Learning

What is Interpretation

kgentile — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 11:54:58 +0000

What is Interpretation kgentile Tue, 03/05/2024 - 06:54

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Interpretation is the act of rendering speech into a different language. It can be on-site or remote, as well as in consecutive or simultaneous mode:

Consecutive Interpretation: The speaker is required to pause at regular intervals to allow the interpreter to speak. The interpreter waits for the speaker to finish saying 2 or 3 sentences before beginning their interpretation and often uses note-taking as a memory aide to ensure they repeat exactly what is being said.
Simultaneous Interpretation: Interpreters work “simultaneously” while the speaker is talking, using equipment ranging from a simple microphone for the interpreter and headsets for the listeners, to full isolated booths. There is only the slightest delay, resulting in real-time interpretation.

Interpretation Settings

Interpretation is useful in a variety of settings, including:

Legal: Attorney-client meetings, depositions, witness testimony, arbitrations, asylum matters, and court hearings.
Business: Small-group discussions or one-on-one meetings, focus groups, roundtable discussions, training seminars, etc.
Medical: Medical exams, doctor’s appointments, pharmaceutical investigator meetings, audits, etc.

Read the full Introductory Guide to Interpretation Here.

��ɫ’s Interpretation Services

��ɫ’s Interpretation Coordination (IC) Department handles interpretation assignments for a wide array of subjects across verticals and in any location, with a global team spanning multiple time zones. With strategic locations across the globe, the IC department is equipped to service clients and assist interpreters in a timely manner.

All project managers in the team are solely dedicated to handling interpretation. They undergo an extensive tailored training, guaranteeing the highest level of expertise in the interpretation industry for each vertical. With expert project managers overseeing every project from start to finish, you’re sure to be in good hands!

To learn more about how our interpretation team can support your needs request a free quote or visit our website today.

Read the full Introductory Guide to Interpretation Here.

By The ��ɫ Interpretation Team

Learning

5 Ways to Bring Your Technical Training to Life

muna.abdulkader — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 20:43:01 +0000

5 Ways to Bring Your Technical Training to Life muna.abdulkader Wed, 06/07/2023 - 16:43

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Businesses use technical training to educate their employees or customers on the skills required to interact with, install, troubleshoot, or operate a product, technology, or application. The required skills may vary from awareness and basic understanding to an expert level, and it may consist of e-learning, in-person, or a hybrid of the two.

When you think of technical training, you may picture hours of being “talked to” and not much interaction. However, by the very nature of the subject, technical training should be more interactive and hands-on than other types of training—you can still accomplish your learning objectives without a ton of lecturing. In fact, it’s best to stimulate engagement by creating interaction with a mix of content types. Here are five ways to bring your technical training to life.

#1 Engage Your Audience by Incorporating Learner Interactions

Higher levels of engagement during training result in greater retention and recall. Whether e-learning is online, in-person, or a hybrid, you can incorporate interaction in many ways in order to engage the audience. For example, with online learning, you can add these types of training methods to increase engagement:

Quizzes
Exercises
Synchronous discussions
Polls
Peer assessments
Simulation tools

For example, if you’re describing a troubleshooting process, you can have an interactive discussion where your audience builds the steps. You can also incorporate short quizzes periodically or have learners complete exercises on a simulation tool.

#2 Use Enhanced Video Animation to Explain Complex Topics

Including visual snippets in technical learning materials is a must. Presenting content in the form of an animation or a video can not only deliver complex information more easily and succinctly, but learners have also come to expect information (and not just training) in this form. It’s a great way to engage learners by making the content more fun and easier to absorb.

Animation is also a great way to tell a story, from explaining a technical or abstract concept to visualizing what could happen in ways that might not be affordable or possible in other ways. You have the creative freedom to tell a story with animation—choose the type of characters, images, moving parts, sounds, and text on the screen.

Include captions on the animations to help learners who aren’t native English speakers or are deaf or hard of hearing. In addition, some learners are visual and others prefer to read, so captioned animations offer the best of both worlds. And having captions will make it easier if you want to include subtitles for localized training content.

#3 Use Human or Artificial Intelligence (AI) Voiceovers

Don’t forget about the audio portion of technical learning materials! An engaging, professional voiceover or AI audio is another important way to engage learners. In addition to visuals, audio completes the package.

Hearing is one of the five human senses. If a voice is dull or flat or a recording is full of filler words like “um” and “uh,” people will quickly disengage. So, while it can be tempting to use an internal resource, such as an engineer, to record the audio, there are many advantages to using human voice or AI talent through an e-learning company.

