sponsor editorial Ask genie
Genie is a powerful, all-knowing e-learning guru. He’s the righteous counterpoint to the world of dull online learning and he’s launching a one-spirit crusade against all things drab, tedious and mundane. Got a question? Want to offer your approval of his neatly-trimmed lip sweater? Give his lamp a vigorous rub at:
www.growthengineering.co.uk/genie.
Dear Genie,
My boss is on the warpath because the e-learning I create isn’t engaging our employees or producing meaningful results. She says I should try to conjure up some learner love by creating learning games, rather than simple, slideshow-like training units. What a barmy suggestion – you don’t learn how to take the property market by storm by playing Monopoly! E-learning needs to be straightforward and factual in order to get its points across – right? Mr Des P. Rate
Actually, Des, I have to agree with your extremely clever boss – games are a great way to secure engagement!
Turning e-learning units into games will make your employees more motivated and excited to take their training. You won’t need to force them to log on to their learning platform by threatening to
tickle their feet with a feather. Games are fun: everyone knows that. The more fun something is, the more we enjoy it; and the more we enjoy something, the more likely we are to repeat the experience. It’s like a magical mathematical formula:
learning content + games = fun engaging e-learning that will delight learners Research shows that when we’re having fun, our brains are 68% more active.
Just imagine what your employees can achieve once games have supercharged their brain activity – they won’t quite reach my level of awesome mind power, but they’ll certainly be a force to be reckoned with. So, Des, quit protesting and get with the game! Your boss knows what she’s talking about. Get yourself an authoring tool that pumps out games and heaps on fun with a shovel and you’ll end up creating e-learning as captivating as catnip for all the fl eet-footed felines within your organisation!
Genie
Dear Genie, Our new-fangled ‘rapid’ authoring tool is meant to make my job easier, but e-learning units actually take longer now because the interface is poorly designed, diffi cult to use and a real eyesore – it keeps sending me to sleep! Every day I wake up with QWERTY stamped on my forehead. Help! I wish I could stay awake!
Mrs Noddy Off
Oh, you adorable mortals and your need for sleep. Try staying awake for a millennium or twelve and see how you fare… The unpalatable truth of authoring tools is that ‘quick fi x’ solutions often cause more trouble than they prevent. Some may churn out
e.learning age june 2015 21
slideshow-based e-learning units as quickly as I can fl y around the world, but let’s face it; slideshows are pretty boring for all involved – creators and learners alike. Sophisticated tools can create intricate, fl amboyant e-learning units using all the tricks in the book, yet the creators are put through such pain, suffering and stress to create these feats of e-learning marvel that it almost negates any learner engagement benefi ts! What you need is a comfortable middle ground: an authoring tool which is straightforward and enjoyable to use but which also creates engaging e-learning. It sounds about as easy to fi nd as a piece of hay in a haystack, but your wish is my command – visit
www.growthengineering.co.uk/genie to fi nd out more.
Genie Dear Genie,
There are eight of us in the e-learning development team and we all have different tasks to do. It sounds great, but to be honest, it’s a real case of ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’! There are so many of us that we can’t seem to make progress – our project spreadsheets are veering out of control and bureaucratic balderdash keeps holding us back. I wish there was a tonic for my project management headaches! Ms S. Tressed
Ah, project management – the bane of every e-learning developer’s life! Being an almighty genie I could cast a spell to turn your colleagues into an obedient horde, but I don’t think that’s the solution you’re looking for somehow. As an alternative, I’ll offer up a delicious nugget of wisdom: bring your e-learning production into the cloud. I love it in the cloud. It’s easy to move around, come and go, and there’s so much space up here! With cloud-based e-learning production it’s much simpler to keep on top of what your team is up to. The more you ease the pressure on the project management side, the more you can focus on creating training content that blows your learners’ minds (in the best possible way!) Once you’ve got this cracked, your excellence and excitement will rain down on everything you create with your cloud-based authoring tool. Bliss!
Genie
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