Do you think games are just for entertainment? Or only for kids? Think again. These days, many eLearning projects contain elements of game play, with certain strategies used in gamification being very effective when applied to learning environments.

In fact, gamification is a very powerful tool that can help to engage, interest and educate users of all ages. Games can be successfully used for many corporate training needs, such as induction processes, onboarding, compliance, professional development and behavioral change.

When used as a component of staff training, games can also help employees to stay motivated, learn new skills, improve existing skills and retain knowledge. Let’s look at how gamification strategies can be successfully incorporated into eLearning projects for the corporate sector.

Applying gamification strategy to eLearning

Gamification is about much more than playing games, relating also to the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications. When used in eLearning, gamification can help learners to become more active participants in the online course, appealing to the competitive and fun nature in many individuals.

You can incorporate game play into your eLearning course to encourage employees to practice situations and challenges in the online environment. This will help them hone their new skills before putting them to use in the workplace.

Defining your goals like a game developer

When designing and implementing an eLearning project, you want to be sure you’re getting a good ROI – return on investment. Gamification often uses a monetization strategy, which can be successfully applied to corporate training.

Cindy McCabe, senior gamification/instructional designer, looks at the very popular Candy Crush game to explain the monetization strategy. As McCabe says, “ROI is the ‘holy grail’ for corporate training and performance improvement, [as] it's often hard to define and measure success.”

Game developers are understandably reluctant to spend a lot of money on development if they don’t have a strong hint that the game will be a success. A monetization strategy helps you to define a clear set of goals and a clear way of measuring against those goals. Take a leaf out of the game developer’s book and be sure you know how you’re going to define and measure goals in corporate training.

Let’s look at McCabe’s example of Candy Crush gamification strategy again. With the Candy Crush game, we can see that not everything happens within the game interface itself – players are also encouraged to connect with their friends through Facebook, for example. This helps players earn additional lives, and importantly, it also serves to “extend the game event beyond what's happening on screen.”

In the same way, you can think about how your eLearning course can extend to social media or productivity tools. This tactic works to further involve and engage participants (in this case, your employees) in the learning material.

As participants become more engaged, it also helps to improve the amount of knowledge and content that is being absorbed and retained. Just as players become more adept and skilled at playing games over time, your learners will become more comfortable and fluent with the course content through game play. They can then translate that knowledge into performance when they return to the workplace from training.

Adopting gamification strategies for learning

Christopher Pappas, founder of the eLearning Industry’s Network, is also strongly in favor of adopting gamification strategies for learning,

Pappas refers to the rise of gamification in corporate training environments, as learning professionals are now recognizing the importance of gamification in this area. “Games may offer employees the opportunity to acquire and cultivate skill sets, while empowering them and putting them in control of their own eLearning experience via increased engagement,” Pappas says.

He cites promising figures relating to participants in gamified eLearning experiences, with learners demonstrating:

14% increase in skill-based-knowledge assessments

11% increase in terms of factual knowledge

With gamification improving the way in which online learners both acquire and retain information, it’s worth considering incorporating some game play into your next eLearning course.

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How to apply gamification to improve your corporate training

Want to make your eLearning course more engaging and effective for your audience? You need to ask yourself one important question – does your online course offer learners any real world benefits?

Because the truth is, no matter how interesting your online course materials are, learners will fail to engage with your content if it doesn’t apply to the real world. In classrooms and staff training rooms alike, people want to know that they can apply their new skills and knowledge to real life situations and work environments.

Using eLearning scenarios makes training more interactive, more engaging and (as a result) far more successful for learners. By giving individuals the skills and knowledge they need outside of the online environment, you’re empowering them to feel more confident and prepared for a successful career.

Let’s look closer at why real world benefits are so important for eLearning, and how you can start incorporating more scenarios into your online courses.

Using scenario-based training in eLearning

eLearning courses are a popular way for people to acquire new knowledge or improve their skills in a particular area – for both education and work-related purposes. Therefore, it makes sense to create materials that allow students to practice and develop their skills in an environment similar to the one in which they will actually be used.

When designing your eLearning course, include scenarios that place learners in the real world, rather than relying on traditional methods of teaching and purely text-based learning. In this way, participants in your course will be challenged to take their newfound knowledge and apply it to relevant real world scenarios.

