© 1970 Pip R. Lagenta, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio Each week, I publish a post containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. You might also be interested in The Best Articles (And Blog Posts) Offering Practical Advice & Resources To Teachers In 2015 - So Far. Here are this week’s picks: The top ten learning strategies #AnnualVL2015 @CorwinPress @JamesNottinghm pic.twitter.com/GhToUbwbep — Visible Learning (@VisibleLearning) July 13, 2015 Literacy expert @RegieRoutman shares practical teaching model for new educators. http://t.co/dYKdRqEWVB #newteacher pic.twitter.com/RzQZbYftRB — MiddleWeb (@middleweb) July 9, 2015 Teaching Creativity, A Creativity Complexity Scale &Rubric http://t.co/wDCuperW9C @Larryferlazzo @bradmcurrie @RACzyz pic.twitter.com/UhqiidJWEH — Trevor Bryan (@trevorabryan) July 9, 2015 Cognitive Coaching Tools Can Help Us Guide Rather Than Tell is from The Alabama Best Practices Center.

Are We Investing in History Repeating Itself? is an interesting article about ed tech that appeared today in Bright. Here’s an excerpt: You might also be interested in The Best Posts & Articles Highlighting Why We Need To Be Very Careful Around Ed Tech. The same article also mentioned a nice site called MathTrain.TV set-up by a California middle school teacher. His students create videos - much more engaging ones, I might add, than what you’ll see at The Khan Academy — teaching math concepts to an authentic audience. Here’s an explanation of the site:

‘The Reading Strategies Book': An Interview With Jennifer Serravallo is the second in my series of author interviews at Education Week Teacher. In it, I interview…Jennifer Serravallo, author of The Reading Strategies Book. Here are a couple of excerpts:

Congress: Bilingualism Is Not a Handicap is an Education Week guest column written by Claude Goldenberg. Here’s an excerpt: I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual Or Multilingual.

© 2011 CGP Grey, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2015 - So Far): How More Education Could Save A Half-Million American Lives is from NPR. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Showing Students Why They Should Continue Their Academic Career. The graduation rates from every school district* in one map is from The Hechinger Report. Lawmakers Move to Limit Government’s Role in Education is from The New York Times. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On The No Child Left Behind Reauthorization Process. How Standardized Tests Are Scored (Hint: Humans Are Involved) is from NPR. Poverty rates in every U.S. school district, in one map is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher (& Outside Factors) Have On Student Achievement. Campbell Brown has a new education-focused site: But is it news or advocacy? is from The Washington Post. Why Are Some Teachers Being Evaluated Using the Test Scores of Kids They Didn’t Teach? is from Slate. Gov. Scott Walker savages Wisconsin public education in new budget appeared in The Washington Post. Debate Over Whether Black Kids Are Being Pushed Into Special Ed Heats Up was in TakePart.

I’m not sure if this video will come through on an RSS Reader but, if it doesn’t, you’ll want to come to the blog to watch it. Charlie Rose interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book, "Between the World and Me." Look for a special guest-written review of the book here soon. I’m adding the video to A Collection Of Useful Posts, Articles & Videos On Race & Racism - Help Me Find More.

© 2010 Enokson, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Two years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2015 - So Far and The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students In 2015 - So Far. Here are this week’s choices: 35 Times Translations Failed So Hard They Almost Won is from 22 Words. I’m adding it to The Best Collections Of Funny Signs (For Use In English Classes). Tools Of The Trade is a post from the Harvard School of Education and reviews free UDL (Universal Design For Learning) online tools that would be useful for English Language Learners and others. Materials in Spanish another challenge of Common Core is from The Santa Cruz Sentinel. Nathan Hall has a great collection of ELT Listening Material. Summer academy prepares young refugees for NYC schools is from The Associated Press. What do school leaders need to know about English learners? The basics is from MultiBriefs. Five essential listening skills for English learners is from The British Council. Six Things Principals Can Do To Support Their English Language Learners http://t.co/Szm13eKhvD #ELLChat — Shaeley Santiago (@HSeslteacher) July 12, 2015

© 2011 Nekessa Opoti, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio The United Nations has declared August 9th to be The International Day Of The World’s Indigenous People. You might be interested in The Best Sites For International Day Of The World’s Indigenous People. For IB Theory of Knowledge teachers, you might also be interested in the presentations my TOK students created on Indigenous knowledge systems, which can be found on our class blog. Readers might also be interested in The Best Resources For International Mother Language Day.

NPR has created this video, which contains "Hundreds of images from the space probe New Horizons mission stitched together with a poem by Ray Bradbury." I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About NASA’s "New Horizons" Spacecraft:

I often write about research studies from various fields and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published that it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve started writing a "round-up" of some of them each week or every other week as a regular feature. By the way, you might also be interested in My Best Posts On New Research Studies In 2015 - So Far. Here are some new useful studies (and related resources): The Cognitive Benefits of Doodling is from The Atlantic and Making Learning Visible: Doodling Helps Memories Stick is from MindShift. I’m adding them both to The Best Resources On The Educational Value Of Doodling. The Good Habit Which Boosts Self-Control is from PsyBlog and Teenagers Who Don’t Get Enough Sleep at Higher Risk for Mental Health Problems is from Scientific American. I’m adding both to The Best Resources For Helping Teens Learn About The Importance Of Sleep. Personality outsmarts intelligence at school is from Eureka Alert. Reliance on smartphones linked to lazy thinking is from Science Daily. The Benefits of No-Tech Note Taking is from The Chronicle of Higher Education. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Effective Note-Taking Strategies - Help Me Find More. This Is Your Brain on Exercise appeared in TIME. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On How Exercise Helps Learning — Please Contribute Other Resources.

