Sparkle E-Learning - Sparkle E-learning Blog

Think your staff are happy? Think again...

3/12/2019

1 of 3 blogs about why staff call in sick

Are you like the other 159,000,000* people who have searched “Why do staff call in sick?” on Google? *Actual number!

According to Safe Work Australia, WORK-RELATED MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS are a “major concern” in Australian workplaces.

Do you want your staff to join the 7,200 other Australian’s each year claiming workers compensation due to mental health conditions caused in WORKPLACES JUST LIKE YOURS?
I’ll guess your answer is a fat NO.

Major, but COMMON, incidents in workplaces that result in sick days include:

poor workplace relationships
low role clarity
high job demand
low job demand
violent or traumatic events
poor organisational justice.

Your staff may smile at you as you walk by their cubical each morning, but they might be EXTREMELY UNHAPPY with their working conditions...on the inside. THEY ARE JUST AFRAID TO TELL YOU.

Think about the staff you currently have in your office. Are any of them taking more sick days than normal? Ask yourself, do they fall into any of the dot point categories above?

Reason 2 of 3 will be posted tomorrow! After that I'll share the 5 ways you can COMBAT these sick days.

Is your current e-learning outdated?

7/6/2019

Don't you hate it when you have an awesome e-learning built for your company and then a link needs to be changed? Or a policy changes? Or your branding changes? It can be so frustrating!

Sometimes, we are all so busy that we forget to update previous e-learning courses and then WHAM! you get bombarded with emails from learners saying...."the link doesn't work" or worse...."your information is out of date".

Out of date information, old branding and broken links may not be at the top of your priority list but they do make your organisation appear unorganized and unprofessional. *GASP*

Of course you are neither of these things. You are just busy! But we can help you :)

Updating old e-learning courses is one of our specialties.

If you have e-learning files in any of the following authoring tools then we can amend them: Articulate Storyline 360, Lectora and Captivate.

Depending on the nature and size of the changes, the time it will take us to amend the courses for you could start from 1 hour!

For more information on the types of maintenance you should be considering for your e-learning courses, check out this nifty blog post by E-Learning Heros - E-Learning Maintenance Checklist.

As always, we are here to help!

Lisa

Interactive learning...and why your learners will thank you for it.

15/5/2019

Have you been unlucky enough to read through a PowerPoint presentation or printed learning guide that involved little to zero personal interaction with the content? I sense you are nodding your head furiously.

Would you prefer that same information presented in an engaging and interactive way; where you choose your own adventure through the material and interact WITH the content? I sense your head is still nodding but now you have a smile on your face!

Learning is only enjoyable and satisfying if the content is ENGAGING to the learner. A printed course workbook or boring Power Point slide deck is not engaging...let's be real.

E-learning is the remedy to this common snooze-fest of a situation.

We turn your one dimensional course content into interactive, engaging, colourful online e-learning.

Customised scenarios give your learner ownership over the actions they take within the course. Up to the minute design concepts, videos, audio and clickable/dragable/text entry keep your learners eyes and hands on the course.

With this kind of learning on offer, why are you still providing less engaging (boring) courses for your learner?

Contact Lisa today for a free consultation.

For more information on how interactive e-learning has changed overtime and what we now offer, check out this blog by Articulate.

Have a great day!
Lisa

My recent problems with e-learning colours

11/2/2019

The beginning of a new e-learning project gets me very excited. The clean slate. New ideas. Fresh images and colour. Up until recently, choosing colours for e-learning has not been an issue. I chat with the product owner about suitable colours and we come to a conclusion -simple. However, recently not so simple.

A product I recently worked on was particularly insightful in regards to personal preferences for colours. "That green is TOO green", "that yellow looks like baby poo", "I don't like that purple" were some of the comments I received. To be fair, every time a comment was made I agreed with the person making that comment. I would think to myself...."yes Lisa, that shade of yellow does look a bit like baby poo" and so forth. For background, I used the commonly known Jewel Tones colours shown above. What are your thoughts on this shade of yellow?

