Gamification is a term that is frequently thrown around in the training industry. It refers to the application of game elements and principles in learning sessions, and is a popular approach used in eLearning and company training sessions. In fact, the 2016-2021 Global Game-based Learning Market report stated that game-based learning products reached a global revenue of $2.6 billion in 2016.   

Are you interested in a work from home opportunity? Are you computer literate and a detail-oriented person? Do you have experience supporting WebEx Training Center, Adobe Connect, or any other virtual classroom platform? InSync Training wants to learn more about you! 

Picture this: you’re facilitating a live training session for your organization, and it comes time to ask for learner input. You open the floor for contributions with the common phrase, “A penny for your thoughts?”

And you get crickets. Your previously lively cohort goes silent. Some participants look utterly confused.

What happened? Your figure of speech may have confused your global learners.

The modern learning landscape presents a unique set of challenges. Never before have learners had greater access to information, a greater drive to discover answers for themselves, or a greater number of demands on their time.

Formal training no longer provides the end-all-be-all solution for our organizations. While it has an important place in the instructional design line-up, it represents just one of many options we need to include in our blends.

By better understanding our audience, identifying a training solution, and transitioning to something new and innovative, we can improve the learning experience within our organizations.

What do you call training that connects people remotely into a web session? Within L&D, and even within the same organization, the title for this kind of learning experience varies. Commonly, though, when instructors facilitate to two types of audiences simultaneously, you often hear the term “multi-method delivery.”

In today’s global, mobile, social workplace, training often supports dispersed learners, all of whom have individual learning goals and attendance requirements. When used correctly, multi-method delivery creates an opportunity to support them all.

Often trainers become trainers because their organizations see them succeeding at their jobs. “Oh! You’re a great customer service rep. You can teach other people how to perform customer service.” “Wow! You created a beautiful new page for the internal website. Can you teach these three team members your process?”

Your competitive differentiators likely landed you the role of facilitator, designer, and sage.

But that puts you at a disadvantage. Modern learners require modern approaches, and when you start off as a Subject Matter Expert, you very rarely get support around the “brain science” piece of training. You don't have basic knowledge of learning theories, design theories, and strategies you can target and influence your instructional designs.

Jennifer Hofmann, President of InSync Training, recently joined eLearning Guild’s Virtual Classroom Panel during their 2018 Learning Solutions Conference. Jennifer and other industry experts shared their insight into the challenges, realities, and best practices of live online learning. This post, the third in the series, recaps their panel discussion.

From instructional design to delivery to production, virtual learning requires special treatment. Accustomed to the face-to-face classroom, learners often perceive live online sessions as “less important.”

How can we fight this stigma and increase learner engagement?

Nina Talley Everflow, Senior Program Manager of EnCompass, Jennifer Hofmann, President of InSync Training, Karen Hyder, Principal of Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting, and Bianca Woods, Sr. Manager of Programming for the eLearning Guild believe in the approaches detailed in this blog post.

Training Industry Webcast Recap

Adult Learning Principles tell us that adults learn best when they believe information relates to their responsibilities. This theoretical principle serves as an important reminder: if learners don’t feel connected to the content, they’ll disengage.

In the virtual classroom, all the EdTech bells and whistles in the world will not replace good old-fashioned relevance. Scenario-based learning provides one way to make learning stick, and to combat boredom in live online training.

Learning styles and 70-20-10, you’ve probably heard of them. Both have provided instructional designers with guidance for years. Well, according to expert Chris Osborn, we need to throw both right in the garbage.

This extreme response to seemingly-proven models stems from a key question: How do humans learn? Chris argues that “Human learning is about creating new memories and replacing outdated, incomplete, or incorrect ones, with accurate, relevant, useful new memories.”  Employees undergo true behavior change when they learn, retain, and apply new content.

Here's a radical idea: maybe we've been thinking too small when it comes to instructional design.

Relying on proven principles while purposefully expanding the scope of our vision can help us accomplish organizational goals and empower learners to better navigate their modern workplaces. We believe in a more thorough model so much that we practice and preach perpetual learning design.

Our new video explains the concept in under three minutes - click here to view.