July 10th, 2009 by Robin Green

It’s something many LMS students often lament; depending on their position, they may need to undergo compliance training. However, greater complaints down the line can be prevented if compliance training is completed in a serious and effective way.

Compliance training may cover issues ranging from sexual harassment prevention, workplace safety, cultural sensitivity, or respect in the workplace. Oftentimes, to someone taking mandatory compliance training, a topic may feel like common sense, or not worth his or her time. This common attitude towards required training can lead to learning content skimming, skipping of entire sections, and ultimately, guessing on exams and retaking quizzes until the correct answers are guessed.

Students’ lack of interest in a training topic is often due to a bland training course, as well as the sheer fact that the course is mandatory. This lack of interest can lead to students’ failure to process the learning content, and to spend the time required to truly learn the material. But gaps in employee understanding on key issues (such as those listed above) which compliance training covers can end with trouble down the road. For this reason, supervisors are smart to ensure that trainees are completing course material correctly, and spending the appropriate amount of time on each section.

Coggno’s Activities feature helps solve this problem that is so common to online training. Coggno now offers supervisors, educators, and all LMS administrators its Activities tool to aid the administrative responsibility of overseeing and guiding students in their learning process. The feature provides training administrators with a simple tool to track, in real time, the online course activities of students through a tab in the Coggno LMS interface.

Not only does the Activities feature help supervisors ensure that employees are succeeding in a training program, but it saves organizations valuable time and energy in the future. Organizations can avoid conflict and protect employees. And productivity is always increased when employees are well educated on workplace issues that are meant to facilitate communication and prevent clashes.

The Activities feature serves a very practical purpose: tracking student progress. Using the feature, administrators can track student progress and activities to find out where each one is exceeding, and in what areas extra attention may be needed.

The Activities feature can also help educators who want to integrate Web 2.0 tools into a classroom, but may feel uncomfortable doing so. Although many schools do not permit the use of Web 2.0 technologies like social networking sites, podcasts and wikis in the classroom, more schools and their educators are embracing them. In fact, how to effectively use collaborative technologies and LMSs is a topic now included in many IT courses for educators.

Unfortunately, online education tools for children and teenagers are sometimes avoided because of supervision issues. In some cases, mishandling and/or lack of supervision of online programs can even become a source of litigation against educators and schools.Because of the hazards involved with including Web 2.0 technologies in many LMS and classroom learning systems, educators who use them must take extra precautions, supervising the use of these technologies to ensure that students stay on track.

Educators can find creative ways for students to remain within the confines of an online activity, such as navigating a site while students observe. However, using LMS online tools like Activities, educators can concentrate on the learning content and effective teaching, rather than policing internet use.

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Coggno.com offers high-quality online training.

September 4th, 2008 by Robin Green

The e-learning system is quite comprehensive, and consequently its meaning tends to fluctuate depending on whom you ask. There is actually no one definition agreed on by the experts. Generally, what e-learning refers to remains vague unless placed in a specific context. So here we have an electronic learning system—a term with no precise meaning, which regardless is utilized ad nauseam.

This is clearly our fault. “E-learning” became a buzz word upon its inception, becoming a catch all term, like “postmodern.” The media and various institutions have exploited the term “e-learning” to attract attention, resulting in it being applied to myriad electronic learning systems regardless of any unique features they may possess. Blame the internet bubble, one of the best times for hype in history.

September 4th, 2008 by Robin Green

The “e” in e-learning is exactly what differentiates it from the traditional, old-fashioned learning system—or is it? Some people are arguing that the e-learning system doesn’t need the “e” anymore, while yet another group contends that it reeks of excessive technophilia, and thus turns potentially interested parties (learners, managers) off to it. Popular consensus seems to be that there’s no more need for the “e” in “learning.” The new e-learning system is a learning system.

And it makes sense. There isn’t really a need to differentiate between the different ways of delivering learning content at this juncture. E-learning has evolved to a point where the “e” no longer needs to be pointed out. The ubiquity of technology has brought us new vocabulary, an entity that is now reinventing itself.

August 22nd, 2008 by Robin Green

Coggno introduces an exciting new development: Projects Exchange.

Thanks to this new feature in our LMS, organizations seeking training, as well as instructional design and courseware professionals, can manage their training and learning projects responses in a more interactive fashion. Our LMS’s Projects Exchange provides a means for you to communicate and respond to the posters more efficiently.

It’s easy, free, and it may just lead you to your next excellent job, trainer, or professional!

This constitutes just one more way in which Coggno’s LMS connects educators with learners.

Go to www.coggno.com and click on the Projects tab.

While you’re there, check out the rest of Coggno’s best-in-breed, free LMS. Sign up as an Author, create a Coggno page for yourself or your company, and set up e-Learning for your organization, client, or for sale through our marketplace.
Enjoy!