6 Creative Ideas To Use Serious Games In Corporate eLearning

Is your serious game strategy getting a bit stale? Do you need to infuse new life into your online training simulations and scenarios? In this article, I’ll explore 6 creative ideas on how to use serious games in your corporate eLearning strategy.

How To Creatively Use Serious Games In Corporate eLearning

Serious games already have a creative flair. Tvirtual learning environment. But using the same game play approach can get a bit boring. Your employees are looking for something new and exciting from your corporate eLearning course. Have no fear, because here are 6 creative ideas to use serious games in corporate eLearning. They allow employees to progress through levels, unlock rewards, and immerse themselves in an engaging 

1. New Hire Scavenger Hunt

Your new employees are usually under a lot of stress on their first day. They don’t know anyone and aren’t familiar with your work processes. Sure, your onboarding online training covers the basics, such as company policy and job expectations, but that usually doesn’t calm their nerves and appease their worries. The question is: how do you make them feel right at home while imparting real world experience? The answer is a serious game scavenger hunt that breaks the ice. Create an online training simulation that features workplace images, characters, and sounds, or use the power of geolocation and augmented reality to develop a mobile app. Invite your new hires to explore the sales floor and other areas of the facility in search of objects.

2. Product Knowledge Mix And Match

Employees need to know the features and benefits of your products, but online demos and tutorials may not be interactive enough to hold their attention. In this case, a product knowledge mix and match game is the ideal solution. Employees are introduced to a variety of customer personas. This includes their purchasing needs, a bit about their background, and their available budget. On the other side of the screen is a collection of products or services, along with their important details. The player must match each customer with the best product in order to unlock the eLearning scenario for that character. During the eLearning scenario the employee must negotiate the deal and complete the sales process.

3. Compliance Online Training Quiz Show

Most people enjoy a good game of trivia, especially when they think they’re getting a tedious online training lecture. You have the power to make your compliance online training courses engaging and entertaining by turning it into a quiz show. Employees must apply their knowledge and skills to answer questions, earn points, and access the next level. Take advantage of friendly competition by adding a leaderboard into the mix. This may be in the style of a traditional trivia show, like Jeopardy, or you can take a story-based approach. For instance, employees have to answer a series of questions in order to defeat the boss or unlock the door. Quiz shows are also great for collaborative online training, as you can divide the group into teams. Each team appoints a leader who answers on their behalf, and the winners get a special reward.

4. “What If” Online Training Simulations

“What if” online training simulations give employees the opportunity to explore hypothetical situations. If they made a decision that went against the status quo or took another approach, what might happen? These online training simulations can even be long-term to mimic real world tasks and challenges. For instance, a managerial simulation requires weekly check-ins to monitor the team’s performance and evaluate virtual sales reports. This gives supervisors the experience and knowledge they need to lead their subordinates. Your staff can explore the consequences of their decisions and experiment with the desired outcomes. As an example, the employee tries a new approach when they complete the simulated task. They have the chance to see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve their strategy. What if online training simulations can also feature computer-generated challenges and questions that throw a wrench into the works, such as a dissatisfied customer with a unique problem.

5. Multiplayer Mysteries

This serious game is a bit more involved, but it is well worth the time and effort. Firstly, divide employees into groups and assign each a mystery. This may be in the form of a real world example, case study, or complex story. Alternatively, allow them to choose their own mystery from a list of titles. Make sure that the titles are ambiguous so that you create a sense of intrigue. Then employees participate in the first level of the online training simulation, which introduces them to the main characters and sets the scene. Upon completion, corporate learners discuss the story thus far and share their thoughts before progressing to the next chapter. After each section they have the opportunity to collaborate and collectively problem solve. Project Management online platforms and online forums allow them to interact and assign tasks. At the end of the gaming experience each group shares their findings and talks about their work process.

