[Post by Karla Willems, Account Manager at GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc.] A recent post at Research Digest titled "Here’s a simple way to improve your work/life boundaries" discusses the affects of completed and uncompleted work goals on our home lives. The website, from the British Psychological Society, recounts the results of a study conducted by Brandon Smit of Ball University in Indiana. Smit asked participants to report on daily work goals and how much these goals occupied their thoughts in the evenings. Unsurprisingly, uncompleted goals took up more thought than completed ones. But Smit did not leave his study participants out in the cold over these worries. He instructed them to clearly plan where, when and how they would tackle each one. The Research Digest posts states, "By specifying the context for action, this helped the high-involved participants to put the goals out of mind during off-work hours, and as a result their uncompleted goals produced fewer intrusions, almost as if they had the same status as completed goals." Smit’s research is published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology as "Successfully leaving work at work: The self-regulatory underpinnings of psychological detachment." In the article abstract, Smit writes, "Detaching from work - defined as mentally and physically disengaging from work during off-hours - is an important prerequisite to effective daily recovery and psychological well-being." In the article, Smit offers examples of specific goals and strategies for completion. "Creating plans at the end of the day that describe where, when, and how unfulfilled work goals will be completed is an effective, low-cost intervention that enhances psychological detachment among employees, which will ultimately improve occupational health and performance." To read the post visit: Research Digest The published study can be found at: Wiley Online Library Photo from Freeimages.com

You often hear the phrase ‘it’s a small world’; people and places are more accessible than they have ever been before and technology offers huge opportunities for global working. With a growing confidence in employees to look beyond their own country’s borders for their next job, employers are at risk of losing their best asset not just to competitors in the next town, but across the world. In an IBM survey, it was found that 71% of senior management identified their staff as their leading source of sustained economic value ahead of products, customer relationships and brand. 17% of UK employees say that they are very engaged in their job, which leaves 83% who aren’t.  You would think that all these disengaged employees would be seeking new employment, but according to CED who undertook the study of over 18,000 employees worldwide, 39% of those disengaged in the UK have a strong intention to stay with their current employer. They will apparently stay put, but in effect ‘check-out’ from their jobs. The damage that these employees can do to a business is literally catastrophic. So employers need to find a solution to re-engage these employees or face significant risks to their business. Skilled, knowledgeable and engaged employees enable efficiencies and productivity along with the confidence to embrace innovation and progress to sustain a business’s profitability.  In research carried out for the UK government it was found that businesses with low staff engagement achieved an operating income 32.7% lower than businesses with more engaged employees. When companies have an engaged workforce they can grow their profits up to three times faster than their competitors, according to a study of 50,000 global employees by the Corporate Leadership Council. Remarkably it was found by McLean & Company that a disengaged employee costs a business approximately $3,400 (£2,287) for every $10,000 (£6,727) in annual salary. This has massive implications for a company and something that requires immediate remedial action. So are employers aware of employee engagement in their business?  Are they succession planning to safeguard the knowledge and skills of those who retire or move on? In research carried out by ADP, it was found that around 50% of UK employers think that losing talent in their workforce is going to be one of their top threats in 2016 along with attracting new talent to their organisation. Without doubt, engaged employees are better for business and they are also more likely to stay with their employer. There are many factors that can contribute to having an engaged workforce such as good internal communication, listening to employees concerns and suggestions, but high up on the list is professional development providing opportunities for advancement in the organisation. Promoting staff internally is not only good for the employee, but it is also good for business bringing benefits such as reduced recruitment, induction and initial training costs. The IBM survey found that in top performing organisations 84% of employees are receiving the training they need compared with 16% in the worst performing organisations.  The most common reason for employers not delivering training is not because they don’t value it, but because of its cost, particularly when there is a squeeze on budgets. However, organisations such as the London Fire Brigade have cut costs and improved their training with the use of flipped blended learning; including online and classroom training. They have not only improved the consistency and quality of training but have also saved the Fire Service £700,000 a year. The main cost saving has come from not having to remove fire fighters from the workplace for four weeks to complete training. Instead, they complete most of the training online and in the classroom the trainer can then check understanding and move onto more advanced topics. Good quality online learning can start at as little as £10.00 at full retail price, quite a contrast to sending a member of staff on a day’s training at a few hundred pounds or more. Of course employers and employees are only going to want to undertake online learning if it develops knowledge and competency. In the Towards Maturity survey 2014, using technology to deliver learning was found to result in: >  14% improvement in productivity >  23% improvement in speed to rollout of new products/services >  12% reduction in time to proven competency A wealth of evidence tells us that the return on the training investment is significant when there is a blend of online learning with on-the-job practise and support. Delivering the knowledge online required to increase skills enables learning to be revisited, is an efficient use of time and is cost effective. Not only will staff feel valued if their employer provides them with training and opportunities for promotion, but they are more likely to engage with their job and, therefore, be more productive. The company will reap the benefits in so many ways and will also be taking action to safeguard their most valuable asset; knowledge and experienced employees. Author: Carolyn Lewis, Managing Director of Elearning Marketplace and Learning Technology Consultant Sources: http://www.hrgrapevine.com/markets/hr/article/2015-12-22-uk-workers-switch-off-whilst-19-look-for-new-career http://www.hrzone.com/talent/development/london-fire-brigade-uses-e-learning-to-improve-training-and-cut-costs https://www-304.ibm.com/services/learning/pdfs/IBMTraining-TheValueofTraining.pdf http://www.hrgrapevine.com/markets/hr/article/2015-12-23-top-5-hr-trends-to-watch-out-for-in-2016

