iSpring QuizMaker 7 can be a very useful authoring tool when you need to create rich-media tests that learners can complete on desktop, tablet and smartphone devices. One of the key strengths of iSpring QuizMaker 7 is that it is compatible with HTML5, Tin Can and a range of formats that allow greater flexibility for learners and admins sitting and reporting on quizzes. Tin Can API, also known as the Experience API or xAPI, is particularly good at capturing consistently-formatted data about learner and group activity across multiple platforms and devices. If this flexibility sounds useful, then read our quick guide to publishing iSpring Quizmaker 7 course content to Tin Can xAPI.   If you are using iSpring QuizMaker 7 to create course content,  publishing to Tin Can xAPI can benefit both you and your learners. Tin Can has become an increasingly popular learning technology due to the growth in demand for mobile learning or "mLearning". Mobile learning does not just mean that audiences are engaging with course content on smaller devices or phablets. It also includes learning on the job or learning onsite without cloud connectivity. Tin Can excels in these scenarios, helping to capture learning in the field - the true sense of mobile learning.   Many learning and training professionals now consider it essential to provide mobile options for learners accustomed to using multiple devices. Because Tin Can is capable of communicating with cross-platform technologies and is highly interoperable, it works very well in these environments. Tin Can can also provide trainers with more detailed information about learner behavior and performance. Detailed exam analysis data is just one area in which Tin Can improves upon SCORM and other learning technologies that preceded it. Tin Can content created with iSpring QuizMaker 7 can also be uploaded to LearnUpon in one simple step. If you currently use an alternative learning management system, make sure it supports Tin Can content before proceeding with this tutorial.   Once your iSpring QuizMaker content has been created The process of publishing to Tin Can begins once you have created your test in iSpring QuizMaker 7. The sample quiz created in this screenshot contains 7 different question types.     Click on the ‘Properties’ icon to check that you have set a passing score.     In this example, our quiz is set with a passing score of 80%. Click ‘OK’ to save your settings.     Your quiz is now ready to be published to the Tin Can API format. Click the ‘Publish’ button in the toolbar to proceed.     In the ‘Publish Quiz’ screen Select ‘LMS’ from the left-hand menu. Select ‘Combined (Flash+HTML5)’ from ‘Output’, as shown in the below screenshot. Selecting HTML5 enables your course to play on a range of browser types and ensures your course will play on mobile devices that do not support Flash, e.g. iPads and iPhones. Leave the ‘Use iSpring Viewer’ option unchecked. Make sure ‘Zip Output’ is selected.     Next, click the ‘Advanced’ tab, as shown in the below screenshot. Under ‘Content Properties’, select the ‘Fit to Window’ option. This setting tells the course to fill all available screen space when your learners view the content. Under ‘HTML5 Properties’, select the option for ‘Extended audio and video compatibility’. This setting increases the number of supported audio and video codecs to boost the performance of your quiz across multiple browser types. Now click the ‘Learning Course’ tab.     Select Experience API from the drop-down menu. Click ‘Publish’.     Nice work, you’re done! Your course will be exported as a zip file, ready to be imported into LearnUpon or your chosen LMS.   Read more about LearnUpon’s SCORM and Tin Can supported features. Or start your free 30 day trial now.   The post How to publish to Tin Can API with iSpring Quizmaker 7 appeared first on LearnUpon.

Brendan, Caoimhín and Phily are back in the office after a jam-packed few days exhibiting at DevLearn 2015, one of the biggest eLearning events of the year. This year’s conference and expo took place in Las Vegas and attracted training and learning professionals from all over the world. If you want to find out more about what’s shaping the future of organizational learning and performance, then DevLearn is the place to be!   Here’s what we learned…   Universal learning management system frustrations Attendees were happy to share their learning management system experiences with us and their feedback was mixed. The majority of attendees we spoke with were currently using larger enterprise or legacy learning management systems and were frustrated. We noticed three common frustrations that were mentioned again and again - insufficient customer support, lack of new feature releases and high costs. What’s really interesting is that these frustrations were universal to all organization types, from large enterprises and multinational corporations to software companies and professional training companies. The attendees we met were delighted to find out that LearnUpon offers 24/7 customer support, releases new features every month and is available at a fraction of the cost of their current LMS.   An opportunity to meet our customers and partners As always we were delighted to get the opportunity to catch up with some of our customers, including Lisa from Denver Water, Mickey from BeauteSchool, Kendra from WideOrbit and Tom from Zipline Performance. We’re used to keeping in contact with our customers over the phone, by email or go-to-meeting so we love getting the chance to meet them in person. Lisa even voted LearnUpon as her favorite vendor on the DevLearn app! Thanks Lisa! We also caught up with Ali and Russell from Wax LRS by Saltbox. LearnUpon is one of Saltbox’s LRS Connectors and it’s great to get the chance to meet with our industry partners to discuss the latest LRS and Tin Can API news.   Lead retrieval units are not so easy to operate We’re not joking! But we did manage to get the hang of it, just in time for the expo kick-off….   All in all we had a very enjoyable trip and we’re sure we’ll be back in Vegas next year for DevLearn 2016.   What’s next… Our final conference of 2015 is the ASAE Technology Conference & Expo in Maryland from December 14th to 16th. Brendan, Caoimhín and Phily are looking forward to reconnecting with attendees that they met at ASAE Annual in August. Conferences offer us an invaluable opportunity to learn more about our customers’ industries and what they’re looking for in a learning management system.   Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest updates on new tools and technologies revolutionizing training today! The post DevLearn 2015 - what we learned appeared first on LearnUpon.

