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Let’s say a company comes to us for help with incorporating diversity and inclusion (D&I) into the learning experience of its employees. Up until fairly recently, the first question we would ask would be, are you looking for training content that appeals to a diverse target audience, or training content that deals with the subject of diversity?

But things have changed over the past couple of years, as Philipp Schossau, Senior Instructional Designer here at imc, explains: “Making training courses diverse in terms of both content and visual appearance is now a standard requirement, irrespective of the subject matter. Diversity training, on the other hand, has its own special requirements – most notably a clear stance on the part of the client.”

Diversity in e-learning is clearly growing in importance. So, in this article, we have put together a summary of key recommendations for companies seeking to incorporate diversity into their learning experience.

“The more global the company, the more likely that it’s already sensitised to diversity issues and will take the initiative and articulate diversity requirements for our projects,” said imc project management officer Kenneth Littlepage, Project Management Officer Business Consulting at imc in a previous interview on D&I. “Locally focused companies, on the other hand, tend not to be so sensitised, so it’s up to us to ask questions.”

However a company might choose to approach it, diversity is a topic that’s here to stay, especially for today’s younger generation. Warm fuzzy words in the corporate vision statement are all well and good, but they won’t carry much weight if the company is a monoculture of white men in suits or hides behind disclaimers to the effect that “the use of he and his is solely for ease of reading and refers to all genders equally”. If you want diverse people in your company, you actually have to make them feel included.

Learning content should be inspiring, if not utterly captivating. Ideally, it should be branded and look cool. And it needs to be engaging for the video gamer generation, without alienating more conventional learners. That’s a lot of boxes for modern learning experiences to tick.

Consequently, many companies and organisations are turning to map-based training. Even so, it’s a fairly new area, and the e-learning applications of maps may not be immediately obvious, despite the ubiquity of Google Maps.

That’s why we have put together this article. It explains the difference between 2D and 3D maps and illustrates the structure and advantages of 2D map-based training.

Arguably the most important difference between 2D and 3D maps is the browser performance required. 3D maps are rendered live in the browser, so they require more computing power and a very stable network or internet connection. The upside is that 3D maps allow dynamic perspectives: users can switch perspectives within the map.

A 2D map does not allow dynamic perspectives, but the viewer can create the impression of changing perspective by moving relative to the map. This 2D principle is employed in many strategy games, for example. The map is based on images in which it is not possible to change perspectives. The advantage is that fairly large story/learning worlds can be shown without requiring a lot of browser performance.

As with most learning experiences, it’s a good idea to start with an introduction. The introduction can appear or pop up on the map in the form of a chat window or a specially created page that briefly outlines the storyline and subject matter of the training session. It is advantageous here to explicitly tell the learner what the training task will involve, and what their objectives are. The benefit of showing an introduction directly on the map at the outset is that the learner does not need to leave the learning world and therefore does not lose focus.

It is vital that the main part of the session is self-explanatory. This means the map must be intuitive to use. A certain degree of in-map guidance can be achieved by unlocking individual tasks step by step. That way, learners intuitively know the correct task order, without having to be explicitly told. Crucially, this approach allows learners to discover the learning content for themselves, i.e., exploratively. The navigation leads via the 2D map to various locations that the learner can ‘visit’. An example would be where the map shows a building that the learner can click on and enter in order to progress to the next task or access a learning nugget.

In 2D maps, just as in other learning settings, it is important to clearly mark the conclusion of learning units and tasks so that learners know they have successfully completed the section in question or indeed the entire training session. There are many different ways of doing this. The key is to ensure the method chosen fits with the training session’s overall storyline. For example, you can use a list of checkpoints which is then displayed at the end with all tasks checked off. Or you can show a notification in the chat window.

Can a map-based training session also be short?

To retain the map’s explorative dimension while at the same time creating a training session that can be completed within a short space of time, you can reduce the amount of learning content, streamline the user experience, or confine exploration strictly to key locations on the map. The main thing is to maintain excitement while keeping the learning purposeful.

How gamified can a map-based training session be?

The primary focus must be on the learner experience, so the map should not contain any unnecessary actions or locations.

Surely map-based training sessions are very labour-intensive to produce?

Not necessarily. The total overhead can actually be relatively low, as the world created by a 2D map makes a relatively large contribution to creating an exciting learning experience. It is possible to reduce the design overhead that goes into learning nuggets/subpages by integrating them into a 2D map.

