In the age of social media explosion, what about the community experience when it comes to online learning? Here’s an article that covers everything!

Turn Your Training into Collective Learning Experiences

The strength of your team can make all the difference!

Did you know that 70% of skills are acquired on the job, while only 10% comes from formal training? ⁽¹⁾ The reasoning is simple: we absorb knowledge better by interacting with peers and sharing experiences. Online learning offers many ways to foster this environment, known as “social learning.” Here are a few examples!

Highlight Challenges

The success of collaborative platforms proves this every day. When we encounter a problem, we search the internet for someone who has faced a similar situation, see how they solved it, and apply it independently. Leverage this principle in your training by focusing on the challenges your teams encounter and offering learners several solutions to choose from. The solution chosen by the field team is then presented with feedback.

Go into the Field

Another relevant tool to reinforce learning is to have learners progress on two fronts: online and at their workplace, in collaboration with their team. For example, you can choose a hybrid model where teams have the chance to meet in the field to practice their newly acquired skills and create an environment that fosters exchange.

Ask for Help from Colleagues

Social learning can easily be brought to life in an online world by creating mentors who are available to give cues as the training progresses so that learning is done from the experience of peers. The learner then analyzes the relevant information from these tips and applies it to their situation, just as they would in the field.

Collaborate

In the age of online gaming, collaboration is right at your fingertips for your training needs. Even if they’re thousands of kilometres apart, your teams can meet on a server to accomplish one or more missions together. Shared knowledge and advice promotes the development of collective intelligence.

Plant and Collect Clues

Difficulties should be seen as a valuable and sharable asset ! Applications like Geocaching, for example, encourage members to share difficulties in finding a marker by giving clues to make the experience easier for the rest of the community. Applied to your training, this concept translates into options for sharing experiences, whether in a forum, directly in the modules, or in any other form you can invent!

Social learning not only offers a better environment for your learners, but it also gives you a fantastic opportunity to receive relevant real-time feedback. Your training teams can then update and enhance the content to further improve the customer experience—something we prioritize here at pardeux^®.

⁽¹⁾ Model 70/20/10 – Wikipédia

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has so many applications that it can be overwhelming to navigate. In this article, you’ll find some ideas for how AI can be used in your online training, keeping in mind that the possibilities are nearly limitless. 

Unleashing the Power of AI

Enhancement, optimization, or skill reduction? 

With its ability to analyze and create content in mere milliseconds, AI has transformed our relationship with knowledge in all fields. While some find it intimidating, viewing it as a substitute for human thought, this advancement offers truly remarkable alternatives that enhance user experience and boost employee engagement with online training. 

Analyze and Synthesize Content 

When creating online training, content development must follow a preliminary analysis. It’s not uncommon for our clients to have extensive documentation, sometimes coming from different departments. AI tools can help process this content by synthesizing and organizing relevant information, saving you time. The technology can also highlight redundant terms that need to be prioritized in the training. 

Personalize the Experience to Maintain Interest  

Just as schools use the theory of multiple intelligences⁽¹⁾ to create individualized teaching approaches, you can create profiles that are tailored to your target audience after having assessed their knowledge. These profiles allow for a fully personalized learning path that takes into account the criteria you consider important in your sector. For example, Learner A may need to complete all five modules of a course, while Learner B may only need to pass two specific parts due to their existing knowledge. 

Interaction with Chatbots 

These computer programs simulate human conversation, both written and spoken, which can support the goal of social learning. They assist learners who are struggling, whether it’s on a specific page where the agent is available anytime to answer a question or at the end of a section of the training, by suggesting topics to review based on their results. The technology can even offer customization of the helping avatar to strengthen the connection with the chatbot. 

Synthetic Voices: A Revolution for Accessibility 

Artificial intelligence is paving the way for more inclusive training than ever before. 
With applications like automatic voice translation, text-to-speech synthesis, and voice recognition that allows learners to respond verbally—analyzed in real time with immediate feedback—AI is transforming learning experiences. 

These innovations are powerful tools for making training more accessible to people with visual impairments, motor disabilities affecting the upper limbs, or dyslexia. 

A technological shift that should not be overlooked in creating truly inclusive learning environments. 

