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February / March 2015 Volume 11 Issue 1 â&#x20AC;˘ www.2elearning.com

>> Learning! 100:

Scripps Health Pg 28

>> Extended

Enterprise Training Goes Mainstream Pg 32

>> The State

of Enterprise Collaboration Pg 35

The Consumerization of Learning

Pg 18

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Contents

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2015 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 1

>> Cover Story:

The Consumerization of Learning PG 18

To stay on the cutting edge of learning, view your employees as consumers, and introduce new organizational possibilities — some of which are based on applications and algorithms similar to those used by Amazon and NetFlix. By Jerry Roche

>> Essentials 11 13 13 14

News Trendlines Deals People on the Move

PG 26

>> Features 24

Wearables and Learning Wearable technology like Google Glasses and smartwatches from various manufacturers have the potential to support learning by providing feedback to, and focusing the attention of, learners. By Jerry Roche

Learning! 100: Scripps Health Three key components of a human resources-oriented culture can afford any company long-term employee loyalty, along with a public perception of being a “career destination” that helps attract the best job candidates. By Jerry Roche

Extended Enterprise Training Goes Mainstream Almost 50 percent of enterprises are delivering learning to stakeholders other than employees according to the recent E-learning User Study. This trend has been on the rise. What’s driving the shift? By Catherine Upton and Jerry Roche

The State of Enterprise Collaboration and Engagement The top business drivers for investing in learning technologies is “improving employee engagement,” according to 64.2 percent of respondents of a recent survey. “Increasing collaborative learning” and “collaboration across the enterprise” follow closely behind. By David Coleman

February / March 2015 Elearning!

>> News 11 12 12

PG 39

Mobile Investments Rise FCC on Net Neutrality Global E-learning Investments Break $1 Billion

>> Management 15

Business of Learning To say that Big Data is the “next big thing” in learning is incorrect. However, for companies that are ahead of the curve and have found out how to use Big Data in a timely fashion, it’s already paying dividends. By Jerry Roche

Leader’s View Veronica Zaman, vice president of human resources and learning at Scripps Health, lists the key components of a solid corporate learning culture, along with what she sees in the future for learning professionals.

recent survey. “Increasing collaborative learning” and “collaboration across the enterprise” follow closely behind. By David Coleman

>> Tools & Practices

Editor’s Note Thinking machines have long been a topic for the fertile minds of sciencefiction writers. But thinking machines like “compu-mentors” are no longer fiction. By Jerry Roche

Trendlines Statistics, figures and industry trends

Business of Learning To say that Big Data is the “next big thing” in learning is incorrect. Why? Because for companies that are ahead of the curve and have found out how to use Big Data in a timely fashion, it’s already paying dividends. By Jerry Roche

Measuring the Impact of Learning The difficulty with measuring the impact of soft skills training probably stems from the many definitions of “soft skills” that are generally discussed. Here’s where to start.

PG 35

Driving Social and Environmental Impact Morris Koffa discusses Africa Environmental Watch’s work with local governments to provide better education and leadership resources for its citizens, helping prevent events such as the Ebola crisis. By Tatiana Sehring

>> Business

Pop Quiz Are you Mensa material?

The Next Big Thing in Virtual Learning

Ad/Edit Index

While 90% of learning pros use Web or virtual learning, 44% are looking for more robust capabilities. By Susan Levand

Last Word: Five Training Trends Included in the list for 2015 and beyond are Big Data, robust reporting, mobile learning and custom apps. By John Bryson

Elearning! February / March 2015

Co-located with:

June 8-10, 2015 | Manassas, VA

Where Leaders Meet to

Build Smarter Organizations via Learning & Workplace Technology.

3 Keynotes, 10 Workshops and 50 Sessions to Drive Performance Keynotes:

“Building Learning Environments for the Next Generation” COL Ronald Dodge, CIO & Associate Professor, West Point Military Academy “The Social Web and You, Your Career & Your Organization” Jennifer Golbeck, Author of ‘Analyzing the Social Web’ & Associate Director HumanComputer Lab, University of Maryland “Growing the High Performance Workforce” Featuring the #1 Learning! 100 Leaders.

50 Sessions:

ELC15 in partnership with The Innovations in E-learning Symposium features four distinct conference tracks to help you drive organizational performance. >> Learning Environments for the Next Generation >> Smart Connected Things in Learning >> Learning Analytics & Performance in the Big Data Age >> The Learning! 100 Best Practices

Workshops Sharpen your skills, develop your career, and drive enterprise performance by attending ELC15 workshops. >> CLO Executive Forum: The Business of Learning >> Building The High Performance Organization >> Learning Analytics & Big Data >> E-learning Fundamentals >> Mobile Deployment Strategy >> Play & Design for Game-based Learning >> Cloud-Based Learning >> And more…

Visit www.elceshow.com Or, call 888-201-2841 x848

Hosted By:

Enterprise Learning! Conference is a B2B Media Company, LLC brand. Learn more at www.elceshow.com

Save

$300

REGISTER TODAY & Save $300 visit www.elceshow.com Meet the Learning! 100 Network, Learn & Share from the Top Global Learning Organizations

>> Ascension Health >> AT&T >> Cisco >> Defense Acquisition University >> Facebook >> Gates Foundation >> Honeywell >> IBM >> MTR Hong Kong

>> NASCAR >> Petsmart >> Salesforce.com >> Shaw Industries >> US Office of Personnel Mgt >> US Dept. of Veterans Affairs >> And Moreâ&#x20AC;Ś.

Workshops: June 8th, 2015 Conference: Jun 9th-10th, 2015 Exhibits: June 8th-10, 2015 ELC15 Online: July 16th, 2015 Partners:

Who Should Attend:

If YOU are responsible for business or agency performance, employee development, training, education, learning or talent strategy, you need to attend ELCE.

ELC attendees include: Agency Directors, EVPs, VPs, Directors, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Customer Care and Finance Managers, CLOs, HR, Training, Talent and Corporate Executives aspiring to C-level suite.

Innovation in E-learning Symposium attendees include: Training, education, learning professionals deploying e-learning and workplace technologies to drive employee, stakeholder, citizen, customer or channel performance.

at www.elceshow.com Or, call 888-201-2841 x848

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2015 VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1

Catherine Upton Group Publisher >> cupton@2elearning.com

Online@

2elearning.com Trending Topics

How Organizations Are Changing Collaborative Learning Approaches http://www.2elearning.com/insights/ item/55883-trends-in-collaboration-howare-organizations-changing-their-approachto-collaborative-learning Three Tips to Simplify Your Life By Michael Thomas Sunnarborg http://www.2elearning.com/insights-blogs/ blogs/entry/simplify-your-life

Most Popular Web Sessions

Creating Great Mobile Learning http://www.2elearning.com/web-seminarsseries/item/55534-create-stunning-mobilelearning-courses-with-adobe-captivate The Consumerization of Learning http://bit.ly/1xWY4Zn

Jerry Roche Executive Editor >> editor@2elearning.com Rosemary Doody Senior Director of Digital Content

JW Upton Vice President >> JW@2elearning.com Kathryn McAllister Senior Director of Media Sales >> kmcallister@2elearning.com Marguerite Hoffman Event Operations Manager >> operations@2elearning.com Kim Lewis Art Director >> production@2elearning.com

Beverly Miller Print Production Manager

Susan Glenn Controller

Contributors: David Coleman, Collaborative Strategies John Bryson, Expand Interactive Tatiana Sehring, American Public University

Research

E-learning User Study 2014: Corporate Sector http://www.2elearning.com/research/ item/55597-e-learning-user-study-2014 Big Data Market: 2014-2020 www.snsreports.com

Events

13th Annual ‘Innovations in E-learning’ Symposium June 8-10, 2015, Manassas, Va. http://elceshow.com

Elearning! Media Group is the property of B2B Media Company LLC P.O. Box 5417, Oceanside, CA 92052 • 888-201-2841 • 951-547-1131 www.2elearning.com Elearning! magazine is published bi-monthly by B2B Media Company LLC, P.O. Box 5417, Oceanside, CA 92052. Application to mail Standard Class is filed with Sheppardville, KY Post Office. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to: Elearning! P.O. Box 5417, Oceanside, CA 92052. Subscriptions are free to qualified professionals in the USA. All international or non-qualified subscriptions can receive Elearning! e-zine complimentary by ordering at http://www.2elearning.com/reg/choose. Elearning! magazine is a trademark of B2B Media Company and publishes under creative commons copyright.

February / March 2015 Elearning!

Co-located with:

June 8-10, 2015 | Manassas, VA

Where Leaders Meet to Build Smarter Organizations ELC15 Workshops

Sharpen Your Skills & Prepare for Your Next Promotion

If you are a learning leaders charged with building smarter organizations via learning & workplace technologies, this is the place for you to sharpen your skills, develop your career, and drive enterprise performance by attending ELC15 workshops. All in One Place, All in One Day!

MORNING SESSIONS

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Executive Workshop- The Business of Learning Ready for the C-Suite? Prepare to be the next CLO/CHRO-attend this session on Strategy, Business and Learning Impact.

Learning in the Cloud: Preparing for Learning in the New World Your next learning platforms may be in the cloud. See which solutions are “musts” for your team.

How to Leverage Social Collaboration in Learning Drive performance by connecting people. Building the High Performance Organization How does your company culture measure up? Find out how to understand and build performance. Common Learning Measurement Mistakes to Smile About Discover how to avoid the most common learning measurement mistakes. E-learning Fundmentals The key steps for effective engaging e-learning. Bring laptop to create a module.

Hands-on Play & Design for Game-based Learning Get a detailed introduction to game-based learning mechanics and application. Learning Analytics Applied: DAU Take a peek into one of the industry’s best Evaluation system. DAU’s - Metrics-ThanMatter, which is the most comprehensive implementation of any organization assessing all Four Levels of Evaluation and Assessment. How GPS-enabled Mobile Technologies are Changing Learning Understand the full capabilities of mobile learning and impact of location based features. Virtual Learning Lab Discover how to produce great virtual learning that is engaging, collaborative & innovative.

Partners:

Enterprise Learning! Conference is a B2B Media Company, LLC brand. Learn more at www.elceshow.com

Editor’sNote What the Heck Is a Compu-Mentor? THINKING MACHINES HAVE LONG BEEN A TOPIC FOR THE FERTILE MINDS OF SCIENCE-FICTION WRITERS. BUT THEY’RE NO LONGER FICTION.

he theme of this issue is the consumerization of learning: the specific impact that consumeroriginated technologies can have on enterprise learning. Because how and where people work — and the new technology they use to get things done — are changing. As Salesforce University’s Wayne McCulloch and CloudCoaching International’s Walter

Rogers wrote in a 2014 article: “If consumerization is to be effective, the systems that drive it have to aggressively target workforce engagement by delivering a great customer experience. Elements of consumer technologies — like social media, gamification and mobile — are integral. For learning professionals, the effects are hard to miss. From gamification and interactive learning experiences to the growing number of social media elements in performance and learning management, the technology employees expect to find in the workplace is evolving.” Current technology — combined with the introduction of the “Big Data” concept not long ago — is on the cusp of producing what is being termed a “cognitive computer.” In other words, a pile of nuts, bolts, silicon and diodes that can actually process raw information and then provide additional pertinent information to users in a cognitive way. Which brings us to the question posed in the headline. And if you read “Business of Learning” (beginning on page 15), you’ll get the answer. A “compu-mentor” is an algorithmic computer program that can save to its memory any and every employee’s workplace experiences, likes, favorites and preferences. This database can help make the compu-mentor “smarter” — and the compu-mentor returns the favor by finding content that the employee needs or likes and directing the employee to relevant sources, resources and human mentors to help him or her solve daily challenges. “Learning is shifting toward non-traditional models,” observes Ben Willis of Saba. Indeed. In this issue, we provide a raft of statistics that support his contention. Start with the “Business of Learning” article wthat includes stats from SNS Research. Then check out the “Using Consumerization” article (beginning on page 18) to glean pertinent numbers about some of the computer algorithms being used in the consumer space and how they might apply to corporate and government learning. Finally, read the “Extended Enterprise Training” article (beginning on page 32) for the results of a significant, pertinent portion of Elearning! magazine’s original annual research. The act of researching and sourcing the information on learning consumerization that we present in this issue has been a real eye-opener — even for writers who try to keep up with the ever-changing impact of technology on life and work. We hope you feel the same when you’ve finished reading. —Jerry Roche, editorial director

February / March 2015 Elearning!

