When designing technical training, face to face training experience is often the preferred method, but this isn’t always possible and with advances in technology, it may not always be the best approach. The challenge becomes, how do you take all of the information normally conveyed during face to face instruction and map the content to the right modality to get the same outcomes, including when to use hands on experience? Sheri Weppel, Director of Training and eLearning Development, addresses this challenge in our latest video: Rapid Technical Design.

Most learning solutions today fail to meet employees where they are in their learning journey. Cognitive overload while in training, knowledge and skills gaps in the moment of need, and information access issues prevent employees and teams from performing their very best. Each of these has a major impact on productivity. The solution? Contextualized learning provides content at the moment of need, in the space where it is needed most.

During a recent 20-minute webinar, as part of a larger series on Learning Trends for 2016, Tom Pizer, Director of Learning Technologies, and I discussed how beacon-based learning solutions support just-in-time, in-the-space learning that is flexible, customizable, trackable, and doesn’t require an intense technology implementation cycle. It puts learning in your employees’ hands, enabling on-the-spot performance support and a flexible solution that is easily adaptable to changes in the business. More specifically we explored:

• How beacon technology can be used to contextualize learning
• The components of a beacon-based mLearning solution and how they operate

You can download the full session here. But if you’re looking for the abbreviated version, I wanted to offer a quick look at some of the key takeaways from the webinar:

• Imagine a learning solution that alerts you when you are near something you need to learn about, and then provides the resources that you need, right there, on your smartphone or tablet.
• Imagine providing learning materials on manufacturing equipment: instruction manuals, repair guides, micro-Learning bursts, self-study guides and assessments to employees’ devices as they are physically working with the equipment.
• Imagine traveling to another corporate office and having access to all that you need, such as printer locations, SharePoint URLs, contact lists, meeting schedules, and so on, and all of it is downloadable to your mobile device when you hit the door.
• Imagine accessing a wealth of new product information while you are physically examining a new product, and you can download and save the information for later.

Each of these learning scenarios can be supported by a beacon-based learning solution, cutting that forgetting curve and enabling access to the right information in the moment of learning need.

During the session, a number of questions came up, and while we were able to address most of them, we weren’t able to get to all of them due to time. Below are those questions and our best answers. This is an ongoing conversation, so Tom and I encourage you to keep the questions coming in via the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Q: How do you define “contextual” learning?

A: Contextual learning is material pushed at the precise location where a learner needs to have it.

Q: Do these solutions work with tablets?­

A: Absolutely! These learning solutions are designed for a mobile learner base and will work with most mobile devices that are Bluetooth 4 compatible (iPad2 and iPhone 4s and later).

Q: ­How would you compare beacon technology driven training vs. geofencing driven training?­

A: Beacons and geofencing are similar, and potentially compatible technologies. Geofencing refers to the creation of an often less-accurate perimeter around a location or event. Beacons are employed to accurately pinpoint the location of a mobile device. So in concept, beacons could be deployed as part of a geofencing solution.

Q: ­Can we build in the optimal frequency for the spacing effect?­

A: You bet! The ranges of beacons can be very large or small, with a learner needing to be just feet from the beacon in order for their mobile device to be detected.

Q: ­Do I need to distribute devices to my employees before I can consider creating a beacon-based learning solution?­

A: It depends on your organization’s mobile device policy. You could certainly deploy this using a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model, but it is important to keep in mind that older mobile devices may not be compatible with beacon technology.

Q: ­Can I use beacon-based learning solutions as part of an assessment?­

A: Indeed. Your app could be developed to push content or media to the device, the user consumes it, then answers an associated assessment question on that content. Correct/incorrect can be programmed as in many rapid development tools for eLearning development.

Q: ­Can I send information from the user’s device back to the LMS to track which beacons they have visited?­

A: Yes. A mobile app tracks what it is programmed to track, and can be programmed to communicate with an LMS.

Q: ­I’ve heard that my smartphone can be used as a beacon; is that true?­

A: Compatible mobile devices can indeed be set to act as beacons. In such a case, a mobile program would be written to take advantage of the iBeacon protocol and as long as the user has the program open and running, their device would be detectable as a beacon. This type of scenario could be used effectively when two mobile devices must interact with one another when they are in proximity of each other.

Q: ­I am trying to understand how this can be helpful for field sales people who never work from the office?­

A: Field personnel who rarely are together and do not report to a common location probably are not an ideal audience for this type of technology.

