Does Your Online Learning Platform Have These Features?

Remote work and location-independent learning have risen in popularity in the last few years, and the COVID-19 crisis has only sped up this trend. Whether you’re adapting to online learning by choice, circumstance, or a combination of both, it is still challenging to find the best platform for your company. You must consider the needs of both L&D and learners, and few online learning platforms and digital content developers pull off that balance successfully. You know you have the right learning platform if it can provide the following:

An Intuitive, Accessible Interface

The platform should enable smooth, one-step logging in and have an easily navigable interface. It should be easy for learners to find the relevant resources within a few clicks. Having a Getting Started section or How-To tutorials will also be beneficial to users—it will acquaint them with the platform without input from your team.

Also, it’s crucial to have a responsive design, and you should test both the preloaded content and the platform to see how they render on various devices and screen sizes. You must do these tests because not all learning happens during working hours or at a desktop, and your platform should enable people to log in from most devices and at any hour of the day. 

SCORM Compliance

SCORM, which stands for Shareable Content Object Reference Model, is a set of technical standards for e-learning materials. Most online learning content today is SCORM compliant, and it is the standard for interoperability in e-learning. Today there are five versions of SCORM, and you must ensure that your learning platform is compatible with at least one to ensure access to a variety of learning materials.

Learning Journey Automation

The learning platform should support the creation of structured, personalized journeys that you can distribute and schedule. It should also allow users to upload and access PDFs, documents, audio and video files, and images. Creating, scheduling, and automating access to learning resources is a crucial aspect of creating an e-learning platform. 

Without it, you have nothing more than an online content library. Something else that your platform should have is the capacity for sending push notifications. Users and administrations should be able to both send and receive notifications throughout the learning process.

Various Tools for Authoring and Collaboration

Your learning platform needs to have authoring tools as well. Creating online learning sessions, quizzes, and assessments within the platform helps you save on training and licenses for more development software. Besides partnering with skilled digital content developers, you need an e-learning platform that enables collaborative work. Access to collaboration tools like group discussions, forums, personal blogs, and live video diaries ensures that your organization can better support a wide range of learning styles.

Integration and Documentation of API

It is good to get a learning platform that can integrate with other software like your HR database or CRM. Integrations save on time and resources and let you transfer data quickly from one platform to another. Also, if your learning platform provides complete API documentation, you don’t need to pay more for developers to set it up for you.

Scalability

Finding learning platforms that can respond to your needs is tricky, but finding one that can respond to your future needs will be even more of a challenge. Before deciding on a learning platform, see if you can scale it up in terms of functionality and number of users. Ask about the provider’s development roadmap to see how the platform can support you in the future.

Conclusion

There are several types of platforms available today. However, since most of them will tie you into contracts that last for at least 12 months, you need to make the best choice for your company. Keep your learners’ and organization’s needs in mind and get an option that strikes a balance between providing technical support and learning experiences.

Make Bihasa your digital learning partner today. Bihasa is the leading digital learning course developer in the Philippines, enabling organizations to empower learners and make their teams better, bigger, and boundless. Shoot us an email to learn more!

What You Need to Know About Micro-Learning for Companies

As the digital revolution and global pandemic teach us, the conventional way of doing things in an office setting may no longer apply. This holds true for the traditional skills-based seminars and training workshops most companies had to put on hold and reconfigure to suit immediate needs and preferences. One effective solution worth considering is micro-learning, which Google defines as intent-rich situations wherein an individual turns to a device to act on a need

If you think about the immediate application of micro-learning in a popular context, it is much like what most of us already do now: use our mobile devices to access quick, relevant solutions. However, take note that you cannot simply dive into this approach without first knowing the basics since it does consist of a few intricacies to produce quality materials. As such, use this article as your guide to be appropriately oriented. 

How Do I Translate My Current Learning and Training Aids into Micro-Learning Resources? 

As mentioned, your company may have been used to the traditional modes of work-based learning options simply because you never thought it would be necessary to re-invent this. Now, you can provide micro-learning opportunities since plenty of individuals learn non-linearly, meaning they prefer to do so in short, frequent chunks of time within the day using different means. 

With that being said, you may think the challenge your company faces is taking all your previous learning resources and re-inventing them to suit your current setup. While this is not impossible, it may also be counterproductive since most of these materials are designed to be taught in a linear or sequential manner. Additionally, you would often sacrifice more time for this training, even when you didn’t have to in the first place! 

