T4E 2015 "Knowledge, skill and competency for all!" T4E (Technology for Education) is an annual IEEE international conference on Advanced Learning Technologies and Pedagogy for Technology-Enhanced Learning. T4E 2015 Areas of Focus The areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the following broad topics in the domain intersecting technology and education: Adaptive, cognitive and personalized approaches for improvement of education Assessment and evaluation models Bridging urban-rural gap in education Cognition and learning technologies, Role of cognition in education Curriculum design for technology-enhanced learning Development of technologies to support education e-learning in vernacular languages Game-based learning Growth and impact of the Open Educational Resources movement Hand held device-based learning Impact of social networks on learning Impact studies Infrastructure for large scale deployment of e-learning Innovative use of ICT for content development and classroom use Learning analytics Massively open online learning Pedagogies for remote learning, e-learning, blended learning, and technology-enhanced learning Techniques and standards for learning resources Technology-based learning environments Semantic web technologies in education Smart Learning Environments Socioeconomic factors reducing the impact of technology in education Virtual/online experimentation and scalable solutions T4E Keynote Speakers Professor Nian Shing Chen is Chair Professor at the Department of Information Management in the National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan. He has published over 400 papers in the international referred journals, conferences and book chapters. One of his papers published in Innovations in Education and Teaching International was awarded as the top cited article in 2010. He is the author of three books with one textbook entitled "e-Learning Theory & Practice". Dr. Maiga Chang is Associate Professor in the School of Computing Information and Systems at Athabasca University, Canada. His researches mainly focus on mobile learning and ubiquitous learning, museum e-learning, game-based learning, educational robots, learning behaviour analysis, data mining, intelligent agent technology, computational intelligence in e-learning, and mobile healthcare. Dr. Chang is co-chair of Asia-Pacific Region Game and Toy Enhanced Learning and Society special interest group (SIG) under the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE). He is now editor in chief of International Journal of Distance Education Technologies. He has been guest edited 13 special issues for many international journals. The 7th IEEE international conference on Technology for Education (T4E 2015), will be held at the National Institute of Technology Warangal on December 10-12, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

3 Cost Effective Strategies When Deploying eLearning In Africa  The mere cost of rolling out eLearning in Africa is deterrent for most academic institutions and governments. In many cases people are overwhelmed by how much investment is needed and as a result African countries have been very slow in their adaptation and implementation of eLearning. There are strategies that can be applied to reduce these costs and that will facilitate the quick and efficient roll out of eLearning. Know Your Market Needs. The most powerful champions or resistors of eLearning in Africa are often the learners and educators. eLearning may be supported at the highest levels of Education Ministries and there may be a unanimous decision that eLearning is necessary to take education in the nation to the next level, but your initiative will go nowhere if they don’t have buy in. Each market/nation has specific needs that have to be evaluated in order to cost-effectively deploy eLearning. Most critical is to align national ICT development goals and targets for basic education, which will guide the allocation of medium-term funding for education and ongoing national and local plans. The essence of cost efficiency is in starting with the basics and then scaling up once there is uptake. In Kenya for example, without intervention 6 million of the 9 million students in primary school will fail. In rural areas, more than two thirds of students fail, with more than 80% of girls failing. With these unique statistics a targeted and cost effective approach to eLearning was required that would reach students that needed the intervention the most. Knowing the challenges that existed in the rural Kenyan market such as internet connectivity and devices, Eneza Education developed an eLearning delivery model that leverages on low cost mobile technology. Students with basic feature phones can access locally aligned tutorials, tips, and assessments, as well as a leaderboard, Wikipedia text and live teacher chat through USSD/SMS. To date Eneza Education has over 460,000 unique users across over 8,000 schools in Kenya. An impact report by Eneza Education reflects that, students using Eneza Education for only 30 minutes per week increased their average scores 5% more than their peers at the same schools with the same teachers. Eneza Education mastered the approach of starting with the basics and scaling up. Though it stated on basic feature phones, Eneza Education is now available on an online web app, an offline desktop app, and an Android app. When eLearning in Africa is clearly deployed in line with the needs of the market, there is a much less risk of spending large amounts of money on implementing a solution that is not suitable for that specific market. Maximize On Open Educational Resources. Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, and research purposes. OER initiatives can build capacity in African education by providing educators free or low-cost access to tools, content, and communities of practice. These in turn can support them to develop and/or adapt educational materials and integrate them into high quality courses and programs. Through such processes, both educators and learners will benefit from improved and collaborative delivery of education. OER’s have the potential to advance the delivery of education by increasing the availability of free relevant learning materials, reducing the cost of accessing educational materials, and stimulating the active engagement of teaching staff and students in creating learning resources. OER initiatives have been successfully implemented in Africa, radically reducing the costs of students and educators acquiring quality academic materials. OER Africa is a groundbreaking initiative established by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE), playing a leadership role in supporting higher education institutions across Africa in the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) to enhance teaching and learning. OER’s immediately reduce the costs associated with content development and content acquisition by removing copying restrictions and making academic content available to all. The Vision for a Health OER Network in Africa is an OER initiative started by experts in health science institutions across Africa to openly share health education materials. These materials are used by health professionals in Africa to enhance their knowledge and training, as well as by students and educators around the world. In South Africa, CoZa Cares Foundation created a new digital library, Nolwazi. Nolwazi is a digital repository of OERs aligned with the South African primary school and high school curriculum including subject research and lesson planning. A significant proportion of Nolwazi’s OER content has been sourced from practicing teachers - for teachers. Nolwazi bring immediate access to digital materials include past examination papers, videos, simulations, lesson plans, educational android apps for smart phones and tablets, worksheets, eBooks at zero cost. Use an Open Source or affordable Learning Management System. Open source Learning Management Systems (LMSs)are a major attraction when one wants to deploy eLearning at minimal cost. The initial licensing cost that exists in the case of proprietary Learning Management Systems is not there in the case of open source Learning Management Systems. Development and maintenance costs will exist but they are marginally lower than when licensing an Learning Management System. Open source Learning Management Systems such as Moodle, Sakai and A-tutor have gained popularity in educational institutions. Once an in-house team attains competency in customizing the open source Learning Management System, it turns out to be more viable. Open Source Learning Management Systems such as Moodle have Moodle partners who can also provide support to users and the costs will not be as high as for licensed Learning Management Systems. You don’t pay for software licensing so acquisition, implementation and development costs are typically lower than for proprietary software. Moodle has gained particular popularity in tertiary institutions on the African continent. In 1996 the World Bank established the African Virtual University (AVU) as a project to increase capacity for distance learning across African universities. AU Online is a Moodle based Learning Management System used to deliver course content and host online learning activities at AVU. AVU has successfully utilized Moodle to increase their reach across the African continent in a cost effective way. The eFront open source Learning Management System is another one that has proved popular in African markets. eFront has a visually attractive icon-based user interface that gives a nice look-and-feel and is easy to use. Conclusion  Practical experience has shown that piloting is a really useful exercise, as it enables you to engage with end users in different cultures and understand their preferences. With budget constraints in mind, it is not possible to pilot everywhere but if you understand the needs of the market, utilize a platform that has minimal to no costs and maximize on OER’s it is possible to deploy successful eLearning on the continent at minimal cost. References:  Dlodlo, N. "Access to ICT education for girls and women in rural South Africa: A case study", Technology in Society, 2009, 31 (2): 168-175. Nolwazi Open Educational Resources Africa African Virtual University Eneza Education This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Adobe Authorized Captivate Basics Class Captivate Training Course Synopsis This Adobe certified Adobe Captivate training class provides students with the knowledge and hands-on practice they need to develop and build software demonstrations and interactive eLearning simulations . In addition to learning key concepts, students also learn best practices for creating and publishing Captivate projects. What You Will Learn in This Captivate Training Course Exploring Captivate New Project & Soft Skills eLearning Recording Demos and Sims Captions, Styles and Timing Images and Smart Shapes Pointers, Paths, Boxes, and Buttons Rollovers and Zooms Audio Video, Animation and Effects Adding Interactivity Working With PowerPoint Introduction to Question Slides Find more at https://www.ledet.com/training/Adobe/241-Captivate This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Fill In The Blank Questions In eLearning Fill in the Blank questions usually contain a sentence or paragraph featuring a blank space. This blank space represents a word or phrase that has intentionally been left out, and the learner inputs the correct answer to fill in the blank. This type of inquiry allows instructors to determine learner knowledge more effectively, as learners must know the information rather than choosing from a set of multiple choice answers or guessing "yes" or "no". 