Enspire Learning Blog

Enspire will participate in next week's Learning and Entertainment Evolution Forum (LEEF) at Harrisburg University on June 18-19. Enspire's own Ben Katz will present a case study of financial literacy game Celebrity Calamity.

Conference keynotes include "The Business and Learning Results of Games and Simulations" by Clark Aldrich and "The Impact of Brain Research on Game and Simulation Design" by Rick Van Sant and Julie Dirksen.

With the current recession, it is growing increasingly important for our elected officials to understand business finance. We need and deserve Congresspeople who can make informed decisions to help get the economy back on track. To assist in this effort, Enspire is sponsoring the Finance for Congress initiative.

Finance for Congress offers free business finance education for our elected officials by providing senators and representatives access to Enspire's Fluent in Finance online curriculum.

You can be a part of the Finance for Congress initiative by visiting www.financeforcongress.com to sign a petition showing your support or to send the information along to your friends.

Enspire was recently featured on CNBC's Street Signs. Click on the video above to watch the segment.

Join us for a webinar on June 9 at noon CDT.

Space is limited.
Reserve your webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/627946896

Business moves quickly. New products hit the market. New skills are needed. Training programs must keep up with the pace of change. Increasingly, organizations are turning to the tools and processes of rapid e-learning. But choosing rapid e-learning to meet your training needs doesn't mean you have to sacrifice quality instructional design and interactivity. In this webinar, you will learn:

* The business case for rapid e-learning
* When it is appropriate to use rapid e-learning
* Process differences between traditional and rapid e-learning
* Practical examples from Dell about how rapid e-learning addresses its business needs

Our speakers bring together a unique mix of training thought leadership, real-world experiences, and development best practices. This webinar will allow ample time for an interactive question and answer period.

Lance Dublin, Founder, Dublin Consulting
Lance has been an advocate for innovative approaches to learning and change throughout his career. He went from designing a week-long "Experiment in Free Form Education" program in high school to co-founding one of the nations' first fully accredited "University Without Walls" in his 20s. Recognizing the impact of technology on the intersection of people, business and learning, he then founded and built Dublin Group, a company which became a leader in providing solutions to improve individual and organizational performance and implement large-scale change initiatives. Lance is now an independent management consultant, international speaker, and author based in San Francisco and serves clients world-wide. He brings 30 years of experience to his work in revitalizing learning, implementing change, and transforming organizations.

Enspire will be in attendance at ASTD International Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C. May 31 through June 3. Please stop by one of our booths (2433 for our custom work and 1419 for Executive Challenge and Fluent in Finance) and meet our company representatives. If you are in the DC area and would like a free expo pass, go here and enter invitation code 583.

Enspire will also host a happy hour on Monday, June 1 at Capitol City Brewing Company. Click here for a map of the surrounding area. Stop by between 5:30 and 7 p.m. to meet our team and share a brew. Cheers!

The Horizon Interactive Awards were announced this week and Enspire was honored with six awards, including Best in Training category. The Horizon Awards are given every year to recognize excellence in interactive media production.

Enspire received the following honors:

* Best in Category - Training - American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

* Gold - Consumer Information - CIGNA

* Gold - Video/Short Film - Who is Enspire Learning?

* Gold - Video/Short Film - Executive Challenge Trailer

* Bronze - Public Service/Non-Profit - Celebrity Calamity

* Bronze -- Public Service/Non-Profit - Why Water? (Created with CIGNA to benefit Water for People)

The notes of the "Building Better Learning Games" webinar can be found at the following link:

Building Better Learning Games: Leveraging Game Design and User Testing for Results

Join us for a Webinar on April 9
Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/558400490

Learning games have created a buzz in the training industry. Games promise a motivating and fun learning environment, but do these games lead to better learning?

During this webinar, the Doorways to Dreams Fund (D2D), Enspire Learning, and the Skillpoint Alliance will discuss the development of the casual video game, “Celebrity Calamity.” While managing the finances of spendthrift celebrity, this new game teaches low- to moderate-income women the basics of credit and debit cards. For many in the target audience, personal finance education can be difficult, scary, and boring. Keeping players motivated and engaged was important, though only half the battle. For the game to be considered successful, players also had to emerge from the experience with the confidence -- and knowledge -- to manage their credit and debit card accounts. To facilitate this, D2D and Enspire conducted rigorous user experience testing during the iterative production process. Later, efficacy testing was used to determine knowledge and confidence changes as a result of the game. The preliminary results? Tests with small samples showed a 50-70% improvement in financial knowledge and a 15-30% confidence increase in key areas.

Two Enspirees will present a session on casual learning games in an eLearning Guild Online Forum on April 3 at 12:15 p.m. CST. In "Casual Games, Serious Learning, Results to Prove It," game developers Ben Katz and Jack Schaedler will uncover the secrets to making fun and effective learning games, specifically through the casual gaming genre. They will also discuss simple metrics to assess the efficacy of the learning experience. For more information on this session and the Online Forum, please visit the eLearning Guild website.

Enspire Learning is hosting two sessions next week at the RISE 2009 Conference focusing on Entrepreneurship and Finance. RISE – a Relationship & Information Series for Entrepreneurs – is an annual conference series dedicated to providing a free forum for entrepreneurs to connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit.

Enspire will be hosting two sessions on March 5:

10am-11:30am
2pm-3:30pm

Sessions will be led by Enspire Founder and CEO, Bjorn Billhardt, and will feature Enspire's Finance Challenge simulation. Attendance is open to the general public, but you need to register for the event on the RISE 2009 website.

We're looking forward to seeing you there!