6. Hidden Object Online Assessments

There are a variety of ways to use serious games as online assessments. However, hidden object games are usually easy to create and extremely effective. Corporate learners must find objects concealed in an image based on the clues. For example, they would look for a piece of equipment or safety gear in response to the question. Clicking on the hidden object and dragging it onto the target, triggers a correct answer. This approach is ideally suited for quantitative online assessments, as it doesn’t reveal how well a corporate learner knows the topic. You should also bear in mind that employees with special needs require an alternative testing method. For instance, those who are vision impaired, as it’s a highly visual online training activity.

Serious games improve online training effectiveness and employee engagement by incorporating the fun factor, but they must also align with organizational objectives in order to improve your corporate eLearning ROI. These serious games with a creative spark can make your corporate eLearning program more memorable, entertaining, and motivational.

Serious games aren’t just for experienced employees? Read the article 7 Tips To Use Serious Games In Onboarding Online Training to find some helpful tips for using serious games in your onboarding online training to motivate your new hires.

Source: http://www.eidesign.net/blog/creative-ideas-use-serious-games-corporate-elearning/

6 Takeaways From Over 6000 Hours Of Custom eLearning Development

This article is triggered by our global ranking in the Top 10 eLearning Content Development Companies For 2015. This recognition coincides with completion of over 6000 hours of custom eLearning development by us and I take this opportunity to reflect on what has worked and what should be our focus areas in the future.

                                        Custom eLearning Development

Custom eLearning Development: 6 Takeaways From Our Experience

In this article, I look back at our journey and share 6 important takeaways from our extensive experience in custom eLearning development.

1. Focus on customers and ensuring that we retain and grow with them.

High customer retention is what we are most proud of. Our growth has largely been driven by relationships that began with one-off projects and slowly grew to a strategic partnership. We continue to build from here and every six months we meet our key customers and show “what more is possible”.

2. Learners remain our focal point.

Through our learner-centric, innovative, and immersive learning designs and solutions, we help learners to:

• Enjoy the courses.
• Go through challenges that keep them intrigued all through the learning path.
• Internalize the learning and practically apply it on the job.
• Enhance their performance and deliver better results.

We focus on efficacy and application of learning to ensure that a clear business gain for organizations is established. We bring our TNA and solution architecting expertise into play to chalk out the path for a positive ROI for our customers.

Our mantra is to bring in a culture of “Learning as a continuum” and for this we use a Learning and Performance based Ecosystem approach.

3. Innovation and exploration.

We have invested extensively on two enablers, Innovation and Exploration, that help us differentiate our learning and performance solutions. Our Innovation team focuses on:

1. Evaluation of emerging tools and technologies.
2. Evaluation of learner needs and expectations.
3. Determining how these pointers can be practically used to enhance learning experiences.

This year, the team has created two innovative products:

1. Online Review Tool (integrated with the course).
2. Digital Workbook (To enhance the ILT delivery).

4. Agile development methodology.

We have been using an agile methodology for several years to meet the ever-evolving and changing customer expectations.

We are currently in the process of applying the Kanban approach to our Project Management. Additionally, we are in the last mile of our Corporate Quality Certification (CMMi).

5. Our Offshore Development model.

As an offshore development partner based out of India and servicing customers over 16 countries across the world, our Offshore Development Framework is one of the most mature and agile one. While it has a strong core of process definition, it is flexible enough to be aligned quickly to meet our diverse customer needs.

6. The power of our team.

Last but not the least, what has really worked is the cumulative power of our team that continuously works towards customer delight.

Behind every single course that goes on to incite the “wow” response from our customers is a well-oiled team mechanism at work. Right from getting the requirements right to delivering the final product, each and every member of our team brings in that significant value at various stages of the development cycle.

What’s next: We are in the midst of a cutting edge research to come up with a predictive Learnability Index for custom eLearning and mLearning development which will be a unique concept in the industry.

The distinct effort that our Innovation and Exploration team puts in provides the required pointers for our Solution Architecting team in creating newer and unique Learning solutions.

