Last week I spent some time working on a silly little Storyline project: Artie’s Christmas Surprise, and today I’m ready to share a little bit about it. The Concept I downloaded this rad set of Dog Infographic objects from Creative Market awhile back, and figured I had to use them for something, so I came up with a little story about Artie a dog who just became a single-parent and is strapped to come up with gift ideas for his 8 pups as the holidays fast approach. The pups get to play a little game of puppy plinko to determine their gifts, and then I link out to several of my favourite charities to donate to over the holiday season. There’s poop involved - I told you it was silly. The Method Inspired by the infographic set and some other icons (that I can’t quite remember where I downloaded them from…), I came up with the story. I sourced some audio and modified Artie a bit to suit my purposes. On the intro slide, we meet Artie. He has a little oof and a wagging tail (created using motion paths). On the second slide, we learn about Artie’s current situation, which makes use of some animations and audio. On the third slide, we learn about Artie’s monthly income and expenses, using several of the infographic icons, a ton of animations, and A LOT of kibble (amen to grouping objects)! On the fourth slide, we see that Artie has decked himself out in holiday cheer and come up with a great idea - puppy plinko! On the fifth slide, the pups are all set up for puppy plinko - I mocked up the plinko board based on the ever popular game show game, and controlled all of the plinko chips (albeit their addresses were forced and not dynamic) using motion paths. I also added states to all of the pups and created some variables so that the slide would advance only after all pups had been visited and only after all of the motion path animations had been completed and changed to a value of True. On the sixth slide, we see how Artie did with all of his gifts. On the seventh slide, we link out to some charities, using buttons and hyperlinks. I also created custom navigation buttons because I’m not the biggest fan of the default ones. The Result I think the result was pretty darn cute and it made me laugh (and simultaneously feel delirious), so hopefully it can garner a chuckle out of you! Click here to view the full demo.

For those of you wondering how I set up the Puppy Plinko interaction for Artie’s Christmas Surprise, I decided to do a video demo (below). First, I added a visited state to all of the pups, then added a trigger to each oval that would change the state of the appropriate pup to visited when the animation for the oval’s motion path was completed. Then, I added a True/False variable for each oval, and added a trigger to each pup to adjust the variable of the oval to True when the motion path animation for the oval completed. Finally, I added a trigger to Jump to next slide once all pup states were visited AND all ovals are True. Confused? Yeah - I know. I’m sure some of you guys would have done things differently, but if you want to hear my sometimes confused ramblings about how I set up Puppy Plinko (or if you need more information), check out the video below: Video Demo - Artie from Ashley Chiasson on Vimeo.

Last week I posted my best advice for e-learning freelancers in the form of a poster: After posting this, I had a question: What is scope creep? Great question! There I go again with my industry jargon, making the assumption that everyone knows what I’m talking about…and you know what assumptions do. After having this question posed, it seemed like a great opportunity to explain the phrase on this week’s edition of Terminology Tuesday. It’s a two part-er! Scope Creep It could be scope’s creepy friend (and sometimes it is), but it’s really broken down into two components. First, we have Scope. Scope refers to the scope of the project and is typically outlined in a contract or statement of work (p.s. if you don’t have it in writing…get it in writing!). Scope dictates the project requirements, and what will be included. In e-learning, it’s smart to be very specific when outlining scope (e.g. Module 1 contains 1 scenario, 2 interactive screens, and 3 static screens) because the more specific you are, the less you will be affected by creep. Secondly, we have creep. Creep occurs when clients attempt to get more than they signed on for and this is where you need to stand firm. When a client asks for ‘just one more scenario’ in Module 5, you should come back to their request with a compromise. For example, ‘well. we can add one more scenario in Module 5 if we remove one scenario from Module 2." Giving your client an inch of leeway by agreeing to add elements outside of the agreed upon project scope can quickly become a mile. I’ve worked on projects that were originally scoped at a 6 month development time, but due to some not so super project management, the client ended up receiving their courseware after 1 year of development, the project made absolutely no profit (it actually cost the company to finish it), all because the project manager kept agreeing to ‘just one more’ revision, scenario, etc. So, in a very simple explanation: scope creep is when your client creeps their project requirements past the originally agreed upon scope. Resources 5 Steps to Preventing Scope Creep (and Still Keeping Your Clients Happy) on Bidsketch How to Manage Scope Creep - and Even Prevent it from Happening on LiquidPlanner Taming the Scope Creep by Brett Harned Why Scope Creep is Your Fault (and What You Can Do to Prevent it) by Christopher Butler