Aurion Learning’s annual masterclass is becoming an unmissable event for the UK and Irish learning and training industries. The theme for the 2015 session held in October was "Getting the most out of eLearning" and focused on three core topics: learning platforms, creating efficiencies in eLearning, and using video in online learning programs. We went along last week to spend an invaluable morning with Learning and Development managers, trainers, facilitators, consultants, and HR practitioners from leading organizations, to explore some of the most effective ways to deliver online learning today. Here’s what we learned.   The next big thing in eLearning Aurion’s eLearning masterclasses are known for delivering an inspiring mix of high-level strategy and practical tactics that enhance participants’ use of learning design, tools, and technology. The first 2015 presentation touched on both, as John Curran, Chairman of eLearning Network, introduced us to the major trends we can expect to see transforming eLearning in 2016.   3 top eLearning trends for 2016 Explosion in devices - We’ve been anticipating the effects of the explosion in devices for a few years now - usually in the guise of mobile learning or "mLearning". But John urged that the time really is now, with users currently accessing content on an average of 4 devices. John’s best practice tips included encouraging organizations to adopt a "bottom up" response to the trend. Designing for multiple devices shouldn’t be arbitrary. Course and content responsiveness can’t really be successfully bolted on as an afterthought, or in hindsight. Responsiveness should, instead, be integrated into the deep design of content and programs from the beginning. Instructional designers are advised to begin with a list of the most common devices course content will be accessed on and an understanding of its role in the learner’s journey. While this attention to device type may make for slightly longer design and planning phases, it will also create a superior learner experience that does more than make a nod to a range of screen sizes. The explosion in devices is also driving a number of smaller trends, including the creation of bite-sized microlearning tailored for different environments and mobile-friendly authoring tools that work from the cloud, such as LearnUpon favorite Elucidat.   Tin Can xAPI (or life after SCORM) - We’ve been exploring the potential of Tin Can technology for a while here at LearnUpon. So we were very interested to hear John’s thoughts on the Tin Can API, also known as the Experience xAPI. The rise of Tin Can overlaps with the explosion in use of device types, with the technology working to capture the full potential of mobile learning. Developed with the understanding that learners can learn anywhere, Tin Can provides tools for capturing and reporting on the full range of mobile learning options. If you are interested in Tin Can, check out the tutorials we have created for exporting content in xAPI format for upload to LearnUpon or any compatible learning management system.   The new blend - John moved beyond the familiar blended learning of yesteryear to discuss new developments in the trend. At the heart of the "new blend" is a figure John names "the self-directed learner". The new blend of learning responds to the distinct behaviors of this emerging style of learner. John also introduced us to a new word with the concept of "heutagogy". Making the concept of pedagogy seem positively reductive, heutagogy advocates learning by a process of trial and error. Learners are encouraged to be active and self-directed in place of the passive role of watching and listening.   How to select your online learning platform In both the main presentations and our chats with attendees, the importance of clearly understanding your requirements when selecting a learning management system was a recurring theme. The question of how to match requirements with an online learning solution was the subject of a presentation made by Gavin Woods, Business Development Manager at Aurion. Gavin’s advice was familiar to us at LearnUpon, as he argued that no eLearning platform is the best solution for every kind of organization. From open source solutions to proprietary and SaaS platforms, Gavin unveiled a patent-pending requirements wheel to illustrate decisions made in three real-life use cases. We were thrilled to see LearnUpon featured as Gavin’s preferred SaaS online learning solution, of course! Law Society requirements that saw LearnUpon chosen as best LMS solution A number of attendees we spoke with also described familiar Moodle challenges we reviewed recently. These conversations were a reminder to all eLearning professionals that, whichever solution you choose, open source does not, at the very least, mean free. As Gavin’s presentation suggested, the best online learning solution for your organization will match your budget against a set of carefully prioritized requirements.   Creating eLearning efficiencies Dr. Maureen Murphy, Aurion’s Managing Director, presented us with a masterclass in creating eLearning efficiencies. Maureen’s pragmatic presentation combined fresh insights into recent developments in eLearning with a roundup of best practices we all know we should be implementing. Maureen sees eLearning efficiencies everywhere and began by alerting us to a number of quick and simple starting points in real-world environments. Efficient eLearning processes should be learner-centric, focused on outcomes and the measurement of results. Inefficient eLearning is often, on the other hand, weighed down by the daily practicalities of delivering learning and training. Maureen’s vision ushered us away from from outdated static processes towards an agile approach to developing learning content and programs. Instead of the old-fashioned "Linear - Knowledge - Long" model, an agile approach allows you to respond quickly to changes within your organization and learner behavior. We were challenged to assess our own eLearning efficiency with a series of probing questions, including: What is the driver for your learning and training? What do you want learners to be able to do once training is complete? What is the learner’s motivation? Why is the behavior not happening? Remaining focused on these key questions will help you to understand the behaviors you want to "Keep, Improve, Stop, Start" - integral to developing efficient eLearning programs for your organization.   Using videos in online learning The closing presentation outlined a series of practical tips on interesting ways to use video in online learning. Mairin Murray, Learning Services Manager at Aurion, played a range of video snippets from Aurion’s vast library, all developed to enhance and support eLearning content. Samples moved beyond the few forms typically associated with video to include variations like animated content, digital stories, product simulations, and explainer videos. Mairin advised a thoughtful approach to the use of video, focusing on how the format can be used to enhance, rather than distract from, the learning experience. This final presentation also returned to the question of platform. The use of multiple eLearning formats is not supported by every learning management system. LearnUpon, for example, offers high-quality streaming that is compatible with YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia and Brainshark video content. Things to consider when developing video content Begin with an understanding of the learner behavior you aim to change Keep the idea and execution as simple as possible Look for ways to make learners active rather than passive Bring your Subject Matter Expert to the shoot Make your video accessible to all - consider accents, offer subtitles and transcripts where possible   We left Aurion’s Learning Masterclass filled with excitement about the year ahead in eLearning. Many of the key trends were familiar to us here at LearnUpon, as the team is working to deliver the features that keep our customers a step ahead in the swiftly changing eLearning landscape.   Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest news and releases from LearnUpon The post Aurion eLearning Masterclass - what we learned appeared first on LearnUpon.

How to scale your company culture while experiencing rapid growth is a question most successful technology companies eventually face. It’s a question that matters a lot to LearnUpon, an online learning company that is only three years old but has seen its customer base expand by over 200% in the past year alone. I interviewed LearnUpon’s account management team about the culture that has driven the company to become the fastest-growing online learning platform in the world. I got an insight into the clear thinking it takes to scale fast and the kinds of personalities that can help drive young businesses to succeed.   With a team now split across bases in Europe and Australia, LearnUpon hired its first account manager a brief 18 months ago. These first hires - Caoimhín, Phily and Eoghan - worked closely with CEO Brendan Noud in the original Dublin office. The company culture that drew the three to LearnUpon was already there in the atmosphere when they started, fostered by the vision and values of Brendan and technical co-founder Des Anderson. That LearnUpon culture was one of trust and support for both employees and customers. Brendan and Des believed in a process more like consultation than the traditional "get ’em over the line" sales pitch. Before scheduling a demo, each account manager researches the organization’s business, brand and existing learning and training environment. This gives them an acute understanding of the features the organization needs in a cloud-based eLearning platform for the partnership to succeed.   The seeds of a great company culture The core account management team has seen the process evolve and deepen with the company’s success. Establishing the team was an exciting and challenging moment for CEO Brendan. These would be the first hires to work closely with prospects and first customers, educating them about the company’s rapidly developing product.   "It was an exciting time, when we started to grow the team", says Brendan. "But a nervous one too. It had been clear for a while that we needed a lot more help to respond to the volume of enquiries the original team couldn’t handle anymore. But Des and I were aware that those first hires needed to believe in the product and share our approach to the Software-as-a-Service business. Des and I already had 20 years’ experience in the learning technology business between us. We wanted our account managers to be more than salespeople, not really salespeople at all in the old-fashioned sense. And that was what we saw in the guys. From the first interviews we could see they had the right attitude and enthusiasm and a really interesting mix of backgrounds. We struck it lucky. It was the right fit and our customers have been singing their praises ever since!"   Belief in the right fit runs through LearnUpon where both team members and customers are treated almost like partners who both benefit from and contribute to the business’s success.   Account managers are not salespeople The title of Account Manager isn’t incidental. It was carefully chosen to focus the approach of what would elsewhere be called the sales team. LearnUpon sells its product, of course. But it does not sell indiscriminately. Instead the team works closely with new prospects to help assess if LearnUpon is a good fit for their needs. If the team feels the fit isn’t right for some reason they will openly say so, explaining the reasons why, and even suggesting alternative solutions.   "We don’t just make a sale", Eoghan explains. "That’s short-term thinking. It doesn’t benefit anyone in the end. There are different kinds of solutions available in the eLearning market - open source, proprietary software, and cloud-based software (SaaS) like LearnUpon. We are totally confident in the platform Brendan and Des built after experiencing the limitations of other systems for years. LearnUpon’s LMS has a feature set that works perfectly for lots of different organizations. In a product demo, I will have scoped out the company’s requirements and made an assessment about whether LearnUpon is the right fit. I set up the platform to help them visualize that. They can see how the LearnUpon learning management system will work if they go with us. And they usually know instantly if LearnUpon is the right fit for them."   Belief in the team’s talent was echoed externally when Caoimhín was named a top 10 learning management system (LMS) demonstrator by learning industry thought leader, John Leh. The wider LearnUpon team saw the accolade as a validation of the company culture - the care and effort put into the product demo and its commitment to the ethos that the LMS must be the right solution for any potential customer.   Scaling company culture through big growth 2015 has seen big changes at LearnUpon and new challenges to sustaining and growing its company culture on new continents and in new languages. Dave, LearnUpon’s first Australian hire, joined in April 2015. I asked him if he shares the sense of company culture I had observed among the original team. Surely it’s a little harder for him, I suggest, working remotely from Australia.   "It’s different!" Dave admits. "But LearnUpon already had an office in Belgrade when I started. Des and his team were based there. So they’d already done a great job of keeping their vision and values alive in two separate locations. We’re a cloud software company and we’re all used to collaborating and chatting online anyway. With tools like Slack and Skype, I almost feel like I’m there in the office half the time. And with the team’s dedication, the timezone divide becomes irrelevant. The team is quite literally 24/7!"   Chatting to Dave on Slack really is just like chatting to any of the other members of the team. There’s a strong sense of the same attitude and passion, just that bit further away, on another continent. Having the same presence and passion in these markets is important to LearnUpon, as they offer customers 24/7 local support.   For the account managers, it’s really important that LearnUpon succeeds at retaining this culture as it scales over the coming years. It’s something they helped create after all. Phily says it was the culture that attracted him to LearnUpon over other software companies. He believes that culture is a key quality that distinguishes the company in the marketplace.   "You can sense it both in the way we treat each other and the way we respond to our customers" Phily explains. "You’re treated as an adult and a professional while still being encouraged to have a lot of fun. Brendan and Des know that if you’re the right person for the job, they can trust you. I have the freedom to make judgement calls, just as the rest of the team does."   This honesty and modesty could strike a reader as a little unusual for a team that still, after all sells, I suggest. Are you guys even competitive?   "We are alright! But not so much in the way you might expect", Phily continues. "The competitive streak comes out in … who’s right about what, and sport, and on company nights out. But as a team, it isn’t just about the sale, and who got there. There’s no fighting over leads. There’s no leaderboard."   The more time I spend with the account managers, the more I believe that this vision and values are, indeed, driving LearnUpon’s remarkable growth.   "I suppose it’s a validation of a real team culture", agrees Caoimhín. "It’s not at all hierarchical. That’s one of the things that makes it so different from other jobs I’ve had. You’re trusted and supported so you grow to trust your instincts. You don’t need to be involved with LearnUpon for very long to really believe in the value of the solution we offer to our customers."   Coming up next I ask Dave what he is looking forward to most and he speaks of LearnUpon’s plans to further grow our customer base and expand the account management team. Eoghan hints at some exciting updates for the product that he can’t wait for customers to experience. The whole company, across all locations and continents, takes part in a weekly product knowledge session where everyone is treated to a sneak peek at upcoming updates and prototype features that never fail to provoke excitement. Passion for a technology that is growing and changing is certainly an important element in the company culture that has so successfully driven the account management team.   LearnUpon will be available in Brazilian Portuguese in a number of weeks, a first step in serving the interest the company has received across South America. With recruitment actively underway in Dublin and Australia and whispers of LearnUpon opening a first US office early next year, there will be more challenges to scaling the company culture across continents. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of the first account managers were entrusted with the task. And I couldn’t think of better ambassadors to lead LearnUpon’s inspiring culture out west.   LearnUpon is actively recruiting both at home and abroad. If you think you have what it takes to join the team, send your CV to jobs@learnupon.com.   Experience LearnUpon for yourself. Sign-up for your free 30 day trial or schedule a demo with one of our account managers. The post When is a sales team not a sales team? appeared first on LearnUpon.

LearnUpon is the world’s fastest growing LMS, making learning and training simple for over 400 happy customers. Over 10,000 users complete courses on LearnUpon’s learning management system every day. With such a busy platform, we receive lots of valuable feedback from the administrators and instructors who use our LMS to deliver their training programs. That feedback plays an important role. It helps us decide where to invest our development resources and which features our customers need next. Hearing eLearning success stories always makes our day. Here’s a taste of the LMS reviews our customers have shared since choosing LearnUpon.   Unbeatable Customer Support   "Entering the online learning world was very new for us and in a matter of a few short months we have been able to develop a whole library for our participants. The support team is unlike any other company I have ever dealt with. They respond immediately and with practical solutions and are always willing to go the extra mile to help in any way they can. The response time in terms of extra needs for our business were treated in a timely manner and the whole team really takes the time to learn the business. I have loved my experience working with the LearnUpon team and would recommend them to anyone." Alison Winton, Director of Operations, AJAG Online   "I have found the Customer Service at LearnUpon to be stellar. Whenever we have questions or need support it is offered immediately and with great clarity. Our clients enjoy the flexibility and ease with which they are able to complete their training sessions. Many clients are preparing to return as customers to complete required training next year. It is our privilege to recommend LearnUpon to any company that is looking to incorporate an LMS for their training needs." Tracy McGee, Trainer and Consultant, The TJac Educational Consulting Group   "LearnUpon has been the perfect solution for our current training needs. The system is easy to use, the customer support is amazing and they are willing to work with us to improve the system to fit our business needs. Great company and a great LMS." Hannah Bessell, Associate Product Manager, SNL Financial   "The customer service stands out the most. Phily, Ian and Lisa have always answered or fixed anything so quickly. We couldn’t be happier." Tatum Bandy, Owner, American Technical Institute   "LearnUpon combines a great product with second-to-none customer support. It was a no-brainer for our company to use