One of the biggest challenges instructional designers face while developing eLearning courses is maintaining the motivation levels of learners. Everybody loves to learn. But, as an eLearning professional, you need to understand that various kinds of learners take the courses we develop. Surely, we can’t use the same strategy for all types of learners. Understanding the different arrays of learners will help you to design a course that is more learner-centric. Assertive learners: These learners are confident about themselves. They are always curious and motivated to learn things, which in turn build up their confidence. They think that they are proficient in everything. They usually don’t like to be guided. Learning through Explanation and Discovery (LEAD) is the best strategy that can be used to teach these learners, as they prefer learning through exploration and practice. Go-getters: Go-getters are workaholics who always hunt for information in order to improve their knowledge. They are exceptional performers who expect constant feedback. They are ready to accept any type of challenge and open for discussion. Case-studies are the best way to teach this type of learners. They enable the learners to think about a situation and take the right decision which leads to a solution. Also, immediate feedback can be provided based on their selection.  Emotive learners: These learners become emotional and indulge themselves in a given situation. Scenarios are the best way to engage this type of learners. Adopting this strategy encourages the learners to relate themselves to a specific situation and with the characters in the scenario.  Unenthusiastic learners: This cluster of learners lacks motivation and is uninterested to take a course and put minimal efforts to complete the course. These learners generally look for an easy course. It is not very easy to engage this type of learners. Storytelling, scenarios and guided learning are the best approaches to motivate unenthusiastic learners. Enthusiastic learners: Enthusiastic/motivated learners are usually eager to learn new things. These learners must be allowed to select the content they learn. They can be provided with additional resources like PDF files, hyperlinks, etc. Logical presentation is one of the best strategies to teach these learners. These are just a few examples. There are many other types of learners. Apart from analyzing the nature and purpose of the content, as an eLearning professional, you need to study the audience’s profile and decide on the appropriate strategy to teach them. Related PostsDealing with Different Types of Learners in E-learningCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicLevels of Content Chunking in E-learning

Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Memory Game in Adobe Captivate 8 This Adobe Captivate 8 tutorial presents how to create a memory game with Adobe Captivate 8. The post Adobe Captivate 8 Tutorial: Memory Game in Adobe Captivate 8 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

