Ask just about anyone today to name one thing they learned within the past week and where they learned it, and they’re likely to tell you about a video they watched on YouTube or Tiktok. In our modern digital age, it’s difficult to have a conversation about learning without considering the vastness of the Internet and how it’s shaped learner expectations around workplace training.

In light of all this, there has been a lot of talk about the concept of “learning experience platforms” (LXPs) in recent years. Many Learning and Development (L&D) leaders now seek learning platforms that not only help them deliver training across their enterprises, but also engage their employees through more interactive features and dynamic content suggestions.

Problems arise, however, when an LXP alone is unable to meet an organization’s core learning requirements. Over the years, this led some L&D professionals to implement two platforms for their organizations—both an LXP and a learning management system (LMS). This also proved to be tedious and costly though, and caused many challenges for organizations.

A common difference between an LMS and an LXP is that an LMS is primarily built to distribute training content and often emphasizes course administration, learning program management and compliance, while an LXP focuses more on the learner experience through features like sophisticated content delivery, skills mapping, and personalized career paths.

What sets us apart here at Schoox is that we created our platform with a focus on learners first, as well as an aspiration to build engaging learning experiences that complement and enhance the vital functionalities of an LMS.

Today, Schoox empowers some of the world’s largest enterprises to deliver the training their employees need to succeed, in nearly any language and on any device—and take learning and development to the next level with many of the core functionalities of an LXP embedded right into our award-winning platform.

To further enhance the LXP functionalities of Schoox, we’re thrilled to introduce pre-populated external content channels as a quick and easy way for L&D leaders to share free content resources from YouTube directly within the platform. With just a few clicks, admins or learning managers can opt to make these curated video playlists available to all or select groups of learners.

Some of the best learning resources out there today are easily accessible on the web by anyone with a broadband internet connection. Sites like YouTube democratized learning, and not only is democracy a value we take seriously here in Greece—it’s one we invented. From day one, we designed Schoox to be the best LMS to help businesses of all sizes democratize learning across their entire organizations and give their people the power to drive their own learning journeys forward.

On behalf of everyone here at Schoox, I invite you to follow along here on our blog as we continue on our path toward making learning more rewarding and fun for all.

The post Ready, Set, Play: Leveraging External Content Channels for Learning in the Digital Age appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

This is much easier said than done. So, how do you create learning content that resonates, sinks in, and is retained after a training session?

The solution may not be what you include in your content but more about how you deliver it.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown, Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success, discusses why modality matters.

He shares his thoughts on why organizations should add additional content on top of pre-built training solutions to improve engagement. He also talks about why L&D professionals should take note of learners’ different learning styles.

Listen to the podcast below or keep reading to hear more.

Times have changed: Revisit your training delivery methods

We live in an age of change. The old rules and ways of doing things often don’t apply as they did a few years ago. This has been an adjustment for everyone and learning and development professionals have had to revisit their training delivery methods.

When it comes to offering value to your learners, most would agree that a one-size-fits-all approach is just not effective. That’s especially the case in this current world of always-on technology and the constant competition for headspace and attention.

If we want to ensure that knowledge is transferred, gained, and applied to a job, we need to go beyond the one-size-fits-all approach.

It’s very easy for L&D professionals to deliver solutions like these because you buy or build them once, and everyone is put through the process. It becomes a factory-like mindset that is easier to manage in a busy company or when there are time constraints.

However, think carefully before relying on this approach. Think about the needs of your learners. You may just find that the longer route makes more sense.

When bearing your learners’ needs in mind, it makes sense to use a wide array of different learning approaches and tactics. This could mean making use of micro-learning, structured e-learning, infographics, blogs, peer-to-peer interactions, and other formats.

By exploring all the different options and mediums out there that suits an employee’s optimal learning modality, you can truly start to support them and help them succeed.

How to consider a learning modality if you have a pre-built solution

If you have bought a third-party or off-the-shelf training solution, you may believe that your hands are tied.