You can choose from a range of voiceover talents. From a female millennial to an older male, a professional voiceover company can offer a range of vocal characteristics that fit your voice and tone needs.
If you plan to localize your training materials, make sure the company offers voiceovers in other languages.
Voice talents are professionals, and they won’t use filler words.
It takes the pressure off internal resources, and you don’t need to purchase recording equipment.
An AI voiceover converts text to voice using AI technology, and it can be a good option for some e-learning content.

Just don’t let audio be an afterthought—or your animation could fall flat.

#4 Don’t Be Afraid to Refresh Your Old Training Materials

You probably already have some concrete training material that you’ve used over the years, possibly with a periodic refresh. Most likely, there’s some great content in there, so don’t think you have to start from scratch.

Sometimes, refreshing old training materials can be as easy as adding in some new elements, as we talked about in the first section of this blog. For example, you can give text-heavy e-learning courses new life by converting some of the text to short videos, infographics, audio clips, or images. You can also engage the audience by inserting questions, quizzes, and other types of interactive learning.

Another way to refresh materials is to break them up into shorter modules chunked into meaningful groups of information, making them more digestible and efficient. Shorter modules enable learners to fit them into their schedules more easily, and it’s better to retain and recall smaller amounts of information.

On that note, online learning modules must be mobile-friendly. In addition to the benefits of online searching on browsers for learning modules, 64% of learners say accessible training content from a mobile device is essential. Furthermore, 46% of learners participate in mobile learning before they go to sleep, and 52% use it after waking up.

Some old training materials may require more work than others, but the groundwork is there for great training content. Consider engaging an e-learning company to get a fresh set of eyes on the content and make recommendations on improvements. E-learning experts can help modify existing training content to help retain learner attention and provide better engagement throughout courses. A neutral party can offer new ideas to make the content more engaging and relevant.

#5 Make Sure Your e-learning Courses Are Accessible

Old e-learning materials may not be up to par with accessibility standards to allow people of all abilities to use them. To make sure everyone can use your e-learning materials, adjust the content to meet WCAG 2.0 standards.

For example, adding captions will help those learners who don’t speak English as their primary language or are deaf or hard of hearing. Having captions available will also make it easy if you need to translate them into other languages for learners. Captions will set you up for the future.

Providing a transcription is another way to make your old content accessible. A screen reader can read the transcription, allowing those audience members with visual or hearing disabilities to participate in your e-learning.

Conclusion

You can do many things to bring your technical content to life through e-learning, and you don’t necessarily have to do a major overhaul.

At ��ɫ, we help companies develop, refine, and support e-learning with in-person and hybrid training. We have professional voiceover talent and the latest recording technologies in more than 200 languages. We’re happy to help develop or modify your technical content to promote more engagement from your learners! Get in touch today to find out more!

Ryan Shandley

Director, Business Development

Learning

Training & E‑Learning

How Travel Companies Can Make Their Learning Engagement Fly

kliniger — Tue, 30 May 2023 13:05:03 +0000

How Travel Companies Can Make Their Learning Engagement Fly kliniger Tue, 05/30/2023 - 09:05

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Thanks to globalization, increased disposable income, and a rekindled interest in seeing the world following two years of travel restrictions, the tourism industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom. This has coincided with the rise of e-learning, which, in response to a surge in demand during the pandemic, has revolutionized education, training, and the way we work. But how can these two thriving sectors work together to increase learning engagement in travel companies?

While training is important in every sector, it is particularly crucial in the dynamic, constantly changing travel industry, where staff must be kept up to date with the latest trends and regulations. In addition, since tourist operators are typically national or international chains, it’s essential that this training is delivered in a consistent way throughout all branches and that it is easily accessible for all learners. E-learning, which can be accessed from any location and allows the transmission of identical content to all users, is the perfect way for travel companies to cover their training needs.

Learning on Demand

As a very customer-centric industry with increasingly demanding clients, it’s essential for businesses in the tourism sector to provide their staff with regular customer service training. E-learning is well-placed to fulfill this need, offering tailored training programs that are adapted to the specific job roles within the company. This enables travel companies to offer targeted training to their employees and is a much more efficient and cost-effective way of keeping their staff up to date with the latest information that is relevant to their roles. In fact, corporations save between 50% and 70% when they replace instructor-based training with e-learning. Because the content is available on demand, employees can take the training at a time that is convenient to them without disrupting daily business operations.