News Federal Bandwidth Auction ‘Blows Away’ Estimates Cellular carriers spent $44.9 billion during a recent auction of wireless frequencies by the Federal Communications Commission. The eye-popping bids that blew past even the highest government estimates are a testament to soaring demand for mobile Internet service. These frequencies, also known as spectrum, are needed to expand cellular networks so they can carry more phone calls and data. The additional bandwidth will help cell customers stream high-quality videos and download apps more quickly. Without sufficient airwaves, wireless networks can become congested and slow. “The results of this auction confirm the strong market demand for more spectrum,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler commented. “We are confident there will continue to be strong demand for valuable low-band spectrum that will be made available in the Incentive Auction early next year.” The U.S. government plans to use about $7 billion of the revenue to build a nationwide high-speed communications network for firefighters and police officers. The rest will go to paying down the federal debt.

Mobile Investments on the Rise Mobile is becoming more of a key area for sales training with nearly one in three organizations investing in it for next year (22% say they use it now). Currently, only 26% pieces of sales training content is accessed via mobile, according to the trainers surveyed. Current inhibitors to mobile sales training adoption include:

>> Content not well-formatted for mobile - 46% >> Content too long for mobile - 37% >> Interactive content doesn’t work on mobile - 30% >> Difficult to ensure content works across platforms - 25% “Sales reps are just-in-time learners, and as they’re frequently in the field and on the road, mobile access is a key factor in training effectiveness,” says Brainshark president Greg Flynn. “To be successful, reps need to be able to find content at the time and place they need it — and that is frequently from their phone or tablet. Organizations looking to reach reps at the moment of need are looking to more visual, interactive mediums that deliver a great experience for the learner on any device.” —More info: www.brainshark.com/campaigns/lp/2014-state-ofsales-training.

Universities Striving to Improve How, When MOOCs Are Used Instructors and students in higher ed are continuing to offer and take MOOCs (massive open online courses) in growing numbers. So in 2015 and beyond, educational institutions will begin to leverage MOOC content (via virtual and blended learning) in their own campuses and continuing education curricula. Key developments this past year in the MOOC space: >> MOOC providers roll out their own credentials - Each of the Big 3 MOOC providers introduced their own credentials for paid courses: Udacity’s Nanodegrees, Coursera’s Specializations and edX’s Xseries. >> Upping the production quality – Universities, seeing both large markets and big uncertainties in the online learning world, have organized and staffed centralized departments to support professors creating these courses, like Harvard’s in-house course production studio. >> A trend toward “always on” availability - Udacity was the first provider to adopt a self-paced model, back in 2012, which gets closer to the model used by Udemy and Lynda.com. Coursera and FutureLearn are joining in. The challenge will be in providing the interaction and/or assistance most MOOC-takers expect via discussion forums or other methods. —More info: www.edsurge.com

Executives Use Confidence in the Economy to Set Strategies The findings in a survey from Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services show how mid-market companies are translating increased confidence in the economy into action: hiring new employees, investing in new technology solutions and other equipment, and acquiring businesses to reach new markets. Key findings:

>> 45% of mid-market executives are “extremely” or “very” confident

that the economy will continue to improve over the next 24 months — compared to just 10 percent in spring 2014.

>> 63% say they expect to increase their full-time domestic workforce in the coming year, compared to 43 percent in spring 2014.

>> 46% say they are likely, or very likely, to purchase another

company in the coming year, a significant jump from the 31 percent who held the same view just six months ago.

—Download the report: www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/deloittegrowth-enterprise-services/articles/americas-economic-engineopening-the-throttle.html Elearning! February / March 2015

News FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan to Open ‘Internet for All’ Despite challenges from some elected leaders in Congress, Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler says that his new Net Neutrality plan will ban paid prioritization of content and maintain an open Internet for all. His new draft rules will reclassify Internet service providers (ISPs) as common carriers. The regulations apply to both wired and wireless providers. The five-member FCC was scheduled to vote on Wheeler’s plan on Thursday, Feb. 26. “These enforceable, bright-line rules will ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services,” Wheeler wrote in Wired magazine. “I propose to fully apply — for the first time ever — those bright-line rules to mobile broadband. My proposal assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone’s permission.”

Desktops Still Rule Work, According to 2014 Study U.S. employees still stick with their trusty desktop computers when it comes to on-the-job devices, based on a September 2014 study. However, this may not last forever, as there was a noticeable drop in desktop usage between 2011 and 2014, from 84% of U.S. employees to 71%. Though a meager 7% of respondents reported using tablets for work, they were the only device type that saw an increase in usage. Laptops saw a tiny decline in usage, as did smartphones. Meanwhile, another study (from CNBC) found that 78% of business execs worldwide use their smartphones for business and 75% use tablets. —More info: www.emarketer.com/Article/How-Much-Work-DoMobile-Devices-Do-Office/1011798/1#sthash.gMrw7Feb.dpuf

Learning Investments Globally Hit All-Time Peak of $2.34 Billion In 2014, global investments made to learning technology companies reached $2.34 billion, up from the previous record of $1.64 billion set in 2013. This marks the sixth time in the last 16 years that investment totals exceeded the billion-dollar threshold and the first time in the history of learning technology that investment reached the $2 billion threshold. “The most significant investment patterns in the learning technology industry in 2014 were the spike in funding of companies operating in China, a dramatic increase in investments made to self-paced e-learning companies, and a renewed investor interest in corporate-facing learning technology companies,” says Ambient Insight’s chief research officer Sam S. Adkins. “Investments in companies operating in China accounted for 24% of all investments made to learning technology companies in 2014.” There was a sharp spike in investments going to self-paced e-learning companies, reaching $1.07 billion in 2014, up from $565.3 million in 2013. —Download free whitepaper: www. ambientinsight.com/Resources/ Documents/AmbientInsight_2014_ Global_Learning_Technology_ Investment_Patterns.pdf

February / March 2015 Elearning!

Saba Acquired by Its Partner Since 2013, Vector Capital Saba has entered into a definitive agreement with affiliates of Vector Capital, under which an affiliate of Vector will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Saba common stock. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and the approval of Saba shareholders, is expected to close in the coming months. It is not subject to any financing conditions. After evaluating a wide range of strategic alternatives, Saba’s Board of Directors believes that this agreement will “provide significant cash value for our shareholders.” “Over the last 17 years, Saba has delivered a growing set of innovative intelligent talent management solutions, which are in use today by more than 2,200 global market leaders and innovators,” says Saba president and CEO Shawn Farshchi. “Vector has been a great partner to Saba since 2013. We are thrilled to continue the relationship, and take advantage of the support and resources of Vector and their partner network to strategically invest in expanding our product portfolio, further our customer success programs, and continue to the next stage of the company’s growth and market leadership.” Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC is acting as financial advisor to Saba, and Morrison & Foerster LLP is acting as Saba’s legal advisor. Shearman & Sterling LLP is acting as Vector’s legal advisor. Saba senior management is expected to remain in Redwood Shores, Calif.

Trendlines Gaming Not the Be-All-End-All to AR and VR, Tech Experts Contend An expert panel has predicted that, while gaming is currently the main vehicle bringing virtual reality to e-learning, it is not the end of virtual reality, and the dynamic will shift as more content becomes available pushing the technology toward telepresence and video. When asked how augmented and virtual reality can both grow in the marketplace, the panelists agreed that the technology is already in place, but more content is needed. Palmer Luckey, founder/CEO of Oculus VR said, “The first step is making a device that can make you believe you’re in a different place.” The panel featured Luckey, Jaunt CEO Jens Christensen, Technical Illusions co- founder Jeri Ellsworth and Razorfish’s global CTO Ray Velez. The discussion took place at January’s International Computer Electronics Show.

54 million:

U.S. employees involved in some form of remote work

—Source: Gartner Research

Tablet Use Explodes Both in the U.S. and Worldwide More than 1 billion people worldwide will use a tablet in 2015, nearly 15% of the global population and more than double the number three years ago. By 2018, the number of tablet users in the world will reach 1.43 billion. But growth by percentage of users is slowing Trends: >> Tablets are still perceived as luxury items, both from a perspective of share-of-wallet and share-of-time spent with media. >> Tablets face increased competition from smartphones and a widening array of connected devices, including phablets, wearables, connected TVs and dedicated gaming devices, particularly in late-adopting countries like Japan and South Korea. >> The use case for tablets is not always clear, particularly in markets where smartphone and phablet usage is robust. >> By 2018, nearly 20% of the world population will use tablets regularly. —More info: www. emarketer.com/Article/ Tablet-Users-Surpass1-Billion-Worldwide2015/1011806/1#sthash. Jr9lEH1U.dpuf

Deals Plaza Home Mortgage has selected MORF MEDIA, a developer of gamified enterprise training on mobile devices and desktops. Morf e-learning uses its smart data engine to automatically simulate and customize specific scenarios based on employee responses to help employees master whatever business problem they need to resolve. Plaza wanted to take its customer education programs to the next level with a cost-effective and scalable solution. TOWERS WATSON’S TALENT REWARD, a software-as-a-service HR technology solution, will now offer ICIMS’s suite of talent acquisition technology, which enables companies to market, recruit and onboard the best talent for their organizations. The partnership now offers a comprehensive suite of technology that features innovative social, mobile and video capabilities.

THE AMERICAN SAFETY COUNCIL (ASC) has acquired the ONLINE TRAFFIC SCHOOL, headquartered in Camarillo, Calif., which provides 45 driver safety and driver improvement courses in 28 states. ASC, based in Orlando, Fla., provides e-learning and training services for transportation, workplace safety, testing, medical continuing education and other groups. Last year, LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES GROUP (LTG) acquired LINE COMMUNICATIONS, merging it with its main business Epic to form Leo Learning (LEO), creating a U.K. market leader in e-learning custom content. LTG also acquired Preloaded, extending the company’s expertise into innovative learning games. The Carinthian Academy of Administration in Austria is now electronically implementing written tests that are routinely administered to

candidates for Austrian citizenship. It’s using the IMC Learning Suite, which offers numerous benefits for both the test participants and the testers. As a result, the academy is seeing substantially greater efficiency in terms of the work and cost associated with the citizenship tests. Optimization of the entire testing and administration process results in a significant time saving on preparation, implementation and evaluation of the test. DOCEBO, the disruptive Cloud e-learning solutions provider, and CEZANNE HR have formed a partnership to provide an integrated human resources management system (HRMS) and e-learning/ learning management system (LMS) solution to companies worldwide. Both Docebo and Cezanne provide international, configurable and scalable solutions that are quick to deploy, easy to manage and exceptionally cost-effective, whatever the size or location of the customers. The two

companies have not only designed their systems from the ground up to be international, but have harnessed Cloud technologies to reduce cost and complexity without sacrificing sophistication or security. The POYNTER INSTITUTE, a global leader in journalism education, will partner with the Gannett Company, the nation’s largest news publisher, to train thousands of Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing journalists. The training supports a strategic transformation in Gannett’s newsrooms. Each news organization — and each job — has been reshaped and revitalized to serve readers better. Poynter will help develop training designed for more than a dozen job-specific programs that will include new courses developed specifically for Gannett’s newsroom transformation. The training program will use Poynter’s full and part-time faculty, and its e-learning platform, NewsU.

Elearning! February / March 2015

Trendlines News Bold, Innovative Strategies Are Urged by Business Experts Employers will be challenged to re-engineer the workplace, rethink jobs and reshape the way to attract, engage and manage people if they are to drive business performance amidst a growing global economy in 2015, according to new research from Bersin by Deloitte. The report, “Predictions for 2015: Redesigning the Organization for a Rapidly Changing World,” finds organizations should focus on bold, innovative strategies to develop leaders, engage employees and foster a healthy workplace culture. “The global economic recovery, rapid growth of millennials in the global workforce, a 24/7 work environment, and technology-driven transparency everywhere are redefining the entire nature of work,” says Josh Bersin, the company’s principal. In addition to predicting that companies will focus on global leadership development, engagement and culture, suggested directions for 2015 include: >> Make performance management models more agile and transparent. >> Take a hard look at the entire work envir-onment, as more technology floods the work-place. >> Realize that skills are now currency, and corporate learning is taking on increasing importance. >> Invest, refocus and redesign talent acquisition by leveraging network re-cruiting, brand reach and new technologies. —More info: www.bersin.com

Connectivity and Daily Life Soon to Become Integrated Hot consumer trends in the technology realm for 2015 and beyond:

>> The streamed future. 2015 will be historic as more people will watch streamed video on a weekly basis than broadcast TV.

>> Mind sharing. Smartphone owners would like to use a wearable device to communicate with others directly through thought — and believe this will be mainstream by 2020.

>> Smart citizens. Consumers believe traffic volume maps, energy

use comparison apps and real-time water quality checkers will be mainstream by 2020.

>> The digital purse. 80% of smartphone owners believe the smartphone will replace their entire purse by 2020.

>> ‘My information.’ 56% of smartphone owners would like all Internet communication to be encrypted.