In reality, this doesn’t have to stop you from delivering what your learners need. You can always bring in some additional components to provide support to the pre-built program. You can extend the learning potential from that original piece of content and ensure that it sinks in.

Let’s look at an example. Take anti-harassment or security awareness training. These are common training programs that most people will go through at some point in their professional lives. Often, companies will outsource this or buy a pre-built solution. This is so they don’t have to worry about getting all the regulations and rules right in the content itself.

The problem is that they end up feeling like a page-turner conference. One where everyone’s watching or listening and navigating through the content almost mindlessly.

This doesn’t mean that the content is bad. It might have lots of different interactions and video elements. Or, it could also have questions to answer or even a full-blown exam at the end.

This may be a great, effective way to introduce the topic. And it certainly checks the box. But there are other ways to extend the learning to ensure people take something away when they leave the room.

How to extend your learning content

You want to make sure people retain course information for more than five minutes after the course ends. To do this, create a bunch of content to go with it.

This could be a quick reference guide to help your learners recall the most important information. Alternatively, you could create an infographic highlighting elements from the course or relating them to the organization specifically.

Alternatively, include personal messages from your leadership team. For example, in a video message or an audio clip slotted into the course. This could highlight the commitment from leadership that they want to support their employees in their learning.

Help the messages sink in. For instance, experiment with quizzes or smaller informal tests to ensure that the course is doing its job.

Alongside the main course, you could either create or collate resources like podcast episodes, infographics, even explorative scenario-based journeys. These tactics can all encourage critical thinking and logic, which helps the message of your content stick.

All of this helps to keep the learners engaged and gives them the best chance of success. You can easily make the training courses much more personalized and fun as well.

Bear different learning modalities in mind

There are many benefits of varying your approach to learning. One of them is that, by using different mediums, it reflects your audience.

Your learners all learn in different ways. A learning modality, or style, that resonates with one person may not have the same effect on another. So having a varied approach is not just more interesting, it’s also the more effective approach.

Tap into the needs of each learner. It will help you build a program that keeps as many people as engaged as possible. With more engagement, you have more knowledge transfer and retention.

The post Modality Matters: Why Learners Need More Than an Off-the-Shelf Solution appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

One of the first decisions to make is: will you buy a solution from a third party or design your own? There are pros and cons to either option, and your choice will likely depend on budget, time available, and your existing skills and resources.

A common solution is to use a mixture of both by purchasing training and then adding your own context on top to connect the dots.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Schoox’s Matthew Brown (VP of Learning and Brand Success) delves into the topic of bought versus built training content. Matthew shares his tips for making bought training solutions more effective and relevant for your team.

Listen to the podcast episode below to learn more or keep reading.

Buying versus building

Those who have been in the learning and development space for a while may remember the switch between bought and built content. Back in the 2000s and before, there was a great emphasis on buying content from third-party providers.

In the 2010s, people started to focus on building content instead because they wanted it to sound like them. Businesses placed more value on content that was in keeping with the brand and employee culture.

Then 2020 happened and created a massive wave of changes in the learning and development world. It brought businesses closer to the middle ground as they began to consider a hybrid approach.

People started to ask, can we make bought and built content work together?

The simple answer is yes, but how do you do this in a way that makes sense? The last thing anyone wants is a convoluted training system that requires employees to log into a dozen different systems. That’s not good for the employee, nor is it good for you in terms of tracking progress and effectiveness.

Start with an anchor

When weighing up which type of solutions to apply to your organization, the very first step is to start with an anchor based on the existing skills, competencies, and resources available. Assess what your business needs, what it already has, and what the focus of your training will be.

Don’t skip this step. If you invest a little time in this, you can progress with your training solutions much faster in the future. It enables you to learn and understand what your knowledge is today, where the gaps are, and how you can fill those gaps quickly.

It also helps you identify where your resources should be split. In this stage, it’s good to figure out how long it takes for you to build a training course. With that information, you can make a more informed decision on whether to buy or build content.