You will find no more forceful advocate than me for teaching Social Emotional Learning Skills in schools — I’ve written three books on the topic and have posted multiple related "Best" lists. I’ve also written, and spoken, about how some SEL advocates (including David Brooks and KIPP Charters) are using it inappropriately as a "Let Them Eat Character!" approach that doesn’t recognize the assets our students bring (it’s not an issue that our students don’t have self-control and grit - many have them in huge amounts and may just need some assistance in applying those qualities in academic ways) and acts as a substitute for providing adequate economic and political support to our students, their families and our schools (see my Washington Post piece titled The Manipulation of Social Emotional Learning and my post The Best Articles About The Study Showing Social Emotional Learning Isn’t Enough). This week’s CNN segment, Can Grit Be Taught? (embedded below), shows how seductive that "Let Them Eat Character!" approach can be - all it takes is a bit of grit and self-control and things will be fine. It demonstrates no recognition of the broader socio-economic challenges facing students and their families. I respect Professor Duckworth’s work, and appreciate her recent attempts to rein in over-zealous uses of her work (see Measurement Matters….Maybe Not So Much). Perhaps she is really trying to communicate a more nuanced approach and the media, not known for its appreciation of nuance, is not going for it. If she’s trying, I just hope she starts trying harder….

Today, President Obama announced a "new" plan to connect 275,000 low-income households to the Internet. You can read about it in The New York Times article, U.S. Program Will Connect Public Housing Residents to Web. Here’s an excerpt: I’m all for low-income families getting Internet access and, as regular readers know, have worked on this issue for years (see The Best Resources For Learning About Schools Providing Home Computers & Internet Access To Students). However, in reviewing what this "new" program does, I don’t see anything new in it apart from Google providing connections free in the three cities where they have Google Fiber, and one Native American-owned utility providing it free to their local public housing residents. Everything else, except for a bunch of "training" with very questionable value, is already available under Comcast’s free program and the expansion the FCC ordered all cable companies to do. Perhaps I’m missing something - let me know if I am. I just get concerned that pseudo big new programs provide the illusion that something is being done when it isn’t, and then reduces the likelihood of real solutions actually occurring….

This could be an interesting video to show in Geography class. I’m adding it to The Best Geography Sites For Learning About The United States & Canada:

I’ve written a lot about Luis Rodriguez, one our students’ favorite authors. Here’s a new, and great, news segment on him (it may or may not show up in an RSS Reader):

It’s summer fever for IT vendors and customers. Microsoft announced Windows 10, Google announced the new Android a couple of weeks ago and Apple just announced the next iOS and OS X versions. But, the best news is probably about the platform you use everyday and really care about: eFrontPro has been updated to 4.2.0. Ever since we introduced eFrontPro as a modern, future-proof base to build upon, we’ve worked hard to get major updates full of new features coming your way with impressive frequency (and don’t let the version numbers fool you, what we call 4.1 or 4.2 other vendors would have happily called 5 and 6 feature-wise). But I digress. Let’s open the (virtual) box, and see what goodies eFrontPro 4.2.0 brings to the table… Revamped ILT eFrontPro 4.2.0 takes the instructor led training (ILT) features we’ve introduced in earlier eFrontPro versions to the next level, giving physical world trainings and webinars the same first class status online courses had. Physical world training is represented with a Training Event, which is a special form of Lesson, and can have one or more Training Sessions, each being led by one or more Instructors and taking place in its own location and/or date/time. eFrontPro 4.2.0 is even smart enough to prevent you from accidentally assigning the same location to more than one sessions at the same date/time (resource sharing prevention). To handle enrolling and capacity issues, eFrontPro offers automatic waitlist management and automatic iCal invitations (compatible with MS’s Outlook, Apple’s Calendar and most popular calendar applications).­ ILT sessions are also integrated with eFrontPro’s own calendar, so that a user’s upcoming sessions automatically appear there too. Instructors can pre­-book seats, but it’s also possible for students to self-­enroll to their preferred training sessions, with successful attendance leading to automatic lesson/course completion and certification. Oh, and for those of you that have configured BBB or Webex in eFrontPro, you now get one-click setup of webinars. OpenSesame Integration eFrontPro now integrates with the OpenSesame service, a huge marketplace of SCORM ­compatible content that you can purchase and add to your eLearning offerings. Administrators can browse the whole OpenSesame catalog from eFrontPro’s management interface, and purchase any available content with one click. eFrontPro takes it up from there, automatically converting purchased content to Lessons that can be allocated to courses at will. If you’re interested in more details about working with OpenSesame material in eFrontPro, stay tuned as there’s an upcoming post dedicated to this alone. Upgraded upgrade system Upgrading just got a lot easier with 4.2.0, as installing the latest version from now on just takes a simple click on the "upgrade" button within the management interface. This makes it dead simple to stay up to date, which means you get all the new features sooner and always have the latest and more secure version installed. Keeping in sync eFrontPro 4.2.0 comes with a powerful engine that can periodically check for CSV files in specific folders, and update its own data, making integration and syncing with external sources as easy as pie. Here’s how this works:­ the administrator creates import tasks that are ran periodically (e.g. every 24 hours). When the task is run, eFrontPro looks for data files in a predefined folder and imports them, just as if the administrator had manually used the "Import from CSV" option. eFrontPro keeps detailed reports for each task run, and notifies the administrator if anything went wrong (e.g. data mismatch). It’s a whole new day for the calendar A new, easier to use yet more powerful calendar UI is available in the full calendar page. Not the tame, humble calendar you once knew, this one supports drag-and-­drop handling of events and one-click export of its data in iCal format (suitable for importing in Outlook, Google Calendar etc.). Question everything eFrontPro 4.2.0 also brings back some advanced question types you might remember from eFront 3.6: HotSpot and Matrix. HotSpot allows the professor to upload an image and specify parts of it that need to be clicked for the answer to register as correct. Matrix questions are based on a MxN table (a grid, or "matrix" in math terms), where the user must pick the correct rows and columns. New security features Besides the dead easy one-click updates we’ve already mentioned (which will ensure you always have the latest security updates installed), eFrontPro 4.2.0 brings a few more security enhancements. First, there’s a new Security tab in the Settings page which will make configuring the various security options easier. Then, there are (even more) elaborate password rules you can set, including password expirations, the option to forbid password reuse, account lockup after several unsuccessful login attempts, etc. (all optional of course). You can also optionally enforce unique email addresses. What’s more, any security related errors are logged for later inspection by the administrator. File library A simple to use file library is now available in all lessons. All the professor has to do is simply drag and drop files to add them to the library, and they will be made available to all of the lesson’s users. And more… As always that’s not all. eFrontPro also comes with lots of smaller features, bug fixes and enhacements. Dig in the new version to find out for yourself, and keep an eye open for our upcoming decicated OpenSesame post. Enjoy! Bonus: You can now create your own personalized eFrontPro trial learning portal by visiting the following URL: http://www.efrontlearning.net/demo The post eFrontPro 4.2.0 - your favorite LMS with extra awesome appeared first on eFront Blog.