10 Facts eLearning Professionals Should Know About Learning Disabilities In Online Training According to the National Center of Learning Disabilities, a learning disability is "a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations". Research estimates the percentage of people facing learning disabilities ranges from 5% to 15%; a significant percentage that cannot be ignored. Learning disabilities may interfere with organization and time management skills in the work environment, and often they have a negative impact on employees' performance. Although companies around the world are making efforts to accommodate their learning disable staff, most organizations have still little knowledge or experience in terms of learning disabilities. In this article, I'll share 10 important facts you need to know about learning disabilities in online training, so that you will be able to recognize and support your learning disabled workforce, as well as help them develop new skills and succeed at work. There are many types of learning disabilities. Lots of people consider dyslexia, a language-based disorder that affects someone’s ability to read, and sometimes the ability to write and spell, to be another term for learning disability; however, this is just one of the many types of learning disabilities. In fact there are many others as well, such as dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and auditory memory and processing disorder. Learning disabilities should not be confused with conditions such as autism, deafness, blindness, intellectual disability, or any type of behavioral disorders. A learning disability is a lifelong challenge. Whether innate or inherited, the effects of most learning disabilities tend to be lifelong. However, with proper recognition and support, your learning disabled staff can successfully complete your online training program. It is a myth that people with learning disabilities are unmotivated; the thing is that, more often than not, although they may even work harder than the rest of their online "classmates", their work results may not reflect their efforts. Learning disabilities vary from person to person. While some types of learning disabilities can greatly affect a person’s daily routine, work, personal and professional relationships, there are some isolated cases that may not have such a direct impact on someone’ life. Learning disabilities may not be of the same intensity, as they are not all the same and neither do they affect everyone in the same way; depending on the situation, their impact on each person may vary. Employees with learning disabilities are usually of above average intelligence. There is no real proof that learning disabilities are directly related to intelligence, but we cannot ignore that ... Einstein was dyslexic. Learning disabilities are often also referred to as "hidden disabilities"; more often than not, people with learning disabilities are very smart, yet unable to achieve academic success, which seems to be a solid indicator of high intelligence. Even if your employees do not have IQs of more than 160, as the famous German physicist, the gap between their potential and actual achievement, under no circumstances, is indicative of their level of ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. People with learning disabilities are bright; it is just that they have a different way and pace of learning. Self-disclosure of learning disabilities is rare. Despite all efforts to create societies that are more open-minded and tolerant to difference, people are still hesitant to self-disclosure their difficulties. The same thing happens with learning disabled employees. Especially in online training, the impersonal nature of which discourages them to ask for help, employees are much less likely to let others know about their learning disabilities. This lack of disclosure makes their detection and support a challenging task for eLearning professionals. There are indicators of learning disabilities. You may not always have the ability to modify your online training course in order to make it suitable for employees with learning disabilities, but if you pay close attention, you may detect the learning disabled members of your audience. A common indicator is not being "in synch" with the other members of the group; failing to answer simple questions, completing online training assignments and tasks late, making excessive errors in online discussions, asking irrelevant questions etc, may all be signs of learning disabilities and you should pay attention when you notice them, in order to identify the learners who may need extra help. Employees with learning disabilities may have difficulties with certain elements of your online training course. Text-heavy online environments are challenging for employees with reading disabilities, whereas employees with visual discrimination deficits may have trouble with the excessive use of color, graphics, and animations. The way to get around it is by following a minimal approach when designing your eLearning course; make sure that you use a considerable amount of white space among columns, paragraphs, images, and graphics, to make the pages of your online course more readable. Furthermore, consider using bells and whistles only as an optional add-ons, so that your employees will have the opportunity to choose whether they want to see them or not. Flexible online training helps employees with learning disabilities. Easily-adaptable online training courses are the best solution for employees with learning disabilities. Simply put, the more flexible your eLearning course is, the easier it will be for all of your employees to participate in it. Examples of building in flexibility are incorporating asynchronous eLearning elements into your online training method, offering a wide variety of assignment types, and always including closed captions in your eLearning videos. The more options you offer regarding the format of the eLearning content, the more able your employees will be to demonstrate their knowledge and develop the skill sets required. There is a variety of ways to accommodate your learning disabled staff. When designing your eLearning course, apart from making sure that you offer alternative eLearning options to employees with learning disabilities, also consider following these tips: Avoid using distracting visual and graphic elements. Make sure that your eLearning navigation system is consistent, easy to use and has a clear layout. Use titles and headlines to organize your eLearning content in every page in order to avoid confusion. Last but not least, offer learners extra time to complete tasks and assignments. Feedback is essential when dealing with learning disabilities in online training. Online training feedback offers a wide range of advantages, but it can be really critical in accommodating employees with learning disabilities. Maintaining communication with your learning disabled staff will not only allow them to get the most out of their online training experience, but it will also give you the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of your eLearning course in order to make the necessary changes and keep improving it. Use surveys or focus groups through which employees can inform you which parts of your eLearning course were most helpful and which ones failed to accommodate their learning problems. This way, you will be provided with the constructive criticism you need to improve your eLearning deliverable and keep on improving it. Now that you know all the important facts about learning disabilities in online training, you may be interested in exploring more eLearning challenges. Read the article Top 5 Most Common eLearning Challenges And How To Overcome Them and learn how you can overcome eLearning challenges that have the power to hinder the overall eLearning experience. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Captions - Import and Export This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 - Cases for importing and exporting captions 0:25 - Caption file formats 0:55 - Speech-to-Text review 1:05 - Exporting captions 1:25 - Exporting audio 1:50 - Importing captions 2:05 - Proofing imported captions The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Captions - Import and Export appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Have you ever faced unexpected problems while checking your course on the IPAD? Being an instructional designer, it never came into my mind until I faced a similar kind of problem. Recently, I was working on the courses which were IPAD-compatible. To my surprise, I came through a few problems.The images were not visible and a few links and interactivities didn’t work. Many small things which were alright when I checked on desktop failed to function properly on the IPAD. Then, I came to know that there are a few things to consider when the course is supposed to be IPAD- compatible. Here, in this blog, I will deal with the problems that can be solved at the primary level. Images:  When I checked the course, a few images disappeared. But, they were visible on my desktop computer. This problem occurs when images are in JPEG or any other format. So, while inserting images make sure the images are in the PNG format only. Videos: Many a time, videos are in different formats like MPEG, FLV, WMV, etc. which don’t work on IPADs. The videos in my courses did not work on the IPAD as they were in the MPEG format, and our technical expert instructed me to insert videos in the MP4 format. Links: Sometimes, we use reference links to help the learner to explore. There is no format, but the checking part comes here. Every time we implement feedback or make changes the link address which we feed goes and so, when the course is final always keep it in mind to see it the links are properly added. Interactivities: Generally, interactivities do work. But, in the case of a few interactivities like rollover, the context may get delayed as the learner keeps rolling from one place to another. It is better to avoid such interactivities; instead, we can use a better one which does not confuse the learner. PDFs: Now coming to the PDF files. We add resources and other references for the learner. Many a time, we cannot open them in an IPAD. So, there are few precautions we need to take. While inserting the file, we should check that the file name should not have any space, and in case a space is required it shouldbe replaced with a hyphen (-) or underscore (_). The second precaution is to remove special characters like &, $, @, etc. Being an instructional designer, it is also important to check these technical things which may create problemswhile working on the IPAD. So, to check course on IPAD, we can get an idea of such mistake if we see the course in HTML5 instead of STORY. Hope this blog is useful for you. Please do share if there is anything to add up. Related PostsAssessment Strategy for M-learningBest Practices for Developing M-learning Courses - An InfographicImporting Images to iPad: 3 Ways

