In the next few weeks the Pathways Training & eLearning team will be shooting a series of videos for a one of our valued clients. The “shoot” will involve volunteers who are not necessarily used to being in front of the camera, and will require three long days to complete. Considering both circumstances, there is the potential for roadblocks which could in turn mean the difference between success and failure. As such, in meeting with the production team last week, we

As we wind our way through this first quarter of a new century, I continually marvel at the technological advances that have been introduced and continue to emerge at a rapid rate. Just in the past few years we have seen cars that can not only park themselves but can actually drive without a person at the wheel! We have mini wireless computers that respond to voice command and control virtually everything in your home and just about every person who has bought a car in the

In the upcoming weeks, the Pathways Training and eLearning team will be starting a large project that will require a significant amount of “live action” filming, and by that, I mean filming actual people as opposed to creating an animated video. These types of “shoots” typically involve volunteers who are not used to being in front of the camera and are not always aware of the need to follow a tight schedule or the ramifications of not showing up at all.,. Considering these

Last week I continued a discussion on 360 video and virtual reality training, focusing on the possible “unseen” advantages of using Virtual Reality as part of your training. This week I would like to continue the discussion and look at two of the industries that have embraced Virtual Reality, and then conclude the discussion next week by looking at where the remaining opportunities still exist. As mentioned above, there exist today many industries that have completely embrac

Ideal for Millennials: There has been a significant amount of research completed around the habits, motivations and needs of the largest age group in the workplace today, the Millennials. As a result, it has been concluded that the millennial student not only responds better to innovative training, but in fact almost demands it, assuming you want your training to be successful. Understanding that, virtual reality training is an ideal fit for the millennial, as they are off

Last week I reviewed a very successful project Pathways was a part of where we created Canada’s first 360 video eLearning video which provided the students the chance to experience a mass casualty situation in virtual reality. I ended the discussion by pointing out that, although the advantages of 360 video and virtual reality seem plentiful, we have yet to see a significant spike in the utilization of the technology. As such, I would like to continue the discussion by offe

A few months back the Pathways Training and eLearning team partnered with our friends at Saint John Ambulance to create one of Canada’s first 360 video eLearning modules. The program is intended for students participating in a first aid program, with this particular module dealing with best practices when responding to a mass casualty event. The virtual reality simulation allowed the students to “walk though” a mass casualty scene (using a virtual reality viewer such as G

As we approach to the final stages of the production of our first virtual reality (VR) enabled eLearning module, it is important to create a list of lessons learned that will make things smoother for future projects. When using this technology, one thing that stands out from a technical and user experience perspective, is the file size of the assets used in the VR-enabled eLearning module. In our case, we are hosting the VR eLearning module on our webserver, which means that

Rumour has it that over the last few years, Canada has been lagging behind in innovation. The Conference Board of Canada’s Innovation Domain Report card from 2015 grades Canada at a C, and 9th out of 16 peer countries, so we certainly have room for improvement. But with substantial government subsidies for R&D and training, why are Canadian companies reluctant to invest in research and design? One of the factors is conflating invention with innovation, or radical innovation w

Recently the Pathways team took part in an exciting project in creating one of Canada’s first 360 video eLearning modules. For the past two weeks I have written about this experience, including a discussion on the lessons learned related to camera movement and lighting and on our discoveries around the camera hardware, sound and available post production software. To conclude the discussion, this week I will talk about the outlook for 360 video technology as it relates to

Moving forward with the development of our 360 eLearning video, we have found along the way that there are lots of opportunities to improve the learning experience by teaching the content in a more interactive way. However, and unfortunately, given that 360 eLearning videos is still a technology in development, we have also found several challenges and limitations, especially when it comes to deploying this product on mobile devices. And even more specifically, deploying then

Recently the Pathways team took part in an exciting project in creating one of Canada’s first 360 video eLearning modules. Last week I wrote about this experience, talking about the lessons learned, specifically related to camera movement and lighting. This week I would like to continue the discussion, focusing on our discoveries around the camera hardware, sound and available post production software. With regards to the camera hardware, our device, like many 360 cameras

Recently the Pathways team took part in an exciting project in creating one of Canada’s first 360 video eLearning modules. While it was overall a very rewarding experience, given this was our first “official” endeavor using this medium I thought I would provide a few thoughts on the experience, both what worked well and what challenges were presented. Most of our “lessons learned” related to using the camera itself as this is still a new technology for us. Specifically, m

On a previous post, we discussed how to stitch and edit your 360 videos for eLearning modules. Let’s remember that, at the end of the day, when you edit the 360 videos, you are doing so on a 2D space, so they will look like this:On a previous post, we discussed how to stitch and edit your 360 videos for eLearning modules. Let’s remember that, at the end of the day, when you edit the 360 videos, you are doing so on a 2D space, so they will look like this: Let’s also remember t

Let’s continue diving a bit more into our favourite topic of 2017. And I say favourite because as it is a developing technology, here at Pathways we are proud of being one of the first training and eLearning companies in Canada, implementing 360 video and virtual reality into eLearning. While developing our 360 eLearning video, we also started thinking about how to bring the final product to the next level, keeping in mind that only by having the 360 video integrated with an

As per some of our previous posts, here at Pathways we have embarked on this amazing journey of creating 360 video for eLearning purposes. About two weeks we traveled to Vancouver, and with the help of St. John Ambulance, we had the opportunity to shoot our first 360 video for eLearning purposes. For those of you who don’t know (and for those who do), the output from the 360 camera (depending on which one you are using) in its raw format, looks like the feed of 2 different ca

360 videos are the next step in the evolution of training and eLearning. When 360 video is added into an eLearning course, it allows the learner to interact with the video and to scroll around and to see a complete 360 view of everything around (beyond just what the camera was pointed at, at the time of the video shoot, like with traditional video). At Pathways Training and eLearning, we believe that by adding HTML5 interactivities into the 360 video (like “hot spot” and cli

This week the Pathways team were at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, partnering with St. John Ambulance, to record a 360 degree interactive video to be embedded in eLearning, to teach the correct procedure on assessing casualties after a disaster. I have to admit, we are very excited to have the opportunity to implement new technologies in the eLearning field, leaving a bit behind our usual eLearning module development, because 360 video is a technology that, in my opinion, can

According to research, learners are more inclined to recall new material that is presented in video where they are able to both see and hear the information. (Gunter, et al. 2000; Molen, et al. 2000; Lalley 1998) This process reinforces information in multiple brain areas which greatly increases the chance that content will be stored in long-term memory. In order to achieve this there are a few things one should consider when making a training video. Script – be concise and

You have probably heard the phrase “fast, good and cheap: pick two”. It is a favourite of mine and think it should be taken into account when looking to hire a corporate training vendor. Basically it means the following: • Design and develop something fast and to a very high standard – it won’t be cheap. • Design and develop something fast and to a low standard – it won’t be of high quality. • Design and develop something of high quality at a cheap price – it will take a lo