It's hard to believe that summer is almost over. With September approaching, I thought I'd post some free webinars that are being offered next month.  Invest some time in keeping yourself up to date with the latest industry information. I've signed up for a number of the webinars so hope to "see" you online.

Thursday, September 1, 10am – 11am PST: Fostering Learning Beyond the Classroom

Karie Willyerd, co-author of The 2020 Workplace and former CLO at Sun Microsystems will explore how you can keep your training and development initiative up to pace with the rapidly evolving dynamics of how, when and where employees acquire knowledge.

Wednesday, September 7, 10am – 11am PST: How to Select an LMS for your Small/Medium Business

Learning management systems (LMS) are playing an increasingly important role in workplace learning and development. These systems provide learners with access to content and provide managers with the ability to track who knows what. Due to high costs and technological infrastructure requirements, large organizations have traditionally been the first to adopt learning management systems. Price and technological barriers are now dropping, making it easy for small- and medium-sized businesses to obtain an LMS.

Thursday, September 8, 10am – 11am: Web 3.0 and the Transformation of Learning

This webinar takes a look at the next evolution of the Web and what it means for the learning function. The differences between high- and low-performing organizations in terms of how they approach these new technologies will be highlighted.

Thursday, September 8, 10am – 11am: From Rapid Authoring to Rapid Reuse – Why Building Mobile Learning Requires a Scalable Content Strategy

The rapid rise of mobile learning has created a resurgence of interest in reusable content models. Nuggets of content, relevant to the individual learner, that are re-assembled and delivered on-demand and to any device. Learn how open, XML-based single-source learning content management solutions are providing a critical advantage an organization’s mobile strategy in terms of time-to-market, product innovation and efficient content development. Real-time demonstrations will be presented that leverage existing content to create flexible iPad and smart phone applications and will show you how easy it is to customize mobile content for different learners and customers.

Wednesday, September 14, 10am-11am PST: The Truth about Social Learning

"Social learning" and "informal learning" are among the training industry's hottest phrases these days. But there's so much confusion over what they mean, and what they mean to those of us in the business. Join Jan Bozarth to look at real examples of social and informal learning as it happens in workplaces all the time, every day. She’ll also generate some ideas for locating, supporting and facilitating social learning opportunities toward the greater goal of enhancing organizational performance.

Tuesday, September 20, 10am – 11am PST: Building a Business Case for Performance and Learning

Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group as she shares insights on how to create and deliver a business case that resonates, no matter the size or market of your organization. In this presentation, Harris will offer guidance and practical examples on creating a business case for investing in a more effective approach to performance management and employee development. Key take-aways include:

• The business leaders perspective
• Insights on the value of connecting performance management and employee development
• Elements in creating and delivering an effective business case for companies of every size
• Illustrations of business cases that made an impact

Tuesday, September 20, 10am – 11am PST: How to Add “Gamification” to Your eLearning Design

Do you know how Gamification can boost learning effectiveness?  Gamification is the application of theories in gaming, its attendant rewards and its motivational impact. It has caught the attention of both learning designers and elearning developers because gamification presents new opportunities to raise the learner's engagement and learning applications. But how to make it a practical enhancement to the elearning design is a mystery. In this webinar, Ray Jimenez will present case studies on how to apply gamification to enhance your eLearning projects.

Thursday, September 22, 10am – 11am PST: Navigating the Social Learning Roadmap

With more companies and organizations recognizing the value of social learning, we are fast on our way to a major shift in learning. The emergence of social media has enabled us to capture what we do quite naturally, LEARN.During this webinar, you will:

• Discover the career implications of a social learning culture

• Evaluate the value of a social learning strategy within their organization.

• Navigate steps to creating a social learning culture

• Forecast obstacles in the organizational culture that block social learning

• Fuel engagement within the framework of a social learning culture.

Tuesday, September 27, 10am-11am PST: How to Measure Informal and Social Learning Investments

Informal learning measurement (social networks, performance support, coaching) is on the rise. It is important to think about measuring this investment and comparing it against formal programs to determine its mix and place. Questions such as what, when and how to measure informal learning are challenges faced by practitioners using informal learning. This webinar will discuss informal learning capabilities, how to measure them and what resources are available to make measurement practical.

Thursday, September 29, 10am – 11am PST: Creating eLearning Stories and Exercises with Articulate Storyline®

There are two daunting tasks when using stories and exercises in eLearning: creating a good design, and authoring the software. Instead of focusing the quality of the lessons into engaging learning, designers and developers spend more time in the production work. This slows down the delivery and increases the cost. This clinic will present proven ways in using stories and exercises to engage learners as well as step by step methods to develop events, characters, choices and consequences and to quickly convert them into eLearning by using Articulate's new software, Storyline®