Training in Another Dimension | March/April 2019

M A R C H /A P R I L 2 0 1 9

TRAINING IN ANOTHER

DIMENSION DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN L&D | 16 Using Virtual Reality to Enhance Learning

3 MYTHS ABOUT GAMIFICATION | 24 Uncovering the Facts About Gamified Learning

ADAPTIVE LEARNING 3.0 | 40 The Evolution of Personalized Learning

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PERSPECTIVES KEN TAYLOR

TRAINING IN ANOTHER DIMENSION

This issue of Training Industry Magazine focuses on creating an immersive learning environment through the practical application of new technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Emerging technologies create immense opportunities for corporate training, especially in situations where practicing new skills is dangerous. High risk doesn’t just equate to physical danger like avoiding a chemical skill but also challenging topics like how to provide difficult feedback.

AI-DRIVEN CONTENT CURATION APPLICATIONS CAN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON OUR QUEST FOR RELEVANCY AND CONSISTENCY OF THE LEARNER EXPERIENCE. As learning and development (L&D) professionals, we are often focused on controlling environmental distractions when designing a learning experience.

While these new technologies can help with that, they can also present a few

obstacles like poor learning construct, physical illness using the technology, or user challenges interacting within the environment.

I believe the opportunity for L&D is to include this type of technology into training that must scale, must include practice to retain skills or require an application of skills, and involves a certain level of learner risk. This technology is especially useful for learning experiences where learner level tracking is critical to full course completion, such as when demonstrating the mastery of a competency is the measure of success.

The ability to create “reusable” environments is cost-effective and allows L&D professionals to introduce new scenarios beyond the initial application.

For example, consider a leadership development tool that allows the learner to practice critical meetings like performance reviews, feedback sessions, or negotiating compensation changes by interacting in an office environment with a virtual employee.

Since this office environment has already been created, new incremental skillfocused scenarios can be added relatively inexpensively. Additionally, focusing the training on micro-skill building will help reduce complexity and the need to recreate in the future.

The idea of practicing skills and techniques, and receiving feedback from the instructor, coach or the AI engine is where these applications take flight. Beyond AR or VR, I feel that AIdriven content curation applications can have a significant impact on our quest for relevancy and consistency of the learner experience. I have seen demos where the engine truly simplifies the administrator’s role in both finding and selecting curated content of all types.

As an industry, the applications of these new technologies are beginning to take form, and the hope for their impact on company performance is great. Bestin-class corporate learning teams are testing the application of these tools in the learning experiences and programs.

Those leading the pack have deployed an application in the context of a larger learning initiative.

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts about the perspectives shared in the magazine, and please feel free to send any content ideas for future consideration.

Ken Taylor is president and editor in chief of Training Industry, Inc. Email Ken.

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CO N T E N TS

TA B L E O F VOLUME 12

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I

ISSUE 3

I

MARCH/APRIL 2019

3 MYTHS ABOUT

FEATURES

GAME-BASED LEARNING

IN THE WORKPLACE...BUSTED! ADAPTIVE LEARNING 16 DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN L&D

16 21 24 28 32 36

24 3 MYTHS ABOUT GAMIFICATION

40 ADAPTIVE LEARNING 3.0

DISRUPTING L&D WITH IMMERSIVE LEARNING

By Derek Belch

Utilize immersive technology to equip employees with the skills they need to succeed.

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN DEVELOPING A TRAINING EXPERIENCE IN VR

By Eric Frederickson

Before developing a virtual reality training program, consider some important factors.

3 MYTHS ABOUT GAME-BASED LEARNING IN THE WORKPLACE… BUSTED!

By Ryan Timpany

Well-designed game elements in learning can be a powerful tool for a training strategy.

THE CASE FOR VR-IMMERSIVE AND AI-ADAPTIVE SOFT SKILLS TRAINING

By Dean Slawson

Soft skills training does not scale, but virtual reality with artificial intelligence can help.

TURNING TRAINING TOPICS INTO GAMES: A STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

By Ellen Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Transition boring training content into something fun that improves learning retention.

VIRTUAL REALITY: AN INVALUABLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO IMMERSE EMPLOYEES IN YOUR BRAND

By Amanda Jenkins

Transform employees into brand ambassadors through the power of virtual reality.

40 45

ADAPTIVE LEARNING 3.0

By Patrick Weir

Advancements in technology has created more refined and effective personalized learning.

THE APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE CORPORATE WORLD

By Julia Pelton

Discover the key areas in which organizations are implementing virtual reality.

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I N THIS I S S U E

THOUGHT LEADERS

3 9 11 13

PERSPECTIVES

By Ken Taylor

Emerging technologies provide relevant and consistent learner experiences.

GUEST EDITOR

By Elizabeth Greene

Many companies are turning to virtual reality to differentiate themselves.

15 53 55

SCIENCE OF LEARNING

By Srini Pillay, M.D.

Explore how virtual reality connects mind and body to create impactful training.

PERFORMANCE MATTERS

By Julie Winkle Giulioni

Step away from the keyboard and increase retention by using written activities.

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BUILDING LEADERS

By Sam Shriver and Marshall Goldsmith

New technologies make the path to leadership easier to navigate.

WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH

By Stella Lee, Ph.D.

Understand the ethical issues that accompany new, exciting technology.

SECRETS OF SOURCING

By Doug Harward

Selecting the right tool and technology partner might be easier than it seems.

LEARNER MINDSET

By Michelle Eggleston Schwartz

Technology can enable reinforcement and result in more effective training outcomes.

INFO EXCHANGE

48

CASEBOOK

50

GLOBAL OUTLOOK

RWE Power AG partners with TÜV Rheinland to innovate training practices with mixed reality glasses.

Examine the trends and case studies for using disruptive technologies to upskill or reskill a workforce.

CONNECT WITH US

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SCOTT NUTTER General Manager, Research, AQP & Development Delta Air Lines

MICHAEL CANNON, M.ED. Senior Director, Head of Learning & Development Red Hat

MATTHEW S. PRAGER Executive Training Manager U.S. Government

MEGAN CASADOS Director of Training DISH

MARC RAMOS Vice President, Chief Learning Officer Sitecore

LORNA HAGAN Chief People Officer OnDeck

KELLY RIDER Vice President, L&D Content Strategy & Experience SAP Learning & Development

BARBARA JORDAN Group Vice President, Global Learning & Development Sims Metal Management

DR. SYDNEY SAVION General Manager, Learning Air New Zealand

CATHERINE KELLY, MA, BSN, RN, CPTM Director of Learning Programs Brookdale Senior Living

KERRY TROESTER Director, North America Sales Training Lenovo

SHIREEN LACKEY Talent Management Officer, Office of Business Process Integration Veterans Benefits Administration

NATASHA MILLER WILLIAMS Vice President, Talent Engagement & Development Nielsen

LAURA MORAROS Global Head of Sales Learning Facebook

KEE MENG YEO Vice President, Enterprise Talent Development

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GUEST EDITOR ELIZABETH GREENE

TAKING A LEAP INTO VIRTUAL REALITY

More and more organizations are turning to innovative technologies to differentiate themselves from the competition that is swimming with similar products, services and sales pitches. As organizations focus on new initiatives and innovative ideas, intended to drive the future of the company to new heights, the excitement can be heard from executive memos to employee hallway conversations. If there were a time to break away from traditional training philosophies to a new training dimension, the time is now!

Company initiatives involving new systems, new technology or new processes often involve acquiring new skills for employees.

As companies modernize and implement technologies from machine learning to humanoid robots, the employee skill set required to keep up is significantly changing. According to the World Economic Forum, “By 2022, no less than 54 percent of all employees will require significant reand upskilling.”

Not only are the skill sets and job categories changing during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the way in which people learn is changing. Millennials are playing a major role in the revamped learning strategies taking place in many organizations right now. Microlearning, experiential learning, collaborative learning cohorts, and virtual learning environments are all methods recently implemented in corporate learning programs with the increasing numbers of millennials in the workforce.

Take Action!

Acknowledging changing skill sets, implementing training programs, and addressing the evolving learning needs of millennials can be a monumental task. So

how do you know what the best approach is for your organization? The obvious answer: Determine the best approach by taking a close look at company initiatives, resources and perceived adoption by leadership and employees. Select the options that are in highest alignment. The not so obvious answer: Take a risk and leap into another training dimension with virtual reality (VR)!

If the thought of VR scares you, you’re not alone. The concept of VR and its application in the corporate learning environment is fairly new and can be overwhelming. Learning about the basics of VR is a good starting point. Luckily, there are companies testing the waters and sharing their results to prove that the benefits outweigh the initial hurdles of implementation: • Bechtel – Safety and crane operator training • Fidelity – Empathy training for call center employees • KFC – Chicken frying skills training for new employees • NASA – Spacewalk training for NASA astronauts • UPS – Safety training for new drivers • Walmart – New technology, customer service, and compliance training for new associates It is only a matter of time before VR becomes commonplace in all training depar tments. After all, successful applications of VR are already present in corporate learning environments and tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg are

supporting the movement toward VR with ambitious company goals: “We want to get a billion people in virtual reality.”

The expanding use of VR coupled with millennials’ belief that VR products will increase productivity could mean the implementation of virtual reality in the workplace may not be as hard pressed as in earlier years. Millennials are already using VR for gaming and are twice as likely than other generations to purchase a VR headset. With the expansion of personal use, employees will be less intimidated to use VR in a professional setting.

THE TIME IS NOW TO BREAK AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL TRAINING PHILOSOPHIES TO A NEW TRAINING DIMENSION. Each year the world of learning and development takes on a new form.

Keeping abreast of the latest trends in learning technology is one of the most important requirements of a training professional. There is no better time than the present to take the leap and try something new, bold, and innovative!

As Anthony de Mello once said, “Take the Leap! You cannot cross a chasm in two jumps!”

Elizabeth Greene is the director of global learning and development at ON Semiconductor, with 15 years of experience in reinventing corporate learning programs. Email Elizabeth.

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SCIENCE OF LEARNING SRINI PILLAY, M.D.

CAN VIRTUAL REALITY ENHANCE THE BRAIN’S CAPACITY TO LEARN?

Gone are the days where learning was simply a matter of remembering what was spoken in a classroom. Facts that are simply heard or read have limited halflives in our memory circuits, while those that are felt or experienced last longer.

Modern technology like virtual reality (VR) can offer learners the capacity to experience information. And when they do, they can understand situations deeply and remember them vividly.

Take for example a 2018 study conducted by computational social scientist David Markowitz and his colleagues. These investigators explored whether immersive virtual reality was effective for teaching people the consequences of climate change. They found that after experiencing immersive VR, people acquired new knowledge about climate science and, in some cases, displayed improved attitudes toward the environment after VR exposure. The analyses also revealed that the more time people spent in this environment, the more they learned.

VR CAN OFFER LEARNERS THE CAPACITY TO EXPERIENCE INFORMATION. Contrary to popular belief, new technologies may actually make us more human than less human. By offering powerful experiences, virtual reality may make us more empathetic, altruistic and understanding toward each other. In

2018, cognitive scientists Daniel Żuromski and his colleagues explained that “digital humanism” is a reality. When you’re immersed in an environment, you really “get it.” You see things from another person’s point of view, and this perspective lasts. If a learner is not predisposed to helping others, they may benefit from immersive technology.

Imagine the consequences of applying this research to toxic bosses and office conflicts. While words may fall on deaf ears, showing people what it feels like to walk in someone else’s shoes could help learners develop skills conducive to a peaceful work environment.

VR can also help you see how self-image affects the way you interact with others.

For instance, people given attractive avatars have shown to be more confident interacting in the virtual world than those given unattractive avatars. In a 2017 study led by computer scientist Ye Pan, self-avatars helped people learn soft skills like trust and co-operation.

In the brain, VR is effective at promoting learning by helping users feel the learning “in their bones.” In 2019, Giuseppe Riva and his colleagues explained that this phenomenon called “embodied simulation” joins the mind and body when learning. When the mind and body come together, people feel more internally coherent and can navigate the world and control their bodies effectively. Think of how effective this strategy can be in corporations where people feel burned out or disengaged. This mind-body coherence could be just what employees need.

In many ways, engaging the mind and body in VR is similar to mindfulness or meditation and can be used as an alternative.

In the real world, people encounter more than just words. They have to deal with distractions in the environment.

VR offers people the ability to face challenges that approximate those in the real world. In VR settings, learners can experience their reactions to disruptions more intimately. Imagine you have to stand on stage to give a presentation to the board. Practicing this in a VR environment while seeing a simulation of your heart racing can give you the necessary insights to conquer your fears.

Of course, as with most technology, you want to ensure that you moderate your exposure to simulated realities. You don’t want to have these simulations replace reality, like how a child may try to swipe right on an actual book because of isolated exposure to Kindle texts. Since VR is likely to work in some instances but not others, it’s best to implement and test those applications that provide potential high-yield with little risk.

Applications that boost self-confidence, environmental sensitivity, trust, cooperation, engagement and resilience are likely to be a good investment in the long-run.

Dr. Srini Pillay is the CEO of NeuroBusiness Group. He is also assistant professor (parttime) at Harvard Medical School and teaches in the executive education programs at Harvard Business School and Duke CE. Email Srini.

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PERFORMANCE MATTERS JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI

WRITE ON! We are fortunate to live in a time where the boundaries and limitations that previously capped our learning are being challenged and systematically dismantled as a result of available technology and our creative applications of it. However, by embracing these technologies that absorb the consequences of failure, enable perfection through practice, and accelerate learning, are we losing anything in the process? Some researchers say, “yes!”

research found that both word recall and retention improve when notes are taken by hand versus with the use of technology.