4 Best Practices For Developing Fill In The Blank Questions Verify there is a single correct answer. An effective Fill in the Blank eLearning question should have only one correct answer. Otherwise, you run the risk of confusing your learners and make the grading process more time consuming. When writing Fill in the Blank questions, ensure that the answer is clearly stated in the learning materials. Tie each question to previously learned knowledge. The primary goal of Fill in the Blank questions is to encourage learners to apply knowledge they have already acquired. Fill in the Blank questions are not opinion-based, which means that learners must be able to use information they have mastered during the lesson to correctly answer the question. Limit the number of blanks per question. Try to keep blanks to a minimum by only including one or two blanks for every Fill in the Blank question. Any more than that and you run the risk of confusing your learners. Also, incorporate the blanks at the end or the beginning of the question, if possible. Keep the length of blanks uniform. Don’t change the length of the blanks based upon the length of the correct answer. This will give the learner an indication of the answer you are looking for, which leaves room for guesswork. For instance, if you are creating a Fill in the Blank question that features a 10-letter answer, the length of the blank should be the same as one for a 5-letter answer. 5 Tips To Effective Use Fill In The Blank Questions In eLearning Provide clear instructions for each question. Make sure that your learners know exactly what is expected of them when answering your Fill in the Blank questions. For example, if you are asking them about the process for troubleshooting a program, be sure to include the version of the program and the operating system. Don’t make them guess what the question is referring to. Tell them! If the directions are the same throughout the assessment, you only need to explain the instructions at the beginning. Be careful about which word you leave out. In addition to the number of blanks you include in your eLearning assessment, you should also be careful about which words you omit. As a general rule, you should only leave out key words. For example, you wouldn’t write the question as "George Washington _______ the first president of the United States." The correct version of this question would be "_______  _______  was the first president of the United States." When creating your Fill in the Blank questions, remember to focus on the key points of the lesson, rather than details. Leave room for spelling errors. Not everyone who takes your eLearning course is going to be a Spelling Bee champ. So, it’s best to leave room for error and give your learners the benefit of the doubt. If they are close to the correct spelling, then this gives you a clear indication that they actually know the information. If the subject matter requires accuracy, such as language courses, let your learners know that spelling matters. For example, if you are testing them on English vocabulary tell them how significant are the spelling factors into the grading and how many points will be deducted for errors. Keep answers as brief as possible. Try to create answers that are short and to the point. You don’t want to include an answer that is commonly misspelled, unless you’re testing for spelling, of course. If you are including a complicated or two-word answer, make sure to include all the variations in the grading rubric. For example, if you are leaving a single space for the name of a person, the correct answer could be their last name, first name, or full name. Read it over to check for clarity. It’s relatively easy to create a Fill in the Blank question that doesn’t make sense. This is due to the fact that omitting one or two words can sometimes alter the meaning of the entire sentence. For this reason, it’s important to read over your Fill in the Blank questions and ensure that they are still accurate and relevant. If the question doesn’t make sense, try moving the blank to another part of the sentence or rewording the phrase so it is more clear and concise. It may also be wise enlist the aid of a colleague to complete the test, just to be sure that every question is answerable. Despite the fact that Fill in the Blank questions may be one of the most frequently used types of assessment, it is still one of the most effective in eLearning environments. Use these tips to successfully incorporate Fill in the Blank questions in your eLearning strategy, so that your learners have the ability to gauge their progress and fill the learning gaps. Fill in the Blank questions can test the knowledge of your learners, but first you have to provide them with information that sticks. Read the article 7 Tips To Create eLearning Experiences That Stick to discover the top tips for creating memorable and engaging eLearning courses that boost knowledge retention and recall. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Use eLearning For Soft Skills Training  When designing learning experiences, how important is it to distinguish between soft skills and hard skills? It is very critical. The strategies required to transfer hard skills such as procedural and technical knowledge can be very different from the knowledge needed to develop soft skills. Soft skills involve intrapersonal and interpersonal communication. There are many questions that remain unanswered when it comes to using eLearning for soft skills training. Going further, first let us understand the basic meaning of soft skills. Defining Soft Skills The abilities required at workplace that hold importance for professional success: Soft skills are needed to work productively, communicate, and cooperate. Customer service, sales, leadership, time management, team management, interviewing, and mentoring are some examples of soft skills required in a corporate. What Difficulties Do Organizations Face In Soft Skills Training? Millennial workers need to be more proficient in soft skills more than ever. However, a number of organizations feel that the proper knowledge of soft skills remains absent in the majority of the employees, which hinders their success. Training is difficult, as learning is open ended, cannot be measured or rewarded, and skills are needed to be developed rather than learned. Also, at times people have abhorrence towards soft skills training. Especially the ones who have been working for a long time are resistant towards changing the ways things are done. Soft skills training needs time, energy, and attention as it is not science. It is a set of skills that develops with constant practice. 