I would like to summarize these takeaways with a quote from Tom Peter’s 7 Steps to Sustaining Success:

“You take care of the people. The people take care of the service. The service takes care of the customer. The customer takes care of the profit. The profit takes care of the re-investment. The re-investment takes care of the re-invention. The re-invention takes care of the future. (And at every step the only measure is EXCELLENCE.)”

Source : http://www.eidesign.net/blog/6-takeaways-from-over-6000-hours-of-custom-elearning-development/

                                                                       Custom Elearning Development

What The Future Holds For Game-Based eLearning: 8 Points To Consider

Nobody knows what the future holds. But it’s safe to say that eLearning games are here to stay and people have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Combine the two, and you have an exciting, engaging, and immersive ID approach. In this article, I’ll explore what’s to come for game-based eLearning.

Game Based Elearning

8 Point To Consider About The Future Of Game-Based eLearning

Game-based eLearning involves interactive and immersive online gaming experiences that put knowledge into practice. Online learners must progress through challenging levels, earn badges, and defeat foes to achieve their learning objectives. In the meantime, they gather information that will help them overcome everyday challenges and improve performance. Here are 8 of the game-based eLearning trends to look out for in the not-too-distant future.

1. Long-Term eLearning Gaming Experiences

Microlearning games will still play a prominent role in eLearning. However, long-term gaming is already experiencing a popularity surge. This approach transforms an entire eLearning course or program into an immersive eLearning gaming environment. Online learners must complete eLearning modules and activities to earn badges or progress to the next level. Larger milestones, such as finishing an eLearning course, allow them to defeat the “boss” or unlock the next stage. Long-term eLearning games can even include simulations in real-time. For example, online learners must increase their sales figures and customer satisfaction ratings by performing daily tasks. At the end of the month, online instructors evaluate their overall performance.

2. More Tactile And Multiplatform-Friendly

Game-based eLearning is already headed in this direction. But the future is going to bring even more tactile eLearning gaming experiences for on-the-go learners. From tablets and smartphones to wearable tech, online learners are going to be able to step inside immersive eLearning environments. One of the most significant advancements is virtual reality eLearning. Employees can simply slide on a VR headset to gain real world practice, minus the negative consequences. Smartwatches are yet another sector to keep an eye on. They give online learners the power to access “moment of need” eLearning games at a moment’s notice. For this reason, responsive design tools are going to be a must-have for eLearning professionals in the future.

3. Microlearning Meets Game-Based eLearning

Online learners don’t have a second to waste, which means that they need the information quickly and conveniently. This is why game-based eLearning is now becoming bite-sized. These eLearning gaming experiences offer brief bursts of knowledge that help online learners complete a task and build essential skills. They no longer have to make room in their busy schedules for eLearning. Sitting in commute traffic or waiting for a meeting gives online learners the opportunity to expand their knowledge base. Now that’s what I call multitasking!

4. Personalized Game-Based Learning Paths

Personalization will pave the way for the future of eLearning, as a whole, not just game-based eLearning. From mobile learning to corporate eLearning, every sector is looking for bigger and better ways to customize the eLearning experience. In terms of game-based eLearning, you’re going to see personalized gaming paths that feature clickable eLearning course maps. More intuitive eLearning course designs will even be able to point online learners in the right direction based on their past performance. For example, unlock another branch of the eLearning game if online learners need to develop a specific skill. These personalized learning paths will also include learner-centered goals, milestones, and reward systems.

5. The Rise Of Serious Games

Countless organizations are now using serious games to improve workplace proficiency and productivity. They are immersive, entertaining, and engaging, which is a winning combination in corporate eLearning, especially when you’re dealing with dull compliance online training courses. However, serious games will be even more widespread in the future. Companies will use them as the foundation of their corporate eLearning programs. Online Training simulations, branching scenarios, and online demos still have a place in the corporate curriculum. But they’ll all have a serious game spin that fosters an emotional connection.

