Increasing Learning Uptake Using a Learning Management Platform

The self-paced learning market is predicted to decline by $33.5 billion by 2021 according to the eLearning Industry. That is a particularly unexpected statistic given the flexibility self-paced learning offers, which is a perfect fit for working professionals. However, motivation has been a challenge. Learners do start on courses but leave midway through unless there is a compliance requirement, or the training is mandatory for their employment. Even then, it is a task for the L&D teams to get employees to actually engage with their learning content, which is intended to enhance their performance.

 

This is a dire situation as seven out of ten companies reported talent shortages in 2019 (ManpowerGroup, 2019). Reportedly, 82% of them are prepared to hire and train employees lacking the required skills (Robert Half, 2019). Although the World Economic Forum has been predicting talent shortages and suggesting enterprise upskilling efforts for some time now, the disruptive technology adoption during the pandemic period made people look at the issue with more seriousness.

 

According to LinkedIn Learning, from 2019 to 2020, the number of enterprise learners more than doubled, and the amount of learning has also increased by 58% more hours per learner. This number contradicts the statistic shared above about self-paced learning losing popularity. Analysts are of the opinion that the problem is not lack of curiosity or willingness to learn. The problem is lack of visibility of a growth path linked with the learning.

 

Individuals are interested in growing in their careers and for that they are willing to put in the extra effort. But the learning initiatives taken by organizations fail to integrate these programs with the career goals of their employees. If the employee realizes the importance of the program to their individual performance and career, this will drive them to engage with the course and complete the learning exercises that they started.

 

Another challenge for corporate learning is the learning platform. A professional with 16+ years of industry experience, Nikhil Kumar, AVP, Learning Technologies, G-Cube says “If you’re wondering why your LMS is facing issues with uptake among the learners, here’s an honest fact for you—they don’t have enough reasons to come back. To truly engage a learner with the system, they need to find reasons to come back asking for more.”

 

While there can be many strategies to increase learning uptake, I would like to suggest some ideas to increase learner engagement and learning uptake by using a learning management platform effectively.

 

Enable Individual Career Advancement

 

Getting a disenchanted employee to focus on their learning requires showing them a value in that learning. Employees are now in charge of their careers and expect not only flexibility but autonomy. Providing a learning infrastructure that not only assigns training but makes interest-based learning available and accessible attracts the employee. The Learning Experience Platform can deliver learning based on the employee’s choice and need. A channel-based user interface segregates content into assigned learning, interest, peer choice based etc, which helps the learner choose their learning journey and improve their KSA – knowledge, skill, attitude.

 

Map Learning to Organizational Growth

 

Creating a learning program that will help your employees meet their KRAs is not enough. What needs to happen is that a learning environment is created where they feel the urge to perform better. Integrate your learning strategy with your overall business goal, while aligning individual journeys to the same goal. A learning performance platform can integrate with your business tools and processes to identify gaps and deliver relevant learning to the groups and individuals who are critical. This will make the employees understand their roles in the bigger picture and give them the opportunity to contribute directly to the growth of the organization.

 

Build a Community of Learners

 

LinkedIn has again reported that “In spite of the shift toward hybrid workplaces, employees still desire a sense of community and belonging at work.” Learning can provide that community feeling and an enterprise learning management system can be the perfect platform for this community to engage. Through social learning features on the LMS, the employees can come together on forums to discuss work-related issues or achievements, seek guidance from the seniors and feel connected to the work environment even in a remote or hybrid work setting. According to the popular 70-20-10 theory of learning, it is said that peer-to-peer learning contributes 20% of all corporate learning. Being able to replicate this model on a digital platform will give organizations the result they desire from their learning programs.

 

To conclude, L&D leaders have to provide three Ps to the learners to increase learning uptake—Path, Purpose and Peer—and G-Cube has the right combination of learning management platforms to make this happen. Talk to our learning consultant today.

How the Learning Management System Lives on!

 

“LMS is dead”—this statement came out more than a decade ago, in 2009–10. However, not only did the LMS survive; it also thrived by leaps and bounds. In 2017, Josh Bersin had written an article for Forbes stating: “Companies are starting to move away from their Learning Management Systems (LMS), buy all sorts of new tools for digital learning, and rebuild a whole new infrastructure to help employees learn.”

