[Post by Greg Gammie, Implementations Manager at GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc.] Written by John Boudreau, the article is subtitled, HR’s constituents are eager to see the profession step up to big future challenges. Is HR ready? Professor and research director at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations, Boudreau is the author of "Transformative HR: How Great Companies Use Evidence-Based Change for Sustainable Advantage." Boudreau begins by stating, "The dilemma facing human resources’ constituents is captured in a vignette, a chief human resources officer once told me that described their first meeting with their leadership team chaired by the CEO." He then provides findings from investigations of the expectations of CEOs and board members. To read the article, visit What Should CEOs Expect from HR at Talent Management

Well check out the latest video from our creative content team which shows how the Incentive8 review differs from other ‘technology reviews’, invariably based on a form of ‘self-assessment tool’. It’s no secret that the majority of colleges and independent learning providers are not yet realising the benefit of  using appropriate learning technology to ‘manage’ […]

"I’m thinking of doing some coaching in a few years and helping people make decisions around food and nutrition", I was told the other day by a young man working in a shop. My advice was to start a blog: now. While he had no intention of freelancing for the near term, he needed to get his thoughts in order. A blog is a good place to do this over time. You can start slow. The process builds over time. My early blog posts were pretty bad but they helped me see what ideas I could revisit and build upon. And it took time. If you even think you want to be self-employed as a knowledge worker offering some kind of service, then start working on it now. You should also be saving money if you can, but investing your time is a cheap investment that may pay significant dividends. You will practice your writing skills in public, and most likely force yourself to get better You will develop half-baked ideas that might turn into lines of business, like PKM did for me, which I originally wrote about in 2004. You may meet some interesting people with whom you can learn more. There will be greater chances for serendipitous encounters. You blog posts will give you something tangible upon which to reflect. While freelancing requires a lot more than just writing ideas on your blog, it can be a solid foundation upon which to build the ideas for your new business. The best time to start is now. Further Reading on the net without a net

  Know your audience! This is drilled into our heads whether you are an instructional designer, technical writer, or content writer. However, we often forget about what our audience wants and needs because we get caught up in our own cleverness. We have a lot of information that is really interesting and want to share it all with the audience. We have a great new idea for a layout that is unique. We thought of an activity that is fun and educational. That feeling of excitement over our brilliance is great, but we need to stop, step back, and evaluate our brilliant idea. Hold it up to your audience and ask the two important questions - Is it what the audience really wants? And do they need it? Don’t forget your audience … ever. The folks at eLearning Mind wrote an article on the importance of understanding your audience when developing gamification.

