This is somewhat last minute notice, but Learn Trends will be having a free online discussion tomorrow on the topic of:Social and Network LearningSocial learning and social networks continue to grow in prominence in corporations, organizations, and universities. The impact of networks, however, remains somewhat misunderstood. How should organizations "restructure" on network principles? How can ROI be calculated? Are networks a superior method of organization learning and development? How can professionals re-create wholeness of understanding in fragmentary conversations and information shared through social networks? What lessons can learning professionals apply from Facebook, Twitter, iPhone applications, and other software and technology trends?Join LearnTrends on June 18th for presentation and discussion on the social, networked learning and organizations. Topics include: ROI of networks, Value Networks, fragmented conversations and sensemaking, and the next stages of social and learning networks in organizations.All sessions will be held online and recordings will be made available after the event.Moderators:What is Social and Network Learning?George Siemens and Tony Karrer - 9:30 AM PacificROI and Social and Network LearningTony Karrer and Will Thalheimer - 10AM Pacific TimeOrganizational Challenges of Social and Network LearningVerna Allee - 11 AM Pacific TimeDave Snowden - Noon Pacific TimeTo attend the event or to be notified about future events, sign up to Learn Trends. eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

Written by Chris Osborn   Today's Q&A discusses who decides what skills are promotable, and more importantly how to align those skills with current and future orientations in order to best benefit your organization.     Access 7,000+ Employee Training Resources BizLibrary offers 7,000+ training videos in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   How to Measure the Impact of Employee Soft Skills Training We know great "people skills" when we see them or experience them. However, soft skills don’t always lend themselves to easy measurement for excellence. Measure the business impact . . . Well, that’s just not something the ROI and traditional approaches to training investment don’t really help us do very effectively unless we dig deeper. BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices. Video Transcript Hi, Chris Osborn, VP of Marketing with BizLibrary with today's Q&A. Today's question comes from Marilyn, she's an HR director at a financial services company and she wants to know who decides what skills are promotable in the context of succession planning and high potential development programs.   Well, Marilyn, the short answer is YOU decide, but the real question, the more challenging question, is HOW do you determine the skills that you're going to need to develop? And you have two orientations. You have current orientation and a future orientation. So by current orientation, I mean what is it you need your organization, you leaders to do TODAY to meet the challenges that you're facing right now. So what are your goals, what is your organization trying to do, so what HAS to happen today? But in terms of succession planning and the development of high-potential employees, the more important orientation is your FUTURE needs, looking ahead. What are we going to need to do to be successful 18, 24 months in the future?   And an old-fashioned consultants tool, SWOT analysis, really helps determine what those skills might be. SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. So, for strengths: what are the skills that we're going to need to amplify or take advantage of the current strengths our organization have? What skills or competencies do we need to build to minimize the risks associated with our current weaknesses? And then, for the opportunities, what are we going to need to do to be successful in the future? What are the market opportunities? What are new products, what are innovations we can roll out that are really going to help us move ahead and what are the skills that we're going to need to develop in our future leaders to help us take advantage of those opportunities? And then threats, can we meet the next round of threats with the current skillset of our organization or do we need to look at a different set of skills and competencies to adequately meet the threats  our organization is going to face? So, who determines the skills that are promotable? You do! But the most important question you have to ask is HOW will you determine those skills? Using an old-fashioned SWOT analysis will help you do that.

by Jennie Ruby Starting off our pet peeves this week are two about fake words. Julie Vails gives us   Anyways.  That is not a word! Anyways is a dialect entry in Webster's. Certainly it does not belong in business writing.   Lisa Blaski calls out   Made-up words--for example making the word "solicit" into "solicitating." That is a great example of a "back formation." People invent incorrect verbs by working backward from the noun form, in this case, solicitation. Since the noun has that extra syllable in it, they put that syllable into the verb form, or in some cases just make up a verb that does not exist. Here are a couple of others:   Conversate, conversating (from conversation) commentate (from commentator) emote (from emotion) What happens next is that the dictionary writers observe these words and some of them become accepted usage, like curate (from curator).   That extra syllable creeps into some other words as well, such as preventative (should be preventive), but that is not even a back formation from anything! Stacey Edwards gives us a wordy phrase as a pet peeve:   I frequently see the phrase "in order" added to a description of how to accomplish a particular task. For example, in order to bake a cake, you must have an oven. I cannot think of an example when "in order" actually adds any information or is required for clarity. And rounding out this week's batch, Mary Gerhardt  gives us another example from a regional dialect:   My pet peeve is when people pair the verb need with a past-tense verb, for example, "Those dishes need washed," or "This project needs finished." I respect and appreciate regional dialects, but I cringe when I hear it in a formal business setting or see it in corporate documents. I believe this is just an Iowa phenomenon.    What they are leaving out, of course, is to be.   The hoard continues to grow, and I will keep sharing the peeves. In a few weeks we will try another direction; but for now, stay peeved, my friends, stay peeved.