3 Strategies For Effective Soft Skills Training Designing eLearning courses for soft skills development can be a tedious task. Some strategies that could work for a helpful and blended learning for soft skills are: 1. Make training measurable. Not being measurable makes it difficult to draft a proper soft skills training process. It might be difficult to measure the effectiveness of any training regarding soft skills, but it is very important to demonstrate results with metrics. Making your training measurable not only improves the design of learning, but also provides results that can actually make a difference. Hence, whenever you are designing a plan or course for learning soft skills, put a clear and measurable goal. For that you would first need to identify key performance indicators that need perfection. Ensure that the training focuses on reaching the desired goals by focusing on the proper skills. Key performance indicators include: Increase in sales of a specific product line. Reduction in dissatisfied customers who received technical support. Reduction in time spent in meetings. Increase in satisfaction of new employees in first three months. Reduction in safety incidents. Increase in number of times that managers provide positive feedback. Reduction in staff turnover rates. Keeping a track of these indicators enables you to see which soft skills are being used at the job and whether the training programs are beneficial or not. 2. Integrate eLearning into the work environment. Online learning is mostly designed in isolation, in a closed room that lets you have complete concentration. On the contrary, when it comes to soft skills, the competencies required in soft skills relate to improving communication with others largely. Hence, eLearning solutions for soft skills should be well integrated with the corporates needs, an individual’s career growth, and the needs of the team. eLearning processes should never be at the back hand. In fact it should be a blended strategy that means more interpolation is needed. Also include feedback after every module; it helps in designing better training processes in the future. eLearning courses are the most effective, cost saving and easy ways to learn a skill. Using eLearning tools effectively is what businesses need for an effective learning program. 3. Follow the single concept learning approach. Single concept learning or the thin slicing founded by Stephen Meyer states that due to short attention spans, each eLearning involvement should include a single topic at a time. This holds true for any stream in which eLearning is involved. For example, an eLearning module on career guidance can cover a vast number of topics but for effective learning should stick to one. Learning soft skills can be a task and with a course of time you can master the skills. Some of the notable skills include: Open a conversation in a way that prompts open-mindedness. Articulate goals. Gain respect for your own views. Diagnose another person’s needs and problems by listening effectively and asking good questions. Demonstrate respect for other person’s views. Raise the conversation up the intellectual and emotional ladder in a way that the other person is able to follow you. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Why Company Culture Is A Main Course On Your Learning Menu  A good part of your employees have chosen to work at your company partially because of its culture. And for many of them it’s probably the main reason to stay. If that’s the case, you’re doing a pretty good job. Because this is one of those "money can’t buy" things, it’s almost a given that you spend a good amount of attention to it. Observe, listen, talk, and take action where needed. Let your people know they truly matter, give them the opportunities they need to engage themselves and create an environment of trust. More motivation and dedication are just two of the gains a good company culture brings along. 3 Key Ways To Promote Your Company Culture Inject your DNA into training. One way to promote your company culture is to display how your (potential) employee connects with the company. Show glimpses of it at job markets, emphasize it on applications, let them experience it for themselves the first day at work. Once they’re on board, one of the first things they’ll go through is some basic training. Many companies use very capable learning platforms to train their (and their partners’) employees, but they often overlook the fact that all training and coaching should ideally be drenched in their culture. Why you ask? Because it’s the best way to create a link between the company’s morals, values… and the employee’s part in it all. It’s not just about the job title, it’s about the valuable person that will help the company move forward in many ways. Education mixed with company culture is the best recipe to create a team of capable people that understand and help you to achieve your mission rather than a collective of individuals who come into work every day, do their job, and think only about their next paycheck. Allow an open form of education. Before this kind of education was a thing, two main categories of training reigned supreme: Career-ladder training and skill training. The first kind is primarily based on job title and rank in the company hierarchy (analyst, manager, leader…). The second one focuses more on separate skill sets and abilities. (sales, accounting, graphic design…). Both make sense of course, but are by no means perfect. Career-ladder training weaknesses.  