But isn’t that really expensive?

The 2D map format does not necessarily require more design work by our experts, so it is a very good alternative to 3D maps, even for limited budgets.

What are the other advantages over 3D maps?

Good performance, low overhead, faster page loading.

Falk Hegewald is confident that the upcoming big changes are here to stay – well beyond 2022. Many major corporations are driving the development of virtual reality and metaverse. Nike recently acquired a design studio that “produces” NFTs and virtual running shoes.

“The key driver for metaverse is to create a world where you can play. However, that world will also feature workspaces. We are already entering that world with virtual meeting rooms,” Hegewald explains. “At imc, we are taking that as an incentive to develop the 3D aspects of our content to gain a head start in the creation of such digital worlds and environments.”

This year will also see a strong focus on more engaging content that both motivates and captivates the learner. Not everything needs to be a game, Falk Hegewald claims: “You can also use novel engaging activities and formats. There is already demand for inspiring training, as companies have realised that they need to get more buy-in from their employees. As a premium content provider, we can deliver that.”

Adaptive learning will also be very relevant for content in the year ahead. In the past, the focus was on learning management systems featuring intelligent interfaces that facilitate appropriate distribution of training courses. Now, we are moving towards skill management through content. Falk Hegewald is confident that adaptive e-learning content will be in demand this year. “You rarely need everyone to learn everything. Employees with different levels of knowledge attend the same training course. Testing prior knowledge and leveraging suitable tools to assign content becomes a whole lot easier if the content is adaptive, too.”

Last year, Falk Hegewald was particularly excited about the "Cyber Crime Time"awareness game, which deals with IT security issues by letting the learner take on the role of a hacker. Step by step, they learn the most common cyber-attacks first hand. “This goes well beyond your typical off-the-shelf content, be that from us or from our competitors. We wanted to create something that gets the employees’ attention.”

Yet, that was only the first step: This year, Cyber Crime Time will be expanded to include additional training courses and learning nuggets – smaller learning units. “Our aim is to create an entire training world for IT security so Cyber Crime Time remains exciting for our customers,” Hegewald explains.

Falk Hegewald’s department also had their hands full designing custom content for corporate clients throughout 2021: They created a wide range of complex learning content, as well as complete digital learning journeys – covering everything from onboarding through corporate strategy to exciting sales training for customers like Jägermeister. “Generally speaking, many of our customers were more daring in their content design and presentation this past year. We love that trend and believe there is room for even bolder creative moves in the stories and the design,” says Hegewald.

Companies are forever looking to attract talents and retain them long-term. The right onboarding and employee development are playing an ever-greater role in this quest.

To feed into that ambition, it is important that professional development content is up-to-date and dynamic. Falk Hegewald explains: “Young talents joining the job market are used to a different pace, they use media in a totally different way. It can become very challenging for a company to keep them engaged.”

That is why a key aspect will be to make onboarding and professional development courses accessible on all devices, enabling the latest generation of employees to learn anytime and anywhere.

As Head of the Division, Falk Hegewald always gets excited when new colleagues bring fresh and interesting ideas, as is often the case when they join straight out of university. “This type of inspiration is vital. As a content department, we always need to keep an open mind for new ideas.”

Digital learning is teeming with cryptic terms, many of which are not at all self-explanatory and have various, equally-confusing alternatives.

In this A to Z, we shed some light on the subject and have compiled a list of the most important terms and abbreviations in the field of e-learning in 2024.

Jump to a relevant section or scroll on to browse…

A to F / A - B - C - D - E

G to M / G - I - L - M

N to R / N - O - P - R

S to Z / S - V - W - X

The term API stands for Application Programming Interface. This is a tool that acts as a bridge between two software platforms, allowing them to communicate data with one another.

In the context of e-learning, an API can be hugely valuable by allowing your learning platform to communicate learner data with related business systems, such as your HR software or collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams. This saves time by reducing the need to duplicate the management of employee data across multiple platforms.

An authoring tool is software for making it easier to create e-learning content. This could include interactive applications with which text, graphics, sound and interactivity can be combined to form a piece of content. Authoring tools can be used to create simple presentations or WBT (web-based training), or with an advanced tool - a full interactive module. No programming knowledge is required for using an authoring tool.

Learn more about our own authoring tools:

imc Express and imc Content Studio.

