How to Create and Manage Reports with Docebo LMS The worst thing you can do when delivering training, especially online, is forget about reports. No matter how good your T&D strategy is, you can’t assess the outcome of your activities without reports - they are without a doubt the best way to get the "pulse" of your elearning project. By analysing parameters such as attendance rate, completion rate and other key indicators that can vary, you will be able to understand which part/s of your elearning strategy is performing better and which is not. This kind of data it’s obviously useless if there is no follow-up. The information collected through LMS reports will be fundamental to assessing and improving on training outcomes. Success relies on correct execution, analysis, optimization and iteration, and the key to optimization is to have sufficient data to understand what works and what doesn’t work for your learners. The Docebo LMS offers an extremely flexible reporting tool that will allow you to closely monitor the performance of your learners and the efficiency of your training materials in order to ultimately provide the best learning experience possible. The post How to Create and Manage Reports with Docebo LMS appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

"A major challenge we face today, therefore, is to create a desire in people to learn; and to foster and facilitate this desire throughout their lives." - Bryn Holmes(Author, eLearning Concepts and Practice, 2006) John, a trainer in a manufacturing company has given his new employee a PDF document that explains the working process of a piece of equipment. The new hire started reading it after the work hours. There was no one to guide him or clear his doubts. He was left all alone. There was nobody to help him understand the content. Do you think the new employee could effectively participate in the next step of the training process? Do you think he could understand the content effectively without help or guidance from the training manager or colleagues? Obviously, the answer is a big No! Similarly, in an online learning environment, when you leave the learner alone without guidance and external support, he may not participate in the learning process effectively. In this info-graphic, I would like to share some best practices that you need to adopt to make your employees participate in the online learning process actively. Hope you find the post useful. Please do share your views. Related PostsLevels of Content Chunking in E-learningGuidelines for Content Chunking to Design Effective Online CoursesTips for L&D Professionals on Fostering a Learning Culture

Google for Education Video Tutorial: Teacher Tips- Using Google Forms to Instantly See Student Feedback This Google for Education Video Tutorial presents Google Forms and how the Notification feature is set up and how it works. The post Google for Education Video Tutorial: Teacher Tips- Using Google Forms to Instantly See Student Feedback appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

How To Transform Faculty Into Fully Online Educators  I am an Instructional Designer who teaches a fully online professional development seminar that focuses on Instructional Design principles for developing and delivering fully online and blended courses. As the 6 week seminar wraps up, one of the final assignments I require faculty to complete is a reflective learning journal. With permission from the faculty who participated in the seminar, I present a few excerpts from their journals that support and highlight best practices I have developed at my university for faculty development. 1. Provide Opportunities For Collaborative Learning From Peers.  Design your training so that faculty are engaging in learning experiences that they can implement into their own online courses. For example, one of the projects in the seminar requires faculty to develop a learning unit that they will actually use in their own fully online or blended courses. All participants are required to submit this assignment to their respective group’s discussion board and provide peer review for each other’s work, using a rubric that I developed. The quotes below explain what insights faculty can gain by this kind of exercise. One instructor’s journal entry states: "I appreciated the openness of the class members to gently criticize each other and make suggestions to improve the quality of our assignments and understanding of those assignments. This really reinforced the use of the discussion forum and the ability to provide peer-review to each other regarding what had been submitted." His classmate reveals an initial feeling of uneasiness but saw the benefit of the activity when she discloses the following: "As for the peer review exercise: I admit that I was a little nervous about having others critique my work. However, my classmates —neither of whom I knew before this class— both offered constructive feedback that was right on target. I found the whole exercise so useful that I plan to use a similar approach in my own graduate classes." This assignment gave faculty a hands-on example of how they could integrate online groups within a course as a means for peer review. It also functioned as a nice way for faculty to experience how students could provide instructional scaffolds to each other in an online learning environment, so that online discussions can be more engaging. 2. Train Faculty Online: Place Faculty In The Seats Of Students.  Insight into the student experience is gained when professional development is given fully online. This is summarized by a participant who notes the following: "I think the best faculty development workshops require us to view our courses and practices from a student’s perspective. Many of the assignments in this course challenged me to rethink my approach to moving course content online and how this approach would impact students of diverse skill levels and experience." His peer reflects on the importance of instructor feedback. She states: "I really valued the feedback I received on my assignments and again, being in the student’s seat, I really could see how crucial descriptive and appreciative comments from the teacher are!" In my experience as an Instructional Designer, faculty are sometimes trained in group settings in a room with multiple computers and a teacher workstation. Although faculty are developing skills for using the various features of a Learning Management System, they are not truly experiencing online teaching and learning. The implications of the above quotes are tremendous; when faculty are placed in the seats of students for professional development purposes, it can influence the design, development, and delivery of their courses. 3. Develop Faculty’s Multimedia Skills. Instructional Designers teach faculty about how to use multimedia resources, such as YouTube, for the enhancement of online courses, using video created by others. However, we should provide faculty with training on how to create their own media. This Instructor writes about his blended course and how he was able to immediately use what he was learning about podcasting from the training seminar I teach. He states: "Practicum Assignments: These gave me a very good opportunity to develop rudimentary skills in each of the areas that were covered. (...) An additional bonus with the podcast was that with the snow days that we had, I was able to utilize that with students in one of my courses this semester." His colleague concurs, whose course was also not fully online: "What I particularly found helpful were the practicums. (…) This course introduced several new options. In fact, following the most recent snowstorm, I used Camtasia to create a lecture [capture] for a course I was supposed to host. As this course had been repeatedly canceled [due to inclement weather], this program was a phenomenal option. Having immediate access to this program made it so easy for me to solve a true problem in my course." The professors’ comments make it very clear that assignments given in professional development sessions should not be busywork. In each example, these instructors were able to develop their own multimedia to meet the specific needs of their respective classes. Although it is convenient to use multimedia developed by others, an instructor may not find a video or podcasts that thoroughly covers the topic and of course. By having gained multimedia authoring skills, these participants are no longer reliant on what others have produced. They can now make contributions to various online multimedia repositories. 4. Modeling Examples Of Teaching Presence. A common term in eLearning is teaching presence, which is "The design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes" (Anderson et al. 2001, p. 5). As the facilitator of a professional development seminar, model good online teaching presence through your engagement with faculty. I did this by providing video feedback to faculty using Jing and Camtasia Studio screen capture software. This faculty member reflects on the feedback I gave her as an example of instructor presence: "I really valued the feedback I received on my assignments and again, being in the student’s seat, I really could see how crucial descriptive and appreciative comments from the teacher are! I liked, especially, Sabrina, getting feedback from you in Camtasia and being able to access it. I think this would work super well in my writing classes to go over student drafts and I am considering doing some of this semester!" Students can experience isolation in an online environment by not seeing an active teacher presence. By modeling how one can give video feedback, I provided an example for the instructor of how she can make her presence felt by her online students. 5. Provide Faculty With Practical Skills For ADA Compliance. Technology can meet the needs of busy adults, by providing eLearning opportunities in asynchronous formats. However, the development of these courses can sometimes form barriers for those with disabilities. A necessary ingredient to faculty development is not only helping faculty to understand disabilities and ADA compliance, but also giving them skills to make their courses more accessible. This need is exemplified in the two journal excerpts below. One instructor writes: "Part of the challenge with accessible courses is creating them; easy access to the technology and support staff to teach us how to use it helps alleviate those challenges. This course gave me some new tools that I am enthusiastically using as a result of the instruction I received." This is elaborated by the instructor’s classmate who states: "The course materials and activities really raised my consciousness about practices that faculty can undertake to improve accessibility for all. It was a bonus to learn through first-hand experience that it's actually quite easy to create ADA-compliant Word documents, podcasts, and other course content that helps make classes truly accessible." As faculty across the globe are asked to integrate technology into their teaching practices, more and more there will be a need to pair this integration with compliance so that all students are given an equal chance to learn. Professional development can stimulate instructors to reflect on their pedagogy and become more self-aware about their engagement with students. It is not an arduous hurdle that administration directs faculty to leap over but is actually a useful vehicle to the educator for developing a new set of instructional strategies. Resources Anderson, T., Rourke, L., Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (2001). Assessing teaching presence in a computer conferencing context. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5 (2).  Retrieved from http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Anderson_Rourke_Garrison_Archer_Teaching_Presence.pdf This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