You’ve already invested in eLearning, and you’re reaping the rewards. Or maybe you’re interested in why you should be investing in eLearning. Here’s a snapshot of some of the benefits to you: Empowering and motivating your workforce with training that slots simultaneously into their work routine, without depriving employees of desk time in the office. Functional, engaging learning that can be revisited when convenient. Tailored to every part of your workforce’s individual, distinct requirements. Affordable, fully manageable in-house and adaptable. But how can you scale your eLearning investment effectively? I - with the help of a little research - can help you there. eLearning is Growing; Scale With It eLearning is growing (just take a peek at the diagram below), and you need to learn where to invest your learning and development (L&D) money, fast. Expected 2015 Investment in LMS Software (Sample of US HR Professionals) - Source: Learning Management Systems Userview 2015, Software Advice The LMS market is expected to grow from $2.55 billion in 2013 to $7.83 billion in 2018 and from a wider perspective, the global eLearning sector is expected to reach an estimated worth of $107 billion in 2015. Clearly, now is the time to focus on ROI as you expand your eLearning L&D plan. In this article I’ve collaborated with an industry expert and colleague of mine, Richard Anderson, and examined a few different sources of industry research to understand how and where you should be investing your eLearning allocated L&D budget. Let’s begin with which particular eLearning techniques you should be incorporating into your L&D strategy. Getting the most out of your LMS starts here, and from using the following techniques, you’ll benefit from increased success in your staff training programs. eLearning Techniques You Should be Using Concise, conversational content First and foremost, eLearning course content should fulfil the purpose of its use (i.e. enhancing an employee’s relevant knowledge for their job role). But educational content doesn’t need to be complex and detailed! How to implement: The days of endlessly clicking next are coming to an end; consumable bites are more important than long modules. Content should be easy to navigate, enjoyable to read and collated in manageable chunks. Making your content informal, friendly and even a little chatty will aid you massively in engaging your users with the course. Adopt a more conversational tone when writing your courses from now - as a guide, think of how a manager would chat with one of his employees, rather than the kind of language typically found in a textbook. Searchable & tailored training Managing your company’s internal eLearning software allows you to tailor your training program to particular divisions, departments, projects, teams - even drill down as far as personalising it to individual employees! However, despite our best efforts to tailor training to our employee’s individual needs, it is probable that material which covers existing knowledge will slip through. This discrepancy between the knowledge we desire our workforce to possess and the knowledge they already possess creates a barrier to learning for some of your workforce. More damagingly, it tarnishes the social element of eLearning - we’ll cover that a bit later. How to implement: Establishing each training user’s initial knowledge level is time consuming and unrealistic. For most companies, this is not the solution. No - instead, to enhance content to the necessary level, it should be made searchable for ease of locating relevant content. The rationale behind this is that our tech savvy generation are able to search sites like YouTube, and expect to be able to do the same with their training courses. Searchable content means that training users with existing expertise can search for knowledge gaps to save time and frustration, whilst users with little prior knowledge can proceed through the entire course as intended. It’s beneficial for users at all learning stages. Even users who have absolutely no knowledge of the subject may find one area in particular quite difficult to understand, and can quickly navigate to this area time and again to solidify their expertise in this area. Incorporating engaging offline learning aspects Establishing a regular online meeting where a manager or external tutor can explain some of the topics in more detail can be a big help in retaining training users’ interest. How to implement: The key here is to communicate this aspect of the course as a support mechanism. Course features that draw from offline methods such as this should only be supplementary elements of the course which users do not need to uptake if they feel that they entirely understand the course and do not require assistance. Not all your training users will enjoy the thought of this - remember, they agreed to learn via eLearning, and you don’t want to force anyone into learning in a way that they didn’t originally express interest in. For those who are interested, the online meetings could be conducted weekly or more frequently if necessary. Video streaming of the manager/tutor, along with active, live comments from session viewers, allows for learners to benefit from a more social, interactive learning experience. That leads us quite nicely on to our next technique. Cultivating a social eLearning experience Your LMS should exist as a ‘lobby’ in which students can engage with each other, sharing opinions and perspectives, posing questions, addressing issues and assisting one another throughout the learning process. The theory behind this is that with the ability to challenge one another throughout the learning experience, the entire process of learning will be enhanced if made as collaborative, open and social as possible. How to implement: Messages of encouragement could be posted by tutors and your LMS could also host peer-reviews of resources and materials. There are so many resources available from which training users can further their knowledge, so, whether they’re sharing articles or simply discussing course content, the social side of your eLearning is an important learning booster that could just give your organisation the edge. Assessing your employee’s knowledge The multiple choice exam still remains the best way of testing applied knowledge. For managers, multiple choice assessments provide clear guidelines as to what has or has not been learnt. From a quick look at the statistics for each question, you can easily identify any problems that your workforce are encountering, and subsequently seek to address the issue. Allow me to provide an example to illustrate this. Example One group of employees in Spain were struggling with the ‘Cheques’ section of a money-laundering eLearning course that they were undertaking as part of their training. It was soon established that staff were struggling to get to grips with this particular area as it had no relevance to their actual job roles. As a result, management were able to react to this and alter the course accordingly. How to implement: Multiple choice questions should be a standard feature of any competent LMS; if you’re dissatisfied with your current LMS, why not take a tour of eFront’s LMS features? Our eLearning Program is ready, what now? Following these simple directions will aid you in maintaining the most resourceful eLearning program. However, this is only the beginning. The diagram below displays just how expansive the array of eLearning methods available to us - as employers - is: What you must decide is what’s most appropriate for your particular industry - for your business, culture, and workforce. Research can however give you a nudge in the right direction: eLearning Trends in Specific Business Areas So, now that you’ve streamlined your company’s eLearning program, you’ll find yourself re-investing in this revolutionary training tool year on year (YoY). But in which area of your business will eLearning be most effective? This table shows us which industries LMS software is being invested in. From its results, we can make certain inferences as to why eLearning is more popular in some business areas and industries than others. Unsurprisingly, industries such as retail in which skills remain broadly practical, verbal and face-to-face have little investment in eLearning as a training tool. From my personal opinion, industries such as Manufacturing will receive higher investment YoY as these processes become increasingly automated. Areas highly dependent on technical know-how which can be easily delivered with eLearning courses - such as Technology and Financial services - are investing the most in eLearning software. Could this trend in investment be replicated internally within your business? Departments with needs similar to those of IT and Finance will benefit the most from eLearning as a concept. Summary Unfortunately there appears to be little research in eLearning investment by industry or department, but utilising all the above research, you’ll be able to commence streamlining your eLearning L&D strategy successfully. Adhering to the principles I’ve described above will enable you to develop your eLearning program, whilst maintaining its use and purpose - right down to the individual level. Key takeaways: eLearning is growing; your L&D strategy must be sufficiently robust for successful scaling. Content should be snappy, searchable and conversational in tone; this way, it’ll be enjoyable to navigate, read, engage and learn from. Treat every area - whether that’s standalone employees or an international division - with individual compassion. Tailor and adapt your eLearning to their needs. Incorporate offline training aspects; this allows for increased support and adds a dimension of variety to your course (examples: video streaming, live chat - simulates the experience of offline training methods). Focus on building a social eLearning environment to create a collaborative culture between training users that enhances the process for everyone involved. Use multiple choice questions as an assessment method for ease of problem identification. Author bio: Jordan Bradley works for High Speed Training (HST), a fully accredited specialist eLearning course provider based in the UK. He enjoys his responsibility of managing HST’s Hub - a blog which posts weekly insightful articles on a range of topics related to their array of online courses. Jordan spends the rest of his time running around the countryside, travelling on weekends to visit friends he wished lived closer, and fighting hard in the battle against laziness, amongst other things. The post Scaling with eLearning: How & Where to Grow appeared first on eFront Blog.

