Blended Learning
A mix of approaches, techniques and/or technologies to meet the contextual needs of learners and content types which can create a rich and diverse learning experience.
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Synchronous or Asynchronous? How to Pick Your Training Delivery Method
Creating effective online instruction requires consideration of many factors if it is to lead learners to achieve the desired skills and knowledge. It must match the characteristics of the learners and the content and it must fit the circumstances of the learner. How is it possible to meet all these requirements? There are best practices, and this article gives a succinct summary as well as a plac
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Coming to Grips with Reality: Multiple Learning Modes
Things don’t always work out the way the instructional designer expects. There may be organizational dysfunction that the needs assessment did not discover. Unanticipated constraints appear. Here’s the story of what happened on one project, and how the designer built a blended, technology-enabled solution that brought results far beyond what the sponsors expected.
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Nuts and Bolts: We Need New Words
We need new words. They might have to be neologisms, or even sniglets, but we are doing many things these days in ways that we never did them before, and so there are no words for them. Jane reflects on three such instances. Can you supply the words?
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Book Review: Better Beginnings, by Carmen Taran
No matter what kind of eLearning you are developing, one of your goals is to engage and hold onto the learners. Before you can do that, you have to capture them—get their minds engaged. According to Carmen Taran, you have about 30 seconds to do this, and here is a review of the book in which she shows you the techniques that will do just that.
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129 Tips on Using Technology in Virtual and Physical Classrooms
Thanks to computers and communication technology, classrooms can include any physical or virtual space for formal learning. This eBook provides 129 tips for educators and designers who want to make the best use of these technologies.
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Marc My Words: Practice Makes Mastery
How do people become high performers? Here are three ideas from one of the keynote speakers at last month’s eLearning Guild Learning Solutions Conference. Plant these ideas into your programs and watch your learners grow!
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Tips for Using GoAnimate in eLearning
Trainers and educators have long known that appropriate, well-made video can increase levels of engagement and retention in eLearning. Technology is providing us with a set of tools we can use to create more video without breaking the bank. Here are eight tips for using one such product, GoAnimate, in your eLearning.
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Open Badges: Portable Credentials for Learning
The next target of disintermediation is diplomas, certifications, and other “official” records of learning, skills, and knowledge. A number of organizations are promoting a credentialing approach that awards “badges” directly to learners from providers. Learners can maintain and publicly display their badge portfolios independent of employers. Read about these new initiatives here.
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Supporting Critical Thinking in eLearning
eLearning design (and many authoring tools) may often support rote learning, recall of information, and acquisition of discrete skills, but not use of the information or skills to solve difficult problems, evaluate ideas, or settle arguments. Is there a way to use eLearning to develop or sharpen critical thinking skills? This article explores the question and suggests some answers.
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Research for Practitioners: Can Text Messages (SMS) Support Learning?
Support for learners, especially “at risk” learners, is valuable, but providing learners support beforehand tends not to have long-lasting effects and ongoing methods of support can be cumbersome. Could a lighter weight intervention help? Here is a report on a study that looked at using text messaging to provide ongoing support without being a headache to learners or to staff.