Custom elearning content is developed specifically for the needs of any individual client, in order to best meet their current and future training needs.

The alternative is ‘off the shelf content’, which is typically lower cost and used to deliver quick, compliance-based training. This can be good for ‘tick-box’ kind of training in areas such as basic health and safety awareness.

However, if you’re looking to use e-learning to engage learners and drive performance in the context of your business, then custom content will tend to be much more effective.

Learn about the custom elearning content development services we offer at imc.

Digitisation is simply the transfer of assets from analogue to digital. In the context of learning, this is often taking paper based training materials or face to face classroom delivery, and creating online learning media, which is often housed in an LMS.

Digitalisation is the tactical use of digital tools to improve business processes. For example, this could be analysis of employee or team data within a performance management system (or even just a spreadsheet), in order to identify skills gaps or improvements to training materials. Digitalisation could go as far as changing a business model - for example, a physical goods store moving to ecommerce or a training company switching to selling courses online.

Digital Transformation is the broadest move that happens as a strategic shift orchestrated by the highest level of management. It is a long-term, highly coordinated series of digitalisation projects that may need to overlap and interact with each other.

Digital Transformation can be a powerful modernisation of an organisation that enables it to find new efficiencies, adopt the latest and future technologies, and literally change the organisational culture.

This is a skill and process that combines foundational principles in learning psychology with the latest available technologies to design content for the best possible learning experience. Trends in recent years have moved towards learner engagement, as well as the effectiveness of content, helping people want to follow the training materials.

Multimedia content options, such as video that is now more accessible with ubiquitous, fast internet access, and principles such as gamification and games-based learning, are now key elements of the instructional design toolkit.

Modern e-learning software, such as our own authoring tools, allow L&D professionals and subject matter experts with no formal industrial design training to create effective learning content.

The concept of the Learning System Suite is a combination of an LMS and LXP, as well as a NGLE.

It provides all the top-down training delivery and assessment capabilities associated with a Learning Management System (LMS) for the essentials of onboarding and compliance, combined with the intuitive and engaging environment of a Learning Experience Platform (LXP) and the broader ongoing training, collaboration and interoperability you might consider to be a Next Generation Digital Learning Environment (NGDLE) (or NGLE).

The imc Learning Suite is built for exactly this purpose - a solution for learning management, experience and performance all in one place, while integrating seamlessly into your existing tech stack.

In the field of software, the term multi-tenancy refers to a single application (so in our context, the LMS) shared by multiple user groups who each experience their own, individualised learning environment. This means that different user groups can have different learning portals (each with its own entry portal, its own features, user rights, content, look & feel, etc.), while the system is centrally managed through a single LMS.

This can greatly reduce the cost and time needed to adapt the training experience for different teams, partner organisations, or even customers.

Read more about multi-tenancy LMS solutions in our in-depth article on the topic.

L&D professionals and industry commentators have been bemoaning the limitations of learning management systems and predicting their imminent death almost since they were invented. One of the key complaints is their closed nature that requires a great deal of additional administration alongside other business and HR systems.

The idea of the Next Generation Digital Learning Environment or NGDLE is that it opens up a learning and people performance ecosystem of tools with open standards and principles, perhaps with single sign on (SSO), which will greatly reduce the siloing of learning assessment, collaboration, feedback and general communication.

Some people drop the ‘Digital’ as a given, giving us NGLE.

Our own imc Learning Suite is an example of such an integrated solution that plays nicely with other popular business tech solutions.

In contrast to cloud hosting where data can be stored on multiple servers, and possibly even across multiple territories, on-site hosting will house data at a single client location.

While data security has generally improved over the years and many organisations have moved entirely over to the cloud, on-site hosting can still be appropriate for some organisations where security is of extra concern, and / or to ensure compliance with specific industry or local regulations.

The downside of on-site / on-premise hosting compared to cloud tends to be reduced scalability as resource needs grow or the economies of scale associated with a company maintaining thousands of machines at one or more data centres, rather than a small number on-site. However, this is not a concern for some single-site organisations.

A performance management system enables the ongoing, regular monitoring of employees against KPIs and individual targets. These targets and expectations will be set to support collective contribution towards the wider organisational strategy.

A good performance management system will include learning resources to help support individuals and give them data on their own performance, while providing a management dashboard so that L&D and HR teams can identify an issues, in order to offer additional support or intervention where needed.