Have you checked out the latest eFrontPro 4.2.0 update? If you haven’t, you should. It might sound like "just a point release" but, as usual with eFrontPro updates, it packs a mighty punch, with new features such as revamped ILT support, one-click upgrades, new question types, improved security and more. In this post, though, we’ll focus in one of the most eagerly awaited new features, integration with OpenSesame, a leading SCORM compatible eLearning content provider, which enables you to search for and purchase ready-made content to add to your courses right from within eFrontPro’s administration panel. OpenSesame’s content is great value for enterprises and organizations, as it can help you save time and effort, reduce costs, and expand the breadth of your courses. And even if you’re decidedly in favor of custom content, a ready-made lesson can help you complete a course’s curriculum with supplementary material or insights on a topic you’re not familiar with. Here’s how you can leverage OpenSesame’s huge content library from eFrontPro in four easy steps: 1. Accessing OpenSesame content from eFrontPro Configuring your eFrontPro installation to use OpenSesame is quite easy, as you just have to visit the Integrations page and enter your OpenSesame API and Secret keys. These will be provided to you after you open an OpenSesame account on their service. With OpenSesame enabled, a new "Add from marketplace" option is added to the Courses page. Clicking on it takes you to the OpenSesame marketplace, from where you can browse and buy from the available courses. 2. Buying OpenSesame content OpenSesame courses are displayed as lesson "bundles". Clicking on a bundle allows you to see its contents, and enables an "add to eFront" button associated with the bundle. As expected, clicking the "add to eFront" button downloads the bundle content and makes it available to eFrontPro. Depending on the size of the course, this may take a while ― a great opportunity to visit the espresso machine or the office’s water cooler. OpenSesame provides several payment options and pricing items that cater to all user cases, from "OpenSesame Plus" that gives you unlimited access to its content, to "Pay-Per-Use" membership options, as well as Standard and Site (domain based) licenses. Have a look at the available tiers in OpenSesame’s website to pick up what’s best for your business. 3. Integrating OpenSesame content in your courses Bundles downloaded from OpenSesame contain a number of SCORM units which eFrontPro automagically converts to individual regular lessons. You can treat OpenSesame originated content as you would any regular lesson module, adding to it as many courses as you like, etc. 4. We lied. There is no step four. We made sure OpenSesame integration is so intuitive, that you can go from configuring eFrontPro to being able to use your purchased content in no time. eLearning, in the end, is all about content. And with 3,500 professional quality OpenSesame Plus courses, and a total catalog of over 25,000 courses at your disposal, you’ll find that there’s something to cover most of your content needs, from basic MS Office use to specialized courses for the Healthcare and Gas industry, and everything in between. The post OpenSesame integration in eFrontPro 4.2.0 appeared first on eFront Blog.