Can you believe another year has come and almost gone? While we’re all in the midst of 2015 planning, it’s helpful to reflect on the past year when looking forward to the next one. As we prepare to kiss 2014 goodbye, the Expand team has been discussing what trends we’ve seen take hold this year, and which ones we think will pick up speed next year. Our 2015 Trends to Watch will be coming your way later this month, but first, let’s talk about the year we’re about to wrap up. Without further ado, here are our top five training trends of 2014. Increasing use of mobile for eLearning and Performance Support. Mobile adoption continues to rise across the globe, and adoption at organizations for professional applications is increasing as well. There is greater pressure on companies to offer mobile-supported content and applications. The up-and-coming Millennial generation demands it, and we’re smarter now about how to make that possible and work seamlessly. We’ve learned that mobile-optimized in-field performance support helps employees—whether salespeople, customer service people, manufacturing technicians or utility operators—perform their job more efficiently with fewer mistakes, making the organization as a whole operate smoother and at a lower cost. Increasing emphasis on analytics, not just content. As training has moved to an electronic format and delivery method, we’ve been able to track and measure training efforts like never before. At first, interactive content was really exciting and so slick that it was nearly enough on its own. Once the novelty wore off, we realized that it was not only much easier to measure the actual effectiveness of a training in terms of in-the-field behavioral change, but it’s of utmost importance. Not only can we track course completions, abandonment and effectiveness, we can also measure behavioral change and, ultimately, true ROI. In other words, we can finally answer the questions "Is training making an impact?" and "Is it worth the investment?" We can actually monitor metrics in these areas. Movement away from traditional LMS and Flash toward custom LMS and HTML5/CSS development. The rise of HTML5 and CSS in eLearning goes hand-in-hand with increasing mobile adoption for learning and performance support purposes. HTML5 and CSS development give you more options when it comes to interactive and animated content. Unlike Flash, HTML5 is compatible with mobile browsers and doesn’t require special player technology. Fewer one-off trainings in favor of ongoing coaching and mentoring. It’s well-documented, as our lives become busier and filled with more distractions and shorter attention spans, it’s really hard to remember something after only being told once. More complex topics are impossible to master after just one training session, regardless of whether it’s held in person or online. More and more, managers are turning to what we call learning campaigns, which include ongoing coaching and mentoring to revisit complex topics and offer reminder and/or refresher content to drive home finer points. Performance Support is as Important as Training. One could make the argument that in-field performance support is of even greater value to the employee than traditional training methods. Performance support makes useful content available to the employee at the exact time they need it, which is on-the-job. Mobile has made it even easier and streamlined. Not sure what comes next in a process? Pull out your iPad to jog your memory with a step-by-step checklist, and view supporting videos for more details. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see what we think 2015 has in store for training, eLearning and performance support! We’d love to hear from you. What do you think was the biggest trend of 2014? Leave a comment below! photo credit: carolynhack

I know we’re only three shopping days away from the holiday season (maybe even two in some parts), but let’s face it…everyone loves getting a package in the mail, so if it’s late…who cares?! Here are some of my very favourite items for e-learning developers and to make freelancing a lot easier: Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet - I have one of these at the office, and I’m vowing to use it A LOT more in 2015. I plan to use the Wacom tablet with The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently, which I’ve been slowly working through since the summer. Another great book that you’ve heard me raving about in my posts for the last few months is How We Learn: The Truth About When, Where, and Why it Happens. I LOVE this book. Any and all learning professional should have it an read it and use it as a mantra! All good freelancers/consultants/independent contractors need a good Project Management Program. I’ve been using, and loving PancakeApp. I’ve also had the opportunity to use RedBooth this year and would recommend gifting either of these to a freelancer in your life (PancakeApp is a one time fee and RedBooth is subscription-based). Most often, creative professionals think more about their creative endeavours and less about their business acumen…which ultimately turns into chaos come tax time…make their lives easier! To make e-learning reviews streamlined and standardized (which all e-learning professionals would truly appreciate), a subscription to Review My eLearning is a great option! I recommend the Medium subscription, which should do the trick for most folk. Storyline 2 - This might be a bit of a splurge for the holiday season, but it’s definitely well worth the cost; especially if your favourite e-learning developer has been lamenting the impending end of their 30-day free trial. As an independent consultant, this purchase pays for itself in about a week. A second computer monitor - this is ALWAYS welcomed for folks that tend to toggle between multiple programs/documents, as are: external hard drives, flash drives,  and noise-cancelling headphones! For Mac OS users - Parallels, Dongles, or AirPort Time Capsule (LIFE SAVER). Comfy pajamas or loungewear - ESSENTIAL for any work-from-home type. I recently picked up this exact PJ set, and I will be picking up more - so comfortable!