E-learning is the continuous process of learning through electronic media. Instructional design is a systematic process of learning, and this learning facilitates achievement of the intended goals. Many think that instructional design is all about using technology, but this is not the case. As instructional designers, we discover new strategies and techniques for creating extraordinary courses. Our biggest challenge is to keep the learner engaged throughout the course. Often, the content of the course is considered the most important aspect of instructional design; however, presentation styles are also essential. Thus, designing visually appealing and eye-catchy courses is the primary objectiveof an instructional designer. In this blog, I’ll share a few dos and don’ts which will help design better online courses. Dos Use graphics: It is always important to select the right kind of graphic which complements the text. Adding relevant images wherever possible helps in explaining ideas, concepts or statements. Each image added should have a specific purpose relevant to the content being taught. Use graphics near text: Use graphics to teach a concept as it is a great way to help the learner learn easily. However, if the graphic ‘dominates’ the text, the learner loses interest in the course. Therefore, a proper balance between text and graphics should be maintained. Make sure that the graphic is always near the text. Don’ts Do NOT explain the graphic and text: It is a best practice to teach a self-explanatory graphic using only audio. DO NOT explain the graphic in combination with the text and audio. Effective learning happens only when the graphic is explained using explanatory audio alone.  AVOID using complementary visuals: Avoid using irrelevant visuals, text and audio which do not teach anything. Ensure that the text is clear and concise and avoid lengthy paragraphs, to facilitate good learning. Since all eLearning courses use graphics, text and audio to deliver content, keep these dos and don’ts in mind before developing online courses. Related PostsGuidelines for Content Chunking to Design Effective Online Courses4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesDesigning Screen Layouts For eLearning Courses

In my last blog, we have seen how E-learning, webinars and Mobile apps can be used to impart product training. In this blog, we will look at some more methods. 1. Blending learning Blended learning methodologies are very useful to impart hands-on training on products in a cost-effective manner. Especially if your need is to train your employees on products that are complex and when learners need to gain mastery over intricate concepts. One of our clients, an Oil and gas company wanted to train employees on new product machinery to be used in an oil-rig. So, they used classroom sessions and workshops to train on the underlying concepts and handling of the equipment. Then, eLearning modules containing simulations were offered to the trainees to practice the steps of handling the machinery. Bite-sized sessions were used as ready references to the concepts learnt before the employees actually get down to work. 2. Videos Videos can be used very effectively to impart product training. They are perfect tools to explain the functioning of products. They come handy in situations where the working of the products cannot be demonstrated live. Videos can be used to educate people about the features of a product, its advantages, its handling and any precautionary measures that need to be followed while using it. Videos can also be embedded in eLearning courses to enhance their efficacy. Our client, a global leader in manufacturing creates technical videos of 5 to 6 minutes on their high-profile analytical instruments to train their sales and e-Marketing teams, thereby helping them reach out to more prospects. 3. E-books E-books are widely used by companies to impart training to their staff. They can be used very effectively used as process and product manuals, user guides, etc. They can be accessed very easily and conveniently through mobile devices such as iPads and are very useful to deliver comprehensive knowledge of the product. For instance, our client, a manufacturer of automotive spare parts, creates engaging flip books and eBooks with detailed information of their products to its sales employees as well as customers instead of boring manuals. We thus see that webinars, videos, mobile apps and eBooks are some useful media to equip your sales people with the needed knowledge about your products, quickly and effectively. Hope you find this information useful. Do share if you wish to expand this list. We would love to hear your views. Related PostsCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicAre you Ready for eLearning with the Right Infrastructure?4 Ways to Integrate E-learning and Classroom Training - An Infographic

