What an architectural plan is for civil engineers, an eLearning storyboard is for eLearning developers. Exactly as the architect conceptualizes the building, and provides a plan to be used by civil engineers and constructors, in the same manner, the Instructional Designer conceptualizes the eLearning course deliverable and writes down every single detail of it, providing a complete guide in terms of content, audio, visuals, and interactive elements to be included, so that all members involved in the eLearning project can be on the same page throughout the eLearning course development process. In this article, I’ll provide you with a practical guide on how to start working with eLearning Storyboards.

There is an often cited maxim, supported by a diagram such as the one below, that when it comes to being an entrepreneur you can’t have it all. Instead you can pick two of: Business success (Wealth), Fitness (Health), or Family (Love). This is further supported by articles calling ‘bullshit’ on the ability to have it all / a work-life balance. This is sad, worrying, and untrue! What’s really happened is that the author has failed to do it, so rather than look at what others who have achieved it did differently, they become cynical. They decide that if they can’t do it, nobody can. Yet there are lots of people who HAVE achieved balance and success. Few entrepreneurs are able to live it from the beginning (if they do it’s generally because they have a great mentor), whereas most (I include myself) take a few years before we figure it out. Of course some people never do, and some people don’t even aim for it. I encourage you to aim for all three (health, love and wealth), and learn how others have done it to achieve it yourself too. Don’t make the mistake of putting one area of your life on hold until later…  A friend of mine has owned a business for over 15 years. He’s poured huge amounts of his time into it, and it has made him some money as a result. However, he didn’t design the business with a vision of his life in-mind. As a result, he has two teenage girls who he doesn’t really have a relationship with. They call him by his first name, and he regrets all the mornings, evenings and weekends that he wasn’t home because he was working. He wasn’t clear on what he wanted from life, and now it’s too late to build that relationship. I regularly get approached by people after events I speak at who tell me their stories of how they’ve ended up in divorce with limited access to their children, and how they wish they could turn back the clock. Don’t fall into this trap. Instead learn how others maintain the balance, and strive for it yourself. I’m running a webinar this Monday (11th January) about the approach I use to build start-ups without sacrificing my health or time with my family. Click here to find out more (and register).

On Wednesday, December 16th, 2015  about 30 people gathered in Stokes 102 for the Fall 2015 Teaching with Technology Forum. Eight faculty members shared their approaches and experiments using digital teaching and learning tools.  Hiroyo Saito (Director of ITS) organized the Forum. Hiroyo introduced our speakers and their various learning tools. First up … Elizabeth (Liz) Evans, our locally based Director of the Liberal Arts Consortium for Online Learning (LACOL). LACOL is a partnership between Amherst, Carleton, Claremont McKenna, Haverford, Pomona, Swarthmore, Vassar, and Williams Colleges to explore and collaborate around effective instruction and use of technology. Liz is organizing many exciting working groups that look at different aspects of these goals. If you have not done so yet, stop by her office in the garden level of Founders and introduce yourself. Just what activities and tools did faculty showcase this year?   Tool #1-ZAPTION Use demonstrated: Understanding foreign language videos and vocabulary Zaption is a web-based tool that very quickly and easily lets you combine a video segment, text, and images-and then sequence those resources into what the program calls a learning tour. At any point during the tour, you can insert questions. The Zaption web site has more information and some examples. In most cases, Zaption is free to use. Monique Laird (Visiting Lecturer of French) created a Zaption learning tour to help her Intermediate French course. Monique had students read a novel and then watch a video based upon that novel.  While watching the video tour, students paused periodically to answer questions relating to particular scenes. Zaption then recorded how students responded and Monique could easily see where students needed extra instruction. Every student in Monique’s class felt that this exercise helped them to understand the materials better. Ariana Huberman (Visiting Associate Professor of Spanish) also used Zaption. In her introductory Spanish course, Ariana suggested that students create their own learning tours to review course materials using Zaption or Voicethread. One student used Zaption and created a tour of a Spanish language cooking video and sprinkled the tour with questions about the vocabulary throughout the video. The rest of the class took the tour. The result … everyone learned the material a bit better. Tool #2-VOICETHREAD Uses demonstrated: Understanding and speaking foreign languages; Presenting Computer Programming Code and Outcomes VoiceThread is a versatile tool that Haverford faculty have been using in their teaching practice for several years. Voicethread ties into Moodle and provides an easy way for people to share and comment upon texts and images. You can see one use in the T.I.P. video featuring Lindsey Reckson. At the Fall Technology forum, we saw a number of additional uses. VoiceThread is popular within our language departments and a few foreign language teachers showcased it at the forum. As mentioned above, some of Ariana’s students used VoiceThread instead of Zaption for their test review assignment. These students found images related to Spanish vocabulary and narrated a story around those images and vocabulary. Manar Darwish (Instructor of Arabic and Coordinator of Bi-Co Arabic Program) had her introductory Arabic students give an illustrated on-line presentation about their families, and then create a group skit showcasing the Arab language skills they gained over the semester. Kathryne Corbin (Lecturer of French) had each of her upper level French students read a portrait published in the French newsletter, Liberation. Then she asked students to use VoiceThread to discuss and analyze the portrait. Through VoiceThread, students could share images of the person in the portrait, and also mark up an image of the article text while discussing text passages. Tetsuya Sato (Senior Lecturer and Director of the Japanese Language Program) used VoiceThread in a few different courses. In his introductory Japanese course, students read a script and Tetsuya listened for proper pronunciation. Third year Japanese students researched an aspect of Japan or Japanese culture and created a narrated slide show to share that research with classmates. John (J.D.) Dougherty (Associate Professor of Computer Science) showed us a new and creative use for VoiceThread. In the past J.D. had asked students to write a computer program as their final project, submit that code, and then meet with him one-on-one to demonstrate and discuss the project. However, in recent years his classes have grown in size to the point that he no longer has time to meet with each student individually. Instead, he asked students to use VoiceThread to show him the code they wrote, discuss why they wrote the code as they did, and share their results when running the code. Ideas for using VoiceThread effectively All of the Forum presenters found VoiceThread useful, but some commented that students had not used the tool as effectively or creatively as they had wished. The audience shared a few ideas for using VoiceThread more effectively. These included: Asking IITS to give a short, in class demonstration on using VoiceThread. Sharing a sample VoiceThread that shows students what you are looking for in the project. Give students a rubric that includes desired items to include. This can include specific items such as using images from three different references, pointing to particular items that you are discussing, and commenting on at least two other projects from classmates. Tool #3-GOOGLE SITES Use demonstrated: Public research project Google Sites is part of our Google Apps for Education suite. It provides a relatively quick, easy, and flexible way for people to work together on a web site. As with Google Docs, you can set the sharing and editing privileges as desired-private, open to a small group, open to the world, etc. Jake Kurczek (Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology) wanted his students to create a web site that presents psychology research in an approachable way. Each student created a web page for their final research project. Jake hoped that having students share their work publicly would give them an incentive to go a bit beyond what they may do when writing a paper that only their professor sees. Additionally, he wanted to give all his students some exposure to creating a web site and help them begin to build a portfolio that they could share with potential colleagues, graduate schools, or employers.  If you visit the site, the Psychology of…, you can see his students extensive research and creative presentations on a wide variety of topics. Tool #4-MOODLE GLOSSARY Use demonstrated: Semantic maps The Moodle Glossary is an activity in Moodle that lets students work together to create one or more glossaries specific to that course, or topics within that course. By default, words are sorted alphabetically. If you wish, you can auto-link text in your course page to entries in the glossary. Ana Lopez-Sanchez (Assistant Professor of Spanish) gave our final presentation. Ana co-edited the recently published book, Multiliteracies in World Language Education. At the Forum, she shared how she uses semantic maps to help her students learn vocabulary. Ana asked her intermediate Spanish students to work in groups as they read course texts. Each group then created a set number of Moodle Glossary entries for words that they did not understand in that text. The entries included an image describing the meaning, related words, and a couple of examples of how the word is used in the text and in other ways. Each group needed to come up with their own distinct lists. Through this process, the class was able to learn those words and concepts that they did not yet know. While Ana found the Moodle Glossary helpful, she is looking for a more flexible tool that will make it easier to visually link like words and concepts together. In the future, she plans to use Popplet, or a similar mapping tool.  

