Elluminate Connects with Moodle to Create the Virtual Classroom Elluminate, a provider of live eLearning and web collaboration for the real-time organization, released Elluminate Bridge for Moodle™, integrating the Elluminate virtual classroom environment with Moodle, a leading open-source course management system. The new program enables... CEOs not seen as role-models CEOs visibly share and live their company's purpose, say most people. Yet, considerably fewer view their CEO as a brand builder, and only a minority view their CEO as a role model, according to a recent Krauthammer survey on corporate governance and CEOs performance. Employers Say It's Tough Reaching Millennials North American companies are twice as likely to report difficulty reaching Millennials than any other employee group, according to a survey of more than 2,500 senior HR and training executives by Novations Group, a global consulting organization based in...

What Day is it? Energizer or Opener for Communication Module To set–up this activity, use this script: The trainer posted this notice outside the classroom door. What day does this class meet again? Class is canceled today. We will meet again at 8:30 a.m. three days after two days before the day before tomorrow.

Asked and Answered: Training in the Medical Field I conducted a training class last week, the first since the Boot Camp course I attended. I spent a great amount of time devising the class. In the past it was merely a class that consisted of “I will show you how to do it and then you will do it.” Anyone who was a product expert could do this, no actual training skills were necessary. After attending the Boot Camp, I revised the course substantially. Overall, I think that the users went out with a better understanding of the application than previous classes have. I also did an evaluation for the class. Overall they were fairly positive. I did get some comments on the class being “childish” comparing it to a first grade teacher. Others did not like the...

Foiling Airline Upcharges- Airlines are beginning a new round of nickel-and-diming with a new fee for travelers with more than one bag. United Airlines recently began charging $25 for a second bag and $100 for a third bag. Spirit Airlines began that practice last May. Mixing How-to with Webcasting- Howcast.com has just launched. It has 25 different categories from travel (notice a theme this month?) to hobbies and kids & crafts. How to Deal with Camp O’Hare and other Horror Stories- Peter Greenberg took 110 flights in 12 months—and 11 arrived on time. He offers 10 tips for dealing with airline difficulties. Some suggestions are ASTD Enters Brave New World of Second Life- If you have yet to create an avatar as a trainer, now is your chance. To capture the growing audience of learning professionals who are seeking new methods to interact with a larger, more dispersed population, American Society for Training and Development is creating an island on Second Life.

When most people think of the word “COACH,” they immediately imagine someone on the sidelines screaming at their players to do a better job. That may be true in certain sports situations, but in business, a coach needs to have a completely different approach in order to help employees improve performance. Let’s have a look at the role of a manager/coach and how that integrates with employee development. Where does traditional training come in? How does training relate to coaching? And what are the differences between training, coaching and counseling?

Training must be a process rather than a stand alone event in order to create long term impact. The Bob Pike Group has taught this for years and it’s a philosophy shared by the Ken Blanchard Companies. At the 2008 BPG Training and Performance Solutions Conference, M.J. Coulson of the Ken Blanchard Companies will present a session on sustaining learning’s impact long after the training is over. “Our process ensures that we secure top management buy in, create strategic integration between training and your business issues, set the context and create relevance for the training to take hold, and spend considerable time on follow up and reinforcement in order to cement new behaviors and skills,” said a Blanchard spokesperson. “We believe that organizations must spend 10 times more energy on follow up than they do on the delivery of training. So we..."

Bad news about the U.S. economy continues to arrive on a daily basis. Although it is not yet known if the United States is officially in a recession, it is clear that tough economic times have arrived. This presents both an opportunity for, and a test of, organizations that have long declared people to be their most important asset. Research suggests that organizations using layoffs as a first response to tough times will be, within a few years, worse off than those using other methods to manage through difficult economic circumstances. We predict that the long-run, harmful organizational effects of layoffs will be...

Welcome to the first edition of The Bob Pike Group e-Zine for Educators! The requests for this venue have been numerous, and we are delighted to provide this service to you. What a great way to stay connected and share ideas, tips and tricks, as well as news and events! During 2008, the e-Zine will be sent out quarterly and will include: - education features, - standard-aligned learner-centered activities, - training tips for adult educators, - news and views from our Education Certified Partners, - a schedule of upcoming events, and - a fabulous e-Zine Special Offer. You’ll want to check this out for sure!

Have you ever taught a concept your students just couldn’t grasp? Or thought they had until you asked them to apply it? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you are not alone. Remember, if they haven’t caught it, you haven’t taught it. So how can you increase student learning, retention, and application? The concept of learning requires that a change in behavior takes place. Would you say you had learned Spanish if you couldn’t speak it? Of course not. That’s why we cannot say a child has learned something if there is no change in his behavior. True learning has only happened when a child “gets it”, keeps it, and can use it in the future. Learning is not “cramming” for a test where the concepts, skills, and facts are forgotten shortly afterwards. Learner-centered teaching

Survival of the fittest? In the 21st Century, survival requires much more that that. Humans must develop complex, higher order cognition skills, such as the ability to communicate and embrace interpersonal relations. And, of course, they still need to develop literacy and numeracy skills and the ability to leverage technology. Neuroscience tells us that optimum learning for human beings takes place in a social context, which means that students learn best when they are interacting with both the material to be learned and with each other as well. Learning is a social activity that is heavily influenced by…interaction with the larger social environment (Caine and Caine 1995). A classroom where students interact comfortably and see themselves as part of a learning community is optimal. The research on cooperative learning suggests that working in groups addresses the human need for interaction, enhances interpersonal skills through practice, and...