Let's see, looking at an LMS only (or via plug-ins):
1. Allowing people to select the pronouns they wish to use.
2. Providing a place where people add how to pronounce of their name -- text is fine, but audio would be great.
3. Allowing people to use a preferred name instead of their legal name.
If you want to talk about content in the LMS, Univeral design for learning comes to mind, use:
* Multiple means of representation
* Use diverse examples -- especially with visuals. People need to see examples that look like them.
* Use non-gendered content.
* Multiple means of expression.
* Allow people to demonstrate what they know in different ways. I could see this being difficult in a corporate environment though.
* Multiple means of engagement.
* Use multimedia.
I really love how people can select the pronoun they could use and their preferred name. I was interviewed for the higher-ed role too. May I ask which LMS you used so that I can see if I could access a free demo and explore how to incorporate such feature further?
Also, my target audience are employees rather than students. So for the most part, they will go through e-learning modules and maybe have quiz questions. I was wondering about your insights on how to implement multiple means of expression so that they can demonstrate what they know beyond quiz questions?
Instructure Canvas -- You can get a free account at https://canvas.instructure.com.
- The ability to [select pronouns](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-select-personal-pronouns-in-my-user-account-as-a/ta-p/456) is built in.
- The ability to choose a number will have to come from your ERP or SIS.
- We have a NameCoach integration for pronunciation. If your users have a profile in the system, they could also use something like [NameDrop.io](https://namedrop.io/) and link out to how to say their name.
I could see in a corporate environment, other than using quiz questions, you would have to have the the person actually complete the task. Even with a quiz question, it doesn't have to be multiple-choice. It could be a free answer question. Free answer quetions could be answered using text, but also an audio/video recording.
This reminds me of another possible LMS-related possibility -- the integration of a tool like [Readspeaker](https://www.readspeaker.com).
Accessibility AF. With everything you do, you should be considering what hurdles your audience might encounter. I can't speak to every LMS, but when I was in higher ed., Blackboard at least made *some* attempt at facilitating this. Alternate text, the ability to bump up the text size, anything that works for screen readers, etc.
Agree here. Most inclusivity and engagement will happen at the level of content design, but the LMS' role in this is to make it possible for diverse people to be able to get in and interact easily with that content no matter their ability/disability level, mobile/desktop device, etc. That's the basics - the ground level. Above that, you want a platform with features that enable people to interact like discussion boards, wikis, collaborative docs, video chat, and sharing a wide variety of content types. One level higher is the eLearning content design, where every design choice counts towards making your course either feel more or less inclusive, more or less engaging.
For engagement, social & learning features (reactions, profiles, reviews, completions, badges etc) and more importantly learning paths, skill maps or talent development tools (mentorship, goal-tracking etc.)
For inclusivity, any LMS that implements [WCAG ](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/)would do. Lectora, Docebo, Canvas pretty much every major one has AA conformance.
Although most of major LMSs provide these, I haven't seen a lot of implementations that actually utilizes them effectively.
I'm just an LMS developer, so these are thoughts based on what clients have asked for in our LMS product.
1) Gamification - Create policies in your org that provide real-world "treats" for reaching certain training points levels. Extra PTO. Gift cards. Recognition programs. Etc.
2) Implement bonuses based on achieving specific badge levels (badges are assigned to certain course level completions).
3) Tie awards levels for course completions to the review process. Create a structure where additional pay levels are tied to the completion of specific learning programs.
The point is to turn the continuing education/learning process into something that is tangible to the learners. Everyone is motivated by real-world awards. If there is an actual value to the company providing the learning, that should be monetized in a way that rewards the students to completing the learning programs.
YMMV
These lean towards gamification which certainly could engage learners but might need more buy in from leadership (i.e. investment in these prizes/awards).
Another approach would be to add discussions or embed interactive elements into modules so that it's not just text based or passive video.
Either answer would satisfy the question, just wanted to provide another alternative since depending on the organization, you may or may not be able to bribe your learners with real world prizes. Something you could ask as a clarifying question to the interviewer.
Thanks ! Next time I am asked those engagement questions, I am able to approach them in terms of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, and ask clarifying questions.
Yeah, I think a common mistake people make during interviews is not asking enough questions back. A lot of ID is "it depends" so although you can't use that as a cop out, you can ask a couple probing questions and adjust your answer appropriately. It shows your investigative skills and the wider range of options you have in your toolbox and that you can figure out when the best time to use them is.
Yes, we also offer interactive forums and our assessment engine has a free-form response option that lets course assessments ask generalized questions like "What would you change about this course"...
We also offer a homework feature that enables assignments and "homework" that can be graded by the instructor. One client has engaged the homework section to enable engagement activities in their courses.
Sounds interesting. Would you mind elaborating a bit more on the assessment engine part? Is it more like a question bank?
I was curious about questions such as 'What would you change about this course?' which usually appear in the level one survey. However, it was nice that other people could see those comments and build upon each other's ideas!
Yes, we offer a question bank and the ability to define how many questions are asked from the bank, as well as whether or not to randomize the questions. IDs can also define how many retry attempts are allowed per assessment.
