Learn Web Design With These 9 Online Sources  Web design is an excellent skill to know in the digital age. More companies than ever realize they are going to fall behind if they do not have a strong web presence. Still others may have been online for years and know they need to upgrade to stay ahead of their competitors. Luckily the internet is a digital library at your service. However, with all of the web design online schools, how in the world do you know which ones to pick? Save yourself a headache, we have you covered! Udemy For those just starting out in web design to those wanting to expand their knowledge, Udemy can be an excellent resource. Courses range from free to hundreds of dollars, and the training varies as widely as the cost. Lynda If you are looking for instructor-led web design tutorials, CSS online training or even photography or 3D animation skills, this LinkedIn company can provide the tools you need for success. The site hosts thousands of videos that can be viewed anywhere at your convenience for the ultimate in on-the-go learning. W3 Schools Perhaps the Holy Grail of learning all things web design online, W3 schools have been around since what seems like the beginning of the internet itself. While they have not, of course, they are still the go-to site for those starting out in learning, anyone needing quick refreshers, up to and including the experienced professional. Codecademy If all you want to do is learn to code in various languages without breaking the bank, Codecademy may be the best choice. Over 25 million online learners worldwide have put them to the test. Tuts+ This site offers over 20 thousand free tutorials - way more than enough to get your feet wet and decide if coding is for you. When you are ready to commit to your learning, you can pick a paid plan as well. Dev.Opera Dev.Opera offers a vast digital library of articles that can expand your knowledge on everything Opera-related and on topics ranging from 3D to X86 and everything in between. Khan Academy This is one site you will want to bookmark not only for design skills but as a digital library for anything you could want to learn. Only a few years old, it is setting the pace for eLearning. Bonus: If you have kids, you are going to want to share this site with them as well; no more algebra headaches for you! Smashing Magazine This site is not a school, per se; they do however offer a wealth of information to designers who want to stay on top of new trends. Google, Bing, and Yahoo Go to your favorite search engine and type in "web design schools online". This may sound redundant in this article, but it isn't. Doing this will open your eyes to all available options including those that offer legitimate learning experiences in hands-on classroom settings. Which site you choose is dependent on your answers to certain questions. Do you want the skills and the degree or diploma to back it up that companies may look for? Do you just want to build sites for yourself and maybe a few clients as a freelancer? If you are undecided about becoming a web designer read this, it is an excellent article that may help solidify and guide your decision! Share us your eLearning resources below! This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Technology As A Training Resource And American Training Companies  Findcourses.com surveyed 250 of the top professional training providers in the United States. Across the board, the majority of U.S. training providers ranked the use of technology among the least important factors for success as a training provider. The survey included 100 top-ranked training companies based in the United States, ranging from small privately owned companies to non-profit organizations and large public enterprises. The U.S. training industry is not alone in its aversion to adapting its programs to eLearning. Of the most popular 50 professional training courses listed on Findcourses’ UK site, over 50% are delivered online. Yet when surveyed, only 33.3% of UK training providers planned to put focus on their eLearning and blended learning programs. In addition to being adverse to developing technology in course delivery, 70% of UK training providers surveyed still collected course reviews using a pen and paper system.   How Does Technology Fit Into Professional Development?  Despite the perceptions of training companies, technology has absolutely changed the way we learn, explore, and develop. The online learning industry was predicted to grow to a $107 billion industry in 2015 by Forbes magazine. When you look at the opportunities provided by online learning courses and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), it’s clear that this learning revolution is here to stay. Where education was previously just out of reach, millions of people use online resources to develop their skills each day. Being open to using technology in professional training can have more applications than an online platform for delivering courses. Simply improving online marketing can make a tremendous difference in the number of potential participants enrolling in a course. Online reviews are proving just as significant in marketing professional training as they are in marketing a product online. In a recent Findcourses study of the conversion rate of 2600 courses, conversion being from clicking on a course to contacting the training provider, the average conversion rate for courses listing reviews is 25.4% while the site average for courses is a 7% conversion rate. MOOCs And Online Learning Takes Off In Corporate Training The accessibility and affordability of online training programs present obvious benefits to companies needing to train many employees at once - and with as little inconvenience as possible. Flexible online courses and MOOCs offer high-quality learning opportunities at a lower cost to the company and with added scheduling flexibility for employees. This year, an estimated 8% of companies used MOOCs and 77% used online alternatives for employee development, according to eLearning Industry. The great majority of employers are open to using MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) for professional development purposes of training employees on specific skill sets according to a study by the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. MOOC providers have taken notice of MOOCs’ role in professional development noting approximately two thirds of those enrolling in courses are currently employed, according to the same study. How Companies Utilize Online Education How companies are using eLearning for development is undergoing a period of experimentation. Building talent pipelines through top-performing MOOC participants, inducting brand-new employees to the company, or developing the capabilities of current employees are all applications of eLearning major companies are trying out. The affordability and ability of online courses to cater to a large number of participants allows for experimentation in how learning and development looks in the 21st century workplace with minimal risk. This year, Findcourses has switched its internal learning and development scheme from in-house trainers to online courses chosen by employees to match their area of interest. This move is anticipated to help employees differentiate their skills-sets to bring more value to the organization. We’ve begun our trial year, but if it proves valuable, online courses at the company will be here to stay. So Why Is The Training Industry So Technology-Averse? Change can be difficult - and American training companies maintain that the benefits of traditional courses outweigh the benefits of highly accessible, highly affordable online solutions. Personally, we're interested in seeing the results of next year's survey. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Social Intelligence In eLearning: What eLearning Professionals Need To Know Genetics is often linked to IQ, but social intelligence is a skill developed over time, learning from life experiences and interactions with others. Edward Thorndike introduced the idea of interpersonal intelligence, or social intelligence, to the world in the 1920's as part of his multiple intelligences theory. It pertains to a person's ability to connect with those around them and make pivotal decisions that impact our lives on a daily basis. Social Intelligence in eLearning can help learners to better understand human psychology, behavior, and communication, which opens up a world of opportunities in and out of the online learning environment. Dimensions Of Learners’ Intelligence According to Karl Albrecht, humans have six dimensions of intelligence that should be considered when developing eLearning experiences. Even if you plan on focusing on social intelligence in your next eLearning course, there are other forms of learners’ intelligence you should also take into consideration. Abstract. Logical reasoning, verbal manipulation, and mathematical concepts all fall into the abstract category. This is the type of intelligence that often comes to mind when you think of online learning, or any educational experience for that matter. Social. How well we can interact with others in social situations, especially when those around us are from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. This deals with communication and teamwork skills. Practical. Our ability to tackle challenges and take action in order to get the job done. Practical intelligence typically involves "common sense" and critical thinking skills, as well as figuring out how to use all of the tools in our arsenal to solve the problem. Emotional. Self-awareness and emotional recognition are two important aspects of emotional intelligence. It also involves regulating emotions and reacting to others’ emotions in a respectful manner. Aesthetic. This is one of the more creative intelligence types, as it pertains to design and form. An individual who possesses aesthetic intelligence has an "eye" for art and can determine if individual elements of the design will fit into the overall theme of the work. Kinesthetic. This is the mastery of the entire body and knowing the role that each part must play in order to carry out a specific task. Athletes and high-level professionals, such as surgeons and pilots, are examples of kinesthetically intelligent people. How Social Intelligence Affects eLearning To fully understand how social intelligence affects eLearning, we must delve into the main aspects of Social Intelligence, which are included in the "SPACE" formula. SPACE is a collection of behaviors that are divided into five distinct skill sets: situational awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity, and empathy. By integrating these into your eLearning course, you have the opportunity to develop a learner’s social skills and cultivate social intelligence. Situational Awareness. This skill refers to a learner’s ability to understand the dynamics of a situation, including how the situation itself impacts the behaviors and thoughts of those involved. For example, if a learner finds themselves in a stressful situation, they should be able to comprehend that tension and anxiety may be negatively affecting those in the group. As such, they can take measures to minimize stress in order to boost productivity. Role-playing and group collaboration projects are ideal situational awareness exercises. Give learners a task or problem and ask them to solve it together. This gives them the chance to see group dynamics firsthand and how social situations impact the behaviors and thoughts of each member. Presence. A person’s presence is the overall impression they give to others. This may involve their appearance, attitude, behavior, body language, or any other indicator of their personality. One of the most visual and powerful ways to emphasize the significance of presence is the "first-impression" exercise. Create an interactive presentation that features a number of different characters, each with subtle nuances or traits that portray a certain image. For example, one character might be slouching and wearing shabby clothing. Ask your learners to give their first impressions of the character based upon that initial image. Then reveal the "truth" behind the character, such as a brief bio that might surprise your audience. This will show your learners just how important presence is, and encourage them to examine every aspect of a person’s presence before making a judgment. Authenticity. This is all a matter of "talking the talk and walking the walk". Learners can act one way, but may lack the authenticity that it takes to possess true social intelligence. Others must perceive them as being honest, ethical, and genuine. They must also be able to see that someone’s actions are in-line with those perceptions. To cover this aspect of social intelligence in eLearning you can develop reflective online exercises that encourage learners to think about their thoughts and beliefs versus their behaviors. Ask thought provoking questions that prompt them to challenge their assumptions of themselves or societal norms. Get them thinking so that they are able to determine if their actions truly support their personal ideologies. Clarity. Clarity is all about articulation and communication skills. Can the learner concisely stare their ideas and get their point across in a diverse range of social situations? This also involves active listening and language skills. This can be practiced in a variety of different ways in eLearning environments, from blog creation projects wherein learners must paraphrase key topics to presenting virtual lectures to their peers. Clarity requires learners to not only know the information, but be able to share their knowledge with others effectively. Empathy. Connecting with people and being able to understand and respect their motions are the main elements of empathy. Any group collaboration activities are ideally suited for empathy building, as they require learners to work with others productively in order to achieve a learning goal. During the activities, encourage learners to share their viewpoints and identify commonalities that they share. Have them pay close attention the group dynamics, as well as the feelings of others, so that they can cultivate their empathetic abilities. Social Intelligence has a wide range of applications in eLearning design. However, before delving into a eLearning strategy that focuses solely on social intelligence, take a careful look at the types of intelligence mentioned above to see if any others can be integrated into your curriculum. This gives you the ability to offer a well-rounded eLearning experience that provides even more advantages to your online learners. What is the theory of multiple intelligences and how it affects eLearning? In the article, Multiple Intelligences In eLearning: The Theory And Its Impact, your will find the key points you need to know about multiple intelligences in eLearning and how they can impact your eLearning course development and success. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Learning Forward 2015 provides educators with outstanding content and valuable tools to bring the most powerful forms of professional learning back home to the educators with whom they work. What Makes Learning Forward's Annual Conference THE Learning Conference? Learning Forward conference participants become a community of learners as they experience cutting-edge keynotes and general sessions, participate in interactive learning sessions, and form lasting relationships. THE PROGRAM Attend preconference sessions to delve deeply into priority areas. Hear from thought leaders in professional learning and school improvement. Acquire strategies, tools, and skills to apply immediately to your own work with teachers and students in 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-hour concurrent sessions. Be inspired by keynote speakers who will motivate, inform, and engage you. Share meals with other participants in the spirit of camaraderie and networking. Kick off the conference with live music, food, prizes, drinks and more on Sunday. Pick up CEUs for attending the conference. WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR PD Redesign Track where participants can begin to reimagine and rethink professional learning in new ways. Technology Showcase and Smart Choices Experience vendor demonstrations on Tuesday afternoon in the exhibit hall with the latest technology solutions to your professional learning challenges. Summit sessions on Wednesday afternoon provide a 3-hour, in-depth look at topics ranging from leadership to 21st-century skills. Field trips offer a chance to explore the DC area with a hands-on experience. FastForward, Pecha-Kucha-style presentations Monday afternoon during the exhibit hall reception. Online discussion groups where you can share your successes and challenges on topics such as PD Redesign, strategies for Common Core implementation, Visible Learning, and more. Networking meet ups for superintendents, principals, and the Big 50 districts with skilled facilitators. Learning Forward 2015 Annual Conference will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center ( Washington, D.C.) on December 5-9, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Extend Articulate Storyline Using Web Objects  In order to engage learners in today’s age, it’s important to go beyond the default templates and quizzes that live in the authoring environment to offer engaging, up-to-date, and interactive eLearning capabilities. One method to enable eLearning professionals to go above and beyond is by incorporating external web objects into Storyline projects, enabling augmentation with new features - which can lead to even more successful learning outcomes. Below are 7 concepts that you can leverage for your learning projects utilizing Storyline with Web Objects. The Basics: What Are Web Objects?  For background, Storyline’s Web Objects feature provides a versatile way of leveraging web-based resources by embedding them as part of a learning project, whether online or stored on a local computer. Web objects can enhance courses with web-based applications, games, videos, and reference material, among other programs. In a nutshell, Web Objects are external content that can be added into a course and, if it interoperates with that course, the user cannot tell the difference between what is innately Storyline and what is external content. 7 Ways To Infuse Your Content With Web Objects  1. Integrate quality assurance systems with Google Docs.  Adding a quality assurance (QA) system to your eLearning project creates a smooth and seamless review process for those assessing the project. While Storyline doesn’t have built in QA functionality, you can use Web Objects’ lightbox feature to host a live Google Doc spreadsheet that can be updated on a screen-per-screen basis. After creating the spreadsheet utilizing lightbox, you can simply build in a button to the course user interface that can be turned on during alpha and beta reviews. As the reviewer clicks through screens, the feature will send the ID of the screen over to the hosted Google Doc and pre-populate reviewer comments with the ID. Once you have implemented this feature, all of your Storyline course deliveries can have a fully functional QA review tool built into them - streamlining the review process and enabling you to make improvements based on reviewer feedback. Figure 1: QA Reviewer Tool built into Storyline 2 project. 2. Direct interaction with complex calculations. In order to showcase advanced interactivity for learners not possible with the default Storyline interface, you can utilize advanced calculation libraries such as Handsontable and math.js. By utilizing these tools to obtain advanced interactivity information, you are able to model, interact and assess learners at a much higher level - leading to more robust learning experiences. Figure 2: "Calculation Toolset" Web Object using Math.js library 3. Employ advanced custom interactivity. While Storyline 2 and the addition of motion paths offered a great way to increase interaction and provide more animation options, there are more ways to enhance your eLearning project utilizing Web Objects. For example, if you built learning content for your project using HTML5 tools such as CreateJS, Tumult Hype, and Edge, you can use Web Objects to add additional custom interactivity that best suits your specific course within Storyline. Figure 3 : HTML5 Web Object insert using Tumult Hype 3 Pro. 4. Incorporate hardware accelerated graphics. Have you ever wanted graphics like those found on gaming systems like XBOX or Playstation in your course? Now that WebGL is supported on all major browser platforms including iOS, you can add WebGL content to your Storyline courses - a great benefit for courses that focus on specific object or devices. The incorporation of WebGL can be done in the form of exploration exercises, first person walkabout and multimedia rooms where the learner can interact in 3D space. For example, if you have a course focused on training utilizing a cable meter, you can now create interactive and 3D imagery that enables the learner to view the meter at multiple angles and press buttons as part of the course training. In addition to this, 3D navigation launch screens and interactive maps can take your content to the next level. Figure 4 : WebGL interactive graphics using Coppercube 5.3 and Storyline 2. 5. Gamify Mozilla Open Badges.  Linking achievements is a proven gamification strategy that has seen success in the gaming world and is quickly being brought into the eLearning industry. By integrating Web Objects, you can integrate achievements into your eLearning project with Mozilla Open Badges. For background, Mozilla Open Badges are a new online standard to recognize and verify learning. This gamification methodology is not proprietary and can be used as an anchor for a gamification strategy for your curriculum. Web Objects enables the project to communicate with display HTML-based content that reflects achievement awards with training. Users can then extend their badges outside the courseware into their learner profile and within other learning environments. Figure 5: Mozilla Open Badges. 6. Engage social learning. Though this may be repeating what every eLearning blog and article has been saying for the last five years, it’s important - integrate social media for learning into your eLearning project. And, with Web Objects you can complete this integration easily, including sharing, Twitter feeds, Facebook, and Leaderboards - enabling you to integrate up-to-date information from these platforms without making changes to the course itself. For background, when linking to external web content, you can effortlessly curate social learning features from a central location on your own server and make changes to scale up and down with the features that are available. By employing Storyline line variables, you can hold specific switches to, for example, turn Twitter on and off for the rollout of a particular program. Figure 6: Web Object integrating live Twitter feed. 7. Update volatile content. Volatile content, material that changes frequently or on an ad-hoc basis, can be some of the hardest content to manage in an eLearning project. By making the most volatile content about your eLearning courses and offerings easily updatable, you can create course resources and pricing sheets that are stored in a central, secure web server. So, for example, as a price change comes in, you can update the price sheet once, and it is then reflected in all instances of your training. Figure 7: Resource price sheet show as external Web Object. Discount needs to change to 50% Figure 7a: Resource price sheet updated for all course instances without an LMS republish. Pro-tip: Make sure your web object content is pointing to an external resource, and is not content you’ve ingested into your Articulate Storyline project (local web content). When it is stored locally and you want to make changes, you will then need to republish the course. While this list is in no way an exhaustive look at what you can achieve with Storyline and external Web Objects, it offers a look into some interesting things you can do. By taking some, or all, of these tips into practice, you can improve user outcomes and experience - creating a better eLearning environment and more engaged learners. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Make Your eLearning Course Stand Out  The continued growth of eLearning industry is dependent on just one single thing; effective, elegant content. There are many quality tools available to eLearning course developers now, each with its own unique advantages. Creators have access to a plethora of pre-existing templates which can easily be used to build their own eLearning courses. All of this makes the job very easy for the eLearning developers. A little too easy, I dare say. You see, the problem with having too many resources is that it confuses people. The people involved tend to get a touch too creative, adding features just for the heck of it and paying less attention to their functionality and their effect on the user experience. This sets them up for failure. So what’s the solution? Not being creative and using the same cookie-cutter approach to develop each and every eLearning course? No, of eLearning course not. Creativity is essential, and you can never have a one-size-fits-all template that you may apply to all your projects. You want to make your eLearning course to stand out, but not at the expense of user experience or learning objectives. I’m going to tell you 6 things -yep, just 6- to build a rockstar eLearning course that stands out the right way. 1. Make it motivating and interactive. This is extremely important because I have seen so many people (mostly adults) lose motivation early in the eLearning course. Heck, even I have put off eLearning courses for later and never touched them simply because I didn’t find them interesting. Learning something new is a difficult process and you don’t want to make it harder on the student by creating a bland eLearning course. Get creative and add interactive elements to your eLearning course. Even if they’re small things, the student will appreciate it. And make sure you provide clear instructions for the interactive elements wherever necessary. You can also use gamification techniques to make things interesting. But again, don’t use it just for the sake of using it or because it’s the in thing right now. Do it to solve a problem or to impart a vital lesson. 2. Test rigorously and review often. You want your eLearning course to look polished and your data to be as accurate as possible. Besides that, you also want to ensure that everything functions smoothly, from the sync-up between audio and video to that little button on the last slide. For this, you need to test your eLearning course thoroughly and review it many times with all of your stakeholders: Subject Matter Experts, designers, developers, managers, and clients. zipBoard and Litmos Author Review Tool are some of the best tools you can use to test and review your eLearning courses. 