LearnUpon’s LMS to deliver our courses." David E. Davis, President, ProCert Training, LLC     "The support provided by LearnUpon is exceptional! They provided us with support that really helped us through an intense roll out of our internal training package." Richard Hamlyn, Global Training Manager, SDL     "The LearnUpon LMS is quite impressive, but the real value of LearnUpon is the tremendous support the LearnUpon staff has provided us. We have had a real partner in helping us meet our business goals." James Weaver, IT Support Specialist, Avant Healthcare Professionals   "The technical support I’ve received from LearnUpon has been absolutely top notch! Whether simply answering a question or digging in to investigate a problem, these guys are always responsive, fast, friendly and thorough." Richard Crouse, From Fatigued to Fantastic, LLC     "Having a good product is one thing, but LearnUpon also provide a fantastic level of customer support. Thanks to all the team." Ray Fletcher, Head of IT, Dimensions   Easy to Use LMS   "Metrics show that our external customer learners are pleased with the system and courses available within it. More than 90% responded that they "Strongly Agree" that the system and modules were easy to navigate." Layne Northsea, Director of Global Education and Training, Xoft, Inc   "LearnUpon’s mission was to build an LMS that is quick to setup, super easy to use and backed up by exceptional customer support. They have, without a doubt, succeeded on all three goals." Amanda Kizer, Owner, Bright Idea Multimedia   "We have been using LearnUpon for over 12 months now and have found the product, customer service and support excellent. The product is easy to use and it has enabled BVM to offer a more comprehensive blended learning product." Steven Buchan, Director, BVM Solutions     "LearnUpon provides an easy to use and professional platform that is flexible and adaptable. A cost effective training facility, it is well supported by both customer service and technical teams. We give an unreserved endorsement." Lloyd Hodkinson, Director, CLC International   "LearnUpon was the best update we did over the past year. It’s an easy tool to use, and so helpful! Our trainer was doing one-on-one training, which takes a long time when you’re 24/7/365. Training all of our agents is not a problem anymore. Online training makes sure that everybody gets the same level of training and information, and you can make sure the content is understood by testing your staff. LearnUpon simply changed our lives, for the better!" Sabrina Perron, Operations Manager, Image-24     "LearnUpon houses several of our courses used in blended learning for our training centers (clients), and the ease of use is very high for the end user. Key to its value, for us, is the customer support we receive from LearnUpon representatives on the rare occasions when we do have a question or need assistance. LearnUpon agents without fail always provide immediate, courteous and effective responses." Sara Poe, Director of Operations, Starfish Aquatics Institute     "LearnUpon LMS is elegant simplicity coupled to robust capability, reliable performance and effective, stress free delivery and setup. A great LMS built by some outstanding folks. They took the time to bring me from a no-nothing LMS newbie to LMS administrator in a couple of days. Every question was answered and every problem was solved. It’s the LMS I plan to use when I expand my education program." Christopher Davies, E-railtrain®   The Ideal Online Learning Partner   "Brendan and Des from LearnUpon have been ideal partners for our LMS needs. They are open to working with us on finding fixes to our unique client needs. Feature updates are well thought out, ready for prime time and frequent. LearnUpon is the best learning management service for training companies that we know (and we’ve searched far and wide)." Tracy Barill, Director of Instructional Design & Development, Healthpoint Institute Inc.   "What makes LearnUpon stand out above other learning platforms is their commitment to supporting each client in achieving their goals. Their system is easy to learn, easy to implement and behind it stands a dedicated team ready to provide assistance. Very pleased to have chosen LearnUpon as our learning platform." Camelia Symes, CEO & Founder, SMART Majority   "LearnUpon is a great partner. They provide seamless support and customer service. I would rate them a 10 on any NPS survey. I feel as if they are a part of my team. They believe in support with excellence, I have the greatest confidence in their ability to deliver." Chris Christenson, Director of Education, Noria   "Our company has used other online training portals in the past and switched over to LearnUpon for a number of reasons, starting with the exceptional support we receive. In a short period of time using LearnUpon has helped us save time, energy and money." John McMahon, Senior Marketing Advisor, Ideal Technology Inc   "I have been searching for just over 10 years for a product like LearnUpon. I’ve always understood that in order to accelerate our growth, we had to automate our learning abilities and provide objective material for our staff and clients to use. Every product that I attempted to use in the past fell short and subsequently the project failed to get off the ground, that is until we found LearnUpon. This product was so intuitive, easy to use, and the price made it a very simple decision. We took the leap with LearnUpon and haven’t looked back. Thanks, Brendan!" Andy Feltmate, Director of Client Services, PBS Systems     "When we were searching for a LMS two things were important to us: 1) Simplicity for our students and 2) Support that would be there when we needed them. LearnUpon has exceeded our expectations! Thanks for making us look great." Jeremy Reets, Owner, Reets Drying Academy   "Being an online learning provider, LearnUpon has been invaluable in allowing our business to get up and running. From day 1, LearnUpon has provided both the technical and personal support that has enabled us to get to where we are today, and will continue to help us to grow in the future." Brian Cahill, CEO, Sound Training Online   "Your service is second-to-none and every day we are glad that we’ve partnered with you." Terry Aurit, Chief of Instructional Design, Savvy Training and Consulting   Always Improving Learning Management System   "They are quick to answer questions and get you the help you need, as well as constantly updating and improving the system based on what their customers are looking for and submitting to them. I would recommend LearnUpon to anyone looking for an LMS system." Ryan Carnes, Partner, Cornerstone Learning House   "A constantly evolving, simple and cost effective LMS with a second to none support team. Even throughout our trial period Brendan and the LearnUpon team couldn’t do enough and the quality, support and level of customer service really is unbeatable and like nothing I have experienced before." Charles Cain, IT Technician, The Harley Medical Group   "After extensive research I found only one LMS that met our requirements. LearnUpon was not just the best option, it was the only option. There is simply no other LMS suitable for commercial training companies that even comes close. Intuitive, smart, affordable and flexible, with an impressive range of features, backed up by first class service and support. In less than 3 years the LearnUpon team have built the best LMS for training companies in the marketplace, and it’s still getting better with new features released every month. I highly recommend LearnUpon to any training company serious about providing its customers with a superb eLearning experience." Richard Smith, Chief Executive, Maybo Ltd.   "If you’re looking for an LMS system you won’t go far wrong with LearnUpon. Their system is powerful yet intuitively simple to use. All the features have been really well thought out by the experience of the staff, and the developers are constantly working hard to improve the system." Paul Randle, Product Marketing Manager, Coachwise Ltd   Affordable LMS for all Customers   "We switched to LearnUpon in early 2014, thereby reducing our LMS costs by 2/3 of the previous cost, and acquiring functions we had not had before, such as integrated eshop and certificate issue. LearnUpon support is excellent: fast and friendly." Jon Cousens, Owner, Cloud Aero Training Ltd     "We needed a hosted system that was affordable, customizable, and allowed for several different training modalities (documents, videos, SCORM content, and Instructor-led sessions). We also needed something that didn’t require us to have dedicated IT staff to manage it. We found ALL of this in LearnUpon." Leslie Dollman, MIS Administrator, Milestone HCQU West   "I am a retired Dean of STEM and have been a Blackboard user and Administrator for over twenty years. I joined this Association 4 years ago and have created a nationally recognized and credentialed training program using the LearnUpon portal and I have to say I could not be happier. Their Customer Support is prompt and very comprehensive, the cost is less than 1/3 of the cost for Blackboard, my 200+ students enjoy the ease of navigating the coursework, and there is so much more! I can’t say enough about how LearnUpon is exceeding everything that I had hoped for." Ken McCreight, Vice President, National Tooling and Machining Association   "With LearnUpon we received an excellent product, within budget and with excellent support along the way. I couldn’t be happier with our decision to select them as our LMS." Mo Qutub, Education Manager, World Obesity Federation   That’s the word from our customers. If you want to experience a learning management system that offers unbeatable customer support, is easy to use, always improving, and affordable, LearnUpon could be the ideal online partner for you too.   Try LearnUpon for yourself. Start your free 30 day trial now. The post Read our LMS reviews appeared first on LearnUpon.

