Mar 16, 2009
New technology - the threat to our information
The best argument for using social networking technology in corporate training.
Mar 12, 2009
Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language
Kevin Thorn, AutoZone, LLC. (personal eLearning blog)
Before I came to this session, I would have said that I only communicate in one language, English.
There are 5 language in which to communicate.
Check out all the corporate logos we all know and love. They are all speaking in a language.
Since the beginning of man, communication occurred with graphics. Think cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Mayan culture had their own graphic language (which strangely enough look like iPhone app icons).
Sequential Art: A Graphic medium are images that are used to convey a sequential narrative. Will Eisner believed that comics had teaching potential.
Now, let's all draw some simple shapes... a rectangle, a triangle, a circle. Simple shapes in just the right order, position and size can create recognizable concepts through images.
Images, turned into symbols turned into words. Now, reverse that. Take your spoken language and revert it back to written language and back into picture language.
If you get stuck drawing a concept, break it down into its core components.
Now we're recreating this clown.
Break it down into core components: big nose, crazy hair, big shoes, poofy hair, big smile... Once you focus on the individual elements and not the big picture, then drawing doesn't seem that impossible.
It doesn't need to be perfect or professional, it just needs to convey your message.
Reuse your symbols to create new images. With a library of symbols, you can become the master of your own graphic domain.
An object is first a shape, that shape occupies a space, that space defines the object. An object is a shape that occupies a space.
Take a glass:
And break it down into basic shapes: a warped rectangle and a squished circle. It's not really that hard.
It's time to build a better taco! (you had to be there)
Great session, Kevin!
Before I came to this session, I would have said that I only communicate in one language, English.
There are 5 language in which to communicate.
- Spoken
- Written - symbolic form of our spoken language
- Math - symbols for concepts and data
- Body - language of expression or gesture
- Graphic - visual language
Check out all the corporate logos we all know and love. They are all speaking in a language.
Since the beginning of man, communication occurred with graphics. Think cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Mayan culture had their own graphic language (which strangely enough look like iPhone app icons).
Sequential Art: A Graphic medium are images that are used to convey a sequential narrative. Will Eisner believed that comics had teaching potential.
Now, let's all draw some simple shapes... a rectangle, a triangle, a circle. Simple shapes in just the right order, position and size can create recognizable concepts through images.
Images, turned into symbols turned into words. Now, reverse that. Take your spoken language and revert it back to written language and back into picture language.
If you get stuck drawing a concept, break it down into its core components.
Now we're recreating this clown.
Break it down into core components: big nose, crazy hair, big shoes, poofy hair, big smile... Once you focus on the individual elements and not the big picture, then drawing doesn't seem that impossible.It doesn't need to be perfect or professional, it just needs to convey your message.
Any problem can be make clearer with a picture and any picture can be made using the same simple set of tools and rules. - Dan RoamSquares, circles, rectangles, lines and dots... all you need to make the world go round.
Reuse your symbols to create new images. With a library of symbols, you can become the master of your own graphic domain.
An object is first a shape, that shape occupies a space, that space defines the object. An object is a shape that occupies a space.
Take a glass:
And break it down into basic shapes: a warped rectangle and a squished circle. It's not really that hard.
It's time to build a better taco! (you had to be there)
Great session, Kevin!
Rapid, Reusable, and Custom: How to Use Flash & XML to Streamline eLearning
Gayle Beebe, Bottom-Line Performance, Inc.
Today Gayle going to identify ways to use XML and Flash in eLearning, how to change XML to alter a Flash template, analyze best practices and compare and share tips and tricks.
XML - eXtensile Markup Language. It's open standard, meaning that you can use your own tags. So the computer and the human can understand the codes.
Some tools:
Gayle's showing how to update XML code using XML Notepad. <
Today Gayle going to identify ways to use XML and Flash in eLearning, how to change XML to alter a Flash template, analyze best practices and compare and share tips and tricks.
XML - eXtensile Markup Language. It's open standard, meaning that you can use your own tags. So the computer and the human can understand the codes.
Some tools:
- Adobe Dreamweaver (more complicated than it's worth for XML)
- XML Notepad Editor (free!)
