Wednesday 29 November 2017

How Does Video-based Mobile Learning Improves Learner Engagement

In today’s era of visual information, where most of us retain more knowledge through visual content, images and videos are gaining immense popularity in e-learning courses to keep learners engaged. Undoubtedly, video-based learning helps conveying messages faster, more efficiently, motivate learners and make it easy to retain information for long. The incorporation of videos in learning is not new. With the ability to impart both synchronous as well as asynchronous learning aligned to diversified needs, videos have the ability to engage the auditory as well as the visual senses of learners.


Organizations focus on empowering modern learners by allowing their employees to adopt the latest tools and technologies to boost workplace productivity. Videos are processed 60,000 times faster than normal textual information and is more appealing for learners. Let us discuss few tips that are used by organizations to engage maximum learners:

·         Storytelling

Story-based content delivery aids learners effectively visualize the real-life application of a particular topic and provides related context. Story leaves a greater impact when blended with video-based learning. Every story has a rise and fall, and same goes with learning at workplace. For instance, adding a climactic scene at the end of story will engage learners till the end and positively improves retention.

·         Continuous training improvement

Video-based content helps educators save their time investing in delivery training repetitively. The time saved can be utilized to improve the quality and efficiency of training program by organizing flipped classroom, customized learning paths, instant feedbacks and more.

·         Ask questions

It may sound rhetorical, but questions provide learners a great opportunity to think on what is being asked. Onscreen questions enable learners to recall whatsoever they learned till then, increasing their chances to remain engaged till the end.

·         Keep it short & precise

Content is transformed as short clips while delivering video-based learning for betterlearner interaction. Short duration videos impart accurate information which is aligned to customized needs of organizational workforce.

As text and graphics make courses boring, interactive videos are used to explain better by example and enhance the overall learning experience. So, it is important to ensure that videos are used in the right manner with a thoughtful planning and right amount of engagement so that video production is done in a professional way. In today’s revolutionary world where the use of multimedia presentations for learning is increasing, video content delivery is becoming an apt training method at workplace.

Thursday 9 November 2017

Significance Of Coworking Spaces For Workforce Learning

Coworking spaces have become quite popular among the organizational workforce to boost collaboration and business productivity. As a result, it helps in encouraging learners and driving demand for coworking spaces.


Flexible work environment, global connectivity and robust infrastructure are the major factors that help organizations remain ahead of the curve. Development of online learning courses in coworking spaces is one of the growing business models of today’s age. It provides an effective work environment where employees with from different backgrounds work in the same space to improve interaction level between learners and educators.

Emerging Need of Coworking Spaces

In the last few years, there has been an exponential rise in the scope of using coworking spaces to enable employees access e-learning courses in the same space. Companies from different industry verticals are using these spaces to enhance learning outcomes and increase flexibility. Consequently, it helps encouraging employees to learn more, thereby leading to enhanced workplace performance. For instance, a company that emphasize both on consumer demand and marketing uses a common space to work as well as study employee behavior.

Today, enterprises are adopting varied kinds of coworking spaces to cater to the customized needs of every learner. Sometimes, they motivate their offsite workforce to join these spaces and leverage the benefits reported by an independent workforce. Enhanced collaboration, employee satisfaction and better productivity are some of the benefits of coworking spaces.

Why to Embrace Coworking Spaces in an Organization? 

Whether small firms or large organizations, coworking approach has been followed by all to reap the maximum benefits from online training programs. Their strategies follow different scenarios as listed here:
  • Placing different learners in common spaces help deriving communal benefits reported by independent co-workers. It is beneficial for employees who work in different geographic locations or work while travelling.
  • Incorporating coworking spaces with company’s organizational strategies, either by creating an environment onsite or using offsite space. It helps build innovation and adopted by Research & Development team as well as Human Resources.
  • Helping organizations to enhance their understanding of employees’ diverse work profiles that flourish in coworking spaces.
Accessibility of online courses in a coworking space offers ample opportunities to gain knowledge from colleagues who often share their ideas and vision. With advancement in technology, it has become easier for workforce to interact with others in coworking spaces virtually from anywhere. Ultimately, coworking allows employees learn at their own pace, acting as a respite from their day-to-day qualms of meeting deadlines and achieving organizational targets.

