Sponge elearning podcast

Kristian Madsen is the CEO of Bookboon, the largest online publisher of ebooks for personal development and soft skills.

Find out how ebooks can be useful to a modern learner and how Bookboon have tailored their content to make them most useful for large organisations.

The questions are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:50 - What does Bookboon do?
• 01:17 - What topics do Bookboon's ebooks cover?
• 01:54 - With so many new technologies available, does the humble exercise of reading a book still have a place in helping people learn at work?
• 03:10 - What kind of businesses are using Bookboon, and why do they use it?
• 04:09 - What do your readers tell you about why and how they use the ebooks?
• 05:23 - What role does an elibrary like Bookboon play in supporting self directed learners?
• 07:12 - What can organisations learn about their workforce by giving them access to an elibrary like Bookboon?
• 08:17 - Does the data you can collect help an organisation improve their L&D strategy?
• 09:10 - What's your advice for companies that would like to offer ebooks to their employees, but don't know where to start?

Our topic today delves into how our brain remembers what we learn, in particular the role that retrieval of memory plays in learning.

Jeff Karpicke, a Professor of  Psychological Sciences at Purdue University in the United States is an expert on the topic.

The questions are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:50 - What do you mean when you talk about retrieval in terms of our cognitive ability?
• 03:52 - Does practising retrieving information help with remembering?
• 04:50 - Is there an optimum spacing frequency for retrieval practice?
• 08:07 - Does retrieval lead to a higher quality, or deeper learning?
• 10:11 - Why do you think retrieval practice is under appreciated as a learning strategy?
• 13:04 - How can the principle of retrieval practice help in workplace learning?

Jasmine Kelland was an HR manager for large companies before becoming a lecturer in Human Resources Management. She now leads the BSC and Masters programmes in Human Resource Management (HRM) at Plymouth University.

The discussion centres around onboarding, how its changing and the role of technology in the future of onboarding.

The questions are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:47 - How important is onboarding for business success?
• 01:18 - What do businesses miss out on if they're not getting onboarding right?
• 01:45 - With rapid changes in the world of work, what are the implication for onboarding?
• 02:47 - What's meant by personalisation in onboarding?
• 03:38 - What role do you think digital has in this new look onboarding?
• 04:40 - How much training should be a part of onboarding?
• 05:44 - Are there things that are missed out of onboarding, and what do you lose by missing them?
• 06:29 - What interesting trends are you noticing in onboarding?
• 07:38 - Do you think technology offers an exciting opportunity for onboarding?
• 08:58 - Will the next generation of HR professionals be looking to innovate in onboarding?
• 09:54 - When you were an HR manager, what were the issues getting in the way of onboarding?
• 11:19 - Where's the best place to start if you're trying to modernise your onboarding programme?

​Download our free business briefing Roadmap to better onboarding​ for more insights from Jasmine and other experts.

Paddy Selman ​is a Motion Graphics Designer at Sponge UK where he creates a variety of animations and video assets for learning programmes.

We talk through the strengths of motion graphics, some of the processes that he uses to create them and why they're so useful for engaging learning.

The questions are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:17 - What makes a training subject suitable for a motion graphics approach?
• 02:04 - How do you work with learning design and visual design to maintain a consistent look and feel across a learning programme?
• 03:50 - Are there any graphical styles that are much harder to add motion to than others?
• 05:15 - What are the common challenges when creating motion graphics for learning?
• 06:23 - Do you often create more than one piece of motion graphics for a course, and can they stand alone?
• 07:35 - What tools do you use to collaborate with colleagues within Sponge?
• 09:35 - How important is the audio in a motion graphic sequence?
• 11:35 - What are your favourite examples of motion graphics for learning?

Dr Larry Richard founded the management consulting firm LawyerBrain, they specialise in motivation and talent retention. In this episode we discuss how to engage millennials in workplace training.

In a discussion that's backed by interesting research, we explore what's most important to millennials, their values and how you can use this information to create better learning experiences in the workplace.

The questions and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:57 – What motivated millennials?
• 02:47 – Do their preferences have a bearing on how you engage them in the workforce?
• 05:53 – How can businesses retain their millennials?

Stella Collins is creative director of Stellar Learning and author of Neuroscience for learning & development. She runs workshops and programmes​ throughout the UK on how to be a brain friendly trainer and many other subjects.

Our discussion focuses on empathy in learning design and includes topics like learner generated content, storytelling, personalising learning, the learner journey, different approaches to face to face and digital learning and much more.

