Over time, your LMS becomes cluttered, difficult to navigate, and full of dated, irrelevant content. The configuration decisions you made when you first installed the LMS may come back to haunt you. How can you avoid these nightmares and ensure that your LMS stays fresh and well-organized?

Participants in this session will discover the critical tasks that many organizations forget to address when implementing a new LMS or updating an existing system. You’ll go beyond the “what’s” and into the “how-to’s.” Participants who are considering a LMS, are currently implementing a LMS, or who have found themselves stuck with a problematic LMS will learn how to establish the standards, processes, taxonomies, and governance necessary to ensure your LMS operates effectively for years to come.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to establish standards for LMS content
• How to define and maintain effective taxonomies for catalogs and metadata
• How to manage advanced LMS features such as notifications and audiences, over time
• How to establish appropriate content management policies and governance
• How to manage content shelf life
• How to implement processes for handling requests and changes
• How to establish and maintain an effective working relationship with IT

Audience: Participants should be able to accurately define what a LMS does and have some experience participating in medium-to-large project implementations, ideally with projects that involve technology.

The Darwin Information Type Architecture (DITA) is an XML standard that defines an architecture for designing, authoring, publishing, and managing content. Its latest release specifically addresses the needs of the learning and training industry.

In this session, participants are introduced to the DITA standard. They will learn how DITA provides a common topic structure that enables them to piece together the same content in a variety of ways and output that content to a number of media and formats. They will see how DITA allows them to address the needs of multiple audiences or subtle differences in content within a single topic, eliminating repetition that leads to higher maintenance costs. They learn from real-world examples from organizations that have successfully used DITA to cut development costs and increase their overall productivity.

In this session, you will learn:

• The learning and training topic types supported by DITA —learning plan, introduction, summary, and assessment
• The XML-based assessments supported by DITA, including true/false, single and multiple select, match, hotspot
• How to build training topics into lessons and courses, using learning maps
• How to work with Learning and Training metadata, supporting full SCORM compliance
• To evaluate the applicability of the DITA standard to your organization

Audience: Those being called upon to deliver more for less – courses that can be easily reused and customized for each client, content appropriate for both print and electronic delivery, material that can remain current and relevant with minimal effort – all without increasing staff or extending deadlines.

The challenge for PETCO is training a global employee base, with a wide range of roles and responsibilities, to embrace a large process and cultural change combined with using a new industry-standard [merchandising and financial planning] system as it relates to their particular role. In sum, PETCO’s challenge involves how to embrace change and transform their daily workflows.

This session presents an approach to solving the training/change implementation dilemma through the exploration of key components of the emBark Initiative: creating a new common language among associates, developing role-based instruction, designing humorous yet effective application training, and refining processes in day-to-day work situations. Participants will leave this session inspired and armed with concrete solutions plus ready-made templates for system implementations and change training.

In this session, you will learn:

• Processes for creating an internal brand for the change/training implementation 
• Methods to develop role-based instruction for processes, systems, and business acumen
• How to identify repeatable patterns in your content development
• When and how to use learning agents, humor, online planners, and interactive PDFs
• About tools such as online planners and interactive communication and performance support PDFs

Audience: Intermediate participants interested in training rollouts on system implementations and/or corporate change management programs. You should be familiar with Adobe Flash and PDFs, instructional design, and eLearning development.

Effective leadership is vital to growth and expansion for all businesses. This has become especially true in the health care arena, where so much is continually changing. Affinity Health Systems (AHS) concluded that the strength of their leaders will determine the organization’s viability.

Participants in this case-study session will learn the process AHS used to determine the competencies leaders currently need to ensure success of the business. This session will assist other learning leaders by hearing how Affinity Health strengthened their leader competencies through a six-month project that used focus groups with senior leaders to develop a variety of success profiles for every level of organizational leadership.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why identifying key business drivers is critical
• The purpose of engaging senior leaders
• How to select and manage leader focus groups
• How to build four levels of leadership success profiles

Audience: Novice-to-intermediate participants who want to build an effective leadership program.

Many organizations use QR Codes when they market to their customers, but few are using them in learning. QR Codes are simple solutions implementable at little or no cost to an organization that work with devices that employees are already using.