What’s more, voice generation helps bring characters to life. Imagine a historical figure speaking directly to you, sharing secrets or guiding you through a bygone era… Thanks to voice synthesis, the experience becomes vivid, engaging—even magical—especially in a learning context where fun and discovery go hand in hand. 

Predicting Success

As your teams use the training, trends emerge, and AI can predict potential success or challenges. These data points are transmitted in real time to a manager who can analyze any encountered difficulties and offer just-in-time interventions to support the learner. In this case, human intervention provides insights that a conversational agent might not be able to collect.

Use Responsibly 

Today, it’s our collective responsibility to remain vigilant about how we use these tools, as this technology is still in its early stages. Pay close attention to keeping humans at the centre of the learning process and make sure to clearly define how AI can benefit knowledge development.

To summarize, implementing technological tools like the ones mentioned is an integral part of developing online training. With the support of professionals, you can amplify your impact by offering more effective, personalized, and engaging content. So, go ahead and take the plunge—safely! 

At pardeux®, we work to ensure that the use of AI models promotes transparency, avoids bias, and protects our clients’ data. 

1. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences – Wikipédia 

This question actually raises several others!

• What is the primary goal of the training?
• Is it suited to the target audience?
• Are the distribution methods easily accessible and reliable on multiple devices?
• Is the pedagogical approach and learning experience intuitive, realistic, and based on real professional needs?

Evaluating Your eLearning Training

Identifying Needs

It’s well known: what isn’t identified can’t be measured. And what isn’t measured can’t be definitively labeled a success or failure.

Whether the goal is improving leadership performance, reducing errors in machinery operation, increasing customer satisfaction, or decreasing employee turnover, the first step is to pinpoint the problem. Is it a lack of knowledge, skills, or practice? Are the challenges related to the work environment or organization?

How can we accurately determine which topics the online training should focus on, and how can we verify that the training solution implemented has truly yielded results?

Understanding the Reality of the Target Audience

To act effectively, we must first understand: the individuals on the ground – those who make mistakes or forget essential actions – experience realities that cannot be ignored.

For a successful online training program, engaging and relevant methods are key. These are what captivate, motivate, and ensure a satisfying and effective learning experience.

Feedback, Support, and Continuous Improvement

Maximizing the impact of training requires key pedagogical and andragogical practices:
These elements optimize the training investment and guarantee maximum satisfaction for learners.

• Engaging learners in real-world situations
• Providing only the essentials – just enough, just in time
• Ensuring continuous updates to the content

Measuring Investment and Its Impact

There are many ways to evaluate training effectiveness.

Satisfaction surveys on content are common, but going further is essential:

• Are tasks being completed faster?
• Are there fewer errors?
• Are managers and colleagues making fewer corrections?
• Are behavioral changes observable?

Surprisingly, return on investment (ROI) is often overlooked. However, businesses must measure the real impact of their e-learning investment by comparing costs with tangible benefits.

A Strategic Investment 

Corporate training is a key investment in an organization’s health, productivity, employee well-being, community presence, and resilience to market fluctuations.

This investment in time and money is worth its weight in gold when objectives are clear, resources are optimized for effective and accessible training, and the desired improvements materialize.

So, has your training delivered on its promises?

As our tribute to Black History Month, we put the spotlight on 3 influential change makers and see what wisdom we can apply to make our eLearning more relevant to our culturally diverse audiences

Diversity is more subtle than you think and as training developers we are also contributing to the collective dialogue of inclusion and representation. We use storytelling, interactivity and pedagogy to engage and guide participants toward new ways of doing things or new ways of seeing the world. In fact, learning is a central element in all our lives. We collectively grow and change constantly through multiple channels: media, family, work, friends, and more. But are we tuning into a full spectrum of voices, or are we stuck on the same channel? The words diversity, inclusion and representation are words we hear, we embrace, but do we see how our own contribution matters? Perhaps we do, or perhaps it bears reminding, so for this Black History Month, we would like to highlight 3 champions of diversity and draw on their wisdom to help our eLearning promote a sense of belonging.

