Instructor-led training is any kind of learning that happens in a classroom setting. There could be one or more instructors who help learners acquire new skills or knowledge through lecturers, presentation and discussions.

The greatest benefit of classroom training is the human dynamics that it facilitates. Face-to-face interactions with the instructor and real-time discussions are powerful ways to learn. Having an expert answer questions instantly and validate learners’ understanding of the subject are key aspects of ILTs. Instructor-led training is most suitable for soft skills training such as communication skills or sales skills.

However, it does have its own limitations. Sales conferences or training programs are usually organized off-site. Coordinating and bringing sales people from different geographical regions to the conference is an expensive affair, not to speak of the opportunity loss when the sales people are off the field.

Sales managers tend to jam all of the year’s learning into this one single event. Too much content is overwhelming to anybody. It is said that almost 60 to 90 percent of the skills that are acquired by salespeople during a training program are lost by the end of 30 days. Also, training is largely dependent on the personality of the instructor and his capability in holding the audience’s attention. Hence, there is likely to be no consistency in the quality of the training program.

There is usually no reinforcement strategy wherein the sales people have a refresher course or review program on what has been taught during the instructor-led training program. One way to make up for the shortcomings of an instructor-led training program is to supplement it with online training or eLearning and making it available on-demand for sales people.

Related posts:

1. The Benefits of Instructor Led Trainings to the Learner
2. Making Product Training Available Anytime & Anywhere for Salespeople!
3. Tips for Delivering Results-oriented Product Trainings for your Sales Teams

Mobile devices such as Smartphones, iPads, iPods, Tablet PCs have gained immense popularity and widespread acceptance among users. Quite naturally, they are being considered as useful media to impart workplace learning. It makes a lot of practical sense in this age when knowledge transfer needs to take place in the shortest possible time reaching the widest possible audience. However, the challenge lies in the fact that regular media cannot be ignored or replaced with mobile devices for deploying learning. To ensure that eLearning courseware is available to a wide range of audiences within an organization, L&D managers need to make the courses accessible in multiple formats – which means users should be able to access the courses via their Smartphones, iPads, or simply through their workstation. Providing such flexibility does ensure wider registrations for eLearning courseware. However, it does pose a challenge to instructional designers when designing courses to be delivered in multiple delivery formats.

The first challenge for the IDs is to make the content relevant to multi format delivery. What this essentially means is that the content that the ID creates should be in such a way that irrespective of the device through which the module is being accessed the course needs to be made accessible. For example, if a sales person wants to access information about a product quickly while on the way to a prospect, he may want to listen to a podcast. The audio content thus will have to be independent and relevant by itself.

The second challenge is the development of content that is not dependent on context. The course can be accessed by anyone, any time and through any device. No matter what the existing knowledge of the learner, the content has to be made relevant to everyone. Smaller modules have to be designed which are now being referred to as Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs). What it means is that if the traditional eLearning course is for 60 mins duration, the IDs will need to create about 5-6 modules of say 10-15 mins duration each. All modules could be grouped as a complete course but can also be accessed as independent self-contained units. What it means is that the learner does not have to access the modules sequentially and can go to any segment and benefit from the knowledge being shared irrespective of his current knowledge. This is easier said than done. An ID should have excellent imagination and a non-linear bent of mind to be able to create the various ‘learning paths’.

Thus, while designing courses which need to be delivered in multiple learning paths; IDs should be able to chunk information into coherent and concise pieces. Each piece of information would be an RLO that conveys a specific knowledge that a learner can apply immediately. It provides the freedom to a learner to access only that portion of the course that is immediately relevant to him without having to sit through a long eLearning course.

Simulations make learning experiential as the learner is actively engaged in the process. They provide“real-life” situations to learners in which they can connect with a platform and experiment with different options. Simulations can be used for technical training such as software training or for helping an employee to learn about the correct procedure to accomplish a task.

We at CommLab handle four different levels of courseware development services. The instructional strategies used to engage the learners are different at each level. Level 1 courseware is simple with minimal learner interaction. Level II courseware refers to courses which focus on simple skill development which may be achieved with very basic animation or simulation with very limited complexity. However, level III courseware is very interactive with extensive practice sessions or complex self-assessments which could involve more than 20 steps. Advanced simulations fall under this category of courseware. Broadly speaking, you need to make sure of the following while reviewing a simulation that is part of an eLearning course:

• A simulation should map to respective learning objectives.
• Every step should be explained, perhaps through callouts and the learner should have enough scope to go through the steps to perform the action.
• Ensure that the screen is not cluttered with text.
• An introduction page should be given for the Watch, Try and Do scenarios, along with the respective instructions.

Simulations can enhance the learning experience of the learners. However, quality analysts need to make sure that they are effective in providing the required learning experience. You could check out some of our previous blogs that provide checklists and guidelines for the quality assessment team in different scenarios such as the watch scenario, try scenario and do scenario.