Participants in this session will look at the lessons learned from marketing’s use of QR Codes to promote products, sales, and information. Now, learning professionals can create low-cost just-in-time learning solutions. During this session you will see more than 20 examples of where you can use QR Codes in “traditional” learning.

In this session, you will learn:

• What QR Codes are and how to generate them using free or low-cost websites
• How marketing is using QR Codes with customers
• What the appropriate content for QR Codes is
• The cultural considerations needed before implementing a solution using QR Codes
• The various learning solutions that use QR Codes
• How you can use QR Codes as performance-support resources

Audience: Novice participants who use a smartphone.

Davenport University's internal learning technology group deployed a social learning community to a significant portion of its employee base, spread amongst multiple campuses in Michigan. One department that embraced the learning community was the admissions department. Admissions reps—a university's equivalent of sales reps—swap tips and best practices using Bloomfire's built-in Q&A mechanism. Managers can also post helpful materials, giving admissions reps what they need for success straight into their pockets.

eLearning Guild members know what social learning is in theory, and those who are looking to implement it want to hear from people who have been there and done that. Participants in this case-study session will learn how Davenport University is implementing social learning. You’ll get real-life knowledge from Davenport trainers who have been there and done that. You’ll also be able to use what you learn to pitch your supervisors and get internal buy-in.

In this session, you will learn:

• How a real-life organization is doing social learning
• How you can apply social learning to employee training
• How to get organizational buy-in for social learning
• What the journey to social learning looks like

Audience: Basic familiarity with social learning will be sufficient.

Many are unfamiliar with the time and cost investments to create technology-enabled learning. Do you know how long it takes your organization to create different formats of learning, including instructor-led training (ILT), virtual classroom training (VILT), basic eLearning (Level 1), interactive eLearning (Level 2), and simulation-based eLearning (Level 3)? 

Session participants will discover the published benchmarking data to help your organization better plan and optimize learning development across multiple delivery types. You will discuss the results of the study and get tips, techniques, and lessons learned to improve your development practice. You’ll find out what’s typical and what is possible … and whether you might be developing content too fast. Please come prepared for a lively, interactive discussion.

In this session, you will learn:

• How long, and how much it costs (on average) to create different levels of learning
• How to create cost projections for future custom development projects
• How to set expectations with senior management and customers about development times and costs
• How to measure and correct your own development practices

Audience: Novice-to-intermediate participants. No prior background or experience necessary.

Leading technology critics, like Sheryl Turkle and David Brooks, suggest that the abundance of technologies, while offering great benefits, also forces people to imbed lots of knowledge and information but fails to process the information into useful and valuable knowledge to impact performance. You will be able to SPEED-UP by SLOWING IT DOWN – by allowing learners to stop, look, listen, and learn to contemplate how to apply the ideas.

In this session, you will see four case studies on how to add the contemplation process in the eLearning design.

In this session, you will learn:

• About a university graduate school project that requires critical processes as a key activity in the eLearning design
• About a large financial services company that requires “mapping and schema” presentations on how learners apply learning
• About a project management consulting initiative that includes “learner-to-learner” reflection moments for coaching
• About a global truck-engine manufacturer that requires “learning impacts reporting” to track applications
• About a large psychometrics company using collaborative systems to encourage reflection on case stories

Audience: Novice participants with basic knowledge in eLearning, social learning design, and implementation.

In the corporate atmosphere, there seems to be a general fear of the shift from traditional classroom training to eLearning. As training budgets are slashed, many traditional classroom trainers are increasingly fearful of losing their jobs with the shift. This session, coming from one who has made the shift, will give a real example to show it can be done.

Participants in this session will first learn the similarities in both processes: designing for classroom as well as eLearning. You’ll get examples showing that the shift is not an all-or-nothing approach, and that most companies are actually shifting to a blended program. Lastly, you’ll learn ways to gain practical skills to “fill in” possible gaps in your current skill sets to ease the transition from classroom to eLearning.

In this session, you will learn:

• The similarities in approaching classroom design and eLearning.
• The characteristics of Blended Learning and its advantages.
• How to embrace change and begin to think about blended learning as a friend!
• Practical and easily gained skills that will help the shift from classroom to eLearning to go easier.

Audience: Novice. All are welcome, but former classroom instructors, or anyone designing training for a classroom audience, is likely to get the most from this session.