Learning Is Not One Size Fits All

In addition, travel companies employ people from diverse backgrounds with varying levels of expertise. Not every employee will have the same base level of knowledge, and they may differ in their capacities to learn and take on new information. E-Learning can adapt well to fit every learner’s needs. This means that employees can learn at their own pace, without wasting time going over material they are already familiar with. It also means that learners do not become saturated with information that isn’t relevant to them, allowing them to focus on the important aspects and relevant updates that are applicable to their role and will improve their performance. Statista states that 36% of learners reveal that e-learning benefits include structured lessons and personalized teaching.

Given the many diverse job roles that can be found in the tourist industry, companies need to find ways to appeal to a range of different learning styles. E-learning, with its provision for didactic material via videos, infographics, games, and notes, and for testing material via quizzes and case studies, provides the ideal solution to appeal to different types of learners across varied learning styles, allowing managers to engage their employees and increase the retention of information.

Track and Report e-Learning

The travel industry is a global industry, so it is also important that managers be able to track and monitor their employees’ progress quickly and efficiently. The record-keeping functions that are integrated into e-learning platforms enable managers to easily track their employees’ progress. What’s more, employees can register instantly on the learning management system (LMS) for online training, saving managers hours of manual work needed to organize an in-person training. Employees’ progress can be accessed remotely and at any time.

In the present climate of increased globalization and digitization, it’s clear that travel companies would benefit hugely from delivering their training via e-learning. A switch to e-learning would increase their employees’ engagement and information retention while saving the companies time and money.

Contact Us to Learn More About e-Learning

If you’d like to discuss your e-learning strategy with a member of our team and create more engaging learning content, please contact us today.

By: Georgina Crane, E-Learning Account Manager

Learning

Travel & Hospitality

Empowering SMEs to Create Consistent and Effective E-Learning: A Guide to Instructional Design

jpressman — Thu, 04 May 2023 18:20:19 +0000

Empowering SMEs to Create Consistent and Effective E-Learning: A Guide to Instructional Design jpressman Thu, 05/04/2023 - 14:20

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In today's digital age, e-learning has become an essential part of employee training and development. However, not all employees have experience or knowledge in creating e-learning courses. This is particularly true for small- and medium-sized enterprises, where subject matter experts (SMEs) are often tasked with developing e-learning content without prior experience in instructional design. This can lead to inconsistent and ineffective e-learning courses, which can impact the learning journey of employees. In this blog, we'll explore how SMEs can create consistent and effective e-learning content by using instructional design best practices.

Why is instructional design important for e-learning? Instructional design is the process of creating effective and engaging learning experiences. It involves analyzing the learning needs of the audience, defining learning objectives, selecting appropriate instructional strategies, and evaluating the effectiveness of the learning experience. Instructional design ensures that e-learning courses are relevant, engaging, and achieve the desired learning outcomes. By understanding the importance of instructional design, SMEs can create e-learning courses that are effective and consistent throughout the company.

Top Tips for Creating Effective E-Learning:

Define Learning Objectives: Start by defining clear learning objectives that align with the needs of the audience. This will help SMEs create relevant and targeted e-learning courses.
Use Multimedia Elements: Use a variety of multimedia elements, such as images, videos, and audio, to make the learning experience more engaging and interactive.
Use Storytelling: Use storytelling techniques to create a narrative that helps learners connect with the content and retain information.
Use Assessment and Feedback: Use assessment and feedback mechanisms to evaluate learners' understanding of the content and provide feedback for improvement.
Use Consistent Design: Use consistent design elements, such as font, color, and layout, to ensure that the e-learning course is visually appealing and consistent throughout.

Creating effective and consistent e-learning courses can be challenging, especially for SMEs with limited knowledge of instructional design. However, by following these top tips and understanding the importance of instructional design, SMEs can create e-learning courses that are engaging, effective, and consistent throughout the company. By empowering SMEs with the knowledge and skills to create effective e-learning courses, companies can transform the learning journey of their employees and achieve their business goals.

If you’d like to discuss your e-learning strategy with a member of our team and create more engaging learning content, please contact us today.

