How To Give Your Existing eLearning Course A Modern Makeover One of the secrets to creating a successful eLearning course is ensuring that it’s always relevant and relatable. Thus, it must be adaptable and flexible in order to keep up with the ever-changing needs of modern learners. But how do you turn your existing eLearning course into an eLearning experience that is memorable and engaging for your current learners, without letting all of your hard work go to waste? Here are 10 top tips that can help you transform your eLearning course into a modern day masterpiece. Turn text into an interactive eLearning scenario. If you have a text-based tutorial that takes learners through every step of the process, why not turn it into an interactive eLearning scenario that shows them the real world benefits and applications. For example, if your current customer service online training course features a step-by-step explanation of how to complete a refund, you can transform it into an interactive eLearning scenario that allows learners to make choices that lead them down different branches and outcomes. Integrate video clips. You might be surprised by how much a video clip can boost the interactivity of an eLearning course, especially if your current online course lacks multimedia at the moment. Either create your own videos, if it’s in your budget, or embed online videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and other video sharing sites that tie into the subject matter. Just make sure that you give credit where credit is due and include an attribution for the video creator. Let an image do the talking! Images can immediately grab the attention of your learners and make them feel an emotional connection to the subject matter. For this very reason, it’s always wise to add at least a handful of compelling and relevant images to your eLearning course, preferably those that are high quality and relatable for your learners. Avoid images that may be cultural-specific, as this makes it more difficult to localize your eLearning course and may end up offending certain members of your audience who hail from different backgrounds or countries. Go bold when choosing colors. Adding splashes of color to the screen, in form of vibrant fonts and backdrops, can instantly make your online content pop off the page. Just make sure that you go with colors that are in-line with your branding and evoke the right emotions. For example, blue can calm a learner and get them mentally prepared for an online assessment, while red can ignite their creativity and passion to increase their motivation. Also, make certain that colorful fonts are readable and have a good contrast with the background. Perform a relevancy check. Now that you are revamping your eLearning course, this is the time to go through all of your online content with fine-toothed comb to make sure everything is still relevant. If your eLearning course is a bit verbose, try to omit some of the written content by adding images, eLearning scenarios, and videos instead. In addition, be sure that everything is still relevant and relatable, especially if you designed the eLearning course some time ago, so that you can create an eLearning course that speaks to learners today. Include infographics. Infographics have been around in some form for years, but they have recently become quite popular in online courses. This is primarily due to the fact that they deliver key ideas, statistics, and pieces of information in a visually appealing way, making it more memorable and engaging. There are plenty of infographics online that you can add to your eLearning course, just make sure that you ask the permission of the creator if necessary and include an attribution. Use attention grabbing fonts. There are times when more basic fonts are necessary, especially when you are trying to convey a core idea and legibility is a top priority. However, you can significantly improve the look of your eLearning course by including attention grabbing fonts for the headers and titles within your eLearning course. For example, you can use a bold font to draw attention to a tip at the corner of the page. Break up text blocks. Lengthy text blocks can cause cognitive overload and make your learners disengage from the eLearning course, especially those who are pressed for time or prefer visual learning resources. If you have large text blocks, try to break them up into bullet points or shorter paragraphs. If it’s a process, divide it up into individual steps so that your learners can follow along and actually retain the information. Freshen up the first page. First impressions matter and you can draw your learners into the eLearning experience by livening up the introduction of your existing eLearning course. Ask them a thought provoking question, stress the real world benefits of the eLearning course, or show an image that will immediately grab their attention. If you connect with them in those first few seconds, then they are more likely to stay with the eLearning course and actively participate. Add a story. Stories have the power to evoke emotions and create an instant connection with your learners. Include a story that features a situation or challenge that your learners face on a regular basis, as well as characters that are relatable to them. You can even use stories to convey the real world benefits of the subject matter, or show your learners how they can apply the knowledge in their personal or professional lives. Use these tips to update your existing eLearning course and make it more interactive, engaging, and effective for your online learners. The key is not throwing all of your eLearning content by the wayside, but adding a modern twist that makes it resonate with the learners of today. The trick to creating truly effective eLearning courses in this tech-centric age is making them interactive! Read the article How To Develop a Successful Interactive eLearning Strategy to discover 7 top tips you can use to develop a successful interactive eLearning strategy. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

ICEduTech 2015 is the International Conference on Educational Technologies 2015 Topics for the ICEduTech 2015 Conference Education in Context Education in the Network Society, Educational Games, Social Media in Education, Home Schooling, Students’ Rights, Parents’ Rights, Teachers’ Rights, Student-Safe Searching, School Violence, Education and Tolerance for Peace, Education in Developing Countries Education as Professional Field Teacher Education, Teachers’ Professional Development, Teachers’ Workload, Teacher Support for Grading, Time Tabling, Grading, Learning Tools, and Online Learning Software, Teachers’ learning in Communities of Practice, Web-based Communities for Teacher Support, Teachers’ Career Planning, Legal and Financial Issues, Conflict Resolution and Mediation, Governance and Servant Leadership, Educational Policies Curricular Evolution Problem-based Learning, Critical Thinking Skills, Creativity Skills, Learning Citizenship, Global Education, Media Literacy / Pedagogy, Multicultural Education, Alternative Assessment Methods Learner Orientation Student-Oriented Learning, Peer- and Collaborative Learning, Learning Strategies: Learn how to Learn, Motivating Students, Recognizing Students’ Learning Styles, Special Education Integrating Educational Technologies Social Media and Social Networking, The Semantic Web 3.0, Podcasting for Broadcasting Video Lectures, Podcasting feedback to students, Wiki and blogs in Higher Education, Mobile, Virtual and Vicarious Learning, Simulations and Modeling International Higher Education Marketing Higher Education as a Business Case, Pitfalls and Solutions in Joint and Double Degree Programs, Enculturation and International Teacher Accreditation, Web-based, Mobile, Virtual Presence and Social Media to Overcome Student Mobility, Blended Learning and Student Assessment at a Distance, Student Mobility and Distance Education, New-Emerging Standards and Benchmarks for Higher Education, Education, Research, Exchange an Capacity Building, 21st Century Academic and Industrial Brain Exchange, Academic Salaries, Faculty Contracts, Residence Permits and Legal Issues, International Student Exchange Funding Programs: Erasmus Mundus, the U.S. Council on International Educational Student Exchange, and the Euro-American "Atlantis" program, Networks for International Higher Education in the Pacific, Australia, Europe, Asian and European countries, Higher Education, Cultural Diversity, Tolerance and Political Conflict ICEduTech 2015 Keynote Speakers Professor Piet Kommers, University of Twente, The Netherlands Professor Pedro Isaías, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University), Portugal The International Conference on Educational Technologies 2015 (ICEduTech 2015) will be held in Brazil on November 30 to December 2, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

4 Ways To Create Multi-Device eLearning Games   eLearning games are a proven way to increase engagement and get your learners more interested in your course. If your eLearning is going to be deployed on multiple platforms then you need to make sure your games can be too. Whether you’re going to be introducing gamification elements to your eLearning or a fully-fledged serious game, you’re going to need to make sure it’s multi-device friendly. 1. Gamification Using game thinking to introduce gamified elements to your eLearning can be achieved in many ways. Adding a points system and leaderboard is often best done at the Learning Management System (LMS) level, so having a Learning Management System that offers multi-device support means you’re all set. Making your Learning Management System available on all devices could be as simple as using a responsive theme, one that adapts to the screen size and input methods of the devices your learners use to access it. The top 3 LMSs by users are Moodle, Edmodo, and Blackboard, with a combined user base of over 100 million. All three have gamification features available and are multi-device friendly as standard. They either offer native mobile apps for the major operating systems or a responsive theme allowing access via a web browser from any modern device. If your Learning Management System is responsive you just need to add the leaderboard, badges, points, or other scoring system to have your gamified eLearning course. 2. eLearning Games In Authoring Tools Serious games that focus on eLearning needs are one of the best ways to keep learners interested in your course. Storyline 2 can be used to create interactions like drag and drop, matching, and other basic game style elements and build them into the course you’re creating. Currently, courses can be exported as HTML5 for deployment across multiple devices. Articulate has announced plans to release a responsive mobile player for their content, which should act a lot like Adobe Captivate Prime’s fluidic player, allowing the same content to be viewed anywhere in a controlled frame rather than a browser. Adobe Captivate includes several templates for interactions like Hangman and jigsaw puzzle-style games that can be used to include a basic game. With the new features Adobe introduced in Captivate 9 these interactions are available across platforms for mobile users as well as desktop. Lectora also has games templates and you can create your own games within the tool using actions and variables. Building simple game interactions is possible in most popular authoring tools, but it’s also possible to build fully featured serious games and include them in a course. You can also use a fully responsive, HTML5 based framework like Adapt to crate your course. Starting with a responsive learning course makes it much easier to include game content that is built in the same way. 3. HTML5 Responsive Games There are some techniques you can use for creating real games that work seamlessly in your eLearning. If you’re using a framework which outputs HTML5 content then it’s possible to include HTML5 components, including games, in your course. There are many different HTML5 game engines to work with if you go down this route, some of the popular options include: Phaser. An open source framework for 2D HTML5 games, there’s an active community and plenty of tutorials to help you get started. Construct 2. A user friendly interface allowing rapid creation of 2D games with output in various formats including HTML5 for the web. Easeljs. Another open source project, it’s a good choice for developers who are familiar with Flash as it uses a similar API. Amazon developer Jesse Freeman sets out four key requirements for creating a responsive game: Display. Game graphics and user interface supports multiple resolutions. Controls.  Game mechanics work across multiple types of input. Cross platform code.  Publish to multiple platforms with the same code base. Synchronized data.  Saved data is synced across all platforms. Amazon has platforms that run on everything from phones to TV sets with all combinations of controllers that you can imagine. The chances are that your learners won’t be accessing the course from such a huge variety, but these rules are a great place to start when you create your game content. Synchronizing data across platforms becomes especially important when you’re tracking your learners’ game achievements in your Learning Management System. Allowing people to come and go from the game and not lose any progress is essential when promoting it as a mobile friendly option. 4. Multi-Platform Games.  The next level in game design is a fully fledged 3D game engine which can publish to any platform using the same code base. Unity 3D is currently the most popular option for game developers and can publish your game to all major platforms. The truth is, the majority of eLearning games will be built either within an authoring tool or using a more basic 2D HTML5 game engine. It’s a step up from the basic interactions you can achieve inside an authoring tool, offering a huge leap in terms of creativity. Consistent Experience  Whichever route you go down it’s important to make the game an intrinsic part of the experience. Building it with the same visual style and control methods as your course will mean a consistent experience for your learners. With the extra creativity you have from a responsive HTML5 based game framework you can create much more varied and realistic games and simulations to compliment your eLearning objectives. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Comparing 7 Cloud Based Authoring Tools  As the growth of online learning has exploded in recent years, so has the vast array of tools and platforms vying for your attention. While cloud based Learning Management Systems have been around for years, the emergence of cloud based content authoring tools is a relatively new trend in eLearning, driven by the rise of BYOD and mLearning. This trend has required innovation and fresh thinking for multi-screen course editing and dissemination. Using the latest online platforms, almost anyone can create virtually any type of training that will run seamlessly across desktops and mobile devices. Following is the comparison of 7 cloud based course authoring tools and the exploration of each solution’s advantages and disadvantages. 1. Litmos Author Litmos Author is the self-proclaimed leader in cloud based collaborative course authoring. Their platform is designed to allow staff to collaboratively manage media assets, storyboard, develop, review, and publish eLearning in a four-step process; but is it as easy as it sounds? Pros:  Intuitive Media Manager for organizing resources, along with handy tools for optimizing images. Collaborative authoring for co-developers, as well as the ability to add clients as "reviewers". Access to the SDK allowing for customized templates to be added (not tested). Flexible publishing options including: URL sharing, SCORM 1.2, 2004, Tin Can and AICC compliant downloads - Litmos Author allows you to download your course along with the source files. Cons:  An unpolished and outdated (Flash-based) user interface - most parts of the authoring interface aren’t intuitive to use. Form-based templates are difficult to work with, involving a lot of trial and error to get a good result. Little to no scaffolding - warning messages are often downright confusing. Some of the visuals lack design flair, and the overall design approach seems lackluster. No instant signup - trial access is available, but you’ll have to request a demo if you’d like to take a look around. Overall:  This reviewer was disappointed with the Litmos authoring tool. The Media Manager could be handy for organizations where approval for media is required. The range of variety of eLearning templates might be also be a drawcard for some users. The fact that you can export authored content in almost any format possible, with no limitations on URL sharing or publishing content, is possibly one reason to consider Litmos Author over other similar platforms. Price:  $1999/yr or $999/yr for education (separate to Litmos LMS). Recommended for:  Corporate HR Teams who have experience with authoring tools like Articulate who are looking for a way to develop resources in a more collaborative environment. 