During this time of colour conversations, I came across a fantastic web page 50 Gorgeous Colour Schemes for Websites. The page is by Visme, a visual learning centre and incredible source for designing online presentations. None of us are perfect and even the most professional designers need fresh ideas sometimes. Their colour schemes page provides collections of colours that create different feelings and impacts for web based products - like e-learning! Have a look and think about the colours that speak to you the most. Texturised and Dynamic is my favourite.

When developing an e-learning (and completing them) colours can make or break the effectiveness of the course. Some colours are too aggressive, some too plain. Some are boring and others too loud. While I do love a bright e-learning that captures the eye, I understand not everyone feels the same as I do. As such, I try to create something the majority of people will be happy with.

What I learned from this experience.

Everyone's perception of colour is different,
Give customers a visual list of colours (such as the one mentioned above) at the beginning of a project to choose from,
The customer is always right (unless they want black on black or something equally as outrageous).

I would love to hear your feedback or experiences with colour and customers.

As always, I am here to build bespoke e-learning for you and your business. Our Services page outlines what we do and how much we do it for. Be bold and train your staff!

Have a lovely Monday.

Lisa :)

Resilience is here!

30/12/2018

Our full 4 module course on Resilience is finally ready to purchase from our Shop!

I must say, this course is very close to my heart. When I first decided to write a course, that wasn't driven by an outside company or organisation, I wanted it to be personally and professionally meaningful. Resilience was a topic that I kept seeing raised as an issue in the workplace but honestly, it's something a lot of us lack in our personal life also. As such, resilience became my chosen topic.

With e-learning, it is super important to get your user to DO SOMETHING to enable them to learn to their highest potential. Sure reading and looking at pictures is lovely, but actually doing something unlocks our brains and allows the learning to sink in deeper.

As such, I've included quite a few activities that get the person to think and then do. For example, thinking about some stress triggers and writing those down. The act of writing the triggers down helps slow the thought process while the writing is occurring and allows the person to remove themselves from their triggers for a few moments, looking at them at a distance. The triggers can then be analysed objectively in front of the person instead of a million miles per hour in their head. I've also included some case studies and a lovely meditation exercise at the end.

I place a big emphasis on getting professional mental health assistance if/when needed. Breaking the MH taboo is so incredibly important for us all because over 65,000 Australians attempt suicide every year and 3000 people suicided in 2017. This is bloody serious and we need all the help we can get. In fact, I am no stranger to mental health issues including anxiety and stress and would challenge people who say they cope 100% all the time.

This course is for adults. You can use it to build your resilience for work or at home or both. If you feel your staff would benefit from such a course you can roll it out to them (in its current format) for no additional cost. If you would like it customised, I can do that also.

In the world we are all living in, resilience is key to survival. Do yourself, and the people around you, a favour and download the course here.

As always, it's such a pleasure bringing you online learning that is relevant and needed.

Lisa :)

Resilience is coming...

22/11/2018

Resilience = The ability to recover quickly from difficulties.

I don't know about you, but I can sure use more resilience in my life. Work demands, home demands, health problems, self imposed expectations to have ones life in balance while maintaining a perfectly toned body and limiting sugar intake to a reasonable amount per week are all things I battle with.....and I know I'm not alone. To be real, none of my life is in balance and that is ok :)

However, to help cope with stress, anxiety, pressures and expectations, we all need a bit (or a lot of) resilience. According to HealthDirect.gov.au resilience is your ability to cope with tough times by applying your inner strength and engaging support networks. Resilience can not only enable you to face difficult situations, but often provides an opportunity to further develop your coping skills.

Recognising this is something we all need, and fast, i'm in the process of developing a four module, self-paced e-learning entirely on Resilience. The course will help you:

identify your current level of resilience, your stressors, triggers and demands
identify your supports and resources
teach you ways to build and strengthen your resilience and actively cope with stress.

While I'm madly typing and designing away, I have given everyone FREE ACCESS to the first module Introduction to Resilience which includes a quiz to identify your current level of resilience.

