Mobile learning has come a long way over the last several years. Some organizations have truly embraced mobile as a training delivery method, learning as they go how to create an impactful mobile strategy. Other organizations are still on the sidelines trying to decide if mobile learning makes sense for their workforce. Maybe it will be enough to just make those old eLearning courses work on a tablet? While enterprise mobile learning adoption continues to speed up, it is still far from ubiquitous. According to the ATD 2015 State of the Industry Report, 1.5% of training hours were completed via a mobile delivery method in 2014, up from 1.2% in 2013. A third of organizations had a mobile learning program of some sort in place by the end of 2014. Mobile is used as a reinforcement tool and placed within a blended learning curriculum rather than becoming a primary delivery method. Within the commercial organizations we work with, mobile learning adoption has moved at a much faster pace. Sales reps are often the most mobile members of the workforce, and their direct connection to revenue necessitates investment in the best tools and technologies for sales enablement. Customer training is also a big driver for the move to mobile. Organizations are realizing just how important it is to meet their customers where they are and provide learning at the point of need. These organizations know that if they don’t provide the education… someone else will. The five "must-haves" below are for organizations that are either just beginning to adopt mobile learning or are making plans to increase existing programs. These are simply the basics that your mobile learning solutions should include for them to be successful. 1. Make Sign-On Simple Single sign-on is an ideal solution, but not always practical when a solution is only being piloted. At the very least, make sure that your mobile app does not force users to log back in every time they open the app. Once users enter the app, the learning content should never be more than a tap or two away. 2. Get a Handle On Permissions Management One challenge with mobile content delivery is restricting access. How will you control who can see what information? Make sure your mobile learning solution allows you to easily control what learning content an individual user or group of users see. 3. Make it Mobile-First We explored the "mobile-first" concept in another article. Simply put, do not take the user interface of a desktop-oriented learning experience and "optimize" it for mobile. The result will be clunky and hard to navigate on the small screen. It is best to design a mobile interface from the ground up based on the user experience. Focus groups and extensive testing are a "must". 4. Plan for All Devices Your employees want access to learning on their smartphones… but they use a desktop or laptop, too. Perhaps a tablet is also in the mix. Make sure your mobile experience is available on these devices. If it is game-based, then progress, scoring and/or leaderboards should sync across all devices. 5. Use it to Drive Retention A mobile delivery format is the perfect way to help learners retain content. Use instructional strategies such as spaced learning and repetition in combination with short play sessions and automated reminders to sustain learning over time. Game elements can foster a spirit of healthy competition and motivate repeat play. See Mobile Learning in Action With KGuru Mobile We recently added a smartphone app to our award-winning Knowledge Guru learning platform. You can learn all about the app here. The post 5 Mobile Learning Must-Haves for 2016 appeared first on .

I know, its already the 15th of the month (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MLK!) and this is the first post of the new year for me. I’ve been a bit under the weather (I dislocated my knee in October and have been in various levels of pain ever since) and have made the conscious choice to do … Continue reading →

In our line of business, we interact with L&D leaders every day. They’re smart; they’re passionate; and they’re committed to creating a knowledgeable workforce. But they often come up against the same roadblock—getting a seat at the executive table. And they’re frustrated, to say the least. While shareholders and senior executives totally get that knowledgeable employees are critical to organizational success, they don’t always see how employee knowledge directly correlates to business impact. So, they simply don’t see why L&D needs to be part of boardroom discussions. But, there is a way for L&D leaders to make their voices heard. When we’ve seen L&D leaders change the way they approach the learning conversation and take advantage of advances in technology to prove the value of learning, they start to get C-level attention. Specifically, those L&D leaders who take a business-first approach to learning and can showcase the tangible, measurable results of their efforts, get invited to sit at the executive table. That means they: Work closely with business leaders to understand strategic objectives and how those objectives translate into job performance objectives for each employee. Identify employee job behaviors, that when done consistently, allow employees to achieve their objectives. Observe and document job behaviors, so that exceptional or substandard behaviors can be identified. Develop training programs that directly address the substandard knowledge and behaviors that drive poor performance. Constantly analyze behaviors and provide corrective learning to ensure that performance objectives are continuously being achieved Connect their efforts directly to business results that show increased revenue or decreased expenses In other words, successful L&D leaders understand that L&D must position itself to use business results to drive learning programs. (Stay tuned: we’ll cover this process in detail in a follow-up post). When that happens, learning can be clearly aligned with business objectives, and tangible results can be measured, proving the value of learning and its contribution to the success of the organization. L&D: it’s time to claim your seat at the boardroom table! Written by Carol Leaman The post Hey L&D — Want a seat at the table? Here’s what we’ve observed that works. appeared first on Axonify.

2016 sees the introduction of native apps to gomo, a new content distribution method we’re really excited about. Say hello to the gomo central app. What is it? The gomo central app is a groundbreaking advance in authoring and learning distribution technology. It solves the challenges of offline learning, tracking and updating faced by teams looking to deploy learning to devices on a global scale. The all-new app is the native version of gomo central, gomo’s cloud-based learning portal. gomo central is used by clients to give their global learners instant access to multi-device e-learning content. The app is downloaded from the app store, learners login and all of their gomo courses are within the app and ready to be used, either directly or downloadable for offline use. Learners are provided with easy native app access while L&D teams have a simple means of quickly distributing content to learners at scale. The app supports xAPI tracking, offline learning and dynamic content updates and will be available from the Apple and Android app stores. The gomo central app (top right) joins four other distribution methods included within the gomo learning suite. Benefits of the gomo central app: Gives staff instant access to learning on the smartphone or tablet of their choice No internet connection needed to consume content xAPI analytics are fed back to gomo as soon as the device connects to the internet Course updates are available to app users automatically Takes the hassle out of learning distribution L&D doesn’t have to deal with app store approval Gives learners a go-to app for learning when on the move. The launch Europe’s leading L&D event, Learning Technologies 2016, will be the first opportunity to see the gomo central app in action. The event takes place on February 3-4 and gomo will be sharing a huge stand alongside the rest of the LTG group (that’s us plus LEO, Preloaded and Eukleia). We have lots planned and we can’t wait to tell you more about it over the course of January. For now, you can register to attend Learning Technologies for free, or if you won’t make it to London, join us for a more detailed look at the gomo central app at our webinar ‘Harnessing native apps for learning’ on February 24th. The post Introducing native apps to gomo appeared first on gomo Learning.

The Best Tips and Tricks for eLearning Professionals to Incorporate into their Work Routines. eLearning professionals have a unique sense of motivation to provide in-depth knowledge to the people of the world. More often than not, it is not money that motivates them or the desire to be reputable. Instead, they are charged by their […] The post 7 Tips to Be a Happy, Productive, and Motivated eLearning Professional appeared first on PulseLearning.

