Enspire Learning Blog

Enspire's Director of Production Planning Julia Preston will speak at this month's ASTD Austin meeting.

"Are Games the Same? Update the Blueprint of Your E-learning Process to Leverage Game Development"
Friday, March 12. 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

E-learning professionals such as you have figured out that games are useful tools for training people on a wide variety of topics. The problem is that many development teams are trying to use the same development process for new e-learning games as they used to create courseware with a linear experience. How many project timelines have fallen through? How many game projects have gone over budget? Sometimes, the final product doesn't even meet the original need. E-learning development teams need to customize their processes to address the specific needs of creating games. In our session, we will explore the problems and pitfalls of applying normal e-learning processes to game development through an interactive discussion. After discussing the best practices of the game industry and how these should be applied to learning games, we will facilitate a process design game. This game will allow participants to develop their skills by applying the development process to a case study game project.

Join us for a webinar on January 19.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/878482041

Medical practitioners often dread taking online training because they view the courses as uninteresting, ineffective, and a waste of time. So how do you create medical training courses that these professionals will actually want to take? In this webinar, we will discuss six best practices to create effective, engaging, and, dare we say, fun e-learning experiences. We will also look at a case study from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and their 2009 Gold Brandon Hall award-winning course, "Promoting Excellence in Palliative and End-of-Life Care." While the examples given in this webinar are health care focused, session content is applicable to learning managers and designers interested in creating high quality, effective e-learning.

In this webinar, you will learn:
• Instructional design principles geared towards a medical audience
• Best practices for engaging audiences with stories, interactivities, and media
• How AACN developed a highly interactive continuing nursing education course

Enspire Learning is pleased to announce that it is the winner of a Gold Brandon Hall Award for Excellence in Custom Content. The winning course was created for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses to train nurses on end-of-life and palliative care. You may view the course at http://demos.enspire.com/.

The Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards are presented annually by Brandon Hall Research, one of the leading research firms in training and development. Now in its fifteenth year, the Awards program showcases exceptional work in the use of learning technology.

Today Enspire CEO Bjorn Billhardt and content developer Adam Avramescu will address ASTD San Antonio during the organization's day-long professional development event. The pair will discuss Developing Leaders with Next-Generation Blended Learning. For more information, visit ASTD San Antonio's website.

Join us for a webinar Tuesday, Nov. 3 at noon CDT. Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/704236840

Simulations are among the most effective types of learning experiences, driving real and lasting behavior change. To be effective, a simulation must allow learners to practice behavior resembling their real-world actions and must have meaningful consequences resembling those of the workplace. Branching simulations – where learners' decisions direct them down different paths -- can be highly effective in teaching soft skills for many situations. When a simulation closely models a real-life situation, it can help employees make better business decisions, help sales people close more deals, and even help improve communication between doctors and patients.

In this webinar, industry experts will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of custom branching simulations and best practices for developing them. In this webinar you will learn:
* The business case for custom branching simulations
* When to use and when not to use branching simulations for training
* How Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers, an organization providing professional liability insurance to physicians and facilities, is using custom simulations for their training needs

Enspire's Executive Vice President Shon Bayer will speak on a panel titled "Optimizing Learning Through Simulations and Games" at Training Magazine's Online Learning Conference in New York City. The panel will take place Thursday, Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to noon. Other panelists are Bryan Chapman of the Chapman Alliance, David Metcalf of University of Central Florida, and Barbara Sealund of Sealund eLearning. For more information on the Online Learning Conference, please visit the conference website.

Bjorn's webinar today with TrainingIndustry was a great success! Thank you to all who turned out to hear "Developing Leaders with Next-Generation Blended Learning."

We had a great discussion about how new technologies can be blended into an effective leadership and business acumen training program. Through the use of simulations, games, and social media tools, you can create programs that truly resonate with your team, bringing about real results for your organization.

If you were unable to attend, you can access a free online version of the webinar by registering here.

Congratulations to Enspire's VP of Technology, Brandon Hudgeons, who has just been nominated for the Austin Business Journal's 2009 Tech Innovation Awards! These awards recognize the accomplishments of the top Tech Innovators in Central Texas, and it's a privilege for us to have one on board with us here at Enspire.

If you want to meet Brandon yourself, or if you're interested in attending the awards luncheon to network with the nominees, click here to register. Individual tickets are $65 apiece, table tickets are $650, and corporate tables are $1300.

Tech Innovations Awards & Networking Luncheon
Wednesday, October 14
11:00 am - 1:30 pm
Hilton Austin Hotel
500 East Fourth Street

Congratulations, Brandon!

Join us for a free webinar through Training Industry, Inc. next Thursday, September 17th.

Reserve your seat now at TrainingIndustry.com.

New technologies like simulations, serious games, and social networks are strengthening the power of blended learning programs. Join Enspire's CEO, Bjorn Billhardt, as he leads a webinar that addresses how these next-generation learning experiences can be used in your organization to train your managers in leadership and business acumen.

"Developing Leaders with Next-Generation Blended Learning"
Thursday, September 17th, 1:00 pm ET.

For more information or to register, visit
TrainingIndustry.com.

We’ve all sat through a class or training session where we’d prefer to examine our fingernails or doodle in our notes rather than listen to the teacher. Boredom in the classroom inhibits the learning process, drastically decreasing the likelihood that we’ll retain information given to us during the class. On the other hand, we’ve also all had teachers who were engaging, effective, and, importantly, genuinely funny. There is a correlation between comedy and successful teaching; humor is often used to combat boredom in the classroom and ensure that learners stay engaged.

Just as humor is an effective tool in the classroom, it can be applied with great results in an e-learning environment. Internal research at Enspire has discovered four key facts about using humor in e-learning effectively.

1) Humor is necessary. When tasked with learning a particularly difficult or unexciting concept, learners may disengage from the activity. Humor keeps them interested.
2) Research your audience. When designing a course, it’s important to note who you’re teaching. Some audiences may expect “just the facts, ma’am,” while others may be open to a more light-hearted course.