1. Storytelling: Spot the western narrative with Latoya Belfon

Being culturally diverse can be a very subtle challenge. Often an afterthought, or an “area of improvement” we always aim to be more inclusive… for the next project. Where exactly are we dropping the ball? Perhaps Latoya Belfon, anti-biased literature and education advocate, may have some insight to draw on. Named on the Top 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada in 2023, she reminds us to never underestimate the power of a story. But the western narrative can sometimes be very narrow. For instance, in many of our stories, we tell of the hero’s journey. The young, often male, individual who problem solves, draws lessons and emerges transformed. This is a distinctly western perspective. If you use scenario or case study-based learning, consider making the protagonist a group of individuals or a series of collective contributions to problem solving. This not only opens the possibility of representing many cultures and age groups, it shifts away from a narrower, individualistic triumph narrative.

2. Characters: Understand P.O.V with Regine Laurent

In most training, we use characters to help connect with the audience. And through these characters we infuse our projects with values. We probably don’t even know how we do it, but these characters can tacitly embody stereotypical archetypes. Regine Laurent, a Quebec youth advocate, sees firsthand how strongly our values influence our decisions and judgements. Through her work in youth protection, she notes that Black children are overrepresented, making up 30%of the cases. She says that this is largely due to the fact that immigrant family are misunderstood and misjudged. This causes confusion for those who see things differently. What lessons can we draw from Laurent’s observations? Perhaps when designing content, we should be more aware of our cultural lenses and avoid assuming a universal worldview. For example, having a black woman in a leadership role is a positive step, but rather than embodying a cultural cliché persona of the “strong and decisive” leader, she could reflect a more multi-dimensional personality that showcases a larger range of human experiences.

3. Representation: just ask what you are doing, says Malik Shaheed

One of the quick go-tos’ in building inclusive content is representation of culturally diverse people. So, are you doing it? Malik Shaheed, television host, pillar of hip hop and school commissioner, simply asks the question: “what are you doing to help black youth”. Growing up in Little Burgundy, he experienced first-hand the tight knit community support that helped him face the multiple challenges of reaching his goals. Today he advocates for black youth in schools. His unguarded tone changes the tippy toe vibe that is sometimes felt around diversity. Following his example, just ask yourself: are visible minorities well represented in our training? Do we have narrators with different accents? Do they occupy different job echelons and areas? Representation not only reaches broader audiences but also reflects of a larger world view.

Black History Month is a great reminder that as educators and designers it is our job to reach all our learners. It is also a reminder that creating meaningful content is a subtle art often unconsciously shaped by biases in our worldviews and values. Let the energy and insights of the Black History change makers ignite the small role we play in this broader dialogue of equity and inclusion.

Are you hesitating to invest in online training because its impact seems uncertain to you? Get into the habit of calculating the ROI of your training courses to make decisions with peace of mind.

The return on investment of online training or how to convert content into cold hard cash!

Identify the Problem

Your organization is facing a problem (point A), and you want to improve the situation. This could be a low number of inquiries about a specific topic, lost revenue due to inefficient product shelving, or internal time wasted due to a lack of information about a process. Whatever the issue, collect relevant indicators related to the situation you want to see improve (point B).

The Importance of Measurable Objectives

Analyzing the situation not only contributes to calculating ROI but also helps define your learning objectives. These objectives must prompt learners to take action—otherwise, their brains will remain in “observer mode” during your training. Back to ROI : precise, measurable objectives enable you to track the progress of your indicators. Work with your management control team, if needed, to determine the value of each indicator.

Consider Associated Costs

To continue your analysis, let’s now focus on the cost of your training. Start by considering course development costs. Be sure to also factor in indirect costs, such as the time your learners spend on the training, the time spent on administration and communication with your audience, and the time needed for LMS integration.

How to Evaluate the Qualitative Aspect of Online Training?

While they can’t always easily be included in ROI calculations, qualitative gains still contribute to the success of your project on a larger scale. Often tied to brand image, or resulting in better staff retention, improved internal communication, or stronger knowledge retention, qualitative objectives can be measured through satisfaction surveys or feedback forms.

Medium-term Follow-up

You shouldn’t expect changes within 24 hours of completing online training, but rather over a minimum period of 1 to 3 months. Set the maximum timeframe within which you expect to see change and continue monitoring your indicators to track the progress of the issue. Consider every identified benefit as something gained from the training. At the end of the set period, use the following calculation:

(gain – cost) x 100

Any ROI greater than 100% is proof that your training has found some measure of success.