It’s summer time (at least in this hemisphere), and hundreds of millions of people are already planning their vacations. Except travel industry people, who aren’t going anywhere, as they have to help all those millions plan, book and enjoy their holidays. It’s a competitive industry, travel, and one where employees have to juggle tons of facts in order to help their clients - being able to help them find picturesque villas in South France, exciting off-road routes in the Australian Outback and cheap rooms to let in Santorini. They also have to be proficient with several kinds of booking systems, international visa requirements, necessary vaccinations, and several other things besides. Even the ticket agent has to master an arcane set of rules and procedures for booking tickets. This is where eLearning comes in, and in today’s post, we’ll take a look at how travel agencies can leverage an LMS platform like eFrontPro to boost their productivity and efficiency. While certain details change, most of the use cases for eLearning in the travel industry are not that different from any other business. Let’s go through them: Employee orientation Employee orientation is the task of introducing new hires to your working environment and giving them the basic information they need to start being productive, including your company’s operating procedures and policies, restrictions and guidelines. If your travel agency hires new people frequently, automating employee orientation is one of the best investments, and eLearning software, such as the eFrontPro learning management system (LMS), is your best option for this. With eFrontPro you can organize your orientation material in accessible units, incorporate video, audio, images, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations etc., and integrate material from third parties (YouTube, Wikipedia, RSS, etc). And for helping you access your new hire’s progress and understanding of the material, it also includes tests, quizzes and auto-grading. It also tracks orientation course attendance, something that can serve as proof that your company has informed your employees about company policy, sexual harassment laws, etc., in case of a legal dispute (of course, as law differs around the world, consult your legal team before relying on this). Training Travel industry trends change frequently, employees are often re-assigned to handle different accounts, departments or destinations, and there are always new hires. All those things make training necessary. eLearning makes it easy and cost effective, enabling you to train your employees at their own pace, without business disruptions and with total clarity into their progress. With regards to the last item, eFrontPro provides a comprehensive reporting system that gives you quantifiable information and statistics for your employees’ attendance, progress and understanding of the material. And if your training material changes frequently (new destinations, new travel bundles to sell, new booking methods, catering to a new market in another language, etc.) an eLearning based solution will help there too. You can update all your courses without wasting paper and dead trees, re-use and expand content as you see fit, and share courses between different departments or branches. And with eFrontPro’s integration with content markets such as OpenSesame, you can even buy ready-made professional grade courses in thousands of topics. Knowledge retention In every business there are a few employees whose experience is crucial for its day to day operations, or for handling some special crisis scenarios that occur once in a while. An eLearning solution can help you store this valuable information in a formalized and easily accessible way that is safe from changes in your personnel and can be studied and taught to new hires. Of course you could just put all that into a document management system. Putting it in an LMS though, ensures that it’s not just some documents sitting on a server, but that you can also use use it as training courses for your employees, leveraging all of your LMS’ eLearning features. Conclusion If you work in the travel industry you probably know Greece as a popular tourist destination, with great beaches, nice museums, and friendly people. But it’s also the place where eFrontPro, the industry leading LMS platform, is developed, which, like Greece, is a very good fit for the travel industry. eFrontPro has thousands of satisfied customers, including several multinational companies. It frequently trumps the competition in industry reviews, and is renowned for its ease of use. Take it for a test drive today and see for yourself how a modern LMS can help you take your travel related business to the next level. The post eLearning for the travel industry with eFrontPro appeared first on eFront Blog.