6. Social Media-Centered EduGames

There are two key reasons why I believe that social media edugames are the wave of the future. Firstly, video games are gravitating more toward multiplayer online platforms. Gamers have the ability to play with their friends half a world away. Secondly, social media games are already drawing in millions of players each month. Combine this with educational value, and you have the power to create lifelong online learners. Edugames also give online learners the chance to interact with their peers, who can offer feedback and personal experience. As a result, they’re able to have fun while they collaboratively solve problems and overcome challenges.

7. Bigger And Better Game-Based Analytics

As is the case with all eLearning endeavors, you must have a way to track online learner progress and performance. The same goes for the effectiveness of your eLearning course design. Game-based analytics of the future are going to be more detailed and easier to obtain. eLearning professionals will be able to monitor every aspect of the online gaming experience and customize their reports like never before. For example, tracking how an online learner interacts with the gaming world and their online peers.

8. The Evolution Of Game-Based Authoring Tools

As game-based eLearning evolves, so must the eLearning authoring tools that we use to create them. These online tools are already packed with interactions, templates, and themes today. But they are going to be even more versatile and robust in the future. You’ll be able to customize virtually every aspect of the gaming world, from clickable objects to eLearning characters. eLearning professionals can develop game-based eLearning content that is more learner-centeredthan ever before. Every in-game decision takes online learners down a different path, which leads to one of a hundred outcomes. And you won’t need any prior game design experience, thanks to the intuitive game-based authoring software.

Game-based eLearning is going to play a prominent role in the future of eLearning, which comes as no surprise, as it is motivates and engages online learners on an emotional level. Regardless of an online learner’s background or experience, eLearning games provide an immersive environment that is ideal for knowledge assimilation.

You don’t have to be a professional game designer to create amazing eLearning games. Read the article 7 Tips To Develop Serious Games For Non-Designers to discover some useful tips to help you develop serious games, even if you don’t have any prior game design experience.

Source : http://www.eidesign.net/blog/future-game-based-elearning/

Case Study On How You Can Evaluate The Learnability Of Online Courses

We all understand the value of measurement of learnability or learning effectiveness can bring to an organization’s learning strategy and training delivery. In this article, I share a case study that showcases how you can practically evaluate the learnability of online courses.

How To Evaluate The Learnability Of Online Courses: Case Study

Before outlining the case study that will illustrate how you can evaluate the learnability of online courses, I recap a few essential aspects from my previous article How To Predict And Measure The Learnability Of Online Courses.

Why Is Measuring Learnability Or Learning Effectiveness Of Online Courses Vital For Learning And Development Teams?

Learner experience has a direct bearing on the effectiveness of your training initiative and eventually your ROI. If the learnability/learning effectiveness quotient of your online training is high, application of learning and the desired impact are taken care of automatically. Evaluation/measurement of learnability will help you predict the eventual impact and identify ways to better the learning experience.

What Are The Challenges That Learning And Development Teams Face In Determining Learnability Of Their Online Courses (Legacy As Well As New)?

While there are a few measures in place to evaluate learnability, Learning and Development professionals continue to look for an approach that can address the related challenges and help them:

• Analyze the learner experience in their existing courses.
• Gain insights and develop guidelines to enhance learnability in future courses.
• Predict learning effectiveness.
• Evaluate/measure learnability and offer remediation/suggestions to enhance the learning experience.
• Validate the impact on learning experience from users in real time.
• Analyze and identify the gaps.
• Get insights on how to bridge those gaps.
• Make amendments to the existing approach based on the user feedback.
• Bring about the desired level of learnability/learning effectiveness.

What Are The Highlights Of Our Framework That Can Predict And Measure Learnability Of Online Courses?

As I had mentioned in my previous article, at EI Design, we have been working on the creation of a framework that can predict and evaluate the learnability of online courses since Jan’15. This maps very closely to the wish-list you may have to predict, measure, and validate the learnability of your online courses.