Q: ­How does one program content for the app?­

A: From an instructional designer perspective, it’s as simple as designing the tables of content provided at each beacon, with links to specific media files that should launch, or assessment items, with distractors and feedback, that way our developers can program the app to do what we need it to, at the time a device comes into range. From a programming perspective, developers must be familiar with programming mobile applications and a beacon frameworks. However, once a beacon application has been built, the types of content that can be accessed might be very common, such as courses, documents, videos, or server data.

Q: ­Can anyone access the info on a beacon, or is there a way to protect info for just certain users?­

A: Beacons don’t house or access user data so there is less of a security concern related to the physical beacon device. Once a beacon is detected by a mobile app, the beacon’s role is essentially over and the mobile app goes on to perform its programmed function. From that perspective, the individual must take care in how they program or use the mobile application, much as he or she must practice care in downloading software that they trust from iTunes.

The allure of immersive, virtual environments has been given added credibility through films such as The Matrix and Minority Report. The explosive increase in the use of mobile devices and the development of wearable technologies present an exciting prospect for the impact of augmented views of reality in all walks of life. Do augmented reality (AR) technologies offer significant potential in the field of learning and development, or is this just another glamorized trend that is unlikely to ever reach critical mass?

During a recent 20-minute webinar, as part of a larger series on Learning Trends for 2016, I explored:

• Developments in AR to date
• Technologies that underpin the concept
• Opportunities that AR presents for formal and informal learning
• Barriers that need to be overcome in order to achieve large-scale adoption

You can download the full session here. But if you’re looking for the abbreviated version, the following summary offers a quick look at some of the key takeaways from the webinar:

Firstly, one of the biggest hurdles that the introduction of a new technology has to overcome is adoption, and this is usually based on the availability of the hardware. Your smartphone contains all the components necessary to deliver an AR experience, and while it might not present the most immersive experience, the platform is already being used in meaningful AR applications in education.

This provides low barriers to entry, and it is possible to start developing simple AR applications by embedding QR codes into handouts to provide a more active learning experience. There is a growing body of online educational resources available: web pages, applications, and 3D objects. AR provides one portal for information creation, particularly in the context of physical/spatial orientation.

AR is predicated on a constructivist educational theory where knowledge is embedded in the setting in which it is used. This supports its use in those disciplines where situational awareness adds to the learning—engineering and the physical, biological, and earth sciences are all good candidates for development.

The instructional design of augmented learning applications needs to reflect the educational paradigm it supports. Situational learning is all about context, so the designer must structure the learning experience around environments that are accessible and relevant to the subject.

During the session, a number of questions came up, and while we were able to address most of them, we weren’t able to get to all of them due to time. Below are those questions and my best answers. This is an ongoing conversation, and I encourage you to keep the questions coming in via the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Q: How cost effective is augmented reality as a learning technology?

A: Hardware costs do not provide a barrier to entry given that today’s mobile devices are configured with all the components necessary to deliver an AR experience. There is an increasing shift towards a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach to the delivery of technology-mediated education, which removes the high overhead implications for educational institutions. QR code creation software is freely available, meaning that basic augmented courses can easily be created with little additional investment.

Q: I assume you need both the paper doc and the mobile device, with software, no doubt?

A: In the example I showed, that is correct. The 3D models can be incorporated into an electronic version of the document (as used in 3D PDF documents, for example), using the mouse to manipulate the model orientation. The next generation of pattern recognition software allows you to point the mobile device directly at the object in order to trigger the overlay, as with the Hyundai service manual described in the webinar.

Q: Could you provide some additional specific examples of AR used in learning or performance support?

A: As AR is becoming more widely adopted; it is now easy to find many good examples of augmented learning on the web. I particularly like this review: Augmented Reality in Education? Here Are 20 Examples

There is also a blog I wrote on virtual and augmented realities that references a number of examples: Virtual and Augmented Realities at Helitech 2015

Q: How are organizations balancing this technology on the work floor to make sure employees aren’t spending too much time on personal social media?

A: The challenge posed by the introduction of mobile devices into the workplace is real but not limited to AR. I think one of the strengths of AR in the workplace is its situational nature—it provides information at the point of need, typically during operational tasks. This is not usually the time when workers are inclined to be surfing the web. Also, as AR becomes incorporated into wearable technologies, such as safety glasses and hard hats, access to personal social media can be controlled to a greater extent.

Q: AR is cool, but is there any data supporting AR as a more effective mode of learning?