3. Structure your content. What if your driving instructor told you to take the wheel from the get go and that he’ll tell you about the traffic rules and gears later? Or what if you enrolled in a robotics class and the teacher asked you to build a robot on the very first day without telling you about the basics? It doesn’t work that way. You’ll get frustrated and leave; or if you’re feeling a little adventurous, you’ll try your hand at it, fail, get frustrated, and leave. My point? You need to structure your content well if you want the student to understand everything and stay engaged. You can change little things in it, but the basic structure of your eLearning course more or less remains the same. Here's a standard layout for an eLearning course. 4. Chunk it down. If you are a Subject Matter Expert, you really want to transfer all your knowledge, so it’s easy to go overboard with information when designing an eLearning course. You will be tempted to add facts, figures, graphs, and everything. But don’t go for it unless completely necessary. You may think that you’re helping the students, but really, you’ll just be overwhelming them. Take your content and divide it into small chunks of data that you’ll give to the student at every step. Think of creative and powerful ways to deliver those chunks, so the student can digest them well. This will make your eLearning course so much better. 5. Mix and match different media. Adding graphics and other media is a great way to keep the student engaged. Try to incorporate useful and clever images in your text every now and then. You can also add infographics, videos, audio, and other media. Our brains are designed to remember these things much more vividly than plain text, so it’s always a breath of fresh air when you see the text accompanied by relevant media - stress on "relevant". Unnecessary media is a waste of both the student’s and your time. That cat photo may be funny, but without a clear purpose for it, you’re not doing anyone a favor by adding it to your eLearning course. 6. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate! I can’t stress this one enough. Evaluation of your eLearning courses is so tremendously important because, without that, your whole development process is flawed and incomplete. Without evaluation, you can’t find out what works and what doesn’t. You can’t gain insights into what the students like and what they don’t. You can’t analyze which elements and ways of presentation work best for different demographics. All of this information allows you to grow fast and develop better eLearning courses each time. So take time to frame questions that you want users to answer and politely ask them after the end of every eLearning course. So go ahead and follow these simple ways to make your eLearning course stand out of the crowd. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Apply The Goldilocks Principle Ιn eLearning Whether you’re talking about a bowl of fairy tale porridge or a real world eLearning experience, digestibility is an all-important factor. Your eLearning course should offer learners just enough challenge to pique their interest and keep them fully engaged, but not so much that they become frustrated or overwhelmed, which hinders their ability to consume and absorb subject matter. The Goldilocks Principle in eLearning stipulates that an eLearning experience must fall in the middle of the challenge spectrum, and steer clear of the extremes. The term hails from the ever-popular tale, "The Three Bears," which stars porridge-loving Goldilocks and three house-dwelling bears. She doesn’t care for the breakfast that is too hot or cold, nor the beds that are too big or small. Instead, she goes for the items that are "just right." In this article, I’ll share 6 tips that can help you create eLearning courses that are "just right" for your audience by applying the Goldilocks Principle in eLearning. Research your audience. To create eLearning courses that are challenging, but still easily digestible, you have to first define what "challenging" is for your learners. Conduct surveys, interviews, focus groups, and diagnostic assessments to determine their prior level of knowledge, cultural and educational background, and their expectations. What may be overly difficult for one group of learners may be easy for those who are familiar with the subject matter, for example. Include key takeaways without causing cognitive overload. We’ve all encountered an eLearning course in the past that seemed to cover every sub-topic under the sun. Rather than giving us the key pieces of information we needed to know, it explored virtually every idea and concept that pertained to the subject matter. Chances are, you walked away from that eLearning experience feeling overwhelmed, and probably didn’t remember any of the essential information. To avoid cognitive overload, focus your eLearning course around the key takeaways that are aligned with the learning goals and objectives. There may be ideas that you think your learners will find interesting, but if they don’t serve the end goal then it’s best to leave them out. Conversely, you should also enrich your eLearning experiences by offering more than just the bare minimum. For example, if you only cover the core ideas of the online lesson, but don’t tie the subject matter to real world applications, your learners aren’t going to know how to use the information outside of the eLearning environment. Carefully camouflage the correct answer. eLearning assessment  responses, such as multiple choice, must walk the fine line between challenging and absurd. All of the responses should be similar in length and structure, but have key differences that set them apart. Avoid using double negatives to trick your learners, and make sure that all of the responses have clear and concise wording. In other words, don’t be vague just for the sake of making the eLearning assessment more challenging, as it will only confuse and frustrate learners who actually know the subject matter. These same rules apply to branching scenario options. Camouflage the answer, but don’t make it impossible to choose the correct solution. Offer a good mix of interactive activities. From scenarios and simulations to clickable timelines, there are a wide range of interactive activities you can integrate into your eLearning course. In fact, including a good mix of activities gives you the opportunity to appeal to a variety of different learning styles and preferences, which makes it easy for your diverse audience to benefit from your eLearning course. If a learner has trouble completing scenarios, they can simply use another interactive exercise to get the information they need. Essentially, they can find the activity that offers them the ideal amount of challenge, without overwhelming or boring them. Ask open-ended questions to trigger self-guided learning. Open-ended questions are an invaluable tool when following the Goldilocks Principle in eLearning. An open-ended question allows learners to explore a concept or idea on their own, as well as to examine presuppositions and assumptions. You can pose an open-ended question at the beginning of the eLearning course to get them thinking, or use it as an online assessment tool to figure out how much they’ve learned during their eLearning experience. This form of inquiry gives learners the chance to explore their expectations and personal learning goals, as well as challenge their mental processes. Different learners will have different responses for an open-ended question, as well as different approaches to solving the problem. This means that they can choose their own level of challenge based upon previously acquired knowledge and experience. Provide supplemental online resources. Supplemental resources give more advanced or experienced learners the power to explore the topic on their own and research additional information. Likewise, if the learning seems to be struggling, links to extra articles, videos, and tutorials can help them catch up with their peers and get the most out of their time in the virtual classroom. Learners who fall somewhere in the middle can pick-and-choose which links they want to access, as the supplemental learning resources are optional. As a result, you won’t have to worry about frustrating and overwhelming learners who are already performing well. Give your audience a heaping bowlful of "just right" learning to steer clear of boredom and offer them real value. A happily ever after is within reach if you can create a challenging eLearning experience! Offering the right amount of challenge engages learners and gets them involved in the educational experience. Read the article 6 Tips To Engage Passive Learners In eLearning to learn how to engage, excite and motivate your audience, converting your eLearning course into a memorable online experience. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Evaluating Mobile Learning Is Necessary (And Should Be Continuous)  Over the past decade, mobile learning has grown monumentally in educational institutions as well as in corporate houses around the world. It started with simple text based short lessons sent over to mobile devices for revision or a quick recap; now mobile learning is growing in scope and capability that offer new opportunities for learning that extend beyond the traditional eLearning or instructor-led classroom. During the early days of mobile learning, developers became aware of significant issues that came with the adoption of mobile devices for learning. Technical issues such as managing learning technology with short battery life were on one side. On the other were pedagogical issues, such as delivering teaching content through a small device. With the immense popularity and easy availability of mobile devices, they are now being utilized for shopping, banking, gaming, entertainment, and even advertising. There is a huge opportunity to design learning differently through learning communities, just-in-time, and on demand learning as well as encourage the habit of lifetime learning. Coupled with the internet revolution which enables people to access, create, and share media across the world, mobile learning is the way that the learners of the modern generation prefer to learn. 4 Ways Of Evaluating Mobile Learning Since considerable budgets are spent on mobile learning development, it is necessary to find effective ways of evaluating mobile learning and ensure that learners are not just fascinated by the new devices in a way which they may find interesting, but here is a lasting valuable impact of mobile learning on their work practices as well. The success of technology-aided learning is closely related to the learner’s achievement in pre-identified learning outcomes. This is true for mobile learning as well, but the nature of learning outcomes in the mobile age needs to be adaptive. Here are 4 ways to measure the effectiveness of mobile learning: Analyzing the learners’ contribution on online forums. Learners may assimilate information into their own experience and development, rather than reproducing knowledge in a pre-post questionnaire or traditional test. Practical opportunities of sharing and applying knowledge should be provided to ascertain the effectiveness of learning. A very sound way of doing this is by analyzing the learners’ contribution to the topic on online forums. Such forums can be specially created to encourage the learners’ online contributions. Evaluation can be conducted on the basis of how many times the learner has answered a query in the forum. Or it can also be deduced by analyzing how many experiences or findings has he or she posted. Peers can "like" these posts or tag them as useful to fellow learners. The number of times a learners’ post tagged or forwarded by his or her peers can also be an effective measure of learning effectiveness. Measuring how and how much learners use their mobile devices. The number of times that a learner logs on to the Learning Management System (LMS) using the mobile device or searches for relevant course content on his handheld device can be a sign that the mobile learning endeavor is effective. Increased learning time on the mobile device is a definite sign that learners are keen on learning on these devices. Analyzing the quality of a text report or assignment. The same happens when the course is delivered through traditional eLearning or even through classroom sessions. In the case of mobile learning, the text reports can be written on mobile devices themselves and submitted online. The textual content does not have to be extended to present a clear picture of learning effectiveness. Short descriptive questions or objective test papers can also be utilized to throw light upon learning evaluation. Collecting actual log data, with respective to the interactivities built within the mobile learning course.  For instance, the fact that a learner accesses a particular section of the course more than one time is an indicator that the section contains material which definitely garners his attention or he finds it useful. This is especially true if the course is fortified with audio-visuals or even short skill-based games which the learner wants to experience more and then apply to his work. Not only does this throw light on the effectiveness of content, it also reveals what kind of content most appeals to learners. Evaluation needs to respond to the challenges of mobile learning and create more avenues of effective data collection as well as analysis. In the continuous process of creating more effective ways of delivering mobile learning, stringent methods of evaluation also need to be developed to ascertain the true worth of mobile learning in the modern context. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Best Practices You Need To Know For mLearning Development  Rethink Your mLearning Graphic Design. Developing for mobile phones creates some unique design challenges. "It affects everything, from the graphic design, which has to look good on a very small screen, to decisions about what platform to use to deliver the content", says Chris Bush, a project manager on a team that worked with 4-H to create an online knowledge center and mobile-specific learning content for youth in Africa, who often don’t have access to computers and internet connections, but do have cell phones. "Whether you’re building content for delivery on a smartphone or tablet, remember to design for touch", says Laura Silver, VP of Product Management at Trivantis®. "This naturally applies to buttons, which you’ll want to make ‘finger friendly’ - easy to tap with the pad of your fingertip". BranchTrack CEO Sergey Snegirev notes that "thanks to Facebook and just about every website in the world, contemporary phone users love scrolling for new content, so make sure your course has long vertical pages and comfortable font sizes. Lectora® Responsive Course Design™ will take care of fitting your course width and making the rest scrollable". Check it out with a free trial of the new Lectora® Online 3. Shorter Is Better For mLearning Length And File Size. The Instructional Designer on the 4-H project, Craig Rebich, provided another mLearning best practice to keep in mind - brevity is best. "Knowing that people weren’t going to be sitting down at the computer to take an hour-long course, that they were going to be actually out in the field using mobile phones, impacted the eLearning materials we created. We had to consider how to keep things very concise and to the point, to make the training materials really easy to use and flexible". How long is too long? In the early days of mobile phones, content was divided into two-minute segments as a way to quickly and cheaply send content across mobile networks. That’s not as much of a concern from a technical perspective today, but the two-minute mark remains an excellent cutoff point. "By studying the psychological interaction between users, their mobile phones, and learning content, we have found that after about 90 seconds the user begins to lose concentration. True, people watch 30-minute TV episodes on their mobiles but that is a "lying back" style of entertainment. What we want to achieve is the "lean forward"; a more interactive engagement in which the user works alongside the content. A 90- to 120-second duration works", says Gerry Griffin, former director of the London Business School and founder of Skill-Pill. John Blackmon, Chief Technology Officer of Trivantis, also supports brevity for mLearning: "That 500MB HD video that looked so great on the desktop version of your course just takes too long to download on your student’s phone to be useful." Blackmon advises that you "create a much smaller resolution version of the video, or perhaps cut out any unneeded sequences so that it is quick and to the point for your mobile user". Save Yourself The Multiple Device Headache. Lectora Online’s Responsive Course Design makes mLearning development for multiple devices easy. Author once - publish everywhere! Start your free 30-day trial now. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Adobe Captivate 9 Review: From Storyboarding To Responsive eLearning! Adobe states that Captivate 9 can "go seamlessly from storyboarding to responsive eLearning design".  It also boasts an asset store with over 25,000 items and the new Adobe Captivate Draft, which is a storyboarding app for the iPad that allows you to streamline your eLearning design and development process. On top of all these, Captivate 9 includes a variety of upgrades and enhanced features that you won’t find in the previous versions. But is it worth the investment? Let’s delve into the features, pricing, ease of use, and support services that you may want to consider during the decision making process. 6 Standout Features Of Adobe Captivate 9 Adobe Captivate Draft. Adobe Captivate Draft is a free iPad app that can be used in tandem with Adobe Captivate 9, and it gives you the power to transform your storyboard into a fully interactive online course, complete with scenario branching, question slides, and a variety of other multimedia elements. It involves an iPad app, which also means that you can create online courses on the go and share them with online collaborators. In fact, other members of your eLearning team don’t even need to own Adobe Captivate 9 or the app in order to review the contents. After the storyboard is perfected, simply import it into the authoring tool and publish. Device-Aware Delivery. Responsive design is must-have, as so many learners are now accessing eLearning courses on their mobile devices. Adobe Captivate 9 offers you the ability to create just one master course that can adapt to any device. For example, if a learner is accessing the eLearning course on their iPad, the tool will automatically adjust the layout of the page to fit the screen size and resolution. There is no need to design a separate eLearning course for every tablet, phone, or laptop; it’s all done for you. Asset Store. If you’re looking for a tool that features an abundance of games, layouts, interactions, and cutouts, then you should probably move Adobe Captivate 9 to the top of your list. It has a library of over 25,000 free assets that you can use to make your eLearning course more interactive, engaging, and effective for your learners. The library is also updated on a regular basis, which means that you will constantly have fresh content to choose from. Multimedia Integration. There are almost too many interactive elements to mention here. Adobe Captivate 9 offers an impressive selection of multimedia tools, ranging from HD screen capture and screen casting to audio synchronization and scenario branching. It also boasts audio-text captions, text-to-speech capabilities, and pan and zoom support. Adobe Captivate 9 truly excels when it comes to creating interactive eLearning experiences. Branch-Aware Quizzing. Not only does Adobe Captivate 9 offer pretests that assess learner knowledge before they complete an online module or course, but it can also point your learners in the right direction after they complete the pretest so that they can get the most out of their educational experience. After they complete the recommended module, the system then quizzes them again to monitor their progress. The new version also includes Knowledge Check questions to help learners stay on track. Geo-Location Support. This is a feature that you won’t find with many other eLearning tools. Geo-location capabilities give you the power to detect the exact location of your learners so that you can deliver online content that is region-specific. For example, if you plan on localizing your eLearning course for an international market, you can offer them the translated version of the eLearning course immediately. Pricing You can either opt for the monthly subscription or one-time fee pricing model at the Adobe Captivate 9 pricing plans. The subscription option requires a $29.99 monthly fee, as well as an annual commitment that includes an early termination fee. If you’d prefer to purchase the license outright, the price tag is $1,099. However, if you already have Adobe 8 you can upgrade for $449.00. There is also a student and teacher edition that costs $349. Ease Of Use With so many features and functions, one might naturally assume that the Adobe Captivate 9 interface involves a steep learning curve. However, the UI is surprisingly intuitive and user-friendly, but still gives you complete control over every aspect of the eLearning course design. For example, when you are designing online content for multiple devices, you can simply design as you normally would and then use the previewer to get a sneak peek of how the page will look on the device. Publish the eLearning project just once and the tool automatically delivers the best possible display for your learners. Support Adobe has one of the most active online user Captivate communities and an extensive database of help resources, including how-to articles and tutorials that can be an invaluable asset for those who run into any issues along the way, or want to get the most of the tool. Adobe also offers a chat option if your questions aren’t answered on the forums. For more extensive support, Adobe does provide a premier support package that covers phone assistance. Conclusion If you already have an Adobe Captivate subscription, then you will already have access to version 9. In which case, you should definitely consider making the switch, thanks to the wide range of upgrades and new features. On the other hand, if you are new to Adobe, then you may want to try out the product by signing up for the free demo. It will give you a chance to explore the features and functions, so that you are able to discover if it’s a good fit for you. Adobe Captivate 9 is a great tool for eLearning professionals who want a flexible design platform that also happens to be affordable. If you are an iPad user, then the Adobe Captivate Draft feature is a big plus, as it gives you the opportunity to create and collaborate anytime, anywhere. The asset store is another significant perk, especially if you are looking for ready-made interactions and templates for rapid eLearning development. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Motivate Employees To Complete eLearning Courses?  Imagine this: Your manager mentions during a team meeting that some new eLearning courses will be rolled out shortly. Even those already proficient in the skills taught will need to complete it as refresher training. What is your reaction? Would you have to stifle an eye roll, or would you get excited at the learning opportunity? Your level of enthusiasm could depend on a range of things, from the country you live in to the specific factors that motivate you as an individual. In fact, Education First’s latest global research report entitled "Decoding motivation: Global insight into motivational drivers of corporate training" found big differences between countries and their willingness to undertake corporate training. Reportedly, 62 percent of respondents in Brazil and 60 percent in China say employees are very willing to undertake training. This drops dramatically in European countries with Sweden, the UK, and France all coming in at 38%. Interesting stuff. What this tells us is that when it comes to online training, a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t going to cut it. To truly motivate employees and engage them to take eLearning courses, we need to be able to allow them to be active in the experience. Here are 5 top tips from PulseLearning to help motivate employees to complete eLearning courses. Emphasize the "what’s in it for me?" and on-the-job application. Presenting the "what’s in it for me? (WIIFM)" is effective in gaining audience buy-in. To be motivated, employees need to know the real world benefits of the eLearning courses - in particular, how the training relates to them in their daily roles. Present clear learning objectives at the start of the training and reference these throughout. Using scenarios and case studies can be a great way to link content to on-the-job application. You can also provide learners with a set of take-away tools such as job aids or quick-reference guides. Link to skill development and career pathways. A recent global study revealed that 66% of employees say opportunities for professional growth are limited within their organizations. Cultivate a learning culture within your organization and communicate the professional development benefits of completing training. Send out emails or post on your intranet about upcoming training, the benefits, and how it can help transition employees into other roles within the company. Make use of effective interactivity and creative devices. So you’ve inspired your employees about the upcoming training. What you don’t want is your team of motivated employees sitting down to dull, boring eLearning courses. To maintain training motivation, you need to deliver quality eLearning. Effective training presents new skills and knowledge in exciting and engaging formats, which can include videos, podcasts, graphic narratives, and multiple-branching scenarios. Use a variety of mediums and interactivity that involve the learner to actively participate. Gamification, the use of game mechanics in online training, can rouse some healthy competition among learners. Offer opportunities to assess and reflect on what has been learned. You might not initially see a test as a motivating factor; however, assessment tools allow learners to determine how much they have learned. When we do well, we feel good about ourselves and get excited that we have learned new skills. You might include interspersed formative self-reflection activities and learning checks and a summative assessment at the end of the training, if appropriate. Put your learners in control with BYOD and mobile learning. Allow your learners to complete eLearning courses when and where it suits them, on the devices they enjoy using the most. eLearning courses can be designed for access on desktop computers, tablets, and smart phones. If your organization allows employees to "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD), training can be completed in a location where employee feels most comfortable. References: The 2014 TINYpulse Employee Engagement and Organizational Culture Report This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

