July 7th, 2010 by Robin Green

The FIFA World Cup Tournament, now in its last week, has been a source of both excitement and disappointment for many people. And, depending on where you are in the world, it may have also been a source of inconvenience in the work place or outside. If your staff are both trainees undergoing learning management system training and also football fans, you may have experienced absenteeism during the last few weeks.

In Buenos Aires last Sunday, I was at the supermarket working halfway through a long grocery list, when it was announced (at 2:00 pm, an hour before the Argentina vs. Mexico game) that the store was closing, and would reopen in about three hours. I respectfully stopped short on my list and grabbed only the essentials.

But this kind of thing happened at all levels in this city–from pilots to office workers calling in sick for days when their favorite teams would be playing. And perhaps it happened at your company. So how can you deal with football fever-induced absenteeism?

Remember, just as in football, flexibility is important not only for learning management system training, but for your management strategy as a whole. In football, flexibility improves ease and grace in movement, saves energy, and allows a greater range of motion. These are all benefits of flexibility in the workplace as well.

Flexibility is a must for strong learning management system training, management structures, departmental coordination, and employee relations in any company.

Allow employees to view important matches on TV in the staff room or other common area at work. Play a radio broadcast covering the games over the PA system to employees on the shop floor. Encourage employees to wear their team’s shirts on game days, and bring in flags and banners for their teams.

To be a good coach or manager, in the words of John Wooden, you must “Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you.” One way to do this is displaying flexibility during this special, once-every-four-year event.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for training program creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use,  for inclusion in Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

July 1st, 2010 by Robin Green

In designing and improving your learning management system training, we can use the world’s most exciting tournament, the FIFA World Cup, as an example of great training in action. Consider the fact that during the World Cup, players are thrown into a new environment (most have never played together before) and must learn to work as a team in a short amount of time.

Sound familiar? This is exactly the situation in which your new employees find themselves while undergoing training to work for your company. The World Cup players already know the rules of soccer, of course, but they must also learn together the shared tactics that will lead their team to victory. They require training that not only helps them develop and learn these tactics, but that facilitates the creation of a sense of team unity which will lead to their success.

Collaboration and team spirit, with the sense of a common goal, are the secret to company success. They are the key elements in an increasingly global and service-oriented business world. Likewise, they are a must in training.

In learning management system training as well as product development, teams should be composed of a loose group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal within the company. These may be a group of individuals with different backgrounds, cultural identities, education, and language abilities.

HR managers become coaches, motivating employees, and not only teaching, but showing their team the roles they should adopt. In a recent study by a European company, it was reported that more than 80 percent of participants believed they learn day-to-day skills more effectively from their peers and leaders. Showing rather than just teaching permits staff to bond, since team members learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses, abilities and experience. In this way, employees understand when and how to best tap into their team members’ expertise in a more significant and lasting way.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for training program creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use,  for inclusion in Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

June 23rd, 2010 by Robin Green

The benefit of a learning management system (LMS) isn’t only the time and money saved, but the potential for creating a team learning experience that fortifies your staff unity and efficiency. But how do you train employees for continuous improvement and team thinking? Moreover, how can you create a group learning experience for your staff?

First, incorporate Kaizen into your company philosophy, and explain and demonstrate the concept in your training. As I mentioned in my previous post, Kaizen, the Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement, is a philosophy which involves all employees, of every rank. It is quite different from outdated hierarchical improvement programs of “command and control”. Under Kaizen, all employees are encouraged to make suggestions to improve all processes of a business.

During LMS training, instill your trainees with the idea that they are not only valuable employees, but a team who works together to improve the company product and image. Staff don’t work for your company–they are your company.

Second, use your LMS to establish clear training goals and objectives for your staff. Let your LMS do the dirty work of tracking your students’ progress during training. An LMS is able to take care of many things including content management, agendas and announcements, collaboration methods, assignment management, and learning path developmet. An LMS plays a critical role in its ability to track staff progress–both individual and collective.