A: Quantitative data in support of the effectiveness of any learning technology is rarely collated. This is mainly because learning outcomes or performance measures are rarely described in a format that can be effectively measured. There is, however, much current academic research into the pedagogic effectiveness of augmented learning. I have listed some of the more comprehensive articles below:

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality for Learning Anatomy

Augmented Reality Teaching and Learning

Augmented Reality: A new way of augmented learning

Augmented Reality Applications in Education

As we close in on a holiday that promises frightful costumes and spooky experiences, there’s no shame in admitting to be scared of things. That’s the spirit of Halloween, and it’s part of the fun. Most people spend money to scare others or to be scared! To honor this frightening tradition, I want to address a situation in the talent management world that often causes fear and concern. It is the idea of life sciences clients with a validated learning management system (LMS) migrating from an on-premise system to a SaaS environment. The idea of handing your system over to the cloud can be as worrisome as entering a haunted house. You have no idea whether the path ahead will be safe and smooth sailing or if it will give you tremors and nightmares. What follow, presented trick-or-treat style, are some of the common concerns that companies have when they consider moving their validated LMS to SaaS and how these concerns are alleviated by a SaaS product vendor.

Validation as discussed here, by definition, is establishing documented evidence that provides a high degree of assurance that a specific system will consistently produce a product meeting predetermined specifications and quality attributes. More specific requirements for validation are called out in the FDA Title 21 CFR 11 as well as the EU GMP Annex 11. However, a simplified view of validation activities follows the progression of Plan (“What do we plan to do?”), Execute (“How will we do it?”), and Verify (“How can we prove we did it?”).

At a high level, implementations and migrations subject to validation controls must produce a validation plan; user and functional requirements; installation and test procedures (installation, operational, and performance qualifications); and summary reporting. In addition, these implementations are subject to long-term change controls that ensure the documents remain in sync with long-term configuration changes.

Trick #1: An initial concern is often related to installation qualification (IQ). When moving an on-premise LMS to SaaS, installation is no longer managed in-house and the company’s IT department lacks visibility to the infrastructure. Also SaaS vendors may not provide IQ documentation in the exact form expected by the company’s QA groups, and some information is private for security/proprietary reasons and cannot even be shared.

Treat: In a SaaS environment, the process for configuration and verifying the infrastructure can be managed via vendor audits and by reference to vendor documentation. Your validation plan can call out these activities and define processes for long-term verification (e.g., periodic audits). Additionally, it is the QA group’s right to audit the vendor’s hosting facility as well; this ensures that the hosting operations follow the documented change processes. Client provisioning (launching or upgrading a new application) becomes a verification step rather than recording the explicit steps for installation/provisioning, and it verifies that the core system requirements have been met post-provisioning. Meanwhile, any configuration steps performed by your team once the environment is provisioned can be documented in the traditional IQ form.

Trick #2: Not managing the change control process in-house keeps companies wanting to host the LMS themselves. In a SaaS environment, the QA groups lack visibility into what changed, such as infrastructure changes, new product functionality, and configuration changes made by the customer. Documents are constantly requiring updates to keep up with the changes.

Treat: When migrating to SaaS, one mitigation will be ensuring that the product vendor provides documentation for each release. This is something that should be asked prior to selecting the SaaS vendor. It is important to work with a vendor that limits changes to regular intervals and provides full notice of the application changes far in advance of the deployment. When these application notes are released, they can be assessed by your team against the core application requirements. Configuration changes remain tracked by the customer, but with proper processes, governance, and administrative controls, this can be easily managed.

Trick #3: The rapid release cycle for SaaS products can be difficult to keep up with. QA groups lack visibility into the upcoming changes that will affect functionality, so there is unrest each time a new release is announced. Additionally, in pharmaceuticals, one year is not a long time, and it is difficult to keep up with the system documentation impacts. All changes to system capabilities that affect requirements or regression tests must be updated; there is a constant testing cycle.

Treat: SaaS products supporting validated customers generally offer a slower schedule for rollouts. Some can be as frequent as quarterly with the clients having the option to choose which releases to accept or skip, and some releases are annual with the requirement to upgrade to the latest release. Flexibility and extra time exist for validated clients. There is also the opportunity to get an advanced look into functionality in both sandbox and QA environments so that proper planning can be done. A strategy that a company can follow is using limited versus full regression test sets, with a risk-based assessment determining the degree of regression required. Lastly, contracting with a support organization or third party consultant with validation experience can relieve some of the burden of the validation process. These organizations keep up with application changes on behalf of multiple clients, so they have experience with upcoming changes that are most likely to cause issues with validated systems.

