This week I had the amazing opportunity to work with a team. A real team. A soccer team. A group of individuals that must work together to achieve a collective goal. I reference ‘real’ not to be hyperbolic, but because sports offer a window into what teamwork really can be. A truly collective effort. I say this, as compared to organizations that can function under the veil of ‘team’, but often times can achieve their goals with, or without the collective effort of everyone. M

These past few days the team has been tasked with creating an eLearning module with the goal of grabbing the learner's attention immediately...or so was the task we were assigned. When thinking about this, a co-worker asked me what strategies I use to engage and excite the students, specifically at the beginning of a program. To answer this I started by quoting the Italian poet and author Cesare Pavese, who said some 60 years ago, …” We do not remember days…. we remember m

Of the many projects we work on at Pathways, one that continues to provide unique challenges and opportunities is a new system launch initiative for which we will be developing and delivering all of the training. (eLearning, ILT, job aids, video, etc.…). This training will be provided to employees all over Canada in each province so while there have been a few unique challenges as I mentioned above, overall it has been exciting! After several weeks of conferences, focus gr

Last week I attended a Canadian Community of Corporate Educators (CCCE) event where Dr. Alan Middleton from the Schulich Executive Education Centre spoke about business spending on training. He highlighted that while The Conference Board of Canada reported a modest increase in spending on training from 2010 to 2013, there has been an overall decline the past couple of decades. Dr. Middleton also discussed the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world we live in and

Two weeks ago, I provided an introduction as part of a review of some of the exciting projects we worked on in 2016, so for the next few weeks I am going to go in to a bit more detail, with the focus this week on a project that involved eLearning, facilitation and one on one coaching. One of our clients is a luxury automotive company that, while they are already an industry leader when it comes to the “car buying” journey, continue to look for ways they can improve the custom

The month of January is often filled with goal setting; individuals setting personal and professional goals and companies determining their business goals for the year. Creating goals requires reflecting on where you currently are, where you want to be and how you are going to get there. Most companies will establish a learning and development plan as a component of a larger business goal. This is also an ideal time to revisit the capability of your Learning Management Syste

Last week I provided an introduction as part of a review of some of the exciting projects we worked on in 2016, so for the next few weeks I am going to go in to a bit more detail, starting with an on-boarding program we are developing for a large transit company. The training program is being designed for the control centre inspectors whom are part of a larger group made up of four separate contracting companies. Each company is responsible for bus service in a specific geo

This past year at Pathways Training & eLearning has been one filled with great opportunities, unique challenges and above all else, further proof we continue to lead the way in developing innovative learning solutions for our ever-growing list of clients. As such, over the next few weeks I am going to share our “story of 2016” which included everything from our continued partnership with one of the worlds most popular luxury automotive companies, the development of a new-hir

After defining what you training needs are, prepared your space and materials, there are a few techniques that will help you run an effective training session and keep it enjoyable and engaging for everyone involved. Tell trainees what you’re going to cover. Introduce your session with a brief overview of the training subject’s main points. Tell them the information. In the main portion of the session, explain key points, go over policies, demonstrate procedures, and relate a

Depending on the needs and size of your company, this question can be very easy to answer, or very challenging. Based on varying factors, some companies choose to do it all in-house, some outsource it all to corporate training vendor, and the majority have a mix of both. When companies do outsource it, it is usually because of two reasons – they lack the internal resources and expertise to create the content, or their internal team does not have the bandwidth to take on more

At the start of ever year there occurs a phenomenon that is as predicable as the rising Sun. The event in question is the annual setting of the New Years resolutions. Quitting smoking, losing weight, easing up on the drinking, etc. These are just a few of the resolutions that many of us decide to tackle with the best intentions, only to have most if not all fall by the wayside before Ground Hog day. Regardless of our collective success rate, in thinking about resolutions i

Storyline comes with a lot of great features and built in eLearning activities, but there are a few limitations to the available interactions. Storyline’s drag and drop activity is great, and allows multiple items to have the same correct drop spot, but currently you can’t have an item with more than one correct drop spot. This was mentioned in my Storyline 3 wishlist of new features. However, Storyline’s trigger wizard allows you to program custom events for when items are d

Recently I was asked a question by a client that I think I a god topic of discussion…and that is, how does one determine when to use eLearning versus in class, instructor led sessions? In some instances, making the determination between using eLearning or instructor led training is simple, and often done for you before development starts. For example, consider geographic location of the intended audience. If the material you are developing is intended for a national or even

In 1992 the novel “The Positronic Man” was released. Based on stories written by legendary scholar and author Isaac Asimov, the story is about a household robot named Andrew that lives with the family it serves. Over time Andrew, in a quest to become the first “free” robot and ultimately more human than machine, starts to replace its own robot parts with organic material. Considering the story was based on work by one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time,

Every trainer who has ever facilitated a course has been there. You spend several minutes explaining a specific process to a room full of students and pause to ask the class if there are any questions before you continue on. You then stand and wait in anticipation, knowing by the looks on some of the faces that there are definitely a few questions, but regardless the room remains silent. This is a critical point in training as a good facilitator, recognising there are gaps

Is it necessary to use virtual reality in eLearning? Wouldn’t it be cheaper, faster and easier to continue using traditional methods – classroom learning, textbooks, online eLearning courses? In this article, I would like to explore the benefits of VR in the field of eLearning, and how to decide when it’s useful and appropriate. I will make the assumption that the reader is already familiar with what VR is, and how it works. An important consideration to using VR in eLearning