>> Longer life. Smartphone owners see Cloud-based services of

various kinds giving them the potential to live healthier and longer lives.

>> Children connect everything. 46% of smartphone owners say that children will expect all objects to be connected when they are older.

—More info: www.multivu.com/players/English/7394951-ericsson-hot-consumer-trends-2015/

People on the Move

TONY SCOTT, the chief information officer (CIO) at software firm VMware, will be the next U.S. CIO. He will also serve as the administrator of the White House Office of E-Government and Information Technology, where he will be responsible for managing an $84 billion — and growing — federal I.T. budget. The CIO post had been officially vacant since September, when former

CIO Steven VanRoekel stepped down to work on fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa for the U.S. Agency for International Development. VanRoekel’s deputy Lisa Schlosser had been serving as acting CIO since he decamped. Before joining VMware in August 2013, Scott served as the CIO at Microsoft for five years. Previous stints include serving as the CIO for the Walt Disney Co. and as a chief technology officer at General Motors.

February / March 2015 Elearning!

JEFF KRISTICK is the new president of Meridian Knowledge Solutions. Kristick will lead a growth plan focused on evolving and accelerating Meridian’s learning solutions to meet the needs of its large and diverse customer base that demands flexibility and choice to drive strategic decision-making. Kristick was most recently vice president of the HCM business unit at Oracle, where he spearheaded the development of Oracle’s HCM advanced learning offerings and focused on aligning operations while executing global sales and marketing strategies. Prior to Oracle, Kristick held various executive and senior leadership positions at SuccessFactors, an SAP Company, where he was responsible for delivering end-to-end HCM solutions for customers while expanding the company’s Cloud business.

TAMMY BREENE has been named Mission Support Services’ chief learning officer, reporting to company president Bill Toti. Breene has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant for government organizations, where she led training programs, managed teams, developed competencies, and provided leaders with strategic direction in learning, workforce issues and business. Most recently, Breene was a technical director at BAE Systems, Inc. She also served as a senior associate with Booz Allen Hamilton. The Learning Technologies Group Board has a new deputy chairman: HARRY HILL, who has been a non-executive director since LTG was formed in November 2013.

Businessof Learning On ‘Big Data’ and Learning TO SAY IT’S THE ‘NEXT BIG THING’ IS INCORRECT. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FOUND OUT HOW TO USE BIG DATA, IT’S ALREADY PAYING DIVIDENDS. BY JERRY ROCHE

merging technologies, Cloud computing and the era of “Big Data” aren’t just transforming how we deliver employee learning and development. They’re changing how we lead, organize teams, motivate employees and marshal resources, enabling us to make smarter decisions that drive targeted results. That shift requires chief learning officers to adapt and innovate how they deliver learning to the organization at large and how they prepare leaders to succeed. “Big Data is a massive explosion, a growth in data being generated and captured on a daily basis,” says Ben Willis, senior director of Product Strategy at Saba. “It’s tempting to blame the bird (Twitter) or social media. It’s the advent of Cloud computing, mobile computing, and all sorts of fantastic new technology. The numbers are staggering. Twitter is generating 1,000 tweets per minute, but it’s not alone. Google records 700,000 searches every hour, Facebook 700,000 status updates every hour — and YouTube reports 600 new videos being uploaded every minute!” Another staggering statistic: 168 million emails are sent every second, according to Willis. Eric Bruner, chief technologist at GP Strategies, says that the most current information on Big Data is two years old. “But data is doubling every 24 months,” he notes. “In one business day, you would fill up more than 20 million file cabinets for one company, Walmart.” The problem for businesses is sorting and analyzing Big Data — and doing it before new data comes in. “Being able to do something with it quickly is one of the real challenges,” Bruner further notes. NEW TECHNOLOGIES “Along with mountains of data came new roles and new technologies,” says Willis. “Older technologies were not able to scale up to accommodate all the new data. New technologies like algorithms have allowed us to get smart about Big Data. Computers can be taught to learn on their own with new algorithms. This sounds scary and futuristic, but the reality is that these systems are in use today. One example is spam filters.” Another example might be IBM’s “Watson,” which is being called a cognitive computer that is forging a new partnership between humans and computers that scales and augments human expertise. “Exciting examples of machine learning can be found in the medicine and

Elearning! February / March 2015

Businessof Learning financial — investing — markets,” Willis says. The perfect use of big data might be intelligent mentoring. Each employee would get his or her own personal computerbased mentor that works around the clock, learns from what the employee inputs and what he or she does. Experiences make the compu-mentor “smarter,” and it returns the favor by finding content that the employee needs or likes and locating relevant human mentors to help solve challenges. In the corporate/organizational setting, Big Data can assist with career planning, learning recommendations and succession planning, among other functions like learning. “We can move beyond SCORM in terms of what learning is tracked, where and how,” Willis observes. “We want to capture learning wherever, whenever and however it’s occurring. In particular, your LRS (learning record store) needs to be hosted in the Cloud so it’s easily accessible and hosted on Big Data technologies. “Learning is shifting toward non-traditional models. You want to make sure that you are positioning things correctly with various stakeholder audiences by communicating actively with them and involving HR and legal teams in terms of how you’re capturing the data and what you’re doing with it. You must use data for positive purposes, [but] it’ll be a process of change.” Bruner adds: “We have access to learning data that we can correlate to business data, specifically around hiring, engagement, performance and business outcomes. So [learning professionals should] make sure you are partnering with HR and I.T. folks. You won’t be able to convince the CEO to invest in Big Data without doing so. It’s how you leverage the investment. It’s a co-share. Be an advocate for data-driven decisions to business problems.”

‘Make sure you are partnering with HR and I.T. folks. You won’t be able to convince the CEO to invest in Big Data without doing so.’

—Eric Bruner, GP Strategies

THE NEWEST RESEARCH SNS Research’s latest report indicates that global spending on Big Data technology was expected to reach nearly $30 billion by the end of 2014. Originally used as a term to describe datasets whose size is beyond the ability of traditional databases, the scope of Big Data has significantly expanded over the years. It now not only refers to the data itself but also a set of technologies that capture, store, manage and analyze large and variable collections of data to solve complex problems. Amid the proliferation of real-time data from sources such as mobile devices, Web, social media, sensors, log files and transactional applications, Big Data has found a host of vertical market applications, ranging from fraud detection to R&D. Despite challenges relating to privacy concerns and organizational resistance, Big Data investments continue to gain momentum throughout the globe. SNS Research estimates that Big Data investments are expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent over the next six years. —Complete SNS Research report: www.snstelecom.com/bigdata

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Leader’sView 4 Questions… …FOR VERONICA ZAMAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND LEARNING AT SCRIPPS HEALTH IN SAN DIEGO, CALIF. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR OTHER LEARNING LEADERS WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION TO GET UPPER MANAGEMENT ON BOARD WITH LEARNING STRATEGIES? One of the most critical changes learning is facing today is preparing a new generation of leaders and front-line staff to meet the needs of an ever-changing and demanding environment. Leadership and learning play a crucial role in enabling organizational growth, transformation and — ultimately — achievement of strategic goals. The vitality of every industry depends upon its outcomes. Aligning learning as a strategic priority ensures excellent organizational results are achieved. The talents, knowledge and experience of our employees enable us to create an environment of innovation and collaboration to deliver on quality and business outcomes. WHAT ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS OF A SOLID CORPORATE LEARNING CULTURE? >> Organizations must continually focus on the effective developmental activities that are needed to engage their employees in growing the skills and knowledge needed to maintain individual and organizational capability. >> They must encourage flexibility, collaboration and a willingness of employees to continue to learn while they leverage subject-matter expertise to drive continuous positive outcomes. >> A focused introduction to the mission, vision, values and principles illustrates the key role that each person plays in supporting the strategic growth of an organization. >> A culture of learning at all levels is the organization’s leverage to engage staff and leaders across the continuum of their career span. HOW CAN E-LEARNING TACTICS CONTRIBUTE TO THE TOTAL LEARNING STRATEGY? Learning can be used as a powerful tool to create, translate and communicate strategy. By using e-learning tactics, carefully crafted leadership and learning strategies can support the continued gaining of knowledge and knowledge application to ensure sustainability of desired outcomes for success. Learning tactics support full understanding of the issues that are being faced, creating a meaningful message as to why it is crucial to leverage skills and knowledge, thus engaging employees from the front line up to the C-suite in an organization’s success. Through comprehensive opportunities for growth and learning, organizations encourage and invest in personal and professional development at every career stage, thus ensuring a culture of continuous improvement and quality.

Pictured: Veronica Zaman, Vice President of Human Resources and Learning, Scripps Health

WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FORESEE IN THE FUTURE FOR LEARNING PROFESSIONALS? In today’s marketplace, maintaining a strategic advantage and a strong corporate culture requires the continued growth of top-notch talent, breakthrough ideas and exceptional services. Learning professionals must build on a vision of innovative, continuous learning in an environment that energizes, inspires and constantly challenges. Innovation in learning requires creativity, engagement and visionary thinking at a time when we are experiencing a variety of generations, each with unique learning needs. A robust, nimble educational presence is crucial in sustaining the return on the investment in learning! Never before have learning professionals been asked to move beyond the “way it was” into an innovative and out-of-the-box learning world!

Elearning! February / March 2015

Consumeri Using

to Build a Better Learning Organization

DON’T WANT TO GET LEFT BEHIND? VIEW YOUR EMPLOYEES AS CONSUMERS, AND INTRODUCE NEW ORGANIZATIONAL POSSIBILITIES. BY JERRY ROCHE There has been a lot said and a lot written — in this magazine and elsewhere — about the “consumerization” of learning. But knowing the definition without knowing its business applications is like being a carpenter who has 18

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a pocketful of nails but no hammer. Let’s start by finding the most learningspecific definition of consumerization possible. Here’s the perfect reference, from Gartner — the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company: Consumerization is the specific impact that consumer-originated technologies can have on enterprises. It reflects how enterprises will be affected by, and can take advantage of, new technologies and models that originate and develop in the consumer space, rather than in the enterprise I.T. sector. Consumerization

is not a strategy or something to be ‘adopted.’ Consumerization can be embraced and it must be dealt with — but it cannot be stopped. Consumerization is impacting you and your company, whether your realize it or not. As people have access to better technology, the lines between work and life are becoming more blurred. How and where people work and the new technology they use to get things done are changing. So, as learning is further consumerized, you and your employees will have to adapt to those changes. Rather than viewing learning as a

zation singular, isolated activity on a talent management wheel, John Ambrose, a senior vice president at Skillsoft, says organizations need interactive tools that make learning a consumerized experience as inviting as Amazon or Netflix: “The final mile is to create rich, dynamic experiences for learners, including the many different forms of learning that occurs outside of [a course in a learning management system].” Much of the impetus to adopt consumerized learning comes from younger, computersavvy workers. And by 2020, Millennials will comprise 50 percent of the domestic workforce. Fifteen percent of them will work for someone at least 10 years younger. Those trends will force work to be more open, collaborative and social. Gamification, interactive learning experiences, and the growing number of social media elements in performance and learning management

indicate that the technology employees expect to find in the workplace is evolving.

THE ‘HOWS’ In today’s world, according to Wayne McCulloch of Salesforce University and Walter Rogers of CloudCoaching International, “learning needs to be woven into the fabric of what employees are doing, not necessarily as a separate activity. Elements of consumer technologies — like social media, gamification and mobile — are integral.” Five current trends can enable your enterprise to further consumerize your learning: Mobile learning: Just 10 short years ago, nobody would have imagined the possibilities of mobile learning. But with the introduction of smartphones, it has become not only possible but pervasive. If employees can learn new job skills or

knowledge wherever and whenever they want, they have the potential to further integrate learning and work with their home life — and vice versa. Social collaboration: By 2016, 50 percent of large organizations will have internal Facebook-like social networks, and 30 percent of these will be considered as essential as email and telephones. “The popularity and effectiveness of social networking sites as a group communication tool among consumers is prompting organizations as well as individual employees to ask whether similar technologies can be deployed privately,” says Nikos Drakos, research director at Gartner. “There is increasing interest for using social technologies within organizations to connect people more effectively, to capture and re-use valuable informal knowledge, and to deliver relevant

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consumerization information more intelligently where it is needed through social filtering.” BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Granted, BYOD is a disruptive phenomenon. But managing growing workforce expectations around mobility can further integrate employee work life and home life. Your employees use many devices, and they expect to use any device or application anytime, anywhere.

Yelp, Netflix, Kickstarter and even Match.com can have productive and profitable business applications. YELP is a peer-group rating system with 138 million monthly users who post 61 million reviews and ratings. Corporations have begun using this kind of technology for projects that are enhanced by initiatives utilizing crowdsourcing. Just think about how employees are currently working on projects. Even

Much of the impetus to adopt consumerized learning comes from younger, computer-savvy workers. And by 2020, Millennials will comprise 50 percent of the domestic workforce.

