101 Investigating Performance: Designing For and From Data
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, October 25
Bermuda B
Data continues to be a hot topic in L&D. The options for collecting data continue to grow, along with the potential for finding new insights for learning design. But in conversations with L&D professionals about the need for better data, it’s become clear that good design is not only about designing for data, but also designing from data.
In this session, you’ll walk through the strategies and activities that will help you get the data you need to evaluate both course and user performance, and to plan for meaningful analytics for your stakeholders. You’ll look at how to use data to improve learning approaches throughout the design cycle. Using a real-world learning scenario as a framework for the discussion, you’ll start with a brief baseline overview of xAPI and its usage and then move on to an exploration of data types, strategy, and the basics of data analysis—all with the goal of empowering you to gather and use your data in new ways.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to use your data analytics to improve course design
- How to design to gather meaningful data
- About the potential pitfalls of data interpretation
- Lessons from other fields (like business intelligence and web analytics) about how to apply data principles to learning design
Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, developers,
and managers.
Sean Putman
Vice President of Learning Development
Altair Engineering
Sean Putman, a partner in Learning Ninjas, has been an instructor, instructional designer, and developer for over 15 years. He has spent his career designing and developing training programs, both instructor-led and online, for many different industries, but he has had a strong focus on creating material for software companies. Sean has spent the last few years focusing on the use and deployment of the Experience API (xAPI) and its effect on learning interventions. He has spoken at industry conferences on the subject and is co-author of Investigating Performance, a book on using the Experience API and analytics to improve performance.
INN102 Building the xAPI Ecosystem of Your Dreams
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, October 25
Expo Hall: Innovation Showcase Stage
You’re excited about the promise of an xAPI-enabled world, but you’ve got a learning management system, a catalog full of SCORM-based courses that you need, and a handful of learning tool vendors that don’t use xAPI. What if you could get the most out of an LMS and an LRS at the same time that you move to your next-generation learning and performance infrastructure?
In this session, you’ll start with the learner-facing tools that will capture your xAPI data: eLearning, mobile tools, performance support, social and informal activities, and data sources from the business. You’ll review your options when it comes to LRSs and how they work (or don’t work) with your LMS. Will you work with a standalone LRS? A front-end xAPI solution with a built-in LRS? Or an LRS that is aligned with your LMS and your current learning infrastructure? You’ll hear real-world stories of three different xAPI implementations to help you plot your organization’s course toward your next-generation learning ecosystem.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to synthesize activities from a variety of front-end learning tools into a coherent picture of learning and performance
- About possibilities for your next-generation learning and performance infrastructure
- How to identify key partners in your business to engage as you migrate from SCORM to xAPI
- How others have implemented xAPI in their organizations, and about their lessons learned
Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, developers, project managers,
and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
xAPI, learning record stores (LRSs), and
learning management systems (LMSs).
Megan Torrance
CEO
TorranceLearning
Megan Torrance is CEO and founder of TorranceLearning, which helps organizations connect learning strategy to design, development, data, and ultimately performance. She has more than 25 years of experience in learning design, deployment, and consulting . Megan and the TorranceLearning team are passionate about sharing what works in learning, so they devote considerable time to teaching and sharing about Agile project management for learning experience design and the xAPI. She is the author of Agile for Instructional Designers, The Quick Guide to LLAMA, and Making Sense of xAPI. Megan is also an eCornell Facilitator in the Women's Executive Leadership curriculum.
Rob Houck
Head of Technology Innovation
UL Compliance to Performance
Rob Houck is the head of technology innovation at UL Compliance to Performance. He has provided strategic direction for learning and talent management software, managed software development and support of technology products and services, and overseen software implementations for more than 3.2 million users in 73 organizations. Rob has worked in technology for more than 25 years and has consulting experience ranging from small business to Fortune 100 clients.
ELR103 Why xAPI? or Why Should I Care About xAPI?
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM Wednesday, October 25
Expo Hall: eLearning Revolution Stage
Learning ecosystems are where people and resources are organized to assist learners along their continuum of development and on into the world of performance.
This session will explore the business value behind learning ecosystems. You will examine how the Experience API enables new technologies for a next-generation learning and performance architecture that you can build and evolve to unlock business value and competitive advantages for your organization. You will explore the technology shifts, business drivers, use cases, and examples of business outcomes of learning ecosystem solutions.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why learning ecosystems are a strategic advantage
- How the Experience API (xAPI) is an enabler
- About key business drivers for a learning ecosystem
- About key use cases for learning ecosystems and value
- About the business impact of use cases in multiple domains
- About the keys to defining, building, and validating a pilot
Audience:
Novice to advanced project managers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Experience API (xAPI), games, simulations, and HTML5.