 

Four years after this prediction, FortuneBusinessInsight.com reported:

 

The Global Learning Management System market size was USD 10.84 billion in 2020. The global impact of Covid-19 has been unprecedented and staggering, with LMS witnessing a positive demand shock across all regions amid the pandemic. Based on our analysis the global market exhibited a significant growth of 23.8% in 2020 as compared to the year-on-year growth during 2017–2019. The market is projected to grow from 13.38 billion USD to 44.48 billion USD in 2028 at a CAGR of 18.7% in the 2021–28 period. The change in CAGR is attributable to this market’s demand & growth, returning to pre-pandemic levels once the pandemic is over.

 

The statistics confirm that even after the death verdict, the LMS demonstrated resilience against the market opinion and transformed itself in terms of features, functionalities, and technologies. Rapidly, it developed and embraced new technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, and consumer-level user-friendliness to maintain its supremacy. The modern LMS has adapted itself to create personalized learning paths for employees, AI-based suggestions to increase learning uptake, and most importantly, it created a collaborative environment for learning, even in a virtual space.

 

With the growing technology, management processes, and performance expectations, the need for new knowledge, skills, and even human behavior has evolved. Organizations cannot compete in this business by using old styles of work; it dawned this realization upon not only large corporations but also medium and small-sized companies. Most organizations have a growing need to empower their employees, customers, partners, and freelancers with knowledge, and in this age of information boom, they need a better system every second year to keep up.

 

In an article that came out in 2011, Ellen Behrens predicted that instead of the LMS dying out, it will significantly change in the years to come—most likely to continue including successful ways of providing access to learning across the world, smart ways to measure it, and last, implementations of social features that allow both association members and non-members (learners) to interact and connect.

 

There was a time when L&D specialists, analysts, and learners complained about the LMS gradually turning into a tedious and irrelevant application. However, the LMS providers did not fail to take notice of these complaints. According to Mr. Ankush Jagga, Business Head of Products & Growth at G-Cube: “We have served millions of learners in last 20 years and we have been constantly conducting surveys among the learners and the training providers to figure out what is needed and what needs to be eliminated from the LMS. So, at the end of the day, learners get a fantastic experience. Every quarter, we release new version of our LMS on the basis of the surveys and the opinion leader’s thought.”

 

Ten years down the line, Ellen Behrens’ prediction has come true. With digitization, jobs are changing rapidly, and skills required to adapt to this change are less mechanical and more human. Corporate training has thus become less about sporadic skill development or compliance training. The modern organization demands a culture of continuous learning and upskilling for the employees. To address this need, the 21st Century LMS has thus not become a manager for training and content but, rather, a coach to motivate the learners.

 

Just like humankind, software and applications also evolves. They take new shapes to adapt to the environment. Darwin’s theory of the “Survival of the Fittest” applies not only to humans but also to technology. So, the LMS, just like other software—CRM, ERP, HRMS, etc., have actively listened, made changes, and remained relevant and meaningful to the organizations.

Volvo Eicher’s Itube: User Generated Content for Training Revolution

Multi-media learning has been accepted to create better retention for a while now and L&D has seen the uptake of audio-visual learning for decades. However, the pandemic fast-forwarded our worlds and things changed rapidly.  According to Think with Google, 58% learners are using digital video to learn new skills in the post-pandemic world.

Given the blue-collared nature of work in the auto industry’s manufacturing units and service centers, watching and learning is an absolute necessity and thus the value in using video as a medium is clear. When Volvo Eicher approached GCube for a learning solution that will work for their dispersed workforce with variable educational background, we immediately identified the need for video-based learning. However, given the volume of content needed and variety of learners we were catering to there were two major challenges:  

• High costs of video production with proper content localization.
• Time taken to create the same.
  

Thus, ITube was built. ITube is a video sharing platform integrated in the GCube LMS for Volvo Eicher which is a channel-based video platform built exclusively for the client’s workforce much like the more commonly used counterpart, Youtube. The platform curates user generated content which are naturally localized, low cost and also come from in-house Subject Matter Experts.

 How did ITube solve the above stated challenges?

Leveraging localized and user generated video content: Itube resolves the time and cost issues by allowing their workers to create videos. Effectively deploying the user generated video content model for sharing knowledge. This not only brings down the cost but also crunches the hefty process of content generation from 15 – 20 days to just a 5-minute exercise. Suppose there is a need for short format videos on various parts of trucks. That will be a lot of videos with a very high production cost and also will need experts. But here, a senior worker can create a video on their respective work area and upload it for other juniors to learn from. The same can be done for topics related to features, offers, objection handling, addition or removal of parts, upgrades, after sales support and many other areas which become beneficial for the entire force.

