Friday 30 November 2018

Themes, Badges & Scores in Gamified E-learning- Motivate, Recognize & Evaluate Individual Performances at the Workplace

In today’s digital scenario, gamified e-learning is not merely converting things from the real world into games, but also applying them to real-world situations. It is a proven tool that helps increase interaction with organizational workforce for a longer span of time. For instance, badges and rewards are given to employees on achieving a certain level, providing recognition at the workplace for their improved skills, knowledge and expertise. Due to lack of learner participation and collaboration, a number of L&D teams are incorporating games to make learning full of fun and engagement.


Gamified learning can be adopted for both classroom-based and online training sessions. Although instructor-led training provides ample opportunities for direct interaction and effective exchange of new ideas, employees do not feel encouraged to attend them. So, the fun element is introduced in the form of mini games, engaging videos or short quizzes for an effective training experience. Different kinds of gaming elements that are included during a corporate training are:

▶ Setting a specific objective for learners to reach the next level. This helps to motivate learners to win the game and effectively apply what they have learned. So, games in e-learning prove to be engaging enough for the modern workforce, with a sole aim to boost their knowledge retention and workplace competency.

▶ In a classroom setting, two views- one for the instructor and other for the learner can also be set to automate the entire training process. A team leaderboard, a progress bar and a specific challenge, boost the overall collaboration between the instructor and the learners.

▶ Different themes can also be introduced to maintain the same level of excitement until the end. For instance, if the learner chooses a theme named as Forest or Island, some action needs to be performed like searching a hidden object to save the Princess or going through a crime scene to find the criminal.

▶ Static and random themes are used to boost an individual's capability to win the game. This helps to monitor the group of participants who reach the milestone first, earn badges or scores and reach to the next level.

▶ Some sense of motivation and recognition is built by rewarding employees with badges and scores on successful completion of a certain level.

▶ When players give the correct answer, they are immediately rewarded with badges to showcase their achievement and motivate them to play and learn more. 

▶ Individual achievement reflects the performance matrix of learners who participated in the game. It is quite popular among varied industry verticals because of their inclusion in the latest game-based sessions to deliver effective learning.

Today, e-learning is undergoing unexpected changes followed by the profound advances in technology and evolving learning needs. Most of the organizations are skeptical about the viability of gamified learning to motivate and engage their new-generation workforce. Gamification has served to be a great tool for innovation, improve learners’ workplace skills, boost their collaboration with the peers and retention level.

Sunday 18 November 2018

Essential Tips to Transform PowerPoint Presentations into Effective E-learning Courses Using Rapid Authoring Tools

Today, most of the e-learning developers use rapid authoring tools to create and deliver effective training courses for diversified audiences. With ever-evolving business requirements, the delivery of authoring solutions in an interactive manner continues to evolve. Authoring tools not only help to transform the textual content, but also boost learner interaction with the courses. Attractive images, interactive videos and audios make the content media-rich, and hence improves the overall learning uptake.
PowerPoint presentations can be easily transformed into interactive e-courses using authoring tools. As authoring tools are easier to access, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can create content on their own, thereby reducing the development time and costs. Essential tips to be followed while converting a PPT presentation into an e-course are outlined here:

  • Different slides in a PPT are chunked as separate modules within an e-course. This ensures the development of an e-course in a logical and structured way.
  • While converting a PPT to an e-course, it is important to ensure that both are different in formats. An e-course is created with five or less number of chapters. For detailed information, different kinds of short and crisp courses are created to boost learner engagement and knowledge retention levels.
  • The ‘Notes’ section in a PPT is reflected as- external links or optional exercises. By providing extra details, learners can access courses in detail or skip to the basics, as per their pertinent requirements.
  • Rapid authoring tools can pick up graphics from the presentation and place them as per their assigned position on each slide. Animations and other interactivities are included to make the content more interactive and understandable.
  • To improve the overall effectiveness, tests can also be included along with the course. A wide range of tests can be created including multiple-choice, true-false, text or numeric fill in the blank or even drag-drop picture images. 

With the support of authoring tools, interactive elements are embedded with online content to deliver an uniform e-learning experience. One of the essential benefits of using rapid authoring tools is that they save time and effort to develop-courses. Custom e-learning solutions are provided across mobile devices to impart training at your own pace. Authoring tools help to develop courses that are easy to download and access, even when there is no internet connection. With the increasing use of rapid authoring tools with increasing features, it is becoming an optimal way to create innovative courses which cater to the personalized needs of a globally diversified workforce.

Sunday 4 November 2018

Adopting AR & VR in E-Learning to Develop a More Capable, Engaged & Smarter Workforce of Tomorrow



Today, modern Learning Management Systems (LMSs) provides a plethora of opportunities for enterprises to foster the talent on which they have invested time and money. In the realm of using latest technologies, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have completely revolutionized the corporate training environment. As per the Dell Future Workforce Global Study, approximately 66% of the global workforce is willing to adopt AR/VR technology and tools as a trainingtool.

Paving Towards a More Competent and Engaging Workforce

Today, workforce collaboration and engagement is crucial for attaining organizational success. As per the study by Gallup, 87% of the globally dispersed employees are disengaged from their training programs. In addition, employee engagement also encourages effective communication across the enterprise- collecting their feedback and exploring individual talent. VR/AR based e-learning solution perfectly fits into these efforts. For instance, VR/AR headsets provide a variety of tools such as videos, visual data and more to perform different activities. AR is widely used by manufacturing companies to train their staff on critical processes, complicated machinery installed at the factory floor and more by providing animated instructions on the physical gear. Given below is the graph that depicts the market size of AR and VR in the future. As per the statistics, the AR and VR market is expected to reach 20.9.2 million US dollars by the year 2022.

Figure 1: Forecast AR and VR Market Size
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/591181/global-augmented-virtual-reality-market-size/

From the above data, the picture is quite clear that the AR/VR market potential iswide across different industry domains. Taking great initiatives to leverage both these technologies through LMSs, organizations can ensure seeking lucrative business opportunities in the e-learning industry.

Unlike virtual reality, where the learner is transformed into another environment, AR uses interactive digital elements to enhance real-world conditions. Advanced technology uses a camera and display, such as smartphones and tablets or wearable technology like Google Glass to display graphical information in real time. Augmented reality embraces shorter learning curves, efficient workforce and flexible workplace environment, thereby delivering a uniform experience. Thus, the future of VR and AR is very bright and their emerging use for corporate training point to a workforce that is smarter, mobile and more productive than ever before.

Suggested  for the Reading: 
http://www.workforcetransformation.com/workforcestudy/assets/report/Dell-future-workfoce-study_GLOBAL.pdf
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/191765/organizations-going-above-beyond-engage-employees.aspx