The imc Learning Suite incorporates the functionalities of a Performance Management System in the LMS. With its extensive Learning Analytics modules, the imc Learning Suite provides both learners and tutors as well as managers with clear dashboards regarding the learner's progress and performance.

Many companies – for instance, in the food, pharmaceutical or medical sector – need to meet strict regulatory requirements such as FDA Title 21 CFR Part 11. These requirements include that all processes leading up to the production of a product have to be documented and verified at any time. This also applies to employee training, as it is an essential factor in the quality management process.

A Validated Learning Management System (VLMS) - like the imc Learning Suite - enables organisations to make their training processes compliant with these strict requirements. Read more about Validation and Validated Learning Management Systems here.

Learning through videos is popular with both employers and learners as it can convey much more information than static formats in a short space of time, and can appeal to those who prefer visual or auditory content. Videos can be designed and animated in different ways to contextualise learning, or directed by real people - 'characters' - who guide learners through a topic. 'Explainer videos' can be highly effective for onboarding new staff and introducing new concepts.

An advanced use of video-based learning is the interactive video.

More about Video-Based Learning on the blog.

xAPI is often seen as a further development of SCORM. In principle, learning content and learning management systems (LMS) can exchange information with each other in order to record a wide variety of data and learning activities.

To this end, xAPI has redefined some of the basic practices for tracking learning experiences. The main difference between xAPI and SCORM is the type of learning that each participant can follow.

While SCORM is limited to recording online learning, xAPI can track almost any activity. Here xAPI provides a much more detailed view of learning progress, both online and offline.

Different learning methods that xAPI can track include reading a web page, attending an event, borrowing a library book, playing a game, blended learning, and team-based learning. The xAPI data is stored in a Learning Record Store (LRS).

Mobile data, free internet access and remote work make us flexible – and a target for attacks. Cyber criminality is on the rise. Gone are the days where only a handful of hackers tried to obtain our data and – sadly – our money.

To protect themselves, companies must establish effective IT security management. Simply implementing technical measures is no longer enough. The human factor – each company employee – is the most crucial component for successful IT security. Awareness training can be leveraged to sensitise employees to the dangers of cyber-attacks: Knowing about potential dangers helps to stave off criminal hackers.

A hacker need not have programming skills. Social hacking, for example, involves the perpetrator calling selected persons, asking them for their password for ostensible reasons. If the victim actually reveals their password, psychological and linguistic tricks are employed. The technical skills one would typically connect with the term “hacking” are not used.

This makes it even more important to sensitise staff to such threats – they are dealing with a vast array of them. Few people know offhand what malware, ransomware, identity fraud, phishing or social engineering is all about.

But wait a minute! Not only big enterprises and publicly listed corporations are potential victims, Roman Muth, Security Officer for Cloud Solution and Architecture at imc AG shares: “Recently, SMEs have often been targeted by cyber criminality, since large corporations tend to be better protected these days. However, the tactics are similar. The masterminds first approach employees to identify vulnerabilities and obtain information they can use to damage the company, and maybe even blackmail it and extort money.”

To create a lasting impact, employee training needs to start with sensitising employees and creating awareness.

No matter how abstract the subject, training needs to do two things to be fully absorbed and understood by the participants: It must capture their attention and show how it is relevant for their day-to-day work. Theoretical constructs that seem foreign to employees and have little to do with their reality at work are forgotten before they even click the final tab.

That is why imc developed an awareness game: to help learners grasp the issue while motivating them to dive deeper into IT security.

Different companies have different requirements for their onboarding process. They might want to use modular and future-proof concepts, achieve cost and time savings compared to current approaches, or enable employees to start working sooner. Moreover, the pandemic has accelerated the need for digital onboarding as face-to-face training has not been possible. Despite the pandemic introducing more relaxed, remote working arrangements, hybrid work arrangements will become the norm; hence digital onboarding will become the tool to deliver a great first experience to new employees.

Yet, companies are not the only stakeholders – Employees have their own expectations of the onboarding process. This is why many HR managers are deciding on learner-centric onboarding that revolves around the needs of new employees:

“I want to know what makes my company tick,” – “I want to feel like I’m becoming part of the community,” – “I want to improve my skills.”

To achieve that, your onboarding needs a framework that provides guidance and an emotional connection while assessing the current state of knowledge and developing expertise.