You’ve heard all the online marketers say it before: the money is in the list. Some marketers (we won’t name names) have even referred to their lists as their personal ATM machines. Just to be clear, we aren’t advocating referring to your list as your personal ATM machine, but there is definitely a lot of truth in the expression. The reason marketers say that the money is in the list is simple. Without a list of email subscribers (people who have given you their permission to communicate with them), selling your online course - or any product or service, for that matter - is tough. Having an email list of highly targeted prospects for your business gives you the power to generate immediate revenue whenever you promote (within reason) a product to them. But what if you have a small list? Or what if you have no list at all? How will you market your online course, and more importantly, generate sales? The answer: by working with Joint Venture partners. How to find #JointVenture partners to promote your online course. #teachonlineClick To Tweet So what exactly is a Joint Venture partner? Joint Venture partners (also called JV partners, promotional partners, or affiliate partners) are people or organizations that have an email list of people who are in your target market, and who agree to promote your online course to their list in exchange for a commission or percentage of sales. You provide the product. They provide the list. You split the sales. It’s a win-win for both parties, and that’s why they are so effective. In this article, we’re going to show you how to find suitable Joint Venture partners to promote your online course, how to approach them, and how to work with them successfully. We spoke with a LOT of experts on this topic, so you’ll find their insights sprinkled throughout this article. Now, before we show you how to implement Joint Ventures into your course marketing strategy, let’s talk about why Joint Ventures are so powerful. Note: We’ve created a workbook for you to download and print out to help keep track of all the steps in this post. Working with partners is a long process, so it helps to have a tracking document like this. Get it here. Benefits of working with a Joint Venture partner: In addition to generating revenue from your online course sales, there are several other benefits that make working with Joint Venture partners such a powerful marketing strategy. In no particular order, here are some of those benefits: 1. You don’t need an audience The most obvious benefit of working with a Joint Venture partner is the exposure to their audience. In order to sell your online course, you need an audience to promote it to. More specifically, you need a targeted audience, one that is actually interested in your course topic. It wouldn’t do you much good to promote your dog training course to a bunch of cat owners. You need to get your course in front of the right people. Building an audience is a lot of work, and it definitely doesn’t happen overnight. So if you have an online course, but you don’t have an audience (ie. a targeted email list of potential buyers), working with a Joint Venture partner is your best option. We asked Sol Orwell, the Co-Founder of Examine, to share his insights with us. Here’s what he told us about the benefits of working with Joint Venture partners: "At the end of the day, marketing is about distribution and exposure. Joint Venture partners give you access to an audience that you normally would not have access to."  Tweet this. 2. You don’t have to spend money on advertising (free exposure) With most Joint Venture partners, you don’t pay anything upfront to work with them. Instead, you pay them a percentage of the sales that are generated when you sell your online course to their audience. So basically, when they promote you to their audience, you’re getting free exposure. You only pay your Joint Venture partner if sales are made. And since you’re paying them with money that you earned from the sales (sales that you would not have received otherwise), you’re not spending any money out-of-pocket. The money you keep after paying them their share is pure profit. If you have an #onlinecourse but no audience, find a #JointVenture partner who does. #teachonlineClick To Tweet 3. It helps you to build your list Working with a Joint Venture partner is also a great way to build your email list. For example, if you host a webinar together (more on that later), you end up collecting the email addresses of everyone who registers for your webinar. Even if those people aren’t able to attend your live webinar, because you have their email addresses you can send them a link to your webinar recording and/or add them to your email newsletter. 4. You get to leverage the trust they have with their audience Building a large email list, and more importantly, earning the trust of that email list is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort. That trust that a Joint Venture partner has with their list is exactly why you want to work with them. When they promote you to their list of people who trust their recommendations, that trust gets transferred to you, making them more likely to buy from you. We spoke with Iman Aghay, Founder of Success Road Academy and the creator of Ultimate Course Formula about this. Here’s what he had to say about the transfer of trust that occurs when a Joint Venture partner promotes you: "Joint Venture partners are lending their credibility to you, so you become credible. Although their audience doesn’t know you, they know the partner. And because they trust the partner, they trust you."  Tweet this. 5. Higher conversion rate than paid advertising  When compared to spending money on advertising to promote your online course to an audience that doesn’t know you (aka cold traffic), the conversation rate of your marketing will likely be higher when it comes from a Joint Venture partner. Why? Because the people who are directed to your website trust the person who sent them there. So in that sense, using a Joint Venture partner to promote your online course can often be more effective than using paid advertising. Here is what Iman Aghay told us about the impact referrals from a Joint Venture partner can have on conversion rates: "You can see the difference in the conversion rate on your landing page. For example, let’s say you’re running an ad on Facebook and you’re getting a 15-30% conversion rate. Most likely, if you run a similar piece of marketing to the same landing page but through an affiliate, you will get a 60-70% conversion rate, because when a person lands on your landing page through an affiliate, they already trust you. They already know that somebody else is vouching for you. Anybody can put an ad on Facebook, but not everybody can build a relationship with a partner."  Tweet this. 6. You can work with as many Joint Venture partners as you want Another great thing about this strategy is there is really no limit to how many times you can use it. As long as the person you partner with has an audience that would likely be interested in your online course, and you are not in direct competition with them, you can work with them. We spoke with Matt McWilliams, an Affiliate Manager who has helped numerous entrepreneurs and online course creators execute successful product launches including Lewis Howes, Jeff Goins, Peter Voogd, Ray Edwards, and others. The word he used to describe this benefit was scalability: "The biggest benefit is scalability. There are only so many Facebook Ads or LinkedIn Ads or SEO that you can do. Everybody has a ceiling. There’s a finite amount of people that you can reach on your own. But if you’re working with JV partners, that limit is much higher."  Tweet this. The Bottom Line: Distribution + Credibility As you can see from the benefits we listed above, the impact that working with Joint Venture partners can have on your business is hard to ignore. But if we had to summarize all of those benefits into two words, those words would be distribution and credibility. We spoke with Dana Severson, the Director of Marketing at Promoter, and distribution and credibility were the exact words he used to describe the main benefits of working with Joint Venture partners: "The two biggest benefits that I look for in any partnership are distribution (how many new people can I reach?) and credibility (does the association improve our social proof?)."  Tweet this. 6 reasons why #JointVenture partners are a great way to promote your #onlinecourse. #teachonlineClick To Tweet Where to find potential Joint Venture partners: Now that you know why working with Joint Venture partners is so powerful, let’s discuss how to find them. Here are a few places that you can find a potential Joint Venture partner to help promote your online course: 1. Your network: The first place that you should look to find a potential Joint Venture partner is your existing network. These are people who already know, like and trust you. Who do you know that has access to your target audience? Who do you know that could refer you to someone who does? Reaching out to your personal network is a strategy that Matt McWilliams recommends as the starting point for finding a Joint Venture partner: "Start with the people you know, especially the ones that are in your niche. Those are going to be the best people to work with."  Tweet this. 2. Your Existing Customers or Email List Your existing customers and/or list of email subscribers can be a great place to find a Joint Venture partner because these are people who have already purchased your product or service (or at the very least, consumed your content), and are familiar with what you do and what you offer. Some of these people likely have access to your target audience, or are able to introduce you to someone who does. We spoke with Sohail Khan, the world’s premier Joint Venture Expert and the co-author of Guerilla Marketing and Joint Ventures with the late Jay Conrad Levinson. Sohail has generated millions of dollars for himself and his clients using Joint Ventures. Here’s what he told us about leveraging your existing customers to find your next Joint Venture partner: "Your existing mailing or customer list is one of the best places to find potential JV partners. Why? Because your customers have already done business with you. They know you, they know your business and they probably have a relationship with you. They will trust you and follow your recommendation if you’ve built a good relationship with them and you’ve only sold and endorsed quality products to them."  Tweet this. 3. Bloggers: Do a Google search to find blogs related to your course topic. Many bloggers do not have their own products or services to sell to their audience, but would be happy to promote your online course to their readers if they think it is something that they would be interested in. You could even give a blogger free access to your course before you ask them to promote it, so that they know exactly what they would be promoting to their audience. According to Iman Aghay, people will sometimes choose to promote you simply because your content has value to their audience, and not necessarily because of the money they stand to make when their audience buys from you: "People are willing to promote you for reasons other than just making money. There are affiliates who are actually looking for your content. The reason they’re promoting your product is not because of the money that they are going to make, but because of the content that you have."  Tweet this. 4. Podcast Hosts: Search for podcasts related to your topic on iTunes. You can also check the New and Noteworthy section and the What’s Host section for the categories most related to your topic. Make a list of the podcasts that serve your target audience, and head over to their respective websites to get in touch with their hosts. Pat Flynn, for example, hosts a top ranked business podcast called the Smart Passive Income Podcast. Although Pat does not personally have any courses about creating passive income online, he has a very large audience that is interested in the subject. For that reason, Pat will often become a Joint Venture partner for the guests on his podcast who have an online course that his audience is interested in. To give you an example, shortly after appearing as a guest on Pat’s podcast in 2015 to discuss creating and selling online courses, David Siteman Garland and Pat hosted a webinar together. Pat invited his audience to attend the webinar where David shared his insights on creating and selling online courses. At the end of the webinar, David pitched his course called Created Awesome Online Courses to the attendees, and split the sales revenue with Pat. It was a win-win for everyone involved. David acquired more students for his course, Pat made money, and Pat’s audience got to learn about a specific strategy for making passive income online. Here is a screenshot of the Registration Page for the webinar they did together (they used LeadPages to create this): 5. Authors: Take a look at the bestsellers list on Amazon for the categories that are most related to your course topic. Your goal is to find books your target market is buying. You can also search for books using the main search bar to see which books appear in the results. Make a list of all the authors that have written books about your topic (or related topics), then head over to their website to get in touch with them. 6. Other Online Instructors: Other online instructors can be great Joint Venture partners because they already have an audience of people who have purchased an online course. The key with this strategy is to search for online courses that complement your course topic but are not your direct competition. Once you find a course that fits this criteria, contact that course’s instructor. Course marketplaces such as Udemy and Lynda are great places to search for online courses. David Siteman Garland (Create Awesome Online Courses), for example, will often promote other people’s online courses to his students. In early 2016, David promoted a course called Your First 10,000 Readers by Nick Stephenson. Many of David’s students are authors who are interested in learning how to build their email lists. Since list building is not a topic that David personally teaches, doing a Joint Venture with Nick Stephenson made perfect sense. Once again, it was a win-win for everyone involved. Here is a screenshot of the Registration Page for the webinar they did together: 7. Facebook and LinkedIn Group Owners: Search for groups about your topic on Facebook and LinkedIn. Find out who created each group and send them a personalized message and contact request. Facebook and LinkedIn Groups are great places to do market research for your current and/or next online course. Consider becoming a member of those groups so you can participate in the discussions. 8. Conferences and industry events: Search for conferences and events related to your course topic and get in touch with the host of those events. If you can, meet them in person (a face-to-face interaction is more personal than an online interaction). Anyone who organizes an event is likely to have several hundred, maybe even several thousand people in their database that are interested in the same topic. Matt Astifan, host of a Vancouver-based Meet Up group called Internet Masterminds, for example, often becomes a Joint Venture partner for people who have online courses related to internet marketing. He sometimes invites those people to speak at his event, or alternatively, he co-hosts a live webinar with them where they sell their online course to his audience and split the sales revenue with him. 8 ways to find a #JointVenture partner to promote your #onlinecourse. #teachonlineClick To Tweet How to reach out to a potential Joint Venture partner: Once you’ve put together a list of potential Joint Venture partners, the next step is to reach out to them. But before you do, you need to understand something very important. Asking someone to promote your online course is basically asking for a favor. So unless they know you personally, or you’ve helped them with something in the past, they may not be comfortable promoting your online course to their audience (an audience that they’ve likely worked very hard to earn the trust of). Asking someone to promote you is asking for a favor. Help them before you ask for help. #teachonline…Click To Tweet Add value to a potential Joint Venture partner before you pitch them Instead of pitching someone who doesn’t know you straight out of the gate, spend some time to add value to them first. Comment on their blog. Subscribe to their email newsletter. Attend one of their webinars. Share their Tweets. Buy their product. Leave a positive review for their book or podcast. Refer a client to them. Attend their live event. You get the idea. The point is to get their attention by supporting their work. This is the approach that Michael Ugino, Co-Founder and CMO of Sellbrite, recommends: "Follow their work, understand their message, and if possible get an intro from a trusted medium."  Tweet this. When you support someone else’s work first, they are much more inclined to support yours when you ask them to. The goal here is to build a real relationship. It’s easier to ask a friend for a favor than it is to ask a stranger. Here is what Sohail Khan told us about building relationships with potential Joint Venture partners: "Help them out with something. Find something about their business, their website, their ad copy - whatever - that could use a little help. Make sure it’s something that you actually have experience with. Do this without being insulting in any way and you will have just made a new friend. Build on that friendship and keep on helping each other out. When the time comes for you to bring up a proposal, they’ll be all ears and 90% of the time, it’s going to happen."  Tweet this. You should also check to make sure that the person you reach out to doesn’t have an online course that competes with yours. You want someone who has an audience that would most likely be interested in taking your online course, but who is not your competition. Your course should complement what they are already providing to their audience. For example, if someone has an online course that teaches people how to become a freelance graphic designer, and you have an online course about Adobe Photoshop, then your course complements theirs, it doesn’t compete with it. In that scenario, it would be appropriate to reach out to them. Working with Joint Venture partners that provide a complementary service to the same target audience has worked out well for many entrepreneurs, including Devesh Khanal, the Founder of a conversation optimization consultancy. Here is what he told us about working with Joint Venture partners that serve the same customers: "For agency work, Joint Ventures have been great for sourcing leads. The #1 problem for most agencies is getting in front of more target customers. A great way to do this is to find other companies that already have your target customers and form a partnership. Most businesses can find these ideal partners - companies that serve the same customers in a complimentary way. For example, an SEO agency and a PPC agency."  Tweet this. Send a personalized email to each potential Joint Venture partner Once you’ve built a relationship with a potential Joint Venture partner (or have at least gotten their attention by supporting their work), the next step is to email them. When you send a potential Joint Venture partner an email, it needs to be a personalized email that you wrote specifically for them. Sending a personalized email is very important. If your email comes across as a generic email template that you send to several people, you probably won’t even get a response from them. Here is what Jason Quey, a Growth Strategist for Content Marketer, said to us about sending emails to potential Joint Venture partners: "While I use social media to get on their radar, I always want to send them an email. This allows a more personal connection without the distractions of another tweet, Facebook message, or any other notification."  Tweet this. Introduce yourself to them (tell them who you are, who you serve and how). Compliment their work and prove to them that you’ve actually done your homework by mentioning specifically why you appreciate what they do or how their content has helped you. Next, tell them you have an online course that you think their audience would be interested in and that complements the products and services they are already selling. Tell them you would like to discuss the possibility of doing a Joint Venture together and ask them to get in touch with you if they are interested. Always send a #JointVenture partner a personalized email. Generic emails rarely get a response.…Click To Tweet Keep in mind that the purpose of this first email is simply to peak their interest and start a conversation. It is not to ask them to promote you right away. As Dana Severson pointed out to us, it takes a bit of courting to get some to agree to finally agree to do a Joint Venture with you. "Depending on the size of the company, you may need to court them over time. Find the right contact, follow them on social channels, respond to their posts — basically just create a relationship. When the time is right, email them with a short, but compelling pitch. Sell them on the value you bring them."  Tweet this. Schedule a meeting Once you’ve heard back from a potential Joint Venture partner, we recommend scheduling a phone call (or Skype call) with them. A phone call is more personal than an email, giving you the chance to build rapport with them as you work out the details of working together. An in-person meeting is even better, but in most cases a scheduled phone call will suffice. If you decide to work together, it is best to outline the details of what you discussed together in writing. This will help prevent any misunderstandings from happening later on. Here is what Jon Tavarez, the Founder of Vantage Internet Group, told us about verbal agreements: "Verbal agreements don’t matter. Make written agreements that are very simple and transparent." Tweet this.   Psst: Keep track of who you’ve reached out to and what needs to be done to start the partnership with our free workbook - How to work with a Joint Venture partner: There are many ways to structure a Joint Venture, but since your goal here is to sell your online course to their audience, our recommendation is to host a live webinar together. A live webinar gives you the chance to add value to their audience by sharing some of your best content with them upfront. Then, at the end of the webinar, you pitch your online course to the attendees. Webinars are a separate topic from Joint Ventures, but if you’d like learn more about them then check out our article The Complete Blueprint To Selling On Webinars. When it comes to co-hosting a webinar with a Joint Venture partner, there are essentially 4 main steps involved in the process that you should discuss with your prospective partner before you agree to work together: 1. They promote the webinar to their email list The first step involved in this process is for your Joint Venture partner to send an email to their list to invite them to your webinar. Make it really easy for them to do this. Provide them with specific email copy to send to their list (subject line, bullet points, webinar details, etc.) along with a link to your webinar registration page. Provide them with at least 2 or 3 emails to send to their list (an initial webinar invitation email, along with some reminder emails). According to Matt McWilliams, it’s best to work out all the details of the webinar and the responsibilities (including email communication) of your Joint Venture partner several weeks in advance: "A big mistake we’ve made in the past is not getting the stuff that partners need to them well in advance. Swipe copy, logins to affiliate centers, all the important dates, contest details, etc. Get all that to them weeks in advance. Your partners’ lives don’t revolve around your launch. Give them everything in advance so they can schedule it."  Tweet this. 2. You build your email list as people register for the webinar In order to attend the webinar, people will need to register for the webinar using their email address. You’ll need to set up a Registration Page for your webinar. We recommend giving away a free resource (an ebook or a PDF guide, for example) in exchange for registering. Make sure your Joint Venture partner knows that promoting your webinar to their list is going to help you build your list, and that they are okay with that. After someone registers for your webinar, they should receive a confirmation email along with a series of reminder emails leading up to the webinar. After the webinar is over, be prepared to send a link to the replay to all registrants (many online courses sales come from webinar replays). Email communication with webinar registrants is typically your responsibility. 3. You host a live webinar together where you sell your course Although some Joint Venture partners will want to simply email their list the invitation to your webinar and not actually host the webinar with you, we highly recommend encouraging them to co-host the webinar with you. They don’t have to stay for the whole thing, but if they are able to personally introduce you to their audience at the beginning of the webinar, this will help to increase sales since that personalized introduction will edify you to their audience. Don’t leave it up to your Joint Venture partner to decide how they introduce you to their audience on the webinar. At a minimum, you should provide them with a one paragraph bio that helps to position you as an expert on your topic before you begin your presentation. Also, make sure your Joint Venture partner is aware of the technology you will be using to host the webinar. It’s a good idea to have them show up early so you can quickly test the audio, video, and screen sharing capabilities before the presentation begins. Most importantly, make sure you deliver an EPIC presentation to your Joint Venture partner’s audience. Provide them with a ton of value upfront, and then transition confidently into presenting your online course. According to Iman Aghay, not being able to do those two things is actually insulting to your Joint Venture partner: "When I’m hosting a webinar for a person, there are two things I expect them to be able to do: show up professionally and deliver amazing content to my list, and at the end of that webinar, convert a lot of people on that webinar to their program. It’s insulting to an affiliate if you ask them to host a webinar for you if you can’t provide great value to their audience and you can’t close at the end."  Tweet this. 4. You split the revenue from course sales with them Agree on a revenue split ahead of time (we recommend doing a 50/50 split). Clarify how and when your Joint Venture partner will be paid. If you’re using Thinkific to sell your online course, we’ve made it super easy for you to handle this. All you have to do is add a new user to your course (using their name and email address), add them to your course’s affiliate program, and then input the amount they are to be paid for each sale. When you host a webinar together (and when you email the replay to the registrants), use their affiliate link so you can track all sales that come directly from their audience. Friendship first. Business second. As we wrap up this article, we would like to stress one more very important point, and that is that the key to making a Joint Venture partnership work is to invest the necessary time and effort to build a relationship first. Yes, it is wonderful when someone promotes you to their audience and you both make money when you sell your online course. But getting there doesn’t happen overnight. Be prepared to spend several months building a relationship with a potential Joint Venture partner before they agree to promote you. This is a long-term strategy, one where building real relationships with influencers in your industry will eventually pay off. The key to making a #JointVenture work is to focus on building a relationship first. #teachonline Click To Tweet We spoke with Yaro Starak, a highly successful business blogger who recently generated over $100,000 in sales of his blogging course in a two week period with the help of his Joint Venture partners. He reminded us of the importance of having a "friendship first, business second" mindset. Here’s what he told us: "Start reaching out to Joint Venture partners and affiliates 6-12 months before you launch your online course. The biggest affiliates have a schedule. They plan in advance who they are going to promote. If they don’t know you or you give them short notice, they probably won’t promote you. You have to build a relationship with them first. Make friends. Then, when the time is right, you can talk to them about promoting you."  Tweet this. Ready to use Joint Ventures to sell more online courses? Well… that’s it! You are now officially equipped with more information about using Joint Venture partners to promote your online course than 99% of the online instructors out there. The big question now is what will you do with your newly acquired superpower? Before you go, make sure you download our free Joint Venture worksheet. You can use this worksheet to help plan out your Joint Venture marketing strategy and keep track of your communication with each prospective Joint Venture partner you reach out to. The post How To Use Joint Venture Partners To Promote Your Product appeared first on Thinkific.

