Perhaps the most pervasive myth about education is the ubiquitous “learning styles” myth. A quick Google search will bring up millions of hits. Many of those hits are, tellingly, for websites trying to sell you their “learning styles” program. One of the main reasons the myth is so widespread is because, on the surface, it […]
“It was too much all at once. I was overwhelmed.” That’s not something you want to see in the feedback for your association’s eLearning. Luckily, there are ways to make eLearning more digestible, regardless of the subject matter. Managing content density is the key. What is Density? In essence, density is how much “stuff” is […]
Copywriting is the practice of using written content, both online and in print to market, advertise, raise brand awareness and communicate core brand values. The beauty of copywriting is that it’s written in such a way as to speak to almost any level reader, taking complex products, services, features and benefits, and breaking them down […]
Blended learning is not new to training. Remember the days when you looked forward to field trips to the planetarium, hovering over a formaldehyde preserved frog with your lab team, or seeing the movie version of Lord of the Rings on a Friday afternoon? Yes, you probably do […]
Gamification and game-based learning (sometimes abbreviated GBL) are both hot topics and the terms are often used interchangeably. They’re not the same thing, but a lot of the definitions and explanations that are floating around aren’t very clear. Hopefully this will help: gamification is icing and GBL is cake. Gamification, “Icing” Gamification is primarily used […]
Every week, like clockwork, I get a call from someone who wants me to recommend an LMS for their association or small business. The conversation goes something like this…Typical Phone Call Example If an eLearning Genie would come out of a bottle and grant me four wishes for my LMS buyers, here is what I’d […]
Today, I wanted to talk about a misnomer I hear all the time that drives me up a wall. Negative reinforcement. Many people hear the phrase and picture scenes of scolding and beratement. They believe that since positive reinforcement means rewarding someone then negative reinforcement must mean punishing someone. I’d like to clear this up […]
WCAG 2.0 stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Similar to Section 508, WCAG is the international standard for accessibility in web content created by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Most people are familiar with Section 508, which requires federal agencies to “purchase electronic and information technology that is accessible to employees with disabilities, and […]
What do you think of when you hear the term eLearning? Maybe your mind jumps to webinars or interactive courses in a Learning Management System (LMS). There are many different types of eLearning, so it isn’t surprising that they can be divided into categories. Let’s explore them and take a look at their advantages and […]
“Make your audience care.” It’s an often repeated tenet of instructional design and it sounds great in theory. If you can make your audience care about the material they will engage more deeply with the content and retain it longer. Just saying “make your audience care” is not the whole story though. While many designers […]