Converting Instructor-Led Training into eLearning

Scattered digital file icons—XLS, PDF, PPT, and DOC—are shown on the left, while a PPT file icon moves toward a green padlock, illustrating secure training conversion from Instructor-Led Training to eLearning. - Cognota

A few years ago there was a project to move thousands of hours of instructor-led training to online “eLearning” in a very short period of time. There was a huge business driver behind this. The company was facing a potential strike in six to nine months and they were preparing a contingency plan in case […]

Centralized or Decentralized Training: Which model is better?

Graphic showing a network of connected people, represented by icons of individuals inside circles, with lines connecting them to illustrate decentralized training or communication within a social network. - Cognota

“It takes too long.” This is the single most common complaint from stakeholders with regards to centralized learning organizations who create training content for different business functions. The traditional method of pairing a centralized team of instructional designers with distributed Subject Matter Experts (SME) no longer scales effectively to meet the ever-increasing speed of business (with rare exceptions). […]

Is Your Training Request and Development Process Inefficient?

A person in business attire points to a virtual hexagonal button labeled "AUTOMATION," surrounded by related terms like process, productivity, reliability, development process, innovation, repeatability, and system. - Cognota

If you really want to streamline the training development and instructional design process, a good place to start is with the initial training request. Training requests typically list information about the expected productivity improvements or performance goal for the training. Additional information usually includes the department, sponsor, audience, preferred method (Online, face to face, blended, […]

What approach do you apply for Instructional Design: Agile Vs. ADDIE

Three business people are shown: one with an idea, one running in a hamster wheel upside down, and one running frantically behind the wheel, symbolizing Agile approaches and varied styles in instructional design and innovation. - Cognota

Many corporate training and development departments find it difficult to meet the increasing volume of training requests. There’s been a great debate for the last few years about whether or not the ADDIE model of instructional design is too slow for today’s speed of business. To refresh your memory, ADDIE stands for analysis, design, development, implementation, and […]

Five tips for crowdsourcing training content

Illustration of a light bulb shape formed by colorful icons of people, symbolizing diverse ideas and crowdsourced content. Lines around the bulb suggest brightness or inspiration. - Cognota

Many corporate training and development departments find it difficult to meet the increasing volume of training requests. With already constrained training resources, innovative organizations are turning to “crowdsourcing and user-generated content” with subject matter experts in order to quickly produce content and meet the growing needs of the business. If this sounds familiar, here are five […]

Using A Learning Design System to Scale Corporate Training Development

While there are many challenges when trying to scale corporate training development, two of the most fundamental problems that must be solved for learning and development (L&D) departments are automating instructional design and streamlining collaboration with subject matter experts. As Josh Bersin stated, “we have entered a new era that is not only a shift […]

Microlearning is the focus this week!

A close-up of a cluttered desk with papers, a computer mouse, a laptop, and a monitor displaying microlearning strategies on a blurred webpage in a bright office setting. - Cognota

In case you didn’t hear, an educational technology company recently registered the generic term “Microlearning” for a trademark. Industry experts were quite surprised by this announcement, as Cognota was too. There hasn’t been this much controversy about a generic phrase since Pat Riley trademarked Three-peat while coaching the Lakers! When people see the Cognota platform, […]

Instructional Design or no Instructional Design… that is the question!

A word cloud with prominent words such as "Instructional Design," "teaching," "course," "online," "interactive," and smaller related terms highlighting educational methods and technology. - Cognota

There have been many articles written about the Death of Instructional Design. Whether you believe Instructional Design is a dying breed or one that is evolving into something new, the question is really “Is instructional design a skill or a job role?” What is clear is that the current model where all training requests are […]

10 Quick Tips For Building Online Training

People sitting at a table with notebooks, papers, and a laptop, engaged in group discussion about online training tips. One person is writing in a spiral notebook as they brainstorm ways to improve building online training. - Cognota

What should you know before you build online training? In the past, most online training was created by either specialists (instructional designers) using “eLearning authoring tools” or by subject matter experts (SME) using PowerPoint slides (not really online “education”, but rather more like watching a presentation). While there are a lot of specialty eLearning authoring […]

Why You Should Use Employee-Generated Content for Training

Two people in business attire review data and charts on a tablet at a desk, discussing training strategies, with a laptop and a cup of coffee nearby. - Cognota

As Facebook, Amazon, and Yelp have proven, user-generated content is much more respected by consumers than company promoted content. So, wouldn’t it make sense for training departments to complement the company’s offering with employee produced content? It’s not to say that employees can build all of the content needed for training. Clearly, there is compliance […]

Latest Posts:

Scattered digital file icons—XLS, PDF, PPT, and DOC—are shown on the left, while a PPT file icon moves toward a green padlock, illustrating secure training conversion from Instructor-Led Training to eLearning. - Cognota

Blog

May 7, 2018

Converting Instructor-Led Training into eLearning

Graphic showing a network of connected people, represented by icons of individuals inside circles, with lines connecting them to illustrate decentralized training or communication within a social network. - Cognota

Blog

April 24, 2018

Centralized or Decentralized Training: Which model is better?