Thus, instead of being adamant about reusing your learning and training materials, consider the more forward-looking approach by developing new aids with a reconfigured curriculum. Doing so ensures your company is steps ahead of your direct competitors as you lead in your industry’s professional development. 

What Are the Different Modes of Micro-Learning My Company Can Consider Having? 

You and your team have the chance to select the most appropriate mode of micro-learning based on your needs and preferences. Just take note that you can employ more than one to diversify your learning and training processes. Consider the following modes: 

  1. Interactive videos: You can have pre-recorded, professionally produced videos with interactive elements, such as clickable graphics and shareable content. Typically, your employees can watch these videos between 5 to 10 minutes, and they can simply pause then continue watching when they are not busy. 
  1. Online collaborative tools: One emerging trend in e-Learning is asynchronous-based collaborative projects, meaning each team member can submit their output to complete a complex work, depending on your modifications. While this can be done as their own time, you can set deadlines to check their submitted work. 
  1. Downloadable courses through a custom platform: Your employees can go through various micro-learning mediums with an online course. It can be with recorded videos, quick readings, quizzes, and more. By far, this is one of the most comprehensive among the other modes. 

Conclusion 

Due to the emerging trend of mobile devices and asynchronous training, micro-learning can be a valuable resource for your company, especially if you want to scale and become a leader in your niche. It is convenient, innovative, and performance-driven, allowing you and your team to reach new heights. Invest in these new skills and knowledge-building opportunities today! 

Bihasa is the leading e-learning course developer in the Philippines, enabling you to make the most of your employees’ time and varied contexts to maximize training opportunities. You can take advantage of micro-learning techniques and other similar approaches to spur further professional development within your corporation. Contact us at inquire@bihasa.ph to find out how else we can help you! 

Understanding eLearning Courses for Businesses

In the last decade or so, corporations have increased their use of eLearning by a significant percentage as they realize the growing need for engaging and effective training resources for their employees. Upskilling is critical to the success of any business. This is especially important to new employees who require onboarding, orientation, and training. Bihasa, a digital learning content developer in the Philippines, offers you this brief overview of what eLearning is and why every business needs it. 

What is eLearning?

Electronic learning, or eLearning, is the delivery of training and learning through digital resources. Although eLearning is based on formalized education, the difference is the delivery method. eLearning is provided through electronic devices such as computers, tablets, and even cellular phones that are connected to the internet. By making learning resources accessible anytime and anywhere, users can easily learn without any restrictions.

Types of eLearning Courses

An eLearning course can mean many things and serve many purposes. Companies leverage the help of learning and development partners in creating eLearning courses tailored to address the company’s training needs. 

There are primarily three categories of eLearning courses that companies focus on developing.

Information-Based Courses

These courses are mainly driven by information sharing. It could be something as simple as compliance training or something more significant like policy changes. The information presented in these eLearning courses is crucial to the business, and it impacts work without changing the way work is done. With this type of course, there is no new performance expectation as awareness of the information is the sole focus of it.

A good example of an information-based course is labor law compliance training. Since these laws apply to members of the workplace, it’s important that they know the standards expected of them and what they can expect of their employers. Such training is merely for the purpose of awareness of local regulations and how compliance helps employees avoid any potential issues in the future.

While there’s still a performance component to not harass and understand what to do when we see it, it’s not what the course is all about. At its core, the training’s purpose is more about awareness and less about specific changes in the performance of the employees and the entire organization.

Performance Support Courses

If information-based courses function more like “announcements” designed to raise awareness on a certain topic, performance support courses work differently. Performance support courses work more like learning aids meant to help employees with on-the-job support at the precise moment of their need. They are mainly designed to support and guide employees when they work.

Performance-Based Courses

This is the category for courses that have measurable objectives that teach employees how to do something. They are then assessed if they understood the courses and what they’ve so far learned. Course designers often follow this line of questioning when developing a training program:

  • Why does this content exist?
  • Who needs it?
  • What are they supposed to do with it?

At its very essence, performance-based courses are designed to change the behavior of an individual.

Conclusion

Understanding what eLearning is and why such courses are developed by course designers will help you understand how much time and money it needs to commit to building the right product. You’ll also have a better idea of what resources and effort each course would require.

Accelerate the growth of your company by upskilling your employees through the wonders of eLearning programs. Bihasa is a digital learning company in the Philippines that focuses on delivering impactful learning that drives results. As a leader in digital learning, Bihasa helps you create exceptional learning experiences that put you on the path to success.

