2011
We win a bronze Award for Learning Technologies of the Year for a course on fire safety with Heathrow Express
The Great Learning
That’s English composer Cornelius Cardew’s title, not mine. It’s also the title of a Confucian text, as translated by Ezra Pound, the first chapter of which Cardew uses within his composition of the same name. It begins as follows:
What The Great Learning teaches is – to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence.
Aliens and inspiration
Inspiration can come from the strangest places. Personally, I think that Jeff Wayne’s musical masterpiece War of the Worlds is a perfect model for effective e-learning. Bear with me on this one…
By the end of this course users won’t…
By the end of this blog you will:
- Know what a learning objective is and why you need to write them.
- Understand why it’s so important to write learning objectives.
- Be able to write good learning objectives.
Taking the place of the instructor in e-learning
e-Learning, and the discussions around it, tends to polarise people. Nobody really sits on the fence – broadly speaking, they are for it (normally, those with a keen sense of the cost of training) or they are against it (those who believe in traditional pedagogy).
The virtual classroom: the ups and the downs of collaborative learning
What is a virtual classroom?
Many of you reading this will already have participated in some form of virtual classroom learning. In its more mortal guise, the virtual classroom is an application of web conferencing technology. So if you’ve ever participated in a webinar, perhaps hosted by one or two instructors taking you through a PowerPoint presentation, you have already been initiated into the world of virtual learning. But like the true shape shifter it is, the virtual classroom can also take on the form of a self-contained (potentially even self-sufficient) virtual environment such as that of the 3D virtual world Second Life. And indeed, Second Life is used as a platform for education by many institutions such as universities, colleges and libraries.
Our ‘Shoot to Share’ video winners announced!
After weeks of sharing, discussing and deliberating, earlier this week we announced the winners of our ‘Shoot to Share’ experiment.
Augmented reality in e-learning — just virtual reality?
On Wednesday 13th April, Spurs were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, bringing great sadness upon my heart. The manner of the defeat is not relevant to augmented reality technology in any sense, but I’d like to think that it provides anecdotal evidence that I’d been planning this blog well before this article appeared on the BBC website.
Using scenarios to involve learners
I have often seen courses where the learner has to read information in a popup on clicking a button. This click appears with its associated learner instruction and at times is just ornamentation on the screen. If this happens too frequently in a course, the learner starts responding in almost ‘Pavlov-esque’ fashion: a conditioned reflex (okay, so it was the dog and not Pavlov that responded, but you see my point!). The course is no longer entertaining and certainly not engaging. However by definition you could say it is interactive!
To Room 101 with you! Orwell’s six rules of simple English
Working as an instructional designer is a very logical thing for a student of English. There’s plenty of reading, for a start, and the variety of material is a great way of keeping your literacy razor sharp. But there’s often the temptation to lapse into Modern Business Jargon (let’s call it MBJ). For example, starting an email with..
Anti-bribery training: what you really need to know
As compliance managers and training managers will (hopefully) already be aware, the Bribery Act 2010 will be coming into effect on 1st July this year. That means the clock is now ticking – there are less than three months left in which organisations can train their people to ensure they and the business stay on the right side of the law.
Free Bribery Act e-learning preview
Following the government’s publication of guidance last week, the Bribery Act 2010 will come into effect on 1st July this year. With three months for organisations to prepare, we’ve released a free preview of our anti-bribery and corruption e-learning course.
The success of our ‘Shoot to Share’ experiment, LT2011
So we shot and we shared. At Learning Technologies 2011, we ran an experiment in social learning by inviting people to be filmed answering one of six questions about our industry, such as how were they using social media in learning and what did they think was the best use of mobile technology. We shared these short videos by uploading them, after some simple editing, to our YouTube channel.
We’ve produced a video library of top tips!
Do you struggle to effectively evaluate your e-learning? Are you still trying to figure out how to use mobile devices for effective learning? Is social learning still something of an enigma to you?
Find out what makes an award-winning project
Earlier this year, Saffron and Heathrow Express won a bronze award in the Learning Technology Solution of the Year category at the IT Training Awards 2011. Our submission was a fire awareness e-learning course which demonstrates innovation and excellence, and which has had a very real and positive impact on the organisation. You can find out more about the Heathrow Express fire awareness course by downloading the submission.
Heathrow Express and Saffron win bronze!