Happy New Year! Instructional Technology Services in IITS would like to invite you to a faculty-led roundtable discussion on active learning.   Meeting: Active Learning Roundtable   Discussion Leaders: Casey Londergan, Associate Professor of Chemistry John Dougherty, Associate Professor of Computer Science   Date: Friday, January 15th, 2016 Time: 1:00PM - 2:30PM Location: Haverford College KINSC Hilles 109 or online Registration: Please register online (If you are joining virtually, we will send you the access instructions for joining the web conference.)   Agenda: Professors Londergan and Dougherty have adopted active learning approaches in their classrooms, and they will share their findings with the participants. They will demonstrate what they and their students do before, during, and after the class, and explore the benefits of active learning approaches with the participants. They will share the evaluations from their students as well.   Articles related to this discussion: University learning: Improve undergraduate science education Are College Lectures Unfair? Colleges Reinvent Classes to Keep More Students in Science   Audience: Since active learning approaches can look different based on discipline, this roundtable may be more relevant for faculty in STEM fields. However, faculty members from all disciplines are welcome. This event is open to LACOL faculty members as well as Tri-Co faculty members.   Hope to see you in KINSC H109 or online!

[Post by Greg Gammie, Implementations Manager at GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc.] The industry analysts at Bersin by Deloitte are currently conducting high-impact leadership research and would like to invite you to participate in the survey. If you are in a leadership position in your organization, they want to hear from you. This includes: C-suite, business unit, or functional leaders and HR, Talent Management, and/or Learning & Development leaders. To take the survey click this link: Bersin High-impact Leadership Survey or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser: https://bersin.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_5BTVF7TDURCHb9z&RID=CGC_018CMxj5XmxyKhf&Q_CHL=email Completion of the online survey takes between 10 and 15 minutes and as a thank-you for your time and effort you will receive access to the following Bersin resources: An instant snapshot of how others rate the leadership in their organization A link to our latest tool, the Leadership Development Maturity Assessment (Rapid) An executive summary of this study (when available) Your information will be kept entirely confidential and responses will be presented in aggregate form only. Your personal information is collected only for the purpose of sending you your thank you resource upon completion. Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Bersin at USBersinSurveyResponse@deloitte.com

Learning Technology for the 16 year old 21st Century Its now 16 years since the turn of the century during which time, Post-16 education has had the opportunity to embrace so called ‘21st century technology’ which to be fair has moved at an astonishing rate from the the introduction of Wikipedia in 2001 to what you […]

Effective governance is essential for steering, managing and sustaining a complex, cross-functional and multidisciplinary activity like innovation. Innovation governance itself can be thought of as "a system of mechanisms to align goals, allocate resources and assign decision-making authority for innovation, across the company and with external parties".

"Network thinking lets us scientifically understand the world around us as one of connections that shape observed phenomena, rather than as one where the intrinsic properties of people, genes, or particles determine outcomes. Like previous scientific revolutions, the network revolution also has the promise of reshaping our basic commonsense expectations of the world around us, and may allow us to recognize that we are not a basically individualistic, asocial, and quarrelsome creature that comes in bounded linguistic, ethnic, racial, or religious types, but a social species linked to one another by far-reaching network ties." - How Networks Are Revolutionizing Scientific (and Maybe Human) Thought - Scientific American Network thinking is the big shift needed, individually, organizationally, institutionally, and culturally. Getting to network thinking in our organizations is a learning challenge which three of Peter Senge’s five disciplines can help us with: mental models, building shared vision, and systems thinking. Individually we can develop personal mastery, another of Senge’s disciplines, through practices such as personal knowledge mastery in developing professional knowledge-sharing and sense-making networks. One learning accelerator is visualization, as once a network can be visualized, it can be discussed between people in order to understand it. Many organizations are struggling in adapting to the network era. Network thinking comes by engaging in networked conversations. This is often ignored when new technologies are adopted by institutions. Changing thinking takes time. Electric communication (digital & networked) is changing how we think. Being conscious of this change may help humanity face the many challenges confronting our global society. adapting to perpetual beta    