Quality check through content moderation: Though Itube grants the content creation rights to all users, it gives singular authority to a moderator to ensure quality control measures remain in place. The moderator curates the user generated video content and after passing the quality check process they are uploaded to the video platform.

Concrete strength to the internal stakeholders for training:  Itube helps the internal leaders to increase their contribution to quality of training. Plus, it comes with a string of benefits like organizing contests for the HR teams from a content development standpoint. This adds strength to best practice sharing within the company.

Itube also comes with a live-broadcast-to-active-audience feature which increases engagement and retention.

How ITube created better learning strategy through videos?

1. With users generating video content, the first positive impact was on the number of knowledge videos spanning across a variety of categories, that were created every month. There are more than 350 videos on the platform with almost next to nothing development cost.
2. The basic fact that these videos were created by friends, colleagues, peers or seniors immediately raised the number of views, average duration of video consumption, and engagement levels of the knowledge content. As on 1st May 2021, the total users on the platform are close to 11,500.
3. Localization of video production provided a distinctive demographical edge as content was created from different regions, using different languages, and keeping in mind the preference, culture and sensibilities of the audience in that area.
4. This further allowed content distribution and penetration to the furthest corners of where Volvo Eicher ran operations.
5. By using the metrics from ITube rewards could be given to the best video content creators, providing gratification for their efforts and motivating others to get involved.
   
   

Itube is a revolutionary video training content platform that was specifically designed keeping in mind the unique characteristics of the automotive Industry. It has already delivered on its promise to Volvo Eicher with the total number of users of the platform going up to 7300.

With 100+ industry awards, and 45 new clients onboarded in the last financial year, we at GCube would love to share more about everything Itube can do for your company. Do write to us at info@gc-solutions.net.

ILT or vILT: The What is, Why Should and How, Of It

If you are at the point where you’re considering how to train your employees while they work from home, or have always felt the need to move to a more easily accessible learning option to classroom training, read this to help you make that choice.Below is a quick discussion on how to prepare for the transition from ILT to vILT.

The “What is”

ILT or Instructor-Led Training refers to traditional classroom training, imparted by an Instructor in a classroom setting. Training is delivered to a small or large group via lectures or presentations or a combination of mediums.
vILT or Virtual Instructor-Led Training refers to the virtualization of the classroom environment. This is most beneficial when the trainer and learners are not in the same geographical location. The instructor and learners engage on an online platform and training is imparted in a simulated classroom.

The “Why Should”

Wondering why you should consider the shift from one to the other? Well, it really depends on the unique needs of your organization. Largely it makes sense to move to vILT if you have a large, dispersed workforce to train regularly. Bringing everyone together in a classroom might prove to be a scheduling and cost nightmare. Given the current shutdown where it’s an impossibility, vILT can ensure uninterrupted training delivery. Here are 3 key things to consider when you’re weighing your options:

1. Ease of Use & Accessibility: A level of comfort with virtual tools is required for learners in the vILT environment which it isn’t in the classroom setting. However modern vILT tools are fairly user-friendly. vILT allows a much larger number of users, in diverse geographical locations to access training at the same time.But in a classroom setting, learners do not multi-task while in session. In a vILT setting, participants can be only partially engaged without the trainer’s knowledge; muting the session, signing in but not truly attending etc, can be some concerns. Creating engaging, short session with a blended vILT approach that also incorporates assessments, online collaboration with peers and other such methods can solve such problems.

2. Training Experience: vILT courses are typical shorter than ILT ones and can be converted into multiple media for delivery. With efficient content localization services now available, there is minimal loss in translation and user experience. This can up the engagement and retention quotient amongst participants. Shorter courses can reduce training lethargy that sets in with longer ones. But here one must understand the learning objective. If it is best met in a smaller group, where reactions must be observed to ascertain training effectiveness, ILT might be the better option. Also, non-verbal cues from learners, available in a classroom setting, enables the trainer to adjust his pace and delivery. This might be much harder to do on an online platform. Also, you’ll have to assess how your training content can be broken up into shorter modules as that is the effective delivery method for vILT.

3. Cost: In the short and long run, vILT is the economical choice. Even though there is the initial time and cost expense of converting training material from ILT to vILT, once done, it can be endlessly used without additional expense. It eliminates the need for participants and instructors to travel to a central location and at the expense of productive man hours on the job. Set against the backdrop of a large, dispersed workforce to be trained, it is a significant cost to the company given the multiple trainings it must incur. vILT also allows more participants per training and recording software allows the same training to be made available for all, at convenience.