In doing this, students and employees will feel more confident about using their new skills or abilities, while trainers can also gain more insight into how individuals will perform outside of the classroom environment.

Recreating real world situations and environments

One of the best ways you can help students know how to put their knowledge to good use is by recreating situations that are likely to occur in the real world.

You can create a sense of real world pressure by having students complete eLearning scenarios within a specified timeframe and environment, as these are the kinds of challenges they will be faced with on the job or while under exam conditions. Effective decision making is a very valuable (and valued) skill in the modern workforce, so encouraging learners to make choices under pressure will help them to perform well outside the classroom.

Explaining processes and steps through scenarios

eLearning scenarios are also great for explaining complex processes to learners, particularly those processed that involve a series of steps being carried out on-screen. Rather than having to explain each concept or step of the process, you can have students take part in an interactive scenario.

In this way, participants in your course can click through certain online tasks or processes, learning as they go. This can also help learners retain knowledge, as they are performing the actions for themselves, instead of simply reading about them.

You could also challenge students or staff to create their own eLearning scenarios. Working as a group, team members are asked to come up with a scenario that shows their understanding of a particular process or concept. An example of this might be an online quiz that requires course participants to click through a series of steps, or use certain objects in a specific order, to demonstrate knowledge of safety procedures in the workplace.

Using case studies in eLearning scenarios

Case studies of real or fictional characters can also be used to create eLearning scenarios. Why not develop a simulated work environment online, featuring a number of different interactive characters?

Students can click on the different characters on-screen, to discover more about them and their various roles within the organization or company. Characters could exemplify different management or leadership styles, helping staff gain a greater understanding of successful management techniques, for example. Or in contrast, the negative effects of poor leadership skills or negative work culture.

When creating your eLearning course, you may also like to read through our handy course design checklist. You'll find plenty more useful information on how to design an online course, including important things you need to know about eLearning accessibility, course navigation, and incorporating multimedia and design elements.

Creating eLearning scenarios for the real world

This is the second part of our blog looking at Workplace Learning Trends.

In the first part, we addressed some of the major learning trends that are taking place right now in the workplace, and those that are likely to become bigger players as time goes by. Namely, these were:

The rise of virtual reality – How VR is going to further enhance training in the workplace

Hiring from within – How employers are increasingly looking inside their team to promote, rather than hiring from outside

Mobile learning will continue to grow – How mobile learning, which already plays a part in workplace learning, will continue to be ever more present in the industry

Millennials increasing the demand for workplace training – How the Millennial generation’s outlook will play a major role in the dramatic increase of workplace training

More workplace training – That there will be more of it. More employers will use workplace training in more effective ways to produce improved results

In this blog, we’ll focus our attention on one important reference from LinkedIn’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report. In this report, researchers state that:

“The average shelf life of skills is less than five years.” (pg. 16)

With this stark fact made clear, it’s now necessary that companies and employees evolve to keep up with the rapidly changing pace of the business world.

It’s clear not all companies are doing so – in fact, the lack of opportunities and training in companies has led to some suggesting that job hopping is the only route worth taking for an aspirational employee.

But to make sure that the best and brightest worker doesn’t traipse out the door to the more dynamic company down the street, it’s now necessary to start on the application of new technology and training from within.

To explain the need for improved employee training, here are some reasons to get the ball rolling:

With more frequent training, you’re more likely to stay ahead 

Obinna Ekezie is the CEO and founder of Wakanow, Africa’s leading online travel company. He’s a man who should be listened to, having been crowned Entrepreneur of the Year in the All Africa Business Leaders Award West Africa 2015.

Ekezie believes that much of his success is based on his emphasis on constant training; frequent and effective is the key. And training shouldn’t be given only to the ground staff and those who will face the client. Instead, frequent training is mandatory for employees of every level in the company, himself included. This is the only way that Wakanow stays ahead in the ever changing technological landscape of the travel industry.

Important for the retention and attraction of talent, he says that his focus on constant training creates a good company image which gains attention from the best in the business. The best employees demand that they’re at the forefront of their industry, and the right training ensures this.

Stephanie Stones remarked that “every company is a technology company” in a recent Forbes Magazine article. She’s right. Are there any major companies that do without some form of technology in today’s world? The answer is no, which gives us our last and most simple reason for your company to evolve: because you have to.