This article explains how to design an exciting and creative digital onboarding process with new and existing e-learning content, even without a learning management system (LMS).

Our experts are always developing concepts suitable for a wide range of requirements. Get a head start with our “best of” compilation. Let’s imagine this situation: You want to digitise five days of basic training that has always been conducted on site. You are looking at a very diverse group of participants. The target group for this training extends beyond new colleagues, and also includes “old hands,” as well as some external service providers. They each have a different level of prior knowledge, different hardware, and different levels of access to a learning management system (LMS). Some might not have any access at all.

How do you satisfy them all? The solution is to design a structured framework for digital onboarding. Our experts recommend getting a head start with these 6 modules:

The virtual kick-off at the beginning of each training day serves to agree and discuss the agenda and objectives for the day together with the trainers. The focus should be on social onboarding, on promoting interaction between the participants. Our experts recommend a playful warm-up with surveys, icebreakers, or activation games aka energisers. Why not play a round of “I packed my bag” to get started? It is helpful to establish a meeting netiquette, specifying that cameras and microphones must be switched on.

In the self-learning phase, each learning format achieves a specific objective. For example, digital performance cards help employees gain knowledge with a certain focus, and then apply it in simulations as part of web-based training. Virtual scavenger hunts help them familiarise themselves with the company or the intranet. Companies can also integrate existing training courses or offer individually tailored or branded content. Variation between different e-learning formats has proven particularly effective.

Finally, the learner makes their personal entry in the learning diary. An easy way to integrate the diary is to design a page in the intranet, a document in the cloud or a form that mirrors the central starting point, and which each participant completes for themselves. This serves to summarise the core messages from the workshops or formulate the questions and tasks for the self-learning phase, as well as compiling key insights from the training courses. The personal learning diary thus becomes an individual reference resource participants can look things up in long after their onboarding.

Digital onboarding works. This approach can absolutely be appropriate while also saving resources. Nevertheless, some onboarding processes are easier to realise in a hybrid format. Of course, that does require new employees to travel to the location.

One example for a good hybrid solution would be to communicate theoretical content through online self-study, and then bring participants on site to carry out specific actions, such as operating machinery. The face-to-face part of the training can then be utilised for practical exercises and to clarify questions.

Similarly, a dual approach helps with understanding the corporate culture. For instance, companies might invite new employees for an intro day before their first day of work. Make the most of this day by asking colleagues to talk about how they realise the values, objectives, and mission of the company in their daily work. This meeting can also be leveraged to establish an emotional connection with new recruits and build enthusiasm for the company.

In our experts’ experience, it is not as clear-cut as one approach being universally better. Rather, it is about selecting suitable formats and linking them in a helpful way based on the new employees’ needs and the learning objectives.

The effective observation and research to successfully capture the human-centred approach are quite simple. Designers would need to consult and collaborate with the end-user. They would need to immerse themselves in the world of an employee, engage with them, ask them questions, get to know their work environment, watch them work to gain an accurate understanding of what it is like to be in their shoes.

For human-centred design to work well, it requires a holistic “hands-on approach” to understand how employees approach their work and why they do things the way they do.

After consulting with the employees to understand their specific needs, a designer would draft a ‘finished enough to test’ plan of the e-learning course.

The next stage would be to hold a video conference with users and walk them through the plan, taking in any feedback they may have. Once feedback has been incorporated, the building of the e-learning course will take place. After this, designers would need to have the users test it again.

Basically, these last few steps would be repeated until the e-learning content is refined enough that it is ready for publication!

The imc team utilised the human-centred design approach to find a solution for the onboarding of new staff to the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). With collaborations and workshops, we worked closely with the client and their subject matter experts to understand what separates DHHS and makes them a leading workplace for new employees.

The main aim of this module was to make new starters feel connected to the organisation, their role and how they are part of the bigger picture for DHHS.

For us to really understand and empathise with our learners, we need to be talking directly to our target audience as best we can.

Too often, e-learning can make the mistake of focusing on the training itself rather than the target audience.

By going out into the field and meeting with our learners, the human-centred design provides the best way possible to build up an accurate representation of the people we are hoping to inform and educate. This, in turn, leads to e-learning content that is both engaging and practical.

... and suddenly, the training had to be scrapped. Many companies made that experience in lockdown number one. Employees needed to be trained, but the training was postponed due to Corona. Again. And again. However, most types of training simply cannot be endlessly postponed or even be cancelled altogether.