View and download the webinar slides. View the webinar recording.     Additional Resources: Status Quo Ebook Measuring Soft Skills Ebook ATD Infographic on Change Agents   Try out BizLibrary's Online Library! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   How to Build a Business Case for Online Employee Training In this eBook, we will identify the 5 steps to building a business case and best practices for delivering impact through training and development. BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices.

I am pulling together an online only event for Learn Trends that will occur on July 23. I'm seeking several kinds of panelists who can contribute to the discussion. Please contact me via email: akarrer @ techempower.com if you are interested in being on one of the panels. Or if you know someone who I should recruit.This event focuses on the issues raised in Business of Learning. The event is:Future of the Business of LearningYou can click the link for a bit more detail and to sign up to Learn Trends. The crux of the session is looking at:While training as a publisher of courses and courseware faces an increasingly challenging market, what other things can learning businesses successfully sell to internal or external customers?The session will have several panels looking at different perspectives on these questions.CLOs /VPs Learning from inside medium to large corporations who will discuss:* What new offerings are they selling or trying to sell to internal customers?* What new offerings are they looking to buy to bring into their company?Training CEOs who run companies that sell particular training offerings to corporations* What new offerings are they selling or trying to sell?* What are the key challenges they face in selling these?* Are they moving beyond blended learning to social learning solutions?Software/Services CxOs Vendors who provide other kinds of software or services to corporations* What new offerings are they selling or trying to sell?* What are the key challenges they face in selling these?Industry Analysts and Others* What do they see as being the new kinds of offerings that will get traction in the market?* What should CLOs, training companies and Vendors do to create and sell these offerings?This should be a lively conversation.Roughly scheduled from:9 AM - 1 PM Pacific Time / 4 PM - 8 PM GMTJuly 23 eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

Articulate Storyline is one of the hottest eLearning development tools in the world. We are proud to announce that our newest book, "Articulate Storyline 2: The Essentials" is now shipping. "Articulate Storyline 2: The Essentials" is a step-by-step workbook that teaches you the top Storyline features and will have you creating interactive eLearning projects in as little as two days. There are tons of activities supported by a mountain of screen shots. As you work through the lessons, there are challenge exercises (Confidence Checks) that will immediately put your new-found skills to the test and reinforce what you've learned. You'll use Storyline to create projects from scratch. You'll work with slides, learn how to add text, images, characters, and shapes. There are lessons that will teach you how to add interactivity to your slides via buttons, Triggers, text entry areas, and hotspots. And you'll learn how to create quizzes, and how to publish your eLearning projects for the widest possible audience. Click here for more information or to order.

View and download the webinar slides. View the webinar recording.     Try out BizLibrary's Online Library! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   Succession Planning and the Development of Your High Potentials In this eBook, we will provide some practical suggestions for selecting the right participants and the development of your high potential employees. BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices.

by Matthew Pierce     When you think of what a trainer or instructional designer (ID) does, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not video communication. Nevertheless, video is becoming a larger and more important piece of their workload. While it is still not so common that they will need to work with video daily, it is beginning to have more impact on their daily lives; ID's and trainers will now need to be ready to create videos for their work. Because video is growing in usage for the learning and development space, TechSmith Corporation wanted to better understand what makes a great video. If you can determine the attributes that make a video great, perhaps you can reverse engineer those pieces and apply them to your own videos. TechSmith's Viewer Research Study comprised 1900 participants from a variety of roles and industries including financial services, education, government, healthcare, manufacturing, software design and development, and more. The majority of participants fell within the age range of 25 to 64.Because there are different purposes for videos, questions were asked to help determine what type of video they were thinking of during the research. The types of video were narrowed down to three: Entertainment, Informational, and Instructional. For our purpose, we focused our research on learning from those who were considering informational and instructional video. Let the Experiments Begin Among the key learning of the research, there are lessons that everyone who is considering creating a video should consider, which when applied will help guide us to creating better and more effective visual content. Like all research, I invite you to run your own experiments and validate the research in your environment and for your particular audience. Video Viewership With the rise of YouTube, Vimeo, and other video sharing sites, the amount of video being consumed on the web is increasing. According to a report from Cisco, online video users are expected to double to 1.5 billion in 2016. While a lot of video viewership will be focused on entertainment and its increasing ubiquity, not all of it will be. Some portion will be focused on information delivery and instruction. As video viewing increases, there are points you should understand about how to create better videos, which will allow for better engagement and enable you to achieve your end goals. Some of the results of the study give insight into viewer habits, which may help you make sure you shape the learner experience. For instance, instructional and information videos are watched most in the morning and the evening. This could indicate that viewers are watching when they feel they have time. This leads to asking, what does the information delivery need that will allow the viewer to get the most from the information? Importance of video length For a number of years, I have taught people that videos need to be short, concise, and probably no more than three minutes in length. I have found that while this is still the case, it didn't take into consideration what viewers wanted. The data from the research indicates that for instructional and informational videos a higher percentage of viewers actually prefer longer videos (with the range varying between four to fifteen minutes in length). When looking at those that were flagged as good or great videos, the length of instructional and informational videos can sometimes be up to 10 minutes in length.The length of the video may seem surprising; but with more context, it is understandable why a viewer would prefer a longer video. Think about the information you might want to deliver or something you would want to teach; it can be often difficult to condense that information down to a one to three minute video. In addition, other data points indicate that viewers want the right information that will guide and direct them. If the video has too little or too much, they aren't going to want to view it. While it's a difficult balance to achieve, you can solve the problem by asking appropriate questions. You need to understand the problem, and what information or instruction will help to provide the solution.A number of survey participants indicated that they stopped watching a video because it was not the expected information, the wrong topic, boring, or uninteresting content.As you start creating videos, remember you have flexibility in the length; but if you provide too much information that is not directly helpful or relevant, the video will be less effective.Next week: Keeping viewers interested, and the best information to present. *** If you'd like to learn more about eLearning, check out IconLogic's eLearning basics mini course. And if you'd like to learn TechSmith Camtasia Studio, Adobe Captivate, Adobe Presenter, or Articulate Storyline, we've got a great collection of live, online classes for you. See also: What Makes Videos Effective, Part 2

