Could the latest tablet from Apple be the ultimate mobile learning device?

It was hard to miss that Apple’s iPad 2 was released internationally last Friday. If you braved the lines and the cold, you might have been lucky enough to snag one for yourself. Not me yet, but it’s definitely on my wish list.

I wasn’t so sure about a tablet device until we got our 1^st gen iPad, but now I’m sold on how comfortable it makes ‘couch computing’. It’s an easy way to check email, access the Internet and watch videos, whether I’m working in comfort outside of normal office hours or using it for fun. And let’s not forget the apps—hundreds of thousands of software applications that can do everything from balance your bank account to manage your to-do list to playing some Angry Birds or Plants vs. Zombies (I admit it, I’m guilty).

With its even thinner profile and 10 hour battery life, plus the added front and back facing video cameras, I’m wondering if the iPad 2 can finally be a perfect platform for mobile learning. There are already rumours about Apple releasing an LMS for the iPad 2, which would take advantage of the unit’s fast processor, speech-to-text integration and video conferencing.

Think about the possibilities here: having your remote workers take a tracked mobile learning module, then getting on a video call with a supervisor to demonstrate their learning in their workplace. Later, they check into a module wiki to see how others have put their learning into action, or even see or record videos to facilitate knowledge sharing. All from the same device. Pretty cool stuff.

Even without a supported LMS from Apple, educators can take advantage of existing apps to communicate directly with students, post messages and discussions on virtual whiteboards, and conduct “virtual workshops”. As a learning support tool, the iPad is ideal.

I think the main barrier to implementation would be price, as the low-end iPad 2 version costs a steep $519 (16GB of storage and Wi-Fi only). But when you think of the savings of no longer needing to gather the workforce in to a central location and backfill during training sessions, it starts to become a more practical option for the long term. And given we still have a perfectly functioning 1^st gen iPad in our house, I think there are good prospects for a long life from any product from Apple. It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds…

New learning management article available

We've recently posted an article called 'Inside Learning Management' to the documents area of the site. We've found over the years that it can be pretty confusing when you're first considering getting into e-learning and learning management, so we put together this article to try to demystify some of the product types and tools out there. We've included an outline of the planning process for installing a learning management system. Check out the article and see if it can be of help to you.

We've also created a worksheet to help you figure out what you need from your new tool - if you'd like a copy of it, drop us a line and we'll send it on over.

New mobile library launched!

We've excited to announce that we've just launched a series of mobile content modules. It's called the "Instant Sales Skills Mobile Library", and it was developed to help busy on-the-go sales people expand their skills or refresh their knowledge on key topics wherever they are and whenever they want. We think this is the type of content that's ideal for distribution using smartphones - bite-sized chunks that are easily absorbed and turn a few minutes of down time into productive time. The library is currently designed to run on BlackBerry devices using the Chalk Pushcast Software platform, and we hope to launch it soon for other devices and platforms. Check the topics out and see what you think!

Break your presentations out of the box

How many times have you sat through a page-turner presentation that almost put you to sleep?

How many times have you been guilty of delivering something along these lines yourself?

As much as we may want to liven things up when we're conducting face to face training or sharing information with colleagues, ditching the presentation slides is not really an option - there is value to having something displayed on a screen to guide participants along. The unfortunate thing is, most of the software we use to create presentations follow this same page-turning slide format that can become monotonous after a while, despite our best efforts. 

I recently came across a tool that takes a totally different approach to presentations that impressed me quite a bit. Prezi frees us from the 'slides' metaphor for displaying content. Instead imagine adding all of your content to a large canvas, where your presentation view allows you to move around the canvas, zoom in and out and rotate the perspective. You can easily show the big picture, zoom in on details and make connections between different elements in an eye-catching way. It's really something best grasped by checking out some of the presentations people have shared on the Prezi website. The bonus is it's free to use under the public license, and pretty reasonable for the other license options, too.

Take a look and see what you think - maybe Prezi can help you liven up your next presentation!

New case study: Financial institution excels with training/coaching program.

We've just added a case study to our site that describes how a major financial institution made a big change with the right training solution. The training/coaching program that we worked with them to create led to a multi-million dollar revenue win-back and improved employee morale. By sitting down with the key stakeholders and figuring out what their real needs were, we were able to create a solution that got to the heart of the challenges at hand and addressed them in a way that worked effectively for their environment. Read all about it here.

Making ethics and compliance training memorable

Ethics and compliance training can be a sticky area - it's extremely important to an organization, but as the subject matter can be sensitive, the training can often end up being not much more than dry lists of do's and don't's. I recently came across a great article in Fast Company magazine (read it here) that explains how one company rose to the occasion and created memorable ethics and compliance training for their employees with a series of video scenarios. Video may not be in everyone's budget, but there are other ways that we can use the same approach with less cost. Get your employees thinking about these situations by incorporating scenarios or case studies about ethical dilemmas using a cast of characters you create and bring to life with stock images.

The world needs all kinds of minds

Recently I enjoyed watching the HBO movie “Temple Grandin”, which chronicles how, as a young woman, Dr. Grandin discovered that the way her autistic mind works gave her new and different perspectives on the world in general and animal handling in particular.

The movie does an excellent job of illustrating the fact that when a person has autism, their brain is working in a different way, not in the wrong way. This varies by individual; in Dr. Grandin’s case, she thinks in pictures. If this different way of thinking is recognized and supported for its capabilities rather than pushed into a traditional mold, it has the power to excel. It may even uncover new possibilities and insights beyond traditional thinking, as in the case of Dr. Grandin.

