Lrn annual report2016_final
- 2. 2 3 FROM THE EDITOR 04 LEARNING THAT DELIVERS 06 STRIVING FOR PURPOSE, NOT PROFIT 08 THE EVOLUTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN 10 PRACTICE WHAT YOU TEACH 12 WHY NETWORKING MATTERS 14 #SOCIALMEDIASECRETS 16 WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE 18 STRATEGIES FOR BILINGUAL LEARNING 20 REDEFINING EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK 22 THE POWER OF GREAT DESIGN 24 JOIN THE DIALOGUE 26 Q&A WITH THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD 28 Q&A WITH THE CEO 30
- 3. 4 5 I joined Curriculum Services Canada in 2014, midway through the strategic initiative that ultimately led to us to rebrand to Learnography. We wanted an identity that spoke to our obsession with learning, creativity, innovation, and multi-disciplinary solutions. This change has been a great success so far and we look forward to our continued evolution. We pursue meaningful and measurable outcomes and operate based on an unshakable love of learning. Learnography team members, each with a unique perspective and area of expertise, champion the advancement of the learning sector with passion. Together we are greater than any one of us is alone. The words of Learnography team members can be found throughout the pages of this publication. I take great pride in seeing this community grow and would be honoured to have you join us. Find us online and let us know... What do you want to learn today? @lrnogrphy Juliana Trichilo Cina, MA Solutions Director @jtcina FROM THE EDITOR
- 4. 6 7 LEARNING THAT DELIVERS We all know the pains of lengthy lectures or narcolepsy- inducing eLearning.These are in direct contrast to many experiences brought to us today by media, gaming, marketing, and other industries.In our always-connected and dynamic world, individuals are empowered like never before to choose where, and on what, they want to focus. Earning a learner’s engagement is increasingly demanding. Just as more options are available to learners, more is asked.As the pace of business introduces new challenges, individuals face new performance demands.To give learners the experiences they deserve — experiences that drive personal development — we must deliver learning that meets three important needs. Entertain Learners want to be entertained. As a student, I always learn best when I care. This makes it even more critical that learning delivers high levels of engagement. With today’s technology, the possibilities are greater than ever. Inform Relevance is critical.We must inform individuals in ways that resonate with their experience to advance new knowledge and behaviour. Empowered by this information, we can achieve and demonstrate continued personal growth. Empower The value of formal training, and the quality that professional educators bring, can be forgotten when information is so easily accessible on demand. Transformative learning experiences prove their value with immediate utility. We create learning that delivers. When people are empowered to be their best, communities benefit. So next time you have the honour of contributing to the learning of others, remember that you can be the catalyst for a powerful ripple effect. How do you deliver learning? @lrnogrphy Juliana Trichilo Cina, MA Solutions Director
- 5. 8 9 In the first co-op placement of my university career, I landed a role in Solutions at Learnography.I’ve been an integrated member of the team since day one.I am encouraged to learn just about anything that is of interest to me and where I can make a valuable contribution.I have benefited from this purpose-driven culture, and I believe in it too. As an organization, we strive to provide engaging learning experiences that empower individuals and transform organizations. By traditional nomenclature, Learnography is a non-profit organization. However, defining us by what we are, a for purpose organization, is far more accurate. “For purpose,” connotes an organization that is driven by vision and values and is committed to achieving a positive community impact. At Learnography, our financial success supports this purpose. As a for-purpose organization, we want to help. We want to know how we can serve you. What is your personal or organizational purpose? @lrnogrphy STRIVING FOR PURPOSE, NOT PROFIT Sunil Joshi Marketing Coordinator
- 6. 10 11 There is more than one way to shine a penny, and the strategies for refining raw content are no exception. Over the past few years, there has been an ideological shift in learning development. As a part of that shift, Learnography has adopted a new methodology. 1. Content is no longer just text. User experience, graphic design, and other disciplines play an important role in achieving learning outcomes. Today, the presentation of content is an essential part of the instructional designer’s responsibility. 2. Customized design is not optional. With each project, we challenge ourselves to present information and engage learners in ways that resonate with the learning audience. We explore the effects of each stylistic choice on the user’s learning journey. We always try to put ourselves in the learner’s shoes. 3. Less is more. Bite-sized learning has been proven to increase retention, so every project begins with a rigorous editing process. By pinpointing the key learning outcomes, we deliver learning that delivers. How do you customize & improve learning? @lrnogrphy Lyndsey Breslow Senior Account Manager THE EVOLUTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN Every training resource begins as a pile of raw content. It comes in all shapes and sizes: a 20-year old PowerPoint presentation, a smattering of PDFs, or 500 pages of legal documents. Our mission is to take this unprocessed material and turn it into a powerful learning experience.
