If you feel lost when it comes to the visual design of eLearning courses, why not take a thematic approach? In this participatory session, we’ll explore the components of visual design and how to tie graphical elements together into a unified visual theme.

Don’t let your lack of graphic design training limit your imagination. This session will demonstrate a selection of visual and conceptual themes that you can use in eLearning courses. We’ll break it down and look at each theme’s concept, color palette, typography, textures, and images. We’ll discuss which themes match particular audience groups and content, and you’ll add your own ideas for modifying the themes to fit your needs.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to think in terms of visual unity
• How to select themes that are appropriate for varied audiences and content
• How to use the presented themes as a foundation for adding your own creative ideas
• How to design and select the components of visual themes for eLearning

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, and project managers who have some experience designing eLearning courses.

Neil Lasher’s involvement with the 2012 Olympics started two years before the games, when he was part of small team training 1,500 interviewers; along with them he helped to interview 100,000 volunteers. The next stage was to work with a specialized group of 25 trainers who delivered leadership training to 12,000 team leaders. Finally he took a contract for the three months up to the games as a field-of-play group leader to oversee the logistics of modern pentathlon competition. Neil both delivered and attended many different training courses for the staff responsible for the event operations, working from inside an organization instead of his normal role of delivering as a consultant from the outside. What he saw and learned has changed his outlook to training forever.

Neil helped coordinate, plan, and lead teams for this event, and in this session he shares his takeaways with participants. This session will be an eye opener to the issues of working in large-scale delivery. Participants will explore methods of delivering consistent training and how cutting corners does not create best value. This session will challenge participants’ thinking—just as the experience challenged Neil’s thinking.

In this session, you will learn:

• The difficulties of conducting 100,000 interviews
• The challenges of delivering training to groups of up to 250 at a time
• Tips on how to deliver to larger groups
• Identification of problem areas
• A case study of 20 courses attended
• Five ways to change your training outlook

Audience:
Novice-to-advanced professionals who are open to new ideas.

Instructional designers are frequently called upon to be instructional writers or to help subject matter experts be good writers. Turning mundane topics into vivid and compelling narratives can be a difficult task. The quality of the instructional content is most effective when it leverages real world scenarios, but there are a lot of techniques that instructional designer can borrow from fiction writers to create sticky, compelling, memorable scenarios and more engaging simulations.

Participants in this session will learn about concepts like the inciting incident, protagonist versus antagonist conflict, seven-act structure, and other narrative techniques that can help bring simulations to life.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to structure a compelling scenario using narrative techniques from fiction and screenwriting
• How to make scenarios vivid by showing instead of telling
• How and when to use humor, and what the research says about humor and memory
• How to convert a dull scenario into an intriguing narrative

Audience:
Novice-to-advanced designers.

Good graphic design has the power to catch (and keep) learner interest, clarify difficult concepts, organize materials more effectively, and add a professional polish to your work. But when the graphic design for a learning piece is done poorly you get PowerPoint decks that no one can read on screen, images that don’t match the topic or have been seen a thousand times before, workbook layouts that are impossible to follow, or materials that your learners consider too amateur-looking to take seriously. Bad graphic design can cause all these potential problems.

While there’s no substitute for a trained graphic designer, there are quite a few tricks and tips that can help even the least visually-inclined teacher, instructional designer, manager, or programmer make visual materials that look and function more effectively. In this session you will learn some basic skills and tips that can provide immediate improvements to your work.

In this session, you will learn:

• How good graphic design can make your learning easier to understand and more interesting to the learner
• Exactly how bad visual design gets in the way of learning
• How to choose the most effective font and color schemes
• How to create efficient text and image alignment and arrangement that doesn’t get in the way of what you’re trying to teach
• How to use budget-friendly services and software you already own to find and create images that enhance your learning

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, and managers with a basic knowledge of Microsoft Office.

The visual cortex is the area of the brain we use to process visual information. We can communicate an action or perceived affordance on a computer screen by applying simple visual techniques. The term “less is more“ is the key in allowing learners to use their imagination and experiences to complete the image or graphic, and that in turn results in higher retention. As eLearning designers, we also design the instruction to be visually appealing and relevant. We spend many hours of time unnecessarily hunting for images and photos to convey the context of the material. What if we could convey the same message more effectively with a few strokes of a pen or by arranging a few simple shapes? When you understand the basic principles of visual communication, you’ll be able to replace words with pictures.

Participants in this session will learn about the visual cortex and how we use it every day to communicate. You’ll see examples of perceived affordances, and how making subtle changes to your eLearning graphics can be a powerful companion to the instruction. You’ll also learn techniques for creating on-demand graphics following basic visual-communication principles.

In this session, you will learn:

• What the visual cortex is and why it’s important in eLearning design
• More about perceived affordances
• How to allow learners to use their own experiences to complete a visual message
• How to apply simple visual communication techniques following basic principles

Audience:
Novice and intermediate professionals.

Today, many organizations are promoting eLearning as a means to reduce travel costs and to provide a convenient method for their employees to learn at their own pace. Goodwill Industries Manasota made a commitment to convert several classroom courses to an eLearning format as part of a workforce development program. When they deemed a course appropriate for online delivery, the course content was preserved. However, they had to redesign and enhance it to match the requirements of the online learning experience.

In this case-study session you will explore the process Goodwill Industries Manasota went through when it converted an instructor-led training (ILT) course into a web-based training (WBT) course. You’ll also get the lessons learned along the way.

In this session, you will learn:

• The steps involved in converting an ILT course into an online course
• Why it is important to be culturally sensitive with your examples and photos
• How using stories and exercises engages the learner
• What it took for the organization to embrace eLearning in lieu of ILT classes

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers who have a basic understanding of the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation) model, have experienced an eLearning class, and are somewhat familiar with the concept of an LMS.