- Microsoft Notepad (free!)
- Interoperable
- Content is external from the engine/design
- Faster load times
- Write your own set of tags
- A lot of upfront work
- Need an applicaiton to run XML
- code must be well-formed
Gayle's showing how to update XML code using XML Notepad. <
>
First the discussion was about the virtues of using XML & Flash. A little antsy because I know this already. But then she got into the code of XML and Flash's Action Script. Woah... it's too late in the day and my head is crammed with too much stuff to look at code. Plus watching her code on the screen was way too hard becasue the text was way too small.
This may have been cooler if it was a hands-on session. Demonstrate how changes in XML show instantly in the Flash output.
Good takeaway -- show a screenshot of the Flash template page and clearly identify the content areas and their associated character/line count available. Excellent for the IDs to know exactly what their paramaters are.
Using templates frees up your developers to make more custom animations or more templates.
Some other good takeaways that will benefit the team back in the office:
- Consistent naming standards
- Folder and file organization structure
- Gayle's Sample Files (Session 710)
Plan for success:
- Create and maintain a detailed programming plan
- Craete an environment that fosters communitcaion
Making the Grade: Quality Assurance for eLearning Design at Penn State
Amy Garbrick, Penn State University
Already excited with this session because of the handouts provided: a course review worksheet, an inspector input worksheet and a whole thing on eLearning design standards. Hallelujah! Finally something I can use to make our courses better. I've been talking about trying to apply standards, but could never find standards to adhere to.
This session is all about how PSU developed quality standards, implemented them and the process of how they did it all.
The problem at PSU:
QA Standards are a set of 12 standards and determining what metrics will be measured to know if courses have met these standards, as well as developing best practices for course design. PSU went through a lengthy process to get the results they have today.
Quality Assurance documents at PSU:
While quality and consistence has benefits, there are some challenges are on flexibility, and internal 'political' hurdles.
Group Work to assess a PSU course based on one of the 12 standards. We're checking #9 Learning Activities and Assessment.
Biggest eyeopening moment: what corporate sees as interactive is very different than what higher education sees as interactive.
The group activity really didn't seem as effective as I expected. The focus of this was geared more towards higher education training and I'm on the corporate side. I think the best thing I got out of this session are the handouts. I would have been more excited if the session covered how PSU came up with the standards or presented a walk-through on how they applied the QA on a particular course.
I started to glaze over when the conversation turned to Moodle, Blackboard, type of course management systems. Again, not corporate based so less relevant to me.
Hopefully the next session is better for me.
Already excited with this session because of the handouts provided: a course review worksheet, an inspector input worksheet and a whole thing on eLearning design standards. Hallelujah! Finally something I can use to make our courses better. I've been talking about trying to apply standards, but could never find standards to adhere to.
This session is all about how PSU developed quality standards, implemented them and the process of how they did it all.
The problem at PSU:
- course design & development varied among colleges, designers, ect. No one standard. Some developed by faculty, some by teams, some new, some old.
- Can PSU decide on design standards (visual).
QA Standards are a set of 12 standards and determining what metrics will be measured to know if courses have met these standards, as well as developing best practices for course design. PSU went through a lengthy process to get the results they have today.
Quality Assurance documents at PSU:
- The Standards
- Instructor Input Form (for course review)
completed by course faculty developer to provide additional information about the course - Course Review Worksheet
While quality and consistence has benefits, there are some challenges are on flexibility, and internal 'political' hurdles.
Group Work to assess a PSU course based on one of the 12 standards. We're checking #9 Learning Activities and Assessment.
Biggest eyeopening moment: what corporate sees as interactive is very different than what higher education sees as interactive.
The group activity really didn't seem as effective as I expected. The focus of this was geared more towards higher education training and I'm on the corporate side. I think the best thing I got out of this session are the handouts. I would have been more excited if the session covered how PSU came up with the standards or presented a walk-through on how they applied the QA on a particular course.
I started to glaze over when the conversation turned to Moodle, Blackboard, type of course management systems. Again, not corporate based so less relevant to me.
Hopefully the next session is better for me.