The particular focus of ICBL 2015 is Education Innovation. ICBL 2015 focuses on the exchange of relevant trends, views and research results as well as the presentation of practical experiences gained while developing and implementing elements of Interactive Collaborative and Blended Learning. ICBL 2015 Topics General Topics in Interactive Computer Aided Blended Learning: New learning models and applications, Collaborative learning environments, Adaptive and intuitive environments, Mobile learning environments and applications, Learning Analytics, Ontologies and e-Learning, Novel Pedagogy, Pedagogical Approaches, Teaching and Learning Methodology: Innovative Research in Pedagogy impacting computer aided blended learning, collaborative learning pedagogical approaches and methods, advanced evaluation and assessment methods, blended learning, e-mentoring and e-tutoring, metrics and performance measurement, Innovative Tools and Environments Facilitating Learning and Global issues: Immersive environments and Virtual Reality in Education, Cloud Based Systems, Mobile Learning (M-learning), Integrating Smart Devices as Collaborative Learning Tools, Virtual and Online Labs and Virtual Classrooms, MOOCs, MOOLs, netbased learning Innovation in Education: hybrid and blended learning, project based learning, integration of social networking and social computing in education and e-learning, critical success factors in distance and online learning, novel interdisciplinary programs and approaches, e-learning success stories and case studies. ICBL 2015 Keynote Speakers Invited speakers: Yacob Astatke, Morgan State University Nia Alexandrov, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre Alejandra Magana, Purdue University, USA Julieta Noguez, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico Luis Neri, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico The International Conference on Interactive Collaborative and Blended Learning (ICBL 2015) will be heldat the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus, on December 9 - 11, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Boosting Your Workforce Performance With Interactive PDFs And eBooks  In 1991, Gloria Gerry pioneered the initial ideas and practices of Performance Support (PS) in her book "Electronic Performance Support Systems". She rightly proposed that the learning strategies of organizations needed to "be reconceived to influence the primary purpose of organization: To perform effectively and efficiently". She also observed that the "information, rules and knowledge" that employees needed in order to "optimize performance" were "spread all over the place" and needed to be "within easy reach". Gerry felt that organizations must "give up the idea that competence must exist within the person and expand [their] view that whenever possible it should be built into the situation". Unfortunately, Gerry’s vision of what PS can do for organizations experienced a short period of attention but this concept did not quite take off (primarily because of high implementation costs). Today, there is a wider acceptance of the fact that use of formal training is not enough to help learners apply the learning on the job. There is a renewed focus on using Performance Support as an integral part of an organization’s learning strategy to push the knowledge acquisition to application. In my own organization and with several customers, we have successfully demonstrated the power of PSTs. In this article, I will outline how you can use interactive PDFs and eBooks as Performance Support Tools. What Are Performance Support Tools Or PSTs?  Performance Support Tools (PSTs) are on-the-job tools that support and guide employees at the precise moment of need. Unlike training, which is characterized by providing information and guidance beforehand, these tools assist employees as they actually do their jobs. These tools are very easy to find, often directly embedded into the learners’ workflow (Learning Hub). They offer active guidance, saving the employees the hassles of "searching" for information and assistance. These solutions enable organizations to provide the right amount of task guidance, support, and productivity benefits to their employees just when they need them. What Are The Available Formats To Develop PSTs? PST formats are limited only by your imagination. Some of the formats we have extensively used are: Interactive PDFs. eBooks. Mobile apps. Kinetic text-based animations. Whiteboard animations. Webcasts/podcasts. Expert videos or webinars. For a deeper understanding of PSTs and why they must be an integral part of an organization’s learning strategy, refer to my article Performance Support Tools: Top 5 Things Your Boss Wants To Know. What Are The Advantages Of Using Interactive PDFs And eBooks?  Interactive PDFs and eBooks enable you to generate high quality PSTs fairly quickly. These are available in multi-device format enabling your learners to use them on their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and PCs. As we all know, the key is quick access to most recent information. These formats enable organizations to make information accessible, searchable, and up-to-date. Availability of these learning aids within the learner’s work-flow significantly increases the probability of usage thereby increasing the application of this learning on the job. How Can Interactive PDFs And eBooks Be Used To Boost Your Workforce Performance? You can boost your workforce performance with interactive PDFs and eBooks by using them to supplement or complement formal training (online or ILT). Essentially, they allow you to make factual, knowledge-based information available to your learners quickly and easily. Typically, they include: Top tips. Best practices. Checklists. Ready reckoners. Glossaries. FAQs. Policies and procedures. Change management: Quick just-in-time updates. They don’t have to be long (in fact, they shouldn’t be) but a short and sharp byte of knowledge when you need it can be invaluable. What Is Unique About eBooks Vis-a-vis Interactive PDFs? Both formats accommodate the same level of design (visually rich text, audio, and video). eBooks also allow SCORM output thereby enabling you to track the usage of the learning aid. Here are a few examples of Interactive PDFs and eBooks: For more details on this example, refer to my article Performance support: Featuring Interactive pdf as a Learning Aid to supplement online learning. I hope this article provides cues on how you can use simple learning aids like Interactive PDFs and eBooks to create a strong Performance Support intervention and enhance the application of learning. This in turn will certainly boost your workforce performance. I have several case studies that reflect a direct impact of Performance Support Tools on the ROI of training. Do contact me for further details. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Top Video Conferencing Systems eLearning Professionals Should Know About On occasions when face-to-face communication is essential, but in-person meetings are out of the question, video conferencing systems are a valuable asset. The challenge is to find the best video conferencing system for your specific eLearning needs and budget, especially when there are so many options available. Here are the top 10 video conferencing systems that every eLearning professional should know about. Google Hangouts Google Hangouts offers a free version that is one of the top video conferencing systems available today. However, if you plan on including more than 20 people in your chat, then you may want to consider their upgraded subscription. Hangouts Pro is just at $9 a month and can accommodate up to 50 users at once. It also boasts other great features, such as email reminders, so that you can boost your attendance rates.  ClickMeeting If you’re looking for a video conferencing system that allows you to brand your virtual meeting space and waiting room, as well as hold moderated Q&A sessions and private chats, then ClickMeeting should be at the top of your list. They offer a 30-day free trial, and plans start at just $30 per month after that. Citrix GoToMeeting This video conferencing system is packed with features, ranging from meeting scheduling and easy-to-create invitations to participant identification and built-in screen sharing capabilities. It is $24 per month up to 5 attendees simultaneously, or $39 per month up to 25. The convenient invitation links are a big plus, as attendees can simply click on the hyperlink to access the chat on any device. Adobe Connect Adobe Connect offers a user-friendly interface and boasts a wide range of features such as breakout rooms, private chats, and slide sharing. You can even carry out polls throughout the eLearning course of your virtual meeting to get immediate feedback, or share documents to work on online projects collaboratively with your team members. Their subscriptions start at $45 per month. They also offer Adobe Connect Webinars for $1250 a year and Adobe Connect Learning for $3500 per year. Skype Premium Skype is one of the most popular free chat tools. However, they also have a paid version, Skype Premium, which is $9.99 per month. Their Premium option features group calls that can accommodate up to 10 users, as well as a screen sharing tool that boosts its collaboration factor. If you already use Skype for one-on-one online meetings and want to add more participants into the mix, then Skype Premium is the natural choice. The low price point also makes it ideal for small businesses or eLearning development teams. eVoice From conference calling to call routing, eVoice provides a wide selection of features that make it a great video conferencing system for eLearning professionals who need an all-in-one solution. Their plans start at $29.99 per month, which includes 1000 minutes of calling and 5 extensions, as well as 15 phone numbers. Their basic packages only cover voice, but their premium subscriptions include video and web conferencing. If you want to convey a more professional image, but simply don’t have the budget to set up a physical office, eVoice is definitely worth considering. Cisco WebEx The free version of WebEx only includes voice calling, but their Premium package features voice conferencing that supports up to 8 users simultaneously. It is $24 per month or $228 annually, and boasts screen sharing tools, document sharing, and a whiteboard where every member of your team or audience can jot down their opinions and ideas. Cisco also offers an Event Center where you can host webinars, and a Training Center that allows you to conduct online training. Join.Me According to their website, 90% of Fortune 500 companies use Join.Me, which comes as no surprise thanks to their user-friendly platform and quick setup process. You just download it onto your computer and start your first meeting in a matter of minutes. They offer a 14-day trial for all of their plans, but also have a free option that features VoIP conferencing. After the trail is over, you can carry on with the plan for just $19.99 per month, which covers phone numbers and video conferencing system. StartMeeting This option is ideally suited for webinars and online presentations, as you can host up to 1,000 users at a time. They also offer a 30-day free trial that gives you the chance to try before you buy. After that, it is $19.95 per month. However, if you want to add in video support, StartMeeting must be paired with a variety of other video conferencing systems, such as Adobe Connect, to add in the video support. Yugma Yugma offers a free version that allows for up to 2 participants and limits the virtual meetings to an hour. They also have 6 different paid plans that start at $24.50 per year. The platform features screen sharing, audio conferencing, private chats, Skype support, and whiteboards that streamline collaboration with your team. You can also poll your audience during the meeting and add annotations. Reach out to team members and boost the collaboration of your online course by using these video conferencing systems in your eLearning strategy. If the platform offers a free trial, then take the opportunity to try out the features and functions to ensure that it’s a good fit for your eLearning needs. Want to learn more about differentiated pricing factors of different video conferencing systems? Read the article The Insider's Guide To Video Conferencing Pricing Models to discover the video conferencing pricing structures that are available today. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Bulk Buy eLearning Courses Vs eLearning On Demand  ROI on the bulk buy license can look pretty appealing, right? Spend £10,000 on a library of 50 eLearning courses for a 200 strong workforce and it could cost as little as £1 per course enrollment! But Learning and Development (L&D) professionals aren’t dumb: They don’t actually expect this to happen. When they calculate the real cost of buying eLearning, usage rates are often very low, and it actually ends up costing more like £100 per course enrollment. Traditionally publishers have been forced to take a sledgehammer approach to pricing because they had no control over what happened after their courses were sold and uploaded to the customer’s Learning Management System. Putting courses in the cloud changes all of that. Now we have the technology to track usage in real time. The metrics that we have in front of us are pioneering and incredibly useful in driving better purchasing decisions. We can look at usage patterns not just across one workforce but across entire industries. We can see which courses are popular, how long courses take to complete, pinpoint weak areas where courses are under-performing, monitor completion rates and spot new trends faster. At Course-Source we use tracking technology and usage data to offer a system that lets Learning and Development departments take up pay-per-use pricing options without ditching the Learning Management System they already have. Learning and Development managers choose the course publishers they like then buy batches of "enrollment units" that can be redeemed for any of the courses their preferred publishers offer. Every time a learner enrolls in a course one unit is automatically redeemed. When units starts to run low, automatic alerts remind the L&D department to top-up. We believe that charging "per enrollment" offers best value for today’s training manager, but the whole area of learning analytics is opening up new opportunities for all of us. Clicking With The Customer  Charlotte Gibbs is Talent and Learning Coordinator at financial services business, Maitland. "Like all large businesses, Maitland experiences seasonal trends in training", explains Charlotte. "At some points of the year people are just too busy to do the courses they want. Other times, like during annual reviews for instance, demand for course access goes up considerably. Using the per-enrollment model allows us to cope with the ebb and flow of corporate learning". "With the traditional license model, we would have to wait until the end of the license to find out how much it actually cost per learning interaction (course enrollment), which was often much higher than expected. The per-enrollment model means we know how much each course enrollment costs and we get exactly what we pay for". Is Enrollment Based Pricing Always Cheaper?  