Not all LMS vendors and buyers appreciate the value of excellent customer support. When Brendan Noud and Des Anderson founded LearnUpon four years ago, they identified a weakness in the market that remains a common problem today. All too many LMS vendors treat support and service as costs, leaving customers to struggle with integration and maintenance issues that threaten to derail eLearning programs. From the beginning, LearnUpon’s value proposition was based on a different approach. The delivery of an eLearning platform that’s quick to set-up and easy to use is reinforced by fast and thorough support, available to all customers in all markets, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. LearnUpon’s rapid growth indicates that customer support should matter to those in the market for an LMS. Here’s why.   Customer Support shouldn’t be a cost Many LMS vendors continue to view customer support as a cost base. The attitude explains why so many of LearnUpon’s customers, 39% of whom moved from an alternative LMS, cite the weakness or absence of support as a major motivation for switching learning platforms. Our account managers are always surprised to hear how it can take three days to receive a response to a support ticket from some LMS vendors. It can take new customers some time to adjust to the best measure of excellent customer support: a response to your support query in less than 30 minutes of opening a ticket. But that attitude isn’t unique to eLearning either. It’s been influenced by practices across the Software-as-a-Service industry. Over the past decade, technology companies have chosen to prioritize budgets assigned to development and marketing, with support and service largely neglected. In these businesses, support is often treated as something customers can do themselves, left to research solutions in self-service channels like forums. But support shouldn’t be treated as a luxury. When even simple integrations can throw up issues that require an experienced eye, the idea that support can be minimized without impacting customer experience is mistaken.   Is some support better than no support? Customer support isn’t just underestimated by LMS vendors. Its importance isn’t always clear to organizations and eLearning professionals either. Low investment in support isn’t surprising in a market where some popular solutions offer no support at all. For LMS vendors forced to compete with seemingly free Open Source programs like Moodle, good customer support can look expensive. It’s important that those in the market for an LMS fully scope the implications of the absence of support, some of which we covered in a post analyzing the pros and cons of Moodle. All learning management systems require some level of support to maintain new and existing features and programs. Many organizations eventually reject Moodle once research reveals the true cost of sourcing reliable support alternatives elsewhere.   The true value of customer support to cloud LMS users Even if you’ve decided against a seemingly free platform like Moodle, it’s important to research the level of support provided by shortlisted LMS vendors. Begin by assessing the scale of your internal resources. The smaller your team, the greater your reliance on customer support is likely to be. Questions about the cost and extent of support available are essential to the scoping phase. Start by asking if support services vary according to price or plan. Even teams with considerable internal IT resources often lack LMS expertise. No external resource is a fitting substitute for the speed and accuracy of quality support that will help resolve issues specific to eLearning, like those experienced with SCORM or Tin Can (xAPI) playback for example, or getting the best performance from content on all browser versions. If your LMS vendor has invested in building a team, you can rely on skilled and trained reps who will apply insights from similar issues to resolve your problems as quickly as possible. The availability of those kinds of resources will keep your eLearning courses running whenever you need them.   How to assess customer support in your search for an LMS Once you’ve decided that customer support is important, there’s a lot you can do beyond simply questioning your vendor or reading about support channels on their website. Almost every LMS vendor will claim to offer the best customer support in the industry, whatever the reality might be. The responsiveness of the LMS vendor from the initial inquiry stage should give you a realistic idea of what to expect throughout your time as a customer. If a vendor is slow to respond to your initial sales inquiry, it’s unlikely their customer support will set any industry records. Here are some additional tactics that help explore beyond marketing speak: Ask for testimonials or references from customers in similar markets and territories Read independent reviews available online Search social media for unanswered queries from customers Submit test support tickets during your trial period If the response you receive during your inquiry and trial periods is less than satisfactory, it’s unlikely that your experience as a paying customer will be much better.   LearnUpon’s approach to customer support LearnUpon was partly founded on a belief in the value of excellent customer support. Rather than seeing customer support as a cost center, Brendan and Des established it as a core pillar to distinguish LearnUpon from all other LMS vendors. That meant Senior Support Rep Shane Hession was one of LearnUpon’s first hires. From the first days of the company, the team was resourced so that 24/7 support was available to customers in all timezones. The support team has continued to expand with the business. Once the core support team was established, its capacity was enhanced with the appointment of two Customer Success Specialists, with plans to further expand both support and success teams over the coming months. The investment has paid off. Providing a level of customer support that’s unmatched in the LMS industry is ingrained in the company’s culture. Customer support is the area the team receives most positive feedback on. Testimonials and reviews are full of reminders of the difference excellent support has made to all kinds of learning and training companies and departments. As Alison Winton, Director of Operations, AJAG Online, says of her experience: "LearnUpon’s support team is unlike any other company I have ever dealt with. They respond immediately and with practical solutions and are always willing to go the extra mile to help in any way they can. The response time in terms of extra needs for our business were treated in a timely manner and the whole team really takes the time to learn the business."   If you’ve implemented an LMS previously, you’ll probably already appreciate the value of excellent support. If you’re researching LMS vendors at the moment, it’s worth including the value of support as one of your assessment criteria. It could be the factor that allows you to deliver successful and reliable eLearning programs for as long as you need them.   Try LearnUpon free for 30 days .learnupon.com Agree to Terms of Service Start my free trial The post The value of Customer Support to an LMS appeared first on LearnUpon.

[Post by Karla Willems, Account Manager at GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc.] In just a few weeks, the annual Training International Conference & Exposition will take place at the Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando Florida. Receive a $40 Disney Gift Card when you register for the 3-Day Conference AND book a Sunday & Monday night stay via Connections Housing by 5:00 pm ET on Jan 18, 2016. Need another reason to register? Check out the top 10: 10. Indulge your inner child with a complimentary pass to the Magic Kingdom. 9. Discover Disney secrets in a behind-the-scenes excursion. 8. Explore emerging technologies and mindsets. 7. Meet the mentor who can coach you to your next promotion. 6. Tap into the power of perception and the mysteries of the brain. 5. Find the key to successfully measuring behavior change and business impact. 4. Connect with a colleague who can help you land your dream job. 3. Learn from the most creative companies in the world: Second City, Pixar, Cirque du Soleil. 2. Brainstorm with the best the Top 10 Hall of Fame and Training Top 125. And the #1 reason to attend Training 2016: Because Training Matters—and so do you. For more information visit: Training 2016

