The real benefit of e-learning is being able to create a design that improves learners’ skills and behavior while simultaneously achieving the operational advantages that e-learning offers organizations. Yet much e-learning is composed of largely wasted opportunities for useful interactivity. What most people fail to understand about e-learning, is that the mere presence of technology in a learning environment does not change the essential aspects of how people learn. Learning does not occur passively. In live teaching, lecture formats with minimal activity on the part of the learner do not work very well. Yet some e-learning designers tend to create e-learning lessons that are little more than exercises in listening or reading. Learners need to be intellectually engaged for learning to happen. Lasting change requires meaningful and compelling mental engagement and interaction.

Motivation is the energy that accelerates behavior. Often trainers and instructional designers devote a lot of effort in designing reward strategies, convinced that finding the right reward for the right participant will endow the participant with the motivation to learn. Many of us think of motivation as a "carrot and stick" kind of enterprise, with the mechanism influencing motivation located externally. This chapter will help trainers to choose whether to use reward strategies, and if so, how to use them wisely, with a greater understanding of the consequences of their choices.

The comparison between training games and videos (or lectures, or textbooks, or e-learning, or webinars, or any other training technique) is as meaningless as comparing apples and oranges.

It’s probably occurred to you that the comedian’s art and the trainer’s art have a lot in common. Over the years, I’ve worked with Disney Institute and Disney University and their trainers a number of times. And on these trips, I take advantage of the opportunity to learn from them, as well.

I’ve come to realize over the years that some of life’s best lessons are learned in some rather strange locations. One of the oddest places at which I’ve "gone to school" has to be the ice show at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. The teacher was a performer named Albert Lucas.

"Getting by" calls for answering some age old questions in a brand-new year. As the American economy continues to try to recover, many workers begin to wonder if another round of layoffs will occur in their companies. While jobs are being added in the government sector, the growth of new jobs in the private sector has been slow.  Businesses, even those doing well, have shown a reluctance to invest when there are so many uncertainties.  

Many companies approach orientation like it's a formality. It has to be done, but no one wants to waste too much time on it. So, new employees are ushered in, given a quick tour of the office and a rundown of the benefits offered, and then they're expected to get right to work. It seems leaders assume that more detailed information on things like the company's processes and customers will simply be absorbed by new hires as they go along.  

How can companies expand when voluntary turnover is high and building employee engagement is tougher than ever? In a recent webinar, "Creating an Organization Built to Last - Based on the Bestseller ‘The Alliance," celebrated author and high tech startup advisor, investor, and industry influencer Chris Yeh discussed how The Alliance Framework can transform the way employees and managers view their relationship.. The Alliance Framework is a management strategy born out of Silicon Valley’s unparalleled success in attracting, retaining, and engaging employees. This new approach to recruiting and talent management challenges companies to think of their employees not as hired guns, but rather as partners within the organization. The partnership is built around common goals and the framework suggests that each can still thrive, even when individual goals differ.

Global virtual teams are becoming the "new normal" as businesses expand across borders and as skill shortages force companies to tap into broader talent pools. Made possible by technology advances, the global virtual team offers many advantages, including:   obtaining an international perspective on business challenges and solutions achieving economies of scale leveraging complementary work cycles that allow 24/7 productivity harnessing best talent, wherever it is located accelerating innovation and product launches enhancing local knowledge and presence Companies increasingly rely on global virtual teams to foster growth and innovation, yet too often these teams are assembled without a clear process to ensure success. Global virtual teams represent a high stakes commitment, so it is imperative that these teams have a proven framework to promote optimal functioning.

Leaders read the headlines. They know about the survey data. The linkages between career development and productivity gains, expense reduction, quality improvements, innovation, and bottom-line results are obvious. And yet most organizations are still poor at growing talent. It's time to elevate the career conversation to its rightful ranks - give it the respect and title it deserves. Talking with people about their careers is a competency - perhaps the most powerful and under-utilized one at the leader's disposal.

As video becomes more integral to how businesses communicate, how teachers teach, and how we all share ideas and information, many organizations are finding that now is the right time to review how they’ve managed video content in the past and how they plan to do so in the future. That’s because video is unlike any other content:   Different video recorders often produce different types of video files, many of which cannot be played back on other devices Video files are much larger than text documents and quickly exceed maximum file size restrictions on common LMS and CMS solutions And video files are traditionally impossible to search, limiting the value of any recording to anyone looking for specific content But even in the face of these challenges, the popularity of video is exploding. Academic institutions are individually recording 80,000 hours of video every year. 76% of executives already watch a business video at least weekly, and Gartner Research predicts in the next few years, every employee in every company will interact with video at work three times every day. The growing prevalence of video has prompted Forrester Research to recommend organizations "Plan for video content, not just videoconferencing." Doing so offers a variety of rewards, from reducing the cost of meetings and events, and improving training and executive communications, to enhancing remote employee engagement and encouraging internal social learning. Delivering those returns starts with finding the right video platform. For many organizations, however, this is a no small task. The video platform market is young by enterprise IT standards, meaning feature-for-feature comparisons can be difficult to research. And details crucial to successful implementation are all too often obfuscated by video technology standards and industry jargon. Finding your next video platform doesn’t have to be complicated. All you need are the right questions in your next Request For Proposal (RFP). A sharp video platform RFP will make it easy to sort out the contenders and spot the options that can best meet your video needs, both now and for the future. So what are the right questions to ask in a video platform RFP? Here are our top ten recommended (jargon-free!) inquiries to include.