We’re thrilled to announce that Saffron Interactive and Heathrow Express have won a bronze award in the Learning Technology Solution of the Year category at the IT Training Awards 2011 for their successful fire awareness e-learning course.
Design learning experiences – not instruction!
Someone came onto our stand at the Learning Technologies the other week and asked, ‘OK, so you people at Saffron know social learning. What about anti-social learning?’ That intriguingly sly question got me thinking about what our role is in facilitating learning in our customers’ organisations: what exactly is it that we be should aiming to design and implement?
e-Learning projects: Understanding a client’s needs
Imagine that a group of people each have a box with something in it. Let’s call it a ‘beetle.’ No one can look into anyone else’s box, and everyone says they know what a beetle is only by looking at their beetle. It would be possible that everyone has something different in their box. Maybe the box is even empty.
How to QA e-learning effectively
Mantras such as ‘check, check and check again’ are often bandied around in the workplace, but what can we do to make sure our QA of everything we roll out is 100 per cent foolproof?
Creating e-Learning for Everybody Using Multiple Intelligences
What is the Multiple Intelligences theory?
For the most part, it’s common sense! Penned by Howard Gardener in 1983, the theory describes what those of us who went to school already knew: Different people learn in different ways.
Storyboarding
An interesting debate has begun in our office of late – to storyboard or not to storyboard? I can almost hear the collective intake of breath that I dared even ask this question, but here at Saffron we are all about challenging norms and finding new solutions to old problems, so I’m going to push forward regardless.
Moodle tips of the week
I hear that, day by day, the popularity of Moodle is spreading further. In Paraguay, doodling schoolchildren are building custom analogue model Moodles (think pulleys, index cards and paperclips) and there are rumours that in Poland the first Moodle-for-monks is being developed (on a completely silent server).
Tips for Arranging Exciting Enterprise Moodles
Dynamic… end to end… pro active… imagineer… synergy… innovate… synnovate. In the technology business, when you can justifiably use one (or all) of these words in a sentence you know you are doing a good job.
Saffron has been shortlisted for an award
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been shortlisted for the 2010 E-Learning Award for Excellence in the Production of Learning Content – Private Sector.
Corporate handwriting — why typography is important in e-learning.
Western fonts and typefaces fall into one of two identifiable categories; either they have small features at the end of strokes to distinguish each character, or they don’t. Serif fonts (or “Roman” fonts) are the ones with the swishes, and sans serif typefaces are the ones that don’t. Put simply, Times New Roman is a serif font; Arial is sans serif.
What’s in a Moodle
A lot of people in e-learning and beyond have been asking us about Moodlerecently. They’re curious about this funny word because what was once a little-known verb is now a global movement: forty million users in 216 countries and fifteen books written about how to use it so far. And it’s no longer just universities, colleges and schools which are using Moodle-based online learning environments. Increasingly, the corporate LMS is a Moodle-based LMS.
Saffron responds to new e-learning challenges for recruiters
Saffron Interactive is pleased to announce a new project to launch an e-learning platform for Recruitment Juice, an innovative recruitment training company. As a surge of applicants swamp the market, recruiters face unique new training challenges to keep ahead and Saffron has the solution.
Social media workshop is a success for Saffron and charities
From Saffron’s award winning instructional design team, senior instructional designer Kim George recently presented at a social media workshop with client and marketing manager Joanna Liem. Organised in collaboration with the not for profit partnership Time & Talents, the reputation management consultancy ReputationInc and Whizz-Kidz, a charity for disabled young people, the event was a huge success.
Scripting effective video scenarios
In this day and age, we see videos played out to introduce learners to the learning objectives of the course, to show them a simulated problem-solving scenario that they can identify with, or even to relate previous learner experience.
Rapid development
Rapid development. One of those fairly nondescript-seeming phrases you might see anywhere on an agenda at pretty much any company in the City. For those of us who work in e-learning, though, it’s a bit of a buzzword (or should I say buzzphrase?). Semantics aside, these days it’s all about delivering the same quality at half the price and twice the speed.
Saffron organises social media workshop for charities
Social media is a hot topic in all industries and businesses nowadays. However, research has proven that the charity sector and volunteering movement is not maximising the potential of social networks – less than 25% of volunteer involving organisations and support services are using them.