How To Quickly Deliver High Quality eLearning Here are 3 strategies to help you quickly deliver high quality eLearning: 1. Reuse branded themes. Look for opportunities to create eLearning themes that you can use over and over. This will help save time and money as you build more projects. It also makes the development process more efficient and easier for your entire team. How to reuse branded themes: Use an eLearning authoring tool that provides ready-made themes that you can customize with your own branding. These themes will already be built to industry standards and include design best practices that will save you heaps of time. Some tools like Elucidat provide responsive themes that will automatically adjust to different mobile and tablet devices. Set up your theme and brand the first time, then just focus on the content for future courses. This will speed up eLearning content development because you won’t have to spend any time designing your eLearning. Pick a tool that provides Master courses (or Master templates). Master courses are reusable courses that you can use to quickly build new projects. All changes made to a Master course are automatically synced with the linked projects. This saves your team lots of repetitive work, since they don’t have to manually make changes to each project. Master courses also make localization projects much more efficient. You can quickly create courses in different languages and empower reviewers to comment on and collaborate directly inside the project. 2. Use cloud-based collaboration tools. Stakeholders will need to review your projects at some stage in the development process. This is often where your work runs into some snags. How do your stakeholders manage the review and feedback cycles, track changes, and monitor version control? These tasks can be particularly challenging if you have multiple stakeholders and reviewers working on the project. How to enhance stakeholder collaboration: Make sure everyone reviewing the project has access to the most up-to-date version. The best way to ensure people are working on the current project is to use a cloud-based eLearning tool that automatically manages updates and keeps the project current. Use a system to track and manage review cycles and changes. eLearning software like Elucidat incorporates this functionality to help you track updates. For example, Elucidat has an easy-to-use comment tool that lets team members, subject matter experts and stakeholders add notes for the rest of the team. You can quickly see what changes or additions have been made and who made those changes. Is it time to throw away that frustrating spreadsheet you use to track changes? Sign off on changes inside the project itself. This makes it easy to keep the updates and the tracked changes together in one place. Never again will you need to use another tool to manage the review process. 3. Reduce maintenance time with Rapid Release republishing. As an eLearning manager, you’ll likely need to factor in time for maintenance of content and projects. This is especially the case if your company requires annual updates to your compliance courses. How to speed up eLearning maintenance: Use an authoring tool that enables authors to push updates out directly to their Learning Management Systems. This is a serious time saver. No longer do you need to make the changes, republish the project, and then upload it again in the Learning Management System. Elucidat’s Rapid Release™ republishing feature enables you to quickly update content in your Learning Management System without having to download and upload files to SCORM each time. Changes are processed straight to the Learning Management System - no need for republishing, packaging, or redeploying. Conclusion: Embrace new technology.  Embrace new technology that can help you design great-looking eLearning and increase the efficiency of your authoring team. Tools that make the development process more efficient will help you reduce the time it takes to develop eLearning projects. In turn, this will help you to control costs and deliver high quality eLearning, faster. Next step: Discover more ways to deliver eLearning faster by signing up for Elucidat's eLearning Time-savers course This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Litmos LMS Tutorial: Course Library in Litmos LMS This Litmos LMS Tutorial explains the Course Library in Litmos LMS and presents tips on how to use it. The post Litmos LMS Tutorial: Course Library in Litmos LMS appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Every organization needs to use their resources well to meet business goals and enhance productivity. As we know, the pharmaceutical sector is highly regulated and non-compliance to applicable laws and regulatory norms could be costly. So, you have to train your employees about rules, regulations, standards and recommended guidelines to avoid mistakes. E-learning is a cost-effective medium train the employees of pharmaceutical firms, quickly, on these laws. Let’s see why eLearning is the ideal solution to meet the compliance training needs of the pharmaceutical industry. Deliver the best manufacturing process training Pharmaceutical companies can deliver effective manufacturing process training to their employees through eLearning. Online modules can be provided to their employees to supplement what has been covered in a face-to-face training program. This is a great way to reinforce learning and retain information for a long time. Precision and accuracy are very important in the pharmaceutical industry as errors could be fatal. E-learning can be broken down into small Byte-sized units, so that the employees will be able to understand the information quickly and easily. Simulations, videos and animations can be used effectively, to train employees on manufacturing processes and enable them to apply their learning in the workplace. Prevent intellectual property rights (IPR) violations In today’s highly competitive world, business success depends heavily on the protection of IPRs and growth of intellectual assets. To get the maximum productivity, employees need to be trained on new legislations on intellectual properties. Just-in-time learning can be provided in the form of 1-3 minute online modules which can be accessed through multiple devices anywhere, anytime. Educate employees on digital principles As you know, many companies are maintaining documents in the electronic form. Digital data has lots of dos and don’ts that are difficult to understand and retain. So employees need to be trained on dos and don’ts to communicate the message accurately and avoid penalties. Hence, eLearning is the best way to provide information through videos, animations and simulations. Ensure safety As we know, pharmaceutical companies have unsafe and hazardous working environments. Face-to-face training can be followed up with eLearning courses to make sure that employees understand and follow standards to avoid health hazards, injuries and accidents at the workplace. Safety procedures can be demonstrated through scenarios. Thus, we see that eLearning courses go a long way in delivering highly effective compliance training to the staff of pharmaceutical firms. How do you train your workforce on regulatory norms? We’d love to know. Related PostsE-learning for Effective Compliance in the Pharmaceutical IndustryCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An InfographicE-learning to Meet the Training Needs of Companies in the BFSI Sector