Reserving your energy and resources

There’s no harm in buying content for your organization. Not everything needs to be built according to your exact requirements. There are plenty of fantastic training resources out there.

It doesn’t even have to look or feel the same in terms of company culture or when compared to your other training resources. All it needs to do is articulate a message to the learner.

Particularly in this trying year, perhaps we should be reserving our energy and resources that we would usually spend on building our own content.

Here’s an example of what you could do with pre-built content.

Let’s say you buy customer service training for your workforce. This could be content that many successful businesses use. It could have great methodology.

However, maybe the look and feel of the content don’t quite fit with your business. Maybe the people in the training videos wear suits and ties, and your organization is much more laid back. You might worry that the content won’t have the same effect on your employees.

The goods news is that if the methodology and the content are good, you can work with that. Buy it, then spend some time and energy on building additional content that connects the dots for people.

Using that pre-built customer service course to teach all the basic mechanics and foundational elements saves you from spending hours building that course yourself. Rather than starting from scratch, you could focus on additional content such as a course or presentation that brings that pre-built content into the context of your business.

Internal communication about buying new content is key

For this to work, you need to have a well-thought-out internal communication and marketing plan. By this, we mean a way to help everyone understand what you’re trying to do with the learning content and why.

This could be a good spot to just go ahead and talk about the elephant in the room. When talking to your employees, give them a warning that you’re launching a bunch of new content, and not all of it will be what they’re used to. It may feel out of context for the business, but it’s also really valuable content.

Being transparent about this can help to set expectations and trust that the content isn’t just a random course.

Think about the user experience

Another consideration when buying content is to look at the user experience. No one likes the idea of buying a bunch of content that simply doesn’t work in your system, forcing you to direct employees to multiple sources. Without a central way to keep everything together and track the learning progress, it can become a big headache.

There are solutions out there, integrations that you can use to make things seamless for your users. The problem is that those integrations and tools cost money and time. Sometimes they can even overcomplicate the journey.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t try to make the experience seamless. Instead, start with the end in mind.

Consider what solution you need, speak with different providers, and get an understanding of the possible technical limitations before you jump in headfirst and purchase the content. Get a clear picture of what you want to achieve first, and then work backward to find a solution that works for everyone.

Setting clear expectations when you buy new content

One of the most important things to do when you buy content is to set clear expectations with your employees. They need to know what to expect.

For example, if you were looking to purchase a house and a realtor showed you around a home with holes in the wall and an unfinished floor, you probably think, “this isn’t for me.” However, if, before you went in, the realtor gave you a rundown of what needed to be done and when it’d be done, this would be completely different. You would walk inside with clear expectations.

The same applies to training courses that aren’t 100% perfect or tailored for your organization. They may not reflect your company culture or cover everything you need them to cover, but you can put the finishing touches on them. You can let employees know what to expect and why.

Instead of spending time and energy building bespoke solutions from the ground up, you can simply fill in the gaps, set clear expectations, and ensure that your learners are prepared and open to learning.

When you buy training solutions, it isn’t just about the cost or the content itself. It’s about how you present it to your learners. When we get the communication right, we can help people understand what you’re doing and why. That will go a long way in making the learning experience smoother and more effective.

The post Should You Buy or Build Training Content for Your Organization? appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

For companies dedicated to learning and development, content curation is a great way to add value to their employees.

In the context of learning and development, content curation is the process of gathering, sourcing, and organizing information that’s helpful for a team.

In many workplaces, the learning and development team is solely responsible for creating this type of content.

However, companies should consider the benefits of empowering their L&D teams to tap into their employee community to help provide curated content, too.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) discusses the benefits of content curation in workplace learning and development.

Listen to the podcast episode below to learn more or keep reading.

The problem with off-the-shelf learning content

When it comes to training, companies may purchase an off-the-shelf training solution that doesn’t quite hit the mark when it comes to your team, specifically.

