Reviewing Reviewlink 3

When I first logged into ReviewLink it was sometime in 2012 or 2013. The company I was working for was considering an alternative method to enhance SME participation and ease of use in reviewing course material. We first began to consider using it because of the integration into Lectora. Back in the day, I was usually put in charge of writing standard operating procedures so I started to formulate a way to make it work within our current process.  It wasn't hard because developers would publish out to Reviewlink instead of the test server of our LMS, SME's would log onto Reviewlink instead of the LMS, and comments could be created and marked as complete just like what we were doing in Word or PowerPoint. I presented my findings to my superiors but it lost to politics.  I heard "it's not broke let's not fix it" and it's going to cost us to much money. We were also going to have to consider hosting the tool since the companies firewall was so strict. At the time we had around 15 developers and Instructional Designers on staff working on any where from 3 to 30 projects at one time. The sheer volume we dealt with on a daily basis meant we needed a large amount of uploads. I still really feel like we could of reduced review time and the total number of back and forth emails. I've seen success stories floating around with crazy hour reductions.

Fast forward to now and it has a monthly or yearly fee with different package sizes to fit everyone's needs. They also pushed the tool out as it's own SaaS making it available for non Lectora users which makes perfect sense because you can now upload Storyline and Captivate content. For companies that work with freelancers or multiple authoring tools you can now have a shared platform outside of your strictly limited LMS to review content! You can also review on the go because Reviewlink is responsive.

I love how if you suggest something they take it into consider. That's probably one of my favorite aspects of Trivantis products.  If you ask for it, they'll figure out a way of putting it in, especially if they see the value as well. I feel a lot of pride and excitement when I work in a product where I get to see my suggestions come alive. When we were researching the tool we wanted the ability to comment in multiple languages because a lot of the work we did was in translated content, done!  We wanted a way to sort through and pull off comments if needed, they added it.  The only thing I see that still could be a great feature is adding callouts.  Sometimes it's hard to explain in text where an object is or what it's doing especially if your working in a language your not familiar with.  It would be nice to have some basic shapes or even just one that was color coded to your particular feedback. That way instead of reviewing the page in full you can easily pick out what the reviewer is talking about.

All in all the versions just keep getting better and better. I can see the value of adding this into my tool set. If you want to check out ReviewLink they have a free 30 day trial.

Looking Back at a Year in Healthcare eLearning

I recently left my job in the healthcare L and D field to start a new pursuit and it got me thinking.....was there a difference?  My job previously was for a chemical company where most of my courses were manufacturing and safety related.  Did I do anything differently or have different struggles?  Here's what I found when I looked back at a year (technically year and eight months but who's counting) in healthcare elearning.

The regulations are as crazy as you'd think

I came into a word of Meaningful Use and ICD-10.  If you're not in the field you probably won't understand my pain but let me try to break it down for you.  If doctors want additional funding for seeing Medicaid and Medicare patient's they had to attest to Meaningful Use to be qualified.  This means that every software developer in the nation had to make sure certain features were available and they were certified.  Then doctors had to change their daily routines, pull reports and add in this extra amount of work. Then ICD-10 is the coding system doctors will soon have to communicate in.  It took a smaller number of codes and turned it into a bigger number of code.  Diagnoses are going to have to be more refined.  Oh and did I mention they already postponed it because they felt people weren't ready?  October is going to be crazy unless another committee decides it should be stalled again. And these were just the major ones.  Add in a various number of state to state regulations and governing parties like the CDC and FDA.

Images are easier to find

I went from having a stock library at my disposal to having nothing. Even though we weren't encouraged to add images into our courses (they were for product training so it was mostly images of the software and branding was strict) I went on the hunt any ways.  For having to stock up on free resources I found that most websites had a nice variety of free images. A lot of them were vectors but at least they were tastefully done and useable. Side note: I'm a bit obsessed with finding free image sites so I have a whole bunch bookmarked that I'm not afraid to sort through if I need to.