A terms of use, privacy policy and other legal language is probably the last thing you are thinking about when you’re putting together an online course. But at some point, you need to add this to your website or your online course site. In this episode of Teach Online TV, we explain what it’s all about. Some of the things that you’re going to work into your terms of use or your privacy policy, would be things like trademark and intellectual property protection, access to the course, things like limiting your liability. If you’re promising to teach people things, you might want to let them know that they may not get the results that they want. There’s no guarantee that they’re going to achieve the results that you’re sharing in your course, especially if you are teaching people how to make money or save money, or get a job. You want to be limiting that liability so you are saying, if you don’t get the results that we promised in this course, that’s not on us. So it can be important to have some of this language in your online course site. That would go into the terms of use, and then the privacy policy is usually about how you are using their personal information or, more likely, how you are not using it and limiting how you’re going to be using it to just contacting them, and whether or not you’re going to sell their information to third parties. Now for us, when we collect people’s personal information, we’re not selling it to third parties or sharing it with third parties, but that’s up to you what you put in your terms of use and privacy policy. Now you can find a lot of examples online for these things, but I have taken the liberty of putting together a couple for you. I am a lawyer but I am not your lawyer and I’m not giving you legal advice here, but I have pulled together a couple of examples that you might find helpful as a starting point. You may want to have your lawyer review them, or if you fancy being your own lawyer, you can just make some modifications to the examples we’ve provided below and do what you wish with them for your own online courses. This is the Privacy Policy I used for my personal online school, Alphascore - Alphascore Privacy Policy. And this is the Terms of Use - Alphascore Terms of Use. I hope you find it helpful and that it helps you build your online course business. The post Teach Online TV #19: Privacy Policies and Terms of Service For Your Online Course appeared first on Thinkific.

