Your company may have implemented a mobile BYOD solution, but that doesn’t mean you can automatically use those devices for mobile learning. In order to implement mobile learning on a large scale, you’re going to need to partner with your IT department.

Producing videos can be a complex endeavor for learning professionals attempting to bring their courses to life. By incorporating appropriate project management principles, instructional designers can create a smooth process for video production and avoid having to reshoot critical footage they need for a course.

It’s not unusual to find gamification elements in software applications across nearly every industry, but only a fraction of these platforms prove to have significant impact on performance. While individual gamification elements may increase engagement and enhance performance, they often are not designed with the user in mind, and there are not enough analytics integrated into the process to assess effectiveness.

Workplace learning is a two-way relationship between a company’s desire to stay competitive and employees’ need for information to engage job functions. With the struggle for competitive advantage expected to only accelerate, it pays dividends to create a flexible and technology-enabled learning ecosystem that can foster the future generations in the workforce.

Games and gamification are new ideas to many organizations. Executives may perceive games for learning as child’s play, or may struggle to understand how they’re different from the scenario-based learning you already have. Furthermore, some see gamification as an artificial reward system that will have no long-term benefits.

Many organizations are eager to utilize mobile learning to meet the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce who may not have access to desktops yet all have mobile devices. However, stringent corporate policy concerning mobile phones often makes this tricky. The more organizations understand the dynamics of legal, corporate, and security-based issues, the more equipped they will be to make a compelling business case for mobile learning.

Induction and onboarding has become one of the key business challenges of the moment. How do you successfully recruit and induct staff to become high-performing and fully integrated, at a speed that matches the speed of change in business? The answer may rest in the power of the mobile devices that are already in everyone’s hands.

Mobile, games, and video are all meaningful endeavors offering unique value propositions, but how do they fit together? Each can be linked, but has unique properties as well. How do you make sense of the opportunities?

The digital world is entering your learners’ world in a big way. Augmented reality is reshaping the way they interact with systems and websites, entertainment, and of course, education, and this change is ultimately coming to your organization!

The innovative use of mobile learning products in education has significantly increased in recent years. Mobile applications are meant to be engaging and reach beyond the walls of a classroom. Instructors and educators can use these mobile apps to increase student learning. However, the value of integrating them into the overall training is unclear. Are there added values if the organization invests in mobile apps?

You got the message about the value of games in helping people learn—and you buy in! Perhaps you’ve even built some games or selected a gamified learning platform. Having a good game or a well-designed gamified initiative is only half of the equation you need for success. The other half is a comprehensive, well-thought-out implementation strategy. Without it, your likelihood of deriving business value or learning results is low.

The mobile learning landscape is continually growing and shifting. As intimidating as those changes may be, organizations must be prepared to formulate and execute strategies to harness this growing technology. An understanding of the various devices, the appropriate content, the impact of mobile on traditional training and development, and how to make a business case for mobile in your organization are of key importance in navigating today’s mobile learning landscape.

New for FocusOn this year! This is a popular session being offered twice. It's also available as session 904.

Years of momentum have resulted in numerous use cases for teams seeking to leverage xAPI to better track, measure, and manage their mobile learning efforts. It’s clear that xAPI can improve the ways you create and deliver mobile content, track interactions, and measure performance. Armed with knowledge and the proverbial “Swiss Army knife” of xAPI functions, you can begin to “slice, saw, tweeze, and pick” your way through mobile training challenges.

Professional development generally means taking time away from your work to go and learn a concept, then return to your team, who may have a “What are you going to make us do now?” attitude. Take a moment to think “what if.” What if professional development were delivered where and when it was important to you? What if you did not have to leave your team to participate in behavior-based professional development? What if your professional development created greater cohesion within your team? What if your professional development were focused directly on issues and content that were meaningful to you and your team?

Gamification is not just a trend. It works—when done well. Unfortunately, many organizations get caught up in the “let’s gamify everything” hype and fail to properly align game mechanics to meaningful objectives. L&D professionals continue to face stakeholder and employee objections when attempting to introduce game-based concepts. They also run into conflicting priorities when multiple game ideas are implemented without a holistic vision for employee engagement.

As technology continues to evolve, it creates new opportunities to let people play, explore, and learn from games that include video, animation, and biometric data, and from one another. How can these new technologies support immersive learning and enable you to re-create “real” experiences in learning games?

Suggesting a mobile learning program can still raise some eyebrows in even the most progressive organizations. Concerns about security, cost, device type, and use are just a few of the barriers that can stall your efforts.

Virtual reality has exploded over the last year, extending to conversations in the mobile, gaming, and video landscape. There’s a rapidly rising interest in how to use this new technology for learning and performance. With “VR” now one of the hottest buzzwords, how much is hype and how much is substance?

New for FocusOn this year! This is a popular session being offered twice. It's also available as session 714.

Mobile, video, gamification; these three trending industry technologies can increase learner engagement and drive business results (while hopefully adding some fun to the workday). Despite the sustained attention these technologies have received from learning leaders across organizations, many are still struggling to apply best practices when implementing them, or are finding subpar outcomes. A solution? Embrace outside-the-box thinking!

Video is trending in L&D for good reasons. When video-based learning projects go right, they can resonate well with their audience and make a huge impact. However, when they go wrong, they can go very, very wrong. Why? Because there’s a substantial amount of financial, legal, branding, security, and relationship risk introduced when incorporating video into your learning strategy. So how can you safely create a more video-centric culture? And what processes and protocols need to be in place before you move forward?

Videos in learning isn't new, but the video medium is seeing rapid expansion in use, from microlearning to interactivity. Before you can move forward, you need buy-in, and that can be challenging. Barriers to approval can range from bandwidth and hosting to skill sets and equipment costs.