You don't have to know it to be successful

I knew nothing beyond what I had seen in trips to the doctors before starting.  I was never a nurse or worked for a similar company. Because I was a fresh slate I had a steaper learning curve but I found that like any field there were common terms and processes that I keep in mind.  I'm blessed with the ability to pick up on things easily especially processes and programs so I felt comfortable in a short amount of time.  I think that's one of my favorite things about L and D.  You don't have to know your subject matter, just the general principals and models and a helpful SME.

Medical staff want it done...right now!

Urgency was even more felt. In my previous position we had a rapid style development where turn around was in days or weeks but it prepared me well for this job. Everyone wanted to see something and see it now.  Add that along with how quickly they pushed out new versions of the software and we were playing a never ending game of catch up.  That was one thing that irritated the never ending crap out of me. Why push out a product that you can't train on? They had sessions were people could see or have the concepts explained more clearly but it was a one time thing that didn't go into much detail.

Everyone struggles with SME participation

I kind of already knew that everyone struggled with SME participation.  Search the internet and you'll see tips trying to help, find stories and and horror stories about what SMEs have done to make a developers day a nightmare. But now I really understand how some problems can be universal.

Did you work creating healthcare elearning? What struggles do/did you face?  What are universal struggles we face?

Disclaimer: This is based on my personal experience and is a generalization of my experience. All opinions are my own and may or may not be shared by my previous employers or other members of the field.

5 Reasons Why Anyone Associated to eLearning Should be on Twitter

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurgenappelo/7749081714

One of my all time favorite places to chat is on Twitter.  Sure you're restricted to 120 characters and so many follows but the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks.  Here is 5 reasons why I think you should be on Twitter:

1. Friends

I find it easier to make friends on Twitter.  People seem to communicate and respond a lot more positively.  I might just be lucky enough to have super nice people in my feed but most conversations are meet with enthusiasm and encouragement.  It opens a global meeting place to talk about like minded hashtags (more about that later) and funny images or videos.  You always seem to have that one friend (or crazy aunt) that likes and retweets everything you do.  My favorite way of making friends is by sharing someone's content.  It shows that you support them and aren't afraid to broadcast their written word and opinion.

We should be friends!  Please tweet me, follow or add me to your list :)

2. Twitter Chats

Twitter chats are a nice offspring of twitter.  It allows for like minded people to gather around their twitter feed to have a healthy conversation about that week's topic.  I'm horrible at remembering to attend them regularly but I at least like to check and see what the topic is.  It feels like people are off put about the process because items flash before your eyes and are gone quickly.  I try to always attend using a laptop or PC (for more screen space) and dedicate my time solely to contributing to the conversation. Be sure to check out some of chats available or be a daredevil and manage your own (hump days open)!

#GuildChat (Friday at 11am PT / 2pm ET)
#lrnchat (Thursdays at 8:30-9:30pm ET/5:30-6:30pm PT)
#edchat (Tuesdays from 12 to 1 and 7 to 8 pm Eastern Time)
#edtech (Mondays from 8-9 pm EST)

3. Lists

With the restriction of people you can follow comes the ability to compensate by creating lists. These lists can help you view content from specific people. This is also something I'm trying to get better at but others are using it to the fullest.

4. Hashtags

Twitter can be your own form of Google. With the abundant use of hashtags in posts you can now find curated content by simply searching for it. Find posts and thoughts from companies and individuals. Be sure to include them when you post so others can see it as well. Some of my favorites are:

#elearning
#instructionaldesign
#projectmanagement
#lms
#mlearning

5. Analytics

Twitter provides each user with the unlimited use of their analytics tool.  Check to see what your impression rate is, your monthly summary and highlights, and interesting demographic information.

P.S. Sorry I haven't been around lately.  I moved to Kentucky a couple weeks ago and was without WiFi for wayyyy to long.