The Business Blog turns 2!

Nov 9, 2017

4 minutes read

Oh how time flies! It seems like yesterday when I wrote about celebrating the first year anniversary of the Business Blog. The weather is the almost the same, but this year is a bit different.

2017 meant a bigger team, more diversity of voices talking about workplace learning and online training programs, more posts, more conferences, more… everything.

The combined effort of the entire MATRIX team — and all our readers — made our blog climb even more in the mighty list of all e-learning blogs, settling in the first 7%. Hopefully this percent will get tinier and tinier over the years.

Now let’s have a look at the best performing Business Blog posts, that contributed to its progress:

Top 10 blog posts on MATRIX

From well-known subjects of workplace training, like competency-based learning or measuring the ROI of training, to technical aspects regarding business LMSs, to trying to guess the future, the Business Blog covered it all. Without further ado, here are the top 10 MATRIX blog posts from its second year of existence:

7 e-learning trends for 2017

Nobody has a magic ball that shows the future, but we didn’t get too far away in our predictions. The seven e-learning trends we identified for 2017 were mobile learning, gamification, personalized learning, machine learning, social media learning, bite-sized learning, and video-based training. Some were rather new to the L&D industry, others were under the spotlight, while others were proven tactics that continued to lead to great results. Which of these did you follow this year?
4 benefits of using VR in training

Many industries use VR technology for training and many more consider using it in the future. Besides the wow-factor, the affordable-ish price and the fact that it can be measured, here are another four benefits of using VR in training we thought about: it increases learner engagement and retention rates, helps learners gain mastery faster and improves employee performance. VR is the future and the future is already here, don’t you think?
Top 7 TED Talks for L&D professionals [Infographic]

Maybe it's the perfect duration of the speech, maybe it's the great subjects, maybe it's a combination of these — but TED Talks sure have a way to keep watchers mesmerized. We gathered 7 TED talks about how people learn, what motivation means, how to use positive psychology or games in the workplace, the role of the workplace, and other topics that could be of interest for learning and development professionals. So check them out if you haven't already!
The positive impact of a corporate learning management system

Learning at work needs to happen as fast and as thoroughly as possible. People have the knowledge, but only technology can spread it among everyone in an organization. Businesses that use a corporate LMS for workplace learning and development are one step ahead of those that don’t. According to a report by Software Advice, the great majority of users say their LMS positively impacts the success of their organization. A post packed-full with impressive numbers!
Measuring training effectiveness — the Kirkpatrick model

According to the American scholar Donald Kirkpatrick, evaluation of a training program should always start with participant reactions (level one), and then, as time and money resources allow, should move sequentially through learning (level two), transfer (level three) and results (level four). Information gathered from the prior level serves as a starting point for the next level’s assessment. In this way, as we get higher on the pyramid, we get a more precise measurement of the effectiveness of the training program. And who doesn’t want that?
Micro learning – the big wave of mobile education

Micro learning is already established as the wonder child of the online education industry. A normal response to the spectacular growth of mobile learning and an antidote to lack of time and resources in the workplace, bite-sized learning can prove the perfect solution for employees. Providing real-time, relevant information, this type of training boosts employee efficiency, and as such improves company productivity. If you don’t already use micro-learning modules in your training you should seriously consider it.
5 Types of immersive technology for training

Immersive technologies are perfect for training people who perform risky jobs because it can simulate dangerous or risky situations within a safe, controlled environment. These can also be used for recruitment, on-boarding new employees, or helping team members develop interpersonal skills at work. 360° photos, 360° videos, 3D simulations, VR and MR are just five examples of immersive technology for training. Which one are you most curious about?
3 tips on how to get instructional designers to do e-learning outside the box

Whenever putting out a hiring ad, companies ask for innovative people who can think outside of the box. Creativity seems to have become the number one prerequisite for pretty much everything. The 'box', with its implication of rigidity and squareness, symbolizes constrained and unimaginative thinking. So how exactly can one think outside the box? And what can instructional designers do support this kind of thinking? We had three tips for this.
Gamification – a cross-generational affair

The workforce is a cross-generational affair, mixing up to five (5!) generations. The use of gamification in training holds the power to engage the greatest part of the demographics. If properly designed, it reaches wide categories of staff and can turn even the dullest topic or task into something enjoyable and worthwhile. Gamification may no longer be a new buzzword in the training industry, but it sure is an effective strategy to keep employees engaged in their learning process.
On leadership development for Millennials

Although organizations are aware about the importance of growing internal talent to meet business needs, and make leadership development a priority, 36% of them say their leadership development practices are still below average or poor. Millennials are known to be overly eager to grow in their careers, yet very little effort seems to be put into their development. Companies need to turn their attention to them and set a new approach to leadership development. Millennials are the leaders of tomorrow, after all.