Michael Hruska
President/CEO
Problem Solutions
Michael Hruska is a technologist and design thinking (DT) practitioner with experiences spanning across standards, emerging technologies, learning, and science. As a former researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Hruska provides technology, business model, and innovation solutions to Fortune 500, government, and startup companies. Hruska speaks at industry events, conferences, and webinars on topics spanning the continuum between advanced research on adaptive learning ecosystems and emerging technology solution/product design in a variety of industries. Hruska is an advisor/mentor to Ed Tech startups for GSV Capital, along with mentoring local and regional entrepreneurs. He is on the advisory board of a number of companies that support entrepreneurship and early- stage companies, as well as being recognized at industry events internationally.
201 Case Study: 5 Ways an LRS Transformed Learning at Sears
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Wednesday, October 25
Barbados AB
At Sears, learning is happening everywhere—from a home service technician reviewing installation guides on their iPhone, to an automotive associate attending a classroom session on battery installation, to an in-store sales associate accessing product information on an iPad. Delivering these learning materials brings one set of challenges, but a larger challenge is how to consolidate those experiences into a single system for meaningful reporting. Enter the learning record store (LRS): a tool that, when partnered with xAPI, can completely change how your organization approaches learning.
In this session, you’ll explore real-world examples from Sears to uncover how an LRS can transform learning. You’ll start by finding out how learning experiences can be recorded from multiple systems using xAPI. You’ll then learn about how the xAPI standard can migrate learning records from multiple legacy systems to a single LRS, which, in the case of Sears, included over 40 million records. You’ll discuss how an LRS can become a powerhouse of all learning records, even for organizations with large numbers of employees, and look at architecture diagrams describing information flow from several systems. Finally, you’ll look at LRS implementation challenges and how Sears overcame them by implementing standard processes.
In this session, you will learn:
- How an LRS enabled learning transformation at Sears
- How an LRS can bridge the gap between informal and formal learning
- How the xAPI standard can connect multiple technologies with an LRS
- How using an LRS can complement your existing learning management system
Audience:
Novice to advanced developers, project managers, managers,
directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology
discussed in this session:
Learning record stores (LRSs), NoSQL databases, WordPress,
reporting systems, mobile devices, and learning management systems (LMSs).
Anirudh Bhargava
Director, Technology Operations of Omni-Channel Commerce
BJ's Wholesale Club
Anirudh Bhargava is the director, technology operations of omni-channel commerce for BJ's Wholesale Club. He has nearly a decade of experience in architecting and designing large-scale business applications. Anirudh holds a master’s degree with distinction in information systems management from Carnegie Mellon University, and he has received several awards for his performance during his career at Sears Holdings and at Carnegie Mellon.
LRV104 Integration: Pulling Yourself Together
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM Wednesday, October 25
Expo Hall: Learning Revolution Stage
Do you need to corral your learning ecosystem? Does it provide the data needed to drive timely decision making? Learning ecosystems are growing beyond the learning management system with content management systems, user experience systems, content aggregation, and data warehouses, but making sense of the data they produce can be expensive and time consuming.
In this session, you will learn how to leverage the xAPI and learning record store to consolidate data to drive timely decisions and solve business problems.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to bring disparate learning technologies together for reporting
- That xAPI is not just for content
- How to create an analytics system without the analytics price tag
- How to put effective decision-making tools in the hands of managers
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced developers, project managers, managers, directors, and senior leaders.
Technology discussed in this session:
Talent management systems, learning management systems, learning record stores, xAPI.
Mark Prasatik
Vice President of User Experience Services
Bluewater
Mark Prastik is the vice president of user experience services at Bluewater Learning. Mark assists clients in aligning learning user experience and reporting/analytics to business strategy because he feels that user learning experience and reporting/analytics are the most predictive factors in the adoption of talent and learning systems and solving business problems. Mark has more than 25 years’ experience in employee training in the areas of oil and gas, aviation, retail, financial services, life sciences, and technology. Mark is certified in instructional design, human performance improvement, and project management and is a past president of ATD Houston.
