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One presentation in particular caught our attention during our visit to the Numérique 2022 conference at HEC Montréal, last May. Two philosophy teachers from Collège André-Grasset shared how they use the game “Reacting to the past” to put into practice the philosophical ideas discussed in class.

The concept :

“Reacting to the past” is a competitive role-playing game based on historical events. The objective is to recreate a key moment in history, for example the French Revolution, by playing the relevant historical parties. Each participant receives a card with the role they will play. The card details, among other things, their political positions, their values and the objectives that the participant must try to achieve (for example, passing a law). As the game progresses, each player must react to the announcement of real historical events (riots, attacks, accidents, etc.) according to what is on their card. Archive articles can also be used, or press briefings staged, to introduce a historically realistic media presence. To achieve their objectives, participants must give speeches and make alliances. Will they make the same decisions as their historical predecessors or can they change history?

A role play-based pedagogy

This pedagogical formula, increasingly used in the workplace, puts participants in a fictitious yet realistic situation where they must apply their knowledge and in which their decisions have consequences (fortunately, not real ones!). This approach, seen in online training, makes it possible to apply theoretical ideas in a safe environment. Using events that have taken place within your company (managing a project involving a large number of people, for example) or an external event that had a significant impact on your operations (such as the ice storm), provides you with tangible elements to react to and upon which to base your decisions. This can help you to better understand the strengths of your teams and which situations may require more preparation.

What kind of situation would you like to prepare your teams for?

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What a meteoric evolution education has had in less than a century! In the 1940s, there were some 4,000 schoolhouses in Quebec. Today, new technologies such as tablets and interactive whiteboards have invaded classrooms, not to mention the possibility of learning remotely! What are the greatest transformations that have left their mark on education and continuing education since the end of the Second World War?

1950 : At that time, educational posters, like geographical maps and the periodic table, were a decoration staple in classrooms, and the smell of chalk hung in the air. The walls were otherwise unadorned in order to avoid as much as possible any distractions that could interfere with the students’ focus. However, during this decade, the educational model started to shift. Until then, students had to adapt to the school’s way of doing things, but it was then that the relationship reversed. It became understood that educators needed to pay attention to each student’s needs to foster their development. Student individuality was beginning to be recognized, and this showed in school furniture as desks in rows gave way to single desks.

1960 : The Quiet Revolution brought enormous change to Quebec! For education, it’s the Parent Report that made the difference. Its main goal was to democratize school and higher education. The Ministère de l’Éducation was founded, and its mission was to establish high schools and CEGEPs and expand the network of the Université du Québec across the province . That’s a far cry from schoolhouses!

1970 : In addressing student dropout, the government sought to provide a stimulating learning environment that would motivate students to learn. Already present in the workplace, the concept of ergonomics made its way to schools and introduced movable chairs, which are lighter and more flexible, because comfort positively affects focus and motivation. The desks also took on an irregular shape, so classrooms could be set up differently depending on the activity. This way, teamwork and autonomy were fostered, two skills that would be especially useful in the job market.

1980 : In 1981, IBM introduced the Personal Computer (PC)! The computer turned into an increasingly important work tool. It made its way into homes, and schools started preparing for its arrival. The launch of multimedia CD-ROMs precipitated a greater use of the personal computer. Among other things, CD-ROMs helped people learn different software on their own, where and when it suited them. It made it possible to rethink continuing education. It was no longer necessary to travel to update your skills and knowledge. Digital technology allowed for greater flexibility in training.

2020 : What lies ahead for this decade that was catapulted into remote learning and working? More than ever, digital technology is an integral part of how we learn, but to be able to navigate this online world and face the challenges it presents, new skills are needed. That’s why we’re seeing so many programming classes for every age group and in every field. It’s imperative that we understand the inner workings of the tools we use every day and that are central to our work. Including programming courses in school curricula or learning a computer language on one’s own through e-learning are but two of the ways to accomplish this.

It’s clear that, in the last 70 years, the world of education has changed significantly! Far from the austere classrooms of yesteryear, where religion made up most of the curriculum, today’s classrooms are flexible, stimulating and high-tech. Adult education also evolved in this direction. Online and customized trainings are now must-haves. Novaconcept was able to adapt and make the most of all these innovations. We’ve come a long way from our CD-ROM trainings to our recent projects where we use 360⁰ visuals and augmented reality! How far can we take your training projects?

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Continuing education has become a cornerstone in the job market. It helps us stay up to date in a world where knowledge is constantly changing. It’s also a great way to improve our professional practices—as long as we leave nothing to chance. As a manager, you can help your teams get the most out of each online training session.  Here are a few tips you can use before, during, and after online training for best results.

