Enspire Learning Blog

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.

Wondering how simulations, Web 2.0 technologies, games, and other learning tools can be used to improve your leadership development program? Then register now for the Training Industry, Inc. Webinar on September 17, 2009: Developing Leaders with Next-Generation Blended Learning. Enspire's CEO, Bjorn Billhardt, will be presenting.

Registration is free, and seats are filling up fast, so get in while you can!

Enspire is currently in the process of developing a new management training curriculum. We're looking for feedback from training professionals about the design and packaging of our new products. Please help us by filling out the following survey:

Click Here to take survey

Everybody has questions about the recent recession. Whose fault is it? Who has suffered the most? How long will it last? How could we have prevented it? And, most importantly, what do we need to do to make sure it doesn't happen again?

Amit Mukherjee wrestles with this last question in an article recently published in Chief Learning Officer Magazine, "Lessons from the Early Days of Lean. He contends that modern corporations have, for better or for worse, been drawn into an increasingly complex series of global networks. These networks made sure that the effects of the recession spread rapidly. Corporate failure to adapt managerial practices to this system has made it difficult for many organizations to recover.

These organizations will need to fundamentally rethink how they perceive and implement management training if they are to stand a chance of surviving this recession. Managers have traditionally been responsible for planning and execution, but the growth of global networks and remote employees have made it highly difficult for them to assess and respond to problems. Management training should encompass not only planning and execution strategies, but also sensing, responding, and learning capabilities.

A recent study released by SRI International for the US Department of Education and recently featured in the New York Times indicates that students receiving all or part of their instruction online perform better in standardized testing than students receiving traditional classroom instruction. Over 12 years, the difference in average scores was a whole 9 percentile points.

Surprised? If you're an e-learning professional, then probably not. We know the myriad benefits provided by e-learning like the back of our collective hand. For those new to the world of e-learning, consider these differences:

Pace. Online education can be tailored to an individual's learning pace, while classroom instruction can leave some students in the dust.
Experience. The interactive nature of online education offers students access to experiential learning, or "learning by doing," not readily available in the classroom.
Comfort. While not called out specifically in this report, computers and the Internet are pervasive in the lives of young people. The younger generation often feels more comfortable on the computer than sitting in a classroom, providing a learning environment more susceptible to knowledge retention.

E-learning vendors can often seem like magicians to their clients. We might as well be putting subject matter in a top hat, waving our Wand of Instructional Design, and saying "Presto!" before pulling out a cute little online training bunny.

Yes, this example is a little exaggerated, but I'm trying to make a point. Many people who turn to vendors for e-learning solutions are not aware of what goes into making a technically and instructionally sound piece of e-learning. And sometimes this perception of e-learning vendors as magicians can lead to those same people setting unrealistic expectations for new projects. While we do work magic, there are certain limitations.

That's why TrainingMag.com recently published an article by Ed Garner, Enspire's VP of Custom Studios, called "5 Things Your Vendors Wish You Knew". Briefly, here are those nuggets of wisdom everyone should bring to the table when dealing with an e-learning client. Read the full article if you'd like some more detailed descriptions of each piece of advice:

We can manage a process, but not your team. Our industry experience allows us to provide a process that gets us from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible, but it's the client's responsibility to manage their own team.

On Tuesday, August 18 ASTD Dallas will host its 2009 Southwest Learning Summit at the Addison Conference Centre. Enspire CEO Bjorn Billhardt will address the group in a concurrent session titled "Creating the Blended Learning Classroom of the Future." In his presentation, he will discuss how to incorporate emerging technologies into training and separate Web 2.0 hype from instructionally sound practices. For more information visit ASTD Dallas.

ProductCamp Austin, a collaborative, user-organized "unconference" about product marketing and management, will be held this Saturday, Aug. 15 on the UT Austin campus. Although official registration is closed, anyone can walk in free of charge to participate in the 45 sessions currently scheduled. These sessions include topics about marketing, requirements, product strategy, and career.

Enspire's VP of Technology Brandon Hudgeons will lead a roundtable discussion titled "Is the Standard Departmental Structure Hazardous to Product Success?" This session will focus on whether traditional job department separations could adversely affect high-quality product development.

The event will run from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the University Teaching Center (UTC) building, located at the corner of 21st St. and Wichita St. For more information, go to ProductCamp's website.