In this article, I use the same framework to illustrate exactly how we have used it to:

Evaluate and measure the current learnability.

Analyze these results and come up with enhancements that helped us improve the learnability.

In my next article, I will use another case study to showcase how we can validate our predictive learnability from users through real time surveys.

How Can You Use Our Framework To Measure And Predict Learnability Of Your Online Courses?

You can use our framework to:

• Evaluate the learnability of your existing courses and identify measures to enhance it.

• Predict the learnability for your upcoming courses and validate this prediction with your learners real-time.

You can also use this framework to:

Address the extended learnability challenge. This involves monitoring a group of users over a period of time and evaluating them based on the metrics. You can then use this data to plan future measures to enhance the learning experience.

Build a framework based on the cues from the data gathered from the users and the metrics and take concrete steps to improve your ROI.

Case Study: How To Evaluate The Learnability Of Online Courses

Background: The selected course is part of our Suite of 15 online courses for Instructional Designers.

Challenges: The course was developed in 2014 and during the last two years, many aspects have changed (from more wide ranging learning design possibilities to learner profiles that now feature millennials).

We felt that this is a good case study material to see how our learnability evaluation can enhance an existing course which was already delivering the required value.

Objective of the exercise: To transform a traditional eLearning course from an Instructional Design, design, and technology standpoint. Specifically, the exercise was carried out to:

• Create a modern design experience for the learners.

• Demonstrate significant improvement in learnability (learning experience and effectiveness).
• Activities undertaken in the exercise: We followed the following steps to evaluate the current learnability and provide recommendations to enhance it. Specifically, we:
• Analyzed the requirement and identified the need to redesign and revamp.

• Did a “Learnability Evaluation” and came up with recommendations.

• Conducted a rapid design workshop to address the recommendations and remediation suggested in the evaluation.

• Created low and high fidelity prototypes to test the designs.

• Developed the course tested against the same “Learnability” parameters.

• Created a set of guidelines to revamp such courses and have a predictive learnability standard.

Outcomes Of The Learnability Evaluation And Recommendation Exercise

The learnability evaluation was done through several metrics notably:

• Metrics based on task performance.
• Metrics based on interface usage.
• Metrics based on content and cognition.
• Metrics based on feedback on design elements.
• Metrics based on interface and navigation help.
• Metrics based on usability.

Here is a screenshot of one of the metrics used for learnability evaluation

Analysis and recommendations: The recommendations provided in the learnability evaluation helped the learners in getting a significantly better learnability (learning experience and effectiveness) as it provided them with:

• A better learning experience by making them focus on the key content.

• A better way to navigate in the course and know where they are in the course.

• Better ways to interact in the course.

• More controls to learn at their own pace.

• A greater level of intuitive learning through better hierarchy in information presentation and engaging layouts.

View of the enhanced learnability: Here is a video (featuring “before and after” views) that reflects how the recommendations enhanced the existing learnability of the course and met the goals of the current exercise.

What more is possible: We have tested this framework and methodology with our courses and we have seen tangible gains accrue as a result.

Organizations looking to achieve a similar mandate have a lot to gain from our framework. Do contact me if you would like to sign up to measure and predict learnability of your online courses.

This article is one of the three articles on how to predict, measure, and validate the learnability of online courses.

Do refer to my previous article How To Predict And Measure The Learnability Of Online Courses for an overview of our learnability framework.

Source: http://www.eidesign.net/blog/case-study-on-how-you-can-evaluate-the-learnability-of-online-courses/

Why Adopt Mobile Learning For Online Training – 10 Questions Answered

If you are new to mLearning or are seeking ways to enhance its impact, e.g. by using mobile learning for online training, you would have several questions about it. In this article, I answer 10 questions that range from its definition, application, and how you can maximize its impact.

Why Adopt Mobile Learning For Online Training?