Active Listening In eLearning: What eLearning Professionals Should Know "I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.", Ernest Hemingway once said. More than a half-century later, little has changed; indeed, most people don’t listen, despite listening being one of the most important human skills. The way we listen can have a major impact not only on our personal relationships, but also on our professional lives and job performance. A good listener has the ability to better understand and process information; a great listener has the ability to use this information to negotiate, influence, and avoid misunderstandings and conflicts. But what does it take to become a great listener? Only one thing, actually: Practicing and improving your active listening skills. Having active listening skills means that you are able to communicate effectively and create deeper connections with others. Active listening is an essential quality all learners should have, as it can greatly improve their communication skills and help them build strong relationships. In this article, I'll delve into the basics of active listening that every eLearning professional should know in order to develop eLearning courses that enhance learners' active listening skills, so that you will be able to help your learners to engage both mentally and emotionally in every conversation, and achieve long-term success in their personal and professional lives. First Things First… What Is Active Listening? While "hearing" and "listening" are two words that are often used interchangeably, there are many contrasts between them. While hearing is the involuntary act of perceiving sound, listening actually requires some effort. The individual must first choose to concentrate, and then, the brain has to process this information to add contextual meaning. During active listening, our minds focus on the information just received and process it accordingly; this is when truly amazing learning experiences take shape. This also explains why active listening is not just listening to what is being said, but also absorbing it. It involves focusing on the subject matter, processing it, and comprehending the concepts. To best illustrate the idea of active listening think back to a time when you sat in on a lecture or meeting and remembered absolutely nothing that was discussed after the fact. This is a perfect example of hearing instead of active listening. You may had been present, but your mind was not. As far as the cognitive processes involved are concerned, while you are actively listening, your brain goes through a variety of different tasks. It must first understand the context of the eLearning content presented, then pair it with personal feelings, experiences, or previous knowledge. While actively listening, your mind also takes subtle nuances into account, such as gestures, expressions, colors, images, and body language. Even the pitch of someone’s voice or their tone plays an important role in the process. Only after all these factors are taken into consideration, your brain can then begin to absorb the information. When the process of information recall takes place, learners are triggering their memory schemata, which improves comprehension and helps them identify which eLearning content is useful and relevant and which can go by the wayside to make room for really valuable data. Thus, they are able to absorb the key takeaways of the eLearning course and commit them to their long-term memory, rather than being overloaded with all data that is flowing into their mental pathways. Active listening is so crucial in online learning environments because it distinguishes learners who are actually participating from those who are merely going through the eLearning course material. When learners are actively listening during the eLearning course, they are able to more effectively process the information and engage with the subject matter, instead of merely being passive observers. They can also access knowledge that they’ve previously acquired to make connections with new concepts or ideas, and decide how to apply this information in real world settings. 9 Tips To Enhance Active Listening Skills In eLearning Active listening skills can be difficult to master and therefore it takes time, determination, and patience to become an excellent active listener. In order for your learners to enhance this excellent communication skill, consider the following tips: Grab the attention of your audience with interactive learning activities. Include interactive scenarios, simulations, and presentations that grab the attention of your audience and make it virtually impossible for them not to actively listen to the subject matter. If your learners are engaged in the learning process and feel as though you are creating a connection with them, they are more likely to focus on the eLearning content and not be distracted by outside stimuli. Use bright colors and graphics to draw attention to key concepts or special fonts to make the takeaways stand out on the page. Include a summary at the end of every eLearning unit. Summarization is one of the most effective ways to encourage active listening among your learners. Provide them with a summary at the end of each eLearning unit that gives them a quick overview of the main takeaways, so that they can focus directly on what they need to know and trigger their active listening abilities. Link subject matter to previously knowledge. Include exercises and eLearning activities that encourage your learners to access previously learned knowledge so that they can create that all-important connection. When they are able to associate new concepts to what they already know they are more likely to actively listen, as they are already familiar with the subject matter and the new information sounds more meaningful to them. Assess learners newly acquired knowledge. By integrating tests and exams at the end of each lesson you gain the ability to assess whether or not your learners are actively listening. If they can correctly answer the questions and show a mastery of the topic, then you can rest assured that they are actually paying attention to the eLearning content presented. This also prompts them to pay closer attention in future online lessons, as they are aware of the fact that they will be tested at the end. Give your learners time to reflect. Create brief pauses in between online lessons to give your learners the opportunity to reflect upon the subject matter and tie it to real world challenges or ideas. You can also use this time to ask them questions that encourage reflection, such as expressing their thoughts about a particular story you have shared or ask them to identify trends out of the eLearning material just presented. Provide feedback.  Reflecting to what is being said, either orally or in writing, will both help you understand that your audience is actively listening and at the same time will offer your learners the chance to clarify their points. Providing feedback encourages expression and deepens understanding. Encourage your audience to ask clarifying questions, paraphrase what you hear, and summarize their statements, comments, and messages. Boost knowledge retention by asking them to paraphrase what they have learned too. Have them sum up the eLearning unit in their own words, with just a sentence or two. Then, you can review their summaries and provide constructive feedback, clarify any misunderstandings they may have, and distinguish active listeners from those who are just passive observers. Teach them not to criticize. Being judgmental will greatly compromise the effectiveness of a good listener. Teach your audience that when they hear something alarming in what other learners say during a synchronous eLearning session, they may feel alarmed, but they should try not to mentally criticize beforehand what they heard and jump into conclusions. Instead, they should be patient and try to follow the reasoning and train of thought of the other person. Most importantly, they should resist the urge to use negative facial expressions to convey their emotions if a web-camera is on.  They should rather keep an open mind, wait until their virtual classmate develops his or her point of view, and avoid letting their personal filters and assumptions distort what they are listening to. Teach them not to interrupt. Interrupting sends a variety of messages, all of which are negative. It frustrates the speaker and sabotages the understanding process. As a facilitator of the eLearning process do not leave space for interruptions. Teach your learners before asking questions to make sure that they let the other speaker finish what they are saying, even if they are expressing an opinion they do not agree with. Make them understand that by interrupting their virtual classmates, they will both lose the chance to know the entire argument, and they will force the speaker to repeat it after their interference. Respond Appropriately. This is of utmost importance, especially when online discussions take place. As a facilitator of the eLearning process, refrain from suggesting solutions before you are specifically asked for your advice. Active listening communicates respect and understanding. Treat learners in a way that you think they would want to be treated and avoid letting them know how you would handle a similar situation, unless they ask for your opinion. Then, be honest and open in your response, always by trying to stay focused on the subject; sometimes it is easy to stray away from the topic, so keep your questions and comments relevant. Types of Questions You Should Ask To Enhance Active listening Skills In eLearning The most effective way to help your learners develop their active listening skills is by using skillful questioning. Questions that require your audience to be active during the learning process and emphasize the importance of active listening, are key to successful communication. Use your eLearning scenarios and quizzes for asking questions that generate curiosity, stimulate reflective conversation, and invite new possibilities. Consider using the following types of questions: Open-ended questions.  They offer the widest possible scope for responding and they extend the understanding of the subject matter in a variety of ways. Probing questions.  They ask for further clarification of the answer, which helps your learners express themselves in different ways. Hypothetical questions.  They encourage the introduction of new ideas and alternative approaches to a solution. Reflective questions.  They check the level of understanding of your audience and they provide them with valuable feedback. These types of questions encourage your learners to use their critical thinking skills in order to extend their understanding of a particular concept. The more powerful the questions of your eLearning course are, the more engaged and interested your audience will be, and the more challenged they will feel to pay attention and stay focused on the eLearning content. Active listening is a powerful tool that makes a world of difference when it comes to knowledge absorption and retention. By using the above tips you can create eLearning courses that develop your learners’ active listening skills while boosting engagement and interactivity. Now that you know everything you need to know about active listening, you may be interested in learning other ways to improve your employees’ performance. Read the article 5 Tips To Develop Custom eLearning That Improves Employees’ Performance and discover how custom eLearning can motivate your staff to use their talents and skills to the fullest capacity. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Google for Education Video Tutorial: Teacher Tips- Using Chrome Management Console to Quickly Deploy Apps to Students This Google for Education Video Tutorial presents how to use the Google Chrome Management Console to deploy apps in seconds to thousands of users. The post Google for Education Video Tutorial: Teacher Tips- Using Chrome Management Console to Quickly Deploy Apps to Students appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

Training managers put a lot of effort while rolling out an eLearning project, as it involves many complex tasks. As an eLearning professional, I often work with many training managers and admire their managerial skills. It involves a lot of work like training needs analysis, collecting content, dealing with Subject-matter Experts (SMEs) and developing the course for the stakeholders and learners. Personally, I feel that dealing with the SMEs and getting their approval is the most difficult task. This is because they don’t have time and are not completely dedicated to their project. I have seen many training managers struggling to get their projects reviewed and validated. Unfortunately, some projects are put on hold due to SMEs’ hectic schedules. There are a few training managers, who learnt some best practices to manage the SMEs for accomplishing the things. Here are some lessons, which I have learnt from these successful training managers, to deal with SMEs. Hope you find this post useful. Please do share your views. Related Posts4 Effective Ways of Presenting Scenarios in E-learning CoursesGuidelines for Content Chunking to Design Effective Online CoursesHow Can Instructional Designers Efficiently Leverage the Skills Of SMEs?