Monday 30 October 2017

Impact Of Enterprise LMS In The New Age Of Learning

Workplace learning is facing tremendous changes with ever-changing economy, learners’ preferences and demographics. However, innovations in technology such as mobile learning, simulations, adaptive learning and delivery of dynamic content via online Learning Management System are providing organizations with ample opportunities to handle these challenges. Facilitators are adopting new technologies to successfully transform training needs into solutions that enhance employee engagement, retention and business productivity. 
                     
Today’s new age learners are tech-savvy and therefore look for online courses that completely change the way learning occurs. They expect for a customized learning experience that is perfectly aligned to their individual training needs. Online courses which can be accessed via modern enterprise LMS helps building strong collaboration between learners and trainers, adapting a style which is different from‘one-size-fits-all’approach. 

Delivering an Engaging Learning Experience 

Enterprise LMS enables organizations to deliver learning experiences that ensure success of every learner irrespective of their location, background or learning style. It also helps to extend their reach and offer individual instructions for every learner. Key features of a next-generation LMS include:

► Digital, as today’s modern era is completely digitized and has become the most vital component for learning processes. 

► It develops communication and collaboration between the learner and the educator. 

► It builds an environment which is dynamic, catering to the customized needs of workforce from different industry verticals. 

A shift towards the next-generation LMS transforms into a more engaging, anytime and anywhere learning experience, which results in positive training outcomes. For trainers, an online learning platform helps giving a more personalized attention to learners and boost their success. With the support of LMS features such as flexibility and robustness, organizations support different learners, delivery models and approaches they need to adapt in the future. 

The ever-evolving demands of learners from all over requires organizations to follow an innovative and efficient approach to workplace learning. It means to leverage cutting-edge technology as a crucial key to implement e-learning strategies in a cost-effective manner. Truly, enterprise LMS is one of the most significant tools of digital learning, used to create and deliver online courses and training modules.

Friday 6 October 2017

Need Of Localizing E-Learning Components For Global Learners


With the increasing number of benefits that online courses impart to organizations, digital learning will not remain only as an efficient content delivery platform for workforce training, but will grow exponentially in the coming few years. With e-learning spread across a wide network of learners and facilitators, it has become essential to design custom courses in multiple languages for better learner understanding. The use of cutting-edge technology enables localization of e-learning content into multiple languages, making it more effective and engaging for learners. 

Exploring the Components to Facilitate Localization 

Organizations adopt varied e-learning strategies to design custom e-courses. There are different e-learning components that are localized to align with varied learning needs. Some of them are discussed as follows:

  • Content translation

Training courses include on-screen text which needs to be translated. For instance, text is interpreted into another language such as French, Spanish and German, which needs to be reformatted in the original English language on the screen. Audios and narrations are also incorporated with online courses to enhance learners’ understanding of multilingual courses.

  • Mouse cursor movement

Due to the instructional design of online courses, it is important to include cursor movements that point to information that the narrator is describing. This cursor movement is reflected in the localization of e-learning components also.

  • Graphics

Graphics incorporated with e-courses should also be translated for better understanding. When text is added in the graphics, it needs to be exported in an external file and translated. Then, the original graphic can be localized.

  • Assessments

Quizzes, assessments and feedbacks are some of the valuable components in an e-learning course. These include questions as true/false, fill in the blanks, multiple choice or matching items with pictures. The language used for these components should also be localized per learners’preferences, enabling them access courses and then evaluate their performances.