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Captions - Make Videos Searchable This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 - Lesson overview 0:25 - Production settings 1:05 - Testing the search 1:25 - Reminders The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Captions - Make Videos Searchable appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Free Webinar: 6 Hot E-learning Trends Transforming The Online Training World E-learning - a training methodology that has ushered in a new era in the world of learning and development. The online medium is enabling companies to equip their people with the needed knowledge and skills in a highly efficient and cost-effective manner. According to a report released by IBM, companies who utilize eLearning tools and strategies have the potential to boost productivity by up to 50%. For every $1 spent, it's estimated that they can receive $30 worth of productivity. Various revolutionary developments such as mobile learning, responsive eLearning courses that break the shackles of device incompatibility and learning through online collaboration have altered the corporate training landscape. The radical innovations in technology can be used to meet the dynamic, ever-changing learning needs of organizations, and it is important that companies are aware of the latest eLearning trends. Join us in the live webinar 6 Hot E-learning Trends Transforming the Online Training World to find out all you need to make the best use of the novel developments in the field of online training. Experts, who have helped many prestigious firms harness the power of eLearning, will provide valuable insights into 6 developments that are changing the way training is delivered. They will also answer the following questions. Why are increasing numbers of companies updating their legacy eLearning courses? What are the most popular eLearning development tools? Why is eLearning outsourcing to India growing by leaps and bounds? Does responsive eLearning have the potential to shape the future of online training? What are the various ways in which the online medium can be used to impart first-rate customer training? Timings: Date: Wednesday, Jul 22, 2015, Time: 12:00 PM BST Register now!   This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

As instructional designers, our ultimate goal is to make learner-centric eLearning courses. E-learning has now become a global phenomenon and designing an eLearning course that engages the adult learner is a challenge for us. In eLearning courses, there are certain things you shouldn’t miss which may force your learners to drop out. In this blog, I would like to share 8 things you shouldn’t miss in your eLearning course. 1. Course Description The course should start with a course description slide. It gives a brief idea about the course and its target audience. It also specifies the duration of the course. The first page of your course should motivate the learner to take up the course and learn something. So, it is very important to write good eLearning course descriptions. If this is missing, then your learner may not be clear with what the course is all about and why he should take up the course. 2. Learning objectives  You shouldn’t miss learning objectives in your course because they are used to specify the intended outcome of the course. In other words, they specify what you want your learner to learn. If this is missing, then your learner may not have an idea of what is being taught, what are the key learning points, and what is expected of them after taking the course. 3. Intuitive GUI  The Graphical User Interface (GUI) enables learners to navigate intuitively through the course. It tells them where they are in the course, how many slides they have completed, how many more they need to complete and so on. If this is missing, then your learners may not be able to navigate through the course in a hassle-free manner. They may not be clear where they are in the course and will not be able to learn what they want, when they want. 4. Images It is well said that "A picture is worth a thousand words" and this quotation applies very well in the context of eLearning too. One can make use of images that are self-explanatory - images that represent content in a simple way. Images not only enrich the look and feel of the course; they also help the learner retain information for a long time. If there are no images on the screen, the course becomes lifeless, and this may reduce the learner’s interest. 5. Interactivities Interactivity does not mean just clicking on buttons; it should help learners actively participate in the course and enable them to learn at a faster pace. One can convert dull and boring online learning content into an engaging and interesting material, by making use of interactivities. You can choose the right interactivities based on the content. If these are missing, you may fail to engage your learners, attract their attention, and motivate them to take up the course. 6. Assessments In an eLearning course, you need to frame questions that are challenging enough and enable you to measure the comprehension of your learners effectively. There are two types of assessments - formative (which help build the learners’ knowledge) and summative (which help assess learning at the end of the course). It’s important to design assessments basedon the answers to the following questions. What are the learning objectives? How is the content being approached? How are the learning activities woven into the design process? If assessments are missing, the learner may not be able to knowthe level of knowledge he has gained from the course and the trainer cannot evaluate whether the learning objectives of the eLearning course have been met or not. 7. Feedback In an eLearning course, it’s important to provide instant and explanatory feedback. For example, when the learner gets a question right, you need to tell him that he is right and why he is right. You need to provide a brief explanation as to why his answer is correct. This goes a long way in reinforcing the key concepts of the topic, on which he is tested. Similarly, when the learner answers a question incorrectly, you need to tell him why his answer is incorrect. If the learner is partially right, it’s better to tell himthat he is partially correct rather than telling that he is wrong. If the feedback is not explanatory in nature, learners may not know why the selected option is correct or wrong and get a clear understanding of the concepts. 8. Summary In the summary of an online course, it’s important to recap the course by listing the main points. It helps the learner memorize the important points. If this is missing, your learner may not get the gist of the course. I am sure there are many more things that you shouldn’t miss in an eLearning course. Please add on to the list. Related PostsFive Elements of Motivation for Games in E-LearningChant The Personalization Mantra to Seize The Attention of Your Gen-Y LearnersHow to Avoid Instructional Design Pitfalls in E-learning?