The introduction of a student-centered or learner-centered approach can be challenging for both students and instructors. While courseware can help optimize student-centered learning, there can still be pushback at the outset. Here are 7 articles that offer realistic, practical tips on how to navigate resistance to the learner-centered approach. Introducing Student-Centered Learning to Your Class How ‘Deprogramming’ Kids from How to ‘Do School’ Could Improve Learning by Katrina Schwartz Schwartz reports on how physics instructor Adam Holman turned a traditional classroom into one where the student was at the center. Holman had to overcome student resistance to taking responsibility for their own learning. He also acknowledges that instructors have difficulties as well. Schwartz offers Holman’s excellent reading list to support why and how to make the transition to a learner-centered strategy. Two of those articles are featured among the 6 annotated below. Responding to Resistance to the Learner-Centered Approach Navigating the Bumpy Road to Student-Centered Instruction by Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent Brent and Felder review many of the common reactions of students and instructors to introducing student-centered learning. They focus on faculty concerns such as how to minimize the number of students who take credit for group work in which they did not participate and how to cover your syllabus using learner-centered activities. Brent and Felder admit that student-centered instruction (SCI) is not perfect, but in the end, it is the best teaching strategy. Students may complain about the change, but they definitely benefit from it. Some complaints are even about positive aspects—one student complained in his "list of dislikes" that the teacher made him think! Getting Started 4: Students (What if students are an obstacle to student-centered learning?) by Cathy Davidson Davidson discusses the difficulties students may have with a learner-centered approach. She offers 5 strategies for how to help "the student who hates student-centered learning." Creating a Student-Centered Classroom, Center for Instructional Practice, Champaign College This article focuses on 3 styles of student motivation: "goal-oriented, relationship-oriented, and learning-oriented." Strategies to reach each type of student in a learner-centered environment are described. Ten Strategies for Getting Students to Take Responsibility for their Learning by Sara Jane Coffman Coffman offers sound principles of a learner-centered classroom including "model higher cognitive skills" and "don’t try to save your students." Sermons for Grumpy Campers by Richard M. Felder In this article, Felder scripts responses to student objections such as Those group activities in class are a waste of time. I’m paying tuition for you to teach me, not to trade ideas with students who don’t know any more than I do! Felder’s sample "mini-sermons" are directed at each objection and explain in different ways why student-centered learning is better than traditional instructional models. Technology Tips for Student-Centered Learning Putting Students in the Driver’s Seat: Technology Projects to Decrease Passivity by Ike Shibley Shibley, an advocate for blended learning, discusses how to get students active in their own learning through the use of technology in assignments.

As we enter the new year 2016, we’re bound to admit that we are very excited by the new User Interface for the GamEffective platform. The old User Interface did well for us. We deployed it with happy corporate customers, their employees used it for a gamification experience that improved performance, learning or both and we even got recognized as the leading platform in enterprise gamification. Still, we knew it was time to upgrade and make sure that our many insights of real-life workforce gamification deployments need to be embodied in a new user interface. This is why we are thrilled to announce the re-designed user interface. You can read more about its different elements here.   All this isn’t just about a change of fonts or colors in GamEffective’s product. On top of a simpler and streamlined backend system, so that managers can adjust games on the fly, as well as a better analytics module which allows for game optimization, the exposure of KPIs, missions and the addition of a social feed are all valuable improvements to the system.      

The London International Mime Festival  is taking place from Saturday 9 January to Saturday 6 February 2016. It  is an annual theatre event in London and it features live art, new circus, clown and physical theatre at various London venues. It was established in 1977 by Joseph Seelig and Nola Rae.Click on my Blendspace lesson below to get more information. An example of a Mime Performance at the FestivalMime stimulates imagination, physical control and self confidence, moreover non-verbal language is doubtless a very important part of the communication (most of all for non-native speakers who use it while speaking a foreign language to be better understood!). For these reasons I prepared a lesson for esl students about miming and non-verbal language,  using some sources from the Web.What does "mime" mean?http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mimeLet's attend a Mime Workshop!http://drama-in-ecce.com/2012/05/11/mime-workshop-for-all-ages/Some Esl Miming Games!http://www.teach-this.com/esl-games/miming-games Miming Games Worksheetshttp://www.eslprintables.com/games_worksheets/miming_games/ Let's have fun with mime vocabulary and theatre audience etiquette with flashcards, quizzes, tests and games!https://quizlet.com/14677902/mime-vocabularytheatre-audience-etiquette-flash-cards/Can you guess what they are miming?What is non-verbal communication?https://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/NonVerbal.html Cultural differences in non-verbal communicationAs an Italian, I can say that non-verbal communication is very important in my language!(slides from  my presentation "Differences between Italians and British")Watch the following videosNow describe some gestures or body movements that are typical of your own culture.

I don’t know about you, but one of the things I enjoy about holidays is a bit of a digital switch off.  Much as twitter is my "go to" network, it has evolved into a primarily work related space for me. I try not to "be" on twitter out of office hours/weekends and holidays. It’s too much like being at work.  My automatic daily update ensures I still have one tweet a day, and I do share the odd Instagram picture.  There are of course exceptions such as the Eurovision Song Contest which is just so much better with a twitter feed. Watching Question Time live with twitter on the other hand is not such a good plan, it is just a spiral of rage and despair imho. Like many others my digital presence is constantly evolving.   A couple of years ago, when Twitter was new and exciting, I would check my stream and tweet along with everyone else. Now I tend to use Facebook more for connections with friends and family "out of office hours".  Over the past few years I’m actually sharing photos more via instagram for quick sharing to FB and sometimes Twitter. Over the past three years I’ve been using the Blipfoto site to share a photo a day. This is a totally different network for me and one I really value. I also get my best stats there. I wish as many people read this blog as looked at my pictures! Like others have pledged to pay to keep the service alive. Over the holidays I did decided to experiment  with Periscope the broadcast service from Twitter. When I say experiment, I mean it was more a spur of the moment thing.  I have used Periscope once before at the last Open Data Glasgow meet-up as an emergency streaming solution. A few days before Christmas, my Mum who was staying with me decided to make mince pies one evening. Instead of trying to explain Periscope to her I decided just to show her, and so our first (and I have to say funniest) broadcast began. Much to my surprise we got 34 viewers - I think I actually knew 2 of them. Fuelled by our success (and perhaps a glass of wine) the next day we decided to do the same as she made some meringues.  We got about 40 viewers this time including Lawrie Phipps with whom I had the brief twitter chatter below (click the image to see the storify version) and prompted this post. I’m still trying to figure out what Periscope means to my digital presence but I do think it has huge potential for education. Like anything without any control over who views, or interacts with you, it will take a bit of time, and initially some pretty digitally confident people to experiment with it.  I don’t know if I am digitally confident or digital careless - probably a bit of both, so later in the holidays I did another broadcast with my 8 year old niece as she and my Mum made pancakes. This time we hit the giddy heights of 130 viewers, and got the first taste of the down side of open broadcasting in this way. Some idiot and that’s the only polite word I can think of to use, started randomly typing "sex" then "porno". In my best school teacher voice I told them, politely but firmly to go away and get their kicks somewhere else.  They did. On reflection I can see how that kind of interaction would have freaked a lot of people out, and would have turned them off using periscope or other services all together. It exemplifies in a very "lite" way the scary/nasty side of making yourself openly available online. It just made me sad that people feel the need to behave in that way, and have that kind of negative, pointless digital presence. In terms of education I think we need to be taking control of these kind of spaces, not running away from them or trying to lock them down all together. Of course, I wouldn’t advocate every child to start broadcasting themselves all the time at school and or home. However we could use this type of instant broadcasts in lots of creative, positive ways in learning and teaching; particularly around practical demonstrations, critiques/review etc as well as formal/informal group working). I think HE should be leading the way in this as we all increase our fully online delivery. In terms of recruitment, there’s huge potential for interviews (formal and informal), virtual open days etc. At GCU we actually did Periscope bits of our last open day. It is going to take time to figure it all out, again open practices, research and auto-ethnographic approaches are going to become increasingly important. It’s only by sharing and developing our narratives of these types of experiences that we will be able to make any kind of sense of the educational potential of services such as Periscope and how they fit into our evolving notions and experiences of our own and our students digital presence(s). My holiday experiments have definitely encouraged me think more seriously about how to use Periscope in my context and with my colleagues. My Mum and I may still try to get a Mary Berry type deal somewhere and give up all this education stuff . . .