2. Easy Generator Easy Generator's all-in-one eLearning software gives authors simple tools to create engaging courses in the cloud, "no coding expertise required". From the time you sign up, Easy Generator steps you through defining learning objectives, encouraging authors to measure their learner's success through a "strong instructive framework". This platform doesn’t include student management features but provides the option to see results from anyone who provides their name and email before completing a course. Pros:  Jump right in with the help of excellent scaffolding and tutorials when you need them. Extremely user friendly user interface - no scripting or programming needed to create an interactive course. Elegant "out of the box" themes providing Instructional Designers a visual consistency approach across all parts of a course. Mobile friendly responsive courses. Ability to add co-authors to each course. Customizable questions responses for correct and incorrect feedback. Comprehensive sharing options including private link sharing, website embedding, SCORM, and HTML download. Cons:  Interactive elements are fairly limited, and there isn’t a great deal of variety in the 9 available content templates, however, the "Academy" plan lets you build and add your own templates (not tested in this review). Can become pricey if multiple authors need to access the platform. Overall:  Easy Generator is an excellent example of a next generation authoring tools for training development - it’s easy to get started without any instructional or design expertise. Authors with previous eLearning experience might feel limited as to what they can build and create - however, the "Pro Plan" now allows users to add their own templates, or modify the existing source code, providing greater flexibility across the platform. Price:  Easy Generator has a free trial and a freemium model (limited to 2 basic question types) with several other plans available. The "plus" (or standard) account is $39 per author per month. To access the advanced features will set you back $59 per month. There’s also 50% off for educational institutions. Recommended for:  Anyone that doesn’t want to spend days learning their way around a new authoring tool and doesn’t require too much flexibility in design. 3. Lectora Online Lectora Online recently released version 2 of their cloud based authoring tool with a number of new features. Those who have used Lectora before and are familiar with the interface will find it easy to get the hang of... Pros:  A 30-day free trial is available - you can try it out right away. Handy integrations, for instance, the ability to add your GoAnimate professional animated videos directly into your Lectora Online Media Library. HTML, SCORM, and Tin Can publishing (you can download your resources and keep a copy of them without an ongoing subscription). FTP publishing and the ability to publish and preview "titles" without too much fuss. Ability to create LMS compatible assignments. Cons:  HTML is not mobile friendly or responsive. The title explorer can become overloaded with elements and is often difficult to work with. You’re left to join the dots on most interactive elements, which can result in errors, especially for beginners. Error checking is required each time you publish a course and is designed to validate your "design" but can be very frustrating, as the help video explains "you may have to repeat this process a few times" - why not validate the components as they are being saved? A little on the pricey side. Overall:  Contrary to the publishers’ claim that the interface is "easy to get the hang of", this reviewer found it fairly difficult to work with. Lectora Online has all the benefits of an online authoring tool, for instance the ability to collaborate on "titles" from all corners of the earth, but so do all of the platforms in this review. The course organizer and editing environment is inline (what you see is what you get authoring), which is great for some purposes but impractical at other times. The templates provided also look a little jaded, and are not a great starting point for developing your own eLearning development. Price:  $159 per month ($1,908 per year). Recommended for:  Existing Lectora users who have already invested time and effort learning the desktop platform. 4. eCoach eCoach is a newcomer to the market, and at the time of writing is still in BETA release (and free to use). eCoach multi-device authoring tools allow anyone "to quickly build new online courses from scratch using media and resources from around the web". So how does it stack up? Pros:  A free 30 trial is available. Easy to learn user interface and help videos throughout the site, making it easy to get up and running (once you’ve learnt how to work with 1 template the rest are fairly easy). A great variety of templates that are easy to work with. The ability to share resources via a simple or private URL (using a course code). A consistent and great looking format for learners to work with. Completely mobile friendly learning resources - our test course performed well on all devices. Cons:  Templates are form-based, meaning you have to preview them each time you add new content. Some questions templates are hard to find. No SCORM exporting or HTML downloads. Lack of tracking for student quizzes (the current approach is to have students email their quiz data). Overall:  eCoach is a lot more fun to use than some of the other platforms tested, after spending half an hour with the platform we were actually having a blast making our own lessons. The visual layout of the Learning pathway is another neat feature, and takes a different approach to any other platform we’ve tested. The "Quick Share" option is likely to appeal to teachers, while those looking for student tracking and more advanced Learning Management System features will be disappointed. Perhaps one of the best features of eCoach is the mobile compatibility, which was second to none, and is a clincher for anyone looking to deliver training via BYOD programs. Price:  Currently free, but will become a paid service in November starting at $29.95 per month for teachers, and $49.95 per month for all other users (we had to contact the publishers to find pricing information). Recommended for:  Teachers who are prepared to put a little bit of elbow grease into their online learning, or any trainer looking to deliver great looking content across a number of devices. 5. Ruzuku Ruzuku is more of a learning repository than an authoring tool; it’s not really a Learning Management System either, as there is no tracking of student data (except participation). Ruzuku relies on uploading your own information, files and activities within "steps" which can be scheduled across 1 or more days. It also allows you to build a course and share or sell it. Pros:  Simple to use. Allows you to build a simple signup page for your course, including custom enrollment and sign in pages. Courses can be easily sold via integrations with Stripe, Paypal, and 1shoppingcart. On demand, open or scheduled publishing along with the ability to monitor the "health" of a course by tracking student participation. Simple to follow knowledge base and support articles. Cons:  Limited "activity" options - how do we add questions? Ruzuku recommend using an "outside tool" like ProProfs or PollDaddy. Page loading times weren’t great during testing. Limited styling options (7 colors, 4 font styles) with no previews. Courses aren’t interactive or engaging. Overall:  Ruzuku sits somewhere between a traditional Learning Management System and an authoring tool (kind of like Udemy). Out of all platforms reviewed, it’s no doubt the simplest way to publish and market a course. While it’s incredibly easy to use, you probably won’t win an eLearning award with your Ruzuku courses. Price:  From $49 per month (with 25 enrollments) to $997 per year for unlimited access and all features. A free 14-day trial is also available. Recommended for:  Blended learning, seminars, workshops, or short-courses where the focus of the training isn’t purely online. Ruzuku could also be valuable to external consultants who are looking for a way to develop a training calendar, and simple tools to accept registrations and enrollments. 6. Smart Sparrow The Smart Sparrow platform allows you to create, deploy, analyze, and share adaptive lessons. Lessons are "adaptive" based on what the student is doing, what they’ve done in the past, what they already know. The "Adaptivity Factors" can be customized to facilitate almost any kind of learning activity, providing feedback or changing dynamically based on feedback and input from learners. Pros:  Simple and clear product tour. A clean and simple to navigate user interface - inline editing done well! Adaptivity - powerful editing tools that allow you to build almost anything, including branched / interactive scenarios and simulations. Excellent insights into what students are learning and where they are struggling. Public links, embedding, and SCORM compatible publishing options. Cons:  Education only - you’ll need a valid EDU email to sign up. It’s easy to get lost when working with some of the screen elements and layers. It’s not always clear how each element works, or what files types are supported. Adaptivity is a powerful function but is tricky to work with, and will take a while to master - previous experience working with conditional logic will help! Not mobile friendly or responsive. Overall:  Not surprising a lot of Smart Sparrow’s customers appear to be universities. This is a powerful editing suite which you can achieve amazing results with - although there is a steep learning curve. Smart Sparrow also includes real-time analytics to monitor student learning behavior, allowing teachers to identify common mistakes and misconceptions, as a way to constantly adapt content and improve learning outcomes. Authors can also use Loops to build a showcase of lessons and share it with a community of like-minded educators (not tested). Price: From $39 per month for a single author with up to 30 students, or $199 a month for 3 authors and 200 students. POA for for larger class sizes and campus-wide solutions. Recommended for:  Smart Sparrow is well designed, but it’s not easy to use. Universities with dedicated eLearning staff working in a collaborative team / environment will be able to leverage the power of Smart Sparrow to create world class eLearning resources, while non specialists might struggle to find the time to learn their way around all of the features. 7. Versal Versal education is an authoring tool allowing you to create interactive learning experiences for the classroom or the office (with the later designed for corporate trainers). In this review we took the "Education" product for a test-drive… Pros:  The ability to invite students to Versal, or embed courses directly into websites or popular Learning Management System platforms (LTI and SCORM compliant). Courses can even be published via the Versal Chrome app. Incredibly intuitive drag and drop editor with an huge number of import options (Quizlet, Google Docs, Disqus, Prezi, Educreations, PDF, to name a few). Adjustable timers for "challenge" style interactive content. 15 out of the box gadgets of varying quality, along with a mind-boggling array of interactive elements available via "labs" (anything from a tool to teach chess openings, to music notation!). Great sharing and publishing options. Access to the "teacher-powered" gadget marketplace containing over 1,000 gadgets that anyone can download to their ‘tray’ (most licensed under Creative Commons). Ability to add your own courses and submit them as a gadget. Cons:  Some templates (or gadgets) are easy to work with, others we had no idea how to use. Buggy - the course editor would occasionally skip from the lesson manager to the course overview screen for no reason, I was also signed out for no reason on one occasion. Sharing a course didn’t always work, often returning a 403 error via share links. Requires a mobile player to view resources via smartphone. Overall:  Versal is a sophisticated platform, but one that is incredibly easy to use. The huge range of customizable JavaScript applications available from the Gadget market makes creating content and adding existing materials into your course a breeze - gadgets are available across a huge range of topics and the library is constantly updated. Our only criticism might be that there’s a no consistent format for community gadgets, meaning that authors will need to spend a lot of time becoming familiar with the format of each resource. Searching and finding resources isn’t easy either (some categories would help!). Price:  Free for public courses or $5 a month for teachers who require student tracking. If you’re looking for student management features, a Versal Pro account is required. Business plans start at $100 per month. Recommended for:  High School Teachers. Why? It’s free and you can share courses with Google Classroom at the push of a button. There’s also an excellent library of STEM content available via the gadget marketplace. Conclusion  None of these online tools are perfect - some platforms are way too complex and don’t feel at home on the web (notably Litmos Author and Lectora Online). Versal, eCoach, and Easy Generator are great alternatives for anyone looking to make a great looking course with a minimum of fuss. Smart Sparrow is a great tool for experienced Instructional Designers and tertiary institutions who want to take their eLearning to the next level. For anyone wanting to package and sell a simple course using their existing resources, try Ruzuku - keep in mind that you could use Ruzuku in tandem with any "authoring" tool that allows embedding or link sharing to package and sell your courses. Have a suggestion, experience using any of these platforms, or an alternative recommendation, please add it in the comments below! This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Making Your Content Go Viral: Ideas From Real Learning The Real Learning Project is a book, site, and exercises designed to show people how to learn to learn socially, experientially, and informally. Real Learning is self-instructional and self-contained, created with the individual in mind. We expect some organizations will want to apply the lessons of Real Learning more widely. To support organizational renewal and reinvention. To become true learning organizations. To establish a more open, sharing, collaborative culture. To adopt social business, Radical Management, digital transformation, and other models. To enable workers and managers to take charge of their own learning. To be more responsive to change, more sustainable. To consolidate groups after a merger or acquisition. To focus new hires in onboarding programs. To build mentoring and coaching skills into management develop programs. To delegate decision-making to the operational level. To work smarter overall. To take advantage of the benefits of informal learning. To become a leaner organization with more generalists. To get everyone up to a baseline standard of self-directed learning skills. To become more technologically advanced. To exploit wikis, social networks, videoconferencing, and teamwork to the fullest. To shift from a training to a performance orientation. To unleash the power of collective intelligence. To open the process of innovation to all workers. How does one apply self-instruction to a group? Teams and organizations can use Real Learning to help small groups and entire companies to better engage, collaborate, learn, share, and make decisions. Shift a group from old power to new. In Understanding New Power (HBR December 2014), Jeremy Helmans and Henry Timms capture the essential shift from centralized power to distributed power. The characteristics on the left are vestiges of the pre-web industrial era; those on the right are the values of Web 2.0, democratization, and Real Learning. Harvard Business Review Visual Library, December 1, 2014 If you are making this journey, here are some things to consider: Form a task force. Assemble a task force of influential people to monitor progress and communicate results. Make the task force responsible for change management. The task force will keep stakeholders up to date, keep track of adoption, trumpet successes, set leader expectations, create a vision, eliminate obstacles to change, plan for short-term wins, and tie project outcomes to organizational success. In