Years ago, I struggled with self-image. I struggled so bad that I made excuses as to why I could not go to public events or speak in front of people, other than my students. I was afraid that people would not think that I was "worthy" enough to listen to because I did not look the part. I needed to lose weight and I knew that when people saw me…that’s what they saw. It’s been years since those days and thankfully I no longer feel prisoner to my own self-doubt. As a matter of fact, I would probably consider the last year of my professional life, the best that I have ever had because I have made a point to be ME and proud of it. And then I had a phone call today… It was a person that I know in this industry who wanted to give "ME" advice on branding. I humored him because those calls are always interesting but then he said these words… "I’m going to tell you something that someone told me one day. It hurt me to hear it but I needed to hear it. You are going to need to lose weight to be competitive in this industry. People want someone who is well put together and who is visually appealing. You need to be someone that people want to see on a stage and they want to see someone who takes care of themselves." I paused for a second and after ending the conversation, allowed myself to honestly reflect on what he said and in that moment, I knew that this would be the last time that I took that call. Unless I am missing something, I’ve never signed up for a beauty contest and yet even as grossly inappropriate as this entire conversation is, I know that it happens because in the aftermath of this conversation, I compared notes with friends and a few have talked about how they were told that they need to be more "visually put together" for bigger speaking engagements. One was even told that she used to be "pretty" but is no longer really taking care of herself. Is this where we are? Really??? Talking to someone about health, because honestly we should all care about it…is one thing. Telling someone that they need to look a certain way in order to have a voice is another. It’s wrong and it happens far too often. If you are one who values what you see over what you hear, read and learn…shame on you a million times over. In case you were wondering, many of my friends who are black women in tech get this a great deal except "visually appealing" is translated to "angry looking" and even further that our names should be changed to be more pronounceable or if we have natural hair, we should straighten it to be taken seriously. And here I was thinking that this work we do was about thoughtful ideas and innovation.

Once again #BYOD4L is back to brighten up the dark, wet January days and nights with 5 days of 5C’s getting people connecting, communicating, curating, collaborating and creating. I’m delighted to be part of the organisation team this year along with Neil Withnell, Alex Spiers (with some help from Chrissi). We have a great team of community mentors too, so I’m sure the week is going to be another whirlwind of activity.  The BYOD4L open model really is a great way to get people to share their practice, experiment with new things and get swept up in the twitter chats each evening. There is of course the opportunity to earn a digital badge or two too. So even if you only have 5 minutes over the next five days, I’d urge you to have a look at the #byod4l twitter stream, check out the website, and google+ community. I think you’ll find it worth it. I’ve had a really worth while CPD experience from being a participant, facilitator and now organiser of the event. You can read more about my, and others. experience of open facilitation, in this special edition of Learning and Teaching in Action.  As Alex says in his video introduction to the event it really does bring a little ray of sunshine to January.       Tagged: byod4l

For many of us, the new year represents the perfect opportunity to reflect on where we are, think about where we’d like to go, and make a plan for how we can get there. This is particularly true of students that are looking to make the most of their study… Read More The post 10 Study Tips to Achieve your Goals in 2016 appeared first on ExamTime.