It’s hard to focus these days, isn’t it? We spend our days moving from screen to screen, eyes passing over a barrage of apps and alerts and texts and video calls, doing our best to ignore the lure of social media. You have every intention of buckling down and concentrating on just one thing at a time, but technology just makes multitasking so darned easy, doesn’t it? And if you can get two things done at the same time, that’s a good thing, right? The problem is, our brain really isn’t wired to handle all of this so, while you might complete two tasks at the same time, you won’t complete them as well as if you just focused on one at a time. (Think texting and driving … bad idea.) Not to mention our work suffers when we’re getting news alerts and social media comments that compete for our attention. Even when we think we’re doing two things at once, we’re really doing three, four or five. Learning retention was a challenge before the added distractions, let alone now. Unless you have a photographic memory, divided attention makes learning very difficult. What’s the best way to cut through the noise and make training stick with today’s learners? Let’s discuss. Just How Bad Is It and Why? Let’s not sugarcoat it. It’s not pretty. Consider the following: "In 2000, the average American attention span was 12 seconds. In 2013, it was 8." For reference, the attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. (Marketplace.org) It turns out, when we think we’re multitasking, we’re really not. We’re actually just "rapidly toggling between tasks." (New York Times) "Gloria Mark of the University of California, Irvine, found that a typical office worker gets only 11 minutes between each interruption, while it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to the original task after an interruption." (New York Times) We have interruptions piling on top of one another, effectively creating a mental traffic jam. A study conducted at Carnegie Mellon found "the distraction of an interruption, combined with the brain drain of preparing for that interruption, made participants 20 percent dumber. That’s enough to turn a B-minus student (80 percent) into a failure (62 percent)." (New York Times) Think about that the next time your teenager asks for an iPhone!  The same study found at first, distraction does make us less apt to retain information and far less able to focus on a single task. The bright side, however, is that the study also suggests that we’re largely aware of this issue, and can learn to adapt to this new environment, taking back some of the brain power that’s been taken from us. Technology is to blame and it’s not going away. In fact, it will only infiltrate our lives further. We can’t expect human behavior, or the environment in which we live and work, to change much, either. The population is growing each year with people who have never lived in a world without the Internet and immediate access to information and communication. Further, "the current generation of internet consumers live in a world of ‘instant gratification and quick fixes’ which leads to a ‘loss of patience and a lack of deep thinking,’" (The Guardian) How Has Training Been Impacted? What does all of this mean for training? Well, it means our job isn’t necessarily harder, rather, we need to approach training a completely different way. It needs to be delivered in a way that jives with our new multi-screen, alert-heavy lives and instant-gratification expectations. It means that one-off and/or classroom style training does not work. It’s not effective. Learners will walk away from that having gotten very little out of it, and you’ll see little-to-no behavioral change as a result of the hours invested in training. Don’t waste valuable time with outdated methods. This is where eLearning can help. Use eLearning for Low-Attention Learning eLearning methodologies can swiftly adapt to the changing technological—and, as a result, human behavioral—landscape. What started out as training videos accessible on a computer has evolved into a seamless, nimble and incredibly effective medium for growing employee knowledge throughout an organization. Here are just a few reasons how eLearning is rising to the occasion to combat Shiny Object Syndrome: We can condense lengthy training courses into a matter of minutes. Learning campaigns follow up with text and email reminders delivered in the formats we’ve become most accustomed to. We’re able to equip employees with on-the-job performance support materials that are interactive and guide the employee through whatever task they are performing at a particular moment. Online knowledge and file sharing powers collaborative learning within teams. An eLearning infrastructure enables the delivery of just-in-time learning. Rather than expecting an employee to remember everything they might possibly need to know after one, crammed class, we can offer learning content at the exact time it’s needed. The best eLearning is mobile-optimized, so that it can be accessed anytime, from any device. We can’t sit around and hope that audiences will outgrow their distracted nature. Instead, we need to adapt to the new environment. How has eLearning helped your organization deliver effective training? Leave us a comment below. If you want to chat with us about how to get started with eLearning, reach on out! photo credit: nhanusek  

I took an unexplained two-week hiatus from Terminology Tuesday (and most other blogging) to enjoy a bit of a holiday vacation. Sorry, folks! Don’t sweat though - this week I’m back! I recently took a mini-course on Infographics and vowed to get a lot friendlier with Adobe Illustrator in 2015; we’ll see how that goes…check in with me in about 6-12 months. In any event, infographics are taking the world by storm it seems, so I thought it fitting to have a little chat about them. Infographics Infographics consist of two pieces: information and graphics. When those two concepts are sandwiched together, you get infographics, which are designed to display information (e.g. data/trends/ideas) in a visually appealing way that also facilitates information synthesis. They are especially beneficial for people who are more visual learners. Just think back to all of the textbooks you read in school…how much of that information did you really retain? Likely quite a bit if you studied it, but you might learn more seeing certain information displayed meaningfully in a graphic. Even if you’re not a visual learner, an infographic might be handy supplementary material to accompany text-based materials. Additionally, infographics allow the user to experience the concept versus interpreting the concept, and passively retaining the information. I developed an interactive infographic awhile back, and while it’s not the prettiest (hence my goal of learning illustrator in 2015), it effectively shows information when you hover over the visual elements. You can check it out by clicking the image below: Resources Maybe you’re well-versed at creating your own graphics or manipulating existing graphics. Great! Get your infographic on! But if you’re like me, you might need some help. Luckily, there are tons of free resources to help build your own infographics - all you need is the data! easel.ly infogr.am Smore Canva You can also download many fantastic infographic icons and images for reasonable prices (and supporting local designers) from Creative Market, which is where I obtained the infographic elements used in the above sample.

If there is any advantage that live training has over eLearning, it’s the face-to-face interaction. In a classroom setting, an instructor can take the temperature of the audience just by scanning the room. Does the audience look bored? Captivated? Confused? The problem with that, however, is it’s not trackable. Sure, the instructor can try to make adjustments on the fly to adapt to audience response, but once the training is over there is no record of their reaction or whether the adjustment had an impact. It’s hard to learn from that to make future training courses better. It’s not a very nimble approach, either. Fortunately, thanks to eLearning, superior methods exist. eLearning with Digital Dialogues What is a digital dialogue? It’s a conversation that takes place between the learner and the eLearning course they are viewing, ideally between a voice-over personality or an animated on-screen character. The narrator of the course asks a question, and the learner responds by selecting an option on the screen. Based on that response, the course can change directions by presenting a segment of content that’s tailored to that learner. More simply, it can acknowledge the response with a simple "Got it," or "Okay, let’s keep going." Dialogues also present opportunities for additional coaching. If a learner responds incorrectly to an assessment question, the response should not only let him know he was wrong, but it should explain what the correct answer is and why. Learn from the Learners Scattering these simple exchanges throughout an eLearning course allows you to track and aggregate the responses of multiple users, and draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the course. For example, if a majority of users are answering the same question incorrectly, we can assume that segment of the course is not clear, the question is worded in a way that’s causing confusion, or attention has dropped off. Get the Most out of Your Dialogues Like any aspect of instructional design, your dialogues should be written with the audience in mind and should tie back to your learning objectives. Here are a few additional tips for using digital dialogues to the fullest potential: Tone. Your tone, when asking a question, should be conversational and, well, human. The learner should feel as though they are being directly spoken to. Frequency. To help hold attention and avoid overwhelming learners at the end of the course, space your questions throughout the duration of the training. Variety. Ask different types of questions, and in different ways. Not only can this provide interesting insights, but it keeps your learners on their toes. Different question types can gather information on comprehension, satisfaction and abandonment. Acknowledgement. Make sure to acknowledge your learners’ answers. Make the experience as interactive as possible so they feel they’re being listened to. Depending on the type of question, this could be a simple "Okay," to an encouraging "Nice work!" Digital dialogues benefit both the audience and the instructional design team. How are you using digital dialogues? What results are you seeing? Of course, if you want to learn more about our approach, schedule a time to chat! photo credit: Marc Wathieu