eLearning Learning Hot List June 12, 2009 to June 19, 2009 Top Posts The following are the top posts from featured sources based on social signals. Business of Learning- eLearning Technology, June 15, 2009 New online book on mobile learning -available for free download- Ignatia Webs, June 12, 2009 Phases of the 3PD Approach: Discovering Instructional Design 15- The E-Learning Curve, June 16, 2009 Google Wave as a Learning Tool- Learning and Technology, June 12, 2009 Student Guide: Introduction to ‘Wikis’ in Blackboard- Don't Waste Your Time, June 12, 2009 Captivate Widgets Tutorial: Create your first Widget- Adobe Captivate Blog, June 19, 2009 Discovering Instructional Design 14: the Three-Phase Design Model- The E-Learning Curve, June 15, 2009 How Big is Moodle?- MinuteBio, June 12, 2009 3PD Approaches to Evaluation: Discovering Instructional Design 16- The E-Learning Curve, June 19, 2009 Nintendo’s Four I Standard- Upside Learning Blog, June 19, 2009 Call for Panelists - Future of Business of Learning- eLearning Technology, June 18, 2009 New Lynda.com tutorial on Captivate 4- Adobe Captivate Blog, June 18, 2009 Top 100 Educators to follow on Twitter- Don't Waste Your Time, June 18, 2009 New Networked Organisation- ThirdForce Blog, June 17, 2009  The Tipping Point - Are You There Yet?- Engaged Learning, June 16, 2009 Opera Unite for Windows/Mac/Linux gives you immediate access to group or personal learning spaces- Ignatia Webs, June 16, 2009 #eden09: educational shift in Japan, using ubiquitous learning by Haruo Nishinosono- Ignatia Webs, June 15, 2009 Is it ever okay to have multiple tweeters for one twOrganization?- Business Casual, June 14, 2009 Brain rule #12- Clive on Learning, June 12, 2009 Top Other Items The following are the top other items based on social signals. Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked, June 17, 2009 Here’s Why You Need an E-Learning Portfolio, June 16, 2009 Game Studies 0102: Cultural framing of computer/video games. By Kurt Squire, June 17, 2009 Interesting Web Sites for Game-Based Training, e-Learning and Education:, June 17, 2009 10 Strategies for Integrating Learning and Work (part 1), June 15, 2009 What is a Game? The Art of Computer Game Design, June 17, 2009 The Top 5 Platforms for Creating Educational Video Games « Educational Games Research, June 17, 2009 Why Do People Play Games? - The Art of Computer Game Design, June 17, 2009 Social Network Analysis: An introduction, June 12, 2009 Rapid (Collaborative) Authoring Tools for developers/SMEs in multiple locations, June 17, 2009 U.S. Spies Use Custom Videogames to Learn How to Think, June 17, 2009 Marc Prensky - Twitch Speed, June 17, 2009 Business Impact of Social and Informal Learning, June 12, 2009 Fourteen Forms of Fun, June 17, 2009 Gamasutra - Features - "Natural Funativity", June 17, 2009 Integrating Learning and Work, June 16, 2009 Why group norms kill creativity, June 14, 2009 The Ideal Computer for Camtasia Studio, June 17, 2009 Examples from TWITCHSPEED.COM Digital Game-Based Learning, June 17, 2009 Twitter Search in Plain English, June 17, 2009 Top Keywords Google Wave (4) Social Learning (25) Business (43) Adopt (7) Market (17) Performance Support (15) eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

View and download the webinar slides. View and download the webinar recording.     Try these courses and more! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   Got Content? How to Use Off-the-Shelf Content to Build Strong Employee Learning Programs In this eBook we’ll discuss how to incorporate off-the-shelf learning content into your employee learning program. BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices.