Arthur Silvente

Director of Business Development, E-Learning

Learning

Training & E‑Learning

How to Improve Retention Rates Among Non-English-Speaking Employees in Manufacturing Plants

jpressman — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 14:08:24 +0000

How to Improve Retention Rates Among Non-English-Speaking Employees in Manufacturing Plants jpressman Tue, 04/18/2023 - 10:08

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As companies continue to diversify their workforce, it's important to ensure that all employees have access to the same resources and opportunities. However, many of our clients have faced high turnover rates among non-English-speaking employees, particularly in manufacturing plants. Here are some ways to improve retention rates among this demographic:

Access to Training: One of the most effective ways to retain non-English-speaking employees is to provide access to training programs in their native languages. Offering diversity & inclusion training, onboarding training, and continuous training in a language they understand can go a long way in boosting their confidence and productivity. 59% of surveyed employees state that they learned the skills they need to do their job while on the job. In other words, they had no formal training in place. It’s important to make sure this is accessible at all times.

Documentation and Interpretation: Providing essential documents and resources in multiple languages can help non-English-speaking employees feel more included and valued. Interpretation services can also help them understand important information during meetings, training sessions, and other work-related activities.

Employee Growth and Development: Showing employees you care about their growth and future can dramatically boost employee satisfaction and morale. Providing opportunities for career development, such as leadership training or mentoring programs, can help non-English-speaking employees feel more connected to the company and invested in their role.

By implementing these strategies, companies can reduce turnover rates among non-English-speaking employees and create a more inclusive and welcoming work environment. Hiring and firing are expensive and time-consuming, so retaining employees should be a top priority for companies in any industry. Investing in the growth and development of all employees, regardless of their language background, is essential for a thriving and successful business.

If you’d like to discuss your e-learning strategy with a member of our team and create more engaging learning content, please contact us today.

Dennis Granath

Director of Business Development for E-Learning

Learning

Creating Accessible E-Learning: How to Reach Learners Everywhere

jpressman — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 10:14:32 +0000

Creating Accessible E-Learning: How to Reach Learners Everywhere jpressman Wed, 03/15/2023 - 06:14

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As the world becomes increasingly digital, the need for accessible e-learning is more important than ever. Especially in any global company, creating accessible content is not only a matter of compliance but also a way to reach learners everywhere regardless of their abilities. Come along as we explore why accessibility matters in e-learning and how you can make your e-learning programs accessible to all learners.

Why Accessibility Matters in E-Learning

In 2020, the World Health Organization estimated that more than 1,000,000,000 people live with a form of disability. This is approximately 15% of the world’s population. Globally, the market that includes people with disabilities, as well as their family, friends, and advocates, is estimated to control more than $13 trillion in annual disposable income (The Return on Disability Group 2020). This means that companies who ignore accessibility guidelines risk isolating their learners and losing significant potential revenue if they have an online presence.

Accessibility in e-learning refers to making content and learning experiences accessible to learners with disabilities, such as visual or hearing impairments, cognitive or learning disabilities, or motor impairments. Creating accessible e-learning is not only a legal requirement in many countries, but it also makes good business sense. By making your e-learning programs accessible, you can reach a wider audience, including learners with disabilities, and create a more inclusive learning environment for everyone.

How is Accessibility Measured?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an internationally recognized set of recommendations for improving web accessibility.

WCAG 2.1 is based on four key design principles:

Perceivable – Information and user-interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means that users must be able to understand the information being presented; it can’t be invisible to any of their senses.

Operable – User-interface components and navigation must be operable. This means that leaners must be able to use the interface, and it cannot require interactions that a user is unable to perform.

Understandable – Information and the operation of user interfaces must be understandable. This means that users must be able to comprehend provided information as well as how to use the interface.

Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means as technologies and user agents advance and evolve, content should remain accessible.

Creating Accessible E-Learning

Creating accessible e-learning requires a holistic approach that addresses both the content and the platform used to deliver the content. Here are some best practices for creating accessible e-learning:

Use clear and simple language: Use clear and simple language that is easy to understand for all learners, including those with cognitive or learning disabilities.

Provide transcripts and captions: Provide transcripts and captions for all audio and video content, making it accessible to learners with hearing impairments.

Use descriptive alt text: Use descriptive alt text for all images, making them accessible to learners with visual impairments.

Use the correct color contrast: Images using a proper color contrast of 3:1 or greater can make page content more distinguishable and ensure ease of navigation and practicality without the need for contrast-enhancing tools. Text should have a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background.

Choose easy-to-read fonts: Using plain and straight fonts such as Sans Serif, Tahoma, or Helvetica make texts clearer to read.