306 Case Study: Leverage xAPI to Track Formal and Informal Learning
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, October 25
Bermuda B
Significant learning occurs on the job, but how do you manage and track it? Despite a robust eLearning curriculum, on-the-job training of a geographically dispersed workforce was inconsistent and untamed. The existing LMS lacked the ability to track real-world learning activities, which were too extensive for a paper-based system. Empowering Performance forged a customizable, cutting-edge technology solution that could grow and evolve with the organization.
In this case study session, you’ll find out their answer to this dilemma—replacing the LMS with an xAPI ecosystem. It allowed Empowering Performance to electronically manage eLearning solutions already in place, along with a digital checklist of on-the-job learning objectives. Additionally, they were able to integrate content in other formats (video, ILT, documents, third-party courseware) into a single platform for tracking and reporting organizational learning. Come and learn how an LRS can transform the way you track and deploy formal and informal learning activities. You’ll leave with a better understanding of how this technology can work for you, along with a frank discussion of the challenges they encountered and conquered.
In this session, you will learn:
- How LRS technology can integrate formal and informal learning activities
- Which factors you can evaluate to determine whether this strategy is right for you
- About challenges and pitfalls to avoid when migrating to an xAPI platform
- About data migration considerations you should be aware of when moving from an LMS to an LRS
Audience:
Novice to intermediate developers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Michelle Kelly
Chief Executive Officer
Empowering Performance
Michelle Kelly, chief executive officer of Empowering Performance, founded the company with a strong sense of what works to develop and retain an organization’s most valuable asset—its people. Among her credentials are organizational consulting, curriculum design, multimedia development, training and facilitation, process improvement, and an MS in education, emphasizing HR development. Michelle currently chairs the ATD-GTC eLearning SIG and is a past president of the Rocky Mountain chapter of ATD. She has been a speaker at local, regional, and national human resource and training events, including ATD, SHRM, PACT, Colorado Human Resource Association, and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Joann Lynch
Vice President of Client Services
Empowering Performance
Joann Lynch, vice president of client services at Empowering Performance, joined the company after running a successful business that developed custom eLearning solutions for national and international customers across a wide range of industries. She has a strong background in instructional design, eLearning, project management, change management, organizational development, and training. In addition to an MEd in learning technologies, Joann has certificates in synchronous learning design, technical writing, organizational development, and change management. She is also an accomplished facilitator and speaker. Joann’s in-depth knowledge and broad experience give her the insight to think through solutions to meet every client’s unique needs.
314 The Learning Analytics Revolution: Are You Ready?
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, October 25
Montego A
The corporate training industry is awakening to the need for significantly better reporting and improved accountability across all organizational divisions. The advanced data enabled by a new generation of training development tools will allow businesses to make smarter decisions and formulate competitive strategies based on highly credible and timely insights.
This session will examine the powerful effects of more sophisticated learning, designed for deep data analysis, and how to implement such a solution in your organization. You will learn from a complete end-to-end case study of a highly engaging and effective learner experience that includes virtual reality, and that simultaneously drives deep data analysis for business insights. You will explore the process, roles, and skill sets required at each stage, and you’ll gain tools to help you develop your own overarching strategies and communicate with stakeholders.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the process, roles, and skill sets you need to achieve a robust learning measurement and analytics culture in your organization
- About tools that can assist in developing a road map or strategy to redefine training as an effective, data-focused division driving business impact
- How to communicate the vision and requirements to achieve deep measurement to other stakeholders, business leaders, peers, and teams
- How to separate useful and meaningful data from the noise
Audience:
Intermediate to advanced managers, directors, and senior leaders
(VP, CLO, executive, etc.) with interest in the future of learning
technologies, decision-making authority, or the responsibility to manage
change.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Virtual reality, mobile (tablets), and desktop eLearning, as well
as an analytics back-end.
Glenn Bull
CEO & Founder
Skilitics
Glenn Bull is the founder and CEO of Skilitics, which is the creator of an enterprise training development platform designed for integrated learning measurement. The Skilitics platform is fast gaining attention globally for its disruptive and innovative approach to training design and measurement. Glenn is the visionary behind this cloud-based solution and spearheads the company’s global strategy. He is also the editor of TheNewID.com training comic, contributed to by many of the industry’s key thought leaders. Glenn is one of six members of The eLearning Guild Academy’s Advisory Council.
401 Go Long! What Learning Professionals Can Learn from Fantasy Football
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, October 26
St Croix B
When it comes to accurately identifying skill strengths and gaps in a team, many organizations struggle. Typically these decisions are gut-driven rather than based in analytics, and as a result, they often aren’t as effective as they could be. While many organizations want these decisions to be more data-based, it’s not uncommon for them to not know how or where to pull the data needed to create the most successful teams possible.
This session will help you understand how to better use predictive analytics and data to build better, stronger teams of engaged employees using an unexpected example—fantasy football. You’ll start by looking at how fantasy football works and how this strategy can be applied to the workplace. You’ll then discuss how to use statistics and data pulled from multiple sources to help you “draft” a team of knowledge experts. You’ll also explore how to go beyond the self- and peer assessments most organizations have traditionally used and include analytics from sources such as social learning activities, learning management systems, and more to deepen your data.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to use data you might already have, but haven’t used
- How learning and training, when viewed through the lens of analytics, can produce better business outcomes
- How to more effectively enact agile teaming
- How to better use analytics and actionable insights
Audience:
Novice to advanced managers, directors, and
senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Ryan Rose
Head of Customer Experience and Product Design
Cisco
Ryan Rose is a head of customer experience and product design for the new Cisco Collaborative Knowledge social learning platform. He leads the digital strategy team within Learning@Cisco that supports the development, build- out, and delivery of Cisco Collaborative Knowledge. Ryan is responsible for the overall user experience design, customer experience, and engagement for Cisco Collaborative Knowledge, and he supports the development of the solution’s asynchronous collaboration tools. Working with both the engineering team that is constructing the SaaS offering and the strategy/business team that markets it, he focuses on all facets of the end- user journey.
408 Case Study: Measuring the Value of Social Learning
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, October 26
Barbados AB
More and more people are learning online, independently and at different times. However, in much of the knowledge transfer that occurs, the “learning” is still passed from person to person through social learning. But in L&D it’s not enough to simply bring people together, facilitate learning, and hope for the best. You’ll want to know whether this social learning is effective and how it impacts performance on the job.
In this case study session, you’ll take a closer look at a social learning platform that a team at Anthem created to do this. Operating on the theory that the more engaged a learner is in training, the better they’ll perform on the job, the team developed a social learning platform that evaluates this type of learning, which they compared to job performance. This platform facilitates online learning, but—more importantly—it also measures what each associate does, it creates a summary score, and that score is then compared to on-the-job key performance indicators. You’ll discover how the team created this platform, what they learned along the way, and what results they saw.
In this session, you will learn:
- Which data points are most useful to understand how learning is occurring online
- How the learner engagement score is created, and what goes into it
- How powerful and effective SharePoint can be to enable and scale social learning
- How the actual Nintex Workflow automation works, and how it allowed them to deploy hundreds of spaces for thousands of associates to learn together online
Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, developers, managers, directors,
and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology
discussed in this session:
Microsoft SharePoint, Nintex Workflow, and Nintex Forms.
Stephen Bruington
Learning Infrastructure Designer
Anthem
Stephen Bruington is a learning infrastructure designer for Anthem. He has been engaged in the learning industry in various capacities for the past decade. Over the last several years, Stephen has been researching, exploring, developing, and testing social learning solutions at scale. In addition to the work he does in corporate learning, he is actively involved in the industry through various groups (e.g., on LinkedIn), on Twitter chats, and in attending conferences.
Tony Schwieterman
Learning Infrastructure Specialist
Anthem
Tony Schwieterman is a learning infrastructure specialist for Anthem BCBS. He has over 10 years of experience in training and development, instructional design, and technical support for online training and higher education programs. Tony has designed and taught online courses for Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, Southern New Hampshire University, and Kaplan University. In 2010, he obtained his master of science degree in adult and higher education from the University of Southern Maine.
LRV203 Reporting Revolution
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM Thursday, October 26
Expo Hall: Learning Revolution Stage
Are big data and analytics really the answer to all your learning and development challenges? No, they’re just a distraction from the real issue. You need to get information and data in the hands of those who make decisions daily. What would our learning and development world look like if we revolutionized reporting and made talent data available to learners, managers, and administrators and simplified their decision-making process? It’s called information visualization.
In this session, join James Webb and Chris Bond to explore the real possibilities of visualizing information that impacts business today.
In this session, you will learn:
- What data learners and managers are really looking for
- How to adjust from reporting to visualization
- What the future of visualization/reporting looks like
- How you can make the change today
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, directors, senior leaders, LMS and talent system administrators, learning business owners, and vendors.
Technology discussed in this session:
Talent management systems (TMS), learning management systems (LMS), learning delivery platforms, learner engagement platforms, Cornerstone, SumTotal.
Chris Bond
CEO
Bluewater Learning
Chris Bond, CEO of Bluewater, has been transforming the learning and talent management field for over 20 years through his leadership, articles, speaking engagements, and consulting. Leveraging Chris' insights into the long-term value of learning and talent investments and the impact of ensuring business alignment with the learning and talent processes, Bluewater has helped hundreds of companies identify and solve talent gaps, recognizing that licenses alone do not solve business problems. Chris launched Bluewater in 2003. He has been the guiding hand in Bluewater's recognized ability to instill confidence, supply creative solutions, and deliver measurable business results to its clients.
James Webb
Vice President, Global People Development and Engagement
Fossil Group
James Webb, the vice president of global people development and engagement for Fossil Group, leads a talented team focused on unleashing the potential of the company’s more than 14,000 global employees, including more than 500 company-owned stores, and over 33,000 wholesale points of distribution. James provides strategic direction for Fossil’s development, learning technology, internal communications, engagement, and talent management activities, all of which fuels the company’s growth and resilience. He brings more than 20 years of expertise in organizational development, talent management, employee relations, and business operations to this role. Outside of Fossil, James sits on Big Thought’s executive board of directors and on the Quantum Workplace advisory council.
501 Metrics and Analytics Are Your Best Proof
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, October 26
St Thomas AB
Who cares how many people attended your training? No, really, who cares? If someone does, then it’s an important metric. However, your stakeholder is probably more interested in behavior change: How much did the employee apply what they learned to their job, and how has performance improved?
In this case study session, you’ll learn how to determine what is important to stakeholders and how to identify, prioritize, collect, and report the data. You’ll learn that there really is plenty of data out there to help you prove the success of your training. There are books that talk about theories and methodologies, but few give a concrete checklist and plan for how to do it. You’ll walk away from this session with a job aid listing the steps to follow.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why you need to collect fuller and deeper metrics
- How to gather what matters from your stakeholders
- Where to start to identify and collect metrics that matter to your stakeholders
- Which report formats work best
- About an actionable, easy-to-use checklist for creating a plan to measure the success, or failure, of your training programs
Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, project
managers, and managers.
Bruce Cronquist
Engineering Training Manager
Dell Technologies
Bruce Cronquist is an engineering training manager with Dell Technologies. He has over 40 years of experience helping people become proficient at testing computer software, training dogs, snowboarding, starting a new career, and more. The last four of his 24 years at Microsoft Corporation were on the engineering excellence team, where he trained testers and developers. Bruce presently manages the training of over 1,200 engineers in the emerging technologies division of EMC/Dell Technologies. He enjoys experimenting and measuring creative solutions leveraging technologies such as flipping the classroom, MOOCs, and eLearning, as well as traditional classroom teaching.
516 BYOL: xAPI in Action—Implementing and Sending xAPI Data to an LRS
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, October 26
Montego DE
You have been hearing about the Experience API (xAPI) for years. You know what it does and the benefits it brings, but how do you use it? Where do you start? Where can you see samples? What kind of data can you send over? In this working session, you won’t just hear about xAPI; you’ll start learning how to use it with any of your HTML5 files.
In this session, you will learn the nuts and bolts of xAPI. You will learn how to take a basic HTML file and send over different xAPI statements to a sample LRS (learning record store) from any location. You will walk away with a working knowledge of how to start using the xAPI to track much more data than you ever could in SCORM, without all your content having to be in an LMS.
In this session, you will learn:
- What xAPI is
- How you can use xAPI in any HTML file
- How to send xAPI statements to any LRS
- How to capture user information
- About other data you can track in xAPI
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and project managers. Knowing
some HTML and JavaScript is helpful but not required.
Technology
discussed in this session:
xAPI, HTML, and JavaScript.
Participant
technology requirements:
A laptop and an HTML text editor, such as
Sublime Text.
Jeff Batt
Founder
Learning Dojo
Jeff Batt has 15+ years of experience in the digital learning and media industry. Currently, Jeff Batt is a Learning Experience Designer for Amazon. He is the founder and trainer at Learning Dojo, a company dedicated to training you to become a software ninja in various eLearning, web, and mobile-related software applications. He was also the program manager of DevLearn for The Learning Guild. Jeff often speaks on developmental technologies such as xAPI, HTML5, augmented reality, mobile development, eLearning development tools, and more.
MNX205 Designing Fantastic Feedback with Lectora
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM Thursday, October 26
Expo Hall: Management Exchange Stage
Feedback may be your most under-leveraged instructional tool. Designers take care to ensure assessment questions are well-written and support the performance objectives. However, far too often less thought is given to feedback.
Many designers think feedback is the message you display. But effective feedback is not what you say, it’s what you do. This might be a message, but it might more effectively be to show a diagram, play media, branch to additional information, challenge further, etc. This session will discuss ways to recognize opportunities for improving feedback and illustrate alternative approaches that better support and enhance the instructional experience.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to recognize opportunities for improved feedback
- When it is useful to invest the effort in creating more creative feedback
- Several techniques for more effective/creative feedback
- About the benefits of increased learner engagement through feedback
Audience:
Intermediate designers and developers.
Technology discussed in this session:
Lectora Inspire and MP3/MP4 media.
Daryl Fleary
VP Business Solutions
Trivantis
Daryl Fleary is a vice president of business solutions at Trivantis. He has over 20 years’ experience as a unit and project manager, senior instructional designer/consultant, eLearning designer, and business developer/relationship manager specializing in instruction and performance support solutions. Daryl’s experience includes developing instructor-led courses, web-based training programs, knowledge portals, electronic performance support/help systems, self-study guides, and other learning materials. As an FTE or consultant he has worked with a number of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, utilities, and federal and state governments. Daryl has been a frequent presenter in online webinars and at learning conferences, including Learning Solutions, DevLearn, and TechKnowledge.
701 Getting Started with Learning Measurement
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, October 27
Martinique AB
While marketing departments have become increasingly adept at measuring their contribution to financial performance, L&D departments have traditionally been slower at using measurement techniques to prove their worth. There are increasingly sophisticated ways to measure the business impact of learning, yet many L&D professionals are struggling to get started with measurement. What’s the value of measuring learning impact, and how do you rise to the challenge?
This session will break down the latest measurement trends in L&D, from traditional measurement techniques to big-data solutions and data analytics made possible through the wider adoption of xAPI. You’ll learn practical tips for how to implement a successful impact measurement initiative, whatever your approach. The session will conclude with a segment on how to build a compelling business case for change to gain management buy-in.
In this session, you will learn:
- About current trends in learning impact measurement
- About the role of data analytics in L&D
- About the difference between traditional measurement approaches and big data
- Practical tips for getting a successful result from your measurement and data analytics projects
- How to build a great business case for future L&D investment in measurement
Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, developers, project managers,
managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology
discussed in this session:
xAPI, learning record stores (LRSs), and big
data.
Rose Benedicks
CEO
Dashe & Thomson
Rose Benedicks is a renowned learning design expert and CEO of Dashe & Thomson. She has won awards for her learning experiences and is recognized for her approach to workplace challenges. She excels in aligning learning with business needs and proving the ROI of well-designed learning experiences. She holds a masters in instructional systems technology from Indiana University, is a leading presenter in the industry, and teaches instructional technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
801 xAPI: Where It’s At and How to Get Started
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, October 27
Antigua A
Is xAPI here to stay? This is the billion-dollar question. With any new technology, there’s a small set of early adopters who take the plunge while others wait in the wings. When you’re responsible for the learning and development of a large organization, it’s wise to wait and see if this is going to get traction or if it’s just a well-hyped flash in the pan.
Until recently, using xAPI meant custom programming, close work with your LRS provider, and custom reporting tools. It just wasn’t scalable for enterprise-wide adoption. Today, xAPI is ready for wider adoption. This session will cover the state of xAPI adoption and what you’ll need to get started. You’ll examine how many major courseware development tools have varying degrees of basic conformance with xAPI and can send statements to an LRS. You’ll discuss several LRSs that are commercially available, as well as the LMS providers that are adding an LRS to their suites. Conformance specifications are evolving, and more tools that previously never used SCORM are adopting xAPI.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to convince your organization that xAPI is here to stay and it’s time to begin adoption
- How to identify specific projects that are good candidates for early xAPI use
- A platforms and tools strategy for adopting xAPI
- How to work with vendors and partners to plot a course forward
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and
managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
xAPI
Megan Torrance
CEO
TorranceLearning
Megan Torrance is CEO and founder of TorranceLearning, which helps organizations connect learning strategy to design, development, data, and ultimately performance. She has more than 25 years of experience in learning design, deployment, and consulting . Megan and the TorranceLearning team are passionate about sharing what works in learning, so they devote considerable time to teaching and sharing about Agile project management for learning experience design and the xAPI. She is the author of Agile for Instructional Designers, The Quick Guide to LLAMA, and Making Sense of xAPI. Megan is also an eCornell Facilitator in the Women's Executive Leadership curriculum.
802 Case Study: Leveraging xAPI to Reach Kirkpatrick Level 4 Impact
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, October 27
Jamaica B
Beyond measuring ROI and engagement, L&D should be considering the ongoing effect training has on business metrics. Understanding the financial impact of training is challenging. xAPI is a powerful enabler to help reach level 4. xAPI also triggers visualizations to manage learning impacts on business metrics. It can dynamically correlate learning to performance metrics, helping predict when business issues will occur and where coaching opportunities exist.
This xAPI case study session will explore business issues and best practices used to sell the project to leadership and gain ongoing adoption—aligning learning impacts to business priorities. You will learn how Applied Industrial Technologies created an LRS to visualize and correlate business competencies with sales and operational KPIs including revenue, gross profit, business acumen, and other performance metrics. See also how automatic aggregation of disparate data sources eliminated the need for manual data collection and resulting errors. By leveraging xAPI, Applied Industrial Technologies was able to create sustainability by identifying key areas requiring additional training, map competencies to key management benchmarks, and create visualizations to help managers understand comprehension versus application.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to look at learning skills and KPI metrics to identify the financial impact
- How this approach can reduce errors and time occupied by manual spreadsheets
- Why understanding business goals and getting executive buy-in should always be your first step to a new L&D initiative
- How to shift the role of learning staff from compliance to coaching
Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
SAP SuccessFactors, SCORM Cloud, Knoa, Microsoft Excel, SQL Database, Experience API (xAPI), and Watershed.
Andy Webb
Director of Training
Applied Industrial Technologies
Andy Webb is the director of training at Applied Industrial Technologies, where for 20 years he has been a catalyst for driving change in sales, operations, and finance. Andy led the development of Basic Business Finance (BBF), one of the first xAPI courses to dynamically correlate learning competencies with performance metrics. BBF received a 2017 Brandon Hall Gold award and a Learning & Performance Leadership Award from Greater Cleveland ATD and Cleveland State University.
809 xAPI Basics for Mobile Learning
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, October 27
Barbados B
Mobile learning projects can be tremendously difficult to measure and track using SCORM. As a matter of fact, there is some data that cannot be captured at all. For organizations moving into multi-screen learning platforms, capturing important information about how the audience interacts with content is a critical missing piece.
In this session, we will review examples of how xAPI can be used to report data on interactions with mobile learning content. We will discuss how you can apply and customize this approach to your mobile content, gaining valuable insight from the rich data you can collect. Specifically, we will review two examples: an interactive eBook and a mobile learning solution and assessment tool built into Adobe Captivate. You will leave with sample files that you can apply to your own projects.
In this session, you will learn:
- How xAPI and cmi5 function
- How xAPI and cmi5 were applied to projects to collect specific interaction data
- How xAPI can be programmed into mobile learning solutions, what happens to the data, and how it can be used
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and developers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Sigil, Adobe Captivate, LRS, xAPI, LMS, HTML5, cmi5, and JavaScript.
Sarah Mercier
CEO & Strategic Consultant
Build Capable
Sarah Mercier, CEO and strategic consultant at Build Capable, specializes in instructional strategy and learning technology. Sarah is known for translating highly technical concepts and research to real-world practice. She is an international facilitator for the Association for Talent Development and Greater Atlanta ATD Past President. Her innovative learning solutions have been recognized by winning industry awards, such as Best of Show at FocusOn Learning DemoFest for xAPI for Interactive eBooks, and Best Performance Support Solution at DevLearn DemoFest for Critical Success Factors training and assessment tool. Sarah is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and business events on topics such as instructional design and development, accessibility, data strategy, and learning ecosystems. Her work has been published in ATD’s 2020 Trends in Learning Technology, The Book of Road-Tested Activities, TD Magazine, Learning Solutions Magazine, CLO Magazine, and a variety of other training and workforce publications.