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Written by Josh Cardoz, Principal Learning Strategist at SwissVBS. The original essay appears in Training Industry and can be accessed here.

Topics: Skills, Onboarding, Mobile Learning, Digital Learning, global team

I want to share my experience about the fun and frustration of working on a multilingual, multicultural, and multitalented team. It’s mostly fun, of course. But working across linguistic and cultural barriers presents a number of challenges. To help you understand where I am coming from, here is a little bit on the environments and experiences that shaped me: My mother tongue is German, and I grew up in Germany. I studied abroad in the US, met a Texan, got married, and after a few other stops, currently live in the suburbs of Houston – a hyper-diverse place in its own way. Also, I work remotely for SwissVBS.

Topics: Digital Learning, instructional design, global team, diversity, remote worker, inglorious bastards

 

 

What the Raptors Can Teach Us About Learning Design

It’s official. Raptors fever has taken over the country, and there’s no cure in sight. Here at SwissVBS, the infection has been acute. Our offices may be a brisk walk from Scotiabank Arena, but the way we high-five each other the morning after a Raptors win, you’d think we were located in the middle of Jurassic Park.

Since no one here can think about anything else right now, I thought I’d use this week’s blog post to reflect on what the Raptors 2019 playoff run can tell us about learning design. After all, if we’re all striving to be the best at what we do, who better to look to for ideas than the (soon-to-be) champs?

A quick note: as I write this, the Raptors currently have a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. 

Topics: Digital Learning, instructional design, elearning trends, Toronto Raptors

 

Eadweard Muybridge's The Horse in Motion, 1878

Topics: Storytelling, Digital Learning, Media, Animation, Illustration, instructional design, elearning trends, Motion graphics

 

St. Gallen Forum on Digital Learning,
March 2019

 

Topics: Digitalization, Digital Learning, st Gallen learning forum, going digital, elearning trends

From the desks of Dave and Josh.

Topics: Digital Learning, Design, creative writing, instructional design

The digital revolution as a trend has loomed large over every industry for the past decade.

Its exact meaning, form, and impact has escaped definition and continues to confound learning experts tasked with making sense of it all and trying to distill it into a language everyone in the organization can understand.

So let’s start with facts: the digital revolution is very real. Its impact on strategic variables internal and external to your organization’s orbit will be substantial for years to come.

Another fact: Beyond the confines of your organization (whether you’re local or global), the marketplace in which you do business and interact with your customers is already digital, regardless of your organization’s affinity for it.

Now the bad news (…sort of): Research has shown that L&D experts are still searching for a common understanding of what the revolution is, what it's about, and more importantly, how to articulate its meaning in simple terms.

 

Topics: Digital Learning, Design, Visual Design, big data, Information

In the world of eLearning, good visual design should go hand in hand with good writing - when they are both attuned to each other, they greatly improve the overall learning experience. But what does good visual design look like? How does one approach it?  

Topics: Digital Learning, Design, Media, Animation, Visual Design, Illustration

Over the past couple of years, it’s been impossible not to notice the number of clients asking for diversity and inclusion training. Chalk it up to recent updates to provincial labour legislation or to #metoo and #timesup. Either way, the change has been palpable, and seems driven by a genuine concern to start taking these issues seriously.

Topics: eLearning, Digital Learning, sexual harassment, Workplace Sexual Harassment, inclusion

Let’s face it: Learning is tough. It’s messy. It’s effortful. And of course, it takes time. As learning professionals, we all know these truths, but the realities of our organizations and our learners often dictate otherwise. We focus on one-off “events” (e.g. online courses, ILT, bloated PowerPoint decks, etc.) in the hopes that something will stick and transfer of learning will occur, but everyone familiar with the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve knows just how much is retained in the days and weeks after those events. The need for journey-based learning is an imperative for organizations looking to secure better training ROI. Of course, these habits are difficult to break, so here are five ways you can start moving the needle toward journey-based learning within your organization.

Topics: Performance Support, Learning Journey, Learning Reinforcement, Digital Learning