12 Dec 2022

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Six benefits of using storytelling in elearning

Storytelling is an intrinsic part of human culture. Generations have shared stories as heirlooms. So, it’s no doubt that it has become an inevitable part of elearning. The learners may not remember graphs and charts and their assimilated data. But they can remember a story because of its structure.

Moreover, storytelling is an interesting way to engage the audience because it takes the learners to a different environment. Employees are enthralled through simulations as they get some time away from the monotonous office environment. It’s also easy to get someone’s attention through a story because they have an element of intrigue in them.

Elearning content development companies also help organizations cash on this benefit of stories by curating those pertinent to their work processes.

Stories ensure people remember facts better; in fact, 63% of learners imbibe the data better in their minds when it’s interwoven with stories: These are the advantages of using storytelling in elearning:-

Get the audience hooked:

The elearning content development companies can prepare interesting storytelling scenarios for their clients.

Employees today face a lot of pressure at work for upskilling. But when the elearning module is not interesting enough, they don’t gain any knowledge. The learners’ interest can be grabbed at the beginning of the lesson when a story is told to them about another learner’s experience.

When learners listen to this story, they can learn how a subject working in a similar position faced a challenging situation.

The scenarios can help learners understand how complex situations can arise at the workplace because they contain relatable characters, or such stories can come straight from the horse’s mouth. When learners listen to someone’s experience who works in the same role, this has a profound impact on them.

Anecdotes can also be used in a module to inspire the learners because they can ensure that employees can learn how their seniors overcame problems. When senior employees share their experiences about solving problems by following a solution, they take an interest in upskilling themselves.

Explain facts:

It has been found that when facts are put into stories, learners retain them better; the retention rate is as high as 20 times. You can’t attempt to influence the learners by just stating facts to them through PowerPoint slides. Therefore, storytelling is an effective medium when the management has to affect the learners to modify their behavior radically.

With genuine stories, the learners are likely to be persuaded rationally and strongly to change their work practices. The company can narrate facts to the learners about how a certain skill can increase their productivity, but when they listen to someone’s similar experience, their perception of the same skill changes.

When seniors come out in the open about professional mistakes, the learners have the highest retention. The leaders and seniors inspire others to adhere to the company’s values.

Sharing such experiences is a positive way for organizations to make employees bond with each other. Employees prevent others from committing the same errors they did through such experiences. Hence, storytelling is the best way to teach others to escape such situations scot-free.

Spread awareness:

News can also be used to inspire learners. Such news can be any compliance lapses, including cybersecurity events in any organization, and have led to serious consequences for them. They can be video clippings of any real-life incident. You can teach compliance training interestingly through such videos because once learners have the backstory of how not following rules can cost a company; they are bound to be interested.

Explain the relevance of laws:

Detailed videos can also be shown to the learners, which let them know why a law came into place and how it can prevent negligence.

For example, a law regarding cybersecurity can be introduced to the learners about how it can prevent hackers from accessing the systems. It can prevent unauthorized access by only allowing designated personnel to use certain systems.

Through news bytes, the learners can learn how not following such rules has led to ransomware attacks in organizations.

Instill an understanding of the company’s values:

Stories can also be used to let the learners understand why an organization follows a certain set of values. There is always a reason why an organization believes in a specific value. When the organization’s history is portrayed through simulations, employees become empathic about the values and start believing in them. Sometimes certain values of an organization are very valuable for it because they have led to its success and hence should be followed by employees at all levels.

Stories spread easily:

Also, stories do get a word of mouth publicity rather than data. Once an employee attends a training session, he is bound to let others know about it, giving an incentive to the upskilling initiatives of the company. An organization can’t give data to people and expect them to remember it. But they will always remember it if data has been interspersed with a story.

17 May 2022

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How must a VR training vendor be selected?

VR training is getting popular day by day due to its impact on changing the entire education scenario in the corporate world.

This technology is nowadays used to provide the most advanced training to the employees, including taking them to VR-based simulations where they learn the crucial skills from their offices. The initial VR training video should be short, which can then be followed by longer videos. Retention is better when the 1st video is short, leading to better involvement with the second video, which is more complex.

But there should be certain precautions exercised by a company before hiring a VR training vendor because it costs so much money.

The companies should also check the portfolio of the vendors to see that they have the right graphic designers with them because they can create realistic images. The clients can also ask for a sample before proceeding. It can be a VR video of 2-3 minutes only.

Moreover, any VR training vendor must know the compliance laws. He cannot create training modules based on it without knowing about such stuff.

These are the categories in which a vendor should be tested before providing his services to a company:

VR knowledge:

The vendors should be checked for their knowledge of this domain. Virtual reality vendors must have a portfolio through which the interested clients get a complete idea about what the former is capable of. Virtual reality technology is evolving, and the vendors need to ensure that it can produce such effects.