- 7. 12 13 Kate Salmon Communications Strategy Specialist Much of my communication on behalf of Learnography involves the important practice of employee training. Many organizations hesitate to invest in their employees for fear that people will move on and take that investment with them. When making the case for strategic learning investments, I’m always able to pull real world examples from my experience at Learnography. We treat learning as a lifelong endeavour, so it’s easy to encourage others to do the same. But the greatest argument for training I’ve ever heard – and have often repeated – came from the Imagine Your Workplace Conference in Toronto. Someone asked a panel of trainers, “What happens if I invest in my employees and they leave?” to which the trainer responded, “What happens if you don’t invest in your employees, and they stay?” Giving employees the support they need to grow isn’t just an investment in your organization’s future; it’s a key component of employee engagement here and now. How do you engage your employees? @lrnogrphy PRACTICE WHAT YOU TEACH
- 8. 14 15 Juliana Trichilo Cina, MA Solutions Director Christopher Gunn, MA Solutions Consultant Over the past year, Learnography has grown in staff, services, and its community reach. Team members have become leaders in the wider learning community by contributing at events such as conferences and forums. These contributions have led to meaningful connections and beg the question: Is Networking Enough? Successfully building relationships requires real connections. Building a network of acquaintances isn’t enough when you’re on a mission to make a positive impact and continue to learn. So let’s redefine “networking” as a meaningful, authentic, dynamic and evolving practice that brings together a variety of people from diverse sectors, skill sets, perspectives, and experiences based on shared core values, beliefs, and goals. This redefined networking is distinguished by: • Shared goals, beliefs, and values • Diverse perspectives and skills • Cross-disciplinary thinking • Opportunities to learn from and add value for each other • Authentic, quality relationships that go beyond mutual benefit • Long-term thinking • A growth mindset that sees dialogue as an investment • Meaningful collaboration and contribution WHY NETWORKING MATTERS Deeper connections like these require one-on- one time, casual conversation, and maybe even a laugh. With this in mind, Learnography has hosted several events—Brunchography and Learning in the Park, to name a couple—that support reciprocal growth, shared goals, lasting takeaways, and opportunities for future development. How do you grow your community? @lrnogrphy
- 9. 16 17 Kyla Clarke Marketing and Admin Coordinator Though there are now countless social media platforms, the frontrunners for me still stand as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Every person, brand, or organization is likely to prefer one platform over another in order to effectively connect with their audience. For Learnography, Twitter has always been a raging success, and we continue to build our presence on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. I enjoy exploring the potential of social media and coming up with unique ways to connect with our learning community online. For example, I share a weekly #MugshotMonday photo of one of our team members holding a Learnography coffee mug. The caption playfully describes what they do at Learnography and how they take their coffee. I have also experimented with custom hashtags. For our “Brunchography” event this spring, we used #BrunchandLearn for online conversations. It was fun to see everyone’s thoughts, photos, and updates in real-time as the morning progressed. At Learnography, one of our core priorities is expanding and contributing to our community.As a marketing and social media coordinator, I have made it my personal mission to expand and be active in Learnography’s community in the digital space. We also share blog content and comment on articles from our digital community using social media. By sharing our blog posts with engaging title graphics, we engage in ways that are modern, fun, and on-brand. In the coming year, I look forward to harnessing the power of YouTube. Through the implementation of high-end design, innovative engagement concepts, and the use of vlogs, Learnography will be able to really take our social media presence to the next level - and grow our community along the way. How does social media help you connect? @lrnogrphy #SocialMediaSecrets
- 10. 18 19 In the two years I’ve worked at Learnography, I have developed and fostered lasting friendships within the workplace. I love my boss, I love my team, and that love sustains us through the early mornings and the tight deadlines. I truly believe that adding the friendship dynamic to the workplace strengthens the work we do. Lately I’ve noticed that similar friendships exist outside our office with clients, suppliers, and freelancers. We work with people we like: • People who align with us ideologically • People who understand our passion for learning, and • People who know how to have fun at work. It’s hard to argue with the value friendships bring to business and productivity when friendships can be described like this. “Ariel Paul is a client I’ve been working with for over a year. We had so much fun chatting about social