Sessions at E-Learning Symposium 2012 on Wednesday 13th June

Over a billion mobile devices will be used to access the Internet by 2013. Ray Kurzweil says "Mobile phones are misnamed. They should be called gateways to human knowledge." The explosive growth of mobile phones and the promise of training anywhere at any time has resulted in tremendous interest in mobile learning (#mlearning).

Unfortunately, clear guidance for creating effective mobile learning has been missing. In 2011, the E-Learning Council created a Mobile Learning Work Group to synthesize best practices for creating mobile learning. In this session, we will go through the mobile learning framework developed by the E-Learning Council work group.

Topics covered include:

*Why mobile learning?
*Mobile Learning Framework
*Learning Methodology
*Technology Considerations
*Case Studies: Lessons from successful implementers

According to systems experts, approximately 50% of systems implementations fail because of users’ resistance to change and inadequate training. A keystroke-based instructional approach to systems training—one that relies overmuch on tools to quickly document system processes—lacks business depth, on-the-job relevance, and sufficient learner engagement. Too often, such implementations result in low rates of system adoption, user frustration, and low productivity. For the business, this means increased operation costs due to reliance on helpdesk and IT staff, and a lack of quantifiable business results.

We propose a new model, one that we’ve developed to support several, enterprise systems implementations. This model takes a layered approach that integrates the best of both new and traditional training modalities to create a robust, context-sensitive instructional approach. This comprehensive model specifies a strategic function for WBT, V-ILT, performance support technologies, mobile technologies, assessment tools, social media, simulation, etc. We believe that a carefully aligned systems training and performance management plan should leverage multiple delivery channels to address a complex spectrum of needs. We must do more than show our learners where to click—they need to know the business rules, workflows, and business impact surrounding those keystrokes.

Participants attending this session will take away a strategy and a tactical model for integrated user development, one that guides system users from expertise to achievement. We will include several case studies and examples.

The session will focus on:
*The challenges in designing effective product training within the mobile app space
*The type of challenges and red tape which can be expected when planning, designing & implementing mobile learning into a corporate giant such as Dell.

Alex will give an in-depth case study of the decisions that were made in the development of his project. By providing real life examples of the process he and his team went through in creating this solution, he will illustrate the steps taken to address each of the two issues listed above. By providing examples of the solutions that were crafted to meet the initial problems, Alex will illustrate how they tackled the issue of engaging learning on a small screen device, not only in their current implementation but also in what they have planned for the future. Also, for any attendees from the corporate world, this presentation may be of interest as it might uncover some solutions to similar challenges they face.

The session will highlight tools and methods that BMO has utilized to employ eLearning 'in the work', 'at the work' and 'away from the work'. We found commonality across the touch points where eLearning is utilized, however there were features and benefits that were unique to individual events and activities depending on when and where the learning was employed.

The conversation will address theparsing of information, advice and learning that we traditionally deliver with this channel. It will look at how we leveraged the knowledge that exists within the public domain and that from industry service providers, integrating it with the culture, behaviours, principles, policy and procedural knowledge unique to BMO.

We'll also discuss the common development requirements for accessibility, time constraints, funding issues and levels of quality. In this discussion we’ll look at the topic of off-the-shelf, configured and customized solutions when making decisions for product selection.

These methods and tools have become part of our strategic offering to our internal corporate clients. eLearning now serves as a knowledge lever, going beyond the traditional ‘course’ and 'learning module' offering to additionally support the areas of process codification and performance support.

There's lots of talk about how to build eLearning, but the reality is that many people still struggle with doing more than linear, click-and-read courses.

Session participants will learn the basic framework for building effective and interactive eLearning. You will learn to think about your courses in a different way and go from information dump to courses that engage the learners.

In this session, you will learn:
*There's not just one course type
*How to build courses for the adult learner
*What role visual and Ul design plays in the course
*How to develop instructional design strategies that speed up production

Keeping position expectations current in the Learning Field is challenging, especially as positions require Instructional Designers to be specialists as well as jack-of-all trades. Often that challenge is met with Human Resources' strict systems for addressing position expectations and challenges you with finding the right new hire candidate and making sure attitudes on your team stay positive and away from the old line, “that’s not my job.” In this session we will discuss the transformation of the Jetblue University Learning Solutions team’s transition and ongoing growth toward a role based environment by sharing the process used, supporting data and documentation.

We will review data, process and lessons learned to:

*Identify roles that are relevant to your learning organization’s demands and the industry standards
*Calibrate the skill based position human resources requires with the needs of your work groups
*Continue the discussion within the current team to grow roles rather than skills.

Objectives:
*Gain an understanding of why role based positions help position a team for growth
*Learn ideas to brain storm roles needed within your organization as well as learning industry roles
*Compare a traditional skill based position exceptions with role-based descriptions
*Generate ideas as a group for ways to encourage role-based thinking within your existing team, without changing structure
*Lessons learned at JetBlue University

A lot of people still think that comic books are only for kids. But comic books share a lot in common with online training. They’re both intensely visual while their success lies largely with the stories that they tell. And, like eLearning, comic books have been used to deliver training in serious subjects.

Comic book artists have been working in their medium for over eighty years. They’ve developed styles and grammars that uniquely suit their medium. In our discussion, we’ll talk about some of those concepts and how you can apply them to your online training. We’ll also take a look at a few successful (and not-so-successful) instances of online training done in comic book style, and see if we can pick up a few best practices.

When done well, comic book styling can make a powerful impression, helping training stick. When designers use what’s out there, and are inventive and flexible, online training becomes even better than it was before.