‘Responsive eLearning Design & Development’ – Upside Learning’s eBook released!

Upside Learning, a leading provider of learning technology solutions, has released an eBook titled ‘Responsive eLearning Design & Development‘.The multi-device world has enabled learners to access learning via a number of different devices – desktops/laptops, tablets and smartphones. Learners expect information to be available at the point-of-need or time-of-interest, especially the mobile workforce that requires flexibility and convenience in accessing learning materials. To meet this growing demand for multi-device usage and expectation, responsive design was born to facilitate development of a single design that is compatible across all possible user devices.But with every new technology comes its unique challenges that organisations must take into account. The challenges come in the form of designing and delivering materials across a multitude of devices, operating systems, browsers, screen sizes and resolutions. As a result, the design, development and testing process can prove to be quite cumbersome and complex.

In light of this, the eBook gives eLearning professionals an in-depth look into the world of responsive eLearning, its design & development functions and its challenges & solutions. It explores the role of Responsive eLearning in response to the escalating demand for multi-device learning and performance support, its key features, different approaches and benefits. It also gives insights on when to use a responsive strategy and how to deploy it successfully in the organisation.

Key topics include:

Understanding Responsive eLearning Design
Determining Responsive eLearning Design Strategy
When to use Responsive eLearning Design
Challenges and Solutions

The eBook can be downloaded here.

Upside Learning in the running for two 2014 E-Learning Awards

The exceptionally diverse shortlist showcasing the amazing range that eLearning now covers, whittled down from 250+ entries by 2014 E-Learning Awards’ independent judging panel, chaired by Tony Frascina, features Upside Learning in 2 categories – ‘E-learning development company of the year’ and ‘Best e-learning project – international private sector’.As a shortlisted entrant in the technical category and for E-learning development company of the year, Upside Learning will now be put through another round of face-to-face or online presentation from the judging panel before the winners are finally chosen and announced at the E-Learning Awards gala evening at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on Thursday 6 November 2014.Upside Learning’s entry for ‘Best e-learning project – international private sector‘ is in partnership with Vocollect by Honeywell for its course ‘Competitive Technologies‘. Vocollect wanted an eLearning course that would help its sales team influence their customers, who already have other technology solutions and are looking for a change or are considering other solutions for their warehouse, to opt for Vocollect Voice. Upside created a course consisting of a series of engaging stories that are animated using minimalistic graphic style and crisp dialogues. Simplified flow diagrams, conceptual animations and info-graphics were used to make the information easy to understand and retain. Videos of Vocollect Voice technology and clients’ testimonials were embedded to reinforce the content covered in the course.

Upside Learning launches Multi-device Testing Lab service for eLearning projects

In today’s multi-device world, one of the major challenges is the wide range of devices on which eLearning needs to be supported. Different browsers, manufacturers, models and sizes, operating systems, connectivity modes and platforms further add to this challenge. To ensure that eLearning works properly on multiple devices, thorough testing is essential on actual primary devices and configurations. But not all organisations are equipped with the required resources in terms of manpower, testing tools and devices, nor can they afford to invest their time to thoroughly test eLearning on different combinations.

Upside Learning’s recently launched Multi-device Testing Lab service aims to help such organisations by testing and delivering high-quality learning projects that run consistently across device, browsers and operating systems.

The company has made robust investments in its infrastructure and is equipped with a variety of devices with screen sizes between 240 x 320 and 1280 x 800 pixels, as well as some high-DPI variants. For testing on larger displays, it has Windows PCs, Macs and laptops, while tablets and smart phones, running iOS, Android and Windows, cover the smaller ones. Tools such as Adobe Edge Inspect and Ghostlab are employed for quick and accurate turnaround.

The Testing Lab services team includes highly-experienced quality testing specialists with a cumulative experience of over 50 years in the eLearning testing domain. A meticulously planned rigorous testing process that runs through five broad stages ensures an error-free project with a fast turn-around.

‘How can you move your eLearning to HTML?’ Upside Learning to explain at Learning@Work 2014

Upside Learning, a leading provider of learning technology solutions, will be participating as a seminar sponsor in the Learning@Work 2014 conference. To be held in Sydney, Australia from 27^th to 29^th October, the event will bring together international visionaries and thought leaders presenting on the latest topics, trends and challenges affecting the workplace learning environment, and devising strategies to enhance organisational L&D offering.

One of the major challenges almost all organisations face today is the wide range of devices on which eLearning needs to be supported. Different browsers, sizes, operating systems and platforms further add to this challenge. In making eLearning truly accessible, L&D professionals are now starting to feel the need to move towards HTML. To help them understand the why and how of converting eLearning to HTML, Upside Learning’s Co-founder and Director, Amit Garg, will present an informative learning session titled, ‘The why and how of moving your eLearning to HTML’ on 27^th October at 2:15, 2:50 & 3:25 PM (AEDT).