A supportive learning environment

For your team to get the most out of their online training, you need to set up optimal learning conditions. First, you need to know your performance objectives and clearly communicate them to your team.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is your training topic?
• Why is it important to update your knowledge on this topic?
• Which skills will this training help sharpen?

When your team knows the company’s motivations and goals, they can understand the value of the training and more easily identify when they can apply this new knowledge. If you’re having trouble setting your goals, our expertise in instructional design can help you identify your needs and the best way to meet them.

For your employees to give due attention to this training, they need to see that you value it as much as they do. Ask them to set aside time in their schedule to attend the training, just as they would for a mandatory meeting. Scheduling a time to take the training helps organize tasks and fosters learning. You can also build an optimal learning environment by sharing best practices to limit distractions and keep your team focused throughout the training. You can suggest, for example, that they close their email, put their phone on silent, set their TEAMS status to “Do not disturb” or tell their colleagues that they won’t be available during the training period. Making it possible for every team member to focus throughout the training will lead them to take the training seriously and to absorb the new information better.

Behaviour during training

You can also ask your team to be active throughout the training. When it comes to developing new skills, being passive is not enough. Here are some tips for promoting engagement during online training:

Reactivate the new knowledge after training

Your work is not done once your entire team has finished the training. The next step is to put this new knowledge into practice in the real world.

The first step is to ask your team members to discuss what they’ve learned during and after the training. You could, for example, create a TEAMS channel, a forum or even have a short meeting. Discussion between colleagues helps confirm understanding, consolidate learning, and make it easier to form connections between past and new knowledge.  The second step is to use this forum for concrete examples of where to use this new knowledge. You can also present scenarios and ask your staff what the best approach is, based on what they’ve just learned. The more quickly and regularly people use new knowledge after training, the more fully they will master it. In addition, the forum will show your team how relevant the training was by reminding them of the goals you presented at the beginning of the process. You can plan this kind of reactivation and learning consolidation activity with our instructional design team and use it when the time is right.

These tips will help you create a learning culture within your team or company while encouraging your staff to continue their professional development! Acquiring new knowledge and developing new skills that the learners will quickly put into practice is a net positive for their confidence and creativity. You also encourage your team to be proactive by finding solutions and rethinking their work methods to be more efficient. Ongoing training has become a must because it allows learners to continue their professional development, and companies to face new challenges in creative and innovative ways. And Novaconcept is there to help you achieve these two complementary goals!

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You’ve been wanting to learn to play a new instrument or to use new software for a new job since the year began. You’re trying, but it’s not a resounding success. You tell yourself it might be too late to learn new skills or master new technologies. Think again! You do have everything you need to keep learning!

Our brain constantly changes, adapts and evolves based on what we’re learning, our environment and what we do. Your brain’s malleability is possible thanks to something called neuroplasticity. These changes alter how our neurons communicate with each other throughout our lives. This communication, activated by processes, affects memory and supports learning. Each time neurons activate and communicate with each other, their connection strengthens. Our new experiences, whether it’s at work or in a language class, multiply the links between our neurons and let us learn throughout our lives. At Novaconcept, continuous learning lets us help our clients reach their goals by creating training programs adapted to their needs.

Neuroplasticity and Learning

Neuroplasticity is an ability that highlights the capacity to improve and learn. Let’s use a concrete example to understand the concept of neuroplasticity better.

Imagine that you just arrived in a new city. You need to drive to the grocery store. The first time you leave your home (point A) to go to the grocery store (point B), you keep your eyes glued to your GPS. The next time, taking your eyes off your phone is easier. After a while, you feel more comfortable, and you almost know the route by heart. It becomes automatic for you, meaning neuron A and neuron B talk to each other just as easily as you make the journey from point A to point B. One day, though, you’re going to the grocery store, and the street you usually take is closed. You’re surprised and decide to take a new way there. You need to focus and find a new path to the grocery store. A new connection between neurons A and B is born!

As you can see in this image, practice is key to keeping the route in your head while paying attention to everything around you. This also applies to your learning! The more you practice, the more your neurons talk to each other. They strengthen each other and make learning easier. On the other hand, if you’re learning something new, you neurons will need to work harder to communicate. Moreover, if you stop practicing, little by little, the communication slowly breaks down and disappears from your memory.

Lack of sleep, anxiety and lack of motivation are barriers to new connections between neurons. When these barriers stack up, we find ourselves in cognitive overload. These factors can make your learning more difficult.

How can you avoid cognitive overload and optimize your learning?