Getting an elearning project off the ground in the New Year? Need some guidance about how to approach the final phase of the process? In this article we’ll look at key steps in evaluating your project. To kick off the New Year, we are examining good practice in setting up an elearning production process. So far we’ve looked at the first four phases: analysis, design, specification and production. In this week’s post we’ll look at the final phase, evaluation. Evaluation involves checking the project against your original specification. It’s important to test the product in all the technical environments that you specified at the start. 1. QA (Quality Assurance) Testing Let’s have a look at QA testing, which typically covers two broad areas: content and functionality. Content is mostly about proofing at this stage, checking that the ‘t’s are crossed and the ‘i’s are dotted. Make sure you check against a style guide. Functionality is mainly technical: does the project behave correctly in all required technical environments? With more browsers and platforms coming onto the market, it’s important you restrict testing to those most appropriate for the project, and ideally, to those you specified at the beginning of the elearning production process. Depending on what you are doing, QA testing can fall under any of the following categories: Multi device learning In 2016, your project may need to work on different devices. Thus, you must test on each device type. Services, such as Browser Stack, enable you to test in different environments, but if the project needs to run on a touch screen device, you should test it on the actual device so you can see how the touch screen behaves. Multi browser testing Browser Stack can help you to quickly test your course on different operating systems and browsers. Remember to test both portrait and landscape views. You can learn more about this in a great article by Elucidat’s Debbie Hill. Stress testing: try to break it Stress testing lets you see how your course performs beyond the specified number of concurrent users. For example, there are services that can help you bombard your course with requests from servers so you can analyze how it handles the increase in traffic. If you are deploying your project on an LMS, you can test the course in situ. Localization If your course needs to be in different languages, make sure you test by both exporting and important the course so you can see if the languages are translated correctly. In most cases you will need to engage someone who can read and write in the target language to check this effectively. 2. Acceptance testing Acceptance testing is done to determine if the course meets the requirements originally set out in the specification. So go back to your spec and test against all the aspects listed there. Ideally, these should include use cases, which set out how actual users might interact with the course. For example, test against the workflow that a group of people might embark on. This is really about making sure the course has the integrity to support a valid learning experience, and that it works in the real world. Use the workflow or a use case to create a test plan to help you drive the testing. Here are some examples of things you might build into the plan: First impressions: is it clear what the user is being asked to do? Navigation: is the layout intuitive, and were users able to find what they needed? Functionality: did users experience any technical issues? 3. Engagement Too much elearning is released and then forgotten about. With Google Analytics you can get very detailed stats about how your course is performing, providing valuable information about how people are using it and how you can improve it. Here are some things you should analyze from Google Analytics: How long is someone spending on a page? Are some pages more popular than others? How long does your course really take, if you’re saying it takes 10 minutes and it takes people 30 minutes it may be over-scoped and you can scope the next project more accurately. Where are people accessing the course from? Are people doing this in their own time, or are they doing it in work time? You can look at daily and weekly patterns to identify spikes. This kind of data allows you to make tweaks to improve the learning experience. For example, you may decide to provide extra information to support a task or decision. The data may also allow you to see correlations so you can start looking for interesting trends. It might be the time of day versus the pass rate, and you can use this information to suggest the ideal time for people to be working on the course. You can take it one step further and start to correlate data against other systems you have in your organization, such as Salesforce. For example, an Elucidat customer may be exploring correlations between Salesforce data and real sales in the field. This data enables them to measure how effective the training materials are in delivering ROI. Data is powerful, and it provides real intelligence to help improve learning. Related: Stay on top of the latest elearning ideas, trends and technologies by subscribing to the Elucidat weekly newsletter. Final thoughts The more disciplined you were about the specification and having a real understanding of your audience at the beginning of the process, the simpler the evaluation phase will be. Create a test plan that sets out exactly what has to be tested, and in what order, and discover that the evaluation process can be surprisingly manageable. The post Setting up a successful elearning process: Evaluation (5th phase) appeared first on Elucidat Blog.