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): These courses promote unlimited participation and open access via the Web. MOOCs — first introduced in 2008, emerged as a popular mode of learning in 2012 — further enable employees to integrate their work lives and home lives. Independent contractors: As a company gets “flatter,” use of experts, contractors and consultants become more the norm. If the needs and wants of an organization can be perfectly matched with the products and/or services of an independent contractor, both the organization and the contractor can profit. In today’s world, according to McCulloch and Rogers, “learning needs to be woven into the fabric of what employees are doing, not necessarily as a separate activity. There will always be a need for classroom, focused learning, particularly around formal recognition (like certification). The only true competitive advantage employees and employers have is the ability to learn and then apply that learning for success.”

ALGORITHMS AND ANALYTICS Forward-thinking corporations can take a hint from some of the most popular technological advances that are today being offered to consumers. Services like 20

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on an individual basis, group ratings can be instrumental in helping solve problems, and they give other employees the opportunity to congratulate a peer on a “job well done.” With this technology, an HR director can also make performance reviews very dynamic on a yearly, quarterly or even project-to-project basis. Potentially,

a company can ultimately get all the “star-system” ratings incorporated into one rating for a particular employee or contractor. NETFLIX, the motion picture and TV show “smart” service is what’s called a “conscious delivery mechanism.” It’s used by 44 million subscribers. Because subscribers can comment on what they watch, it’s also has an extremely social component. And the system itself can also make recommendations based on an individual’s viewing habits. The algorithms that drive Netflix are the same kind of algorithms that can drive career-development components of a learning or talent system. Employees interested in adding to their education can get courses or MOOCs tailored to their new-found interests. Such a system could also recommend other courses that are pertinent to what that employee needs to get to the next level. One other benefit of this type of technology is that it is a perfect vehicle for making peer and social recommendations (“I loved this class,” “I hated this class,” “Take this class instead”). KICKSTARTER is a technology that provides revenue crowd-sourcing for unfunded or under-funded but otherwise worthwhile and/or popular projects. So far, Kickstarter has provided more than 70,000 projects with $1.3 billion worth of funding. And Kickstarter projects not only potentially repay with interest, but the technology allows for a reward system (for instance, a red carpet pass to a movie opening that has been produced with Kickstarter funds). In the enterprise, you might have a project for which volunteers are needed. The project itself might help those volunteers skill-build and can provide rewards by participating in the project. One of this magazine’s Learning! 100 companies is an interesting example. Its global leadership development program builds teams of managers from all over the organization who don’t even know each other. The teams are charged with recommending new corporate initiatives. At the end of the project, instructors and managers vote for the program that has the most business impact, and that program is actually funded by the enterprise. This

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consumerization particular Learning! 100 company had two business lines for 50 years; as of this year, it has five business lines. It was this kind of approach that helped the company jump-start new ideas. MATCH.COM is an online dating site. Surprisingly, 17 percent of all marriages are results of online dating sites. The assumption is that if you can find your life partner with Match.com, why can’t a company use the same algorithms to find the next great candidate or the next great employee? Even more than that, enterprises are using Match.com-style

Peer & Group Ratings

*138 million visitors monthly *More than 61 million reviews

Consumer uses: >> Restaurant ratings >> Restaurant locations >> Hotel ratings >> Customer reviews >> Star system

Enterprise uses: >> Crowd-source feedback >> Performance reviews >> Performance improvements >> Star system

Content Delivery

*44 million users *More than 20,000 titles

Consumer uses: >> Movie viewing >> Genres >> Peer and social recommendations >> System recommendations

Enterprise uses: >> Career development >> Personalized learning content >> Peer and social recommendations >> Career roadmaps >> MOOC and content mapping to development goals

Funding & Rewards *$1.3 billion in revenue *700,000 projects funded

Consumer uses: Enterprise uses: >> Crowd-source funding >> Skill-building via time >> Project launch investments support >> Gamified and >> Partner awards mobilized alerts for project recruitment

Talent Recruitment Consumer uses: >> Find your partner >> Single social parties >> Algorithm-based *17% of all marriages pairings from online dating *30% met on Match.com >> Personalized dashboards with profiles 22

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Enterprise uses: >> Mentor-protégé assignments >> Using experts within your company >> Vote for your next CEO

algorithms for internal purposes. Employees who are very knowledgeable but on the cusp of retirement are mentoring employees who want that same career path in virtual e-spaces instead of being in the same office. The HR Department matches up these players, based on personnel profiles. These types of algorithms also come in handy for individual projects. An example could be selecting an LMS. There are within a 50,000-employee organization maybe five or ten people who might have that expertise. But when the responsible

The algorithms that drive Netflix are the same kind of algorithms that can drive careerdevelopment components of a learning or talent system. manager has to select an LMS for the first time, having access to pertinent employee profiles — with experiences and ratings — can identify who he or she can reach out to, in order to assist in that project. Some forward-thinkers in the learning profession even envision that, some day, employees, contractors and board members will help vote for the next CEO. WHERE’S IT ALL HEADING? All these new consumerizing technologies are really applying pressures on learning professionals to keep up. Organizations will have to figure out where they are and where and what they want to be. Because all the behaviors and practices in the consumer space are now driving new learning technologies.

February / March 2015 Elearning!

Wearables and Learning ANALYSTS DISAGREE ON HOW QUICKLY ORGANIZATIONS CAN ADAPT LEARNING TO WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY. BY JERRY ROCHE About 13 million wearable tech devices were shipped in 2013. That number is expected to increase to 170 million by 2018. Certainly, wearable technology like Google Glass and smartwatches from various manufacturers have the potential to at least support — if not indirectly administer — learning. Specifically, these types of products could provide feedback that tells learners how well they are doing and focuses their attention on key information that they might normally miss. Though the U.S. market is on the leading edge of wearable adoption, more research into wearables in the workplace has taken place in Europe. In the United Kingdom, I.T. bosses see 69 percent of staff bring wearables into their organizations, according to a survey by Trend Micro. Research by that I.T. security firm also showed 91 percent of organizations expect the number of employees bringing their own wearable devices to work to increase in the next year. Although there is a lack of concern over wearables entering the workplace, 85 percent of respondents said they are aware of the security risks wearables may bring. The biggest concern for I.T. professionals bringing wearables into the workplace is

identity theft, which was cited by 47 percent of participants in the Trend Micro survey. The second is that employees were unaware of the policies or issues surrounding wearable devices in the workplace. Additionally, a third of European businesses will introduce wearable technology to the workplace in 2015, according to the systems monitoring and I.T. automation company Ipswitch. The problem is that only 13 percent of companies have a policy in place to deal with it. The tech industry itself looks at wearables as a potential prime repository of massive amounts of imbedded sensors, especially when they’re imbedded into gadgets that can coordinate and communicate with one another. At the International CES (Computer Electronics Show) earlier this year, Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich led his company’s keynote address by saying that 2015 will mark the next technology consumer wave. “We’re moving from a twodimensional world to a three-dimensional world,” he said. “This additional dimension will change how we experience computing.” In citing the evolution of wearables as one force that will shape this next wave, Krzanich touted Intel innovations such as Real Sense, which can interpret depth; True Key, with recognition capability that eliminates need for passwords; and the Curie wearable, which can identify different sporting activities. Those and similar devices, mostly popular among tech-savvy consumers, have yet to be tied into any learning

initiatives. But in a larger sense, they are indicative of a massive coming change in our everyday lives wherein technology actually lives with and on our bodies. The potential trend might be similar to how smartphones have not only entered into but dominated the corporate learning conversation. (Who would have predicted 15 years ago that we would be taking our training through telephones?) “It isn’t really a stretch of imagination to consider how this technology can be put for learning assistance or performance — just like designers subsumed personal computers, and now tablets and smartphones,” notes Upside Learning’s Abhijit Kadle. He further believes that real sharing will play a key role: “We’ve realized that learning can be better in a culture driven by sharing. As wearable computing allows us to actually stream data about every little activity we engage in, this will generate large volumes of data [that] can be considered as learning content, quite unlike conventional ideas of what content should look like. Video, audio, images, text and now V.R. [virtual reality] and A.R. [augmented reality], coupled with an understanding of context, can potentially transform learning and performance support at a very fundamental level.” VIRTUAL, AUGMENTED REALITY When it comes to learning applications for wearables, the most obvious is in the realm of virtual and augmented reality, which includes serious games. Indeed, when a wearable computer

Elearning! February / March 2015

wearablesandlearning

‘We’re moving from a two-dimensional world to a three-dimensional world.’

—Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel Corp.

was first introduced to the U.S. Army way back in 1989, it was meant to assist soldiers in battle. Since then, a host of serious games have been introduced to help soldiers learn how to cope with certain combat scenarios. Wearables can take the learning possibilities presented by A.R. one step further. A new product called “Sixth Sense,” which was developed at the MIT Media Lab, can digitally augment the five natural senses. Worn around the neck like a very large pendant, the device includes a tiny projector and mirror that can shine an image onto just about any surface. It’s not difficult to see that such a feature could be used to project training videos to employees, anywhere, anytime. MEMORY STORAGE One of the key functions of wearable computers is augmenting the user’s memory. Rather than storing knowledge into memory, employees can use per-

formance tools to complete the tasks at hand. When they need to perform that task again, they just reuse the tools they need. This benefit makes wearables ideal for presenting technical documentation to certain audiences like maintenance engineers. Engineers traditionally refer to paper-based manuals, but they are increasingly being replaced with electronic formats called Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs). Wearable IETM systems may be effective on-the-job training tools as new engineers are guided through unfamiliar tasks without having to refer back to manuals on the workbench. Preliminary testing has shown that wearable computer-based IETMs can be highly beneficial despite numerous usability issues with the equipment. Initial participants in a research project by David Liu of the University of Queensland in Australia noted that looking up technical manuals on a wearable is far less tedious than having to constantly refer back to a desktop computer. Inexperienced users found the step-by-step guiding very helpful as training aids, especially photographic illustrations for each step. AN ‘EYE’ TO THE FUTURE As much as we hear and read about current technological advancements like the “Internet of Things,” Samsung’s and Apple’s smartwatches and Google Glass, they are in their infancy. And there exists a disagreement among tech analysts about how quickly wearable devices will be accepted. One camp believes that they will not make any widespread impacts in the way we work over the next decade. “It’s probably going to take several more years for us to work through a lot of the technological issues, a lot of the issues in the ecosystem, a lot of the issues around the data science,

February / March 2015 Elearning!

and helping [people] understand the category and the benefits,” Dan Ledger of Endeavour Partners has said. Another camp believes the wearable revolution could take shape much faster than the recent mobile revolution, which started in the early 1990s. Bill Wasik on wired.com notes: “Sensors and chip sets are cheaper now than ever, making it easier for small companies to incorporate sophisticated hardware into wearable devices. And while smartphone manufacturers had to master the tricky art of providing dependable mobile Internet service, wearable manufacturers can piggyback on those innovations using simple Bluetooth or other protocols to communicate with a smartphone and thus with the outside world. With all that prebaked hardware and wireless connectivity — and huge preorders from crowd-funding platforms like Kickstarter — it has become possible for tiny companies to dream up, build and sell wearable devices in competition with big companies, a feat that was never possible with smartphones.” Google and others are finding that drawbacks to wearables include users feeling a sense of isolation and non-users feeling disenfranchised. The company has stopped selling its much-hyped Google Glass; tech analysts are predicting that it will be “reinvented” as a different product, perhaps a watch-like solution. Marcel Bullinga, futurist and author, thinks wearables will result in actual diminished work skills. “A major global megatrend is ‘de-skilling.’ Our children will learn less and achieve more. Of course, they will also suffer from major social media stress traumas.” CONCLUSIONS Wearable technology is in its infancy. Many of its most obvious uses are consumerrather than business-oriented. To date, few learning/training applications exist. But as the trend catches on, it’s believed that developers eventually will come up with corporate and educational learning-related applications and the software. “It will be a world more integrated than ever before,” notes Bryan Alexander, senior fellow at the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education. “We will see more work teams, study groups and collaborations.”