Every fortnight I curate some of the observations and insights that were shared on social media. I call these Friday’s Finds. @kasthomas - "You have to wonder what happens to ‘official’ unemployment numbers when everyone has two jobs. Do they go negative?" @kerihw - "How department names change over time: Personnel > Human Resources > Sentient Assets > Flesh Liabilities" The End of the Artist - via @davidbhutchens "Now that we have established that it is difficult if not impossible to make money on intellectual property, unless you can afford a fleet of lawyers, how can we, the artists make enough money to spend adequate time on doing our work? Is it even possible to be a professional in the arts anymore? Let’s look at some of the possibilities: 1. Make our prices so low … 2. Find independent financial backing … 3. Do it in your spare time … 4. Be independently wealthy … 5. Academia … 6. Niche Markets …" The blockchain will become our new signature - via @petervan "By putting business licences, property titles or birth certificates on the blockchain, governments will enable citizens to digitally conduct transactions without lawyers, notaries or queuing at government offices. Once on the blockchain, registered ownership of a car, a home or other assets can be transferred from one person to another without the need for a government recorder or other third party, while still being legal and publicly acknowledged." Douglas Rushkoff - Fork the Economy "The monetary system was designed not to help people create and exchange value, but rather to extract value from anyone hoping to transact. It was not designed to promote circulation, but to serve as a drag on circulation. Making matters worse, central currency requires an economy to grow — and to do so faster and faster. If, for every $100,000 lent into circulation, $200,000 has to eventually be paid back, then where does the other $100,000 come from? Someone has to borrow or earn it. Now this scheme works fine as long as the economy is growing — as the colonial powers were through their conquest of the world, and even America managed to do through corporate expansion in the decades following WWII. But our ability to grow has reached its limits. There are no more regions to conquer or developing nations to exploit. Efforts to escape into outer space notwithstanding, our planet has been stretched beyond its carrying capacity for additional extraction and growth." Salon - Uber fail: Why the start-up giant stumbled in Europe "Because what Uber’s experience in Germany (and elsewhere in Europe) reveals is a truth that tends to be either rejected or ignored by most elites in America. Which, simply put, is this: While market forces do have a logic and power of their own, they are neither irrefutable nor divine. They can be tamed; they can be thwarted. Other values, like fairness or social cohesion, are sometimes more important. Neoliberalism is not destiny, in other words." @NYTObits - Alan Rickman Dies at Age 69

There are few things that jazz me more than the ever-evolving workplace (yes, I did just say that). As we embark on 2016, at Fierce, we see a heightened desire for employees to be engaged and connected on the deepest of levels.Below are the five Fierce predictions for 2016.Recruiting Talent - Job Candidates Motivated by Purpose, Not MoneyIn 2016, job candidates will want to ensure a potential company’s purpose and mission align with values they hold near and dear to their hearts. Values and purpose, over tangible items such as salary, will become an increasingly important factor in the decision-making process in the competitive job market. In fact, a high salary is the least important aspect of a job to both men and women, whereas holding a job they enjoy is the most important aspect, according to Pew Research Center. With the rise of social media and online publishing, CEOs and other executives have reached celebrity status unlike ever before, giving them a platform to communicate their personal and professional aspirations directly with the public. This means that the CEO’s vision and persona will be highly influential in the recruiting process, placing a whole new level of responsibility on leaders to accurately represent and depict the mission and ideals of the organization.Job Flexibility - The Sharing Economy Inspires Job Sharing ProgramsEmployees expect a degree of flexibility in today’s working world, whether that entails setting their own hours or working remotely. In 2016, employers will need to think out-of-the-box in terms of flexibility by offering employees creative solutions. Fierce predicts 2016 will see the rise of innovative job share programs that draw from principles of the sharing economy. Through job share programs, employees who seek fewer work hours can share shifts on the same role, and work as a team to fill one full-time position.Performance Management - Real-Time Analytics Go to WorkIn 2016, employees will have the ability to track their on-the-job performance data through technologies like people analytics to gain a better understanding of where they dedicate their time and energy and how their performance stacks up with others of a similar job title. Because of greater access to performance metrics, feedback will be provided throughout the year via dashboards, rather than only during formal yearly reviews. As such, managers can take on the role of a coach, empowering their direct reports to self-manage. This allows managers to redirect some of their time to other high-level business strategy tasks, while providing Millennials, a generation that values independence, a style that minimizes micro-managing and integrates technology into their daily lives.Management - Workforce Generations Require Shifting Management StylesWhether you like it or not, Generation Z is entering the workforce and with Baby Boomers still logging their hours, meaning there will be five generations with a 50 year age difference. In 2016 we will see drastic differences in work ethic, approach and management styles. Effective managers will need to be able to adapt on the fly to different employees and find different ways to foster collaboration across generations. Managers will need to understand that each individual, young or old, has their own set of skills and will encourage co-mingling to teach each other. Younger generations can teach how to use emerging technologies and to leverage social media while the older employees can instill the value of face-to-face communication, internal networking and building relationships.Intrapreneurship- Employees Will Think like EntrepreneursEmployees just entering the workforce have witnessed tremendous startup success and seen their peers gain celebrity-like status through social media like Instagram and Vine - this makes them hungry to achieve the same success. 2016 will see a rise of large multinational companies creating startup-centric programs or spin-offs to attract these individuals and drive innovation. Incubator-like training programs will build different skillsets for employees, but the programs will need to be more interactive and provide opportunities for employees to apply the lessons and skills to real life situations. This month I will be providing tips for these five areas. What are your thoughts with these? What prediction stands out most for you?The post Five Fierce Predictions for 2016 appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Business 2 Community and explores the influence of millennials on workplace culture.2015 marked the official passing of the torch, as millennials became the largest generation in the U.S. labor force. So I ask: How will the millennial dominated workplace affect company culture?According to 5 Changes Millennials Will Make in the Corporate World in 2016, we should expect to see them fully exert their generational influence by continuing to shift company values around purpose and work-life integration. Leaders will be pressured to adopt real workplace flexibility programs, because unlike previous generations, millennials don’t feel guilty embracing work-life balance.Where else will this generation lead us?"Thanks to the increased mobility and option to work remotely that Millennials have demanded, employees will have less personal space in the workplace during 2016. In fact, because some offices may turn to using only remote workers, employees may be left with no permanent office space at all."Read the article.The post Fierce Resource: 5 Changes Millennials Will Make in the Corporate World in 2016 appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

When the year first gets ramped up and rolling, the conversations often turn to "what" needs to happen, "who" needs to be there, and "when" does it or that need to get finished. Those are all critical elements of execution and doing the work that we need to do. However, it isn’t the whole piece. We must go deeper than logistics with each other. Even Albert Einstein said, "We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality."To get more, you need to turn to the "why". I have always loved Simon Sinek’s work, and many members of the Fierce team (and world considering it is one of the most viewed) love his Tedx Talk, "How Great Leaders Inspire Action". The premise is that leaders, who connect and always talk about the why, are the most influential. The most followed. The most memorable. Because we as humans connect at a deep and indescribable level with people who share their beliefs with us. We want to orient ourselves with people and companies who believe what we believe.This week’s tip is to find the why in your goals and efforts for this month. With New Year’s resolutions, newly minted strategic plans, perhaps even new teams members or new ways of doing something at home, it is more important than ever to get beyond the surface.So ask yourself: Why am I doing what I’m doing?Why does my organization/family/church do what they do?Why do I have the goals that I have?   When you answer those questions, make sure to not answer it with a "what". For instance, for why do you do what you do, do not say because you have a mortgage and bills to pay. Rather, ask yourself, what is being fulfilled (or not fulfilled). What do you BELIEVE in about what you do?What are your "whys"?The post Fierce Tip of the Week: Find the Why appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

