For anyone who is new to the eLearning industry, getting familiarized with the jargon and industry phrases can be a cumbersome task. It can be overwhelming as well as demand a huge commitment. While there are a huge number of eLearning terms and phrases every newbie needs to stock up in their arsenal to get it right, here are a few which stand out, whether by the commonality of usage or the importance of what they stand for.

Yes, our jobs as designers are not easy. Don’t get us wrong; we love the challenges that each new project brings. We love to exercise our gray cells to think up novel solutions, and we pride ourselves on surpassing our clients’ expectations every time. But we still get a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach when we have to face our worst fears and nightmares, which are the following:

Although classrooms offline have been delivering competency-based training for decades, the eLearning industry has only just woken up to the merits of this form of learning. However, competency-based training is yet to become a trend in online education simply because most designers and training managers are not sure what it means and how they can implement the concept in practice. So in this post we’ll be decoding the jargon. For starters, here’s an infographic that outlines the whys and the wherefores of competency-based learning. Read on, if you want to learn more.

E-learning is gaining momentum. Over 40% of Fortune 500 companies use eLearning as a form of employee training. Nearly 50% of college students are enrolled in online courses. And eLearning is growing at an incredible rate. As of 2014, it was a $56.2 billion dollar industry with expectations of that amount to double by the end of this year. With so many courses out there and so much demand, what makes one eLearning course stand out from the rest? Writing an awesome course can bring in stellar reviews and earn you more students on your next round. But writing incredible eLearning content isn't just about having good writing skills. Creating realistic expectations for your students, setting goals, engaging participants with awesome multimedia content slides, giving them activities to practice their mastery, checking their retention often with knowledge checks and tying the content into real-life scenarios - all contribute to building a solid course. Here are seven things to get you started on your way to create an eLearning course:

This article by Doug Howard in Training Industry Magazine aptly sums up the hot trends that have dominated the HR industry this year. We believe that some of these trends should also be picked up and implemented by learning and development professionals next year too. After all, we design for employees; it helps if we know what motivates them to perform better at the workplace and how we can keep them hooked to the courses that training managers and the C-suite commission spend thousands of dollars on to create. Here are 3 growing HR trends training managers and L&D professionals can't ignore next year. By following these, you are addressing these needs of the modern learner.

Finding a tool that makes your job as an instructional designer even a little easier is kind of like finding fairy dust to sprinkle over your projects. Bibbity bobbity done! That’s how it feels, so why is it so hard to remember to save these tools for future use? I cannot count how many times I have found a great app only to draw a blank as to what was it called or how to found it when I need it again. Here I present to you some of our favorite bookmarked websites and tools to make our eLearning design job easier. Save them all or just bookmark this article for all future eLearning design magic.

The best eLearning designers are the ones that consistently hone their style and look to make their skills even tighter. Fortunately, this doesn’t require a drastic overhaul of your existing knowledge base nor does it mean taking time-consuming classes that reteach things you might already know. In this blog post, we will show you some handy exercises to keep your eLearning course design skills sharp as a jungle cat’s reflexes. A jungle cat sitting at a computer desk anyway, but I digress. With these easy exercises, you will see your eLearning courses begin to improve quickly and continuously. Read on to find out how a single month of simple tasks can make you a better designer.

A sudden cut on eLearning budget can generate a panic storm for the project lead. It bars access to choices — tools, resources, the types of content that can be created, and the work that can be outsourced to speed up the process. And hence, the actual time available for completing it. If you are in such a pinch, then know this: IT IS POSSIBLE to create quality eLearning courses on a shoe-string budget. It’s a matter of prioritizing your efforts, focusing the core learning objectives and deliverables, planning ahead, using toolkits, and reusing content. Here is a five-step process for delivering quality eLearning courses on a shoe-string budget.