Motivation is the desire to do things. Psychology Today describes motivation as "the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day." Motivation is a critical element in setting and attaining goals—and the great news is research shows you can influence your own levels of self-control and motivation. Get the worm or catch the firefly It turns out that circadian rhythms really do affect how we work; we all have peaks and valleys in our physical and mental capacity to get work done. "Numerous studies have demonstrated that our best performance on challenging, attention-demanding tasks occurs at our peak time of day. When we operate at our optimal time of day, we filter out the distractions in our world and get down to business." Scientific American Some of us are early birds, and are motivated and able to work harder and more efficiently early in the day. Others are night owls and find that our most productive hours happen after the sun sets. Pay attention to your day and how you feel at certain times. Write down your observations and determine if there is an obvious pattern as to when you feel more confident, capable and focused. Then make sure to plan appropriate tasks for this time period. Lose the Yoga Pants (unless you are actually doing yoga) In a Forbes article entitled, "Is Casual Dress Killing Your Productivity at Work?", Dr. Karen Pine, professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and fashion psychologist had this to say about choosing what to wear each day: "When we put on an item of clothing it is common for the wearer to adopt the characteristics associated with that garment. A lot of clothing has symbolic meaning for us, whether it’s ‘professional work attire’ or ‘relaxing weekend wear,’ so when we put it on we prime the brain to behave in ways consistent with that meaning." Select clothing that representst the frame of mind you want to be in! There are some things best left out of the bedroom Using electronics in the bedroom, right before bed, may negatively impact sleep quality. "One of the most simple but important reasons technology affects our sleep is cognitive stimulation," says Mark Rosekind, PhD, former director of the Fatigue Countermeasures Program at the NASA Ames Research Center and president and chief scientist at the scientific consulting firm Alertness Solutions. Scientific data documents the role of light in promoting wakefulness; even our smallest electronic devices emit sufficient light to send signals to the brain to promote wakefulness.  Your best bet? Make where you sleep an electronic-free zone. If you have to work in the bedroom, it’s best to unplug at least 45-60 minutes before bedtime. There’s an app for that To-do lists, calendars, work schedules and deadlines; there are a lot of things to keep track of nowadays. Lucky for us there are hundreds of apps to help us become a bit more organized. There are even apps that track your digital time to give you insight into where you are spending your precious hours. And my favorite? Apps that help break down seemingly impossible tasks into smaller, more manageable, bite-size chunks. Wiggle it - just a little bit (or a lot) Really, it’s no joke. Being sedentary is not only harmful for your health; it is terrible for your motivation and discipline. The boost of energy you get from exercising can help you with productivity. Go for a walk - or take frequent breaks to walk up and down the stairs - you’ll feel like you’ve done something important for yourself! What’s your carrot? We all have motivators, or in some cases distracters that can become motivators if regulated. Is your favorite past time surfing the internet? Scrolling through Twitter? Watching TV? Do two hours of solid work and then log on to your favorite websites or watch an episode of something. Get that important task finished and reward yourself with something - a manicure, a trip to Starbucks. Tune into your motivators, and turn your distractions into rewards! Go off the radar Whenever you have a deadline, or simply need to focus, log off of all other websites including social sites. Turn off your "chat" feature, log out of email, turn off the ringer on your phone, and turn off television/radio. The frequent distractions of these things not only take time to deal with; they also disrupt your thought process and can set you behind. Turn them off. Use them as your "carrot" if needed. You might find that you are working so efficiently, that you don’t even miss them! Air out, Connect and Communicate If your work is solitary, you don’t want to become a recluse. Make a point to get out into the world at least once a day. Get some Vitamin D by walking around the block or by going to the store to pick up a gallon of milk. And while you’re there, connect and communicate. Make eye-to-eye contact with the store clerk and ask how their day is going, or share a funny story. Keep your social skills active! Really, it’s about finding out what energizes you; what makes you feel productive and what makes you most successful. Find those things and do more of them! Ed4Online offers many courses to assist with goal setting, productivity and time management. Sign up for our self-study course Time and Action Management and our four week long, instructor led course Personal Excellence - they are both are excellent places to start! Sources: https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/motivation http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/01/22/11-ways-to-stay-motivated-while-working-from-home/#63e228f64102 http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/power-down-better-sleep http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/02/08/5-best-apps-for-getting-and-staying-organized/#5c14516869db        

Here’s a cool interactive glossary of terms commonly used in the papermaking industry. We’ve focused on some "basics," and drew the images, terms, and definitions from two of our paper manufacturing e-learning courses: Pulping and Papermaking Overview and Introduction to Paper and Board Machines. Of course, these are just two of MANY paper manufacturing titles we offer, but it’s a nice place to begin. Hope you enjoy this glossary. Don’t forget to check out our paper manufacturing e-learning library while you’re here, too. Convergence Training is a training solutions provider with a specialist in paper/pulp/tissue/corrugated manufacturing. We make e-learning courses, learning management systems (LMSs), and custom training solutions. Contact us to learn more. And while you’re here, why not download this Guide to Effective Paper Manufacturing Training? Enjoy the glossary (it’s just a little further below). Soon, we hope to make this available in a form that you can download for free, so check back for that later. Please note that if you choose to download this glossary, you’re going to get a zipped folder in your inbox. You must take that zipped folder and import it into a SCORM-compliant LMS if you want to use the glossary. You can’t just unzip the folder and "play" the glossary outside of an LMS. Which means you have to have a SCORM-compliant LMS, natch. If you’ve got any questions about that, feel free to read the two helpful articles below or just give us a jingle at media@convergencetraining.com and we’ll explain it all to you. What Is an LMS? What Is SCORM? The images, terms, and definitions for the glossary come from two of our paper manufacturing e-learning courses: Pulping and Papermaking Overview Introduction to Paper and Board Machines Click the links above to learn more about those two courses, or watch the short samples of those courses below. Pulping and Papermaking Overview Introduction to Paper and Board Machines Don’t forget to download our guide to effective manufacturing training (below). The post Free Paper Manufacturing Interactive Glossary appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