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Introduction to Quizzing This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 - Intro 0:15 - What to do before adding quizzes 0:40 - Quiz View / How to add a quiz 1:50 - Building quizzes / Quiz options 3:20 - How to edit a quiz 3:40 - Quiz production settings 4:15 - Quiz reporting options 4:45 - Adjusting the quiz appearance 5:55 - Wrap-up / Next tutorial The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Introduction to Quizzing appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

In my previous blog, we have discussed about the magic wand in Articulate Storyline-the trigger wizard. We explored the two drop-down menus Action and When; and how each option in these menus changes the other fields in the wizards. Today in this blog, we will explore this magic wand in more detail to know the other important option- Trigger Condition. What is a trigger condition? As the name implies, this option allows us to add one or more conditions to the trigger execution. The When drop-down menu in the trigger wizard may however tellwhen should the trigger be executed, but the trigger condition specifies under what condition the trigger should be executed. For example, the below screenshot of the trigger with a condition tells you that the trigger will be executed (Jump to next slide) when the user clicks the next button under the condition that the Variable 1 is True. This means that the trigger will be executed when you click the next button only if the variable is true. If the variable is false and you click the next button, the trigger will not execute. How to add a condition? I want my trigger to be executed (Jump to next slide) when I click the next button, but the condition would be ─ only when the timeline of the slide ends. If I click the next button before the timeline of the slide ends, the trigger should not be executed. So, let’s see the steps to add such a condition. Step 01: First, I will create a small rectangle outside the slide. Step 02: Set the initial state of the rectangle to Hidden. Step 03: Create a trigger (as shown in the screenshot below) that would change the state of the rectangle to normal when the timeline of the slide ends. Step 04: Now, again open the trigger wizard and set the option for the trigger you want to add the condition to. I want to navigate to the next slide. So, I have set the options as shown in the below screenshot. Step 05: Once you set all the drop-down menus in the trigger wizard, click Show Conditions. Step 06: Click the green plus mark to open the Trigger condition wizard. Step 07: Choose any of the three categories displayed in the wizard - Variables, Shapes and Window. I have selected Shapes as I want my condition to depend on the state of the rectangle I’ve created outside the slide. Step 08: Set the options as show below. This condition specifies that the trigger for the next button will execute only when the state of the rectangle is normal. Click OK after setting the required options. This is how the trigger wizard of a trigger with a condition will look like. You can add more conditions to this trigger, but remember to use the AND/OR field cleverly according to the requirement. Similarly, you can add different types of conditions to the triggersto create complex functionality within no time. So, what are you waiting for? Start creating complex functionality and enjoy developing eLearning courses with Articulate Storyline. Have anything to say? Please do share through your comments. Related PostsHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?Rapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesTrigger Wizard - The Magic Wand in Articulate Storyline - Part 1

No-Nonsense Reasons To Track Learning 1. Tying Training to Results (and Promotions) If you aren’t measuring it, you can’t manage it. Results When your employee finishes a lesson or course, you should be pushing that data to your CRM and tying it to their everyday performance goals. In sales, you might tie your prospecting course to the number of cold calls a rep makes in a day, or the average number of meetings they are set before training versus after. In customer support, you might tie your customer service lessons  to the number of cases a rep closes, pre-training versus post. If you aren’t seeing the lift in results that you expect, now you know, and you can tweak your approach. If you do see the lift you expect, you can double down. Either way, if you're tracking results, you can manage results. Promotions People will take training seriously when you show them the tangible benefits it has on their career. No promotion should go unannounced without a reference to the member’s outstanding adoption of training practices (and, of course, his or her resulting performance). 2. Know Who to Help (and How to Help) When you track training, you can provide pre-assessments to subjects; for example, you might ask your reps to write out their current voicemail strategy and email messaging. Once you get their responses, you can fast-track the A-players to more advanced training while giving those who are struggling a more hands-on approach. This is critical. Can you imagine if an NFL coach gave his first and third string players equal playing time? That team would probably fail before its first down. In the same way, as a manager, you need to know who is struggling so you can help them out and let your stronger team members shine on without being dragged down by too much training. 3. Make Feedback Loops a Part of the Process Tracking your training doesn’t just mean providing assessments and quizzes; it also means creating a flow of dialogue between the company and its learners. You might be happy just shooting around PowerPoints, trusting your people to engage with the material, and maybe they are. But did they understand the material? Did they give it a critical thought? Are they clear on the best way to implement the learning into their current processes? You will never know if you’re not tracking. If you make it difficult (or even less-than-super-easy) for your learners to provide feedback, they won’t. Make feedback a part of your training process by building it right into your training. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