Make navigation easy: Ensure your e-learning program is easy to navigate with clear headings and labels. Test for accessibility: Test your e-learning program for accessibility using assistive technologies, such as screen readers or speech-recognition software.

Ensure platform accessibility: Ensure the platform used to deliver your e-learning program is accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities.

Creating accessible e-learning can seem like a daunting task, but it is a necessary one. By following these best practices, you can make your e-learning programs accessible to all learners, regardless of their abilities.

The Importance of Accessible E-Learning for Global Companies

Creating accessible e-learning is not only a legal requirement but also a way to reach learners everywhere. By following best practices for accessibility, you can make your e-learning programs accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. This not only creates a more inclusive learning environment but also helps you comply with accessibility regulations in different countries. With accessible e-learning, you can reach learners everywhere and provide them with a high-quality learning experience.

In addition, creating accessible content can help you comply with accessibility regulations in different countries. For example, in the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that e-learning programs be accessible to learners with disabilities. Other countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, have similar accessibility requirements.

To find out more about how to create accessible learning content, check out our webinar! Or contact us here!

By Kelly Ireland: E-Learning Director, Strategic Accounts

Learning

Training & E‑Learning

7 Ways to Build Team Culture Online During the Holidays

kliniger — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 19:20:41 +0000

7 Ways to Build Team Culture Online During the Holidays kliniger Mon, 11/28/2022 - 14:20

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Teams undoubtedly are the foundation of organizations today, but building a team culture where everyone feels heard is difficult even under the best circumstances. If your team is not all in the same city or office, or if some people work remotely, creating that powerful team connection is even more challenging. As the holidays approach, now is the perfect time to bring your teams together, no matter how far away individual members live. By hosting a few holiday-inspired team engagement activities, you can help your team members bond, build team culture, and spring into the new year stronger and more connected than ever.

While remote working can offer various benefits to companies, it also presents some unique challenges. One of the toughest is creating a cohesive team when members live in different zip codes, states, or even countries. Developing team chemistry is something that happens gradually, and remote workers can’t exactly catch up over the water cooler or chat at each other’s desks. For these reasons, remote workers can feel isolated and disconnected from their coworkers in spite of today’s many team management apps. That simply means that managers need to take extra steps to bring their teams together and close the digital divide. It can be done, and the holidays are the perfect time to try.

The holidays are a wonderful time to share and highlight traditions, but they can also be culturally tricky, especially if your remote team members come from a variety of backgrounds and beliefs. As you develop holiday-themed team engagement ideas, make sure to be inclusive of different beliefs and avoid the assumption that everyone celebrates the same holidays as you or in the same ways.

Here are our seven favorite holiday-flavored remote employee engagement activities to build team culture.

1. Hold an Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest

Video conferencing software makes it easy to bring your employees together no matter where they live. Set an all-hands-on-deck video conference and then add a holiday twist: encourage all of your employees to wear an ugly holiday sweater to the meeting. Give each member the spotlight so they can show off their sweater, and then ask your team members to vote for the winner. Reward the winner for their creativity with a gift card or the hot new tech item of the year.

2. Share Your Holiday Traditions

A simple-yet-effective team engagement strategy is to get your remote team together on a video meeting and ask each person to tell a story about their family’s unique holiday traditions. This is a great activity for new teams where the members might not know each other well. This question lets each member talk about their family as well as their traditions and community. You may be surprised by what you learn about the members of your team, and these stories can help team members appreciate their commonalities as well as their differences.

3. Play Secret Santa

Who says you have to work in the same office in order to do a secret Santa gift exchange with your team? Secret Santa is a great way to spread joy with a touch of mystery to your remote team. It also forces your team members to learn about each other. The key to pulling this off is to give your employees plenty of time to plan, assemble, and mail their gifts. On the appointed day, gather the troops on a video conference call and perform a public unwrapping.

4. Fly Remote Workers Into the Office

If you want to be very generous this holiday season, fly all your team members to the home office to celebrate the holidays together. There really is nothing like face-to-face contact to help a team gel. Buying a couple of plane tickets and a few hotel rooms can be well worth the money if it breaks the ice between team members. The shared experiences and good vibes your in-person holiday celebration creates could help your team work even better in the new year. A happier, more cohesive team means a better work result for you!

