Sponge elearning podcast

Phil Reddall is vice chair of the Elearning Network and learning innovation manager for a global specialist chemical company, he offers his experience and advice for other L&D professionals in our latest podcast.

Then focus of this episode is curation of learning content, how it works, whether it's continuing, it's advantages and some practical tips on how to implement it into your strategy.

Find out more about Phil's role in the Elearing Network on their meet the dircector page.

Hear more from Phil in his video session for the Big Sponge Hangout.

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

• 00:35 – Back in 2014 you wrote about a shift in L&D from creating learning to include curation of learning, have you seen that trend continue?
• 01:42 – Have you seen any new technologies or techniques emerge that have helped L&D in their curation of learning?
• 04:35 – What barriers have you seen to organisations making curated content available?
• 08:47 – Is there a process you go through to decide which pieces of content are presented to learners?
• 13:29 – Can you share an example of effective use of learning content curation that you've seen?
• 18:30 – Is there a risk that L&D move too far towards curated material and forget about creating learning content?
• 21:08 – What's the first step towards making curated content available to your learners?

Geoff Stead is Director of Digital at Cambridge University and brings years of experience in bringing learning to mobile devices.

We talk through some of the reasons why mobile is so important to learning and development, the technology behind it and some of the potential future areas that are going to allow more effective learning.

Find out more about some of the projects Geoff mentions in the podcast at worklearnmobile.org.

Follow Geoff on Twitter: @geoffstead

This interview was originally recorded as part of the Big Sponge Hangout in July 2016.

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

• 00:26 - Why do you like working in the mobile space and why do you think it's become so popular?
• 01:45 - What are the main things people need to consider when developing elearning for mobile devices?
• 03:28 - Are there any areas where mobile learning is particularly appropriate?
• 05:39 - Do you have any tips for working out the best approach for them?
• 09:08 - Are there any implications for tracking learner data across mobile courses?
• 14:04 - Do you have any practical tips on introducing deep analytics of mobile training?
• 16:35 - Can you share some examples of successful mobile approaches that achieved surprising results?
• 22:21 - Do you think wearable tech has the potential to enhance learning in the near future?
• 24:52 - What would you say to someone who isn't already convinced to use mobile in their learning strategy?
• 27:25 - What excites you the most about the future of mobile technology in learning

Karl Kapp is a gamification analyst, elearning consultant and proffessor at Bloomsberg university.

We collected some common assumptions about games and gamification and asked Karl whether the myths stood up to the research in the field.

For more expertise on learning games you can follow Karl Kapp on twitter: @kkapp, and keep up with his latest research and speaking engagements through his blog: Kapp Notes.

This interview was originally recorded as part of the Big Sponge Hangout in July 2016.

The possible myths and questions that Karl talks through and their times are provided so you can skip back and forth to learn more on a specific subject:

• 00:39 – Myth: Gamification and learning games are the same thing.
• 01:48 – What can happen if people get gamification and learning games confused?
• 02:35 – Myth: Games are just about adding fun to learning.
• 04:43 – Myth: We're a serious company so games or gamification isn't going to suit us.
• 07:25 – Myth: There's no hard evidence that games or gamification work for instruction.
• 09:16 – Myth: Games are just too expensive.
• 11:15 – Myth: Games suit younger people better.
• 14:17 – Myth: It's harder to evaluate the impact of a game.
• 17:24 – Myth: You have to be a game designer to do games or gamification properly.
• 19:26 – Myth: Games and gamification in elearning are a fad.

Chris Wharton is an experienced illustrator who has worked on hundreds of elearning projects as part of Sponge's visual design team.

See some of Chris' work on Instagram: @designbywharton

Read more about design in elearning on the Sponge Blog:

• Illustration vs photography for elearning
• 5 golden rules for good visual design in elearning
• 5 ways a bad user interface (UI) can derail your elearning
• Adapt responsive learning framework

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

• 00:40 – What are the benefits of using an illustrative approach in your elearning content?
• 01:42 – How important is it to create bespoke illustrations?
• 02:36 – Are there any situations where illustrations aren't appropriate for elearning?
• 03:42 – Why do you think infographics are so popular in elearning?
• 04:30 – What's the difference between static illustration and illustration for animation?
• 05:38 – What kind of resources or tools are you using to help succeed as a visual design team?
• 06:19 – What do you need to take into account when illustrating for responsive or mobile courses?
• 07:16 – What kind of skills or specialities make an illustrator particularly suited to elearning?
• 08:02 – How do you think augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will change the way illustrators work?

Robert Pratten is founder and CEO of Conducttr, a transmedia storytelling platform that's used in digital training simulations.

You can see the slides from Robert's talk at the eLearning Guild's games and gamification conference on Slideshare.

Find out more about Robert's book Getting Started in Transmedia Storytelling, a practical guide for beginners, currently in it's second edition.

Follow Robert on Twitter: @robpratten

Robert mentions the book Walking the Talk by Carolyn Taylor.