Are you looking for new ways to create online training faster? Concerned that your processes and systems are holding back efficiency? In this article, we’ll take a look at how some simple changes to your processes and systems can help you create online training faster. Here are three simple ways to save time and create online training faster: 1. Use a content map to structure your ideas Before you do anything else, you need to map out the big ideas for your training. Use a mind map or flowchart to map out the overall experience. For example, let’s say that there are going to be ten core interactions. Map out what will go into each of those interactions. Think about the discussion point, your objective, and the experience that’s going to fall into each component. You should already have a clear idea of one or two key outcomes you want to achieve with this training. If you don’t know why you’re creating this training, go back to the analysis phase in the eLearning production process. Pull together and organize your ideas and content into a series of chunks. Make sure you are very disciplined here so you can get rid of any extraneous bits you don’t need. Coggle is the mind map I like to use. Paste in your chunks, ideas, and snippets to see how everything fits together. Identify where there are questions for which you need help from your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The best way to get information from SMEs is to be very specific about what you want. 2. Use storyboards to visualize your end product Storyboarding is the method of orchestrating all the elements that will make up the training to create a score. This is much like in musical composition, where all team members can follow along the same "notes". Here are 10 storyboarding elements you will include: Text. Graphics. Animations. Video. Audio. Resources. Links. References. Interactions. Activities. A storyboard explains how all the elements fit together. In other words, it acts like an instruction manual for the team. Related: Why storyboarding is important (4 reasons) Some people may choose to create storyboards with applications such as PowerPoint or Word. I prefer to work directly in authoring tools such as Elucidat. The advantage of working inside an authoring tool is that you have a visual layout to work with (instead of words in a document). This makes it a lot easier for all stakeholders to interpret the screens and interactions. For example, take a look at this storyboard screen created in Elucidat. Stakeholders can see the visual screens and make comments directly on the areas they want to leave feedback. This can help you can get accurate feedback and faster approval from your stakeholders. 3. Use prebuilt page types and interactions Your map and storyboard will give you a list of the page types and interactions for the project. You may be tempted to create each of these components from scratch. But, this can be a lengthy process. Instead, use a tool -like Elucidat- that comes with a range of built-in page types and interactions that have already been tested. The benefit here is you don’t need to spend time and money on costly development. You can set up a project and very quickly add in page types and interactions. For example, take a look at these different page types and interactions you can create out of the box with Elucidat: As you add the page types and interactions, they are automatically created inside your project. The project builder then gives you 100% flexibility to customize these pages to meet your requirements. Related: Stay on top of the latest elearning ideas, trends and technologies by subscribing to the Elucidat weekly newsletter. Conclusion To create online training faster, you need to find new ways to streamline your processes and systems: Why not try some of the ideas presented in this article? Consider using tools -like Elucidat- that can streamline your processes. Elucidat’s prebuilt page types and interactions can speed up the time it takes your team to create online training. The post Online training providers: Here are 3 simple ways to create online training faster appeared first on Elucidat Blog.

The modern learner is no longer chained to her office desk. She is on-the-go, working remotely, and using her own device to carry out day-to-day work. In this article, I’ll show you why and how Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is using mobile learning to meet their audience’s needs and wants. Significant growth in smartphone ownership has ushered in a new way of consuming training material. 91% of the US population now owns a smartphone device with 3G/4G connectivity; the mobile revolution is changing the way your audience learns. Instead of blocking off a day to partake in compliance training, modern learners now complete it in small, bite-sized chunks. Your learners’ behaviors are changing, but are you changing the way you deliver eLearning? If you are stuck delivering desktop-only eLearning, you are ignoring the needs and wants of modern learners. In this article, I’ll show you how Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has used Elucidat to build interactive mobile learning that learners actually want to consume. Why mobile learning? Mobile learning is often undertaken by people away from the office. They might be travelling to-or-from work, waiting for an airplane, or sitting on the couch at home. With less time to put aside for training, modern learners want mobile learning to be bite-sized. Trainings need to be smaller and focused on specific learning topics. Bite-sized learning is easier to digest when a learner only has an occasional 15 minutes to focus on training. This training style gives learners flexibility in what they learn and when they learn it. For example, they don’t have to spend an hour going through a detailed course; instead, they can opt for a five-minute video focusing on the specific area they seek to master. Modern learners also want to use their own familiar devices. Instead of wasting hours trying to learn a new operating system, learners prefer to consume mobile learning via their personal smartphones or tablets. In response, you need to deliver eLearning via mobile-friendly browsers and applications that can be accessed across mobile operating systems. Introducing The Eye Education App A great example of mobile learning in action is the award-winning piece of eLearning created by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (JJVC) and Elucidat. The Eye Education App takes its inspiration from its audience’s busy schedule. Eye practitioners do not have time to complete cumbersome trainings due to patient schedules. They also lack access to desktop computers in their workplaces. JJVC used Elucidat to create interactive, bite-sized training modules that made it easy for eye practitioners to complete learning modules during breaks between patients. Elucidat’s responsive slider helped JJVC design mobile-friendly learning that worked across all smartphone and tablet devices. The Eye Education App has been a big hit. JJVC is now delivering twice as much training to its eye practitioners and has increased course completion by 740%. Why JJVC chose Elucidat: Multi-device compatible. Elucidat’s responsive slider made it easy for JJVC to create mobile learning that eye practitioners could access on their mobile devices. Hosted in the cloud. Elucidat’s cloud hosting made it possible for JJVC to instantly make and publish changes, allowing them to stay in step with any new regulatory requirements. API. Elucidat’s API made it possible for JJVC to embed content into a smartphone/tablet app, thus taking advantage of native app functionalities like push notifications. Related: Elucidat & JJVC win eLearning award for best use of mobile learning What makes Elucidat an award-winning authoring tool? Elucidat’s award-winning authoring tool (Gold Brandon Hall Award and 2015 UK eLearning Award) helps large companies, training providers and publishers streamline eLearning design, production and deployment, enabling them to deliver multi-device eLearning 50% faster. In addition, Elucidat’s simple point and edit functionality empowers all team members (even non-technical ones) to create beautiful eLearning that stands out from the crowd. Interested in learning more? Take the 80 second video tour or sign up for a free 14-day trial. The post Modern learners want the convenience and flexibility of mobile learning appeared first on Elucidat Blog.