Virtual reality will soon amalgamate artificial intelligence so that the user will be taken to a world he has seen before.

Also, the headset will be more powerful with an 8K processor, allowing it to show better images to the user. These processors will produce better images for the user because they will recreate the current 4K content and then use upscaling algorithms to produce pictures with less burring. This artificial intelligence will be used to assess images stored in the database of the VR hardware.

For example, motion sickness can be caused by people wearing a virtual reality headset because they get introduced to a unique environment. There is also a problem with such technology known as clipping. Some solid objects are also shown properly in the virtual world, and the user thinks he can pass through them. There are also other developments in this field about which a vendor must have thorough information. The VR training vendor must ensure that his output does not have such problems.

Adherence to the deadline:

Virtual reality is a crucial part of any company’s training calendar, but it needs to be delivered on time by the vendor. So, he must be informed in advance about the deadline. When he is not, problems can arise because the company can’t launch the necessary training in time. It can cause losses for the company because the employees will not be informed about the new compliance rules. The VR training vendors must ensure that if any changes happen in preparing such content, which can set the clock behind schedule, they inform the client.

Creativity:

Virtual reality vendors must also have creativity in their team because they can work wonders through it. They must be able to create fictional scenarios and avatars based on real-world situations. Apart from having a flair for storytelling, their storyboards must also serve the purpose of training the users.

The company can also help the VR training vendor in preparing a storyboard. They can give a specific job duty to the vendor and provide him with something specific to concentrate on. Asking the VR training vendor to create a storyboard for a particular job situation is easier than asking them to cover the complete job description in a single VR training video.

For example, we might be required to cover multiple job tasks as part of our role but focusing on one task in one video provides detailed coverage for the learner. Such videos encourage the learner and get better retention because you cannot expect them to learn everything at once.

The managers and employees from your company will narrate their experiences to ensure that the vendors produce relatable storyboards. Sometimes the vendor might not know your niche, but still, he can create something of your domain. So, his portfolio is only an indicator of his technical skills, not his acumen. Hence taking a sample is necessary to evaluate the combined intellect of his team.

Hence, it is important to assess the skills of VR training vendors to ensure whether they can create an entertaining virtual reality experience for your employees.

When a company is outsourcing its work, the vendor is given a huge responsibility. The company’s managers risk a lot because they must be answerable about the budget. Hence, they should look for someone who can implement their ideas within a budget and has ample experience.

The vendor can also answer other crucial questions as to whether a company needs an XRS because it can be integrated with the headset to record the training activities of the user. An XRS (extended reality software) is software that has separate costs from the headset.

It helps the organization track the key indicators of a user’s performance on a virtual reality system, and all the data is delivered to the dashboard. Since it captures individual user data, new XRS software is needed for each user.

Such software is installed in the headset of each user and can send all the data to the PC of the VR training administrator.

The VR training vendor team can help you procure the headsets and the XRS software. He knows which headset is more compatible with your developed courseware. For example, courseware with better resolution graphics needs a headset with wires (tethered headset) and not a non-tethered headset.

Hence keeping these considerations in mind a company should select a VR training vendor.

12 May 2022

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How is gamification necessary in the corporate world for preventing obesity?

Online education is taking economies forward now because it helps people learn in the fastest way.

In companies, gamification has become a critical need now to prevent obesity.

There is a lot of use of such education in imparting healthcare knowledge. Ways of taking care of their health can be imparted to people so that they can prevent themselves from adverse health conditions like obesity. It’s important for the working professionals of today that they follow a healthy work-life balance which involves making judicious use of time. The professionals can be taught to step from their seats after every 10 minutes so that they can get some kind of workout.

Benefits of such apps for employees:

- Better health:

When employees are encouraged to exercise regularly because wearables count their steps and they are given such targets through game-based apps, their possibility of taking sick leaves decreases. Such gamification makes sure everyone starts paying more attention to health because at the end of the day they can compare their score with each other like how many calories lost per day. Such apps can ensure that employees devote at least half an hour to some light cardio activity especially those with chronic diseases such as anxiety and depression.

They can also conduct meetings to include activities like walking while addressing their teammates. They also become productive due to robust lifestyles and getting confidence due to better physical appearance. Providing employees with such apps can be a part of the company wellness program.

Fixed schedules:

Healthcare is a crucial aspect of our lifestyles these days because a lot of work happens from home which has led to more sedentary work practices. When employees get gamified apps they can keep a tab on what they eat too. With gamification fitness, related goals are set for employees who start altering their schedules and with time, enhance their efforts in that direction.

Gamification can make sure that online education for health becomes easy for professionals. They don’t have to set timers on their phones to remind them to take some steps down a staircase after brief intervals. Apart from making adults adhere to fitness routines, online education and gamification ensure that those with chronic health conditions also take care of their lifestyle and follow the prescribed medication schedule. Gamification adds more fun to the task of following a healthy lifestyle because it sends a notification when it’s time to sleep, how many glasses of water to drink per day etc.