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a very safe and happy holiday season…now GET BACK TO WORK! 2014 was a very interesting year for me. Here’s a quick synopsis: I broke into the post-secondary education scene at a local university (part-time); I quit my full-time job and took my side business full-time; I presented at my first ever speaking engagement: E-Learning Heroes Community Roadshow: Toronto; I wrote my very first every blog post for ATD; I was propositioned to author not one, but two books; My part-time post-secondary education gig went full-time; I presented at my second speaking engagement: E-Learning Heroes Community Roadshow: Denver; I met a lot of my e-learning idols, engaged in some beta-testing for Articulate, had some exciting learning experiences with Articulate, and networked like I meant it; My proposal was accepted to speak at Learning Solutions 2015; and I worked with a ton of really incredible clients and was able to become more strategic with whom I worked with. Now before I get on with my goals for 2015, here’s some real talk. I struggle with anxiety - mainly social anxiety. While you might think I made leaps and bounds challenging my anxiety in 2014, I really didn’t do so on a personal level. I still have a lot of fear and anxiety interacting with people I know (and whom I have known for 10+ years) on a social level (e.g. at parties, etc.), so New Years Eve 2014 was spent as a designated driver, human thunder shirt for our dog who is terrified by fireworks, and watching the non-HBO broadcast premiere of The Wire. Not a bad way to spend the evening, but still not optimal. With that being said, my goals for 2015 are mostly personal goals: Begin therapy to conquer my social anxiety (or at least learn how to cope with it); Maintain a consistent exercise schedule and run a half marathon in May (and possibly another in September); Take positive steps toward becoming the best version of myself I can be; Spend more time with my husband and our family; and Travel to Europe with my husband, taking a proper vacation. As for business goals: Complete both books and have them published; Present and KILL IT at Learning Solutions 2015; Continue networking with colleagues I respect; Continue working with clients I respect; Conduct various workshops at the university and encourage growth within our distance offerings; Overhaul my portfolio; Participate more actively in the ELH Challenges; Continue blogging regularly; and Begin authoring my third book.

From all of us at Expand Interactive, we wish you a very happy holiday season. Here's to a great 2015! ExpandChristmasCard2014 photo credit: rennes.i

Unlike last year’s colour of the year (you can see the blog write-up and challenge entry for Radiant Orchid by clicking here), I was actually excited about the new colour of the year, Marsala. I even fawned over the Sephora + Pantone Universe’s collection, but passed it up because I have very fair skin and cannot pull off the very beautiful (and highly pigmented) Marsala. Sigh. The Concept This challenge was to design an e-learning template or interaction using Marsala as the primary colour. I may have gone a little overboard with the Marsala-usage, but when in Rome… The Method Initially I was going to create some kind of makeup application tool, inspired by my visit to Sephora, but I had some fantastic icons kicking around from a recent Creative Market purchase, so I wanted to make use of those. After perusing the icons, I settled on the fitness set because it is a New Year after all, and what resolution is one of the most popular of resolutions? To get fit/join a gym/exercise more/eat better, etc. Using the icons as inspiration, I set out to create a simple interaction to highlight some solid fitness tips. I first formatted my background to Marsala, added a directional header (using a Marsala tint), and then added and formatted the icons. Originally the icon background were a really nice taupey-beige, so I made them a bit more Marsala-y and then added layers with tips for each icon. I set each icon trigger to display the relevant layer when clicked. As for the player, I removed customized the colours to be more Marsala-esque and added a slew of resources from some of my favourite fitness gurus and sites. The Result I think the interaction turned out well, and it offers practical tips and resources for maintaining those fitness goals you resolved to maintain in 2015. To view the complete interaction, Click Here.