In many smaller companies, there is no such thing as a clearly defined corporate ladder. And even if there is, what if you’re already "at the top" of your branch? There is no ivory tower though; there’s always something to learn, skill gaps to fill, and ways to develop yourself. From the very first day, offer employees the possibility to learn the things they feel a natural affinity with so they can improve themselves and the company as a whole. Doesn’t that sound better than just making it to the next step and see how it goes from there? Skill training limitations.  The same goes for specific skill training. Aside from the fact that education in general should be personalized, it’s crucial that your team knows why they are learning a specific skill. From their first day on, show employees why they have to learn what they have to learn by connecting the training to their workflow. Then follow up with showing how their everyday progress and accomplishments connect to the company workflow and it’s DNA. They will feel much more involved and that will translate into motivation to improve themselves and learn what they need to know in order to go forward on their own as well as a company. Inject training into your DNA. But to create the kind of company culture that exhales learning, it has to inhale it first. And that’s where your team comes into play. Driven employees won’t just experience the learning aspect of your company culture, they will add to it as well. They realize that training should be about building a comfort zone that revolves more about maximizing efficiency and motivation for their work (and their company) and less about training their skills separately. Their work ethic will promote the importance of personal development to the rest of the team. Colleagues will notice how they are much more at ease now that they are in this kind of environment and will naturally explore, share, and evaluate new (business) ideas with each other. They are also capable of constructing new training courses that convey the learning aspect of their company culture to newcomers. When managed well, stimulating learning through your company culture can be one of your most important sources of competitive advantage. Because in a world of close competition, one of the most valuable things that can still differentiate you from the rest is not only the knowledge, but also the motivation and willingness to succeed of your team. So get cooking and bring a lovely team to the table. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Differences Of Pedagogy Vs Andragogy In eLearning  The terms "andragogy" and "pedagogy" are of Greek origin, both including the Greek verb "ago", which means "guide", and the Greek words "andras" (man) and "paidi" (child) respectively. Thus: Pedagogy = paidi (child) + ago (guide) Andragogy = andras (man) + ago (guide) You can conclude from the above that pedagogy is a child-focused teaching approach, whereas andragogy an adult-focused teaching approach; or, formally, pedagogy is the art and science of helping kids learn, whereas andragogy is the art and science of helping adults learn. Before 1950, all research was focused on children and there wasn't much evidence about how adults learn. The term "andragogy", although known since 1833 when the German Alexander Kapp used it to refer to a theory of Plato, practically in modern education appears only after the early 1960s, that was used to express the distinct characteristics of adult learners that affect not only their learning motivation, but also their learning ability, compared to those of children. For Instructional Designers knowing these differences is critical, as engaging and motivating adult learners is certainly a challenging art. In this article, I'll share the differences between andragogy and pedagogy, so that you can make sure that you know everything you need in order to create motivational content and structure whether you create eLearning courses for adults or for children. Pedagogy Vs Andragogy: 5 Main Differences Learning behavior. Adult learners are self directed; they have control over their learning experience and they are 100% responsible for their own learning. They are also deeply involved not only in planning, but also in evaluating their learning, as they know what knowledge they want to acquire. On the contrary, young learners are not self-directed; they still depend on their teachers throughout the learning process. Therefore, their teachers should be responsible not only of what will be taught, but also of how it will be taught and evaluated. The role of learners’ experience. Adult learners have clearly more experience than young learners. Their experience becomes the main resource of both their learning and the personal identity they have developed, as the richer and more diverse their experience, the more the diversity they can bring to their own learning. Young learners, on the other hand, present little personal experience by default, and so it is impossible for this experience to serve as a learning resource; it can be only used to build upon. Orientation to learning. What kind of knowledge adult learners are most interested in? Naturally, adult learners seek information that is useful in their personal lives and work environment. This audience demands that their learning is relevant to their real life issues, problems, and tasks, and that their education will boost their performance levels and help them live their lives in a better, and more satisfying way. Young audience’s learning, on the contrary, is subject centered, mearning that the subject determines the sequence according to which the learning content units will be presented and taught. Readiness to learn. Adult learners’ readiness to learn can be triggered by literally anything; a sudden change in their lives, a need for dealing with life tasks and problems more successfully, the desire for self-improvement and self-development, and so on. Adults need to know why to learn something; as soon as they answer this question, they are ready to start. Children, on the other hand, are usually told what to learn; the reason behind their learning is developing their skills to achieve the next level of mastery. Motivation for learning. What