In 2016, we at Fierce predict that job candidates will want to ensure a potential company’s purpose and mission align with values they hold near and dear to their hearts. While this seems complicated, it really isn’t.There are simple ways to stay connected and really recruit while engaging the heart and mind. Ask job seekers about their values. The next time people come to you complaining about their current job (or if they have come to the conclusion that they need a new one), ask what their values are. This is not about perks and culture as much as answering the questions: What do you stand for? What matters to you? Have them write their values down and really talk about them. This relates to finding the why. To bring new people onboard, make sure their values align with the company’s. Values and purpose, over tangible items such as salary, will become an increasingly important factor in the decision-making process in our competitive job market. In fact, a high salary is the least important aspect of a job to both men and women, whereas holding a job they enjoy is the most important aspect, according to Pew Research Center. So don’t skirt around what really needs to be talked about.Use social media as a sneak-peek into your organization. There is visibility into people’s lives like never before. With social media that connects us in new ways every day, people are able to gain insight about an organization and the people it attracts - without even directly talking. This means that every person, and especially the CEO, needs to accept that their vision and persona will be highly influential in the recruiting process. This places a whole new level of responsibility on leaders and employees to accurately represent and depict the mission and ideals of the organization. Invite your marketing or public relations team to share best practices for using social media, and brainstorm new ways that individuals in your organization can share their purpose and experience inside of the organization. It is not only a great way to attract people to join your company, it also reinvigorates the individuals going through the exercise. Really talking about how you feelDon’t be afraid to say no. When meeting potential candidates, if their values and purpose do not align with your organization, don’t be afraid to say no. And sometimes, that can just mean for the current opportunity. For instance, if someone continues to show interest in your nonprofit work, when you only have openings in your corporate work, make sure to have the conversation that addresses this head on. Sometimes, people convince themselves that being around the work - even if they aren’t doing it - is what matters most. Research is showing that the more immediate purpose is driving the show. Sometimes the best thing you can do is decide that the position is not a good fit for the candidate and the company. It isn’t forever - it is just for now. Yes, you must know that recruitment conversations have left the sole "salary and benefits" land to a much more robust, complex space. Focus on the whole person and have the deep conversations, go beyond the surface to attract and recruit the crème de la crème.The post 3 Tips to Recruit with Purpose appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Fear is a very real emotion for many leaders and often it has a prime seat at the table when tasked with making decisions, innovating, or trying new experiences.I remember once being told by a teacher, who was not impressed with my jungle gym skills, that I lacked a necessary level of fear. That always stuck with me, because while it didn’t bother me at all to not look before I leaped, there were things that terrified me. What scares leaders is different for everybody. One leader might be terrified about delegating their responsibilities and then not even think twice about green lighting a new project with many unknowns.The reality is that things become less scary when the dialogue is open and honest. Nothing combats fear faster than having a conversation - whether it’s with others or yourself. If you think about a common tactic of a fear-based leader, it’s usually shutting down communication and limiting the conversation.Ask yourself: Are there people within my organization who know what scares me as a leader? Does my team know what triggers me or puts me in cold sweats? What would happen if I even dared to say my fears out loud?While it may seem like your burden to bear, letting others know what jolts you is humbling and shows vulnerability, which builds trust and emotional capital with your team. It also begins your development through those worries.For leaders, it’s important to know: How do you show up when you’re scared? What’s the impact on your leadership style and the team?Building this awareness happens when you give yourself permission to not be the "perfect" leader. Have the conversation about what scares you, how that impacts your leadership style, and continue to talk with others through your fear.Start the conversation with us, we want to know: What are your top leadership fears?This blog was originally published on the Fierce Leadership Blog and was written by Jaime Navarro.The post What Are Your Top Leadership Fears? appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Fortune and delves into the relationship between profit and purpose.For the past few years, organizations has been focusing on how millennials aren’t motivated by money, but rather by purpose. This has sent shockwaves through corporate America. How can organizations attract the top millennial talent, while working to improve their bottom line?But as the article The Important Question Every Employee Should Be Able to Answer points out, profit and purpose don’t have to be mutually exclusive focuses. In fact, many organizations have discovered that profit exists so we can fulfill our purpose. It starts with holding your employees able to achieve sustainable results and empowering them to work towards their purpose.Where does purpose lie in your organization’s value list?"One way we have resolved this in the companies in which I am involved is through a document called Prosperity Principles that outlines the profit and financial parameters required to fulfill the purpose of the organization. It should also define those prosperity factors—purpose, promotions, raises, etc. that appeal most to employees."Read the article.The post Fierce Resource: The Important Question Every Employee Should Be Able to Answer appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

I remember how difficult it was to coordinate all the family schedules when my children were younger. I also remember believing that this was just the way it had to be and that chaos was part of the deal. This TedTalk by Bruce Feiler challenges that belief.  He says that a family is like a tech startup and everybody has to contribute. There is some loose order but mostly everyone is adapting to get to the same goals. For the techies in the audience, he's applying agile to his family by asking these three questions:     1. What did I accomplish yesterday?    2. What will I do today?    3. What obstacles (interference) are impeding my progress?    My friend Bill McConnell, CIO of IU Health, likes to use the analogy of a volleyball team. Everyone has a position but when the ball comes over, it isn't always clear who should hit it back. There is nothing worse than a volleyball falling to the floor while people look at it. It's a good team when someone jumps in, owns it and  yells "MINE" so there is success with no collision. This collaborative adjustment is what makes great families and teams of all kinds. A little bit of preparation eliminates some, if not all, of the multi-tasking, unclear / overlapping roles and rework. Doing things too quickly and fixing them later is the enemy.  None of this works if you don't know where you'd like to go, not in blueprint form, but in dream form. Think of Dorothy who shows up at Oz, which clearly was not her plan.  Everything is chaos to her. Still, her goal is clear - she wants to go home. She learns from the locals that if she can get to Oz, she can get home. She has no idea where Oz is, who's there or how long it will take. But, she has laser sharp focus on getting home. Eventually, she convinces others to share her goal including a talking Scarecrow, a rusted robot Tin Man and a really wimpy Lion.   Remember the scene where they all finally see Oz in the distance? It's so beautiful and they've made it. Nope, poison poppies. Again, with the help of the team, they shake off the opium and off they go. Lots of trials await, but the goal is eventually met. Whatever you are working on, there is a dream at the end. If you can't see it just a little, you can't get there.

OpenEd.com, the world’s largest archive of free K-12 educational material, recently announced that their library of over a million resources will now be integrated with select learning management systems, including Moodle LMS.