2014 seemed to come and go in a flash, didn’t it? It seems like we were just chatting about 2013 trends, and now we’re talking about 2015. We and many others have already shared our picks for the top trends in our industry this year. Our industry is advancing so fast, it’s interesting to see how much top trends change just from one year to the next! Before the end-of-year celebrations begin, let’s pause to consider what our industry will likely be seeing in the new year. Ongoing Training and Coaching via Learning Campaigns Organizational leaders are catching on that the information-dump training sessions of old no longer work. Technology now lets us follow a campaign model in our eLearning, delivering training material to users when they need it. Information can be broken into easily-consumed chunks and we can follow up with automated reminders, coaching and more. Personalized Learning Experiences Rather than cramming employees of all different disciplines and experience into one room for a training class that may or may not apply to their role, organizations are moving toward personalized experiences, creating custom pathways based on role, experience and individual training needs. We can use digital dialogues to assess each learner’s background and knowledge level, and send them down the most appropriate path. eLearning will shift into developing markets As technology becomes more globally accessible, we’ll see eLearning adoption spread into emerging markets. In its 2014 E-Learning Market Trends & Forecast Report, Docebo attributed the highest regional growth rates to Asia (driven by India, China and Australia) at 17.3%, Eastern Europe (driven by Russia) at 16.9%,  followed by Africa and Latin America at 15.2%, and 14.6%, respectively. Of course, eLearning is a broad area, and Docebo’s study was also able to uncover the three largest areas of growth under the the eLearning umbrella: Content, Authoring tools, and Learning Platforms. Big Data and Robust Reporting Digitizing training allows for advanced data collection and aggregation, and we’re figuring out better ways to leverage that data to understand our audience, optimize our learning campaigns and measure training effectiveness, especially in the days and weeks following training. Is training driving sustained behavioral change? Now we can find out. Continued Growth in Mobile Adoption and Custom Apps Mobile adoption for delivering training was one of our top trends for 2014, and in 2015, we expect that trend to continue with increasing use of custom mobile apps for learning. LMS systems have made interactive training content available online, and mobile applications are the next frontier, giving learners access to the same content on a mobile device. This offers flexibility and allows for device preference, or a BYOD approach. That wraps up our two-part year-end series on eLearning trends. In case you missed it, you can read our 2014 Year in Review here. Do you agree or disagree with the trends our team identified? Leave us a comment below and let us know what trends you’re excited about for 2015. photo credit: Leo Reynolds

I don’t use as many job aids now, but back in my time with the military sector I was very well-acquainted with them. The military LOVES their job aids. I was inspired to write this post as I work through E-Learning Challenge #17 - Using Job Aids in E-Learning. Job Aids Job aids are just what they sound like - materials developed in order to aid you in doing your job! These often appear in the form of checklists (think back to the time you may have spent in retail - did you have a dreaded bathroom cleaning checklist? You know, the one you had to sign off on every 30 minutes?), worksheets, or FAQs. These job aids can serve to make doing certain tasks easier, especially if you have a lot to remember. They also serve to generate procedural habits. In e-learning, job aids might even be more effective than formal training. In a Training Needs Analysis, the Instructional Designer might determine that developing full-blown training really won’t address the need, but a simple Job Aid will do just the trick. Here, you can see how job aids can be efficient and cost-effective. I spent many moons working in retail, and one of my favourite job aids was the Starbucks drink recipe cards (click here for an example, found on a quick search of The Google). Each store had a couple sets of these, and they were easy index-sized cards that had an illustration of the drink and the steps to make the drink. I say this was one of my favourite job aids because, as a manager of an incredibly busy store, you sometimes had to toss a new trainee into the trenches, and these recipe cards really helped new baristas (and sometimes old ones who encountered an obscure drink order) get up-to-speed with the plethora of drink recipes there were. Each time a new drink came out, the recipe index received another magical card. What a perfect job aid! Within the military, there were always checklists for every little task; these checklists are critical in that while some might seem silly, others were the difference between life and death. Just think about what might happen if someone didn’t use the proper torquing value when tightening bolts on aircraft parts? The part might fail during a mission and the plane might crash. No one wants to have that hanging over their head, so checklists are necessary! Enough Examples! Here are some Resources: Use Job Aids to Improve Your Business Results by Leslie Allan Designing a Job Aid by ATD How to Build Effective Job Aids by Kari Loeffler Designing Effective Job Aids with Microsoft Word by Raul Esparza

2014 was a good year for our eLearning blog. I was curious to dig into the traffic numbers and uncover what posts were the most popular. What topics does our audience most respond to? As is often the case, the most popular posts weren’t necessarily our favorites, making it interesting to study this list every so often. While interesting that the topics seemed to vary, most notable is the variety in content format - text, infographics and video. Before we get into the list, let me ask that you leave a comment below letting me know what topics you would most like to see featured on the Expand eLearning Blog? And, if you have a preference, in what format? Now, without further ado…feel free to grab a cup of coffee and hang out for awhile! Our 10 Most Viewed Blog Posts of 2014 Why You Can’t Really Train Anyone: The Trainee Hierarchy of NeedsLearning facilitators have to understand trainees' needs in order to create a willingness to learn and the desired audience response. Read more in our most popular post of 2014. Why eLearning? [Infographic]This infographic explains why eLearning is the most effective way to train employees and see measurable results. 6 Sales Training Obstacles You Can Conquer with eLearningIt can be difficult to capture a salesperson's attention for training. In this post, we discuss common hurdles in delivering successful sales training. Why You Should Embrace Visual LearningTake a look at some of the science behind visual learning to see why it can be beneficial to embrace it in eLearning courses. Get Rid of Paper Checklists: Use Mobile Performance Support SystemsConverting paper forms and checklists to a mobile format eliminates paperwork, improves reporting accuracy and is easier for employees to use. Stronger performance support leads to greater results. The Benefits of Using Animation in eLearningHere are seven big reasons to use animation in your eLearning. Learning in the Modern Workplace [Infographic]There is plenty of compelling data to show how eLearning makes content resonate with the modern learner. Check out this infographic. Live Training vs. eLearning: A ComparisonCan you estimate converting live training into eLearning? Read on to learn our standard guideline. Why Learning Objectives are Critical (And How To Create a Good One)If you aren't sure of the objective of your training course, how do you know it was a success? Here, we discuss how to create good learning objectives. Meet The Team at Expand [Video]Who is Expand? Find out in this post. photo credit: FotoChaotin

