Innovative Learning Group

MAY 24, 2022

Not Quite E-Learning But More Than a Job Aid. One of my first learning industry projects was in the late ‘90s, when printed PowerPoint facilitator guides and corresponding participant guides were all the rage. Within 10 years, e-learning had replaced many instructor-led training (ILT) sessions, which makes sense when you think about it, and why not?

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Blended Learning Interactive Solution Learning 59

Innovative Learning Group

APRIL 19, 2022

Increase Engagement in Learning Solutions by Respecting Learner Characteristics. Maybe you’ve seen the Salesforce commercial : Matthew McConaughey, dressed as an astronaut but piloting a hot air balloon, tells us “It’s not time to escape, it’s time to engage!” A very thinly veiled poke at certain billionaire tech giants, it asserts that we don’t need to travel to Mars or the Metaverse to find our future.

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Learner Learning Theory Cognitive Instructional 45

Innovative Learning Group

JANUARY 19, 2022

Be Responsive and Effective. Can you have short, breezy learning opportunities that your learners take whenever and wherever they want that won’t make the training gods cringe? Now more than ever, learners don’t want to spend hours sitting through synchronous learning. They also don’t want to read volumes of text or sit through a lengthy e-learning course.

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Innovative Learning Group

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Relevant, Meaningful Content Creates Great Learning Experiences. According to a Gallup Global Emotions survey , people are experiencing a record amount of stress in their lives with 40 percent saying that they experience stress during most of their day. You can say that it’s because of the pandemic or that it’s the result of social polarization, but the most overarching feeling is that many people seem to be on the edge.

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Oasis Learning microlearning Learner 40

Innovative Learning Group

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

The Danger of Describe. If you’ve worked with me recently and turned in performance or learning objectives starting with “Describe…” you’ve most definitely gotten feedback from me questioning your choice. If you work with me sometime soon, you’ll know this is one of my pet peeves and be prepared for the questions! Yes, I do realize Describe is an action verb.

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Performance Support Performance Learning Objects Cognitive 56

Innovative Learning Group

JULY 12, 2021

Eight Components to Cultivate a Robust Learning Experience. It’s gardening season where I live, one of my favorite times of the year. Waiting for perennials to come up, watching for buds and leaves to appear, moving plants to more favorable locations in the yard, deciding what vegetables to plant where, all bring me joy. I’m familiar with my yard, the soil, the sun and shade, and I know what I want to cultivate and how.

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Innovative Learning Group

MAY 14, 2021

Tips to design Role-Specific Systems Training. Picture this — you’re meeting with a business services client who wants to develop a custom-learning course to walk learners through the functionality of a time sheet system. You think to yourself, sure, we can do that! But then the client adds that this training must cover the requirements of four unique roles within a single course.

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Learner Learning Portal Roles FAQ 40

Innovative Learning Group

APRIL 27, 2021

From Relationship Managers to Business Consultants. Many Moons Ago…. …I began working with a great team at Amway on transitioning its global sales account managers from administrative/relationship-building roles to strategic, business consultants or trusted advisors. This revolutionary change in position and perspective prompted the global sales learning and development team to also radically evolve its approach to training new account managers.

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Blended Learning Learning LMS Learner 45

Innovative Learning Group

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Using Empathy to Create Impactful Learning. At the end of 2020, a colleague and I were recapping the year’s experiences and the abrupt shift that had to occur in learning for many companies. In particular, we’d both noticed how often the word “empathy” had come up in client conversations, and in industry articles, blogs, and podcasts. Empathy seemed to be the focus of leadership, human resources, and teams.

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Innovative Learning Group

JANUARY 4, 2021

Three Simple Steps to Create a Blended Learning Solution. I think we’d all agree that 2020 forced a lot of change to training solutions in a very quick and reactionary manner. Did anyone not convert hundreds of instructor-led training (ILT) to virtual ILT on the fly? As we start 2021, it’s more important than ever to create and provide great learning to your employees.

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Innovative Learning Group

OCTOBER 28, 2020

Leadership Workshops Evolve From the Classroom. It’s interesting how change is sometimes thrust upon us. Innovation flourishes when disruption forces us to abandon the status quo and approach leader development without the quintessential leadership workshop. It had been widely accepted that leader skills require full-contact engagement. After all, leaders interact with people constantly.

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Innovative Learning Group

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Best Practices For Developing Systems-Based Training. Innovative Learning Group has developed custom training for many systems, from talent management and customer relationship management to banking and financial systems. After managing many of these projects , I’ve learned that systems training is definitely not one-size fits all. However, along the way I’ve discovered three best practices that every company can apply to ensure the successful launch of a system.