5. Hold Virtual Contests and Games

One way to create teamwork is to have people take part in virtual contests as teams. Individual games are also great when you have only a few participants. Here are some ideas you can try:  

Trivia contests themed around the holidays
An online scavenger hunt where people look for items in their home
Online bingo
Online quizzes using quizzing tools

These are just some of the ideas available to you. Leverage virtual contests and games to get people connected and improve team spirit.

6. Make a Gingerbread Home Office

For a twist on the usual gingerbread house, how about a gingerbread home office contest? For a small team, you could send materials to all contestants (e.g., graham crackers, frosting, and candies for decorating).

Have everyone send in pictures of their masterpieces and see who comes up with the most interesting design, with awards for most unique, colorful, and realistic gingerbread creations. Gift cards are always much appreciated, but extra PTO or company swag can also sweeten the deal.

7. Decorate the (Home) Office

Without a shared, decorated office space, it can be hard for your remote team to feel like it’s actually the holidays. But to encourage holiday merriment, hold an office decorating contest.

Employees can decorate their home offices however they’d like and then send a picture. Post the pictures on your company’s social media platform or in a holiday-specific instant messaging channel, and everyone can vote on the best. The winner gets an Amazon gift card to buy something for their home office. Alternatively, you can set up a video meeting to “unveil” decorations with mini-tours from each contestant.

Any one of these holiday-themed team engagement ideas will help your team bond in new and positive ways. These activities will humanize your team members, allow them to spend time with each other outside of work, and give them space to discover commonalities. When team members connect, they feel greater loyalty to each other and a higher motivation to support the team. So, start planning your next holiday-themed activity today to build a team culture.

By Ross Abramson, E-Learning Director, Business Development

Learning

3 Pillars that Should Be the Foundation of Your Learning Objectives

kliniger — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 20:23:35 +0000

3 Pillars that Should Be the Foundation of Your Learning Objectives kliniger Tue, 10/18/2022 - 16:23

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A learning objective is a statement that clearly describes what learners will be able to do at the end of a training course. Learning objectives help learners understand expectations, prepare for the course, and stay motivated.

Learning objectives tie into course objectives, which identify where you want learners to end up at the end of the training. When you know what this looks like, you can identify what you need to do to get them there—and these goals become learning objectives. For example:

Increased production
Increased efficiency
Higher employee morale
Fewer customer complaints

Learning objectives (and all objectives, not just those for learning) should follow the SMART format.

Specific: simple, narrow; consider one skill or piece of knowledge for each objective.

Measurable: trackable; measured in specific terms.

Achievable: attainable, possible, and within a reasonable scope.

Relevant: it should make sense for the goals you’re trying to achieve.

Timely: time-based and within available resources.

Here are some examples of learning objectives in the SMART format:

At the end of this course, students will be able to create a pivot table in Excel.
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to describe three scenarios that are considered bribes.

Trainers and educators should write their learning objectives based on three pillars. Here’s how to write effective learning objectives with these three pillars in mind.

#1 Know: What Should a Learner Know?

The first pillar is knowledge: when training is completed, what should the student know and at what level? It’s good to take a step back to truly understand this question. It can be so easy to go with the motions, but that is what ultimately leads to low retention rates. The knowledge should focus on the student and not on what you’ll be teaching or how you’ve designed the training. The verb in the learning objective shouldn’t be something vague like “to understand” or “to know,” as these verbs aren’t measurable. Instead, use action verbs like:

Define
List
Name
Explain

For example, “After this session, students will be able to describe four dangers of texting and driving.”

Implement mid-course assessments to ensure the learner understands and retains the information. Learners might also be more engaged if they know they’ll be taking assessments during the course. Assessments can be short and simple, from a quiz with a few multiple-choice questions to prompts where learners need to write an explanation. If you include assessments along the way, you can adjust your training as needed to meet the audience’s needs.

#2 Do: What Should a Learner Be Able to Do?

The second pillar is do: what should a student be able to do at the end of (and during) the training? Learning isn’t just about memorizing or understanding a concept—it’s about being able to take new knowledge and do something with it.

The doing part is important so that students can quickly implement what they’ve learned. When a person applies something they’ve learned, it reinforces that the concept is actionable and more than just useful to know. It also speaks to motivators: why someone is in a class. If a learner can see early on in the training that they’re going to be able to apply it successfully to real situations, they’ll be more motivated through the rest of the course. If it’s framed to not be relevant, it won’t be remembered.

In addition, seeing how students do with the action part of training can provide valuable information about the training itself; it allows you to determine if the training is successful or could be improved.