This is a guest post by Sinead Murphy, Instructional Designer and Lecturer at Dublin City University. Sinead is an expert in the development of eLearning strategies and course materials. Creating eLearning courses is like everything else, easy when you know how! Many training professionals find creating effective eLearning content to be one of the most challenging parts of developing online courses. With so much to do at the beginning, it can be tempting to dive straight in and start executing as quickly as possible. But this can also be a risky approach. Spending some time defining the ‘Wheres, Whos and Whats’ of your course helps create a more efficient process that minimizes time wasted on unnecessary work and changes in direction. Take 20 minutes to answer the big questions you need to consider to develop effective SCORM or Tin Can (xAPI) compliant eLearning courses that deliver your learning objectives.   Where to start? The most efficient starting point is a schedule that allows sufficient time to map out your content needs and align them with overall learning objectives and learner expectations. It’s a mistake to underestimate the work you need to do before you actually start commissioning or creating learning content. A comprehensive planning session early in the process will help ensure all of the learning content you create is goal-driven and developed in formats appropriate to both your learning objectives and learner needs. Thinking about the questions in this section will help develop a clear brief that you can use when you move on to working with course developers and authoring software tools. Key question: How much learning content do you already have? What type of content is it? The amount of content you require will be informed both by the length of your course and the volume of existing content you can repurpose. Courses generally shouldn’t be more than one hour long. You should also break learning content into manageable ‘chunks’. ‘Chunking’ content into bite-sized microlearning avoids inducing learner fatigue. Other questions to start with Who are you building the course for? What are the learning objectives etc? What is your budget? The answers to these questions will guide your course design. Developing a course for an online audience is little different to preparing a course for a face-to-face audience. While the design process and how the course is accessed may differ significantly, the need for clear learning objectives and high-quality content is the same. Understanding who you are creating learning content for, and how learners will use it, will help guide decisions about design and content types. The size of your budget will also determine the volume and types of content you can afford to create.   Who are you creating eLearning content for? This second round of questions will help define the first ‘Who’ of your online learning program - your learners. Thinking about these questions will help ensure your course is aligned to the needs of all learners who undertake it. Questions about your learners Who are your learners? How tech savvy are they? How much prior knowledge of the subject matter do they have? Thinking about these questions in the early stages of course development will allow the answers to inform many aspects of your course design. Who your learners are, and their familiarity with technology, should impact most course design decisions - from which navigational features to choose, to how content should be visually presented. For example, If you are designing a course for children, you will use more color and imagery than in a course developed for adult learners. Corporate online training will clearly differ from courses for children, most obviously in terms of objectives and learner needs. That is not to say that corporate or business courses should be rigid in design. You will often hear people say that corporate training courses need to be very polished, clean and professional looking. All courses should be professional looking but that doesn’t mean they should lack imagination and fun. Business professionals are not without imagination and a sense of fun. Online courses created for them should be designed accordingly.   What type of course are you designing? There are a number of guidelines that apply to all courses, regardless of type. Every course should be learner-centric, for example. And you should always aim to be as clear as possible in your understanding of your course rationale. Key question: What is your course rationale? Are you simply trying to pass on information? Or change behavior? Or motivate learners? The answers to these questions will also influence how your course should be designed. If you are simply passing on information, you may just need to develop a straightforward information transference type of course. In that case, a simple, neat linear course structure will suffice. Learners will not thank you for asking them to press extra buttons to access simple information, so keep your course design straightforward wherever possible. If you are trying to motivate learners and change behavior, you may need to assess the degree of learning gained at the end of the course. In that case, planning, development time and costs will increase accordingly. Effective methods for motivating learners to change behavior include the use of storytelling or carefully scripted scenarios in which learners choose an outcome based on the content they have read, watched or listened to. Each outcome must include a degree of feedback that can then branch to another scenario, and so on. While these methods can be very effective ways to learn, they require considerable planning, and the help of a subject matter expert who can relate to the learner’s needs. If you plan to assess learning, you will need to consider what form the assessment should take. Options range from the use of Multiple Choice Questions, to qualitative feedback, or the outcomes returned from scenario choices. You can review some of the assessment options LearnUpon’s LMS offers here. Above all, you must be very clear about what your course needs to achieve and then design accordingly.   Who will design your course? Once you understand who your learners are and what kind of course you need, it’s time to decide who will create it. With so many rapid eLearning authoring software tools available, it’s becoming easier and more cost-effective for organizations to develop courses internally rather than outsource to external developers. If you are new to delivering online learning, it’s crucial to ensure that your chosen course developer has experience using relevant software tools before you proceed. Key question: Is your content creator familiar with the ADDIE or AGILE Instructional Design Models? Which model best suits your organizational culture? Knowledge of the ADDIE or AGILE Instructional Design Models is crucial if you want to develop educationally sound courses. Almost anyone can present information and pictures to develop a ‘course’, but achieving learning outcomes through the delivery of carefully constructed content is a skill. Once you have selected a model your course developer is familiar with, there are many ways your content can be presented.   Which content types should you create? Learning content usually takes the form of text, audio, video and images. The selection of content types should be deliberate and thoughtful. You will also need to consider the range of course content types your chosen LMS can support. The following questions will help you decide which content types are better suited to your learning objectives and learner needs. Questions for content creation Is your course developer skilled in the creation of content of this type? Is the content of good quality? Does the content type actually enhance learning? Is the content format supported by your LMS? Audio, visual or video content should only ever be used to enhance learning. Consider these best practice guidelines before selecting which content types to create. Video When used correctly, video is a powerful learning medium. Video is particularly effective for demonstrating complex tasks, allowing the learner to pause or re-watch particular sections as needed. The creation of video content shouldn’t be undertaken without good reason, however. Producing video content can be costly and there are user experience factors to consider. The use of video increases file size, for example, increasing the time it takes a course to download for learners. It’s also worth remembering that video makes your audience passive. Apart from starting, stopping, pausing, rewinding or fast-forwarding the video, the learner has little opportunity to interact with the content. If content can be presented in another format that the learner can interact with, opt for that instead. Other forms of content can be more cost-effective and actually increase learner engagement. Audio Like video, audio content has a rightful place within course design. The skill is knowing when to use audio content to really maximize learning. There are conflicting views on the use of audio to narrate content on every slide. Consider the value the use of narrated audio adds if identical content can be read on the slide by the learner. If the learner needs to use both the sense of hearing and vision to consume the content, you risk overloading the senses and undermining learning. Audio can certainly be a great way to introduce a course. But once you consider the cost of producing high-quality audio, you must have a compelling educational argument for its inclusion on every course slide. As with the use of video, over-reliance on audio risks making your learner passive, especially if the audio content dictates the pace at which they progress through the course. Imagery Pictures or images can act as powerful learning tools but, as with video and audio content, only if used correctly. All images should be clearly and logically related to the rest of the onscreen learning content, for example. If you have an image on your screen that does not relate to the content for the purpose of learning, it is best to remove it. Decorative imagery can actually detract from learning, as the learner (often subconsciously) works to create a meaningful link between an image and the rest of the slide’s content, such as a paragraph of text. If there is no such link, you have detracted from their learning. Where imagery does logically link with the rest of the slide’s content and add to learning, make sure the quality is good. A poorly pixelated image screams design indifference and risks undermining the authority of your course. Design Choose your font and color scheme carefully as the overall look of your course will have a massive impact on learning. Font should be easy to read, both in terms of the font design and the color selected. Bold, loud colors can be harsh on the eyes and induce fatigue. Don’t be afraid to leave empty white spaces on slides. Clean, uncluttered slides are far more conducive to learning. You may already have a corporate color palette, which can be easily integrated into your courses. This not only save times time but also creates brand consistency between courses and other corporate assets. Poorly designed courses create a negative first impression that will fail to win the confidence of learners. For your first few courses, working with an external expert or providing expert training for your own developer in advance may be a wise investment. This short-term investment can yield positive long-term outcomes if you are considering migrating a lot of your training materials to an online platform.   