For example, you might work in the restaurant industry and sit down to watch a training video featuring people in suits and ties. If it’s not something your employees relate to, it’s much harder for that content to resonate with them.

So, what if, instead of this, you had a training program curated by the very people it concerns—other employees?

Here are four benefits of involving your employees in content curation.

1. Increased trust and adoption

Including employees in the process and asking them to share things that work for them can increase trust and adoption.

Employees could go away and find articles, websites, training videos that they find helpful and share them with others. Additionally, they could take part in some content creation and create videos or process flows for other team members.

Therefore, when the people sourcing the material have experience in the same role, it’s easier to trust and take their advice.

2. Content with fresh perspectives

We can always benefit from a fresh perspective, especially in the world of learning and development.

Learning and development professionals may be too close to the problem. Even subject matter experts can be too close to it. The perspectives are too narrow and the training becomes less effective or even over-engineered.

Additionally, try to consider the perspective of the training course. Did a boss or learning professional design it? How well will that translate to employees?

Similarly, you may have experienced training programs squeezed into a four-step method just for the sake of being in that four-step structure. Maybe it’s the typical way your company does it. Perhaps it’s based on a template. And the cycle continues with that structure.

So, what if you had a different perspective? You might find a far better way of organizing your content or program. With outside perspectives, you can start tapping into other ways to articulate messages that resonate with their intended audience. In other words, sometimes it takes a different voice to spark a better idea!

3. Positive effect on employee engagement

A lot of companies tend to think too narrowly about career development and growth. For instance, they may design programs with the primary purpose of helping people move up the career ladder.

Consequently, the problem here is assuming that everyone wants to move up. Some people would prefer to move sideways into a different department or role. Some people don’t want to move at all and are happy where they are.

For instance, if you design your training resources around promotions and getting ahead they’re likely to fall flat for those who don’t share that goal.

Does that mean these people shouldn’t take part in learning and development programs? No. Everyone can benefit from learning experiences that help them learn and grow, regardless of their career aspirations.

By realizing that not everyone is searching for their next promotion or wants the same outcome, we can alter our training programs to focus on development, not a fixed end goal.

The key is to encourage participation. Encouraging different types of people to contribute can be a critical element of your employee development strategy. This ensures that your training programs aren’t serving just one select group of people.

This takes us back to the second point: Sometimes, all you need is a fresh perspective.

But most importantly, encouraging participation in content curation and creation can add value to employees, increase engagement, and ultimately improve retention.

4. Helps you avoid building a program just for your needs

If you don’t involve employees in the content curation process, you end up building a learning experience tailored to your needs, not the employee’s.

For example, you may design a program and exam to keep a log of everyone’s skills and knowledge. But what value does this add to your employees? What more can you teach them about, beyond passing an exam or being a statistic in your records?

This doesn’t mean you can’t have exams, of course. There are other things to consider from an employee’s perspective, not just from the stakeholders in the background. 

In conclusion, try to get different perspectives. It can be eye-opening to hear alternate views and combine them together into something that really harnesses the power of all that expertise, passion, and talent.

The post Four Benefits of Employee-Curated Learning Content appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

In particular, they’ve learned that while creating training programs has become easy enough to do-it-yourself, this doesn’t mean you can sacrifice quality for convenience. In fact, much of the early resistance to elearning stemmed from the rollout of some poorly executed, self-authored content over the years. Not surprisingly, poor quality turned off many employees.

However, this also doesn’t mean you have to spend big bucks to create your employee etraining programs. What it does mean is that you should learn several essential basics of course creation. Your effort will be rewarded in getting far greater results that you would otherwise.

Gaining these insights will not only help your company create better courses if you do-it-yourself, but also if you hire professionals to help you. When you understand the essentials of good course design, you’ll be better prepared to ask for what you want and to assess the quality of the production your course developers deliver.

Among the many impactful strategies for creating more powerful etraining courses are these three — keep lessons short and sweet, use graphics for maximum impact, and make your lessons visually appealing.