How You Can Help Your Subject Matter Expert Create Effective eLearning Content An experienced Subject Matter Expert is one of the most valuable assets you can have at your disposal. The key is knowing how to help them create an amazing eLearning course. In this article, I’ll share 6 top tips you can use to give your Subject Matter Expert the guidance they need to create effective online content. Your Subject Matter Experts may be in charge of identifying the key takeaways and narrowing the scope of your eLearning course material. However, that doesn’t mean they have to go it alone. In fact, there are a variety of ways that Instructional Designers can help their Subject Matter Experts create more effective and engaging eLearning content. Not only will this speed up the eLearning development process, but it also boosts the benefits your audience is going to receive. Here are 6 tips and techniques for offering a helping hand to your Subject Matter Expert. Be clear about expectations and objectives. As is the case with any professional, a Subject Matter Expert must have a clear idea of what’s expected of them before the eLearning project begins. They must also be certain of the shared goals and objectives of the eLearning course. This is why it’s essential to have a discussion with them in advance to let them know their job responsibilities and how they fit into the eLearning development team. It’s also wise to talk about deadlines and milestones, so that they can be aware of when each step of the process must be completed. If they are left in the dark about all of these key issues, then they are likely to become frustrated or discouraged by the experience because they’ve been left out of the loop. You may even want to provide your Subject Matter Expert with examples of what you have in mind, and definitely get their feedback and address any concerns they might have. Work together to create a successful eLearning strategy. Your Subject Matter Expert should be an integral part of your eLearning team. In fact, you should have them on hand when making any major decisions about the eLearning project, especially if it pertains to the eLearning content and online activities. Keep in mind that the Subject Matter Expert can offer you a wealth of information about the topic, which can then pass onto your audience. However, if you don’t work together to develop a winning eLearning strategy, then you are missing out on a big opportunity. Your Subject Matter Expert should also know as much as possible about your online learners, such as their background, as well as what they need to take away from the eLearning experience. Focus on how learners can use the information to achieve eLearning goals. One of the most significant obstacles that Subject Matter Experts face when developing eLearning content is differentiating between the information learners need in the real world and information that might be good to know. Stress the importance of creating eLearning content that centers on goal achievement and real life challenges. Focusing on extraneous info that is not necessarily in-line with the overall goals of the eLearning course can also lead to cognitive overload. This prevents the learners from absorbing and retaining the key pieces of knowledge, which diminishes the value of the eLearning course. Have a discussion with your Subject Matter Expert about each of the learning objectives to be covered and how the eLearning content, activities, and online assessments are going to further those goals. Ask them to step inside the shoes of the learner. It can be easy to distance yourself from the eLearning experience, itself, when you are trying to create an eLearning course. However, it is important for Subject Matter Experts to occasionally step inside the shoes of the learners and see things from their perspective. Encourage them to take a close look at all of the eLearning content and online resources as if they were actually taking the eLearning course. Does the eLearning content give them the information they need in a timely manner? Does it focus on the specific skills they require in their personal and professional lives? Are there areas of the eLearning course that may be confusing or difficult to understand? Make the learners work for the information. In some instances, a Subject Matter Expert may simply offer the learner information outright, rather than making them search for it in the eLearning content. In other words, they don’t make them work for the knowledge and skill development. Encourage your Subject Matter Experts to focus on knowledge discovery instead of knowledge presentation. For example, they can include thought provoking questions or online scenarios that allow leaners to explore the situation and how their actions lead to consequences. If a learner is able to find the information on their own they are more likely to remember and recall it in their "moment of need". Remind them that learners do not need to become Subject Matter Experts. A learner does not need to become an expert in the topic, unless, of course, that is the objective of the eLearning course. Instead, they need to be able to carry out a task or expand their knowledge base within a limited scope. They also don’t have a great deal of time to engage in the eLearning experience, which means that you need to focus on what’s really important. The Subject Matter Expert has a vast amount of experience in the field, but they need to bear in mind that learners simply need to remember the key takeaways and achieve their goals. Helping your Subject Matter Expert to create more effective eLearning content for your eLearning course is a win-win situation for everyone. You can use these 6 tips to make your design and development process productive, and to support your Subject Matter Expert to the best of your ability. Remember, a great Subject Matter Expert is worth their weight in gold, and offering them the guidance they need can foster a long lasting eLearning partnership. Looking for additional tips on to work with Subject Matter Experts? Read the article Working With Subject Matter Experts: The Ultimate Guide to learn how build a respectful working relationship with Subject Matter Experts in order to facilitate your eLearning design and development process. The post 6 Tips To Help Your Subject Matter Expert Create Effective eLearning Content appeared first on Litmos.