As more of our learning emanates from computers, tablets and phones, there has been a sharp decline in the frequency with which we use a pen or pencil to write.

Increasingly, students in school and people in the workplace resort to typing notes, reminders and more. And, the results may negatively affect knowledge and skill acquisition, recall and use.

That “something,” according to researchers Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer, may be that taking notes by hand requires different cognitive processing than doing so in a technology-enabled way: “these different processes have consequences for learning. Writing by hand is slower and more cumbersome than typing, and students cannot possibly write down every word in a lecture. Instead, they listen, digest and summarize so that they can succinctly capture the essence of the information. Thus, taking notes by hand forces the brain to engage in some heavy ‘mental lifting,’ and these efforts foster comprehension and retention.”

How Technology Affects Learning According to Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, fMRI data demonstrates that writing by hand activates “massive regions involved in thinking, language and working memory.” It also stimulates the reticular activation system, responsible for filtering information and concentrating our attention. All of this is necessary for the development of new skills and abilities.

As a result, activating these brain regions is a high priority when learning.

Jane Vincent, guest teacher and visiting fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, conducted a study of 650 university students in 10 countries and reported: “many of the students in our study found [that] making handwritten notes leads to greater retention of data than if it is typed.” Her

According to the Association for Psychological Science, one of the problems is that “there is something about typing that leads to mindless processing. And there is something about ink and paper that prompts students to go beyond merely hearing and recording new information.”

In addition to the mental lift, simply lifting one’s hand might account for improved learning on the part of those who write versus type. According to Longchamp et al 2011, the “connection with muscle movement provides visual receptors and memory capacity.” In fact, it might not even matter what one writes. Something as nonsensical as doodling appears to be beneficial. In one study, those who doodled during a voicemail recalled 29 percent more of its contents than those who didn’t doodle.

Offer Opportunities to Write These research results aren’t intended as an

indictment of technology or an argument against its role in learning. Instead, they represent a tremendous opportunity to take learning practices to a new level with some simple and inexpensive instructional strategies that encourage writing and the benefits that come along with it.

For instance: • Develop and distribute physical notetaking tools to accompany technologyenabled learning. Even if they never refer to them again, participants will realize the positive effects through the action of writing.

• Build physical note-taking activities into the instructional design. Offer breaks throughout the learning experience for reflection, idea capture and journaling.

Opportunities to reflect can reduce stress and allow participants to get more instructional value.

• Consider “create your own job aid” options. Rather than supplying a preconstructed performance support tool, invite participants to synthesize their insights into their own unique and handwritten representation.

Small, low-tech adjustments like these can supplement the sophisticated systems and strategies we’ve devised for learning.

They can activate regions of the brain that encourage greater recall, integration and application. They can slow things down enough to allow for the thinking time required for growth and change. And they can help us get learning “write.”

Julie Winkle Giulioni has 25 years of experience working with organizations worldwide to improve performance through learning.

Email Julie.

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BUILDING LEADERS SAM SHRIVER & MARSHALL GOLDSMITH

LEADERSHIP, LOVE AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

How long does it take to become a leader? At face value and from a training professional’s perspective this is a ridiculous question, right? At the same time, it is a question we are asked with surprising frequency, in one form or another, by well-meaning stakeholders.

The challenge with providing an accurate and genuine response is that you run the risk of coming across as clueless and arrogant: “Absolutely no idea.” Or as professorial and distant: “There are so many complex organizational variables that can serve to prolong the transfer of soft skills training it is difficult to predict.

For instance, the environment itself. Is the learner reintegrating into a set of circumstances that are conducive for blah, blah and blah…”

Our advice for these conversations is to turn the dynamic of the discussion from an inquiry into an exploration that highlights how emerging technologies can accelerate the fundamental process of building leaders, driving behavior change and producing results. This exploration may resemble something like the following: How long does it take to become a leader?

“That’s a tough question that deserves a candid and thoughtful answer. The first thing that comes to mind is that most of

the people you and I would readily identify as leaders view leadership as a journey, that truly never ends, as opposed to a destination that you can calculate. This is probably not the first time you’ve heard that, but I honestly doubt there will ever be a reliable way to accurately predict the exact moment in time that leadership learning translates into measurable leadership behavior. But I can tell you this with the highest degree of confidence, there has never been a better time to be in the business of leadership development.”

Really? And why exactly is that?

“The tools we currently have at our disposal to accelerate that journey boggle the mind! For example, we have long known that you don’t become a leader by attending a workshop. We can certainly assess and measure an increase in knowledge from a training program, but understanding the principles of leadership is just one component of being an effective leader. Effectively executing a leadership strategy in a real-world setting is something altogether different!

“Technology now provides us with the ability to extend the workshop experience and provide personalized opportunities for practice, feedback and skill enhancement.

For example, we can now systematically stream time-efficient content reminders and application activities to learners on a recurring basis to keep knowledge fresh.

We can virtually coach learners taking

their first steps toward implementing what they learned in ways we could have only dreamed about a short time ago.”

TURN THE DYNAMIC OF THE DISCUSSION FROM AN INQUIRY INTO AN EXPLORATION. According to Simon Sinek, a leadership thought leader, becoming a leader is a lot like falling in love and staying there. You can probably look back and credit a high-profile event or two that contributed to the bonds you’ve formed or the relationships you’ve built. The reality associated with either pursuit is that they are the product of simple strategies effectively executed on a consistent basis over an extended period.

Today, there is an ever-increasing spectrum of emerging technologies that can be leveraged to extend the learning experience and keep leadership alive.

These are very exciting times to be in the business of learning.

Marshall Goldsmith is the world authority in helping successful leaders get even better.

Sam Shriver is the senior vice president of commercial operations and product development at The Center for Leadership Studies. Email Marshall and Sam.

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BY DEREK BELCH

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The modern learner was raised on technology, expects instant access to information, and thrives in a work environment with robust career development options. Employees across generations value career development more than ever before, with 87 percent claiming it’s highly important to them in their jobs, according to Gallup research.

Employees are looking to their employers to help them build job-specific, interpersonal, and confidence-building skills so they can elevate performance and succeed. Yet recent research by Deloitte reveals that only 36 percent of those new to the workforce feel they’ve been given the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in their roles. Talent development leaders are under pressure to provide the training that will support individuals and positively affect overall culture. Learning and development teams are becoming pivotal players in driving innovation and growth in their organizations.

Simultaneously, organizations must scale learning quickly with less time available to train on the job and a competitive drive for employees to be as efficient as possible from day one. Oneon-one training is effective — especially if you have an excellent trainer — but simply isn’t realistic for most companies, and it’s definitely not scalable.

Immersive technologies enable a fundamentally better way to properly equip your employees to excel at their roles. Real-world simulation provides real-world behavioral change in the workplace in areas of onboarding, training, upskilling and retention.

TRAINING REINVENTED It has long been a conundrum for organizations: employees can’t get good at something without practice. Books, lectures, quizzes and homework can never adequately prepare workers for

how to respond when face-to-face with a customer or making quick decisions in a real-life scenario. However, true life practice can be risky and expensive.

Exposing learners to realistic situations in live training can be extremely costly and quite hazardous. And putting unskilled trainees on the floor or in front of real customers runs a big risk of negative brand impact.

REAL-WORLD SIMULATION PROVIDES REAL-WORLD BEHAVIORAL CHANGE. To further complicate things, training can be logistically challenging to orchestrate and can disrupt business beyond simply taking employees away from their jobs.

The status quo of training today rarely involves doing, but typically involves lobbing information at employees and hoping it sticks — a scenario no one really likes, least of all the employees.

Immersive learning proves there’s a new way: a training model that doesn’t force employers to choose between scalable learning and effective learning. Virtual reality (VR) can speed up onboarding by giving employees instant familiarity with their work environment. VR is highly effective for on-the-job training — not just new training but ongoing learning throughout an employee’s career.

Additionally, VR is the most efficient and low-risk method to train on safety procedures and customer empathy.

MEASURABLE INSIGHTS Successful leaders will be those who can measure the learning benefits and the business impact of their efforts.

Collecting data is critical to metrics

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gathering and traditional L&D programs create mainly qualitative feedback. In fact, LinkedIn Learning research reveals that employee survey results are the biggest way most companies today measure learning, followed by attendee ratings of their own satisfaction following instructor-led classes. These are highly subjective metrics.

Thanks to the data-collecting ability inherent in VR, businesses can better map their L&D efforts to quantifiable results and benefits. According to the same LinkedIn Learning report, 73 percent of talent developers name “increased performance in metrics” as the number one way they could prove success of their L&D programs. VR learning provides the path to measurable results.

REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS Across major industries from power supply to food production to retail, companies are using immersive technology to revolutionize their L&D programs to better develop their workforce and align it with business goals. Ultimately, VR gets learners closer to reality than any other training medium, with less risk and expense.

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY Retail environments have a complicated cadence. There are various areas of a store or restaurant where employees might interact with customers.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND VR-BASED LEARNING We’ve long known that people learn best through experience. Learning by doing is simply more effective than learning by watching or listening. Recent science behind immersive learning points to a handful of quantifiable reasons that VR training is so effective in the business world: 1.

VR provides real-world behavioral change. VR is highly realistic. Therefore, the brain takes in data to strengthen connections like it would in real life.

Learning in VR is basically the same as learning in the real world.

2. V R training is better at engaging learners than non-experiential training. The spatial component in VR simulations allows learners to engage their whole body in the learning process.

3. V R enables repetition learning anywhere, anytime. On-demand

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repetition training helps improve longterm retention.

4.

VR is a safe way to immerse learners.

Employees can be exposed to dangerous, expensive, and rare scenarios without impact on day-today business.

5. V R data lets you know what you don’t know — and more. By capturing far more signal than traditional learning, VR helps trainers understand attention and proficiency.

BEFORE EVER STEPPING INTO A NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT, VR ENABLES LEARNERS WITH FIRSTPERSON EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB SITE. Customer interactions can happen behind a counter, on the floor, or even in a restroom. Even for the largest retailers in the world where uniformity is paramount, every shift contains a trove of unknowns. And training for these unknowns cannot impact operations.

VR is being used today to train front-line managers in a popular U.S.-based chain of restaurants to manage the logistics of the business without impacting operations. The simulation includes a realistic representation of seating areas, service counters and food prep stations for accurate and comprehensive training throughout a restaurant. Managers get hands-on and visual training of the key things they should scan for and monitor in the actual workplace.

SAFETY PROCEDURES To train workers on safety, companies are often forced to interrupt business to give learners realistic, tactical practice.

VR puts learners in an immersive, realistic environment where they can practice spotting hazards and making safe decisions. It provides an effective tool for influencing the safe behavior

of team members, in a scalable way, without disrupting the company’s operations. This is happening today in various applications across multiple industries, from the auto manufacturing floor to the conveyor belts of leading food producers.

EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING Before ever stepping into a new work environment, VR enables learners with first-person experience on the job site.

By placing them in scenarios that will quickly become familiar in their role, new employees begin to acclimate to their new positions. The immersive VR experience can be used to speed up employees’ familiarity with their new environment and culture before they’re thrown into the mix.

In the utilities space, VR is being used to train new hires on safety, quality, production and culture. Learners observe safety meetings, visit job sites and experience a plan review with a crew. Then, they’re tested on what they learned before having to perform the job on their own.

CUSTOMER SERVICE Customer-facing employees aren’t simply genial faces of your brand. Their ability to practice critical thinking quickly determines their impact on customer experience, as well as your business. Quickly assessing customers’ needs relies on communication skills, empathy and emotional intelligence — all things that can be taught.

Financial services companies are leveraging VR to help customer-facing

HOW TO GET STARTED IN VR Immersive learning is a paradigm shift in employee training. Therefore, it’s important to have a plan for bringing it into your organization. Adoption requires a thoughtful commitment from the business to transform its approach to employee development, as well as identifying the right use cases for the technology that can truly drive impact.

Think about how, where, and when your business is currently training employees and what might happen if you introduce VR in its place. Think about the number of employees you have to train and the time spent in a classroom or away from the job that might be reduced. Think about the company’s culture. When

employees practice interactive skills in realistic environments. A learner can be “transported” between a call center and a customer’s living room. This allows the learner to witness the customer’s environment, facial expressions, and personal perspective. Building empathy begins with truly understanding the pointof-view of an otherwise faceless person.

EMERGENCY SITUATIONS Training store workers and other types of associates how to react in rare emergency situations, such as robberies, has always been tricky. You can present them with a list of protocols and conduct role-playing exercises, but

properly integrated into the culture of an organization’s approach to talent development, the benefits of virtual training are endless.

The most impactful deployments will leverage an end-to-end solution, drawing on the expertise of learning experts, instructional designers, data scientists, solutions architects, immersive content specialists and a robust customer success team. In action, this approach can enable dramatic improvements in employee engagement and customer service scores, as well as significant reductions in training time. Imagine where we’ll be once the paradigm shift is in full force: corporations training their people by affording them the opportunity to learn by doing.

it’s impossible to predict how one might react in a real emergency situation — except with VR. Retailers can use VR to create realistic training for retail store employees on situations such as snatch-and-grabs and armed robberies that have traditionally been extremely challenging to teach to. Giving employees a real-time experience of a dangerous situation allows them to experientially go through the critical steps of deescalating a high-risk moment.

