Illumen and the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase 2013

cltsIllumen Group is proud to announce our sponsorship of the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase this year. This event, with more than 30 contributing speakers is setting the bar for eLearning based events.

This year, the Showcase celebrates the evolution of adult learning and performance, with an emphasis on the role of new media and interactive methods in business and institutional training. The Showcase provides a full day of educational sessions for all levels of experience. More than 30 speakers will explore all aspects of elearning—instructional design, development tools, media resources, virtual classrooms, social and interactive applications, mobile learning, rapid elearning, and more. Attendees will have an opportunity to create their own schedules from a variety of topics or follow one of four Showcase Tracks, including Simulations & Social Media, eLearning Tools & LMS, Online Design, and Management of eLearning.

More information about the event and registration can be found at the Chicago eLearning & Technology Website.

Illumen will be at the event showcasing our eLearning applications and offering information on the process and development of technology and learning based solutions. We hope to see you all there.

Illumen and the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase 20132018-06-07T13:45:16+00:00

Examples of eLearning

We are often asked, “Can you give us a few examples of eLearning and eMarketing projects?”. The terms ‘eLearning’ and ‘eMarketing’ cover a wide variety of types of projects. We have many people who need our services, and they all search for us in different ways. We often see:

  • Computer-Based Training (CBT)
  • Interactive Training
  • Mulitmedia Training or Multimedia Presentation
  • Virtual Product
  • Marketing Showcase
  • Online Training Program
  • Course, Class, Curriculum
  • Electronically Supported Learning and Teaching
  • CME Modules
  • Classroom 2.0
  • Learning Content
  • Learning Management System (LMS)

Not only are there many ways to say it, there are many more types of projects. Below are a series of examples of eLearning and eMarketing projects:

New and existing warehouse employees required training and refresher courses for all aspects of their day-to-day job tasks. These tasks included using a RF scanner and its software to properly catalog incoming products, locate and shelve products, comprehend new orders, locate and box products, prepare inventory reports, and prepare products for shipping. Employees also had to learn the process for handling exceptions to their general processes, such as incorrect inventory, products too high or large to gather for packaging, and damaged products or boxes.

Illumen developed a custom LMS and seven training modules for certification within each role.
With a high turnover in employees, and thus, an increasing amount of time, energy, and cost was being spent on training live in store with a manager.

Illumen developed a plan focused on building the level of experience both in making drinks and food by providing preparatory steps […]

Examples of eLearning2018-06-07T13:45:18+00:00

Illumen at the 2012 Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase

cltsIllumen is excited to be back at the fifth annual Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase. We have both sponsored and presented at previous events and look forward to sponsoring again this year. We always enjoy seeing our eLearning friends, meeting new friends, and discovering the new innovative approaches to online learning.

From the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showacase site:

Since our first event in 2008, the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase has earned the enthusiastic praise of attendees and presenters alike. We will gather again on August 16, 2012 to celebrate the evolution of learning technologies.

The Showcase provides a full day of presentations with an emphasis on the role of new media and interactive methods in organizational training. Our speakers will explore all aspects of elearning—instructional design, development tools, media resources, virtual classrooms, social and interactive applications, mobile learning, rapid elearning, and more.

Illumen at the 2012 Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase2018-06-07T13:45:19+00:00

Learning from Marketing: 6 Steps to Developing Successful eLearning Programs and Courses

Only about one out of every 1,000 new products introduced to supermarkets survives for more than one year. Nearly all are highly thought out concepts their designers and developers were sure filled a need in the market. So what do the successful 0.1% have in common? Along the way some aspect of the product (price, place, or promotion) was modified or adjusted to increase consumer acceptance and/or work around obstacles.

ui_measuringWhat’s the link to learning? How many eLearning developers do you know who regard their learners as customers? How many adjust their content or delivery to make it more desirable for their audience? Maybe a few, maybe a little. For-profit educators like University of Phoenix and Kaplan, are learning the hard way that learners behave like consumers. But where consumers vote with their wallets, learners vote with their minds: choosing to open them for good products and close them for bad ones.

How would a marketer approach eLearning development? Here are six steps they would follow:

  1. Commit to the concept: All of those who are part of the learning development process need to adopt a learner-centric approach. It starts by assessing and understanding the learner’s strengths, weaknesses and learning preferences, and incorporating them into the design phase. You’ll get a better idea of the full extent of the commitment, as you read through the remaining five development steps. Marketers know they don’t have a product until the market tells them they do, and they know that taking a customer-centric approach is the only way their product is going to survive.
    […]
Learning from Marketing: 6 Steps to Developing Successful eLearning Programs and Courses2018-06-07T13:45:19+00:00

eLearning User Interface Basics

The user interface design you use in your eLearning modules are key to your user’s ability to see, read, interact, navigate, and in the end, comprehend your content. The user interface (often called a UI) also refers to the elements of design, or the “look and feel” of the project. We have all used custom based modules, as well as PowerPoint, Articulate, Captivate, and Lectora (to name a few) based modules and have seen the way they use user interfaces to guide the user through the content using a menu or next button. This basic, or 101 level introduction of eLearning user interfaces will look at what is often used and why.