What platform are you designing for? The accessibility of online courses has changed the way people learn. This accessibility is being further enhanced with the emergence of mobile learning or ‘mLearning’ as it is commonly called. An understanding of mLearning is crucial for course developers. Developers should make note of the range of devices a course may be accessed on, consider how the course should respond, and design accordingly. You will also need to consider the mobile responsiveness of your chosen LMS. LearnUpon’s learning management system includes an iOS app, for example. Attention to responsiveness requires additional planning and increases production time but avoids the need to produce the same course in different formats for different devices. The emergence of mLearning is linked to the evolution of Tin Can (also known as Experience API or xAPI). The xAPI can be viewed as a progression from SCORM, capturing learning activity in a range of mobile settings and scenarios. Deciding whether to create SCORM or xAPI compliant courses can be a very important point of consideration if your organization needs to track ‘mobile’ learner activities. You should first ensure your authoring software has xAPI publishing capabilities, and that your chosen LMS has matching capabilities. You can review LearnUpon’s SCORM and Tin Can features here.   Now you are finally ready to start creating course content! Once you have fully considered the ‘Wheres, Whos, and Whats’ of your course, you will have a clear brief you can use to collaborate with content developers. The more experienced you become at developing courses, the quicker the process will become. Clear thinking at the start of your learning development process will help deliver a better user experience and support the achievement of your learning objectives.   This is a guest post by Sinead Murphy, Instructional Designer and Lecturer. Sinead has an MSc in Education and Training Management from Dublin City University. With expertise in the development of eLearning strategies and course materials, Sinead lectures on Instructional Design. The post Developing online learning content: Ask these questions first appeared first on LearnUpon.

With almost 2,000 members in 50 chapters throughout the United States, The National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) is the national representative of the precision custom manufacturing industry. Dedicated to supporting the profitable growth of members in industries from aerospace to electronics and nuclear power, NTMA represents more than $40 billion in sales. Like all of the best associations and professional bodies, NTMA believes that supporting the Continuing Professional Development of members helps everyone in the organization to thrive. We spoke to Ken McCreight, Vice President of NTMA, about the changes the association has enjoyed since choosing LearnUpon as their learning management system two years ago.   Meet the association A retired Dean of STEM, Ken McCreight was a Blackboard user and administrator for over 20 years. Since joining NTMA as Vice President, Ken has used LearnUpon’s LMS to create a nationally recognized and credentialed training program for the association.   What business challenge did NTMA need LearnUpon to address? As a fast growing business, NTMA faced a wide range of challenges at the time we moved to LearnUpon. When a business grows quickly, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions. Without continual support, that growth can become very challenging, a nightmare, even. NTMA is always alert to the need to pursue new solutions to manage the challenges created by growth. What worked for us as a non-profit association a year ago is not always still the best approach, as our customers’ needs are constantly changing. We believe that recognizing and overcoming the common dangers associated with growth is essential as we continue to thrive. It’s also vitally important to us to ensure the steps we take today don’t in themselves create additional problems for the association in future. All of this was especially relevant to our Learning and Development programs, which faced challenges specifically associated with expansion. NTMA is a non-profit organization that provides workforce development training to members. Within a short four year period, we moved from selling 30 training modules to selling over 1,200 modules to members this year alone. LearnUpon played a vital role in driving and supporting our expansion. The team met us via conference calls, virtual meetings, and email to continually guide us on how to maximize the opportunity as we transitioned to the successful Learning and Development programs we offer today. We also had a number of technical requirements we needed the online learning platform to meet. At the time we moved to LearnUpon, we had over 600 educational YouTube videos we wanted to migrate. Our chosen online learning solution needed the ability to handle a range of multimedia and rich content, such as these video and MP4 files. We also needed the LMS to be able to manage students at different learning levels to match the structure of the courses we offer. Finally, we required considerable automation around features like the grading of assessments and the awarding of certificates.   Why did you decide to move from Blackboard to LearnUpon? I had used Blackboard previously within a very different Learning and Training environment, as a Dean of STEM. My contrasting experiences with Blackboard in a college versus association organization has been instructive. While Blackboard can be very useful within environments that have a specific set of requirements, it’s not the best choice for an association like NTMA. I am well aware of the vast needs colleges can face. Blackboard has the ‘bells and whistles’ a college might need to serve multiple divisions and uses within its varied environment. At an association level, however, many of Blackboard’s features were superfluous to our needs and actually distracted from the learning experience. I would compare it to buying a new computer that’s loaded with software we would never need to use. LearnUpon was far more equipped to meet the real needs of association users. Above all, our students needed a user-friendly system that wasn’t loaded with unnecessary features that complicated their navigation through courses - a problem we experienced with Blackboard. When I went in search of an alternative, I found that LearnUpon had all the features a student would need as well as all the features I needed to be a successful Administrator. Yet LearnUpon was only a third of the cost of Blackboard. We quickly realized that LearnUpon was the right choice and we have been very happy with our selection ever since.   How did you find LearnUpon? As an organization, we needed to evaluate several LMS products and vendors. Finding the learning management system that best met our association’s needs was not easy. There are hundreds of LMS products available. The investment of time and cost that our association made in the search for a learning management system was significant. We took the process very seriously, as I was aware of the risk of disruption caused by selecting the wrong solution.  We had experienced that ourselves by starting with Blackboard, which turned out to be a poor match for NTMA’s training needs. We found LearnUpon via a Google web search and we could not be happier with our selection.   What benefits has NTMA seen since implementing LearnUpon? One of LearnUpon’s great strengths as a learning management platform is their support team. The way they respond almost instantly helps us to manage the administration, delivery, tracking and reporting of our online classes very effectively. LearnUpon’s features have also proven highly beneficial for us. Automation is very important, for example. We now enjoy the ability to issue certificates that identify a student’s grade upon successful completion of a module or course. Automation minimizes time-consuming manual work, saving countless hours in resourcing. LearnUpon also enables us to organize different content for a range of learner audiences. And LearnUpon’s LMS provides data and reports on learner behavior and performance that helps us to measure results and forecast demand for future modules in the next semester. All of these features and benefits help make our Learning and Development processes far more efficient and successful than they were before we moved to LearnUpon.   Why would you recommend LearnUpon over other LMSes? I have to say I could not be happier. LearnUpon’s customer support is outstanding - prompt and very comprehensive. The cost and value of the learning management system is unbeatable - less than a third of the cost of Blackboard, as I mentioned. More importantly, the ease of use for both students and administrators is unmatched by any other LMS. My students enjoy the ease of navigating the coursework - and there is so much more! I can’t say enough about how LearnUpon is exceeding everything that I had hoped for.   Try LearnUpon for yourself. Start your free 30 day trial now.     The post How LearnUpon’s LMS helps a growing association to succeed appeared first on LearnUpon.