No. Most Learning and Development managers find it's cheaper, but if courses actually are being consumed in the numbers predicted by the bulk buy license seller, then the bulk buy model will probably work out cheaper. Enrollment based pricing makes most sense in the voluntary side of eLearning. When eLearning supports mandatory compliance requirements, and everyone in the company is required to complete the learning, the model may not offer the best pricing. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Why Human Resources Can Help You With Your Audience Analysis  As Christopher Pappas has argued, "the first and arguably most important step of creating a winning eLearning course is finding out as much as possible about your target audience". If you’ve got the money and the time, surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations, and job diaries are all great ways to get to know your audience. Unless you live in an Instructional Design textbook fantasyland, however, you probably won’t be able to pull most of this off. That’s where Human Resources (HR) can help. Think about the kinds of questions you would ask your audience if you did have the time and money: What do employees already know about the topic? Do they care about the topic? Is this really a training issue, or is there something else going on? How will employees apply what they’ve learned on the job? How do employees feel about eLearning? What other kinds of interventions are happening related to the topic? Human Resources representatives and managers can usually give you answers to all of these questions, and you might be shocked at how accurate they are. Good HR professionals know their people and they know the business, so if they don’t have the answers you’re looking for, they can usually point you to the people who do. In addition, Human Resources folks are usually good at seeing connections that you may have missed. Maybe the new training can be incorporated into the upcoming performance reviews. Maybe there’s an up-and-coming leader who could help you out as part of his or her development plan. Maybe there’s a big re-organization coming up that’s going to be announced the same week as you plan to release the training. Maybe there are one or two key managers who need to be won over to make this thing work. Human Resources specializes in these maybes. How To Ask Human Resources To Help You With Your Audience Analysis Respect their time. The reason HR knows so much is that they do so much: Hiring, firing, discipline, compliance, compensation, benefits, organizational development, coaching, succession planning, performance appraisals, and on and on. Don’t just show up and expect them to drop everything to talk to you. Schedule a meeting and provide an agenda (or at least a meaningful description) so they can prepare. Even better, see if you can get on the agenda at an HR staff meeting. That way, you’ll get everyone’s input at once and get them bouncing ideas off each other. Be direct. If what you really want to know is whether or not a particular VP is going to support a course, don’t beat around the bush with vague questions about "leadership support" or "change management culture." Just straight-up ask "Do you think Bill will support this thing?" Respect their confidentiality. Sometimes HR knows something, but they can’t tell you what it is. You’ll just have to trust that if an HR manager says "I wouldn’t release your course during the first week of June", that they have a good reason for it. And hopefully it goes without saying that if Human Resources does share something with you in confidence, you keep your mouth good and shut. Say thanks and return the favor. This is just good manners. If someone took the time to help you out, show your gratitude and stand ready to help them out when they need a hand with something. In some organizations, training is a part of Human Resources. In others, they’re separate departments. Either way, it pays to develop good working relationships with HR representatives and managers. Just remember: Be polite, be direct, and respect boundaries. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

TalentLMS Review: A Super-Easy, Cloud LMS To Train Your Employees, Partners, Or Customers  It’s all in the cloud with TalentLMS. Users can install the platform within a matter of minutes, then quickly upload their learning materials and eLearning course content using any connected device. TalentLMS even provides you with your own domain, which you can fully customize with your own logo and theme. Their site states that you can "make your learning management system look the way you dreamt it", which almost sounds too good to be true for eLearning professionals. Read on to discover if TalentLMS is really the ideal match for your organization. Standout Features Scalability. TalentLMS is ideal for enterprises who need a training platform that can grow along with them. It features building blocks, such as branches and single sign-on, which allow you to expand your training to fit your evolving needs. You can also rely on the fact that all of your sensitive data is safe on their encrypted channels. All-Inclusive Tools. Not only is TalentLMS compliant with both SCORM and TinCan (xAPI), but it can also offers video conferencing, gamification, and course selling tools, as well as notification capabilities to keep your learners informed. This means that you won’t have to worry about finding suitable third-party tools, because it’s all in the platform. Mobile-Friendly. Whether you need to access the system on your tablet or prefer to dive into the design process on your laptop, TalentLMS gives you the opportunity to access your online course anywhere. It supports iPad, iPhone, and Android devices, making it easy to take your eLearning with you wherever you go. Reporting. Being able to track your user’s progress and identify the areas of improvement for your eLearning course is essential, and TalentLMS features both basic and in-depth analytics capabilities. You can keep an eye on everything that’s going on inside your learning management system in a matter of seconds. Video Integration. Embed YouTube videos directly into your eLearning course or integrate a Slideshare presentation to make it more interactive. You can also upload your own videos, virtual presentation, and documents into the system to provide your users with a personalized and full-branded learning experience. Pricing It doesn’t get any better than free! TalentLMS offers a free plan for those who have fewer than 5 users and under 10 courses in their library. They also offer small, basic, plus, and premium subscriptions that feature unlimited course uploads, which are billed annually. The small option is $29 per month and covers up to 25 users, and the basic plan is $99 a month and covers up to 100 users. The plus package is $199 a month for up to 500 users, while the premium option is $349 per month for up to 1000 users. Subscribers also have the ability to pay on a monthly basis at a slightly higher rate, and there are unlimited plans starting at $109 a month. Ease of Use The TalentLMS user interface focuses on "conventions over configurations". In other words, you don’t have to worry about configuring an abundance of settings and can just dive into the design and delivery process for your eLearning course. It also enables you to import your existing learning materials so that you can save time and resources on that front, and it even optimizes all of the online content for your users who are accessing it via a mobile device thanks to its responsive design feature. You simply have to upload one master online course and it will do all the work for you. The User Interface, itself, consists of embedded content tools and a single sidebar. The general overview enables you to conveniently view user progress, or edit your existing eLearning courses and delete units that you no longer need. Support Aside from their online contact form, TalentLMS offers a comprehensive support and knowledge base online. Users can find information regarding billing, certifications, compliance, online courses, gamification, and a wide range of other topics. If you prefer social media support, they have a blog, as well as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ pages where you can reach them. Conclusion TalentLMS is ideally suited for those who are looking for less frills and more functionality. One of their primary focuses is providing a system that can easily repurpose online content and create eLearning courses that are aesthetically pleasing without sacrificing navigability. If you have SCORM or TinCan files, videos, or presentations already in your library, TalentLMS can save you a great deal of time by enabling you to simply upload them into their platform. The fact that it’s on the cloud is also a major selling point. You just choose the subscription package that is right for you, or even give them a try without paying anything up front by choosing their free option, then start creating amazing and effective eLearning experiences for your audience. Integrate your own logos, colors, and other branding essentials to personalize the eLearning course and bring it in-line with your company’s message. Last, but certainly not least, the price point is spot-on. Even if you need to add more users than the 5 that are included in the "free" plan, the basic option is just $29 a month if you opt for the annual billing, which is one of the lowest LMS subscription rates out there today. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Rapid eLearning Tools: Top 6 Practices  Rapid eLearning tools could be of great help when you need to race with time, simultaneously producing best learning projects. While doing so, it is not meant that you randomly develop some eLearning projects and arrange them in haphazard manner. We actually need to develop rapid learning in a powerful and effective manner providing our audience with maximum learning experience in short time. While developing rapid learning, our focus mainly lies on speed. But, apart from speed, it is also necessary to develop a good base for your learning projects. In this article, we list a few best practices that can direct you towards producing an effective rapid learning. Select The Most Suitable Authoring Tool. Prior starting rapid eLearning, it is important that you choose the correct authoring tool. Some important features that need to be kept in mind while choosing a tool are: It should be able to be used by everyone in your team. It must allow quick prototyping. It must have provisions for creating attractive designs as and when required. It must allow templates formation that may be used in future. It must be compatible with all hand-held devices. Plan Basic Program Structure For Learners. While deciding to create rapid eLearning, you need to plan about the basic structure of your program. Try to make it interactive and eye-catching. Keep those devices in mind for which you are creating rapid eLearning; some good tools allow creating programs for specific devices. After that focus on the information that you are going to share keeping in mind your target audience, i.e. what type of learners you are going to interact with. The next important aspect is the interactivity of your rapid learning. You may consider including a few exercises of assignmentbox, or games by which the learners can apply what they have gained through the project. Keep 3 Tips In Mind While Creating Prototype. Creating an image of the complete idea of your team (prototyping) will help you a lot in collaborating with your clients. While jotting down your idea, you need to follow 3 basic tips: Be quick in creating prototype during the early hours of your project so as to ensure that you and your clients are going in the same direction. There is no need to worry about finishing of prototype, as incorporating others’ suggestions in a finished project becomes really difficult and time consuming. So, try to prepare a rough sketch so that you may end up with creating a finished prototype completely in accordance with your stakeholders. Creating prototypes quite often is really helpful in engaging with your clients to a greater extent. Use Available Templates As Well As Graphics. Using templates and pre-made graphics in your rapid learning will greatly speed up the development process. So if such an authoring tool is used, try to include as many graphics and templates as possible, as this will make it more interactive. Use A Rapid Communicating Tool. Before starting your project, developing a quick viewable workbook will greatly assist in making things understandable. Use proper labeling and page numbers; add details about what graphics will be included, details of the responsible person, and the current status of development of the page. Assess Overall Workflow. After finishing all steps, evaluate the entire workflow of your of your project. This will surely help you analyze what steps were really needed, and which ones were unnecessary. These observations will surely help you while creating future rapid learning projects. Final Words  Following these simple tips, you will be able to create an effective rapid learning that is both attention-grabbing and able to provide large amount information to viewers in short time. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