You’ve enjoyed the platform, you’ve dug the features, you’ve appreciated the support and you loved the end product. It’s time to meet the people behind it all. Continuing our series of behind-the-scenes posts that we kickstarted with an interview of our support guru, Eleftheria, meant to introduce the team that created eFrontPro, manages your private Clouds and keeps churning all these nice updates. Today we’re talking with Periklis Venakis, eFrontPro’s software architect and all around nice guy. Please introduce yourself to our readers. What’s your name, background and position inside Epignosis? My name is Periklis Venakis and I hold a degree in Software Engineering from the University of Patras. I joined Epignosis back in 2003, as a part-time developer, but one thing led to another, things got complicated, and Ι ended up engaged in a full-time relationship with the company as a senior engineer and software architect. I am responsible for the code (doing quite a lot of the coding myself), and for sneering at coworkers’ programming habits (a.k.a. "mentoring"). Other than that, I pretend to be an all around nice guy. You said you’re some kind of "architect"? Have you made the architectural plans for the offices (the famed Epignosis HQ)? If only they had let me do the office plans too! Then we wouldn’t be forced to work in such lousy conditions (no internal heated pool? I mean come on!). Unfortunately for them, my "architect" role is restricted to code-related matters: deciding what and how is going to be implemented, choosing the right tools and technologies, transforming requirements to actual features and solving any challenging technical issues that come our way. eFront, and now eFrontPro, have come a long way since the early days. Do you have a concrete roadmap of where you want the platform to be in 2 or even 5 years? I personally dislike concrete, it is a rigid substance with practically no way of adapting to changes. If I were to use a metaphor for our roadmap, that would probably be orange juice: Delicious, adapts to any container and it’s good for your health — but it has to be consumed fresh. Joking aside, 5 years is a long time to make plans for, on any level, let aside software. That said, we do have a quite specific task list for the next couple of years, including (spoiler alert) xAPI support, moar (sic) gamification, full duplex offline communication and a, err, hit-load of other fascinating stuff. How much does customer input (feature requests, complaints, suggestions) affect eFrontPro’s design? eFront has been customer-driven from the very beginning. We take user feedback very seriously and it’s not uncommon for a feature request to be incorporated in the very next release cycle, if we deem that it’ll benefit other customers too. That said, we do receive a huge amount of feature requests, so the tricky part is to weed out the ones that add unnecessary complexity from those that provide actual value. Is there anything regarding designing and building eLearning platforms that you find particularly challenging or interesting, compared to other kinds of software? Yes! LMS design has a set of very intriguing properties: the target group is extremely diverse, encompassing children, educated adults, re-educated adults, enterprise employees, elderly individuals etc., all the way to people with special needs. Simplicity is the key, but at the same time, organisational needs are very complex: it’s a constant tug-of-war between ease of use and completeness. Plus, to accommodate both content design and content delivery, you need to support a multitude of tools, implementing a variety of protocols, that all have to work together even though their philosophy can be totally different. Do you study the competition? What you think are other companies’ shortcomings when it comes to how they design and build their LMS platforms, and how does eFrontPro differ? I keep an eye on the competition, but I don’t really study it. I’m all about innovation; I believe that each LMS has something unique to offer, pertaining to its own philosophy and it’s pointless to try and copy things other people have done. Speaking of eFrontPro, what’s special about it is that it’s easy to use yet complete at the same time, doing a great job at hiding complexity for the novice user and gradually revealing it as use cases get more complex. Oh, and it also uses the latest and greatest technologies, so it always looks fresh and neat. How do you like working for Epignosis? How does it compare to the average Greek company, based on your prior experience, or with what your friends in other IT companies tell you? Working for Epignosis is a delight but not because we have great offices (we don’t, I wasn’t allowed to build them, remember?) or because we have a gym (we don’t), a playground (we don’t) or a nice view (we do). It’s because of the team: we are gentle people, with deep respect for one another’s work, willing to assist each other and contribute to everyone’s success. We also share the same vision, which is for Epignosis to thrive (which is a little self-serving, since Epignosis is, after all, its people). What do you think has changed, if anything, since the early days, regarding your job function, the team, and the product? Everything has changed but at the same time everything has stayed the same. There’s mostly more of everything now: colleagues, clients, partners, codebase, products, servers, furniture. It now takes some extra effort to not bump onto one another (metaphorically speaking, of course). However, when I recall the early days, I don’t find that many differences: a handful of people working really hard to deliver a piece of software that satisfies our customers - and having fun while doing it. Do you have a general philosophy when it comes to software? Any abstract rules that you feel are important to software architects? Not in the sense of unbreakable laws or rituals. My general philosophy is "get the job done". This practically means that one should focus on the problem and try to solve it in a way that makes sense, even if this means that they get out of their designated role, or even their comfort zone. It might require talking to the customer directly, occasionally working late hours, or even waking up at 06:00 AM to speak with an Australian customer. It also involves making decisions on the spot and assuming responsibility, even if the fault is not yours. Conversely, do you have some practical, pragmatic observations when it comes to building software? "Less is More", "Keep it Simple, Stupid" (a.k.a., the KISS principle), "Learn to say No", "Whatever you do, you will not meet the deadline". How do you feel about the stack used to create eFrontPro, both the PHP backend part, and the HTML5/CSS/JS front-end? PHP has always been the language that programmers love to hate. Me, I just love it. It has a short learning curve, making it great for junior programmers to start with; a vast and excellent community; it’s mature enough to build complex, enterprise-grade software; and it’s easy to setup and deploy your product on. Regarding the front-end, starting with eFrontPro we decided to drop support for older browsers and rely on users’s browsers being HTML5 enabled. This gives us access to all the modern web magic; the sky is the limit now. Where do you see eFrontPro in 5 years time? And where do you see yourself? Reflecting upon where eFront was 5 years ago, I can, with great confidence, assume that in 5 years eFrontPro will be 10 times better, 10 times bigger (in terms of installed user base) and 10 times more expensive (I’m joking, people). As for me, I suppose I’ll be considerably more experienced, since I’ll have accumulated 5 years’ worth of mistakes (a.k.a. experience). I think I’ll also have more or less the same responsibilities: overseeing the development process and giving technical advise to those in need. Anything else you’d like to add? Buy eFrontPro? Does that count? The post Meet the team #2: Periklis Venakis the Software Architect appeared first on eFront Blog.