Watching the movie made ponder the subtle differences in the way our learning audiences think. Instructional designers often talk about aural learners, visual learners and kinesthetic learners, but how often are even these basic learning styles really being addressed? When a learning program is created, we must ensure we are doing all we can to bring each learner to their full potential within the bounds of our subject area, budget and other limitations. By make simple changes – reviewing material to ensure there are visual cues that consistently and directly support textual content in e-learning, for instance - could we be making a much stronger connection with a portion of the audience?

To find out more about Temple Grandin, check out this TED talk she did recently, “The world needs all kinds of minds.” Dr. Grandin’s website can be found at http://www.grandin.com.

Five things we can learn from how elite athletes approach training

Over the last couple of weeks it’s been non-stop Winter Olympics in our neck of the woods, and we’ve enjoyed not only watching events but also learning more about the individuals behind the medals. In almost every televised interview, athletes talked about the team effort that got them to the podium, thanking their families and also their trainers. It got us to thinking about what those of us involved in adult learning can learn from the athlete/trainer relationship. Here are five characteristics of elite athletic training: 

Commitment
Each athlete understands the need for training – they are motivated because they can easily see how their performance improves with the help of the trainer. They seek out and engage the trainer; they’re not mandated to take training as may be the case for workplace learning. This only strengthens our view that tapping into what motivates adult learners to value a training topic is a key factor in setting the stage for a successful learning event.

Tailored coaching
Elite athletes don’t limit themselves to one trainer - they get coaching for different aspects of their sport from different experts. Also, there isn’t one trainer or a single training style in each sport. Each athlete has individual strengths and areas for improvement and their coaching speaks to these factors. This reminds me that a cookie-cutter approach to training is only going to achieve limited success. We need to remember to make our training relevant to our organization’s needs and goals. We also need to ensure the learning we create speaks to different learning styles so it engages as many learners as possible.

A holistic approach
Beyond training for their sport, elite athletes know that they have to pay attention to their whole body, both physically and mentally, in order to be at the top of their game. They consider their nutrition carefully and they may work with a psychologist to improve their mental fitness. This reminds me that when we are looking at a performance issue, we need do some analysis to uncover all the contributing factors. Training won’t solve every problem - if the athlete had a poor diet, there would be a ceiling on his or her performance no matter how much training is done. Our performance issues could have contributing factors that must be addressed by means other than training. 

Small changes can yield big results
A small change of approach for the trainer and athlete can make a slight difference in performance, and in an event measured in hundredths of a second, a slight improvement can mean a move from fourth place to medal standing. This reminds us that even if we don’t have a lot of time or money for training, giving people the tools to improve their performance even in a few key areas can have a ripple effect through an organization, generating success.

The value of ongoing training
When referring to coaching and training, you never hear an elite athlete say, ”I’ve learned all I can and I’m just going to do it by myself now.” They clearly recognize that performance improvement is an ongoing process, and that message translates very easily to our world. It’s important when we create training to consider what happens beyond the actual event. Sometimes the moment when the event occurs doesn’t align with when the learner really sees the value in the information. Also, it may be that some people are only ready to absorb the big picture at first and need to reconnect with the material to get the nuances at a later time.

Overall the biggest lesson for learning professionals is that elite athletes are immersed in a culture of learning. Working with trainers is accepted, proven effective and the natural thing to do. If we strive to create this kind of environment in our organizations, we will surely be on the path to success of Olympic proportions.

Making training work for everyone

Sometimes Paula and I are called upon to help clients with specific needs for specific audiences, like sales training on a new product for a group of sales reps or a retail sales team. These groups generally find it easy to relate to each other and see the value of training in a session as they have similar goals and similar work functions. When we work with an organization that is training a diverse workforce it becomes much more evident that training material must speak to each worker no matter their role.

Say you’re responsible for ensuring every individual in a company that builds widgets has WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) training. People working with chemicals in the widget manufacturing facility will easily see why they need the training. A janitor may be able to make the connection to their role. But what about the office receptionist or the accountant? You must tap into the ‘what’s in it for me?’ factor to engage these people in the learning – without having this motivation, they won’t value the training, which means they won’t absorb the information and the transfer back to the job will be low.

In the ideal world we'd all do one-on-one training so that each individual's motivational needs are addressed, but this usually isn't practical or feasible. Here are three ways you can help ensure you are motivating all employees in a training program:

1. To address in a simple and fairly inexpensive way, use images in your learning material that represent all the different groups of employees you are training. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's amazing how many times it gets missed. Sometimes it's challenging to find the image you need with the right type of employee to support the concept, but remember that the value of seeing an employee that learners identify with far outweighs their concern over high-end photography. Don't be afraid to pick up that digital camera and grab some workplace models to pose for you!

2. A step beyond making sure you're addressing all learners with your images is incorporating plenty of examples that speak from the perspective of different types of employees. Examples can be anything from general comments within the learning material to a scenario set up in a paragraph and followed by review questions to a programmed scenario in an e-learning course that takes the employee down a different path based on what answers they give in different situations.

3. If your budget allows it, an effective way to address different learners in one course - whether in a face-to-face training guide, self-study manual or e-learning module - is to have employees work through one of three or four pathways through the content. Each pathway represents a different group of learners, like manufacturing employees, maintenance employees and administrative employees in the widget company example . The core content is the same for all, but the images, examples and review exercises are all customized for the different group so the learning really speaks to them.

What methods have you used to make your training work for a diverse audience?