If you manage the delivery of training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) within an association, you’ll know that learning credits can be essential to the success of members. Providing learning credits can create structure, meaning and professional recognition for programs that really incentivize and reward the efforts of participants. Association members are also likely to consider integration with industry standards an essential element of the service you provide. But not all learning management systems are equally equipped to handle the range of internal and external credits your members may require. Read this guide to consider the key features your online learning platform should include to make managing CPD as simple as possible for all learners in your association or professional body.   Manage all learning credits together An LMS that can only manage a limited range of learning credits is of little use to associations. The support of successful members demands a learning platform with the ability to fully integrate with all standardized credits, including CPD, CEUs and CMEs. Your association’s learning and development programs do not exist in isolation. To truly deliver value, they must have the capacity to fully integrate with members’ external training programs to form one cohesive learning experience. What this means in the most practical sense, is that learners should be able to track the progress of all learning credits when they login to your association’s LMS. The alternative scenario in which members can only manage a portion of their credits risks creating a fragmented experience that undermines learner confidence and growth. Your online learning platform should also allow you to narrow the range of credits offered, so that learners are not confused by those irrelevant to their professional development. If your LMS is appropriately flexible, you will be able to choose exactly which credits to support and issue through your programs. The ideal solution offers an open credit system that integrates with industry standards yet remains fully customizable by your admininstrators. The most flexible learning management systems, like LearnUpon, enable users to track internal and external credits, awarded both within and beyond the LMS. LearnUpon, for example, allows users to manage all external learning credits, including CPD, CEU, CME and CLE, and avoids the need for intervention by a support team or administrator.   Learning Credits settings screen in LearnUpon’s LMS for associations and professional bodies Credits for all learning activities The need for flexibility extends beyond the types of learning credits supported. An effective LMS must also be able to award any number of credits to the full range of potential courses. It’s crucial that your learning management system can recognize and reward both online and offline learning. Your training and development programs may assess performance on quizzes and assessments delivered within the LMS itself. But you may also need to assign credits to other kinds of activities - the reading of technical journals or other industry publications, attendance at mandatory events, or the submission of notes or reflections on an annual basis. Not all learning management systems are able to offer the requisite level of flexibility, so it’s important to ask these questions early in the process. In LearnUpon, each course dynamically displays a list of credit options that can be easily implemented with a few clicks. To properly assess this requirement, you will need to explore the related features of your chosen LMS. Depending on the structure of your learning and training programs, you may need to ensure that the learning platform includes features like ILT functionality or is compatible with Tin Can API (xAPI) technology. The most flexible learning solutions will allow you to issue credits in the desired format for a full range of behaviors and activities, from the completion of online and classroom-based courses to reading relevant materials and attending conferences.   Automated features  For associations, in particular, the ability to award credits and certificates automatically on the successful completion of courses can be essential. Ken McCreight, Vice President of NTMA, described LearnUpon’s automation functionality as one of the key reasons the association switched from Blackboard to our LMS. Automation removes resource-intensive manual interventions from managing learning credits for your members. An LMS with this level of functionality will automatically award learners who successfully complete a course with a certificate which they can download, save or print. You will also need to ensure that the automation features of the LMS are themselves flexible, able to link the awarding of credits and certificates with all courses, certification programs, learning paths, and events. If branding is important to your association, you should ensure that the LMS will allow you to customize certificates awarded. With LearnUpon, for example, you can import existing certificates into the platform, and link them to whichever course or path is most relevant. This feature also makes it easy to edit certificate design and layout, tailoring the inclusion of dynamic data variables, such as first name, last name, course title, score achieved, completion date, as well as the type and number of learning credits awarded.   The ability to effectively manage learning credits is one of the key features most associations require from a learning management system. If external training obligations matter to your members, you should align your offerings to create the most seamless experience possible. But not all learning platforms have been developed with the specific needs of associations in mind. The ability to effectively manage learning credits is an area where some fail to perform. This oversight is why LearnUpon built an LMS specifically to provide a scalable solution for the training challenges of association management.   Learn more about LearnUpon’s LMS for associations and professional bodies   Common learning credits explained CPD: Continuing Professional Development describes the lifelong learning of those active in the professions. Most CPD programs are designed to help professionals stay up-to-date with developments in their field after tertiary or postgraduate training has concluded. Also known as Continuing Professional Education (CPE), CPD is the means by which professionals maintain their knowledge and skills throughout their working lives. CPD obligations are common in many professions and can include a broad range of activities, including formal, informal, structured and self-directed learning approaches. CEU: A Continuing Education Unit or Continuing Education Credit (CEC) is a measure frequently used in the administration of CPDs for licensed professions, including architects, engineers, educators, health professionals and social workers. Professionals in these fields are sometimes obliged to complete a set number of CEUs to retain or renew their license. A CEU usually equals 10 hours of participation in a recognized Continuing Education Program. CEU records are very important in highly regulated fields and kept as evidence of completion of mandatory training required by certification bodies or governmental licensing boards. CME: Continuing Medical Education describes the form of continuing professional education specific to those who work in medical fields. Activities involved can include attending events, reading publications, or participating in online training programs. CLE: Continuing Legal Education can also be known as Mandatory or Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE). Both terms describe the lifelong professional education of lawyers that takes place in the years after passing the bar. In a number of US states, participation in CLE is mandatory for attorneys to retain their license to practice. The post Why Learning Credits should be a key feature of your LMS appeared first on LearnUpon.

Dublin, Ireland November 11th 2015 - LearnUpon, the world’s fastest growing learning management system, today announces their integration with Salesforce Cloud CRM. This seamless integration will provide LearnUpon customers with direct access to all of their training data within the world’s number one CRM.   Enrollment, commencement, completion and other training data can now be automatically synced in real-time between LearnUpon and Salesforce. Administrators can quickly see what courses their users and contacts are signed up to using the real-time information display and widgets. The LearnUpon for Salesforce app also makes it super-easy to generate custom reports within the Salesforce environment. Administrators can simply drag and drop training history and required fields into their own reports, Visualforce pages or user/contact profiles - the possibilities are endless.   Other features include single sign-on (SSO) and the ability to easily create and update users as learners gain traction in LearnUpon. Salesforce users and contacts can simply click on a learning tab, right within Salesforce, without ever needing to login to other applications or leave Salesforce in order to complete their training. This creates a truly seamless training environment for Salesforce organizations and communities. As learners access training materials, videos, exams and more, tracking and completion data is readily available to administrators directly within their Salesforce organization. Administrators will also benefit from having all of LearnUpon’s functionality readily available. LearnUpon’s portal management features make it even easier for Salesforce administrators to manage clients’ training needs, the licensing of courses and branding configurations.   Commenting on the announcement LearnUpon’s CEO, Brendan Noud, said "We are delighted to announce the release of LearnUpon’s integration with Salesforce. With so many of LearnUpon’s customers using Salesforce as their CRM we see this integration as a great opportunity for them to assign training out to their sales staff, customers and partners directly from within Salesforce as well as giving them quick visibility on what training has been completed without ever needing to leave Salesforce and log into LearnUpon."   Try LearnUpon for free today or email sales@learnupon.com to schedule a personalized demonstration of LearnUpon’s Salesforce integration. The post LearnUpon announces release of Salesforce integration appeared first on LearnUpon.