This week I wanted to chat a bit about gesture-based learning. The topic recently came up in discussion, and whenever I explain it in contextual examples (of projects I previously worked on), people always seem really wow’ed, so I figured it would be a great time to chat about it! Gesture-Based Learning Gesture-based learning allows users to learn practical movements through human interactions interfacing with digital technologies. This type of learning became increasingly popular with the emergence of readily available and affordable technologies such as the Xbox Kinect and the Nintendo Wii. The novelty is engaging enough for most users, and with the appropriate programming, you can develop incredible scenarios. In gesture-based learning, courses are developed around key gestures and body movements. Activities are often simulating real-life events, and the practical component of gesture-based learning activities is paramount (in my opinion) when it comes to mastering movements to be used in real-life events. An example of a gesture-based course I contributed to was an aircraft marshalling program, wherein the users were tasked with properly learning marshalling signals, and throughout the activities they were assessed. Incorrect movements would prompt sample scenarios of what might happen in the real-world field. It was one of the cooler programs I worked on, but I have to suppose that it was incredibly expensive and laborious for all resources involved. Resources Gesture Based Interaction NUI: An Overview by Dr. Manju Kaushik and Rashmi Jain "Alien Health": A Nutrition Instruction Exergame using the Kinect Sensor by M. C. Glenberg, C. Savio-Ramos, and H. Henry Gesture-based Learning with Kinect Teacher’s Guide to Kinect: How to Program for Kinect and Gesture-Based Learning

In 2013, we met a Director from SDMyers. After a few conversations, we learned that SDMyers was facing a similar problem as many of our clients. They needed to find a way to train more people without spending more time or more money. The answer lied in converting all of their existing, live training courses to online eLearning courses. Read on to learn more about this real-life case study. About the Client SDMyers is a mid-sized Facilities Services company offering industrial organizations the consulting, training and maintenance needed to keep their mission-critical electrical systems in top condition, with emphasis on transformer maintenance and testing. (No, not that kind of transformer…) A key piece of SDMyers’ business model is training clients on preventative maintenance and asset management to avoid equipment downtime and subsequent revenue losses. They’ve offered training since 1975 and have earned a reputation as an expert and client-focused organization in the industry. About the Problem Traditionally, SDMyers offered classroom training sessions in their Ohio facility, which limited client participation, because of both timing and travel costs.  The classes were popular, but expensive and inefficient, and only a portion of clients were able to take advantage of what had become an in-demand service. SDMyers’ leadership felt they could improve the client training while at the same time gain savings and economies of scale by shifting to an eLearning approach. The question, then, was how. They had many questions, and turned to Expand for instructional design and technology expertise to help them develop the best approach, tone, breakdown of content, delivery methods and how to get more out of each course with tracking and reporting. How eLearning Solved the Problem Expand’s team of instructional designers and developers converted much of SDMyers’ live training material into a series of eLearning modules that users can access anywhere they have an Internet connection, on any device. They can reach more people, and their audience benefits from having the training material at their fingertips without incurring travel expenses and significant time away from work. Training is shorter, more effective, more engaging and less of a drag on resources for all involved. SDMyers has strengthened their client-focused reputation while realizing significant cost savings. Watch a quick snapshot of the final product to see just how engaging eLearning, when done right, can be. Need to be more places at once? If you’re considering converting live training content into eLearning modules, but aren’t sure where to start, schedule a free consultation with our team. We can talk you through your project and help you bring it to fruition. photo credit: born1945

After a couple of weeks of relaxation (thanks, David!), this week’s challenge was to develop a unified template, and I really enjoyed developing this interaction. It gave me a break from my regular workload, and now I’m feeling a bit more inspired. The Concept Use three different templates to develop a unified template. The templates could either come from something existing you had kicking around on your hard drive, from somewhere online, or from the Articulate Downloads site. The Method The three templates I chose to use were: Storyline 2 Icon-Based Template Accordion Template Clean Resume Template Using the Clean Resume Template as a jumping off point, I changed the colour scheme, deleted most of the navigation elements, replaced them with accordion blocks from the Accordion Template, and added some headers, using the ball icons from Storyline 2 Icon-Based Template. It was pretty easy to put together, and definitely practical. The Result To view the full interaction, Click Here. To download this Free Resume Template, Click Here.

So, a few months back (gosh…it’s been many months, actually), I purchased The Doodle Revolution on recommendation from many e-learning professionals. I have yet to finish it, but largely because I did a lot of the reading, but not as much of the exercises. Anyhow, the book is amazingly well-written and is not about making you good at drawing. It’s about making you think differently and communicate in a more visual manner. It’s awesome! However, as I previously mentioned, it’s been slow-going because I’ve been wanting to do the exercises and haven’t been particularly motivated to do so…that is until I discovered Pencil and Paper by Fifty-Three. Pencil is a stylus type of tool, and is meant to work with the app Paper (free). Last night my Pencil arrived and I promptly had my husband download the app on his iPad. I asked him what he wanted me to draw, and I ended up drawing this cat as my very first doodle: IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I cannot quite explain (except in all-caps) just how friggin’ fun it was to make that doodle. I didn’t need to be good at drawing. All of the tools I needed and colours I needed were there. I didn’t need a desk full of implements and other crap to choose from. I just needed to DO IT. My favourite feature is the watercolour option; it makes all of my artistic endeavours seem that much more artistic. Now my motivation for completing the exercises in The Doodle Revolution have been reinvigorated, and I’m excited to get moving! In any event…I just wanted to share these products by Fifty-Three with you (they aren’t paying me to tell you how awesome they are), because my husband and I honestly had the most fun in recent memory sitting beside each other and making silly drawings (his is less silly and more realistic, but it was so much fun)! Definitely check it out; I’ve added these items to my Resources page.