selling the value of Real Learning, the task force should focus on business outcomes, not the learning capabilities that led to them: Better, more knowledgeable customer service. Faster response time. Higher morale. Reduced turnover. Greater flexibility. Bottom-up innovation. Collective intelligence. Governance. Real Learning can work miracles if people are free to choose their own path, something they truly believe in. You can’t control freedom without strangling it. Real Learning pays big benefits - so long as you give it room to thrive. Governance means someone having the clout to represent executive management as ombudsman. Beyond having a social media policy and code of ethics, not much documentation is required. Align Real Learning with real needs. Learning never exists in a vacuum. You have to learn something, not just learn about learning per se. Couple Real Learning to a topic the group needs to master, e.g. becoming a real-time business, embracing Six Sigma, implementing new enterprise software, entering a new marketplace, or getting our team back on track. Hitchhike with a winning cause. Enlist sponsors and champions. As with any project, the more support from the top of the organization, the better. Leaders should model the behavior they are looking for. Managers must make time for learning, practice, and reflection. Find champions -learning junkies and working smarter enthusiasts- to pilot Real Learning and demonstrate how it’s done. Shift the culture. Work on developing a culture that is open, sharing, tolerant of mistakes, and respectful. Reward individual behaviors such as working out loud, reflecting on successes and failure, creating knowledge as well as consuming it, and taking on daring but not foolish challenges. Study group. The first year I attended business school, every evening before class I would join four friends to discuss the three cases that would be discussed the following day. We were a diverse group. One fellow was so conservative, risk-averse, and Republican, that I had to hold back from taunting him. Another guy was a convicted felon who refused to let his wife leave the house without him or listen to the radio. The third fellow held views similar to mine. Diversity helped: We had different perspectives on the cases. I learned more in the study group than I did in class. Figuring things out with your peers is powerful medicine. Form your own study group. You have my permission. Enlist a colleague or two who’ll work their way through Real Learning with you in tandem. Lesson plan. Hells, bells, you don’t need a lesson plan. Nobody’s teaching here. Real Learning defines the topics. Go through them at a pace that’s comfortable for your group. Skip around if you like. There is no specific order. AA-style. "Hi, my name’s Jay and I’m powerless over my own learning". Join with other people who want to work smarter and improve their position in life. Be authentic. Tell stories. Get a sponsor should you lose the faith. Attend meetings. Come if you feel like you’ve hit bottom, don’t know what you’re doing, and need someone to toss you a life ring. Host a Meet-Up or post an announcement on the bulletin board. Team-driven. Teams are defined by their context. An agile development team is not like the team that meets every morning before Whole Foods opens or the Honda workers doing jumping jacks before heading to the production line. Four people who have worked together for years is a different team than eight contentious people with low morale and high turnover. There are great teams and sick teams and teams that cry out to be fixed. Real Learning focuses on practice. People learn socially, sharing with others, respecting others, and working smarter. They reflect on successes and failures, understanding how they can make the team healthier and more productive. Real Learning is a catalyst for organizational development, for one of the methods of learning to learn is teamwork. Ask yourself how your team might benefit from adopting Real Learning practices and what that would be worth to you? Content, books, community, FAQ, monthly prep teaching instructions via video, transcript, etc. costs less than $300 per person for a team of six. The big investment is people’s time: several hours a week doing exercises, working with a study-buddy, scouring the web, goal setting, practice, and more. Probably add a few hours at home or the "third place" during downtime for most people. Some teams, when the time is right and demand lulls make Real Learning the focus of management development and have participants mentor the rest of the organization on how to move forward. Book club. Six people agree to read and discuss Real Learning. They skim the book rapidly; in an hour, they "get it". They come together to answer "How could this improve our team?" Support the project with your corporate social network. Create a learning community on your in-house social network to coordinate and share activities. Yammer, Chatter, Jing, Slack, SocialCast, or IBM Connections will do. The basic functionality is not that different from one platform to the next. Encourage participants to share their discoveries. Put a community manager in charge of pruning, reorganizing, and keeping the conversations active. Niches before Big Bang. Try Real Learning with a few enthusiastic teams or small groups before taking implementation to the entire organization. Pilot tests provide examples, an opportunity to fix glitches, and a means of localization. Besides, why risk it all when you can build on experience incrementally? Keep individual self-study option open. Encourage individual go-getters to participate in Real Learning on their own or in dyads no matter what other programs you have going. The more experiments, the better. Announce the availability of Real Learning to everyone who might want it. Real Learning has had a great reception among experienced people, most with advanced degrees who want to audit the way they learn and make improvements. A person who doesn’t care about learning might need it, but will never be persuaded it’s something worth investing in. In contrast, the learning enthusiast will work hard to advance from 90 percent effectiveness to 95 percent. Affirm your values. When implementing Real Learning on a large scale, it’s a good idea to make a company wide commitment to your new philosophy on learning. Here are the values we developed with a client - and took an oath to follow: We are open and transparent. We narrate our work. Need to share. We value conversation as a learning vehicle. We make our work accessible to others. Our bottom line is business success. We know learning is work; work is learning. We are a learning organization. We value time for self-development and reflection. We recognize that reflection is a key to learning. Changing behavior requires continual reinforcement, so be ready to tackle the concern and resistance that some people may have toward becoming a more collaborative organization. Learning is social; connect people. People learn with and through others, so set up ways for people to introduce themselves and select learning partners. Effective managers encourage their team members to buddy up on projects, to shadow others and to participate in professional social networks. People learn more in an environment that encourages conversation, so make sure you’re fostering an environment where people talk to each other. Several years ago, the local paper in Ottawa carried a story about voter betrayal. The politicians had gone back on their promise to provide every elementary student with a computer. It would be 2 kids per machine. I smiled. The kids will learn a lot more this way. Adults need to take advantage of the social nature of learning. Have two or three people go through eLearning together, before a single screen. Encourage them to talk. Retention will skyrocket, and conversation will mitigate the boredom of most learning. Become A Meta-Learner Yourself  If you are personally drawn in by this subject, by all means consider being a mentor to your colleagues and friends. No one learns more than a mentor. You might host some online events or bring communities together. It’s intoxicating. Common Goal  I take my goal from my friend Howard Rheingold. We’re forming a community of co-learners. That’s not a bad line to use to spark a ground-up community of real learning practice where you work. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

eLearning Course Authoring Software Hidden Costs When you sign up for an eLearning course authoring software, you might naturally assume that the price tag includes any and all expenses. However, you may be surprised to learn that there may be other costs you haven’t even considered. These additional fees can add up quickly and throw your eLearning estimate off balance. This can make it difficult to stick to your eLearning development budget. In this article, I’ll shed light on the 6 most common hidden costs of eLearning course authoring tools. Upgrades. While many people focus on the startup or sign up costs of the eLearning course authoring tool, many overlook the fact that there may be upgrade fees involved. In fact, this is where some "free" eLearning authoring platforms earn their profits. They may not require any payment up front, but you will have to pay when it’s time to upgrade the product. For example, if they come out with a new version a month after you sign up, you might have to dig into your eLearning budget to be able to upgrade so that you can get the latest and greatest features. This is why it’s always a good idea to ask about upgrades in advance and, if possible, go with eLearning course authoring software that includes free upgrades for existing users. Also, if you are already utilizing the specific eLearning course authoring software and they release a new version that isn’t covered by the initial fee, then carefully examine the new features or functions to see if it’s really worth the added investment. Support. Even if you’re a tech-savvy eLearning professional who knows their way around an eLearning course authoring tool, there may be times when you need some assistance with the software. There might be a glitch in the program or you may be unsure about how to work a particular feature. In these instances, support services are essential. The trouble is that some eLearning course authoring tools charge extra for support and don’t include it in their monthly or annual fee. So, if you do run into a problem, you’ll have to either find another way to work around it or pay more to speak to a representative or chat with them online. Before you sign up for the software, double check to verify which support services they do offer and if they are covered in the startup costs. Are you able to contact them via email and phone, or do they only offer an online contact form or FAQ? Do they offer a premium package for a bit more that includes more extensive support? Licensing fees. They key to choosing the best eLearning course authoring software for your eLearning project is knowing as much as possible about their pricing model. While some products only require an initial investment that grants you unlimited access to the software in perpetuity, others offer limited time licenses that expire after a certain time period. For example, after a year you will have to pay the licensing fee again, or a renewal fee, to keep using the eLearning course authoring platform. Software maintenance. As a general rule, these maintenance fees are roughly 15 to 20 percent of the purchase price. This covers new software installation, on-site support services, and anything else that is par-for-the-course when it comes to maintaining an eLearning course authoring software. There is also a secondary cost that has nothing to do with the vendor. This is the staffing and monetary resources that you’ll have to put into your eLearning course authoring software to upkeep it on a company-wide level. Do you have to update your eLearning content on a regular basis? Are you going to need to modify it over time to meet the growing needs of your organization? Training. This is an essential cost that many eLearning professionals may not even consider. No matter how user-friendly the eLearning course authoring tool might be, there is going to be some sort of learning curve involved. You will need to train your eLearning development team or users on how to utilize the eLearning course authoring software so that they can take full advantage of its features, which improves your ROI. If you’re flying solo, then you will also have to factor in the time and effort you need to invest in order to master the tool. After all, time is money! More difficult tools may offer a vast array of features, but are they ideal for your eLearning development team, or should you opt for a more basic tool that cuts down training costs? Excessive fees. Overage fees may, unfortunately, be hidden in the fine print in some cases. For example, certain eLearning course authoring software vendors may charge an overage fee for every extra user or GB of storage that you use beyond your cap. Check to see how much usage is included in your package and if the vendor charges overage fees or simply blocks your access to the tool until the next billing cycle. If possible opt for an eLearning course authoring option that far exceeds your usual users or GB usage, just to be safe. Otherwise, you may end up paying much more than expected if your eLearning course is a resounding success. Avoid going over your eLearning budget and find the eLearning course authoring software tool that offers the features you need at a price you can afford. Use these tips to steer clear of hidden charges when selecting your next eLearning course authoring software. Want to learn more about eLearning authoring software pricing models, and how to choose the best eLearning course authoring software for your eLearning project? Read the article The Insider's Guide To Authoring Tools Pricing Models to find out about the basics and benefits of each price structure to determine which is right for your eLearning needs and budget. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Create A Work/School Balance While Taking Online Courses Read the following tips from National Real Estate Learning to learn how to have balance while taking online courses. Work on your time management skills. For example, if you are taking classes to get your real estate license online or if you decide to study real estate online, you will need to spend many hours each week learning your craft. To become a real estate agent, you must get a certain number of classroom hours and then be able to pass your exams to become an agent. For those who are not technical, learning the terms and phrases related to buying and selling property as well as learning the legal aspect of the job can be tedious. Therefore, it is important that you devote only as much time as you can spend effectively learning. In other words, if you have just worked a 12-hour shift, you should get something to eat or spend time with your kids instead of jumping on the computer. Your schoolwork should be reserved for when you don't have to work or have a shorter or less intensive shift to complete. Ask for help when you need it. If you have a big sales training academy lecture coming up or you need to complete an important sales technique training video, you should treat it as a top priority during the week. You should think about asking your boss for time off or a flexible schedule to complete the task on time and in a satisfactory manner. In the event that you cannot get time off from your boss, you may want to consider asking your friends and family for help with other tasks. For instance, you could ask your parents to take your child for a night or for a weekend. You could also ask a friend to mow your yard or take care of other tasks for an affordable fee or in exchange for a favor down the line. By asking for help, you can keep your workload manageable and stay on a relatively even keel mentally. As a general rule, you won't do well at work or school if your mind is thinking about the other stuff that you need to get done afterward. Therefore, seeking the help of others makes sure that you do well at both work and school, which ensures that you won't waste your time getting poor grades or risk losing your current job that pays for your education. Get used to working on a phone or tablet. If you can get used to working on your phone or tablet, you can get work done wherever you are. This means that you can respond to a professor's email or submit a paper during your lunch break or while you are commuting to or from work. You may also find that you are able to actually watch a video or listen to a lecture for school while you work out or while you complete a task for work. Instead of listening to music on your phone, you can listen to that video or lecture without losing focus on your task at hand, which enables you to do two things at once to save time. Review your course syllabus when you first get it. The first thing that you will want to do is review your course syllabus as soon as you get it. It will have all the due dates for homework assignments, group projects, and major papers. You can then reference your work schedule to determine if you may need to ask for time off from work or whether you need to start working on a paper right away. Staying ahead of your coursework enables you to get everything done without having to cram for an exam the night before or pull an all-nighter to finish a paper you forgot about. If you have chosen to study for a license or get your degree online, you will have a lot of flexibility as to how and when you do your work. However, make sure that you can put the right amount of effort into your courses to ensure that you get the most for your time and money. This means managing your time properly and asking for help from your professor, your boss, or your family whenever you need it. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Creating Courses For The iPad Using Rapid Authoring Tools  The marketplace is flooded with hundreds of rapid authoring tools which can be used to develop courses for the iPad. Of these, 4 tools are widely used by the eLearning world to create courses for the iPad: Articulate Storyline 2. Lectora Inspire 12. Articulate Studio 13. iSpring Suite 7.1. Let us have an analytical look at each one of them: Articulate Storyline 2. The latest avatar of Articulate Storyline is a wonderful tool to develop courses for the iPad. The rapid authoring tool has an in-built iPad app called Articulate Mobile Player (AMP), which can be used to deliver excellent learning experiences on the tablet. AMP is also available in the Android version. This rapid authoring tool is ideal for converting legacy courses, developed in Flash, into iPad-compatible learning content. This is because it can be used to recreate many effects which are possible with Flash. Articulate Storyline 2 has a very intuitive user interface which closely resembles that of PowerPoint. Anyone who is familiar with the Microsoft application can work with the eLearning development software very easily. Also, Storyline 2 comes with an in-built library of interactivities and 47,500 characters in various styles and poses. This makes the work of instructional designers (IDs) easy and helps reduce the time taken for developing mobile learning courses considerably. Lectora Inspire 12. This rapid authoring tool is used extensively to convert text heavy learning content into iPad-compatible eLearning courses. Lectora Inspire 12 has a very user friendly interface and comes with in-built templates which are very useful to create courses for the iPad in quick time. The online course development software comes with 3 powerful in-built applications - Camtasia, Flypaper, and Snagit. You can use this product from Trivantis to convert your audio and videos into MP3 and MP4 formats, to ensure better learning experiences. The MP3 and MP4 files can be played in a Flash player or using HTML5, depending on the device the course is being accessed. Lectora Inspire 12 can be used to ensure perfect compatibility of online courses on all devices irrespective of the platform. Articulate Studio 13. This is a very useful tool to convert PowerPoint presentations into eLearning courses. Articulate Studio 13 is a PowerPoint add-in, and is made up of 4 applications; Articulate Presenter 13, Articulate Quizmaker 13, Articulate Engage 13, and Articulate Replay. Articulate Studio 13 can be used to deliver wonderful learning experiences on iPads through AMP. The rapid authoring tool can be sued to retain several animations of PowerPoint presentations when they are transformed into eLearning courses for the iPad. The eLearning development software has several in-built packs of human and animated characters, which help develop highly engaging online learning content. But, a major drawback of Articulate Studio 13 is that it cannot be customized. iSpring Suite 7.1. This brand new version of the popular rapid authoring tool iSpring Presenter 7 is power packed with various features that help convert PowerPoint presentations into highly effective online courses for the iPad. ISpring Suite 7.1 is a PowerPoint add-in and has an in-built app called iSpring viewer which helps deliver good learning experiences on iPads and Android devices. ISpring Suite 7.1 preserves most animations and all transitions in a PowerPoint presentation, when it is converted into an iPad-compatible course. The eLearning development software supports a wide variety of instructional strategies and allows online course developers to insert YouTube videos easily. Thus, we see that these four rapid authoring tools can be used to create good eLearning courses for the iPad. Hope you find this post informative. Do share your views. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Key Decisions During The Making Of TalentLMS In a number of previous articles on eLearning Industry we have looked at various features of the popular cloud-based eLearning platform, TalentLMS. In this article we'’l examine the design decisions and the philosophy that shaped TalentLMS’ development and defined its feature set. Cloud-based. A key characteristic of TalentLMS is its cloud-based nature. We strongly believe that cloud computing brings many benefits to the table, and the continuous success of cloud and SaaS platforms in the market proves that many others share that opinion. Of course, we understand that the public cloud is not the appropriate solution for every enterprise and use case (for these, there's always eFrontPro, the flagship self hosted LMS offering). For enterprises and organizations without complicated infrastructure needs, though, the cloud, with its automated updates and backups, instant access to the latest version, and zero maintenance needs, is a no brainer. Intuitive. Most enterprise applications are notoriously difficult to use, with clunky and poorly thought-out interfaces, byzantine menus, and confusing configuration. It's often said that enterprise employees only use those apps because they're forced to. TalentLMS was built to be exactly the opposite: An application that's easy to understand and use, and even more so, and application that you'll love using. As we found out, it's not easy being simple. In fact, it took a lot of thinking and hard work, in order to design TalentLMS so that it's both easy to use and powerful enough to cover all kinds of training needs and business use cases. In the end, judging from the glowing customer feedback and reviews we get, almost universally praising TalentLMS’ intuitiveness and ease of use, it was well worth it. Flexible. We wanted TalentLMS to be as flexible as possible, while at the same time avoid making it a "jack of all trades, master of none". To achieve this, TalentLMS was designed to be flexible in the right places by avoiding endless configuration options and non essential features which would only serve to confuse users. At the core of TalentLMS is its well designed model, which covers everything from users (students, instructors, admins) to courses (online and physical lessons, webinars, etc.) plus everything in between (branches, lessons, tests, skills, etc.). Leveraging TalentLMS’ simple but surprisingly capable model, admins can adjust the platform to cover every common training use case, from a small business onboarding its employees to a large online learning website. Customizable. We wanted users to feel TalentLMS as an extension of their business. For this, flexibility to mold the software to your business needs is important, but it's not enough; you also need customizability. That's why we added lots of customization options to our cloud-based LMS, letting users change all aspects of its interface to include their own branding, color schemes and custom themes. TalentLMS lets users setup their own: Logo, favicon, color scheme, HTML theme, js scripts, certifications, automated emails, domain, landing page, and signup page (phew), all from within a user friendly customization interface, that even offers Live Preview. Oh, and for those who want a different look quickly with minimal effort, it also includes several pre-made themes to choose from. Interoperable. We placed special emphasis on TalentLMS being interoperable and compatible with all kinds of third party tools, protocols, and services. TalentLMS' extensive integration options include Single Sign On (SSO) support based on the industry standard LDAP and SAML2 protocols, as well as support for the Active Directory protocol and external federated identity providers. TalentLMS is also able to export its data in Excel format, and import all kinds of LMS entities (Users, Courses, Categories, Branches, etc.) using a simple text-based format, while also supporting the TinCan and SCORM standards for sharing eLearning activity data. When it comes to online sales, our cloud-based LMS supports the PayPal and Stripe payment gateways, giving you instant access to all major credit cards and billions of users in over 90 countries. TalentLMS also supports the Zapier integration service, through which it can talk to hundreds of third party services, from Gmail and MailChimp to Trello and Salesforce. And if that's not enough, there's a powerful RESTful API that can be used to bridge it to any third party system. Putting It All Together Contrary to popular belief, the very basis of a software is not its code; rather it is its design philosophy, which is what drives all of its development. In the article we've examined the 5 design pillars of TalentLMS. If you'd like to learn more about the platform, visit TalentLMS and take a tour of its features, or sign up for your (forever) free account and take it for a test drive. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Humor In The Workplace? Why Use Humor?  More and more Human Resources departments are taking courses in gelotology, the study of laughter, and its effects on employees both from a psychological and physiological perspective. This study is name after the Greek word for laughter, gelos. Laughter has long been seen as an agent to enhance people's physical health. Research conducted by Robert Provine and his team at the University of Maryland showed that humor can hike the level of our infection-fighting antibodies and increase the levels of our immune cells. It now seems that laughter can also invigorate a workplace. According to scholar Giselinde Kupiers writing in The Sociology of Humor, the use of humor in the workplace creates shared experiences, solidarity and identity within groups of workers. It is also an effective tool for the promotion of communication and heightens creativity and productivity. The Use Of Humor In The Workplace   Whether working with employees or with focus groups, humor can add a dimension of breaking the ice between people, uniting people from different levels within the company, and creating a shared responsibility. This is not accomplished by telling jokes or smiling without reason. Humor is a more subtle force, introduced through quiet, funny exchanges in the course of our regular business operations. A prime example of how humor can foster innovation took place as far back as 1953 when a New England chef George Crum mischievously decided to play a little joke on customers who repeatedly returned his fried potatoes to the kitchen complaining they were not crunchy enough. Crum sliced the potatoes super-thin, added salt, and fried them literally to a crisp. The customer adored these first "potato chips" and shared them with other patrons who immediately wanted more. An entire industry was born. In this instance as well, humor was a tool to dissolve friction and help people solve their differences. Being able to laugh genuinely together makes people feel safe and comfortable with each other and willing to try again and try differently. The next time you have a weekly meeting, ask employees to use one unusual (but true) adjective to describe themselves and explain why it fits. Or ask a focus group to tell one funny thing about themselves. Best of all, introduce little islands of humor into training presentations. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Useful Media For Product Training Online   Many companies are using the online medium to meet the demands for quick delivery of effective product training. Today, thanks to various rapid authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora Inspire, and so on, a 60 minute online training module can be created in just 3 weeks. In this article, we will look at 5 very useful media to deliver effective product training online: eLearning courses. Webinars. eBooks. Videos. Mobile apps. Let us have a closer look at each one of them. eLearning courses Several firms use eLearning courses to impart effective product training. Highly effective product training can be delivered online, in an engaging manner, using instructional techniques such as interactivities and simulations. Webinars Webinars are very useful to educate learners about a product. They hold the attention of people for longer periods of time. Furthermore, live webinars can be recorded and provided on demand. They can also be translated into multiple languages to reach global audiences. For instance, one of our clients, a large pharmaceutical company, uses webinars to explain the features and benefits of its products to physicians worldwide. eBooks eBooks are the perfect tools to provide comprehensive training on products. Interactive eBooks can be developed using tools such as FlipBook Maker in quick time, easily. Many organizations deliver product manuals and brochures in the form of eBooks. For instance, a leading bio-medical equipment manufacturer provides user manuals in the form of interactive eBooks. Videos Videos go a long way in explaining the functioning of products effectively. They are very useful to demonstrate the working of a product when it cannot be demonstrated live. Many organizations use videos to educate learners about the features of their products, their advantages, their handling and any precautionary measures that need to be followed while using them. For instance, a consumer electronics giant uses videos to educate its customers on its washing machines. Mobile apps We live in the mobile age. Highly effective product training can be delivered through mobile devices using apps. Several companies use mobile apps to deliver Just-in-Time (JIT) support to their sales personnel. Consider the following scenario: A salesman of an insurance company is interacting with a potential customer and trying to sell a motor vehicle insurance product. The customer poses certain questions about the product. The salesman accesses a mobile app on his iPhone and gets the required information. He answers the customer’s question clearly, and the latter buys the product. Thus, we see that the five media -eLearning courses, webinars, eBooks, videos, and mobile apps- are very useful to impart effective product training online. Hope you find the post informative. Do share your views. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