Related posts:

1. QA Checklist for Assessments in Simulation-based Courses
2. Developing Simulations for the Watch Scenario
3. Ensuring Effective TRY Scenarios in Simulations

Simulations would be incomplete if the learner is not tested on the knowledge he/she has acquired. The DO scenario provides such an opportunity. Here, I would like to share a checklist to assess the simulation quality of the course developed for the DO scenario.

DO Scenario:

• 1) The Intro page should inform learners that as they practice performing the actions, they will also have an opportunity test their knowledge.
• 2) Instructions are not to be given in advance , but learners can d be provided with hints or feedback when they perform wrong steps, until the right action is performed.
• 3) Learners can click “Restart” to begin the activity again.
• 4) The course should allow learners to return to the previous Watch and Try activities to consolidate their knowledge and go back to the DO challenge.
• 5) The ‘Hit’ area of each button should be correctly given.
• 6) The hint step should be given exactly where the learner has to perform the action.

• 7) Each page should have an intro step given to intimate the learner on what happens when an action is performed.

• 8) Once the task is completed, an alert window should get displayed with a message “You have successfully completed the task. Click Next to continue”.

It is important to ensure that the learner knows what to do in case he is stuck. Instructions should be clear so that he is not frustrated. If you have any further suggestions please do share them with us.

In our earlier blogs, we talked about checklists in the WATCH and TRY scenarios – you might want to take a look at them as well.

Related posts:

1. Developing Simulations for the Watch Scenario
2. Ensuring Effective TRY Scenarios in Simulations
3. Watch, Try & DO (WTD) Approach for Simulations

In an earlier blogs, we have talked about the “Watch, Try and Do” approach towards using simulations and also shared a checklist that can be used in the WATCH Scenario. In the current blog, I would like to share a few ideas that can be used to ensure that the simulation in the course developed for the TRY scenario is effective.

• 1) An introduction page should be given to tell learners that, as they have watched a demo and learned, they also have an opportunity to practice it.
• 2) Instructions should be provided so that the learners practice the steps until they perform them comfortably.
• 3) Instructions like “Click Next to start & Click Restart anytime to begin the activity again” are used where the word “Click” should be highlighted using a prominent color and bold style. The words “Next & Restart” should also be in bold.
• 4) If learners perform the wrong step, the course should prompt them that they have taken a wrong step. This could be indicated visually as well, with a cross mark, as show below:

• 5) On selecting or clicking an item, the correct result should be displayed. As shown below:

• 6) For text fields where learners have to type in text, the course shouldn’t allow them to proceed further until learner’s type the correct text.
• 7) Make sure you have developed the functionality in such a way that it mirrors the real application, So text typed-in should be case sensitive wherever it is relevant – for instance when it comes to passwords.
• 8) Once the text is entered, the course shouldn’t allow learners to type-in again.
• 9) For the links which need to be double clicked, learners have to click twice to proceed with further navigation.
• 10) Each step should end with a period.
• 11) Once the TRY simulation is completed, an alert window should be displayed with a message “Click Restart to Try the demonstration again or Click Next to continue”.

The TRY scenario is important especially keeping the learners’ point of view in mind, as they are not only actively engaged in the learning process but are also provided guidance at every stage. They get to test their knowledge and if they are stuck at a particular step, help is just a mouse click away.

Related posts:

1. QA Checklist for Assessments in Simulation-based Courses
2. Developing Simulations for the Watch Scenario
3. Effective Use of Instructions in eLearning Courses

Lectora is an authoring tool that is popular because it is user-friendly and can be used to develop rapid, interactive and engaging eLearning courses. It is also popular because of its highly customizable Templates, Interactivities and Quizzes. Here, we would like to introduce the manner in which an Audioscript can be customized through Lectora.

In the given example, we added additional actions to the buttons “INDEX” and “SCRIPT”. On clicking the Index button, the table of contents is displayed and on clicking the Script button, in the same place, the Audioscript is displayed.

Please download the PDF file by clicking on the link below, for a step-by-step instructions on customizing an Audioscript in Lectora.

Download PDF

Related posts:

1. Customizing Table of Content Easy with Lectora
2. Using Lectora to Build Custom Functionality for eLearning Courses
3. Steps to Customize Rollover Component in Lectora

In an earlier blog, we talked about the “Watch, Try and Do” approach towards using simulations. In this blog, I would like to share the checklist that I have developed to assess the quality of simulations in the WATCH scenario.

The WATCH scenario is used to show a particular procedure or process to the learner. The task is explained with audio narration, mouse clicks and callouts; these are used to highlight the key areas showing the navigation, locating a specific area that needs to be clicked and the text that should be typed in a particular field.

Here are some of the points you need to keep in mind while evaluating a simulation based on the Watch scenario:

1) There should be an intro page that tells the learners what they are going to learn from the demonstration. It should also contain appropriate navigational instructions such as “Click Next to start the demonstration“. The word ‘Click‘ should be in bold and in a color that draws the learner’s attention. The word “Next” should also be in bold.