Technology affects your staff because it improves the flow of communication and the efficiency of work. To take Stones’ example, tablets improved the speed with which designs could go from planning stage to seeing the light of day. Staff were able to easily discuss plans, and changes could be implemented immediately. But very soon, tablets alone won’t be enough. Technology will improve and tablets will make way for something new.

Currently though, methods like Agile are further accentuating the distance between companies that do and companies that do not. Those that do will continue to be at the forefront of change and attract the brightest minds, while retaining the best from within their ranks.

With business so tight right now, does any company have the option of turning away from the future?

Technology and training: the need for big data

A massive tech trend that is happening throughout the world in both business and private life is the incredible rise in the use of big data. This trend is now being seen in more and more in Learning and Development departments, and for good reason.

As we saw at the beginning of the article, new skills now have a very limited shelf life so it’s important that companies monitor the effectiveness of training and have a solid foundation – quantitative details that big data offers – to determine this.

The use of big data can be directly connected to the growing utilities of workplace learning trends, such as Virtual Reality and mobile learning. This connection enables the collection of data with performing analysis on, so that companies have a clear sight of how, and in which ways, the training that is being provided is making a difference to the company and employees themselves.

Continuous observation of stats can be used to personalize approaches to training and in turn improve how individuals perform. This is particularly relevant for the demand that millennials are making for training and growth, and serves to keep the morale of employees high.

While the cost of implementing a big data-led approach to training may be high, business will only come to rely more heavily on its use.

Workplace learning trends: the average shelf life of skills is less than five years

More than 20,000 Australians have made the move to Silicon Valley in the hopes of taking their internet startups global. However, the hunt for expert advice and capital is often met with many challenges unseen back home, especially for those dealing with remote teams operating on opposite sides of the world.

It might sound obvious, but the way you communicate with your team could be the difference between success or a long and frustrating experience. Talking to your team daily and taking the time to make personal connections can go further than you think, and taking the time to understand cultural differences that affects the way in which people work could allow you to get the most out of your employees.

Having an open line of online communication is great, but if you can, try to get to your offices and meet face-to-face as often as possible. It may only be a few times a year, but being able to physically sit with someone and work through your strategy for the coming months can make a world of difference.

When it comes to working with a range of time zones scattered across the globe, you need to be prepared for some late nights and early morning meetings. After many years of working with remote teams, I’ve learned that optimising your meeting times can result in freeing up many hours, and keeping your much-needed sleeping patterns.

Try to stack all your late or early meetings into a couple of days, this way you’re not up for half the night every night of the week and won’t burn out after a few months.

Maintaining a global business culture is the glue that will hold your team together. Ensuring that everyone in the organisation is clear on the business objectives, and holding regular all-hands company meetings to reinforce these values is a great way to keep everyone on the same page shooting for the same goals.

Staying true to your company’s goals as you are building remote teams lays the foundations as you expand into new regions.

There’s no shortage of ways to keep in touch with your team online and track projects. Thanks to Slack and Hipchat you can instant message anyone, anytime. Video calling platforms such as Skype and Google Hangouts allow you to have the in-person experience with the click of a button.

Jira, Trello and Confluence are ideal for tracking projects and priorities, and have become a staple for businesses with both in house and remote employees. Finally, never underestimate the power of email, it might not be the coolest tool in the shed, but it’s still one of the best ways to communicate.

When it comes to marketing specifics, you need to know your audience.

Most people think that moving to the United States is easy, culturally. They speak English there, right?

This couldn’t be further from the truth, you might as well be living in France. Yes, the language is the same but the cultural differences are dramatic, and understating them can save you a lot of wasted time and lost deals.

The simplest thing that catches people out involves the difference between ‘s’ and ‘z’, which I have learnt can infuriate people.

Get specific with your targeting too. Unlike Australia, the United States can completely change culture from city to city, and throwing out broad campaigns will not work anywhere as near as effectively as segmenting your audience and doing your research into how to target them.

Geotagging your website so that you can provide customised content on each page can make a huge difference to bounce rates and user retention. Backing this up with content curated for specific regions can establish local authority and drive traffic. Someone in San Francisco is going to react very differently to something intended for a target audience in Melbourne.

