MAC-ETL 2015: Multidisciplinary Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and Learning in Prague 2015, Czech Republic International Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and Learning in Prague 2015 is an important  international gathering of scholars, educators and and PhD students. MAC-ETL 2015 will take place in conference facilities located in Prague, the touristic, business and historic center of Czech Republic. MAC-ETL 2015 Topics Education, Teaching and Learning Distance Education Higher Education Effective Teaching Pedagogies Learning Styles and Learning Outcomes Emerging Technologies Educational Management Engineering and Sciences Research Competitive Skills Continuing Education Transferring Disciplines Imaginative Education Language Education Geographical Education Health Education Home Education Science Education Secondary Education Second life Educators Social Studies Education Special Education Learning / Teaching Methodologies and Assessment Assessment Software Tools Global Issues In Education and Research Education, Research and Globalization Barriers to Learning (ethnicity, age, psychosocial factors, ...) Women and Minorities in Science and Technology Indigenous and Diversity Issues Intellectual Property Rights and Plagiarism Pedagogy Teacher Education Cross-disciplinary areas of Education Educational Psychology Education practice trends and issues Indigenous Education Academic Research Projects Research on Technology in Education Research Centres Links between Education and Research Erasmus and Exchange experiences in universities Students and Teaching staff Exchange programmes E-learning Educational Technology Educational Games and Software ICT Education E-Learning Internet technologies Accessibility to Disabled Users Animation, 3D, and Web 3D Applications Mobile Applications and Learning (M-learning) Virtual Learning Environments Videos for Learning and Educational Multimedia Web 2.0, Social Networking and Blogs New Trends and Experiences Wireless Applications Other Areas of Education The Multidisciplinary Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and Learning in Prague 2015, Czech Republic (MAC-ETL 2015) will be held at the CSVTS on December 4-6, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

What Does "Compliance" Mean And Why Does It Matter? Let’s take a quick look at a few different meanings of "compliance": Compliance training is courseware created to educate your employees on the laws, regulations, and company policies that apply to their day-to-day job responsibilities. This type of training is very common in banking or healthcare industries. Section 508 Compliance refers to creating content that is accessible to all learners according to the standards set out in Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act. SCORM-compliant eLearning is necessary if you are delivering and tracking graded learning content via a Learning Management System, or LMS. Feeling overwhelmed by all these things you have to comply with? Don’t worry—it’s easy to find free resources on compliance training, 508-compliant content, and SCORM-compliant tools. Read on as I break it down for you. Compliance Training  If you’re creating eLearning content for a heavily regulated industry, chances are your learners are required by an outside agency to complete training on certain compliance topics. Compliance training typically covers legal and ethical situations like workplace discrimination and harassment, dealings with competitors, insider trading, protecting trade secrets, record management, bribery and kickbacks, etc. I’ll admit, none of these compliance training topics sound terribly riveting, but when you use a full-featured authoring tool like Lectora® Inspire to create them, you’re able to add in dynamic interactions and turn assessments into games. Take a look at this real-life example: How to Find the Fun in Mandatory Training. Want to create your own fun compliance training? Download a free 30-day trial of Lectora Inspire and get started! Section 508 Compliance  Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act is a law that requires federal agencies and their contractors to make their electronic and information technology accessible to those with disabilities, such as visual or hearing impairments. It outlines the minimum acceptable standards, such as "the use of text labels or descriptors for graphics and certain format elements". Industry best practices encourage even those not affiliated with a federal agency to ensure their online training is 508 compliant. Many eLearning authoring tools, like Lectora eLearning software, are built with functions that help you easily create engaging and interactive 508-compliant eLearning courses. These two tutorials are full of great resources for creating 508-compliant content in Lectora: How To Add Closed Captions To Video And Audio In Lectora Accessibility: How To Order Title Objects In Lectora SCORM Compliance  SCORM is a common eLearning standard. You’ve probably heard a bit about SCORM by now. Or maybe you’ve heard about xAPI; the new eLearning standard on the block. Both are ways of tracking learner activity to show progress and understanding. These standards are the link between your eLearning content and your Learning Management System. Take a look at these two articles to get a brief history of these eLearning standards and see where things are going today: eLearning Standards—What They Are and Why They Matter Thursday’s Trending eLearning Topic: xAPI Want to dive in and try creating compliance training and 508- or SCORM-compliant content yourself? Get start right away with a free 30-day trial of Lectora Inspire. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Get To Know Your Online Learners: 10 Questions For eLearning Professionals Without knowing what your online learners need, what they expect from the eLearning course, and, most importantly, who they are as individuals, you simply cannot create a personalized eLearning experience. You must learn as much as possible about their background, goals, and preferences to make the eLearning course engaging and truly effective. But how do you get to know your eLearning audience without face-to-face communication? The answer is asking targeted questions that give you the opportunity to research their needs, wants, and expectations. What skills do they currently possess? In order to give your online learners the skills they need to effectively fulfill their job duties or improve their personal lives, you must first identify where their skills stand now. This is the gap that you will have to fill by creating targeted eLearning content for your audience. For example, if they are a bit shaky when it comes to technology skills, then you will need to focus on eLearning activities and exercises that strengthen that specific skill set, such as interactive scenarios and tutorials. What is their preferred learning environment? One of the perks of virtual training is that your online learners can access it anywhere at any time. However, this also means that eLearning professionals must take the learning environment into consideration when designing their eLearning courses. For example, if your learners will be accessing the online course in a busy office or while they are commuting on the train, then they will definitely need to be able to adjust the volume and pause the interactive exercises and videos. This question gives you the opportunity to learn more about where and when your online learners will be participating in the online course, so that you can adjust your eLearning content accordingly. Do they have any negative past eLearning experiences? The simple truth is that not all eLearning experiences are pleasant. If your learners have had a negative experience with eLearning in the past, then that could stand in the way of them actively participating. The same rule applies to the subject matter itself. If they have struggled to master a specific skill or build their topical knowledge base, that could be a roadblock now. To custom tailor the eLearning experience to meet their needs and address their concerns, learn as much as possible about the less-than favorable eLearning experiences that are still fresh in their minds. What do they expect to take away from the eLearning course? Every member of your audience is participating in the eLearning course for one very important reason; they want to learn something. By asking this question, you have the chance to figure out exactly what they want to get out of the eLearning experience, what online activities and exercises they expect, and what information they need to know when they’ve completed the eLearning course in order to improve their personal or professional lives. Do they have the time to actively participate? This question allows you to determine exactly how much time your learners actually have set aside for eLearning, so that you can create an eLearning experience that fits into their schedules. If you create online modules that last half an hour and they only realistically have ten minutes to participate every day, then they probably aren’t likely to log in to the eLearning platform on a regular basis. Keep in mind that most adult learners lead busy lives when designing your eLearning content in order to make it flexible and easily accessible. Are they comfortable with eLearning? Yes, we may be living in a tech-centric age, but there are some learners who still aren’t particularly comfortable with technology. This is why it’s essential to determine just how tech-savvy your audience is, which enables you to integrate interactive online courses that don’t venture too far out of their comfort zone. With that being said, you can also offer them online tutorials and walkthroughs that help them improve their tech skills. Do they use social media? There are certain online learners who practically live on social media sites, while others may not be too familiar with social networking. If you are planning on using any sort of social learning in your eLearning strategy, such as Twitter, blogs, or forums, then you will need to figure out which tools your online learners prefer and access on a regular basis. Then you can personalize their eLearning experience by reaching them on online platforms they already use and are familiar with. Do they view the eLearning course as a learning opportunity? This may seem like a rather vague question, but it can actually give the power to determine if your online learners see the true value of your eLearning course. Have you stressed the real world benefits and applications enough, or do you need to more effectively explain why they should actively participate