2) A play button should be given so that the learner can click it to start the demo. Learners should also be allowed to watch the demo as many times as they want during the course. For this purpose “Play, Pause, and Replay” buttons should be provided to control the demonstration.

3) Important words such as PRESS and Enter should preferably be in a bold for easy identification and all the letters can be in upper case (e.g. ENTER your password).

4) All clickable and selectable words should be in black color and bold in style.(e.g SELECT your first security question).

5) Each step should end with a period.

6) The mouse pointer should move to point out or to click on the respective field or location once the audio of a particular step is completed.

7) There shouldn’t be any pause in the action for each text box – the mouse should keep moving as each text box appears and disappears.

8) Highlighting of the text and images should be done exactly as per the instructions given in the storyboard.

9) Once the watch simulation is completed, an alert window should be displayed with a message “Click Replay to see the demonstration again or Click Next to continue“.

I hope that this checklist serves as a quick reminder while you develop simulations based on the WATCH scenario. Do share your suggestions.

Related posts:

1. Ensuring Effective TRY Scenarios in Simulations
2. QA Checklist for Assessments in Simulation-based Courses
3. Watch, Try & DO (WTD) Approach for Simulations

Rollovers are one of the most frequently used components in Lectora. They are similar to ‘Click on tabs’ but differ in the way the action takes place. Here, the content gets displayed when the learners rollover their mouse over the images. This feature is used when one has to show parts of a product or demonstrate the different components in a software program.

You can create rollovers by using the rollover action on the buttons so that the respective content is displayed or hidden. CommLab India has developed a step-by-step guide to customize rollover actions in eLearning courses. Click on the following link to download the PDF with step-by-step instructions.

Download PDF

For those who have good technical skills, Lectora offers many features that can be customized. One such feature is the ability to customize the final quiz in an eLearning course instead of using the default final quiz.

In this quiz, we created our own questions and presented the layout changing the ‘look and feel’ to suit the client’s specifications. Our client also requested for a customized “Summary Page” at the end of the Quiz, displaying the number of questions given and the correct and incorrect answers. A completion status was to be sent to the Learning Management System, based on the passing grade. We were to control access to the certificate based on the score secured.

So how did we set up this interactivity? This was a little more complex than other interactivities, because we needed to use variables for each question to store the score of each question and add conditional action to control the navigation and force the learner to complete the question to proceed to the next question. At the end of the course, we needed to set up other actions to calculate the number of correct/ incorrect answers and the total score. These additional actions would send the score and completion status to the Learning Management System to track the Quiz data.

Click on the link below to check out the step-by-step instructions to the method adopted.

Download Pdf

Related posts:

1. Checklist for QA Process at the Storyboard stage
2. How to Customize the Questions Functionality using Variables in Lectora?
3. Using Lectora to Build Custom Functionality for eLearning Courses

Product trainings are important for every employee who has any form of interaction with customers. It could be sales personnel, customer service personnel or service staff. Knowledge of the products helps them not just to win over the customers but to retain them as well. Hence companies need to invest their time and money to conduct periodic product trainings.

It is not without reason that successful organizations have invested heavily into eLearning-based product training.

eLearning is the most economical way to distribute standard and consistent product training to the entire sales force enterprise wide. For example, when a new product is launched globally and the huge sales force needs to be trained about its features, it involves a lot of logistical planning to organize physical training programs. However, eLearning for product training doesn’t involve these kind of logistical problems. It can be organized to ensure global, multicultural reach with a consistent message to all the relevant employees.

eLearning can be designed to suit the target audiences. Ideally, product training for service personnel and sales personnel should be different. There may be some overlap with respect to the content but the approach towards training essentially needs to be different. eLearning provides the flexibility to position the product accurately depending on the target learners. This is not to say that such a differentiation is not possible in traditional instructional-led training but it becomes easier to create different modules in an eLearning course. There would be common learning objects which would be the same but eLearning provides the flexibility to reuse the learning objects to suit different target audiences.

There are times when organizations launch a new product and need to disseminate information about the product to its employees in multi-locations simultaneously. eLearning courseware comes handy in such a scenario. Moreover, product features can be presented in a manner that is easy to recall using GUI tools, videos or animations.

The best part of eLearning is that it can also be used as a powerful way to prepare a learner for hands on sessions. You can in fact use eLearning as a prerequisite to the hands on session. When participants come into the physical hand-on training session, they come with some basic knowledge which can be further developed during the face-to-face interaction with experts. Thus, the time of the experts can be qualitatively used to address more complex issues.

In short, an integrated product training together with product knowledge and selling skills can be blended into an eLearning training program. What makes eLearning more effective is that it can be tailored to suit the needs of the organization and its various geographical locations where it is present.

Related posts:

1. Product Trainings for Sales Force – An Ideal Approach
2. Type of Training Required for Company Sales People
3. Tips for Delivering Results-oriented Product Trainings for your Sales Teams