How important is training investment to manufacturing companies? An international study conducted by Bo Hansson of Malardalen University suggests that, “the single most important factor associated with profitability is how much is invested in training . . .” Moreover, a recent U.S. Department of Education study found that by increasing an individual’s training by 10%, productivity is increased by 10%. Compare that to only a 6% productivity increase when adding 10% to...
When I was in public school “Civics” was a required course while American History courses accompanied that requirement. I still remember the major point my Civics teacher emphasized over and over again: “Vote for the man (sic) and not the party!” (As a point of interest, in the first twelve Presidential elections in which I was eligible to vote, I voted six times for a Republican and six times for a Democrat. ...
My career in visual-media training goes back a long way — to the earliest days of videotape instruction (the “black and white days”). In addition, back then there was no profession called “Instructional Design.” Rather an SME prepared the content (all factual with only the uniqueness of the camera work and rudimentary hand-drawn graphics to provide the motivational elements) and, then, the SME became the on-screen talent. Later, the beginnings of Instructional...
I’ve posted countless times extolling the near-necessity of using full-motion video, graphic animations and, where appropriate, gaming for the bulk of your training initiatives. Why?!? It’s the learning culture of the vast majority of your trainees! Plus, it gives them a near-simulation experience (as close to hands-on training as one can get — at a fraction of the cost)! In addition, long-term retention is significantly increased and a more productive transition from...
When I entered the first grade in 1939, learning to read had its bedrock based in phonics. Skip forward to the early 1990s when ITC decided to produce an interactive reading/writing series of Interactive Laser Videodisc instruction. We surveyed a number of universities that were actively involved with teacher training and quickly discovered that “Phonics” had become a “dirty word” and that “Whole Language Learning” and “Balanced Literacy” were now the new...
It’s easy for us to find the faults with any newer technology. Funny how that works! I guess it’s because it is much easier for us to see the negatives than it is for us to embrace the positives. Time for a gut check when we talk about e-Learning! Do we all realize that e-Learning is singularly poised to positively impact all aspects of one’s business?!? It is uniquely capable of making...
The term, “to be educated” is well defined by Steve Denning in his ‘What Does It Mean To Be Educated?’ piece that appeared in Forbes Magazine: “In recent posts, I have been suggesting that being educated includes (to give a short answer): a demonstrated ability to listen carefully, to think critically, to evaluate facts rigorously, to reason analytically, to imagine creatively, to articulate interesting questions, to explore alternative viewpoints, to maintain intellectual...