What Is Bespoke eLearning? There are two kinds of online courses that you can choose from for your eLearning needs: Off-the-shelf courses (generic). Off-the-shelf courses are ready to use. Bespoke (also known as custom) courses. Bespoke or custom courses, as the name suggests, are specifically designed or tailor made to meet your requirement. Off-the-shelf courses can be deployed quickly, whereas bespoke or custom courses will need longer time to develop and deploy. While bespoke courses may be more expensive on account of initial development costs, they would not have any associated recurring licensing costs. What Are The Advantages Of Using Bespoke eLearning? Bespoke eLearning courses are branded for your organization. They may use the raw content that you have or use content that is specifically created for you. The examples and case studies would be relevant to your organization and the assessments would be specifically designed for you. Their design approach factors for your learners’ preferences, your culture, and is tailor made to meet your learning and business mandates. How Does Bespoke eLearning Fare Against Off-the-shelf Courses?  Off-the-shelf courses are quicker to deploy, but have certain inherent shortcomings. By definition, they are generic and may not be able to meet the specific requirements of your organization. Again, they offer standard features that you need to live with and they cannot be customized to suit your specific requirements. Let us see how these aspects are offset in the bespoke approach and what advantages you will get when you opt for it: The courses are developed as per your branding. They feature your imagery and this helps learners relate and connect better to the learning piece. The content is specific to you and your learners. It is presented in a form that will engage them and ensures the required learning mandate is met. The learning experience is customized to your program. It uses a learning strategy that is best suited to meet the required learning mandate. The Assessment strategy is customized and aligns effectively to your learning and business mandates. Looking at your dynamics, the delivery format can be for traditional eLearning or multi-device (the content would run on tablets and smartphones). This enables you to choose an authoring tool that is most suited to your requirements. You can also decide on supplementing your primary eLearning with Performance Support intervention that can lead to better application of the learning on the job. This will have a significant impact on the ROI of eLearning. The Bespoke eLearning Advantage Through 6 Examples Let me illustrate the advantages of bespoke eLearning through 6 examples. I have selected examples that address varied training needs like compliance, application simulation, and professional skills. The first example illustrates an approach that is scalable and can be applied for any training area like soft skills, induction programs, and so on. Bespoke eLearning Example 1: To highlight intuitive and immersive experience. This example is my personal favorite, as it showcases a design that does not have a "Click next to continue" or "Prompt text". The learner can intuitively ascertain (through visual cues provided alongside the content) on what should be done next. It creates an immersive and engaging learning experience. It is a multi-device design that adapts equally well to PCs/laptops or tablets.   Bespoke eLearning Example 2: Gamification in Compliance. We created a simulation-based task-oriented Gamification course, which was interactive and engrossing. To achieve this, we incorporated a real work environment (visually), an element of challenge (bonuses and bombs), rewards for success (caps, badges), and learning through activities including elements of surprise and delight. Do refer to this case study in detail in my earlier article Gamification in Compliance through a serious game concept.   Bespoke eLearning Example 3: Branching scenario and simulations with a progress indicator. This example showcases a complex decision making scenario. While the learners are going through the scenario, the visual indicator (shown on the right) provides cues on how they are faring. This enables them to pause and reflect on their choices and even re-think their strategy mid-course.  Bespoke eLearning Example 4: Application Simulation. This is a great example of how we uplifted dry and linear content into an interesting and engaging format. We chose a responsive design (to support PCs, Laptops, Tablets, and Smartphones) and made learning bite-sized enabling learners to undertake a long, arduous journey in short, engaging steps. You can view the "Office 2013 - Application Simulation" under App Simulations section (as part of our Demos). Bespoke eLearning Example 5: Scenario with a twist. In our suite of Generic Compliance, we chose a scenario with a twist by adding a theme of "Choose the Right Path". While all of us have a sense of right and wrong, this approach added value in the context of the specific compliance mandate in terms of the most appropriate behavior and why the learners need to demonstrate the same. You can view the "Compliance - Introduction to the Code of Conduct" under Compliance section (as part of our Demos). Bespoke eLearning Example 6: Performance Support Tool - Featuring Interactive PDFs as a learning aid to supplement online learning. This is also one of my personal favorites, as it provides a better learning experience through simplicity. Interactive PDFs can be used to convert mountains of boring information into a visually appealing, interactive format. Furthermore, you can integrate videos, interactive demos, and audio to create an engaging learning experience. Do refer to the detailed case study on this outlining the value the Interactive pdf brought to my PowerPoint deck in my earlier article Performance support - Featuring Interactive pdf as a Learning Aid to supplement online learning. I do hope these examples illustrate the power of custom or bespoke eLearning in creating an effective and immersive learning experience. I look forward to your feedback and suggestions. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

E-learning is a cost-effective and an easy way to train employees, when compared to the traditional methods of teaching. So, most of the organizationsare using eLearning to fulfill their training needs. The healthcare industry makes extensive use of the online training medium. As instructional designers, it is essential to make courses that meet the client’s requirements. When concentrating on such aspects, there is a possibility that we may forget to think from the learner’s perspective. Recently, a reputed healthcare organization has approached us to develop an online training curriculum.The client wanted highly engaging eLearning courses. It also wanted everything from the inputsprovided to be shown in the course. Here are a few things that we have considered for developing those courses, by keeping in mind the learners as well as meeting the client’s requirements. 1. Proper Visualization If you design a course for healthcare professionals but use the images of sales executives, it would be a mismatch.Right?So, it is essential to choose the images that suit the target audience and they can easily connect with. The other important thing to be kept in mind while choosing the graphics for your slides is that they need to convey the information effectively and are not used as decorative pieces. 2. Appropriate Use of Interactivities Interactivities definitely make the look and feel of the course better, but it is essential that they are used only when necessary. They are not to be just used to click and read the content. It is very essential to analyze the content and decide which interactivity would suit it the best. For example, have a look at the following screen shots where three different interactivities are used to show the content. In the first image, hotspots are used to show the drug actions on different parts of the body. The second image is of a slide show which was used to represent a sequence of information in a single slide. The third interactivity, click-on-tabs, is used to teach four sub-topics. 3. Use of Info-graphics Info-graphics are used very often in eLearning courses. They are the best tools to communicate information at a glance.They help the learner retain the information for a longer period. They are ideal to show large amounts of data at a time. Have a look at the following info-graphics that were used to show different data in the course. When choosing images, interactivities or info-graphics for your eLearning course, it is important that they are used to convey something but not just to engage the learner. I hope you find this blog informative. Please do share your views on it. Related PostsCreative Ways to Present Click on Tab Interactivity in E-learning Courses - An Infographic3 Tips for Instructional Designers to Become a Learner’s Advocate3 Tips to Make E-learning as Engaging as Classroom Training [Video]

Litmos LMS Tutorial: Create a Course Fast in Rapid Intake This Litmos LMS Tutorial presents how fast and easy it is to create a video using Rapid Intake. The post Litmos LMS Tutorial: Create a Course Fast in Rapid Intake appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