by Matthew Pierce   In last week's article about creating effective eLearning videos, I wrote about video viewership and the ideal length for a video. This week, it's all about keeping viewers interested and the best information to present.   Keeping viewers interestedOne of the prime reasons that viewers turn off to video is because the delivery of content doesn't engage or appears as boring. The TechSmith Viewer study dug into what makes content uninteresting. There are many ways to be considered boring, just a few of them include:  A dull or monotonous speaker Content is by nature boring The pace of delivery is too slow The information is a repeat from earlier delivery of material A bad approach has been decided and taken Overcoming some of these hurdles can be challenging. Audiences can be subjective and depending on your audience size, you may need to determine what is the least problematic approach, without letting the video become too generalized or plain--which will also cause viewers to stop watching.   What is the best information to present?   Some participants in the study indicated that they actually wanted different information from what was provided in the videos they had seen. This can be subjective as we can't always deliver what they want versus what they need, but we should keep in mind that viewers, especially learners, do tend to have a good gauge of whether the information achieved its objectives. When viewers wanted different information, we found that they were missing details. If the content was instructional in nature, they found there wasn't enough step-by-step instruction. Also, on many occasions the content of the video was not accurately reflected in the description, which can lead the viewer down the frustrating path of starting a video only to discover that it doesn't meet their needs.   Finally, viewers indicated that instructional and informational videos were not specific enough. It's easy as a content creator to assume how much any one of your viewers may already know. And since it can be difficult to pre-assess knowledge and deliver just what is needed, testing and being open to feedback from your audience is critical to success.   Conclusion   As we move into a digital era where video content is becoming king, technical communicators need to find a fine balance between creating videos that achieve their purpose and understanding how their viewers will best consume their content. One cannot exist without the other.   The best video will be created by a person who has considered the content, how it is delivered, the amount of details, and even the amount of time to ensure it does not fall flat with viewers. In comparison to entertaining videos, instructional and informational videos need to work a little bit harder to win over audiences; but through a variety of settings, and interesting approaches viewers can stick to your content like glue. *** If you'd like to learn more about eLearning, check out IconLogic's eLearning basics mini course. And if you'd like to learn TechSmith Camtasia Studio, Adobe Captivate, Adobe Presenter, or Articulate Storyline, we've got a great collection of live, online classes for you. See also:  Learning and Development: Effective Videos, Part 1

I recently had a great experience working with Abhijit Kadle one of the authors of the Upside Learning Blog (disclosure). As part of writing an eLearning Games White Paper he had collected a wonderful list of articles, posts, white papers, etc. as part of his research. We decided that it would make sense to bring those great resources into eLearning Learning and then use the automatic categorization, filtering and social signals capabilities of Browse My Stuff to have it surface some of the better content. As he describes it: In putting this list together, I worked with Tony Karrer and his eLearning Learning site extensively to match links that are popular based on social signals, specifically in the Games and Simulation categories. You can find the results in his really great post: Top 100 Learning Game Resources Abhijit also committed to continuing to add to his list and to continue to add links to eLearning Games & eLearning Simulations on the eLearning Learning site. This is a great use of the capabilities of eLearning Learning and it will provide on-going value to the community. Thanks Abhijit! eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

There seems to be a lot writing floating around in the last few weeks about leadership. As it turns out, there is just a lot of writing about leadership period. That’s part of what drew me originally to Mike Myatt’s book, Hacking Leadership , where he says: "Everyone seems to have an opinion of what constitutes good leadership, but if good leadership is so easy to define and identify, why does it seem so hard to come by? Like many astute observations, this one struck me as so blatantly obvious, that I was perturbed that I hadn’t thought of it in such clear terms myself. He’s right. Myatt’s book offers some excellent insights and provides some good suggestions that might benefit a lot of us." Peter Drucker framed the role of leadership elegantly. He said, "Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things." You can find more of Drucker’s wisdom in Peter Drucker, The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker's Essential Writings on Management.   As I struggle with leadership myself on a day-to-day basis, I find myself running headlong into the issues framed by both thinkers. Why is great leadership so hard to come by? I believe the answer actually lies at the heart of the second issue as Drucker framed the role of leaders. How do we know what the "right things" are? It strikes me all of the various leadership models, all of the advice and though leadership out there won’t help any of us, if our energies are not directed at doing the "right things." So, how do we figure out what those things are? ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS I am always astonished at how many organizations fail to grasp this concept. Two people are lost and looking for the place to meet a third friend. One asks, "Where are we?" The other asks, "How do we find the meeting place?" Which question yields the most useful information?You will never get good answers until you start asking good questions. The problem with most mission, vision values statements and most strategic goals is that as well-intentioned as they might be, they rarely have their origin in the right question or questions. Therefore, organizations end up with goals that can’t be met, goals that are unrealistic, or corporate missions completely misaligned with the values of the marketplace and leaders. Great answers are the product of great questions. WHY? One of the very best questions any leader ought to ask is, "Why?" We get caught up in the "how" to do things, that we forget that there is, or should be, a purpose behind what we are doing. The reasons behind what we do and ask our employees to do are critical, so ask why until you can’t ask it anymore. When you’ve exhausted an inquiry, and you can no longer ask "why", you’ve gotten to the root of the issue, question or strategy. Now you can begin to build sound processes, smart goals and effective solutions to deliver on the core purpose you’ve uncovered. SWOT An old-fashioned SWOT analysis can go a long ways toward answering this foundational question. That is, a SWOT analysis can help illuminate why an organization should set specific goals, enter new markets, abandon losing products, etc. In other words, figuring out the "why" by engaging in effective SWOT analysis can help us do what Peter Drucker tells us leaders must do - the right things.Finding your organization’s strengths and weaknesses (SW in SWOT) can help focus strategic energy on how to take full advantage of strengths to improve on any number of strategic fronts. Remember, it’s almost always easier to build on strengths than to improve weaknesses.   But weaknesses are critical for organizations to understand, too. Strengths and weaknesses are internal evaluations, and it’s important to have a full, fair and objective understanding of the things your organization does well and not so well. It’s not that you want to choose to try and improve weaknesses; instead you might try and do less of those things or find alternative ways to work around weak areas. Opportunities and threats (OT in SWOT) look at external factors that are or will affect the organization. This purpose of this evaluation is to develop an understanding of the organization’s ability to take advantage of market opportunities such as a change in competitive landscape like the acquisition of a competitor. Threats might be the entry of a new competitor or a disruption to the market either by an innovative new product or service, financial uncertainty, change in customer tastes, etc. CONCLUSION You will never understand the answers you need if you don’t first understand the questions. As leaders, our role is to "do the right things," and this requires us to find the right things for us and our organizations. This exploration becomes a lot more straight forward when organizations understand where they are starting from and where they want to go. Figuring that out doesn’t require a new leadership model or a lot of complex philosophical musing. We just have to embark on a relentless search for the right questions, and from there, we’ll get the right answers.     Follow me on Twitter! @chrisosbornSTL   Try out BizLibrary's Online Library! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.