Ardour 4.6, our first release of 2016, is now available. 4.6 includes some notable new features - deep support for the Presonus FaderPort control surface, Track/Bus duplication, a new Plugin sidebar for the Mixer window - as well as the usual dozens of fixes and improvements to all aspects of the application, particularly automation editing. The full list of changes is shown below. Download   For the curious, there was no 4.5 release. This just happens sometimes. read more

This article explores 3 steps to help you create effective training that will improve employee development and help your company increase its profit margins. 3 Key Steps To Help Gain Competitive Advantage Through Employee Development  Let’s face it: Globalization is making business a tougher game. Most companies are now competing in a global market rather than […] The post Gain Competitive Advantage Through Employee Development appeared first on PulseLearning.

The age of Information! Educators and learners alike are increasingly involved in creating meaningful projects online - but where do we go to find images that we are allowed to use? How do we properly cite them? How do we promote digital citizenship? Check out the following links that can help: Creative Commons:  This is […]

Innovation is truly an evolution of ideas. It is so much more than the great ideas that spring from our ‘aha’ moments. I think that we are in the midst of an evolution of old ways of doing things in the library, toward new models of meeting new demands, exploring new ways of allowing ideas […]

I love Twitter chats. They are amazing question/answer professional development sessions that allow educators to learn in their sweatpants from the comfort of their couch…at least that’s how I professionally develop! However, as much as I love to participate in Twitter chats, and seriously value their content, I also have[Read more] The post Using Participate Learning to Explore Twitter Chats appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

This article is from am interview after Diane presented the multi-generational workforce at SROA’s 32nd Annual Meeting in San Antonio.  Click here to read the article which begins on page 2.

Finding and hiring promising people is just the first step in nurturing talent in a company. Click here to read this article in the ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR, October 2015.

If collaboration is one of the hallmarks of the new E-Learning paradigm then it is important not only to encourage it in learners but also be willing to model it as an important professional practice. In the last post I suggested that there is much that we can learn about interactivity and engagement from the serious game designers. Many of the remarks in further elaborating on the hybrid model in this post will draw from the serious game designer's experience. One distinction I would make based upon the current state of "gamification" is that I believe that at the present time gamification does not have the same research and application rigor that "serious game design" does. Therefore, it is from the latter that I will draw comparisons from.Credit: www.info.shiftlearning.comThe Nature of Interactive Learning Experiences in the Hybrid ModelIt should be recognized that relevant challenges within E-Learning experiences are key to the engagement of the learner in the activity so that the learner's intrinsic motivation becomes more stronger than any extrinsic motivators that may be in play at the beginning. In such a situation, the learner enters into what might be described as a "state of flow" where the learner seeks to actively engage with the experience on many levels. The shape that this may take could involve the learner actively, either as an individual or on a collaborative level, seeking to gather information needed to solve a task, re-thinking and re-formulating the approach to the task and generally going beyond the original parameters in order to come to terms with a tasked problem. For the learner, it takes on the same addictive nature that is seen in well designed serious games.Credit: www.LinkedIn.comThese are some of the qualities that can be observed of participants who are involved in a well designed "serious game". The nature of the challenges within E-Learning experiences are such that goals and objectives are re-defined as progress is made during the learning experience. This means that goals and objectives need to be agile and adaptive because in an online environment unlike in traditional learning environments, feedback to the learner is immediate during the experience and in fact impacts the decision making process of the individual or collaborative group in a dynamic fashion.In the past, course objectives were written based upon Bloom's Taxonomy which was a valuable resource to start from but it is not a linear dynamic in an online environment and the "revised" Bloom's Taxonomy is more relevant to a digital age. Creating the environment where innovative ideas become a natural mindset requires that this level be considered and that movement does not proceed in an unidirectional linear fashion. This is especially evident when a collaborative group is involved in real world problem solving.Level of Difficulty and Learning From MistakesAnother important consideration in designing effective interactivity in E-Learning experiences is to make sure that E-Learning activities are neither too easy or too difficult. This especially true for corporate learners. "Why is this a necessary guide and should we be happy with this state of affairs?"To begin to address the above question, we need to look to the past experiences of learners:They were all educated in an education system that empowered them to believe that if they found something too difficult, that someone else would either change the activity, lower the standard for achievement or allow them to give up on doing the activity with very few personal repercussions for doing so.They were taught that at least putting in the effort was just as important as actually achieving what was required.This state of affair created an unfortunate attitude among learners where they felt that they were entitled not to have to face the consequences of their mistakes and the expectation that the education system, through its misguided "no fail" policies would shield them. In the corporate world this  resulted in learning cultures where true engagement was poor and deeper sustainable learning was fleeting.Ironically, the best teacher of learning from mistakes and taking on higher and higher levels of difficulty without outside coercion comes from the gaming industry. It is this industry that we need to have more and more helpful conversations in creating effective interactivity.Next---How immediate and ongoing feedback during a learning experience leads to deeper learning.