Derek Belch is CEO of STRIVR, a global leader in immersive learning, delivering VR experiences to elevate performance.

Email Derek.

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LANGUAGES

QUESTIONS TO ASK when developing a

TRAINING EXPERIENCE

IN VR

By Eric Frederickson

In 2009, critics and fans predicted disaster for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” convinced that there was no way that ticket sales could offset the more than $300 million it cost to make. Instead, it went on to become the highest grossing movie of all time bringing in more than $2 billion. The film’s success can, in large part, be attributed to the lush immersive world Cameron created on screen. The breathtaking detail he put into Pandora, the movie’s setting, drew audiences in, making viewers feel as though they were visiting an alien world.

In more recent years, immersive entertainment has taken a quantum leap forward with the advent of consumerlevel virtual reality. This emerging medium uses headsets to simulate individualized, three -dimensional environments that put the audience at the center of the action. Users control their point of view across all axes and, in the best cases, interact with digital elements in the simulated environment.

Currently, VR is gaining the most traction in the world of games, but many companies have come to recognize its potential as a training tool. Progressive organizations have discovered that VR can effectively simulate live, hands-on training while mitigating the associated costs, logistical issues, and risks that go along with real-world instruction.

Moreover, the experiential nature of this new tech enables learners to retain knowledge and acquire skills in a way that video and text cannot match.

So, maybe it’s time to take your training to the next level with a deeply immersive virtual experience. Whether you go the DIY route (not for the faint of heart) or work with an experienced developer (far fewer headaches), there are a few foundational questions that you will need to ask to ensure the success of this undertaking.

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#1

Why Do You Want to Do This?

Worthwhile virtual experiences don’t come easy. They require substantial investments of time, human and material resources. Before you get into the weeds, you’re going to want to make sure you are doing this for the right reasons.

attention and, in the midst of these distractions, you can easily lose sight of what’s really important. Failure to clearly define your learning objectives will leave you with an expensive, but ineffective, training tool that entertains without enlightening. Be sure to take time to nail down what you want to achieve before you start.

#3 INTERACTIVITY IS THE DEFINING TRAIT OF VIRTUAL REALITY.

Think about what VR offers you that conventional training methods cannot provide. Are you looking for continuity across multiple locations? Has the cost of travel and accommodations made face-to-face training less feasible for you? Is there a physical element to what your learners need to do that video and documents can’t adequately cover? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these, VR may be just right for you.

#2

What Do You Want Your Users To Learn?

VR truly shines when potential risks threaten to overshadow the benefits of live experiential training. Are you teaching people how to handle hazardous materials? A vir tual environment can let them practice and develop their skills in complete safety. In the field of medicine, VR is allowing nurses to practice emergency procedures without risk to patients and giving doctors a non-invasive way to hone their surgical skills.

Also remember that a project of this scope brings a slew of details to your

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What Do You Want Your Learners to Do?

Neglecting this question will sentence you to the land of lost potential.

Interactivity is the defining trait of virtual reality. A virtual environment with no interactive elements is like a Cadillac with no wheels: comfortable to sit in, but it won’t get you where you need to go.

What kinds of tasks will your learners need to perform in the real world and how can you translate them to your digital realm? Will they need to navigate around obstacles as they explore? Do you need them to pick up, examine, or otherwise manipulate objects? Are interactions with people and characters vital to meeting your training goals?

VR interactions break down into two basic categories: gaze-activated and controller-driven.

Gaze -activated interactions rely on the motion of the user’s head, occurring when he or she looks at a specific object. Controllerdriven interactions require additional hardware in the form of hand-held input devices. The choices you make here may limit what platform options are available to you.

#4

What Kind of Environment Do You Want to Create?

You are creating a small-scale world for your learners to inhabit. The look and feel

OTHER IMMERSIVE OPTIONS: If VR doesn’t seem like the right fit for your needs, think about these other immersive media to liven up your training.

360° VIDEO Panoramic views provide a direct way to make videos more engaging, helping the viewer feel like they are truly at the center of the action. Shots are a little trickier to orchestrate than with a static POV, but a seasoned pro can handle this.

AUGMENTED REALITY AR overlays digital objects and animations on top of a real-time, real-world backdrop viewed through a phone or tablet.

Pokémon Go is a prime example, as is the 19 Crimes living wine label app.

of that world can have a profound impact on how they respond to stimuli, retain information, and process the experience.

An animated realm sets a much different tone than one stitched together from live action video with real people.

Consider KFC’s The Hard Way, released in 2017. This quirky training simulation has prospective employees learn to prepare chicken the company way against an Art Deco backdrop, reminiscent of the popular Bioshock video game series.

The animated design lends a touch of dark whimsy, while the mechanics add stakes and gravity to the task set before them. The visual elements and in-game Easter eggs come together to form a memorable experience that reflects KFC’s values and sense of humor.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have The Migraine Experience from Excedrin.

Technically augmented reality as opposed to virtual reality, this simulation layers

of evaluating the effectiveness of your VR venture. Give some thought to the metrics you will use to measure how well your learners are picking up and retaining the knowledge and skills they need through your training program.

PIONEERS OF THIS VR TECHNOLOGY HAVE ALREADY FOUND SOME POWERFUL USES.

Direct LMS integration is not currently practical, but this is subject to change as VR training becomes more widespread.

However, these headsets, by virtue of how they function, gather data and input while in use. Talk with your developer about what useful metrics you may be able to track: i.e., time to complete tasks, precision of movement, etc. A little information gathering can go a long way to proving that your investment has been worthwhile.

#7

spots, flares, and auras onto what the user sees, recreating the world around them through the eyes of a migraine sufferer. Using real-world footage as the foundation of your VR training module can yield a similarly grounded, empathyinducing experience.

#5

How Will You Deliver Your Training?

VR platforms are not created equal and are not necessarily cross-compatible, so you’re going to have some choices to make. This brings up a few more questions: How large is your audience?

How many users will you have at a given time? How widely are they distributed?

These questions are particularly important from a hardware and budgetary standpoint. A larger audience

spread over a wide region likely means a larger pool of headsets to meet demand.

For higher price platforms, the numbers here can quickly run beyond your comfort zone.

Furthermore, different platforms support different types and levels of interactivity.

Google Cardboard, currently the most basic and affordable headset available, limits you to gaze-based interactions.

Higher end units, like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, on the other hand, let you pick up and manipulate digital objects.

#6

How Do You Want to Track Learning Outcomes?

For the sake of future projects, and to justify the resources you allocated to this one, you will want some method

How Will You Handle Updates?

It never hurts to think about the long game. A training program that needs to be rebuilt every six months, or whenever industry standards and regulations change, is hardly a sound investment.

In the name of future-proofing, you will want to put some thought into how frequently your content will likely need to be updated, as well as how you can apply these updates as simply as possible. A bit of forethought here can spare you the time and cost of future reboots.

VR is still a relatively new frontier, but pioneers of this technology have already found some powerful uses. Its uniquely immersive characteristics make it an ideal tool for training purposes. Approach VR with a curious mindset, ask the right questions along the way, and you will find it to be a valuable investment.

Eric Frederickson educates and informs learners by stringing together words for Brella Learning, a digital media and strategic production company, based in Evanston, Illinois. Email Eric.

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3 MYTHS ABO

GAME-BASED L

IN THE WORKPLACE

B

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OUT

LEARNING

E...BUSTED!

Gamification has often been perceived as frivolous in workplace learning. But its considerable power to deeply engage learners is increasingly benefiting learning and development (L&D) teams. In addition to transcending demographics, game elements can be a force for good in helping people to learn and master new techniques – so long as they’re designed effectively.

If you’re a learning professional, you could be missing a great opportunity to add this emerging medium to your training programs. What are some of the enduring myths holding businesses back from exploring game-based approaches? Let’s examine three of those myths.

MYTH #1 A serious subject can’t be conveyed, let alone taught, by game-based learning.

Some learning professionals are wary of suggesting or commissioning a game or elements of gamification in learning programs. This is driven by a fear that it will trivialize serious subjects such as compliance, health and safety or conduct rules training.

MANY E-LEARNING COURSES FAIL TO MARRY LEARNING OBJECTIVES WITH OBVIOUS GOALS.

By RYAN TIMPANY

Even if a game-based approach appears to be a good tool for training, they suspect that it will be off-putting and alienating to certain learners. In truth, the same qualities that make gaming engaging outside of L&D can make it extremely effective in professional training.

There are many aspects I could mention here, but let’s start with goals and motivation. In well-designed game-based learning, learner goals are clear. They may

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not be easy to achieve (in fact, a difficult challenge may compel learners to return again and again in an attempt to solve it), but learners know there is a way to prevail.

They also know roughly what they need to do, how close they are to achieving their goals, and that a sense of satisfaction (and possibly celebration!) is likely to ensue if they succeed. This all adds up to a sense of control and achievement, which is one of the reasons why game-based learning can be fun while enforcing key knowledge about serious subjects.

Along with making these goals welldefined and measurable, effective game-based learning also provides clear progressions along the way and feedback on progress. Video games include these as a matter of course, but many e-learning courses fail to marry learning objectives with obvious goals. An educational game with clear goals is likely to be more compelling than an e-learning course with less well-defined goals.

MYTH #2 Game-based learning only engages certain types of learners.

Another lingering stereotype is that games are predominantly a pastime for adolescents. But more and more people are playing recreational games, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest professionals of all ages have an appetite for gaming. In the U.S., research has shown that even in the working age group that is least likely to play video games, people aged between 50-64, 40

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percent of people play video games on a computer, TV, console or portable device.

The split between men and women who play games across all ages is roughly equal, and the figure rises to around three in five people between 30-49. Meanwhile, less surprising is the finding that more than two-thirds of individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 play games.

Whatever their age, the key factor in the success of using game-based learning lies in knowing who your learners are, what they need to learn and how to design learning that appeals to them.

According to Jesse Schell, games designer and author of “The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses,” you should ask yourself: • what problems your game-based learning asks the player to solve; • what hidden problems can arise as part of the learning; and • how your game-based approach can generate new problems so that players keep coming back.

In Zero Threat, an award-winning game created by Eukleia to raise cybersecurity awareness in businesses, learners are given control of an IT network that is under constant attack. The game recreated dozens of risks they might not normally be aware of. The interactive gameplay provided tests for learners from all angles, whether in taking steps to deal with phishing emails, malicious websites, infected USB sticks, or deliberate insider threats.

Ideally, games such as Zero Threat help learners to experience a state that you may

have heard described as “flow.” This allows learners to enjoy the exhilaration of creative accomplishment that occurs when undertaking challenging but achievable tasks. Gameplay also includes a points system and a series of rounds that learners must complete in order to win the game.

These are just two of the types of incentives you can use to make your learning addictive.

TIPS TO CONSIDER WHEN INTRODUCING LEARNING GAMES TO A TRAINING PROGRAM • Interrogate your desire for wanting a game. For some learning needs, it may be the best solution, but not so for others.

• Don’t let the game become an obstacle to the learning.

• Success in the game should ideally mean forcing learners to adopt the same ‘cognitive schema’ required of them in real life.

• The deeper, the better; the inclusion of only superficial gaming tropes (e.g., arbitrary points, badges, etc.) can often lead to only superficial learner engagement.

MYTH #3 Gamification cheapens the message of learning.

complex operation setting in real life.

And in Zero Threat, learners are given the chance to explore their decisions without facing serious repercussions such as data theft.

As learners, we often construct models of reality in order to practice (think of running a fire drill or performing a role-play in a workshop). Just like a traditional handbook or instructorled training, game-based learning is a medium that can potentially be used to your advantage in any way you see fit.

As David Arnold, a game designer at BAFTA-winning applied games studio PRELOADED (co-creators of Zero Threat), points out, this kind of learning can be an excellent method of driving up retention and engagement in order to reinforce key learning points.

Learning designers call practice opportunities simulations, using them to give learners a safe space in which to experiment and improve. These can be particularly useful when it comes to building learner knowledge in critical situations.

It would be impossible, for example, to allow doctors to test their skills in a

Simulations simplify the complexities of the real world and allow learners focused practice, but that doesn’t mean they dilute or dumb-down the importance of the learning. In fact, the repetition of game-based learning can emphasize the importance of making the right decisions in critical situations and help people to exercise mastery.

Flight simulations for pilots and emergency simulations for cabin crew, for example, are common occurrences and an accepted part of training. While they might not entirely recreate the pressure of a real-life health and safety or security emergency, they can provide a highly realistic way for learners to prepare to face the simulated scenario in a genuine setting.

Designing a complex game is more challenging than designing a standard course, as scoring systems and game mechanics must be tested and refined.

But well-designed games and elements of gamification can be powerful tools for learning as part of your training strategy.

With their popularity on the rise, now could be the time for your organization to find out how gamified learning can help you reach your business goals.

Ryan Timpany is the technical digital designer at LEO Learning. Email Ryan.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

“THE GAMIFICATION OF LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION FIELDBOOK: IDEAS INTO PRACTICE”

By Karl M. Kapp, Lucas Blair, and Rich Mesch

Discover an approach to implementing gamification concepts with examples, tips, tricks and worksheets to help learning professionals put ideas into practice.

“THE ART OF GAME DESIGN: A BOOK OF LENSES”

By Jesse Schell

Understand how to become a better game designer through evidence gathered from various fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, writing, and more.