If your organization is contemplating a migration to a validated SaaS environment but has too many unmitigated fears, take some time to research your preferred SaaS vendors and see how they match up to the treats described above. With the right product vendor, you can rest assured that no ghosts, goblins, or ghouls will be out to get you if you move forward with a migration to a validated SaaS LMS, and your end results will include plenty of treats, not tricks.

Recently, a new breed of integrated talent management suites has emerged, making it possible for organizations to unify once isolated processes. In this video, GP Strategies’ Brian Dillon highlights the substantial benefits that organizations can realize by adopting new technologies. He also identifies the strategic decisions that should be made before adopting an integrated talent management strategy.

For more information, read our latest issue of Performance Matters on Human Capital Management.

I’ve just returned from four days at Helitech 2015 – Europe’s largest exhibition for all things rotary. The GP Strategies’ EMEA Professional and Technical Solutions (PTS) team demonstrated virtual and augmented reality technologies. We showcased both our Technical Publications and Digital Learning Solutions capabilities. So what was the common thread linking these two disciplines? We have been able to bring the technical reference manual to life by incorporating interactive 3D models through augmented reality (AR) and providing real added value both as a training aid and as a maintenance asset.

Helitech 2015 demonstrated that the ability to overlay digital information onto a live video source is increasingly impacting a range of sectors. A significant number of show exhibitors were from the surveillance space. Attendees saw everything from gimballed camera turrets that can be mounted on any airborne platform and a micro UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or drone) to search and rescue helicopters. Augmented reality allows the superimposition of real time data, either from on-board instruments or GPS mapping, providing the operator with enhanced information.

Outside of the aerospace sector, augmented reality is becoming an increasingly important technology associated with the proliferation of video sources, from the smartphone to wearable technology. Increasingly, video recording devices are being incorporated into the workplace – as part of the police uniform, on borescope inspection appliances, or as part of the surgeon’s head wear. I’m convinced that with this growing access to video imagery in the workplace, opportunities to enhance learning experiences, provide mentor support and assess on-the-job performance are significantly improved.

Where it is impractical to gain access to the live environment for cost or safety reasons, the ability to create virtual worlds provides an effective supplement to on-the-job training. Increasingly, manufacturers are able to source 3D/CAD models of their product ranges. These provide the learning designer with a rich asset around which to build simulations, interactive tasks and even games. When these virtual environments are combined with the physical control devices operators routinely use, learning outcomes increase significantly.

We all recognise the importance of bridging the gap between classroom training and workplace learning. These emerging immersive technologies are now reaching a maturity that enables them to be considered a realistic and cost effective addition to learning organisations’ toolsets.

Moving your human capital management to a cloud/SaaS such as SuccessFactors makes sense. The larger your operation is, the more sense it makes.

However, an important issue that will become more difficult as your company or your implementation project starts expanding is the need to accommodate users with different language requirements and different cultural backgrounds. For example, an American company expanding into a European setting, a European company setting up a plant in a neighboring country, or a Middle Eastern company acquiring subsidiaries in the Far East will all have to decide to what degree to accommodate local languages and practices.

You know I am going to say this eventually, so here goes: You can get just about everything you need with SuccessFactors. It is paramount, however, that you connect with someone with experience to help you get the best system to face your end users.

Benefits

Global companies will usually encourage or even mandate only one corporate language, but when you get out onto the factory floor, it will be Bahasa, Italian, or Polish that people will be speaking, not English. It’s also guaranteed that your end users eventually will become confused if the system uses decimal points where they expect decimal commas, or months/days where they expect to see days/months.

Therefore, it makes the conversations and the processes much easier if the supporting system is set to the end user’s language and notation. The user can at will select a language option or one of several similar locales (e.g., traditional Chinese as used in Taiwan as opposed to the simplified version used in PRC), and the selection stays with that profile and is stored server-side along with the rest of the user’s data.

When you implement the SuccessFactors language packs, you also get settings for decimal notation, date notations, etc. Then, supplement those language packs with sets of company translations. Once in place, you have a system that takes into account the individual user’s need to communicate in his/her own language and you benefit from a correct, company wide terminology.

Of course, you do also have the option to import the default locale, and thus decide centrally what people should see. This is not something we recommend because you never truly know what language all of your employees are more comfortable with, right?

Challenges and Pitfalls

Historically, SuccessFactors is software created in the US and with US language and notations. We see that in lots of places, and we know how to work around it when we need to. Administrative handling of localization has been retrofitted in many of the older modules, and we see the translations are implemented in completely different ways. Most of this older editing is strictly ‘implementation consultant only’, but over the years, we are seeing that newer modules have a more logical and intuitive way to implement translations. We also see more and more options accessible to the local SuccessFactors administrator.