Following are 10 questions answered about adopting mobile learning for online training. Let us begin.

Q1. What Is mLearning Or Mobile Learning?

mLearning or mobile learning is self-paced online training that is available to the learners on tablets and smartphones. Typically, the same training would also be available on desktops/laptops helping learners learn on the device of their choice.

Q2. What Is Driving mLearning’s Rapid Adoption?

Mobile technology has become part and parcel of people’s day to day activities today. The “anytime-anywhere” flexibility that it offers is being used extensively by people to fulfill their varied needs – shopping, finding their way out from a lost route via GPS, looking up for a missing ingredient in a recipe while in kitchen, the list goes on…

The scenario is not too different when it comes to learning. The dynamics have changed and we are seeing an increased adoption of mLearning on account of the following factors:

1. Changing Learner Profiles.

Organizations today are seeing an increase in the millennial workforce in significant numbers. Millennials in general are die-hard smartphone addicts, so much so that a CNBC report states that 93 percent of millennials admit to using their phones in bed and nearly 80 percent of them say they can’t part with their phones in the washrooms too!

2. How Learners Want To Learn.

Learners today want to waste no time in knowing something they want to know. The staggering number of views on the “How to…” videos on YouTube tells you something. A lot of this learning is “just-in-time” learning and this is justified by the fact that YouTube itself has put up a stat saying “more than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices”. Today, if learners are in need of something urgent, they are likely to drop in a message in one of their WhatsApp groups or other chat applications (collaborative/social learning). The change in learner attitude in terms of getting to know what they want to know clearly warrants adoption of the mobile learning approach.

3. Changing Learning Device Preferences.

Learners today are seeking the flexibility to learn on the device of their choice. According to a Statista report, the percentage of users owning multiple mobile devices worldwide has grown from 8% in 2011 to 25% in 2016. With advancements in technology, this trend is likely to continue in the years to come. Learners are, therefore, looking to learn seamlessly on the device of their choice and at a time of their convenience.

4. Maturing Of Supporting Tools And Technologies (mLearning Authoring Tools And Learning Management System Support).

In the last few years, there have been significant improvements on the technology front. With the growing demand for mobile technology in the market, many mobile-compatible technologies have evolved. Today, one has several mobile learning authoring tools (which support both Adaptive and Responsive designs) to choose from. The Learning Management System technology has also evolved and is very much in line with the developments being made in mobile technology.

Q3. Why You Should Not Ignore mLearning Or Mobile Learning As Part Of Your Training Delivery?

As I see it, to maximize the impact of your training, giving learners the flexibility to learn “on the go” as well as on the device of their choice (tablets and smartphones) is necessary. Consider the following statistics. These (and there are plenty more) numbers make a clear case for adoption of mobile learning.

By 2018, 70% of professionals are likely to work using their personal smartphones.

A whopping percentage (60%) of the workers consider mobile to be their “most critical work device”.

Almost 100% of the learners are likely to complete the training in the mobile format.

47% of organizations are already using mobile devices for their training initiatives.

Q4. Can mLearning Or Mobile Learning Be Applied To All Corporate Training Needs?

mLearning is a great fit for all possible training needs ranging from formal training to informal training (just-in-time learning or job aids). It can also be used effectively to foster collaborative or social learning. You can also use components of mLearning to enhance your ILT/VILT sessions.

At EI Design, we have created mLearning solutions for the entire spectrum of training needs including:

• Induction and on-boarding.
• Compliance.
• Soft skills.
• Behavioral change.
• Change management.
• Product training.
• Application simulations.

Q5. What Are The Benefits Of mLearning Or Mobile Learning?

Here is my list of top 7 benefits that mLearning or mobile learning offers vis-a-vis traditional eLearning:

• Provides flexibility to learners.
• Offers higher learner engagement.
• Demonstrates better completion rates and higher retention.
• Facilitates collaborative learning.
• Offers multi-device support.
• Adapts to formal training as well as Performance Support (just-in-time learning or job aids).
• Facilitates “learning as a continuum”.