motivates adults to find time for their learning in their busy schedule? Mostly intrinsic motivators; self-esteem, self-confidence, desire for better quality of life, curiosity, self-development, and recognition are only a few factors that motivate adult learners to learn. Needless to say, intrinsic incentives are much more powerful than extrinsic ones, and thus adult learners, more often than not, are more satisfied with the learning process, more focused, more persistent, and more eager to apply their knowledge more frequently and successfully than younger learners. On the other hand, children and teenagers are mostly motivated by extrinsic factors, such as getting good grades or other perks, or avoiding the consequences of failure. It is clear that andragogy can be highly motivational, as adult learners are more goal oriented than younger learners; this is why offering them meaningful learning experiences can make a real difference in achieving learning outcomes. Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the pedagogy vs andragogy debate, you may be interested in learning how to apply the principles of adult learning to your eLearning deliverable. Read the article 9 Tips To Apply Adult Learning Theory to eLearning and find out how to integrate 4 principles of andragogy into your eLearning course for maximum engagement and motivation of your adult audience. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Insider Insights Into Localization For Going Global With Training  When I began my career in the languages services industry, it was just after 9/11. Many global companies began to pull back their traditional efforts in marketing their goods and services outside of the US. In order to continue to drive sales with less money invested in translation, printing, and distribution, we began to see more effort put into the localization of websites and other forms of electronic communication tools. Major advances in technology and support helped fuel the fire. Language specific keyboards, workable office programs with multi-language support included, and viable fonts for double-byte and script-based languages brought software, websites, and video games into a huge growth phase. These are what also began to separate a translation company and a language services provider (LSP). New industry buzzwords such as localization, globalization, and internationalization were emerging and becoming a part of our corporate vocabulary. In the beginning those buzzwords were confusing, and over the years they have become even more confusing. Localization, especially, has been blended into a mash of meaning that isn’t necessarily correct. Part of this stems from the LSP industry being confused about what "localization" really means which in turn leads to confused clients. When the term "localization" is used, it can mean 2 very different things depending on the scope of your particular project: 1. Language Or Content Localization.  When we are localizing from a language standpoint, we are taking some sort of content in one language and converting through a translation process to another language. During the course of that process, the information will be translated so the end product will be understood, culturally appropriate, and an accurate reflection of the source. During this process, things like images, color schemes, slang, colloquialisms, and acronyms may need to be addressed. For marketing content, it is likely that trans-creation will be necessary. If audio is involved, selecting the proper narrator is key. Accents vary country-to-country and region-to-region. The goal of language localization is for the final product not to be recognized a translation. Instead, it should be received as if it were developed in that particular language from scratch. 2. Localization Engineering.  When a project that involves some sort of translation, the platform in which that translated content resides may involve localization engineering. As an example, software has its own set of unique challenges from a technical perspective and isn’t something that can be facilitated by a DTP staff member. It takes an experienced localization engineer. When localizing software, a website or a Learning Management System, there are font incompatibilities sometimes inherent in the target language. Diacritical marks, stacking, and text expansion don’t always play nicely with a user-interface. There are character limitations that always come in to play with navigational buttons and tabs, for example. These same issues are not atypical with video games and mobile apps. It can be a disaster if the running scripts are compromised during the language localization process. Something as simple as deleting or adding a comma can be disastrous. A thorough functionality test and linguistic QA must be a component of the localization engineering process! With something like an eLearning course, syncing the new audio with a longer running time even in the common authoring tools can be a challenge when you can’t read Arabic and the course needs to be converted to right-to-left. Also, syncing animations can be a trick when you don’t know the language. Here’s a real life example as to why this could be important to you. I have a client that develops training in Storyline for a large, global company. This developer is great and knows what they need when a project is localized. For this exercise, we’ll refer to their end client as Company A. Company A has a long-standing relationship with a translation company. This relationship is important to Company A; I respect that and so does the developer. So, Local Concept takes these provided translations, records the audio, and then handles the localization engineering to produce the final published course and SCORM package. Now, this is where it gets tricky. Company A’s translation companies cannot work with a Storyline export file. (It’s OK to go ahead and chuckle.) Instead, the developer has to cut-and-paste the English content into a word table for translation. (You can chuckle