In case you missed some of our new posts on our Help Desk Blog, here are the following  common questions that the Litmos team received last week. Take a moment to review them, they may answer some questions or inquiries you have had when using your Litmos LMS!

How to use different languages in Litmos?

To check out where you can adjust our text or add your own custom text, please sign in to your Litmos account (or sign up for a free 14-day trial account here: https://go.litmos.com/signup.aspx), then go to the ‘Account’ tab and select ‘Messages & Labels’ from the sub-tabs. Here you will see all of the text and email customization options.

How do I change my account name?

To update the name of your Litmos account just log in and go to the ‘Account’ tab. Then under the ‘Profile’ tab you can change it in the ‘Account Name’ field at the top of the page.

How do I edit the compliant date of a learner’s result?

You can edit a learner’s result including the compliant date by going to the “Courses” tab. Once there, you can open a course and  select the “People” sub-tab to locate the learner and click on the edit result link.

Then select the module you would like to edit and click edit. The next window that appears will be where you can edit the compliant date for the learner

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How do I upload my logo?

When you sign up for a Litmos trial account you can select a logo to upload or you can skip the logo and upload it later on.

To upload or change your logo in your Litmos account please go to the Account section and select the Theme tab.

The recommended size for your logo is a maximum of:

65px high x 200px wide

If the logo you upload is greater than the recommended size it will be automatically scaled down.

Also, keep your eye out for a new Help Desk feature coming out shortly that will help you get the answers to your questions even faster!

-Jacqueline Barnes

Statistics show that 800 million people are on Facebook. Fifty-percent of those users visit the site more than once a day.  As a user myself that makes up that fifty-percent, it makes sense for one to ask why not combine eLearning with Facebook. If you’re new to eLearning or Facebook and think this is a brilliant new idea, do not be fooled. This idea of using Facebook as an LMS is not a new idea, in fact it has been a point of discussion in the past two to three years amongst the thought leaders of our industry. Although this idea of combining the two concepts would be of great assistance to charities and non-profits, purely due to cost; charities and non-profits should still be aware of things that Facebook could not offer compared to your custom LMS.

The most important question charities should ask is how secure would their data be in Facebook? We are all aware as Facebook users that once our data is in their system they own it. People are concerned about their privacy knowing that the CIA and US government have connections to Facebook and their data-mining of status updates and other profile information. Thus, using a custom LMS, like Litmos, charities and non-profits could sleep at night knowing that our system secures your content and data reporting.

In addition, charities should question reporting capabilities.  At Litmos, we are frequently asked by our clients on how they can run reports on their learners. When using an LMS, clients want to be able to record learner interaction information, and then store that reporting data for compliance reasons.  Unfortunately, Facebook does not have this feature. Although it could create this feature in the future if it were to integrate an LMS in their system, I’d still be concerned about the security issue and all the custom feature that an LMS offers.

And if a charity or non-profit is indecisive on which route to choose due to funds, they would find in their research that Litmos offers huge discounts on our regular pricing plans to not-for-profit organizations and charities. So please do not hesitate and send us an email if you would like to know more!

-Jacqueline Barnes

It never fails. As a lover of technology, I am always lusting over the latest tech gadgets, only to find that after I purchase something, a newer version comes out six months to a year later. Thus, I try to tell myself to not jump the gun and make do with what I have until the next version. This time around, I’m happy to announce that I am patiently waiting for the iPad 3. Yes, I said it. The iPad 3. Apple has announced that they will be holding an event in San Francisco early March to debut the successor of the iPad 2. Although there is no release date on when it will be available, the buzz on the street believes it will be out a week or so after the event.

How will the new and improved iPad differ? Sources say it will have a  much faster chip, sporting an improved graphics processing unit, and featuring a 2048×1536 Retina Display. Although Apple has not confirmed the rumors, I’m excited nonetheless.

What will the new version mean for eLearning? Well already the iPad has proven itself as a great tool for learning on-the-go.  Not just because you have a larger screen size when compared to a smartphone, which instantly makes content more appealing – especially things like HTML5 SCORM modules (which Litmos now supports)! But then you have a super user-friendly interface that everyone is familiar with too. So when you couple that together with the  Litmos LMS mobile version you have a seriously powerful mLearning combination there that I think the iPAd 3 will only further enhance! Plus, delivering content to learners even faster than before can only be a good thing.