A pragmatic and swift solution is needed – training needs go where the employees are: their home office. For many companies, that means digitising learning content, and doing so quickly. They need rapid content development. This trend was already apparent before Corona, but the pandemic greatly increased the demand for the technologies that facilitate rapid content development.

This article explores what qualifies as rapid content development, what type of learning content is suitable for rapid digitisation, and what risks a strong focus on speed entails.

We want things now: fast food, coffee to go, messenger services, online shopping … we no longer have time. Companies have also clocked onto this trend, and want to stay up to date with their training courses. An ever-increasing amount of knowledge is expected to be available almost instantly on various media while maintaining a high quality standard and staying within budget.

The solution: rapid content development. But wait a minute! No matter how fast you go, the quality of the overall learning solution must not be compromised. That’s why learning experts like Eva Lettenbauer always look at the big picture.

Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, many companies were facing the challenge of having to digitalise their face-to-face training in a short space of time. However, directly transitioning classroom-based training courses to a virtual classroom or web session is not always effective, and it’s most certainly not efficient.

That is why we always examine the specific issues and objectives. This allows us to digitise specific learning content in a way that drives outcomes and boosts performance.

Since requirements differ as widely as the type of knowledge to be conveyed, digital solutions vary enormously. We start by analysing the sharable knowledge and the desired outcome. We also examine if the integration of certain existing learning solutions or curated content would add value, and examine the suitability of different learning infrastructures. Finding the right formats for the content at hand has to be a priority, as this then allows new content to be created quickly and systematically.

Summertime is Sports Time! But no matter if watching Tennis, Rugby or Athletics: physical effort and mental training is not the only one. Behind every successful athlete is an entire association and a team that also needs to train and continue learning.

This ranges from new training methods through first aid courses to preventive approaches and anti-doping training – and everything in between. We spoke to a former pro athlete, and explain how these and other topics can be presented as e-learning contents, and what advantages that brings.

Clubs and associations increasingly facilitate continuous development through e-learning, as imc Solution Consultant and former professional javelin thrower Eric Uder notes: “The associations need to ensure that training courses on new training methods, referee rulebooks and preventive approaches are carried out and understood.

Pure face-to-face training is not always helpful in this context. Rather, more and more sports associations from a vast range of disciplines favour blended training concepts, combining e-learning with on-site training.”

According to Uder, sports associations utilising e-learning is nothing new in itself. After all, the integration of the digital and analogue world has long arrived in sports. That also includes using goal-line technology in football to verify precisely whether or not the ball was in. We can therefore rest assured that we won’t see another Wembley goal.

Moving training scenarios from a face-to-face format to an online environment is thus an obvious solution. Even associations which long resisted this step are now coming around to it, as Uder explains: “We have been supporting larger associations from New Zealand and Australia for years; for instance, in rugby. We now see that the German associations too are increasingly interested in online training concepts and our platform.”

With the introduction of a learning platform or learning management system, associations open up far more opportunities than simply training the trainers and referees: Volunteers can gain access and complete mandatory training courses or inductions online, at any time and from anywhere.

It is also easy to include sponsors, keep them informed and offer them insights into current affairs, new regulations, and other items of interest. The possibilities are endless. All types of content can be accessed smoothly without jumping through hoops: from video tutorials, through web-based training to learning nuggets, from compliance through anti-doping to mental health topics.

Uder predicts: “I believe that sports associations will place an even stronger focus on digital learning platforms in coming years. They are facing enormous challenges: On the one hand, they are expected to produce results. On the other hand, they are often short staffed and lack financial resources. This makes healthy budgeting practices even more important.

An LMS allows them to send out automated reminders for training courses, book entire groups of members onto new courses at once, or integrate tests to verify that participants have understood the contents. This all saves time while enhancing transparency. It makes it easy to verify who completed which training course when.”

LivePerson’s Consumer Preferences for Conversational Commerce survey found two-thirds of consumers would like to message with brands. Again, this reflects a preference for consumers to do business with companies that answer questions immediately.

Australian consumers are among the highest levels of chatbot users worldwide. Consumers particularly in younger age brackets, are interested in the convenience and ease that chatbot interaction can offer, but they can still be sceptical of bots and prefer human interaction.