in the eLearning experience? Remember, it’s all about motivation, and this question allows you to identify whether you are working with unmotivated learners or those who are ready to take on the challenge. What personal obstacles might stand in the way of eLearning? Each and every learner who logs into your eLearning platform has real-life issues or challenges that may prevent them from completing the eLearning course. They may be feeling a great deal of stress at work or have issues at home. The key is, without being too invasive, helping them overcome these issues by offering them a flexible schedule and a variety of different ways to learn, such as eLearning scenarios and text-based stories. Make it easy for them to squeeze eLearning into their lives without putting even more weight on their shoulders. What are their goals and objectives? This is definitely one of the most important questions to ask when conducting audience research. You need to know what their personal and professional goals are so that you can create eLearning content that helps them achieve success. Every eLearning activity, every interactive exercise should include a skill or piece of knowledge that takes them one step closer to reaching the finish line. Ask these 10 all-important questions before you develop your eLearning course to create eLearning experiences that are effective and inspiring. Also, keep in mind that the answers are only useful if you actually take them into consideration during every step of the development process. Looking for ways to appeal to a wider eLearning audience? Read the article 6 Tips To Design eLearning Courses That Appeal To A Wider eLearning Audience to learn about 6 top tips that can help you reach even more online learners, regardless of their physical location or background. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

The Beginners Guide To Designing And Developing Virtual Classroom Training Whether you have been designing and developing virtual instructor-led training courses for years or are just getting started, designing seamless, effective, and interactive training that appeals to your learners can be challenging. Which virtual classroom tools should you use? What best practices should you follow to ensure success? What common challenges do people typically face and what are the best solutions to overcome them? Where can you go to get help? There are a lot of questions that are probably running through your head before getting started on a new project. If you want to learn more about designing and developing virtual classroom training The eLearning Guild has a great live online course to help you learn the basics. The Design and Development of Virtual Classroom Training Basic course from The eLearning Guild Academy, will walk you through the process of designing an interactive virtual classroom training session. Over four, live online sessions you will learn how virtual classroom tools work, experience the best practices behind incorporating the tools into your courses, and design activities as you work together through a scenario. Participants will develop a sample course with a presentation and supporting materials using easy-to-follow templates, and will have the opportunity to share their course designs for feedback and suggestions. Learn more about this course here. Instructors: This course is taught by eLearning Guild speaker coaches Tammy Olson, Karen Hyder, and Melissa Chambers. Tammy Olson is a speaker coach and session host for The eLearning Guild, and has over 15 years’ experience designing and implementing eLearning solutions for healthcare and educational industries. She also works for OptumHealth. Karen Hyder is a speaker coach and session host for The eLearning Guild and the founder of Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting, where she teaches trainer training programs for virtual classes and coaching online presenters utilizing the trainer competencies of CompTIA’s Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+). Melissa Chambers is a speaker coach and session host for The eLearning Guild, and has over 18 years’ experience in creative media production, project and change management, online instructional design, and eLearning strategy development, and has been designing, producing, and coaching for synchronous online programs since 2002. She also works for MSC Consulting. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

ICATEIT 2015 is organized Co-jointed by Institute of Information System and Research Center ( IISRC ) and Research and Development Institute , Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, Thailand 3rd ICATEIT 2015 aims at providing a platform for researchers, engineers, academics, Students and industrial professionals to present their recent research work and to explore future trends in various areas of E-Learning and online education technology . The 3rd ICATEIT 2015 will be a showcase of relevant research that addresses these challenges and opportunities in E-Learning & online education. During the conference, there should be substantial time for presentation and discussion ICATEIT 2015 would cover all the original work in the field of Information Technology and Emerging E-Learning Technologies . This would lead to spread the knowledge and consolidate the recent advances in the respective fields. The 