With a few simple updates to your website and marketing materials, you will get dramatically better results in traffic, open rates, and what we are all working towards; more sales!

This article was originally published by Marketing Magazine

Taking your startup global? Check these common pitfalls first

The Learning and Development Department could be the most important area to a company’s future fortunes. Now more than ever, the resources of L&D can be the fine line between the ability of a workforce to do their job well, and their ability to simply do.

With such a wide variety and means to provide workplace training to staff, there’s little reason not to include this vital learning opportunity to give employees that extra edge.

According to LinkedIn’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report, learning and development aims to fulfill 4 major objectives:

Develop Managers and Leaders – Through courses that are tailored specifically to the needs of one business, managers and leaders can be developed through the ranks to further implement the specific skills required for the successful running of this business. Managers can evolve with the business to identify with the needs of the organization and better steer towards them.

Develop Technical Skills of Employees – Making sure that an organization’s employee base has the appropriate level of technical skill is now absolutely essential. All companies use technology in one way or another, so the ability to properly operate them is a must.

Internationally Standardized Training – A global workforce requires globally standardized training to provide the same high-quality services that clients and customers expect from businesses.

Career Development – To retain the best employees, it’s important to offer them clear steps in career development and improve their skills on the job.

Now that we’ve established what it is that workplace learning can offer, let’s take a look at some of the future trends we’ll see in business training.

Virtual Reality Will Further Enhance Training

Virtual Reality isn’t just for the gamers. In fact, the business world is waking up to the enhanced possibilities that VR offers by including it more and more in their workplace training. Not only do pilots or doctors train using this incredible technology, but techs, designers, and consultants will be using seen with a pair of goggles strapped to their heads more and more in the coming years.

The power of VR is that it gives the best possible replication of real-life, and real working life simulations. It allows employees to practice their skills in the safety of a virtual world that they will need in their job roles, to bolster the standards of the services they provide.

Mistakes can be costly in business, and with the help of VR these mistakes can be dramatically reduced.

On first glance you may think that this point isn’t connected to workplace training, but it absolutely is. As the shortage of skilled staff candidates rises throughout technology and finance in particular, organizations are beginning to act to resolve the issue. Companies are beginning to focus on their own ranks for candidates who could be promoted into higher roles with the right training.

This is attractive to companies for a number of reasons.

One reason is that hiring from outside of a company is more expensive than hiring from within.

Another is that the company already know how well the staff member is performing in their current position, so the promotion of staff they know is a lesser risk than hiring an unknown. The company can use their own workplace training to properly prepare the employee for their greater responsibilities. This training can be uniquely tailored for best results.

Mobile learning will come to play a larger part in workplace training. Much like VR, but further down the line, organizations are realizing the benefits of fully mobile learning.

Flexibility of learning methods to address important points from a variety of angles, and the portability of our mobile machines themselves, are some of the many benefits of mobile learning.

As Forbes has noted, the advantage of “mLearning” isn’t only the fact that they can be done anywhere, it’s also the bitesize approach that’s dominant in the industry that means that learning can be continual - offering benefits for all.

Millennials to Increase the Demand for Workplace Training

As millennials continue to make their mark on the workforce of the day and more enter the job market, their very modern perspective on the job market and career development is set to be seen through their demand for more workplace training.

Having grown up with mobile technologies, the leaders of this generation see downtime as a wasted opportunity to learn or train. Rather than flicking through Facebook on the train, millennials with high aims would rather use the commute to brush up on beneficial skills, like foreign language knowledge.

In work, this desire to always learn translates to more workplace training, refining skills and continuing their development.

The job market is more competitive than ever, and this is a generation that knows what it must do to get ahead of the pack.

Seeing the improved productivity and skills that their workforce has gained from their workplace training, companies are pouring more and more money into the arena.

Learning and Development is more important than ever. With fierce competition for limited personnel and a millennial generation that expects the ability to develop their skills while at work, workplace training needs to fulfill many important demands.

Workplace training has widely-felt consequences that effect on the entire culture of a business. From CEO’s at the head of the table to workers on the factory line, workplace training is now being understood as one of the most cost effective ways to quickly improve the quality of employee output.