by Sally Cox     One of my favorite hidden gems in Storyline 2 is an obscure feature called Recolor Art. It allows you to alter the color of an object within Storyline-not affecting the original art, but merely "recoloring" it within the project.   In my workflow as an Instructional Designer, I create my own artwork in Adobe Illustrator and export as transparent PNGs. This works out nicely, but there are times when I need to create rollovers from icons or buttons. I want to avoid returning to Illustrator to create separate versions. Enter "Recolor Art."   In the image below there are a few examples of icons you might use in your eLearning project. I'll demonstrate how to use Storyline's Recolor Art feature to alter the Hover state, creating a rollover.     To begin, select your artwork (remember, transparent PNGs work best) and open the States panel by selecting the word "States" at the bottom of the Storyline window.     Click Edit States, click New State, choose Hover from the drop-down menu, and then click Add.     You've created the Hover state; now you'll alter the appearance. With the Hover state still open, select the object on your slide. Then right-click and choose Format Picture.    Choose Picture from the menu at the left and then click the arrow next to Preset.     You'll find a number of options for recoloring your art, and you'll see the categories listed above the icons. No Recolor means you see your original image. Color Modes and Dark Variations are the ones that give the best result, for me. Experiment with Brightness, Contrast, and Transparency for different effects.   These are limiting however, so if you want more, go to Blend.   Choose a Color from the Blend section and apply a Blend Mode. These behave just like Photoshop Blend Modes and give you a variety of effects based on the color you choose.     If you don't like what you've done, you can click Reset Picture, or use Storyline's Undo command.   When you're done with Recolor, click Close. Lastly, and most importantly, click Done Editing States in the States panel to save the changes.   Here are examples of before (left) and after (right) applying the Recolor feature to an icon. It can always be removed later, and edited as needed. Any way you cut it, it's a real timesaver!     *** Looking for training on Articulate Storyline? Check out our live, online instructor-led Storyline classes.

View and download the webinar slides. View the webinar recording.         Try out BizLibrary's Online Library! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   Closing the Skills Gap In this eBook we’ll discuss  how to nurture talent for current and future skills gaps! BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices.

I just finished a great conversation with Pam Schmidt, the Executive Director of ISA. I've been in the training industry since the early 90s and only recently ran into ISA. I'm curious if readers here already know about this organization? They describe themselves as "the executive connection for training industry leaders." The membership seems to be a who's-who of training company CEOs. Pam and ISA will be helping me to pull together the event that focuses on the issues raised in Business of Learning. ISA recently looked at some of these issues that were beautifully captured as Graphic Illustrations (PDF). I'm looking forward to more conversations with ISA members and in the conversation on July 23. You can sign up for the online, free event through Learn Trends at: Future of the Business of Learning. Welcome aboard Pam and ISA. eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