A lot of you write test questions for online training (or even for paper-based training). Maybe you’re doing it with an e-learning authoring tool, such as the ones from Articulate, Adobe, or Lectora, or maybe you’re doing it with quizmaking tool built into your learning management system (LMS). Or maybe with pencil and paper. However you’re doing it, you may sometimes find yourself wondering about the best practices for writing standard question types. (By the way, instructional designers often use the wonky phrases "assessment" for a test and "assessment item" for a question within a test.) We’ve got a few of those best practices for you below. Hope this helps you with your question writin’. Convergence Training is a training solutions provider. We make learning management systems (LMSs), off-the-shelf e-learning courses, custom training solutions, and more. Contact us for more information. While you’re here, you may want to download some of our free guides: Guide to Effective Manufacturing Training Guide to Effective EHS Training Guide to Writing Learning Objectives General Tips for Writing Test Questions Let’s cover some general tips for writing questions ("assessment items") before we zero in on multiple-choice questions. We’re going to separate these into Do’s and Don’ts. What To Do When You Write Questions: General Tips Here are some things that you SHOULD DO when you’re writing questions for tests. Do Create Questions for All of Your Learning Objectives Make sure your questions assess learning objectives and nothing but learning objectives. And make sure your questions cover all of the learning objectives (it can be easy to miss one or more sometimes). You can write more than one question per learning objective. Don’t know what a learning objective is? Here’s a good guide to learning objectives. Do Write Questions that Anticipate Common Misunderstandings/Errors Now, this is different than a trick question. And it’s OK and even good to write questions like this. These kind of questions can help you identify people who only "kind of" understand, or understand superficially, or have a common misunderstanding that needs to be corrected. Do Stick to One Point per Question Write questions that address one point per question. Avoid writing questions that attempt to assess multiple points. Do Include Feedback Find a way to include feedback to inform the employee if they got the answer correct or incorrect, and what the correct answer is. This can be easier to do with online systems, and is a nice benefit of the kind of automation you can get with online learning management systems, but you can do it after a test is turned in if you’re grading by hand. Do Review and Edit Questions Don’t just write your questions and let ’em out in the wild. Review all of your tests and test items carefully before you deliver them to employees. Check for poorly written questions that are confusing or vague; check for typos, spelling and grammar errors, and any other miscues you don’t want to be associated with; check the reading level to see if it’s appropriate for your testing population; check to make sure the questions don’t include a bias, putting one sub-group of employees at an unfair advantage or disadvantage; check for material that’s offensive, insulting, or needlessly controversial or disturbing. If you can, have another person (or even better, a team) review them as well-it’s always hard to review your own work. Then maybe see if you can get a small group of employees to "beta test" your test as a pilot. What NOT To Do When You Write Questions: General Tips Now let’s look at some things you SHOULDN’T DO when writing questions for tests. Don’t Write Trick Questions Don’t write trick questions. You’re creating assessments and writing assessment items ("questions") because you want to see if employees know something. You’re not writing a test item to see if employees are especially skillful at taking tests or at recognizing trick questions. So, if your goal is to determine if employees know something, and not to see how clever they are at sniffing out trick questions, don’t write trick questions. No matter how tempting it may be. Don’t Write Questions that Test Only Recall In many cases, it’s easier to write a test question that tests an employee’s ability to recall material than it is to write a question that tests their ability to apply information. Avoid writing questions that focus only or too much on recall/recognition. (For more context on recall/recognition, application, and other forms of learning, see this article on Bloom’s taxonomy.) Don’t Help Employees Identify Correct Answer Based on Tips from Grammar You can sometimes make it easier for an employee to answer a question correctly just with the grammar you use. For example, if the question is phrased in a singular manner, and all answer options are plural except one answer option that’s singular, that singular answer option is probably the correct answer. Or, for another example, if your question stem ends with "an" and the four answer options begin with "cat," "dog," "leopard," and "otter," employees will know that the correct answer is "an otter." Review your questions to make sure you’re not tipping your hand and making it easy for employees who don’t know the correct answer to use grammar tips to identify the correct answer. Don’t Write Questions That Provide Answers to Other Questions Try to avoid writing a question that includes information that makes it easier for employees to answer a second question. Don’t Write a Question Because It’s "Easy" to Write or Grade If you want to create effective assessment items ("questions"), then do it. Don’t take the easy way out and create an assessment that doesn’t do what you want it to do. We all get tired sometime; I get it. It can be tempting to create a question in a certain format just because it’s easier to write. Or, thinking down the road, because it’s easier to evaluate/grade. But don’t do that; don’t give in to your weaker moments. Be a training superstar and write the best question you can-one that truly assesses whether or not employees understand the content. Don’t Write Questions That Are Phrased with Double Negatives-and Try to Avoid Negative Phrasings Too Avoid writing questions that are phrased with double negatives. For example, a question that asks "Which of the following is NOT unnecessary?" has a double negative ("not" and "unnecessary") and can be confusing. Rewrite a question like this actively, to something like "Which of the following is necessary?" You should always avoid double-negatives, as we just said. But in addition, you may want to be careful about questions that include negatives of any sort, and see if you can rewrite it in a more active manner. For example, "Which of the following tools should not be in a hot work area?" could be rewritten actively as "Which of the following tools is forbidden in a hot work area?" Tips for Writing Multiple-Choice Questions Now let’s give some tips that are specific to multiple-choice questions. Parts of a Multiple Choice Question Let’s begin by talking about and naming the different parts of a multiple-choice question. We’ve written a sample multiple-choice question below and have labeled its different parts. As shown above, multiple-choice questions have four different parts: Stem: The base of question (in this case, "What color is the sky?"). Answer options: The possible answer choices. This includes the correct and incorrect answers. In this example, it’s A, B, C, and D (or red, orange, blue, and purple). Correct answer: The answer option that is correct. In this example, it’s C, or blue. Distractors: All of the answer options other than the correct answer. In this example, it’s A, B, and D, or red, orange, and purple. Now that we’ve got our terms down, let’s look at some guidelines for creating each part of a multiple-choice question: Tips for Writing the Stem of a Multiple-Choice Question Here are some tips for writing the stem: Keep the stem short and simple. Keep the wording precise. Don’t write something that’s vague, ambiguous, or confusing. Try to write the stem as a complete question (such as "What color is the sky?") instead of fill-in-the-blank ("The sky is _____.") when possible. If you do write a fill-in-the-blank-style question, put the "blank" space at the end of the stem and not in the middle when possible. For example, write this ("The author who wrote Hamlet is ________.") instead of this ("The writer _____ wrote Hamlet."). Put any wording that’s repeated in every answer alternative into the stem, so it only has to be written once. Tips for Writing the Answer Options of a Multiple-Choice Question Here are some tips for writing the answer options: All answer options should be "plausible." This means they are all reasonable alternatives. Don’t write answer options that obviously can’t be correct. Write all answer options in a simple, clear manner. Aim for at least three answer options per question. There’s no single "correct" number of answer options to include in a question. Four or five seems to be a standard. It is not absolutely necessary to always have the same number of answer options for each question. Try to remain consistent when possible, though. If you need to add one or more answer options beyond your standard, that’s OK if there’s a good reason but don’t do it without a good reason. If you can’t seem to come up with enough answer options, think hard and try to create one or more plausible one. But if you can’t find enough plausible answer options, it’s better to go with fewer answer options than to create non-plausible answer options. Avoid writing answer options like "B and C". Avoid using "All of the above" and "None of the above" as answer options. "All of the above" tends to be the correct answer a large number of times when it’s used, and so it helps employees guess the correct answer. Plus, if an employee knows that just one of the answer options is incorrect, the employee will know that "All of the above" is incorrect, too. And if "None of the above" is the correct answer, the question item doesn’t tell you if the employee knows the correct answer. Use the words the words all, always, and never with caution. These words tend to indicate an incorrect answer. Be careful when using words like usually, generally, or typically. These words tend to indicate a correct answer. Try to write all answer options in a similar format. If you know your grammar a bit, this includes writing your answer options in a parallel structure. If you’re not familiar with "parallel structure," that link you just passed should help. Try to keep all answer options to a similar length. Be especially careful not to write the correct answer in a way that’s different than the other answer options (for example, notably longer-this is common). When possible, put the answer options in a logical order (alphabetic, numeric, some other logical order) or randomize the order of the answer options. Avoid answer options that overlap. Avoid writing more than one answer option that is arguably correct (unless it’s a multiple-response question that accepts multiple answers). Tips for Writing the Correct Answer of a Multiple-Choice Question Here are some tips for writing the correct answer: Don’t copy the correct answer word-for-word directly from the training materials. Instead, paraphrase the correct answer so it means the same thing in slightly different words. Double-check to make sure that the correct answer is written in a similar fashion as the other answer options. Correct answers are often written in a different manner (for example, they’re often longer) and as a result they can help employees guess the correct answer. "Mix up" the correct answers, so that they’re randomly distributed amongst A, B, C, and D not always/often the same value-such as C. For example, in a 10-question test, these correct answers are mixed up well (adcbbadbca) and these correct answers are not mixed up well (acbcdccbcc). Also, watch for obvious patterns (abcdabcdab). It may help you to know that question writers tend to make B and C the correct answer most often. Related to the last point (and to our earlier point about trick questions), don’t try to play "head games" with employees by doing things like having the correct answer be C for ten questions in a row. Again, you’re trying to create an effective assessment of workforce training (and learning), not a psychology test. Tips for Writing the Distractors of a Multiple-Choice Question Here are some tips for writing the distractors: Write distractors that could be correct (learning experts call this making the distractors plausible). Don’t write nonsense answer options. This can be hard, but dig deep and put in the work to come up with good distractors. Don’t write joke distractors. There are other times to be funny. Don’t include distractors that cover material that you can’t be confident all employees are familiar with as a result of the training. This can create a biased question that allow some employees to answer the question correctly more easily than other employees because of something they are familiar with from outside of the training. Conclusion: Writing Multiple-Choice Questions for Tests Well, that’s what we’ve got for you. What are your own thoughts? About writing tests and test items in general? About writing multiple-choice questions? If you found this interesting, you can also enjoy this other article about workforce training assessment, which introduces the topics of reliability and validity and covers more stuff, too. Also, stay tuned for a future blog post on the topic of performance assessments-assessments that ask a worker to perform a real-world job task. That’s coming, we think. And don’t forget to download the free Guide to Effective Manufacturing Training below while you’re here.       The post How to Write Multiple-Choice Questions for Workforce Training appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