Have you ever watched a video or used a self-paced training module that was supposed to teach you something -- and it was a total fail? Undoubtedly, you have. It may have left you frustrated, bored, or even amused in a way the authors did not intend. If you are now working on the other end—meaning you are now involved in the creation of eLearning courses—you need to know what mistakes often lead to the audience feeling frustrated, bored or not taking training seriously. When Bad Instructional Design Happens to Good People There are nuances in every instructional design project. Each one is different and it’s important to have a keen understanding of the audience. A style that one group immediately responds to might alienate another group entirely. It’s also important to accept, unless you’ve dazzled them in the past, most of your learners are coming to the course fully expecting to be bored, to multitask and not devote full attention. Beyond the nuances, there are some fundamentals of modern instructional design that, if missed, will create immediate problems and decrease the overall effectiveness of the course. These targets are commonly missed, but the good news is it’s easy to correct your aim once you’re able to recognize and understand the problem. Let’s discuss six common instructional design mistakes and how to correct them: Cheesy Stock Photography: You know those pictures of ethnically diverse, good-looking business people with bright smiles and obviously impeccable phone etiquette? They do not exist in real life. Repeat. They do not exist. Even if they did exist, the average person would probably not be able to relate to them at all. Unless used in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, skip the phony-looking stock photos. Instead, illustrate your content with real photos or entertaining animated characters. Overdone Slides: Your eLearning course shouldn’t look like an episode of Hoarders. Remove the clutter by trimming excess text, bullet points and graphics. Keep the message succinct and design clean. Boring Tone: Let’s face it, voiceover work isn’t easy. But, it’s critical to have a voiceover personality that can relate to the audience and adapt his or her style to the project at hand. Fundamentally, voiceovers should be conversational, not flat. The learner should feel as though they are communicating with a peer or superior - whatever is appropriate for the course - and are talked to, not talked at. Voiceovers shouldn’t sound like what they often are behind the scenes: words being read from a script. Unrealistic or unrelatable examples or scenarios: It’s one thing to use oversimplified examples to illustrate a point. It’s another thing to overdramatize to the point of being ridiculous. Do your best to paint realistic scenarios that your learners may actually face in real life. Poor UX Design: As the learner moves through a course, it should be abundantly clear what action is supposed to be taken, whether it’s advancing to the next section, answering questions or playing a game. These interactions should be clean and clear, not cumbersome or complex. Use Apple as your muse, and you’ll be fine. No assessment or evaluation: You’re missing a huge opportunity if you aren’t scattering assessments throughout your course. Assessments help gauge course effectiveness and user engagement, as well as drive home important points through reiteration and application. If you have instructional design experience, what advice would you give to others about common mistakes and how to overcome them? Leave us a comment below! If you’d like to create an eLearning course but are looking to collaborate with an eLearning partner, let us know if you’d like to chat. We can schedule a time to discuss your project and offer our recommendations with how best to proceed! photo credit: striatic 

I am no stranger to procrastination…by any stretch. So much so, that I tend to factor procrastination into my workflow and feel as though I produce better work under pressure…probably not true, but I’ll let myself believe it. Whatever you choose to believe, you should make an effort (like I do) to be more productive. That’s why I subscribe to the 45/15 rule! The 45/15 Rule The 45/15 rule is a great model for productive workflow (in my opinion) because it encourages you to break up each hour into 45 minutes of productive work and 15 minutes of procrastination, distraction, or time spent otherwise not working. For me, this rule works really well because I see it as a challenge - how many pages can I write in 45 minutes? How many emails can I respond to in 45 minutes? How much of a course can I author in 45 minutes? And then, I reward myself by 1 - ticking items off my to do list and 2 - watching cat videos or surfing social media for 15 minutes! This rule helps me channel my productivity while still allowing me to indulge in the procrastination I’ve grown to love and appreciate (and whom I have nurtured for many years). If it helps, you can use an alarm - I did this at first. However, I tend to find the actual alarm sound to be jarring, so I’ve opted to calculate my hour by using even hours on my clock. Resources Use the 45/15 Rule for Productive Procrastination by Freelancer Union The 45/15 Rule by Create & Thrive The ’45/15 Rule,’ Eating the Frog, and 5 Other Ways Freelancers Can Get Things Done at Home by Suzanne Levy

Let me ask you a quick question. Do any of the phrases below describe your role? A business consultant An HR professional A corporate training professional A departmental or operations manager Anyone that needs to teach something to others You might be wondering what these different jobs have in common. Anyone working in these roles is involved in the training of a team of people. They, directly or indirectly, oversee the dissemination of information to build skills, increase knowledge or change belief patterns. There are different methods of distributing educational information, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. eLearning is becoming a method of choice for transferring knowledge, skills and beliefs. However, before you can launch an eLearning initiative, it’s good to understand what will be involved in shifting from the current approach. Are You Ready for eLearning? You have buy-in. You’re fully convinced an eLearning initiative is a worthwhile investment, but convincing other internal stakeholders that don’t understand it as well can be difficult. It helps to plot out a list of convincing talking points before asking for buy-in. Here are a few ideas to get you started. You have budget. The purpose of training and performance support is to ultimately improve business performance so, like a good suit, it’s worth the investment. You have time. Especially if you’re new to eLearning, you want to allow enough time to get it just right. That could mean a few rounds of edits, so your eLearning project shouldn’t be treated like a race to the finish line. You have a delivery platform. Your shiny new eLearning course needs be put somewhere where your audience can access it easily when they need it. This usually involves some kind of LMS that allows you share content, track course completions, conduct assessments and report on course effectiveness, such as ExpandShare. Your audience has access to adequate technology. Advanced technology has become so prevalent, it’s easy to assume everyone has a mobile device or easy access to high-speed internet. Depending on your audience that might not be the case, so take stock of the technology available to your learners and make sure they can access what they need. You want to measure and report on results. This is arguably the biggest advantage to eLearning. How do you know it’s working? Assessment results are only the first step. You need to be able to determine whether the behaviors taught in the eLearning course are being successfully applied in the field. Notice that none of these statements have to do with the content itself? That’s because any training content can be converted to eLearning, whether it’s historically been delivered in a live, classroom setting, a video, a series of handouts, a job aid, etc. You can get an idea of how to estimate the live-to-eLearning conversion by checking out this previous post. Have additional questions? Give us a call; we’d be happy to answer them. photo credit: Jirka Matousek