Upside Learning will be present at stand # 2 where it will play host to a wide range of innovative learning technology solutions namely:

UpsideLMS, its fully responsive, multi-award winning Learning Management System ;
Custom eLearning;
Custom mLearning;
FRED (Framework for Responsive eLearning Development);
Multi-device Testing Lab (for reliable and thorough testing of multi-device eLearning projects).

Present at Upside Learning’s stand 2, alongside Amit, will be Jeevan Joshi, Director Client Solutions for Asia-Pacific. Amit and Jeevan will answer delegates questions related to the session or any other learning requirements. Interested individuals can stop by the stand or alternatively, set an appointment by emailing Jeevan on jeevan.joshi@upsidelearning.com.

For more information on the conference, please visit http://acevents.com.au/learningatwork/index.html

It’s a Silver For Upside Learning’s Framework for Responsive eLearning Development (FRED) at the 2014 Brandon Hall Awards

For years, the Brandon Hall Group, a HCM research and advisory services firm, has been running the Excellence Awards Program, which is also called the “Academy Awards” by Learning, Talent and Business Executives. The Excellence in Technology Awards recognise successfully deployed, cutting-edge, innovative eLearning programs, strategies and technologies that have achieved measurable results. Its under this award category that Upside Learning’s Framework for Responsive eLearning Development (FRED) has been honoured with a Silver for Best Advance in Unique Learning Technology this year.

FRED is an innovative HTML-based reusable Framework that helps develop responsive learning and performance support interventions on multiple devices seamlessly. With an existing library of 20+ templates, FRED allows for creation of multilingual eLearning that is configurable to give SCORM- or Tin Can compliant output.

FRED comes out victorious after being evaluated by an international panel of independent industry experts, Brandon Hall Group’s senior analysts, and their executive leadership team. The judging was based on the following criteria: design of the solution; functionality; usability; innovation; and overall measureable benefits.

On winning the prestigious Brandon Hall award, Amit Garg, Director & Co-founder of Upside Learning, said, “It’s a proud day for us and FRED. After having been in the making for over 12 months, imbibed with our learning from numerous HTML5 and responsive eLearning programs done over the years, in just 11 months since its release, FRED has won the most prestigious award in the eLearning industry! This in itself is an incredible feeling! We envision FRED to win many more awards, and help various organisations develop Responsive eLearning easily.”

Earlier this year, FRED had been recognised as an early adopter of the Tin Can API under ‘Authoring Tools’ category. More information about FRED is available at:

https://upsidelearning.com/pressrelease/upside-learning-leads-the-field-in-innovation-recognised-as-an-early-adopter-of-the-tin-can-api-for-fred/

Upside Learning bags its 8th APEX Award

Upside Learning, a leading provider of learning technology solutions, has won the prestigious 2014 APEX Award for Publication Excellence in the Education & Training Electronic Media category. This award takes the company’s tally to 8 APEX awards in 7 years.

Now in its 26^th year, the APEX annual awards recognise excellence in graphic design, editorial content and overall communications effectiveness for print, web, electronic & social media. Upside Learning’s winning entry was an informative and educational game, titled ‘Information and Data Protection game’. The objective of the game was to help learners understand potential security breaches and Data Protection Principles in the workplace. The game’s learning environment consisted of a virtual office wherein the learners had to spot various security hazards by exploring the office and carefully listening to the conversations between individual characters.

About APEX Awards

APEX is the Annual Awards for Publication Excellence Competition. It is open to communicators in corporate, nonprofit and independent settings. This is the 26th annual APEX, which began in 1988.

APEX is sponsored by the editors of Writer’s Web Watch, an e-newsletter for communicators who write, edit and manage business publications. Writer’s Web Watch is published by Communications Concepts, Inc., providing problem-solving information to professional communicators since 1984.

Upside Learning to share key insights on Mobile Learning; Webinar on Towards Maturity’s In-Focus report

Upside Learning has actively been supporting Towards Maturity in its research endeavours, and had recently contributed to its In-Focus report titled ‘Mobile Learning In The Workplace‘. The report takes a detailed and comprehensive look on Mobile Learning, and serves as an excellent guide for L&D professionals to steer and implement mLearning initiatives at the organisational level.