It is important that local administrators are properly trained so that they are able to maintain all the translations they can because if they are not sure what they need to do, they can potentially create a lot of damage. It is also imperative to identify where to maintain the knowledge. If you have a technically inclined person in the correct position, that is great. In cases where there isn’t a dedicated resource, this can create a big challenge and is a reason why many customers come to us for advice and support.

The need for localization of Human Capital Management efforts is growing. Are you prepared to expand global efforts within your organization?

The Cloud Is Inevitable

The shift to SaaS human capital management (HCM) applications is an ongoing and unstoppable trend. Quite simply, the ease of deployment and the cost benefits are so attractive to business owners that it’s an inevitable paradigm shift. Couple this with rapid innovation and seamless rollouts of regular releases and it’s simple to see why this shift is happening.

That’s not to say that SaaS is a panacea; in fact, it introduces some of its own problems. One of the benefits of a behind the firewall-type implementation is that since all applications lived in your own data center, their interoperability and integration was far easier by sheer virtue of being able to reach out from any layer to any layer. Your HCM system needs to feed payroll? You can roll your own integration, in your programming layer of choice, directly hitting each application’s database tier directly.

This isn’t feasible in the cloud.

You need to get your data out of that application somehow.

Maybe your system offers some basic integration capabilities with scheduled reports sent out or simple CSV generation capabilities, but if your integration needs are more advanced, what’s the answer?

APIs Are the Answer…

The answer, of course, is an application programming interface (API). This is a part of the enterprise application that lets other applications (as opposed to users) talk to it. While there are many industry standard ways to deploy an API (RESTful, SOAP, and others), it’s critical that the application you select offers some way to access your data.

It is also critical that the API exposes all of the objects in your underlying data model to allow for meaningful integrations. A nice-to-have would be exposing the metadata used in configuration of the application to allow seamless rollouts of configurations across multiple environments, but this is not yet a common approach.

One additional, often overlooked, facet of the API is excellent documentation. With SaaS being a more “self-service” focused-type deployment, it is critical that the vendor of your HCM suite has devoted the time and energy into making it easy enough for you to use. Surprisingly, this is not always the case. Regardless, the enlightened self-interest would dictate that a vendor have robust documentation to keep support and “how-to” calls down.

…But Not the Only Answer

Always consider the type of integration you are attempting before perusing the available APIs in your HCM system. A good rule of thumb is to think of real-time (or near real-time) integrations as being good candidates for API-type integrations. Things like “when a person is entered in the system as a new hire, accounts should be created in system X and Y and they should be linked to the active directory account created for them” are good candidates. This is processing one (or a few) record right away.

Counter to that are things like business intelligence (BI)-type integrations, where large blocks of data (“all transactions today”) are fed into a data warehouse or other data analytics-type system. These are typically meant to be larger batch jobs where transformation of the data is needed, and this is notionally the opposite of how an API functions. This type of transaction might overwhelm the HCM system API setup and cause other issues.

To prepare for the Great SaaS Migration, remember:

• It’s inevitable, so plan now.
• Think about what integrations you have and want with your HCM system.
• Research, research, research the available APIs for your HCM system of choice.
• Make sure you’re using the right tools for the right job.

Although I currently work in business development at GP Strategies, my first nine years with the Company were in project management. I managed countless implementations, migrations, and upgrades for learning and talent management systems. As technology changed, as functionality was enhanced, as clients became more sophisticated, and as project scope became more complex and advanced, one thing stayed constant: My clients were never completely satisfied with the product they were using. Even if it was the market leader and the latest release, it never met every single requirement. And the most common complaint was that it could not accommodate an existing process.

This is where, as a project manager, as a product expert, and as a consultant, I struggled to understand the reasoning. How could this product not be able to do what they need it to do? Were their requirements so unique and so complex that no software company had yet to develop and incorporate the functionality or configuration they asked for?

What I soon learned was that these organizations had done things a certain way for so long, and despite this major technology initiative they are going through, they still plan to continue executing their processes the same. The issue is that, in the past, those processes had always been done simply because of the existing limitations within the organizational environment (people and technology) that existed. However, the system implementation changes that environment; therefore, they have the ability to change processes.