Let’s first take a look at an interface that has elements that we often see. Take a little time looking at the design below. Pay attention to the content, the navigation, and other components. We will break them down shortly.

elearning_design_screens_full
[…]

eLearning User Interface Basics2018-06-07T13:45:21+00:00

Testing is Not Just a Measure of Learning, it Can Drive Learning

Testing = Learning

In what seems likely to be an “ah ha” moment for education development, researchers at Purdue University’s Department of Psychological Sciences, explored the possibility that testing isn’t just an assessment of learning, but is a component that facilitates learning just like studying – but better.*

“Practicing retrieval (testing) produces greater gains in meaningful learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping.*”

In an article published last month in Science magazine, a total of 200 students studied texts on topics from different science disciplines. One group engaged in elaborative studying by creating concept maps – diagrams that illustrate the complicated connections and relationships in the material. The second group read the texts and then practiced retrieval (unassisted recall of material). The students returned to the lab a week later for the actual assessment of long-term learning. The group that studied by practicing retrieval showed a 50% improvement in long-term retention scores above and beyond the group that studied by creating concept maps.

“Retrieval practice enhances learning by retrieval-specific mechanisms rather than by elaborative study processes.*”

[…]

Testing is Not Just a Measure of Learning, it Can Drive Learning2018-06-07T13:45:24+00:00

Creating Games-That-Teach

Fifty to 60% of the project inquiries we’ve received over the past year have included questions about Games-That-Teach. There exists both a curiosity about what’s possible and angst over their perceived complexity and application.

What are Games-That-Teach? Part of what creates angst is the broad definition of what a GTT is. Also known as Game-Based Learning, the simple definition, “a learning-based activity that challenges a participant to a contest or task with an outcome that is both measurable and comparable,” is broad enough to encompass many content delivery formats. These games are often used to help audiences better understand information, improve performance, manage situations, think critically, problem solve and make decisions.

GTTs generally fall into one of three categories – Edutainment, Training Simulators, and Serious Games. They may be as sophisticated as a virtual reality environment like World of Warcraft (over 11.5 million unique players worldwide) and the popular FarmVille (over 82.4 million unique players worldwide), or as basic as Tic-Tac-Toe or Scrabble. It is the element of challenge that differentiates games from other content delivery tools.

Do Games Work? Here’s where you can relax a bit. Despite being around since 1962, there’s little empirical evidence that digital games as a whole are better at teaching than other, more conventional content delivery formats. Again, the variety and complexity of game types combined with the huge differences in the goals and objectives they seek to achieve and a limited ability to collect meaningful performance metrics conspires to keep the value of game’s contributions to learning enveloped in a haze. We think we see a form but the edges are fuzzy. The reason we think games are effective in the learning environment is that they clearly […]

Creating Games-That-Teach2018-06-07T13:45:24+00:00

20 Common Terms and Definitions Found in E-Learning – Part I

When dealing with training, education, and marketing solutions, it doesn’t take long before we start hearing words we may not know. Below is a list of 20 common terms and definitions.

  1. Analytics
    Refers to the analysis and derivation of data into usable information or statistics. Analytics are often presented visually or numerically and are used to understand your audience, where they are succeeding, where they are failing, your site’s use, and any other number of variables.
  2. Animation
    Animation can be broken into two areas. First, it can be presented as 2d or 3d, and in a realistic or stylized representation of objects, people, and places. They take place over time and are often used to visually describe a story, a     theory, an idea, a process, a feature, or a benefit. Second, animation can be used within a user interface to lead the user’s eye to focus on something specific or guide them to the next section within a course. The iPhone is a good example of this.
  3. Avatar
    A virtual representation of a user. Avatars take on many styles such as cartoons, real photos, and even an image of a favorite sport, hobby, pet, or event. Avatars can help users customize their experience and interact with others.

    4. […]

20 Common Terms and Definitions Found in E-Learning – Part I2018-06-07T13:45:25+00:00

6 Ways to Extend User Experiences Through Mobile Devices

medicaldeviceMore people are using mobile devices to handle their everyday computer tasks. Given three minutes and my iPhone, I can check my work and personal emails, my schedule, the news, the weather, and sometimes even get in a game of Tetris. It, like so many mobile devices, is usable, engaging, efficient, informative, and scalable. This mobile convenience should carry through training and marketing solutions as well. Unfortunately, often due to certain limitations of each mobile device and their short shelf life, there is often not a credible mobile counterpart to most training applications. To bridge the gaps, here are 6 ways to extend the user experience of your web or CD-ROM based app through mobile devices.

  1. Limit Your Limitations
    It is often said that the difficulty in developing mobile experiences is that there are too many custom devices, all with unique technologies that need unique solutions, and therefore too many limitations to justify the development price. In reality, you can often find that two or three devices, or types of devices, make up a majority of what your audience uses. This may not always be the case, but survey your audience, you may find out that that most use iPhones and Blackberries, or maybe they tend to use more generalized cell phones. There is nothing wrong with developing towards a couple specific types of devices if it makes sense. By understanding what devices are typically used by your audience, you can limit the limitations, save time and money.

    2. […]

6 Ways to Extend User Experiences Through Mobile Devices2018-06-07T13:45:26+00:00
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