again - it’s OK.) That translated word table comes to me at Local Concept along with the Storyline source files. We, then, export the English from Storyline (for localization engineering) and cut-and-paste provided translations (language localization) so we have that for the alpha build and can ultimately create a final published course and SCORM package. Is this a lot of unnecessary work and billable man hours? Yes - for both the developer and us. But, it’s also a great example of not only a difference between a translation company and a language services provider, but also the difference between what it means when a LSP says "Yes, I can localize your training course" and when a translation company says the same. So, in a nutshell, localization engineering takes your localized content and makes it work in something outside of a doc or graphic file here there is some necessity of higher level functionality on the user experience side. And, you need to make sure it still works. The bottom line is to make sure you are clear in what you mean by "localization" for your particular project. This will help us -your language services provider- better understand what you want right out of the gate. This information will also help you, as a consumer of language services, ensure you are aligning with the right resource. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Learning and Teaching Expo 2015 comprises a large scale exhibition and a series of comprehensive seminars and forum programs on education related topics. Learning and Teaching Expo 2015 is the annual event where educators and educational suppliers gather to discover and discuss the latest developments in educational resources and learning and teaching technology.Now it is time for our past attendees telling you how LTE benefits them in different aspects. Who will visit Learning ans Teaching Expo 2015? Learning and Teaching Expo 2015 is a free-to-attend exhibition and forums covering educational supplies and solutions for all educational institutions in Hong Kong, China and Asia Pacific Region. This includes public and private education sectors, pre-schools, primary / secondary schools, colleges, universities, research centers, training colleges, adult learning centers and special need institutions. Visitors to Learning & Teaching Expo include: Educational Consultants / Administrators Representatives of Government Bodies and Educational Departments Head Teachers / Principals / Heads of Departments Members of Parent Associations Pre-services and In-service Teachers Management of Training Colleges Retailers, Wholesalers, Distributors and Buying Agents University Deans / Professors School Leaders, Owners, Directors, Managers, Charities, Bursars, Purchasing Managers Learning and Teaching Expo 2015 Keynote Presentations In the 2015 Expo, keynote speeches will be delivered by world renowned educators and scholars on hot educational topics, including eLearning, I.T. in Education, 21st Education Development, Curriculum Policy and Leadership, as well as Inclusive Education. Keynote speakers are th following: Dr Daniel Churchill, Associate Professor, Division of Information and Technology Studies, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong Dr Daniel Tiong Hok TAN, Chair, Board of eLearning Forum Asia, Group Chief Learning Officer, Taylor’s Education Group Dr Eva WONG, Director, Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning Hong Kong Baptist University Dr Kevin CHAN, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Dr Ming Ann Lui, Assistant Professor, Department of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University Dr Patcy Yeung, Assistant Professor, Division of Learning, Development and Diversity, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Research Director, Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong Dr Shirleen Chee, Divisional Director, Educational Technology Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore Professor Irwin Kuo Chin KING, Associate Dean (Education), Faculty of Engineering, Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Director, Rich Media and Big Data Analytics and Application Key Laboratory at the Shenzhen Research Institute (SZRI), The Chinese University of Hong Kong Professor Shirley Alexander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Education and Students), University of Technology Sydney, Australia, Chair, Digital Education Advisory Group Committee, Australian Government Professor Siu Cheung KONG, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, Director, Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, Hong Kong Institute of Education Professor Ting-Chuen PONG, Senior Advisor to the Executive Vice-President & Provost, Director, Center for Engineering Education Innovation, Professor, Computer Science & Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Professor Wu-Tien Wu, Emeritus Professor of Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan Learning and Teaching Expo 2015 will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 10-12, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Synchronous Learning In Corporate Training Synchronous Learning has changed everything in the corporate online training environment. Synchronous interaction eliminates the isolation that asynchronous online training involves, as it promotes collaboration and fosters a sense of community. Especially in the corporate world, where effective team work among distributed workforce is considered of especially high value, synchronous learning can help eLearning professionals develop significantly engaging online training courses. But are there any hidden drawbacks to this practice? In this article, I'll share 10 advantages and disadvantages of synchronous learning in order to help you decide whether you should implement it and integrate it into your corporate online training strategy. 