3rd International Conference on Advanced Trends of E-Learning & Information Technology (ICATEIT 2015) is going to be held at the Hotel ChiangMai Phucome in Thailand on December 11-12, 2015 . This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Reasons Mobile Learning Will Transform Your Workplace  Mobile learning is shaping up to be one of those innovations set to make life easier in today’s fast-paced business environment. Most of us are busy people, constantly on the move. And what busy people love is convenience, be it gourmet pasta at home or technology that makes life easier at work. Here are some of the reasons why PulseLearning believe that mobile learning will change your workplace. Increases employee motivation toward training. It’s true that many employees don’t like training. This is partially because most training requires an employee to take time out of an already busy workday to fit it in. Because mobile learning allows employees to complete training when and where they like, it’s likely that their willingness and enthusiasm toward learning will increase. Addresses all learning styles. Mobile learning makes it much easier to be inclusive of all learning styles. Mobile devices make it possible to develop a course that includes reading, learning through video, listening to podcasts, researching on the internet, and collaborating socially. This is also a factor in increasing employee engagement and motivation toward corporate training, and we know that engaged employees are much more likely to be productive. Utilizes downtime… anywhere. The accessibility of mobile learning is arguably its biggest advantage. It allows you to fill pockets of dead time your employees have with productivity. With BYOD, waiting for a long print job, commuting home on the train, or standing in line all become opportunities to fit in a learning bite. In fact, many of us retain information better when it is presented in small chunks, which makes mobile learning an effective strategy for imparting information. Provides social collaboration opportunities. Mobile learning might mean your employees are completing training remotely but they are only a click away from sharing and collaborating with others. When your employees access their training from mobile devices, such as smartphones or iPads, they have their social networking tools at hand. This encourages collaboration with others, and when people get talking about learning, it makes it more memorable. Aligns your training with technology trends. It is predicted that by 2020, the mobile device will be our primary tool for connecting to the internet. It makes good business sense to start preparing for the technology shift away from desktop computing by developing learning that can be used across multiple platforms. HTML5 technology allows one eLearning build to be used on multiple devices, which could save your organization time and money down the track in converting traditional builds. Other articles of interest: How To Motivate Millennials: 7 Tips For eLearning Professionals 5 Reasons Why You Need To Invest In Employee Training This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Selecting A SaaS Learning Management System  SaaS is indeed a fast-growing force in enterprise software: The IDC forecasts SaaS revenue growth rates at 18% annually, Vs 3% for installed (on-premise) software. Yet, we’ve found that many vendors in the Learning Management System industry offer a SaaS product without being able to provide the accompanying benefits. Read on to discover what to really look for in a SaaS Learning Management System. What Is SaaS? SaaS stands for Software-as-a-Service. It is sometimes called web-based software. Instead of having to install and maintain software on servers that your company maintains, SaaS applications are hosted on the internet, so you don’t have to worry about setting up special hardware or software. Generally, the key benefits of SaaS are: Fast deployment. Since the vendor is taking care of the hosting infrastructure, it saves time for you and your IT department in deploying a new solution. Easy maintenance. A "multi-tenant" architecture means there is a single code base across all clients. This means that all product upgrades, bug fixes, and new features are easily and automatically available to all eligible customers. Technical scalability. Multi-tenant SaaS solutions are generally built on scalable and redundant cloud services, e.g. Amazon Web Services. When properly architected, SaaS applications are much easier to automatically scale up and down based on total network demand. Alarming and monitoring is also possible across the entire customer base. So concepts like downtime, maximum concurrent users, and off-site backups are things of the past. What Is A SaaS Learning Management System? Learning Management System buyers have been slower to adopt SaaS than in other areas of the enterprise. This is due to several factors, including the popularity of open source and home-grown solutions for learning (e.g. Moodle), the long replacement cycle for Learning Management Systems, and concerns about security for HR-related data. Nevertheless, there is now an "intense push toward cloud-based deployments", according to the Brandon Hall Group, particularly for small and medium sized businesses. Almost all LMS vendors now offer a SaaS