Pathways Training and eLearning has created Canada’s first virtual reality eLearning and we have been showing this great technology to several Canadian executives. Interestingly, we are hearing some interesting feedback from companies on their thoughts on how this new and innovative technology can be used. To increase revenue and sales to clients – An executive in the banking industry mentioned what a great technology this is, to increase sales to clients. A customer is mor

There is a lot of talk now in days, about how Canadian companies should be more innovative. But what does that mean in the training industry? Some people tend to think whiteboard animations are innovative, and gamification. For some companies just moving away from classroom learning to eLearning or blended learning is innovative, but the reality is there are many new ways Canadians can be innovating their training methods. Virtual reality eLearning is here and it is amazing

For the past few weeks we have been discussing the importance of interpersonal skills, with the most recent discussion on the filters we use to interpret a message. As previously mentioned, the first thing to recognize is that messages are not sent directly from your brain to the receiver’s brain. As you deliver your message, it goes through a set of filters that can impact its meaning. These filters are Words, Tone and Body Language. This week, we will focus on Tone. Look

A lot of the time when we’re programming elearning, it’s faster to get all the material and functionality done first and then edit the tabbing functionality and closed captions later. This is helpful especially if the client is known to make a lot of changes, so that images and text can be locked down before we add accessibility features tied to these things. However, I recently discovered some problems with completing all the programming first. Storyline 2 does have a great

Last week we started a discussion on the importance of interpersonal skills. This week we will continue along that theme, discussing the filters we use to interpret a message. The first thing to recognize is that messages are not sent directly from your brain to the receiver’s brain. As you deliver your message, it goes through a set of filters that can impact its meaning. These filters are Words, Tone and Body Language. This week, we will focus on Words. Our choice of w

Due to the continued growth at Pathways we have posted for multiple positions, including a posting for an instructional designer. As such I have spent he last few weeks reviewing resumes from the potential candidates, many of which include a wide variety of skills and experienced referenced. There is however one skill that 100% of the resumes mention, even to the extent they are stated in the same way…and that is “Excellent Communication Skills”. I have written in the past

This battle has been happening for quite some time, not only for web development but also for eLearning development and deployment as well, but due to some recent events and personal experiences, I think the time to choose between HTML5 and Flash, has come (or at least, in my daily context, this decision is only happening now). Unfortunately, the making of this decision is not only up to us, but up to our clients as well. I remember a couple of years ago, we were tasked with

Here at Pathways, we like to always use the most advanced tools when it comes to creating eLearning modules. Of course, that includes using the latest versions of rapid eLearning authoring tools, like Storyline or Captivate. However, it is always important to explore these tools and make internal tests, before considering using them for clients’ projects. Such is our case with the new Articulate Storyline 360, which was released a few weeks ago, and as part of our day-to-day

As a programmer, I have faced situations in which I have to reuse my code from a previous project, since maybe, on another eLearning project, I have need functionality that I have already programmed. I have also faced situations in which I have had the need to use code from another programmer. Unfortunately, and it has happened with my own code as well, not all the time the code that I need to reuse, is well documented. By “documented”, I mean adding annotations that explain

Recently I was working with a client on developing process documentation and technical instructions regarding the launch of a new system they were going to be using. Specifically, we were working on creating written instructions on how to create a login ID and set up a user profile as the process was varied depending on which group was accessing this new system. Considering there were 4 different groups, all needing to take a slightly different path as part of the process, I

Over the course of a year I can visit up to 20 – 30 different offices, each with their own unique components such as location, configuration, number of employees, office type, nature of business…. etc.…One thing however that remains consistent for almost all of the offices I visit is each business, regardless of type, seems to have some type of training around respect in the workplace on an annual or in some cases, twice a year rotation. What I have found is not consistent

And by design I am (for the most part) talking about Graphic Design. Think about it for a second, on a standard eLearning module, you usually have a rectangular area in which to put in your content and graphical assets, and if we talk in degrees, it’s around 90 (horizontally and vertically) degrees that you must cover. That is relatively easy, since we are used to that format and you can make a good use of white spaces (for most graphic designers, a very important concept in

In the past month, Pathways has been asked to develop eLearning modules on the topic of Social Media awareness and usage by three of our clients. Considering the frequency of these recent requests, I decided to spend a few weeks discussing how we use Social Media. When discussing this topic with a friend he mentioned that while he was very careful with how he presented himself on social media when using his companies’ channels, he felt he could be “more himself” when using

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

Continuing with the train of thought of training videos, in previous days we engaged with a client on a project that involves videos used as part of eLearning modules, and one of the questions the client asked me was “what format do you want us to give you the videos in?”. Right at that moment, I thought “wow, that is actually a good question!”. So, how do you answer that question if it’s ever asked to you? Well, I would say, it depends on the tools you are using to develop y

In the past month, Pathways has been asked to develop eLearning modules on the topic of Social Media awareness and usage by three of our clients. Considering the frequency of these recent requests as well as the acknowledgement that Social Media is by no means a new phenomenon, this leads me to believe that more and more organization have, while probably already realized long ago the potential benefits of utilizing social media, only now realizing the potential pitfalls of

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

Alright, time for some classic eLearning development discussion! In the last few blogs, I have been discussing our experiences and lessons learned in the realm of 360 eLearning videos, but since here at Pathways, we are still designing and developing lots of classic (and very interesting) eLearning modules. Of course, we always strive to take our products to the next level, making good use of the tools and even extending their functionality with external tools. However, the c

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