The questions and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:34 – Why is empathy important in learning design?
• 01:38 – How does empathy helps our understanding of learners?
• 03:05 – Is there different considerations for face to face training versus digital training
• 04:37 – What effect does it have on the training when you take into account the way learners are feeling when they start the training?
• 06:39 – Have you heard from anyone who's been through your train the trainer process and benefited from the empathy for learners that it promotes?
• 07:49 – Does having training available anytime, anywhere play a role in how successful that training can be?
• 08:40 – Do you think empathy gets overlooked in the design process, and if so, why?
• 10:16 - Do you have any tips or techniques for building empathy into their training?
• 14:18 - what are your views on using gamification to increase engagement with learners?
• 16:46 - Where can people go to find out more about your book Neuroscience for learning and development?
• 17:09 - Are there any final thoughts on empathy in learning design?

Adaptive learning is the topic for this episode, listen in to find out what it is, how it works and the benefits it offers modern businesses.

JD Dillon, Principle Learning Strategist at Axonify joins us to put his years of experience a the top of L&D to work answering some of the common questions about adaptive learning.

The questions and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:55 – What is adaptive learning?
• 01:26 – How is adaptive learning different to personalised learning?
• 04:13 – Can you take us through an example of how adaptive learning works in practice?
• 06:59 – What are the advantages of adaptive learning for organisations?
• 09:09 – How important is the technology in delivering adaptive learning?
• 10:39 – What's the Axonify approach to adaptive learning?
• 12:55 – Why do organisations find it difficult to implement adaptive learning?
• 15:49 – Where is a good place to start with adaptive learning?

Kate Nicholls, Learning Technologies Designer of the year and Head of Innovations at Sponge has spent the last year investigating how 360° interactive video can be used for workplace learning.

Alongside developer Andrew Hosgood she talks about what she's learned in the process. We cover the potential pitfalls and technical challenges as well as the huge potential for bringing real benefits to training in businesses.

To hear more, and to experience 360° interactive video for learning come along to Stand C10 at Learning Technologies.

The questions and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:53 – What is the attraction of 360° interactive video and virtual reality?
• 01:38 – What have you discovered over the last year when looking into the use of this new technology for learning?
• 03:41 – AJ What are the technical challenges associated with working in 360° interactive video and VR?
• 05:45 – How accessible is this technology for organisations wanting to use it now?
• 07:56 – AJ What's the most important thing you've learned about working with 360° interactive video and VR?
• 10:10 – What have you learnt about where VR and 360° video is going to work within learning?
• 12:20 – What's your advice to organisations that are looking to use this technology as part of their learning programmes?

Donald Clark has over 30 years of experience in learning technologies, we spoke to him about the latest emerging tech and how it will impact the workplace learning industry.

We cover a range of topics including artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and more and get insights into how learning professionals can prepare for the future of training.

For the latest news and updates from Donald Clark follow him on Twitter: @DonaldClark.

The questions and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:30 – What do you think are the opportunities and risks of AI in learning?
• 03:02 – Has something significant changed this year with the arrival of Pokémon Go?
• 05:11 – How do you think the growth of mobile augmented reality could translate into workplace learning?
• 07:55 – How do you see virtual reality in learning developing in the next few years?
• 12:24 – Do you think sensory technology known as haptics will play a role in learning in the future?
• 14:09 – How do you think workplace learning will change as we move away from touch command to voice command computing?
• 17:10 – Do you have any practical tips for people looking to get started in emerging technology?

Stephen Miller, Head of Platform Solutions at Sponge leads a team that helps organisations realise the benefits of microlearning and other learning solutions.

In the podcast we talk about the way microlearning goes beyond just smaller pieces of learning and can be incorporated into a wider strategy.

Join Stephen and Craig Gleason from Axonify for a webinar all about how the tool can help bring the benefits of microlearning to your workforce, register here..

The questions and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:27 – What do we mean by microlearning?
• 01:40 – Why do you think microlearning is becoming more popular?
• 04:01 – Another phrase that people may have heard is continuous learning, can you tell us what it is and how microlearning fits in?
• 06:47 – Are there any benefits that of microlearning beyond the obvious ones?
• 09:29 – What implications are there for tracking and measuring learning when you're using microlearning?
• 12:05 – Do you need different skills to create microlearning compared to traditional learning?
• 13:30 – Do you have any tips for L&D professionals who want to start using microlearning but haven't made the first step yet?