy to them. Instructors should discourage students without high levels of organization and motivation from engaging in wholly digital coursework. Failure to find the appropriate blend between digital learning outside of the classroom and tools for student to collaborate/converse with one another and with their instructors. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.