When Nuance’s CEO announced he wanted an innovation program to help retain the company’s best engineers, grow their careers, and keep the company ahead of the competition, he also said that he didn’t want the program to be expensive … so his employees built it themselves. Building a new program from scratch is a daunting task—and striving to make it best-of-breed can seem impossible at times.

Participants in this case-study session will learn about the research, the internal and external collaboration, and other factors that went into Nuance’s solution, and you’ll gain insights in building a solid new program.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to work with senior leaders to define the program focus and goals and get their true commitment
• How to align industry best practice with your organization’s realities
• How to sell your plan at all levels
• How to use internal experts to define a technical competency model
• How to align custom content, action learning, partner resources, and external expertise into a cohesive program
• How to show the value of your program through meaningful metrics

Audience:
Intermediate professionals who are comfortable with the basics of implementing organizational programs.

Flipped learning—courseware and recorded content serving as the initial element of a learning experience, with live virtual sessions and social and collaborative tools supplementing and enhancing the learning experience—has the potential to increase learning effectiveness, lower operational costs, and get better retention and more effective application of the learning. The model has created tremendous buzz in the education community, but is it viable for business learning?

Citrix believes that effective use of the flipped learning model fits very nicely into the daily business routine, and can transform business learning, improve learning outcomes, and reduce operational costs. Participants in this session will examine the flipped classroom model, learn how to build one, and hear case studies of businesses that are now delivering in this new model.

In this session, you will learn:

• The value of the flipped learning model in business learning
• Applications of the flipped learning model
• Guidelines for the effective use of flipped learning
• Examples of tools that support the flipped learning model

Audience:
Novice-to-advanced professionals. A general knowledge of virtual meeting and virtual classroom tool capabilities is helpful, as well as is some exposure to social collaboration tools.

We create eLearning within two main categories: timeline-based and segmented. Most eLearning is created as segmented development; courses are often developed using Flash or PowerPoint along with some add-on or other, while timeline-based development might throw other software into the mix. What are the differences in the development process? Do you have to plan course development differently when doing timeline vs. segmented development? Do you need to use different software for this kind of development? How do you create a plan for timeline vs. segmented development?

Participants in this session will compare the differences in the development processes used when creating timeline and segmented eLearning. You’ll see how to approach timeline-based development with open eyes and attitudes in the development process. You’ll learn the differentiation between timeline and segmented eLearning development by seeing examples of each and the workflow differences between each type of development. You’ll also explore the best software types used for timeline and segmented development.

• Why timeline and segmented development are different
• Why you need to understand the differences between developing these kinds of eLearning.
• The process differences between timeline and segmented eLearning
• The different tools you need to create successful timeline and segmented eLearning
• How to plan for timeline and segmented development
• How managers and designers need to manage the expectations of timeline versus segmented eLearning

Does your learning program still contain timely and contemporary information? Are you finding usage of your learning program at an all-time low? Rather than maxing out your training budget on new learning activities with high-dollar bells and whistles, consider driving traffic to it by putting a new spin on your learning program.

In this case-study session, you will learn how an international company developed and implemented an internal certification program as the carrot on the stick for increasing learner interest, satisfaction, and participation. This certification program, in place since 2004, has experienced record completion numbers and substantially reduced turnover within the organization. Session participants will learn who should be involved in the development of an internal certification program, the layout and design of the program, and the award and recognition options.

 In this session, you will learn:

• How to target groups for certification learning tracks
• How to select high-involvement teams for program design
• How to lay out and design certification learning tracks
• How to create program-completion rules and requirements
• How to create recognition and completion awards
• How to motivate learners for the next level
• How to market your program session

Audience:
Novice-to-advanced project managers, managers, and directors with general knowledge of eLearning content and technologies, including LMSs, and general experience in training program layout and design.

Ecolab faced a situation similar to many other businesses: not enough training resources to keep up with the eLearning demands that poured in from its divisions.

Participants in this case-study session will examine how one Ecolab division and its eLearning partner, Yukon Learning, teamed up to handle the influx of eLearning requests from within the organization. From developing templates for use by multiple departments to virtual collaboration using cloud-based tools, you’ll learn how the partnership developed, along with the results it produced. You’ll leave with a blueprint for working with outside partners.

In this session, you will learn:

• Best practices for working with an eLearning partner
• How to identify situations that could benefit from an eLearning partnership
• How to use online tools for project collaboration
• How to overcome common obstacles to project success

Audience:
Novice-to-advanced professionals.

In today’s business organizations, managers are expected to manage an increasingly complex work force, to keep their teams engaged and motivated, and to perform and achieve their goals. All these factors contribute to the organizational need to train and develop both new and experienced managers in a manner that will facilitate smooth, rapid transition into managerial and leadership roles.

 In this case-study session, participants will learn how to apply the 70-20-10 framework of learning (learning from experience, learning from others, and learning through formal education). You’ll explore how State Street integrates this framework into its two separate training tracks, targeted specifically towards new managers and experienced managers respectively. You’ll also learn about the critical elements to consider in creating a successful leadership and management training program and the challenges encountered along the way, from the pilot phase to its current institutionalized phase.

 In this session, you will learn:

• The application of a 70-20-10 blended learning and development framework to management training
• How to integrate multiple sources, channels, and elements of learning
• The critical skills and knowledge to consider in developing new and mid-level manager training
• The challenges and the key lessons learned in designing and implementing a global management training program

 Audience:
Intermediate and advanced professionals who want to build an effective management development program.