Getting to grips with instructional design
Three months ago, completely new to the world of e-learning, I was given some time by Saffron to do as much research as I could on instructional design and effective learning strategies before starting my first project. It was rather daunting, but I leapt to the challenge and one of the ways I found out what good instructional design looks like was to review some of Saffron’s past courses and do some research online. Now that I have experience of both writing and reviewing courses, there are a few things that I’ve learnt. So, if you’re also new to this industry, read on for my thoughts on how best to write an engaging e-learning course that achieves the desired behavioural changes.
Top ten tips for how to write an e-learning course in plain English
Plain English isn’t dull writing, and it’s not about banning new or long words. It’s all about using words that are easier to read and understand, and faster to write! Here are our top ten tips for writing an e-learning course in plain English.
Creating an effective online induction programme
First impressions count, so it’s important that an induction programme is effective. We work with our clients to find out how their current induction programme can be improved. Businesses often have trouble making sure a comprehensive induction to the company is completed in a new starter’s first few days, and once a new starter is no longer new it can be difficult to deliver an effective induction – they may have already made up their mind about the company!
BBC ‘Making movies on a shoestring’
The ability to communicate effectively with video in the mix is a highly desirable skill, one for which demand will only increase. Almost everyone carries a digital camera these days, making the idea of creating video for e-Learning more accessible than ever.
Top five tips for creating effective interactions
Interactions pose a dilemma to all instructional designers. While they can be fun, visually exciting and effective, they can also require a lot of development and be difficult to create.
Saffron Interactive and Bovis Lend Lease promote sustainability
Saffron Interactive is proud to announce the development of a bespoke sustainability e-learning course at Bovis Lend Lease UK, a leading project management and construction company.
Just-in-time learning
Being one of the newest members of the team here at Saffron Interactive, I’ve had to get to grips with the concept of e-learning. In the last few months I’ve come to understand what the company is about and the passion behind it. But it wasn’t until the other day that I understood just how much e-learning has to offer and how it is part of our everyday lives.
What’s your favourite e-learning interaction?
If you had to pick your favourite e-learning interaction, which would it be, and why? For me it’s easy: the myth and reality screen takes the top spot. “But why?” I hear you cry. Here are my top three reasons (although I do have many more!).
Interactions decoded
A few weeks ago, some of us at Saffron went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see Decode: Digital Design Sensations, a digital design exhibition. We had a brilliant afternoon and saw some inspiring pieces created on the themes of decode, network and interactivity.
Top five tips on how to make courses SCORM compliant
Once you’ve built an e-learning course you’ll want to get it onto your LMS so that people can access it. More than that, you’ll probably want to see how well your learners have done – how long did they spend, have they passed the quizzes and which questions did they get wrong? All this information and more can be sent back to the LMS using SCORM.
Home Group launch two crucial e-learning programmes
Totalling three hours of e-learning, the new programmes (one on health, safety and wellbeing, and one on equality and diversity) will help increase awareness of key organisational and individual responsibilities for 4,000+ of Home’s colleagues and enable them to provide exceptional services to their customers and clients as a result.
e-Learning on wheels
How often do you learn something new? And I mean completely new – something you’ve never heard of before or perhaps something you’ve never tried. What’s the process that you go through to learn this new knowledge or skill?
Free e-learning quiz tool launched by Saffron
Saffron Interactive is proud to announce the release of its free e-learning quiz tool.
Top five tips for achieving great typography in e-learning
Clarity and legibility are essential in e-learning. Here are Saffron’s top tips on how to use some of the basic principles of typography not only to achieve legibility but also to bring interest and energy to your e-learning projects.
Top ten tips for reviewing a storyboard
A storyboard review stage is crucial as it’s hard to be objective when you’re the one who’s written the content. Here are our top ten questions to ask yourself if you’re the one reviewing someone else’s storyboard.
It’s personal
The challenge facing instructional designers is always to think of new ways to make our learning courses interesting, engaging and effective. We look at how we can make the best course possible by focusing on the technologies, design, graphics, content and writing style, but what about thinking about a course’s personality?
Achieve great things
We at Saffron don’t like to pigeon hole ourselves as simply training providers. Yes, we design and develop e-learning, but we do a whole lot more than that too. We’re all about performance improvement and people productivity, and there are more ways to achieve those things than training alone.
Want to know more about our award winning project?
Back in February one of Saffron’s people, Stephanie Dedhar, was named Instructional Designer of the Year at the IT Training Awards 2010. Her submission centred on a major compliance training project and the judges were impressed with her focus on using innovative instructional design techniques to make the project a success, achieving both competence and compliance.