“A THEORY OF FUN FOR GAME DESIGN”

By Ralph Koster “WHAT VIDEO GAMES HAVE TO TEACH US ABOUT LEARNING AND LITERACY”

By James Paul Gee

Examine major cognitive activities in video games such as how individuals develop a sense of identity, how we evaluate and follow a command, pick a role model, and perceive the world.

Take a close look at the concept of fun, why it’s the most vital element in any game and what drives this cultural force.

“POINTS IN GAMIFICATION: 3 WAYS TO GO BEYOND THE BASICS TO CREATE GREAT LEARNING”

By Rich Calcutt and Alan Stewart

Examine the point of points in gamification and learn three tips on how to make your learning feel meaningful.

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The Case for

VR-immersive and AI-adaptive Soft Skills Training

By Dean Slawson

A recent survey put soft skills at the top of the list of enterprise training priorities, with “making time for learning” cited as the biggest training obstacle.

People skills, such as leadership, communication, collaborative problemsolving and interpersonal awareness, are critical to fostering teamwork and the kind of high-engagement, safe, respectful and inclusive workplace known to attract and retain top talent. Soft skills help eliminate the liabilities of a toxic work culture and empower organizations to lead the way in productivity and innovation. Such skills are core competencies expected of managers

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and leaders, but equally important for anyone working with others.

While traditional e-learning can effectively impart facts and concepts, the experiential and performance-based practice employed to change interpersonal behavior are typically obtained in person under the guidance of a skilled facilitator.

However, such training is often cost prohibitive, especially when teams are geographically distributed. Meanwhile the opportunity costs of stopping work to attend a scheduled, human-mediated training, even if delivered online, can exceed the cost of the training itself.

Finding time for follow-up guided practice to reinforce new behaviors is rare. Today’s soft skills training simply does not scale.

Virtual reality with artificial intelligence can help.

VR and AI as Learning Technologies Virtual reality involves special hardware and software to create an experience featuring the unique illusion of “presence,” i.e., of being in another setting. In VR, a user is enveloped in a simulated world that feels real, generally portrayed in 3D. Scenes in VR track the participants’ movements,

so what you see naturally shifts as you look around. Primitive VR experiences can be obtained on a smartphone using special glasses that hold the phone and allow each eye to see a slightly different image while the phone’s sensors track the scene to users’ movement. In the best VR, the illusion is preserved when changing points of view and the environment is highly interactive.

Enhanced experiences are realized using dedicated standalone VR headsets. The most powerful capabilities and realistic experiences require headsets connected to a laptop or desktop computer and cloud computing. VR headsets and controllers support three or six degrees of freedom, allowing users not only to turn their heads or hands, but also to move along axes in the virtual world. Along with spatialized surround audio and controllers featuring haptic feedback, the overall effect is one of a compelling sense of immersion in an alternate reality. Research demonstrates that VR simulations can be designed to provide powerful learning experiences that yield changes in cognition and performance applicable in the real world.

Artificial intelligence can be applied to control and adapt VR by providing more compelling, personalized experiences, as well as powering feedback and analytics that offer deep insights into learning and behavior. Instead of other participants appearing as avatars, AI-driven agents can appear as characters in a simulation.

Learners can also interact one-on-one with video-based recordings of actors, where the animation or branching is driven by AI. Modern AI relies heavily on machine learning technologies, which give computers sophisticated abilities learned from real-world data, rather than programmed using explicit rules. Machine learning enables software to better respond to real-world inputs, allowing capabilities like computer vision, speech and natural language to increasingly mimic human abilities. These can be used

to simulate aspects of a conversation to practice and evaluate communication skills. Machine learning can be trained to recognize social cues: detecting contextually inappropriate laughter or gaze and providing feedback.

Features and Benefits of VRimmersive and AI-adaptive Soft Skills Training Developing an enterprise’s people skills using AI-enhanced VR experiences is feasible today and creates a real alternative to traditional approaches of soft skills training, with significant advantages.

While there are some limits to what can be simulated in VR and a fully conversational “artificial general intelligence” remains the stuff of science fiction, organizations are beginning to leverage VR with AI for soft skills development. Here’s why:

SOFT SKILLS HELP ELIMINATE THE LIABILITIES OF A TOXIC WORK CULTURE AND EMPOWER ORGANIZATIONS.

Effective Practice Environment • Beyond training with keyboard or mouse, VR- and AI-supported input methods like speech, gaze and 3D gesture recognition enable practice of enacted interpersonal behaviors, without the need to meet in person.

• Realistic simulated worlds get learners out of their comfort zones, yet keep them supported in their learning.

Virtual practice can feel safer and less stressful than performing in front of peers. Therefore, participants are able to focus on learning.

• Fully immersive simulations and experiential exercises extend opportunities for distraction-free individual practice, resulting in greater retention.

Assessment and Analytics • AI-powered speech, gaze and gesture analytics enable performance-based, authentic assessment of interpersonal interaction by giving learners and trainers instant, objective feedback. AI can help measure, for example, sentiment or aspects of intercultural style.

• AI-based analytics can also be used to select, adapt or steer a module or course of training to address unique learning gaps, preferences and needs.

• Automated measurement of spoken language with behaviors also enables stakeholders to validate the effectiveness of soft skill training.

Cost, Convenience and Experience Quality • VR reduces the overall need for expenses such as training facilities, time and travel. Standalone headsets, connected to the cloud, avoid even the need to be tethered to a workstation during training.

• VR-delivered training, as with other kinds of e-learning, can be self-paced to match the learner’s progress and schedule.

• VR offers consistently high-quality training at reduced costs, yet is more immersive, attractive and engaging.

Addressing Common Concerns Isn’t VR hardware costly? Prices are coming down. To get started, headsets can be shared among learners and easily readied for the next user by wiping clean with a disinfectant pad. For distributed

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VR MAKES UNIQUELY VALUABLE AND OTHERWISE INACCESSIBLE EXPERIENCES AVAILABLE TO A BROAD RANGE OF LEARNERS.

may be no more potent a combination of technologies available to help instill the skills and values of a respectful and positive work culture. Therefore, there is no inherent reason to avoid using VR as long as it is used with care.

In some workplaces it might be argued that reducing the risk of exposure of personnel to manipulation or abuse from other humans is the greater concern— precisely where VR with AI can help.

Moving Forward Getting started is not difficult. Play with the technologies to get acquainted with them. Read books and articles. Find an experienced vendor to partner with. Start small, try things, learn and improve. training or team building, the purchase and shipping of the necessary hardware to remote sites is likely cheaper than flying everyone to a training facility. Rentals are also widely available.

What about privacy? Like other technologies, VR and AI can be used to collect personal data. Some data useful in advanced VR applications may be new to your organization. When acquiring hardware and software, pay attention to privacy policies: how data will be secured and who gets access.

Understand the business models of providers. Be transparent, collect only necessary data and get explicit consent.

With appropriate policies and practices in place, VR is no more invasive than other learning technologies.

Do people experience nausea, dizziness, eyestrain, or other symptoms? Properly designed VR and modern hardware reduce the unpleasant effects experienced by a small percentage of users. Sometimes a simple adjustment on the headset will alleviate any issues. Ensure hardware you purchase sustains a sufficiently high refresh and frame rate. Avoid experiences over 20 minutes duration and encourage users to take frequent breaks. Scenarios in soft skills simulations generally don’t employ the head-spinning dynamics of an

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action game. Still, some may experience discomfort. Having alternative learning experiences at the ready is crucial: i.e., projecting scenarios to a conventional screen. So long as you take reasonable precautions, high-quality VR should present few comfort issues for most users.

What about accessibility? VR can play a key role in delivering accessible training.

However, it may also impose barriers depending on its design, usage and the abilities of differing populations.

With respect to human interface, VR can support or require controllers of various kinds, which may be limiting or enabling for some users. Depending on design, experiences could be directed using head tracking or speech alone. VR experiences can display captions or rely on hearing. VR is not immune to the need for thoughtfulness around accessibility and is no less accessible than other training approaches. Done right, VR makes uniquely valuable and otherwise inaccessible experiences available to a broad range of learners.

Will VR and AI be used to manipulate people? As with other technologies, there is always potential for abuse. VR with AI can be used to fool the brain more than a film, or influence opinion more than social media. That said, there

Even the most advanced technologies are not replacing the skilled facilitator in any foreseeable future. Mature technologies and delivery methods tend to stick around.

We need not suppose the instructor-led workshop is going away. However, new technologies are now available with a promise to facilitate highly immersive learning that enables organizations to effectively develop critically needed soft skills —skills that are in greater demand in an increasingly automated world.

While many enterprises are working to fully embrace mobile and desktop e-learning, VR with AI may still seem like a distant future. There is perhaps a lesson to be learned from the millions of citizen technology pioneers who, living in regions lacking adequate conventional telecom infrastructure, leapt ahead with the advent of mobile. While it may at first seem counterintuitive, the best way to address the limitations of today’s technology may be to move forward to what’s next.

Dean Slawson is an entrepreneur and former general manager at Microsoft, with a background in learning sciences, technology and media. As founder and CEO of VRAINIUM, his current work is creating the leading platform for immersive soft skills training and enterprise cultural transformation. Email Dean.

Turning Training Topics into Games: A Step-by-Step Process

By Ellen Zimmerman, Ph.D.

If I asked you if you wanted to play a game or sit through a training presentation, which would you choose?

I’m pretty sure I heard you say “game.”

Unless the speaker is a professional who doesn’t need the slides, many training presentations sound a lot like Charlie Brown’s teacher: “whah, whah, whah.”

Your brain just doesn’t focus as well when you are listening without being engaged in the content.

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Transitioning your most rote, boring (I mean important) training content into something fun that creates better learning retention doesn’t have to be an expensive venture.

Why Gamification Gamification is the art of transforming training content that is often not retained by learners into an interactive learning

process with improved knowledge retention. A review of literature on whether gamification works provides support that gamification can provide positive learning results.

Gamification of learning provides learners with a comfortable, nonthreatening setting to participate and learn by listening to others. The

more senses you use while learning – audio, visual, kinesthetic – the more likely you are to remember what you experience. And in my experience, laughter is included in those senses as a very useful learning tool. When you are learning with others in a setting that’s fun and someone says something funny, it will likely be the answer that everyone remembers most.

Gamification Examples • Board games: When you have at least 10 or more players, board games make a good option for learning content.

This allows two teams to play at the same time with at least five people at each table. There’s a natural level of competition that occurs when there is more than one team.

• Card games: When you have fewer than 10 players or you don’t really have the option to store or carry around larger items like a game board, a card game can be a functional choice for learning.

• Pass the mic: This option works well when you have a listing of topics and a group of at least 10 or more participants. You can easily put your questions or “challenges” on a presentation slide and let the participants take turns going down the list sharing responses to scenario or challenge questions while standing in one or more circles, and passing the “mic” to the next person for their turn.

Everyone gets to hear how others respond and learn from each other.

• Charades: Standard games with new twists make great options for quick and easy engagement opportunities.

You can use presentation slides where all but the acting participant turns away from the screen or preprinted

cards to provide the options. Learners can also write a charade term down based on a theme when they come into the room and use those for the activity.

How Much Does This Cost Monetarily, you can go all out on fold-up game boards and playing pawns but it’s not required. Your biggest investment should be in the identification of what the learning content really needs to

Good instructional designers know that you begin at the end.

include. So many times we throw in everything at once when learning theory has proven that only a small percentage of what is heard can be retained by most learners. Instructional designers use a method called “chunking” to break down content into manageable amounts of learning. If done thoughtfully, gamification will allow you to include more learning content than traditional methods of teaching.

If you think about the training content you are currently using and really drill down to the most important points based on the importance of the content to your business and relative to the time of the learning, those are the topics you really need to include in the gamification.

So, the real answer on the cost is based on your budget and does not require a significant output of money. You can start off with cardboard and paper

options and the positive results of your first project will support your budget for future development.

Steps for Successful Game Design Successful game design initially involves an open mind and a lot of brainstorming of ideas. Then you have to select your delivery method and think simple. If you make your game too difficult to understand and play, it will take the fun out of the experience for the participants.

Many of the following steps overlap somewhat. Be sure to make notes as you go and change them as you hone in on your final product. Don’t try to make your first project perfect. Plan to design the project, test a prototype using inexpensive media and make some revisions before the final version. Always focus on what you want the learners to know when they leave the activity. Post those objectives on the wall somewhere as you develop the project to keep your “eye on the prize.”

1

Determine the objectives for the learning

Good instructional designers know that you begin at the end. What are you expecting the learners to know when they finish? The topic and level of importance to the team, department and organization will be your guide and will determine factors like the amount of time you will need, what type of game should be used, and how you will determine success.

If you know that you are throwing more at them than they can learn in the current method of delivery, really spend time identifying the key learning objectives

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most important for the topic. Think about ways to teach the concepts so that learners can make the best decisions. In today’s fast food, fast internet and fast answer society, there remains a need for those who can think through a concept and develop answers themselves.

Start with something simple and see what a difference it makes.

2

Identify the learners

Make a list and write down all the facts you can think of that impact the learning experience. Will they be familiar with some of the content already? Will there be a mix of knowledge? When participants are playing a game, they are less threatened with getting the answer right and they learn from each other by hearing answers and explanations.

Adding a game element like a token to ask another player for help encourages collaboration and reduces the anxiety of players when they don’t know the right answer. It’s great to watch because you will see them helping each other to get the answer even without a token.