Too often the technology is blamed because it appears to fall short as far as its functionality goes if it cannot support an organization’s existing business processes. Everyone knows change isn’t easy, but with all that these systems are offering in the competitive marketplace today, organizations may be able to easily improve their processes if they welcome change and allow the system to meet their needs. Clients get stuck on, “We’ve always done it this way” and don’t think, “Well, we’ve got an awesome new product, so maybe it’s time we change our processes to work with it!” Stop expecting or demanding that the software works with you, and instead, work with the software. Then the software will work for you.

Technology, particularly cloud technology, is leading the way in learning and talent management, and it might be time to rethink long-standing processes and give your organization new life. What’s holding you back from trying a new way of doing things? You might be happy with the outcome.

For many years now, eLearning has been a tool in the training toolbox; however, some organizations still struggle to determine the best uses of eLearning. Unfortunately, it seems to be a great solution to resolve challenges such as the need to reduce travel and expenses, combat large class sizes, and reduce the “seat time” for onboarding training. However, we often forget that in many cases we have simply changed where we are spending money or where the employee’s “seat time” is spent without actually impacting the training solution.

During the recent webinar To Use eLearning or Not to Use eLearning, I gave insights and best use cases for eLearning. If you missed the webinar, a recording is available, but in this post I will offer more information on the practical application of eLearning.

When considering eLearning, it is important to keep the content and mission in mind. Take a close look at the knowledge that you need to transfer to the learner. What is the end result you are looking to achieve with the training intervention? If the answer to this question leads you to eLearning, then that is the right reason to move to that modality.

Let’s look at a few scenarios in which we could consider eLearning as a potential solution:

Process Change

If you have an existing process in your organization where a small component is changing, you have a few options:

• Pull everyone together to communicate the change and distribute documentation to support implementation.
• Create a short burst of learning communicating the change and send via email to desktop and mobile computers.

Both methods are effective, but eLearning will communicate your change quicker and more efficiently while giving you tools that can be reused for remediation.

Procedures

If you have a procedure that is lengthy or confusing, you have a few options:

• Create a large diagram that includes the process flow that individuals can follow in conjunction with the document.
• Create an interactive PDF that allows the learner to click through the process flow to drive to the details of the procedure.

Again, both methods will achieve your goal, but the interactive PDF option will drive learners to a solution faster and more efficiently.

Didactic Content

If you have a large amount of content that you currently deliver in textbook format with diagrams and illustrations and that can often use additional explanations:

• Deliver the training instructor led or virtually to explain difficult concepts using animated diagrams in a series of PowerPoint slides.
• Create an eLearning module that uses animation and interactivity to explain difficult concepts. This module can include knowledge checks to ensure learners master one concept before building upon it.

Using eLearning gives you the ability to bring complex diagrams to life while ensuring the learners are tracking through the content that you are unable to convey easily with a textbook format. 

The next time you are looking to train your teams, keep in mind the content that you are looking to communicate and the outcomes that you need. A great solution to your next training need may be eLearning.

During the webinar, several questions came up and I’d like to continue the discussion here by providing my answers. I will also encourage you to give your thoughts and opinions in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

Q: Can you recommend some free tools for 3D creation?

A: http://xtranormal.com/
    http://www.powtoon.com/
    http://www.animaker.com/

Q: Are there any times when eLearning isn’t a good solution?

A: When you are looking to build a community or having one-on-one interactions with people, you need to think carefully about using eLearning. While it is possible, with leveraging social collaboration and virtual tools, sometimes in person is best. The same applies to hands-on instruction in a technical environment. While you can introduce technical concepts, nothing will really replace the hands-on experience through structured on-the-job training.

Q: Can you recommend a software simulation tool for creating Try Me?

A: Articulate has incorporated a really great screen-capturing tool into their software. It is really intuitive and gives you a lot of options for publishing. For more information, click here.

Q: Is there such a thing as too much eLearning?

A: There absolutely is. One of the biggest challenges with eLearning is that often we go a bit too far, converting our entire instructor-led training into eLearning content. A blend of different modalities is best; keep in mind how your delivery method reaches your desired outcome while presenting the content clearly.

Q: What do you do for offline audiences?

A: For offline audiences (unless your LMS supports offline viewing), the best options are printable courses. Be sure to include the narration and all the subscreens when creating your printable course. Often the final storyboard can easily solve this challenge.

Q: Can you explain more options for a blended learning approach?

A: For more information on blended learning approaches, take a peek at my webinar from November 2014. It includes a rapid analysis approach to create a truly blended curriculum. You can view that webinar by clicking here.

Check out this quiz from ATD to help you decide if eLearning is a good fit for what you are trying to accomplish.