product. However, is your Learning Management System truly SaaS? We’ve found that the vast majority of SaaS Learning Management System solutions are hosted in the cloud, but not multi-tenant. In other words, the vendor is taking care of the application hosting, but the code base is still unique for each client ("single-tenant"). The benefits of a single-tenant hosted implementation are far more limited than what is expected from a true multi-tenant SaaS solution. Revisiting the possible benefits of a SaaS Learning Management System solution: Deployment. A hosted Learning Management System still saves you the work from setting up your own IT infrastructure, as needed for an installed solution. However, since the application still needs to be custom-deployed, a single-tenant implementation takes much longer to set up than a multi-tenant solution, which can be deployed essentially instantaneously. Maintenance. Since single-tenant applications still have a separate code base, fixes have to be patched onto customer accounts separately, which is time-consuming and costly. That’s why Learning Management Systems often have version numbers in the footer and customers can’t take advantage of a vendor’s new features. Not surprisingly, this also helps vendors upsell at a premium when it comes time for renewals. Scalability. Again, since every customer has a separate code base, it’s very difficult to address technical performance issues or to leverage modern technologies. As a result, many Learning Management Systems charge based on concurrent users, total users, and storage since these models align with a single-tenant cost structure. Conclusion All SaaS is not created equal. While hosted, single-tenant solutions do offload the hassle of maintaining your own infrastructure; they don’t provide the full advantages of what SaaS buyers typically expect. If you’re looking to select a SaaS Learning Management System, be sure to ask about multi-tenant architecture in order to reap the SaaS benefits of fast deployment, easy maintenance, and technical scalability. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Nano-Learning Is Fast And Simple. Here Are 6 Ideas To Help You Create Nano-Learning In Under 15 Minutes You are likely under pressure to deliver more learning in less time. Nano-learning is gaining popularity because it lets you create smaller chunks of content. But, what is nano-learning? Generally speaking, nano-learning is: Five to 15 minutes long. Highly targeted; covers a single objective. Self-contained; offers small nuggets of information. Responsive; can be viewed on a range of devices. Easy to find. Multimedia; include text, video, sound, and images. To author a nano-learning object in 15 minutes, look for an eLearning author tool that lets you do the following: Create templates for interactions that you can reuse. Build a "theme" that you can personalize or brand. Is cloud-based so that more than one member of the team can work on it at the same time. Use a pre-built menu so you don’t have to build your own. Gain access to a database of media files that are ready to use (images, graphics, and icons). Publish to an LMS (Learning Management System), LRS (Learning Record Store), and browsers in seconds. Create content that can be viewed immediately on a range of devices. 1. Use pre-built templates.   Pre-built templates give you the confidence that they are tested, bug-free, and ready for you to author your content. Choose a tool that ships with templates. At the very minimum, you will want presentation and question interactions, and even better, some video and sound files. 2. Create reusable themes that have your company branding already built in. Ideally, your eLearning authoring tool will be easy to set up with your company’s branding, look, and feel. Once you’ve got this built, you can reuse the theme over and over again. This means you don’t have to develop the basic structure each time you want to create a new nano-learning object. 3. Use cloud-based authoring tools that are accessible anywhere, anytime. When you work in the cloud, you don’t want to waste time packaging up your project files and sending them to other authors to work on. Cloud tools with collaboration functionality can empower multiple members of your team to work on the same project at the same time. Picture yourself uploading or writing the copy while a graphic artist works on the visuals. Tools -like Elucidat- will automatically synchronize updates to ensure all stakeholders are working on the most recent project update. 4. Leverage a database of rich media (photos, graphics, artwork, icons, etc). Choose a tool that includes free, high-quality media assets. For example, Elucidat’s rich media is specifically created with eLearning in mind. This will save you heaps of time because you won’t have to source your own. If you want more personalized imagery, choose a tool that lets you upload your own images and assets so you can keep them organized and accessible within your projects. 5. Use a tool that enables you to quickly publish, deploy and maintain eLearning. To get your nano-learning out to your learners fast, you need a system that lets you publish and deploy it in minutes. Some tools -like Elucidat- let you push content straight into a Learning Management System that automatically updates the module in seconds. 