No matter whether you are a novice or an experienced eLearning professional,there are certain rules to be followed in order tostand out among eLearning professionals. Many educational psychologists have acknowledged many principles of learning (also known as rules of learning). The same rules,when followed in eLearning, enable you to teach your learners more efficiently. Let’s see them. Law of readiness The first law speaks about learners’ enthusiasm. It is an accepted truth that learning happens only when there is a will to learn. Generally, an individual learns more efficiently and with more indulgence only when he is ready to learn. So, as an eLearning professional, it is your job to develop a course that creates enthusiasm to learn. In order to create readiness about your courses, as a designer,you should create a course that is captivating and engaging and creates an intrigue in learners. The course should also tell what the learner will be able to achieve after completion.  Law of exercise The second law is about repetition. We all know that practice makes aman perfect. It means doing something regularly makesone perfect. In the eLearning context, when the learner comes across the same content at different instances, he is able to reinforce his learning better. So, as an eLearning professional, you need to give multiple opportunities for yourlearners to revise their learning. Learner reinforcement can be done by providing them with the activities, knowledge checks, hand-outs, quizzes, summaries etc., Law of effect The third law is about learners’ encouragement. It is undeniable that learning happens only when the learner feels satisfied and is rewarded for his knowledge.You,as a developer, must create positive emotions in order to encourage the learners. For this, you need to add a few elements to your course such as confidence, credibility, trust and interest.Provide rewards and feedback on the learners’ performance which in turn keep up their motivation levels. Law of primacy The fourth law is the ‘law of primacy’ which speaks about the opinions of the learner.It is a well-known fact that the first impression is the best impression. Generally, when a person learns something, it becomes problematic to persuade him for something different. In order to teach information that is contradictory or different to learners’ imagination, you as an eLearning professional must make sure that you teach the right information. When your intention is to change the behavior of the learner, you need to address both the old knowledge and new information, and then explain why the new information should be considered. Law of recency As per this law,people often remember the most recent things they have learnt.So, eLearning designers must include unit reviews in order to build on the previous knowledge of learners. This enables the learners to revise their materialsbefore answering the knowledge checks. Also, provide them with asummary which contains the old as well as the new information, which in turn reinforces their learning. Law of intensity This law states that you have to develop innovative courses in order to dive into the learners’ concentration. To make the learner stay tuned with same zeal and attentiveness throughout the course, you as a designer should develop the course that is both engaging and captivating. As a designer, you have to come up with creative and innovative ideas depending on the nature of the content. For example, if you want the learner to relate himself with the information, choose the scenario-based approach. This increases the learners’ level of concentration.  Remember these laws and apply them while designing your courses. It will surely yield the best results to the learner. Please share your opinions on the same. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesWhy Training is Important for Instructional Designers?Using Consequence-based Learning in E-learning Courses

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Receiving Quiz Results via Email This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 — Intro 0:15 — Quiz settings 0:30 — Production settings 0:50 — Quiz reporting options 1:35 — Quiz report emails 2:05 — Email report information 2:35 — Detailed quiz reports 2:50 — Summary quiz reports 3:50 — Wrap-up / Next tutorial The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Receiving Quiz Results via Email appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

