The Learning Dispatch

Elearning Book Review – The New Virtual Classroom by Ruth Colvin Clark and Ann Kwinn

By Linda Warren | May 8, 2012 | |

The New Virtual Classroom is a terrific resource for designing and delivering effective webinar training. One of the biggest differences between this book and others is that it focuses primarily on strong instructional design strategy while many other resources tend to focus on more superficial “gimmicky” interactions. The authors remind us there is no need to start from scratch when designing training for the virtual classroom. Best practices are offered

Training ROI: Use of Return on Investment for Training Programs

By Sanjay Nasta | April 26, 2012 | |

Return on Investment (ROI) is a metric commonly used in business and financial circles to compare competing investments. The use of Training ROI as a way to measure the return on training investment on training initiatives is growing in the training industry. Recently, the focus on Training ROI has become controversial; industry thought leader, Jane Bozarth recently said ROI is “evaluation by autopsy.” Leading Elearning blogger David Kelly states in

Isn’t It Always about Control?

By Linda Warren | April 17, 2012 | |

Have you ever used an educational website and been blown away by how interesting and engaging it is? I encounter these types of sites when I’m pursuing informal learning. Part of the attractiveness in the learning is that it’s what interests me. Another factor is the site gives me control. These informal learning sites/tools shed insight on how powerful learning can be when we give learners control over what they

How to Use Training Programs to Build Your Brand

By Sanjay Nasta | April 10, 2012 | |

Your customers are tuning out – they are ignoring emails, downloading and listening to music through iTunes, Spotify, Rhapsody, using DVR’s to fast forward through commercials. How do you get their attention? How do you gain their trust to build your brand? Innovative solutions are often created by utilizing approaches or techniques that are commonplace in one field to solve problems in another. Could your organization benefit from looking at

Elements of Effective Elearning

By Linda Warren | March 21, 2012 | |

Effective elearning leverages instructional strategies and technology to make new ideas understandable. E-learning can be especially effective for complex and abstract topics. Effective elearning does not take a face-to-face lecture and put it in a rapid elearning development tool with the expectation of delivering effective training at the other end. Giving the learner control, offering opportunities for practice, and integrating multiple media formats are a few methods for creating a rich

Why You Can’t Ignore Mobile Learning

By Sanjay Nasta | March 14, 2012 | |

The number of all mobile devices accessing the Internet worldwide will surpass 1 billion by 2013. In addition, the number of users of mobile devices will double by the end of the year! The mobile Internet is ramping up exponentially faster than the desktop Internet did or will ever realize. This dramatic increase in adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has crystallized a collective focus on mobile

What is a Learning Management System?

By Sanjay Nasta | March 12, 2012 | |

The concept behind learning management systems are difficult to understand – and once you throw in all the industry jargon, it can be nearly impossible. We’ve got the basics for you in 29 slides. Need a bit more help? We offer learning management system consulting services. Learning Management Systems 101 from MicroAssist, Inc

The Note-Taking Myth

By Linda Warren | February 15, 2012 | |

While preparing a training session on conducting effective webinars, I read The New Virtual Classroom by Ruth Colvin Clark and Ann Kwinn. When I give presentations, I always have handouts for note-taking ― in part, because I always take notes when I’m in a learning environment. I was really surprised by what the authors had to say about note-taking in webinars and other learning events. Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Avoid Elearning Project Failure: Communication and Collaboration Lead to Success

By Sanjay Nasta | February 14, 2012 | |

According to the Project Management Institute, 75% of projects annually come in over budget or run past deadlines, adding up to a loss of over $75 billion. Elearning projects are at a high risk for delays and cost overruns because they are complex to manage. Elearning projects are actually two projects: a software project combined with a training project. This means greater scope, more stakeholders, increased risk, and significant opportunities

Web-Ready Images: Graphic File Size and Format

By Linda Warren | February 6, 2012 | |

Graphic file size and format are topics that did not interest me when I started using software to create and manipulate images for the web. However, a little bit of experience demonstrated the need for some basic understanding of factors related to the way my images displayed on a computer monitor. The smaller the file size, the faster the image loads in a browser. When I create online training, I