Elearning provider, Sponge UK has achieved top honours on an acclaimed list which recognises the UK’s 100 best companies to work for.The business has been awarded the highest possible accreditation - three stars - in The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For 2016. The award is based on staff feedback and follows a rigorous survey where employees answered questions about pay, conditions, teamwork, leadership and wellbeing.Sponge UK was benchmarked against hundreds of other small companies and only those assessed as ‘extraordinary’ achieved three star status.Louise Pasterfield, Managing Director of Sponge UK, said: "This really is something to be proud of and we are all delighted! As a family-owned business we try hard to support each other and create an environment where our people can thrive. We’re also in the learning business, so personal development is at the heart of the company. Our aim is to build an organisation where everyone is constantly learning and developing their skills, both for their own benefit and that of the company."Sponge UK makes bespoke online training for large organisations such as Tesco, GlaxoSmithKline, the NHS and Royal Mail and employs nearly 70 people at its headquarters in Plymouth.In November last year, the company was named Outstanding Learning Organisation of the Year at the Elearning Awards - one of the highest accolades in the elearning industry.Best Companies has been producing and publishing lists of the best organisations to work for since 2001.The team at Sponge will find out where the company is placed in the top 100 on Wednesday, February 25 when the list order is announced at a gala ceremony in London. The post Sponge UK gets top honours in 100 best companies list appeared first on Sponge UK.

Nigel Paine is the former boss of the BBC’s training and development operation and headed up the broadcaster’s award-winning leadership programme. Now, a thought leader, speaker and author on learning technologies, organisational development and leadership, he’s making a significant contribution to helping L&D achieve its full potential.In this exclusive interview, he sets out a challenging change agenda for 2016. What change would you like to see happen in L&D in 2016? Globally, I want L&D to get its act together as a serious big player in change and helping organisations fulfil their potential. I want L&D to be upfront players, not the department that you bring in when you’ve made all the decisions that mops up and does a few tactical things on the margins. I want them to play a much more critical role. "I really want L&D to start to live technology and not see it as an afterthought." Focusing on the UK, where I can be a bit more specific, there are a number of things. I really want L&D to start to live technology and not see it as an afterthought. I know it sounds pathetic to say this in 2016, but I still don’t get the feeling that there’s technology running through learning in a way that isn’t just elearning. We need to see technology that empowers knowledge transfer and acquisition, that is focused on the user and that is about performance enhancement at the moment of need. If Amazon has been able to tell me for 10 years that if I like that, I might like this, why can’t we have some sort of rudimentary AI environment in L&D? I’m talking about technology that allows targeted, focused, thoughtful and contextual learning, rather than here’s a directory, go for it! Video: Nigel on another big challenge for L&D. You write and talk a great deal about leadership. What is the biggest mistake we make when training our leaders? The biggest mistake, without any shadow of a doubt, is that we see leadership development as an event not a process. We put people through events, but the impact and the behaviour change is minimal because there’s no follow through or commitment. "The biggest mistake, without any shadow of a doubt, is that we see leadership development as an event not a process." Leadership training has to be seen as a process that involves not just the individual leader but their manager and the people they lead. So I think we are light on commitment and heavy on structure. We design pretty good interventions, but without any kind of commitment to back them up. In your book The Learning Challenge you highlight big data and learning analytics as game changers. What is the value of both for L&D professionals? "L&D has to wake up and realise that the richness of the data that surrounds organisations is valuable for learning." The crucial point is that every organisation is drowning in data and trying to work out how they can use it to understand their customers, market, production, development and service. The notion that L&D somehow shrugs that off and declares that the LMS doesn’t really deliver much data, is utter nonsense! L&D has to wake up and realise that the richness of the data that surrounds organisations is valuable for learning. How deeply should L&D professionals understand neuroscience to be effective? If they make no effort to understand what is happening or distinguish between the utter rubbish that is pedalled in the name of neuroscience and the bona fide university-based research then they are being very naïve. They could end up wasting a lot of money on junk and miss simple ways of making learning effective. The point about neuroscience is that even though we are just at the beginning of this journey we’re already getting some clarity from research about the way people learn and how you can make learning effective. If you are in the learning business and there are people out there willing to tell you, pretty much for nothing, how you can make learning more effective, but you pay no attention, then you are abnegating your responsibilities. Video: Nigel expands his view on neuroscience in L&D. What’s your final piece of advice for L&D professionals? "I would make a plea to L&D: you are entitled to development, don’t be embarrassed about doing it!" I want the L&D community see their own development as being as important as the development of everyone else in their organisation, but there’s not a lot of evidence that this is happening. People find it very hard to spend some of the learning resources on themselves and that means they won’t improve or challenge each other, and they will find it more difficult to innovate and transform their operation. So I would make a plea to L&D: you are entitled to development, don’t be embarrassed about doing it! To find out more about Nigel Paine’s work and views visit: www.nigelpaine.com Discuss a project Subscribe to our newsletter The post Nigel Paine on L&D challenges for 2016 appeared first on Sponge UK.

An expert panel of L&D leaders will be answering questions on the state of the elearning industry in 2016 during a special online event.Donald H. Taylor, Chairman of the Learning & Skills Group and the Learning & Performance Institute, Laura Overton, Managing Director of Towards Maturity and John Curran, Chairman of the Elearning Network (eLN) will be taking part in a Google Hangout on Thursday, January 21 from 12.30-13.30pm (GMT).The event is being hosted by award-winning elearning provider, Sponge UK and will offer L&D professionals the chance to ask questions on the hot topics and growth areas in elearning over the coming 12 months.Louise Pasterfield, Managing Director of Sponge UK, said: "This is an exciting time for the elearning industry with lots of change and innovation coupled with greater than ever expectation to make an impact and add value. We thought it would be helpful to bring together some of the leading thinkers in L&D and elearning to discuss upcoming developments and the challenges facing the industry in 2016. I would encourage anyone who really wants to get to grips with elearning trends and opportunities for the year ahead to submit a question and join the Hangout."John Curran, who is serving a second year as eLN Chair, will be on hand to answer questions about how elearning is likely to evolve in 2016. He said:"What constitutes elearning is growing every year and 2016 is likely to push the boundaries even further with new technologies, new approaches and even new business models. That’s great if you already have a good understanding of elearning, but if you’re new to it all it can seem pretty overwhelming."The online event is also a chance for learning professionals to find out about some of the highlights and key speakers at the upcoming Learning Technologies conference and exhibition (Feb 3-4, Olympia, London) as well as learn more about the results of the 2015-16 Towards Maturity Industry Benchmark Report.The Hangout is available live on Sponge UK’s Google Plus platform or via YouTube.Anyone wishing to submit a question can email communications@spongeuk.com or use #SpongeHangout on Twitter, before or during the event.The post L&D leaders join Hangout to debate elearning trends and challenges appeared first on Sponge UK.