The final course will be available to download on your computer, tablet or mobile device for $75. If you sign up to our newsletter now, you will receive 50% off! We will notify you as soon as it has launched.

As always, if there is any courses you would like me to build please email me at sparkle.elearning@gmail.com or give me a call on 0439 710 944 if you are in Australia.

Keep learning!

Lisa :)
Chief Executive Octopus
Sparkle E-Learning

Boring E-Learning....BE GONE!

21/10/2018

Once again I was trawling e-learning blogs and came upon this gem.

While I'm not usually into inspirational quotes, if they come from an authentic source then maybe I can be swayed. Winston Churchill is an authentic source...right? 🤓

I particularly loved number 7 - "Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn" - Winston Churchill.

I try to engage my learners as much as I can but my skills are limited when it comes to serious gamification. I overcome this by adding some humour to questions, answers, and statements. I also try to find videos or images that really capture what I'm trying to say in emotive or entertaining ways. I particularly love scenes from The Office. They are not only hilarious but they can be a welcome break from serious workplace training. I understanding not all clients want this type of content though...it's their product after all I'm always open to suggestions for entertaining but informative videos so feel free to comment below!

As a learner, I know I want to be engaged. Information presented in an emotive or entertaining way is more likely to help me remember what I’m being taught. I assume I am not alone...if you only want slabs of information I may not be the designer for you
(sorry, not sorry 🤪)

I think this quote from Winston is important to remember when talking to clients. Sometimes they want massive info dumps and forget what its like to be a learner.

We all want to be entertained. Online learning can be so bloody boring, I believe it is our duty as designers to make it as engaging as possible.

L x

Collaborative Content Development with Learners

15/10/2018

When I stumbled across the article The Advantages of User-Generated Content in Online Learning I was so excited to read encouragement for developing content WITH the end user. I 100% agree with the article and here is why.

Before I became an instructional designer and developer, I was a user of e-learning products. I found them boring, plain and mostly the colour blue (*sigh*). So when I started working on my very first e-learning project, my first instinct was to get the users involved straight away. I workshopped problems, ideas, solutions, even aesthetics which ultimately led to a product that they not only understood and learned something from, but they also had ownership over. Also having something nice to look at for 1-3 hours was helpful too.

I find collaborating with the intended learners or past learners (if I’m improving or re-developing a course) to be a critical step in the development process to ensure they are taught what they need to know in an aesthetically pleasing environment. Pretty simple eh?

Some of my favourite discussions to have with learners is around their experience in their workplace. What are some of the issues they deal with every day that a new person should know about? What are some challenges they face when dealing with certain types of clients? What are some of the strategies they use to solve problems? etc. The information gathered from these discussions are particularly useful for developing scenarios and activities. It gets the learner thinking about what they would have found useful to learn when they were starting out in their role.

A creative, but less formal way, of developing content with learners is to organize a social media group for them to be a member of and contribute to. As stated in the article, the most ‘liked’ comments will filter to the top of posts which gives the developer a great source of popular information. The developer can also ask questions or create polls within the group to generate discussion. It also gives the thinkers of the group to sit back, formulate their response or idea and then post when ready. This is a great alternative to workshop discussions where the thinkers or introverts can be overshadowed by the extroverts in the group.

The content development process can be one of the most arduous and difficult parts of the instructional design process. But by making it about the learner and demonstrating they are the key to the success of the product then you have a winning strategy for a kick-a** e-learning.

L :)

E-Learning in our Current Work Environment

4/10/2018

People are getting busier and busier. We want information and interaction now, not only on our lunch breaks or at home. As a result of this 'now culture', businesses are trying to get their product or service to the market possibly before or during the training of their staff. There is no time to stop or pause for training. It's about learning it now or in-between shipping this product and the next. I'm not saying this is right or wrong. What I am saying is this is the current state of play.