However, when developed effectively, chatbots are extremely valuable and can offer a very unique way to forge a connection and develop valuable insights

Chatbot learning has evolved because we are now in an age where education has become more accessible than ever. We are constantly in pursuit of better, faster, and deeper ways to learn.

Adult learners are busy and rarely a priority to make time to learn, but utilising chatbot can change this tendency with spikes in productivity because of personable and knowledgeable training assistance.

Additionally, it can offer a welcome change to employees, with interactive training elements to engage them with high knowledge retention and put them in control of their own learning journeys.

Some of the advantages of incorporating chatbot learning include:

Real-time analytics dashboards, these measure the most commonly asked questions, track active and engaged learners versus learners who are not engaged, view the interactions that happen during off-hours, and evaluate learners’ skill development.
They will encourage employees to be more productive and better placed to learn at their own pace when they need support.
They can push out personalised information to learners.
They can review and access all learner created questions and responses.
They reduce the workload of trainers.

An example of a conversational learning chatbot approach developed by imc Australia was deployed in the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA). The chatbot complemented the Compost Facility Management Training by teaching learners some of the basics of the main concepts in the e-learning program, such as Odour, Pasteurisation, Contamination and the Composting Process. It was also operating as a driver to motivate participants to want to learn more by going on to complete the Compost Facility Management course.

imc Australia used engaging design (Chatbot framework) and a conversational learning approach to teach participants about technical concepts involved in composting, using an informal and fun approach to gain their interest and inspire them to complete further study on the subject. You can register on the EPA’s learning management system here.

Moreover, imc created a chatbot that uses more informal language and uses GIFs as well as emojis to make it a more interactive experience for learners.

We have implemented GIFs within our chatbot learning because they can make learning more vivid and entertaining.

Here are some of the benefits of using GIFs in e-learning:

They visually represent ideas and information in a few seconds
They are easier to follow than a series of still images
They usually run in a loop and are also perceived out of the corner of the eye
They are much easier to create than higher-end video content
They can play automatically on almost any system
They trigger emotions. The stronger the emotion, the better the memory

Corporate Learning is a Window into Your Organisation’s D&I Soul

Three golden rules for companies seeking to put diversity on their training agenda

All a matter of perspective? Tips for implementing diversity in training content

INFO:

GOOD TO KNOW

Attitude is a prerequisite for special diversity trainings

Ready when you are

Rapid Content Development

Gamification takes corporate learning to a new level

Contact person

Tips for Using 2D Maps in e-learning

The many advantages of putting learning content into a map structure

Differences between 2D and 3D maps

2D animation

The introduction: arriving on the map

The main narrative: read the map

GOOD TO KNOW

The conclusion: leave the map

Questions?

Rapid Content Development

Gamification takes corporate learning to a new level

Contact person

This year’s e-learning content trends

Interview with Falk Hegewald, Director E-Learning at imc

INFO

Now, we’re really getting started: 3D, VR and Metaverse

INFO

Engaging content and adaptive learning

Premium off-the-shelf content will be big next year

The war for talents goes into the next round

As Content Director, what are you looking forward to this year?

Gamification takes corporate learning to a new level

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The Ultimate eLearning Jargon Glossary 2024

LMS, LXP, SCORM, WBT, EPSS, NGLE, CBT, ITS!? Lost in a world of elearning terms and abbreviations?

Adaptive Learning Systems (aka Intelligent Tutoring Systems / ITS)

API

Authoring Tool

Blended Learning

Cloud Hosting

Conversational Learning (aka Conversational Interfaces)

Custom content (aka bespoke content)

Digitisation, Digitalisation and Digital Transformation

e-Learning

Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS)

Extended Enterprise

Game-Based Learning

Gamification

Instructional Design

Interactive Learning

Interactive Video

Learning Experience Platform (LXP)

Learning Nuggets

Learning Management System (LMS)

Learning Content Management System (LCMS)

Learning Record Store (LRS)

Learning System Suite

Micro-Learning

Mobile Learning (M-Learning)

MOOC

Multi-tenancy LMS

Next Generation Digital Learning Environment (NGDLE)

On-site Hosting (aka on-premise hosting)

On-the-Job-Training (OJT)

Performance Management System

Predictive Analytics

REST API

SCIM

SCORM

Serious Game (related terms: Adventure Game or Learning Game)

Social Learning

Validated Learning Management System (VLMS)

Video-Based Learning

Web-based Training (WBT)

xAPI (also Experience API or Tin Can)

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