In Christa's memory and in keeping with her spirit 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference is designed to highlight the sharing of successful technology practices among educators. The conference serves as a forum for exchanging technology-based success stories, integration tips, instructional strategies, technical solutions, and management techniques, that really work in the learning environment. Based upon the concept of collegial sharing, the focus is on what is possible with the resources we have available today. The conference also provides a forum for investigating new and emerging technologies. 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference Themes Assessment Differentiated Instruction Digital Creation E-Learning Innovative Instruction Leadership & Professional Learning Library & Information Literacy Mobile Learning Technical Infrastructure & Support 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference Keynote Speaker Sara DeWitt is Vice President of PBS KIDS Digital and oversees day-to-day development of PBS’ multiplatform content for kids and families. Sara has led innovative strategies to build connected and immersive educational experiences for kids across media platforms. This includes the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning PBSKIDS.org site, which reaches over 13 million unique visitors per month and offers hundreds of games, videos and activities. Sara played an integral role in the launch of the PBS KIDS Video App, offering more free educational video content on mobile than any other children’s media brand. The app was named one of the "50 Best Video Apps for Parents" by Babble. Before coming to PBS KIDS, DeWitt worked as a preschool teacher and a management researcher. Travis Allen is a young visionary promoting digital learning in the classroom. Before graduating from high school, Travis created a viral YouTube video on revolutionizing America’s education through the use of mobile technology. Today, he is a senior at Kennesaw State University where he operates his growing non-profit organization, iSchool Initiative. With the support of his team, Travis has presented in over 40 states and 7 countries, allowing him to reach an audience of over 200,000 people! He has been featured on CNN, Huffington Post and Forbes. In 2011, he was the winner of Google Young Minds competition; and in 2012, he was invited to the White House for Education Datapalooza. Travis is quickly becoming one of the most influential leaders of the emerging digital learning movement. Dr. Sameer Hinduja works nationally and internationally with the private and public sector to reduce online victimization and its real-world consequences. The research at the Cyberbulling Research Center has been featured in hundreds of print and online articles, along with many national and international news programs and outlets. Dr. Hinduja has presented nationally and internationally to over 100,000 educators on the topics of cyberbullying and other forms of teen technology misuse. Research at the center has involved data from over 14,000 youth regarding their experiences with cyberbullying offending and victimization. The center is currently partnering with school administrators at a number of different districts to explore the nature of traditional and online victimization among their student body. The 2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference will be held at the Radisson Hotel Manchester Downtown (NH, United States) on December 1 - 3, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

What Is The Future Of The Learning Management System?    Let’s face it; with regard to technology, things are changing pretty quickly out there. And it’s not so much survival of the fittest organisation anymore, rather it’s survival of the quickest to adapt to what might often be seen in retrospect as a risky and anti-orthodoxy option. We are literally living in an age where innovative ideas that work might be the most valuable resource on the planet. By way of introduction to this geek article, I should admit that I am not really a geek in the "Big Bang Theory" sense: I don’t read comics, play computer games, have any Doctor Who models, or like Star Trek/Wars. I am actually a humanist and I firmly believe human-to-human interaction is key to successful learning. Moreover, I also hold that real human-to-human teaching/learning is full of valuable subliminal learning events that may trigger, for instance, greater levels of motivation, self-esteem, critical thinking, emotional development, or compassion for others in society. I would even assert that technologies that break the traditional human-to-human learner-teacher bond (e.g. futuristic visions of artificial intelligence) may fail if used in a way that supersedes this bond. The topic of this article is, are the days of the Learning Management System providing "it all under one roof" services numbered? It might appear incongruous to question the future of Learning Management Systems when one considers the uptake of top educational Learning Management Systems such as Moodle or Blackboard. Here, however, is an interesting article on Learning Management Systems and app trends by Ryan Craig that really resonated with me; it is asserted that most students’ preferred tool for digital interaction is their smartphone and "in a world of apps, there is no LMS. Each app is designed from first principles to maximise student outcomes and purpose-built". I am also a strong supporter of using purpose-built educational apps. And, I must admit in light of the speed of development of the big smartphone players, I have been moving further into a post-LMS camp for some time now. Additionally, the well known trends in smartphone worldwide usage suggest the innovative and challenging bite-sized approach to content presentation would also be utilised in specialised educational style apps which could eventually provide impressive optional ways of presenting such content. Some obvious challenges however will be the speed of wide scale implementation, the cost of future proofed app (re)development, the way management of apps is undertaken, or the way app content is provided across chosen platforms. Educational app courses and their app users would still need to be managed, hence we still need a management system, and, as stated, human-to-human interaction needs to be an important criterion of any online learning. In a nutshell, in the years to come, we have to move away from, dare I say, "Dropbox"-style Learning Management Systems that have a bias towards the purportedly-pedagogically-sound text-based (social)-constructivist activities, to much smarter, universally accessible Learning Management Systems; ones that can learn, think, adapt, and take action in a way that allows for personalisation of learning, and in a way that reinforces (live) human-to-human interaction. We also require a new name (e.g. not LMS, CMS or VLE). In short, we need a phoenix AI student-teacher facilitator system. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Tips For Effective Training (And Not A Punishment Program) My friendly pharmacist, who I have known for 15 years and who always greets me with a smile, scowled and said, "Yes, I have to finish 5 of those darn things today. Even though I have done them multiple times, they make us retake them every 3 months. The worst part is that I can’t move forward until it gets done talking even though I have it memorized". Being proud of what I do as an Instructional Designer, I said "Say, did you know that is what I do for a living? I build all of my company’s online training programs". He growled, while making the sign of the cross at me: "Get away from me Satan! I can’t believe you build things like this horror I have to endure!" Wow, now that is a violent reaction to training! After I recovered from my shock, I assured him that none of my programs "talk at" you or prevent you from moving forward if you are a fast reader; like the 5 programs he was trying to complete. I also assured him that my programs were fun and had gaming elements mixed into the content so that they are engaging. From the continued frown on his face, I don’t think he believed me. There were several things that I took away from this encounter, that I hope will continue to make me a better Instructional Designer. They are: Whenever possible, try to let learners who may already know the material (perhaps from taking it multiple times) test out up front if possible. In some circumstances this may not be a possibility; such as for regulatory reasons, but if it is possible it needs to be done. Try not to require multiple training programs be done all at one time. Having to take the same 5 training programs every 3 months is not an event anyone would look forward to; even seasoned designers like me, and I love training. Re-format programs that need to be taken multiple times within a year. Do this in a way that while the content may be the same, the look and feel of the program is different for the end users each time they have to take it. Everyone likes variety; so why not change things around a little bit each time someone needs to take a program. Try not to have programs read to learners. While children like to be read to, adult learners typically do not. So let them read at their own pace and don’t punish them if they can read faster than the narrator; if one is required. If you must use narration, make sure the person does not have a monotone voice. Use an animated voice worth listening to for an extended period of time. There will always be those learners who feel training is a type of punishment, but we must remember to create training that most people will want to take and learn from. The best thing we can do to make sure we stay on course with this is to solicit feedback and learn from what students tell us, so that no one ever compares us to a wicked witch or the devil himself again. As for me, I just hope my pharmacist has "forgiven" me for my occupation and once more has a smile on his face when I go see him next month. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Implementing eLearning In Africa: 3 Key Challenges    With education being seen as a key foundation for Africa’s development, eLearning has the potential to play a pivotal role in the transformation of the delivery of quality education across the continent. To achieve the level of scale required in the delivery of quality education, Africa needs to leap forward and maximize on the potential of eLearning in creating innovative learning solutions. The education delivery approach in Africa has to shift from one that is highly dependent on physical infrastructure such as schools and colleges, physical learning materials, and in class education delivery to one that makes extensive use of interactive education technology. Progress has been made over the past decade and according to a report by Ambient Insight, Africa has the highest growth rates in eLearning in the world for four out of the five self paced eLearning products and services, including packaged content, custom content development services, cloud-based authoring tools, learning platform services, installed authoring tools, and installed learning platforms. Despite the progress that has been made, there are three central challenges that continue to exist which hinder effective implementation of eLearning in Africa. Internet Access / Connectivity. Without access to the internet many eLearning projects in African countries are throttled before they even begin. U.N. Broadband Commission reported that 8 of the 10 countries with the lowest levels of internet availability in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa. The 8 countries are Ethiopia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, and South Sudan. Internet penetration in all 8 countries is less than 2 percent of the population. Providing all the students with internet access is a very expensive proposition for most African governments and this is more so in the case of rural centers and remote areas, where internet connections are bound to be erratic, if available at all. The countries that lead in eLearning on the continent and that have had the largest levels of foreign and local investments in this sector have the advantage of better than average Internet access and connectivity. South Africa’s peak connection speed was measured at 16.8 Mbps in the first quarter of 2015, giving it a world ranking of 112th. Kenya currently leads in Africa with regards to internet connectivity with the highest bandwidth per person on the continent, the fastest speeds, and some of the lowest Internet costs. International companies such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft have set up offices in Kenya and made concerted investments in education in the nation as a result. In Kenya -home to IBM’s Africa Research lab and a state-of-the-art innovation center- IBM is partnering with the Kenya Education Network (KENET) to deliver advanced hands-on certification courses to faculty and students of 50 Kenyan universities over KENET’s broadband network. Microsoft has also partnered with Intel East Africa and the Kenya Private Schools Alliance, to launch the 4Afrika Youth Device Program, which provides a bundle of affordable devices, educational applications, online services, data plans, and smart financing to Kenyan learning institutions. Availability Of Locally Developed Content And Curriculum Online. Content development is a critical area that is too often overlooked. Academic institutions in Africa have not made the level of investment needed in developing local content that is aligned with national curriculums and that can be utilized for eLearning. The majority of tertiary institutions still use textbooks from the United Kingdom and the USA and there has not been a consistent drive to develop local content. Given the unique facets of Africa, the diversity of languages and culture and the continent’s specialized needs, there is a great opportunity for African countries to develop targeted plans for content development. A large proportion of the educational software produced in the world market is in English. For African countries, such as Swaziland, where English language proficiency is not very high, especially outside urban areas, this represents a serious barrier to eLearning. There are significant challenges in terms of language patterns and local language usage (especially in serving the youngest populations), and as such there is a need for locally developed content. Training And Professional Development. Teachers on the continent have been brought up in education systems with limited technology and they find it difficult to utilize technology to engage and support learning. There is a great emphasis that needs to be made for teachers to understand that technology is not replacing them, but rather it is an enabler that will enhance their work. A huge challenge is to develop and implement training and professional development for teachers so they may embrace teaching with technology and understand the benefits of teaching with technology as a way to advance the academic outcomes of students. Partnerships with private entities play a key role in building the skills of teachers in ICT. In South Africa, Microsoft has trained over 31,000 teachers and school leaders on ICT integration with the aim of enhancing teaching and learning and having an impact on nearly 4 million learners. Over 800 trainers from the South African Department of Education have been trained to roll out, scale and sustain the Microsoft Partners In Learning program. Conclusion  The goal of delivering a high quality education to every child in Africa remains unfulfilled, but technology presents an opportunity for this to be a reality. eLearning has overwhelming potential to improve education systems in African countries and if implemented well with strategies that focus on overcoming these key challenges, radical transformation of the education system is possible. References: Ambient Insight Regional Report The Africa Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2011-2016 Forecast and Analysis U.N. Broadband Commission. The State of Broadband 2015: Broadband as a Foundation for Sustainable Development Microsoft Partners in Learning creates opportunities This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Digital Learning Digital learning is an exceptional teaching tool. It has enabled students to become more engaged in their learning both in and out of the classroom. Schools and universities have embraced digital learning as a significant part of their instructional delivery strategies. For students in K-12 institutions, one would be hard-pressed to find any classroom without a bank of computers, filled with learning software in all curricular areas. At both the secondary and university levels, students have options of in-class instruction, online courses, and blended instructional delivery that combines in-class and digital learning activities. However, in their zeal, educators have made some mistakes - mistakes which can be avoided with a careful and reasoned approach. Taking time to think things through very carefully. Educators love anything that will make their teaching tasks more efficient. When digital learning began to appear, it was only natural to become excited about a new tool that would allow students to become more engaged, to practice skills individually, and that would provide immediate and automatic feedback on mastery. And the individual nature of assessment allowed teachers to diagnose lack of mastery and to provide additional remediation for those students in need. All of this was a huge improvement over traditional methods. In response to this enthusiasm on the part of educators, textbook and educational software companies began to develop entire curricular offerings in virtually every subject and to attempt to sell these as complete packages to schools and school districts. They took the bait. Schools have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars purchasing huge software packages and online courses for classroom use. What they failed to realize was that these all-encompassing packages did not honor all learning styles, and were not a "fit" for certain parts of their student populations. What they also failed to realize was that, without proper teacher training and support, these packages would lie dormant in classroom