by Jennie Ruby    We have a good collection of peeves this week, starting with one from Geri Moran: Emails--I have given up using the original form with a hyphen (e-mail) because the Microsoft Manual of Style finally capitulated, but it drives me crazy to see the word emails used for multiple email messages. I don't get "mails" from the U.S. Postal service, I get mail. Right, Geri! Some editors used to say that email is only an adjective, not a noun, so that it should always have the word messages after it. I think we mostly gave up on that idea long ago, but email as a noun should certainly parallel the usage of mail! Anita Weiler brings us an incorrect pronoun usage, a substitute word, and a misspelling, followed by a pronunciation peeve: Saying myself instead of me. It isn't more polite, it's just wrong! Ask as a noun: "That's a good ask.: (Makes my skin crawl.) [I received other complaints on this one-you are not alone.] Loose instead of lose: when did you loose your keys? [I hate it when people unleash their keys and loose them upon the world!] Mispronouncing nuclear as "noo-kyoo-lar" She brings us another word that is similar to the aforementioned use of ask instead of question or request: I understand that language evolves. I just don't like many of the changes. Often the result is language that is less clear, or just ugly. For example, I really detest when people say (and mispronounce) INvite to mean invitation. "Did you get the invite I sent you?" However, after checking some online dictionaries I see that invite is now listed as an informal word for invitation. Which means eventually it will likely be considered standard usage. Ugh! Barbara Kennedy takes us into a more esoteric realm: the use of the subjunctive mood. She is peeved by these errors: Incorrect: "If he would have" Correct: "If he had" Incorrect: "If I was you" Correct: "If I were you" Incorrect: "I suggest is that he is removed." Correct: "I suggest that he be removed." Incorrect: "I recommend they do not enter the competition." Correct: "I recommend they not enter the competition." She says she is afraid she'll have to let this bit of grammar go, but I think it is not on the brink quite yet. These incorrect uses would be corrected in any professionally edited context, I hope! A few weeks ago, I asked people to send in their memory aids.Julie Robertson has one that she would like to ask all of you about. She remembers one that started like this:   "Capitals SHOUT; italics whisper. Bold [does something]; underline points the way, and so on. Have you heard this one? she asks. It is not familiar to me. If you know this one, please help us out by filling in the gaps. I'm sure there are more peeves out there, free to add them as comments below.

Written by Chris Osborn   Today's Q&A discusses who decides what skills are promotable, and more importantly how to align those skills with current and future orientations in order to best benefit your organization.     Access 7,000+ Employee Training Resources BizLibrary offers 7,000+ training videos in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   How to Measure the Impact of Employee Soft Skills Training We know great "people skills" when we see them or experience them. However, soft skills don’t always lend themselves to easy measurement for excellence. Measure the business impact . . . Well, that’s just not something the ROI and traditional approaches to training investment don’t really help us do very effectively unless we dig deeper. BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices. Video Transcript Hi,Chris Osborn, VP of Marketing with BizLibrary with today's Q&A. We're going to deviate a little bit, we're going to comment on a comment actually that we got in a webinar. It comes from Anne, she's the VP of HR at a manufacturing organization who self-identifies herself, by the way, as a baby boomer and she said "I'm all for mobile learning, there's lot of benefits. Convenience, speed, etc" but she still believes for it to stick it has to be complemented with on-the-job training.   We agree! Mobile is nothing more than a method to deliver content, no more, no less. But mobile should be a central part of a next-generation learning strategy for a whole host of reasons. First, it's the way most of us are already accessing information we want or need away from work. Think mobile apps, like Maps or Movie Apps, looking for nearby restaurants. It's how we answer questions each and every day in the moment, wherever we happen to be and whatever we happen to need. Our employees are already using their mobile devices to access work-related information right now. Trust us, they're doing that whether you want them to or not. So the thing that mobile content does it helps employees in the exact moment of need. So, it makes on-the-job training even more effective. And here's why: people learn best when they can apply what they learn right away.   By having immediate access to information on mobile devices and being able to apply that content right in the moment of need, especially when that content is delivered in short-form video, that methodology works perfectly to meet the learning needs of today's workforce. It matches brain science, it ties into adult learning theory, and it helps employees in nearly every job role in nearly every organization. So Anne, you're exactly right. Mobile learning does work really well for a whole range of reasons and it actually helps amplify the impact and effect of on-the-job training.