So where do you find the numbers you need to make your cost estimates?Historical and Organizational InformationHopefully, your organization keeps records of all of its previous projects and how much they cost.  Find the ones most similar to your project.  The more similar the project to the one you are proposing, the more accurate the estimate.Also, hopefully, your organization is willing to work with you on collecting current contract information if you have a similar solution already in place.  This may prove to be trickier than collecting old project information if the contract for the solution isn't currently in your team's "control".  I have found that people, even in the same org, are not entirely keen to share what they are spending.  --------------------------------Call a Friend The Ed Tech community is friendly and willing to help.  They may not be able to provide specifics, but many will be able to provide general cost ranges for particular solutions based on their experience.  They can also talk through lessons learned for their organizations and other potential hazards as you begin pursuing your project. ------------------------------------VendorsStrategy 1 - Meander around conference halls and talk to the vendors.   You'll get an idea of what is out there, but they will generally want to use this as an opportunity to start a sales conversation.Strategy 2 - Requests for Proposals.  Our organization treats source selection for larger solutions as separate projects.  Mostly due to the work required to get the requirements in shape and evaluate the proposed solutions.  These projects end with either a decision to not pursue a solution or a completed, signed procurement contract.You can use the resulting bids as a way to begin cost estimation for implementation.  You would still need to estimate costs for work done by the resources in-house.Involving the IT department (if you are not a part of one already) is a really good idea at this point.  Even if you THINK you will not be involving them. They can provide insight into levels of effort required for more technical tasks.  They are also very good at refining and poking holes into plans.  Embrace that!  Especially in these early planning stages.--------------------------

By L Stewart of Discovery Education ​Discovery Education and 3M are looking for the country’s Top Young Scientist of 2016. Does this sound like someone you know? Or does this sound like YOU? Read on!  Now through April 20, entries are being accepted for this year’s Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the nation’s premier science competition for students in grades 5-8. ​Finalists chosen will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work closely with a 3M Scientist Mentor, compete for $25,000, and earn the title of "America’s Top Young Scientist." Any student in grades 5-8 can enter the contest by creating a one to two-minute video communicating the science behind a new innovation or solution that could solve or impact an everyday problem. Videos will not be judged on production skills and may be recorded on cell phones or basic digital cameras.Instead, video entries will be evaluated based on their creativity, scientific knowledge, persuasiveness and overall presentation. Ten finalists will then be chosen to participate in an exclusive mentorship program where they will work closely with a 3M scientist. During the program, finalists will be challenged to develop an innovation that positively impacts them, their family, their community or the global population.The students will meet virtually with their mentors and will receive additional resources and support from 3M and Discovery Education. Each finalist will also receive a trip to the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minn., to compete at the final event in October 2016.Since its inception in 1999, Young Scientist Challenge has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in student scholarships and prizes, paired students with world-renowned scientists to give them real-world insights and delivered much-needed science resources to millions of students, teachers and families across the country.Previous winners have met the President of the United States, addressed members of Congress, worked with the nation’s top scientists and been featured in Forbes magazine’s annual "30 Under 30" list.To learn more about the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, including submission guidelines, tips from previous winners and complete rules, please visit: www.youngscientistchallenge.com.

GatherEducation is a virtual, interactive learning platform that allows you to host or participate in online sessions from nearly anywhere with a wifi or cell signal. This platform enables teachers and students to interact remotely while mirroring the classroom environment and maintaining teaching styles.  Check out our review page for more information!

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Having prioritised what information the PhD student needs to know in order to make progress towards answering the research question, the next step is to consider where new data can be found. An initial role of the supervisor is to direct the student towards existing data, then to discuss what sort of data might be required to build upon this prior knowledge in order to give new insights. This might not be quite so simple as it at first appears. In an idealised view of research, the problem is articulated, the types of information needed to answer the problem are identified, and then the researcher goes out and collects that data to be analysed. In the real world, there are several problems to be addressed. Firstly, the data that the researcher needs might be hidden, unavailable, or simply difficult to get. Secondly, even if it is accessible, the data needs to be collected in a way that is impartial, systematic, and allows subsequent analysis. Thirdly, there may be problems with the design of the data collection methods, such as obtaining ethical approval, or enabling cross-comparison with previous data, which need to be resolved before the primary research activities can proceed. The role of a good supervisor is to help smooth the path of the research student without actually doing the data collection work for them. This certainly entails casting a critical eye over the research design and giving friendly feedback. It may require the supervisor to provide a covering letter of introduction for the student, to open doors and archives and to confirm that the student is a serious researcher worth giving some time to. In some situations it may be that the student is directed to existing data sets, either online or in archives, which can be used to provide preliminary analyses. Perhaps the supervisor has already done some research on the subject already, so there are practical tasks which s/he can advise on - the selection of data-gathering methods, the construction of questionnaires or interview schedules, and of course ensuring that any ethical issues relating to the proposed research are adequately covered. In considering what sort of data are needed to answer the research question, and where this data might be found, the research student and the supervisor have a common interest to ensure that sufficient thought goes into the pre-planning process. Thinking carefully in advance about the possible obstacles involved in collecting robust new data to explore the research topic, is time well-spent. Knowing what to ask will be critical for the study, but knowing who to ask could be more important still. Depending on the subject discipline, and the nature of the study, the identification of key contacts, or an appropriate population of study participants, could make the difference between a perspective which gives a blinding flash of the obvious versus an exciting and innovatory research discovery. It will not be possible to foresee every possible angle of the research process, but having a clear idea of where data can be found, or with whom, is a big step in the research project design.