The most common question I hear as an eLearning Coordinator is this: "Can we have this via eLearning?" It’s my moment. I take my time, pretending I’m thinking it through, and after shaking my head, I reply: "Yes, just tell me how much time and how many resources we have". I can’t think of anything that cannot be developed into some form of eLearning. As long as you have an authoring tool and an SME (Subject Matter Expert) to provide the content of the courseware, you can create your own eLearning course. It’s as simple as that and this is how it goes: Course Design The SME’s task is very, VERY, important. The material they will provide, the text, the photos, the videos, the questions for the assessment are all essential components of the learning process; hence they need to be up to date and, of course, fully copyrighted. The Instructional Designer will receive the content from the SME and will go through it in detail. Their first task is to identify the best strategy to present it. Their second task is to produce a sequence which ensures the engagement of the learner in a fun and carefree way. This sequence will need to take a visual form and be recreated into a storyboard, a rough guide of how the course will look like upon its completion. Course Development Very often, especially in small enterprises, the eLearning Project Manager, the Instructional Designer and the eLearning Developer may as well be the same person. If not, the latter will step in the project at this stage and start working on the storyboard. Alpha stage The alpha version is the first model of the course the client will get to see and it will include all the material the SME handed in, placed in the order the Instructional Designer suggested. It is highly recommended that all multimedia resources and any interactivity are inserted in the design at this stage. In other words, make it as complete as possible. The alpha version will then be reviewed by the client, who will provide their feedback. Beta stage It is very important that the customer’s feedback is fully comprehended. Beta stage is nothing else other than the implementation of the amendments and changes they requested. This could mean anything, from a few minor adjustments to bringing back the Instructional Designer to review their strategy. Whichever the case and no matter what it takes, the beta version needs to be of much higher quality. It is the last model the client will see before the sign off. Any changes and amendments they may propose have to be as minor as possible. This is something that has to be very clear to all parties. Gold stage/Sign off stage This is the final stage. The eLearning Developer acts on the feedback from the last review and tests the course on an LMS. As soon as the course is fully functional, it is ready to be signed off. Conclusion There is not only one roadmap to eLearning content development. The size of the team, the size of the project, the nature of the courseware and the particular demands of the client are deciding factors that can affect the modus operandi in significant ways. The final word lies always with the eLearning Project Manager. It is them who liaises with the clients about everything, makes sure that all the resources needed are available and decides on the deadlines, based on the project’s budget. eLearning content development necessitates a combination of creativity, technical skills, team work and good time management; regardless of how stressful it can be at times, it is always a fun process and most definitely rewarding. The post The stages of eLearning content development appeared first on eFront Blog.

5 Learning Principles L&D Professionals Need To Know Infographic Learning and development professionals should ensure that everyone within their organisation knows and understands the information they require to function effectively and are able to apply it. With so much content available, they can easily get buried under a mountain of it before they even find what we are looking for. The 5 Learning Principles L&D Professionals Need To Know Infographic presents a list of five simple learning principles that show how great learning content should be created. 1. Boredom kills All info coming into the brain is filtered through the amygdala. When a learner becomes bored, the amygdale becomes hyperactive and it sends all of the information it receives to the lower 80 per cent of the brain. This is the "animal brain, the reactive, involuntary brain". Boredom means that important learning content isn’t remembered. 2. Repetition Rocks Most people will have experienced the sore hand and bad hand-writing that accompanies the first day back to school after a long summer break. Just like the muscles in our hands, neural pathways are weakened overtime. This means that if learners are not using knowledge or skills gained through training, they will begin to forget it. 3. Too much information Educational psychologist john sweller first coined the term "cognitive overload" in 1998. We all have a finite amount of working memory at our disposal to process and understand information. When a learner is presented with info, it is important that it is delivered in bite-sized chunks which he or she can reasonably process. 4. We all need a reason If a learner can’t make the connection between learning content and application in their everyday life, they won’t have a reason and therefore the motivation to understand the topic presented to them. As the person guiding learning and development, it is your role to communicate expectations and the motive behind learning a particular piece of knowledge or skill. 5. If at first you don’t succeed The first time learners receive teaching, it creates a strong impression upon them. It‘s important to present information in a logical and clear manner at the start of any training module. The foundation of learning that you set in place becomes the map students use to navigate all further information. Via: blog.aurionlearning.comThe post 5 Learning Principles L&D Professionals Need To Know Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

