I. Audience Response Technology

There are a number of good audience response tools out there. My preferred solution is TurningPoint response cards, by Turning Technologies. Response cards allow the instructor to measure learning throughout training session. Trainers can display questions, surveys, opinion polls and games that allow everyone in the audience to select a response via their wireless response card keypads and transmit and display the data immediately into the presentation slide. You can even have competitions, including team competitions with points.

There are many advantages to using this tool:

• Participants are actively engaged in the training material, which increases knowledge retention.
• Trainers can conduct on-the-fly polls at any point during the training session; this can give feedback to the instructor about how well the learners are processing the course information.
• Trainers can run reports with the test/survey data—thus measuring learning with virtually no data entry outside of the training event.

I like TurningPoint because your company can download the PowerPoint plug-in for multiple users without additional cost. So you are essentially just paying for the response cards that can be used by more than one trainer without extra costs.

Response cards provide a fun and interactive way to engage learners while also giving trainers a tool to measure level 1 (response to the training) and level 2 (knowledge learned) training data (i.e., level 1 & 2 of the Kirkpatrick ROI model).

II. Movie clips:

I am a huge movie buff, so I love using movie clips as illustrations in instructor-led training sessions. One of the problems with using movies clips, however, is that you need to get permission to use the clips. Here are a few simple steps to effectively, and legally, use movie clips in your training sessions.

1. Contact the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation 800-462-8855 MPLP.com; get a license for the movie (or an “umbrella license” for many movies).
2. If you want to download a YouTube clip to show, you can use this YouTube downloader: savemedia.com
3. To learn about ways you can use movies in training, take a look at Becky Pike Pluth  book on this topic: “101 Movie  Clips that Teach and Train.”  See also Mark S. Carley’s July 1999 article in Training & Development magazine, “Training Goes to the Movies.”
4. Use a video editing tool like iMovie or Windows Live Movie Maker to make the clip start/end where you want it, or to convert a clip into a wmv format so you can embed it in a PowerPoint slide.

I recommend spending enough time to set up with clip with appropriate context, and also give learners something to look for in the clip. Leave yourself enough time to debrief after the clip.

1. Simulations and Games:

Experiential learning is a powerful way to actively engage learners and improve retention levels. Using hands-on simulations can be a great way to liven up the classroom. One of my favorite simulation tools is the Paper Planes simulation by Discovery Learning. This simulation is basically a team competition between two paper airplane manufacturing “companies” (it can also bee done without the team competition element). It can be used for general team building or to illustrate a number of common business topics such as efficiency, organizational change, leadership, customer service, communication and diversity.

Just as you would with movie clips, it is important to set up the simulation and debrief effectively to maximize the impact.

There are many other examples of great simulations that are worth exploring: http://www.plsweb.com/Products-Resources/Newsletter/Newsletter-Archives/May-2010.

I also recommend using games in a similar way. See, for example, the excellent game-based PowerPoint templates that can be purchased from Elearning Brothers.

Conclusion

These three tools can make a tremendous difference in the classroom. If your training program is getting a little stale, it is well worth the cost of implementing these tools.

There are a number of exciting trends taking place in the field of workplace learning & development. This webinar will explore several of these trends, including mobile learning, social/informal learning, next generation SCORM (Tin Can API), and other technology-based learning trend. Discover how these trends can help drive results at your organization.

 Watch the recording of the webinar here.

]]> http://torchlms.com/blog/events/upcoming-webinar-trends-in-learning-technology-torch-lms/feed/ 0 http://torchlms.com/blog/employee-development/tuition_reimbursement/ http://torchlms.com/blog/employee-development/tuition_reimbursement/#comments Sat, 24 Nov 2012 18:15:33 +0000 Jake http://torchlms.com/?p=761 (more...)]]> While there are many potential benefits of tuition assistance programs (or TAPs), the challenge for business leaders is to manage investments in employee education in a way that maximizes returns–both for the employer and the employee. Not only does a TAP need to encourage the development of specific skills in your workforce, it also needs to empower employees to pursue their educational goals.

For companies who want to launch a new TAP—or revamp an existing one—it’s hard to know where to begin. To that end, I connected with John Zappa, CEO of EdLink to identify a few key steps to get you started on your own strategic tuition reimbursement program.

1. Identify Goals, Support with Investments
Work with your senior management team to set quantifiable, measurable goals. Address the question of cost early on, using your goals as a guiding compass. The more critical a goal, the larger your investment in a TAP. Alternatively, you can follow industry standardsfor less-than-critical goals.