Most industries have a segment of immigrant and international employees. They may also have hidden employees with learning disabilities and reading issues. In their audience analysis, corporate trainers and instructional designers may encounter English as a second language (ESL) and low-literacy learner groups for their training programs. Without a background and understanding of these specific issues, you may be creating programs and products that will not meet the learner’s need. Learning to think through the content to better match it to the audience will allow you to create more successful outcomes.

Participants in this session will go through an experiential exercise to better understand the struggles of ESL (or any other second language) and low-literacy learners. You’ll learn the barriers for them in learning, and discuss ways of assisting these learners in meeting the learning objectives of the course. You will also learn how to calculate the reading level of your course content.

In this session, you will learn:

• To recognize problematic content for second language and reading-challenged adults
• To create accessible content
• What barriers second language and reading challenged adults face in a working environment
• How to calculate reading levels of material

Audience: Those who need to provide technology-based learning for low-literacy learners and/or learners with special needs.

Mobile handsets and tablets are invading every aspect of just-in-time corporate communications, performance support, and training. This fact, plus the growing popularity of the “Bring Your Own Device/BYOD” movement, requires enterprise IT teams to rethink their approach to mobile learning access and content delivery. Because mobile devices are far more prone to loss or theft complicates every organization’s security requirements, especially when delivering proprietary information, courseware, and business intelligence. Organizations of all kinds — especially those in financial services, insurance, medical/pharma, government, and technology — are demanding that mobile devices be just as secure as desktop or classroom-training devices are. Because mobile learning adoption will expand in 2012 across almost every enterprise, finding appropriate and scalable ways to secure on-the-go training materials, job aides, and critical business communications is essential and is a key concern of training teams, IT departments, and management.

In this session, participants will learn how mobile security has greatly matured in recent months, so you can now provide all of the necessary assurances the information security professionals are demanding.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why mobile apps are more secure than mobile Web apps
• When to use a VPN versus public networks for content access and delivery
• How to deploy and remove content from mobile devices remotely
• Device-level options for associating learners' devices with their learning accounts
• How single sign-on authentication can restrict access to learning content and resources
• When time-based restrictions are appropriate and required

Audience: Those tasked with securing their mobile learning environments, from management to individual contributors.

The information our employees and customers require lies with our subject matter experts (SMEs), who may have little to no content creation or presentation skills, and who often lack the time, motivation, and confidence to share their knowledge. Learning professionals, with potentially dozens of topics, time constraints, and limited budgets, are hard-pressed to gather this information from the SMEs to develop effective content. Managing and updating content with the ever-increasing speed of product development also creates a challenge. By educating your SMEs, implementing easy-to-use tools, providing support, and explaining the benefits of participating in the learning development process, the learning professional can focus on managing and promoting the training content.

Participants in this session will see eLearning and video examples, along with related content management and promotional ideas. The real-world examples document the construction of a robust training offering of SME-generated content in a manner that is flexible, scalable, and cost-effective. You’ll learn the tools for turning your SMEs into content developers, including rapid eLearning development tools, Webinar tools, digital video capture with video conferencing equipment (Web cams, or even iPhones), and blogs and social media including Twitter and Yammer.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to motivate your SMEs by showing them “what's in it for them”
• The importance of teaching SMEs the basics of instructional design
• The range of tools for rapid content development and how to build a suite of appropriate tools 

Audience: Novice-to-intermediate participants who need to engage their SMEs in the learning development process.

It's always tough to get good photographs for your eLearning courses. Stock photography serves its purpose, up to a point, but after a while seems impersonal and out of context. Real photographs from the workplace, with real people in them, work wonders when it comes to creating a connection with your audience.

In this session, you will see how easy it is to take great pictures with your camera — big or small. You will look at digital single-lens reflexes (DSLRs) and point-and-shoot cameras and be guided through your buying decisions. You will learn simple compositional tricks and the best ways to get interesting effects right out of the camera, so you can avoid too much post-processing.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to save as much money as you like by avoiding stock photography
• How to select and invest in good photography equipment
• The technicalities of your existing camera gear
• Compositional tricks that'll make your photo pop
• Special effects and tricks for your camera

Audience: Novice participants. All you need is a digital camera — if you have an SLR, that's just awesome!