Wanting another reason to upgrade to Moodle 3.0? Announced just before Christmas, Moodle 3.0.1 has been updated for compatibility with PHP 7.0.

For many of us who design e-learning, the multiple choice question is the default question format we add at the end of a chapter or module. But where did it come from? Is there any proof that multiple choice is effective? Are there alternatives that we should be using to test our learners? In this article we'll dig a little deeper... The multiple choice question was designed by Edward Thorndike - an American psychologist, who was an expert on comparative psychology and the learning process. Thorndike put his testing expertise to work for the United States army, where in 1914 (during World War 1) he created the multiple choice test that is still being used today by the United States Military. Why Do We Use Multiple Choice Assessments? Well there are 3 main reasons that learning professionals default to the multiple choice question when designing training without thinking about alternatives: 1) When used correctly, it works! Multiple choice questions provide a reliable way of delivering a knowledge check based on the information taught within the module. It is often difficult for a learner to cheat the system by guessing the answers to a well-written multiple choice question. 2) It is extremely quick and easy to write a multiple choice question, the author can simply review critical information within the content and create questions. 3) When it comes to marking, whether automated or manual, multiple-choice questions are easy to analyse. This is especially true in today's world of managing data via an LMS - an algorithm cannot evaluate an essay style response to a question, however it can quickly assess hundreds of multiple-choice questions to provide an accurate report on performance.   What Are The Alternatives? We know that multiple choice is the most common type of question used in elearning - but what other options do we have? Well, we can divide different question types into 3 categories - graded questions, survey questions or essay questions. (You can download a handy PDF guide displaying all types of questions available in Articulate Storyline by clicking here.) 1) Graded questions A graded question is one that has either a correct/incorrect answer, or a graded answer - an example of this could be ‘2 points for the correct answer, 1 point for the second best option and 0 points for incorrect answer’. So a typical multiple-choice question will have one correct and three incorrect answers. (Quick tip - you should always ensure your multiple choice questions have the same total number of answers to give the learner continuity!) Some of the more common examples of graded questions are: Multiple-choice True or false Multiple response Fill in the blank Choose the sequence   2) Survey questions The most common type of survey question is officially called a Likert scale, and this type of question bridges the gap between graded questions and essay questions. It allows the learner to give their opinion based on a scale of 1 to 10, excellent to poor or agree to disagree (and any other variations you can think of!) We have all seen these types of surveys, often sent to us in customer service questionnaires that are quickly deleted from our bulging inboxes! 3) Essay questions An essay question is simply a question that requires the learner to type up an answer. This requires a lot more work from the learner, and subsequently a lot more work for the person reviewing the answer. In an LMS environment, this question type is less efficient, because the LMS can't recognise if the answer is correct or not. However it should be noted that this question type can be extremely effective if you are really trying to gauge the learner's understanding of a specific topic. Often, a yes/no answer choice is not enough and the learner will want to expand upon what is being asked of them. How These Question Formats Work in an LMS So we now understand the different types of questions we can use, what's next? Well in this article, we are going to ignore survey and essay questions. I am assuming that most people are managing their courses via an LMS, and within this environment essay questions are more difficult to use. The reason for this is if we have 1000 learners taking a multiple-choice question, we can quickly analyse the percentage of people who answered the question correctly i.e. 73% of learners answered question number 3 correctly - easy. However, if 1000 people have responded to an essay question, each of those responses must be individually analysed by human being and this must then be marked correct/incorrect or given a percentage score or mark out of 10. Whilst survey questions can be measured via an LMS, they are more complex than graded questions and therefore used more infrequently. They are also more suited to gauging opinion rather than checking for understanding. Graded Questions - Ideal for eLearning So that leaves us with graded questions. These question types are an excellent method of collecting quick data from our courses. Using a variety of these question types is a good idea if the software or platform delivering the course allows. (This opinion is based purely on providing the learner with some variety.) But let's focus on multiple choice and how we ensure our questions are effective. It's safe to assume that all rapid-authoring tools and modern LMS will provide this type of question and many of the following tips are applicable to the other types of graded questions too... How to Write a Great Multiple Choice Question? There are some really simple rules that you can follow in order to ensure your multiple-choice questions are effective. In this article I am going to outline the 5 most important and easy-to-remember rules you should bear in mind when writing your multiple choice questions. I have chosen to leave out some of the more obvious ones, such as ensuring you randomise the order of the answers (i.e. make sure the correct answer is not ‘Answer 3’ on every question!) One of the things that is often missing from these types of lists are examples, so I have provided an example for each rule: Rule 1: Test understanding, not memory This sounds very obvious, but you would be surprised how often authors will scan the course looking for detail and create questions based on factual information, rather than testing the learners understanding of a topic. This often happens if the course author is not the subject matter expert (something to be aware of if you are outsourcing the development of your assessment). Let's take an example. Here are a couple of multiple choice questions testing you on the information delivered so far in this blog post (let's see if you were really concentrating!) In which year did Edward Thorndike start using multiple choice questions within the United States Army: 1912 1914 1915   That is a bad example of a question because it is only testing your memory - it is irrelevant whether you remember the exact year that the multiple choice question was first introduced! Let's take another example: Why is a multiple choice question better than a survey question when delivered via an LMS: The answers to multiple choice questions are the only type of answers an LMS can read. An LMS cannot read and analyse answers from essay questions. Answers provided by multiple choice questions show a better representation of understanding than an essay question.   Can you see the difference? The first question is testing you on your memory but the second question is testing you on your understanding of the content discussed within the article. Rule 2: Use believable distractors A 'distractor' is an incorrect answer provided within a multiple choice question to make the learner think more carefully about the correct answer to the question. One of the most annoying things for a learner is being forced to answer a series of questions where the answers are obvious. The key to writing a good distractor is that you should put more time into thinking of an incorrect answer than the correct answer. Often, the author will simply mark the correct answer and the distractors are an afterthought. Let's look at another example: Which of the following is an example of a graded question? Connect the dots Fill in the missing word Multiple choice Snakes and ladders   In this example, all three of the distractors are obviously incorrect (in this example, it is obvious because none of the other answers have been discussed). Which means the learner simply has to identify the three incorrect answers, in order to know which answer is correct i.e. trial and error. Let's look at another example: Which of the following is an example of a graded question? Likert scale Text entry Multiple choice Essay question   In this example, the three incorrect answers (distractors) could actually be the correct answer if you hadn't understood the preceding content. These distractors make the learner think carefully about the options, rather than using a process of elimination to identify the correct answer. They may also have the added benefit of encouraging the learner to review the learning material to ensure they fully understand what has been taught. Rule 3: Make the Most of the Question's stem Using the correct stem for a question is one of the most fundamental rules you should be following when writing your multiple-choice questions. Let's take a look at the following example: The responses from large volumes of graded questions: can be read through and marked individually by the SME  can be analysed and reported on by our LMS can be emailed directly to the elearning administrator   As you can probably tell from the example, there is a repeat of the words 'can be' within all three of the answers. This is unnecessary repetition, creates a distraction for the learner and is very easy to fix. The same question written correctly would look like this: The responses from large volumes of graded questions can be: read through and marked individually by the SME  analysed and reported on by our LMS emailed directly to the elearning administrator   Always avoid repeating the same text if it can be added to the question stem. Rule 4: Avoid negatives I have seen this happen several times in various online assessments - using negative statements within a question can be confusing to a learner and is bad practice. Let's look at a couple of examples, first of all a question with the negative mentioned in the question and secondly the same question written correctly: Which of the following question types is NOT classed as a graded question: multiple choice true/false fill in the blank Likert scale   Although the question and answers make complete sense, if the learner did not read the question thoroughly it would be easy to answer incorrectly. Remember - you are not trying to catch the learner out, we are simply trying to ensure that they understand what they have learned. So the same question would be much more effective written in the following format: Which of the following question types is classed as a survey question: multiple choice true/false fill in the blank Likert scale   In this example, the answers are exactly the same, but we have amended the question in order to remove the negative. Rule 5: Be careful when using ‘All of the Above’ or ‘None of the Above’  Now this is one rule that is a little less black-and-white than the previous rules. That is because it is actually acceptable to use 'all of the above' or 'none of the above' as an answer, However, this comes with a couple of disclaimers. First of all, if you use the word 'above', but your rapid-authoring software or LMS is randomising the answers, you will find that your question could look like this, regardless of how you entered it into the system: Which of the following question types is classed as a graded question: multiple choice all of the above fill in the blank sequence   Obviously the problem here is that your system has randomised the answers and the word 'above' makes no sense because some of the answers are below! Common sense, but something to bear in mind. The second disclaimer for using all of the above or none of the above as a multiple-choice response, is that it can often guide the learner to the correct answer. We will often see 'all of the above' being used as the correct answer, and then we never see that as an option amongst the other questions. So it is important to think carefully about the other distractors if you use this technique. Conclusion It's safe to say that due to the simplicity in creating questions and subsequently reporting on the answers, multiple choice questions are here to stay. However, improving how we use these types of questions is essential if we want to deliver credible, effective e-learning. Do you have any examples of multiple-choice questions used incorrectly that you can share? What type of questions do you prefer to use in your courses? Useful Multiple Choice Assessment Resources Another great article for learning about different rules can be seen here - 10 rules for writing multiple choice questions. There is also a useful resource with examples on the University of Texas website. And if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty behind multiple choice, there are several books published on the subject - this one being one of the most popular.   The post Top 5 Rules for Great Multiple Choice Questions appeared first on Litmos.