media that he brought me on as a consultant for PhET Interactive Simulations. Several video projects and cross-promotional opportunities have come up since because we’re always looking for ways to do more work together.” - Kate Salmon, Communications Strategy Specialist “Through the work I do for MyClassNeeds.ca, I connect with a lot of teachers doing really exciting things. I go out of my way to make them successful. Julia Avery and Jeff Manchak are great examples of grateful teachers who have called to talk about their projects and with whom I have quickly connected.” - Kyla Clarke, Marketing and Admin Coordinator “Andy Last is one of our freelance animators. I like him as a dude because he is funny, willing to problem solve on the fly, and always flexible and available. We’ve worked together for years, so he always knows what I’m looking for in terms of tone and video delivery.” - Shaan Singha, Media Coordinator How do you like working with friends? @lrnogrphy WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE Kate Salmon Communications Strategy Specialist Learnography’s Friends:
- 11. 20 21 Most people who grow up in Canada have to take French and English in school, so almost everyone can speak a little bit of both. But there are so few of us that can truly call ourselves bilingual. I am constantly meeting people who tell me they used to speak French but now they’ve lost it. What’s happening here? In a predominantly English speaking city, there isn’t much opportunity to use French.Back home in Montreal, being bilingual hardly made me unique.Even if people weren’t completely bilingual, practically everyone spoke enough of their second language to get by.But Toronto is very different.When I moved here I realized there were huge demands for fluent French-English speakers coupled with a very limited supply.Companies here are in great need of bilingual employees to serve their national and global markets. Learnography is no exception. We have several Anglophone clients who need our help to expand their learning resources to a Francophone audience. This demand isn’t unusual for Canadian companies, but Learnography has something unique to offer: we don’t just have one single translator for our team, we have an integrated bilingual team. The tangible benefits of this diversity are obvious to both the team and our clients. For example, our Francophone clients are used to having meetings conducted in English with other partners, but we can and often do hold entire meetings in French. This makes our Francophone clients much more comfortable, and able to ask more clearly for what they want, resulting in better service. How do you keep fluent in your second language? @lrnogrphy STRATEGIES FOR BILINGUAL LEARNING Gabriel Dionne Bilingual Project Coordinator
- 12. 22 23 At the Imagine Your Workplace Conference, York University Associate Professor Marie-Hélène Budworth presented us with a whole new approach to providing employee feedback. In just seven minutes, she completely rocked my world and challenged a lot of the principles I once held dear. She presented us with the novel idea that we would better serve our employees by focusing on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. Because strengths are more likely to influence a person’s career trajectory, we should focus on how to maximize their natural assets. The ‘Feedforward’ technique Budworth coined proved to have a better impact on employee motivation and productivity than conventional performance reviews. It provides actionable feedback, giving employees a better understanding of what they bring to the table and how to use it. I couldn’t wait to test out this new technique on my co-op student when I got back to the office. What do you think, Sunil? ‘When Kate brought up the idea of using the Feedforward technique instead of the traditional performance review approach, I was more than thrilled to be her guinea pig. The Feedforward technique was much more of a casual and less stressful type of midterm review, and it was also much more efficient and rewarding.Kate asked me to describe specific instances where I performed well and we talked about what skills and attributes I brought to the table that made those success stories happen.Then we discussed how I can progress even further in my areas of strength.Focusing on things I’m good at really boosted my morale and enthusiasm for the work I do at Learnography.’ How do you motivate your team? @lrnography REDEFINING EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK Kate Salmon Communications Strategy Specialist Sunil Joshi Marketing Coordinator