Happy New Year! To kick off 2016, we’re going to look at what we can accomplish with a different approach to structuring your eLearning course. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to: write effective learning- and course-objectives. outline the structures for different stages of training. create clear pathways to realizing the outcomes for your eLearning courses. The key to effective eLearning is to start with the ultimate outcome (or results) of the course. Then, work backwards from the future outcome to the present. Confused? Don’t be. We actually do this regularly. For instance, whenever you plan a long road trip, you first state your destination, and the intended arrival date and time. Then (often without realizing you’re doing it) you plan your journey backwards from that future date and time to the present. You designate waypoints, landmarks or milestones that let you know you’re on the right track. Embedded in those waypoints and milestones are the assessments and the plans for actions that support your progress toward your destination. Here’s a basic framework to help you organize your customized content for eLearning courses. Start SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) Begin with a clearly stated, measurable, "big-picture" course goal for your potential learners. Ask yourself: "When they complete the elearning course, what exactly will learners have gotten from participating?" Write simple sentences that list what your learners will be able to do by the end of the course. Devote each sentence to a single outcome. Use concrete action words such as "write," "repair," "assemble," etc. Use a single verb for each outcome-sentence you write. Avoid verbs like "understand," "become aware of" and "know." Those verbs are "mushy" and results related to those kinds of verbs cannot be effectively or accurately measured. State your goal in terms of measurable results that have a real impact on the real world in real time. Examples include: increase of x number of widgets produced over z weeks. y% reduction in safety incidents by the end of the next quarter. One example of a particularly effective goal is, "in an emergency, evacuate 100% of the passengers from the aircraft in less than 90 seconds." Create waypoints that course participants need to achieve to realize the larger goal of the elearning course. Ask yourself the question: "For the next step to be successful, what will learners need to have learned/accomplished?" Begin with the final waypoint before the very end of the elearning course. In order to realize the big-picture outcome, what will that last step need to look like? Work backwards from the penultimate milestone to the present moment. Each waypoint represents a step toward the big picture. A waypoint may be a task, a nugget of information, or a process that relates to the big-picture goal. Each waypoint could be created as a separate module of training. Keep your waypoints relevant to your business/industry. Create a sub-outcome for each waypoint that contributes to the overall goal of the elearning course. Reward the successful passage of each waypoint. Keep it light and engaging. A simple points-system, or the ability to progress to the next level is very effective for providing a sense of achievement. Find a balance between challenge and achievability for each milestone. Too easy, and participants get bored. Too difficult, and participants may get frustrated and discouraged. Find out what your learners’ needs are. What kinds of challenges are relevant to their daily experience on the jobsite? What kinds of rewards would be meaningful to them in a training program? Working backwards from a stated (future) goal provides a very powerful foundation for effectiveness. For one thing, it’s very grounding to declare an outcome, then take the required actions to realize that outcome. This also provides a high level of flexibility to the planning process. When you combine this form of planning with the power and adaptability of eLearning, you give yourself the gift of empowering your workforce to win. And when your employees win, your customers win. Which means your organization wins. Which means you win. We want you to arrive on December 31, 2016 having experienced the greatest breakthroughs possible through effective eLearning. We’re happy to talk with you about creating the kinds of programs and training for your organization that maximizes your resources for optimum success throughout the new year. Please feel free to contact us at info@kmilearning.com May 2016 bring you the best of what’s possible in eLearning breakthroughs! The post Backwards from the Future: Tips for Setting your eLearning Course on a Pathway to Effectiveness. appeared first on KMI Learning.

Have you ever struggled with letting someone else do something that you can do faster, better, and with less effort? If you really think it through, you know that if you don’t pass the task on, you’ll be doing it yourself forever. If this task is in fact the best use of your time, then maybe the staff member isn’t needed. But if there’s a better use of your time, then you have delegate it to someone else who will do it slower, not quite as good, and with more effort. You have to let go of the vine. This EOS blog post written by Jim Coyle is good advice for any manager. Check it out here: Monkey Insurance and Letting go of the Vine.

At the beginning of every year, there’s a mad rush to come up with new resolutions, stick to new habits, and become a new, better version of yourself. Self-improvement is all well and good, but truly changing who you are means opening yourself up to new, unfamiliar experiences in 2016! As you start the new year, ask yourself, what do I want to get done? What’s on my 2016 bucket list? Then come up with 16 things you want get done in 2016! To get you started, we’ve put together our suggestions for a 16 by 2016 list for all bookworms and Literature majors out there! 1. Take a class in a completely new genre of Literature. 2. Reread an old favorite. 3. Try a book in a genre that you’ve always dismissed - whether it’s sci-fi, nonfiction, YA, or epistolary novels. 4. Reread a book you’ve tried to read before but never finished. 5. Keep a journal of what you’ve read all year. 6. Discover a little-known literary quote that you love and can use over and over again. 7. Tackle one of the world famous classics that have always intimidated you. 8. Try writing creatively yourself! 9. Read all the books that won prizes in 2015. 10. Then real all the books nominated for prizes in 2015. 11. Attend a reading by one of your favorite writers. 12. Write a paper that you’re proud of and can use as a writing sample for school or job applications in the future. 13. Ask your favorite Literature professor for a book recommendation. Read it. 14. Read a novel by an alumnus of your school. 15. Read a novel by a writer from every continent. 16. Convince a non-reader to become a reader. However big or small, plausible or unattainable a goal may seem, add it to your 2016 bucket list. You never know what the new year will bring!