This week’s challenge entry is probably my least imaginative, but I’m not feeling 100% and I gave it a go anyhow. For 2015, I’ve resolved to try to be less hard on myself. The Concept This week we were tasked with sharing a creative example of an invoice or invoice template. Invoices - exciting! No, but really…if you’re doing any sort of independent work, you need to have some sort of invoice or else you run the risk of not getting paid (or having a harder time getting your ducks in a row come tax time). The Method I developed two examples, one of which only involved modifying the information on my current invoice template for my own small business. The other was modified based on a word invoice template I found awhile back. Neither are particularly wow-ing, but they get the job done, and I can tell you first-hand that my first example gets me paid. Effective? I’d say so! Both invoices were created in Microsoft Word and then saved as a PDF format. The Result View the Full PDF Here. View the Full PDF Here.

Do you have 100% decision-making power when it comes to implementing a new department- or organization-wide initiative, like eLearning? If so...have we met? I kid, I kid... Sorta. The point I want to make is not many people do have sole decision-making power. There are other stakeholders that have to buy in to a new idea. It could be others within a department that have an understanding of the initiative and its potential. More often, it's one or more people that are outside of that group, like a budgetary manager, a board of directors or senior leadership. They need to be convinced that the project is worth devoting resources to. That requires a strategic approach on your part. But have no fear! We've put together some tips to help you sell your eLearning initiative to internal stakeholders. Take a look. Tips for Selling Your eLearning Project Outline the problem, but don't make it your sole focus. You don't want to appear as though you're just complaining. Invite additional stakeholders to witness first-hand the limits of the current program so they can experience what the employees go through, and be sure to communicate that you have ideas to solve the problems. Focus on solutions. Provide a demonstration of a new model to show fellow decision-makers what kinds of improvements could be made and what the impact would be. Present more than one option. You may be convinced of a particular solution, but your chances of getting buy-in drop when you make it a simple yes-or-no decision. Come armed with a few options so that even if you can't get your top pick, you might be able to get the next best thing. Share audience feedback. It's hard to argue with the opinions of the participants themselves. Ask what they would like to see improved and share their responses with stakeholders. Emphasize that the issues with your training aren’t related to unmotivated employees but inefficient learning methods. Talking Points to Guide the Conversation Focus on ROI. Sure, revamping a training program can seem pricey on the surface, but think of all the cost savings that come as a result: lower travel expenses, less missed on-the-job time, fewer mistakes, increased productivity, more sales, higher quality...more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff. What's the value of that kind of improvement? Crunch some numbers and have them ready to make your case. Tracking. The biggest waste of resources in training is when no one can say with certainty that it worked. You had 95% participation. Ok. Three-quarters of participants scored over 90% on the assessment. Great. How is that actionable information? What does it tell you? It might only tell you that three-quarters of your people are good at multiple-choice. Instead, a robust eLearning program can measure behavioral change. Are your participants successfully applying what they learned in the field weeks, months and years after the initial training? That's what you want to measure. Show Trainees You Care. When surveyed, one of the top criteria employees want to see from their employer is opportunity for growth and development. Show them you want to aid in their development. Help them be better at their job. Employees with that kind of support are more likely to feel satisfied, remain at a job longer and put in a stronger effort. And finally, don't be afraid to call in reinforcements. Our eLearning and behavioral change pros can help you prepare for your presentation, or can participate in the conversation to offer even more support. We're here for you! photo credit: CGIAR Climate

Alright folks - I’m riding on a high over here because my VERY FIRST BOOK (!!!!) just became available for pre-order (GET ON THAT!) - EEEE! You’ll have to be patient with me and not judget the abundance of exclamation points. Some buzz on Twitter had me worried for this challenge, but then when I found out it was a podcast challenge, I WAS SO EXCITED!!! I love the podcast challenges. It makes me feel so much closer to my friends (aka the e-learning community). The Challenge This week’s challenge was to record answers to the following questions: What’s your job title? What title do you think really captures your roles and responsibilities? What software tools do you love? What’s your workspace setup like? What is your creative or design philosophy? How do you stay fresh and keep building your skills? How do you avoid burnout? How do you save time and boost your efficiency day-to-day? How do you manage your workflow? Do you have a project management tool you love? What books or blogs have been influential to you? What kinds of tasks do you love to do? What gets you excited to sit down at your desk? What do you like to do least? How do you keep yourself motivated to do that stuff? The Method I wrote out all of my responses in notepad because I’m not great at winging it, and then I recorded and edited each response in Camtasia, exported, and uploaded to Sound Cloud - EASY PEASY! The Result