"Hack a Jordan," is a device used by NBA teams when they play the Los Angeles Clippers. For those unfamiliar, this term refers to teams who intentionally foul DeAndre Jordan, center, for the Los Angeles Clippers. Jordan is infamous for his free throw percentage (or lack thereof), which was 39 percent last year. That’s pretty bad. In comparison, players like Steve Nash, Mark Price, and Steph Curry boast 90%. On average, according to NBA.com, most players are somewhere in the 80 percentile. You can see why this device may work. It’s risky and a foul does stop the game, maybe discontinuing the momentum, and maybe allow a team to regain some composure. I’ve seen it happen during many Portland Trailblazer games, and although it can be effective, I find it to be a little bit ridiculous (actually, really ridiculous). It’s a risky operation, but one that NBA teams chance far too often. Although I sit through 42 Blazer games every year, the word hack is more risky to me than an opportunity for a missed free throw. Almost ten years ago I started working in the healthcare world. Before that time I texted, Facebooked, and emailed from various devices with reckless abandonment. My cell was password-protected, oftentimes my computer was hard wired in and also password-protected; basically, I was an idiot. In 2002, the word "hack" became a painful personal reality. 24 hours before taking my then 8-year old son to Disneyland, I went to the bank to purchase travelers checks; after all, I was a responsible adult! I told the teller what I wanted and she got her manager, who explained to me that earlier that morning someone had used my debit card (still a pretty new thing), to buy $10,000 worth of electronics in Hong Kong. Clearly, I wasn’t in Hong Kong and although they gave me my money back temporarily while they investigated, I felt violated and my bank made me feel like the criminal. It’s apparent to me that in our industry, "Hack a Hospital," is a device cyber criminals favor in their nefarious playbook. We make it easy, don’t we? If leaked PHI were blood, the Red Cross wouldn’t need to have blood drives and zombies wouldn’t need to attack Alexandria. Our industry's lack of security protocols and compliance education makes a breach so easy. No amount of credit monitoring can eliminate feeling violated when your personal information has been compromised. Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that security education roughly costs $20 per person, while a breach costs over $200 a person. In 2015, healthcare hacks were exponentially on the rise and many were a result of human error, weak or no firewalls, unencrypted devices, stolen laptops and internal leaks. We’re only human, right? PHI is reported to be more valuable than a wallet full of credit cards and 2016 is predicted to be a banner year for cyber thieves. Educate your staff and find a monetary way to make security education a priority. Once a person’s identity is stolen, you can’t really get it back. The personal loss and the cost to your business is hard to recover from. 2016 can be the year we’re proactive, not reactive. Jordan’s fellow Clippers teammate, Blake Griffin, also infamous for his bricks, poked fun at himself in a 2014 Kia commercial. When encountering his young past self, Griffin advised, "Practice your free throws!" Take it from two men who could lay a foundation for a large city with the "bricks" they throw up every day: good habits require practice for optimum results. The post Hack a Jordan appeared first on Litmos.