While the process of calculating your return on investment may seem complicated at first glance, surround yourself with resourceful people within your company. Financial logic and the need for measurable results are truly key drivers for creating effective and relevant online training for your organization.

Goals, objectives, results, words that are common in the training vernacular, but do they hold the same importance for learners? Is understanding the intent of a training programme as important as retaining the content?

Objectives or Content : What Matters More to the Learner

Know your Target Audience

According to the McGill Journal of Education, sociodemographics surpass well-defined outcomes when it comes to predicting a successful training. In other words, it is factors such as gender, employment status, available time, and the professional category of the individual that play a far greater role in determining success.

Objectives : “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”

Basically, a learning objective is a tool for the learning specialist. The exercise of defining objectives brings rigor and a framework that serves as the basic structure for choosing and organizing content in the most optimal way. Following a course without objectives is a bit like going on a road trip without a GPS. You might make some wonderful discoveries, but you might also get pretty lost. Thus objectives, albeit less important to learners, remain a crucial tool in building a solid training road map.

Different Objectives for Different Purposes

The fact that objectives are less important to the learner than to the instructional designer doesn’t lessen their importance in gaining learner engagement. It bears highlighting that an objective can take many forms: it can be content oriented, or task-oriented or target a competency, and even a behaviour.

Looking back in the history of training design, the main objective of any training was to “understand” the content, sometimes at the expense of a connection to real-life applications.

The importance of real-life application of knowledge came as the field of training evolved. Interestingly, Bloom’s Taxonomy a well-known framework for writing action-oriented objectives, was presented in 1950 but only became popular in the new millennium with the arrival of e-learning. This tool helps training professionals articulate clear actions that demonstrate that knowledge transfer has occurred.

In parallel, competency-based approaches have also evolved in order to create a more direct connection between training and application. Examples of competencies include problem-solving, setting priorities, good communication skills, etc. Competency-based approaches have been introduced in youth education as a response to rising drop-out rates. While learning objectives may not be a priority for learners, they are shaping the very philosophy of learning and fostering more purposeful learning experiences.

Back Stage Pass

In the end, what really motivates an individual to follow a training? Well-thought-out objectives or the course content? You guessed it, it’s probably the content. And even as a success predictor, objectives are more like the stagehands and the sociodemographic profile of the learner the star. So why so much ado about nothing over objectives? Just like in theater, it’s what happens behind the scenes as much as front and center that make everything shine.

Embarking on an online course can be an exciting decision for some or a daunting step for others. It is however possible to avoid getting overwhelmed by following a methodical approach. So, let’s talk about ours, beginning with the preliminary evaluation phase.

Let’s Start at the Beginning! 

Before undertaking anything, build solid foundations.

It’s tempting to quickly jot down ideas for your e-learning course on paper and jump right into design mode. However, creating an effective and engaging online course means following several key steps to ensure the desired effect on your learners.

Needs

Let’s first clarify your needs. Why is this training necessary? It’s crucial to identify the specific problem we’re attempting to solve with the creation of a learning path. This helps you better understand why you want your staff or organization members to take this course, offering more refined insights into the contents to highlight.

Context

Now, let’s consider the environment in which the user experience will take place. Here, we’ll specify the LMS (Learning Management System) and user interface technologies, as well as identify what motivates or discourages your audience. Just like detectives, we want to know everything (existing training, specific needs, etc.) because this information will impact decisions related to the scripting, design, and integration of your content.

Personas

You know best about your target audience (and no, personas don’t represent the characters in your course, but rather your learners). This phase is essential to ensure the final product aligns with their mindset, technological habits, and socio-professional criteria. Not expecting your audience to be highly motivated? That’s not a problem! In fact, our teams need to know this to create an interface that will overcome this challenge.

Objectives

Once the preliminary analysis is completed, let’s move on to the outcomes you want to achieve. This exercise becomes easier when the target and environment are clearly defined, even if there are nuances and subtleties. The information you’ll provide helps our instructional designers define your learning objectives. This multi-faceted approach allows us to design a course that truly reflects your needs!

Creative Ideas That Come from You!

