Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Kick-start your day with Morning Buzz, the ever-popular “Early Bird” discussions. This is your chance to grab a cup of coffee and meet other conference attendees in a relaxed, casual environment, so you can share your best practices, insights, and tips while learning from one another’s experiences.

Data is everywhere—and evolving technologies are able to generate and analyze data like never before. Data is embedded into every part of modern life, from the ways we use our smartphones to the metadata attached to the videos we watch and the systems that monitor our work to support us in times of need. In this thought-provoking keynote, Soraya Darabi explores how data is shaping the ways we interact with the world and how the analysis of new data sets is enabling us to make better decisions in the future. Prepare to be engaged as she examines how the evolving influence of data is shaping the ways we learn and educate.

Most companies have invested heavily in training infrastructure and content, including face-to-face events, PowerPoints, PDFs, and video. Typically, video is thought of as problematic and overly time-consuming. It’s not. The real question is how to deliver training that is consistent, engaging, relevant, and—above all—lasting. In this session, you will see how the use of video can facilitate behavioral change and create measurable, positive learning outcomes. It will include the value of practice, role-playing, reinforcement, and collaboration, using the medium of secure, recorded, and interactive video.

Join this session for an in-depth look at five trends you should focus on in learning today, plus a look at what’s just around the corner. This session will provide you with dozens of resources to share with your team and get you started. Get ready to reboot your brain and enhance your learning today.

The impact of video for learning is growing more evident, and its inclusion in traditional eLearning enhances the opportunities to impact performance. Are you ready to add videos to your online learning capabilities but don’t know where to start? This session’s 10 tips and tricks will set you on your way to incorporating video into your training.

In this session, you will learn how video should be used, what successful videos include, and what not to use video for in training. You’ll see specific examples of videos that illustrate the tips and tricks. You will be encouraged to discuss any experiences you’ve had with video, both successful and not, in your training. You’ll leave this session with a better sense of when and how to use video, and with some specific guidelines to help develop your next successful training video.

In this session, you will learn:

• What makes a training video successful
• At least 10 tips for creating training videos
• About peers’ successful or not-so-successful projects and why they worked or didn’t work
• How to incorporate videos into your training

Audience:
Novice designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Camtasia, Storyline, webcam recordings, and GoAnimate.

Working with developers to create whiteboard explainer videos can be risky, expensive, and time consuming. It is also challenging to find developers who truly understand your message and how best to present it visually to your specific audience.

In this hands-on session, you will address this problem by learning how to utilize new software to create your own whiteboard explainer videos. You will learn how to create or import drawings into Adobe Illustrator and prepare them for the VideoScribe software. The session will cover workflow and best practices for creating explainer videos using VideoScribe, as well as importing audio and locating appropriate artwork. Many people are creating their own whiteboard videos today, and you can, too.

In this session, you will learn:

• The workflow of creating your own custom whiteboard explainer videos
• Best practices when it comes to creating your own custom whiteboard explainer videos
• How to prepare images that are compatible with the VideoScribe software
• How to match the scribe to the audio that you have imported
• How to locate or find drawings for whiteboard videos
• How to publish your whiteboard videos once completed

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Adobe Illustrator, VideoScribe, and Audacity.

Technology Required:
VideoScribe and Adobe Illustrator.

Years of momentum have resulted in a collection of use cases for teams seeking to leverage the xAPI to better track, measure, and manage their learning efforts. The time is now; the xAPI can improve the ways you create and deliver content and classes, track interactions, communicate, and measure performance. Armed with knowledge and the proverbial “Swiss Army knife” of xAPI functions, you can begin to “slice, saw, tweeze, and pick” your way through training obstacles.

In this session, you will learn what the xAPI really is, how statements are structured, and how it is being operationalized. You will explore how progressive teams leverage the xAPI to improve the learning experience, streamline tracking, perform common tasks, and drive engagement via modern authoring tools and an LRS, and how LMSs are undergoing transformations to support the trend. This session will help you understand the basic challenges teams face in implementing the xAPI on a limited budget. Finally, you will learn how authoring tools, LMS platforms, mobile apps, and IoT endpoints are being connected to leverage the power of the xAPI.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to determine the best authoring tools and learning platforms to take advantage of the xAPI
• The basic structural and design tenets of an xAPI-based solution and the best-practice approach to implementing those solutions
• New use cases to apply tracking to nontraditional learning assignments and interactions
• When to use the xAPI over SCORM for tracking and when “all of the above” is better than one or the other
• How to overcome challenges with LMS integration, security, mobile access (especially when offline), and more

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
The xAPI, LRSs, and SCORM.

In the ever-shortening attention span, single-track video-based learning has started to fall behind, as traditional video-based learning tends to push learners into a passive role. On one side, new ways need to be identified to increase learner engagement; and on the other hand, making rightful use of existing video content is critical from a cost perspective. Moreover, abilities to measure learner engagement levels are very limited. Interaction turns attention into engagement, and interactive, personalized video is changing the learning landscape altogether.

In this session, you will learn how an interactive video learning experience gives the power of choice, fosters collaboration, and promotes increased knowledge retention. You will gain insights into how existing or new videos can be enriched with feedback personalization (such as Q&A, branching, quizzes, and surveys) and the factors to consider when onboarding an interactive video program. During the session, you will learn how analytics driven by interactions, captured using the xAPI, can help measure learner behavior and effectiveness of the program to further fine-tune the overall learning experience.

In this session, you will learn:

• How interactive, personalized videos can help in learning
• Techniques to make your videos interactive, demonstrated through use cases
• About factors to consider when choosing an interactive video learning platform, such as ability to play on iPhone along with all devices, including Android, desktops, and tablets
• Why video analytics is an important tool for your future learning programs
• How the xAPI and LRS will enable capturing a wide range of analytical data to gain insights into the effectiveness of the learning program

Audience:
Novice to advanced developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
The xAPI, LRS, iPhone, iOS, and Android.

Well-rounded eLearning courses leverage multiple elements to enhance learning.  These may include video, audio, activities, text, and images. How do you ultimately know whether these elements, in particular the complex activities and videos you crafted, are in fact enhancing understanding? How can you better determine whether there is a relationship between the activities and end-user performance?

In this session, find out how you can use the Experience API (xAPI) to capture data from different activities into a single, uniform format in the Learning Record Store (LRS). You’ll explore an authentic module containing video and associated assessment items. You will learn how to analyze results to see which of the elements contributed most to learner success and which assessment items could be improved. Simply put, see how better data can lead to improved design.

In this session you will learn:

• How the xAPI can help you collect user data
• How activity data can be combined to make sure your video is accomplishing its goal
• How to use the xAPI to compare content consumption to performance

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, managers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
The Experience API (xAPI).

Screencasts can be a powerful tool for eLearning developers. Well-produced screencasts can be great for software simulation, process demonstration, or providing background and context within an eLearning course. Screencasts are relatively easy and cheap to produce. However, poorly produced screencasts can be, at best, boring—and, at worst, injurious to your learning goals. While many take the idea of screencasts for granted, there are a number of techniques that can improve screencast quality and engage learners more deeply and for longer periods of time.

In this session, you will learn 10 powerful tips that will greatly improve the quality of your screencasts. Those who are new to screencasts will learn about the best tools and workflows. For those who are experienced at producing screencasts, this session will examine common problems with screencast production and demonstrate easily implementable suggestions for improvement.

In this session, you will learn:

• To identify the current hardware and software tools used for screencasts
• Which tools are best for producing quality screencasts
• To identify common screencast problems that may impede learning
• Production techniques that greatly improve screencast engagement
• Voice techniques that increase overall quality of screencasts and aid in content retention

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Camtasia, Adobe Captivate, audio recording equipment, and Adobe Audition.

Video is eating the Internet. We’re consuming and creating more of it than ever, and 64 percent of consumers identify as binge watchers. But these trends don’t just apply to entertainment content—they’re having a huge impact on learning, and learners’ expectations, too.

In this session, we’ll explore how learning and development professionals can leverage consumer content consumption trends to create powerful and impactful learning experiences. Through examples ranging from surfers in Hawaii to telecom companies in Europe, you will learn how video can amplify the reach of informal learning, empower employees to create and share, and increase retention and engagement. You will also learn how platforms like Netflix and YouTube leverage cloud technologies to create the seamless, frictionless video experiences that users have come to expect in 2016.

In this session, you will learn:

• Learn the key trends and behaviors driving video usage in the consumer world
• Learn how to leverage these trends to create powerful workplace learning experiences
• Come away with practical ideas for piloting video learning at your organization
• Receive a primer on the key video technologies underpinning these experiences

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Mac Laptop and iPhone.

Learning practitioners strive to understand the real-life environment of experts as much as possible. But getting access to really see how people do their jobs when they are in a more technical or hands-on role (e.g., construction, refinery, or factory work) is difficult. Often, learning practitioners can’t use video or real-life images because of safety or clearance constraints. This poses a challenge as they try to create impactful learning materials.

In this session, you will see how you can equip subject matter experts with a GoPro or 360 camera that they can wear on their chests or hard hats and control from phones or tablets. You will see what it looks like within their environment, and you’ll capture it in the form of a video to put into a course, or an easy-to-access performance support video. This session will show you how to quickly set up and use the devices. You will also learn how to help your leadership understand the viability of this technology as a training tool.

In this session, you will learn:

• How a GoPro and early VR tools can be useful additions to your design and development toolkit
• How to discuss this as a viable option with a client (or a manager) and set a strategy for success
• How to set up and use a GoPro
• Tips and best practices for success

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
GoPro, VR tools, iPad and iPhone.

If your organization is going through change, you’re probably doing a lot to make sure your people are prepared—videos, emails, tools, learning, meetings, etc. The problem is motivating people to care enough before go-live (before the moment of apply) to engage in those helpful experiences. Here’s an example of how you can elevate your change initiative above the noise and get your people to want to get ready.

In this session, you will learn a new approach for creating a desire to change and driving the adoption of performance support resources and people networks. This case study session will present the quantitative game data and qualitative feedback that TiER1 has received (good, bad, and awesome) so you walk away with a clear picture of what works, and what doesn’t, when gamifying your change. You’ll learn a readiness model for change initiatives and pick up a few tricks to improve the effectiveness of your communication channels, gamified or not.

In this session, you will learn:

• How game mechanics can be applied effectively in a non-game environment
• To evaluate the effectiveness of gamification to drive the adoption of performance support resources in a change initiative
• The concept of priming the moment of apply through games
• About a change readiness model and the benefits of a unique communication channel

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
A custom web-based game with email communication templates.

Implementing effective performance support is challenging. How do you deliver useful information at the time of need without being disruptive to the employee’s workflow? How do you integrate the content effectively within the context of the user’s task at hand? How do you leverage the available technology (devices, web access, security) to reach the target audience and provide a strong user experience?

In this session, you will learn the three major components of the “ACT Principle”: audience, context, and technology. You will learn how making these three facets a priority can lead to powerful performance support. You will examine how user-centered design can produce training deliverables that resonate with the users. You will explore the importance of context and how the learner’s environment and culture can greatly affect the user experience. Finally, you will identify the proponents of a good technology approach that can enhance performance support by taking advantage of the unique affordances of mobile and wearable devices.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to analyze and evaluate a target audience to build learning objectives and goals
• How the environment affects the performance support experience
• About a wide variety of mobile device capabilities that enhance performance support
• How wearables are making a big impact on performance support tasks
• What uses of enterprise augmented reality and virtual reality are on the horizon

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets; wearable devices, such as glasses, watches, sensors, and headsets; and the Daqri smart helmet.

Performance support is very different from training. In a world where many people are conditioned to think that learning should look like school, with teachers, students, and formal instruction, it can be difficult to get an organization and its workers to adjust to a performance support approach.

In this panel discussion, you will learn from individuals who have faced this resistance to change and found ways to overcome it. You will explore reasons why stakeholders resist performance support so that you are better prepared to address them. You will discuss strategies that can help shift the mindsets of both organizational leaders and workers on the front line.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why organizations resist the shift to performance support
• How to address stakeholder concerns
• How to speak to both senior leaders and the front line

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
None.

With more companies taking advantage of satellite offices and field employees, recognizing the differences in their needs from on-site teams is crucial. Their physical distance from training and marketing teams means they can’t easily access key information, and when they can, it’s often out-of-date. The result? A potentially negative impact on your relationships with top channel partners.

Don’t leave field employees to fend for themselves in the content wilderness—empower them to overperform by:

• Enabling desktop and mobile access to the business-critical information
• Ensuring the most up-to-date content is available, online or offline
• Reducing risk of misinformation to employees and partners

As a follow-up to 2015’s Performance Support Symposium presentation, we present the results and lessons learned!

Grainger, a global industrial supply distribution company with thousands of users across 369 branches, 15 distribution centers, and a growing online presence, rolled out SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in Mexico and Canada. Because of their geographically dispersed locations, traditional instructor-led training using a full training environment was expensive, complicated, and risky.

Using an advanced system cloning tool, Grainger was able to create, store, and deploy advanced system training with considerably reduced cost compared to a live training environment. They also used Vimago, a state-of-the-art EPSS tool, to rapidly deploy messaging, updates, and training materials during go-live support and sustainment.

Come explore Grainger’s big wins and lessons learned as they navigated from planning to execution.

Most learning solutions today fail to meet employees where they are in their learning journey. Cognitive overload while in training, knowledge and skill gaps in the moment of need, and information access issues prevent employees and teams from performing at their very best. Each of these has a major impact on productivity. The solution? Contextualized learning provides content at the moment of need, in the space where it is needed most.

In this session, you will learn about beacon-based learning solutions that support just-in-time, in-the-space learning. You will see how this approach is flexible, customizable, trackable, and doesn’t require an intense technology implementation cycle. Learn how beacon technology puts learning in your employees’ hands, enabling on-the-spot performance support and a flexible solution that is easily adaptable to changes in the business.

In this session, you will learn:

• About beacon-based mLearning solutions
• How beacon technology can be used to contextualize learning
• About the components of a beacon-based mLearning solution and how they operate
• To correlate beacon technology to potential opportunities in your environment

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Beacon devices, mobile app front-end and server back-end interfaces, and beacon administrative interfaces.

The expansion of video assets in corporate learning ecosystems has created a tremendous opportunity for self-directed learning. Preparing a video asset with classifications and rich metadata is critical for finding and sharing great content. In this session, we’ll review the definitions of taxonomy and metadata for video asset management and the steps for injecting metadata into each video. In addition, we’ll examine how video analytics can be used for reporting.

In this case study session, you will learn to leverage the power of unconventional technology to make performance support work. We will also discuss and examine the many design decisions that lead to a solution becoming successful in terms of both learner adoption and business results, besides taking measures to ensure that it stays useful and relevant. In addition, you will explore other novel technologies that can be used to build performance support solutions that address business and learning needs.

Digital interactivity has become a core facet of life. Consumers expect to be able to touch, swipe, and tap to make choices—a trend that has only accelerated with the growth of mobile and “anytime, anywhere” content. Due to the increasing consumer desire for interactive video, new technologies are entering the market offering solutions, but what sets them apart? This session will explore how different interactive video technologies define and deliver personalized, relevant content as a way to drive deeper learning, engagement, data, and insights. You will leave understanding the potential of the different interactive video technologies out there that can be realized in your organization.

Your teams collaborate to get their work done today. They know whom to ask when they have a question. They use Google and YouTube like pros to find that 90-second video that has the right answer. They are not searching your LMS for a two-hour compliance course. They want answers now, and more often than not, someone in the team already has the answer. Informal learning has always been here. Take back control of your learning by enabling peer-to-peer video learning to empower your team, leverage your experts, and build ongoing value.

The eLearning world has rapidly moved into a world of mobile everything. Media is delivered on devices that fit into the palm of a hand. People make calls and read emails on their phones, they communicate by texting, and they watch streaming video. They also have lessons on their mobile devices, but is this an entirely good thing?

This session will explore the research and outcomes of using mobile devices with small screens for eLearning. It will demonstrate the neuroscience of visual learning and show how using mobile devices to deliver lessons changes learners’ perceptions. It will also explore the cognitive nature of mobile devices and how designers and developers can use this to their advantage.

In this session, you will learn:

• How a screen changes the learner’s perception
• How lessons delivered on a mobile device work with the learner’s perceptions
• How to take advantage of the smaller footprint of a mobile device
• How to take advantage of the neuroscience behind the use of mobile devices

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
PCs and mobile devices.

Augmented reality (AR) pervades everyday life as well as teaching and training practice. It is a powerful learning tool, allowing the learner to gain hands-on practice in a real-world context by imposing useful information over objects and situations. With growing popularity, AR gets better and more user-friendly tools. This allows educators to move the learning of practical skills outside the walls of the classroom.

In this hands-on session, you will explore a number of ideas and use cases for AR applications in your learning and training practice, such as manuals, guides, role-plays, interactive stories, scavenger hunts, and other activities. You will learn how to start, configure, and deploy an AR project using ARIS, an open-source, easy-to-use platform for creating and playing augmented reality experiences on iOS devices. You will explore features offered by ARIS such as QR codes, GPS locations, maps, and codes. This session will focus on the iOS; however, examples of AR solutions for other platforms will be mentioned as well.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to use AR in the classroom and training practice
• What ARIS is and what features it provides
• How to build learning activities with ARIS
• How to access the activities from the mobile app
• About the rationale for using AR applications in learning and training
• About available AR solutions for other mobile platforms

Audience:
Novice designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
ARIS Editor and iOS devices.

Technology Required:
Web browser and ARIS mobile app.

Many organizations have taken the desktop eLearning paradigm and simply applied it to mobile technologies, but that does not take advantage of the uniqueness of the mobile platform. Furthermore, traditional eLearning templates do not always translate well in a mobile environment.

Storyline 2 is a very popular development tool that is quickly growing in use among traditional training organizations that are starting to develop mobile solutions for their customer base. In this session, you will explore how to build your own landscape- or portrait-style templates that work best on mobile devices. You will be able to design your own user interface to maximize the mobile real estate, and you will create slide masters, backgrounds, and custom buttons and icons for mobile use.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to change or remove the default player features in Storyline
• How to design a user interface that maximizes mobile real estate
• How to create slide masters and backgrounds that support mobile delivery
• How to design custom buttons and icons for mobile use

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Storyline 2.

Technology Required:
Laptop (PC or Mac running Windows), Storyline 2 (installed and operating), and a USB port for transferring assets.

Binders. One-sheets. Printouts. For salespeople and those who work on the road, the backseat is full of them. They are used not only for collateral but also for training customers on products and services. But are these the right tools? What if the customer has only five minutes? How can an individual quickly and efficiently discuss a topic in an engaging way and avoid the paper clutter?

In this session, you will see a solution to the endless paper and unclear training objectives by using interactive PDFs specifically designed for tablets. You will explore how Comcast employs a unique solution used by account executives (AEs) whose role is to support third-party dealers that sell Xfinity services. AEs, with the use of their iPads, access a portal, select a product or service from the list, and engage in a quick and targeted side-by-side training with a dealer, focusing on an entire product line or just one feature. The interactive design allows for complete customization and on-demand needs.

In this session, you will learn:

• How using interactive PDFs specifically designed for tablets provides a solution to the endless paper and unclear training objectives
• How Comcast employs a unique solution used by AEs whose role is to support third-party dealers that sell Xfinity services
• What side-by-side training looks like using a mobile device (we will do a fun role-play)
• How you can start the discussion in your organization to craft a similar solution

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Adobe InDesign for interactive PDFs and Articulate Storyline 2 for a content portal.

The current state of mobility and the demand it has created for shorter content lengths, collaborative environments, and personalized experiences are the primary drivers of a renaissance that sees learning seeding itself in practically every environment encountered by today’s worker. Learning has propagated beyond the LMS, beyond the classroom, beyond performance support tools. Organizations must come up with new eLearning strategies and archetypes to work within this evolving learning ecosystem.

In this session, you’ll look at learning content and effective and sustainable learning strategies in the context of perpetual change—changes in the types of devices people use, their media environments, and the technologies that string them all together. You will examine the underlying technologies, like the Experience API, that support learning in this new paradigm, and you will learn strategies that can be used to launch successful learning initiatives that will survive continuing shifts in technology.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to build digital business expertise and knowledge within the organization’s learning functions
• How to take advantage of the opportunities for learning that are increasing at the fastest rate ever, thanks to an expanding learning ecosystem
• How to effectively incorporate collaborative environments within an eLearning initiative
• How to use micro-badging and certificate-based learning to motivate learning audiences and address the growing demand for continuous training

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
LMS, LRS, SharePoint, Yammer, Skype for Business, the Experience API (Tin Can), Captivate 8/9, Articulate Storyline, and WordPress.

Desktop platforms are giving way to mobile in many contexts. Opportunities abound. But eLearning designers and developers are used to a different set of paradigms undergirded by different competencies than those they need to design and develop mobile solutions.

In this session, you will examine the key competencies needed to design and develop mobile solutions, and you will explore some of the options available to help eLearning professionals make the transition to mobile. You will learn of a mobile design and development competency roadmap, which identifies the skills and abilities an eLearning (or other) professional needs to master in order to become successful as a mobile designer or developer. This session will not only provide you with a copy of the competency roadmap, but also reveal the process behind its creation and provide suggestions for others to develop their own roadmaps in order to address similar gaps in their organizations.

In this session, you will learn:

• Which design competencies are most important for building mobile solutions
• Which development skills are most important for eLearning developers transitioning to mobile
• How current eLearning tools stack up against mobile development needs, and where there are still gaps
• Creative ways to identify opportunities and options for closing the skill gaps on your eLearning teams

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

It has always been tricky to track experiences and results when learning happens outside the LMS. Using the xAPI, you can track a huge amount of activity with a robust and flexible specification. The next challenge is to identify learners and capture what they do in the real world in digital format, then put that data to use for learners, their leadership, and the learning and development organization.

In this session, you will learn how the Ann Arbor (Michigan) Hands-On Museum guides the informal exhibit-based learning experience for school field trips via tablet interactions. You will see how the typical model in the industry is being flipped by using beacons on students that are picked up by museum exhibits. Activities are based on the individual grade level and tied to the Next Generation Science Standards. From registration and beacon management to a custom content development tool, you will learn about the interactive design and instructional strategies used to transmit data to the LRS and to generate individual, classroom, and museum-level reporting.

In this session, you will learn:

• To apply similar use of technology across various use cases
• To identify situations in your environment where a similar model would work
• About the application of xAPI statement generation in a standards-based curriculum
• About reporting and data visualizations for individual, group, and organization-wide use

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
The xAPI.

Electronic performance support systems, workflow learning, just-in-time training, help on steroids. Even though performance support (PS) has existed as a concept for more than 25 years, its many names are a testament to how difficult it can be to explain, let alone sell, PS to customers, senior leaders, or sometimes even your own team.

In this session, you will explore a methodology to educate stakeholders on performance support and see how this approach impacted three actual case studies from Fortune 100 companies. In particular, you will examine the business problem, the company culture, the performance support solution design, and the business case that justified the investment in PS. You will also hear real-life examples from session attendees, and you can apply the methodology to help drive the adoption of performance support in your organization.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to educate stakeholders on performance support
• From three Fortune 100 performance support case studies
• How to apply the methodology in your own context
• How to drive adoption of performance support in your own organization

Audience:
Novice to advanced managers.

With the proliferation of mobile deployment to training audiences and rapidly emerging technology, training and development professionals often struggle with keeping their mobile knowledge and skills current. Sprint University confronted this problem head-on by implementing a mobile learning program.

In this session, you will be provided a roadmap for implementing your own program to rapidly accelerate mobile skills and knowledge of your training and development professionals. This session will showcase the Sprint University mobile learning program from initiation to deployment and ongoing management. This program is a great example of an initiative that effectively increased awareness and adoption of mobile development practices and solutions university-wide.

In this session, you will learn:

• To create a comprehensive content strategy for your website
• How to mobilize your community of subject matter experts to impart their knowledge and kindle enthusiasm for mobile
• How to transform instructional designers and multimedia designers into bloggers and champions for mobile
• How to curate mobile content for your training and development professionals so that mobile pushes are relevant or applicable
• To leverage mobile mentors to drive content through feedback loop

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Desktop- and mobile-enabled websites.

The Nature Conservancy recently implemented a new constituent relationship management (CRM) application used by more than 1,000 staff members across the organization. The new CRM application not only changed how staff tracks and manages constituent relationships in an application, but also significantly changed the business processes surrounding CRM. An instructor-led training program was developed; however, staff needed ongoing support to address knowledge gaps and ongoing changes to the business processes.

In this session, you will learn how the Conservancy developed a performance support tool to provide ongoing support to staff using a new CRM application. You will see how Conservancy staff members access the performance support topics from the new application (based on topic) and from within the tool itself. The session will include a preview of the tool (built in SharePoint) that allows staff to access relevant content with just a few clicks. You will also learn how the Conservancy designed a process that allows both the business experts and technology staff to edit content and publish updates to end-users.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to design an effective process that allows business experts, end-users, and technology staff to collaborate on a performance support system
• Best practices for writing performance support content
• Best practices for incorporating multimedia
• How to organize and define help content to allow users to quickly find what they need

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
The Conservancy Performance Support Tool.

Getting started is often the hardest challenge when implementing a performance support solution. You have recognized the need for performance support and want to implement it in your organization, but where to begin? What factors should you take into consideration? What resources are required? Where should you first deploy the solution? Across which business processes? These questions and more will be addressed in this session.

This session will take attendees through a proven performance support methodology to identify what elements need to be in place, and how to get them there, in order to deploy a successful performance support solution. You will learn from the experience of numerous performance support projects from various sectors. In this session, you will learn the most important factors for a successful performance support implementation, how much time should be allocated for content development, how many content developers you will need, which stakeholders should be involved in the project, and how to bring them to the table.

In this session, you will learn:

• What is required to implement a performance support methodology into your organization for successful adoption
• Which departments and resources should be included in planning for performance support
• How to select the right process to begin
• How to kick-start performance support in your organization when you return from this conference

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
N/A

Performance support can be a powerful addition to an organization’s learning and performance ecosystem as it is tasked with delivering more content in less time. Well-designed performance support solutions provide task-based information in a layered approach for intuitive fingertip access to specific resources at the performer’s moment of need. But how do you really design for the moment of apply?

In this session, you will learn why designing for the moment of apply requires a new way of thinking and a new way of working. You will explore a new instructional design methodology, EnABLE, and how this methodology supports designing for the moment of apply. You will also see examples of performance support utilizing the performance support pyramid concept.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the EnABLE instructional methodology
• How to get started mapping moments of apply in the workflow
• About the performance support pyramid
• How to design the performance support pyramid for a task
• From several performance support examples

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Performance support solutions.

Preparing to implement a performance support process requires forethought and planning, but it doesn’t need to be daunting or overwhelming. In this session, we will explore ways you can prepare for a successful implementation and share real-world examples of how outlining the right steps beforehand will ensure the best outcome. 

Business moves fast. Does your learning team struggle to keep up sometimes? Are you being left out of the loop when updates are made to business tools and processes? Are you leveraging all available tools to keep the knowledge gap as small as possible? Time Warner Cable has a great relationship with its business partners, but these were all questions that it couldn’t answer the way it wanted to.

In this session, learn how a learning team of 18 supports 55,000 employees who change processes and tools continually. When people have questions outside of work, they turn to Google and YouTube; you can leverage the same technology to provide content to them while they are at work. In this session, you will learn a video framework and process to allow business process and tool subject matter experts (SMEs) to create and house their own training videos.

In this session, you will learn:

• Different processes to create video
• How to support SMEs so they can create video content
• How to create a toolkit for your learning team
• How to blend delivery methods (video and ILT/VILT)
• How video killed the paper-based training star

Audience:
Novice designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
KZO (a video platform), Captivate, and Articulate Storyline.

Microlearning, ironically, is no small task. With so many different types of learning content and objectives, not all mobile-based learning experiences are created equal. Find out how to design a cohesive learning strategy—considering style, method, and content—when your canvas is limited to 160 characters.

Practice makes perfect, and acquiring a skill like installing a window is a perfect example of skill development that requires practice. Since the demise of Flash, due in part to the birth of mobile learning, eLearning developers have been looking for ways to create cost-effective, immersive, game-based mobile content that speeds up skill development. In this session, attendees will get a chance to simulate installing a window on their own smartphones or tablets and see the possibilities.

Delivering mobile learning presents a challenge to any organization, given the smaller form factor and the fact that learners don’t want to stare at their screens for extended periods of time. This session will explain why microlearning (i.e., breaking information into bite-sized chunks) is the ideal partner for mobile.

What if you could make any of your current learning or training content into embedded performance support without making any changes to it? This session will demonstrate how any of your current learning or training content can be made contextually available in your enterprise applications as embedded performance support. You’ll see how using content that already exists, and making that available at a user’s moment of need, is simple and the fastest path to performance support.

Classroom clickers, or student response systems, have become high-demand classroom tools in schools, universities, and training programs across the country. St. John Ambulance has several very traditional in-class public courses that needed more whole-class engagement through mobile technology. The company couldn’t afford $100,000 to equip 26 branches with hard-wired clickers but instead sought to boost knowledge of the material, student engagement, and instructor comfort with a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solution.

In this case study session, you will learn how to select and implement mobile polling using a BYOD solution for public courses open to students from all walks of life. You’ll chart a path from concept to implementation, including finding a service, creating materials, training instructors, getting student buy-in, implementing in class, getting feedback, and reacting to feedback. Additionally, you will learn about the challenges St. John faced with a BYOD solution, such as training instructors and gaining their buy-in.

In this session, you will learn:

• About benefits and challenges of the BYOD solution
• How to integrate a polling app into the classroom
• How to implement BYOD in public courses
• About gaining instructor buy-in
• About training instructors
• About measuring the success of the BYOD solution

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Polling applications.

You have been hearing about the 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 the 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 the 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 the xAPI is
• How you can use the xAPI in any HTML file
• How to send over xAPI statements to any LRS
• How to capture user information
• About other data you can track in the xAPI

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
The xAPI, HTML basics, and JavaScript basics.

Technology Required:
HTML text editor, such as Sublime Text.

In the 21^st century, it’s increasingly challenging to keep people engaged in content. Today’s learning professionals must employ new technologies to influence and change attitudes and behavior. Interactive video is one of those technology solutions that the market is gravitating toward, and for good reason. However, there are many different solutions out there, and not all are created equal. When instructional designers and eLearning professionals are selecting technology for their programs, where should they begin?

In this session, you will learn about the different types of interactive video that are in the marketplace today, their features and benefits, and applied use cases. You will explore how different interactive video technologies define and deliver interactive, personalized, and more relevant content as a way to drive deeper learning, engagement, data, and insights. You will examine case studies that show these new technologies and approaches in practice with both employee and customer audiences. You will leave this session understanding the potential of the different interactive video technologies out there that can be realized in your organization.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the top interactive video solutions in today’s marketplace and how they are different from one another
• From examples and case studies employing the different interactive video solutions available today
• What the most important questions are when researching and choosing an interactive video solution specifically for employee learning, consumer education, and storytelling
• How interactive video and personalization drive better insights into your curricula and can increase user engagement and knowledge retention for multiple ROI scenarios

Audience:
Advanced designers, developers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Commercial interactive video products (e.g. YouTube, Interlude, Rapt Media, HapYak) and DIY interactive video solutions.

Employees learn many of their job competencies from one another. But it’s hard for a manager to know what they’re learning, from whom, and how well they’ve learned it. These informal interactions are almost impossible to track, and it’s hard to keep bad habits from spreading. If managers had a way to track and guide this informal learning, it would become a powerful part of employee development.

In this session, you’ll learn how to use mobile devices and applications to shape peer-to-peer knowledge sharing into a structured development program. You’ll learn how to use mobile applications to assign individual learning paths for each employee, match them up with peers who help them learn, remind them of best practices, validate their new competencies, and track their accomplishments. You’ll learn how to set up a program, get it started, and incorporate it into your other training efforts. You’ll hear about two real-world examples: onboarding new employees and training a sales team.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to use mobile to manage peer-to-peer learning
• How to easily create individual informal learning paths for employees
• How to match peers who can share knowledge with one another
• How to validate what employees have learned in the field
• How to track employees’ accomplishments
• How to incorporate existing formal training into your program

Audience:
Novice to advanced project managers and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Smartphones, tablets, laptops, and applications including calendars, to-do lists, and Pract.us—a web application for informal learning management.

Mobile learning has tremendous value, but for many organizations, going mobile is a big step. That’s why, when trying to develop a mobile learning culture within your organization, often the hardest part is convincing internal stakeholders. Amid budget constraints, complex infrastructures, IT restrictions, and philosophical misalignment, how do you make a compelling case for mLearning within your organization?

In this session, you’ll learn how to overcome the first major obstacle to implementing a mobile learning solution: gaining organizational buy-in. You will be provided concrete strategies for how to manage stakeholders and tackle common points of resistance. Through the examination of a series of mobile case studies and success stories, you’ll leave with a tangible action plan for how to make a compelling business case for mobile learning within your organization. This is a must-attend for anyone who considers themselves a champion for mobile within their organization, but who needs help building momentum and urgency to act.

In this session, you will learn:

• Strategies for managing internal stakeholders
• How to create a use case and business case for going mobile
• About typical pain points and forms of resistance to mobile, internally
• How to develop an action plan for obtaining your first mobile learning solution

Audience:
Sales managers, L&D directors, and senior project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Mobile phones and tablets.

Optical character recognition (OCR) technology can take your magazine article, brochure, or PDF, single out letters on the image, and put them into words, enabling you to access and edit the content. Similarly, facial recognition software breaks down an image and can provide data related to gender, age, and ethnicity. Couple these with interior location technology, and you have the potential for powerful organizational learning opportunities.

In this session, you will explore an in-depth case study on an augmented reality (AR) application that handles OCR, facial detection, and microlocation (interior) wayfinding. You will learn the basics of image processing and the difference between off-the-shelf and custom AR solutions. Finally, you will experience a hardware and software demonstration and get a chance to try out the solution.

In this session, you will learn:

• How advanced AR development differs from off-the-shelf solutions
• About the intricacies of crafting custom AR
• About basic image processing
• About advanced custom AR software through a demonstration

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Augmented reality, optical character recognition, numerical masks, facial detection, and local wayfinding.

Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) has emerged as a cost-effective solution, allowing organizations to adopt an mLearning approach without having to provide the devices. What are the concerns of BYOD, and how can you address them? What are the opportunities for BYOD? What are the key elements to consider when deploying mobile learning for a BYOD environment? BYOD offers employees and corporations countless business benefits, from increased efficiency to controlled costs on provisioning a mobile workforce.

This session will review the concerns and opportunities for BYOD in mobile learning. You will learn about BYOD policies, view examples, and learn about the importance of working with your IT department to ensure a successful BYOD mLearning program. You will also explore key elements to consider when deploying mobile learning for a BYOD environment. And finally, you will learn about BYOD mobile learning policies and how to implement them.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the concerns for BYOD in mobile learning
• About key elements to consider when deploying mobile learning for a BYOD environment
• About BYOD mobile learning policies and how to implement them
• About the opportunities for BYOD in mobile learning

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Mobile learning on phones and tablets.

What’s the best camera for a shoot? The definitive answer is, the one you have with you.?The ubiquity of the mobile camera means that when you’re in the presence of great instructional content, it can become video in seconds, multiplying the opportunities for eLearning developers to capture content. In addition, viewers are developing a special respect for authentic-looking video—footage that looks raw, real, and genuine. Many training videographers have moved to iPhones as their main production equipment, even on high-production-value shoots. eLearning developers are poised to profit from this stylistic convention.

In this session, participants will learn important strategies for capturing great content on their cellphones and, more importantly, will come away empowered to hit that record button anytime and anywhere when seeking new eLearning content. We’ll discuss the physical challenges of cell phone cameras and microphones; solutions to those challenges; conducting interviews through mobile phone recording; and leveraging the authentic look of mobile video to engage learners.  

In this session, you will learn:

• How to identify features of authentic-looking video content
• How to understand the technical challenges of the camera and microphone of your camera
• How to compensate for the mobile phone’s recording equipment
• How to conduct informal, genuine interviews with experts via cell phone recording
• The aspects of the image and sound which can be controlled with special camera apps

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Mobile devices.

Technology Required:
A smartphone that can shoot video.

Have you ever watched television? If so, you understand the seductive power of video and its ability to engage and sustain our interest. Video can deliver vast amounts of information with phenomenal efficiency. The problem, however, is that video is a one-way medium. Learners remain passive and cannot participate in the rich interactions present in the traditional classroom, which increase both conceptual learning and learning transfer.

In this session, you will learn seven techniques that convert your standard training video into an immersive, integrative learning experience. These techniques include virtual audiences, immersive interactions, embedded LearningLinks, subject-sensitive branching, and community integration. Learn techniques that work together to create a powerful learning experience that can sustain audience interest and increase the chance that your employees will learn and transfer that learning into their daily tasks. You will also examine data showing how interactive video provides greater retention and transfer than either text or standard video technologies.

In this session, you will learn:

• Seven techniques that can make traditional videos more effective through the use of interaction
• How you can retrofit these interactions into your existing videos
• How interactive video techniques produce the highest retention rates in both short- and long-term memory
• How interactive video can produce the greatest transfer of learning

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Video samples.

Text expansion is an inherent challenge with localizing any content. Accommodating the additional scripts or subtitles poses different technical and content challenges than do traditional eLearning courses developed using authoring tools.

In this session, you’ll learn strategies to alleviate—or better plan for—this expansion. You will explore the difference between captions and subtitles and how that can affect your on-screen real estate. Finally, you will learn to plan for increased audio running time when developing your video content and filming.

In this session, you will learn:

• To manage text expansion
• To manage audio expansion
• To manage on-screen text localization
• To plan for subtitles and captioning
• To plan for increased audio time for narration

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
MP4, WAV, and Flash.

Increasingly, companies must use innovate ways to add to the bottom line. Unlike previous disrupters in mobile and eLearning, Gear VR, powered by Oculus, takes video experiences to the next level. Where does virtual reality fit into an organizational learning strategy? How does an organization effectively move forward to maximize its capability?

In this session, you will learn about a recent Oculus-based learning initiative: what worked, what the results were, and how the strategy aligned to the company’s needs. You will be able to better determine where and why virtual reality is most effective. You will see on-the-job applications and learn how to apply strategic and tactical tips for creating virtual reality training. Discover why the Gear VR is much more than just a cool gadget.

In this session, you will learn:

• Strategic and tactical tips for creating virtual reality training
• Where and why virtual reality is most effective
• Why the Gear VR is much more than just a cool gadget
• About results of a recent Oculus-based learning initiative

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Gear VR, powered by Oculus.

Performance on leadership development competencies, like coaching, influencing, and speaking skills, has an ineffable quality difficult to capture in words. If you want to explain what’s great and what to work on while evaluating participants, you or they will miss something in the translation from behavior to observation to words on a page.

In this session, you’ll see how pictures can be worth a thousand words at 15 frames per second. Learn how Domino’s uses low-res mobile device video to capture behavior in simulations and actual performance situations, then distributes it as feedback to the participants and their supervisors and coaches. See how performances are incorporated into learning experiences as models. You’ll also learn how to use inexpensive, readily available devices to capture performance, and ways to integrate the results into software you are already using. Finally, you’ll get scoring templates you can use to assess soft skill performance.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to use video to assess and improve soft skills
• How to set up team members to successfully capture usable video
• Tips on efficient workflows for capturing and processing video
• Ways to incorporate video into learning experiences
• Effective ways to quantify and evaluate performance with checklists and notes

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Tablets (iPad and Windows 10), Swivl app, Camera 365 app, and Adobe Premiere.

Concise visual metaphors facilitate the best learning. Think back to high school, college, or a meeting where you experienced that “aha” moment while someone was drawing on a whiteboard. How can you reproduce this learning experience online with a small budget and without an art degree? Whiteboard-style recordings can be just as effective as the fancy Flash or HTML5 videos you might produce with more expensive software.

In this session, you will learn about the complete life cycle of a virtual whiteboard video, from designing, recording, and narrating to editing and publishing. If you’re simply trying to teach your learners about an important concept or process in five or 10 minutes, then a virtual whiteboard approach offers a great option. These days, a range of drawing and production tools are available for tablets, and most are inexpensive and have a minimal learning curve. You’ll quickly see that you don’t need to be an artist; you just require some creativity, patience, and imagination.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to design and storyboard a whiteboard video
• About different live drawing techniques
• How to use a tablet to record your drawing
• How to combine, speed up, and narrate videos
• How to include transitions, text, and other special effects

Audience:
Novice designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
iOS and Android tablets, DoodleCast Pro, Drawing Box, Draw and Show, Apple iMovie, and Windows Movie Maker.

Undefined business processes, untested and incomplete systems, continually changing requirements, and scope creep—sound familiar? One or all of these conditions can wreak havoc on a project and cause it to continue on well past its targeted end date. How do you develop content for a project that continually evolves? How do you maximize limited resources under these conditions? How do you survive the project that never seems to end?

In this session, you will learn how developing content using an agile design process and performance support can help you survive the never-ending project. You will learn how strategically positioned performance support can ease timing and maintenance concerns. You will discover strategies for being agile in your design and development process that will help you quickly mobilize resources during crunch time. These strategies will ensure you meet and exceed your customer’s expectations.

In this session, you will learn:

• How developing content using an agile design process and performance support can help you survive the never-ending project
• How strategically positioned performance support can ease timing concerns
• How discreet pieces of content reduce maintenance time and increase reuse of content
• Strategies for being agile in your design and development process that will help you quickly mobilize resources during crunch time

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced project managers and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Ontuitive’s solutions.

This session addresses learning designers’ challenges with determining which type of performance support is suitable for a given audience, their role, and the tools they have access to in their work environment. At the Bank of Montreal, access to technology-based performance support varies widely and affects how learning and transfer materials can be designed.

In this session, you will explore some challenges faced in particular learning programs, with examples of solutions and lessons learned. The recommendations and examples in this session come from the presenter’s experience designing and assessing corporate learning programs, as well as tips from recent evidence-based research by leading learning experts. Through scenarios and successes from real cases, you will take away practical suggestions for use in your own design practices.

In this session, you will learn:

• Best practices for conducting a thorough needs assessment for performance support
• About obstacles to anticipate
• Key questions to ask before proposing a solution
• Ideas for making the most of the tools available to your audience

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Electronic files, interactive electronic files, on-screen performance support, and other electronic performance support.

Mobile is happening. These days, the question isn’t whether you should be going mobile, it’s whether your project should lead with mobile or whether mobile should be the companion. There is a difference between designing a mobile-first and an (insert other technology here)-first project—a difference that flips your project strategy on its head.

This session will cover, step by step, the process Maestro strategists took in deciding to develop a partner’s project mobile-first. Topics covered will include brain research, adult learning patterns, and a user-centric approach, among other things. You will leave with the ability to determine in which situations leading mobile-first would be most beneficial and how to strategically approach a mobile-first project.

In this session, you will learn:

• About advantages and disadvantages of a mobile-first approach
• How one company approached a mobile-first project and succeeded
• About frameworks to help you design a mobile-first approach
• Why it’s OK to say no to a mobile-first approach

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
iPhone and iPad.

Photoshop is arguably the most widely used tool for creating images in learning circles. However, if the images aren’t optimized, they can delay the delivery of the content to a mobile device. Photoshop also has a number of new features built in, and these features can assist in improving images from good to excellent.

In this session, you will learn how to “punch up” the brilliance of images taken with a digital camera or cell phone. You will also learn how to fix flaws often found in images, such as straightening a tilted image. Finally, you will find out how to create 3-D images within Photoshop so as not to rely on third-party tools.

In this session, you will learn:

• To adjust the brilliance of a digital picture
• To create a panorama
• To optimize an image for mobile delivery
• To create 3-D text in a flat image
• To create a 3-D globe

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Adobe Photoshop.

Technology Required:
Photoshop, preferably less than a year old.

Free tools like Flurry Analytics and the xAPI can reveal important characteristics about how individuals learn while on the job, and they can help managers and course developers make design and technology decisions to best suit the needs of their end users. With thoughtful analytics implementation, derived from performance improvement plans and learning goals, managers can better understand what aspects of their course were successful and understand early where the learning gaps appear.

In this session, you will learn how Tech 2000 and Comstor used a mix of Flurry Analytics and the xAPI to make more informed instructional design and technology decisions based on mobile app usage in the field and learner behavior in their LMS. You will learn how the team set up its Lumious instance, the importance of creating a measurement plan, how to use personas to help segment behavior data, how to set up tracking for specific behavioral events, and how to use all this data to engage learners in their own performance improvement.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to use the xAPI and Flurry Analytics to promote mobile learner course engagement
• How users navigate your online course and enablement material, where they drop off, and how to re-engage them
• How to track specific course events like video completions or clicks on interactive graphics
• How to design xAPI recipes to segment behavior data for analysis
• How to create a measurement plan that maps back to course learning objectives
• How to better understand the demographics and geographic locations of your learners

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Flurry Analytics, the xAPI, and Totara LMS.

Technology Required:
Internet access and a web browser.

With the release of the “granite” version of cmi5, the next generation of SCORM has finally arrived. To take advantage of cmi5, you will need a new tool set in your development kit. First, you need to know how to send xAPI statements that conform to the cmi5 specification. Then you need to know how to read and write to the xAPI State and Agent services following the cmi5 rules.

In this session, you will learn how to develop cmi5-compatible content without waiting for the “rapid development” authoring tools to catch up. You will see an example cmi5 assignable unit, including free source code that you can use as the basis of your projects. You will learn the difference between “cmi5 defined”? statements and “cmi5 allowed” statements, showing examples of when each type of statement should be used. You will also learn which properties in the xAPI State document contain rules that must be followed by your cmi5 content.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to send cmi5 statements using JavaScript
• The difference between “cmi5 allowed” and “cmi5 defined” statements
• How the xAPI State document provides rules your content must follow
• About free source code that you can use in your cmi5 projects

Audience:
Advanced developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
HTML, JavaScript, the xAPI, and cmi5.

Mobile learning is one component in a whole learning ecosystem. Many organizations have discovered what does not work: simply pushing existing content out to mobile as though it were merely an infrastructure. To design and deliver effective mobile learning requires a new design mindset: a mindset for mobile. This will help the organization adapt its approach to truly unlock the power of mobile learning.

In this session, you will learn how mobile learning can be both engaging and effective, and how you need a holistic design approach to achieve that. You will explore how mobile fits into social lives and what you can learn from that about how to use it in formal learning. You will also learn about what doesn’t work. The session will use a learning methodology to work through two case studies, exploring how design decisions for mobile affect engagement and effectiveness.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to successfully implement mobile learning within your organization
• About the importance of a design methodology to achieve success
• To rehearse design approaches through two case studies
• How to integrate social and storytelling approaches around mobile
• To consider the use of game dynamics and game mechanics in the learning design

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Knowledge technologies, sense-making technologies, storytelling technologies, and emerging wearable technologies.

mLearning has been on the radar for a few years now, but many organizations are still getting started. And that’s a vulnerable position; there are a number of mistakes that are easy to repeat if you haven’t been paying attention and really gotten steeped in the possibilities. Further, the field is changing rapidly. Yet with some basic models that help you “think different,” you’re ready to take advantage.

This session will lay out frameworks that will help you recognize the real opportunities mobile has. Working from both principle and pragmatics, you’ll explore the potential in ways that prepare you to adapt to the changes. You’ll learn about common barriers that can trip you up, and you’ll leave with principles, tips, and examples. You will gain the framework to develop your plan to get started with mLearning.

In this session, you will learn:

• About core mobile affordances
• About new mobile opportunities
• About common mobile mistakes
• Practical tips for mobile success

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Smartphones, tablets, HTML5, apps, and wrapped apps.

Most instructional designers have experience creating storyboards prior to developing eLearning solutions. The storyboarding process enables the designer to work through a concept and test various ways of structuring content. Storyboards are also used to communicate design concepts to eLearning developers when working in teams to build training solutions.

In this session, you will learn how the design process is similar and different for mobile. You will learn to apply a step-by-step approach to mobile design and the common approaches to creating design documents that translate well in a mobile environment. This approach may be incorporated into some existing storyboard processes. Yet, you will likely change the way you view design for all forms of eLearning!

In this session, you will learn:

• About the differences between traditional eLearning design and a mobile design approach
• Practices to create a mobile sketch
• To develop a simple wireframe using standard templates and tools
• About mockup tools to help you test and demonstrate your design’s functionality

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
A variety of mobile design tools to support everything from wireframing to mockups.

Skill training in first aid had changed little since the Knights of St. John formalized the process in the 11^th century. The focus had been on in-class demonstrations, in-class practice, and paper-based exams, and students updated their skills only every three years. Fast forward to 2016; people aren’t learning that way anymore. So how do you transform hundreds of years of subject matter expertise into a 21^st-century learning solution? Follow St. John Ambulance’s journey from inspiration at mLearnCon 2014 to leaping forward to embrace evolution through mobile learning.

In this session, see how the St. John team navigated internal and external resistance to bring about significant change in how the company designs, develops, presents, and evaluates first aid training. Learn how today it is creating learning experiences that would not be possible without mobile technologies; the organization has enhanced in-class and mobile learning sessions with video and had life-saving video go viral. Finally, see how, through mobile technologies, St. John has extended performance support far beyond the classroom.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to overcome internal and external resistance
• How to craft mobile learning experiences
• Strategies to get started with mobile learning and performance support

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Moodle LMS, low-cost tablets, polling applications, and portable video.

Video can be an effective tool for workplace learning. In the past, producing video required sophisticated cameras, lighting, and editing equipment. Today, almost anyone can produce video, but the challenge is how to do so effectively, with sufficient quality, and on a limited budget.

In this session, you will learn of approaches to video production that work and gain an understanding of the overall production process. You will learn how to streamline production with effective up-front planning and how to use a variety of online and common desktop tools to produce the visual assets needed. You will also learn how to address the three critical issues of lighting, stability, and sound.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to effectively plan your video production
• How to focus videos for maximum effectiveness
• How and why to write scripts rather than “wing it”
• Why voiceover can make your videos more effective
• How to use tools you already have to create visual assets
• About inexpensive solutions related to the three key issues of stability, lighting, and sound

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Video editing software, microphones, video cameras, and smartphones.

Video is the go-to medium in society, and it can be a valuable tool for delivering performance support and training. Most companies are searching for metrics to evaluate the impact of learning content produced, including videos, and asking learning teams to demonstrate ROI: Does their content produce measurable benefits? Which design techniques result in the best content? Without being able to successfully leverage analytics, learning teams cannot answer.

In this session, you will explore a real example of how analytics information was leveraged to demonstrate the benefits of learning content (specifically, YouTube performance support videos) to an organization and drive informed decisions on content creation within the learning development team. Throughout this case study, you will also brainstorm and discuss the important starting questions of any analysis, how to move beyond reporting the stats from your content management system, and why comparing content at the same benchmarks to improve design is critical.

In this session, you will learn:

• Which types of metrics are available in YouTube Analytics
• Techniques to benchmark content analytics for comparisons
• Ways to leverage your platform’s analytics systems to determine your contents’ ROI
• How to leverage free commercial business intelligence tools to help with your analysis
• How to tie measured analytics to evaluating content success

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
YouTube channels, YouTube Analytics, Google Analytics, Microsoft Excel, and business intelligence tools.

For trainers or educators who need to stay relevant and maintain their creative edge, a fundamental knowledge of basic video production and editing is essential. Creating effective, professional-quality video training for delivery on multiple devices, including smartphones and tablets, presents a variety of design challenges that require specialized planning with attention to image composition, duration, script writing, recording methods, and editing techniques.

In this session, you’ll learn the basics of designing video training from concept to delivery. The session will cover how to choose and use the right audio and video hardware and editing software. It will also cover simple tips and techniques for planning, writing, composing, shooting, lighting, and using green screens for studio and field production to produce professional results on limited budgets, and how your video can be repurposed for web and broadcast delivery. This session may also fill in gaps you have when it comes to creating effective video specifically for training.

In this session, you will learn:

•  How to optimize video productions for multiple device delivery
•  How to create a professional-quality product with limited resources
•  Tips on writing specifically for video training
•  Tips on basic production techniques
•  Tips on single-camera techniques and video effects

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Consumer- and professional-level camcorders, microphones, tripods, editing software, green screens, lights, and delivery media; this includes Adobe Premier Pro, Sony NX70 Camcorder, and iPhone.

Finding ways to make learning “stick” with technology is always a challenge. Augmented reality (AR) is one of those “make it stick” technologies. With AR, you enable students to interact with the world using their mobile devices. This can improve their understanding of lessons through direct interaction with the objects around them. Now add video to AR projects, and you’ve combined a popular medium of instruction with cutting-edge tech.

This session will define and compare augmented reality and virtual reality (VR). It will explore several existing AR solutions (apps) capable of using interactive video that are free to use. There are many apps available to use, but not all are easy to integrate with interactive video. The session will outline the types of video that work best when developing AR solutions, including capture/creation suggestions. You will also see several project ideas and plans (with examples you can take with you) that can help ensure a successful AR project with interactive video.

In this session, you will learn:

• Which AR apps work best for interactive video
• The difference between AR and VR and why it’s important to distinguish between the two
• How to save your video for the best interactive AR results
• From an interactive AR example using the Aurasma AR development tools and app
• To prepare multiple ideas to use for an AR interactive video project

Audience:
Intermediate designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
iDevices (iPhone, iPad) and Android mobile devices (Galaxy, tablets); augmented reality apps and their associated cloud-based development tools; and video conversion tools (cloud- and desktop-based).

Capturing intellectual property has become imperative as more employees job hop or retire, taking the company “secret sauce” with them. L&D pros need to adopt efficiencies for SME video interviews in order to leverage their wisdom for state-of-the-art knowledge transfer.

In this session, you will learn new techniques for interviewing SMEs that leverage their words of wisdom for interactive simulations, bringing their war stories to life for unforgettable learning. You will also learn how to record video interviews with anyone in the world from your desktop. Takeaways include tips and tricks for using free, easy recording tools and a new time-saving video-indexing technology.

In this session, you will learn:

• Interview techniques informed by classic drama to increase the potency of teaching moments within simulations
• How to quickly index content for on-demand learning
• The beauty, value, and versatility of granular reusable learning objects

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Skype, Evaer, and Panopto.

The performance support industry has been searching for a true “blended learning” solution for years and has fallen short because it has been about blending training only. That has limited instructors’ impact and reach beyond the classroom, leaving them to be seen as event-based only.

In this session, you will learn how to move from blended training to true blended learning. You’ll explore how performance support can be a powerful addition to the classroom experience, one that frees the instructor to do what they do best: remediate, model, and provide feedback. Learn how it also helps them extend their impact beyond the classroom in amazing ways, helping them prove true ROI related to the classroom.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to redesign the classroom to incorporate PS
• About an enablement model, rather than a dependent knowledge-based one
• How to measure learning’s impact before and after class
• To better understand the new role of the trainer in this new model

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, directors, and senior leaders.

Technology discussed in this session:
Ontuitive, Panviva, AskDelphi, and Ancile.

Moments after a performance support solution has been introduced, it is quite possible that it contains irrelevant or inaccurate information due to the constant state of change businesses are experiencing in technology, policy, and process. A core tenet of performance support is that it is immediately helpful. Often, it takes just one irrelevant or inaccurate experience to cause a user to abandon a performance support solution permanently.

In this session, you will learn strategies and tactics to help you successfully plan for and implement a sustainment strategy for your performance support solutions, including the areas of design and development, business process, roles and resources, and governance. Learn how the successful sustainment of a performance support solution starts with careful planning and continues through thoughtful management, sound business process, and effective governance until the end of the solution’s life span, often measured in years.

In this session, you will learn:

• Tips for designing solutions that are easier to sustain
• How to develop a long-term business process focused on sustainment
• About roles and resources necessary for effective sustainment
• Concepts to establish a governance model that supports sustainment

Audience:
Intermediate designers, project managers, and directors.