Top 3 Benefits of Blended Learning in a Post-Coronavirus World

When COVID-19 broke loose in March 2020, it took the world by storm and put several industries at a standstill. Brick and mortar businesses need to embrace the digital shift to keep their lights on. At the same time, educators struggle to bridge the digital divide to share knowledge with anyone who needs it. 

Focusing on growing one spectrum can leave people out of the picture; that’s why blended learning offers the best of both worlds: the opportunity to learn both synchronously and asynchronously with live video classes and pre-recorded material. 

If you’re wondering why it’s worth taking a blended approach to education, here’s how combining the best of both worlds can shake up the learning experience for everyone: 

Benefit #1: Bespoke and Individualized Learning 

People have their capabilities and learning curves, so one lesson plan won’t necessarily be effective for all avid learners. Instead of pushing for a one-size-fits-all angle, blended learning complements different approaches by minimizing common issues with live learning sessions. Rather than allowing learners to feel distracted, bored, or disconnected due to poor internet access, each person can learn in a way that works best for them. 

By filling in what’s missing in both learning methods, blended learning creates a mixed environment where students can grow at their own pace and reap as much as possible from the course. 

Benefit #2: Efficient and Productive 

Going out of your way to take exams can often feel like a waste. However, blended learning can iron out any inefficiencies with traditional learning programs by cutting out time-consuming tasks.

Students can easily take exams online and seek further virtual tutoring sessions, making it easier to balance different courses and comprehend complex topics at a more productive pace. 

Benefit #3: Freedom to Experiment with Different Mediums for Learning 

In the current environment, face-to-face lessons are near impossible because close contact is discouraged. Fortunately, virtual learning can dabble in playful modes of teaching such as podcasts, short how-to videos, games, and other innovative tactics to make every lesson more engaging. 

While live virtual sessions allow educators to recognize and address the needs of people who need more focus and special attention, e-learning platforms allow educators to explore different methods to keep students interested behind the screen. 

The Bottom Line: Learning in Today’s Fast-Paced World Beyond Books and Borders 

Everyone deserves to beat their learning curve and expand their knowledge in several subjects, even those who are already professionals in their own right. Improvement in one’s skills requires continuous training, learning, and growth, all of which we can help achieve with Bihasa’s digital learning courses. 

How Can Bihasa Help You Learn and Achieve Excellence No Matter the Distance?

Bihasa is also an industry leader in the e-learning landscape in the Philippines, and it strives to break boundaries by providing learning experiences delivered straight to you. When short attention spans and social distancing make it virtually impossible to hone your skills, our team can help share knowledge from various experts in different fields. 

Our e-learning services are how your voice can reach your students, so anyone can continue to flourish their love of learning anytime and anywhere! Get in touch with us today and see how we can help you achieve bigger, better, and boundless learning! 

3 Compelling Benefits of Digital Learning for Your Company

As the leader of your corporation, you may already know the importance of building up your employees’ proficiency in their line of work, especially when you want to explore new ventures and cater to more clients. 

Unfortunately, face-to-face meetings have largely been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why your company should look into digital learning, a way to train and develop your staff’s skills through technological and blended interventions, which can take place in the form of video conferencing, training videos, and the like.

Consider the following benefits you can expect from investing in effective digital learning to see its direct impact on your business as an industry-disruptive leader:

1. Ensures asynchronous, independent training 

Through the course of remote work, you may have discovered that most of your employees are more proficient when they can have flexible working hours and accomplish tasks remotely. However, you and your employees may lack the necessary knowledge to follow through with these privileges to boost your company’s productivity. Fortunately, the right digital learning plan and content solution can help with that. 

Let’s say you are running a healthcare practice. Your doctors and staff might be experts at medicine, but that doesn’t mean they’re familiar with some of the newer productivity software tools available to them. With online consultations on the rise, it’s important to train medical professionals on how to effectively use the technology available to them to make patient experience better.

This is where digital asynchronous learning can come in. Through training videos, medical professionals have a practical way to acquire the necessary skills they need to serve their patients better without exposing themselves to unnecessary risks. Moreover, they can do so at their own pace without running into the common problems with live webinars, such as poor engagement and internet connectivity issues.

2. Provides more cost-effective office growth 

Many companies like yours may look forward to hiring more professionals and meeting the demands of your niche more efficiently. The problem is you may have been held back by your operating costs, like office space rent, transportation bills, and supplies expenses. 