The Powerful Webcomic Approach: Learning from Smithsonian
Daniel Bilton, Booz Allen Hamilton
Robert Costello, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)- responsible for electronic educational outreach
Stories are experience simulators. They provide the information, the context and the models that people need to make decisions. (There's that context word again!)
How do you turn a boring story into a sticky story that produces action?
Case study (boring)
Provide the teaching point, definition and the scenario. Too much facts, but not enough feeling or attention spend on the background stimulus. Where's the human factor?
Action story
Introduce the nurse and what she notices about the patient. ... (then into a compelling story of how the nurse saves the day and what happens). The discussion after the story talked about the learning point. The story provided simulation (knowledge and how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).
Sticky Story SUCCESS Checklist
Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Sparks Action or, Provides a Solution
(from Made To Stick book)
Stories are good vehicles for many types of communications.
The Smithsonian needed to expand reach and teach scientific learning objectives. So they had to: increase the public understanding of the process of science, increase pubic awareness of NMNH research and increase the understanding of forensic science.
How evffective is storytelling? Among middle and high school students (NMNH target audience), they are technically savvy, connected and play video games, watch movies and read comic books.
So in the MNNH project, the main storyline hero is a character that the audience can relate to. Provide the storyline, give the hook and blend in the lessons, objectives, practice examples and scenarios. The story was based on a true story: a bone forensic mystery found in a cellar in Colonial America. The coolest part... the character even got her own Facebook page!
The webcomic got the audience to become emotional about the training. They became empathetic about the characters in the story. (As well as the other SUCCESS factors)
How popular are comic books? Have you seen the magna section in Barnes & Noble? And those reading... not just nerdy boys. There are plenty of magna for girls, too. Young female creators are also among the hottest new comic artists. So don't think that just because it's comic style that it won't be accepted!
Visual storytelling is sticky and an effective instructional approach.
NMNH didn't do a game because it needed to be done quick, and get acrosss a lot of information. And no audio either because of the cognitive load issues. Most read faster than the audio can run.
Sketches done on the comics. Then focus groups with middle and high school kids to get their reaction. The kids in the gropus played out the characters to see if the jokes and learning were received properly. Turns out, they got the story and provided great feedback on the language (lingo) used, font style, and other stuff that could only come from the target audience.
The story is a passive experience, but there was the goal to engage the learners into apply what they learned through exercises. They could dig deeper into the information, make their own judgement calls or compare their answers with other learners.
The story used collaboration in an online community and that made them pay more attention to the story (lesson). Try: instead of a regualar multiple choice question that provided an answer, make it a polling question where you can see the results of other learners.
The results of Google Analytics on the course:
Action - What is the starting event?
Background - What is the situation?
Conflict - What needs to specifically happen?
Development - What happens and who is involved?
End - What is the key take-away?
Lessons Learned
Robert Costello, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)- responsible for electronic educational outreach
Stories are experience simulators. They provide the information, the context and the models that people need to make decisions. (There's that context word again!)
How do you turn a boring story into a sticky story that produces action?
Case study (boring)
Provide the teaching point, definition and the scenario. Too much facts, but not enough feeling or attention spend on the background stimulus. Where's the human factor?
Action story
Introduce the nurse and what she notices about the patient. ... (then into a compelling story of how the nurse saves the day and what happens). The discussion after the story talked about the learning point. The story provided simulation (knowledge and how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).
Sticky Story SUCCESS Checklist
Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Sparks Action or, Provides a Solution
(from Made To Stick book)
Stories are good vehicles for many types of communications.
The Smithsonian needed to expand reach and teach scientific learning objectives. So they had to: increase the public understanding of the process of science, increase pubic awareness of NMNH research and increase the understanding of forensic science.
How evffective is storytelling? Among middle and high school students (NMNH target audience), they are technically savvy, connected and play video games, watch movies and read comic books.
So in the MNNH project, the main storyline hero is a character that the audience can relate to. Provide the storyline, give the hook and blend in the lessons, objectives, practice examples and scenarios. The story was based on a true story: a bone forensic mystery found in a cellar in Colonial America. The coolest part... the character even got her own Facebook page!