The workplace learning trends you need to know: mobile learning, hiring, VR and millennials

The clammy hands. The cracking voice. The flushes of red, repeatedly lighting your face. This is glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking.

Presenting can be a nightmare for many, many people. Rather than something to look forward to and anticipate, the act of presenting is instead filled with trepidation and horror. Rather than seeking out the limelight at a business breakfast, many hide from it.

The Presenting with Power course aims to give you the knowledge to approach public presentation feeling assured. Taking tip from the world’s best speakers will cool your nerves to allow you to perform to your best abilities.

As an often vital tool in your work skills armory, it’s important to be able to speak well.

While the benefits of presenting well may be obvious, here is a little run down:

Building credibility – A person who speaks well in front of groups automatically gains credibility. Others can see that you are listened to and respected, an important characteristic of leadership

Gain responsibility – A good public speaker is given more responsibility due to their greater credibility. This benefits both your personal and professional life.

Networking capabilities – A good public speaker always impresses, and this can be a great boon for expanding your professional network. You’ll see the benefits when strangers who have enjoyed your talk tell you about it afterwards.

The Presenting with Power course attacks the topic from a variety of angles and in new, novel ways. Here’s a brief breakdown of its methods.
Introduction: The Importance of Public Speaking – The best way is always to start at the beginning, and so the course does with an introduction explaining the importance of public speaking.

With a nod from the world’s first self-help book, this section sets you out on the path the communicating your thoughts in the most memorable and engaging way. Knowing what it is you are trying to get across is key to the audience’s understanding, as is the ability to distinguish clearly and succinctly.

But remember, rather than a natural talent as most think public speaking is, this is a skill to be trained and perfected. Your confidence will grow the more you do it.

6 Skills to Create Powerful Presentations – Here the course goes over the nuts and bolts of what it is you need to do to pull off a top-notch, quality presentation.
First of all comes the planning. This is vital because, as the course explains, the content of a presentation of is what should drive its design.

You shouldn’t simply be filling slides by numbers; each should have its place in the unfolding of the story you will tell.

The timeless truism of practice making perfect makes an appearance here. Practising your presentation over and over again produces a clean, confident product.
Also talked about is the “Three Act Story” method to offer a presentation that jumps off the page and attracts the attention of the audience. With this, you can keep them hooked.

And remember: have fun! Enthusiasm is contagious.

Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking – This section of the course may well be the most important for a lot of people. The blind fear of public speaking is what may be holding you back from your best.

But the point is this: public speaking is necessary at some point in life, so you can either choose to run from it or address it head on. There are ways and means to reframe your thoughts in regards to public speaking, and that is what this section will teach you.

The 10-20-30 Rule – The last section of the course wraps things up by explaining the fundamental approach to public speaking. Guy Kawasaki, a famed venture capitalist, has a solid gold way to go about this.

You will be taught Guy’s approach to understand how to implement it into your presentation giving. While it isn’t rocket science, some explanation as to why it’s so effective is needed. That’s what you’ll get here.

The Presenting with Power course offers core training to improve the quality of your presentation skills and give you the foundation upon which you begin to hone your skills.
One way that students on the course will learn and track their progress is through the completion of the 32-page workbook. The workbook is used to expand on what has been taught in the video lessons, and to give each student the room to apply their thoughts to what is being taught.

The videos are the core of the course and are the major source of teaching here. The videos are conversational in tone but also pack in information and suggestions to guide students in their personal improvement.

Last but not least, there are infographics to offer an alternative context to the main points taught in this course.

No matter what line of work your find yourself in, the ability to present with a flourish and distinguish yourself through it, is a huge advantage. Not only will you be considered someone who is capable of responsibility, but you’ll stand out from the crowd too.

The confidence you will gain from confidently speaking in public is also a great benefit. In your personal and work life, confidence can drive you on to the next challenge.
Completing this course gives you the tools to achieve great things. You know you’re up to the job.

How to present with power at your next presentation

In life there are irritations and upsets that we simply cannot avoid. These can be destructive for our friendships or the relationship with our significant other, but they’re generally resolved over time and leave no lasting damage. After all, these are the people we love and care for deeply.

The workplace, however, offers different sets of problems and disagreements that need to be resolved. There are some benefits of conflict, but if they’re allowed to spiral out of hand, then the consequences can be costly.