These small changes to your L&D approach have the potential to bring big benefits for your training performance.Based on our experience offering bespoke elearning and blended online training courses we can help you make tweaks and adjustments to your training programmes that make a real difference.1. Benchmark your trainingComparing your performance with other L&D departments and learning from the best and worst achieving companies is a great way to make real improvements.Using standard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) gives you the chance to compare real results and see what changes you can make. Looking at a problem from a competitor’s point of view can be just the inspiration you need to make a breakthrough with your own courses.Taking the hour or so to fill in the Towards Maturity survey will give you access to a wealth of information on what you can do to align your strategy and day to day actions with the highest performing L&D teams.2. Put the learner experience firstWork hard on the interface between the learner and the online training, small tweaks in the way your learners interact with the content in the training can make a big difference to their experience.A rigorous Quality Assurance (QA) process helps to remove misleading or incorrect navigation or links in the course.Using an experienced designer with a good understanding of the learning outcome and the way a learner will use the training before the QA stage will result in a better User Interface (UI) design.Creating a good UI depends on knowing the trainee and what their goals are for the training. Combining instructional design and graphic design to create something user-friendly and attractive is an art.Take the first step by putting the learner at the forefront of the design process for your next programme.3. Extend leadership training to a wider audienceTowards Maturity report that 25% of the L&D budget is allocated to leadership training. The number of people who will benefit from that training is limited by your strategy and the scope of the courses you offer.Opening it up to a wider range of staff allows you to build their skills much earlier than you would traditionally and it can help identify talented future leaders.Moving some of your management or leadership training online can make it more cost-efficient and easier to access for a broader audience.Read more on democratising leadership training including a real life example of how this change to L&D strategy is having an impact on the next generation of managers in a retail business.4. Survey your learnersFeedback and the data it provides is critical to improving your online training performance. The simplest change you can make will depend on how much trainee feedback you’re already collecting.If you aren’t collecting any information from your staff on how they rate their training you should a start by creating a survey to capture their thoughts.If you are using elearning this is straightforward and cost-effective to introduce to any module and can often be incorporated into a Learning Management System (LMS).5. Future proof with responsive designMore people access the internet through a mobile device than a desktop computer, and the multi- device trend is continuing.Making your online training courses available on a variety of devices used to be a big deal, but advances in technology now make it a lot easier.  Not too long ago you would have to build a unique course for every type of device your learners wanted to use.Responsive learning design makes it possible to create one set of training content that works everywhere. Using technology like the Adapt framework for your next project means it will be flexible enough to be accessed on any device which supports popular web standards.6. Move parts of training online to reduce costs and make them more accessibleFace-to-face training sessions can be expensive,  travel costs for attendees and time away from work all add up.Moving parts of this training online using elearning is a change that can have a big impact on your budget.Many training programmes can benefit from a blended approach, using elearning elements with face- to-face training to deliver a rounded package. It’s a great way to start moving towards an online, technology -led learning strategy without making sweeping changes to the existing process.We also provide some tips on keeping down the costs of elearning based training to make the savings even greater.7. Preboard your new starters with online trainingIf you’re already offering an online induction programme for your new starters then you can make a simple change that helps bring them up to speed more quickly.Preboarding, or pre-induction, involves starting the induction process before day one of their employment.  Elearning is uniquely suited to making this transition easy and cost-effective.Make a better first impression by being proactive and answering your new starters questions before they arrive at your workplace.  It helps with staff turnover as well as reducing time to productivity, which can be one of the biggest hidden expenses of new hires.Allowing staff to access key parts of your induction training online from home will introduce them to the new culture and help set their expectations for their first day.8. Market your online trainingYou’ve spent a lot of time creating great training materials for your staff, but how much time do you spend promoting them?Giving more thought to getting the right training in front of the right people, or widening the audience of existing training, can improve the Return On Investment (ROI) of your training.Many learners complain about having too much choice in training, especially when online elearning courses are presented through a Learning Management System (LMS).There’s lots of inspiration available for the budding training marketer.  We’ve looked at how big names like Apple and Amazon appeal to their customers, and what techniques you can borrow from them, for instance.9. Find out how your staff are using social learningMany businesses have yet to introduce a social learning element to their L&D strategy, and creating one isn’t a small change that’s easy to implement.What is much more achievable, and something that could have a large impact on other types of training, is identifying where your staff are already learning informally from each other.It might be through official channels, or you could find a knowledge exchange taking place via a third party social network. If you can identify these areas you can find out what staff want to know and who they are asking to find out.Even if you don’t plan on rolling out official support for informal learning to your L&D programme, you will have a much better idea of what training is desired and who is in a position to help create it.Find out about how social learning could benefit your business and hear about some examples of how it works here at Sponge UK in our webinar.10. Focus small changes on a big goalOur final change relates to implementing other changes.  Any changes you make should serve to move your L&D strategy closer to your business objectives.  Whether your priority is to improve employee performance, engage more staff or save money,  you should ensure each small change moves towards that goal.Having the business objectives in mind will help when deciding which changes to make on the micro level.  All of these ideas will allow you to offer more effective training in some way, but think about which ones meet your specific needs before implementing them.If you would like to talk about your next online learning course, get in touch so we can talk you through the options and make sure it’s the best choice for you. Discuss a project Subscribe to our newsletter The post 10 small changes that will make a big difference to your training appeared first on Sponge UK.

The role multi-device elearning games and video can play in inspiring a love of learning will be explored at Learning Technologies 2016 by award-winning learning organisation, Sponge UK.Sponge’s Managing Director, Louise Pasterfield will be hosting a seminar on enriching elearning by combining the latest technologies for effective results at the event from February 3-4 at Olympia, London. Pasterfield said:"Our clients often come to us looking for new ideas to boost their workplace learning, and in this seminar I will be outlining some of the approaches we’ve implemented for the organisations we work with. I’ll be assessing the state of multi-device learning and explaining how to move it up a gear by incorporating technologies like games and video to keep learners connected and challenged. I’ll be showing people an exciting example of multi-device elearning that we created for The Public Fundraising Association (PFRA), the membership body for charities and agencies carrying out face-to-face fundraising in the UK. Their learner audience is predominantly under the age of 25 so coming up with a mobile-friendly, highly engaging approach was crucial to the success of the project." Love to Learn! Ideas for using multi-device games & video in elearning takes place at Learning Technologies 2016 in Theatre 5 on February 3 from 11-11.30am and in Theatre 12 on Feb 4 from 2-2.30pm.The session, which is aimed at learning professionals, will include:Using Adapt, the multi-device elearning framework to engage with learnersHow games can help people to learnHow to use video to create an emotional connectionTips for inspiring a love of learning from pocket to PCA real-life case study showing effective implementationSponge UK’s Game Developer, Jason Butler will be sharing his expertise during the seminar and will be available to answer questions on elearning games throughout the event at the Sponge UK stand at location C16 in the exhibition space.Visitors to the Sponge UK stand can also play three exclusive elearning games on cyber security, with high scorers appearing on a live leaderboard screen.Sponge is one of the UK’s leading providers of bespoke elearning solutions and was names Outstanding Learning Organisation 2015-16 at the Elearning Awards.Learning Technologies 2016 is Europe’s leading L&D conference with more than 7,500 visitors, 150 free L&D seminars, 250 exhibitors and two exhibition halls packed with the latest learning technologies, innovation and best practice in workplace learning.The post Inspiring a love of learning with multi-device games & video at Learning Technologies 2016 appeared first on Sponge UK.

Consumers of corporate training and eLearning (aka. Your learners) are changing - fast. Their priorities, training needs, and methods of learning are diverging from the well-beaten paths we've mapped out in the past. So, as you're probably wondering from the title, what do 2016's learners want? Well, we're glad you asked...