The doing part will depend on the topic; some ideas include teaching others, practicing the new skill with another learner, role-playing a new skill, physically completing a task, etc. Action verbs for the doing part of learning objectives include:

Calculate
Complete
Demonstrate
Design
Solve

For example, if a course is about adding a new section to a website, the doing part of the learning objective could be something like, “After this course, students will be able to add a section for new employees to the HR section of the website.” The doing parts reinforce the topic and retention.

#3 Believe: What Should a Learner Believe?

The third pillar is believe: what should a learner believe or value at the end of the training?

What do you want a learner to believe at the end of the training? Do you want someone to feel more empowered at their job? Accomplished because they figured out how to solve a math problem? More confident that they can handle job scenarios?

It might be hard to articulate a feeling in a learning objective. However, if you set up the course in the best way for the learners, provide regular feedback, encourage your learners, and articulate the learning objectives as we’ve described, you should be set up for success. Take the following actions to get your learners to shift their beliefs by the end of the course:

Understand your audience. What are their motivators, needs, and challenges? For example, someone who’s taking a class because they have to will need different motivators than someone who’s taking it because they want to.
Be a positive role model. Have an upbeat, encouraging attitude toward your students. A positive presence tends to lead others to have a more positive attitude and optimism. And when you see your learners catching on, show your excitement, and be patient when they’re not.
Present the information in more than one way. Since people vary in how they learn—visually, auditory, doing, etc.—try to present the information in different styles for different learners.
Reference the big-picture goals. Remind your learners why they’re there and encourage them with what’s waiting at the finish line.

At the end of your course, you want the students to be able to learn, but you also want them to believe something. What is that something?

Learning objectives are best when they follow the SMART format and link to the course objectives. Make sure they include what you want learners to know, do, and believe.

If you need help getting started with course development, content creation, managing online courses, or course translation, contact us today.

Author: By the ��ɫ E-Learning Team

Learning

5 Ways Retailers Can Increase Retention Through Effective Training

kliniger — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 17:40:25 +0000

5 Ways Retailers Can Increase Retention Through Effective Training kliniger Tue, 09/20/2022 - 13:40

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Losing employees in retail is costly—not just due to lost investments in sourcing and hiring talent, but also in terms of the impact this has on retailers’ ability to provide high quality service to their increasingly fickle customer bases. The following are five ways effective training can increase employee retention:

1) Put a training program in place for every employee

Over 30% of retail employees say they don’t receive any formal training in their roles, which is higher than any other industry surveyed. Without access to the right information, employees cannot perform their duties properly. This isn’t just damaging from a business perspective, it also means that employees cannot see value in their work and aren’t motivated to progress. As technology in this space continues to advance, retailers will need to train and upskill their employees in order to provide the experiences that customers demand. Even if the training is limited, take the first step by having formal training in place for every employee and build on that initial step with additional training and by putting in place an LMS to help track training deployment.

2) Implement a strong induction training program

Employees who experience a poor onboarding are twice as likely to look for a new role. A top quality induction training program helps ensure that employees are clear on what is expected of them and that their inputs and levels of engagement are closely monitored from the beginning.

3) Maximize the accessibility of training content

Providing employees with the right information is important for productivity, but providing it in the right way is crucial for retention. Mobile learning is essential for employees who are always on the go; deliver relevant, bite-sized learning content straight to employees’ phones so they can complete it in their own time and in a location that best suits them.

4) Use video to drive engagement

Teaser videos are often used effectively during the weeks before a training launch to help drive interest in the e-learning topic. These videos will give a brief introduction to the training and will outline some benefits of taking the training. Videos can also be included in the main e-learning course to reinforce the training message, to convey a direct message from the CEO (or other senior management), or to more clearly show a real-life retail situation with possible outcomes. The deployment of videos with video graphics (those built in After Effects, for example) has become a common trend in recent years to maximize the impact of videos as part of the training message.

5) Ensure the content is available in all applicable target languages

Help your employees better understand the training message of every learning asset by removing any language barriers. Develop localization-friendly content to keep the translation costs per language down and maximize ROI for each target language country. If the content is translated by genuine subject matter expert linguists, the learners in that target language country will benefit from a clear understanding of the training message. If possible, re-record any audio and video in the target language for maximum impact. Ensure the target language versions have gone through a thorough linguistic QA process to guarantee top quality e-learning modules and maximize buy-in and interest from global employees.

If you’d like to discuss your training strategies with a member of our team and create more engaging learning content, please contact us today.