Third, create a team learning experience using your LMS. Try a strategy that serves two purposes. For example, introduce your staff to a new product or service, and allow them to practice developing strategies and solutions for that product or service. If the trainees are in sales or customer service, use your LMS to introduce the new product, deliver training on the product, and prompt trainees to work together to develop strategies and solutions to given situations when dealing with clients, and so on. These are just three among many ways you can reap the benefits of LMS training for your company–beyond the more financial and practical ones.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for training program creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use,  for inclusion in Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

June 17th, 2010 by Robin Green

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about Kaizen, the Japanese word for “improvement” or “change for the better”. It’s a business process that was first implemented in Japanese businesses after World War II, and has since gained worldwide popularity. It’s been adopted by enormous corporations (like Toyota) and now smaller businesses are catching on. After it was mentioned in a March 2010 “This American Life” episode, it’s been appearing increasingly in blogs and forums.

What is Kaizen, and why should you consider teaching it as part of your learning management system training? Here are five facts about Kaizen that might help you decide whether or not to adopt it for your company.

First, Kaizen refers to the Japanese business practice that emphasizes continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management.

Second, Kaizen creates efficiency. It also eliminates waste–and not only material waste. Kaizen helps to create efficiency in a business and eliminates the waste of time.

Third, Kaizen is a day-to-day behavior that extends beyond simple productivity improvement of a business. It’s a process that humanizes the workplace and eliminates overly difficult work. According to Bunji Tozawa, “The idea is to nurture the company’s human resources as much as it is to praise and encourage participation in kaizen activities.”

Fourth, Kaizen refers to activities that continually improve ALL functions of a business. It’s a philosophy that involves all employees, from the CEO down. This makes it vastly different from the “command and control” improvement programs of the mid-twentieth century. Kaizen methodology involves a company-wide practice of making changes and monitoring results, and then adjusting. Large-scale pre-planning and extensive project scheduling are replaced by smaller experiments, which are able to be rapidly adapted as new improvements are suggested. Who can suggest? Anyone.

Fifth, A pay-per-use learning management system allows for the same continuous improvements–updates and upgrades, content and tool addition, etc.–to the actual training program that the Kaizen philosophy allows to happen on a daily basis on the ground level of a company.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for training program creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use,  for inclusion in Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

June 10th, 2010 by Robin Green

For staff members beginning new positions, or for those learning a new skill, strong training is a hugely determinative element. If your staff starts off on the right foot, they’ll have a much better chance of staying there long-term.

As a trainer, how do you ensure that a short-term element is transformed into long-term one? How do you transform short-term knowledge into practice and ultimately, habit?

Using learning management system training courses, transferring knowledge from the short-term memory to long-term is a process easily facilitated. One of the most effective ways to help learners absorb course material is through repetitive review.

Here’s an analogy. Although you have probably parked your car in hundreds of places throughout your lifetime, you probably remember easily enough where it is each time you go to find it. And you just as easily forget where it was parked after you no longer need to find it there.

However, if one day you parked your car in a specific place in the parking lot, and then walked by it several times throughout that particular day, you might remember for days or even weeks where it was on that day.

This is a simple strategy for helping learners put course content into their long term memory. When your trainees learn something new, try to review the main points on the same day. Ask them to take notes on the learning management system material, and allow them to refer back to them as they practice.

Throughout the training course, ask your learners to complete activities, quizzes and case studies to test and practice applying their knowledge. End each module with a quiz which helps students remember all the material included in that section, and upon completing the course, include a final exam to prompt further practice.

Coggno’s features combined with the robust applications integrated with Coggno’s LMS, such as BB FlashBack screen recordings and Rapid Intake Unison, provide a powerful course development toolkit packed with simple and versatile options for making learning stick.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for online course creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use, Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

June 4th, 2010 by Robin Green

As a homeschool parent, you will become a pro in management. What kind of management? Two kinds–time management and learning management.

Time management will become second nature to you as a homeschooler. Although learning management systems and other online learning materials are relatively mess-free, you’ll be doing all kinds of projects (including art and science) that will inevitably cause clutter. And lesson-planning and clutter-cleaning are on top of the regular house chores. 

If you’re a real neat-freak, you should probably think long and hard about homeschooling in the first place. But just like finding alone time, time management will save you. Take advantage of <<learning management system>> time or other low maintenance activities to tackle laundry and other household chores.

Learning management can be greatly aided with a learning management system and other online tools.Home educators have a great deal of work to do, and a learning management system can help with things like grading, record-keeping, and lesson planning. With a learning management system like Coggno, you can also create quizzes, tests and videos. 

A world of tools is available to homeschool students, including LMSs offered by Christian academies and other institutions to suit the religious beliefs of the families who use them. Homeschooling should never be a solitary enterprise. Take advantage of the support and educational tools available online and in your community.

Coggno’s free courseware system syndicator allows you to upload your course content and publicize it on Coggno’s marketplace. Coggno equips you with all the tools–including easy-to-use text editor, assessment , quiz and video tools–to create a unique and completely customized courseware design. You have total control over both the creation and the maintenance of your courseware system. 

Time and learning management will be key for you as a homeschool parent, not only practically but financially. Homeschool parents usually aren’t able to work outside of the home, so a family which is accustomed to two incomes may need to adjust accordingly. However, homeschooling itself–especially integrated with a learning management system or other online supplements, can be done very inexpensively.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for home educators on its learning management system. Create online courses for home use, or for syndication.

May 26th, 2010 by Robin Green

Is homeschooling right for you and your child? There are many benefits to homeschooling, which I’ve previously written about (most recently in my May 7 post). However, it’s nothing to rush into. Here are three important considerations, three critical thoughts, before you take the homeschooling route–which can prove an exciting journey.

First, are you willing to make the personal sacrifice you’ll be accepting? In general, homeschool parents have very little personal time. Each day, you’ll need to make an effort create even a small amount of alone time. While your child is working on learning management system work, for example, you might find a moment for yourself. Or perhaps a tutor comes a couple of hours a week to teach math or aide with an online courseware subject. Just remember that your personal time–however miniscule–is important for your mental health, so be sure to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.

Second, is everyone in the family on board with the decision to homeschool? This is an essential precondition of homeschooling: that both parents (if applicable) are in agreement about the decision. It will prove very difficult for everyone involved if one parent is against it. If this is the case for you, try talking to more people and doing more research on homeschooling. Read up on learning management systems and other learning materials before bringing up the topic with your spouse again.

Third, are you a generally organized person? (And if not, are you ready to change your ways?) Organization is essential in a homeschool environment, not only to combat the clutter that naturally accumulates with experiments and projects, but also to track your child’s progress. If your child is homeschooled, you may want to consider using a learning management system to meet both your child’s and your needs. A learning management system is a great way to both integrate technology into your lesson plans as well as organize and keep on top of your child’s educational journey.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for home educators on its learning management system. Create online courses for home use, or for syndication.

May 19th, 2010 by Robin Green

What kind of content should you include in your LMS language course podcast? Choosing interesting material is a subjective task, since everyone has a different concept of what’s actually interesting. However, it’s the way in which you present the information that makes or breaks your podcast. Here are four texture-lending tips.

First, keep in mind that interesting audio information–especially for language podcasts–is that which varies in texture and tone. Speak slowly, and keep the tone light and fun.

Second, intersperse music, pieces of interviews, sound bites, etc. throughout your podcast. This is a great way to lend it texture and continuity.

Third, use conversational dialogue. Your listener should feel like the podcaster is speaking directly to him or her rather than reading from a script.

Fourth, you can also record interviews and discussions, or include clips of these kinds of dialogues.

Podcasts are easy to create, produce, and share, and listeners don’t need any special hardware to listen to them. Since normally podcasts are in the form of mp3 files, they are accessible to all learners.

Ready to try creating your own podcast? Creating a podcast is simple using Apple’s Podcast Producer, a simple and automatic audio editing program. Coggno is one LMS which includes the Apple Podcast Producer as part of its pack of user-friendly tools.

Besides listening to podcasts, language students can watch videos, simulations and screen recordings through Coggno’s LMS. They can complete comprehensive tests and assessments interacting with a simple interface.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for online course creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use, Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.