With gamification, a lot of pressure is relieved on medical health practitioners. The employees can also book appointments through them which it becomes easier for doctors’ assistants also. Such games have a record of the medical data of all the patients which can also be referred by doctors when required. Employers get a lot of benefits when employees are trained through gamification. It’s because employees are not wasting their time on medication due to obesity-related diseases.

Gamification apps can reduce employee insurance costs

It has been found that employees who are obese are more prone to diseases such as psychosocial stress due to workplace exposure. Companies should also consider that apart from modifying the eating and exercise-related behavior of employees through gamification, it’s also crucial to prevent the consumption of harmful substances such as alcohol, and smoking to prevent obesity. Overweight people can also develop diseases such as musculoskeletal ailments such as cervical.

They also have lower chances of recovery from any injuries caused at the workplace and it is costlier than individuals who have average weight.

According to research done by Gallop and Duke University Medical Center, the employees who are obese have a higher chance of suffering from workplace injuries by 25%. As a result, their chances of being absent from the workplace and filing medical claims are also high. When an employee is obese, this has direct repercussions for the employer. It’s because he pays for the workers’ compensation insurance which is a certain percentage of the total compensation.

How are obese employees more prone to accidents and illnesses?

When an employee is absent from work due to some illness they are paid for their lost income through this insurance. Also, if an employee can’t work due to some accident at the workplace they have to be paid through this insurance fund for hospitalization charges.

If an employee develops a disability due to which he has to abstain from work even temporarily, the employer has to pay him compensation for a specified period. It’s a portion of the weekly earnings of the worker.

Therefore, an employer should make sure that employees don’t become obese which makes them prone to workplace accidents and illnesses. Hence an employer must make sure that he provides healthcare-based gamification apps to employees so that they are fit and don’t fall prey to obesity-related diseases.

26 Apr 2022

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How many interactivities should be included in the eLearning content?

There has been a need for interactivity in eLearning programs. That is why companies must focus on this need. These courses can only have an impact once they are able to engage the learners. They should feel happy to be learning and not be a passive audience of the course. The eLearning content must be designed so that learners feel pleased to be pursuing such a course.

Michael Moore has defined three levels of interactivities which, when taken care of, can change the response to your course. They are:

Interaction between the learner and the content: The content must be created after taking in tandem how the target audience learns something. When something is not designed according to the learning pattern of a user, it cannot influence him.

Interaction between the instructor and the learner: The course should also be creating such aids which help the learner. The learner should take an interest in the course. This kind of motivation can only be provided by an instructor who can inform the learner about the benefits of the course. When a learner is persuaded properly, he can go through the course on his own.

In the field of distance education, where learning happens asynchronously without the maximum presence of an instructor, such interactions can make sure that the students pursue the course diligently without losing their zeal.

Interactions between students: The third kind of interaction happens between students facilitated by a teacher who helps them in having beneficial interactions among themselves regarding the subject matter.

If a course is easy to navigate, then it does not mean it is engaging for the users.

There are many ways in which digital cues can add interactivity to your course.

The instructional designers must make sure that the course contains enough elements for the learner to grasp the elearning content in an entertaining manner.

There is passive learning in which there are no games and interactivities in which a learner does not answer any questions, so you don’t know whether he has learned anything or not. Anything that he has learned can only be gauged through his on-the-job performance.

The second kind of learning involves providing some interactivities to the learner. There is the inclusion of multimedia to encourage the user to retain his interest.

Interactivity can also be at a higher level (complex interactivity) so that the learners attempt various kinds of drag and drop quizzes and branching scenarios. These kinds of interaction levels are required in those jobs where the users must make critical decisions for everybody, and major analytical skills are needed because any wrong action can have bad results.

In the highest level of interactivity, the users are introduced to real-life simulations involving virtual reality, and their retention is the best. This is mandatory for jobs where learners have to display their critical skills every day.

How many interactivities must be included?

The interactions need to be a part of an eLearning course but how many of them should be included? It is a debatable question because the learners are not interested in any course which has zero interactivities. Including interactivities also increases costs, but a course that does not include any of them is a burden for the learner where every slide just has eLearning content including paragraphs and graphics.

So, these are the guidelines that can help an instructional designer to decide how many interactivities should be included. It is true that without interaction there is no challenge for a learner.

To encourage reading:

It is true that the learners do not read much if they do not have a challenge before them in the form of interactivity. So, the companies should include eLearning reading content to the minimum because including interactivities gives a chance for the course designers to measure how much reading has happened. It is because when a learner has failed in such interactivities, he has not gone much through the eLearning content.

