Cannabis awareness: Preparing workplaces
How much do you know about cannabis and its legalization? In Canada, the use of recreational cannabis is now legal. Even if you’ve been following the news and think you have a fairly good idea of what this…
Cannabis and Your Body
Cannabis and Your Body is an excerpt from Velsoft’s softskills course: Cannabis and the Workplace. Cannabis is one of the most commonly used mind-altering substances in the world. The laws on growing, selling, possessing and consuming cannabis vary greatly…
Three ways to increase accessibility in your eLearning
As trainers, we sometimes take for granted that our students are able to experience a course setting in the same way that we ourselves can. The reality now is that many of the students we teach will come…
Train Your Brain with interactions
Today, Oct. 12, is National Train Your Brain Day. This is a day created to encourage people to exercise their brains through skills such as reading, word puzzles, number games, brain teasers, trivia games, riddles, and word games. The…
Introduction HTML and CSS Coding QRG
Today’s digital marketplace enables companies to use a variety of methods to better connect with their customers, most notably through the use of websites. A well-designed website provides customers with easily accessible information about the company, details on…
World Teachers Day — Celebrating the Adult Educators of Velsoft
My desire to teach at college was solidified when I had my first teaching job -- a Grade 7 class of students who had all failed at least one year of schooling. (Yes, I'm old enough to have…
Why having a well-designed website doesn’t matter
There’s a pet store down the street from my office. I went there once. I will never go back. When I walked into the store, no one was there to greet me. The store didn’t seem to be…
Why fake news is so dangerous
I remember reading a newspaper story years ago about a car getting swallowed up by a giant pothole in the community where I lived. Along with the story was a photo of a small car in the crater-like…
Pulling for Change: Velsoft plays tug-of-war with fire truck
How does it feel to pull a 20,000-pound fire truck? For employees of Velsoft, it feels fantastic, surprising, and exciting. Last weekend, Team Velsoft – made up of eight staff members, one spouse and one friend – participated…
Identifying and Combatting Fake News QRG
Building and maintaining trust is essential to attracting and retaining customers. What the public sees and hears about you is crucial to building that trust. That is why the emergence of fake news is so unsettling to businesses…
Happy World Dream Day!
A while ago, I was listening to the radio on my way to work and they were talking about dreams. According to the radio announcer, the top three types of dreams are: falling, being chased, and being at…
Recognizing the contributions of business women
One of the reasons Jennifer Hatt enjoys being a business owner is also one of things that frightens her a bit. “It’s that dual-edged joy of charting your own course with the responsibility of, well, if this doesn’t…
No robots here: Velsoft’s Text-to-Speech technology
Welcome back to another edition of CHO’s Favorite LMS Feature! To reintroduce myself, I’m the Chief Happiness Officer with Velsoft. I focus my time on new customer training and prospect demonstrations related to the znanja learning management system.…
Getting Started with Microsoft Excel Online
Excel Online is the cloud-based version of Microsoft’s spreadsheet program. It offers many tools for managing numerical data, as well as the ability to add charts, shapes, and much more. Best of all, Excel Online’s interface is intuitive…
What is a Growth Hacker and Growth Hacking?
The term growth hacker was created by Sean Ellis in 2010. He used the phrase in a blog post seeking people to take over the rapid-growth systems he was creating for start-up companies. In sifting through resumes he…
Getting to Know Velsoft’s IT Department
In honor of Programmers' Day, which was yesterday, today we’re celebrating by getting to know two members of Velsoft’s IT department. Ian Taylor Ian is the IT manager at Velsoft, and he’s been working here for the past…
Celebrating programmers to the stars and beyond
When NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 1977, they each had a mission to conduct close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn. Now, 41 years later, the twin spacecraft that were designed…
Creating a Positive Work Environment QRG
Not all of us have had the opportunity to work in a truly encouraging and upbeat environment. A positive work environment is important for the productivity of a company, but it's also important to us personally. Our emotional…
Make Your Bed Day Musings
Sept. 11 is Make Your Bed Day. I remember the fights about making my bed when I was growing up. I thought if you just threw the covers in the general vicinity of the pillows that it would be…
Bring Your Manners to Work Day at Velsoft
Most of us spend more time during the week with our co-workers than we spend with our families. Is this a good thing? Well, that’s for a future blog. Why am I thinking about this today? It’s because…
A Few Thoughts About Amphibians and Procrastination
Fight Procrastination Day was yesterday, Sept. 6. Oh … today is the sixth … I guess this means this is out on time. Cool! (I knew that, really I did!) Here are a few thoughts on putting an end…
Top 3 reasons to choose online software
You’re on your way to a meeting where you’re going to present a spreadsheet you created to show the latest sales figures, when you receive a call from a colleague telling you that some of the numbers are…
Growth hacking: Everything you need to know (almost)
Search the term growth hacking and you’ll find dozens of different definitions. Laura Moreno, a growth hacker and host of the Growth Hacking Podcast, says: “Growth Hacking is the next generation marketing for start-ups. It describes the use…
Getting to Know Velsoft
In the last installment of Getting to Know Velsoft, we introduced our summer students, who sadly, are spending their last day at the office today. This week we hope you learn something you didn't know before about two…
How are your communication skills?
One of the great things about refreshing Velsoft’s courses is that I get to learn new skills while I’m working. As a writer and former journalist, I think I’m good at asking questions in order to obtain information…
Growth Hacking Quick Reference Guide
The new economy calls for a new way of attracting customers and sales. Growth hacking is to the new economy what marketing was to the last millennium. The goal is to share a message and make a sale. The…
Training Tips from Velsoft Staff
Novice trainers make many common mistakes. These include teaching too much or too little at one time, telling without demonstrating, a lack of patience, a lack of preparation, failure to build in feedback, and failure to reduce tension.…
Comparing the Data Privacy Laws of California and Canada
With the adoption of the California Consumer Protection Act only months ago, CaCPA has joined Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation and other legislation designed to protect the data privacy of…
Getting Started with Microsoft Word Online
Getting Started with Word Online Word Online is the cloud-based version of Microsoft’s powerful word processing program. Using Word Online, you can create professional documents of nearly any type. You can also add tables, images, and much more.…
GDPR Spreading The Word Internally
An important aspect of privacy compliance is spreading the word both internally and externally. Employees need to know that privacy-related policies and procedures exist in your organization, and they need to be instructed on their use. Customers also…