I’ve written many times about the importance of managers working with each direct report to set smart goals, to praise progress and goal achievement, and to redirect when performance is falling short. In our new First-time Manager program, we train managers how to have conversations around these three secrets—goal setting, praising, and redirecting—from my book with Spencer Johnson, The New One Minute Manager®. We also introduce the importance of a fourth conversation—the wrapping up conversation. The wrapping up conversation happens at the completion of a task or project. It offers the opportunity for a manager to celebrate a direct report’s accomplishment as well as new knowledge or skills gained during the process. It is also a good time to discuss what could be improved in the future. This kind of conversation allows both manager and direct report to review and honor the work that has been accomplished before moving on to the next project or goal. When I have a wrapping-up conversation with members of my team, I see them become more energized and engaged. The manager begins this conversation by endorsing the other person and celebrating their achievement. Then the two openly talk about anything that could have been handled differently, discussing how the direct report feels about the goal or project, results that were accomplished, and the impact of the project on the department or company. The manager documents any key learnings or areas for improvement, and always ends the conversation with another endorsement for a job well done. At the quick pace of business today, when people are jumping from one project to another or juggling several at once, it’s easy for the wrapping up conversation to be put off—sometimes indefinitely. However, taking time to reflect on a project provides another occasion for a manager to improve their relationship with a team member. Every conversation is crucial when developing a nurturing, trusting work environment. I’d like to know what kind of conversations you are having with your direct reports. Are you consistently having conversations to set goals? Do you praise people for a job well done and redirect them when necessary? Do you have a conversation at the end of a project to honor the work? Share your comments below to let me know what kind of conversations are the most useful to you and your staff.

Even more powerful are the team models. Taking the same sciences and using them for a team is an easy, inexpensive way to grow the whole team. Using a team model, like the examples shown below, creates a common language and understanding for everyone on the team. Behavior / DISC Team WheelNatural (circle) shows their true behavioral strengths, Adapted (star) shows who they are pretending to be. The gap = stress. Motivators Team WheelsThere are six motivators, and this wheel is only showing each persons Top 2.  We find that motivators are more predictive of job match and team collaboration than anything else. Stress QuadrantsThis is a breakdown of the current stressors in a team.   Using similar Team Models, you can discuss the following: Team strength / overuse: strengths of each individualTeam blind spots: areas where there are no individuals with those strengthsOpportunities for hiring complimentary strengths for specific jobsOpportunities to leverage someone else's strength, one you do not haveI like to say, "Together we can create a whole brain." As you share these models, ask yourself the following about your team:What is the strength of this team?What is the blind spot of this team?What would you recommend doing next to grow?Converting your team to a collaborative whole is easily done with a little constructive time together sharing strengths that build cohesion. Here's an Irish quote speaking to our basic need to connect: "For it is a true fact that faeries, just like people, very often find that a full belly and a good friend are all that they need to be happy." -C.S. Einfeld, Neverdark

Translate this gaelic cartoon (to celebrate Easter) and send it to info@russellmartin.com.  If you are correct, you'll  shoren begorrah get fabulous merchandise.

Jeanette has worked in education and training for over 20 years as an environmental educator, e-learning leader and in quality and compliance. She is also a regular contributor to eWorks’ blog. Further to Jeanette’s Need an e-learning check-up? blog post, it is now time to take a closer look at the sustainability of your courses.How sustainable […]

When I first started as an instructional designer in eLearning, one of the services provided by the team I was on was converting instructor-led training (ILT) to eLearning-based content. ILT is facilitated by an instructor either online or in a classroom, allowing learners to interact with their instructor and discuss the training material. However, often companies have limited employees, an instructor left the company or took on a new role, or the budget isn’t available for travel, which makes turning ILT into eLearning a smart solution. When my team converted ILT to eLearning, the biggest concern we ended up talking to the subject matter expert (SME) and/or instructor about was how simply placing the PowerPoint files into an authoring tool wasn’t enough. Because eLearning is a new way of expressing information, it’s necessary to capture the same information an instructor would if he or she were teaching the class in person—especially the interactions and questions that students might miss. If you’re an instructional designer, hopefully you have awesome instructors who’ve provided you with enough information to capture everything necessary in the eLearning course you’re creating. However, that’s not always the case. For my team, in some cases it was almost like we started with next to nothing and ended up having to spend a substantial amount of time collecting information—but the results were worth it. Benefits of Converting ILT to eLearning The benefits of converting a course include the ability to share content quicker and even help out with just-in-time situations. Converting ILT to eLearning also makes training available to a wider audience. eLearning tends to be more budget-friendly since the cost incurred to create the course is often far less than having an instructor teach the course multiple times throughout the year, especially if travel is involved. eLearning also tends to be easier to update. Since the "shell" is already in place, updating eLearning is simply a matter of updating pieces of information or adding in a new slide. With ILTs, however, the instructor has to relearn the content, which adds to the amount of time necessary to present the content effectively. Some studies have shown that eLearning can boost knowledge retention rates compared to those for ILTs. eLearning is also beneficial to those who find social situations in which they could be called upon or singled out stressful since they’re taking the course from the comfort of their computers. How to Get Started Converting ILT to eLearning The conversion process typically involves reviewing the ILT content for effectiveness and relevancy (just like any other time you would review content). Then, you’ll look at the interactions that would normally take place inside the classroom (introductions, polls, scenarios) and turn them into eLearning-ready substitutes. To help with the process, you could include a "guide" in your course—an on-screen character who would ask the same questions an instructor might or just help the learner along the course. If you have the former instructor’s presenter notes, you could even give the character a dialogue modeled after what the instructor would normally say when explaining the process being taught. The biggest thing to remember when converting ILT to eLearning is that you’re going from a personal interaction to an informal one, which means it’s best to make sure the content is very visual to keep the learner engaged and interested. Another alternative is to record an ILT session and include it as a video within an eLearning course wrapper. This way, you still get the effects of a great instructor. Keep in mind that having the learner watch a video for 30 minutes straight won’t provide much interest, so it’s best to chunk up the content or offer activity breaks frequently. You could always break up the video and add it in where appropriate. The main benefit of creating an eLearning course is that content becomes more available. For example, if someone can’t attend training for physical or financial reasons, the virtual version could be offered as an alternative. This becomes extremely helpful when trying to coordinate training that’s required by law and must be done within a certain time frame. However, using videos of the actual instructor presenting content can be hard to update since the instructor will need to be available to reteach the content. Thus, creating an eLearning course with a guide in place of the instructor is your best bet when you’re short on instructors and time. Converting ILT to eLearning is a smart way to deploy training for companies looking to save resources like time and money. Lectora® authoring tools make it easy to take existing training and turn it into eLearning courses that are easily updated and can be taken anywhere, anytime. Want to try yourself? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Lectora today. The post Converting ILT to eLearning: Benefits and Tips appeared first on .