The ability to access courses via online learning platforms is a highly effective approach to achieve organizational targets. Organizations spend huge amounts of money in designing, developing and testing learning programs to update clients with latest products and services. By creating courses in a single language, it is not possible to fulfil training need of every individual. Therefore, localizing training curricula in multiple languages is crucial for serving the ever-evolving demands of learners from diverse industry domains. In addition, it also improves employee retention level, boosts learners’ interest and motivates them to enroll in different training programs for an engaging learning experience.

Wednesday 20 September 2017

Use Of Efficient Enterprise LMS To Build A Successful Business Case

Digital solutions can be treated as a minefield as there are ample decisions to be taken and making mistakes at this level can be costly. However, most of the organizations fulfill their financial targets with enterprise Learning Management System (LMS) and yield fruitful results. Today, e-learning is considered as instructional content imparted with web-based technology. Whether you need to facilitate learning, deliver content to different demographic regions or reduce long-term costs, e-learning can be the perfect approach.


There are several reasons why organizations are investing in online learning solutions. As a training method, it imparts different benefits over traditional learning for the right topics and at the right time. While many organizations report growth in their learning budgets over time, online learning is still a part of larger training budgets. Classroom-led training is also an effective learning approach that will always be part of a training toolkit for enterprises. It might be blended with e-learning or even adopted as a standalone approach for customized courses.

Evaluate E-Learning as an Investment 

While thinking of initial evaluation of business feasibility and development of business case, the first question that arises is, “Why do you want to invest in this particular project?” What problem can be addressed using robust online platform? For instance, many organizations report that with reduced travel budgets, there is a decrease in count of learners in classrooms, which leads to decreased revenues. So, transforming the overall learning experience from classroom training to e-learning was an efficient way to generate business revenues. The financial analysis of e-learning comprises of three main steps as discussed below:

1. Identify E-Learning Costs

Calculating the initial cost investments and other related costs of e-learning can be complicated. There are multiple decisions to be taken that include investment in enterprise LMS, use of rapid authoring tools, implementation of innovative learning technologies that meet tailored needs. It is not easy for companies to start small and then gradually improve their e-learning budgets over time.

2. Quantify E-Learning Benefits 

After analyzing the initial costs involved, the next step is to quantify the advantages of digital learning. Few benefits are hard to quantify, but prove to be significant factors in  investment decisions. Some of these are listed here:

  • Performance support
  • Increased learning efficiency
  • Enhanced consistency in content delivery
  • Better scalability
  • Better coordination between learner and educator
  • More appealing and effective learning styles 

3. Calculate e-learning returns

After quantifying the costs and other benefits, the next step is to calculate returns over e-learning investments. One of the method to calculate returns is Economic Value Added (EVA). It assumes there is an opportunity cost to the money invested and might result in better returns.

A significant initiative has been taken by small companies as well as large enterprises. It is common to handle the evaluation of that decision in multiple phases, followed by in-depth research and evaluation. Every learning need is different, so e-learning is the perfect strategy to deliver a right content and meet the ever-changing needs of your organization.

Monday 28 August 2017

Learning Management Software - Its Concept, Features And Benefits

In line with the ever-evolving modern era where most people rely on the internet for most of their activities, it is important to use an online system that cater to their training needs. Learning Management System (LMS) is an efficient online portal that connects educators and learners. It provides a platform to share classroom education and other related activities without any hassle.


The LMS provides an avenue for learners where they can search for information regarding their e-courseware, ensuring accuracy of the information at the same time. It is one of the most effective solutions which are useful for learners in an online learning environment. Learning Management System aids educators to deliver training content along with interactivity features such as discussion threads, forums and shared files. It also offers management activities including planning, tracking, virtual classrooms and statistical analysis. Consequently, it helps saving lot of time and effort of trainers without making any considerable change in the teaching process.