The How, Of It

Once you’ve made the decision of moving from ILT to vILT, the following points will help you make the transition:

1. Evaluate the training based on objective. This will help you ascertain what, if anything, needs to remain in the ILT mode and what can be converted. This will further help break training into modules and decide what media and method can be used to keep it engaging.
2. Evaluate the platform. Training delivery is also subject to the platform you choose and based on the functionality it has. Whether you go with a robust LMS that broadens the spectrum of available media and method, or go with a limited functionality collaborative platform, depends on your training objectives, frequency and interactivities.
3. Choose the right blend. See which parts of your trainings can be broken into different formats to keep it engaging – live sessions, tests, videos, tutorials etc.
4. Ensure Instructor and learner preparedness. A switch to a tech-enabled learning environment may require you to train both on the use of the technology. Instructors might further need to be coached on delivery on the new platform.

For more in-depth information, do go through the links to see some other blogs and resources that can help you further in your decision-making process.

How does SCORM Compliant LMS Save Time and Mitigate Training Cost by 80%?

SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model)- a global standard for online learning platforms. It serves as a platform that supports communication between online training content and learning management systems. New-age SCORM compliant LMS enables organizations to develop tailored e-learning content for laptops, smartphones, and tablets. It also supports easy uploading and updating of relevant training courses as per the pertinent needs of a globally dispersed workforce
Today, companies from diverse industries realize the potential of SCORM compliant LMS that caters to bespoke learning objectives. Several benefits of SCORM LMS include the following:

• As SCORM is the de facto e-learning standard, it enables the seamless delivery of training courses across multiple mobile devices (both Android and iOS).
• The global standard helps to create as well as repurpose existing content, thereby mitigating overall training costs by 80% and saving effort.
• Content created and delivered through SCORM LMS is adaptable. So, you can easily create and provide tailored content to employees working in-house or at remote locations. Consequently, this supports learning on the go by allowing employees to undergo training at their own pace of time and convenience.
• SCORM compliant LMS supports interoperability features between different software products. You can develop tailored e-learning courses using robust authoring tools, including Lectora, Captivate, Composica, and others.
• Modern LMSs that are SCORM compliant also support automated performance tracking and reporting features. The platform can easily track courses completed, time spent on each course, evaluate individual scores, test results, and so on.

Other benefits of corporate training platforms that are SCORM compliant include the following:

• Accessibility- SCORM content is packaged in a way that you can access relevant training material across smartphones and tablets, ensuring learning anytime, anywhere, and even on the go. SCORM content can be quickly delivered to various locations without any need for installation or reconfigurations.

• Adaptability- SCORM compliant training content perfectly fits the ever-evolving learning needs and performance goals. It is adaptable with multiple mobile devices and for different training groups with varied job roles and preferences.

• Reusability- To move away from classroom-based training, corporate trainers and managers develop SCORM content, which can be repurposed to cater to diversified needs. For instance, an automobile company wants to train its salesforce about the latest products and services. So, the trainer can create short video nuggets or podcasts, which are easier to access and quick to digest. The same content can be reused whenever there is any product launch or upgrade.

Overall, the above-discussed features help to improve employee engagement, bridge skills-gaps, boost workforce performance, and increase business revenues. With digitization, companies from varied industry verticals deploy SCORM compliant LMS to align the right kind of learning for targeted audiences. Modern learning management systems utilize authoring tools to create personalized training content for a globally dispersed workforce. Consequently, SCORM LMSs help to mitigate overall training cost, time, and effort, while allowing to create and reuse the same content within a few clicks. From pharmaceutical and automobile to retail, finance, and others, the implementation of SCORM LMS platforms is evolving at a fast pace. If you want to develop training content to track employee performance, reuse existing content, or want to integrate the system with other vendors, then SCORM LMS can serve as the best fit for your organization.

Top Use Cases of LMS Tools

Top Use Cases of LMS Tools for Creating Training Courses

With digitization, the need to create effective e-learning courses is becoming evident. L&D teams include different interactivities with training courses to deliver an engaging learning experience. So, this is where comes the significance of learning management system tools to design relevant content which caters to the personalized needs of all. The robust LMS tools facilitate the training experience by incorporating multimedia elements such as quizzes, scores, leaderboards, and more. These also aid to create, edit, review, and repurpose, and disseminate content for targeted learners.

