ABCD: The Four Parts of a Learning Objective

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[This is the fourth in a series of posts about learning objectives. We’ve now compiled all the posts into a single downloadable guide to writing learning objectives PLUS you can check out our Introduction to Learning Objectives recorded discussion with learning researcher Dr. Patti Shank.]

A simple way to make sure you’re building a useful learning objective is to use the ABCD method. Each letter in ABCD stands for a different part of your learning objective. These different parts answer four questions about your objective: who, what, how, and how well.

We’ll spell it all out for you below. Then you can use this information to create better learning activities as part of your workforce training program (or similar learning program).

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The Voice of the Customer in Lean Manufacturing

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A critical element of lean manufacturing is listening to, understanding, acting on, and aligning your actions with the voice of the customer.

This makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. Remind yourself what lean manufacturing is all about–it’s about removing waste so you can create the most value as measured by what the customer is willing to pay for, right?

But you can’t create the most value for your customer if you’re not aware of the true voice of the customer, right?

Read on to learn more.

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Microlearning: 3 Uses

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In a recent recorded discussion, we talked with Michael Schreiner, the VP of Content at Vector Solutions (our parent company) about their recent, award-winning microlearning conversion & creation process. If you’re interested in that, check out our Microlearning at Vector Solutions recorded discussion.

In this article, we’re going to expand on that discussion, explaining what microlearning is and giving a few common and effective uses for microlearning.

Contact us if you have any questions, share your own thoughts, suggestions, and experiences in the comments section below, and have a great day!

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Microlearning at Vector Solutions

Not that long ago, our parent company Vector Solutions undertook a large project to convert some existing courses into microlearning courses that their RedVector customers could use. Very cool.

Even cooler, that microlearning project won a prestigious Award for Excellence in Learning award from Brandon-Hall. Which we’re proud of–congrats to all involved.

In this interview, Vector Solutions Vice President of Content Michael Schreiner will talk with Jeff Dalto of Convergence Training & Vector Solutions about microlearning, what it is, why there’s so much talk about it these days, why it’s useful in training, some common uses of it, about the conversion project itself, and most importantly about how Vector Solutions/RedVector customers can access these microlearning courses.

If you’re a Vector Solutions customer and want to use these microlearning courses, begin by getting our RedVector Go app.

Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions!

 

Here are some resources related to topics Michael brought up in this conversation:

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LMS Bascis: Can You Assign and Track a Webinar for Training in an LMS?

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Webinars and virtual classrooms (sometimes referred to together as “live online learning“) have always been a viable part of an organization’s training delivery options. But with COVID-19, the need for social distancing, and a lot of workers working and receiving training from home, webinars and virtual classrooms are being used more and more for workforce training.

That’s led some organizations to wonder about how webinars can work with learning management systems (LMS) and, in particular, whether you can use an LMS to assign webinars, grant credit to workers for completing webinars, and store records for those employee completion records after webinars have been conducted.

Short answer: yes. We’ll explain more in the article below.

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Preventive Maintenance to Improve Safety, Quality & Efficiency

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Maintenance programs in general, and preventive maintenance programs in particular, have obvious benefits in terms of keeping equipment running properly and preventing downtime. This brings an equally obvious benefit to operational efficiency and it decreases costs and waste as well.

But these aren’t the only benefits that come with a well-designed preventive maintenance program. If you’re practicing preventive maintenance at your facility instead of simply relying on reactive maintenance, you’ll see safety and quality improvements as well.

We’ll explain the benefits to efficiency, safety, and quality you’ll gain from practicing preventive maintenance further in this brief article.

Let us know if you need any help with the maintenance training at your facility as you try to improve your maintenance program and perhaps begin practice preventive maintenance yourself.

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An Introduction to Learning Objectives with Dr. Patti Shank

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In this discussion, we take a deep-dive into learning objectives with learning researcher and instructional designer Dr. Patti Shank.

In particular, we explain what a learning objective is; why you should create learning objectives; how to create learning objectives; how learning objectives should be mapped to learning assessments and learning activities; and a few other juicy topics as well.