Q6. What Aspects Should You Watch Out For As You Begin mLearning Or Mobile Learning Adoption?

Here is my list of 5 aspects that you must watch out for. A careful evaluation of these aspects will help you create an effective mobile learning strategy.

1. Mobile Learning Is Not eLearning Lite.

You must revamp your learning strategy so that it is aligned to the strengths and limitations of mLearning.

2. One Size Does Not Fit All.

Looking at the training, business, and learning mandate, you need to evaluate and select Adaptive (mobile learning solutions that support PCs, laptops, and tablets) vs Responsive (mobile learning solutions that support PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones). There are trade-offs in each approach and these must be duly weighed upon before you make the selection.

3. The Same Content And Same Learning Strategy Would Work On All Devices (Including Mobile Devices).

When designing for the mobile medium, the information needs to be broken down into smaller pieces and how these pieces will appear on the mobile device needs to be factored for. Also, the user interaction and design should be such that it works well for all devices with equal ease and intuitiveness.

4. Tablets And Smartphones Both Support HTML5 But The Same Learning Strategy Does Not Work On Both Devices.

A great way to crack this and ensure a similar learning experience is to design your strategy for the smartphone first, then for the tablet, and then for PCs/laptops.

5. Get Your Strategy Right To Deliver A Complete Learning Experience On Smartphones First.

This is very much possible if you factor for the limitations of the mobile medium and design your strategy keeping the user experience in mind.

Q7. Can mLearning Or Mobile Learning Be Used To Meet The Different Expectations Your Millennial Workforce Has?

To be able to address this, you need to first be aware of the traits of millennials, their preferences, modes of accessing information, and what gets them hooked.

You can then design your strategy accordingly, using elements of the way they go about fulfilling their various infotainment needs.

Q8. What Are The Other Aspects You Can Use To Increase The Impact Of mLearning?

To multiply the impact of your mLearning or mobile learning strategy, you can integrate:

• Microlearning.
• Social learning.

To facilitate sticky learning, you can adopt engaging approaches like Gamification. Also add Performance Support Tools (PSTs or just in time learning aids) that are accessible to learners within their work-flow. These will facilitate the application of learning on the job. PSTs are short bite sized assets that are a great fit for mLearning or mobile learning.

Q9. What’s Trending In mLearning Or Mobile Learning?

While mLearning or mobile learning uses several engaging formats, the trends you should adopt are:

• Videos and interactive videos.
• Mobile apps.

Q10. What Other Approaches Can You Adopt To Increase The Impact Of Your mLearning Or Mobile Learning Strategy?

To multiply the impact, you can:

• Leverage on the combination of microlearning and social learning.
• Provide a learning path based approach to the learners.
• Offer personalized learning (include feedback along with reinforcement or supplement options).

I hope this article gives you some cues that you can apply in your organization, irrespective of whether you are new to mLearning or are looking for approaches that can increase the impact of your mLearning. In case you have any specific questions, do contact me.

Turn Passivity To Interactivity: How To Use Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement

The popularity of videos and increased use of mobile learning or mLearning have led to extensive usage of videos in online training. Even though videos appeal to the learners, they are passive. This article highlights how to use interactive videos for learner engagement by negating that passivity.

Using Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement

Why use interactive videos for learner engagement? Well, videos are one of the most popular media driving the communication space today; and if the numbers are anything to go by, their influence is only going to get stronger in the years to come.

A Cisco report states that by 2019, 80% of the internet traffic worldwide will be driven by videos. They have a great social media presence and this is firmly established by the fact that Facebook records 8 billion video views every day. They are also extremely popular with Millennials workforce (80% of Millennials refer to videos when trying to research/make a purchase decision).