From guest writer Judy Bloxham. This week I have participated in two conferences. Open Badges in HE at Southampton University, a mere 800 mile round trip in a day. Then Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, a conference involving people from all over the world from my office desk. At the first I was just an […]

One of the many challenges facing employers within the Hospitality and Tourism Industry is managing the increase of staffing levels to meet the demands of seasonality. The sector has over 142,000 workers employed on seasonal, temporary or fixed term contracts. Full time students make up around 27% of bar staff and 42% of waiting staff. Often these temporary workers join for only a few months and many, increasingly, do not have English as their first language. Although the workers are temporary, compliance with food safety standards is not! The business owners should still ensure that all staff have the relevant training to meet basic compliance standards. The law states that a certain standard of food safety must be in place to protect the general public from food poisoning and other potential health and safety risks. With so many workers to monitor, keeping up-to-date with basic training requirements for health and safety, food hygiene, allergen awareness and service skills is becoming ever more challenging. For the majority of employers, customer satisfaction is their top priority for a profitable business, but maintaining their compliance status to avoid the risk of being closed down should always high on their agenda. Consequently, an on-going overhead of the business is staff training, which traditionally has incurred a significant cost. Not surprisingly, to save money and reduce the time staff are off-the-job for training, more and more businesses are turning to on-line learning to meet their training needs. This form of training is particularly effective in the Hospitality and Tourism sector for both the business owner and for the employee. There is increasing evidence to reassure employers that online learning with practical workplace activities is the most effective method of raising the competence of staff. Investing in temporary staff can also deliver benefits to the business. By offering training, particularly to students, businesses can reduce costs as they employ the same people at busy times and during key holidays such as Christmas and during the summer. Interestingly, PGL made the decision to offer training to all staff whether or not they were on a seasonal contract. The company offered a programme accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) so that their employees could achieve a nationally recognised qualification to help them progress in the future, whatever direction they took. As a result of this investment, the organisation has seen seasonal staff return year on year, with 95 per cent of senior positions in PGL being filled by returning seasonal staff. If we agree much of the training for seasonal workers can be delivered on online, how can a business manage their training programmes with so many workers needed to address the peaks and troughs of demand, whilst still ensuring that training is kept up to date? Knowing at any one time which staff member has completed which training module, and where any training gaps exist can still remain a real challenge. Tracking training with such a fluid workforce is more of a challenge, but by using a suitable Learning Management System (LMS) this challenge can be overcome, whilst also providing significant benefits to the business. An LMS gives managers the ability to: Enrol users, set and monitor target completion dates, then track the progress of their learners. Training, performance, and development content can all be offered from the same source. Multiple users can access the information at any given time. Tailor additional learning packages to the individuals where needed e.g. additional language or numeracy skills Issue certificates of achievement automatically Set up expiry dates to flag when compliance training needs refreshing Set automatic re-enrolment of learners to compliance courses as and when required automatically If your business relies on a high proportion of seasonal workers and you would like to find out more about the benefits of using online training hosted on an LMS system then do call Elearning Marketplace on 01488 580017 and one of our experienced team would be very happy to talk to you. Sources: http://www.people1st.co.uk/getattachment/Research-policy/Research-reports/Monthly-insights-reports/Insights-report-March-15-Seasonal-workers.pdf.aspx Insights-report-March-15-Seasonal-workers.pdf.aspx Seasonal, Hospitality and Tourism Sector http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/publication/starting-up-booklet.pdf

Over the past few years, both educational institutions and corporate enterprises have been given access to an increasing number of learning platforms, which are effectively self-service. This is in stark contrast to the days when IT departments were in complete control of every tech-orientated device or program an organisation utilised. As a result, end users can use advanced learning platforms with the greatest of ease and even create their own content or build their own courses. But this doesn’t mean IT departments are no longer required, as they must now act as the contact point between the learning technology provider and the learning technology user, regardless of whether its an academic- or business-based. However, this also means that new job roles are being created, which bridge the gap between technology teams and HR departments. Greater integration is required due to the fact that IT assets are joining forces with the long-established responsibilities of staff, such as creating and delivering training. To give an example, instructional designers are now on hand to blend modern tech-based skills with traditional learning and development requirements. You would think this needs to be someone with an IT background and knowledge of coding or support, but the ease in which learning platforms can be adopted and introduced enable anyone with the right skill set to be an instructional designer.  Then again, L&D professionals will still need the help of both IT teams and HR departments to identify the right solution. With this in mind, here is what to look at when exploring new learning technologies.   The challenges associated with new learning technologies Before you identify a new piece of learning technology and automatically come to the conclusion that it will improve the way you train your staff, you must consult with your IT team first, as they are best qualified to advice and instruct. Otherwise, the following problems and issues are a distinct possibility:   Choosing a learning technology that does not meet your requirements - There is no reason to suggest that a learning technology with a great deal of functionality and extensive capabilities will be the right fit for your organisation. After all, every organisation’s training requirements are different.   Choosing a learning technology that does not integrate with existing systems - Moving away from traditional training techniques towards a more modern learning approach isn’t easy, especially if you choose a platform that is completely different to your current IT infrastructure.   Choosing a learning technology that does not work properly - Although you may be able to extract some usefulness from most learning technologies, there is a chance that your choice might not be fit for purpose at all.   To steer clear of these worst case scenarios, always work hand in hand with IT departments to identify what each learning technology is capable of, how it can deliver training to employees, and whether or not your preferred choice could be integrated into daily operations with minimal fuss. This also means reaching out to technology vendors and suppliers in order to build strong working relationships built on trust. Ask how their solution has been utilised by other clients and what changes could be made to better suit your own circumstances. Seeing as training materials and course content will probably go out of date, this relationship could last for many years too, so the technology as well as the vendor needs to be a good fit.   Encouraging innovation by removing technological barriers Around a decade ago, technology was dominated by code, which if you didn’t understand you had no chance of being able to engage with. But these days, regardless of whether its a learning technology or website builder, end users can start interacting immediately without any prior knowledge of how it all works. This is great for innovation, as it encourages members of staff to take matters into their own hands and go on a voyage of personal learning discovery. But you still need to be mindful that challenges will arise by adopting recently developed learning platforms, which is why finding the right approach and removing technological barriers is crucial for fuelling employee innovation. While IT teams might not be required to set-up or support training solutions like they used to, CTOs must now alter their behaviour and develop capabilities to allow for open and immediate approaches. With so many options available, businesses can adopt a new learning technology for a month or so, decide whether it is right for the organisation, before committing to a long-term solution or looking elsewhere for an alternative. Thanks to cloud-based technology, there is no need for installing heavy software programs either. Mobile apps enable you to find out if employees are comfortable with completing training at a time and in a place that suits them, while concepts like gamification and interactive content provide instantaneous feedback about staff achievements.   What to remember when considering new learning technologies Even though adopting and implementing a new learning technology is something no organisation will take lightly, there are a few things to bear in mind that should stand you in good stead.   Establishing a strong relationship with IT - Despite the fact the latest learning technologies are not as code-heavy as they used to be, it still helps to have the expertise of an IT professional close to hand for help and advice, particularly when it comes to integration.     Having an open mind - Your choice of technology might be restricted in some ways, but it is crucial to have an open mind and not discount any potential solution. It is recommended to give precedence to systems that are modern, open, and provide a seamless experience for the learner.     Understanding your current IT infrastructure - You will encounter a great deal of technical issues in the future if your new learning technology cannot work alongside existing computer systems or other learning solutions.   Share this post with your own audience

We’re proud to announce we’ve been awarded "Top Employee Gamification Solution" at Citi’s Smarter Worklife Challenge. What is the challenge? Let’s quote from this blog from David Chubak, head of productivity at Citi: "The challenge intends to draw out creative solutions to reimagine business processes, simplify and standardize the way we manage our company, and take our execution strategy to the next level. By harnessing great ideas and leveraging cutting-edge technology, we can modernize and enrich Citi’s global corporate culture. The open innovation platform will also allow for co-creation and collaboration between our businesses and the tech community, combining execution and innovation with talented leaders across our global network to improve the way we work and live." Citi received 133 submissions from 21 countries. GamEffective was shortlisted with 19 finalists. The award announcement can be found here. Working on this project, which centered on looking at the employee engagement journey, inspired us to create this video. We’re proud to be a recipient of the award and more so to validate our core beliefs about the future of workforce engagement and learning.