This is the first of two related discussions with Dr. Shank. Be sure to check out our discussion regarding Learning Assessments as well, and the concepts of learning objectives and learning assessments are very closely related to one another. We’ve also had a previous discussion with Patti titled Deliberate Practice, Deep Learning, and Desirable Difficulties you may find helpful.

Thanks to Patti for sharing her time and knowledge and for all the great learning research she does!

Here are some additional, related articles you may be interested in:

Finally, feel free to download our free guide to learning objectives below, which very closely matches Dr. Shank’s recommendations in this interview.

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How to Write Learning Objectives

Get this free guide to learn all you need to know to write learning objectives, create better training, and help improve workplace performance.

Download Free Guide

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Free Guide to Facilities Maintenance Online Training

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If you’re involved in facilities maintenance, you know that training your maintenance staff isn’t that easy. And that’s before you even begin to think of the principles of sound instructional design and the technologies involved if you want to add an online training component.

In this guide, we tell you everything you need to know to get your facilities maintenance training program creating effective, measurable learning outcomes, helping to onboard new hires, speed up the transition of employees to competence and expert level, fill skill gaps, and more.

The guide at the bottom of this article covers:

  • What is online training?
  • Beginning your selection process
  • Selection criteria
  • Benefits of training programs
  • Benefits of online training
  • A case study based on one of our real customers
  • How to design and develop training
  • Online training as part of your overall training program
  • Blended learning

In addition to the guide, you might also find these recorded webinars of interest:

Enjoy the guide and webinars and let us know if we can help you with your facilities maintenance training program, and check out the quick highlight video of our 3D-animated online facilities maintenance training courses below.

Click the MORE button to download the guide to online facilities maintenance training from the bottom of this article.

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Catch Us on ASSP Podcast Channel Talking Safety Training, OSHA Compliance & COVID-19

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Our friends at the ASSP and ASSP Podcast Channel asked us over to discuss some things related to safety training, OSHA compliance, and the current COVID-19 epidemic.

You can listen to the podcast episode here.

The discussion is based in part on our recent OSHA, Safety Training & COVID-19 article.

The very day of the discussion, OSHA released a new guidance that dealt with safety training and OSHA enforcement discretion. We didn’t know about the new OSHA guidance when we were recording the podcast episode, but we passed along relevant links to the ASSP afterwards and they’ve posted them at their site. Plus, we’ve included that new information in our article on OSHA & Safety Training linked above.

Let us know if you’ve got any questions, and be safe, friends!

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Free OSHA General Industry Compliance Guide Download

Download this free guide to assist with meeting your organization’s OSHA general industry compliance requirements.

Download Guide

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Free Guide to Selecting Online Maintenance Training

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Training the employees in a top-notch maintenance department is a daunting effort.

In this guide, we tell you what you need to know about maintenance training programs in general as well as using online training courses and tools for part of your training.

The guide covers the following aspects of designing, developing, and implementing your maintenance training program:

  • Benefits of maintenance training programs
  • Benefits of of online training
  • How online training “fits” into your overall training program
  • What is online training?
  • Beginning your online training search
  • Online training selection criteria

Enjoy the free guide to maintenance tech training programs and let us know if we can help you out!

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What Is Human Performance Improvement (HPI) and How to Implement It

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Quick Note: Don’t forget to catch our LIVE ONLINE WEBINAR TITLED “WHY APPLY HPI?,” WHERE WE’LL GO OVER A LOT OF THIS MATERIAL AND MORE, WITH PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST JOE ESTEY. REGISTER TODAY…THE WEBINAR IS THURSDAY, JULY 16. 

In this interview, we talked with Human Performance Improvement Specialist Joe Estey to learn what Human Performance Improvement, or HPI, is.

We’ve interviewed Joe before and we’ve included links to other discussions we’ve had with Joe below. In addition, because Human Performance Improvement, to paraphrase Joe from this interview, “has more similarities than differences” to fields known as Safety Differently, Safety II, Human and Organizational Performance (HOP), New Safety, and Resilience Engineering, we’ve included some links related to those below as well.

Enjoy the interview and thanks to Joe for sharing his time, knowledge, experience, and insights.

Since you’re interested in HPI, you might find our article on Robert Mager’s Performance Analysis Method and his Performance Analysis Flow-Chart and our The ATD Human Performance Improvement (HPI) Model article helpful, too.

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