For the past 15 years, I've spent a lot of time working on start-ups both inside and outside the world of eLearning.  As I mentioned in Blogger Outreach, I'm now getting quite a few emails that are announcements of new services, products, events, etc.  One thing that really surprises me is the number of new products that constantly appear that leave me scratching my head.  Why am I scratching my head?  Because I'm not sure that they've really done any market research, competitor analysis and have come up with a unique value proposition. In some cases, I'll connect back to the vendor to ask how it's different than some of the other products in the market.  In most cases, they will mention some neat new feature that makes their product marginally better. A marginally better new product is not going to do anything in the market. You only need to read a few marketing books to understand why that is.  You won't be able to get above the noise. And this isn't just me. Stephen Downes - What Not to Build.  Notice how a lot of the solutions he suggests not to build falls into the category of marginally better.  The places he sees opportunity are significantly different.  I don't necessarily agree with him on some of his suggestions - too bleeding edge.  We'd need a lot more market research before I invested much time and money.  But the point is to make sure you are not a "me too" solution. What's going to make a new learning solution interesting? Addresses Real Pain Point Tell me the pain that customers are feeling that will make them pay for your solution - or adopt your free solution.  Even if you are free, you still have to have enough pain with how they are doing things today to get them to adopt. A corollary to this is to make sure you tell me who your customers are.  It's surprising how many times I run into new products where it's not clear who they think will be using it. Different Type of Solution I'm going to be more interested when you tell me about a new solution that doesn't fit into the existing categorizations of tools.  Actually, this is the same thing as differentiating a solution.  For example, let's say that you are building a web conferencing solution that includes an easy to use 2.5D representation and avatars.  You would categorize the space from faceless (WebEx) to 3D/complex (Second Life) and your solution is this new category of approachable 3D.  You get the feeling of presence and personality, without the complexities of Second Life. Integrates in Interesting Ways Another way to get my attention and possibly get the market's attention is to have a solution that integrates with existing, already adopted solutions.  For example, if you build something that integrates with Facebook, Twitter, etc. that can take advantage of an existing audience in order to help you solve particular issues.  Or maybe it's a product that lives on top of SharePoint.  Or integrates with all the major LMS products. Islands have a hard time making it. Interesting Market Entry This somewhat relates to the integration issue.  If you can integrate with Facebook, Twitter, or similar products and you have some kind of viral aspect, then that could make you more interesting.  For example, create a business simulation that integrates with those products.  Or a learning tool that leverages those products to help aggregate activity.  But interesting market entry can also be things like the strategy that Yammer took.  They allow you to set up a corporate twitter that is based on your email domain without ever asking permission from IT.  It's a similar idea to the original groups that Facebook had where you couldn't be part of it unless you had an email with the appropriate domain.  Yammer thus provides a very interesting market entry model that can effectively beat out competitors who need to go through a full IT sales cycle. An Example - New Survey Tool What sparked this post was an email I received that was a new survey tool.  I'm not going to mention the specific tool because they didn't provide any of the information I would need to assess whether it's an interesting offering or a me too.  On the surface, the tool looks very similar to many other survey tools on the market.  Actually, in terms of reporting and some other aspects, other tools look like they are way ahead.  This new survey tool appears to have additional multimedia question types, but I was not clear on why that's any better than providing some media or a small embedded captivate piece and having the question there. Some thoughts and questions I would have for this company - Customers?  Pain Point? Who do they perceive to be their customers?  What is the pain point? From my experience using survey products, there are definite pain points that are encountered in specific situations.  You want to create a survey with a particular purpose, but the reporting doesn't seem to work out for you quite right.  Or you want to create surveys that need to have reporting done in specific ways.  Or maybe these surveys are aimed at employee satisfaction and the goal is to feed it back into the LMS?  Maybe there's a unique roll-up of results?  Or unique aspects of sending it out to the right people and tracking who's completed it? Integration Notice how several of the above pain points relate to integration.  Quite often integration is the barrier to adoption of tools.  If this survey creates something that can feed back into the LMS, then it might be able to get traction in the market. Of course, most survey tools today really are aimed more at integrating with social platforms.  If you could create a survey and have it work seamlessly with Twitter, as a widget on your blog, with Facebook, with your LinkedIn connections, etc., that represents a pretty interesting offering.  Or maybe there's something about being able to report back out through these same tools? You need to be a little careful that you still find customers and pain points. Market Entry Survey tools can have a very nice viral aspect to them.  You see someone use the tool and then you want to use it.  It's a bit like hotmail in the early days.  And if you are able to use it with twitter, Facebook, etc. it will be that much more viral. Maybe this tool could be bundled with other authoring tools? eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

by AJ Walther     Ever wanted to create your own font but then realized you have no idea how to do that? I feel ya, friend. And I'd like to suggest you check out FontStruct. FontStruct is pretty intuitive and easy to use for even (and perhaps especially) novice font designers. Fonts you design can be installed on any Mac or Windows computer.    Click here for a nice introduction video on FontStruct with instructions for getting started.  What I think is particularly nice about this tool is the social aspect. After you've created your font you can choose your own licensing for the font. This means you could protect the font with an All Rights Reserved copyright (preventing downloads), or you could share the font (making it available for download) under a variety of Creative Commons licenses.  The ability to share fonts means that not only can you create and share your own fonts, but you can also download fonts made by other users who are willing to share their work. Make sure you check the license for each font before you download and use it; I was able to find a decent selection of fonts available for commercial (and non-commercial) use.  To find a font, click the Gallery tab on FontStruct. From there you'll find fonts divided into a few categories: What's New, Top Picks, and Everything. You also have the ability to search, but I do wish the search feature was a bit stronger and had the ability to search by license type. When you find a font you like, click its title to access the font's page. From there you can download the font, rate it, and see more information. Be sure to check the Shared section for licensing information. Each license is a clickable link, so if you're unsure what the license means, click the link to learn more. Here are some great fonts I found. Zastava, fruit stripes, tockice, and circuit breaker all by usertime.piece:     Nova Thin Extended by user laynecom (I love this one!):     Robot Raid by user vertigokid (this one's a bit less useable, but how fun!):   If you create a font on FontStruct, don't be shy! Send it along and we'll share your font here! *** If you love AJ's articles, you'll love her Optimizing PowerPoint Design for eLearning & Presentations mini course.  