Challenges with LMS Implementation

With increasing use of online learning platform, there will be certain problems arising for the users. Most of the organizations are using LMS to create e-learning courses, but many instructors restrict themselves from uploading training materials on the web and are not familiar with the use of interactive features such as forums, wikis, emails and messages. In addition, few organizations face problems while integrating instructional technology into workplace training. Reasons behind this failure include huge expenses on technology, competition and lack of effective business strategy. Such organizations that impart e-learning face difficulties in achieving successful strategies from information delivery to the acceptance of courses.

A Glimpse of LMS Features

In a corporate world, LMS isused to monitor employees’ performance and track records of training and appraisals. Whether e-courses are implemented for few learners over long period of time or for short duration, LMS makes learning easier and smoother. Some of the features of the flexible learning platform are discussed here:
  • ·       Easy-to-navigate GUI

Learning management systems provide customized options for the interface to enable users access content with ease. Graphical User Interface (GUI) of an LMS should be functional enough so that administrators can assign multilingual courses only once and these can be accessed by learners globally.

  • ·       Personalized learning

LMS also provides customized options to cater to different needs of learners. Language versions, notification settings and other functionalities can be amended to suit the training requirements.      
  • Virtual classroom

The integration of LMS with whiteboard systems for virtual classrooms help scheduling learning sessions. It also offers an ability to send invites and reminders and incorporate with online calendar.
  • ·      Reports

It is crucial to generate reports through learning management system in the excel format, providing an easy to understand graphical representation.


In today’s digital world where information is conveyed faster via Internet, the LMS is a vital tool to keeplearners updated with their training course. In turn, online classes can reach out to maximum audience out of regular training hours and can instantly update learners over the LMS on issues associated with their course. 

Thursday 17 August 2017

Microlearning: Transforming E-Learning into Knowledge


The evolution of internet and mobile learning have impacted learners’ expectations of accessing relevant information. With the increasing pace of businesses and introduction of new content, more demand is placed on employees to perform better at workplace. Classroom training approach from the bygone days is no more sufficient to cater customized learning needs and improve employee retention level. It is crucial for organizations to develop effective e-learning courses and benefit learners with access to the right content at the right time. There comes the need to adopt microlearning, with an ability to provide just-in-time support to organizations.

Driving Force Behind Microlearning

New-age learners have a hectic schedule and they prefer hassle-free training as well asknowledge rich content. Professional instructors also look for strategies to engage maximum learners, and ensure high retention rate and workplace productivity. In today’s time, everyone is busy and business leaders are attracted towards bite-sized learning because:


  • Modern learners are more distracted and they lean for impactful learning opportunities that improve their career growth, without wasting their valuable time. 
  • Learning preferences are evolving with time. If learners are given with the choice to opt between a 60-minute training module or ten 5-minute modules, then they would prefer the latter. So, it is important to listen to your target audiences for successful content delivery.
  • Chunked information is easy to remember and reinforce learning experience. 


Microlearning is about creating micro content and getting macro results. 

When thinking about the role of microlearning in e-learning courses, there is lot of flexibility. Nuggets of information can be used anywhere, as a standalone piece or as a large piece of training program. When learners progress through the learning lifecycle from readiness to reinforcement, microlearning plays a big role in all these stages.

Readiness
It is a phase where organizations try engaging more learners before actual training starts. It’s not about telling learners what they will learn, but also inspiring them to take up courses.


Discovery:

In this phase, microlearning provides bites of content that targets on one objective. As a result, this creates a behavioral change whenever required. E-courses help to empower learners impart their ideas and facilitate future organizational goals.

Reinforcement:

Instructors use micro content to tailor content and review learning, providing reference tools and assessing performance matrix. Without reinforcement, content can be forgotten, but as learners do not want to repeat a lengthy course, so here comes the need of microlearning.

Microlearning is cost-effective because it is reusable. Increasing demand for informal training has a huge impact on how e-courses are delivered. Organizations are looking for ways how training can occur quicker and cheaper, focusing on developing content that can be re-used. Incorporating microlearning as a crucial learning strategy helps employees sustain for long and apply knowledge continually at their workplace.