Today, organizations use rapid authoring tools to drive learner engagement, knowledge retention, and overall performance. Whether you are shifting from traditional classroom learning or merely creating interactive e-courses, LMS tools can serve as a viable tool. Different use cases of robust authoring tools include the following:

• Compliance training

Organizations such as healthcare need to stay compliant with the latest industry regulations, new products, trends, and more. They use authoring tools to create and update existing compliance courses to mitigate the costs of time and effort. For instance, games and simulations are incorporated with e-courses to deliver learning in a fun-filled way, thereby improving engagement and knowledge retention.

• Workforce training

Another example of using learning management system tools is to design effective e-courses for internal as well as a globally dispersed workforce. Consequently, it helps to deliver the personalized learning experience for all, thereby driving performance, bridging skills-gaps, and increasing ROIs.

• Extended learning

It is essential to effectively train the extended workforce, which includes vendors, channel partners, customers, sales teams, and other latest company’s products and policies. E-learning tools help to create assessments and demos to ensure that external workforce meets industry standards, perform better, and stay competitive.

• Employee development

Modern corporates deliver training, which is accessible and personalized. So, they design interactive e-courses which drive learner engagement, retain top talent, identify skills-gaps, and drive lucrative outcomes. Companies also invest in authoring tools so that they can reuse existing training content, deliver it to global audiences, and gain a more competent workforce.

The top LMS tools available in today’s market include Composica, Storyline, Captivate, Elucidat, and others. So, based on your pertinent training need, preferences, and other learner attributes, you can choose amongst the popular authoring tools. In today's current scenario, the way learning is delivered for the corporate workforce is also changing. Undoubtedly, there is an incredible rise in the demand for engaging e-learning courses which suits varied learning needs- compliance, sales, onboarding, and more.

5 Crucial Features Supported by Online LMS

Taking Your Business to the Next Level 

The demand for seamless e-learning services and a robust infrastructure to align with personalized training needs are evolving. To effectively train the workforce spread across different demographics, an efficient online Learning Management System (LMS) is essential. In today’s digital era, modern LMSs support improved collaboration among peers, optimal learner engagement and customized training delivery. Most of the organizations understand the need to invest in the latest technologies which focus on boosting learning efficiency, workforce retention and engagement levels.

In the realm to address these challenges stands the need to deploy an online LMS to cater to the ever-evolving needs of all. With the use of latest technologies, workplace training ensures to leave a strong impact on how courses are created and delivered. With changing learning preferences, individual goals are also changing towards team participation and knowledge retention. The key to an effective corporate training initiative lies in the use of modern online LMS supporting the following features:

1. Mobile app support:With the majority of employees working from remote locations, the use of mobile devices to access training courses via mobile apps is also increasing. This approach called as mobile learning includes accessibility of online content, flexibility to download e-courses and access them, when offline. The effective delivery of online courses via mobile learning apps enable employees to learn at their own pace of time and convenience.
2. Social learning:
   
   With the immense popularity of social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other channels like Netflix, the demand for a similar e-learning platform is increasing. As social learning is a vital component, modern LMSs are designed in a way to support effective knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer collaboration and enhanced business growth. This is achieved by using various social tools such as blogs, forums and wikis to share new ideas, raise the competency levels and overall learning uptake.
3. Personalized approach:

Personalized training delivery comprises of two major aspects- setting a learning environment to align with the right learning path and delivering adaptive learning experience to cater to the personalized needs of all. Modern LMS can be customized to deliver different kinds of e-courses as per the learners’ different job roles and preferences, thereby reducing training time and improving overall workplace efficiency.


4. Analytics & Assessments:

The Analytics and Reporting feature supported by the modern LMS helps to track individual performances during the training program. Also, the robust platform helps to simplify the skill evaluation process by uploading assessments and tracking learners’ progress at each level. The online learning platform can efficiently save time and money by enabling learners access updated information without using any third-party applications.


5. Video-based learning: 
   The new-age LMS supports video-based content delivery to engage maximum employees undergoing training on sales, compliance, onboarding and more. E-courses delivered in the form of interactive video nuggets allow the learners to understand the context in a better way. The online learning platform supports video learning feature to ensure the delivery of a continuous and socially interactive corporate training experience.

Online LMS is being used by the majority of organizations to impart the ephemera of training experiences through personalization, collaboration, assessments, video-based learning and so on.