IDEC 2015 conference is supported by Sakarya University and TASET The convergence of recent technologies, web and mobile technologies, provides unique opportunities and an infrastructure for both face to face and online learning environments. However, specific environments for constructing knowledge are needed. In such environments, knowledge media should bring together the technology and learning theories to form meaningful settings for learners with different academic, administrative and support needs. IDEC aims to provide an environment for experts to discuss the current state of the art for learning in schools, industry and universities. IDEC 2015 Scopes Asynchronous Learning Constructivist Perspectives Data Mining Strategies For E-Learning Organizations Diffusion Of Innovation Distance and Open Learning E-Portfolios Innovation and Change In Education Instructional Design Intelligent E-Learning Systems Interactive E-Learning Systems Interactive Learning Environment Knowledge Management In E-Learning Life Long Learning and Technology Mobile Learning Multimedia Applications Network Based Education and Training Simulations In Education Virtual Classroom, Virtual University Distance Education Educational Technology Integrated Learning Perspective Tendencies in the Field of Education Communication and its Technology IDEC 2015 Keynote Speakers Prof. Dr. Mustafa Soylak, Erciyes University, Turkey Speech Title: Preparation, Characterization Nanosized Materials for Solid Phase Extraction of Elements at Trace Levels in Environmental Samples Prof. Dr. Ali Ekrem OZKUL, Anadolu University, Turkey Speech Title: Crisis in Higher Education Prof. Dr. Murat BARKAN, Yasar University, Turkey Speech Title: The Future of Cultural Education Prof. Dr. Buket AKKOYUNLU, Hacettepe University, Turkey Speech Title: How to equip students with visual literacy skills through infographics IDEC 2015 conference will take plac on September 2-4, 2015 at the Original Sokos Hotel Olympia Garden, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Jim is the training manager of a large washing machine manufacturer. He needs to impart product training to sales personnel, service technicians and customers. Jim wanted to build a course on his company’s latest washing machine and use the same to train all his learners. Jim’s course contains 75 slides. The first 10 slides need to be accessed by all learners. Slides 11 to 35 contain information pertaining to the sales staff, and slides 36 to 65 are useful to technicians. Customers would find the information they need in slides 66 to 74. The 75th slide is the "Thank you" slide. When a salesman clicks the "next" button after viewing the first 10 slides, he should be directed to the 11th. After completing 25 slides (slide 11 to 35), when he clicks the "next" button, he should be directed to the 75th slide. Similarly, when a service technician clicks the "next" button after completing the 10th slide, he should be directed to the 36th slide. After he goes through the relevant slides (slides 36 to 65), he should be directed to slide 75. When a customer, after completing the first 10 slides, clicks the "next" button, he should be directed to slide 66. So, here are the slides that the learners need to access based on their job role. Sales Staff Service Technicians Customers 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 75 75 Can this requirement be fulfilled? Yes, of course - using Articulate Storyline. Let us see how. Step 1: Create all the slides and name it properly, here I use a name like slide 1, 2, 3, 4, 5….. Slide 75. Step 2: Create one more slide and name it as Role. Place this slide on the top of 75 slides. Step 3: Design 3 tabs - Sales Staff, Service Technician and Customers in the Role slide (See above table). Step 4: Create a variable count. When the user clicks Sales Staff tab, assign a trigger as shown below. Step 5: For Service Technicians and Customers, change the value of the variable count to 2 and 3 respectively. Step6: Go to slide 10 and assign triggers to the NEXT button as shown below. Step7: Go to 36th, 66th and 75th slides and assign a trigger to the PREV button shown below. Note: Indicate the number of the slide which needs to be displayed on clicking the PREV and NEXT buttons. You can check this using the menu. A major advantage of this process is that it eliminates the need to maintain multiple modules. Furthermore, loading issues can be avoided as only one course file is used. Thus, you can deliver effective training to multiple audiences quickly and efficiently. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Here are the link file links Download Source View Publish File Related PostsWhy do You Need to Go Beyond ‘E-learning Development Cost Per Hour’?Articulate Storyline: Tracking for Branching Based E-learning CoursesHow to Create Section 508 E-learning Course Using Flash

As we know, every organization follows a set of rules and regulations. Employees need to be trained on those rules and regulations to have a basic knowledge of their standards toward the organization and customers. And, they have a clear understanding of what they can do and what they cannot. So, organizations may not be at risk when their employees know about their legal duties. Let’s now see what compliance training is. What is compliance training? Compliance training is the training given to employees about the laws, rules and regulations that must be followed during the course of their jobs. Compliance training programs are essential for organizations to educate their employees on the industrial and governmental guidelines that are related to their duties. It helps the organization to follow applicable laws properly and avoid legal troubles. We will now look at the benefits of delivering effective compliance training. Good work environment To understand the employee’s expectations and duties, organizations need to conduct effective compliance training programs. With the help of these programs, employees will be able to understand and perform their roles effectively and efficiently. Organizations will be in a position to develop a better work environment when the employees are on the same track.  Enhanced productivity By providing effective compliance training, organizations can make sure that their employees do not violate the standards set by regulatory bodies like Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the USA and Work, Health and Safety Codes of Practice in Australia. It helps the employees avoid errors that may result in fines. The ultimate goal of compliance training is to update the processes without much rework, so that the firms can improve their productivity. High quality products Compliance training ensures greater uniformity across the world, when an organization is spread across a large geographical region. This ensures well-run work processes and systems with easier quality checks and controls. This results in better uniformity of work processes in the quality of final products, and it becomes easy to track when there is a compliance violation. Better risk management Many organizations are going for continuous compliance training because the laws, rules, regulations and policies get revised repeatedly. It is advantageous for employees to undergo continuous compliance training as it helps them remain ‘up-to-date’. And, it is important to educate employees on compliance rules and regulations, which reduces the number of violations and results in lower costs. For example, production processes, health and safety procedures, information, customer relations and so on can be managed successfully through effective compliance training. Effective compliance training proves highly beneficial to employees as well as organizations. Hence, every organization needs to plan well for compliance training and implement it.Please share your thoughts! Related PostsImportance of Regulatory Compliance Training in an OrganizationE-learning to Impart Effective Compliance Training in the Pharmaceutical IndustryTips for Initiating Legal Compliance Training Program - Free Presentation