6. Use a tool that automatically scales to respond to different mobile and tablet screen sizes. You can’t afford to waste time creating learning for devices of different sizes. Choose a tool that automatically scales your content to fit devices of all sizes. For example, Elucidat’s responsive slider automatically scales content so you can see exactly how your learning looks on mobile and tablet devices. Look for a tool that lets you build once, but deploy to multiple devices. Final Thoughts Nano-learning makes it easier for you to handle a greater volume of learning content and get it out to learners fast. New technologies make nano-learning more accessible to learning managers at a wide variety of companies. When you are choosing an eLearning authoring tool, make sure it has these features: Streamlines learning publishing and deploys quickly. Simple to use so non-technical people with no previous experience can author. Automatically scales content so learners can view it on devices of all sizes. Stay on top of the latest eLearning ideas, trends, and technologies by subscribing to the Elucidat weekly newsletter. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Gamification In LMS And Specifically In TalentLMS  As any experienced instructor can tell you, setting up your eLearning courses is only half the battle. The other half is, of course, getting your students to pay attention. Unfortunately, attention is a limited resource and we all have myriads of things competing for it (stuff we need to do, email, games, social media, etc.). This means that having a well written course is not enough. What we need is user engagement. Not the kind that involves diamond rings and promises of love; rather the one that makes them pay attention and eagerly consume their course material. In this article we'll examine one of the best techniques that the eLearning industry has developed in order to increase user engagement: Gamification. In other words, making lessons feel less like chores and more like Candy Crush. Or Super Mario, if you're old enough to remember that. The neologism "gamification" means the act of making something (in our case eLearning) more game-like, engaging, and fun, by introducing some elements of play into it. Gamification techniques have been applied to all kind of websites and services, including Facebook, Foursquare, Amazon, and StackOverflow. For example anything involving earning points or "unlocking" extra features (e.g. for participating more heavily in a social site), is an example of gamification in action. When it comes to eLearning gamification, TalentLMS integrates some of the more well-known and battle-tested techniques, such as Points, Badges, Levels, Leaderboards, and Rewards. Let's have a look at what these are, and how TalentLMS implements them. 1. Points.  Points are the most basic form of gamification; the exact equivalent of "keeping score" in a game. You might be wondering why you'd need to use Points for this, since TalentLMS already has Grades, but the two serve different purposes. While grades are meant to measure academic performance, points can be used to encourage user engagement in general (e.g. by being awarded when one completes a course, for each login to the Learning Management System, etc). TalentLMS lets you fully configure the occasions in which points are awarded. Users are informed of the points they receive via a non-intrusive popup message and can check their total tally at anytime in the header. 2. Badges. You can think of Badges as the equivalent of real world medals. In TalentLMS, as in most gamification systems, badges are visual stamps (images) that are awarded to users on certain achievements and are displayed in their header and profile page. The badging system features 8 categories, with each category offering 8 levels of badges, and has been designed to make acquiring badges increasingly difficult as the user progresses (to keep the whole thing interesting). Badges in TalentLMS are compatible with Mozilla’s OpenBadges initiative, and administrators are also given the option customize all of the badge icons and descriptions. 3. Levels. Levels are like ranking up in the army or getting a promotion at work. In TalentLMS all users start at level 1 and progress from there, and getting to a higher level makes more courses available (courses unavailable to a user because of level restrictions are shown with a "Unlocked on level X" label). Again, TalentLMS administrators can configure the minimum level needed for unlocking any particular course, and set the rules for progressing into higher levels. 4. Leaderboards. Leaderboards is just a gamification name for a "high score" list. A TalentLMS leaderboard is basically a webpage that offers a visual depiction of the user's ranking under various metrics (Points, Badges, Certifications, etc.) compared to fellow learners; including the very best ("high scores") and others immediately above and below them. The idea here is to give users a good overview of their position compared to others, so that they get motivated to improve it. 5. Rewards. Last but not least, TalentLMS offers Rewards. Unlike other gamification elements that are mostly symbolic, rewards involve actually, err, rewarding the users for their engagement, e.g. by giving them a discount, some special offer, etc. Currently the TalentLMS rewards system only offers discounts, but there are several ideas for new kinds of rewards floating about. With TalentLMS Gamification Means Business  In this article we had a look at gamification in general, and the gamification options offered by TalentLMS in particular. With its focus on ease of use and intuitiveness, TalentLMS makes adding gamification to your eLearning as easy and transparent as possible, while still maintaining quite a lot of customization options and flexibility under the hood (configurable rules, customizable icons, etc.). Visit http://www.talentlms.com/ to take TalentLMS for a test drive today. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Creating A Meaningful And Engaging Compliance Course  In this article, I will outline how we have made compliance courses meaningful to the learners, ensure the learning sticks, and increase the probability of this learning getting applied at work. Why are compliance courses normally boring? Compliance courses primarily revolve around dry concepts such as knowing a set of guidelines or dos and don’ts. Although learners like taking courses that are user-friendly and easy to understand, they do not appreciate the traditional read-through/click-through information and quiz process, devoid of any ingredients to excite them. This impacts learnability and eventually results in lesser or no retention of learning. Is it possible to integrate innovative learning strategies to compliance courses? We have over a decade’s expertise in building compliance courses for various industries (most notably finance, healthcare, and insurance). Creation of immersive learning being our forte, we have infused life in compliance concepts, thereby providing scope for higher learner satisfaction and a better ROI for our customers. We have adopted learning designs that provide an innovative, engaging, and learner-centric learning experience through: Gamification. Partial gamification. Scenarios. Story based narratives. What can be done to instill the spirit of "why comply" in the learners? In this article, I will use a case study to illustrate how we have created an engaging learning experience that leverages the power of scenarios (with variations mapped to suit the compliance mandate). Case Study (Introduction To The Code Of Conduct) Rather than starting with the dos and don’ts of a typical compliance program, we used the creative Instructional Design approach to present the content to help learners realize why they need to comply and hence provide long-term gain to our customers. We worked with our Subject Matter Expert and established the learning outcomes that learners need to achieve for the compliance mandate to be met. How did we catch the learners’ attention? In Introduction to the Code of Conduct, our course focused on: The Code of Conduct and the reasons why it is created. The application of the Code at work. The situations when good conduct may be compromised or at risk. How to choose the right path and avoid putting oneself and the company at risk. How did we make this course more engaging? The language and the examples used in this course are simple and easily understandable by all employees, whether it is a front-desk employee or a Senior Manager. It is applicable to all industries, which means it is a generic Code of Conduct and not specific to any particular industry. It does not cover all of the subjects in a typical Code so that they do not consider that they are now familiar with the Code and there is no need to read the actual document. What was the essence of our learning strategy? Our learning strategy was woven with a greater emphasis on scenarios, examples, exercises, and inline checks in interesting formats. We used scenarios in two formats: Quick check-point after a learning element is completed (recall/understand level cognition). Application of the learning in a real-life situation through "Choose the Right Path" (analyze and be ready to use this learning at work). We helped learners relate to these examples and scenarios and understand how to handle dilemma situations. In addition, we provided tips and best practices and other useful information from domain experts. Our purpose of turning acquisition of knowledge to application of knowledge was served with this apt mix of theory and application. What more can be done to make compliance courses interesting and ensure that the learning gets applied? Providing access on mobile devices (as well as desktops/laptops): The course is designed for mobile compatibility and runs seamlessly on PCs/laptops/tablets. This provides the required flexibility to the learner to access the course on a device of their choice. Use Performance Support Tools (PSTS): In the next article, I will share a few examples on how you can complement or supplement Compliance through innovative value-adds, such as Performance Support Tools (PSTs). These are designed to help learners not just know about but also act in compliance on the job. This is one of our areas of expertise in terms of transforming acquisition of knowledge to application of the same. Innovation and provision of that little "extra" is something we work on constantly. I hope this article was useful in providing pointers to create your own meaningful and engaging compliance course. If you have any queries, do contact me. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.