You are Invited! Join us for these engaging, live and free sessions with today’s thought leaders. How to Gamify Learning: Case Study at BOE

Date: Thursday, March 5th, 2015 Time: 10 AM PT/1 PM ET Speaker: Mark Walker, Training Leader, California Board of Equalization You don’t have to be a game designer, play Call of Duty or be a Guitar Hero to leverage the best of gamification. In this free web seminar, Mark Walker, will share how he gamified negotiation skills training without hiring the team from Electronic Arts. In this session, Mark will share: 1) The shortcuts to impactful gamification 2) How content is changed when incorporating gamification 3) Measuring impact 4) The lessons learned 5) What’s next for gamification at BOE Come ready to experience gamification at work and learn the shortcuts to implementing this element for your teams. Attend this live session and receive The 2014 E-learning User Study complimentary. Register for free at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5712761515743589122

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Date: Thursday, April 9th, 2015 Time: 10 AM PT/1 PM ET Speaker: Dr. Williams van Rooij, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Learning Technologies, & Roy Hinton, Associate Dean of Executive Education at the School of Business, George Mason University Are you ready for the C-suite? In today’s organizations, learning and talent development means business. Do you have the strategic vision, data mindset or financial acumen to successfully lead? Attend this web seminar and discover the business and learning leadership skills you need to be a successful Chief HR, Talent or Learning Officer. Register for free at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/827730310192890114

Creating Outstanding E-learning

Date: Thursday April 30th, 2015 Time: 10 AM PT/ 1 PM ET Speakers: Catherine Upton, Elearning! Magazine and invited guests Great e-learning is interactive, engaging, always on and retained. So, where should you start on your path to great e-learning, video, mobile, gamification? In this session, this panel of experts will share their views on how to select the best tools to attain your learning objectives. It all starts by asking 3 crucial questions. Register for free at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7387281441574702594

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Learning! 100 Profile:

How to Become a

‘Career Destination’ THREE KEY COMPONENTS OF A HUMAN RESOURCES-ORIENTED CULTURE CAN AFFORD ANY COMPANY BIG PAYOFFS IN THE LONG RUN. BY JERRY ROCHE Scripps Health is by no means your average organization. But its employee-focused corporate philosophy has the potential to help turn any average company or organization into a “career destination.” Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) in 2010, there has been a massive change in the health-care industry. They have impacted Scripps, the largest health-care organization in the San Diego area with four hospitals on five campuses, 26 outpatient and specialty centers, almost 14,000 employees, 1,500 volunteers, 158 28

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medical residents and fellows, and 2,600 contracted physicians. But Scripps has developed a formula that will enable it to be not only competitive but dominant as more of the ACA is rolled out in the coming months and years. “We’re dealing with making a lot of moving parts come together,” says Veronica Zaman, the Scripps vice president of Human Resources and Learning. “We are finding that our reimbursement rates are declining. It is so incredibly important that we have staff that are well-trained, that understand how to work collaboratively, how to drive toward teamwork, and how to maximize the work we used to do, in a different way. The culture of Scripps is one that has been created to enhance our capacity to make sure we have the right people in the right place with the right skillsets.” Amanda Kienast, director of Talent Acquisition, adds: “We think of ourselves as a career destination employer, and we’re

Elearning! February / March 2015

careerdestination committed to offering our employees every opportunity to realize their professional goals [at Scripps]. If we do it right, there’s no need for employees to leave the organization. We take pride in providing an environment where our employees can enjoy a supportive, collaborative workplace with a united vision.” To that end, Scripps Health is making every attempt to stay ahead of the talent curve. Its talent management team works to be proactive in hiring, developing and supporting employees to create the best opportunities for both them and the organization. It all starts with the hiring process. “We strive to hire candidates with characteristics closely aligned with our values of quality, respect and efficiency,” notes Kienast. “As part of our career destination philosophy, we’ve developed several innovative hiring and retention practices. We seek to hire top talent and then develop their skills and knowledge to do the following: provide quality clinical care and service; innovate new services and care models; and lead and manage change.” To attract potential candidates, Scripps uses social media, Web campaigns, search engine marketing and optimization, and more. On a more traditional level, it sends recruiting representatives to campus ca-

reer and other off-site events. It also has a robust employee referral program. Then, “we use a variety of analytical and online tools to assess candidates and talent for the best organizational fit,” Kienast notes. Scripps provides education, training and development programs to help employees and the organization stay competitive and successful: “We work with our talent managers on how to identify and grow talent within their depts. Our talent management team meets with employees to promote growth opportunities and assist them in discovering educational or financial resources that they would need to succeed in career development.” Because Scripps is so large, there are plenty of chances for any employee to move either horizontally or vertically within the organization. That gives them a chance to take on new projects, new responsibilities and new challenges. “The [internal] pipeline process was very well thought-out,” says Zaman. “It’s built on a prescriptive process. We use the same assessment tools and the same criteria that we use when we hire. It’s not so much about the skills. It’s really about making sure people have those characteristics that make them a strong team player.”

STARTING AT THE TOP “Heading us in this journey is Chris Van Gorder, our president and CEO, who’s a key member of our team,” Zaman continues. “At a time when health care is feeling the tightening reins of the reform and reimbursement that is diminishing, we have at our helm a leader with his passion for learning. One of Van Gorder’s strengths is that, every day, he asks himself and he charges every employee to ask the question: “Did I make [our founders] proud today of what I’ve done?” When Van Gorder became president, Scripps had a first-year turnover rate of 30 percent. In other words, a revolving door. Morale was at its lowest point ever, but his commitment to his employees and his focus on learning helped turn everything around. “At a time when health care is feeling the tightening reins of the reform and reimbursement that is diminishing, we have at our helm a leader with his passion for learning,” notes Zaman. “He is hands-on, at the front line, with our patients, and a big piece of our success is the collaboration among Chris and all our team members.” ‘VALUE BY DESIGN’ Scripps managers list four strategies for success: Innovate to manage the health of the people it serves. Transform delivery of clinical care.

1 2 3 4

Move to new payment models. Implement “Value by Design.”

This graph shows how Obamacare has impacted reimbursement rates at Scripps Health. Contribution margins for HMOs, PPOs and Medicare are down while Medicaid and indigent/no-pays have increased. 30

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“‘Value by Design’ is our term internally to describe how we are developing and engaging our workforce to reduce cost, eliminate waste and create value,” says Stephanie Becerra, a senior corporate director. “We are utilizing lean principles to help adapt to the rapidly changing health-care environment. It requires employees to innovate, to engage, and to behave in a different way. “We are providing learning to help them. Learning starts from day one in newemployee orientation.” Then, “all employees actively participate, share their expertise and become creative thought leaders — not just identify problems but to solve them and take ownership of their solutions. They also must speak up and have courage

to expose challenges, to not create workarounds, because work-arounds won’t get us to where we need to go as an organization. They must help us to see what the challenges are that inhibit them from performing at their maximum.” Another key part of this forward-thinking approach is the active participation of leadership. “Our expectation of our leaders is to work with their staff in a new way,” Becerra notes, “involving them in problem-solving, hearing from them, listening and coaching them to identify better ways to work.” In the end, it’s getting cooperation at every level, Becerra continues: “Our expectations are for staff to engage in higher levels of trust with each other, and to try new ways of doing things. Right now, we have a culture that thinks outside of the box. We have formal learning to help create that culture, classroom settings, workshop settings. We’re also taking learning out to staff and management in the units, coaching and helping them understand this lean way of thinking.”

This illustrates Scripps Health’s “pipeline” for a targeted role transition process for employees who are moving horizontally or vertically within the organization. Phase One consists of nine months on a dedicated education unit with emphasis on developing knowledge and critical thinking skills while building a confident and competent practice within the Scripps care model. It also

‘The culture of Scripps is one that has been created to enhance our capacity to make sure we have the right people in the right place with the right skillsets.’

—Veronica Zaman, Scripps Health, VP of Human Resources and Learning

A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM Last year, Scripps Health was not only named to Elearning! magazine’s “Learning 100” list, it was at the top of the private sector list. One of the programs that helped Scripps attain that lofty position was its new Graduate RN Residency Dedicated Education Unit — a perfect example of how the company treats its valued employees. Scripps designed the DEU program to achieve higher levels of satisfaction and retention among new graduate nurses and improve performance. The 12-month program is divided into two phases.

ensures standardization of practice in the training and development of the new nurse. A critical aspect of this experience is pairing the new grad with a dedicated clinical coach who has specialized training to provide structured support. These coaches validate skills and knowledge needed to practice independently and provide consistent feedback on the resident’s strengths, needs and individual performance goals. Phase Two of the program consists of a facilitated transition plan to the new graduate’s assigned home unit.

In 2013, 147 new graduate nurses were placed in the Scripps system, and 132 were on target for placement in 2014. Both mentors and participants have given the program glowing reviews. New graduate Bridgid McGowan, RN, says: “The clinical coaches have made the transition from student to new grad RN, while not easy, definitely less painful than I imagined. The support I’ve felt from the program is what has gotten me through many a difficult shift, and I am eternally grateful to have been a part of this educational new-grad program.” Since this patient care area became a dedicated education unit, measurements document a significant increase in patient satisfaction, nursing core measures, and employee engagement. As Scripps strives to eliminate variation, it is increasingly important to provide a consistent, highquality new grad experience. ONWARD AND UPWARD “We know there will be challenges ahead: an aging workforce, new generations with different preferences, a continued shift in health-care reform; forecasting and planning for service expansion, growth, turnover and retirement,” Kienast notes. But if the past is prologue, Scripps Health will be on the cutting edge of innovation, employee growth and patient care. It will continue to be a “career destination employer.”

Elearning! February / March 2015

Extended Enterprise Training Trends TRAINING OF EXTERNAL TEAMS GOES MAINSTREAM BY CATHERINE UPTON AND JERRY ROCHE If you use software like salesforce.com, or bank online, you have probably used their online training. Delivering this type of training to an organization’s extended enterprise is commonplace for most organizations. In 2014, almost half of learning organizations now deploy extended enterprise training (EET) according to Elearning! magazine’s recent E-learning User Study. EET is the delivery of training, certification programs and knowledge assets not only to employees but also to customers, partners, suppliers, channel and distributor networks, franchisers and franchisees, association members, independent agents, contractors and volunteers — in short, any stakeholder who does not work directly for the organization. EET initiatives are recognized by many 32

February / March 2015 Elearning!

companies as being integral to customer satisfaction. For some companies, the extended enterprise is the face of the organization. For others, product development or distribution is the only way a client might measure the quality of the supplier-user relationship. EXTENDED ENTERPRISE TRAINING USAGE Almost half of organizations, (45.7 percent) surveyed by this publication had an extended enterprise training initiative in place. Of these organizations, 77.9 percent were focused on the customer community while 64.2 percent are focusing on supply chain and affiliate channels. (Fig. 1) And 37.4 percent indicated that their extended enterprise initiatives were critical and a top priority for them. (Fig. 2) EET DEPLOYMENTS Extended enterprise training is widely adopted by both the corporate and public sectors. Heavy corporate users — health care/pharma, financial services/banking/

real estate, manufacturing and software/ Web/development — account for approximately 40 percent of deployments. Education (schools/colleges), non-profits and government are heavy users in the public sector, accounting for 45 percent of deployments. (Fig. 3) Organizations of all sizes deploy EET, with 41 percent having fewer than 1,000 employees. (Fig. 4) To deploy EET, the various technology elements needed — including a learning management system (LMS), online courseware and e-commerce — are integrated. Given the focus on customers, many organizations leverage community and social networks to engage with customers. About 40 percent use an on-demand LMS, where training can easily be developed and delivered to external audiences. The softwareas-a-service (SaaS) model only requires users to have Internet access to complete their training, providing a very flexible and scalable solution. However, 43.5 percent of organizations use an enterprise LMS hosted behind the firewall.

77.6%

29.0%

25.2%

Other, please specify

Developer/ affiliate communities

Customer community

Channel, reseller, partner community

2.8% Internal employees and stakeholders

100.0% 80.0% 60.0% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0%

Fig. 1 - Which of the following constituents do you currently serve training and/or support?

Fig. 2 - How important are extended enterprise initiatives to your organization? 3.7% 0.9% 16.8%

EET platforms can be simple or robust depending upon the capabilities, accessibility and content delivery modes preferred. In the E-learning User Study, more than 35 percent of EET systems offer video, mobile learning, collaboration and multiple content libraries to their customers, supply chain and affiliates. (Fig. 5) BENEFITS OF EET >> Stimulate customer success by promoting best practices so customers get maximum value for products and services >> Increase sales, especially among welltrained customers >> Decrease customer questions about a product or products >> Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by building engagement and investment in products >> Strengthen the organization by certifying its partners, vendors and clients, thereby increasing efficiency and recognition >> Potentially increase revenue by actually selling existing courses and certification programs

37.4%

41.1%

Critical, a top priority Somewhat important Neutral Unimportant Do not support extended enterprise programs

Fig. 3 - EET By Industry: Association Other business services Transportation/Logistics Advertising/marketing/media Architecture/engineering/construction Utilities/communications/telecom Consultant/Analysts Retail/wholesale/distributor Governement/federal/state/local/city/county Financial/banking/insurance/real estate/legal Other, please specify Software/web/development/services Healthcare/pharmaceutical Manufacturing Non-profit organization Education (k-12, continuing ed, college, tech. school) 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0%10.0%12.0%14.0%16.0%18.0%

Elearning! February / March 2015

collaborationandengagement transparency from management.” Looking at collaboration tools used by management, the C-suite is the least likely to use the tools. Surprisingly, this practice included chat, online communities, training and mentoring/coaching. This leads us to believe they are not big users of collaboration tools — yet when asked who had the authority to buy collaboration technologies, 56.2 percent pointed to corporate or departmental leadership. C-suiters were also spending more time in meetings based on their role, with 50 percent (in all sized organizations) claiming to spend 65 percent or more of their time in meetings.