How To Reduce eLearning Development Costs Once upon a time, I was commissioned to work as part of a team on an extensive set of learning courses for a well-known business school in the USA. We are talking turn of the century here, so it’s some time ago in terms of learning technology. Back then it took us 18 months -and tens of thousands of dollars- to design, build, and deliver 60 hours of high value learning content. It was cutting edge at the time, but in today’s world it would be considered too costly and would be out of date before it was even deployed. Since the old tricks no longer work, let’s look at 3 ways modern eLearning tools can help you reduce eLearning development costs and deliver your eLearning quickly, cheaply, and without compromising quality. 1. Use pre-built themes. Instead of spending time and resources on eLearning design, use a pre-built theme that has been designed using instructional best practices and with learner experience in mind. Ready-to-go themes help you start authoring content faster, which means you can get your courses out to learners more quickly. A theme is a set of basic building blocks for your project. You’ll want a theme where everything on the page is editable so you can add your own branding, colors, fonts, and imagery. Pre-built themes let you build afresh or modify existing themes so you don’t have to waste time (and money) setting up your courses from scratch each time. Some authoring tools like Elucidat come with pre-built themes and also give you complete flexibility to create your own bespoke themes. Here's a quick look at Elucidat's themes: 2. Use Master courses. Master courses are reusable courses that you can use to base any new project on. Any changes that you make to a Master course will automatically update to all of the linked projects. This feature saves you heaps of time because you don’t have to manually go through and make changes to each project one at a time. Why is this good? Well, here are two examples to show you how Master courses can save you time and money: Example 1: You need to create and maintain similar projects for different internal departments. Imagine you need to personalize each course with each department’s colors and contact details. By using a Master course, you can make the course once and then release slightly different versions for each department. If you need to update all these courses, you can make the change to the content in your Master course and that change will automatically push to each of the linked projects. Example 2: You need to create courses in multiple languages. A Master course is a time saver for when you need to release courses in multiple languages. You can create your Master course with the pages and assessments set up and then create a project for each language you need to release. Now instead of starting from scratch for each language, you use the base structure and edit the content accordingly. 3. Build once, deliver on multiple devices. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon is enabling more and more learners to use their own devices to take courses online. Here are the 4 reasons why I’m a big advocate of BYOD learning: It increases engagement with your content. It saves time and money: A sales person out on the road can learn without physically being in the office. Learners can complete courses while commuting to and from work. Learners can focus more on the learning if they are using a device they are comfortable using. Whether you like it or not, BYOD learning is here. This means you need to make sure your courses are accessible on all devices. You need responsive designs that adapt to the screen size on which it is being viewed. Instead of creating multiple versions of eLearning for different devices, you can reduce eLearning development costs by using a tool that is multi-device compatible. Authoring tools that let you create and test responsive eLearning can save a lot of duplicate work. Take a look at this screenshot that shows how Elucidat enables you quickly test responsive eLearning: eLearning inspiration: Learn how Utility Warehouse used Elucidat to deliver responsive eLearning to 46,000 leaders Final takeaways Instead of building brand new designs each and every time, use pre-built themes to get started quickly. Instead of starting from scratch for every new course, use a Master course with a base structure that can be used and tweaked for your future projects. Instead of creating multiple versions of eLearning for different devices, use Elucidat's authoring tool which makes it easy to build and test responsive eLearning. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Litmos LMS Tutorial: Litmos LMS Reports Overview This Litmos LMS Tutorial is an overview of Litmos LMS Reports including Quick Reports, Usage Reports, Ecommerce Reports and Creating a Report. The post Litmos LMS Tutorial: Litmos LMS Reports Overview appeared first on VivaeLearning: The Best Free Video Tutorials Online.

What Your Learning Management System Doesn't Do (But TalentLMS Does) eLearning is a very competitive industry. Vendors compete on features, performance, ease of use, stability, extensibility, support, pricing, and lots of other things. That’s part of what keeps us motivated to work on new TalentLMS features, enhancements, and updates (like the recent update about TalentLMS in Cloud that we've released mid-May). And, judging from the results, we are probably doing a few things right. Besides the seamless Cloud-based turnkey experience and our well praised support, here are 14 things TalentLMS does that your Learning Management System doesn’t. Converts presentations to videos. If you've been doing seminars, internal training, and so on, you probably have tons of PowerPoint presentations. Problem is, they are not that exciting as a training material, and they also require a compatible viewer program. TalentLMS lets you automatically convert these presentations to video for incorporation in your online lessons. Consumes content directly from Wikipedia, YouTube, Prezi, etc. Speaking of incorporating external content into your courses, internet is filled to the brim with excellent eLearning material in all kinds of formats. Instead of manually copying and pasting or making do with links to it, TalentLMS allows you to directly consume content from Wikipedia, YouTube, Prezi, SlideShare, and many more sources. Content can be seamlessly integrated with your own material and reused in many lessons and courses. Sends reports at scheduled intervals (to anyone you choose). You probably know that TalentLMS has a powerful reporting system that gives you insights to all aspects of your eLearning portal and its users. But did you know that you can also automate your learning reports in TalentLMS and have them sent at scheduled intervals to specific recipients? Perfect for keeping your instructors or pointy-haired boss in the loop. Lets you build custom reports and perform mass actions. Besides the default report types that TalentLMS provides, you can also go wild creating your own custom Learning Managent System reports (using the same powerful filters and tools that are available for the default report types). Even better, TalentLMS lets you perform mass actions on the results of a report, updating, notifying, or even deleting multiple items (students, instructors, groups, courses, etc.) at once. Integrates video conferences. Web based eLearning is great for giving students the freedom to study at their own pace. Sometimes though, a little face-to-face (or "real time") session is indispensable. With the video conference tools TalentLMS offers, you can have the best of both worlds. You get not only audio and video conference capabilities, but also real time chat and a virtual whiteboard to boot. Even better, video sessions can be scheduled and handled just like normal lessons, through TalentLMS’ support for instructor-led training. What distinguishes us is that video conferencing comes as part of the main TalentLMS offering. You do not have to integrate, install, or buy a 3rd party video conference subscription; it just works for you! Lets you collect subscription payments. While TalentLMS is ideal for internal training inside a business, it also allows you to build your own full blown eLearning school and sell courses. And when it comes to getting paid, it also allows you to offer subscription based courses. Subscriptions allow your end-users to have access to all of your paid courses by paying a single monthly fee, as opposed to a per course, one time purchase. Subscriptions currently only work with the Stripe payment service, but they will soon be available through PayPal too. Lets you build custom user types. Besides the default built-in user types (Instructor, Student, and Administrator) TalentLMS comes with, the software also lets you build your own custom user types. You can add your own fields and information to these custom user types (depending on your business needs) and define their privileges and permissions in excruciating detail (if that’s your thing). Integrates with Stripe. For those of you selling courses, TalentLMS offers built-in integration with Stripe, the fastest growing payment processor in the world. And for those whose region is not covered by Stripe, we also offer PayPal support. Between the two services, TalentLMS covers 99% of the world (the rest is probably Antarctica, so not much business interest there) and allows you to handle payments from all major credit card companies. Offers gamification. Adding a little bit of competition makes for a more interesting and challenging learning experience. In modern web terms this is called "gamification" and TalentLMS offers that too (surprise, surprise). Gamification takes the techniques that game designers use to engage players, and applies them to non-gaming experiences such as learning. TalentLMS's built-in gamification options include "points" (score), "badges" (medals), "levels", "leaderboards" (high score lists), and "rewards" (bonuses). Connects with 200+ services through Zapier. TalentLMS was the first learning platform to offer integration with the Zapier platform, a service that enables web apps to communicate letting the user easily build coordinated tasks. This enables TalentLMS to integrate with any Zapier-compatible web app, a list which includes Dropbox, Evernote, Salesforce, Gmail, Twitter, MailChimp, and Trello. Lets you share courses even with non-registered users. TalentLMS was designed with flexibility in mind, and the knowledge that one-size doesn't always fit all. So while some other platforms may force an impenetrable wall between registered and non-registered users, TalentLMS allows you to share a course with anybody, regardless of his registration status, if you so wish. Offers social signups for your end-users.  Why force new users to open another account for your eLearning portal? TalentLMS lets them register through their social accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.), removing one extra step that doesn’t offer much (if anything) to their experience. Offers a free account for life. While we run a commercial service (and a very successful one at that), we still understand that some people want to evaluate our offering risk-free, while some small businesses, especially in developing countries, might not be able to afford our full featured plans. Instead of just offering a limited-period demo account, we did something better: we offer a starting plan that allows for up to 5 users and up to 10 courses, free for life. TalentLMS isn't superstitious. But we added a 14th item in this list, just in case you are :-) Conclusion Here we are: 14 things TalentLMS does but your Learning Management System doesn't. Sure, you may find that the latest version of some competitive Learning Management System does a few of them. But I guarantee you that it doesn’t do most. And then there’s our ease of use, performance, stability, and pricing to consider. So, take TalentLMS for a test online drive (now, with our free-for-life starting plan) and see for yourself. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Instructional design is the most significant aspect of a good eLearning course. Being an instructional designer or a learning technology professional, you need to design the course in such a way that it should assist the learner in applying what he has learnt to his work. So, how do you get better? Well, one way is by reading and learning. In the process of designing a successful eLearning course,you need to refer many resources that can help you. I would now like to share an info-graphic which lists 7 must read eBooks for Learning Technology Professionals. I hope you like this post. Do share your thoughts! Related PostsOur Top 4 Blogs that you Might Have Missed this Week7 Tips to Design Better E-learning Courses - An Infographic5 Ways to Make E-learning Interesting - An Infographic

