News & Thinking

We live in a video-driven culture. For example, today I woke up and opened the news app on my smartphone and watched several short video segments to catch me up on today’s current events. Then, after breakfast, I looked up a YouTube tutorial on how to fix my broken sink. When I finished, my daughter showed me her new smokey-eye from the make-up tutorial she watched from her favorite blogger. And later, we both relaxed by watching a new docuseries on Netflix. Every piece of content I consumed today contained a video element.

Now more than ever, creating online learning experiences can make a real difference for parents, students and teachers who are experiencing a remote classroom for the first time. Consider the following key factors to help your resource get fully utilized.

How to Rapidly Convert ILT to Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT)

In the current environment, we are working with a number of clients to quickly convert instructor-led training (ILT) workshops into online or virtual instructor-led (VILT) learning experiences. Since this conversion is going on in many organizations, we thought we’d share some of our insights:

1. Keep the technology simple. If you’re attempting to reach a learner population with varied levels of experience in online learning, make it easy for them to like it.

A Conversation with Ken Taylor, President, Training Industry

At the recent Training Industry Conference & Expo, I had the opportunity to talk with Training Industry President Ken Taylor. Ken is the leader of one of the most trusted sources of information on the business of learning. And, he possesses a deep understanding of the corporate learning and development market. The following article is an edited excerpt of the interview transcript.

Q: What’s the state of the training industry?

Best Buy Canada is Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailer with more than 175 stores and 12,000 employees nationwide. As the company’s Senior Manager, Learning and Development, Marjorie Van Roon, CPTM, provides innovative programs that drive performance while being inspiring, relevant and fun.

While L&D professional associations and publications often focus on employee training, we frequently work with clients to develop, deliver and manage online training for non-employees.

My article, “Distributing Learning at the Speed of Business,” is featured on Training Industry. The article addresses how training programs can keep up with the pace of change in business and includes insights from thought leaders who attended the Training Industry Conference & Expo.

As a content provider, you want to create meaningful tools to impact education and bring learning to life for students. But before you begin, you need to consider some key factors to make your project successful in the classroom.

Solve Educator Pain Points

Digital explorations that motivate kids to recycle. Games that encourage girls to consider STEM careers. Interactive learning experiences about the science behind race.

Educational games can change the way students think and behave, and that reality is leading to interesting collaborations for sponsored educational content, especially for materials aimed at the K-12 audience.

Whether your organization is a non-profit or a business, if you have a message to communicate to children or young adults – you can sponsor a high-quality educational learning experience.

Besides being an instructional design practitioner, Connie Malamed has spent years sharing actionable strategies, practical content, product reviews and resources to help others through her website, “The eLearning Coach.” We recently interviewed Connie to gain her perspective on how the instructional design profession is evolving.