Welcome to yet another blog post that seeks to serve a very specific purpose: to provide you with answers that are easily digestible, easy to comprehend and easy to earn a spot in your brain’s go-to section!
Do any of you feel that you are light years away from understanding modern eLearning jargon? You’re not alone, this is far more common than you think.
Well, fear not, because in the following lines we will try to explain some of the most commonly used LMS buzzwords in such a way that you will comprehend and remember them for light years to come.
“To infinity and beyond” then. And yes, that was a Buzz Lightyear reference, but not just because he has a cool spacesuit, but also because he is always there to explain and assist his mates.
Cloud you say?
As in the white stuff that floats in the sky? What does TalentLMS have to do with that?
Cloud computing is a notion that has dominated the internet during the past few years and essentially it means that, in our case, the TalentLMS system lives and breathes inside our private infrastructure.
As a result, you don’t need to purchase extra computing equipment in order to make your TalentLMS fully operational. Your data, your account and essentially your TalentLMS are safe, secure and insanely fast.
And what about SaaS?
We saw this one coming! SaaS is the alter ego of the Cloud when it comes to computing, as well as corporate buzzwords. They seem to coexist during the last few years, ever since the enterprise software business has boomed.
SaaS is an abbreviation that stands for Software as a Service, you may also encounter it as “on-demand software”. The idea behind it has to do with the notion that, again in our case, TalentLMS as a product (software) is licensed on a subscription basis (as a service).
Furthermore, the product, due to its “cloud” nature, (which we’re sure that by now you get) is centrally hosted.
Who is SCORM?
Is he some sort of Norse God? Maybe Thor’s distant cousin? Well, not quite, although godly powers have been attributed to it. SCORM is perhaps one of the dearest and most commonly used eLearning buzzwords, and here’s what it’s all about.
SCORM stands for “Sharable Content Object Reference Model” and is essentially a set of technical standards for eLearning software products.
More specifically, SCORM dictates how the various types of online learning content and LMSs find common ground and communicate with each other.
TalentLMS gives you the option to add a SCORM file when creating a course. Furthermore, our platform supports also the xAPI, which is the evolution of SCORM. But this is a buzzword for another day.
What about Microlearning?
Microlearning is a buzzword that has gained a lot of hype. In fact, if a “Buzzwords 2017” guide was to be created, Microlearning would most certainly rank up near the top.
As a notion, microlearning is not new. In fact, it has been in existence for quite some time. It has gained so much attention nowadays though, due to the fast-paced world that we live in.
In an era of constant content, information and training bombardment, microlearning has emerged as a serious contender when it comes to eLearning training methods.
But what exactly is microlearning, you may wonder. Well, it is a learning methodology, a training solution that delivers learning information to learners in short, bite-sized, and easily understandable learning chunks.
A good analogy for microlearning is flashcards, only for a variety of topics and applications.
Microlearning is easy, it’s fun and above all, it answers a couple very real problems that learners face: it cuts through the clutter and overstimulation and respects the time constraints that modern life imposes on all.
Gamification, you know this one!
Indeed, it is highly likely that many of us have come across at some point to this term. It’s one of the oldest eLearning (as well as UX, usability, CX, and all sorts of experience related terms) buzzwords around, nevertheless its use and importance are still crucial.
Of all the buzzwords that we are discussing throughout this post, gamification is the easiest one to comprehend by eLearning professionals, since the industry is greatly imbued by it.
Gamification is the art of using game design elements and game-derived principles so as to magically apply them in non-game contexts. In eLearning, it simply means taking what you want to train people on and making them play a game that teaches them exactly that.
The end result, when the overall gamification strategy has been implemented thoroughly, is brilliant. Just take a look at TalentLMS and how our team has managed to successfully enrich the overall training experience.
Usability, at last!
This term seems to be wherever you turn. Tons and tons of content is being produced with the sole purpose of diving into this member of the buzzwords family.
Usability is a notion, a principle, but as with all great concepts, it too has a solid definition.
”Usability is the degree to which a piece of software can be used by specified consumers to achieve quantified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a quantified context of use.”
In other words, it is a mindset that an individual and/or a team should embrace, in order to create something, in our case a SaaS product, that will serve the specific purpose that it was intended to, while keeping the users/customers happy.
Conclusion
We trust that we have managed to provide you with some answers and perhaps shed some light on the vast array of buzzwords that eLearning is blessed with.
Please, do share your thoughts, your questions and of course if you have any buzzwords that you would like us to dive into, feel free to submit them to us, so that we can include them in the next buzzwords-glossary post!
In the meantime, feel free to check our cheat sheet. It’s quite buzzing!
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