How To Use Positive Reinforcement In eLearning By definition, reinforcement is the act of strengthening a certain behavior so that it is more likely to be repeated. Typically this involves a specific stimulus, such as a reward, recognition, praise, or appreciation. When used correctly, reinforcement has the power to motivate, inspire and engage your learners, so that they are empowered to learn and get the most out of the educational process. In this article, you’ll learn the differences between positive and negative reinforcement, and discover tips you can use in order to integrate positive reinforcement into your eLearning courses. Positive Reinforcement vs Negative Reinforcement Positive reinforcement strengthens desirable behaviors by presenting the learner a motivational stimulus, such as a reward or praise. This makes it more likely that the person will exhibit this behavior in the future. For example, if learners are successfully completing an online scenario, praise would reinforce their behavior and encourage them to repeat this behavior in the real world. Negative reinforcement also involves a positive stimulus, but this time this positive stimulus is removed every time an undesired behavior is expressed. For example, every time learners answer incorrectly an online multiple choice question, no extra points are added to their total score, as they do not get rewarded with the extra points assigned to each question (positive stimulus). This removal of desired stimuli serves as feedback to the learners, making them understand that this was not the expected behavior. Therefore, learners who want to improve their score know that they have to study harder and pay more attention to the questions in order to answer correctly and be awarded with all the points they need to pass the test. Negative reinforcement should not be confused with punishment. Although they both try to extinguish an undesired behavior, the first has to do with removal of a positive stimulus, though the second with the presence of a negative one. Negative points (negative stimulus), could serve as an example of punishment, as undesired responses on learners’ behalf would result in lowering their total exam scores. Therefore, in the first case of negative reinforcement, learners' scores would remain the same, given the absence of positive stimuli (extra points), though in the second case of punishment, points would be subtracted from their total score up to that point, making them experiencing the negative consequences of their undesired behavior by seeing their total exam score falling. 6 Tips For Using Positive Reinforcement In eLearning There are a number of ways you can incorporate positive reinforcement into your eLearning course design. Here are few tips you can use to encourage positive learning behaviors: Personalize your praise. Offer custom tailored praise to students who exhibit particularly positive learning behaviors, and avoid offering general praise to all members of your audience. While it’s perfectly fine to give them all a virtual pat on the back when they work well together or all earn high scores on their exam, it is more effective to praise each learner individually and personalize the praise. Be as specific as possible and let them know exactly what they did right, so that they know which learning behaviors earned them the praise. Offer positive constructive feedback. Rather than letting your learners know what they did incorrectly at every turn, try to offer them encouragement, inspiration, and motivation. If a learner is continually stumbling over a particular simulation, offer them positive constructive feedback and attempt to figure out why they are repeating the same behavior time and time again. If they can see that you are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and actually help them resolve the issue, then they are more likely to correct and repeat the desired behavior. Reward positive behavior immediately. You must reinforce the behavior immediately after it occurs. If you wait until the end of the eLearning course to reward the desirable behavior your learner simply won’t be able to link the behavior to the reinforcement. Their brains probably won’t make the connection between the act and the reward, which means that there will be no positive effect whatsoever. Design eLearning activities that focus on progress and improvement. Your learners should always be aware of the fact that you aren’t asking for perfect, just for them to do their very best during the eLearning course. This is why it’s so essential to focus on improvements and the progress they have made while you are presenting the positive reinforcement. Let them know how far they’ve come since the beginning of the eLearning course, or praise them for correcting a certain behavior and specify how they have been improved. You can also encourage them to set goals while doing this by offering feedback on how they can strengthen the behavior in the future or develop necessary skill sets. Don’t offer rewards on a regular basis. You can have too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to rewards. It’s best to surprise your learners with rewards, rather than offering them so often that they grow to expect them. For example, instead of giving your learners a reward whenever they complete a unit, only present them a reward if they successfully complete a challenging scenario or get a high score on an exam. This element of surprise will not only motivate them, but make your praises and rewards more meaningful and powerful to them. Recognize top learners by integrating leaderboards or other reward systems. Human beings are competitive by nature. Even those of us who don’t necessarily think of ourselves very competitive  are motivated by the fact that we excel in a particular subject. This is where leaderboards and rewards systems come into play. Not only do learners get rewarded when they exhibit favorable behaviors, but they also receive the recognition and appreciation they are looking for. The key to this, however, is that learners should not be performing the behavior just for the sake of earning a tangible reward or avoiding a negative consequence. Ideally, the reward should just be a secondary source of motivation. It can be tricky to know the difference between negative and positive reinforcement in some cases. However, follow the above tips and offer your learners the praise and support they need without centering their eLearning experience on extrinsic motivation factors. Motivating your learners to become active participants is just as important as positively reinforcing desired learning behaviors. Read the article 5 Tips To Enhance Motivation In eLearning to discover 5 top tips that can help you create motivational and memorable online courses for your audience. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Success in the business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. -David Rockefeller The challenge of any training manager is to ensure the employees complete mandatory training courses. These training courses help to enhance the ROI of the organizations. The better training, the best outcome. Compliance training is the important training for new employees of every organization to be success. The Towards Maturity Benchmark Survey stated that about 98% of organizations prefer technology-based compliance training. Taking the importance of compliance training into consideration, how to do ensure that you learners actively participates in the course. What strategies can be used to design courses to make compliance training effective? Let’s see a few instructional design strategies to deliver effective compliance training program. Here is the info-graphic which shares a few instructional design strategies to deliver effective compliance training. Hope this info-graphic is informative. Please do share your views. Related PostsDesign Strategies for Creating Compliance Training Courses4 Instructional Strategies to Create Learner Delight - An InfographicE-learning Instructional Strategies for Performance Management Training