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Innovative Learning Group

AUGUST 31, 2020

Five Actions to Take to Advance Your Learning Future. Now that we are many months into this pandemic, I think we’ve come to realize that many of our normal routines have changed forever — at home and at work. For learning professionals, those whose work weeks were largely filled with maintaining and delivering live instructor-led training were literally rocked to the core.

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Blended Learning Performance Support Virtual World Augmented Reality 40

Innovative Learning Group

JULY 24, 2020

Create — Instead of Convert — Virtual Instructor-led training. In the past few months, we’ve all found ourselves connecting more in a virtual space than in person. Before this, I wouldn’t have taken an online exercise class or used a telemedicine service. Why would I when I live in an urban area with so many amenities only a few blocks away? But when in-person togetherness went away, it pushed me to try more virtual experiences.

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Innovative Learning Group

JUNE 8, 2020

Adding A New Delivery Method Will Impact Your Strategy. I recently finished conducting a review of the technology sections of a client’s comprehensive learning strategy. Looking back on this effort, I was surprised to see how many parts of the strategy needed to be revised when a new delivery method was added, in this specific case, custom e-learning.

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Blended Learning Learning Strategy Strategy Learning 40

Innovative Learning Group

MAY 4, 2020

3D Animation Can Add Dimension to Your Custom E-Learning Projects. Animation is a great way to grab learners’ attention in e-learning, but how do you determine when and how to use 3D to take it to the next level of engagement? It’s helpful to think about 3D options in stages of complexity (and cost). When planning to use 3D animation , you can choose from simple to challenging approaches, which can help you to discuss expectations and effort for your custom e-learning projects.

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Simulations Stock Learner Project 52

Innovative Learning Group

MARCH 9, 2020

Start with Performance First to Get to the Right Learning Solution. My colleague and a former ILGer Susan Fisher is what you would call an expert in turning e-learning into e-performance. Her approach has made me stop and think… where have I heard this before? Is it possible to help workers in the moment they’re performing a task? Could that reduce — or even eliminate — the time we traditionally pull people away from work to engage in training?

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Innovative Learning Group

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

When Client Expectations and Best Practices Don’t Align. How often have you encountered a situation in which you were asked to do something, and you knew the request wasn’t the best approach? For example, what if your client asks for a custom learning. project to turn a half-day workshop into a 30-minute e-learning without removing any content? Would you just stare at them unblinking?

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Innovative Learning Group

MAY 3, 2017

Are you ever faced with a need to communicate a procedure to your team but are unsure of the method to deliver it because the content is somewhat dry or is not very interesting? I recently worked with a longtime Innovative Learning Group client in the financial industry on a learning need just like this. In a nutshell, the client needed to show how a conversation should be conducted between a financial analyst and his/her customer.

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Innovative Learning Group

MAY 19, 2017

An Expert’s Advice on Using Adapt for E-Learning. At Innovative Learning Group, we’ve designed and developed thousands of e-learning courses using many different authoring tools and programming languages. So when requests started coming in to create e-learning using the new-to-us Adapt authoring tool and framework, an application that allows you to quickly build responsive e-learning content, we dove right in — because we know what we’re doing!

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Storyboard Design Learning Instructional Design 40

Innovative Learning Group

AUGUST 31, 2017

You’ve heard all the hype about the latest technological cure for what ails training: augmented, virtual, or mixed reality. Sure, I’d be the first to agree that mobile learning with augmented reality could be truly revolutionary in the workplace, a fact that visionaries in our industry have been talking about for the last six or seven years. Yes, let’s start using AR/VR/MR (augmented reality/virtual reality/mixed reality) in our learning and performance support solutions where it makes sense!

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Augmented Reality Teach Learner Learning 40

Innovative Learning Group

APRIL 8, 2019

I’ve had the pleasure of managing many memorable projects during my two and a half years at Innovative Learning Group (ILG). One thing I’ve always emphasized is the value of being consultative. Sure, there are some projects for which the solution is simple and straightforward. However, there are also those where our clients value our partnership and objectivity as a third party.

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ILT Learner Design Learning Objects 40

Innovative Learning Group

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Training is about moving the needle…engaging learners. At its core, it’s about designing and developing solutions that increase performance. But does it matter in all roles and all types of businesses? For the roles and responsibilities that tend to be repetitive, is training even necessary ? Consider this before you answer. With a fresh driver’s license in hand, my son was convinced he had everything he needed to live his best life.

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Training Train Program Performance Support 40

Innovative Learning Group

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Planning Your Instructor-led Training Pilot. My teenager recently participated as a model in a fashion runway show. For the dress rehearsal the day before the show, not all models and designers were able to attend, so a sense of the number of outfit changes, order, and timing wasn’t possible to gauge. There weren’t any observers acting as the audience to provide feedback on the audio levels of the emcee and music nor on the proximity of the models to camera locations.