A person in business attire points to a virtual hexagonal button labeled "AUTOMATION," surrounded by related terms like process, productivity, reliability, development process, innovation, repeatability, and system. - Cognota

Blog

April 16, 2018

Is Your Training Request and Development Process Inefficient?

Three business people are shown: one with an idea, one running in a hamster wheel upside down, and one running frantically behind the wheel, symbolizing Agile approaches and varied styles in instructional design and innovation. - Cognota

Blog

April 3, 2018

What approach do you apply for Instructional Design: Agile Vs. ADDIE

Illustration of a light bulb shape formed by colorful icons of people, symbolizing diverse ideas and crowdsourced content. Lines around the bulb suggest brightness or inspiration. - Cognota

Blog

March 25, 2018

Five tips for crowdsourcing training content

Blog

January 14, 2018

Using A Learning Design System to Scale Corporate Training Development

A close-up of a cluttered desk with papers, a computer mouse, a laptop, and a monitor displaying microlearning strategies on a blurred webpage in a bright office setting. - Cognota

Blog

December 4, 2017

Microlearning is the focus this week!

A word cloud with prominent words such as "Instructional Design," "teaching," "course," "online," "interactive," and smaller related terms highlighting educational methods and technology. - Cognota

Blog

October 31, 2017

Instructional Design or no Instructional Design… that is the question!

People sitting at a table with notebooks, papers, and a laptop, engaged in group discussion about online training tips. One person is writing in a spiral notebook as they brainstorm ways to improve building online training. - Cognota

Blog

October 14, 2017

10 Quick Tips For Building Online Training

Two people in business attire review data and charts on a tablet at a desk, discussing training strategies, with a laptop and a cup of coffee nearby. - Cognota

Blog

October 3, 2017

Why You Should Use Employee-Generated Content for Training

A person with long dark hair sits at a desk, looking at a large computer monitor displaying a website for easy knowledge sharing. Office supplies, a mug, and papers are scattered on the desk. Another monitor and a phone are also visible. - Cognota

Blog, Technology

September 27, 2017

What if it was Easy for Employees to Share Knowledge?

Two people sit across from each other in a modern office booth, collaborating on an Employee Training Assessment. Natural light streams through large windows behind them, while a large lamp hangs overhead. - Cognota

Blog

September 18, 2017

Assessing the ROI of Employee Training

A cluttered desk with papers, a keyboard, and a computer mouse in the foreground. A computer monitor displaying an online training cheat sheet, plus a coffee mug and laptop in the background, suggest an active workspace. - Cognota

Blog

September 11, 2017

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Build Online Training

An employee attends an online employee training session, using a white keyboard and mouse at a cluttered desk with a laptop, black keyboard, monitors, and stacked cardboard boxes. - Cognota

Blog, Financial Services

September 5, 2017

10 Reasons to Invest in Employee Training

A whiteboard with a project schedule, including weeks labeled for design and development tasks. Blue sticky notes and diagrams organize workflow, responsibilities, and support training scalability across teams. - Cognota

Blog

August 29, 2017

How to Scale your Training Department

Three hand-drawn pie charts labeled "Create or Curate?" illustrate different mixes of "Create" and "Curate," highlighting the balance between original content creation and content curation in effective digital marketing strategies. - Cognota

Blog

August 21, 2017

What Is Content Curation and Why Should You Care?

Blog

August 14, 2017

How to Determine Whether Digital Training Is Right for your Company?

A hand holding a marker writes the word "GOAL" inside a cloud-shaped outline on a whiteboard, illustrating the importance of employee development for SMBs. - Cognota

Blog

August 2, 2017

Why small and medium sized businesses need to train their employees online

A computer screen displays an online lesson about respect, featuring curated content with the word "RESPECT," a booklet labeled "Lesson Plan," and colorful musical notes on a teal background. - Cognota

Blog

July 18, 2017

Are you ready for the shift to curation?

A circular diagram illustrating the design thinking process with six stages—discover, define, ideation, prototype, implement, and evaluate—each represented by a unique icon, ideal for enhancing instructional design and learning experiences. - Cognota

Blog

June 26, 2017

Is Instructional Design relevant in a world of Learning Experiences?

A hand holding a marker is drawing an instructional design flowchart with rectangles, diamonds, and circles, connected by arrows, on a transparent surface. - Cognota

Blog, Financial Services

June 12, 2017

Instructional Design at the Speed of Business