Now if you are one of those individuals that has procrastinated on getting your loved one or significant other a Valentine’s Day gift, have no fear, an IOU for the new iPad will be sure to melt their hearts. Plus, it is a gift that keeps you learning!

- Jacqueline Barnes

On Wednesday 8th February our development team released the following new features and enhancements:

• Custom fields available on the user profile.
  A highly requested addition to the system, you can now create your own custom fields for learners to fill in upon first sign-in or within their profile area which means you can now collect more information about your learners than ever before! Check it out by going to the “Account” tab, then “Messages & Labels” area and scroll down to “Custom User Data / Fields”:

• ---

  Report on Custom Fields
  In relation to the custom fields mentioned above, that new user data is now available in user and custom reports:

  

  Also, the custom fields can be added to certificates as placeholders. The new placeholders that you can now add are as follows:

  [LEARNERS_CUSTOM_FIELD_1]
  [LEARNERS_CUSTOM_FIELD_2]
  [LEARNERS_CUSTOM_FIELD_3]
  

• ---

  New custom report to drill down into user’s modules
  Our reports area is slowly getting an overhaul and this week we added a new way to view your user course / module results. In the Custom reports area, select the User Report and try searching on all users and a specific course. You will see a new icon to expand the users course results to show a module view on the same page:

  
  

   

• ---

  Minor enhancements to result editing/ hiding assessment results and messages

  You will now find a new setting in the Assessment module ‘Edit Settings’ area to give you more control over the assessment results that your learners can see:

  

  There have been a few minor adjustments to the way course results are edited such as  when you update a learner’s course result to ‘complete’ you no longer have to check all the boxes but can make one adjustment at the top:

  

  Also, when you change a user’s compliance date this will automatically update the compliance date on their certificate:

  

  
  

  Finally, the Team Leader Dashboard feed now only shows activity for users that belong to the Team Leader’s teams.

   

Send us an email if you would like more information on any of the above topics.

@Schnicker

Culture is defined as ‘the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group’ (Dictionary.com). When working with a culture that is different from your own, one must be aware of the culture barriers that may arise, as well as acknowledge the customs, traditions, and rituals that culture may represent. From personal experience visiting abroad, I’ve  first hand seen cultures clash. I’ve been a victim myself of assuming the other person understood where I was coming from. However, it was not until stumbling upon an article from Education Week, that I knew culture can also clash with eLearning.

China, one of the world’s fastest growing major economies, as well as one of the world’s most tech-savvy, is putting a halt to incorporating eLearning in schools across China. By 2020, the Chinese government has planned to roll out digital learning in the schools country wide. However, until that date arrives, professors and teachers are skeptical of the idea of eLearning in the classrooms. This is because of culture. Let’s rewind a few steps back for those who are not familiar with the Chinese culture.  Chinese parents as well as professors put a lot of pressure on students to succeed on national exams. Thus, students are bogged down with homework and studying.  In addition, the culture views the Internet as entertainment rather than an opportunity to gain additional knowledge and resources. Mr. Zhou, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Vancouver, Canada-based China Education Resources, states that, “Unlike American students, who have time to socialize with their friends after school, Chinese students typically spend their after-school hours studying and may have only 15 minutes to relax”. Therefore, if a student does have 15 minutes to relax, he/she will use the Internet as a way to socialize or de-stress, not for education.

How will China and the Chinese culture gain trust in eLearning in the next eight years? Andrew S. Torris, deputy superintendent of the Pudong Campus Shanghai American School in Shanghai, believes “there’s a real push in China right now for the Chinese to get kids from the rising middle class and upper class into U.S. universities. That push could prompt some Chinese families to enroll their children in online courses provided by schools or companies based in the United States.”  Although Mr. Torris may think marketing well renowned U.S. Universities will do the trick, I personally believe it will require a change in the Chinese traditional mindset, followed by a rise of Chinese eLearning mavens advocating the benefits.

- Jacqueline Barnes

I wrote this article about iTunes U back in February 2010 when it was really more of a place that educational institutes were using to store and distribute course material securely – like PDFs – by leveraging the iTunes infrastructure.

Then, a few weeks back Apple announced that iTunes U was going a step further in to the authoring game by releasing iBooks Author Tool and iBooks2. The discussion immediately kicked off on Twitter as to whether iTunes U had just become an LMS. I couldn’t resist checking it out so I downloaded it and wrote a book called ‘How to get started with online learning‘. You can download it from the itunes Store to your ipad for free – go on, you know you want to!