T4E 2015 "Knowledge, skill and competency for all!" T4E (Technology for Education) is an annual IEEE international conference on Advanced Learning Technologies and Pedagogy for Technology-Enhanced Learning. T4E 2015 Areas of Focus The areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the following broad topics in the domain intersecting technology and education: Adaptive, cognitive and personalized approaches for improvement of education Assessment and evaluation models Bridging urban-rural gap in education Cognition and learning technologies, Role of cognition in education Curriculum design for technology-enhanced learning Development of technologies to support education e-learning in vernacular languages Game-based learning Growth and impact of the Open Educational Resources movement Hand held device-based learning Impact of social networks on learning Impact studies Infrastructure for large scale deployment of e-learning Innovative use of ICT for content development and classroom use Learning analytics Massively open online learning Pedagogies for remote learning, e-learning, blended learning, and technology-enhanced learning Techniques and standards for learning resources Technology-based learning environments Semantic web technologies in education Smart Learning Environments Socioeconomic factors reducing the impact of technology in education Virtual/online experimentation and scalable solutions T4E Keynote Speakers Professor Nian Shing Chen is Chair Professor at the Department of Information Management in the National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan. He has published over 400 papers in the international referred journals, conferences and book chapters. One of his papers published in Innovations in Education and Teaching International was awarded as the top cited article in 2010. He is the author of three books with one textbook entitled "e-Learning Theory & Practice". Dr. Maiga Chang is Associate Professor in the School of Computing Information and Systems at Athabasca University, Canada. His researches mainly focus on mobile learning and ubiquitous learning, museum e-learning, game-based learning, educational robots, learning behaviour analysis, data mining, intelligent agent technology, computational intelligence in e-learning, and mobile healthcare. Dr. Chang is co-chair of Asia-Pacific Region Game and Toy Enhanced Learning and Society special interest group (SIG) under the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE). He is now editor in chief of International Journal of Distance Education Technologies. He has been guest edited 13 special issues for many international journals. The 7th IEEE international conference on Technology for Education (T4E 2015), will be held at the National Institute of Technology Warangal on December 10-12, 2015. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

3 Cost Effective Strategies When Deploying eLearning In Africa  The mere cost of rolling out eLearning in Africa is deterrent for most academic institutions and governments. In many cases people are overwhelmed by how much investment is needed and as a result African countries have been very slow in their adaptation and implementation of eLearning. There are strategies that can be applied to reduce these costs and that will facilitate the quick and efficient roll out of eLearning. Know Your Market Needs. The most powerful champions or resistors of eLearning in Africa are often the learners and educators. eLearning may be supported at the highest levels of Education Ministries and there may be a unanimous decision that eLearning is necessary to take education in the nation to the next level, but your initiative will go nowhere if they don’t have buy in. Each market/nation has specific needs that have to be evaluated in order to cost-effectively deploy eLearning. Most critical is to align national ICT development goals and targets for basic education, which will guide the allocation of medium-term funding for education and ongoing national and local plans. The essence of cost efficiency is in starting with the basics and then scaling up once there is uptake. In Kenya for example, without intervention 6 million of the 9 million students in primary school will fail. In rural areas, more than two thirds of students fail, with more than 80% of girls failing. With these unique statistics a targeted and cost effective approach to eLearning was required that would reach students that needed the intervention the most. Knowing the challenges that existed in the rural Kenyan market such as internet connectivity and devices, Eneza Education developed an eLearning delivery model that leverages on low cost mobile technology. Students with basic feature phones can access locally aligned tutorials, tips, and assessments, as well as a leaderboard, Wikipedia text and live teacher chat through USSD/SMS. To date Eneza Education has over 460,000 unique users across over 8,000 schools in Kenya. An impact report by Eneza Education reflects that, students using Eneza Education for only 30 minutes per week increased their average scores 5% more than their peers at the same schools with the same teachers. Eneza Education mastered the approach of starting with the basics and scaling up. Though it stated on basic feature phones, Eneza Education is now available on an online web app, an offline desktop app, and an Android app. When eLearning in Africa is clearly deployed in line with the needs of the market, there is a much less risk of spending large amounts of money on implementing a solution that is not suitable for that specific market. Maximize On Open Educational Resources. Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, and research purposes. OER initiatives can build capacity in African education by providing educators free or low-cost access to tools, content, and communities of practice. These in turn can support them to develop and/or adapt educational materials and integrate them into high quality courses and programs. Through such processes, both educators and learners will benefit from improved and collaborative delivery of education. OER’s have the potential to advance the delivery of education by increasing the availability of free relevant learning materials, reducing the cost of accessing educational materials, and stimulating the active engagement of teaching staff and students in creating learning resources. OER initiatives have been successfully implemented in Africa, radically reducing the costs of students and educators acquiring quality academic materials. OER Africa is a groundbreaking initiative established by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE), playing a leadership role in supporting higher education institutions across Africa in the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) to enhance teaching and learning. OER’s immediately reduce the costs associated with content development and content acquisition by removing copying restrictions and making academic content available to all. The Vision for a Health OER Network in Africa is an OER initiative started by experts in health science institutions across Africa to openly share health education materials. These materials are used by health professionals in Africa to enhance their knowledge and training, as well as by students and educators around the world. In South Africa, CoZa Cares Foundation created a new digital library, Nolwazi. Nolwazi is a digital repository of OERs aligned with the South African primary school and high school curriculum including subject research and lesson planning. A significant proportion of Nolwazi’s OER content has been sourced from practicing teachers - for teachers. Nolwazi bring immediate access to digital materials include past examination papers, videos, simulations, lesson plans, educational android apps for smart phones and tablets, worksheets, eBooks at zero cost. Use an Open Source or affordable Learning Management System. Open source Learning Management Systems (LMSs)are a major attraction when one wants to deploy eLearning at minimal cost. The initial licensing cost that exists in the case of proprietary Learning Management Systems is not there in the case of open source Learning Management Systems. Development and maintenance costs will exist but they are marginally lower than when licensing an Learning Management System. Open source Learning Management Systems such as Moodle, Sakai and A-tutor have gained popularity in educational institutions. Once an in-house team attains competency in customizing the open source Learning Management System, it turns out to be more viable. Open Source Learning Management Systems such as Moodle have Moodle partners who can also provide support to users and the costs will not be as high as for licensed Learning Management Systems. You don’t pay for software licensing so acquisition, implementation and development costs are typically lower than for proprietary software. Moodle has gained particular popularity in tertiary institutions on the African continent. In 1996 the World Bank established the African Virtual University (AVU) as a project to increase capacity for distance learning across African universities. AU Online is a Moodle based Learning Management System used to deliver course content and host online learning activities at AVU. AVU has successfully utilized Moodle to increase their reach across the African continent in a cost effective way. The eFront open source Learning Management System is another one that has proved popular in African markets. eFront has a visually attractive icon-based user interface that gives a nice look-and-feel and is easy to use. Conclusion  Practical experience has shown that piloting is a really useful exercise, as it enables you to engage with end users in different cultures and understand their preferences. With budget constraints in mind, it is not possible to pilot everywhere but if you understand the needs of the market, utilize a platform that has minimal to no costs and maximize on OER’s it is possible to deploy successful eLearning on the continent at minimal cost. References:  Dlodlo, N. "Access to ICT education for girls and women in rural South Africa: A case study", Technology in Society, 2009, 31 (2): 168-175. Nolwazi Open Educational Resources Africa African Virtual University Eneza Education This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Adobe Authorized Captivate Basics Class Captivate Training Course Synopsis This Adobe certified Adobe Captivate training class provides students with the knowledge and hands-on practice they need to develop and build software demonstrations and interactive eLearning simulations . In addition to learning key concepts, students also learn best practices for creating and publishing Captivate projects. What You Will Learn in This Captivate Training Course Exploring Captivate New Project & Soft Skills eLearning Recording Demos and Sims Captions, Styles and Timing Images and Smart Shapes Pointers, Paths, Boxes, and Buttons Rollovers and Zooms Audio Video, Animation and Effects Adding Interactivity Working With PowerPoint Introduction to Question Slides Find more at https://www.ledet.com/training/Adobe/241-Captivate This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Fill In The Blank Questions In eLearning Fill in the Blank questions usually contain a sentence or paragraph featuring a blank space. This blank space represents a word or phrase that has intentionally been left out, and the learner inputs the correct answer to fill in the blank. This type of inquiry allows instructors to determine learner knowledge more effectively, as learners must know the information rather than choosing from a set of multiple choice answers or guessing "yes" or "no". 4 Best Practices For Developing Fill In The Blank Questions Verify there is a single correct answer. An effective Fill in the Blank eLearning question should have only one correct answer. Otherwise, you run the risk of confusing your learners and make the grading process more time consuming. When writing Fill in the Blank questions, ensure that the answer is clearly stated in the learning materials. Tie each question to previously learned knowledge. The primary goal of Fill in the Blank questions is to encourage learners to apply knowledge they have already acquired. Fill in the Blank questions are not opinion-based, which means that learners must be able to use information they have mastered during the lesson to correctly answer the question. Limit the number of blanks per question. Try to keep blanks to a minimum by only including one or two blanks for every Fill in the Blank question. Any more than that and you run the risk of confusing your learners. Also, incorporate the blanks at the end or the beginning of the question, if possible. Keep the length of blanks uniform. Don’t change the length of the blanks based upon the length of the correct answer. This will give the learner an indication of the answer you are looking for, which leaves room for guesswork. For instance, if you are creating a Fill in the Blank question that features a 10-letter answer, the length of the blank should be the same as one for a 5-letter answer. 