These are magical numbers for Learning and Development professionals who are experimenting with ways to leverage on the power of videos and craft learning solutions, especially for learners who would like to learn on mobile devices on the go.

Why Does Passivity Of Video Impact Serious Learning And How Can Interactive Videos Address This?

Passivity of videos can weigh down a serious learning experience (hampering the learners’ progress in meeting a specific learning outcome). This challenge becomes even more significant when:

1. The run length of the video runs into a few minutes and the learner may find the session to be rather monotonous.
2. The learners are required to learn, apply, and analyze (that is, achieve higher levels of cognition).

However, the interactive video format can offset these challenges and flip learner passivity to learning activity.

This is possible because Interactive videos:

• Come with a proven 10X impact compared to normal videos.
• Facilitate pausing of the video at specific instances and introducing learner interactions. These could be letting learners take a decision or bringing in interactions for a personalized learning experience.
• Ensure that they remain engaged all the way to the end. The frequent interactivities are likely to keep them hooked at regular intervals, resulting in greater learner engagement.

Statistics reveal that on average 47% of the viewers watch a video till the end, which means that a majority (53%) of the viewers lose interest and opt out of the video even before they see the key message. A study found that with interactive videos, 35% of the businesses saw a better conversion rate and 25% reported better business turnaround in terms of revenue.

How Can You Use Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement And Achieve Clear Learning Outcomes?

As I have outlined, usage of interactive videos can create an engaging learning experience that will enable you to move the cognition levels from recall and retention to application and analysis.

At EI Design, we have created a customizable interactive video framework that allows us to integrate learning interaction levels that closely mimic the interactions of a traditional eLearning or mLearning course. In contrast to the several online solutions, our framework provides a highly interactive solution, which:

• Can be customized further, if required.
• Is designed to work across multiple platforms such as desktops, tablets, and smartphones (iOS and Android).
• Supports AICC, SCORM 1.2, 2004, and TinCan. It can be hosted on Learning Management System (LMS) /Learning Record Store (LRS) or run as a standalone piece on a web server.
• Comes with SCORM related features such as completion, time, resume, and scoring in LMS/LRS.

View this Showreel (designed as a microlearning nugget) that provides a walk-through on the various features of our interactive video framework and how you can use its interaction points to enhance the learning experience and engage your learners.

Interaction points for learners: Our framework facilitates integration of several interactivity types, including:

1. Hotspots.

2. Carousel.

3. Button Click.

4. Drag And Drop.

5. Fill In The Blanks.

6. Single Choice Assessments.

7. Multiple Choice Assessments.

How Do Interactive Videos Fare Against Other Engaging Approaches Like Microlearning, Scenario-Based Learning, And Gamification?

The interactive video based approach can leverage on existing proven techniques like microlearning, scenario-based learning, and gamification.

In fact, you can multiply the impact of interactive videos using these techniques as follows:

1. Microlearning.

You can design interactive videos as microlearning nuggets (individual or a series connected in a learning path).

2. Branching Scenarios And Decision Making Simulations.

You can have branching scenarios that take learners through different paths basis the decisions they make. These simulations work as “safe environments” for learners to explore and understand the consequences of the choices they make.

3. Gamification.

You can integrate elements of gamification in the scores of the assessments (badges or other forms of incentives) to further engage the learners.

I hope this article has helped you understand the learning impact you can create by using the power of interactive videos in your eLearning or mobile learning solutions. You can integrate approaches of microlearning, gamification, and scenarios for decision making to further their impact and achieve the required learning outcomes. If you have any questions, do contact me.

Check out our other blogs related to millennials workforce, learner engagement, interactive videos, gamification and mirolearning that you may find it interesting.

6 Strategies You Can Use To Design Effective eLearning For Your Millennial Workforce

How Can You Use Microlearning To Increase Employee Engagement And Performance?

How Can You Use Interactive Videos For Microlearning-Based Training

Source  : Turn Passivity To Interactivity: How To Use Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement