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

With increasing millennial workforce, organizations need to re-evaluate their existing learning strategies. In this article, I will explain 6 strategies that you can use to effectively engage and motivate your millennial workforce.

Why Do You Need A Different Learning Strategy For Your Millennial Workforce?

Of late, there has been a lot of discussion on the need for corporates to re-evaluate their existing learning strategies so that they can meaningfully engage millennial workforce.

Is there a clear business case for this? Absolutely! The percentage of Millennials in the workplace is increasing steadily and over the next 4 years, they will be a significant part of the workforce in several leading global economies. (For instance in India, over 50% of the workforce by 2020 will be Millennials).

The fact is that this generation thinks, behaves, and learns differently, and this opens up a clear need to re-evaluate your existing learning strategies to make them appealing to this profile.

Why Is The Existing Or Traditional eLearning Not Enough To Engage The Millennial Generation?

The answer to this question lies in understanding what sets the millennial generation apart (in contrast to the Baby Boomers or Generation X who respond well to traditional eLearning).

For instance, there have been reports of folks in the academia in several parts of the world being appalled at the increasing use of the SMS language (or “textspk”) in essays, exam papers, and other stuff written by students. While literature pundits are gnashing at the idea of students murdering Shakespeare with “2 b r nt 2 b”, as Learning and Development professionals, this learner attitude can give you a whole lot of food for thought.

What it tells you is that today’s learners, mostly Millennials, don’t shy away from making their non-conformity to traditional methods obvious besides taking the quick route to gaining and sharing knowledge.

To nail this challenge, we must identify the traits of Millennials, which determine how they work, collaborate, and learn. These factors need to be then incorporated in creating the learning strategy that would engage the millennial workforce and motivate them to apply this learning on the job.

What Are The Traits Of The Millennial Workforce That Impact The Learning Strategy?

Some of the key characteristics of the millennial generation are:

• First generation “digital natives”.
• They have grown with the internet, smartphones, and the world of social media.
• Tech savvy.
• Goes without saying, an intrinsic understanding of technology comes naturally to them.
• Strong multi-tasking capability.
• Are ambitious.
• Have short attention spans.
• Easily distracted.
• Need a clear and definitive goal and outcome.
• Need recognition.
• Need constant feedback.
• Need flexibility.

Furthermore, their learning styles show the following notable aspects:

• They understand the value of learning to grow at work.
• Prefer visual aids (rich media).
• Prefer exploration (rather than a rigid learning path).
• Want experiential data that they can relate to easily and apply (real life scenarios).
• Relate easily to technology and online training, and respond best to interactive and engaging multimedia formats.
• Love working in groups (collaborate and learn).
• Bottomline: Have a desire to learn but want this to be short and fun.

Apart from these characteristics, we also need to see the key aspects that determine the learning styles of the millennial generation. Both of these would help us in defining the required learning strategies and training Millennials effectively.

What Learning Strategies Would Engage Your Millennial Workforce?

Looking at the traits of the Millennials in the workplace and their preferred learning styles, there are 6 learning strategies that are bound to work and engage Millennials. These include:

• Offer responsive mLearning or mobile learning.

Researchers say that Millennials check their smartphones 43 times a day on average. As Learning and Development professionals, there’s a huge cue you can take from this millennial demeanor. You can offer them responsive mobile learning solutions and the flexibility of device to learn (from desktop/laptop to tablets or smartphones).

• Use microlearning.

As pointed out earlier, Millennials have short attention spans. You can make their life a lot easier with microlearning, that is by breaking the bigger chunks of learning into snackable bites that can be taken on the go.

• Extend to Social learning.

Millennials spend 5.4 hours every day on social media. Now that tells you something. You can use this inclination towards social media that they have to your advantage with social learning: Create forums and communities of practice that facilitate collaborative learning, knowledge sharing, and curation of learner created content.

• Engage with gamification of learning.

How gamification of learning boosts learner engagement? Well, the Baby Boomer population would have been more than content watching Batman and Superman do their stuff on the silver screen. The typical Millennial of today wants to be the Batman himself and bash up the bad guys with the gaming console in his hand in a bid to outdo the Superman (being played by the guy with a gaming remote sharing sofa space with him). You can tap into the competitive spirit that gamification induces and offer learning that is aligned to a learning outcome while making no compromise with the fun bit.

• Use videos extensively and offer learning nuggets in rich media formats.

According to a research, 72% of the millennial population turns to video-based information hubs such as YouTube for their various infotainment needs. You can leverage on the video technology, microlearning approaches, and social learning to offer high impact learning nuggets.

• Offer a learning path based approach.

Rather than an intense but discrete training program, you can use a series designed as a learning path to create a journey that helps learners learn, practice, and take remediation as required. More significantly, these assets are easily available in their workflow, on the device of their choice.


These approaches will certainly appeal to your millennial workforce, engage them, and motivate them to perform better. If you have any queries or would like to see examples of how you can use them in your organization, do contact me.

Previous edition of this article was earlier published on eLearning Industry -https://elearningindustry.com/6-strategies-design-elearning-millennial-workforce

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/6-strategies-you-can-use-to-design-effective-elearning-for-your-millennial-workforce/

4 Modern or New-Age Learning Theories for Online Training

Learning Theories are frameworks that are extensively used by Instructional Designers to meet the requirements of the target audience and the situation. To do justice to this mandate, an Instructional Designer must first understand Learning Theories in order to apply them. Once they understand the strengths and weaknesses of each Learning Theory, they can optimize their use.

What is the significance of Learning Theories?

Learning Theories are essentially are established frameworks that describe how learners acquire, process and retain information during learning. Where the same information can be presented in multiple ways, Learning Theories help guide Instructional Designers in crafting effective learning solutions by:

• Identifying the appropriate format and methodology of learning
• Making the learning process meaningful and engaging for learners with varying learning style

What are the key New-Age or modern Learning Theories relevant to online training or eLearning?

There are several modern Learning Theories that are used extensively to design eLearning courses. I outline 4 modern Learning Theories, as follows:

Adult Learning: The concept of adult learning was developed by Malcolm Knowles. According to him, andragogy is the art and science of how adults learn. Andragogy outlines six main assumptions about adult learners:

• Adult learners need to know why they are taking up a course.
• They have a strong desire to be considered self-directing and would therefore resist any form of forced instruction.
• They have varied and extensive prior experience that could both help or hinder their learning.
• They are ready to learn only when the learning aligns with the developmental goals they have set for themselves.
• They are oriented to learning that is relevant to them, in order to solve problems or handle real-life situations.
• Adults are motivated learners, provided they feel that the instruction is useful to them.

Action Learning: Reg Revans is the ‘father’ of action learning.

The approach links the world of learning with the world of action through a reflective process.

• ‘Action learning sets’ are small, cooperative learning groups within which the reflective process takes place.
• The ‘sets’ meet regularly to work on real-life issues of individuals with the aim of learning with and from each other.

Experiential Learning: Kolb proposed this four-stage learning process. This theory states that without reflection, we would simply continue to repeat our mistakes. The experiential learning cycle involves:

• Concrete Experience: Putting into practice
• Reflective Observation: Objectively analyzing the outcome
• Abstract Conceptualization: Reviewing your conceptual understanding
• Active Experimentation: Experimenting to find solutions

Facilitation theory: Carl Rogers and others have developed the theory of facilitative learning. The basis of this theory is that the educator acts as a facilitator and creates a comfortable atmosphere for the learner to consider new ideas.

As we have noted so far, Learning Theories:

• Focus on different points of a continuum and cognitive processes
• Check the learner’s level of task knowledge
• Allow the designer to decide on the best suitable Learning Theory and associated strategies
• Help make the best use of practical applications of different Learning Theories
• Facilitate a large number of strategies to meet a variety of learning situations

Need More?

Want more insights on modern Learning Theories? Schedule a call with our Solutions Architecting Team.

The “InSight” suite of 15 online courses on Instructional Design is a testimony of our strong expertise in Instructional Design. Novices or seasoned Instructional Designers, there’s something (a lot, in fact) for everyone. The suite comprises courses on a range of topics related to Instructional Design, cutting across aspects of theory, application and emerging trends. It is a comprehensive resource on Instructional Design, designed the Creative Instructional Design way!

Check the course on Learning Theories from here.

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/4-modern-new-age-learning-theories-online-training/

5 Killer Examples Of Learning Strategies To Design Corporate Training For Millennials

Millennials are becoming a force to reckon with, as their numbers grow in the global workforce. Learning strategies that worked for older generations do not resonate with them. Here, I share 5 examples of Millennial-centric strategies that can help you design corporate training for Millennials.

Ready To Design Corporate Training For Millennials? 5 Examples Of Learning Strategies To Help You

To begin with, let’s answer the following question:

Who Are Millennials?

Millennials are the generation of people born between early 1980s and early 2000s. Also known as Gen Y, they are the demographic that followed Gen X. They constitute a significant portion of the global workforce today, and are estimated to grow to occupy 3/4 of the global workforce by 2025.

Why Should You Redesign Your Learning Strategies To Factor For Millennials In Your Workforce?

With a significant presence in the global force, Millennials are a force to reckon with. Learning strategies that worked for older generations (that is, Gen X and Baby Boomers) are not likely to resonate with the Millennials.

While investment on learning is on a high priority for them, they work with different motivators, operate differently, and seek very different gains from work.

It is therefore important for L&D professionals to reassess and redesign their learning strategies to create corporate training for Millennials, by factoring where their interests lie, what puts them off, and what catches their attention, to be able to craft learning experiences that will help Millennials learn “their way”.

Why Are They important To Organizations And L&D Teams?

As the number of Millennials in the workforce increases at an exponential rate, employers and L&D teams are shifting their focus toward understanding the way Millennials lead their everyday lives, mainly because:

• This generation has grown up differently and deserves to be treated differently.
• Learning strategies that worked for older generations won’t appeal to Millennials.

Looking at it from a different perspective, a Millennial-centric survey conducted by EdAssist has presented some eye-opening statistics.

• 60% of Millennials would pick a job where there’s great scope for professional development, over a high-paying job offering steady economic growth.
• 58% expect their employers to provide them with continuous learning opportunities related to their job.

Organizations and L&D teams should create engaging corporate training for Millennials by crafting awe-inspiring learning experiences and finding the right approach to make them feel at home as they take the training. Later in this article, I share 5 such examples that will resonate with your Millennial workforce.

Why Traditional eLearning Approach Lacks The Connection To Millennials?

To find the answer to this question, we must first understand what sets the Millennial generation apart. While traditional learning suits the preferred learning style of Baby Boomers and the Gen X demographic, Millennials are not so fond of this approach.

Take a look at the generational differences in this table, and you will see why learning strategies for Millennials need to be remarkably different.

Source: HR & Millennials: Insights Into Your New Human Capital

What Does This Mean For Training? What Can Be Done To Make It Work?

To begin with, we need to identify their traits and learning preferences. We need to incorporate them in the learning strategy to create effective corporate training for Millennials, that would engage them, and motivate them to apply the learning on the job.

While the focus of traditional learning is on ensuring that learners are able to “remember and recall”, the focus area of Millennial-centric learning is to provide access to precise nuggets of information, and to facilitate quick application of the learning.

What Are Top 10 Tips And Strategies To Design Corporate Training For Millennials?

1. Make the training mobile ready through mLearning or mobile learning; the training must be accessible on multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets (besides laptops and desktops).
2. Use microlearning to promote short, bite-sized learning that is fun to go through.
3. Use videos extensively, and offer learning nuggets in high-impact-creating, rich media formats to keep the learners glued.
4. Provide Performance Support Tools (PSTs), such as videos, PDFs, etc. to make the training material readily available and accessible within their workflow.
5. Set sharp and well-defined outcomes (that resonate with the learners’ need).
6. Extend your training to Social or Collaborative learning.
7. Engage the learners through gamification of eLearning; this will grant them a sense of reward and recognition as they progress through and complete the training.
8. Personalize the learning to offer learners the flexibility to “pull” what they want, rather than be “pushed” toward what they must learn – offer a learning path-based approach.
9. Make room for learner contribution through content curation, and promote inclusive learning.
10. Make use of wearable tech to offer PSTs.

Now, let me share 5 examples of Millennial-centric strategies that demonstrate how to engage Millennials in corporate training.

5 Examples To Engage Millennials

Take a look at this video that showcases these Millennial-centric strategies, and how you can integrate elements of gamification, personalization, microlearning, and Social Learning in corporate training for Millennials to create an engaging learning experience, and double the impact of learning.



Same details are also captured here.

1. Mobile App For Learning Offered In A Microlearning Format – Includes Gamification And Personalized Learning

We have developed a mobile app for Millennial learners who are on a path to self-discovery, and are looking to enhance their personal skills. The app, which featured principles of gamification, personalization, and microlearning, was designed to help the learners identify their strengths, mitigate their weaknesses, and thereby establish their own personal brand.

2. Microlearning-Based Approach To Help Learners Learn The Bite-Sized Way

We developed a series of microlearning nuggets to help tour guides of a popular zoo learn how to enhance their skills, and engage their visitors. Here, we used engaging visuals with a rich blend of several learning elements to achieve a high level of learner engagement.

Following the initial rollout of the course, the organization (the zoo) conducted a survey, which indicated that tour guides who completed the first set of nuggets received visitor ratings of whooping 8–9 on a scale of 10.

3. A Fun-Filled Learning Nugget On Human Resources Benefits

This project involved the development of a gamified portal that presented an organization’s HR policies and benefits to its employees in a fun and engaging way. The gamified course was story-based, and was split into various levels that the learners had to go through, and this introduced the element of challenge, competition, and excitement. Upon completing the levels, learners were awarded badges and points, and leaderboards were displayed, which helped promote competition and recognition, and prompted the learners to keep coming back.

4. Content Curation Platform With Elements Of Social Learning

We have created a demo of a content curation platform, an online portal that is designed to find, group, organize, and share the most relevant content on specific topics organization-wide. The portal empowers learners to contribute to learning pathways, and build communities that promote continuous learning.

5. Interactive Parallax-Based Scrolling

We developed an informal microlearning nugget on data security in a responsive web-based training format. This nugget, “A date with Data Dave”, features interactive parallax-based scrolling, engaging visuals, and conversational language, which engages and takes the learner through three offices with varying levels of data security. Along the journey, the learner is provided tips and best practices to protect data.

Summary

I hope these 5 killer examples of Millennial-centric strategic provides you insights on creating highly effective corporate training for Millennials.

At EI Design, our practice of Millennial-centric solutions also addresses the related need for strategies that you can use to step up the engagement of your existing, traditional eLearning, so that it can engage your Millennial workforce. If you have any queries or need any specific support, do contact me at apandey@eidesign.net.

Read more:

• 3 Killer Examples On How You Can Use Microlearning, Gamification, And Social Learning To Engage Millennials In The Workplace
• How You Can Engage Your Millennial Workforce – Tips And Learning Strategies That Work
• 6 Strategies You Can Use To Design Effective eLearning For Your Millennial Workforce
• How Can You Use Content Curation In Your L&D Strategy?
• Why You Should Use Content Curation To Support Your Corporate Training – 5 Questions Answered

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/5-killer-examples-of-learning-strategies-for-millennials/

How To Measure The ROI Of Online Training?

Today, most organizations use eLearning as a significant part of their training delivery. As traditional eLearning moves towards mobile learning or mLearning and provides learners the flexibility to learn on the device of their choice (notably tablets and smartphones), the eLearning adoption is gaining further momentum. eLearning and mobile learning provide several benefits to organizations. However, the focus is now shifting to determining its impact and the Return On Investment or ROI of online training.

Measuring The ROI Of Online Training

In this article, I will begin with a quick summary of the benefits that eLearning offers, what ROI is, and how you can measure it. I will also outline the ROI methodology we use.

What Are The Advantages Of eLearning?

I am quoting extensively from my earlier article Return Of Investment (ROI): Are You In?. This article had originally appeared in CrossKnowledge’s Learning Wire Blog. It also outlines the measures to maximize the ROI.

Over the last two decades, most organizations have made investments in eLearning primarily for the following benefits:

1. Anytime, anywhere access (on demand availability).
2. Self-paced, interactive, and more engaging learning (learner perspective).
3. Less disruptive delivery (in contrast to ILT).
4. Cost-effective (particularly when reaching out to a large audience).
5. Consistency of message and easy updating of content.
6. Easy tracking of learner progress and completion (business perspective).

While the eLearning advantages are well accepted, increasingly organizations are seeking ways and means to determine its impact on learners as well as on business. Let’s see what Return Of Investment (ROI) is and how you can assess if your eLearning or online training initiatives are generating the required ROI.

What Is ROI?

ROI is the return on investment that an organization makes (ROI = Gain or Return/Cost). It can be determined through two factors namely the Investment made (or cost incurred) and Value/Gain accrued (or return).

A successful eLearning initiative should be able to demonstrate gains that are more than the investment.

How To Determine Costs And Assess Returns?

Costs are fairly easy to define and would normally include the cost of eLearning course development as well as associated costs of team members (including teams that are associated with the development process and Subject Matter Experts).

Typically, there would also be associated costs of the supporting delivery (Learning Management System, Administrative cost of managing the initiative, and other related infrastructure required for delivery).

Determining the “value” or “gain” is far more tricky. We nail this by looking at the gains for the organization as well as for the learners.

Organizational perspective.

Let’s begin by re-looking at the gains most organizations seek when they adopt eLearning and see how many of these translate to reduction in costs and hence improvement in returns.

• Less disruptive delivery.

This translates to man-days available now to the organization that would have been allocated to travel and training in the ILT mode.

• Reduced travel costs.

These can be determined easily.

• No associated costs for trainers.

These can be identified easily.

Learners’ perspective.

Next, let’s take a look at the gains that accrue on account of effective eLearning course designs:

• Immersive and engaging learning translates to better assimilation. This in turn leads to proficiency gain and a tangible increase in productivity.
• More learners across the organization can be trained in lesser time (while they get the flexibility to learn at their own pace).
• Coupled with tracking, the eLearning initiatives can be scheduled and completed faster as compared to ILT sessions.

What ROI Methodology Can Be Used?

Most of us are familiar with Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluation. In today’s context, adding Phillips’ ROI calculation as the fifth level makes this framework even more useful and relevant. By using Level IV evaluation data, we can convert the results into monetary value. Then we can easily compare them against the cost of the eLearning program and determine the ROI.

To give you a sense of how it can be practically used, let me summarize the approaches we typically adopt:

• Level 1:Reaction is measured by taking feedback from learners. We have used online surveys in the past but now we add features of “Like the course” and “Recommend the course” options within our eLearning course framework.
• Level 2: Learning can be easily measured through scoring patterns in the end of course assessments.
• Level 3: Behavioral changes are certainly more difficult to assess. We use a combination of techniques to assess how much of the newly acquired learning is being applied on the job. This could be measured through improvements in efficiency or doing the same task with a new approach.
• Level 4: Business impact is generally measured through productivity gain, impact on quality measures through reduction in re-works, getting higher number of work assets first time right, and so on.
• Level 5: ROI is normally calculated by converting the business impact gains (as shown in level 4) to a monetary value.

I hope this article was useful in understanding the ROI definition and more significantly, what ROI methodology will enable you to measure the ROI of online training. At EI Design, we do workshops that can enable you to adapt the standard ROI methodology to your organization. Do reach out to me if you need further details.

Read More:

• 6 Tips To Maximize The Online Training ROI
• How To Measure The ROI Of Online Training?

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/how-to-measure-the-roi-of-online-training/

How Can You Measure The Learning Effectiveness Of Online Courses And Create A Positive ROI?

While it is obvious that Learnability or learning effectiveness of online courses has an impact on ROI, its measurement is rather a tall order. This article outlines how you can use our framework to predict, measure, and validate the learnability or learning effectiveness of your online courses.

What Is Learnability Or Learning Effectiveness Of Online Courses?

Learnability or learning effectiveness of online courses can be defined as the ease and speed with which the learners can acquire the required information/knowledge/skill. There is an associated aspect that you need to be mindful of, that is, the scope of learnability. Once this measured, we can assess the progress from knowledge acquisition to application reflected as performance gain.

The scope of learnability evaluation can be looked at in two ways:

• Initial Learnability: Initial Learnability applies to the performance over a single, short term usage period.
• Extended Learnability: Extended Learnability applies to the performance change over time.

What Is The Significance Of Learnability Or Learning Effectiveness Of Online Courses?

The significance of learnability is evident. Only well crafted courses with the right learnability can help learners perform better and help organizations meet their goals.

Studies have revealed that learners lose up to 40% of their time due to “frustrating experiences” with courses. The common causes being missing, hard to find, unusable, and irrelevant features of the course.

Similarly, a study carried out by Federico Borges found that learners get frustrated due to a variety of reasons including the learning strategy used, lack of prompt feedback, the company culture, the learning material that was designed, and so on.

Does Learnability Impact The Computation Of ROI On Training? Is This Impact Direct Or Indirect?

Most of us are familiar with Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluation as shown here:

• Level 1 – Learner Reaction – Was the course relevant, useful, and worth my time?
• Level 2 – Learning – Did the course lead to increase in skill/knowledge? Did the course meet the required cognition level?
• Level 3 – Application of learning – Was there a performance improvement or change in behavior based on the learning?
• Level 4 – Business impact – Was there a tangible and demonstrable value after the training?

This model can be extended to measurement of ROI on training by mapping monetary value to the final gain (business impact).

Impact of Learnability on ROI on training: Learnability or learning effectiveness impacts each level of Kirkpatrick’s model, eventually helping you maximize ROI on training.

Specifically:

• Learnability impacts level 1 and 2 directly and enables application of learning in level 3. Once these three are in place, the business impact is likely to be met. Subsequently, the ROI on training can be calculated (mapping the business impact to a monetary gain).

How does this really work to impact the ROI?

• A better and meaningful user experience increases the stickiness of learning.
• It also increases the learners’ motivation to take the course leading to higher completion rates.
• Once these are in line, you can expect to see an increased application of the learning and this in turn will lead to the desired impact on the learners and business.
• By evaluating your online courses for learnability, you can predict its impact as well as identify measures to increase it. This will go a long way in achieving a positive ROI on your training spend.

NOTE: Validation of the learning experience is important when it comes to determining ROI on training. As suggested by Keri Bennington of UNC Kenan-Flager Business School in a report, “ROI measures should be related to performance after the Learning and Development experience and, according to some, tied to a dollar figure. For example, time saved or increased output (or both) as a result of improved performance following participation in a development program can then be compared to a dollar figure.”

Can Learnability Be Measured?

Yes, learnability or learning effectiveness of online courses can be measured but there are several challenges associated with this exercise:

• There is a maze of parameters that influence it.
• Adding to the volume of parameters that can influence learnability is the second challenge that not all parameters are measurable.
• The significance of each parameter changes with each training type.
• Finally, the feedback can be objective (easy to implement) as well as subjective (often difficult to fix).

How Do We At EI Design Measure Learnability?

In spite of the fact that measurement of learnability is a tall order, at EI Design, we offer a unique framework that you can use to predict, measure, and validate the Learnability of online courses (for new or legacy courses).

Our Approach: We began our exercise by looking at various building blocks of a course and how learners view them or interact with them. Using these cues, we created 6 metrics which map to each of these to help us evaluate the learnability or learning effectiveness as shown here:

• Metrics 1: Interface Design.
• Metrics 2: Course Information and Instructions (navigation).
• Metrics 3: Content Structuring (to meet the required level of cognition).
• Metrics 4: Task Performance (to interact and learn).
• Metrics 5: Usability (overall experience).
• Metrics 6: Feedback on Design Elements.

Measurement: Our framework also allows you to dynamically assign the criticality based on the nature of the course, content, or learners. Then the aggregated Learnability Index is generated.

Take a look at an example of the Learnability Index of an existing course and how we upped it by enhancing it through our Learnability guidelines.

Validation: This can be validated by the learners and the feedback can be used to enhance the learning design further, if required.

Take a look at some reports that show how the course fared with learners (validation of the predictive learnability).

How Can You Use Our Framework To Maximize ROI On Training?

You can use our framework to predict the learnability of the courses you are developing. You can also use it to evaluate the Learnability of your legacy courses and then uplift it. Through our learnability framework, you will be able to:

1. Get access to a predictive methodology to build learnability in your new courses.
2. Use it to evaluate the learnability of your existing courses: You can diagnose issues that reduce the learning effectiveness and hamper performance and step up the Learnability Index to the required levels.
3. Validate your assumptions with learners: You can check if your courses pass the litmus test by validating the impact of the courses from the folks who matter – the learners!
4. Gain crucial insights for future learning interventions that can enhance the effectiveness of the training curriculum and performance for the learners.
5. Improve learning retention and meet the prescribed cognition level.

With these, you will be able to have greater clarity on demonstrable gains for learners as well as the business and maximize your ROI on training.

How Can Our Learnability Framework Help Learning And Development Teams?

Learning and Development teams can use our learnability framework to:

1. Predict, measure, and continuously enhance the learning effectiveness of trainings.
2. Have a robust framework in place to constantly improve learning and performance.
3. Have a data driven approach to address user experience related issues in learning (actionable learner feedback).
4. Demonstrate a positive impact on ROI on training.

You can take a look at this video of our Webinar on How To Predict, Measure, And Validate The Learnability Of Online Courses for more in-depth insights:




I hope this article provides cues on how you can use our framework to measure and enhance the learn-ability or learning effectiveness of your online courses, how you can validate the predictive Learnability with your learners, and see if you are on target or what further measures will help you hit the bull’s-eye. If you have any queries on this, do contact me at apandey@eidesign.net.

Also Read:

• How To Predict And Measure The Learnability Of Online Courses
• Case Study On How You Can Evaluate The Learnability Of Online Courses
• Case Study On How You Can Validate The Learnability Of Online Courses

How To Convert Legacy Courses Into HTML5 The Right Way

You have decided to adopt mLearning (or mobile learning) and are ready to move your legacy courses to HTML5. Obviously, this involves a significant budget and you want to be certain that you have chosen the most efficient approach to convert your legacy courses into HTML5. In this article, I will share some case studies to outline how you can manage this migration into HTML5 the right way.

Convert Legacy Courses Into HTML5

In my earlier article 8 Tips To Convert Flash to HTML5 That Will Help Your Business, I had highlighted the challenge (associated with legacy courses) and the solution (how HTML5 addresses the challenge). Let’s begin with this recap:

The Challenge.

Over the years, all of us would have created courses that predominantly used Flash for development. With increase in demand to offer mobile learning, you would have realized that Flash courses do not work on most mobile devices. As a result, you need to plan to migrate the existing legacy Flash content to HTML5.

The Solution.

HTML5 supports all mobile devices (tablets and smartphones). Additionally, the more recent browsers support HTML5 enabling you to run the mobile-ready courses on desktops and laptops as well. This flexibility now allows a single build to work seamlessly across all devices starting from desktops/laptops to tablets and smartphones.

In the same article, I have outlined what you should watch out for during the migration of legacy courses to HTML5. Additionally, I have shared 8 tips that will help you create an efficient transition to HTML5.

In this article, I will share two case studies that reflect dynamics that will resonate with most organizations and will provide the pointers on what approaches will help you design an efficient and effective migration strategy and convert legacy courses into HTML5 the right way.

Convert Legacy Courses Into HTML5: Case Study 1

Background.

For one of our customers, the existing Flash courses met the learning mandate (that is, no further changes to content and visual presentation were necessary). So, the look and feel of the existing courses had to be retained in the HTML5 version. The objective of migration was to provide extended access to learners by making these courses accessible on tablets. We had to convert 80 hours of eLearning to mLearning or mobile learning (adaptive approach that includes tablet support) in 4 months. The courses needed to be tested on varied target devices, so that the migrated courses would be compatible with Windows XP and 7, iPad (varied iOS versions), and Android 10” and 7” tablets.

Our Approach.

Considering the volume, timeline, and complexity of testing with varied devices, we started by firming up the process that would help us in meeting the mandate.

• We created a team dedicated for this task. The team comprised Solution Architects, Visual Designers, Programmers, and Quality Assurance personnel.
• The Solution Architects created the adaptive framework using Adobe CS6 with CreateJS, which could support multiple devices and create templates for easy reproduction of screens by the development team.
• A prototype was prepared and tested across devices in the first three weeks and delivered to the client for review and sign-off. The prototype was signed off in a week’s time.
• During the development stage, multiple, smaller teams were set up to manage 15-20 courses each.
• We followed the factory floor approach to bring in efficiency at work. We did group activities within the team members so that the outcome from each team was ready for testing and shipment to the client. This approach helped us to move along the development cycle within the specified time and we completed the project by the scheduled date.

The Results.

• We met the delivery timeline for the project. As a result, our customer could launch the courses on time.
• Our customer was the first to release mobile courses supporting multiple devices in this domain. It helped them to further strengthen their position as market leaders.
• Their mobile courses are taken by more professionals now. As a result, they are meeting the project goals very effectively.

Convert Legacy Courses Into HTML5: Case Study 2

Background.

This customer wanted to redevelop legacy Flash compliance courses (a total of 26 hours of eLearning) to their globally spread out workforce with extended support for tablets. The existing Flash courses had been designed over several years and many of them looked dated.
The need was to completely redesign all courses with a modern look and feel, bring in a consistent look and feel to all courses (as the legacy Flash courses had been designed over the years with varied design approaches), provide HTML5 support, and test it for tablets. The entire exercise had to be completed within 6 months.

Our Approach.

• Here too a dedicated team was set up comprising Solution Architects, Instructional Designers, Visual Designers, Programmers, and Quality Assurance personnel.
• The Instructional Design team began with the analysis of the existing legacy courses and tagged them into what level of enhancement was necessary. This mapped to complete overhaul or partial enhancements (that is, some aspects of the existing courses could be reused).
• The Solution Architects created an adaptive framework using Lectora and the required templates library that could address both requirements identified by the Instructional Designers.
• The Visual Design (Product Strategy) team then created multiple design packs for development that could be mapped to each course. This was then used to create key prototypes.
• On sign off of multiple prototypes, the development process began.
• Multiple, smaller teams were set up to handle a series of courses.
• The testing process was less tedious on account of tool selection (Lectora).

The Results.

• We managed the project effectively to create an effective suite of compliance courses with a new look and feel plus the extended access on tablets.
• The project was completed on time and provided a significantly superior learning experience to the learners.

Summary

Both these case studies reflect using some of the tips I had outlined in my earlier article 8 Tips To Convert Flash to HTML5 That Will Help Your Business.

Specifically, we used the following aspects that helped us convert legacy courses into HTML5 the right way:

• Identify the need: Technology update vs. complete redesign.
• Select adaptive vs. responsive designs and tools.
• Plan for sampling to test user experience.
• Ensure readiness of supporting aspects.

I hope this article provides the pointers that will help you to convert your legacy courses into HTML5 the right way. At EI Design, we have a very strong mLearning or mobile learning practice and we have migrated or developed over 400 hours of HTML5 learning. If you have any specific queries, do contact me.

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/how-to-convert-legacy-courses-into-html5-the-right-way/

How to Conduct a Successful Training Needs Analysis (TNA)

As the name suggests, Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is the crucial starting point to identify the existing gaps or to meet the need of a new skill acquisition. This process can lead to solutions that include training as well as supporting activities to meet the required mandate.

In this blog, we look at the key reasons for conducting TNA and how to conduct a Training Needs Analysis.

What are the key reasons for conducting a Training Needs Analysis (TNA)?

Here are the key reasons for conducting a TNA:

• To ensure customer requirements have been met
• To be able to set appropriate objectives and achieve them
• To create a benchmark for establishing comparisons
• To enable people to evaluate and continuously upgrade their own performance levels
• To highlight quality issues and determine focus areas

What are the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) process steps?

The Training Needs Analysis process comprises four phases.

• Dividing the process into these phases will help you ensure that your solutions hit the desired goals.
• It will also help you validate your training needs and analyse all reasons pertaining to performance problems.

Phase 1

Performance Gap Analysis: Performance gap analysis identifies performance gaps by comparing the current and desired operational results for employee performance. The discrepancy between the desired performance of your business and the actual business performance is known as a performance gap.

Phase 2

Root Cause Analysis: Root cause analysis determines the possible causes of performance gaps. It helps you figure out the possible causes of the performance issue (for example: lack of skills, capacity and motivation). Once the root cause is determined, it becomes easy to outline the appropriate solution to bridge the gap.

Root cause analysis can be classified into five categories:

• Skill/Knowledge
• Capacity/Environment/Resources
• Consequences and Incentives
• Motivation and Expectations
• Information along with Feedback

Phase 3

Needs Analysis: Needs analysis identifies the types of needs to address the root causes. Detailed analyses can help you design and implement the appropriate intervention for a performance issue.

This includes:

• Audience Analysis
• Job Analysis
• Task Analysis
• Environment Analysis
• Cost-Benefit Analysis

Phase 4

Recommendations: Recommendations include the proposed solutions. TNA helps in determining whether training is always the right solution. Sometimes, training may need to be supported by other solutions.

Option 1 – Training is the best solution: Training might be the best solution when performance is an unsolved issue. Training might be necessary when there is:

• Inadequate knowledge or skill deficiency
• Lack of basic skills, such as reading, writing, technology and math skills
• Law and order or policies requiring new knowledge or skills
• Inadequate knowledge of new technologies
• A customer requirement for new products or services
• Lack of coaching on higher performance standards
• Lack of motivation for new employees

Option 2 – Training is not the best solution: Training is not the best solution when the performance issue is a result of:

• Recruitment, selection or compensation problems
• Rules and regulations issues
• Insufficient coaching and feedback
• Lack of tools, equipment or resources
• Physical setting problems
• Lack of motivation for the new job

I hope this blog provides cues on how to conduct an effective Training Needs Analysis (TNA). If you have any queries, do contact me.

Need More?

Want more insights on the Training Needs Analysis process? Schedule a call with our Solutions Architecting Team.

The “InSight” suite of 15 online courses on Instructional Design is a testimony of our strong expertise in Instructional Design. The suite comprises courses on a range of topics related to Instructional Design, cutting across aspects of theory, application and emerging trends. It is a comprehensive resource on Instructional Design, designed the Creative Instructional Design way!

Check the Training Needs Analysis course from here.

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/conduct-successful-training-needs-analysis/

3 Traditional Learning Theories and How They Can Be Used in eLearning

Learning Theories are frameworks that are extensively used by Instructional Designers to meet the requirements of the target audience and the situation.

To do justice to this mandate, an Instructional Designer must first understand the Learning Theories in order to apply them. Once they understand the strengths and weaknesses of each Learning Theory, they can optimize their use.

In this blog, I provide an introduction to three traditional Learning Theories, namely:

• Behaviourism
• Cognitivism
• Constructivism

Furthermore, I show examples that illustrate how they can be used in designing eLearning courses.

Before I outline how Learning Theories can be used in designing eLearning courses, let me highlight a couple of foundational aspects on:

• Why we need Learning Theories
• How Learning Theories influence learning.

Why do you need Learning Theories?

Learning Theories are conceptual frameworks that describe the manner in which the information is absorbed, processed and retained during learning. Often, the same content can be presented in different ways. Learning Theories provide a framework for such learning solutions.

What factors influence learning and how do Learning Theories help influence it?

The factors that influence learning are:

1. Cognitive
2. Emotional
3. Environmental
4. Prior experiences

Learning Theories impact learning practices by:

• Prescribing the right methodology and formats of learning
• Making it effective, meaningful and engaging for all types of learners

What are the key traditional Learning Theories?

From the range of options that you can pick from, I will focus on three key traditional Learning Theories, namely:

1. Behaviourism
2. Cognitivism
3. Constructivism

Behaviourism

• Behaviourism is based on observable changes in behavioural patterns.
• It focuses on a new behavioural pattern being repeated until it becomes automatic.
• The learner depends on an instructor for acquisition of knowledge.

Example: In an online learning course that required learners to memorise the capital cities of states:

• Learning outcomes tested how effectively learners imbibed the information.
• Practice opportunities were provided to the learner using a simple game-based approach.
• Appropriate feedback was provided.

Cognitivism

• Cognitivism is based on the change in behaviour through sequential development of an individual’s cognitive abilities.
• It indicates the thought process inside the learner’s mind.

Example: In an online learning course that involved two sets of audiences with varied knowledge levels taking the same application training:

• A pre-test was used to define the appropriate learning path for each learner profile.
• A visual organiser was designed, which allowed the learners to explore the topics relevant to their knowledge levels.
• The cognitive flow was determined as per the existing skill-sets and the content was accordingly chunked into relevant topics/lessons.

Constructivism

• Constructivism explains the manner in which knowledge is constructed.
• It focuses on construction of knowledge when the information obtained comes in contact with the knowledge acquired by experiences.

Example: In an online learning course for Instructional Designers on how to write effective storyboards:

• A real-life perspective was provided through the use of a character who is an ID.
• A “story” was created, and the character was placed in real-life situations where she had to understand and tackle different aspects of storyboarding.
• Practical tips and guidelines were provided to help learners apply their learning in actual work-environments.

Summary

Typically, one Learning Theory may not be adequate as a stand-alone framework and often strategies promoted by different theories would inevitably overlap.

You can pick from a wide range of options to test the learner’s knowledge and decide on the most appropriate strategies and solutions to meet a variety of learning situations.

I hope this blog provides a glimpse of traditional Learning Theories and more significantly, how they can be used in designing eLearning courses. If you have any queries, do contact me.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Need More?

Want more insights on Learning Theories? Schedule a call with our Solutions Architecting Team.

Why Moving Your Online Training Courses From Flash To HTML5 Makes Business Sense

While mobile learning or mLearning is being widely adopted, the challenge of how to handle the migration from Flash to HTML5 still persists. This article outlines how you can use this opportunity to effectively migrate your legacy courses and enhance your online training delivery’s impact.

Moving Your Online Training Courses From Flash To HTML5

While mLearning or mobile learning adoption for new requirements has gained tremendous momentum in the last few years, you still have the challenge of what you should do with your investment that is locked in your legacy Flash courses. As we all know, Flash does not support all mobile devices (most smartphones and tablets). Increasingly, browsers are blocking Flash content. While this sounds simple enough, there are several aspects associated with the migration exercise that you should watch out for. You can refer to my earlier articles that provide insights on how you can successfully plan your migration from Flash to HTML5:

• Flash To HTML5 – Essential Toolkit For Successful Migration
• How To Convert Legacy Courses Into HTML5 The Right Way

Before determining how you should move with the migration effort, let’s take a look at:

1. Some of the other, associated challenges that you must address.
2. How you can use the migration opportunity to uplift your learning strategy to incorporate modern corporate learning featuring current trends like gamification, microlearning, and social learning.

What Are The Other Factors You Should Consider As You Embark On The Migration Of Your Legacy Flash Courses To HTML5?

Instead of planning for just the migration exercise, do review some of the associated challenges and factor for them in your migration plan. This holistic approach will help you create the required impact on your ROI.

Organizational View: With economic volatility comes pressure on training budgets. Therefore, Learning and Development teams now more than before, need to demonstrate the impact of their training budgets on learners and business. With changing dynamics, they need to address following specific aspects related to mLearning or mobile learning like:

1. Facilitate learning on the go.
2. Facilitate application of the learning (not just knowledge acquisition).
3. Enabling aspects: Need to plan upgrades (Learning Management System, browsers), evaluate BYOD policy, and address security concerns.

Learner view: Over the last few years, the learner expectations and the way they want to learn have also changed significantly.

Specifically:

1. Change in expectations.
They want to learn on device of their choice (preferably on smartphones and tablets). They want online training courses to be bite-sized (microlearning). They want the learning to packaged in a manner that is easy to learn and easier to apply. Additionally, they want the learning to be available to them within their work-flow (just in time training).

2. Change in demographics.
Globally, the work-force is changing to include Millennials in significant numbers. The way Millennials learn is considerably different. They respond better to collaborative learning.

At the core, the migration is a technology uplift (from Flash to HTML5) but clearly this is not sufficient. Your migration plan needs to factor for measures that offset the challenges from the organizational view as well as align to the the way learners want to learn.

Here’s a short video on how you can engage your millennial workforce. It provides insights on the how you can manage the changing expectations of your learners.

Why Migration Of Your Online Training Courses From Flash To HTML5 Makes business Sense?

Migration of courses from Flash to HTML5 makes business sense because of:

1. Intrinsic challenges associated with Flash courses (no support for most smartphones and tablets).
2. Limited support from the browsers. There are browsers that support Flash based courses. However, to run on these browsers, a Flash plug-in is required. Learners prefer a hassle-free learning experience and HTML5’s compatibility with all kinds of browsers gives them just that.
3. There is a fairly large investment on these courses that you need to recover.
4. The shift from desktop learning to mobile learning is increasingly becoming evident with every passing year. In fact, the percentage of people using mobile devices had overtaken the percentage of desktop computer users globally in the year 2014 itself.
5. Reports on upcoming trends in the learning space affirm that there will be a surge in responsive design-based learning, so much so that responsive design tools will be a “must-have” for learning organizations.

How Can You Capitalize Further On The Migration Opportunity To Enhance Your Online Training Delivery’s Effectiveness?

I see this as a great opportunity to uplift and redefine your learning strategy and online training delivery. All these aspects are relevant for your migration and can be used for new development.

