E-learning is big business, and it’s only going to continue being popular as time goes on and we shift into more digital lifestyles. If you want your e-learning program in your company to succeed, you need to make sure that it is up to date with current standards. These important tips will help you to do that in 2017.

Teachers create lesson plans in school. These are detailed documents containing what the teacher intends to teach during the session (the topics), how she plans to go about it (the methods and procedures), and how students would be evaluated at the end of the learning period (homework and assignments). Every business has a well-defined plan to move forward too. It details the business goals and their deadlines, the strategies that have to be implemented to reach the desired numbers, and the methods to use to evaluate the efforts.

We all remember a piece of news that moved us to tears. We remember news pieces that roused us to action. Great stories not only inform and educate; they also compel us to tweak attitudes, modify behavior, and correct responses. Great stories inspire us to become our best selves. Wouldn’t you want your eLearning courses to create lasting impact? Don’t you want your courses to touch learners and make a difference in their lives? I bet you do!

Love is in the air! It is that time of the year when we express our love to and gratitude for everyone that makes our lives worth living. This year, let’s send the customary chocolates and roses to our jobs. (Yes, you read right.) We spend the greater part of our day writing storyboards, thinking up ID strategies, moving around visuals, and designing attractive screens. But instructional designing is not the easiest of jobs around. The deadlines are tight. Many clients don’t understand your POV. Your team members are not always supportive. You are expected to churn out ideas at the drop of a hat, every day. We signed up to be eLearning designers because we love designing. So isn’t it natural that we express love for our jobs?

There is no question that working with adult learners is different than working with “traditional” college students. Someone with several years’ worth of career experience and additional responsibilities outside of work is most likely going to have different expectations from their instructors and coursework than someone who is still in the exploratory stages of learning and focused on the overall college experience. Many adult learners are there specifically to build skills to advance their careers and are making sacrifices in other areas of their lives to do so, so it’s important for those developing adult training programs to focus on what matters to these students in order to keep them engaged.

Human beings communicate with one another incessantly in different (and even unconscious) ways. If you are not speaking, then you are probably gesturing with your hands to get across your point. The tone of your voice and even the speed of which you speak conveys some message to the receiver. We also signal with our eyes—frowning to disapprove or raising our brows to express surprise. Many of us choose to make a statement with our attire, hair color, and the accessories we wear. Our stance, gait, and posture also transfer meaning. These are the myriad of symbols that we use to convey our message. We use some symbols intentionally. At other times, we use symbols unintentionally and end up projecting an image or sending a message that we didn’t wish to or had not planned for. What is equally interesting is how others interpret the meaning we convey. The meaning you want or try to send might not be what other people understand. In fact, different people might read differently into the same set of symbols and interpret our messages differently. People understand a message based on their gender, age, education, cultural upbringing, intelligence (both cognitive and emotional), and the unique experiences that one has been through. It is no wonder miscommunication, and misunderstandings are common. You have to get so many things right to communicate effectively.

Employee productivity can be a tricky goal. Managers and supervisors try on a regular basis with a variety of tools to gain increased performance and with varying success. However, all realize sooner or later that the same tool doesn’t work on a permanent basis, and many times conditions or the organization limit the ability to use other tools that would produce results. So what to do as an alternative? Distance learning and e-learning are becoming more and more of a practical option for productivity improvement, particularly with training people in new skills sets and knowledge.

“Modern corporate learners” are an enigma. They want to learn but abhor classroom training. They crave deep learning experiences but do not want to sit for too long to “study.” This gives headaches to many L&D professionals. They have a hard time figuring out how to connect with their “enigmatic” audiences and make them pay heed to their messages. But L&D professionals do have one thing clear: the traditional didactic models of learning have outlived their needs. They need newer training models to connect with the modern corporate learner. They need to design learning content to appeal to their learners—a demanding breed that wants training to be developed and delivered considering their lives, likes, and routines.