We’ve noticed that our clients are more comfortable brainstorming when they have a clear direction, which is what we aim to provide with the preliminary analysis! So, at the risk of repeating ourselves, yes, taking the time to lay the foundation of your course is the best way to ensure success in this exciting journey.

Now that we’ve cleared up the concept of preliminary analysis, we invite you to select the members who could make up your internal team. To this panel representative, we recommend including training specialists, content experts, as well as end users. This is undoubtedly the winning trio for a successful training course!

Discover the perfect formula that allows you to immerse yourself in a task to the point of forgetting the world around you.

3 Ingredients in an Optimal Learning Experience

Imagine someone completely immersed in a learning task. At the beginning, there is some hesitation, some trial and some error, but slowly, the outside world melts away and their knowledge naturally aligns itself to resolve, create and complete the challenge. The individual is completely absorbed. This state of harmony is what Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls flow. In learning terms, it is the optimal learning experience.

Magic Formula

Often described by musicians and athletes, this state of complete harmony is full of valuable insights for designing and calibrating truly engaging training programs. By unpacking the elements of flow, Csíkszentmihályi advances that the zone of optimal learning is at the exact point where an individual’s skill can meet a given challenge. Too easy, they get bored, too hard they get discouraged. Stating the obvious? Perhaps, but in digging into the subtleties of how this is achieved, several leverage points can help intensify the relevance and clarity of the learning experience.

1 : Connect with your Audience

Imagine a trainer preparing a session for new managers. Instead of beginning the training with basic concepts, a question is asked: “Can you think of a person who truly inspired you”? To create an optimal learning experience, one of the first things to set the stage is to connect to the audience by leveraging their previous knowledge as a foundation. No matter the subject or the complexity of the material, connecting with the individual following the training feeds a sense of security and belonging that is essential to building confidence.

2 : Calibrate your Challenges

The second crucial element in feeding motivation: create realistic challenges. So much easier said than done. Let’s take a child faced with the challenge of building a castle. Simply giving the instruction and emptying the box on the floor is likely to be overwhelming. However, if the first task is a door, then a tower and then maybe the roof, the child will likely gain confidence with each success. The same goes for your audience. Start by understanding the real-life application, or in this case the result, and then structure instruction and exercises in smaller steps leading to the ultimate goal. Each step should be a project of its own, thus creating constant engagement and a sense of progress.

3 : Give Feedback

Interestingly, a significant portion of Csíkszentmihályi book focuses on feedback—almost to the point of wondering if the feedback is more crucial than the content itself. He gives a fascinating example of WWII prisoners who, to stay intellectually and emotionally stimulated, would recall poems, and stanza by stanza, would teach each other the texts. Here the mechanism of feedback is quite subtle and so very humane: by hearing themselves say the words they could validate their knowledge. Then, the active listening of the other prisoner would reinforce the feeling of competence and connection. Each new stanza would feel like progress even under conditions of isolation, malnutrition, violence and the total absence of freedom.

Adaptive Difficulty

Today, far from that time, the notion of optimal learning (or challenge) is at the heart of the video game industry. This notion has no doubt directly or indirectly influenced the development of AI-generated “adaptive difficulty”. For example, in the games Resident Evil 4 and Mario Kart, the level of difficulty will adapt itself to the skill level of the various users. As a result, user skill, precise calibration and feedback happen in milliseconds. This is yet another example of how AI can also be an ally in learning.

Just like the new manager feeling like their knowledge matters, the child building a castle step by step and the prisoner hanging onto intellectual stimulation to survive, the experience of “flow,” and harmony in learning, is so very potent. Becoming aware of the dynamics that underpin this state can guide us toward creating sharper, more captivating learning experiences. By putting together the three main ingredients—connect with your audience, calibrate challenges and give timely feedback—you have the formula for learning experiences infused with what we can call HI “human intelligence”.

What is this e-learning approach?

It’s an interactive learning experience that puts the learners in an immersive learning situation. They are called upon to explore different situations, make decisions and see the results of these decisions.

Situations where the possibility of making a mistake could be costly or dangerous for oneself or others are especially well-served in a branching scenario context. Therefore, learning takes place in a completely safe space.

How does it work?

Let’s say we have a training course on governance and ethics to produce. A more traditional linear training course would set out all the dos and don’ts, perhaps some statistics and recommendations.