For those on the hunt for course design tips, Tom Kuhlmann’s blog and the Articulate E-Learning Heroes community overseen by David Anderson are a must read. Articulate Storyline 2 is also really useful for quickly turning eLearning content into engaging interactive courses. So when we heard two of Articulate’s eLearning stars were taking their expertise on the road, we had to be there. And not only did we pick up some nifty production tips, we learned that Tom and David are as generous with their time and knowledge as their work led us to expect. If you weren’t able to make it along to Articulate’s road trip, catch up on the morning’s highlights in this post.   Session 1: Beginner’s Guide to eLearning - David Anderson (Community Manager, Articulate) As Community Manager of E-Learning Heroes, with over 250,000 members, David’s very familiar with the challenges instructional designers face when adapting content to develop new courses. David’s tips are particularly useful in situations where you have limited scope to edit content prepared by a Subject Matter Expert but would still like to add interactive elements.   How to make existing content interactive David chose PowerPoint as a format that often needs to be transformed from a static eLearning document into an interactive course. Storyline works really well in this scenario, retaining the exact contents of the PowerPoint document on import. But by converting a PowerPoint presentation to Storyline, you gain the ability to add interactive elements that enhance learner experience. Some quick ways to enhance existing eLearning content include: Chunking Adding learner interactions Adding design improvements All of these enhancements can be easily made to your course in Storyline, without radically altering the essence of the content prepared by your Subject Matter Expert.   Make changes to the template When working with existing content, you’ll often need to make design changes to enhance user experience. David demonstrated how simply changing the slide background can alter the entire look and feel of a course, for example. With design details moving in and out of fashion, a change from a beveled to a flat style might be essential to remaining consistent with your brand. It can be tempting to make these kinds of design changes to individual slides in isolation. But making local changes risks undermining the consistency of course design. To keep course development efficient, make changes to the template itself wherever possible. Primary text changes should be tied to heading and body settings, for example. Making global instead of local changes helps avoid the need to re-do work and repeat actions later. Bonus tip: It can be challenging to keep courses consistent with a style guide when working across multiple programs, like PowerPoint and Storyline. In this scenario, try embedding the details of your style guide into the settings of PowerPoint and Storyline before you begin to develop your course.   Layers, States and Triggers Some of the most useful Storyline features for transitioning from static to interactive content include the use of states, slide layers, and triggers. These three features allow you to add interactive elements to help engage learners without changing the learning content itself. Layers: Course building starts with a single layer, in David’s example, the static slides imported from PowerPoint. As a course is developed, layers can be added to increase interactivity. States: States can be added to on-screen objects like images, shapes, captions, characters, and buttons. States are most useful in scenarios where you don’t want a learner to proceed without taking an action. Common states include hover, click, drag and drop, visited, selected, and disabled. Each state provides a different view of the content, triggered when a learner takes an action. Triggers: Triggers can be added to similar kinds of objects on slide layers in the Trigger Wizard. All of a course’s interactive elements will include one or more triggers. Triggers tell Storyline when to reveal additional slide layers, usually after a learner has taken an action.   Responsive course design Interactive course design must also be alert to the demands of mobile and tablet responsiveness. Responsive design is essential to creating a positive experience for contemporary learners. All course development processes should consider usability implications for the fullest range of devices and screen sizes possible. The use of layers, states and triggers should be balanced against the limitations of responsiveness. While adding slide layers might make your course interactive, it may also increase file size, risking the creation of usability difficulties for learners. If your course contains a lot of video content, it may be best to limit the use of slide layers. If memory shortages lead screens to time out, learners may not appreciate your efforts to make a course interactive. Think about the range of devices learners will use first and allow that understanding to inform course design. It’s also important to keep responsiveness in mind when exporting course content from Storyline. While Web is a versatile format, it isn’t always the best option for supporting responsiveness. The LMS output format supports SCORM and Tin Can API options that are better equipped to track learner progress across devices and environments. Remember to check the HTML5 box on the screen below if you intend to serve courses to users on iOS devices.     Session 2: Common Interactions & How to Build Them - Tom Kuhlmann (Chief Learning Architect, Articulate) Tom’s Rapid E-Learning Blog is one of the best practical resources for course designers. In our second session with Articulate, Tom went deeper into the subject of learner interactions. Tom outlined the most common types of interaction and showed us how to create reusable versions to make course design efficient. Interactions shouldn’t be added to courses arbitrarily, however. The objective of using them should be to engage learners’ senses and create an active learning experience that moves beyond the simple use of multimedia content.   Before you create interactions Tom advocates allowing time for planning before you begin creating interactions. Start by thinking about a course structure that suits your objectives and learner requirements. Determining a style at the beginning will speed up decision making throughout the development process. Understanding the limits of course development will also help you to make informed design decisions. To create an interaction you will need space for a character onscreen and space for your learner to make a decision. Identify the most common types of interaction you can accomplish in Storyline and map those options to your course development.   How interactions engage learners Adding interactions should aim to further engage learners. Instead of passively receiving information, interactions push learners to make decisions. Tom emphasized the value of a thoughtful approach to course design. Interactions are best used as part of a considered approach that works to improve the learner’s ability to absorb and consider information. Adding unnecessary interactions risks creating a frustrating experience that distracts learners from your shared goal. Tom’s eLearning philosophy focuses on three Cs: Challenging learners’ understanding Giving learners choices Having those choices produce consequences When used effectively, interactions give learners control over their experience. Interactions challenge learners by pushing them to make decisions relevant to their experience. Asking learners to make choices in this way encourages them to analyze situations, making assessments they are more likely to remember.   Common interactions Although some interactions might look impressive, Tom encouraged us not to overthink their design. Most interactions are surprisingly similar. 90% of learner interactions with a screen are click-based, for example. Other common interactions include hovering and dragging and dropping. After a learner interacts with a screen in one of these ways, information relevant to their progress can be revealed by a trigger. Tabs interactions are an effective method for chunking learning content in Storyline. Adding tabs to a slide is particularly useful for breaking up large volumes of content so that it can be revealed in sequence to learners. Less common kinds of tabs interactions include FAQs and Checklists. Once you have prepared the most useful interactions for your course type, Tom recommends saving them for reuse as Storyline templates to speed up course development later.   After a morning filled with top production tips, we’re looking forward to the next road trip already. As David said, a day with our E-LearningHeroes is like eLearning school - but a lot more fun!   Get more eLearning tips and tricks. Sign up to our newsletter.     The post What we learned from a morning with Articulate appeared first on LearnUpon.