At EI Design, we recommend an approach of modern corporate learning that:

• Appeals to both traditional learners and Millennials.
• Aligns effectively to impact ROI.

How You Can Achieve This?

• Some of the techniques we have used successfully to create learning experiences that will appeal to all sections of your learners and help you create the required impact on both learners and business are:
• Gamification.
• Microlearning (for both formal and informal learning).
• Responsive learning portals with learning paths.
• Social learning (content curation and collaborative learning).

You can also evaluate the trending new formats like:

1. Learning apps.
2. Interactive videos.

What Are The Gains You Will See?

Besides unlocking your investment and meeting the increased expectations (from business as well as learners), you will see the following gains. All of these are the reasons why migration of your legacy Flash To HTML5 makes tremendous business sense.

You will be able to:

• Provide sticky learning on devices of learners’ choice.
• Reinforce learning and offer remediation (as required).
• Provide just-in-time learning aids to facilitate application at the time of need (within the learners’ work-flow).
• Facilitate collaborative learning.
• Have an impact on short term and long term learnability (learning efficacy).
• Factor for changing learner demographics (increasing millennial workforce).

I hope this article helps you in using the migration opportunity to step up your online training delivery that will provide gains for both learners and your business. These pointers will be equally relevant for development of your new courses featuring mLearning or mobile learning. Do contact me if you have need any specific support in this endeavor.

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/why-moving-your-online-training-courses-from-flash-to-html5-makes-business-sense/

How To Effectively Convert Face-To-Face Instructor-Led Training Into Online Training

We have been using the power of stories in professional learning for several years now.

I am going to share a case study that highlights how we effectively converted face-to-face Instructor-Led Training (ILT) to online training learning using storytorial as our learning strategy. What is really interesting is that the aimed business gain that was evading us during the ILT training was met after we made this story based online conversion.

ILT to Effective Online Conversion using Storytorials

In India, we still do not have adequate colleges that can provide instructional design talent. As a result, in CY’11, we had created an extensive training program on Writing Effective Storyboards (ILT based) to train new team members.

Challenges

The talent came from diverse backgrounds (i.e. journalism, technical writing, engineering and mass-communication). They needed to be trained ground up on the entire process, tips and best practices.

We also had seasoned Instructional Designers who needed a quick overview of our methodology to align their prior experience to the specifics of our approach.

To cater to the varied learner profiles as well as different proficiency levels, we created an ILT program. This was designed for six hours of face-to-face training followed by assignments.

Results from our learners’ points of view were rather mixed.

• Freshers certainly responded better to the program but we saw a marked inability to apply all aspects of the learning at work.
• Seasoned team members felt a lot of information was redundant and had to spend considerable time mapping what changes they should make to align to our mandate.

As head of our learning practice, I found that the desired impact on business (to generate consistent quality in a short time frame) was still evading us.

Our first approach

Our first attempt to convert the ILT material to eLearning had moderate success.

It gave our fresher learners far more flexibility to review the material at their own pace and gave them an easy-to-use reference (guidelines, tips and best practices, etc.) once they were on a project.

From a business perspective, we now had a much easier process of updating and dissemination.

However, the learning experience for seasoned professionals was not engaging enough. The reason was that the learning path still covered all aspects fairly linearly (as in ILT material) and they still needed to delve into everything to pick and select the pieces they needed.

Our revised approach featuring storytorial and extensive content layering

In CY’12, we went back to the drawing board and re-evaluated our approach to mitigate the identified challenges.

Writing a storyboard is one of the primary and essential requirements expected of an instructional designer. How should you present such relevant information in a manner that will enable learners to apply it in an actual work environment?

This formed the basis for outlining the strategy for this module. We used a story-based approach (storytorial) as an innovative and engaging strategy to present information that would:

• Serve as a refresher to most IDs
• Enable new IDs to apply the learning to create effective storyboards

The module highlights key aspects about storyboard creation through the character of Nina, an instructional designer who has landed her first job as an ID:

1. The interview process, preceded by the preparation for the interview, serves as a tool to reinforce or refresh some basics of storyboarding skills.
2. Nina’s first assignment, after landing the job forms the remaining part of the “story” and highlights key aspects to remember while creating a storyboard.
3. In her new assignment, she also goes through tips, guidelines and best practices that enable her to perform better.

The outcomes

The aim of the module was to ensure that learners with diverse experience and varied educational backgrounds were easily able to understand the basics of storyboarding and gain an insight on the key focus areas of a storyboard.

Extensive layering and chunking of the content gave seasoned learners a flexibility to move forward quickly and zero-in on desired aspects faster.

A story combined with practical tips and best practices ensured that the information delivered was highly useful, relevant and easily applicable in an actual work-setting.

Incidentally, this course (in an updated avatar) is now part of our upcoming ProductLine InSight being launched on June 30th’14.

I hope this was useful. I welcome your views as well as your own experiences in creating your success stories.

Read More:

• How To Convert Instructor-Led Training To eLearning
• Digitize Instructor-Led Training Sessions To Increase Employee Engagement And Performance

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/how-to-effectively-convert-face-to-face-instructor-led-training-into-online-training/

Benefits of Learning Management System for Corporate Training

With a growing need to foster effective learning, organisations worldwide are banking on Learning Management Systems (LMS) to establish a robust platform for corporate training and cater to the training needs of a wide learner demographic. In this article, we outline what an LMS can do to improve learning and what are the benefits of Learning Management System for the organisation.

What is a Learning Management System (LMS)?

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software application that can administer, regulate, track, and deliver learning. While LMSs are equipped with features that enable to deliver fully automated online training, they also support hybrid training models such as blended learning and flipped classroom approach. They are a one-stop solution that delivers training material to learners, administers tests and assignments, tracks the learners’ progress, manages record-keeping and offers continuous support.

What can a Learning Management System do to improve learning?

1. Tracking the Learning: 
Fostering continuous employee development and sustaining Compliance are prime focus areas for every organisation. A Learning Management System helps to achieve this by keeping track of who has taken the training and how well they performed.

2. Prompting for Retraining:
An LMS can inform you when the last training was undertaken and when it must be retaken to promote continuous improvement and/or ensure the employee’s knowledge is up to date.

3. Real-Time Audit Reporting:
A Learning Management System can accurately track the learners’ progress and provide detailed reports in real time.

4. Learning on Demand:
An LMS grants the learners access to training material 24/7, so they can learn when THEY want to and revisit the courses if they feel the need to reinforce learning.

5. Learning Anytime, Anywhere: 
The growing buzz on mLearning or Mobile Learning is prompting organisations to deliver their training on Laptops, Smartphones and Tablets. A device-responsive LMS can support adoption of mLearning by delivering eLearning (in the form of mobile apps, videos, and other formats) to mobile devices, paving way for learning anytime, anywhere.

What are the benefits of Learning Management System for the organisation?

1. Boost in Employee Performance: 
With eLearning courses available in the LMS on demand, any immediate training needs can be met quickly and effectively, thus laying a foundation for performance improvement.

2. Accelerated Compliance Training: 
With a Learning Management System in place, induction of new recruits is much easier, regulated and faster. The sooner they align to your organisation’s vision, mission and goals, the sooner they will start delivering high-quality services to both, customers and the business.