So how does e-learning fit into our current 'now' environment? Well, it provides an online mechanism for learning on the go. It is consistent, assessable and costs less than hiring a face to face facilitator. According to Blocker (2005) via Brown et al (2006), "eLearning addresses business issues such as reducing costs, providing greater access to information and accountability for learning, and increasing employee competence and competitive agility". In Bonk's 2002 survey of over 200 corporate entities, results from questions regarding web based training, tools, experiences, assessments and so forth included:
- e-learning increased access to training by 86%
- 66% of companies were using e-learning as an alternative to instructor-led training or as a supplement (55%).
-1/5 companies used e-learning as the sole source of training.
- e-learning software was said to be "highly useful by 66% of the respondents and was actually used by 57% of their organisations.

There were some issues though.
- perception of high cost was recorded at 44%
-resistance to the technology was recorded at 33%
-lack of organisational support came in at 32%
-perception of lack of time resulted in 46%.

My response to the issues above are this:
- I agree with the perception of high cost. The costs are sometimes very high indeed. However, I challenge an organisation to deliver Code of Conduct training to 500 + staff in 20 people lots in a total of 1.5 hours. Sure the e-learning may cost up to 10k to be built but how much would it cost to facilitate the abovementioned example in a face to face environment taking into consideration cost for the facilitator and staff absence from work......a lot more.
- Resistance to technology may have occurred in 2002 but its 2018 and I doubt this is still relevant.
- Lack of org support is a real thing. It is often seen as a challenge to change workplace training from face to face to e-learning. Finding 1.5 hours to train is much easier than 2 days, trust me.

I will continue to write blogs like this as and when a relevant topic pops up in the e-learning world. Please feel free to subscribe to my blog to stay updated!

So have a think about e-learning for your business.

Lisa

ps. I have no idea what's up with this font! Sorry, it's not consistent with my other posts!

References:
Blocker, M.J. (2005), “E-Learning: An Organizational Necessity” a White Paper. Retrieved January 31, 2006 from www.rxfrohumanperformance.com

Bonk, C. J. (2002), Online training in an online world. Bloomington, IN. Retrieved April 6, 2005 from www.CourseShare.com

Brown, L., Murphy, E., & Wade, V. (2006). Corporate eLearning: Human resource development implications for large and small organizations. Human Resource Development International, 9(3), 415-427.

Why I Chose to Become an E-Learning Developer... A Narrative.

29/9/2018

Some of you might think, why e-learning? I have asked myself the same question! To be honest, I fell into it…it was not a passion or a life goal. In fact, the only life goal (and I use this term loosely) was to become one of Janet Jackson’s back-up dancers! This aside, I saw e-learning as an opportunity to learn something new and create a product that was needed for a Government department I worked for at the time. It has since become something I endorse as a learning alternative for a technology driven society.

By way of background, about 3 or so years ago I recognised my team needed a step-by-step e-learning on how to deliver rehabilitation services for rehabilitation providers. At the time, I understood the importance of e-learning for large businesses and how it was becoming one of the fastest and most efficient ways to train people. It was not my intention to take on this work myself though!

I had a great colleague, who would later become my unofficial mentor, Andrew who worked in our Learning and Development team. I approached him and explained the product that my team needed and asked how to go about getting it built. Andrew said to me, “Lisa you can do this”. Having no experience designing or developing training I was shocked by this proposal. I became scared and nervous because it was something I had never done before. But I consider myself a bit of a ‘yes’ person and after a brief period of panic, I decided this was a challenge I was willing to accept.

Andrew, bless his heart, took me under his wing and guided me through the various stages of designing and developing an e-learning product. It was a struggle at times, especially due to other competing work priorities. However, during the build I really started to love it. I enjoyed the stakeholder engagement and talking to people who were resistant to e-learning, preferring to keep training face to face. I put lots of my own flair into writing the content and designing layouts/interaction, ensuring the end result was informative but enjoyable to engage with. I even enjoyed getting feedback bar the exception when Andrew told me my boarders were “too 90’s”. A comment I’ll never forget! Fast forward a few years and I now own my own e-learning business. Creating fun and informative online training is my purpose and I try to hold back on the borders :)