To give L&D teams an informative overview of this report, Upside Learning has scheduled a free webinar on the same. The webinar will be presented by Amit Garg, Founder & Director – Custom Learning Solutions and Alan Samuel, Director Client Solutions – Europe on 6^th August at 3.00 PM (BST); and by Jeevan Joshi, Director Client Solutions – Asia Pacific along with Amit Garg on 7^th August at 2.00 PM (AEST).

The hour long webinar will extract key information from the report and share facts, figures and analysis of mobile learning – both past and present. The in-house experts will break it down as to why mobile is the future of learning and the vast opportunities it presents to organisations. It will also look at the various trends and practices companies are employing, and the challenges and benefits to consider in the successful adoption of mobile learning technologies in the workplace.

Topics covered are:

State of the industry
Getting started with Mobile Learning
Designing for Mobile Content Delivery
Tips
Case Studies

Upside Learning leads the field in innovation; recognised as an early adopter of the Tin Can API for FRED

In just over 6 months after its release, Upside Learning’s innovative HTML-based Framework for Responsive eLearning Development (FRED) has been recognised as an early adopter of the Tin Can API under ‘Authoring Tools‘ category. This is a second recognition for the company from Tin Can. It has been earlier recognised as an early adopter of the Tin Can API for integrating the experience API into its proprietary courseware framework for creating custom learning courses for desktops and mobile devices (including tablets).

FRED enables faster and reliable delivery of responsive learning and performance support interventions for multi-device learning. It facilitates seamless content presentation and consistent delivery across different devices, ensuring an enriched user experience. It is a reusable framework with an existing library of 20+ templates, allowing for efficiency during development. FRED has a single source architecture so once the base version has been developed, content management is easier and much more effective as updates or additions need only be made once to reflect across all devices.

FRED allows for creation of multi-lingual eLearning, and is easily configurable to produce a SCORM- or Tin Can-compliant output. Its Tin Can compliance lets administrators capture learners’ activities at various learning stages and spot problem areas. Courses developed using FRED offer a high degree of flexibility in reporting, which results in efficient tracking, measuring and improving an organisation’s L&D initiatives. It also includes accessibility support, and allows integration of social media components.

Upside Learning Launches Responsive eLearning Development Framework

Upside Learning, a global leader in workplace learning technology solutions, has launched the Framework for Responsive eLearning Development (FRED). The news comes with much anticipation within the eLearning fraternity as responsive framework is changing the face of how eLearning courseware is built for multi device learning.Living in a technology‒driven world, today’s learners use multiple computing / communication devices during the course of a day ‒ for learning, work, entertainment, and decision making. They are on the move, both within and outside the workplace, and want to use their “downtime” effectively. They are used to looking up information at the precise moment of need and quickly lose interest when it’s not available.

So the more flexibility and freedom learners have in terms of when, where, how, and through which device to consume eLearning programs, the more likely they are to do so. As a matter of fact, this freedom has now become an expectation.In light of this expectation of making learning easy, convenient and readily available for learners, FRED helps develop responsive learning and performance support interventions for multiple devices.The biggest advantage of a responsive framework is that all the data sits on a single solution, which can be easily modified from a single location to reflect changes across all devices as opposed to the conventional method of having separate versions. Such a method turns out to be more tedious and expensive than the responsive version that delivers output across various channels in an efficient & cost‒effective manner and within a lower turnaround time.

FRED will also be a hot topic of discussion at the upcoming Learning Technologies event as the Upside Team gets ready to showcase its multi award winning solutions on 29^th‒30^th January 2014 at Olympia 2, London. Present at stand #112 will be Amit Garg, Co-founder and Director of Upside Learning, and Alan Samuel, Director of Client Solutions (Europe), who will assist individuals wanting to know more about FRED and Upside Learning’s other offerings.

Alternatively, a personalised live demo of FRED over the Internet can also be made available by filling out this short registration form ‒ #liveDemo

Upside Learning Asks For Top Mobile Learning Challenges

Upside Learning, a front runner in the use mobile technology for learning is looking to create and share a globally ‘crowdsourced’ list of the top mobile challenges the enterprise and learning communities across the world face. It is also offering a much sought after and coveted place at Europe’s leading showcase of technology supported workplace learning, the Learning Technologies conference being held in London on the 29^th & 30^th January to the top ‘tipster’ for the No.1 mobile challenge reported.

Coming on the back of its recent launch of “FRED”, its Framework For Responsive eLearning Development and its existing mobile learning platform, Upside already has answers to some of the mobile challenges but has plans to expand its offering in the mobile learning space.

To participate and earn a chance to get a free conference ticket to Learning Technologies 2014, please visit – http://info.upsidelearning.com/winapass-lt2014, or alternatively use #UpsidePass via Twitter.

For more information please call Pranjalee Thanekar at +91(20)2523 6050