You can also scaffold learning by providing a matching or other method of learning before the actual game. For example, our company developed a finance and productivity game and we wanted to provide learners with basic knowledge prior to beginning the board game. We designed a “pre-test” to help them learn key concepts, which becomes a “cheat sheet” to help them play.

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3

Identify the game setting

Will you have roundtables or rows of chairs? Is there a place to stand up in groups? What noise level will be acceptable?

4

Select delivery method

What method of delivery will work best based on the first three considerations?

Examples include board games with dice and playing pieces, card games, scenario cards for teams, presentation slide content, or other creative methods.

5

Game development

If you haven’t already, identify a team of three to five members to further develop the content. The challenge will be to not add in as many gameplay aspects as you want to keep it simple. No one likes to read long instructions before playing a game, so follow expected gameplay norms as much as possible. Consider the amount of content and level of difficulty as you determine a delivery method and length of time for the activity.

For the finance and productivity game, we have three levels of play, or scaffolding of content, to gradually bring the learners to the same level of knowledge. We have a question and answer debrief between each.

6

Test your product

Don’t spend money on final versions of the product until you have completed some testing. Oftentimes, you will find that you receive some great recommendations from players of demo

version products. Collect feedback from the players and those that will be facilitating the game and meet with your team to revise as needed. During your testing phase, you should also work on some instructions for the game process.

Consider a detailed version, as if the facilitator is new and knows nothing about the game and a version that is short and sweet for a regular facilitator to use as a quick check before the game.

7

Engage in continuous improvement

Depending on your learning topic, you may need to make edits, additions and deletions to the learning content periodically. Keep this in mind when you determine what goes into your game design. For example, the board that we use for the finance and productivity game I mentioned earlier was designed using colors and places for interchangeable playing cards. This allows the playing board to be reused with different card deck topics. When we decided on our playing board media, we chose a rollout poster format that travels and stores easily and was less expensive than an actual playing board.

Invest in developing your own transformational learning content.

Your learners will appreciate the effort you put into improving their learning experience. Start with something simple and see what a difference it makes. By turning training topics into games, you are creating an engaging learning experience that transforms boring content into something much more memorable.

Ellen Zimmerman is a talent management consultant II for CHRISTUS Health.

Email Ellen.

By Amanda Jenkins

Virtual reality is not simply a new trend in learning and development. From Walmart to NASA, VR is becoming increasingly prevalent in process and procedure training for a variety of industries, including retail, science, health care and hospitality.

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It’s not surprising why. VR offers a unique opportunity for employees to try out new skills in test environments that may be difficult to replicate otherwise. VR startup STRIVR found that using VR to train on soft skills such as empathy often results in better customer experiences.

VR can even increase retention rates by more than 65 percent, according to the Masie Center.

Even as VR technology becomes more widely used, there is one area of learning that remains untouched by the VR trend: brand training. Today’s consumer expects brands to be unique, authentic and innovative. It has never been more important for companies to distinguish themselves from competitors. To accomplish this, employees need to be high performers and brand ambassadors; arbiters of the company’s heritage, culture and values.

Can incorporating VR technology into

brand training transform employees into life-long advocates? How can companies create evergreen VR content that gets every employee on brand?

WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY? In its exact definition, virtual reality is a computer-generated environment that viewers can interact with via headset.

However, there’s another form of immersive content that can be viewed through a VR headset referred to as “virtual reality,” though there is nothing virtual about it: 360-degree video of prerecorded footage that immerses viewers in a realworld environment they can view from all angles but cannot interact with. Because VR is used colloquially to reference both virtual reality and 360-degree video, the term “VR” in this article will encapsulate both technologies.

BRAND TRAINING WITH VR Successful brand training is highly dependent on crafting stories that are relatable, shareable and inspiring.

VR offers a unique opportunity to take employees to places they have never been before and may never have seen otherwise. Imagine virtually traveling to amazing places such as Disney’s Imagineer Studio, the garage where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple or a top-secret production line for the latest Nike shoe.

The 70/20/10 model tells us that 70 percent of what people learn is experiential. Rather than simply telling a story, VR places employees right in the center of the action to experience it in real time. The brand’s story becomes their own. When they leave training, they’re ready to share it with the world.

Here are three additional benefits to consider:

VR IS MEMORABLE Unlike product and process training, brand training is heavily focused on emotion. Companies must create compelling brand experiences that build excitement among employees, yet many are failing to do so. In fact, 43 percent of employees still believe their company’s training programs are “useless and boring,” according to a Digital Talent Gap study by Capgemini and LinkedIn. VR can help boost interest in training programs that employees may otherwise ignore. STRIVR found that the majority of employees who used VR say it’s the “best form of training” they had ever been through, as VR allowed them to react to the environment in real time and receive “physical and emotional feedback” that average classroom training does not offer.

VR can also greatly enhance retention rates. Participants immersed in an environment that engages multiple senses will walk away with a greater understanding and retention of the information. This is best explained by Benjamin Schöne, Marlene Wessels and Thomas Gruber of Osnabrück

University’s Institute of Psychology whose studies have shown that viewers who consume content through VR, rather than conventional video, recall that content as if it were a memory of their own personal experience. Emotional connection to the experience leads to a stronger ability to both recall and repeat that story to customers, friends and family.

SUCCESSFUL BRAND TRAINING IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON CRAFTING STORIES THAT ARE RELATABLE, SHAREABLE AND INSPIRING. VR IS CONSISTENT Global and national brands with franchise locations present a unique training challenge. When management practices vary from location to location, it can be difficult to ensure that all franchise employees embody the brand in a consistent and seamless way. Because VR increases memorable recall in employees through an emotional and personal connection, it also helps to bridge the gap between company goals and franchise practices. Whether in Paris, Kentucky or Paris, France, offering a singular story ensures that employees will receive consistent brand training. This will minimize any potential learning variances among different training locations.

VR IS COST-EFFECTIVE Though the upfront cost may be higher than standard L&D technology, the long-

term value of VR can’t be ignored. Using VR to tell a brand story can transport thousands of employees anywhere in the world for a fraction of the cost.

VR content can also be leveraged in the future in several ways, including ongoing and future brand training, ondemand learning, consumer engagement, shareable videos and more. And as with any newer technology, VR costs will reduce as consumer demand and VR competitors increase.

5 TIPS TO BUILD YOUR VR BRAND STORY Follow these best practices to begin crafting VR content that fully immerses employees in your brand and leaves them with stories they can remember and share.

START WITH YOUR OBJECTIVES Creating VR content that both tells an intriguing story and achieves key learning objectives is crucial. Before VR production can begin, start by storyboarding an outline with your training objectives in mind. Plot out every action that happens on screen and ensure that each VR experience offers clear takeaways.

DON’T RELY ON VR ALONE VR technology can add excitement to any training program. However, if only used to add a “wow” factor, the story will fall flat. Follow up an engaging VR experience with activities, debriefs, word tracks and additional learning aids to reinforce and enrich what they’ve just seen. Use VR as a jumping off point to dive deeper into your brand story, rather than the main event.

MAKE IT TIMELESS When producing your VR brand story, make sure to avoid including any

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IT HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT FOR COMPANIES TO DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES FROM COMPETITORS.

elements that could date your content and prevent it from being used after your training program ends. This can include model year products, current events or specific dates not related to your brand’s heritage. VR content that can stand the

test of time will allow you to leverage that content well into the future.

CASE STUDY: LEXUS ASSOCIATE BRAND TRAINING

VR inherently allows users to control their own experiences by letting them choose where to look at any given time.

This adds an element of personalization, as well as the potential for missed information. If a participant happens to look up when the main action is straight ahead, they could miss the story’s takeaway. To prevent participants from potentially missing key takeaways, incorporate “triggers,” such as a beep, a narrator or an arrow, into the VR experience to prompt participants to look in a certain direction.

Objective To launch the new Lexus brand and tagline “Experience Amazing” to retail teams in 2016.

Solution Lexus used VR to transport associates to places unique to the Lexus brand, including a tour of the Canada Lexus RX plant, a tour of the Lexus LC plant and a hot lap on Fuji Speedway with Lexus CEO, Akio Toyoda. Each presented once-in-a-lifetime perspectives and was supported by debriefs, word tracks, hands-on activities and more.

Results Lexus trained over 8,000 associates at 52 locations. Approximately 90 percent of associates felt more connected to the Lexus brand, and more than 85 percent felt better prepared to work with clients post-training.

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BUILD IN TRIGGERS

MAKE IT AVAILABLE POST-TRAINING Make your VR content available on employee training portals once the program is complete. This will allow all employees—whether they attended your event or not—to review and share your VR brand stories at any time, leading to increased retention and continued ROI.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS Keep in mind that many of your participants may not have used VR before. Allow ample time during training to set up the VR experience and provide participants with specific instructions (e.g., what buttons they can and can’t touch, when to put the headset on, etc.)

This will help participants understand what they are about to see and how to operate their individual VR headsets.

If possible, provide support staff to help with any technical difficulties during the session.

CONCLUSION VR is a robust technology that’s only beginning to make its mark on the L&D industry. As most organizations use VR to train on process and procedure, there is a growing opportunity to close the gap between VR use and brand training. Done right, VR is an invaluable, evergreen brand training tool that can help industry leaders share engaging stories, transform employees into brand ambassadors, and increase their program ROI for years to come.

Amanda Jenkins is a writer for the Apex Agency, a marketing, training, media event and travel firm that specializes in strategic and creative event solutions. Email Amanda.

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ADAPTIVE LEARNING

BY PATRICK WEIR

Adaptive learning is adapting. The adaptive learning approach, long recognized for its ability to deliver a more personalized version of learning, has a 60-year history in classrooms and corporations around the world. As technology has advanced over the decades, so has adaptive learning – becoming more refined and effective due to leaps in cloud-based managed services, computing power, scalability and machine learning.

Today, armed with great advancements in data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, adaptive learning is on the cutting edge of a new, dramatic change.

WHAT IS ADAPTIVE LEARNING? Adaptive learning is an instructional methodology that is designed to adjust to the needs of individual learners.

Through a variety of techniques, adaptive learning technologies develop a baseline assessment of each individual’s knowledge, and then present subsequent learning that is

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personalized to the needs of each learner. It is characterized by: • Intelligent adjustment of content, questions and answer choices based on performance • Self-paced study • Optimal, individualized learning pathways • Immediate feedback and remediation • An orientation toward knowledge and skill mastery

A METHODOLOGY IN FLUX To understand how profound the next evolution of adaptive learning is, we need to start at the very beginning.

The first instance of what would become adaptive learning was conceived in the 1950s with the work of behaviorist B.F. Skinner. Skinner developed a teaching machine focused on incremental skill building. The machine adapted the questions presented based on previous correct answers, and provided students immediate feedback and the ability to move at their own pace.

Skinner’s notion of adapting learning based on individual performance progressed with the times and the technology. What we recognize as adaptive learning technology has its roots in the artificial intelligence movement in the 1970s. Researchers and practitioners began developing systems that would replicate the oneon-one instructor experience, and all the benefits therein. While the systems that resulted from this initial work were somewhat successful, computing power and AI technologies at the time simply were not advanced enough for complex intelligence or widespread use.

Adaptive learning did not die there. In fact, in the ensuing decades, adaptive learning systems became more

streamlined, more scalable and more user friendly. In turn, these systems improved learning for millions of people worldwide. What began as a simplistic teaching machine blossomed into a $13 billion industry.

INTELLIGENT IN NAME ONLY Despite the growth of the market and the advancements in adaptive systems, the prime directive of adaptive learning – to use AI to mimic one-on-one human learning – was still out of reach. AI and machine learning technology was extremely limited. Rather than giving up on the notion of adaptive learning altogether, providers devised other techniques to replicate the “intelligent experience” of AI without actually using AI.

ARMED WITH GREAT ADVANCEMENTS IN DATA SCIENCE, AI AND MACHINE LEARNING, ADAPTIVE LEARNING IS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF A NEW, DRAMATIC CHANGE.

These types of solutions typically fall into two categories:

Adaptive Learning 1.0: Basic Branching These applications make adaptations based on decision trees and pre-

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diagnostics. For example, these systems might require the learner to take a pre-assessment. From this information, the system then creates a “pseudo-personalized” learning plan for the individual that focuses on their general knowledge needs.

Because these plans are pre-set and heavily generalized, it means they are simply making approximations. Worse still, they are static and often become misrepresentative over time.

ADAPTIVE 3.0 SYSTEMS AUTOMATICALLY GET SMARTER WITH EACH USER INTERACTION.

Adaptive Learning 2.0: Limited Algorithms These applications make limited adaptations based on simplified algorithms. This is certainly an advancement over Adaptive 1.0, in that it automates some of the upfront manual work. It is, however, still limited and does not improve and become more intelligent over time.

While Adaptive 1.0 and Adaptive 2.0 both offer more personalization than a traditional one-size-fits-all approach, they do not really deliver on the promise of adaptive learning: a scalable, AI-driven

system that mimics the interaction and learning experience of a human instructor or coach.

• Comprehensive application-level mastery of skills and knowledge

MAKING AI EASY

It is not just the learning experience that is amplified. The platforms that are fully embracing AI and machine learning are also able to provide dramatic efficiencies to learning development and content creation. For example, AI-powered platforms can assess the performance of learning content, flag underperforming content and even hide underperforming assessments until they are revised.

Today, dramatic advances in AI technology and the open sourcing of machine learning frameworks have enabled a very small number of elite providers to break away from the pack, and develop solutions fully powered by AI. These advancements are creating a new category of adaptive learning – Adaptive 3.0.