"There is an Indian proverb or axiom that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but, unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person." ~Rumer Godden, A House with Four Rooms The following tips are to improve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health - all of which are required to maintain a healthy, happy you! Eat healthy: Health care professionals will tell you that you have to provide your body with high quality fuel if you want it to run efficiently. Eating a healthy balanced diet doesn’t need to be difficult; choose a variety of foods from all the major food groups including fruits and vegetables, meats or protein sources, dairy or calcium, grains and cereals, and healthy oils and fats. Sleep: You can take better care of yourself just by making sure you get enough sleep each night. During sleep a lot of important processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs.  Sleep deprivation affects your quality of life and has been linked to obesity, cardiovascular issues, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Exercise: Exercise is known to help you live a longer and healthier life. We were not made to be sedentary beings. Exercise not only helps you look better, but it helps you to feel better as well. Aim for at least 30 minutes 3 days a week of some type of physical activity. Learn: Challenge your mind! Playing games, doing crosswords or puzzles as well as other mental exercises keeps your mind active. It can also help stave off mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Laugh: Laugh loudly and often! Look for the humor in every situation. Studies have shown that laughter helps to keep us healthy, and even helps the body heal faster. Socialize: Surround yourself with friends and family. Social interaction is key to taking care of yourself. Plan regular nights out (or in) with people who make you feel good - people who love, respect and appreciate you! Prioritize: Make time for yourself. Do the things that make you happy. Sit outside enjoying nature, curl up on the couch with a good book - make the time for the things that nurture your soul. You and those around you will reap the benefits! Be present: Live in the present moment. Entertaining feelings of regret or worry about past events or anxiety about future events are a waste of energy. These feelings also add stress to your body. Stay present, focus on the moment and look for the gifts of the day. Get organized: Keep your life organized and on track with the help of schedules, routines, calendars and to-do lists. Reducing clutter and chaos will help you to feel more empowered and in control. Meditate: Spending time in meditation or prayer allows you to let go and connect with something bigger than yourself. It can help put your thoughts into perspective, reduce stress levels, and help you experience feelings of peace, serenity and joy. Practice self-reflection: To help you stay focused on the positive things in your life, take a few moments every now and then to reflect on your present life and your goals. Make a list of the good things currently in your life. What are you most grateful for? Try to write down at least five things a day. Think positive: Monitor your thoughts closely to ensure that you are thinking mostly positive thoughts. If you catch yourself thinking in the negative - turn that thought around quickly! What you think and do DOES reflect back on you. So make your thoughts as positive as possible. Face your feelings: The stress of avoiding dealing with emotions drains your emotional energy. Deal with your emotions, don’t hide them. Just Say "No": Obligations abound. Practice saying "no" to the commitments that don’t add to the joy in your life or serve your personal goals. Whether you ARE too busy, or if you are simply trying to protect yourself from BECOMING too busy, the word "no" can be the best tool in your toolbox.   Ed4Online offers courses in nutrition, health, stress reduction and more! Please visit our website to learn more about how Ed4Online can help you to become a happier, healthier you in 2016! Sources: http://healing.about.com/od/dietandfitness/a/tips_rbanks.htm http://www.theacornstash.com/taking-care-of-yourself-ten-tips-for-taking-care-of-your-body-mind-and-spirit                  

Managing user data is a key process you need to establish when you implement an LMS system. Generating and maintaining data, like login details and custom field information, can prove challenging if you don’t have a clear sense of your requirements at the beginning. An accurate map of the data you need to assign and track will ensure users can access relevant information throughout your training and development programs. It will also help you to design a user-friendly process that can generate actionable reports to improve your eLearning processes. Here are some key points to consider and common errors to avoid when managing user data in your LMS system.   Unique Identifier Your first task is to select a unique identifier for each user. Choosing a unique identifier is one of the most important steps you will take in the process, as it allows you to accurately account for every user in your LMS system. The simplest and most popular identifier is an email address associated with each learner. One advantage of this kind of identifier is that it allows you to create automatic email notifications that inform learners about information crucial to their progress. Once a user registers using their email address, a message can be triggered to notify them about available training options or to inform them about deadlines for compulsory coursework. Emails can also be triggered at other points in the process, for example, when a learner is invited to join a group, or after a learner enrolls for a course. If some users in your organization don’t have an email address, you’ll need to establish an alternative unique identifier. If possible, choose an identifier users are already familiar with. If you have access to a staff or payroll database, the unique number used to identify each staff member may be the best option. If users are already familiar with the identifier, it will be easier for them to access and remember it when they need to login to your LMS system. This kind of identifier will also match your organization’s existing systems, simplifying internal reporting processes. If this kind of identifier isn’t available, one alternative is to create usernames. As automatic email notifications won’t be available in this instance, an administrator may need to take additional manual actions. A staff intranet or internal bulletin board may be used to circulate login details and notify learners about available training. Managers may also need to circulate login details and course information offline.   Custom User Data Once you have established a unique identifier, you need to consider which custom data fields will be useful for your LMS system configuration. Fields like "Location", "Job Role" or "is Company Driver?" are often helpful. Any custom fields you create can be later used as filters to return detailed information for reports. You can also use custom data fields to group learners based on relevant information, like a specific "Location" or "Job Role". The inclusion of this kind of custom field will allow you to deal with groups of learners as a unit, and to assign all learners in a group to a particular assignment or course or learning path, reducing the time spent on manual administration. To take one example, if you have a custom data field that allows you to identify all learners that work as drivers, you can create a group based on that criterion. You can then assign driving-related courses to that group, without needing to filter out employees with other job titles or assign learners individually. All learners later added to the group can be automatically assigned to relevant courses, further reducing manual administration work. While custom data fields can be very useful, it’s also important to exclude those that will not be used within your LMS system. While it might be easy to transfer details like "Cost Allocation" and "Working Hours" from a HR platform, these pieces of data may be of limited use within the LMS system. The inclusion of unnecessary custom data fields increases the complexity of your system. Unless your LMS is integrated with your HR platform, these details may quickly grow out of sync with your source system. The inclusion of inessential custom fields can add unnecessary maintenance work to your data processes. However easy it might be to transfer information included in these fields, you should only include them if they have meaning and value within your LMS system itself.   Uploading User Data A Batch Upload feature, like that developed for LearnUpon, provides a simple way to manage high volumes of user data. Depending on the functionality of your LMS system, a feature like Batch Upload can allow you to upload users, synchronize users with an API, crowd-source users from other applications using Single-Sign-On (SSO) functionality, and to auto-create users as they access LearnUpon. A Batch Upload feature remains useful after learners have been created in your LMS system. It will allow you to allocate users to groups, issue invitation emails, control user access to LearnUpon, and much more. A Batch Upload can be created by uploading a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file, prepared with Excel, or any spreadsheet tool that can export to CSV format. In LearnUpon, you can even download a sample CSV file template based on your account configuration from the Users tab to prepare your Batch Upload. Here’s a description of some of the data most commonly managed with LearnUpon’s Batch Upload feature. If you prefer, you can also use LearnUpon’s SSO and API features to control these data-related actions: User Creation:The creation of new users is based on the "Email" field, if emails are in use, or "Username", if usernames are in use. Once an email or username that’s not currently in use in your portal is detected, a learner will be created using all the details included in your data file. User Details Update: To update learners, enable the "Update existing users" setting on the Batch Upload screen. User details will be updated when the upload file detects that an email or username already exists. All user details associated with the email address or username will be updated. Custom User Data: Custom user data can be imported during the batch upload process, allowing you to easily update learners with any custom data fields that you have configured within your portal. These custom fields will then be available in LearnUpon for use as filters for reports and helping you to easily identify specific groups of learners. Assignment to Groups: The assignment of learners to groups can also be managed in LearnUpon using the Batch Upload file and "Assign Groups" feature. Using this feature reduces the amount of administration required, as any courses associated with the groups will be automatically assigned to learners when they are uploaded to LearnUpon. Control User Access: You can use the "Login enabled/Expiry" feature to keep your active user listing up-to-date in LearnUpon. The feature allows you to manage all users on one spreadsheet and mark those that should or should not have access to your portal at any given time. The feature can be particularly useful in instances where a staff member has a prolonged spell away from work, on maternity leave, for example. On occasions like this, you may need to temporarily rescind their access to your LMS system. The Batch Upload process also allows you to set an expiry date on a learner’s access to their account. This can be extremely useful in certain situations. To take one example, you might need to grant a user trial access to a portal. Including an expiry date eliminates the need to manually login and disable the learner’s access on a particular date. The feature also allows you to reduce your monthly active user count and may minimize costs, depending on your LMS system’s pricing model. Issue Portal Invitation: During the initial batch upload process you can specify whether or not to issue invitation emails to learners. These invitations include all details a learner needs to login and complete their training. In LearnUpon, invitation emails are fully customizable and include dynamic variables that allow you to integrate user-specific details. Create Login Details: Password creation can also be controlled during the upload process in LearnUpon. This feature can be particularly useful if you need to manually circulate login details. Once the upload is complete, you’ll have a list of all learner login details to circulate as required.   If you have any questions about other ways to manage user data efficiently in your LMS system, our support team will be happy to help.   Want to read more? Sign up to get our latest posts! The post How to manage user data in your LMS system appeared first on LearnUpon.