Microsoft in Education Infographic When it comes to unlocking potential, there are many keys. At Microsoft, they understand that the real value of technology lies in the skills it builds, the opportunities it creates, and the horizons it broadens. That’s why they are empowering the education community with a wide range of products, services, and programmes that help transform learning and make it more accessible. At Microsoft they believe that: Technology can accelerate insight and impact Immersive learning experiences deliver improved outcomes Communities of committed participants, collaborating effectively, are essential to advancing education The Microsoft in Education Infographic highlights some of the areas within education where there are Microsoft products, services or resources that can be utilised by teachers and students alike, in order to enhance and add value to experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. Professional development for educators Take advantage of a rich set of professional development resources from Microsoft. You’ll be better prepared to equip learners with the skills they need for a career and life in the 21st century. Microsoft Educator Network Join the Microsoft Educator Network to access free tools, tutorials, and learning activities for the classroom. Become part of the global Microsoft community as a: Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert Microsoft Showcase School Microsoft Teacher Trainer Learn more at www.pil-network.com. Transform the classroom Discover exciting new ways to teach, accelerate learning, and deliver better pupil outcomes with an innovative, technology-based classroom. Devices From playing videos to typing up notes in OneNote, Windows 8 is packed with the functionality pupils need. Available from a range of manufacturers at a range of price points, pupils can choose the Microsoft device that’s right for them. Find out more at www.eduempowered.com Educational apps See the Windows Store for a growing range of apps for education, and give pupils tools to learn. Apps include: MediaCore NearPod CreateBook Novamind Mind Maps Explain Everything OneNote Get the apps at aka.ms/Apps4Edu Skype in the Classroom Welcome to the world’s biggest classroom. Skype in the Classroom connects educators and experts to l earners everywhere. Sign up today at https://education.skype.com DreamSpark DreamSpark offers pro-level developer and designer tools. Educators can also access top-notch resources to ensure their classrooms always have the latest technologies to challenge, motivate, and keep learners engaged in new ways. Get started at www.dreamspark.com Power BI Power BI for Office 365 is a collection of features and services to create compelling content, share your discoveries, and collaborate with colleagues, teams, and study groups i nnovatively. It works seamlessly with Microsoft Excel. Get started at www.microsoft.com/en-gb/powerbi/default.aspx Office Mix Office Mix mixes web videos, animations, and more so educators can create rich, interactive lessons. Record lectures, draw on slides, and add audio-visual content. Share lessons with students and colleagues, who can watch them online on nearly any device. Learn more at https://mix.office.com Sway Sway is the app for expressing ideas in bold new ways across multiple devices. The interactive creations have no borders, edges or page breaks slides so it’s an ideal canvas for educators and pupils looking to set their minds free. Learn more at www.sway.com Empower pupils Learning and discovery shouldn’t stop at the school gates. Inspire pupils with the technology that gives them the freedom to collaborate, connect, and be more productive both in the classroom and in their own time. Office 365 Education Office 365 creates experiences that help students easily connect with each other, staff and experts. It’s packed with features, including free email, the latest Word, Excel and PowerPoint, OneNote, 1TB of OneDrive Storage, Instant Messaging, and more. Microsoft IT Academy (ITA) With Microsoft ITA, academic institutions-as well as their students and staff-get a digital curriculum and certifications for completing fundamental technology skills. Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) Our mission is to help students learn about the latest technology, build their skills, and advance their careers. The MVA is free of charge and the entire service is hosted on Windows Azure. Complimentary copy of Microsoft Office for Students! Academic institutions that license Office can now provide access to Office 365 ProPlus (full Office on up to five devices) for students at no additional cost. Office 365 ProPlus benefit available for faculty and staff starting December 1, 2014. Find out more by speaking with your IT department at school. Business of schools Microsoft’s partner community offers education-specific solutions to help transform teaching and learning with technology. See www.eduempowered.com eLearning eLearning solutions include authoring, storage, consumption, and analytics tools. Pupils learn on their terms-anytime and on any device. Teachers track progress and provide guidance. Big Data and Analytics Use Big Data and Analytics solutions to mine data volumes and derive the insight schools need to make the right strategic decisions. Help teachers provide personalised learning. Cloud IT and Productivity Cloud IT and Productivity solutions are cloud-based services that help CIOs and IT staff securely manage school infrastructures and improve service efficiency. Learning Mobility Learning Mobility solutions offer innovative digital approaches to traditional learning and teaching, ensuring that pupils have the skills they need to thrive everywhere. Via: blogs.msdn.comThe post Microsoft in Education Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

5 Things To Look Out For Choosing A Learning Management System Customizable and intuitive interface A good LMS is easily customizable. Customizability gives you that extra flexibility to add, delete or change whatever features you want. It should have a search feature- simple, yet extremely useful. Plus, if the interface is intuitive, for example if it can list suggestions based on learners’ searching and browsing, great! Web Hosting If you have a dedicated IT department that can work to provide tireless 24/7 support and backup, self-hosting is for you. If not, ask your vendor to provide cloud based support on their servers. Integration Whichever hosting method you choose, your LMS must be easy to integrate with third party applications. Be it in-house ERP systems or external applications from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, if your LMS does not merge its functionalities with the applications your employees use most commonly, it will not be able to deliver the full utility that it must. Compliance standards Make sure your LMS is SCORM compliant to the latest version which allows for Tin Can API support. AICC (Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee) is another standard and it allows content to exist on a separate server and supports secure information transfers with HTTPS. Ultimately, it depends on your priorities. If secure data transfer is more of a concern for you, AICC is the right choice otherwise common rapid eLearning development tools work well with both SCORM and AICC. Social features A good LMS should be able to provide real-time chat, video-conferencing, online discussions, etc. to facilitate onboarding. At the same time, administrators must have the power to monitor discussion content ad intervene if necessary. Via: blog.originlearning.comThe post 5 Things To Look Out For Choosing A Learning Management System Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

Personalizing Learning Infographic Personalized learning is the tailoring of pedagogy, curriculum and learning environments by learners or for learners in order to meet their different learning needs and aspirations.The Personalizing Learning Infographic explores how curriculum design can address personalized learning.   What is Personalized Learning?   1. How? - Learn How You Want to Learn Read Watch Listen Do 2. What? - Learn What You Want to Learn Profound In-depth Sinppet Enough 3. When? - Learn When You Want to Learn Alone With others Multitasking Bored 4. Where? - Learn Where You Want to Learn Anywhere Class Life Work 5. Why? - Learn Why You Want to Learn To advance To learn To play Just because   How to Personalize Learning   1. How? - Multiple Options Create curriculum with lots of ways to learn the same content. 2. What? - Multiple Content Density Levels Create curriculum with lots of levels to allow learners to go deeper at their own pace. 3. When? - Multiple Time Constraint Options Create curriculum that can be consumed at anytime. 4. Where? - Multiple Location Options Create curriculum that can be consumed anywhere. 5. Why? - Multiple Perspectives Create curriculum with lots of perspectives to address needs of different learners.   Examples of Personalized Learning   1. How? - Delivery Dynamic Video Scholarly Articles Breaking News Authentic Projects 2. What? - Levels Random Newbie Advanced Expert 3. When? - Constraints Little time needed Others needed Lots of time needed Alone time needed 4. Where? - Location Anywhere Local Abroad Favorite place 5. Why? - Needs For the professional For the just because For a child like mind For my future Via: anethicalisland.wordpress.comThe post Personalizing Learning Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.