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ILT Instructional Design Simulations Instructional 40

Innovative Learning Group

AUGUST 8, 2017

Tips to Incorporate Storytelling in Your Learning Solutions. Growing up, my dad’s memorable tale of his father, my Grandpa Schirmacher, has inspired me throughout my life. As a Mounted Marine, my grandpa rode a horse while serving in the United States Marine Corps. During his career, he was stationed on the then-island nation of Hawaii (before it became the 50 th state).

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Innovative Learning Group

JUNE 7, 2018

Three Ways to Streamline Employee Performance Improvement. “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”. Remember that iconic catch phrase from the 1976 movie Network ? Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch) was commenting on modern American society, but it’s been running through the back of my mind lately — about formal training in the workplace.

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Performance Support Performance Learning Change 40

Innovative Learning Group

JULY 9, 2018

Seven Tips for Successful Virtual Instructor-Led Training. If you haven’t attended a virtual instructor-led-training (VILT), sign up for one now! As learning and development professionals, having some VILT knowledge and experience will increase your tool set and give you an opportunity to show your organization how to embrace this cost-effective, flexible, and efficient way to train many learners in diverse locations.

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Innovative Learning Group

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

This summer, Spine Crackers , the Innovative Learning Group (ILG) book club, decided to read the TD at Work publication, “ Design Thinking Meets ADDIE ,” by Kathy Glynn and Debra Tolsma. Admittedly, our group wasn’t only intrigued by the topic but also the manageable length (only 16 pages plus a few job aids and resource lists!) for our summertime brains.

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Innovative Learning Group

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

My teenager recently participated as a model in a fashion runway show. For the dress rehearsal the day before the show, not all models and designers were able to attend, so a sense of the number of outfit changes, order, and timing wasn’t possible to gauge. There weren’t any observers acting as the audience to provide feedback on the audio levels of the emcee and music nor on the proximity of the models to camera locations.

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ILT Instructional Design Simulations Instructional 40

Innovative Learning Group

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Engaging learners is a key element of any e-learning. However, for some, e-learning can be as dry as burnt toast. The best instructional designers know that keeping learners involved is half the battle when it comes to absorbing information. Even if the subject matter is drier than overcooked chicken that’s been left out in the Sahara next to a dehumidifier for a month, there are still methods an instructional designer can employ to make the e-learning more engaging.

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Innovative Learning Group

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Training is about moving the needle…engaging learners. At its core, it’s about designing and developing solutions that increase performance. But does it matter in all roles and all types of businesses? For the roles and responsibilities that tend to be repetitive, is training even necessary ? Consider this before you answer. With a fresh driver’s license in hand, my son was convinced he had everything he needed to live his best life.

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Free Performance Support Coaching Training 40

Innovative Learning Group

MAY 20, 2019

I have come to a point in my career where I find myself reflecting on the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, and the hopes and wishes I have for those who will step forward when I ultimately, one day, step back. Today, I want to expose some of the challenges we face in our organizations — challenges that I see are leading us all down the path toward “sins” in our learning programs.

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Innovative Learning Group

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Is someone in your organization anxious to use e-learning because they’ve seen some amazing web sites or watched their kids engrossed in an online tutorial? It’s a terrific thing that they’re excited about learning over the computer, but this may not be the best reason to select e-learning as the delivery method for your next initiative. “Well then,” you ask, “when would I choose e-learning as the delivery method?

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Innovative Learning Group

JUNE 25, 2012

Last week, my colleague Susan Fisher and I presented at mLearnCon in San Jose on the topic of “ Mobile Decisions: Right Solution, Right Tools.” I was thrilled to be speaking about doing mobile right. For one thing, I love the potential mobile has to revolutionize how learners use learning and performance support solutions. Second, I’m excited about focusing on how to do learning “right.” This is something that’s equally important for m-learning, e-learning,

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Blended Learning Instructional Design Learning Solution 40

Innovative Learning Group

MARCH 7, 2013

I just wrapped up a free ILG webinar on optimizing your e-learning software toolkit, which you’ll be able to view next week on ILG’s YouTube channel. We had a great turnout and a lot of good questions were asked. The questions posed by the participants got me thinking about what I’ve learned from developing a number of mobile apps and mobile web sites.

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Innovative Learning Group

MAY 17, 2013

The unexamined life is not worth living. ~Socrates. Lately, I’ve noticed the term self-reflection popping up in a lot of articles about leadership , management, and coaching. Long a believer in the power of self-reflection, I think it’s an important addition to any employee development program , since it can lead employees to real clarity about their goals and role in an organization.

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Innovative Learning Group

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

For as long as I can remember, my passion has been about explaining things to people. Just ask anyone who’s known me for more than a day or two, and they’ll tell you — sometimes with the pejorative “know-it-all.” It’s not about inflating my ego, though; I just want to share the information! But if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that most people don’t want to be “explained to,” especially on the job and even in the guise of t

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