This week’s challenge is to create an interaction to explore before-and-after images, so I thought I'd explore the baking journey of a coffee cake . Read more...

After more than 2 years of participating in the Articulate #ELHChallenges I thought I'd share the top 5 reasons I'm so grateful for them. Read more...

I developed the personal knowledge mastery (PKM) framework of Seek > Sense > Share from a need to stay current as a working professional. As a framework it is not a defined set of practices nor a recipe book, as there are many unique PKM routines. Since first writing about PKM in 2004, I have continuously worked at improving the model, identifying emergent practices and tools, and promoting the need to let people manage their own learning in the workplace. My conclusions in 2004 remain today: My conclusion for a while has been that knowledge cannot be managed, and neither can knowledge workers. It will take a new social contract between workers and organizations in order to create an optimally functioning enterprise. Adding management and technology won’t help either. This is the crux of everything in the new "right-sized, lean, innovative, creative" economy - getting the right balance between the organizational structure and the knowledge workers. While most organizational ‘digital transformation’ initiatives focus on technology, tools, and processes, only lip service is paid to individual capability. I have learned that it takes time to build a knowledge-sharing network and develop a sense-making discipline. Educating people on PKM is only 10% of the effort. Finding people who can support our learning is perhaps 20%. But practice and reflection is 70% of the effort. PKM fits in well with the 70:20:10 framework, which requires leadership to hold the space so that learning is promoted through experience, exposure, and education. PKM is the engaged professional actively involved in co-creating knowledge. Why PKM? Motivation is the key to any learning, so having your own unique PKM practice is empowering. Training and education look backwards and cannot address what might be. Organizations do not learn, people do. The active practice of PKM integrates work and learning in our minds. Networked individuals are more resilient and adaptive than any organization. The lifespan of organizations is decreasing and individuals have to take control of their career professional development. Getting connected outside of work creates a support network for any future disruption. PKM is the core competency for network era work that increasingly requires curiosity, creativity, and empathy. The PKM in 40 Days Workshop is one way to start the journey to personal knowledge mastery.  

This post was going to be all about accelerated learning, but then I stumbled across a great illustration. The illustration uses accerated learning elements to explain how you can accelerate learning! Instead of recreating the wheel, I am going to direct you to Tanya Moore’s blog with the Accelerated Leanring Mind Map. She also has some great links to additional information. In the future, I will post detailed inforamtion about the various elements of accelerated learning and how you can incorporate it into your trainig.

via 10 Reasons the Death Star Project Failed (Infographic).