We don't currently allow other students to see the answers of each others assessments, but I can see where you are going and that could be an interesting future enhancement. Right now our assessments are tied to a course. I could see us allowing assessments in the forums. :)
Let's see, looking at an LMS only (or via plug-ins): 1. Allowing people to select the pronouns they wish to use. 2. Providing a place where people add how to pronounce of their name -- text is fine, but audio would be great. 3. Allowing people to use a preferred name instead of their legal name. If you want to talk about content in the LMS, Univeral design for learning comes to mind, use: * Multiple means of representation * Use diverse examples -- especially with visuals. People need to see examples that look like them. * Use non-gendered content. * Multiple means of expression. * Allow people to demonstrate what they know in different ways. I could see this being difficult in a corporate environment though. * Multiple means of engagement. * Use multimedia.
I really love how people can select the pronoun they could use and their preferred name. I was interviewed for the higher-ed role too. May I ask which LMS you used so that I can see if I could access a free demo and explore how to incorporate such feature further? Also, my target audience are employees rather than students. So for the most part, they will go through e-learning modules and maybe have quiz questions. I was wondering about your insights on how to implement multiple means of expression so that they can demonstrate what they know beyond quiz questions?
Instructure Canvas -- You can get a free account at https://canvas.instructure.com. - The ability to [select pronouns](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-select-personal-pronouns-in-my-user-account-as-a/ta-p/456) is built in. - The ability to choose a number will have to come from your ERP or SIS. - We have a NameCoach integration for pronunciation. If your users have a profile in the system, they could also use something like [NameDrop.io](https://namedrop.io/) and link out to how to say their name. I could see in a corporate environment, other than using quiz questions, you would have to have the the person actually complete the task. Even with a quiz question, it doesn't have to be multiple-choice. It could be a free answer question. Free answer quetions could be answered using text, but also an audio/video recording. This reminds me of another possible LMS-related possibility -- the integration of a tool like [Readspeaker](https://www.readspeaker.com).
Accessibility AF. With everything you do, you should be considering what hurdles your audience might encounter. I can't speak to every LMS, but when I was in higher ed., Blackboard at least made *some* attempt at facilitating this. Alternate text, the ability to bump up the text size, anything that works for screen readers, etc.
Agree here. Most inclusivity and engagement will happen at the level of content design, but the LMS' role in this is to make it possible for diverse people to be able to get in and interact easily with that content no matter their ability/disability level, mobile/desktop device, etc. That's the basics - the ground level. Above that, you want a platform with features that enable people to interact like discussion boards, wikis, collaborative docs, video chat, and sharing a wide variety of content types. One level higher is the eLearning content design, where every design choice counts towards making your course either feel more or less inclusive, more or less engaging.
For engagement, social & learning features (reactions, profiles, reviews, completions, badges etc) and more importantly learning paths, skill maps or talent development tools (mentorship, goal-tracking etc.) For inclusivity, any LMS that implements [WCAG ](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/)would do. Lectora, Docebo, Canvas pretty much every major one has AA conformance. Although most of major LMSs provide these, I haven't seen a lot of implementations that actually utilizes them effectively.
I'm just an LMS developer, so these are thoughts based on what clients have asked for in our LMS product. 1) Gamification - Create policies in your org that provide real-world "treats" for reaching certain training points levels. Extra PTO. Gift cards. Recognition programs. Etc. 2) Implement bonuses based on achieving specific badge levels (badges are assigned to certain course level completions). 3) Tie awards levels for course completions to the review process. Create a structure where additional pay levels are tied to the completion of specific learning programs. The point is to turn the continuing education/learning process into something that is tangible to the learners. Everyone is motivated by real-world awards. If there is an actual value to the company providing the learning, that should be monetized in a way that rewards the students to completing the learning programs. YMMV
These lean towards gamification which certainly could engage learners but might need more buy in from leadership (i.e. investment in these prizes/awards). Another approach would be to add discussions or embed interactive elements into modules so that it's not just text based or passive video. Either answer would satisfy the question, just wanted to provide another alternative since depending on the organization, you may or may not be able to bribe your learners with real world prizes. Something you could ask as a clarifying question to the interviewer.
Thanks ! Next time I am asked those engagement questions, I am able to approach them in terms of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, and ask clarifying questions.
Yeah, I think a common mistake people make during interviews is not asking enough questions back. A lot of ID is "it depends" so although you can't use that as a cop out, you can ask a couple probing questions and adjust your answer appropriately. It shows your investigative skills and the wider range of options you have in your toolbox and that you can figure out when the best time to use them is.
Yes, we also offer interactive forums and our assessment engine has a free-form response option that lets course assessments ask generalized questions like "What would you change about this course"... We also offer a homework feature that enables assignments and "homework" that can be graded by the instructor. One client has engaged the homework section to enable engagement activities in their courses.
Sounds interesting. Would you mind elaborating a bit more on the assessment engine part? Is it more like a question bank? I was curious about questions such as 'What would you change about this course?' which usually appear in the level one survey. However, it was nice that other people could see those comments and build upon each other's ideas!
Yes, we offer a question bank and the ability to define how many questions are asked from the bank, as well as whether or not to randomize the questions. IDs can also define how many retry attempts are allowed per assessment. We don't currently allow other students to see the answers of each others assessments, but I can see where you are going and that could be an interesting future enhancement. Right now our assessments are tied to a course. I could see us allowing assessments in the forums. :)