patrick mcdonald

This author has written 55 articles
Employee Training

Making the Case for Effective Online Training

Every business, from a small family-run restaurant to a major corporation succeeds only with effectively trained employees. Training keeps employees safe, reduces operational costs, improves productivity and, ultimately, increases profitability. In contrast, a business with improperly trained staff will typically stagnate and ultimately fail. In some cases, the business may simply neglect to train their employees. However, it's more common for businesses to spend time and money on training programs that just don't work. Employees may receive training--but, for a variety of reasons, the training is ineffective. Happily, web-based training, is a way to efficiently deliver training that works. With…

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Instructional Design

What Makes a Good Online Instructional Designer?

There's a big difference between designing distance learning and designing online curriculum. There's a question we often get asked: “How can I become an employed Instructional Designer?”  Some job seekers want to know what sort of certification they need in order to get a job. Other job seekers are frustrated that, despite possessing a lot of training in instructional design, they find it difficult to get a job. When answering these questions, we always make the distinction between the skills needed to develop distance learning curriculum, versus the skills needed to design asynchronous online training—distance learning and online training are…

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Gamification

Gamification: A Way to Engage your Learners

"A good game is just a series of interesting choices." (Sid Meier, creator of "Civilization" and "Railroad Tycoon" video game series) "No compulsory learning can remain in the soul... in teaching children, train them by a kind of game, and you will be able to see more clearly the natural bent of each." (Plato, The Republic, Book VII) Employers and trainers are frequently encouraged to include "gamification" with their online curriculum. However, there are some misconceptions about what gamification actually is in an elearning context, and how to implement it in order to encourage effective learning outcomes. What is Gamification…

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How to Choose the Best Learning Management System for Your Business

Roger Mundell is the CEO of Udutu Learning Systems. As a pioneer of online learning technologies and methodologies, Roger has received numerous national and international awards. Finding the right Learning Management System (LMS) for your company can be a challenge. There are currently more than 1385 (at last count) known offerings.  Nearly every company you interact with will claim to have the best Learning Management System ever, ready to solve all your worldly problems. Some may have already re-labelled their LMS to fit the current nomenclature of the month, such as, LXP (Learning experience Platform), or IOL (Impact of Learning)…

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Tips For Learner Engagement And Online Course Development

Tips for Learner Engagement and Online Course Development

This is the second of a two-part series about online learner engagement. This week, instructional and eLearning designer Laureen Barry provides some tips on online course development and how to make your curriculum more engaging. Make Learning Personal Adding a personal touch to elearning content is one of the most basic ways to boost learner engagement. For example, use the first person: I, me, you, your, to make the learning more personal. The personal touch can form the fundamental structure of your curriculum as well. You can do this by using scenarios or characters throughout the course that the learner…

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