NexLearn Simpact December '09

December 2009 Edition

NexLearn Wins Gold Award for Excellence in Simulation and Games

It’s awards season at NexLearn. After receiving a coveted accolade from Harvard Business Publishing (Harvard Business Publishing Partner of the Year), NexLearn has been recognized yet again, this time by e-Learning industry peers. At last month’s 2009 Learning In Practice Awards, sponsored by Chief Learning Officer magazine, NexLearn proudly accepted the Gold Award for Excellence in Simulation and Games for a generational diversity program.

“This recognition by our peers is a great honor for the NexLearn development team, especially now that more company leaders are adding immersive learning simulations to their training portfolios,” said Brandon Andrews, NexLearn vice president. “The award reinforces our commitment to developing innovative learning experiences that impact the next generation of employees and company leaders.”

NexLearn’s winning entry combines leading expert presentations, multimedia elements, and avatar and live-action immersive learning simulations into an educational experience addressing generational differences in the workplace. Author and award-winning expert Tamara Erickson presents instructional content throughout the simulation that provides the learning foundation for the course. An avatar-based game allows learners to experience firsthand the perspectives of differing generations in the workplace. A complex, video-based branching simulation allows learners to interact with project team members representing multiple generations. Learners must demonstrate understanding of shared beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors common to each generation to effectively recruit team members, resolve conflict, provide feedback, and promote collaboration. The combination of tutorial, game, and simulation allows learners to better understand, retain, and apply their knowledge in risk-free environments.

Norm Kamikow, president and editor in chief of Chief Learning Officer magazine, said the purpose of the Learning in Practice awards is to recognize transformational and visionary leaders in enterprise education. “A record number of top learning executives and solution providers were nominated by their peers this year,” said Kamikow. “The winners are the industry leaders who truly champion innovation and transform it into learning and value for their organizations.”

The Learning In Practice Awards were announced at a special ceremony during the Fall 2009 Chief Learning Officer Magazine Symposium.

To learn more about NexLearn’s achievements, look for Chief Learning Officer magazine’s December issue, which will feature NexLearn in a special supplement.

Brandon Andrews receiving the Gold Award for Excellence in Simulation and Games in the prestigious 2009 Learning In Practice Awards, sponsored by Chief Learning Officer magazine.

BlogBites
Check out these recent e-Learning blog posts:

“Confessions of a Netflix E-Learning Developer,” Electronic Papyrus
Chris LaBelle explains how developing E-Learning deliverables for Netflix Customer Service employees, most who are in their early 20’s, taught him the value of using Millennial tech savvy in E-Learning development.
(http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/)

“Interview with Ms. Abishag W. Waugombe, a community worker, eLearning supporter, and former teacher in Kanjuri village, Kenya,” eLearning Africa
In this interview, Abishag W. Waugombe discusses how eLearning benefits the elderly in rural Kenya.
(http://www.elearning-africa.com/)

“E-Learning for Multiple Generations,” SER – Jobs for Progress National, Inc.
Brandon Hall provides suggestions for designing E-Learning that teaches multiple generations in the workplace.
(http://ser-nationalnews.com/)

If you have a great blog (or know of one) that you want to share, send us the link. We just might include it in a future Simpact edition. Send the link to our Expert.

December Survey

Does your organization allow access to social networking sites?

Yes. Employees may share company experiences.

Yes and No. The sites must be business related.

No. Networking sites are forbidden during work.

Last Month’s Survey Results

We’re dying to know who is reading SimPact. Which monstrous moniker best describes you?

Count Content

Spirited Student

Graphic Design Ghoul

Media Maven

Eccentric Engineer

Subject Matter Wizard

Ask the Expert

Question:
Our instructional design team has written all the content for our simulation, including the various paths a user may take. However, we will not have access to our on-screen and voice-over talent for a few weeks. In the meantime, can we use SimWriter to build a “skeleton” of the simulation with the content we currently have?

Answer:
Absolutely! SimWriter makes it easy to build a simulation at any stage in the development cycle. If you do not have access to your simulation’s visual or audio content, you can use placeholders for images, videos, and sound files when creating your simulation. Then, when your media is finished, you can import the files using the tool’s media manager.

Have a question about e-Learning or Simulation-based Learning? Send it to our Expert.

Copying and Pasting Simulation Maps

Have a simulation map that you’d like to replicate? No problem. Just select the stages you want to duplicate and copy them. Then, right-click on the open area of the simulation map and paste the stages. You can paste copied stages into the same topic, in other topics, and in other simulations.

NexLearn SimWriter captures Brandon Hall Silver award. Contact us today to experience the best simulation authoring tool available! Information at NexLearn

NexLearn Awarded
2009 Harvard Business Publishing’s Corporate Learning Partner
of the Year

Contact NexLearn for more information about the most powerful simulation authoring tool available.