You might consider breaking qualifying coursework into groups. Here is an example:

2. Establish Guidelines, Communicate Expectations and Opportunities
Clear guidelines and qualifications will help to ensure a TAP supports your business goals. As such, they should address what skills are valuable to the employer, and why. Make it easy for employees to understand your business needs and how to make education choices that support those needs. Talk to employees about your tuition program in the onboarding process and periodically hold Q&A sessions to bolster interest and adoption.

3. Balance Guidelines with Flexibility and Opportunity
While guidelines are important, you should also offer employees an opportunity to pursue their personal goals is also important. By being flexible, and offering assistance for four-year degrees, continuous learning, and applied learning coursework, employees can pursue educational goals in whatever time frame suits their needs.

Furthermore, courses unrelated to an employee’s current position shouldn’t be outright excluded. These provide opportunities for employees to acquire new skills and knowledge beyond the boundaries of their current role. This can improve employee satisfaction (which aids in retention) and create more rounded employees.

4. Measure Program Outcomes, Adjust Accordingly
For your program to have the greatest impact (and lasting success), it should be treated as an investment in a larger talent management strategy. To that end, measuring program outcomes–and how they affect other business initiatives–is essential.

Track changes in retention and engagement, and compare data against nonparticipants. And cross reference this data with things like customer satisfaction or changes in sales numbers for hard data on the value of the program.

If the program is driving desired outcomes, consider allocating more resources to allow more employees to participate. If not, survey employees to identify the reasons. Were guidelines and qualifications too rigid? Was course completion an issue? Were work schedules an obstacle?

Effective TAPs are Smart—Not All-Encompassing
Investing in employee education is a great way to foster higher retention rates and improve employee performance, but at the end of the day you’re working with limited resources. Whether you’re creating a new TAP or revamping an old one, remember that an effectiveplan doesn’t have to be a largeplan. It has to be smart.By matching company needs with employee goals, you can encourage workforce learning without a big budget. That beings with business strategy and proactive program management. The rest is up to your employees.

About the Author: Kyle Lagunas is the HR Analyst at Software Advice—an online resource for reviews and comparisons of talent management and learning management software. A Gen Yer and tech enthusiast, he focuses on forward-thinking best practices and compelling conversations in the world of work.

This social revolution will undoubtedly include learning technology. With the new Tin Can API (the next generation of SCORM), there will be a number of new options that will make the social revolution a practical reality in the learning technology space. Torch LMS is leading the way in adopting the Tin Can API and also implementing practical social learning tools, such as expert directories, forums, blogs, etc. We understand that is is an important way that people are learning today, and as adoption of these technologies continues, it will become more and more common in the workplace.

I recommend watching the Benioff keynote presentation for a little inspiration about the social technology revolution.

A Training Industry Insight presentation at the Gilfus Education Group’s Innovation Showcase Theater: “The New Territory of Learning and Development presented by Jake White, President & CEO at Torch LMS. Recorded at the annual ASTD Conference, Denver. May 2012.

It has been said that an organization’s ability to learn faster than its competitors is the ultimate competitive advantage. Prometheus Development Inc. is committed to providing organizations with tools that will help them increase their competitive advantage through learning & development. We are passionate about helping you continuously, and efficiently, improve your workforce.

Our core product is Torch LMS. This system represents a new breed of learning management systems. We prefer to call Torch an “Organizational Development System.” It is the ultimate tool in helping you, as we like to say, “Upsource your Workforce.” We want to help you improve the performance capacity of your greatest (and usually largest) business investment: Your people. We can help you track and maintain regulatory compliance training, as well as determine, implement, and maintain standards of competence across your organization. Torch has all the tools you need to manage, deliver, track, and report on employee development. Torch will empower your organization to capture and disseminate best practices, lessons learned, quickly implement change initiatives, and close skill gaps in your workforce.

The name “Prometheus” comes from Greek mythology. Prometheus was the Titan of knowledge who took fire from Olympus and gave it to humankind. In this story, fire is a symbol of knowledge, technology, and progress. Prometheus means “forethought” in Greek, and in English it has become an eponym denoting “daring creativity or bold originality.” Prometheus was the wisest Titan, and symbolizes human achievement, especially in technology. Prometheus is a fitting symbol for what we do every day at Prometheus Development.

Here is Brandon Hall’s review of Torch LMS:

Torch is one of the cleanest, most intuitive systems on the market. In both user and admin modes, the platform presents itself with an uncluttered, orderly appearance with appropriate amounts of white space. Prometheus says that their goal with Torch was to focus on efficiency and reduce the amount of data entry and clicks necessary not only to use the system, but to run it and build it as well.