computers, without teacher "buy-in." Have a look on this publication about digital learning costs that perfectly describes all estimated expenditures in 2012 year. Schools are now learning from mistakes that they have made. Like any adoption of learning materials, there needs to be a process in place for teachers to be introduced to the software/courses and to have time to make judgments as to their efficacy. Ensuring student access. In the classroom, all students have access to the digital environment and to the interactive learning experiences that software and web-based activities offer. Most of these same students are able to plug-in to these environments at home as well, with portals that have been provided by their schools. Unfortunately, there remains a large student population without access to these out-of-class and/or online experiences because there are either no devices in the home or because they reside in areas so rural that access is not available. Educators must still accommodate these disparities by ensuring that these students have other learning materials which will allow them to practice skills and reinforce concepts. And providing these students with more time for research within the school day, or allowing them to print off materials to take home is essential. Preserving the student-teacher relationship. Computer-assisted instruction and practice certainly relieves the teacher of some of the traditional classroom duties, and it becomes very easy to become an inactive supervisor rather than an individual who remains personally involved as students engage in learning activities remember that students are very different. Teachers must remember that the relationship they have with their students is an important one, and encouraging and supportive interaction must continue to occur. There are times when nothing can replace the personal attention of a teacher. Mindfulness of disparity of student technical skills. Students who have enjoyed technology from a very young age are quite tech-savvy; however, those without technology in their homes will not be. It is a critical task for the teacher to ensure that every student has the skills to use devices, the Internet and the software for maximum benefit. Teachers must not assume that there is a level playing field here. There is a good list of basic computer skills for students that can be used as a checklist or guideline. Privacy and security. Fortunately, most schools have installed "parental controls" that prevent students from accessing inappropriate sites; however, these are not fail-safe, and students may fall prey to "click-wrap" agreements that include charges or require the submission of personal information. Vigilant monitoring on the part of classroom teachers of minor students is absolutely essential - no instructor should be sitting at a desk engaged in another activity while students are at computer stations. Failure to assess and evaluate the efficacy of programs/courses. In this age of accountability for educational delivery and student progress, it is surprising that regular and systematic assessments of digital learning are not more prevalent. While a number of studies exist that demonstrate good learner outcomes through digital learning, these studies also point to the importance of interaction with peers and with teachers, particularly when students are engaged in fully online learning environments. Studies by individual schools and school districts, in terms of learner outcomes based upon their own curricular goals, are lacking, however, and no educational delivery system can be adequately evaluated without such studies. Preparing Students For A Fully Digital Learning Environment  Access to online coursework on the part of teens and adults has exploded in recent years, as both traditional and non-traditional students take advantage of the flexibility such coursework allows. These courses can be more rigorous, however, and instructors must prepare students for the challenges that lie ahead: While interaction with fellow students and instructors is almost always available, it is not as intimate as the interaction in a physical classroom environment. Instructors must ensure that there are ample and worthwhile opportunities for student-to-student and for student-to-instructor interaction. Students who are not skilled and rapid readers will find themselves bogged down in front of their device screens and may need to find ways to enhance their reading/comprehension abilities though these speed reading tips might come in handy to them. Instructors should discourage students without high levels of organization and motivation from engaging in wholly digital coursework. Failure to find the appropriate blend between digital learning outside of the classroom and tools for student to collaborate/converse with one another and with their instructors. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Learning Technologies Fundamentals: Part 1  Think of how much of your life has been spent learning? Daily learning comes from a variety of sources including coworkers, family, and friends. In schools, learning is much more structured consisting of books, whiteboards (blackboards), teachers, and class schedules. To ensure that learning material is retained by students, the teacher uses a combination of individual exercises, group exercises, and quizzes. Creating this learning material was time consuming and tedious. However, the benefit has always been scalability. Once learning material is created, it can be used over and over again. Not just for one school - lots of schools throughout the country. Enter digital software and computer hardware technology. Books no longer need to be typeset, learning material can be instantly updated in the cloud, and 35mm slides are replaced with PowerPoints. The restriction of mandated scheduled learning has been displaced by curriculum that can be delivered anytime, anywhere. How we learn in the workplace is undergoing a massive transformation. And it all starts in the electronic classroom. The Elements Of Classroom Learning There are typically three stages involved with the life cycle of live classroom training from conception to class presentation. Instructional Design Production Delivery Function Create the learning material. Create the learning material for the course. Schedule and hold training with students in a classroom setting. Role Instructional Designer. Production manager. Instructor. Participants Subject Matter Experts and compliance reviewers. Production staff, suppliers, and vendors. Students, venue staff, registration managers. Output Slides and associated documents, code, or other artifacts are created. Produce final courseware material and prepare for printing. Scheduled class of the course in a classroom setting. Each student receives course material (like handouts of the slides, exercise task descriptions, and so on). Slides are projected onto a screen. Sample tools and technology Microsoft Office apps (PowerPoint and Word) to produce initial storyboards and courseware material. [1] Adobe, Microsoft, and Autodesk tools can be used to finalize professional graphics and layout. Everything to be printed can be exported to PDF format using Adobe Acrobat. PowerPoint, Inateck wireless presenter (WP1002), Casio Green Slim Line Projector (XJ series) equipment. Online student registration logistics are provided by vendors like cvent and RegOnline. Schedule Takes some period of time. Usually takes less time than Instructional Design stage. Set class times, highly structured. My company, Leading Software Maniacs, creates and presents innovative live workshops for software developers and managers. Workshops are usually presented as a set of slides that are accompanied with printed handouts for students during a class. Highlights of live training include: Classes take place at a set time and location. Interaction is encouraged between instructor and students. Table arrangement usually accommodates 4-6 attendees per table (round tables work best). Food and beverage service should be provided. Marketing and promotion for live workshops needs the help of local professional organizations hosting the event (PMI® comes to mind). Armed with a trusty laptop and a lightweight projector, there are literally hundreds of agile consultants presenting agile workshops hosted by PMI local chapters throughout the world. Inexpensive software tools and hardware devices gives new meaning to DIY. Now, most anyone can create world-class learning material. There’s considerable effort in handling the logistics: Venue selection, registration, and attendee fee collection. Working with vendors, partners, and attendees takes considerable personal interaction. Even with online software tools. There can be different folks responsible for each of the three phases, however for most of us, the creator of the course is usually the person producing and presenting the material. Learning Technologies: Enter eLearning  As many businesses have benefited from massive automation, learning is going through similar transformations. Educational technology, or eLearning, is possible due to personal computers and the internet. Software apps provide integrated solutions that enhance how to connect learning with computing devices. This software-driven approach allows self-direction, mobility, and even collaboration and evaluation. Originally known as computer-based instruction (CBI), eLearning offers key dramatic benefits. Live classroom eLearning Creation of presentation material Use PowerPoint to create slideshow. Use PowerPoint to create slideshow. Use screen recording software/devices to produce a video for viewing. Storyboard outline and presentation flow Optional. Mandatory. [1] Marketing and promotion Local for the event. Social media. Class setting Classroom or conference room. Work desk, coffee shop, or home. Class schedule Must be scheduled. Can be scheduled online or self-directed. Expenses Travel, venue, and registration. Registration only. Handouts Printed. View in browser, downloadable. Student/Teacher collaboration Yes. Limited, perhaps through chat room or forums. Computing device Rarely required. Desktop, laptop, and mobile (tablet). There must be great opportunity to supply technology for eLearning. According to Capterra, there are at least 500 Learning Management Systems providers in the market. [2] Learning technologies can provide a mechanism to evaluate how well students are learning in addition to offering more guidance if they fall behind. Even the use of games has become an accepted way to motivate and aid in the retention of information learned. I've posted a quick survey on how you like to learn. The survey is anonymous and will take no longer than a couple of minutes to complete. An analysis of survey results will be included in part 2 of "Fundamentals of Learning Systems". References:  Whitaker, Ken. "Storyboarding Is A Total Waste Of Time." eLearning Industry. October 25, 2015. Capterra. "Top LMS Software." Capterra. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

10 Awesome Online Research Tools  Online learning has opened up the opportunity for many people to educate themselves, learn new skills, and earn college degrees even if they are not able to attend classes in a traditional sense of the word. Some just don’t have the time/money to move or commute to another city, or they work full time and have families, which means eLearning is their only option. As great as online learning is, it has several drawbacks. Obviously, it requires you to be online most of the time, which is fine, if you are doing research, writing, taking online tests, or attending your virtual classes. But being online also makes you more prone to procrastination and distractions. There is also the issue of keeping all those gigabytes of research data organized and having hardware that’s powerful enough to enable real-time communication. These are just some of the issues eLearners face. Fortunately, there is something you can do to make your eLearning experience a lot more efficient and stimulating, especially the research part. We have prepared a list of 10 online research tools every online learner should master. Todoist. Research is a time-intensive activity, which means you will need a tool to organize both your professional and personal life. We advise you to give Todoist a shot. Todoist enables you to manage all of your projects and access them from any platform you own, including your desktop computer, laptop, or portable devices. You can share your tasks and collaborate with other people. Another clever feature is "karma" points, which are given to users if they are successful in assigning tasks to projects. EndNote. EndNote is a multi-functional research tool which helps you search for information in online databases and full texts based on abstracts, as well as manage and auto-complete all of your references. Like Todoist, EndNote also enables you to share your research data with your collaborators. If you prefer to work alone, you can do that too by saving, managing and tagging your research results for better access. Other features include bibliography maker that is capable of creating citations in over 6,000 styles, as well as automatic journal suggestion. EduGeeksClub. Every once in a while, you are going to come across an insurmountable obstacle while doing your research. Instead of giving up, you can turn to EduGeeksClub for professional research help. Get in touch with professional writers and researchers and learn all the ins and outs of thorough research. Also, you can commission a paper from them which you can then use as a resource for your essay, paper, or dissertation. They also provide editing and proofreading services. Zotero. Another essential tool all online learners should make use of is Zotero. Zotero integrates itself seamlessly into your browser and uses its clever ability to automatically recognize content for you. After that, all it takes for you to save it to your personal, fully searchable library, which is another feature in Zotero, in a single click. It supports audio and video files, PDF documents, as well as most image formats. RefWorks. RefWorks is a browser-based tool which has the ability to help learners find the right research data, organize it, store it, and easily share it with their colleagues and collaborators. All of that research information and written work needs to be supported by proper citations, and RefWorks generates those for you automatically, as well as bibliographies in every style. If you are not sure how to make use of its full potential, there are plenty of tutorials on how to do it, right there on the website. DataElixir. One of the best ways to keep up to date with all the latest news, developments and data in science is to find a website which curates all of those on a weekly basis. We recommend Data Elixir. Whether you’re an eLearner, a scientist, or a researcher, you benefit a lot for its weekly collection of all the best data resources and news, and you don’t even have to put in any effort whatsoever. You just have to subscribe to their free weekly newsletter and that’s it. Paperpile. Paperfile is a reference management software which, similar to Zotero, works as an extension for Google Chrome browser, making it accessible for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux users. We recommend that you use it to find and import data from platforms like Google Scholar, PubMed, or arXiv. You can easily export all the PDF documents and data to Google Drive, which means you’ll have the opportunity for collaborative editing of your papers. The collaboration doesn’t end there, because you can send data back and forth between Paperpile and Zotero, for example, as well as Mendeley. DeepDyve. High-quality research papers and scholarly journals can often set you back a pretty penny, so it’s important for you to know exactly what you’re getting for the money you’ve paid. The only trouble is, you are often allowed to look at an abstract for free, and decide if you want to buy the full-text paper, and then realize it’s of no use to you. DeepDyve enables you to access the full-text articles for a limited period of time, enough for you to figure out if the paper is exactly what you are looking for. ContentMine. ContentMine is an online resource which aims to bring over 100,000,000 scientific facts close to the people, by converting the collective knowledge of the world that is present in scientific literature into content which can be read on your computes. All of its tools, features, and services are free and open access. They often cite Wikipedia and similar open projects as a source of their inspiration. Plagiarism Checker. In order to rid your work of duplicate content, run it through Plagiarism Checker, which will scan and determine if there is any duplicate content present. If there is, you either need to provide better citations, or rewrite your work so that it’s more unique. These 10 awesome online research tools will change the way you do research for good, and for the better, and your eLearning process will be made much more streamlined and efficient. In the end, that’s the thing that matters the most. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