According to a report published by Docebo, eLearning revenues from Europe are likely to touch $ 8.1 billion by 2016. Small and mid-sized businesses are finding it easy to provide technology-enabled learning to their employees at affordable prices. Moreover, online courses can be taken anywhere, anytime, and this useful feature helps overcome barriers such as availability of time and space. Training managers of many small and mid-sized business firms think that eLearning is not a viable option to train their employees as it is costly and does not fit in their allotted budget. But, the fact is that eLearning courses can be developed quickly, at low cost, without compromising on the quality. Do you wish to know why eLearning is a viable option for small and mid-sized businesses? Then, check out this info-graphic. Thus, eLearning not only saves your time and money but also enables you to focus on other business activities. Hope you find this post useful. Do share your views. Related PostsLMS for Your Organization - How to Select The Best Fit? Part2: WordPress OptionRequired Skills for Project Managers!Why Is It Easier for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses to Adopt ELearning than Ever Before?

What is Divergent Thinking? Divergent thinking is a problem solving approach wherein learners are encouraged to consider a variety of different solutions, rather than just providing them with a limited number of conclusions. By doing this, learners have the opportunity to analyze a myriad of solutions and strategies to find out which one will work best for the particular problem or challenge. At its core, divergent thinking is all about using creative, analytical, and lateral thinking skills to arrive at a viable answer. According to Hudson (1967), divergent thinking learners are able to elaborate upon ideas and concepts when a stimulus is provided, which allows them to open their minds up to a number of different possibilities and outcomes. Applied to eLearning, this not only helps them to more effectively solve problem autonomously in the virtual classroom, but also in the real world. In this article, I’ll share 4 best practices and 5 tips for integrating divergent thinking into your next eLearning course. 4 Best Practices For Applying Divergent Thinking In eLearning To create an eLearning environment that encourages creative problem solving, keep the following divergent thinking best practices in mind: Observation comes before feedback. Constructive criticism, praise, and all other forms of feedback should only come after observing the learner and their thinking processes. Every idea counts. No matter whether the idea seems completely random or off-topic, it still holds value in a divergent thinking learning environment. Encourage learners to gather as many ideas as possible throughout the problem-solving process. Encourage differing opinions. Every learner is going to have their own opinion, and that’s the beauty of divergent thinking. Encourage all members of your audience to share their experience, insights, and opinions in order to view the problem from multiple perspectives. Combine unique ideas. In some cases there may be multiple different solutions to a single problem. Divergent thinking is all about collaborating, sharing, and combining unique ideas to arrive at a creative solution that works. One idea might even lead to another, which leads to another, and so on, until the problem is resolved. 5 Tips To Use Divergent Thinking In eLearning Turn the tables on your learners. Rather than presenting your learners with a question, why not take their creativity a step further by encouraging them to come up with their own problems to solve. This gives them the opportunity to solve real world issues and challenges they may encounter on a daily basis, while sharpening their lateral thinking skills. Foster a divergent thinking online community. If you want your learners to broaden their thinking horizons and share every idea that comes to mind, they must feel supported. They simply won’t be willing to provide input if they feel as though they will be judged or criticized for their opinions. For this very reason, it’s important to cultivate a divergent thinking environment where learners feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and experience with their peers. Let them know that they divergent thinking is not only welcomed, but a necessary part of the learning process. Hold frequent brainstorming sessions. Throughout the duration of the eLearning course hold brainstorming sessions that center on the subject matter. Incorporate a brainstorming session into a group collaboration exercise, or ask your learners to brainstorm before they begin a self-guided assignment. Firstly, however, you will want to set up the ground rules of the brainstorming session. Ask your learners to begin by analyzing the problem at-hand for a few moments and clearly stating what needs to be resolved. Also, encourage them to respect the ideas and thoughts of others by giving everyone the opportunity to speak. Challenge the status quo. This tip is actually two-fold. Not only should you challenge commonly accepted ideas, but you should also encourage your learners to challenge the ideas of their peers in a respectful manner. Prompt your learners to question the status quo by asking them to examine why a task or problem is approached in a particular way, and why this approach is often the most popular. If learners have ideas that conflict, encourage them to explain further why their idea is better and how they believe it will solve the problem. You can also spark the discussion yourself, by adding a shocking or contradictory statement that prompts your learners to question "the norm". Make the most of mistakes. Mistakes can be powerful instruments of learning, if we know how to use them effectively. Encourage your learners to reflect upon mistakes they make during the learning process, as well as solutions that led to undesirable or unexpected outcomes. Let them know that it’s perfectly acceptable to take risks, as long as they know how to make the most out of the mistakes that may result from those risks. Use divergent thinking to your advantage by using these best practices and tips when creating your eLearning course. By encouraging your learners to think outside the box and consider multiple different solutions to the problem, you are equipping them with the skills they need to tackle any task in and out of the virtual learning environment. Divergent thinking goes hand-in-hand with creative thinking. If you’d like to learn how to use creativity to your advantage when designing your next eLearning course, the article 7 Tips To Use Learners' Creativity In eLearning features 7 tips that will help you develop a compelling creativity-driven eLearning experience. References: Hudson, L. (1967), Contrary Imaginations; a psychological study of the English Schoolboy Harmondsworth: Penguin This post was first published on eLearning Industry.