1. Shorter Lessons Deliver Bigger Impact.

Various studies have found that employees respond best to shorter lessons, in particular, lessons under 30 minutes or less. This doesn’t mean that all of your courses have to be short. But it does mean you should consider breaking long courses down into several bite-size chunks.

The reason for this boils down to cognitive load theory. This theory suggests learners can absorb and retain information effectively only if it does not overload their mental capacities. This occurs when our short-term memory (aka, working memory) is overloaded with data. Our short-term memory can only retain a certain amount of information at one time.

The way to work with our short-term memory circuitry when creating etraining courses is to reduce the cognitive load. Here are some ways:

• Keep lessons simple. Remove all content that isn’t absolutely necessary for the training process. For example, reduce extraneous graphics and words that don’t add essential insight to the lessons.
• Create bite-sized lessons. Divide content up into small lessons and let employees move comfortably through them at their own pace. You’ll both capture their attention and gradually build their long-term memory.
• Use different learning techniques. One of the secrets to great training programs is variety. After all, variety is the “spice of life!” In your lessons, consider all the ways you can deliver learning content. For example, offer some content verbally and other content visually. Also, include a variety of graphics, quizzes, reading materials, and other training styles.

2. Add High-Impact Visuals.

One eLearning study found that employees gave high ratings to visuals such as photographs, diagrams, short videos, cartoons, audio, and games. These additional media forms helped some feel less alone (videos, cartoons), and helped others learn more easily (audio and text combined).

Course creators can learn a lot from journalism and marketing about creating interesting and effective graphics for their training programs. Here are ideas to help get your creative juices flowing:

• Quizzes With Photos. Selfies are all the rage for a reason — people love photos. Adding quizzes to online learning delivers several benefits, including interactivity, testing learning, and boosting long-term retention. If you add images to your quizzes, you’ll gain an even bigger impact — such as on this Star Wars quiz published by The New York Times.
• Infographics. Unless you’ve been hiding under the proverbial rock, you’ve seen a lot of infographics. They are among the hottest forms of visuals used by media and marketing pros today. There’s a reason why: They deliver a lot of information, but it’s boiled down to a few essential points and delivered within an interesting visual format. There are many examples of great infographics, like this board game-inspired content journey infographic created by Marketo.
• Cartoons. Don’t laugh. Cartoons and other humor have been proven to be effective learning instruments, yet remain under utilized. One study found the use of cartoons sparks students’ interest and develop critical thinking and reflective skills. Visually the impact is immediate and all students, irrespective of age or background, are able to respond in some way to the educational point being made.

3. Make Your Lessons Look Great.

Graphic designers think in terms of shapes, patterns, white space, and colors. Course creators should too to create better lessons. To think like a designer, consider these elements of great design to your etraining lessons:

• Color. Our brains intuitively recognize differences in color, hue, size, and shape, and attach specific meanings to each color. These visual properties are called “pre-attentive variables” because the process of perceiving them is subconscious, immediate, and automatic. Use the right colors to, for example, intentionally highlight the most critical information within your lessons. To find colors that work well together, use one of the many online color palette tools, like Adobe Color.
• Fonts. The fonts you choose to use in your lessons can help or hurt the power of your message. Explore font options on various sites, like Fonts.com. Here are a few tips:
  • Use serif fonts, like Garamond or Times, for printed documents
  • Use sans serif fonts, like Arial or Calibri, for on-screen presentations
  • Avoid specialty fonts that are primarily decorative
  • Right align numbers and column headers
  • Left align dates and text
• Simplify. Experts agree: Simpler graphics are preferable. In other words, less is often more. As they say in the writing world, “kill your darlings.” In the design world, this means creating clean, clear graphics that support your lessons versus detracting from them.

If you follow these three easy-to-apply tips to your course creation, you’ll significantly elevate the impact of your eLearning programs — which helps to ensure you provide your employees with the best training possible.

The post 3 Powerful Ways to Create eLearning Courses that Deliver Greater Impact appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.