The Torch LMS also offers a bit of configurability, but not so much to put the burden of design on the administrators. The beauty is in its inherent simplicity. Even the collaborative discussion pages remain sleek and intuitive. Users are able to bookmark or “heart” their favorite discussions and receive notifications whenever responses are added to the discussions.

Other standout features include the Ajax search engine that returns results fast – basically instantaneously – and a robust experts network that allows users to find SMEs quickly and easily.

Brandon Hall is a great source for research on the learning and development industry.

However, you may end up with a shortlist of providers who can legitimately claim to have all of the features you are looking for, but this does not tell you how difficult or easy it is to actually use these features. We suggest also determining the top ten common processes that your users, and especially the system admin, will perform on a regular basis. This will help you find a system that has the functionality you need and is efficient to manage.

Here we have included a useful list of processes that you can use to determine how long it takes to perform some of the most common tasks in a learning management system. This list can, of course, be modified to fit your own priorities. We hope you will find this helpful. For convenience, we have included how much time and how many clicks it takes to perform these tasks with Torch LMS. If you would like this worksheet in Word or Excel, please contact us.

Learn more about it below.

More Detail

Tin Can Project

Definition:

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models (source).

There are three major cloud computing models: (1) Software as a Service (Saas); (2) Platform as a Service (PaaS); (3) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). We will focus on five major benefits of software as a service (Saas).

Benefit #1: Upgrades Included

In the multi-tenant Saas (Software as a Service) model, all clients share one version of a centrally-hosted software service. There are many advantages to using Saas rather than traditional installed/on-premises software. One of the main advantages is the software is versionless, with instantaneous upgrades for all users. This ensures that everyone is on the same version of the system, and customers typically don’t have to pay for upgrades. This means you won’t have extra costs to install the latest upgrade, and you will get all the latest enhancements right away.

Benefit #2: Scalable and Low Costs

In contrast to the high up-front costs of traditional on-premises software (or hosted/ASP solutions), Saas (Software as a Service) solutions usually have limited up-front costs, with a pay-for-what-you-use approach. This means businesses can reduce their capital expenditures by ditching their traditional software for Saas solutions. Saas also allows limitless scalability with inexpensive storage—many solutions even include unlimited storage at no extra cost (be sure to ask providers about this; we are aware of some LMS providers who charge as much as $900 per GB per year for extra storage).

Benefit #3: No Maintenance

Over-stretched IT departments love Saas (Software as a Service) solutions because it removes the need for maintenance. Some providers will even provide a user help desk for all users (not just the person who acts as administrator of the system at the client company). Imagine having upfront licensing costs significantly reduced and offloading the burden of troubleshooting, backups, updates, and other maintenance tasks. This is a huge benefit for IT departments, and helps to explain why so many IT managers are looking to expand their value to the business by deploying Cloud solutions.

Benefit #4: Rapid Deployment

Saas (Software as a Service) solutions can be rapidly deployed, which is very appealing for businesses that need to put in place a solution quickly for immediate impact. Many solutions allow users to set themselves up for a trial account or even set up their own production environment without vendor involvement.

Benefit #5: Highly Secure

Finally, security is a major advantage of Saas (Software as a Service) solutions—which are highly secure. Irfan Saif, from Deloitte & Touche, has pointed out that, “Cloud solutions can enable some companies to attain a level of security they may not be able to afford from a cost, resource, or process maturity perspective.” When we heard Mr. Saif speak at a recent conference he made the statement that, “If you look at data breaches in recent years, you will find that every one of them is installed, on-premises [i.e., internally hosted and not a cloud solution].” We looked into this further and found a number of data breach web sites that support this conclusion (e.g., http://www.infosecurityanalysis.com/). We saw a number of big companies—including Apple, Google, and Microsoft—whose internal systems had been hacked. This is not to say that Cloud companies are perfect. The king of the Cloud, Salesforce.com, has been hacked; this exposed many thousands of customer emails and other information. Nevertheless, the statistics still support the idea that the Cloud (including Saas) is at least as secure—and in many cases more secure—than on-premises, installed systems.

“Cloud service providers view security as pivotal to what they offer…there’s a strong argument that most businesses would benefit from more robust security if they do migrate to a cloud service.” —Simon Brew, writer for PC Pro

Mike Lingo, chief technology officer at Astadia, points out that cloud solution vendors have usually “spent much more money on its infrastructure, security and competencies than an internal IT shop can often afford.”

The harsh reality is that malicious attackers are on the rise, and about 85 percent of all U.S. companies have experienced one or more attack (source). Sony got hacked last year! Organizations should consider switching to Cloud solutions for cost savings, scalability, efficiency, and yes, security.

You will find that Torch LMS has all of these benefits, and will provide a powerful way to manage learning across your organization.