The requirement of MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) in the eLearning content also needs to be answered because the course creators don’t know whether the learner knew the answer, or it was just a fluke.

To emulate real-life scenarios:

The learners must be given activities that they are required to try. It’s because when they are exposed to branching scenarios it leads to better execution at the job. Also, branching scenarios are closer to situations in the workplace where actions are required. You might have to deal with human situations or software-based scenarios and must know what to do. When a learner is directed to the wrong screen after pressing the wrong button in a software simulation, he is not going to repeat it in his job.

In an MCQ no action is needed and is not extremely helpful in causing betterment of performance. MCQs are better for situations where learners just answer queries at their workplace like someone sitting at the reception but not those who deal with software and machines.

Hence therefore companies require more action-based interactivities in the eLearning content.

11 Apr 2022

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Is blended learning really advantageous in K12 teaching?

Blended learning has become more popular because it allows learners to understand the content and then ask questions. There are many benefits of this learning technique, due to which it is getting preferred all over the world. These are the benefits of blended learning:

Ease of learning: The learner has a lot of freedom in this teaching methodology because he can decide on his training method. He is free to learn from any option, be it VILT or in-person method. Since learners can choose the method depending on its feasibility, they have higher motivation to complete the course. They are not bound to attend regular classes if they don’t want to.
Easier recall: The learners can also forget the learning material soon after finishing the course.

But the blended learning method makes sure that the learners reminisce the matter easily because different training methods, such as webinars and classroom modes, are used.

Hence, the learners have heightened attention spans during all times. The same learning method used repeatedly can cause monotony for learners.
More suited for working students: The trainer is needed in a traditional classroom or the VILT method. But in blended learning, this restriction is overcome because the learners can select the most convenient time according to their country and schedule their online classes. Blended learning is preferable for working professionals, who can opt for virtual sessions when they are busy working during the day and attending college on weekends. Blended learning is an optimal solution in cases where the entire course does not consist only of theory but some practical aspects. Hence, the students need to attend college.

The most significant benefit of blended learning is that since the learners have to attend the synchronous classes once in a while, either through VILT or in person, they get feedback. This feedback can be in the form of polls during Zoom calls or breakout rooms where they discuss complicated topics with other learners. Such programs are more effective than the asynchronous and synchronous sessions because the learners don’t get an instantaneous response in the former. And in the latter, they are restricted to attending classes with fellow learners.

Blended learning holds the same advantage as elearning because the learners can use computers to find about any confusing topic. Their concentration is much better than when they are studying through books or attending classroom sessions. Elearning content is designed in a much more entertaining way than books consisting of games and animations. They even have pop boxes to present exciting facts to users, lacking in printed material.

Since students are given more autonomy in blended learning, they grasp information better and develop critical skills such as digital literacy. The teacher aids students by providing them with enhanced resources to expedite their learning process. Blended learning has different kinds of versions:

Flipped classroom: In the flipped classroom method, the students study the course material at home and solve their doubts in the brick and mortar class with the help of other students and teachers. So, this involves flipping what students are doing at home and in class.
Enriched virtual: In the Enriched Virtual method, the students don’t meet with teachers regularly but on a need basis. They complete the course online. Hence, in this model, the teacher’s meetings are less frequent compared to the flipped classroom model.
Flex Learning: In this learning model, the students study online asynchronously, and if they need any instruction from the teacher, they have to attend the educational institution. They can get individual tutoring from teachers by visiting the campus if needed. The students can switch from the online to offline learning modules when they desire.

What is rotation learning?

The rotation learning model includes both in-person and online learning. Teachers decide the schedule on how much time will be spent on each of the processes. The students can study in classes, but online tutoring is individual. These are the three sub-models of this learning methodology:

Individual rotation model: This model is used when the students want educational pathways and the teachers decide. So, the students study in a lab at the campus as per their schedule. There are learning routes selected for different students in this method, so they don’t cover every module (station). They have a playlist assigned to them that contains the modules to be covered by them.

Station rotation: In this model, the students study all modules in a fixed schedule decided by the teacher or his consent, including methods such as one-to-one class and group projects. But here, students have to study at least one module in the campus lab. Unlike the individual rotation model, the students have to cover all the modules.

Lab rotation-In this model, the students don’t study through offline mode, but only in the lab of their school’s campus to cover all the modules.

This is how blended learning can benefit your organization.

12…4 Next →

The elearning content development companies can prepare interesting storytelling scenarios for their clients.

VR training is getting popular day by day due to its impact on changing the entire education scenario in the corporate world.

In companies, gamification has become a critical need now to prevent obesity.

The instructional designers must make sure that the course contains enough elements for the learner to grasp the elearning content in an entertaining manner.

But the blended learning method makes sure that the learners reminisce the matter easily because different training methods, such as webinars and classroom modes, are used.

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