For this reason, taking a course in conflict management is a wise investment. The course teaches individuals, from top to the bottom, how to identify and react – healthily and fairly – to conflicts that they become involved in.

Benefits of knowing how to manage a conflict professionally are:

Improved Output – Departments and individuals can dramatically improve their effectiveness if they are working in harmony. Conflicts cause breakdowns in communication which can be detrimental to working lives.

Fewer Sick Days – When people are under immense stress, they need days off to recuperate. When conflicts are resolved quickly, there is a drop in levels of stress and a drop in sick days taken.

Employee Retention – Employees leave organizations when they don’t enjoy the working atmosphere. A major reason for a sour working environment is ongoing conflict. Resolve them and you retain your work force, particularly the highest performers.

How Conflict is Perceived – The course begins by explaining that conflict is a fact of life, it’s unavoidable. But how we feel when we are involved in conflict? Does our heart race, do we find ourselves shouting over the other people? Is all you do in a conflict react and attack? If so, you do need to improve this.

In this introductory section, students will be propelled to question their own reactions and gut feelings in conflict situations. Do they view see conflict as an obstacle, or as an opportunity?

Conflict Fables – This section looks at the common mistakes people make when in conflict. Common reactions to conflicts are refusing to listen and demanding to be listened to. Often people refuse to even consider the opposing person’s point of view.

None of these approaches are helpful. Rather than use force, this section of the course suggests that persuasion is the more powerful tool for peace.

This section advises learners on how to avoid the common pitfalls of conflicts and change their patterns of behavior when engaging in disagreements that are in danger of overheating.

Conflict Conversations - This section also looks at roots of most conflict and explains that in reality, most are down to either poor communication or an inability to control emotions. How can we change this?

By following a guide based on Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, learners can re-evaluate what a conflict means to them and whether this negative can have a positive outcome.

Through following Covey’s lead, we are able to rework how a conflict affects us. Among the habits are picking your battles, knowing the outcome you want before you enter into a conversation, and understanding first, before seeking to be understood.

All of these tips are accompanied by practical advice so that the suggestions can actually be applied in a real-life situation.

Though conflicts are usually unpleasant experiences, this section explains that the outcome can help improve all parties within concerned with it.

In the 21st Century, laws and rules for employers are rightly tighter than they ever have been. The risk for an employer of falling foul to regulations intended to protect individuals in the work place is higher than it has been at any point. With problems like workplace bullying on the rise, a proactive approach is needed from employers if they hope to avoid problems for their own organization.

So why take such huge risks for the reputation and finances of your company when there are options out there to deal with this exact problem?

The inability to manage conflict is not a healthy position to be in, regardless of any employer’s position in a team. From the executive board to the cleaning staff, all individuals should know how to appropriately go about resolving work or personal disputes.

Without this knowledge, that small staff dispute that has been rumbling on may turn into a ticking time-bomb.

Become a better manager by harnessing, managing, and controlling conflict

I just returned from a great learning conference that included lots of “hot topics” surrounding Digital Learning and vendors with cool ideas. But l left feeling that we are missing the core question: What is Digital Learning and how do we actually implement the transformation?

To me, Digital Learning is a matter of math.  Digital Learning is:

More than Training                       ■ More than Technology

More than Curation                      ■ More than Mobile

More than Micro learning           ■ More than Learning Paths

More than Content                       ■ More than pushing out courses

In Math terms, Digital Learning is greater than the sum of its parts.  It is all about all the pieces, but put together in a custom blend, driven by user experience.  It brings the right learning to the right learner, easily.

User experience is what creates the need, the formats and ultimately, the success.  Creating this environment means that we need to be immersed in the learners’ journeys and also provide solutions for managers that complement the experience.  We need to think like a digital native.

Digital learning is as much about culture as it is about technology.  Of course, technology is involved, but to create a great user experience involves process, people, business needs, and organizational culture that’s willing and able to embrace it.

Let’s focus on the learner of today for a minute.  I am not telling you anything new when I say that we are all busy, overwhelmed, distracted and constantly bombarded for information.  I am sure you have seen the statistics that tell us that today people spend 1% of their time on “training.”  But learning is more.  Learning today is continuous, but only if we provide the right tools, content and can measure it.

