Since 1995, the Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards have showcased these courses and recognized the creative developers behind them.
My hope is that the following five gold medal winners will help your team assess how your online curricula compare to those of leading developers and inspire you to develop new courses.
1. Law Enforcement Response to Terrorism. Today, it is not enough for officers to know terminology, indicators and procedures around terrorism. This course gives police officers extensive practice in applying knowledge in simulated situations. Photographs, illustration, audio and text from real cases were used to create an engaging experience. One judge from the Excellence in Learning Awards program said: “When presented with an online, self-paced learning asset, I typically am looking for the fastest path through it. This course, however, is one that I found to be interesting and tolerable, and I enjoyed exploring the scenarios.” Developed by Allen Interactions and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST).
2. Behavior Change Principles. This course teaches managers how to achieve superior performance by using behavior change principles. By identifying key business results for their company, managers can pinpoint employee behavior that will produce those results. One judge said: “For a non-simulation type of course, I felt that this submission was extremely well done. Rather than relying on flashy animations, the focus on solid content and practice applications is what made this course engaging, motivating and just plain interesting.” Developed by AME Learning Inc. and CLG.
3. Project Sales in Practice: The FirstCom Challenge. This course uses game-based, movie-style role-plays that challenge sales representatives to target both technical decision makers and the chief marketing officer. This approach forces the reps out of their comfort zones of engineer-to-engineer conversations. One judge described the course: “After a vignette or information, learners must select the appropriate response to a question. Additional information is provided if the answer is not correct; the learner must choose the correct answer before they can proceed to the next part of the scenario. This was a great learning tool.” Developed by the Gronstedt Group.
4. Mastering Communications Using Rich Media. This course helps sales personnel develop and hone interactive presentation skills. Users learn how to interact with clients and build and deliver presentations over virtual media. They also learn techniques for managing their audience, preparing their meeting environment and preventing technical issues. One judge said: “There is a wonderful variety of content presentation that is very effective in engaging the viewer. At no time was I bored or wanted to skip pieces. In fact, I paid close attention to the information being presented, as I [needed] to brush up on my own presentation skills. Thanks for the free lesson and some great tips.” Developed by Cisco Systems and Enspire Learning.
5. MOD Cultural Awareness Training: Iraq. This course is a cultural awareness program developed for service personnel in Iraq. A series of story lines are presented, and within each, there is a range of decision-making points. Video and audio are used to present the learner with a range of options for a situation. Feedback is provided, and then the video progresses to the next decision-making point. One judge said: “The designers and developers did a great job on making the course informative, relevant and truly instructional. I really gained a sense of culture and what it would be like to be in Iraq. I gained a feeling of how to adapt and integrate well. The course feels like a great primer before deployment.” Developed by Line Communications.