One of the most important trainings in any organization is compliance training. Technology-enabled training works best for compliance training. Since technology is being used for these trainings, a few design strategies should be considered while creating compliance training material. Let’s look at some of the strategies to design an effective compliance training course. On-screen agents: Introducing a character adds human element to the course and forms a relationship with learners. The on-screen characters transform a boring subject into an interesting one. They enhance the quality of learner engagement by retaining his attention. We have used an avatar, Adam, the Income Tax Accountant in a course to explain various concepts of income tax accounting such as fundamentals of ASC 740 and guide learners throughout the course. Case-study approach: A case-study approach involves using a case and teaching the content using this case throughout the course. The case presents problems occurring in the organization, such as not complying with the processes/ procedures, not maintaining quality etc. The course then presents the best practices or guidelines to solve these problems. The case can then be used for checking the learner’s understanding and decision making capabilities. We have used a case related to food safety in an organization and how the organization was not maintaining hygienic standards. The course used this case throughout to explain various standards and laws to maintain hygienic food conditions. Videos: Videos are informative and provide a high level of interaction and capture the learner’s attention. Merely embedding a video into the eLearning course doesn’t serve the purpose of effective learning. The video has to be woven into the eLearning course with some additional information. For a fire safety course, we received a long video on different classes of fire, types of fire extinguishers, the band colors of fire extinguishers, etc. Instead of showing the entire video,we divided the video into small bits and showed these bits under relevant sub-topics with some additional information. This worked well making learning very effective. Other strategies include: Using interactivities to break the monotony of imbibing information through seeing. Using the audio element and right tone to reinforce learning and bring behavioral change. To conclude, these are some of the strategies to make boring and dry subjects interesting and engaging. Hope you find them useful. Related Posts3 Instructional Strategies to Deliver Effective Compliance Training - An InfographicOnline Product Training Design StrategiesInstructional Strategy for Global Roll-Out of Product Trainings

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Scorm Content Packages This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 - Intro 0:15 - Choose SCORM with quizzing or without 0:30 - (Quizzing) Creating a quizzing package 0:50 - (Quizzing) Production Wizard walkthrough 4:20 - (No Quizzing) Production Wizard walkthrough 7:00 - SCORM Package file overview 7:30 - Reporting details 7:50 - Wrap-up / Feedback The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Scorm Content Packages appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

As instructional designers, we always come up with new strategies and innovative ideas to create storyboards. We put our best to make the storyboard look different and engaging to the learner. When doing such things, we should try to check whether our efforts are reaching the audience effectively or going in vain. This is important because we often tend to miss out a few basic things that are essential, when we concentrate on the formulation of various strategies. In this blog, I will discuss ten things that every instructional designer should remember and put in practice while working on storyboards. Here we go……… Know target audience: Our goal is to reach the learner. So, the first thing that you need to know is who your target audience is and why they are taking the course. This helps us set effective learning objectives, select the images that suit learners, decide appropriate instructional strategies (scenarios, storytelling etc.) and do much more. Analyze the content: Analyzing the content is the second important thing that needs to be done. Once we receive inputs from the client, we need to thoroughly go through the content, identify the gaps if any, work with SMEs and fill the gaps. Then, we need to organize the content in an order and create an outline. This helps us give a proper structure to the course. Set appropriate learning objectives: Setting clear objectives is very important as it gives the learner a clear understanding of what he would gain after completing the course. So, it is essential to keep in mind the reason for taking up the course. Then, create objectives based on it. This gives the learner a reason to go through the course. Ensure proper chunking: When putting the content on the screen, we should be able to differentiate the "need to know" content from the "nice to know content". This helps us arrange the on-screen content easily. The need to know content must be shown on the screen whereas we can give the nice to know content as "more information". Have good visualization: Good visualization keeps the learner engaged. So, we need to make sure that the content is represented appropriately. The images used should be meaningful and placed in a proper position. This enhances the look and feel of the course. Provide effective audio: Audio plays a very important role in eLearning. The course will be incomplete without proper audio. So, we should be careful while making audio for the course. Not all content on the screen should be read in audio. The audio should give a brief description of the on-screen information. Align summary with Learning Objectives: While summarizing, we provide a gist of information that we feel is important to be revised. But, we often forget to align them with learning objectives. We should make sure all the learning objectives of the course are being taught and summarized accordingly at the end. Align assessments with Learning Objectives: In order to determine whether the learner has reached the objective of the course or not, it is essential to align assessments with the learning objectives of the course. There must be at least one question based on each learning objective. This helps us assess how far the learner has achieved the goal. Provide feedback effectively: There is always a chance that the learner might have guessed the correct answer. So, while giving the feedback, we need to explain why the selected answer is correct if the correct option is selected and why the selected answer is wrong if the wrong option is selected. This keeps the learner motivated and helps him retain the information. Review it properly: Finally, you need to remember that there is always a chance of errors creeping into the storyboard. So, there is nothing wrong in re-checking the storyboard. Make a checklist of things that need to be cross-checked and review accordingly. There is no doubt that we always need new instructional strategies and innovative ideas in our storyboards; but, when we include new things, we shouldn’t neglect the basic things. I hope you find this blog informative. Would you like to expand this list? Please do so. Related PostsHow to Create Learner-centric E-learning Courses?What Does It Take to Design Top-notch E-learning CoursesE-learning Design: Instructional Design Models Vs Strategies