Have you ever tried to read a book while listening to the radio? It’s pretty hard! This is because working memory has a limited capacity. As soon as you reach this limit, your brain stops learning. We call that cognitive overload. Even though there are factors that we can’t control when we’re in a learning situation, there are still things we can do to reduce our cognitive load:

• Have a development mindset: understanding that we develop skills through perseverance and effort and that there’s always room for improvement.
• Reduce distractions: turn off phones, turn off computer notifications and close the door.
• Begin the training by taking a few breaths to reduce our level of stress.
• Take breaks.
• Go back to old training courses. Attend other training on the same topic and practice new and old knowledge to create strong bonds between them.

At Novaconcept, we believe in everyone’s neuroplasticity. Our role is to remove as many barriers as possible to make it easier to acquire new knowledge! We can help you master your learning and make your continuous development easier. Our expert instructional design and multimedia production teams developed several strategies to streamline learning. When we create training, our experts ensure information is structured to develop good neural networks in your brain. We use a variety of teaching approaches to activate your neurons and we create thoughtful and quality graphics.

Lastly, it’s together that we’ll continue to learn effectively.

Sources :
Blog Post | Neuroplasticity (alicedilemma.github.io)
La-neuroplasticite-au-service-de-lapprentissage.pdf (aqep.org)
After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TEDxVancouver – YouTube
Neuroéducation : comment maximiser le potentiel du cerveau de ses élèves | UQAM

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While working with us on training projects, you’ve probably already clicked on the small “e” in the upper right-hand corner of the online training courses that we delivered so you could validate them. By doing that, you’ve used our in-house correction management tool: Emendo.

Our very own programming team developed this discreet, but oh-so-useful, app and is doing a remarkable job of streamlining our technological processes.

We’re continuing to develop our Emendo tool to add several new features as part of our continuous improvement approach. In technical terms, let’s say we’ve “evolved our Pokémon” and it’s not as easy to miss now.

Here’s what’s new after Emendo’s evolution:

• The platform was completely redesigned to provide users with an intuitive browsing experience.
• The comment panel now has new options for clarifying requests and improving communication. For example, you can now draw arrows to point out elements or draw rectangles to frame an area on screen. You can also use labels to indicate whether the correction relates to narration, visuals or on-screen text!
• We added the Correction Finished command that automatically notifies Novaconcept that the validation round is officially finished.
• Sorting correction requests is now easier thanks to filters. You can filter requests by author, creation date and label type (e.g., narrative, visual or on-screen). This same sorting feature is also available for downloadable reports!
• Previous validation link versions can be accessed at any time to follow the evolution of the course from round to round.
• And much more!

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It’s said that you reap what you sow. And if we sowed knowledge and learning in a company, what would we reap? A field of full possibilities is open to you. Creating a learning culture in your company, with the right tools and the best advice, is a way of multiplying your resources to better reach your goals.

Learning culture in a nutshell
Continuing to learn and improve on the job are musts for this new wave of workers, whose curiosity and self-guided learning make them key assets to any company. ¹

• A learning culture can be summed up as ways of doing and being that value learning new things and developing skills.
• It can manifest in many ways, including formal training, knowledge- and skill-sharing between colleagues, collective thinking on best practices, and organizational development.
• Learning culture requires a climate that’s conducive to innovation and where mistakes are allowed. Challenges are seen as opportunities to practice new knowledge or skills. Learning is everywhere and could happen at any time.
• Feedback during a project or after a training is a lever for change that’s at the core of learning culture. The constructive comments that result from this process lead to adjusting and valuing individual and collective progress.
• Learning culture is cross-sectional. In fact, it can be found in several areas in a company, in each member’s day-to-day, in the various work groups, and elsewhere. It must be put into practice on every level.

Lastly, learning culture is one of the solutions for retaining staff in their respective positions. It appears that staff who have access to diverse types of training supported by their employers stay in their jobs longer. This can be explained by the quality of the work environment, the value placed on expertise and the emotional bond with the company. ²

Some Novatips for a flourishing culture

• Plan a comprehensive strategy that will provide an overview of training paths leading to the acquisition of specific skills. A diagnosis of training structure can be beneficial to your organization. This way, each suggested solution will be in line with your needs and values.
• Provide learning solutions based on the specific needs of your team members, fueling their personal and professional development. These can be innovative and outside the box, especially with game-based learning that helps create bonds between team members, as the MINKA platform does.
• As a manager, value the time invested in training by allocating a number of hours per month to do so; this will show your team members the importance you attach to training.
• Offer the right tools to create a flourishing culture. It’s important to consider the accessibility and user-friendliness of the technological tools used for training. These details have a major impact on interest in training and learning.