Anyway, long story short, it was a lot of fun creating the book, mucking around with their template, and making it look professional. Well, as much as my limited design skills allowed! But that’s the point I guess, anyone can now write a book and put it in the iTunes store, for a price if they like. Then the question inevitably arises, is that a good thing? Or is it something we should be concerned about? Will it get harder to sort through the quantity to find the quality? Will the written word have no value if anyone write and we don’t know the potential bias in the author’s perspective? I saw Koreen Olbrish discussing this topic the day after the Apple announcement with fellow twitter friends which prompted this thought-provoking blog post from her: New tools, same old problems: curation and media literacy.

At this stage, I don’t think what Apple have created is an LMS. Despite being able to add assessment questions in to your book, anyone who uses an LMS knows it’s all about the reporting and that part is not as granular as I know our clients like it.

As for the argument about everyone becoming an author, I can only think that this exact cry went up at the dawn of the Internet, websites and blogging. People freely  spouting opinion as fact, but with the added confirmation of being officially ‘published’ might be a scary thought. But then, going way back, isn’t that what history books are in a sense? Isn’t that why you can read one account of an event and it just doesn’t match up to another person’s,even though they might have been right next to each other? Our observations are clouded by the multitude of very unique experiences that we have collected throughout our lives and that alone makes it difficult, if not impossible, to be objective. At the end of the day it’s still up to us to moderate what we think is a quality read and it’s up to us to use the complex networks of online communities that we belong to, to support those who we respect, admire, trust and believe. Not to mention enjoy reading :)

Interested to hear your thoughts on the iBooks Author tool and what it means to writing as a an artform to you…

@Schnicker 

The ASTD’s Tech Knowledge conference is fast approaching next week on Jan 25 – 27 at the Rio resort in Las Vegas. It’s not too late to get a ticket, or just come along to stop by the expo and check out the vendors. I will be there on Wednesday 25th, so let me know if you would like to meet up to talk about the Litmos LMS or just have some general chit-chat – I’d love to meet you!

@Schnicker

Do you feel like you are being more efficient and productive when learning online? Are you maximizing your capacity to retain information? Or are you feeling the extreme opposite? Are your brain and eyes on overload from viewing everything via online?

According to recent studies, our brains love learning online. Columbia neuroscientist, Betsy Sparrow, states, “We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools”. There is no fact in denying that people today are constantly glued to their computer, Smartphone, tablet, or other electronic gadget. Although some may argue that it is a bit excessive, being one with our computer tools allows our brains to become like online memory banks. Within seconds, we can work through a problem with the help of the Internet; which in turn allows our brains to offload some information, and create more room in our brain to focus on areas of other interest.  Studies have shown that the action of “googling”, “may actually engage a greater extent of neural circuitry” than paper-based complex reasoning, states neuroscientist Gary Small. In addition, the use of emoticons can increase learning. As humans, we pick up on each and every emotional cue, even the slightest smile. Thus, the use of emoticons and avatars in programs can affect our emotional sensitivity and improve our learning capability.

Lastly, we thrive on recognition and rewards, causing the “badge” phenomenon to become a real concern for some people.  You only have to hang out with someone who uses FourSquare or take a look a Badgeville’s success to know this is true. The phenomenon replaces real rewards with virtual rewards that provide a status and reputation. Although this does not motivate everyone, virtual rewards can be seen of more worth than physical rewards to some individuals. Therefore, causing more people to be involved and participate in online learning to acquire badges.

My advice? I suggest you to continue googling and using the web for assistance to your questions and problems, you never know what new knowledge you may stumble upon! Oh and keep a look out for some cool new features coming soon to Litmos as we acknowledge the importance of rewards and incentives in online learning..

What is something new you learned this week online?

- Jacqueline Barnes

Here at Litmos we are proud to have just become a Gold Sponsor of the eLearning Guild for 2012! 

Among other things, this means that you are going to see the green Litmos team buzzing about at the eLearning Guild’s ‘Big 3′ conferences:

1. Learning Solutions 2012 in Orlando, Florida from March 21 – 23
2. mLearnCon 2012 in San Jose, California from June 19 – 21
3. DevLearn 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada from October 31 – November 2

Our sponsorship of the eLearning Guild is a gesture that shows just how serious we are about supporting the growth of our eLearning industry and our ongoing commitment to pushing the boundaries of the technology being produced within it.

@Schnicker