Articulate Storyline tool is a weapon choice for the developer who wishes to develop out of the box eLearning course.It gives the power to develop interactive animations, apply effects, and add characters to the slide and many more. In this blog, I am going to discuss about adding zoom in effect to an object. This effect is especially effective when you want to highlight the particular part of an object. Let’s see how to zoom an object using Articulate Storyline If we want to zoom a picture,we usually look for the optionZoom Picture,which will zoom the whole picture.But if what if you want to zoom a particular part of a picture. We will see how it works by following these steps. Step 1: Go to Insert TAB. Step 2: After clicking on the insert tab, Click on the Zoom Region button. Add a zoom effect to the slide or picture. Step 3: In the image below, you can see a green rectangle; the area covered under the rectangle can be zoomed. Step 4: Now I am selecting a particular part of an image that needs to be zoomed. After selecting the requiredarea, once we need to check the alignment on the TimeLine. Because to set when the zooming has to begin, is it from the middle of the slide or from the beginning. If the object is alignedin the middle of the timeline as shown in the below image,the original size is displayed and when the when timeline reaches to the zoom area, the selected area of the object will be zoomed. Zooming time can be set in the timelines. Once the set time is elapsed, the object will zoom out to its original size. So depends on client requirements we need to align our object intothe Timeline. This is all about about the zooming feature in Articulate Storyline. Try this and let me know your feedback. Related PostsRapid E-learning through Storyline Tool: 5 Infographics Sharing Key FeaturesHow to Combine Your Adobe Captivate Projects Into Single Course?Articulate Storyline - A Developer’s Play Tool

Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Using the Design Ribbon in Lectora V11 e-Learning Software This Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial presents how the Design Ribbon in Lectora V11 e-Learning software can help you jump-start e-Learning course creation in just a few simple steps. The post Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Using the Design Ribbon in Lectora V11 e-Learning Software appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

As a training manager, you have to keep the records of your learners’ details, courses assigned to each of them, score sheets, grade reports, issue of certificates, details of registration and limiting access to users. This will be quite simple for an organization having 5-10 people, but it will be a hectic process for an organization having hundreds of workers. In this scenario, the best way to do this work is to maintain a Learning Management System (LMS). An LMS is a software application designed to plan, implement and track learning content. It helps in integrating all training administration activities under one platform. It is used to automate the administration, tracking and reporting of learning programs. But, these versatile and powerful software applications can do much more than these activities. Here is an info-graphic which shares some points which help manage LMSs. Hope you find this post useful. Please do share your views. Related Posts10 Proven Tips for Efficient LMS Administration - An InfographicHow LMS Helps The Training Managers?A Clear Proof that Moodle is Very Intuitive

Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Zooming - The Often Misunderstood Half-Holy Grail of Screencasting Quality This Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial covers the following topics: 0:00 — Intro 0:20 — Misconception #1: Zooming in a screen video is like zooming with a camera 0:35 — Misconception #2: Video is made of moving images 1:20 — Misconception #3: Sharing full size screen video is best 2:15 — Wrap-up / feedback The post Camtasia Studio 8 Tutorial: Zooming - The Often Misunderstood Half-Holy Grail of Screencasting Quality appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Organizations worldwide are managing their operations with online tools - SAP, HRIS Workday, Service Tools and many more. These tools help global organizations align and sync their operations worldwide with just a click. But, these are not so simple to be adopted by employees. It needs a cultural shift. There are 4 strategies to effectively train employees in a short time. 1. The Why Viral Video Now, do I have to work with one more software? This is the nightmare of many employees. To help them overcome this hurdle, we need to: Educate them on "why" this software Tell them how it helps perform their jobs easily Explain them how it gives them more free time to do what is important This should be achieved with a "fun" video using cartoons and storytelling method. It should not be in a serious tone. People should connect with the video and look forward to learning about the tool. The video should not be more than 2-3 minutes. 2. Quick Job Aid Even though employees are learning about the software, they will feel comfortable if they have 2-3 page handouts on how to perform the steps. These handouts should contain single line instructions with screenshots. They make the learner feel that the steps are very simple and motivate them to learn the software. The job aids should have standard icons to visually connect with the learner. 3. "How to Videos" Software simulations are effective tools to train employees. These simulations help learners see and perform the task. Create videos that show the step-by-step procedure to perform a task. Develop videos on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Use music instead of audio. Show key messages as tips. 4. Make it Global As most of the software applications are intended for global audience, it is important to have these trainings translated into multiple languages. Some tips to save money and time in making them global. "Why" viral videos should be translated with audio, into various languages, and we should not compromise on this as it is a key motivator. Job-aids should be translated with screenshots and tips in different languages. "How" videos - just change the screen-shots in various languages. As there is no audio, it helps save money and time. These are 4 strategies to train your employees effectively. Please do share your thoughts. Related Posts4 Smart Instructional Design Strategies for Product TrainingInstructional Design Strategies for Developing Online Compliance Training ProgramsDesigning Healthcare Training Courses with Articulate Storyline

Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Create Interactivity Using Actions in Lectora Inspire V11 This Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial presents how to add interactivity to your Lectora e-Learning courses with the use of actions in Lectora Inspire V11 e-Learning software. No programming required! The post Lectora Inspire V11 Tutorial: Create Interactivity Using Actions in Lectora Inspire V11 appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.