What Happens In DevLearn Gets Blogged About  Late in September and early in October I made my way to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas NV along with 2800 other learning, eLearning, and Training and Development enthusiasts for the eLearning Guild’s DevLearn 2015. The buzz is this was the biggest DevLearn ever - I would not be surprised if that were true. The event started, on Day 0 if you will, with the pre-conference workshops. Apart from a bunch of vendor and tool specific workshops there were two that caught my eye for their potential informational content: Getting Started with Mobile Learning: Determining the Strategic Fit by Brenda Enders, Enders Consulting Agile Project Management for eLearning by Megan Torrance of Torrance Learning The mobile learning workshop looked interesting, but a careful look at the agenda gave me the sense that this was targeted at those getting started with mLearning - a stage we have comfortably crossed at eNyota. I, thus, chose to focus on the Agile Project Management workshop and I’m glad I did. We have already adopted Agile in many of our software development projects, but given the volume of eLearning and mLearning projects we handle I had a lot of questions on how an Agile approach would fit in there. I got a wealth of information - so much so that I feel a separate article on the topic is warranted. The theme of the conference this year was "Innovation in the making" - a rather neat way to showcase the various innovative approaches organizations were taking to eLearning and also to make the point that this coming together of so many curious minds could lead to some innovative thinking too. The keynotes were picked to represent the theme. My favorite talk (act?) was the Opening Keynote from David Pogue. Pogue is the Host, NOVA ScienceNow and Founder & Columnist, Yahoo! Tech. He spoke about "Learning Disrupted: The Unrecognizable New World of Tech and Culture". In a word the keynote was "Memorable". I think it set the perfect tone for DevLearn. The key emphasis was how the lives and actions of people of all ages, and culture were being impacted by technology and extending that impact into learning. He revealed honestly unimaginable apps and technology that are already being used today around the world: Hapifork, a smart fork which gives you a reminder to eat slowly by tracking the movement of your hand to your mouth. Wearable devices for health data tracking from a slew of vendors including Apple, Google, and Microsoft, and contact lenses with chips inside them to gather data about your blood sugar. Research Kit, an open source framework from Apple whereby health and medical data from so many wearable devices can be combined to give trends across the population. A privacy nightmare, but an awesome example of how big data can help change the face of personal and community-level healthcare. In an amazing example, the impact of stress on asthma was shown by looking at data from patients in New York/New Jersey! The direct linkages to learning were few, but the overall message was loud and clear - mobile, IoT, Big Data, and other technologies are changing rapidly and are invading every sphere of our life. The world of eLearning cannot be immune to this disruption - to be successful we will have to embrace this change. David’s sense of humor had the audience in splits for most of the keynote that ended with him singing at the piano! It was quite a keynote and one I will not forget in a hurry. This keynote will be a tough one to top for the eLearning Guild. I also liked the other keynote on "Curiosity, Discovery & Learning" by one-half of the MythBusters team, Adam Savage. Adam is quite the showman, but perhaps we were all drained by the first keynote to get quite so completely hooked! I attended a few other sessions of which the most interesting were: Using mobile and xAPI to make on the job learning workable. The DevLearn Hyperdrive Showcase, where the top 3 results from previous days demos were showcased. Showcase of how video could be used easily to train distributed workers. Performance Support case studies. There was quite a lot of talk about xAPI - support seems to be growing and it’s worth following closely. Another theme I heard time and again was that the mobile device is going to be a gateway to link all the various groups of learning related technologies. While we have been satisfied with running our eLearning courses on tablets for a while now, clearly this is not going to be sufficient. The mobile devices and true mobility has the potential to make our learning so much more effective and to unshackle its delivery, consumption, and traceability. There’s another article right there - the mobile learning lessons from DevLearn! Then there is the Cloud - a clear lesson from DevLearn is that the days of the large Learning Management Systems secured behind the corporate firewalls are slowly but surely coming to an end. Learning is jumping the firewall and getting delivered anytime and anywhere leveraging the public and private cloud. This may also herald the eventual EOL of many of the ways of learning we have held dear for so long. On a more personal level, I was happy to see the rate at which new products and systems are getting launched. eNyota has its own skin in this game with our Learning Management System coming out early in 2016. Clearly there is competition out there but there is a play for those willing to adapt fast to this new mobile-first world. As I leave the bright and flashy lights of Vegas behind I think the future is bright too. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

OEB 2015 "Accelerating the Shift" Attended by 2,300+ participants from 100 countries, OEB has gained a reputation over the past two decades for its unique, cross-sector focus and truly global reach, fostering exchange between the corporate, education and public service sectors. Each year, OEB pushes boundaries, challenges preconceptions and catalyses new ideas - through innovations in the exhibition, interventions from participants and new forms of dialogue. At OEB, always expect the unexpected. OEB 2015 Keynote Speakers Keynote Speakers at OEB 2015 include Miles Berry is principal lecturer in Computing Education at the University of Roehampton. Prior to joining Roehampton, he spent 18 years in four schools, much of the time as an ICT coordinator and most recently as a head teacher. His research interests include the pedagogies of computer science education and informal learning. He is a former chair of Naace, the UK ICT subject association, and continues to serve on its board of management and is a member the management board of Computing At School and the UK Forum for Computing Education. He is a fellow of the BCS, RSA and HEA. Over the years he has contributed to a number of computing related projects including: CAS's computer science curriculum, the national curriculum computing programmes of study, the CAS / Naace guide to the computing curriculum for primary teachers, training of CAS Master Teachers, the BETT and ERA Award winning Rising Stars Switched on Computing, Barefoot Computing, Code Club Pro's training materials, QuickStart Computing and resources for the BBC and Microsoft. He gives regular keynotes and CPD workshops on computing and education technology in the UK and abroad and has worked on a number of international consultancy projects involving curriculum development and CPD. Cornelia Daheim is the founder and director of Future Impacts Consulting, a foresight research and consulting company. Ms Daheim has experience in foresight projects in Europe, the US and Asia, and has spoken on foresight and future trends around the world. In 2003, she founded the German Node of the Millennium Project, which is the world’s largest continuous foresight NGO working towards future global change, and has since served as its head. Furthermore, she is a member of the scientific committee of the EU Commissions’ board for the "Futures-Oriented Technology Analysis Conference", a member of the board of the academic journal "World Futures Review", member of the jury of the "Janssen Zukunftspreis" and serves on the Association of Professional Futurists’ (APF) Professionalization Expert Task Force. Additionally, she is Vice President at the Foresight Europe Network, which aims to advance foresight in Europe. In the last decades, she has led projects on the future of work for public and private sector clients, e,.g. the study „Future of Jobs and Skills" for the UK Commission of Employment and Skills - called „the most comprehensive study of its kind" by Tobey Peyton Jones, head of Siemens HR. Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net), and a contributor to The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, Wired, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. He is a special consultant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards and treaties. He holds an honorary doctorate in computer science from the Open University (UK), where he is a Visiting Professor; in 2007, he served as the Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. His two latest books are IN REAL LIFE, a young adult graphic novel created with Jen Wang (2014); and INFORMATION DOESN’T WANT TO BE FREE, a business book about creativity in the Internet age (2014). He co-founded the open source peer-to-peer software company OpenCola, and serves on the boards and advisory boards of the Participatory Culture Foundation, the Clarion Foundation, the Metabrainz Foundation and The Glenn Gould Foundation. Ian Goldin is Professor of Globalisation and Development and Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. Ian Goldin was Vice President of the World Bank (2003-2006) and prior to that the Bank's Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as an advisor to President Nelson Mandela. Previously, Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Program Director at the OECD Development Centre in Paris, where he directed the Programs on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development. He has a BA (Hons) and a BSc from the University of Cape Town, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and an MA and Doctorate from the University of Oxford. Goldin has received wide recognition for his contributions to development and research, including having been knighted by the French Government and nominated Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. He has published over 50 articles and 19 books, his two most recent books are The Butterfly Defect: How globalization creates systemic risks, and what to do about it (Princeton University Press, 2014) and an edited volume Is the planet full?  (Oxford University Press, 2014). Hilary Leevers joined the Wellcome Trust in September 2011 as Head of Education and Learning. She has a long-standing interest in education and learning, reflected in her research, policy experience and involvement in local schools. After studying natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, Hilary stayed on as a research assistant investigating children's reasoning and learning strategies. She continued these studies for a DPhil in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford before taking a postdoctoral and then assistant professor position at the Centre for Molecular and Behavioural Neuroscience at Rutgers University. After returning to the UK, she joined the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) as Assistant Director and worked on a breadth of science policy issues. The Wellcome Trust has a long-standing interest in science education and identified four goals to achieve its mission of making inspiring, high-quality science education available to all young people. These are: to take a leading role in stimulating debate and influencing action on key issues; to build on current investments and embed continuing professional development at the heart of teaching careers in science; to become a trusted provider of contemporary resources in science education; and to conduct research on specific priority areas to generate a robust evidence base to inform education policy. Anka Mulder studied History at the University of Groningen, where she later lectured in International Relations. She worked in Brussels, Vienna and The Hague and became Director of Education at TU Delft in 2004. In 2008 she was a member, from 2011 to 2013 president of the board of the international OpenCourseWare Consortium. The Consortium is the largest international organisation in the field of free online provision of education in the form of complete courses. From 2011 to 2013 she combined the post of director with that of Secretary General of the university. Since April 2013, she has been Vice-President at TU Delft responsible for Education and Operations.  Furthermore she is a member of the edX University Advisory Board, a global network of universities including Harvard, MIT and Berkeley, that produce Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and promote innovation in education worldwide. She is member of the Supervisory Board of the Hotel School The Hague and of the Comité d’orientation stratégique of the University of Sorbonne. David Price, OBE, is a learning futurist and co-founder of We Do Things Differently, a culture change company.  He is a Senior Associate at the Innovation Unit, in London. His recent book, 'OPEN: How We'll Work, Live and Learn In The Future' has been an Amazon best-seller since its publication. For the past 10 years, David has led numerous international education projects, helping schools gear themselves up to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In 2009 he was awarded the O.B.E. By Her Majesty the Queen. He writes, talks and advises on some of the biggest challenges facing business, education and society: solving the problems of employee, student and civic disengagement; maximising our potential to be creative, innovative and fulfilled citizens, and understanding the global shift towards open organisations, and systems of learning. Sir Ken Robinson has written that 'from every perspective OPEN will open your mind to some of the real implications of digital technologies for how we live and learn in the 21st century'.   