5 Tips To Effective Use Fill In The Blank Questions In eLearning Provide clear instructions for each question. Make sure that your learners know exactly what is expected of them when answering your Fill in the Blank questions. For example, if you are asking them about the process for troubleshooting a program, be sure to include the version of the program and the operating system. Don’t make them guess what the question is referring to. Tell them! If the directions are the same throughout the assessment, you only need to explain the instructions at the beginning. Be careful about which word you leave out. In addition to the number of blanks you include in your eLearning assessment, you should also be careful about which words you omit. As a general rule, you should only leave out key words. For example, you wouldn’t write the question as "George Washington _______ the first president of the United States." The correct version of this question would be "_______  _______  was the first president of the United States." When creating your Fill in the Blank questions, remember to focus on the key points of the lesson, rather than details. Leave room for spelling errors. Not everyone who takes your eLearning course is going to be a Spelling Bee champ. So, it’s best to leave room for error and give your learners the benefit of the doubt. If they are close to the correct spelling, then this gives you a clear indication that they actually know the information. If the subject matter requires accuracy, such as language courses, let your learners know that spelling matters. For example, if you are testing them on English vocabulary tell them how significant are the spelling factors into the grading and how many points will be deducted for errors. Keep answers as brief as possible. Try to create answers that are short and to the point. You don’t want to include an answer that is commonly misspelled, unless you’re testing for spelling, of course. If you are including a complicated or two-word answer, make sure to include all the variations in the grading rubric. For example, if you are leaving a single space for the name of a person, the correct answer could be their last name, first name, or full name. Read it over to check for clarity. It’s relatively easy to create a Fill in the Blank question that doesn’t make sense. This is due to the fact that omitting one or two words can sometimes alter the meaning of the entire sentence. For this reason, it’s important to read over your Fill in the Blank questions and ensure that they are still accurate and relevant. If the question doesn’t make sense, try moving the blank to another part of the sentence or rewording the phrase so it is more clear and concise. It may also be wise enlist the aid of a colleague to complete the test, just to be sure that every question is answerable. Despite the fact that Fill in the Blank questions may be one of the most frequently used types of assessment, it is still one of the most effective in eLearning environments. Use these tips to successfully incorporate Fill in the Blank questions in your eLearning strategy, so that your learners have the ability to gauge their progress and fill the learning gaps. Fill in the Blank questions can test the knowledge of your learners, but first you have to provide them with information that sticks. Read the article 7 Tips To Create eLearning Experiences That Stick to discover the top tips for creating memorable and engaging eLearning courses that boost knowledge retention and recall. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

How To Use eLearning For Soft Skills Training  When designing learning experiences, how important is it to distinguish between soft skills and hard skills? It is very critical. The strategies required to transfer hard skills such as procedural and technical knowledge can be very different from the knowledge needed to develop soft skills. Soft skills involve intrapersonal and interpersonal communication. There are many questions that remain unanswered when it comes to using eLearning for soft skills training. Going further, first let us understand the basic meaning of soft skills. Defining Soft Skills The abilities required at workplace that hold importance for professional success: Soft skills are needed to work productively, communicate, and cooperate. Customer service, sales, leadership, time management, team management, interviewing, and mentoring are some examples of soft skills required in a corporate. What Difficulties Do Organizations Face In Soft Skills Training? Millennial workers need to be more proficient in soft skills more than ever. However, a number of organizations feel that the proper knowledge of soft skills remains absent in the majority of the employees, which hinders their success. Training is difficult, as learning is open ended, cannot be measured or rewarded, and skills are needed to be developed rather than learned. Also, at times people have abhorrence towards soft skills training. Especially the ones who have been working for a long time are resistant towards changing the ways things are done. Soft skills training needs time, energy, and attention as it is not science. It is a set of skills that develops with constant practice. 3 Strategies For Effective Soft Skills Training Designing eLearning courses for soft skills development can be a tedious task. Some strategies that could work for a helpful and blended learning for soft skills are: 1. Make training measurable. Not being measurable makes it difficult to draft a proper soft skills training process. It might be difficult to measure the effectiveness of any training regarding soft skills, but it is very important to demonstrate results with metrics. Making your training measurable not only improves the design of learning, but also provides results that can actually make a difference. Hence, whenever you are designing a plan or course for learning soft skills, put a clear and measurable goal. For that you would first need to identify key performance indicators that need perfection. Ensure that the training focuses on reaching the desired goals by focusing on the proper skills. Key performance indicators include: Increase in sales of a specific product line. Reduction in dissatisfied customers who received technical support. Reduction in time spent in meetings. Increase in satisfaction of new employees in first three months. Reduction in safety incidents. Increase in number of times that managers provide positive feedback. Reduction in staff turnover rates. Keeping a track of these indicators enables you to see which soft skills are being used at the job and whether the training programs are beneficial or not. 2. Integrate eLearning into the work environment. Online learning is mostly designed in isolation, in a closed room that lets you have complete concentration. On the contrary, when it comes to soft skills, the competencies required in soft skills relate to improving communication with others largely. Hence, eLearning solutions for soft skills should be well integrated with the corporates needs, an individual’s career growth, and the needs of the team. eLearning processes should never be at the back hand. In fact it should be a blended strategy that means more interpolation is needed. Also include feedback after every module; it helps in designing better training processes in the future. eLearning courses are the most effective, cost saving and easy ways to learn a skill. Using eLearning tools effectively is what businesses need for an effective learning program. 3. Follow the single concept learning approach. Single concept learning or the thin slicing founded by Stephen Meyer states that due to short attention spans, each eLearning involvement should include a single topic at a time. This holds true for any stream in which eLearning is involved. For example, an eLearning module on career guidance can cover a vast number of topics but for effective learning should stick to one. Learning soft skills can be a task and with a course of time you can master the skills. Some of the notable skills include: Open a conversation in a way that prompts open-mindedness. Articulate goals. Gain respect for your own views. Diagnose another person’s needs and problems by listening effectively and asking good questions. Demonstrate respect for other person’s views. Raise the conversation up the intellectual and emotional ladder in a way that the other person is able to follow you. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Why Company Culture Is A Main Course On Your Learning Menu  A good part of your employees have chosen to work at your company partially because of its culture. And for many of them it’s probably the main reason to stay. If that’s the case, you’re doing a pretty good job. Because this is one of those "money can’t buy" things, it’s almost a given that you spend a good amount of attention to it. Observe, listen, talk, and take action where needed. Let your people know they truly matter, give them the opportunities they need to engage themselves and create an environment of trust. More motivation and dedication are just two of the gains a good company culture brings along. 3 Key Ways To Promote Your Company Culture Inject your DNA into training. One way to promote your company culture is to display how your (potential) employee connects with the company. Show glimpses of it at job markets, emphasize it on applications, let them experience it for themselves the first day at work. Once they’re on board, one of the first things they’ll go through is some basic training. Many companies use very capable learning platforms to train their (and their partners’) employees, but they often overlook the fact that all training and coaching should ideally be drenched in their culture. Why you ask? Because it’s the best way to create a link between the company’s morals, values… and the employee’s part in it all. It’s not just about the job title, it’s about the valuable person that will help the company move forward in many ways. Education mixed with company culture is the best recipe to create a team of capable people that understand and help you to achieve your mission rather than a collective of individuals who come into work every day, do their job, and think only about their next paycheck. Allow an open form of education. Before this kind of education was a thing, two main categories of training reigned supreme: Career-ladder training and skill training. The first kind is primarily based on job title and rank in the company hierarchy (analyst, manager, leader…). The second one focuses more on separate skill sets and abilities. (sales, accounting, graphic design…). Both make sense of course, but are by no means perfect. Career-ladder training weaknesses.  In many smaller companies, there is no such thing as a clearly defined corporate ladder. And even if there is, what if you’re already "at the top" of your branch? There is no ivory tower though; there’s always something to learn, skill gaps to fill, and ways to develop yourself. From the very first day, offer employees the possibility to learn the things they feel a natural affinity with so they can improve themselves and the company as a whole. Doesn’t that sound better than just making it to the next step and see how it goes from there? Skill training limitations.  The same goes for specific skill training. Aside from the fact that education in general should be personalized, it’s crucial that your team knows why they are learning a specific skill. From their first day on, show employees why they have to learn what they have to learn by connecting the training to their workflow. Then follow up with showing how their everyday progress and accomplishments connect to the company workflow and it’s DNA. They will feel much more involved and that will translate into motivation to improve themselves and learn what they need to know in order to go forward on their own as well as a company. Inject training into your DNA. But to create the kind of company culture that exhales learning, it has to inhale it first. And that’s where your team comes into play. Driven employees won’t just experience the learning aspect of your company culture, they will add to it as well. They realize that training should be about building a comfort zone that revolves more about maximizing efficiency and motivation for their work (and their company) and less about training their skills separately. Their work ethic will promote the importance of personal development to the rest of the team. Colleagues will notice how they are much more at ease now that they are in this kind of environment and will naturally explore, share, and evaluate new (business) ideas with each other. They are also capable of constructing new training courses that convey the learning aspect of their company culture to newcomers. When managed well, stimulating learning through your company culture can be one of your most important sources of competitive advantage. Because in a world of close competition, one of the most valuable things that can still differentiate you from the rest is not only the knowledge, but also the motivation and willingness to succeed of your team. So get cooking and bring a lovely team to the table. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.