Adaptive Learning 3.0: AI and Machine Learning Adaptive Learning 3.0 is characterized by the application of AI and machine learning to more accurately replicate the one-on-one instructor experience.

AI-powered adaptive solutions leverage network knowledge maps to create knowledge and behavioral nodes, forming deeper relationships between content, learning objectives, and persona types, to name a few.

This powers a more efficient, effective learning experience and enables: • Complex, real-time adaptations based on learner performance and behavior • Data-driven, personalized hints, feedback, remediation and knowledge reinforcement • Predictive, forgetting curves and insights into future knowledge application

• Reduction in learning times

ADDRESSING OLD CHALLENGES These AI-powered adaptive solutions are not just delivering on the promise of intelligent, instructor-like adaptive learning, they are also addressing some of the old weaknesses inherent in the Adaptive 1.0 and 2.0 systems. For example, AI can:

Eliminate the never-ending learning “loops” In Adaptive 1.0 and 2.0 systems, when a learner was unable to answer an assessment correctly, the application might loop them through the same questions without any remediation or support. This “adaptive loop of death” results in learner frustration, disengagement and even distrust of the system. New AI-powered adaptive systems can provide adaptive feedback to help guide learners toward accuracy and keep them moving forward, so they do not get stuck in these frustrating loops.

TRADITIONAL ADAPTIVE LEARNING VS. AI-POWERED ADAPTIVE LEARNING TRADITIONAL ADAPTIVE LEARNING

AI-POWERED ADAPTIVE LEARNING

Pre-set pathways and pre-determined learning plans

Dynamic, real-time adaptations to content, questions, answers and feedback

Limited performance data

Granular performance and behavioral metrics

Static progress and knowledge reporting

Predictive, dynamic analytics and data science

Unconfirmed skill mastery; inability to predict application

Verified confidence & application-level skill mastery

Static content that is difficult to evaluate for efficacy

Constant quality control of content performance and dynamic fine-tuning

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Move beyond a “content first” methodology As discussed, some Adaptive 1.0 and 2.0 systems require learners to review all the content before getting to the meat of the learning. For learners who already have experience or knowledge on the topic, this can be a very frustrating and tedious process. As systems move toward more AI-enabled pathways, they will no longer have to insist that learners review the content before they can pass out of it. Systems will be able to ascertain, in real-time, what a learner knows and adjust the context and difficulty of the content accordingly.

Eliminate ineffective “test prep” learning strategy Conversely, some adaptive 1.0 and 2.0 systems require learners to answer assessments upfront before they get a chance to review the content. These platforms then use learner responses to funnel each learner down a pre-set “learning pathway” wherein: • Learners answer a series of questions • The platform eliminates the areas of knowledge answered correctly and provides answers to incorrect assessments • The cycle repeats until the learner answers all assessments correctly Think of it as a technology-powered version of flashcards. The problem with this strategy is that it is designed for short-term application (like the SAT), rather than long-term corporate learning and development initiatives where ongoing application is the goal.

Additionally, learners who are unfamiliar with the subject matter often find themselves in the aforementioned “adaptive loop of death.”

Adaptive 3.0 platforms deliver dynamic, real-time content adjustments based on performance and behavior, eliminating the need for upfront assessments and pre-set learning pathways. This

approach is in line with the research that demonstrates the importance of self-directed learning as opposed to being funneled down a specific path.

Adaptive 3.0 systems allow learners to assert control increases autonomy, which directly correlates to higher engagement, satisfaction, confidence and mastery.

Better interpret learner data Adaptive 1.0 and 2.0 systems capture a lot of data, but often the burden of data interpretation and application is placed on the shoulders of their L&D partners. In large part, these teams are not equipped with the data science expertise necessary to make sense of vast reams of learner data. AI-powered adaptive solutions not only deliver a much stronger quality of data output – that includes followon predictions, recommendations and projected outcomes that mirror KPIs and strategic goals – but they also often have a data science staff on hand to help L&D partners parse insights from their data sets. Additionally, because they’re so much more robust than previous iterations, Adaptive 3.0 systems can equip learning and development leaders with measurable, quantifiable data they can take to the C-suite to inform and justify training budget spends.

Continual improvement Finally, unlike in Adaptive 1.0 or 2.0 systems, where making updates requires intensive programming and manual coding, Adaptive 3.0 systems automatically get smarter with each user interaction. They use machinelearning algorithms to evaluate user data and continually fine-tune the platform. Additionally, adaptive systems that leverage a full feedback loop, wherein external performance data from a client can be correlated with platform learning analytics and data science, are able to unearth insights never before seen between learning and performance data.

CONCLUSION As learning departments integrate AIpowered learning solutions, they will see

SEEKING ADAPTIVE 3.0?

FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK AN ADAPTIVE PROVIDER 1. Has your adaptive learning platform evolved to Adaptive 3.0?

2. Does your adaptive learning platform provide predictive analytics and turn data into actionable information?

3. How does your adaptive learning platform assess, ensure and predict application-level mastery?

4. How is your adaptive learning platform continually working to improve its own efficacy, course content and all learner outcomes?

5. Does your adaptive learning organization have a dedicated data science team?

a dramatic uptick in learner performance and the measurable, quantifiable business impact of their training and development programs. They will also see how AI-enabled solutions deliver more effective learning and better learner experiences – overcoming many of the traditional challenges of adaptive learning systems. The biggest benefit these learning departments will experience from Adaptive 3.0 just might be in terms of learning culture – how positively employees and workforces experience training programs and how well they buy into future opportunities for learning and training. This is the true measure of success in today’s knowledge economy and the launchpad for longterm organizational success.

Patrick Weir founded Fulcrum Labs and began pushing the company to develop a world-class, 3.0 adaptive learning platform with a customer-centric mindset. Under Patrick’s guidance, Fulcrum has helped partners from both enterprise and higher education achieve their most critical goals.

Email Patrick.

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Organizations continue to adopt virtual reality (VR) as familiarity increases, cost reduces and software advances. With advancements in VR and increasing familiarity among consumers, companies now have the ability to use VR to transform and support their training, marketing and communications with a high return on investment. The adoption of VR technologies and applications for organizations are increasing significantly.

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The key areas of engagement for businesses to utilize VR are reduced training costs, increased visualization in marketing efforts and remote collaboration to convey ideas visually and spatially. As market opportunities become clearer, there is no better time to start implementing this technology within your training toolkit.

New use cases continually emerge in VR with new industries adopting the technology and positive return on investment for their training. According to Tech Pro Research, 47 percent of businesses are currently considering adopting VR. And why wouldn’t they?

VR presents the opportunity to showcase products and processes that benefit from spatial awareness and visualization, such as developing a maintenance procedure on complex equipment or demonstrating a scenario that is dangerous or hard to replicate in real life. The range of opportunities for VR in the workplace

Questions to Determine if VR Training is Suitable for Your Organization • Would your training benefit from a high amount of visualization?

• Would your training be enhanced with increased spatial awareness?

• Are there parts of the training that need to be interactive for the learner?

• Is there a process or procedure that you want to show visually?

• Is there a physical space or product that you want to show visually?

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is vast and includes showing products to customers to gain buy-in on design or to engage in a training application.

One of the key challenges is identifying where in your organization VR makes sense and building a business case for implementation. Using VR in training is suitable for when the training benefits from a high amount of visualization and interactivity. In regard to benefits, training in immersive environments, like virtual reality, can increase learning retention by 75 percent compared to standard lecture formats.

The range of opportunities for VR in the workplace are vast.

VR training allows for more extensive training opportunities in a practical, hands-on learning environment where skills and knowledge can be tested, and training can be done repetitively for effective knowledge retention.

Companies are adopting software solutions to accelerate the development time of immersive training while decreasing overall training costs.

There are many use cases for virtual reality in companies and we will explore six key areas where organizations can benefit from developing virtual reality applications:

1

Scenario-based Training

VR can be used for training on complex equipment, tasks or procedures, by providing a realistic environment with scenarios and multiple paths for trainees to experience and learn from

varying outcomes. VR allows trainers to interact with trainees within the immersive training environment, or for VR to provide interactive step-by-step procedural and operational training applications for users. In immersive environments, trainees can acquire skills and proficiency in tasks such as setting up and controlling complex machinery and equipment. Businesses are increasingly using VR for training and teaching because VR allows students to practice a wide variety of skills from manufacturing processes to complicated surgeries without the cost of using physical equipment or the risks associated with real-world training.

2

Component Familiarization

VR can be used for training on complex machinery to become acquainted with equipment and obtain valuable product information such as component names and assembly of the product in a realistic environment. Users train in a stressfree, highly realistic environment for increased competency and familiarity of components with zero risks of equipment damage or disruption of operations. VR training walkthroughs are used to train on safety protocols in a virtual environment and offers trainees high-quality experiential learning that motivates and engages learners.

3

Virtual Showrooms

In marketing, VR offers organizations the opportunity to create new ways for consumers to interact with products and services. Immersive product and brand experiences in VR allow for highly persuasive marketing content.

Companies are discovering the benefits of using immersive marketing with studies showing that immersive

technology has proved to be 30 times more effective at engaging users than mobile advertising.

Companies are adopting software solutions to accelerate the development time of immersive training while decreasing overall training costs.

By creating immersive virtual showrooms to demonstrate physical products to clients, a potential consumer experiences product features in a highly immersive environment, adding to the realism. Customers can receive product information such as text, video and audio within the environment, as well as interact with products in a virtual space.

Showrooms are especially ideal for large products that are not easily transported, such as cars or large equipment. Virtual showrooms allow for the ability to showcase a full line up of products in one space.

4

Product Demonstrations

VR product demonstrations allow consumers to interact with products in a persuasive virtual environment, showing parts, features, colors and assembly. VR allows for product demonstrations that are true to physics and allows for direct product comparison of features. In addition, VR demonstrates full product functionality with scale, expansion of parts or placement in various environments. At conferences and tradeshows, VR allows companies to create VR experiences that

are engaging, cost-effective and easily transported. Rather than spending money on large stages or transporting full product lines, companies can engage attendees and allow them to interact with products in an immersive and highly realistic experience.

5

Design Collaborations

VR is increasingly used in organizations to share preliminary designs and collaborate. Users can access projects through centralized storage in the cloud to collaborate on projects, visualize designs, troubleshoot issues and create processes to test designs. Collaborating on product designs in VR allows for accurate simulation in 3D environments without the need for an expensive physical model and is more realistic than 2D designs.

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adopted rapidly as companies seek a competitive advantage in training, marketing and increased engagement with their clients. Although VR has not reached market penetration on a consumer level, there are clear use cases for organizations to make effective use of the technology for training and marketing requirements. New avenues for use arrive with each generation of sophisticated and affordable hardware and increasingly user-friendly software.

The benefits and opportunities of VR for businesses are apparent and more attainable as companies focus on creating software to enable the rapid creation of VR scenarios.

Julia Pelton is a project manager at Modest Tree, the software company behind the Modest3D software for rapidly creating 3D and virtual training and marketing applications without coding. Email Julia.

Multi-user Training

Collaborating in VR can be a great way to train by using a multi-player training scenario to meet in an immersive environment and train users. VR can allow for avatar versions of users to interact with one another in a virtual environment whether it is for training communication or a virtual conference meeting. For a VR collaborative training experience to be meaningful, it is essential that the training content be highly visual and benefit from the spatial awareness that comes with VR applications. VR is a robust option to communicate effectively within an immersive environment, providing comprehensive data to clients and communicating ideas visually. Multiuser training in VR has the added benefit of decreasing the need for corporate travel.

Initially dominated by the gaming industry, VR technologies are being

Takeaways • Virtual reality has historically been positioned to primarily target the gaming industry. However, strong opportunities have recently emerged in the corporate world for VR applications.

• Use cases for virtual reality in the workplace are content-driven and focus on training, marketing, sales and collaboration.

• Using VR in training is most beneficial when the training requires a high amount of visualization and interactivity.

• VR can reduce training costs, increase visualization in marketing efforts and remote collaboration to convey ideas visually and spatially.

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CASEBOOK

RWE POWER AG:

NEW TRAINING SOLUTIONS WITH MIXED REALITY GLASSES

BY HOLGER OFFERMANNS AND NILS BRÜGGESCH

In the TV series Star Trek, the holodeck on the USS Enterprise spaceship was technologically pure fiction. Like many technologies from science fiction, mixed reality (MR) is conquering more and more areas of our lives. MR integrates digital content into the real world and is becoming an important and versatile key technology of the future in the field of vocational education and training.

Let’s look at one case study.

We are in the driver’s cab of the bucket wheel excavator 288 of RWE Power AG. It is 13,500 tons, 220 meters long, 96 meters high. It runs at 10 meters per minute and has a conveying capacity of 240,000 cubic meters of overburden per day. In front of us, we see control elements with which we can put the miracle of engineering into operation.

We learn to switch on the main control voltage for the machine, to operate the auxiliary drive bucket wheel, to swivel the bucket wheel boom, to lift the lifting gear bucket wheel boom and to let the machine conveyor run unlocked, without a push belt of course.

In order to learn all this, we no longer have to go to the location in Germany.

We don’t even have to climb into a cab.

All we have to do is put on a pair of mixed reality glasses and launch an application developed by TÜV Rheinland Academy in cooperation with RWE Power AG, part of the RWE Group and a leading company in Germany for energy production and generation. The application allows

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untrained maintenance personnel to learn how to operate the machinery with a significantly higher level of safety.