- 13. 24 25 Graphic design is not about making something pretty; it’s a process that can affect great change. Good graphic design is about respecting function. It’s about enriching the information you’re presenting and the experience of the user, not just adding pretty colours. At its core, design is about solving problems.The issue could be a universal one, like not getting enough attention or retention from an online course.But at Learnography, our clients usually serve a social purpose as well.Each problem is different, and a ‘how we’ve always done it’ attitude is not going to fix the problem. Recently, I contributed to a project for the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) working to combat racism.We approached the OHRC project by asking ourselves how we could best communicate this particular topic and to this audience.Should it be a video? A website? Should we make an interactive job aid? It’s about thinking strategically and creatively, not just doing the same thing you’ve always done. We also worked with the Melanoma Network of Canada to develop an empathy training module for their peer-to-peer support network. This project wasn’t light hearted or ‘fluffy’—it was powerful. Each design element has a function and ultimately empowers the learner to reap the benefits of the course by staying motivated. There is a quote from Simon Sinek’s TedTalk that gets brought up a lot around the office.He says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”At Learnography we do what we do to make a profound difference in people’s lives.We want to enrich people’s experiences and learning.At the end of a course we want them to feel empowered. Each new challenge needs its own solution, and that includes a user-centred design. THEPOWEROF GREATDESIGN How do you design for learners? @lrnogrphy Martin Whelan Graphic Designer
- 14. 26 27 LEARNOGRAPHY TEAM How do you deliver learning? Anita Sherwin-Hamer, Evaluations Director: “I provide a context for learners to solve problems. How do you like working with friends? Vlada Shepel, Executive Coordinator: “You can always chat when the day is going by slow, get a hug when you are stressed, and share your feelings.” Why do you like learning? Gina Melvin: Operations Director “Learning is as essential as breathing. It stimulates growth and development, enriching all areas of life.” What do you want to learn today? Sheriff Ahmed, Instructional Designer & eLearning Developer: “How to make learning as engaging and fun as it can be!” How do you design for learners? Pauline Beggs, Development Director: “We consider purpose of programming and attributes of intended audience – information relevancy, prior learning, diverse learning styles, environment.” How do your grow your community? Jennyfer Caron, Bilingual Project Coordinator: “My community grows when I ask people for feedback and new ideas; it makes everyone empowered to have a voice because they know they are being heard.” How do you motivate your team? Catherine Marchand, Bilingual Project Coordinator: “I help motivate our team by fostering an obstacle-free environment, which leads to seamless collaboration and results in high quality work.” We asked our staff to tweet out their own answers to our article questions: From left: Shaan Singha, Gabriel Dionne, Pearl Vyas, Kate Salmon, Sunil Joshi, Lauren Huxtable, Kyla Clarke, Danijel Margetic, Amy Coupal, Gina Melvin, Martin Whelan, Jennyfer Caron, Juliana Trichilo Cina, Vlada Shepel, Lyndsey Breslow, Inder Sidhu, Sheriff Ahmed, Pauline Beggs, Anita Sherwin-Hamer, Catherine Marchand. Tweet @lrnogrphy to join the dialogue.
- 15. 28 29 How would you describe Learnography? It is truly the next wave of learning and the emerging way of life. Learnography is an organization that provides informative and impactful ways to assess people’s needs. What do you do for Learnography? I am the Chair of the Board for Learnography. My responsibilities are to help Learnography with its future. My job is to ensure that Learnography’s vision, mission, and values are all aligned with the organization and our clients. I work on all strategic activity looking at the long term goals of the organization as a whole. Being a member of the board, I am responsible for facilitating board members’ decision making and the overall thinking of Learnography. Why do you do this for Learnography? Being on the board for seven years now, I have fallen in love with this company. I enjoy providing insights on cutting edge opportunities for the organization and providing ideas that can make the world a better place for learners. The people I work with are a huge part of the reason I do this for Learnography. Everyone at this organization provides incredible ideas and is always a joy to work with. What will you learn today? People you may not even know could be working on something very similar to you and we need to network and connect to learn from each other. Q&A WITH THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD Peter Levesque
- 16. 30 31 Q&AWITH THE CEO How would you describe Learnography? Learnography is a dynamic social enterprise that delivers valuable learning across boundaries. At Learnography we support learners in achieving meaningful and lasting impact. What do you do for Learnography? I am the proud CEO of Learnography. My responsibilities are to bring leadership to the board and the employees, both in the short term and long term. I work with all departments and provide a range of support. In addition to this, I act as both the internal and external representative of the organization. Why do you do this for Learnography? My whole career has been centred around learning. I have a great passion for learning and have loved developing expertise in education. At this company, I have been given the opportunity to not only learn but also contribute to the learning of others and the work they do. This role has allowed me to bring leadership to the field and provide discipline and care to the success of Learnography, making it a perfect fit with my interests and goals. What will you learn today? Today, and every day, I will learn how to better juggle all my obligations! Amy Coupal