A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development found that evaluation was a top priority among learning and development (L&D) professionals (Personnel Today staff, 2012). Despite this fact, calculating return on investment (ROI) on development programs is still rarely done; a McKinsey Quarterly report found that only 8 percent of organizations actually evaluate the value of L&D initiatives (Palmer, 2010). And too often, those who do track ROI rarely go beyond asking for feedback from participants immediately after the event.

For the first time ever, Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) are faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of four generations in the workplace. As more professionals from Generation Y join the work force, it is now more important for trainers, human resources personnel and C-level management to continually understand generational differences and adapt strategies for retention. Understanding generational differences in the workplace and in training styles is the key to great leadership, higher retention rates, happier employees, and an efficient workforce.

Looking to implement a cloud-based LMS, but not sure how to start?   Here are some great sample questions to ask every vendor.   They will help you choose the product that meets your requirements for mobile and blended learning, reporting, analytics, and more, so that it is implemented quickly and cost-effectively, and integrates with the technology that you already use.

Complex ideas can be learned quickly using the Story-Based Approach.  How do you avoid glorified memorization methods following this model? By Ray Jimenez, Ph.D.

Drawing learners into the story, letting them participate and experience the story and having them engage in experience sharing boost their learning ability. By Ray Jimenez, Ph.D.

The design concept is based on an understanding of learners' concerns first and foremost -  - by bits and pieces or by small bites along the way. By Ray Jimenez, Ph.D.

Instantaneous learning is achieved by focusing on a singular idea in a lesson re-enforced through a real-life circumstances showing possible consequences or outcomes. By Ray Jimenez, Ph.D.

Emotions evoked by stories as they unfold, draws learners’ attention and keep them focused.  This is why interactive stories deeply impact learning. By Ray Jimenez, Ph.D.

Is it possible to blend tried and true theories of instructional design while meeting the needs of your learner population and stakeholders who are begging for games? Does gamification of eLearning even make sense for your organization or the needs of your learners? In the webinar "Aligning eLearning Game Designs to Bloom’s Taxonomy", Angel Green will provide a sneak peek to Allen Interactions’ Taxonomy Alignment for Gaming (TAG) —based on Bloom’s Taxonomy— to help instructional designers in their quest to incorporate gaming into their learning designs. You're welcome to download this complimentary infographic, but please also join us for the webinar.  See below.