Boredom is a killer. It’s a serial killer. Boredom’s gang includes other criminal elements such as Apathy, Cynicism, and Resignation. Victims include Enthusiasm, Innovation, and Creativity. And one of the greatest casualties is Leadership. Boredom afflicts many training and development programs today. Mostly, we’re either too nice (or too scared) to speak up. And typically, that which goes unspoken, goes unnoticed and unchanged. So we invite you to ask yourself a potentially uncomfortable question: When it comes to training and developing your leaders, are your learners engaged and interested? Or are they bored? It’s become commonplace, almost clichéd to say, "think outside the box." So what do we do? We say, "‘think outside the box," then we do a different version of exactly the same thing that we’ve been doing. And when nothing really changes, we wonder why. Could the uncomfortable truth be that we’re really not doing anything new? To "think outside the box" we first have to define the box that we find ourselves stuck in. A really good place to start is to realize that "the box" is nothing more or less than our successes and failures of the past. And it’s no different for eLearning in leadership. The arch-enemy to progress and innovation is the mindset: we’ve always/never done it like that. A major component of leadership is the willingness to risk: to take those possibly uncertain, often uncomfortable steps. And to keep searching out the pathways not often taken. Okay, so eLearning is not a caped, garishly-costumed, rubber-suited superhero that will save the proverbial day. But eLearning is effective. And people have taken notice. Skillfully applied, eLearning can create interest and spark creative thinking where boredom has reigned supreme. And it can do this with a tool that is a champion of the most effective educational programming: entertainment. A note of caution: remember that you’re using entertainment as a tool: a means to an end. Entertaining your learners for entertainment’s sake is not going to solve your training and development issues. Like all learning tools, entertainment should be used wisely, in conjunction with other tools to enhance the training and development experience for your learners. Having said that, let’s move on to the role and contribution of entertainment in learning. Notice that you remember a lot of the who, what, how, when and where of a compelling documentary program for months — even years — after watching it. In contrast, notice that you often have to review vital information over and over and over again. So we’re asking the question: What if that vital information was presented in a way that is compelling, or even entertaining? Think of the last time you played an online game. Maybe you’ve developed the ability to find 3 matching tiles of just about anything. Or the last electronic game you played was Tetris (and you don’t really want to admit it). Whether it was Candy Crush, Farmville or even Tetris, you did everything you could to get more points, earn an extra star, achieve the next level. In reality, you learned and developed new skills… without even realizing it. And gaming today has reached a whole new level of its own, engaging whole communities of people connected through the internet. Now apply that concept to leadership training and development. After all, leadership is a series of skills and skill sets. And in eLearning, gamification is a powerful way to engage your learners. Learners are motivated to generate, develop and apply leadership skills and skillsets, rather than simply accumulating knowledge. A gaming element creates an environment in which learning becomes a part of goal attainment, rather than the goal itself. Think about learning to ride a bicycle. The key to riding a bicycle is balance, but balance is not the end goal. The end goal to riding a bicycle is, well, actually riding: moving from point A to point B while pedaling, steering and braking, without breaking or bruising bones, skin, or dignity. Here’s the catch: you can talk about balance and riding a bicycle; you can theorize and expound endlessly about balance; heck, write essays and haikus about balance ad infinitum. But the only way to "get" balance is to actually experience the risk of getting in the saddle, pushing off, and pedaling. It’s the same with leadership. Leadership occurs in the experience of actually leading. And here’s one place where gamification adds value to training and development of your leaders. Gamification in eLearning puts your leaders-to-be in the saddle. And because learning happens in simulated environments and scenarios, you’re spared the task of putting proverbial bandaids on skinned knees. Your people stay safe. In addition, eLearning allows you to customize your content and your training: you create your own sets of incentives and rewards for learning. Psychology abounds with articles on the motivation factor of gaming. When eLearning and gamification are effectively executed, results are measurable, and can serve to motivate your learners. And you’ve thwarted the Boredom gang. Three stars…bonus… level UP! We hope you’ve enjoyed our series on eLearning and its role in leadership training and development. This is the fourth article of the following series Introducing eLearning in Leadership Training and Development against the Leader Shortage eLearning In Leadership Training And Development: Strength And Synergy eLearning in Leadership Training and Development: Reality and Relevance If you’d like to know more about how eLearning can enhance your training and development, please contact us at info@kmilearning.com   This article was first published on www.elearningindustry.com The post eLearning in Training and Development: Out of the X-Box, Into the Office appeared first on KMI Learning.

As human beings, we rely upon our senses to gather "big data" from the world around us. One of the marvels of the human condition is that when we are deprived of one or more senses, the other senses compensate by becoming even more in tune to the "big data" being received from the environment. For example, when a person is deprived of his or her sight for even a short time, he or she reports greater sensitivity and discrimination to sound, often picking up sounds that in the past may have been ignored. Davan Hiskey in an article titled:" Humans Have Alot More Than 5 Senses"(Nov. 2015) illustrates the idea that when it comes to the collection of "big data", the human brain beats artificial means handily.Credit: www.medicalxpress.comJust as businesses are discovering ways to collect "big data" as a means of getting a more precise picture of something of interest in their particular environment over time, the human mind seeks constant ongoing feedback so that it may use the data to make decisions.The Importance of Feedback to Effective InteractivityWhen we consider the design of effective interactivity within learning experiences, we have to look at it on two different levels:Ongoing feedback while engaged in a collaborative learning experienceOngoing feedback in the form of "assessment for learning". Consider the situation of a collaborative learning activity within an immersive E-Learning environment. From a sensory point of view within such an environment, "equilibrioception" or the sense that allows you to keep your balance and sense body movement in terms of acceleration and directional change is something that is in the process of becoming more and more important as we seek to harness such VR technologies such as the MicroSoft Hololens , Samsung Gear VR or the Oculus Rift VR headset. A common problem that each of the companies are working on is how to eliminate problems associated with equilibrioception. Anyone who has used the Oculus Rift VR Headset for any extended length of time knows how it is difficult to adjust their balance because of the mix of incoming data that has both real and virtual streams. The same problem exists for users of augmented technology.From a cognitive point of view, immediate and ongoing feedback is extremely important especially when the learning experience is in the form of a simulation or an immersive real world problem solving scenario. Decisions that result in actions being taken have consequences for how the simulation or problem scenario develops. Immediate feedback to the learner at each stage defines what decisions and actions the collaborative group will make. This process when given free reign should plant the seeds for innovative solutions.For the learning culture of a business organization, feedback in the form of "assessment for learning" becomes an important consideration because it is tied to the acquiring of important skillsets that are valued by the business and also to a growth in performance effectiveness of employees.If a learning experience allows employees to make mistakes in a non-threatening, supportive environment then true "learning from you mistakes" will develop and efficiency will improve. The "big data" that is collected helps employees grow in their own learning development within the organization."Assessment should not be a one time event that happens at the end of a set of learning experiences. It should be ongoing throughout the learning experience so that it can be used to make more and more effective decisions. Effective feedback is feedback that is personally meaningful to the learner!"If we wish to consider the importance of feedback, then consider how much data is received from even something as simple as drops of rain.Credit: Daven Hiskey(2015)Where is your learning culture in terms of effective use of feedback? Are you still relying on uni-dimensional polls and surveys alone? Next---Not All technology is useful for educational purposes