The webcomic got the audience to become emotional about the training. They became empathetic about the characters in the story. (As well as the other SUCCESS factors)
How popular are comic books? Have you seen the magna section in Barnes & Noble? And those reading... not just nerdy boys. There are plenty of magna for girls, too. Young female creators are also among the hottest new comic artists. So don't think that just because it's comic style that it won't be accepted!
Visual storytelling is sticky and an effective instructional approach.
NMNH didn't do a game because it needed to be done quick, and get acrosss a lot of information. And no audio either because of the cognitive load issues. Most read faster than the audio can run.
Sketches done on the comics. Then focus groups with middle and high school kids to get their reaction. The kids in the gropus played out the characters to see if the jokes and learning were received properly. Turns out, they got the story and provided great feedback on the language (lingo) used, font style, and other stuff that could only come from the target audience.
The story is a passive experience, but there was the goal to engage the learners into apply what they learned through exercises. They could dig deeper into the information, make their own judgement calls or compare their answers with other learners.
The story used collaboration in an online community and that made them pay more attention to the story (lesson). Try: instead of a regualar multiple choice question that provided an answer, make it a polling question where you can see the results of other learners.
The results of Google Analytics on the course:
- bounce rate low -- good! People are sticking around -- for about 9.5 minutes!
- the target audience is middle & high school kids, but survey respondents on "how old are you" indicate that 66% is older than 46!
- generates more interest
- liked the mystery aspect
- visuals great for memory and learning
Action - What is the starting event?
Background - What is the situation?
Conflict - What needs to specifically happen?
Development - What happens and who is involved?
End - What is the key take-away?
Lessons Learned
- ID's shoudl think of themselves as writers
- Apply SEction 508
- Try to use social media networks
AG09 - Day Two: Opening & Keynote
Let's talk about Ah-Ha moments from yesterday.
Recognition by LINGOs to Greg Davis - 2009 Volunteer of the Year. He delivers all his training online from Panama. Corporate partner of the year is Articulate. So now I need to check out LINGOs more. The concept is interesting.
Click: What Millions ARe doing Online and Why It Matters to You as an ELearning Professional
Bill Tancer is the general manager of global research at Hitwise, the world’s leading online competitive intelligence services. Or really, a datageek. How so? He entered the talent show at Science Camp in high school and WON! Don't forget to celebrate Pi day! (3/14)
"To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something." Walker Percy
He got started as a writer by given an assignment, then Googling "how to write a magazine column". Immediate need? Immediate search. Immediate learn.
Hitwise's data sampleis massive... can't get into the stats now. Can't read the slide.
So he gets stranger. He has this obsession with prom dresses (?!). Specifically the search terms on 'prom dresses'.
"What is the one thing people is searching to buy on the internet?" Prom Dresses. The spike occured the first week of January. Strange because retailers put out the marketing for prom dresses in March.
Turns out the answer was given by the GM or a teen magazine who approached Tancer at a presentation. The teen magazines started putting out their prom dress promotion in January to change consumer behavior. Solved.
Another data story: data also shows huge spike for the term "diet" starting Jan 1... but drops sharply on Jan 5. Go fugure. Know when "diet" is the lowest? Thanksgiving.
About engagement ring search data...
The search spike is the week before Thanksgiving. Jewelery stores marketing on engagement rings are right after Thanksgiving. WTF?
The theory is: girls bring guy home to meet family. Guys pressured to get an engagement ring. OR... guys are searching before Thanksgiving to get information on them, comparison shop, before they actually make the purchase after Thanksgiving.
An ah-ha moment: Dancing With The Stars is really a popularity content. Therefore, he predictited the winner by checking out the search term data on the contestents. Turns out he was wrong in his prediction. But he was excited that he was wrong. Why? Becasue he's a datageek.
On closer analysis, the data reveals the real reasons why the DWTS search results were skewed. The searchers weren't fans, but sex-starved males checking out the hot contestent. You have to pay attentionto the intent of search as well as the search results. "The Stacy Keilber Correction Coefficient (SKCC)."
Applying the SKCC to housing sales, Tancer predicted how the housing market was going to go. His prediction was wrong, but he was "almost right".