THE CHALLENGE AND SOLUTION At RWE Power, technical maintenance and repair work is required at certain intervals on the large-scale equipment.

Until now, the control of the excavator during this work was the responsibility of the equipment operator. Moving forward the maintenance personnel will take over this task after successfully completing a training course with MR glasses.

Previously, the training for maintenance personnel to operate large-scale opencast mining equipment at RWE Power was exclusively delivered via onsite instruction. Now, with the mixed reality glasses, the driver’s cab can be brought into the classroom. First-time users can now gain a spatial impression and initial orientation without having to be close to the large-scale equipment.

A pair of mixed reality glasses is required for this training experience. RWE Power AG used the Microsoft HoloLens. It displays holograms, projections from light, in the user’s environment. Sensors in the glasses scan the environment and produce a digital copy. Therefore, holograms can be placed in the real environment using “spatial anchors.”

Holographic objects appear like real objects. Models are visible from all sides and retain their position in space as the user moves.

In the glasses’ field of vision, functions of the switching elements are explained in “information mode” and operations in “guide mode” are explained step-bystep. All modes are audio supported. The use of the technology leads to practical experiences in the classroom without exposing the learners to the dangers of operating expensive, unfamiliar machinery. The modes have already been successfully evaluated in initial user tests at RWE Power at the end of 2018.

MIXED REALITY PROVIDES LEARNERS THE ADVANTAGE OF SAFELY TRAINING ON VIRTUAL OBJECTS IN THE CLASSROOM.

Another important milestone in the rollout of proof of concept is scheduled for 2019. After the successful user tests, the maintenance application will be transferred from the classroom to the large device. In this phase, the application is no longer executed in the classroom, but within the real excavator.

In the “information mode” and “guided mode,” holograms superimpose the real physical operating elements in the driver’s cab. In this phase, the employee receives performance support during

• Didactic: There is a direct connection between theoretical content and practical applications for the learner.

LEARNING SUCCESS CAN BE STRENGTHENED THROUGH VISUAL MEMORY.

the maintenance work, also called “work support mode.“ All control elements are highlighted for defined workflows. The user can work independently and does not have to interact with the glasses; additional assistance is available as required. These modes are particularly suitable for refresher trainings if the employee has not used the large machine for a long period of time.

IMMERSION INCREASES MOTIVATION AND LEARNING SUCCESS Perception research has shown that 90 percent of what we actively use and practice is retained, especially when implemented in a virtual or enriched environment where we are supposed to use it. Additionally, technology offers the option to proactively retrieve content in mixed reality training and provides remote support from experts. MR provides learners the advantage of safely training on virtual objects in the classroom.

Presence seminars and virtual formats complement each other ideally.

Here are the biggest advantages of mixed reality in the area of education and training at a glance:

• Beginner friendly: The training solutions can be used directly by all employees and trainers in the workplace or in classrooms.

• Visual: Animated learning content is displayed holographically and eliminates cost-intensive and timeconsuming physical learning objects.

Essential features are impressively highlighted in MR. • Context-related: Digital content superimposes physical devices, facilitating the development of practical skills in the workplace.

• Immersive: Complete immersion in the learning situation creates a flow state for optimal readiness to receive the new content.

• Self-controlled: Interactive content allows hands-on learning at one’s own pace. Playful tasks increase motivation.

• Social: Learning experiences can be shared across devices, locally or globally, and guided by a trainer for any individual group.

These arguments quickly convinced RWE Power that MR was the right choice and the best format for its learning objectives and application scenarios, and also promised the greatest learning success. Furthermore, it was important for RWE Power to be able to use only one device worldwide for various training scenarios. With the mixed reality device, the Microsoft HoloLens, this requirement was also fulfilled. The application can be carried out without cabling or complex spatial installation and without a smartphone or additional computer.

The user no longer needs to sit firmly in their seat at their desk but can move freely, whether in the workplace or in the classroom.

MR makes new forms of interaction possible. The virtual content learners see can be recorded as a video capture, allowing exercises to be repeated without glasses. Furthermore, learning success can be strengthened through visual memory. For RWE Power AG, the application of mixed reality training is a welcome pilot project to discover the fascinating possibilities and opportunities of this technology.

Wilhelm Stock, head of technical training at RWE Power AG, and employees ranging from engineers to large equipment operators are enthusiastic about the technology and are already thinking about further application scenarios: power plant applications, live support and the transfer of best practices in the production process via virtual online simulation.

Holger Offermanns is head of digital learning and Nils Brüggesch is product manager of digital learning at TÜV Rheinland Academy, one of the leading private training providers and competence companion for technical topics. Email Holger and Nils.

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G L O B A L O U T LO O K

HOW DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS DISRUPTING LEARNING

BY SHELLEY OSBORNE

As learning and development (L&D) professionals, we’re no strangers to the term “digital transformation.” Most people think digital transformation is all about technology, but it’s really about people, process and technology. This digital evolution has occurred quickly and is affecting every aspect of business, including product and service design, operations and process. This article will focus on how digital transformation is impacting L&D practices and how we can use disruptive technologies to upskill or reskill our workforce.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS NOT JUST ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE, PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGY.

I recently had the opportunity to co-host a webinar with Brandon Carson, director of learning at Delta Air Lines and author of “Learning in the Age of Immediacy,” on how digital transformation is disrupting learning. In Carson’s current role, he oversees training and development for all global airport agents for Delta Air Lines, and he has previously held L&D leadership roles at The Home Depot, Microsoft, and Yahoo!

In the webinar, we examined trends in digital technology that are transforming

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the way employees learn on the job and shared real-life case examples. Here are some of the highlights on how to bring training to new dimensions through virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mobile learning.

VIRTUAL REALITY CASE STUDY: SAFETY TRAINING FOR DELTA AIR LINES According to an Udemy for Business survey of L&D leaders, 18 percent of organizations plan to incorporate VR in the next few years. VR technology is more mature than AR, so we’re seeing some sophisticated learning experiences and opportunities.

Carson shared how Delta Air Lines recently conducted a VR proof of concept for safety training to test its ability to provide an authentic and scalable learning environment for highrisk, real-world training scenarios. In the past, it has been challenging for Delta to train agents to prepare the aircraft for takeoff because they’ve relied on using actual aircrafts during flight times.

Agents also need experience identifying hazardous material around the aircraft and it can be difficult to implement this training with real flights.

By creating a VR environment of the airplane walk-around task, Delta takes agents out of the work environment and into a realistic simulation. In the VR setting, trainers can easily introduce various types of hazardous material, which means practice sessions in the VR

environment cover multiple scenarios that agents may be exposed to in the real world.

The results from the Delta’s proof of concept were promising: 12 flights were observed pre- and post-VR training and five flights performed better post-VR training, while none performed worse.

Participants received immediate feedback on their performance, and the majority of participants rated the experience as “valuable” or “very valuable.” The VR technology also makes it possible to identify high-performing agents, who can then be encouraged to share their strategies and advice with others.

AUGMENTED REALITY CASE STUDY: NEW HIRE ONBOARDING AT UDEMY At Udemy, we’ve recently introduced AR into our onboarding program for new hires. We were inspired to focus on onboarding when we learned that 79 percent of individuals see opportunities for improvement in their company’s onboarding process and people who have had an effective onboarding experience around company culture are 12 times as likely to feel committed to their organization.

This led us to outline the following learning objectives for our program: • Engage employees with our mission.

• Share knowledge about Udemy with our employees.

• Create opportunities to bond.

Our new onboarding program contains two major initiatives: an online onboarding course, “Welcome to Udemy” and “Udemy Go,” our AR scavenger hunt that sends people on an augmented reality race around the office. The name was inspired by Pokémon Go, the first mainstream use of AR technology.

Our new digital onboarding program also enabled us to scale onboarding throughout our global offices in Ireland, Turkey, and Brazil. New hires could take the online course on day one rather than waiting for scheduled face-to-face training in our San Francisco office.

On a new employee’s first day, their space is decorated with a balloon as a way of welcoming them to the team and the office, so the Udemy Go game is built around collecting virtual balloons by completing activities, learning about the company and answering questions. We also use 360 video tours to show footage from different offices and encourage employees to take group selfies as they complete different activities.

We’ve been excited about the results of the game so far. New employees reported 4.6 out of 5 on an increase in company knowledge. The net promoter score (NPS) for the app is 54. And there’s no denying the connections that have happened between employees as they’ve gone through the app.

MOBILE CASE STUDY: IN-AISLE TRAINING AT THE HOME DEPOT In the webinar, Carson also shared his experience with a mobile training pilot conducted while at Home Depot, his former employer. Training at Home Depot is no easy feat as there are over 200,000 associates working across almost 2,000 stores in the U.S. The store training model is mostly transactional – meaning training is conducted off the

floor, away from work. New employees are “fire-hosed” with e-learning modules, which they completed sitting in an office removed from the sales floor, often before they even had the chance to interact with customers.

There were several problems with this approach. New employees were overwhelmed with information but without necessary context. Because the learning wasn’t occurring in the moment of need, knowledge retention was low. And because employees completed e-learning modules away from the sales floor, it was considered different from, and less valuable than, their regular work.

PRACTICE SESSIONS IN VR COVER SCENARIOS THAT AGENTS MAY BE EXPOSED TO IN THE REAL WORLD.

Of the learning objectives, Carson says they wanted associates to be more competent and confident so they could better serve customers. He believed there was an opportunity to build a product knowledge app experience that provided enough information to help customers make decisions based on their needs and the products/solutions Home Depot offers.

There were two main components to the app: a product category section focused on the top-selling items in the store and game-based challenges designed to reinforce product-knowledge understanding. The product category section allowed associates to search or

browse the top-selling products that are most interesting to customers.

For example, if a customer came in with a question about chainsaws, the associate could look up chainsaws in the app to see a list of the top questions a customer might ask and how to answer them, a list of top-selling products in that category, and a list of other recommended items that customers tend to purchase together.

The other component, the “challenges,” were learning modules that associates could engage with whenever they had a few quiet moments when no customers were around. The idea of the challenges was to go on a scavenger hunt to locate specific items and learn more about them in a hands-on, tactile manner.

The results from the pilot were impressive. Ninety percent of associates agreed that the mobile app helped them assist customers and improve their own knowledge. The average time on a page was almost one minute, the average duration for a session was over three minutes, and the average pages per session was more than four. Plus, when compared with the control group, who had gone through the traditional e-learning modules, the group using the mobile app got through all the questions 24 percent faster.

We’re still at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to new VR, AR and mobile training, but these case studies show what’s possible. When aligned with your learning objectives and carried out thoughtfully, these technologies offer the opportunity to disrupt learning at your organization.

Shelley Osborne is head of learning and development at Udemy. She has 14 years of experience in the education sector and corporate learning and development.

Email Shelley.

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WHAT’S NEXT IN TECH STELLA LEE, PH.D.

THE ETHICS AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF AI FOR LEARNING Artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to take on a greater role in the learning and development field: providing personalized learning paths, predicting our performance, and making recommendations on content and activities. This year, AI systems will support our workplace learning trajectory more than ever, but only if we can be deliberate in establishing ethical frameworks and make its use more transparent. Below are some of the challenges we face as we develop AI applications for learning and some potential ways to address ethical concerns.

Current Challenges • Black box algorithms: Increasingly, researchers are saying that algorithms used by organizations can be opaque and discriminatory. Black box algorithms refer to the general inability to see inside of a system and see how it arrives at a decision. For example, when a learning platform makes recommendations to a learner, how would you know what learner attributes the platform uses as criteria for such recommendations and if they are conducive for learning.

Even more troublesome, there are few options, unless you are a computer programmer, for updating and tweaking these assumptions and bias that are inevitable in these systems.

• Issue of trust: In measuring learning and understanding how and what to personalize to individual learners, companies and platforms are collecting a huge amount of personal data. At the same time, ownership and governance of data is often ill-defined, or not defined at all, for many organizations.

Lack of definition promotes a feeling of mistrust among employees, while data is being collected without clear and conscious learner consent. In today’s

“big brother” surveillance culture, people don’t inherently trust machine learning algorithms, especially when the decision-making process behind the scene is lacking transparency and accountability.

• Lack of guiding principles and governance: While tech giants such as Google, Microsoft , and SAP have all introduced ethical principles for AI, there is a lot of room for more concrete definitions and better oversight. One criticism over AI principles set by tech firms is that they are more concerned with protecting themselves from legal actions and less on coming up with a realistic, actionable set of guidelines.

In the L&D world, the issue is further complicated by changing standards in e-learning and learning management system technology whereby learner profiling and data tracking are often not made explicit and without user consent.

THIS YEAR, AI SYSTEMS WILL SUPPORT OUR WORKPLACE LEARNING TRAJECTORY MORE THAN EVER. Potential Resolutions • Explainable AI: One notion to counter black box algorithms is advocating the use of explainable AI, XAI. Essentially, XAI programs enable users to understand the technology, provide input on the decision-making process and improve algorithmic accountability.

In the case of dynamically generated learning paths, learning platforms should be explicit about the decisions it makes to recommend certain learning paths or options over others.

In addition, learners, course designers,

and instructors are given the ability to review and update as they see fit.

• Privacy by design: Privacy needs to be considered by the whole design process, not just as a bolt-on approach.

Privacy by design is a system engineering approach proposed by Dr. Ann Cavoukia. Essentially, privacy by design advocates that organizations need to consider privacy at the initial design stages and throughout the development process of new products or services that involve handling personal data.