The C-suite is the least likely to use chat, online communities, training, mentoring and/or coaching.

Fig. 4: TCEP Collaboration Metric Score Poor (under 60)

15.5%

Good (61-80)

Excellent (81-100)

52.5% 32%

Source: Technology, Culture, Economic & Politics Collaboration Metric

Fig. 5: Economic Value of Collaboration (Scale of 1-10, with 10 being excellent) 1.7% 4.1% Score=1

5.8%

21.5%

Score=2

9.1%

Score=3 Score=4 Score=5

9.1%

14%

Score=7

12.4% 22.3% 38

Score=6

February / March 2015 Elearning!

Score=8 Score=9 Score=10

To make meetings more effective, better use of collaboration solutions is the top strategy. Forty-one percent felt that making better decisions faster would most improve meetings. BRIDGING THE GAP The good news is that a radical shift is under way regarding the value of engagement and collaboration. When querying the economic value of collaboration, respondents reported an 8 on value scale of 10 (Fig. 5). This was by far the highest rating since doing this study. It also indicates that we recognize the value of collaboration, but the tools and process changes required to implement effectively are wanting. There are also some highlights. While use and adoption of collaborative tools is progressing slowly, departments like sales and marketing are evolving rapidly. People at many levels, many roles, and many different sized organizations are asking for greater participation from C-suiters, believing this would translate to greater worker engagement. If management personnel want greater engagement, they should model that behavior for the entire organization. With Millennials now in the workforce, we have a generation that grew up digital; they collaborate all the time. What they lack is experience and expertise. Providing more mentoring and coaching would go a long way toward establishing relationships that engage the employee. Making corporate cultures more “open” is a great way to attract and keep top talent. Learning leaders are the key collaborators, and can serve as a front line across the enterprise, by testing, championing and facilitating engaging collaborations. It is clear from the data that organizations need to get better at collaboration (fast), or they will lag behind competitors who embrace it. —David Coleman is the founder and managing director of Collaborative Strategies, Inc., a strategic advisory services firm that works with both collaboration vendors and end-users to get the greatest adoption, productivity and revenues. Reach him via email at david@collaborativeshift.com, or on Gmail or Twitter as dcoleman100.

extendedenterprisetraining Fig. 4 - EET by Company Size 5%

Over 100,000

23%

41%

10,00099,999

Under 500

9% 5,0009,999

22%

1,000-4,999

>> Provide another profit center by adding

e-commerce to the list of an organization’s capabilities >> Track all financial data and integrate it into your financial system via accurate measurement >> Reduce training costs for everyone involved while accelerating time to market >> Display available content in an online catalog without requiring the user to log in LESSONS LEARNED When hosting an EET initiative, it is important to note three key lessons. 1. Listen to customers: Significant emphasis must be placed on adequately understanding customers’ needs and building solutions that satisfy those requirements. Customer training may need to address a diverse audience, so it must be designed with customer input to optimize revenue and value.

2. Keep it simple: From the LMS user interface to the ease of on-demand system delivery, organizations should make it simple for customers to access the training. 3. Focus on flexibility and scalability: As an EET program grows and expands, needs will change. So think ahead. For example, working with experienced vendors that has experience in delivering EET domestically and globally will have the ability to guide your organization through e-commerce challenges related to languages, currencies and international taxes. CONCLUSIONS Extended enterprise learning can both increase the bottom line and raise customer satisfaction. An educated value chain is better prepared to support a company in developing, building and delivering a product, and in offering and supporting the product to the end customer. And, in today’s competitive environment, training programs shouldn’t stop with a company’s internal workforce. Whether the goal is to build a new profit center from existing training programs or drive partner effectiveness in selling products, an organization needs the right technology, content and supporting services. —Catherine Upton conducts branded research for the Elearning! Media Group. Jerry Roche is executive editor. To access the free E-learning User Study: www.2elearning. com/resources/research-white-papers

Fig. 5 - Solutions Deployed for EET Social networks Wikis, blogs or forums Video LMS, enterprise Learning management System (LMS), Cloud Mobile learning Off-the-shelf content Collaborative workspace Online university content Gamification 0 34

February / March 2015 Elearning!

Delivering Content to a Spectrum of Audiences To support multiple external audiences, organizations can create an open Web portal as a public entrance into the LMS where users can access a partial or complete online course catalog, making it easy for organizations to deliver online content to the various audiences. Additionally, via some advanced LMS’s, administrators can generate widget pages and HTML pages on the fly and easily add them into the system navigation. This provides a customized portal for specific segments of users, putting relevant information at their fingertips. And while each user experience can be unique, organizations can still manage knowledge assets, reporting and analytics across the entire system. Perhaps the most important benefit of developing and delivering information to audiences outside your organization is improving communication and productivity with those external “partners” and shareholders. You also provide consistent training, education and enablement to all those people on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year if necessary. That, in turn, can eliminate excess training costs while accelerating time-to-market. Simplifying Procurement Learning@Cisco, a past Learning! 100 award-winner, uses its Learning Credits Program as a way to simplify training procurement, enabling customers to: >> Identify training requirements. >> Develop a training plan. >> Purchase training in the form of credits that provide access to highquality, authorized training delivered by participating Cisco Learning Partners and Cisco Learning Solutions Partners worldwide. >> Integrate hardware, software, services and training. >> Strengthen the linkage of training as an integral and indispensable piece of the networking solution purchase. >> Encourage discussion about training needs at the point of technology purchase instead of as an afterthought. CiscoLearning Partners and Cisco Learning Solutions Partners have access to Cisco labs, simulations and the latest products. Participating Cisco Learning Partners offer a training needs assessment to help their customers identify training needs and develop training plans.

The State of

Collaboration & Engagement at Work SURVEY SAYS: COLLABORATION AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ARE AT THE HEART OF ANY ORGANIZATION’S HEALTHY FUTURE. BY DAVID COLEMAN Moore’s law, paraphrased, says computing power, which doubles every 10 months, has been growing exponentially for the

last 30 years. It is clear that technology is progressing at a rapid clip in both hardware and software, but is this as true of organizations? The top business drivers for investing in learning workplace technologies is Improving Employee Engagement, according to 64.2 percent of respondents in the “2014 E-learning User Study.” Increasing Collaborative Learning (53.7 percent) and Collaboration Across the Enterprise

(48.9 percent) followed closely behind. What is the current state of enterprise collaboration? To answer this question, Elearning! magazine partnered with Collaborative Strategies to uncover the answers via a 26-question survey in December 2014. The results may surprise you, but the trends are clear, and collaboration and employee engagement are at the heart of an organization’s healthy future.

Elearning! February / March 2015

collaborationandengagement Let’s define what we mean by collaboration. It is “the ability of two or more people to work together on a common outcome or goal.” Distributed collaboration consists of collaborative interactions across time and space; it could be different geographic sales offices or training facilities, or it could be with external participants, like customers or partners. It turns out that collaboration is a major factor in engagement and improving future engagement.

26.7%

of respondents work in an open and transparent work culture.

COLLABORATION TOOLS USAGE In looking at how collaboration software and infrastructures are being used (Fig. 1),

Fig. 1: Current use of collaboration software E-mail

63.5%

93%

Chat/SMS/Texting Room-based videoconferencing

47% 65.2%

49.6%

Desktop/Web-based videoconferencing Public/Private social networks Screen Sharing

41.7%

60%

64.3%

Collab doc/cont mgt.

Fig. 2: How open or transparent is your organization’s culture? 6.90% 19.80%

Not very open

26.70%

Starting to open up a little

Goal or initiative to be more open

27.70%

19.80%

Pretty open

Very transparent organization

February / March 2015 Elearning!

we found that email was still the mostused collaboration tool, but that its use is dropping. In a 2012 survey of the same population, 98 percent surveyed used email. In two years, that percentage has dropped five points, and this change was seen most dramatically in sales and marketing organizations, which ended up being the lowest users of email at 78 percent, a 20-point drop in two years. One of the reasons for the decline of email in sales and marketing was the increased use of chat/IM/texting; 90 percent of those in this department use them. Combine this with the use of in-app messaging and we can start to see how e-mail usage dropped so precipitously. Desktop and Web conferencing (65.3 percent) has passed room-based conferencing (60 percent) for the first time. This is a good indicator of the changing nature of meetings. More meetings today are hybrid meetings, where some people are local or in the room and others are participating at a distance. It also shows video-conferencing is quite popular as a collaboration tool. When we looked at which collaboration technologies people currently own, 70 percent (the highest of any technology) own some form of video conferencing today. Training (63.5 percent) got such a high score because of two reasons: the population of respondents to the survey, and training occurring in almost every department in the organization, much of which is seen as a collaborative interaction. The benefits of collaborative were queried: 89.3 percent said, “to work with others on a team or project,” and 87.4 percent said, “to connect with colleagues within our organization.” And 47.3 percent spent more than one-third of their time each day collaborating. IMPROVING ENGAGEMENT Employee engagement is at an all-time low! A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 30 percent of employees are engaged, another 50 percent are “checked out” or not engaged, and the final 20 percent is miserable or actively disengaged. It is also clear that employee engagement is linked to profitability, industry leadership and the bottom line. When asked how engaged the respondents’

organizations were (on a scale of 1-10, 1=low and 10=high): the mean score was 5.27. This means engagement has not improved much since 2012. We found our respondents maybe a bit better, but only by a small amount. An engagement level of seven or above would be good for most organizations, but only 36 percent of the respondent organizations surveyed hit this benchmark (Fig. 4). There is much to improve on, and collaboration plays a big role in it. Organizations are using many techniques to increase engagement (Fig. 3). Much to Google’s and Yahoo’s dismay, Flexible Work Environments were the solution chosen by 60 percent of those surveyed. This was followed closely by Feedback to Company or Team Leaders, Recognition for a Job Well Done, and More Access to Experts and Mentors Across the Organization. It is obvious that techniques that are personal to the employee are those most utilized today. However, it is important to note that rewards, like salary increases and bonuses, did not score high.

47.3%

of respondents spend more than onethird of their time collaborating at work.

Fig. 3: Techniques Used to Improve Engagement Having more meetings Smaller class size or meetings Gamification (rewards, points, badges, ranks, etc.) Making the form of the engagement more “fun” Social projects (outside work hours) i.e. charity Getting more time for your ideas, projects, etc. Job and or project rotations Getting better content to engage with

Our hypothesis was that people were more engaged in “open” or “transparent” cultures. Only 26.7 percent felt they were in a pretty or very open culture (Fig. 2). We asked “What do you think might improve engagement in your organization?” We got all sorts of openended responses, like requests for better collaboration tools, but the overwhelming response as (paraphrased from many answers), “If management wants greater engagement, then we want greater interaction, engagement, honesty and

Financial rewards and bonuses Videoconferencing Classes on better interpersonal communications Recieving validation for personal contributions Greater levels of interpersonal interaction Opportunity to promote and grow professionally Access to experts and mentors Ability to provide input to leaders and teams Recognition for a job well done Flexible work environments (time, location, etc.) 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%

Elearning! February / March 2015

TipsLeadership Driving Social and Environmental Impact BY TATIANA SEHRING Morris Koffa, an American Public University graduate, has helped establish a nonprofit organization, Africa Environmental Watch, whose purpose is to educate African citizens on environmental issues such as toxic waste, hygiene and beyond. In this article, he discusses his group’s work with local governments in Africa to provide better education and leadership resources for its citizens, helping prevent events such as the Ebola crisis.