Cognitie Dissonance - the difference between giving an honest answer and giving an answer that you think is the one someone wants to hear. But really, actions speak louder than words. For example, if you ask "who visits porn sites?"... crickets. But when you look at the data of visits to pron sites they're through the roof. So... who's lying?
The Narrative Fallacy: creating a story after the fact so that an event will seem to have an identifiable cause. (See Nassim Nicholas Taleb and his book Black Swan).
The data also suggest that as the market tanks during this recession, eLearning enrollment increases. So, is eLearning recession proof? Enrollment at online universities and online components of brink & morter universities show it's a fact. The higher income people are taking advantage of going back to school.
The value of Twitter: you can listen and and to any conversation in the Twitterverse. Tancer found his value in it when he gave an immediate plug to his book to someone who had just asked if it was any good. For more data, check out search.twitter.com and trends.google.com.
Corporate eLearning isn't forgotten. They haven't gotten the same huge increase as university eLearning, but searches for eLearning platforms have increased. Technology companies are leading the way, followed by education, online retailers and the entertainment industry.
So...
Observed behavior provides unique insight into changing consumer sentiment.
Great Keynote!! I guess I'm a datageek, too!
- Jenna Delaney's ah-ha moment "I did it! Finally!"
- Sean: "I'm not as alone in joy/misery as I previous thought."
Recognition by LINGOs to Greg Davis - 2009 Volunteer of the Year. He delivers all his training online from Panama. Corporate partner of the year is Articulate. So now I need to check out LINGOs more. The concept is interesting.
LINGOs (Learning for International Non-Governmental Organizations) works to improve the performance, lower the cost and increase the effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs.) Together, LINGOs member agencies provide humanitarian relief and development assistance in over 125 countries around the world. By working together, LINGOs agencies and partners increase the impact of their work by sharing learning resources.Keynote Speaker, Bill Tancer
Click: What Millions ARe doing Online and Why It Matters to You as an ELearning Professional
Bill Tancer is the general manager of global research at Hitwise, the world’s leading online competitive intelligence services. Or really, a datageek. How so? He entered the talent show at Science Camp in high school and WON! Don't forget to celebrate Pi day! (3/14)
"To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something." Walker Percy
He got started as a writer by given an assignment, then Googling "how to write a magazine column". Immediate need? Immediate search. Immediate learn.
Hitwise's data sampleis massive... can't get into the stats now. Can't read the slide.
So he gets stranger. He has this obsession with prom dresses (?!). Specifically the search terms on 'prom dresses'.
"What is the one thing people is searching to buy on the internet?" Prom Dresses. The spike occured the first week of January. Strange because retailers put out the marketing for prom dresses in March.
Turns out the answer was given by the GM or a teen magazine who approached Tancer at a presentation. The teen magazines started putting out their prom dress promotion in January to change consumer behavior. Solved.
Another data story: data also shows huge spike for the term "diet" starting Jan 1... but drops sharply on Jan 5. Go fugure. Know when "diet" is the lowest? Thanksgiving.
About engagement ring search data...
The search spike is the week before Thanksgiving. Jewelery stores marketing on engagement rings are right after Thanksgiving. WTF?
The theory is: girls bring guy home to meet family. Guys pressured to get an engagement ring. OR... guys are searching before Thanksgiving to get information on them, comparison shop, before they actually make the purchase after Thanksgiving.
An ah-ha moment: Dancing With The Stars is really a popularity content. Therefore, he predictited the winner by checking out the search term data on the contestents. Turns out he was wrong in his prediction. But he was excited that he was wrong. Why? Becasue he's a datageek.
On closer analysis, the data reveals the real reasons why the DWTS search results were skewed. The searchers weren't fans, but sex-starved males checking out the hot contestent. You have to pay attentionto the intent of search as well as the search results. "The Stacy Keilber Correction Coefficient (SKCC)."
Applying the SKCC to housing sales, Tancer predicted how the housing market was going to go. His prediction was wrong, but he was "almost right".
Cognitie Dissonance - the difference between giving an honest answer and giving an answer that you think is the one someone wants to hear. But really, actions speak louder than words. For example, if you ask "who visits porn sites?"... crickets. But when you look at the data of visits to pron sites they're through the roof. So... who's lying?