New year, new resolutions! If learning is top of your list, it’s time to explore simple ways to expand your professional knowledge and update your skill set. Attending an eLearning conference is a great way to network and squeeze lots of insights from industry experts into a busy few days. The break from routine alone will help inspire you with new solutions for familiar challenges. But there are hundreds of eLearning conferences out there and spotting the difference between the good and the great can be tricky. As seasoned conference goers, we have 8 favorites to recommend. Whatever your location, you can find an unmissable eLearning conference happening near you. Take yourself off to a sunny location or jet into a cool European capital to learn from the thought leaders of eLearning. Circle your calendar and we’ll see you there. Learning Technologies, London (UK), 3 & 4 February   2016 marks our fourth year exhibiting at the UK’s Learning Technologies, one of the biggest eLearning conferences in Europe. We chose to kick off the year with Learning Technologies for a good reason. It’s the best-attended and fastest-growing eLearning conference on the continent. Learning Technologies brings together a cross section of professionals interested in workplace learning. As the name suggests, it’s the eLearning conference to choose if you’re keen to know more about innovative solutions for organizational learning, and technologies used to support learning at work. The scale of Learning Technologies is impressive. Organizers expect more than 7,500 professionals to attend this year’s event. Attendees can enjoy 150 Learning & Development seminars packed with helpful information on practical applications and best practice in eLearning. They can also visit 250 learning technology exhibitors (including LearnUpon!) in two exhibition halls. This year’s conference promises to be one of the biggest shows in the learning sector, with Learning Technologies co-locating with the complementary event, Learning & Skills. Learning Solutions, Orlando (US), 16-18 March     Learning Solutions Conference & Expo is our first major eLearning conference of 2016 that takes place in the US. It will be our third time exhibiting at the main eLearning conference hosted by industry leaders, The eLearning Guild. It often feels like the entire learning and performance community has gathered at Learning Solutions. This eLearning conference focuses on educating performance support professionals about technology-supported learning, with an emphasis on networking. While presentations explore proven methods for leveraging technology, the conference also encourages attendees to share best practice examples of tools and methods that have produced results in their organizations. The aim of this blended approach is to provide professionals with theoretical and practical insights they can apply in their own learning and performance roles. One of the most distinctive things about Learning Solutions is its commitment to making the working lives of eLearning professionals easier. Organizers are dedicated to presenting the latest solutions for common stresses experienced across the eLearning discipline. The eLearning conference manages to pack a lot of quality content into its three days. With over 100 sessions running across 3 stages, the 45-minute presentations and demonstrations cover a range of topics, including Tools, Performance Support, Instructional Design, Management and Strategy, and Data and Measurement. Learning Solutions also offers pre-conference blended courses and certificate programs designed to help participants to develop skills and knowledge they can apply immediately in their organizations. AITD, Sydney (Australia), 5 & 6 May   AITD 2016 is special for LearnUpon. More than 20 professional bodies have chosen us since we officially launched our learning management system for associations last July. 2015 also saw us open our first office in Australia. We selected AITD as our first official exhibition at an Australian conference for associations. The AITD conference is one of the professional development services the Australian Institute of Training and Development offers to members. We chose the eLearning conference for its reputation for providing delegates with dynamic presentations on the most innovative topics in the industry. Keynote speakers include Donald Clark, CEO and founder of Epic Group. Donald will discuss "2500 Years of Learning Theory - the good, the bad and the ugly", a whistle-stop tour of over 100 figures who have shaped the learning landscape. Attendees are also invited to test their skills before the eLearning conference in a full-day workshop on May 4th. Pre-release tickets are on sale now for AITD members only. Members will receive a 40% discount on standard registration if they book by January 31st. Download the 2015 conference program for a more detailed idea of what to expect. ATD, Denver (US), 22-25 May   ATD Annual, the Association of Talent Development‘s main yearly event, is big. The 2016 conference will attract over 10,000 attendees, who will watch 400 speakers deliver 300 sessions over 4 days. This year will see us exhibiting at the conference for a second time. ATD Annual rounds up thought leaders working across the talent development industry. The conference provides a wide collection of resources to help talent development professionals reach their full potential. ATD believes attendees will then be equipped to help colleagues in their organizations realize their potential too. Speakers at ATD Annual tend to be recognizable names shaping practices across the industry. Presentations focus on practical and actionable advice filled with takeaways attendees can apply in their organizations. ATD hosts a number of professional development workshops before the conference that encourage participants to develop the skills they need to stay competitive in their role. Content tracks include subjects like Global Human Resource Development, Leadership Development, Learning Technologies, Learning Measurement & Analytics, and Training Delivery. Industry Tracks include Government, Sales Enablement, Healthcare, and Higher Education. ATD promises that attendees will leave with valuable new contacts, fresh ideas on how to apply recent developments in their role, and a reinvigorated passion for talent development.   