12 0 131 Seeds 59 Peers Runtime: 113 minAudio: AC3Language: EnglishSubtitles: FrenchResolution: 700×480Frame Rate: 25 fpsVideo Bitrate: 5422 Kb/secAudio Bitrate: 256 kbps Year: 2014 Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Director: Doug Liman The officer was in another war against an enemy space that can reset the day and know the future. If the employee is entered with the same force, he teams up with special forces troops to try to end the war.Edge of Tomorrow 2014 English Download Full Movie Torrent

With most training courses, employees will attend en masse, attempt to acquire stacks of new skills or expertise, and then be tested at the end of the day to find out whether or not the program was successful. However, members of staff are rarely enthused by this type of training, get overwhelmed with just how much information is being force fed to them, and fail to reap positive rewards in the long-term. Therefore, organisations are increasingly adopting new methods of teaching such as e-learning, microlearning and spaced repetition. These can be designed and customised for the individual and feature elements such as gamification to increase employee engagement. What’s more, they are perfectly suited to competency-based assessments, which have proved to be much better at evaluating the effectiveness of training. But what is competency-based learning? How does it correlate with assessing the aptitude of employees? And what do you need to know when implementing this type of training for your own organisation?   The basics of competency-based assessments Competency-based assessments allow businesses to accurately understand their workforce’s proficiency while also helping Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) to demonstrate the affect training has in meeting enterprise objectives. As opposed to traditional classroom teaching, these assessments provide a link between education and results by answering fundamental questions relating to the job roles of staff. Even if an employee looks good on their CV, has all the necessary experience and expertise, seems like an ideal fit for the team and impresses during the interview, they may not be able to perform once getting the job. As a result, they are put through training, where the same thing happens again after appearing to understand the learning content and doing well on the final examination. Traditional training attempts to furnish members of staff with new knowledge or additional skills, but in many respects it is an educated guess whether the teaching methods being used will have the desired effect. However, competency-based learning measures the workforce’s ability to perform in situations closely related to their jobs, giving managers much-needed reassurances that training is meeting business demands.   The growing realisation that competency-based learning works Competency-based learning isn’t limited to corporate training, as primary schools and graduate programs are also starting to recognise its benefits. In 2014, the US Department of Education encouraged colleges to experiment with competency-based learning, while Inside Higher Ed reported that nearly 350 institutions were offering or planning to offer degree-track competency-based programs. As far as corporate training is concerned, organisations tend to focus on engagement and satisfaction levels instead of more practical metrics. A simple survey is great for judging an employee’s knowledge, but doesn’t exactly find out whether they could deal with similar circumstances outside of the classroom. Take a job like software developer. Along with knowing how to code, software developers must also collaborate with others, communicate feedback to clients, conduct individual research and solve difficult problems. All of these fundamental skills can’t be gauged by a test or code review, but with competency-based assessments, it is possible to appraise the developer’s complete package, from technical and strategic to business and soft skills.   The dos of competency-based learning When it comes to hiring, managers are turning their attention towards tools like Talentbuddy, Gild, and Codility to find suitable candidates in an increasingly competitive market. For occupations such as software developer, where technology moves at such a rapid rate, recruiters can’t rely on an applicant’s experience or technical skills alone. They must know how potential employees can apply their expertise in an agile environment under tight deadlines as well as finding out if they are able to competently communicate with team members. But what about corporate training? Well, one possible approach is to create rubrics that subject-matter experts and mentors can introduce to learners. Although these tend to be quite complex and expensive in academic circles, they are much easier to implement for corporate training purposes. Rubrics can be less intensive yet closely related to job-performance assessments. Even so, instructors need to learn rubrics quickly and constantly apply them to changing workplace situations. The result for learners is a practical focus combined with close mentor relationships that allow for the development of a complete skill set, which can be applied to the real world of work.   The don’ts of competency-based learning Seeing as competency-based learning tends to be a lot more labour-intensive than traditional assessments, it needs time, effort, and resources to be introduced successfully. On top of that, it often needs working professionals to review the learner’s answers and evaluate them contextually. Therefore, don’t be fooled into thinking that competency-based learning can simply replace standard tests and examinations. Also, avoid the temptation of giving learners a pass/fail type grade. Competency-based learning attempts to ensure that leaners are mastering a topic in ways that deliver added value to the business. Rubrics should be used to streamline this process, while also making it repeatable and scalable. So again, don’t think of these as rudimentary answer sheets. At the end of the day, competency-based learning and assessments help to bridge the gap between talent acquisition and talent development. All around the world, CLOs are coming under more and more pressure to deliver evidence that training is working and that employees are fulfilling their potential. While teaching techniques such as e-learning, microlearning, and spaced repetition are on hand to improve engagement and satisfaction levels, competency-based assessments make sure they have the desired effect. Share this post with your own audience