WHAT IS THE AFRICA ENVIRONMENTAL WATCH, AND WHAT’S YOUR ROLE WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION? Koffa: I am the co-founder of the Africa Environmental Watch, which was formerly the Liberia Environmental Watch. Our initial purpose was to deal with post-war environmental issues following the 14-year civil conflict ending in 2003. There were many serious environmental and humanitarian issues in Liberia; today, this includes the current Ebola contagion. We also include issues impacting the entire African community — and we’re continuing our mission by providing environmental expertise on protecting human health and the environment through educational awareness. It’s our hope to create, lead and main-

Worldwide

tain safe living environments and a sustainable future for all of Africa’s citizens. Based on our longevity in leading regional awareness, we’ve received support from Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency. What we didn’t realize at the time is that the agency was very much incapacitated. Rather than see it as a barrier, we felt there was an opportunity to provide leadership. So we started by arranging international environmental conferences. The last one featured many leading environmental organizations, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As a result, some

tangible results were strategized and then delivered to Liberia.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO HELP OTHERS? Koffa: I had a civil and construction engineering background. I decided to enroll at American Public University to complete my master’s in environmental policy and management degree, and then another in emergency and disaster management. I developed a strong interest in my studies [as] the crisis in Liberia developed. I was selected to go

with a Liberian delegation to travel to West Africa to participate in a conference, and I saw many environmental concerns. My professors motivated me to make a difference. And we founded the Liberia Environmental Watch. Since then, the issues we’ve addressed have developed into a broad scope of environmental activities. Then, the Ebola crisis hit, and we are currently working toward resolving the efficacy issues that surround the Ebola outbreak. The Ebola virus outbreak is a crisis that has risen to a level that no one was fully prepared to manage. Historically, Ebola originated in 1976 from areas of South Sudan and what was

Elearning! February / March 2015

TipsLeadership Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It then subsided to the point that no one paid much attention to it. Last March, in an area near the Guinea and Sierra Leone border, the virus developed, spreading into Liberia. The model of transmission between humans is through contact with bodily fluids and secretions. When this happened, it was caused by a lack of education. People were not following the right procedures to contain the virus. The virus was spreading due to an African tradition in that when someone dies, everyone tries to touch the body. That’s how it got disseminated through many communities. In the broader scope, the death toll and the growing numbers of cases is alarming.

ral creeks or wells, which may become contaminated. So when people drink the water, it’s a major environmental concern, so we engage in educational awareness in these communities.

WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP, AND WHAT’S THE IMPACT YOU’VE EXPERIENCED AS A RESULT OF YOUR WORK? Koffa: When I meet with leaders, I share a clear sense of direction and leadership — much of which I learned during my studies at American Public University. I find there needs to be passion for your work. Passion inspires leaders to make a difference, therefore driving protocol,

I emphasize education, because there is a deficiency. Working with the Liberian EPA, I found that about 90 percent of the agency’s 150 employees had less education than a high school diploma. It’s difficult to solve technical issues with this lack of training. We volunteered our time to educate people, starting with how to do an environmental impact assessment (EIA). That worked well, but we also wanted to ensure the next step was addressed, which was leadership training. It is critical for any organization, agency or country as a whole to overcome the lack of training and education. Then you must provide the right leadership skills to actualize the training into results. Only

‘What is critical is to overcome the lack of training and education. Then you must provide the right leadership skills to actualize the training into results.’

—Morris Koffa, co-founder, executive director Africa Environmental Watch

From an environmental perspective, this is also a serious concern. When someone passes away, the body is supposed to be cremated, but because Liberia doesn’t have the capacity to do this properly, it conducts mass burials. When multiple bodies buried near wetlands decompose, it poses a serious threat to the water sources. More than 75 percent of the population in Liberia has no means of getting water except from natu40

which is how you create a level of connection with the people and the causes you support. Leadership is about how effective you are in creating new relationships and building upon established ones to bring together the science, policies, procedures and awareness that’s needed to solve problems. So I talk about the need for creating partnerships as well as for education to drive worldwide impact.

February /March 2015 Elearning!

when you have trained, wellqualified people who know exactly what they must do, can you achieve the greater goal. It’s through education, training and effective leadership communication that we can bring change in the traditional protocols to eradicate this crisis. We’ve helped to create a level of heightened awareness that never existed before. Today, no company does business without first conducting

an environmental impact assessment. We’ve also added a corporate social responsibility clause, which ensures that corporations provide incentives for the communities in which they operate, including employment, schools, clinics and more. It’s all about development through education, training and opportunity. We hope to build on the progress that is under way in hopes we can reach a level in Liberia so (a) it’s no longer considered a country of misfortune, but instead, a country of hope and (b) to inspire positive changes toward worldwide social and environmental impact. —The author has more than 10 years of combined experience in corporate and strategic partnerships for leadership, talent, and professional development across industries. She serves as director of Corporate and Strategic Relationships for American Public University System and is a contributor to The Inspire Leadership Series. Her passion is to inspire authentic leadership development, lifelong learning, and meaningful individual and organization transformation, so leaders develop to their highest potential and performance. Her thought leadership has been featured in conference and related venues for Human Capital Media, Enterprise Learning, E-learning, Chief Learning Officer, and Training, among others. To read the full article or to subscribe to American Public University’s Inspire Leadership Series, visit www.GreatLeadersInspire.com.

TipsSoft Skills Tips Soft Skills Training:

Measuring the Impact Matters You’ve probably heard the old expression that goes something like this: “You can’t improve what you can’t measure.” Whether that old management school saying is true or not, it’s pretty clear that we can’t determine how much we’ve improved if we can’t measure the area we are trying to improve. And for many organizations, leaders and learning professionals, soft skills training falls into the “you-can’tmeasure-it” category. The difficulty with measuring the impact of soft skills training probably stems from agreeing upon a definition of the term “soft skills.” The challenge with this apparently simple task is that there are so many conflicting definitions.

One thing is certain: Nobody can provide a clear, easy to grasp definition of “soft skills.” Instead, it’s more of a concept that most of us recognize when we see it, but we cannot always succinctly articulate what it is. Most traditional training programs focus on hard skills. Programmers learn a new language. Accountants exhibit better balance sheet skills. Analysts deliver more accurate financial models. Engineers deliver better designs. Architects design more effective and efficient structures. Processes improve in speed, output and safety. Hard skills training is safe, and we can measure impact directly from easy-to-see outputs.

Hard skills are important; but today, the single skill or competency that drives career success isn’t a hard skill at all — it’s emotional intelligence. In the article, “Emotional Intelligence - EQ,” author Travis Bradberry reports that 90 percent of top performers across all industries in every job category scored high in emotional intelligence. It is the single most important factor in driving success for our highestperforming employees at every level — including leaders and managers. However, unlike hard skills, emotional intelligence isn’t easy to define clearly, nor do we generally see organizations linking improved performance in this area to

improved organizational performance. Intuitively, we know that improved soft skills matter. It makes sense. If our employees communicate more effectively, aren’t we more likely to see improved sales and customer retention? Will our customers be more satisfied? If our managers learn to listen more effectively and delegate more efficiently, doesn’t it follow logically that their teams will be more engaged and perform at higher levels? So why do we not connect the dots from improved performance in soft skills areas (caused by soft skills training) to improved business results? In order to build a system to measure the impact of your soft skills training, you have to start with a clear understanding of the strategic goals of your organization. Those form the strategic shape, and they mold the foundation for you to build your training efforts. But it’s not just the goals. Once you’ve set the goals, you have to understand the performance gaps between your organization’s current level of performance and the desired level of performance needed to achieve a specific goal. And it’s improved performance in these performance gaps that we measure to show the impact of soft skills training. —This article provided by BizLibrary: www.bizlibrary.com.

Elearning! February / March 2015

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TipsVirtual Learning The Evolution of

Virtual Learning

Today, 61 percent of training hours are conducted virtually or in a blended model. Virtual platforms have evolved over the year to become more engaging, collaborative and fun. But learning leaders want more. What is the next evolution of virtual learning? More than 90 percent of learning executives are using Web conferencing or virtual classrooms for training and development, according to the E-learning User Study conducted by Elearning! magazine. Eighty percent of virtual learning occurs in organizations with multiple locations. And 41 percent are multinational enterprises. Supporting dispersed teams is vital to organizations, and the more life-like and engaging the virtual experience, the better the outcome.

The most popular content for virtual learning is compliance training (56 percent), soft skills training (54 percent), sales and product training (47 percent) and on-boarding new employees (36 percent), according to the study. Recruitment (4 percent) and job fairs (3 percent) rate lowest on the list. The broad range of applications means that virtual tools need to support live demos, chat, forums and archives for attendees to access pre-post and on live days.

THE NEXT VIRTUAL LEARNING PLATFORM Surprisingly, 44 percent of these respondents are actively sourcing new virtual platforms. What is driving this change? The top business drivers for investment in new learning technology are:

Improving Employee Engagements (68 percent), Increasing Collaboration for Learners (46 percent) and Increasing Collaboration across the Enterprise (44 percent), according to the study. Learning executives require more capabilities than the typical Web meeting. The next virtual solution must have 24/7 access to the content, resource library of materials, access to on-demand sessions after live sessions, and engagement indicators measuring learner involvement, according to the study. To fulfill these requirements, professionals look to more robust virtual learning environments. Intercall’s Virtual Environment host all these capabilities. The platform offers: >> a one-stop seamless home for multiple educational sessions, videos and re-

source library,

>> active engagements with

live chat, blogs, forums and social integrations, >> customized environment to extend your branding, >> robust tracking and reporting of learners activities, and >> multiple language support. Intercall’s Virtual Environment is used by blue-chip companies like Novartis, Fortune magazine, IBM and CapGemini. Use the platform to host global supplier education sessions like IBM, Corporate University curriculum like CapGemini, or product training like ACS, a Xerox Company. —More info: www.intercall. com/files/virtual-environmentsdata-sheet.pdf or telephone (800) 820-5855.

Elearning! February / March 2015

NewProducts: LMS/TMS HELPING ADMINISTRATORS SET UP NEW MOOCS Version 6.5 of Docebo’s Cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) enterprise LMS includes the MOOC Builder, which helps administrators setup a corporate massive open online course (MOOC). This new feature can make a public course catalog visible even to nonregistered users; enable self-registration to the LMS from the public page; enable you to sell courses to end users (via the e-commerce app) and create a more engaging environment for users in order to increase user retention (via the gamification app). Also included is a new offline player app that allows users to download SCORM courses onto their Windows desktop computers and run them offline. When users go back online, they can synchronize their courses and their progress back to the LMS. —More info: https://www.docebo. com/?65PRBOB SCHEDULE LIVE CLASSES ON LEARNERS’ SMARTPHONES The WizIQ Live Mobile Learning Platform is an ed-tech breakthrough that enables educators to deliver live, interactive classes via smartphones. The platform works with iPhone and provides a host of advanced features, giving learners the freedom to participate in live classes anywhere/anyplace and providing teachers and trainers a vital conduit for live engagement. Built on a Cloud-based LMS, the new mobile app can be downloaded from the App Store, and the mobile app for Android is available on the Google Play store. With the ability to enhance livecourse convenience, collaboration and engagement through mobile delivery, educators at K-12 schools, universities and in corporate learning centers can expand their online education menus and still deliver a true classroom experience. —More info: https://www.wiziq.com/learning-management-system/mobile/ 44

February / March 2015 Elearning!

CONTINUITY-BASED LEARNING: OPEN, SOCIAL, CONVENIENT, The fourth update of IMC’s LMS has been combined with an update of the company’s e-learning authoring software, IMC Content Studio. The integration of a corporate design into each device optimizes the learning process and creates a more familiar environment for those responsible for e-learning as well as for the learners themselves. For e-learning experts, the IMC Learning Suite means seamless integration with existing company-specific software, such as ERP systems, enterprise portals and content management systems. This leads, in particular, to a high integration in the area of skill and competency management where, for example, already existing job profiles and skills can be automatically integrated into the Learning Suite. For HR managers as well as for supervisors in specialized areas, this greatly reduces the workload and gives a better overview and understanding of each employee’s individual skills. —More info: www.im-c.com

NewProducts: Tools

FOR CONNECTING SYSTEMS: DRAG, DROP AND DONE Saba Marketplace features a set of tested, preconfigured connectors, so you can connect Saba Cloud to your HRIS, CRM, job boards, screening services, and the latest learning content in minutes. >> Launch new and invigorate old learning and talent programs with latest content and data. >> Browse, select and load captivating learning content directly into your learning catalog. >> Streamline compliance and other processes with data synched across your HRIS, CRM, and LMS and TMS systems. >> Speed hiring by uncovering and screening dozens of qualified candidates. >> Increase reach completions of learning programs by connecting your company’s Web conferencing provider directly to Saba Cloud. —More info: www.saba.com/us/technology/ marketplace/

collaboration and sharing across any device: smartphone, tablet, laptop or personal computer. Features: >> customizable calls-toaction: clickable links that direct viewers to a website >> anywhere publishing: social-media sites (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter and more) and video-hosting solutions (Wistia and Vidcaster) >> reporting and analysis: admin dashboard displays usage metrics for tracking results —More info: www.wevideo.com LEARNING RECORD SYSTEM TRACKS LEARNING ACTIVITIES Rustici Software’s Watershed LRS identifies correlations between learning activities and the effects that they have on people’s job performance. While organizations have been tracking learning and training data for years, input and output have been confined to learning management systems, and reporting functionality was limited. Watershed uses a new technology called the Tin Can API (Experience API or xAPI) that allows organizations to track learning activities anywhere they happen — online, offline, simulations, in-person, games and more — and see all of these activities in one central place, a Learning Record Store (LRS).