A rewarding partnership
Setting up a learning culture with the help of NOVACONCEPT means being supported every step of the way and creating a partnership by pooling expertise to complete your projects. Whether it’s delivering learning devices, creating tailored and creative content, or developing training modules with varied and engaging learning methods, you can count on us to help you cultivate knowledge.

Sources:
¹ https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-summary.pdf (accessed on 2022-01-27)
² https://www.revuegestion.ca/fidelisation-ou-retention-pourquoi-vos-employes-restent-ils (accessed on 2022-01-27)

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Competing in a sport at an elite level, as Olympic athletes do, requires a great deal of perseverance and dedication. Training is as important as competitions, since that’s where they learn to master the moves that will lead to their victory.
The pandemic has thrown the Olympic dreams of many athletes into chaos. Training centers closed, competitions were cancelled and traveling to training and competition sites (especially ski centers) became difficult, all of which shook up how things are done. Athletes had to adapt quickly, find other training locations and change their methods to remain best in their class.

In these situations, new technologies like virtual reality (VR) have come to their rescue! With no access to the Olympic site due to health guidelines, the Canadian bobsleigh team used VR technology to simulate the course, do more runs and memorize each turn up to the finish line. However, it’s skiers that seem to be benefiting the most from of this technology at the moment. Virtual reality provides a space to train under different conditions and on various slopes, while replicating the sensation of speed and eliminating lift time! This way, every mountain is accessible year-round without having to travel thousands of kilometres! It makes for greener training, for sure, but it also makes it easier to balance school and family life.

VR technology also helps with rehabilitation: since workouts are smoother, the risks of injury are extremely low. Athletes can resume their training earlier and keep those reflexes that make all the difference during competitions sharp. It’s also safer to learn a new skill or to go down a new slope for the first time in VR. Since there are lower risks of injury, it’s possible to imagine that athletes could have much longer professional careers.

If VR technology has so many advantages for Olympic athletes, imagine what it could do for anyone working in a dangerous or high-risk occupation! For firefighters, first responders or power line workers, being able to make the right decision in a split second could make the difference between life and death. Why not give them an opportunity to practice their decision-making process dozens, even hundreds of times, in different scenarios without having to put their lives at risk?

Virtual reality opens up a world of possibilities in learning! What skill would you like to develop in VR?

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How can e-learning help organizations overcome labour shortage challenges? That’s the question we want to answer in this article! Let’s look at the topic using highlights from the labour shortage going on in Quebec and the rest of Canada.

Labour shortage: a worrying challenge for organizations

According to the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, in the first quarter of 2021, one-third of organizations surveyed expected to experience a labour shortage (34.1%) or issues recruiting and retaining qualified employees (33.2%) in the following three months.

This issue affects some sectors more than others. The businesses most concerned with the lack of workers are in the construction, retail, transportation, warehousing, hotel and food services sectors.

(Table available in French only.)

The primary cause for labour market scarcity is a sustained decline in the labour force in Quebec and Canada. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that many baby boomers are retiring.

A BDC study shows the strategy companies are preferring to counter this shortage is to hire less qualified or less experienced workers and then train them in-house.

Developing skills on the job through e-learning is therefore a solution in this case.

E-learning, a flexible and self-guided solution for quick training

One of the reasons labour shortages are a barrier to organizations is that they increase existing employees’ workloads. Once they are hired, new employees are quickly put to task to restore a balanced workload. A training pit stop, therefore, is essential to guarantee their success.

E-learning perfectly meets the need to train new employees quickly thanks to the flexibility of its on-demand format. As soon as they are hired, new recruits can independently browse a training course catalogue and acquire a solid foundation upon which they can rely to start their onboarding.

Because it is complementary to mentoring sessions, online training enhances them. In fact, since the employee already learned basic and general notions in the online courses, a mentor’s teaching can then focus on working knowledge, on challenging work tasks or simply to make time to learn how to work together.

In the end, welcoming and onboarding a new employee into a team that is feeling the pressure due the shortage can become significantly easier using e-learning.

Sources :
https://statistique.quebec.ca/fr/produit/publication/attentes-entreprises-quebec-premier-trimestre-2021-contexte-pandemie-de-covid-19#faits
https://www.bdc.ca/fr/a-propos/analyses-recherche/penurie-main-doeuvre

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Minka, a serious game for learning

Why do games have a childish connotation? Is it adulthood snobbery to want to relegate games to mere entertainment? It’s quite possible, but if we look beyond this connotation, games have a lot to offer us, especially in skills development.