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

• 00:41 – Can you explain what's meant by "transmedia storytelling"?
• 02:11 – What makes this type of scenario based learning effective?
• 04:43 – Do you have any examples of organisations that are successfully using simulations, or the benefits they're seeing?
• 09:15 – Are there any technical considerations when using this type of simulation?
• 12:02 – Are simulations particularly time consuming to produce compared to other types of training?

Sam Taylor has many years of experience working in learning and her current role is as a digital development manager for a leading company.

We talk to Sam about how to create a strong learning culture in your organisation.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @samt_el

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

• 00:39 - Describe an organisation that has a strong learning culture
• 01:44 - What are the organisational benefits of having the learning culture that you've described?
• 02:33 - What does it feel like for the learners themselves, what benefits do they get and how does it feel to be an individual within this learning culture?
• 04:22 - Where are we now in terms of achieving these ideal visions of a learning organisation?
• 05:57 - What are the kind of things we can do to create a learning culture in our organisation?
• 09:40 - What are your tips for developing employees that are self directed learners?
• 12:44 - How important is social learning to the learning culture and if an organisation isn't supporting social learning can it really have a learning culture?
• 14:03 - What are the biggest barriers that you and your peers face when seeking to adopt a learning culture?

Andy Nock is a Director at the Elearning Network and has worked with augmented and virtual reality in learning.

Andy explains the differences between the two technologies as well as the opportunities that they offer for L&D professionals.

Follow Andy on Twitter: @AndyNock83

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

• 00:34 – Can you define augmented and virtual reality?
• 01:50 – What opportunities exist for using these technologies in L&D?
• 03:08 – Have you seen any real examples of use of Virtual and augmented reality yet?
• 04:57 – Are there any tools you recommend for L&D people to try out the technologies out?
• 06:18 – How long do you think it will be before we're seeing these technologies more regularly in the L&D industry?
• 07:01 – What do you find most exciting about AR and VR?

Andy recommends the following apps and hardware for L&D professionals looking to experimenting with augmented and virtual reality:

• Layar – an augmented reality app for smart phones and tablet with a desktop creator studio
• Unity – a 3d games engine for creating interactive 3D environments for AR and VR
• Ricoh Theta S camera – a 360-degree camera

David Patterson is a consultant at Learning Light and the co-author of their report on the UK elearning market.

We asked David about the trends he's seeing in the elearning industry and what members of the industry should be concentrating on to ensure growth continues.

We cover Brexit, learning technology as well as future and current elearning trends.

Find out more about David Patterson at the Learning Light website.

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

• 00:39 - What is the current direction of travel for the elearning industry?
• 01:07 - Are people asking about Brexit's impact on the elearning industry?
• 03:19 - Is there a trend in elearning that's taken you by surprise?
• 04:23 - Which learning technologies or strategies are creating the biggest impact and making the most difference?
• 06:04 - Are learners in modern organisations open to learning technologies?
• 07:00 - What do companies that are seeing success with learning technologies do that gives them an edge?
• 08:07 - We've seen a rapid pace of change in elearning over the last few years will that continue?

Victor Yocco is a Philadelphia-based researcher and author on psychology and communication. For this podcast episode we're talking with Victor about the application of principles of psychology to online education design.

His latest book Design for the mind looks at how to create online learning that appeals to our innate natural responses as human being.

He has written for Smashing Magazine and A List Apart, find out more on his website or connect with Victor on Twitter: @VictorYocco

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

• 00:39 - What does elearning look like if it is designed without psychology in mind?
• 04:36 - How can we use psychological principles to better engage our audiences?
• 07:03 - How can we design elearning to promote behavioural change in an organisation?
• 10:42 - What are your tips, in terms of psychology, for getting elearning to stick?
• 13:08 - Can you tell us about the use of social networks to influence people and how that might apply to elearning?
• 18:06 - How much knowledge do learning designers need to be successful in using psychology in their work?
• 21:30 - What does elearning look like if it is designed with psychology?

We talk to Mike Booth and Teresa Rose, two L&D industry professionals about how to best serve your learners by focusing on their needs.

Mike Booth is Learning Technologies Manager at Vodaphone, we get his ideas on responding to the requirements of learners.

Teresa Rose is Digital Learning Strategist at energy company E.On who explains how to deal with different types of learners and what we can learn from research into the industry by people like Towards Maturity.

We spoke to Mike and Teresa at the CIPD show earlier this year, you can watch their whole interviews and more on our YouTube channel.

You can follow Teresa Rose on Twitter at @teresarose01 and find out more about Mike Booth's work on his CIPD profile.

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

• 00:42 - Mike Booth - Do we listen to learners enough?
• 01:18 - Mike Booth - What do you do to make sure you're approaching this learning challenge the right way?
• 01:51 - Mike Booth - Is it time to be thinking mobile first?
• 02:59 - Teresa Rose - Is there such a thing as a typical modern learner?
• 03:30 - Teresa Rose - What does L&D need to do to get to the heart of what modern learners need?
• 04:46 - Teresa Rose - How important will personalised learning be in the future?