In today’s environment, people have access to instant information on all sorts of devices.  We have become accustomed to finding what we need.  But that means we spend large chunks of time searching.

So, what does all of this disruption and change mean to Learning?  We need to find the right blend to provide information (learning) that is easy to find, easy to access, personalized and designed to be a great user experience that helps them grow.

Simple, right?  Well, just like any transformation, we need to find a way to get from here to there.

Through our clients and contacts, I hear many questions about how to actually get from here to there.  The answer is quite individual, but it can be found in the new blend and a new mindset.  We will need a blend of technology, curation, micro learning, macro learning and more.  We should adapt a new mindset of user experience (Ux) that uses design thinking.

What is here?  Most corporate learning environments sit on an LMS with tons of content.  Most of the content has become somewhat easier to find through the use of corporate university interfaces or new front ends.  Most of the content would be expensive to redesign but is often in need of refreshing.  In most cases, we are not tied to our HRIS system nor to any job family or competencies.  How do we adapt to cloud, mobile and user experience?

The first step is to design new learning with the future in mind: make sure it is in a format to be responsive and, where possible, in chunks.  This effort changes the role of an Instructional Designer and of the vendors you use.  It means learning new tools and concepts.

Secondly, take a long look at the user experience you want.  Research new technology that will provide the interface to all types of learning, from formal to informal, internal and external, libraries of content and custom programs. Most of these solutions are cloud based and do not require a long-term commitment.  More on these products later in this blog and in a future posting.

Next, work with IT to tie in your learning and HR systems so that you can take personalization, machine learning and people analytics to a new level.

We need to adapt to our mindset to create, curate and deliver all types of learning.  Adapt new models, incorporate new methods and respond with a better user experience.  As learning professionals, we learn about other people’s jobs, the best methods and tools to help them learn, grow and perform.

A vision and a strategy to new opportunities

OK, off the soapbox, on to making it work.

For some, the first instinct when confronted with this kind of disruptive change is to play defense and protect existing business.  But now is the time to go on the offensive, to experiment, to create new offerings, and push into the opportunity. Match consumer behavior.

Be prepared to hire the right outside people to drive the operational changes.  Get your team excited about the opportunities Digital Learning brings to their work.  Focus on people who can adapt and think beyond traditional models and look at what is possible.

For example, One revelation that many have recently expressed is that the old standard LMS cannot get you there.  It is fine for compliance and some certifications, but it cannot be the center of the corporate learning experience any longer.  Some of new LMS/LRS/portal vendors are adapting.  Look past your traditional solution.  I suggest adopting technology that allows several key additions:

Integration with HRIS and Performance Management systems

Not all solutions offer every addition, but these technologies often sit on top of a LMS, a LRS or some other hosting system.  A few can host as well.  These companies include Pathgather, Go1, Degreed, EdCast and more.

Another change that is in the center of the tech revolution is the move from SCORM to xAPI.  Long overdue, xAPI gives us the analytics we need to personalize and track all forms of learning.  Everything someone does can be logged and tracked.  Internal recruiting and managers will get better views of performance, as will the learner.  Most platforms can deliver better suggestions to learners that reach into what people are really doing every day to learn.

Back to reality of today.  Overwhelmed learners, small budgets, user demands.  How can we move to Digital Learning?  One step at a time.  The world has changed, with new models and ways to learn.  In my next blogs, I will go through actions, ideas and how we can meet the disruption.

Becky Willis has a mix of executive leadership in sales and marketing and deep learning strategy and development experience. Known for strategic and innovative solutions, Becky is an organizational leader who thinks about learning with a business mindset.

Today, Becky is a co-founder of WilLearn Consulting, where she focuses on helping companies, plan, design and develop high performance learning.

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What is Digital Learning and how do we actually implement the transformation?

What is Digital Learning and how do we actually implement the transformation? We'll explain everything you need to know. 

Teaching in a classroom where both teacher and student are sitting face-to-face is hard enough, but when teacher and student are miles apart, things get a little trickier.

That said, the benefits of virtual classrooms are many.

High efficiency - the learning environment that is entirely focused on the improvement of workplace performance

A variety of highly-trained professionals able to transfer their knowledge to those learning

Clear ways to monitor the progress of individuals – everything being done online