At Novaconcept, we are convinced that games are a very serious lever for learning in business. This is why we developed MINKA, a collaborative and educational gaming platform. How does it work in two sentences? The learners grouped into rival teams answer a series of questions organized by level. Jokers and bonuses help and spice up their respective courses. In short, the MINKA platform is based on a playful and fragmented learning approach.

Almost convinced of the approach? Here is our reasoning.

Acquiring new skills is a process that requires the learner to invest. It’s an investment in time and concentration that pays little in the short term, but whose results are more obvious in the medium and long term. The simple will to learn for the sake of learning is often strained by the accomplishment of everyday tasks. Motivation and energy are lacking when it comes to training.

What if, to motivate employees, you had to tap into another register and seek commitment in another form? A form where the reward is more immediate, where the positive reinforcement effect pushes for continuous improvement. Games have the ability to awaken motivation and make us think twice.

This is known in technical jargon as “gamification,” that is to say the addition of design and game mechanisms to contexts that are usually devoid of them.

Online training is particularly conducive to gamification, as connections with the video game world can easily be made. For our collaborative and educational platform, we have relied on two well-known game mechanisms to generate engagement: collaboration and competition.

• Collaboration motivates learners in that it spontaneously creates a feeling of belonging and a strong team spirit.
• Competition, for its part, seeks the motivation of learners who want to measure themselves against their game opponents and obtain positive results.

Finally, let’s not forget that motivation has a time dimension. Just like concentration, learner motivation decreases when subjected to time: therefore the more time passes, the less learners are motivated.

The solution: break the content into bite-size pieces so as not to give learners time to lose their appetite for learning. The benefits of fragmentation don’t end there; it also contributes to better retention of content in learners.

A study¹ has shown that a group exposed to content cut into several pieces, interspersed with questions, performs better than a group exposed to the same content, presented in a block and followed by the same number of questions. Afterwards, an evaluation was conducted and found that the group of learners subjected to the fragmented content recorded a success 20% higher than the other group, while taking 28% less time to complete the evaluation. It’s pretty significant, don’t you think?

Far from being childish, games know how to captivate, mobilize and motivate. These are qualities that we want to use for the development of skills within companies.

To learn more about Minka, visit the link below or contact us at : minka@novaconcept.com

References

⁽¹⁾ Kapp, F., Proske, A., Narciss, S., & Körndle, H. (2015). Distributing vs. blocking learning questions in a web-based learning environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 51(4), 397-416. doi:10.2190/EC.51.4.b

I am often asked: “How much does it cost to design and produce a 30-minute online course?” To that, I always answer the same thing: “How much does a 30-second ad on TV cost?” You will therefore understand that it depends on a multitude of factors…
I therefore suggest three questions to ask yourself to determine your e-learning budget.

First question, how do you plan to allocate the necessary resources?
There are many ways to collaborate with e-learning experts, and depending on your internal resources, availability, and timeline, you may choose to outsource the design or part of it to us. Some clients provide us with their own script, for review or not, while other clients often hire our instructional designers to produce a script from raw content.

Now, what is the desired level of interactivity?
Depending on whether the course objectives are formative or informative, you must determine the desired level of interactivity. Interactivity can be:
• non-existent, with strictly linear animated content,
• limited, with a menu and multiple choice questions, for example,
• moderate, we are talking about essay questions, connection, integration of elements of varied content,
• or immersive, with custom feedback, simulations, avatars, etc.

Of course, our experts are there to guide you in this decision and ensure that the chosen format serves the content well, but it is important that this decision be made ahead of the project since it has a significant impact on the budget. With this information in hand, you are now able to answer the following question: what is the production’s complexity level?

The production includes scriptwriting, graphic design, integration and programming. A variety of elements impact the complexity level. They include:

• the content level (from simple to expert),
• graphic elements (use of existing equipment versus development of custom graphic elements),
• navigation needs (linear, contextual documents, connections to several scenarios),
• shooting of videos or taking photos,
• assessing learning and using a passing grade.

This information is used to determine the number and expertise of resources to be assigned to the project, the number of person-hours for each specialty and the needs in terms of other resources (actors, storytelling and/or filming studio, artistic director, etc.)
It goes without saying that the answers to these questions should come from a discussion with internal experts and your favourite e-learning partner! It is important to involve all stakeholders from the start to share a common vision of the final product—an essential element for the smooth running of the project—within the allocated budget.

For more informations on our services, do not hesitate to visit this section of our website or contact us!

Ghislain Bélanger
Chief Executive Officer