By: Hugh Liston, E-Learning Director, Business Development

Learning

Retail & E‑Commerce

5 Key Ways Corporate Online Learning Can Transform a Business

kliniger — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 19:04:02 +0000

5 Key Ways Corporate Online Learning Can Transform a Business kliniger Tue, 08/30/2022 - 15:04

Blog

Online learning has skyrocketed in the last few years alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, technology advances, and the introduction of new types of training. In fact, 90% of corporate businesses offer online learning for their employees. Online learning makes a lot of business sense, and learners seem to favor it for a variety of reasons.

Let’s look at five ways that companies can benefit from online learning.

#1 Reach Remote and Global Employees

Online learning is a great way to reach remote and global workers. Company training that includes general information like the mission, vision, principles, and background should be the same whether a worker is a remote employee based in Iowa or part of a large team in Manila. It’s important to maintain consistent company branding in this type of training.

For locale-specific training that includes HR policies, job-specific training, or soft skills, local offices can create training to make sure it’s applicable and localized to the audience. This type of training considers things like culture, job conditions, and specific policies.
In addition, companies that are global or have a diverse workforce may need to translate their online learning. While a person might speak more than one language, there’s no denying that it’s easier to understand and retain training when it’s written in your native language and with your culture in mind.

#2 Provide Flexibility and Support Different Timelines and Schedules

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how employees worked and employers’ expectations for employee work schedules. With people facing illness, caregiving, forced remote working, and online school for kids, employers began accepting more flexible work hours. And as more teams have formed in disparate places across the globe, it doesn’t always make sense to have them work specific hours. For example, if an employee in California reviews a London-based coworker’s work, it would make sense for the California employee to work early in the morning in order to interact with their peer in London. After the London worker is set for the day, the person in California could take a break and return to work when it makes sense, such as after dropping off kids at school.

It’s the same concept with online learning. Some workers may focus best in the evening for a good chunk of time, whereas others may focus best by taking a one-hour course each morning. If these employees instead had to take an in-person training during a two-hour time slot in the middle of the day, neither of them would be at their prime to learn.

#3 Save Time

Corporate online learning saves both trainers and trainees time. On the one hand, online course development means a trainer or content developer can create training once and then reuse it globally.

On the other hand, online learning doesn’t require travel, so it saves both time and money compared to in-person training. According to a Brandon Hall study, online learning takes 40–60% less time than traditional in-person training since the workflow isn’t interrupted; a worker can take training whenever that person wants to.

In addition, retention doesn’t seem to be affected. The Research Institute of America found that e-learning increases retention rates by 25–60%, whereas in-person training has 8–10% retention rates. One reason for this is that a trainee can go back and review the training as needed.

#4 Attract Younger Recruits

The younger workforce is used to working online, so knowing that a company provides online training can entice younger recruits.

Train on Mobile Devices

One of the trends in online learning for business and other types of training is that it’s often mobile first, which means content is designed for mobile devices before a desktop or other device. Younger people are used to using mobile devices for searching, connecting, shopping, and more. In addition, during the pandemic, many people received their schooling online, so they’re used to learning this way. In fact, 67% of students use mobile devices to complete course tasks.

Mobile-first training gives learners flexibility in terms of how to learn and where to learn, as we;; as improved retention rates (courses are usually shorter and easier to digest, encouraging a learner to continue to the next course), accessibility, and motivation (70% of learners felt more motivated learning on mobile versus a computer).

Take Environmental Impacts into Account

A Deloitte survey found that the environment was Gen Z’s number one concern. They want to work at environmentally friendly companies; 49% said their ethics feed into their career choices.
Since online learning is paperless, it is a more environmentally friendly option. Compared to in-person training, online learning consumes 90% less energy and produces 85% fewer CO2 emissions per person. Knowing that a company has online learning may attract younger workers.

#5 Increase Company Profits

In addition to all the benefits for learners, companies have shown that online learning has helped improve their bottom line. In fact, 42% of US organizations claimed their income increased due to online learning.

Employees who have taken and retained good online learning can dive into their jobs faster and be productive more quickly. Online training for job advancement may also increase employee morale and loyalty, which helps companies retain employees and reduce new hire costs.

Conclusion

Online learning for companies has numerous advantages over in-person training for both workers and employers. If your company hasn’t fully embraced online learning, now is the time.
If you need help getting started with course development, managing online courses, or course translation, contact us today.

By The ��ɫ E-Learning Team

Learning