• Regulatory frameworks for AI: Regulatory frameworks are needed to safeguard transparent and auditable education data. Prejudices of the past must not be unwittingly built into AIenabled learning systems. Systems and algorithms need to be carefully designed, explained, and audited. While government plays a key role in setting regulatory frameworks, organizations should collaborate and encourage discussions on the ethics of AI by setting up advisory bodies, developing core ethical principles and responsibly handling data.

For AI to deliver its promise on learning enhancement, it will require people to trust the technology, organizations to safeguard the use of personal and educational data, and for government to collaborate with industries to research and discuss ethics in AI. Dr. Stella Lee has over 20 years of experience in consulting, planning, designing, implementing, and measuring learning initiatives. Today, her focus is on large-scale learning projects including LMS evaluation and implementation, learning analytics, and artificial intelligent applications in learning. Email Stella.

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SECRETS OF SOURCING DOUG HARWARD

SELECTING THE RIGHT TOOL AND TECHNOLOGY PARTNER FOR YOUR TRAINING ORGANIZATION

Selecting a learning technology is a decision that every training manager must make. Whether it be a learning management system (LMS), delivery platform or authoring tool, training managers from companies of all sizes are confronted with the need to select a technology to assist with the learning experience. It may not be the most frequent decision you will have to make, but definitely one of the most important – and for a number of reasons.

• The impact is huge. Technology impacts so many constituents. Selecting one technology that pleases multiple user groups and needs is not easy. It’s hard enough to get your leadership team to agree on one platform, much less all your constituents.

• Long-term commitments. Technology often requires long-term commitments with a supplier. Learning technologies are generally licensed, not purchased, which means there are recurring fees for use and maintenance based on the number of learners or users.

• Total cost. The true cost of a technology is not just what you pay a supplier.

True or total cost includes your internal expenses for data migration, administration, ongoing support by the IT group, and the cost of change for moving from one platform to another.

Depending on the technology, this can be more than the cost of the license agreement itself.

Choosing a Training Partner The most difficult factor in selecting a technology is the sheer number of

platforms and technologies to choose from. Every supplier wants to show why their platform is better than others. The reality is the features and functionality of each technology are relatively the same from one company to another. I’m not suggesting that technologies are completely commoditized, but I am saying that the value difference in one feature versus another doesn’t always warrant the difference in cost.

SELECTING A TECHNOLOGY IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS TRAINING MANAGERS WILL MAKE.

then this may impact the timeliness of the support you require.

• Leadership team. An assessment of the talent in a vendor’s leadership team and its development organization can tell a lot about the company’s ability to innovate and remain viable.

• Company culture. Assessing the culture of a vendor can reveal whether they are committed to the same values as your organization, such as diversity and inclusion, security, or individual privacy.

Your selection of a technology and supplier must be done objectively and based on the right variables. And it should be done as a team that includes your constituents and support staff.

The features and functionality of the tools are not the only important factors. Look closely at the capabilities of the supplier you are licensing from. Every company has a set of business attributes that make their organization viable and competitive.

These become even more important when forming long-term relationships as opposed to transactional relationships.

Here are a few variables to consider when choosing a technology partner.

To help determine the factors that are most important, create an evaluation spreadsheet and assign a weighted value to each variable. Hold demos of each tool and due diligence of business attributes of each supplier. Have your team evaluate each supplier and the technology based on a scale of 1 to 10. Tally the scores based on weighted values. Now you have an objective, inclusive process for how to choose a technology and partner.

• Financial viability. A company’s financial viability is the best indicator of its ability to invest in future improvements and software enhancements, as well as if it will still be in business in a few years.

The process sounds simple, and it really is. But the secret sauce is identifying the most important variables and including your constituents and support team in the process.

• Location. The geographical location of the vendor may indicate how they will provide ongoing support. If the company’s support team is overseas,

Doug Harward is CEO of Training Industry, Inc. and a former learning leader in the hightech industry. Email Doug.

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TOP 20 COMPANIES

LEARNER MINDSET MICHELLE EGGLESTON SCHWARTZ

THE LEARNER EXPERIENCE:

WHY IT MATTERS Technology has evolved considerably since I was a child – when “Oregon Trail” was the hottest learning game on the market. I learned about the life and struggles of a pioneer in the 19th century from the comfort of my school computer lab. As a millennial child, I had little context of the life or death decisions that pioneers faced on the great Oregon Trail. But the storytelling elements and the unpredictable nature of the game increased my engagement in the learning content and made learning fun.

Learning games are now incredibly more advanced thanks to emerging technologies like virtual reality (VR).

Individuals no longer need to be passive spectators in a game, they can now be transported into another virtual world to learn and experience the environment first-hand.

including aviation, oil and gas, health care, and construction. Learners can now practice fighting a fire or operating on a patient with a rare medical problem in a no-risk environment.

Practice improves performance. By deliberately repeating a skill or behavior, you improve knowledge recall and response time. In environments where practicing a skill is highly dangerous, a realistic, no-risk environment is critical to on-the-job success.

Virtual reality is just one component of digital reality that can help solve realworld business problems and increase training outcomes, according to Deloitte Insights. There are several technologies that can create a multidimensional learning experience.

VR games have become increasingly popular in the past few years. The more widely adopted VR becomes, the more accessible and affordable it is for consumers. With a VR headset, players can be transported from their living room into the middle of a zombie apocalypse or climbing a mountain hundreds of feet off the ground. While consumers largely use gaming systems as a fun pastime, VR offers more than pure entertainment value.

• Virtual reality: Creates a threedimensional virtual environment that mimics reality as closely as possible.

Technology is creating more opportunities for employees to learn in industries where failure is not an option. Using VR and other immersive technologies in corporate training can create an engaging learning experience that enables the practice of potentially high-risk skills in a safe, secure environment. VR technologies are being used in a variety of industries

• Immersive: Places users in an interactive learning environment, either physically or virtually, to replicate possible scenarios or teach specific skills.

• Augmented reality: Enhances reality by overlaying digitally created content into the user’s real-world environment.

• Mixed reality: Blends digital content into the real world and creates an environment where both coexist and interact.

• 360-degree video: Provides a new perspective that allows users to look in every direction.

Choosing the technology that is right for your training program is a challenging decision for training managers. With so many options available, it’s easy to get lost in the latest fads without a clear understanding of your training goals and outcomes. It’s important to determine

TECHNOLOGY IS CREATING MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN IN INDUSTRIES WHERE FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. whether the training would benefit from a high amount of interactivity and hands-on learning where skills can be tested and repeated in a low-risk environment. Then select the digital experience that would be most suitable for your training goals and learners.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS The learner experience is at the heart of training and development. Experience increases learner engagement, competency and the likelihood that the new skills will become engrained behaviors. Effective learning does not occur through a one-time event; it requires a continuous process that involves reinforcement, repetition and application of the new skills. Technology can enable this reinforcement and result in more effective training outcomes.

Michelle Eggleston Schwartz is the editorial director at Training Industry, Inc. Email Michelle.

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CLOSING D E A L S SUPPORT FOR EDTECH STARTUPS: THE DDI INNOVATION FUND AND THE KAHOOT! ACCELERATOR

BY TARYN OESCH

New programs launched by training companies DDI and Kahoot! are expanding the definition of “training provider” and providing funding and other support for education technology (edtech) startups.

Last fall, leadership company DDI announced the DDI Innovation Fund, a venture fund to invest in “cuttingedge companies with innovative digital, mobile, and leadership-focused capabilities that complement DDI’s existing suite of leadership selection, development, succession planning, and consulting solutions,” according to the press release. Later that year, Kahoot! announced Kahoot! Ignite, an accelerator program for “a diverse family of apps for iOS, Android and Windows platforms who will help Kahoot! build the world’s leading learning community,” according to the press release.

The DDI Innovation Fund is a result of recent changes to DDI’s business strategy, according to Doug Reynolds, executive vice president of innovations and technology. While DDI has worked in aspects of talent management as well as leadership, it’s been getting back to its roots with “a much tighter focus on leadership.” The company closed the part of its business that dealt with employee selection and used the proceeds of that spinoff to launch the fund.

Kahoot!, a newer player (founded in 2013), is a gamification platform for K-12 and corporate learning. Asmund Furuseth, CEO, says over 50 percent of teachers and students in the U.S. use Kahoot!, and the company also has

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almost half a million business accounts with over 20 million corporate learners.

“We would like other companies to also get that opportunity to reach out to a big audience,” he says, pointing out that the challenge when launching a great product is cutting through the noise.

THE CHALLENGE WHEN LAUNCHING A GREAT PRODUCT IS CUTTING THROUGH THE NOISE. Investing in Innovation Reynolds says DDI is considering a range of companies for its investments, including startups with a new technology or with products or customer bases that align with DDI’s. “We’re looking really broadly at companies or products that add value for the identification, assessment or development of leaders,” he says. “If it’s a piece that we don’t have that we think is valuable, then we’re interested in it.”

How DDI then partners with a company will depend on that company. “I think the ideal case is that there will be some synergy between the products that DDI offers or our research and development road map and what the company offers,” Reynolds says.

As for Kahoot!, Furuseth says the goal of the accelerator is “to make sure that learning is more engaging worldwide.”

One company can’t accomplish that goal by itself, he adds, so Kahoot! is

looking for companies that complement its game-based learning offerings.

“Of course they need to be similar to Kahoot! in the sense that they are highly motivating and engaging,” he says, and “it has to be some sort of software … for us to be able to do knowledge-sharing and have something to contribute.” But other than those criteria, Kahoot! is looking simply for a good product, with any specialization.

Technology is, of course, innovating across the training sector, but even in an area like leadership, emerging technologies can play a role. “A lot of folks are experimenting with things like virtual reality, the use of machine learning, other forms of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, that lets the computer do a little more of the work, and I think that has great potential for aiding the learning and development process,” says Reynolds.

“There’s good stuff out there that you’re just starting to see emerge, and that’s one of the things we’re looking [at].”

Furuseth says Kahoot! is not quite ready for those types of technologies, though “of course it could be interesting.”

Especially given that 2018 research found that learners believe on-the-job training and coaching, instructor-led training (ILT), and gamification are still effective learning methods, Kahoot!’s and DDI’s more conventional training programs and tools are likely not going anywhere anytime soon.

Taryn Oesch is the managing editor of digital content at Training Industry, Inc. Email Taryn.

C O M PA N Y N E W S

ACQU I S I T I O N S A N D PA RTN E R SHIPS DCI Consulting Group, a leading HR risk management firm, announces the acquisition of Savina Consulting, an employment litigation support and HR consulting firm. This acquisition will allow DCI Consulting Group to provide enhanced EEO litigation support and expert witness services to their clients.

Lionbridge, one of the world’s most trusted global communication platforms, announced its acquisition of Gengo, a Tokyo-based, leading edge technology company providing crowdsourcing, machine learning, and localization services to global customers. The acquisition of Gengo will strengthen Lionbridge’s position

in the machine learning and content relevance markets.

Vector Solutions, the leader in industryfocused e-learning and performance support solutions, acquired CrewSense, the leading employee resourcing and human capital management software for mission-critical sectors including public safety, utilities, and manufacturing. The acquisition furthers Vector’s strategy to expand its leading e-learning and training platform into a complete workforce and organization performance optimization solution.

Raytheon Professional Services has become a powerful new member of the Zoola Analytics Partnership Program.

Raytheon Professional Services is a global leader in training services and outsourcing. This partnership allows Raytheon to provide robust analytics solutions to meet the reporting needs for their clients to measure performance and drive results.

KPA, a leading software as a service (SaaS) and services provider for compliance and workforce management solutions, announced its acquisition of Compli, a provider of HR business process automation solutions. This transaction accelerates KPA’s strategy of delivering and industry-defining compliance, workforce management, and business process automation platform to the middle market.

INDUST RY N E WS QUANTIFYING SKILL GAPS AND PERSONALIZING THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE Voxy announced the launch of a new tool that seeks to understand each learner’s nuanced language needs in order to deliver personalized language instruction online. The new functionality draws upon machine learning to connect learner goals and interests with targeted recommendations from over 20,000+ pieces of instructional content and live instruction. Access to rich analytics gives talent management the ability to track learner engagement, benchmark progress and quantify business impact.

NEW, FOUR-DIMENSIONAL ADAPTIVE LEARNING PLATFORM Area9 Lyceum launched Area 9 Rhapsode™, its fourth-generation adaptive learning platform, culminating more than 20 years of cognitive research

and advanced computer science. Area9 Rhapsode™ is designed to meet the learning, development, and publishing needs across the education spectrum: K-12 education, post-secondary education, and professional learning and development. The platform also offers a suite of publishing tools that can be used to create, curate, and deliver digital content.

ACCELERATOR PROGRAM FOR LEARNING APPS Kahoot!, the game-based learning platform and the world’s fastestgrowing learning brand, has launched Kahoot! Ignite, an accelerator program for innovative app teams around the world. Teams selected for the program can join Kahoot! on its journey to create value for learners across all geographies and champion the company’s mission to make learning awesome.

MILLENNIALS CITE LACK OF MENTORSHIP AS PRIME REASON TO QUIT THEIR JOBS Millennial employees are desperately seeking guidance in the workplace. LEAD, a newly-launched mentoring platform, will allow young professionals to seek the mentorships they need. Mentoring capitalizes on a company’s most valuable resource, its employees, and shows employees that an organization wants them to succeed.

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