You have the chance to restructure your corporate office into something more exciting and resilient for years to come, especially as more industries are looking into technological solutions to save money while also equipping their staff with innovative tools. 

The best way to approach cost-effectiveness and the so-called new normal of doing work is through digital learning. This way, you can orient yourself and your co-workers properly about how significant changes can make your workflow more streamlined and at par with clients’ demands. As a result, you can expect optimal, sustainable growth for your office and future employees! 

3. Allows you to better track employee progress and integrate feedback into your training effectively

Through the course of your employee training and development, your staff may show disinterest in what you provide. Thus, they submit the bare minimum just to keep you satisfied. The problem with this trend is you don’t have an informed look into their progress and may require some time and resources before you can develop new educational content. 

Digital learning technology such as a Learning Management System (LMS) gives you the means to track, evaluate, and improve your online training conveniently. As a result, you have more meaningful sessions with your employees and can benefit from their advancements.

Conclusion 

Digital learning can be a fulfilling company venture, especially if you invest in the right providers. As you consider these benefits, ensure you take the time to think about what’s best for your workforce and how you intend on having a significant impact on their professional development. 

Are you looking for the best digital learning company in the Philippines to boost your workforce’s professional growth and skills development? Work with us at Bihasa, your leading provider for eLearning content. With our professional expertise in scientific digital learning, you can reach your performance goals, sustain productive momentum, and empower the next generation of leaders in your industry. Get in touch with us today through inquire@bihasa.ph for a consultation!

Best Tips on Creating Videos for Your eLearning Courses

When it comes to the consumption of online content, video reigns as one of the formats that’s preferred overall. Cisco predicts that by 2022, video will count for up to 82% of internet traffic as a whole. This is largely brought about by the speeds of the internet rising. Access to the internet is also becoming more ubiquitous.

There’s a lot of sensory engagement through video, without too much effort on the part of the viewer. 65% of Forrester’s customers utilize enterprise video solutions, according to their recent survey of video vendors. This helps them along in order to implement effective employee training. With all that said, it’s evident that videos play a key role in eLearning courses.

What are some of the best tips for creating videos for eLearning courses?

Choose the Format That’s Most Appropriate

It’s key for your video’s purpose to be established first according to your learning or training objectives. Immediately after that, it’s necessary to decide the format it will take on. There are several available formats, all with strengths that are unique. Depending on the course objectives, there are formats that will specifically suit them. It’s important to ensure that the format will be able to best deliver the message of your video to your audience.

  • Narrated Slides – One of the staples in the academic field, as well as in the corporate world, are slide presentations. They allow for ideas being presented in bite-size chunks, through a simple utility, in a straightforward manner. Generally, they act as materials that are supplemental for presenters either making a pitch or giving a lecture. Narration being added allows for a video to be slotted into an eLearning course. Both PowerPoint for Windows and Keynote for Mac comes with features built-in that will help you record audio with slides easily.
  • Presenter Video – Instructional video content can be made out of live training sessions when the latter are recorded. It can be plain or polished, depending on access to a video editor or editing skills. These are ideal for demonstrations necessary for practical, hands-on courses.

Make Sure Your Purpose of Your Video Is Clear

It’s crucial to brainstorm ideas as to your video’s content and creation. However, before anything else, it’s important to know why you’re making it in the first place. As an educational tool, videos are very powerful. There’s a resource cost that’s relatively high to consider, particularly if the production value wanted is professional-grade.

Some of the most typical reasons for making a video include:

  • Demonstrating a video visually for easy understanding
  • Highlighting why a certain issue is important
  • Making an easily-understood, digestible summary of a course/unit/module
  • Share a story that’s emotional/engaging which takes full advantage of the medium’s multi-sensory strengths

Have Correct Equipment

Make an investment into recording equipment that’s of the highest quality. That’s how quality videos will be produced. Aside from a video camera, another key piece of equipment is a good microphone. It’s crucial for video editing software to be considered in the budget as well.

Conclusion

Videos are an invaluable tool when it comes to eLearning courses. There needs to be preparation and thought put into them so they can serve their purpose. Important things to consider include having the correct equipment, knowing your purpose for making the video, and choosing the format that’s most appropriate.

Are you looking for digital learning program support? Check out Bihasa today! We combine a deep understanding of digital learning principles, design thinking, and world-class technical and production capacity in developing synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences for our wide-ranging clientele.

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