3. Reduced Training Costs: 
ROI models have shown that using an LMS and delivering eLearning courses significantly cuts down the cost of training, as opposed to organising and conducting traditional, face-to-face trainings.

4. Regulated Multiple Sites Deployment:
A Learning Management System makes it easy for deploying the training in multiple sites by ensuring uniformity in learning and consistency in the message delivered across all locations.

5. Nobody Misses the Training:
Learners have the flexibility to schedule learning at their convenience and fit learning into a busy work schedule – this has shown to significantly improve the training uptake. Using the LMS to deliver the learning in small chunks makes it convenient for the learner to schedule their own training such that their workflow is not hampered due to the time consumed in training. On the other hand, managers can keep track of those who have taken the training and those who have not and accordingly encourage/remind them to take the training.

6. Learning Aligned to Organisation’s Needs: 
The Learning Management System is a powerful tool that dynamically aligns the learning to your organisation’s needs. Trainings for new initiatives such as product launches and introduction of new processes can be rolled out quickly, effectively and consistently, and the impact of learning can be readily measured.

Modern Learning Management Systems feature UIs that are built in alignment with the latest trends in eLearning, such as:

• Gamification
• Mobile-ready features
• Microlearning
• Personalisation
• Social Learning

With all these features, you can deliver a highly engaging user experience and enhance the impact of your training.

Need more?

Want more insight into the benefits of Learning Management System and how to maximise the usage of your existing LMS platform to improve the ROI of your training spend?

We at EI Design have a rich 15 years of experience in handling the world’s leading LMS platforms. Check out our LMS Expertise page or schedule a call with our Solution Architecting Team.


Source: https://www.eidesign.net/6-benefits-learning-management-system-corporate-training/

Useful Tips To Design Online Training For Various Learning Styles

All of us have different learning styles and we find the online training to be relatable and relevant, only when it resonates with our learning style. In this article, I outline the key learning styles and how eLearning can be designed to match them.

How To Create Online Training For Various Learning Styles

The existence of various models, to mark different learning styles, acknowledges the fact that each one of us learns differently.

What Is A Learning Style?

Our learning style is nothing but our preferred approach to learn, or to put it simply internalize, assimilate, process, and then apply. When we go through eLearning or other kinds of training that suits or matches our intrinsic learning style, we are able to learn effortlessly and effectively.

Therefore, there is a clear need for online training to match different learning styles. In this article, we will look at the different learning styles and see what techniques can be used to design eLearning courses (online training) to match different learning styles.

What Are The Different Types Of Learning Styles?

One of the commonly used models to identify key learning styles is the VARK model.

According to this, there are 4 types of learning styles mapping to the following types of learners:

1. Visual learners.

As the name suggests, these learners need strong visual cues to learn. In the online training context, they would relate to graphics, animations, videos, and other high-impact visual techniques.

2. Aural or Auditory learners.

Learners of this profile relate best to audio or voice over in learning. They find the facilitated sessions (Instructor-Led Training or ILT) to be relevant and would find online versions of these sessions (recordings of ILT/VILT sessions or webinars) to be equally useful. In online training, they would relate to courses that use audio to support the learning path.

3. Reading learners.

Learners of this profile find simple text-based approach to be most stimulating and relevant. They are at ease with text-only PDFs, presentations, or reference articles. In online training, they prefer higher focus on text and would find audio or high-end visual techniques to be distracting.

4. Kinesthetic learners.

Learners of this profile rely on their senses to learn. In the realm of training, they need an experiential model to learn. In online training, it would be good to have simulations, what-if analysis, and even breakout sessions wherein learners can actually perform the task or the skill they have learnt.

Why Is It Vital To Offer Training That Maps To Different Learning Styles?

Most eLearning or online training programs are rolled out to very heterogeneous profiles of learners. Online training, therefore, needs to cater to all these primary learning styles. This can be accomplished through a multimodal approach.

Let us look at this challenge in the context of the VARK model and the need to look at a multimodalapproach.

1. Limitations of VARK model.
I feel that the VARK model can be used as a baseline to arrive at primary categories of learners, but this is far too simplistic. We do not learn through a single approach all the time.

2. Adopting a multimodal approach.

In reality, it is common to find that we possess a combination of these styles, referred to as multimodal learning. Our preference for a given approach to learning can change depending on the subject (nature of content), our interest, or our proficiency.

Instructional Designers must factor for this multimodal approach to be able to create training that is relevant to diverse learning styles.

How Can You Customize The Online Training Design For Diverse Learning Styles?

As Instructional Designers, we have access to the learning mandate, the business mandate, and key learner aspects (current proficiency, expected gain from the training, etc.). However, we have no data on the learning styles of learners.

More often than not, eLearning courses are rolled out to a rather heterogeneous profile of learners.

What Approach Would Work?

At EI Design, our learning designs use the following approaches to make the online training relevant and interesting for the learners:

1. Keep the focus on the learning outcomes and judiciously use all modes of learning.
2. Map the most appropriate approach, based on the content and what kind of presentation in the online format would make it appealing to most learners.
3. Use varied media formats so that you can hold the interest of learners with different preferences.
4. Do progressive build up – Give options to learners ranging from Teach > Show > Practice > Test.
5. Provide flexibility to learners by giving them control to choose (Audio vs. transcript or Video with an interactive PDF of the transcript), maintain their pace, and not be overwhelmed by a style that does not work for them.

What Techniques To Use To Customize Online Trainin Design For Diverse Learning Styles?

To illustrate how these approaches can be applied practically to customize the eLearning to suit different learning styles, let me share two techniques that we use extensively.

1. Use Personalization

Adult learners want control and the flexibility to be able to pick the learning experience, as well as the learning path that is most relevant for them. This is exactly where personalization of eLearning fits in.

You can give control to the learner through the following approaches:

• Level 1.

You can begin the course by offering the learners the opportunity to choose an avatar and the flexibility to do basic level of customization, since they can opt for themes, backgrounds, fonts, and so on.

• Level 2.

Here, you allow crucial personalization by enabling the learners to select the format of content delivery that resonates with their learning style. Even if you opted for Audio, having a right balance of On-Screen Text (OST) and easy-to-read transcrip,t that can also be printed as a PDF, helps learners with other learning styles.

• Level 3.

Here, you allow the learner to choose the learning, based on their proficiency, which is determined by a pre-assessment, or their interest, which is determined through a survey.

2. Use Microlearning And Learning Paths

As we know, microlearning techniques allow us to control the treatment of each aspect of content at an extremely granular level.

• We can use different techniques for each nugget and use varied presentation formats for each nugget.
• This allows us to create a series of nuggets that use an approach that is most suited for the content. Furthermore, using different formats allows us to keep learners with different learning styles glued.

I hope this article provides cues that you can use to customize eLearning to match the different learning styles of your employees. This will lead to higher employee engagement and will certainly lead to the required performance gain. If you have any specific queries, do contact me at apandey@eidesign.net.

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/online-training-for-various-learning-styles/