In a branching scenario, learners are faced with someone offering them a bribe, or they have to choose to hire one of three candidates, one of which is their sister-in-law, for example.

They have to choose.

The feedback they receive (immediately or later) impacts their credibility, their reputation and even that of their company, depending on the series of choices they’ve made throughout the scenario.

They must then continue moving forward in their careers with these choices, seeing the impact of the series of decisions they make.

How does it impact learning?

Because of the interactivity and realistic immersion they present, branching scenarios provide learners with a high degree of engagement and motivation while the training is taking place.

Once training is over, the learning experience lingers long afterwards and comes back to mind if similar situations arise, ensuring a high degree of compliance with expected behaviors.

What does it require?

To be effective, this type of training must be closely lean on sound pedagogical objectives, present a high degree of realism with current situations, both in the choices presented, and in the feedback and consequences offered, with scenarios providing several pathways and varying endings from one person to another.

Ideally, learners are encouraged to try going through the situations again to see what would happen if other choices were to be made, thereby enhancing the anchoring of the notions to be learned.

What are the pitfalls or this approach?

Granted, developing training based on branching scenarios is more complex than developing more traditional training. That’s why it’s important not to overcomplicate the scenarios.

Other pitfalls to avoid include giving unrealistic feedback, over-simplifying it or not giving feedback at all, presenting characters whose behavior is inconsistent from one situation to the next, and not testing all possible avenues in the proposed pathways.

Because they are more complex and sometimes require longer development times, the branching scenario approach is more expensive to produce.

However, the response of the target audience and the quality of their learning are important factors to be considered in the decision, given the return on investment.

Most of the time, people don’t know what an instructional designer does. The short answer is that instructional designers design training programs for various companies. Usually, this answer satisfies curiosity, but it might be helpful to explain in more detail. So, in case you’re wondering too, here’s…

Instructional Designer? What is it?

Where andragogy, a company’s training needs, and technology come together.

Instructional design and andragogy have many points of intersection, particularly in optimizing adult learning.

Suppose you need to train your staff on the best way to provide outstanding customer service in your establishment. Several reasons lead you to choose online training.

Identifying Training Needs

The specific role of Instructional designer is to support you throughout this project.

We will ask you many questions about what your company does, the values it upholds, and what you want to see in terms of tangible results once the training is completed.

We will also work with you to create a profile of the people the training is intended for: who they are, what they know, what they lack, what they think, whether they have accessibility needs, what motivates them, etc.

We complement the preliminary analysis with a thorough understanding of the learning context of the individuals who will take the training: how much time they have, what devices they use to access the training, what resources are available, etc.

Targeting Learning Objectives

We then ensure that the objectives are clear, well-constructed, observable, and measurable.

It must be clear what people will be able to do.

Since the context is not that of a school, but rather a business, the learning objectives differ slightly from those used in the educational system. We focus on actions and behaviors, although objectives related to attitudes are also possible.

For example, in the case of your company, the objective will be to help employees adapt their interactions according to the type of clientele and in all circumstances.

Choosing the Approach and Activities

Based on the project’s budget parameters, we will propose a pedagogical approach that integrates the visual design (provided by our UX/UI designer colleagues!) and supports the learning experience.

In your case, a photo or video-based approach to demonstrate how to do things would be the most appropriate. Interactive activities for integration, discovery, and role-playing would complement the learning.

Determining Assessment Needs

We work with you to determine if you need to validate the mastery of the necessary skills at the end of the training, how the assessment should be conducted, and what it will focus on.

These assessments can take place online in the form of interactive quizzes or role-playing scenarios. They can also be administered in person by a supervisor who evaluates whether a customer is having a customer service experience that meets your company’s standards.

An Optimal Learning Experience

Whatever options you choose, technopedagogues always keep the learning experience of the person taking the training in mind.

Is it intuitive? Is it effective? Is it clear? Is it engaging and motivating?

Finally, online training courses are designed to meet the specific needs of learners, highlighting their individual strengths and challenges. It is essential to place them at the heart of the instructional design to help them refine their knowledge and skills, ultimately enhancing their productivity at work.

So, for the next online training you want to develop, it will be both a pleasure and a duty for a technopedagogue to bring you the best of their expertise!