Business Situation:   In 2014, CA Technologies wanted to enhance its Leadership Development program to focus on three critical areas:    increase the business and finance acumen of participants help them articulate the corporate strategy of CA Technologies and how their role supports that strategy and explain how their role can have a positive impact on CA’s financials.    A business simulation was incorporated to bring together all of the content and experience gained throughout the program via experiences that mirror real-world business and provide participants with learning opportunities to make sound decisions regarding strategy, key performance indicators, and company growth. It would also provide the environment where participants could practice leadership skills in the areas of decision-making, collaboration and risk-taking.   Download this paper for the complete case study, including deep insights into the scenario and results.

As emerging technologies and methodologies reshape corporate training, one phrase "adaptive learning" is among the biggest of the buzzwords. I get asked all the time what exactly "adaptive learning" means. Most know the technology has something to do with elearning, personalized education, microlearning, badging, gamification, cloudbased learning, etc. But what does it really mean? How feasible is it to implement? And where can you get your hands on it? Download the full article below.

As training leaders look ahead and assess new technology, a big question is on the table. How can companies create a learning environment where employees become a competitive advantage? Many look to technology to provide that advantage. However, survey results show strong dissatisfaction with HR technology.   A 2016 Brandon Hall technology survey indicated that 47% of respondents were dissatisfied with HCM technology Only 9% of HR professionals believe that HR technology has revolutionized their businesses according to a 2015 SilkRoad survey Download this article and learn of new approaches to overcome the challenges of old school learning solutions and new solutions that truly serve business goals.

Experiential Learning 101: Challenge By Choice Trainers, facilitators and program leaders have a tough challenge: what's the best way to engage learners today? Experiential learning presents a highly unique growth opportunity for participants, as well as a tool that program leaders can put to work for them to achieve a specific outcome. See how one type of program -- Challenge By Choice -- combines the best methods of experiential learning and enables people of all capabilities to actively participate. 

Ixia was in a period of rapid growth through acquisitions. A deeply technical company, it needed to cultivate a stronger leadership bench from cross-functional roles. Chris Williams, senior vice president, human resources, spearheaded the creation of Ixia’s Next Generation Leadership program (NGL) to help future leaders develop business acumen and other skills that complemented their technical expertise. The NGL program would be conducted in three modules over the course of a year. Williams sought a leader in the experiential learning field to provide a business simulation that would form one of the program’s cornerstone modules. 

Carbon Black is a leading security company that detects malicious behavior and helps organizations defend against them. In this case study learn how Carbon Black uses Moodle by eThink to improve efficiencies in onboarding and professional development. With Moodle by eThink, Carbon Black has created a role-based onboarding process, utilizes analytics and reporting for measurable learning, and has a centralized location to organize and easily share market knowledge.

The Strategic Insurance Agency Association is a national alliance of independent insurance agencies dedicated to the creation, retention, growth, and continued success of the independent insurance agency distribution system. Through Moodle by eThink, SIAA was able to create a thriving online university to connect members with shared knowledge and resources.

The education game market continues to grow rapidly, and mobile learning games are the dominant force in this market. Newzoo provides the insights for the generic games market; the Serious Play Conference released its annual report showcasing the huge growth specific to the education and corporate training sector. The compound annual growth rate in the U.S for corporate learning games will be over 20% between 2017 - 2022 and about 35% globally with the U.S. and India being the top two markets for serious gameplay. Newzoo predicts the overall mobile game market across all game types will grow 40% between now and 2020, a significant growth increase. Click below to download this article.

For years, trainers have watched as interest declined in traditional approaches to technology training. Confronted with a changing job market, many still struggle to find their way on a new path. Key skills are required for trainers to increase their value, deliver programs with more impact and engage the modern learner. Click below to download this article.

What will classrooms of the future be like? Emerging technologies such as cloud computing, learning analytics, artificial intelligence and wearables are paving the way for the future of learning. These promising technologies will change the way we deliver learning and empower us with the data and analytics needed to increase the consumption and efficiency of learning within the law firm. Click below to download this article.

Discover how a Whole Brain® approach can transform the ideation process. Explore some of the specific Whole Brain® ideation, experimentation and problem-solving processes the team used. Learn how this global liquor giant was able to come up with and successfully implement a number of groundbreaking new marketing ideas by injecting Whole Brain® Thinking into their innovation process. Find Out how the "killer" marketing ideas that resulted from the Whole Brain® approach directly led to increased merchandising sales that outperformed the competition, as well as double-digit brand growth.

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Get the most out of training by recognizing employees before, during, and after a learning event. The principle of recognition that "You get what you reward" is a universal yet often underused principle in day-to-day management—and the training and development function is no exception. There are many ways that recognition can be used to make the training function more efficient, learning more effective, and the training staff more appreciated. By doing so, you can get the most out of the training investment that’s made in your organization. Click below to download this article.