ASAE Annual, Salt Lake City (US), 13-16 August   ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition was the first professional associations conference LearnUpon attended. ASAE, or the Center for Association Leadership, represents more than 21,000 association executives and industry partners who represent more than 9,300 organizations. The association is a major source of learning, knowledge and future-oriented research for association and nonprofit professions. Members of ASAE manage leading trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in 50 countries internationally. ASAE Annual 2015 offered over 120 eLearning sessions that encouraged participants to generate ideas and provoke new thinking about their roles. If you’re not a member of ASAE at the moment, you can pay a non-member conference rate and receive a one-year membership as well. We choose ASAE Annual as an opportunity to catch up with our association customers, many of whom are among the 5,000 professionals who attend the event every year. Exhibiting at ASAE is a small part of our commitment to making learning technology work harder for professional bodies and associations. Learning @Work, Sydney (Australia), 24 & 25 October   Taking place in Sydney in October, Learning @Work provides a great opportunity for training and learning professionals to refresh their skills later in the year. Now in its fourth year, Learning @Work has established itself as the continent’s largest workplace learning conference. Considered a must-attend event for L&D professionals in Australia, this eLearning conference focuses on improving workplace learning and development through modern technology and solutions. Learning @Work positions itself as the only event in Australia to bring together all stakeholders involved in people management. That makes it one of the best conferences to bring a wide multi-disciplinary team to. Organizers invite attendees working as Learning & Development Managers and Directors, Training Managers, Instructional Designers, Facilitators, Coaches, and eLearning and Education Managers. We’re looking forward to seeing many of our Australian and New Zealand customers there in October. DevLearn, Las Vegas (US), 16-18 November   It feels like we’ve just returned from DevLearn 2015. But we’re already looking forward to the 2016 session and heading back to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a major event in the international industry’s calendar, DevLearn brings together a community of experts shaping the future of learning. In 2015, DevLearn encouraged attendees to explore the full potential of technology in eLearning. Conference organizers work hard to expose attendees to the most impactful developments across the industry. We enjoyed keynote speeches that focused on 4 elements of learning innovation: Curiosity, Disruption, Passion, and Technology. Due to its scale and reputation, DevLearn works as a who’s who of eLearning. You’re sure to bump into bloggers and experts, friends and peers from all areas of eLearning. At the 2015 session, we were delighted to catch up with customers - Lisa from Denver Water, Mickey from BeauteSchool, Kendra from WideOrbit and Tom from Zipline Performance. We also learned a lot about the latest LRS and Tin Can API news from our conversation with Ali and Russell from Wax LRS by Saltbox. ASAE Technology, Maryland (US), 13 & 14 December   The 2016 ASAE Technology Conference & Expo will return to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland. Now in its 11th year, ASAE Technology is one of the world’s longest-running eLearning events. As ASAE’s second major annual conference, the focus at this event is kept to eLearning technology. With an emphasis on leadership, sessions will be most relevant to professionals in the roles of CEO, CIO, director and manager. Panels are designed to prepare attendees to take the next step in leading their organizations in the most profitable technical and strategic directions. Spanning a range of industries, the conference aims to give professionals with different areas of expertise the opportunity to learn from their shared leadership examples.   Start the year with the right intention and add an eLearning conference to your calendar now! If you do, say hello to the LearnUpon team in the exhibitors’ area. We’ll give you a first hand look at our learning management system and fill you in on the exciting new features we’ll be releasing this year.   Want to read more? Sign up to get our latest posts! The post 8 reasons to attend an eLearning conference in 2016 appeared first on LearnUpon.

Hello everyone! I am proud to bringing you the 9th episode of Whats New in APE! It has been a tremendous journey so far and I am excited for it to continue. For the 10th episode we were honored to have on two adapted physical educators who are mother and daughter. The mother, Jean Young, is an adapted physical educator in Poway Unified School District in California. Jean's daughter, Amanda Young is an adapted physical educator at TCU in Texas. Amanda is also a colleague of mine at Texas Women's University and is working on her dissertation which focuses on communication with parents of children with Down Syndrome.Listening to both of these educators unique perspectives on the world of APE and working with kids with Down Syndrome was a blast. Please give it a listen and leave any comments for me on ideas for upcoming podcasts.

DocentEDU is an exciting new app (iOS, Android), and browser plugin (Chrome, Firefox) that essentially lets you turn any webpage or online document into an engaging, interactive, digital lesson.  With the tool, you can easily add questions, discussions, notes, and HTML widgets into an already existing webpage, and send it out to your students or classes. Read more on our reviews page.