5 Synchronous Learning Advantages It is cost effective. You do want the best for your employees, don’t you? Imagine having the chance to provide them with knowledge from the best experts from around the world for their training, without paying the accommodation and travel expenses that traditional corporate training involves. Your employees can take their online training courses at home or at their offices while connecting not only with the most reputable trainers, but also with their colleagues who live in different cities or even different countries without having to move. The only costs you need to have in mind are those related to the development of the eLearning course, as well as the trainer fees. It is convenient. Taking an online training course without having to be in the same location with the rest of your peers, regardless of their position on the world map, provides a great level of flexibility, especially for large organizations that have a globally distributed workforce. Apart from videoconferencing, your employees are given the opportunity to participate in online discussions from any location, as long as they have an internet connection. As physical barriers of distance are eliminated, your staff may use any device for their online training, from desktop computers to mobile phones and tablets. Provides immediate feedback. Real-time interaction means instant feedback, and instant feedback allows not only your employees to immediately get their questions answered, but also trainers and instructors to immediately recognize difficulties in understanding of the online course material. Rapid feedback has an incredibly important role in eLearning; it enhances knowledge retention by keeping your audience active in the learning process, as a quick response allows your audience to learn from their mistakes and to eliminate the chances of repeating them in the future. It is highly motivating. A synchronous learning environment enhances learning by increasing your corporate audience's motivation levels, as real-time interactions are much more engaging than the isolated environment of asynchronous learning. Using performance goals in real-time activities is a great way to inspire your employees to demonstrate and develop their skills and abilities while competing with each other in engaging team player eLearning games. Real-time activities provide ongoing motivation, as they encourage participation from all employees, even the most reticent ones. Fosters a sense of community. Social interaction and collaboration are the essence of synchronous learning, as your employees have the ability to communicate not only with their trainers and instructors, but also with each other, no matter where they are located. Organizing a series of online group activities encourages team work and cooperation, as online discussions allow your audience to develop their learning community in online forums or in social networks and exchange ideas, questions, and concerns about the eLearning course material. 5 Synchronous Learning Disadvantages It is strictly technology-based. This goes, of course, for online learning in general; however, the truth is there are several large organizations, the employees of which may still lack sufficient computer skills in order to get their training online. This means that these people might struggle to engage in a synchronous online training program. Lack of technical knowledge, poor computer skills, and inability to handle the various technologies involved in synchronous learning may tremendously frustrate and discourage online learners, so high dropout rates might be expected. Demands a high speed internet connection. It is true that synchronous learning requires a good bandwidth, and this could be an issue when online training for distributed workforce is involved. Trying to synchronize several different areas in the world via collaborative learning technologies can be challenging, but different bandwidth capabilities may create serious problems. Local time barriers. Synchronous learning eliminates barriers of distance, but what about barriers of time? Different time zones can create communication challenges, as a synchronous learning course requires from both employees and trainers to be online at the same time. Distributed workforce has conflicting work schedules, and sometimes not even technology is able to facilitate real-time interactions. Requires careful planning. Speaking of conflicting schedules, as a consequence of the above disadvantage comes the challenging planning process that synchronous learning requires. Coordination of schedules is absolutely necessary, but sometimes not possible. To ensure full participation to an asynchronous learning course you need to carefully plan your online meetings; however, different time zones can lead to very limited time frames, which naturally weaken both the training group’s identity and the virtual community’s interpersonal bonds. It is challenging for employees with poor social skills. Studying at one’s own pace creates a sense of isolation, but some of your employees might crave this exact sense. A synchronous learning experience demands active participation and collaboration, and some members of your workforce might not be as social, as open, or as communicative. This is not a wrong thing by default; after all, you don’t need all of your employees to have strong communication skills, only the ones that are expected to work closely with others or to connect with customers. However, in a synchronous learning environment the "quieter" employees may find it challenging to participate in online discussions or online group activities, and learner frustration is never welcome in a successful online training program. Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of synchronous learning, you may be interested in knowing more about how you can implement it in combination with asynchronous learning techniques and instructor-led classes. Read the article Tips To Use Blended Learning In Corporate Training and learn about the various blended learning models and how to utilize them in your next blended learning course. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.