By collecting and connecting these different types of user activities, companies can now correlate training initiatives to improved performance. —More info: http://watershedlrs.com/ ENHANCE POWERPOINTS WITH ANIMATIONS, MORE The new Promethean Presenter software allows companies to use their current PowerPoint presentations and make them significantly more dynamic and engaging. Core features include the ability to: >> interact and move objects during your slide show to create an animated presentation without any additional preparation ahead of time; >> connect your audience’s mobile devices to the presentation to send and receive slides, photos, video, and Web links to engage them in the discussion; >> poll your audience gathering feedback to ensure understanding — from true/ false to multiple choice, Likert scales, free text and more; and >> start an ad hoc brainstorming activity to get the audience involved in a creative response or word seed. —More info: http://prometheanpresenter.com/ about/

USE ANY DEVICE TO INSPIRE AND EDUCATE WeVideo has unveiled its latest release of WeVideo for Business. The tool is a simple, powerful video-creation suite that gives marketers affordable, easy-to-use, in-house video production capabilities for inspiring, educating and engaging their customers. WeVideo for Business provides businesses a virtual video-production facility in the Cloud, enabling editing, Elearning! February / March 2015

NewProducts: Tools MOBILE SOLUTION FOCUSES ON SALES MANAGEMENT Qstream has made significant updates to its mobile solution for managing and measuring the capabilities of sales forces in just minutes a day. The enhancements further extend the core strengths of the Qstream platform for global enterprise deployments, including expanded single sign-on (SSO) integration and security options; updated native apps for Android and iOS; and new Qstream program delivery modes that offer broad support for driving high-performance sales teams in a scalable, single-platform solution. In addition to single-presentation and recurring Qstreams, challenges can now also be configured in one of three new delivery modes — live, timed and continuous Qstreams — to address the wide-ranging business requirements of product launches, onboarding, sales training and other enablement initiatives. —More info: http://qstream.com GET VIRTUAL REALITY ACCESS THROUGH MOBILE DEVICES The EON Experience VR app brings thousands of applications from EON Reality’s extensive Virtual and Augmented Reality Library to mobile devices. EON Experience VR, available now on both Google Play and App Store, supports Android and iOS devices, such as the Samsung Note 4 and Apple iPhone 6, and mobile headsets, like Samsung Gear VR, Zeiss VR One and Google Cardboard. EON Experience VR is focused on education and training using augmented reality, immersive virtual reality, and interactive experiences. Through EON Experience VR, students and trainees learn by doing and visualizing complex concepts. These experiences are split into three major subject areas, one of which is industry oriented (e.g. Engine Maintenance, Oil Field Safety Training). Using augmented and virtual reality, EON Experience VR places users into realistic situations that simulate patient visits, work environments, and labs or lessons where 46

February / March 2015 Elearning!

and when users need it, not just in the classroom or training center. —More info: www.eonreality.com. VIDEO CREATION LEAPS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY Panopto has released a major update to its video capture and management software. The update introduces a new SharePoint app for creating, managing and searching enterprise video; live webcasting to iOS devices; search federation with a range of applications using the OpenSearch standard; and support for content approval workflows. The new SharePoint app enables customers to securely embed videos and playlists in SharePoint pages using single sign-on (SSO) and efficiently stream live and on-demand video across the corporate WAN and Internet. And Panopto now supports live and on-demand video streaming at up to 60 frames per second (fps) from any Windows PC to iOS devices using the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol. —More info: www.panopto.com. OBSERVATION INSTRUMENT FOCUSES ON LEARNERS To help schools and systems measure and quantify active student engagement, AdvancED has launched Eleot — the Effective Learning Environments Observation Tool. An innovative, low-cost studentfocused

observation instrument, Eleot enables school leaders and teachers to explore how well each classroom addresses seven areas of engagement that research indicates make a difference in learning. The Eleot systematically helps pinpoint how well classrooms encourage active learning, use individual monitoring and feedback, employ technology to encourage more hands-on, studentdirected activities, and create environments that are equitable, set high expectations, address student needs, and effectively manage learning. It is available as an app for Apple iOS, Android, and desktop computers. —More info: http://eleot.advanc-ed.org

NewProducts: Content VIRTUAL REALITY HELPS SOLVE PEOPLE PROBLEMS SIMmersion uses PeopleSim technology to create virtual reality simulations of people in a wide range of difficult interpersonal situations, such as suicide interventions, criminal investigations, performance evaluations, sales calls and more. The company uses its advanced software and authoring tools to create a completely different training product: an intelligent tutor, which is a computerized coach that supports users as they learn. Many of the PeopleSim features, supported by powerful authoring tools, are ideally suited to the needs of intelligent tutor systems. The technology combines unique non-branching logic and a simulated emotional model to replicate unpredictable on-screen characters with all the complexities of real behavior. —More info: www.simmersion.com/ Contact.aspx COMPETENCY GUIDE TOPIC IS MANAGING CHANGE BizLibrary has added a fourth How-To Competency Development Guide — “Managing Change” — to its product line. According to a study by College for America, 71 percent of employers prefer developing existing employees into management roles rather than hiring new employees — but the lack of promotable skills is a major hurdle. The easiest way to target employee skill development is through competency-based training. Change management and adaptability are emerging as critical competencies for both organizations and leaders in this highly complex and rapidly changing marketplace. Agile and adaptable organizations are more prepared to meet the challenges posed by this environment than organizations that do not work to increase their capacity for improvement and change. —Download guides: www.bizlibrary.com/ resources/competencies STAYING CURRENT ON CRITICAL I.T. SKILLS lynda.com’s new I.T. training category features more than 100 courses aimed at

helping businesses and individuals stay current on critical I.T. skills. Taught by expert instructors, course topics include hardware infrastructure, network administration, business intelligence, content management, help desks and Big Data. This product line features: >> Enterprise content management systems - Share information smoothly among teams with the help of lynda.com’s expanded SharePoint courses for super-users, administrators

and designers, and training on hosted services like Box.com and Dropbox. >> Data science - The need for data analytics for business insight is growing. Topics range from simply learning to get more out of Excel to learning how to create beautiful visualizations with data or going deep into code with analytical languages. —More info: www.lynda.com/IT-trainingtutorials/2057-0.html GIVING LEADERS THE KNOWLEDGE TO LEAD Skillsoft’s Leadership KnowledgeCenter enables hands-on learning, providing best-in-class courses and books plus an array of resources designed and chosen to challenge and motivate every learner on corporate teams. This one-stop portal allows learners access to a diverse array of information, including articles, courses, video-rich leadership vignettes and online books specifically chosen by Skillsoft’s subject-matter experts to facilitate learning regardless of skill level. The Leadership KnowledgeCenter provides resources for: >> Employees learning about leadership >> Employees applying leadership >> Employees supporting leaders —More info: www.skillsoft.com

Elearning! February / March 2015

About e-Learning for Kids: Established in 2004, e-Learning for Kids is a global nonprofit foundation dedicated to fun and free learning on the Internet for children ages 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12 with courses in math, science, language arts, computers, health and environmental skills. Since 2005, more than 15 million children in over 190 countries have benefitted from eLessons provided by EFK! An all-volunteer staff consists of education and e-learning experts and business professionals from around the world committed to making difference. e-Learning for Kids is actively seeking funding, volunteers, sponsors and courseware developers; get involved! For more information, please visit www.e-learningforkids.org.

Do You Make the

PopQuiz Quiz

Grade? 2

Results:

6-7 correct makes you Mensa material. 4-5 correct means you are a skimmer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and can learn oh-so much more. Fewer than 4? This issue is your Sunday reading assignment. Try again!

How fast is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast repository of data growing? a) doubling every year b) tripling every year c) doubling every two years d) quadrupling every two years

What percentage of organizations deploy extended enterprise learning? a. 17% b. 33% c. 47% d. 62%

What is the most-used collaboration tool in business? a) chat/IM/texting b) desktop and Web conferencing c) social networks d) email

What do most learning professionals think is the key to making meetings more effective? a) post-meeting follow-up b) making better, faster decisions c) following a pre-set agenda d) none of the above

In 2014, what was the fastestgrowing e-learning region in the world? a) Asia b) Eastern Europe c) Africa d) North America

How many people will use an electronic tablet in 2015? a) more than 1 billion b) more than 2 billion c) more than 3 billion d) none of the above

Most organizations today have an open transparent work culture. a. True b. False

Editorial Index Ambient Insight www.ambientinsight.com

eMarketer.com www.emarketer.com

CloudCoaching International www.cloudcoachinginternational.com

p 23

American Public University www.GreatLeadersInspire.com

Learning! 100 www.2elearning.com

E-learning for Kids www.elearningforkids.org

p 48

Bersin by Deloitte www.bersin.com

Scripps Health www.scrippshealth.org

Collaborative Strategies http://collaborativeshift.com

SNS Telecom www.snstelecom.com

Elearning! Web Seminars p 27 http://www.2elearning.com/events/webseminars-series

Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services www2.deloitte.com

ADVERTISER INDEX

edSurge www.edsurge.com

American Public University www.greatleadersinspire.edu

E-learning! User Study 2014 www.2elearning.com

BizLibrary www.bizlibrary.com

Elearning! Subscription www.2elearning.com/registration-step1 Enterprise Learning! Conference http://elceshow.com p 52 p2

p 51

p 6-7, 9

Intercall www.intercall.com Salesforce salesforce.com/mobile

p 21 p3

Answers 1) c; 2) c; 3) d; 4) b; 5) a; 6) a; 7) b

Elearning! magazine is published bi-monthly by B2B Media Company LLC, PO Box 5417 Oceanside, CA 92052-5417. Application to mail Standard Class is filed with Sheppardville, KY Post Office. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to: Elearning! PO Box 5417 Oceanside, CA 92052-5417. Subscriptions are free to qualified professionals in the USA. All international or non-qualified subscriptions can receive Elearning! e-zine complimentary by ordering at http://www.2elearning.com/reg/choose. Elearning! magazine is a trademark of B2B Media Company. All rights are reserved.

Elearning! February / March 2015

LastWord Five Training Trends to Watch This Year BY JOHN BRYSON

ur industry is advancing so fast, it’s interesting to see how much top trends change from one year to the next. Let’s pause to consider what our industry will likely be seeing this year.

ONGOING TRAINING AND COACHING Organizational leaders are catching on that the information-dump training sessions of old no longer work. Technology now lets us follow a campaign model in our e-learning, delivering training material to users when they need it. Information can be broken into easily consumed chunks, and we can follow up with automated reminders, coaching and more.

PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES Rather than cramming employees of all different disciplines and experience into one room for a training class that may or may not apply to their role, organizations are moving toward personalized experiences, creating custom pathways based on role, experience and individual training needs. We can use digital dialogs to assess each learner’s background and knowledge level and send them down the most appropriate path.

E-LEARNING WILL SHIFT INTO DEVELOPING MARKETS As technology becomes more globally accessible, we’ll see e-learning adoption spread into emerging markets. In the “2014 E-Learning Market Trends & Forecast Report,” the highest regional growth rates are in Asia (driven by India, China and Australia) at 17.3 percent, Eastern Europe (driven by Russia) at 16.9 percent, followed by Africa and Latin America at 15.2 percent, and 14.6 percent, respectively. The study was also able to uncover the three largest areas of growth under the e-learning umbrella: Content, Authoring Tools and Learning Platforms.

BIG DATA AND ROBUST REPORTING Digitized training allows for advanced data collection and aggregation, and we’re figuring out better ways to leverage that data to understand our audience, optimize our learning campaigns, and measure training effectiveness — especially in the days and weeks following training. Is training driving sustained behavioral change? Now we can find out.

CONTINUED GROWTH IN MOBILE ADOPTION AND CUSTOM APPS Mobile adoption for delivering training was one of our top trends for 2014; in 2015, we expect that trend to continue with increasing use of custom mobile apps for learning. LMS systems have made interactive training content available online, and mobile applications are the next frontier, giving learners access to the same content on a mobile device. This offers flexibility and allows for device preference, or a BYOD approach.

—John Bryson is an e-learning project manager at Expand Interactive (www.expandinteractive.com). Access Docebo whitepaper: https://www.docebo.com/landing/ contactform/elearning-market-trends-and-forecast-20142016-docebo-report.pdf 50

February / March 2015 Elearning!

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