eLearning Market in US Expected to Continue Growth The current expenditure on eLearning in the United States across all buying segments is $13.6 billion. Ambient Insights, a research company, forecasts that sector to continue growth by 22 percent over the next five years. Looking to Wiki? Training and Development Info Sites We’re searching high and low for wikis in print (not just audio or video) that provide quick access to training and development information, theories, and instant applications. Last Minute Budget to Spend? The Bob Pike Group offers gift certificates and also is giving away free fleeces (really nice ones!) with our logo on it for those who register by Marcy 15 for the 2008 Consulting and Performance Solutions Conference in Minneapolis.

If you are reading this in North America, chances are you’ve been buffeted by some unusually forceful weather in recent weeks and months. Early snows, flooding rains, overflowing rivers, and blizzard-blocked highways – extreme weather seems to have become the norm this winter. It seems too much at times. How much can we be expected to stand, after all? The answer to that question: As much as we are given. Bad weather, after all, is something that happens, something we have to expect. Not only are we unable to prevent it, often we can’t even get out of its way when we see it coming.

Purpose: This exercise provides a fun and yummy way to review content. Audience: Any size Time: Add 10–20 minutes to your class time Space: Any classroom Materials: Prepared Bingo cards and a small bag of M&Ms for each participant Budget: Cost of cards and candy Application: Have participants review content throughout the training

When trainers learn more effective and interactive techniques for helping transfer their material, the trainer and his/her participants win also! Here is some feedback we recently got from Michelle Lewis, training specialist at Unlimited Coaching Solutions. “First, thank you for the awesome workshop on getting training to stick. I have had a great time and extraordinary success using my new tools and ideas. The very day after the seminar, I had a session where...

Movies depend on “suspension of disbelief” for us to get into the plotline and thoughtlessly accept whatever we see. But what happens when someone, with perhaps a critical or cynical nature, watches a movie thoughtfully, looking out for the idiosyncrasies? Lora Haasl, supervisor of the Instructional Innovation and Technology lab with Texas A&M, uses the following “information” as an icebreaker while participants are entering the room. The statements are put into PowerPoint. “Most of these are set to run continuously and to loop until you stop the slideshow,” Haasl said. “I play music in the background.”

Repeated studies over the past 70 years have challenged the impact of training. When tragedy hits, training’s budget is one of the first to go! Yet, knowing that competitive advantage depends on human productivity, innovation and pursuit of excellence, there is a better way. In its 2003 State of the Industry Report, The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) revealed challenges for the performance improvement industry include controlling costs, evaluating training and understanding return on investment (ROI). The integrated model described here addresses this serious need and applies an inductively logical, visible, repeatable process to design training with the business need in mind. Over 85 percent of benchmark organizations surveyed by ASTD in its 2002 State of the Industry Report evaluate training with...

In ancient Greece, Odysseus entrusted his friend Mentor with the education of his son. Since that time, mentoring has become the art of sharing of ourselves and being open to the wisdom of others. As a trainer, it is often our charge to “impart knowledge” or new skills. But as trainers, if we are to be the guide on the side and not the sage on the stage, mentoring can play a key role in how we perceive ourselves. In the book, Mentoring: The Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom, Chungliang Al Huang and Jerry Lynch show us how the concept of mentoring is an essential tool in all our relationships. This is an interactive process based on the balanced give and take so that we can both teach and learn from one another. In the participant-centered classroom, this dynamic interaction is fostered and encouraged. In a lecture-based classroom, there is only one way communication. The teacher has little opportunity to learn from the participants.

Skillfair, a virtual meeting place in the United Kingdom, conducted a survey of consultants in the UK regarding their fees. With 250 responding, following are some of the results. “Our questions focussed on establishing typical daily rates and also highlighting the highest and lowest rates people have charged,” said Gill Hunt, founder of Skillfair. “We asked people to identify their most common type of client based on size of the client organisation. The majority work mainly for large corporates and medium sized companies, but a substantial minority work almost entirely with sole traders and micro-businesses.”

Making Distance Learning Interactive Betsy Allen directed a webinar while at Training’s Tech Solutions conference in Salt Lake City. Here are a few of her tidbits for making webinars more participant-centered. How can you make a webinar with 150-200 participants interactive in less than one hour? I would make sure that an assignment (such as research a topic as a small group with an assigned leader) is given in advance so the learners come prepared to share. In advance, they know that the leader will randomly offer the mic to small group leaders throughout the session to report. I’d also use a handout with fill-in-the-blanks or “Been Listening Bingo” to keep them listening and recording the message. Use a platform such as Eluminate that allows you to give small group assignments and report out progress.

Ken Blanchard, best-selling co-author of The One Minute Manager and The One Minute Apology, will be kicking off the 15th Annual Training and Performance Solutions Conference to be held in Minneapolis in 2008. His participation was announced during the closing ceremonies of this year’s conference. “It's exciting to have Ken and the Ken Blanchard Companies be a part of our 2008 conference on many levels,” said Bob Pike, chairman and founder of The Bob Pike Group. ”First, Ken and I have been friends for more than 20 years. Because of that, I have seen his commitment to the same values that we have at The Bob Pike Group— especially adding value and making a difference. Second, his unique storytelling ability makes...