One of the coolest things about working for BizLibrary is unlimited Learning! Each month BizLibrary Employees share their favorite courses. This month features employees from Bizlibrary's Client Success and Sales Teams.     December Pix from Left to Right:   Jeannie Gutridge, Account Executive Leadership Feedback: What employees want to tell you…but don’t! Being a great leader takes work. Have you ever wondered what others think of your leadership? This is a great video that is a must-see for all managers! We’ve all had bad bosses that wouldn’t complement our work, were evasive, didn’t demonstrate competence, were micromanagers, and didn’t give employees autonomy. This video walks you through the how great leaders do things vs how poor leaders do. This is perfect for all levels of management as well as for people who would like to become management. View the video preview below:     Ryan Jaegers, Account Executive Persuasive Presentation Skills: Go For the Goal (Part 1) How many presentations have you begun by saying, "Today I am going to give you an overview"? If you have made this mistake you need to take this course. Setting a correct goal that is directed towards your audience is one of the most essential parts of an effective presentation. Mary does an outstanding job of giving you a short outline for more effective presentations that "get people marching". View the video preview below:   Andrew Buller, Client Success Consultant Time Challenged "Time Challenged" is all about effectively managing your time. I liked this video because it was effective yet humorous. Time management is a fairly generic topic and I think it may be overlooked by many. This video is a situational type exploring many of the root causes of improper time management. Even if someone doesn’t necessarily have issues showing up on time but feels scattered, it explores those situations as well. I thought the producer "bizniss" did a great job with this video by putting together situations and settings that are relatable but can also make you laugh. View the video preview below:     Anne Haupt, Client Success Consultant What to say When: You’re New on the Job As it is my second week on the job, I thought ‘What to say When: You’re New on the Job’ was a great fit for December! It’s a nice reminder that it’s okay not to know everything about your new job when you initially get started. Asking a lot of questions and utilizing your resources and co-workers are the best ways to get up and running quickly. View the video preview below:     Try these courses and more! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.

by Willam van Weelden     When you create a list, there are several list styles you can use in RoboHelp: bullets, squares, lowercase alphabet, and numbers. But RoboHelp brings one more great feature: you can use images instead of bullets. Create a List Style with Custom Images On the Project Manager pod, double-click your style sheet to open the Styles dialog box. Right-click List and choose New. Enter a name for the list style and press [enter]. Click the Create a bulleted list button. Select the list images option. Click the browse button to open the Image dialog box. Select the image you want to use as a bullet and click OK. Then click the OK button to save your changes. Apply an Image List Style Open or create a topic, and then create a regular bulleted list. Select the list. Right-click and choose Bullets and Numbering. Go to the Custom tab and select your list style in the left section. Click the OK button to apply your list. *** Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once a month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.

Important announcement: I've moved where I will be creating the eLearning Hot Lists.  So … Want a weekly list of the best content on eLearning from around the web?  Please read this post and then head over to eLearning Learning and subscribe to the Best Of feed via RSS or eMail. In Using Social Signals to Find Top eLearning Resources I discussed a particular example of using the social signals capability of Browse My Stuff to find good resources on a particular topic.  This capability also works for finding the top resources over a given time period.  I've been using eLearning Learning to create Hot Lists for a while now: eLearning Initial Hot List eLearning Hot List Feb 1-14 eLearning Hot Last Week eLearning Top 9 Posts You May Have Missed eLearning Hot List - April 1, 2009 to April 11, 2009 eLearning Host List February eLearning Hot List - Second Half of January Google Wave - Social Learning - Business - eLearning Hot List Performance - Collaboration - Social Network Analysis - eLearning Hot List Collaboration - Knowledge Management - Expert - Hot List eLearning Learning - Best of May Social Learning - Instructional Design - Free - eLearning Hot Topics eLearning - Social Media - Mobile Learning Twitter TechSmith LinkedIn Learning Strategy From now on I will be creating and publishing these hot lists over on the eLearning Learning site.  The first post is up now: Learning Theory - Enterprise 2.0 - Social Software - eLearning Learning Weekly Hot List With the recent updates to the site, you can subscribe to the Best Of RSS feed to receive these hotlists or you can visit the site and sign up to receive them via email. As always, I would welcome input, ideas, etc. on eLearning Learning and Browse My Stuff. eLearning Technology Subscribe to the Best of eLearning Learning for updates from this blog and other eLearning blogs.

View and download the webinar slides. View the webinar recording.       Try out BizLibrary's Online Library! BizLibrary provides 7,000+ training videos and eLearning courses in various business training topics, with new courses added every day.   Employee Training and Development: How to Measure Effectiveness and Impact This complimentary eBook discusses training metrics including where we've been and where we're going, how to determine key goals and indicators, and how to create a measurement plan for your program. BizLibrary's Mobile Learning App meets the needs of today's digital learners. Employees no longer wait for training departments to push learning content to them. Employees are used to pulling information to themselves, when they need it, on their own terms and conditions, and on their own devices.