OEB 2015 conference (formerly known an ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN) will be held at the Hotel InterContinental Berlin on December 2-4, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Top 5 Options For Entrepreneurship And eLearning  Entrepreneurship is experiencing constant evolution, which is making it tougher; however, on the other hand, it is also making it quite an exciting career path. Impressive job description, limitless boundaries, and improving innovations in technology have made all types of businesses fast growing. Though unpredictable circumstances in professions might seem to be unfavorable, they can get you unexpected rewards as well. This is the most important reason why we encourage entrepreneurs to keep themselves fully up to date with all types of changes taking in their industry. Similar to every important element of entrepreneurship, education should also be taken as an effective tool that leads you towards success. Most of the newbies don’t have time to get further education and even if they do, they don’t have extra money to spend on it. However, they can go for eLearning options which should be less time consuming and cost effective as well. The good news is that there is a good number of eLearning programs available on which you can invest your money as a young entrepreneur; but you should always choose the best possible option as per the advice of experts. Here are the 5 top options for entrepreneurship and eLearning: Building Startups Easily And Quickly. Many experts suggest that the young people should go for the How to Build a Startup online course which is available on Udacity. Through this program you can learn how you can effectively learn the basic principles of startup building and customer discovery process. There are lots of important aspects of this program and you should try to finish it to the end. Some of the lessons that you will be learning in this course are: Corporation history. Product development. Customer development. Business models. Revenue streams. Major resources. Common mistakes. Market types. Market prices. Web and physical distribution. Human Resources. Others. Online Sales Courses For Entrepreneurs. You might want to work with sponsorships, raise VC, advertise, or direct sales, but you must keep in mind that if you don’t have the ability to read your potential customers’ mindset and don’t understand how to take the advantage of different situations, you may not be able to turn your leads into actual sales. You can easily find hundreds of courses explaining the entire sales process, but you must choose the one that encourages you to take practical steps; most of such programs will be limited to the theory of persuasion and sales. One of the most popular programs is called Entrepreneurial Sales. It is an especially designed course which outlines tactical and practical factors of selling of technical products to a huge number of potential customers. In this course, you can learn how to: Organize a sales force. Create a compensation system. Assign specific territories. Dealing with disputes and conflicts. Dealing with customers. Building good relationships. Others. Online Statistics Classes At Stanford. If you have taken statistics classes in college, you might have had just the introduction of the actual topic that does not give you clear things about it. Remember, if you feel comfortable with the numbers and get clear directions from them, it becomes much easier for you to take effective decisions to benefit your business. Having online classes covering detailed statistics is always a perfect choice for entrepreneurs. Stanford University offers statistics courses, certificates and degrees by the help of 1clickdissertation. Some of the popular statistic courses are: Introduction to statistical learning. Algorithmic trading and quantitative strategies. Data-driven financial and risk econometrics. Data mining and analysis. Financial models and statistical methods in risk management. Theory of investment portfolios and derivative securities. Modern applied statistics: Data mining. Others. General Assembly - Master New Skills. If you have started an office, you can encourage your entire team to take General Assembly eLearning classes. Everyone in your team, from designers to the developers and strategists to the writers and even accountants, can also take the advantage of these classes which can provide you enough learning material about public speaking, content creation, digital marketing, startups, web designs, data analysis, etc. Some of the upcoming classes and events are: Intro to UX design. Data analysis circuit. Programming for non programmers. Intro to product management. HTML, CSS, and web design circuit. HTML and CSS crash course. From dotcom to dotgov: The Lisa Gelobter story. Free Conference Videos And Courses. If you have just entered into the field of entrepreneurship, you might love to take conferences that often charge hundreds of dollars, but if you have started with a limited budget, this will definitely put an extra burden over your expenses. However, if you want to save some dollars, there is a way to do so. Most of the conference organizers regularly post informative videos on their websites after conferences and if you can’t afford to attend, you can still watch those videos. Check Udemy and Skillshare which are considered to be two brilliant eLearning options for entrepreneurs. You should also know that there are many other free programs available for newbie entrepreneurs who are interested in entrepreneurship and eLearning. You just need to look for them on different platforms; this requires some research, but eventually you will be able to find some great free online resources to help you keep yourself up to date with the latest entrepreneurship trends. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

3 Ways To Improve Your Content Experience With Typography  Trying to get engagement in your eLearning courses is a difficult task at the best of times. Those engaging with your content have developed more sophisticated attitudes towards what makes for a good Learning Experience. The proliferation of high quality content sites across the web, and the increasing ease of access to free or almost free content editing and publishing tools, means that it's not enough to simply create an eLearning course and assume that it will be well received. We need to be aware of the overall content experience that we present. An important aspect of the overall experience is the Typography that we use. Usability.gov, a leading resource for user experience (UX) best practices and guidelines within the US government and private sectors, defines typography as referring: To which fonts are chosen, their size, alignment, color, and spacing. Wikipedia defines it as: The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed. This article looks at just 3 of the fundamental typographic factors you should consider when creating your eLearning Content. The text used for this article came from the Marco Polo page on Wikipedia. MS Word  was used to illustrate the typographic changes made. The Content Editor hosted within the TopClass LMS from WBT Systems was used to create the resulting eLearning content. N.B. Any eLearning Content Editor supporting the content formatting detailed in this article can be used. Based on the article 3 Typography Tips For A More Comfortable Read by Luke Jones. We'll start with simple unformatted text pasted into a MS Word document to highlight the impact that applying our typographical factors has. Figure 1. Unformatted Text In MS Word 1. Use A Typographic Hierarchy To Structure Your Page. The typographic hierarchy is the system for organizing type that establishes an order of importance within the data, allowing the reader to easily find what they are looking for, and navigate the content. It helps guide the reader’s eye to where a section begins and ends, whilst enabling the user to isolate certain information based on the consistent use of style throughout a body of text. Figure 2. Typographic Hierarchy All font sizes should be derived from the body text. The following steps can be used to define your typographic hierarchy: Body text.  Text should be comfortable to read. For this example, it is set to 14px. Primary heading. 180-200% of the body text, so between 25-28px. Secondary heading. 130-150% of the body text, between 18-21px. Figure 3. Text With Typographic Hierarchy Applied Other typographic hierarchical elements may be required; some further examples are as follows: Tertiary heading.  100-125% of the body text, so between 14-17px. Small text/Captions.  70-75% of the body text, so between 10-11px. 2. Use Vertical Spacing To Make Your Words Easier To Scan.  We need to ensure that the line spacing and space between paragraphs allows the eye and brain to more easily decipher characters, words, and word shapes. Figure 4. Vertical Spacing Paragraph spacing should be set equal to the Body Text size, in this case 14px. Figure 5. Text with Paragraph Spacing Applied Line spacing should be set to somewhere between 120-160% of the text size. Smaller body text requires increased line spacing in order to give each word room to breathe. It should be possible to fit a sideways ‘h’ between lines without it hitting the tops of d/b/t’s (ascenders) or the bottoms of p/q/y’s (descenders). In this case, the line-height used should be between 17-22px. Figure 6. Text With Line Spacing Applied 3. Adjust Line Lengths To Increase Readability. Long lines of text are difficult to read. The ideal number of characters per line is 65-75. This length of a line of text is referred to as the measure. The measure is defined by the width of the body text rather than those of headings or sub-headings. A line encompassing upper -and lower-case letters and numbers is 62 characters, an easy way of finding a comfortable measure, i.e. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890. Reduce the width of the column of text until it meets this 65-75 character limit. Figure 7. Text With Line Length Measure Applied Summary Of Typography Techniques Applied  The animated gif below shows these changes being applied sequentially (may need to click to play in supported browsers): Figure 8. Typographic Techniques Applied In Sequence All of the typographic principles detailed above are applied to the eLearning content shown below created using the Content Editor within the TopClass LMS. This particular content experience displays the content via a smartphone. Figure 9. Presentation Of eLearning Content In this article, I have attempted to show how you can improve your content experience with typography. It addressed only a small subset of the myriad of typographical features worth considering. The three discussed provide very quick and easy ways to dramatically improve the overall content experience, i.e. Typographical hierarchy, Vertical spacing, and Line measure. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Convert Company Knowledge Into Online Training  Companies already have a great deal of in-house material that is suitable for online trainings. Many training officers and departmental managers create their own presentations in PowerPoint or PDF. After a classroom setting training, these documents are often sent out via e-Mail to trainees and shared publicly on the company intranet. Without knowing, this often times results to companies storing a lot of valuable department-specific knowledge and information, which are sitting idle in network drives and intranet folders. They are overlooked, left alone and will eventually become outdated. What is more, a new set of public could benefit from this knowledge too, such as partners and resellers, newly hired colleagues, and even other departments. Colleagues, partners and resellers are interested in your content - make your online training a collaborative space filled with relevant up-to-date ate information . The problem with sending PDF documents or PowerPoint presentations to people who are not directly involved in the training or department concerned is that, in order for them to understand and digest the static information they received, more details need to be added, or rather, explained. Moreover, it would be ideal to give them the opportunity to interact in the form of asking questions and getting their feedback. For trainees who have attended the training session, testing their knowledge right away would have helped immensely, and being able to follow and monitor their learning progress would be ideal. Just giving out static documents will not do justice to the effort you have invested on this knowledge. Share it smartly! There is indeed a better solution to converting static documents such as PDF, PowerPoint, and Word into interactive online trainings. Files can be automatically converted, which allows trainers to focus more on what is important at hand—adding relevant content, enriching it with questions and building collaboration opportunities around it. 3 Easy Ways To Convert Company Knowledge Into Sustainable Training And Proactive Community Knowledge Sharing  Convert training materials in PowerPoint and PDF. Use existing training material to create a complete online course. In an online training platform like Coursepath you can start course creation by simply uploading a PowerPoint presentation or a PDF document. The system automatically converts every slide into a step (a page). Editing pages can be done on a fly and reordering them is just a matter of dragging and dropping across chapters. To make the training interactive and to make sure that your target group is stimulated, you can further add media content and questions. Tips for PowerPoint: Make the most of your PowerPoint files and use the "notes" feature. By ticking the notes box, you convert the notes together with your PowerPoint slides into a course. They appear in the editor and can be further edited. Tips for PDF: Before converting, we recommend changing the PDF layout to "landscape", reducing the text to 12 lines per page and keeping the number of pages under 30. This way the content will be easy to read and helps give trainees the opportunity to focus on the key elements in your document. Upload documents for central storing and knowledge sharing. If you have content not suitable for conversion, such as files with large texts, forms, checklists, and Word documents, don’t keep them on the side. Storing this information in your training courses allows trainees easy access to additional learning content. For everyone’s benefit, upload the documents into short courses and ask colleagues for feedback. The best thing is, you have all your learning materials stored centrally in one single platform where you can easily update and upload newer versions when they are outdated. Trainees and other colleagues can further download the documents when they need it and at their own time. Collaborate with your trainees for information. Your training is truly collaborative when you empower trainees to interact and speak. Let them be heard! Get their opinions and feedback and let them share valuable and relevant information about the course you are training them on. Or design it allowing trainees to comment, upload files, and discuss with one other. On the other hand, you may want to use the training platform similar to a project or workshop environment where trainees can submit documents - from personal information to scanned documents, as well as tasks completed forms and assignments, and other file types such as MP3 for voice-overs or recorded calls for review purposes for example. This way you are making sure all relevant information are gathered and stored in one place where people can access, use and review together. Motivate Sharing And Knowledge Consumption   The trick in converting training materials for online training is making it concise. The Microlearning strategy encourages emphases on short and bite-sized online content. By focusing on selected key elements of your training as the major subject matter and using the rest of the content as supplementary through rich text format or downloadable documents, allows better impact and acceptance with your trainees. They are able to easily follow the training and better retain what has been learned as well. Making the most of existing in-company material and an individual’s knowledge is a good way to value your employees’ efforts. Through sharing this via an interactive platform, in-company knowledge gets spread out quickly and effectively. Not only that, they also get enriched by other employees through opinion sharing and feedback discussion. Your online training therefore becomes a collaborative space filled with relevant information and serving as a database for specific company knowledge. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

The 1st ASEAN-ROK e-Learning Forum (AKeLF 2015) is an international Forum, organized by the ASEAN Cyber University (SCU) Project Secretariat. The 1st ASEAN-ROK e-Learning Forum aims to discover and share teaching & learning methodologies utilizing ICT and open source in the context of ASEAN and also Korea, by sharing and developing best practice or pilot study cases. AKeLF 2015, pursuing to become the premiere international Forum in the field, spans all disciplines and levels of e-learning and is expected to attract many leaders in the field from especially ASEAN and the Republic of Korea. We invite you to attend the 1st ASEAN-ROK e-Learning Forum and submit papers or report for presentation. Open sources will be shared at the Forum webpage (http://AKeLF.aseancu.org → click AKeLF Banner→Click Resources) for those participants who wishes to develop pilot studies. AKeLF 2015 Topics The topic of AKeLF 2015 is "Innovation in Higher Education through e-Learning". The scope of the Forum includes, "Developing an Innovative Teaching·Learning Model utilizing ICT, Open Source, SCU LMS, LTI etc." Detailed Sub topics are listed as below; Appropriate Technology in the context of ASEAN Cases of using open sources Using appropriate technology for CLMV, Other ideas and cases of the field proposed by SCU Secretariat. Examples of such cases could be; i) Learning process centered cases through quizzes (Learner Empowerment and individual learning) ii) Using mobile tools for ultra-light content download Blended Learning for ASEAN/ROK Flipped Classroom Innovative online learning and educational programming Mobile and ubiquitous learning Developing an Organizational e-Learning Strategy Good Practice Concepts & Examples Innovative Curriculum in E-Learning Instructional Design for E-Learning Knowledge Management in E-Learning Learning & Content Management System for ASEAN / ROK Pedagogical & Issues Educational Trends and Best Practice Contributions Best practices in multimedia-based education The Impact of Web Technologies on Education Learning and Teaching Innovations ICT Skills Advanced classroom applications and technologies e-Tutoring and e-Mentoring Training the e-Trainer Online Assessment The 1st ASEAN-ROK e-Learning Forum (AKeLF 2015) will be held at the Seoul Cyber University on December 8-9, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.