A question I am constantly asked is “How long does it take to develop…&# you can fill in the rest with Instructor-led training, elearning, simulations, etc. Several people have attempted to answer that question in 2003 I gathered data and information about the times it takes to develop instruction and then my colleague Robyn Defelice and I explored the idea in 2009. so we wrote a follow up article, Reducing the Time to Develop One Hour of Instruction where Robyn and I looked at several reasons why it take so long and suggested some ideas to reduce that time. MORE >>

While a huge portion of our training budgets goes towards creating the content for learning, we seem to ignore that people learn only when they see a strong need. As instructional designers , we need to workscape our training programs so they can provide our learners the affective context around which they can pull and retain information themselves. The purpose of training and development is to accelerate this process - and yet we don't pay adequate attention to 'workplace learning'. We now train 100% of our people at a third of the cost and quarter the time. MORE >>

It’s no surprise that the use of video in corporate training continues to gain in popularity among corporate      Learning and Development departments. Brandon Hall, the research firm based out of Delray Beach, FL, polled over 300 training professionals back in 2011 and found the top 2 reasons for using video in training – effectiveness and high engagement. good training video can bring out a similar level of engagement as a good movie or television show. There’s an art as well as a science to making a good training video. People respond to video. MORE >>

Here are some tips for saving development time with keyboard shortcuts. When I’m writing our computer books or doing systems training for clients, I have to bold the names of the features of the software. Uncategorized captivate development lectora productivityI admit it—I’m a keyboard shortcut fanatic! Not that I have anything against the mouse, but I know that keyboard shortcuts save me time, and that helps both me get more done at a reasonable cost for my clients. Most people never move beyond the basics: save, cut, copy, paste, and undo. Find existing shortcuts. MORE >>

If you’d like to share your training with the rest of the world,   you can publish it to YouTube with a single click. Their VIDIZMO Channel product allows you to notify your target audience about upcoming campaigns or mandated training sessions. Brainshark ( www.brainshark.com ) has been a strong player in the video training market for several years. Here’s a quick trip down memory lane (for many of us at any rate) on what great video training can look like – and made long before the PC was even on the scene: [link]  … ain’t it great? MORE >>