The Narrative Fallacy: creating a story after the fact so that an event will seem to have an identifiable cause. (See Nassim Nicholas Taleb and his book Black Swan).
The data also suggest that as the market tanks during this recession, eLearning enrollment increases. So, is eLearning recession proof? Enrollment at online universities and online components of brink & morter universities show it's a fact. The higher income people are taking advantage of going back to school.
The value of Twitter: you can listen and and to any conversation in the Twitterverse. Tancer found his value in it when he gave an immediate plug to his book to someone who had just asked if it was any good. For more data, check out search.twitter.com and trends.google.com.
Corporate eLearning isn't forgotten. They haven't gotten the same huge increase as university eLearning, but searches for eLearning platforms have increased. Technology companies are leading the way, followed by education, online retailers and the entertainment industry.
So...
Observed behavior provides unique insight into changing consumer sentiment.
Great Keynote!! I guess I'm a datageek, too!
Mar 11, 2009
AG09 - Wednesday Recap
Wow, what a full day. Now that I can relax in my pj's I can review my notes, tweets and blog posts and make some sense out of what I saw and heard today.
Jeff Howe's keynote presentation on Crowdsourcing was an interesting concept. Got a problem? Share it with the un-named, un-faced public and their collective knowledge and creativity can often return a soltuion that is revoltuionary. There is little to no cost for the problem poster, the talent pool for the problem solvers is endless and the recognition that the problem solvers receive is payment enough for their efforts.
I liked the examples he presented, threadless.com and istockphoto.com becasue I actually use both of those sites.
I snuck out a little early to attend Tom Kuhlmann's presentation at the ID Zone, "Is Rapid E-Learning a Myth?" What I enjoyed most about Tom's session is that it wasn't an Articulate advertisement, but practical application of using a rapid e-learning tool, any tool, to develop engaging learning courses. I read his blog religiously and greatly appreciate all the tips and tricks he provides. But I am a newly converted Articulate lover and I was able to get my product specific questions answered by Tom later in the afternoon. I can't wait to get my hands dirty with Quizmaker and Engage.
My first session of the day was with Patti Shank on "What Activities are Needed?" I never read her books or seen her before. My first thought was 'Damn! This woman has a mind that's all over the place!' Patti is an energetic person who self-admittadly does not think linearly. At times it was hard to follow where she was going, but overall, I enjoyed her session. I didn't blog or tweet while her session was going on because my laptop was recharging. I had to revert to notetaking 1.0 -- pen and paper.
Learning is about DOing (which will be a recurring theme today), so training should be about opportunities to practice what learners will ultimately DO on the job. She shared a cute and interesting tidbit: even songbirds need to learn how to sing. They practice just like the rest of us.
There are three steps to her process:
After lunch I attended Will Thalheimer's session on Situation-based Learning Design. I was looking forward to his session since I've heard him present at a webinar and I follow his blog. He uses research to back up his message: if you make your learning context similar to the work context, there is higher incidence of recall and the learner does the right thing at the right time. I took notes and posted them separately.
I was looking forward to the session by the Suddenly Smart team "A Better Way to Design and Build Immersive eLearning". The premise was intersting: there was to be audience participation & presenter challenge -- collect a topic from the audience that presents a performance need. Then, while Robert does the presentation, Blake will build the course that meets the performance need using the rapid development tool, Smartbuilder.
However the first 15 minutes were back and forth conversations to a few individual members of the audience and completely left out the rest of the audience. They spent so much time trying to get the details of the course they were going to spontaneously build that they forgot that they had an actual session to present. I left quickly after that to find something that was more interesting, which is a shame because I would have really liked to learn more about immersive eLearning.
Instead, I went back to the ID Zone and listened to "Game On! Can You Have Fun and Learn?" with Metcalf and Oehlert. Turns out you can. I arrived late so I didn't do a full blog on this, but I did tweet a lot. Casual games (solitaire, tetris, etc) are simple games that aren't graphic impressive. But how many hours have you found yourself glued to the screen?
Games are really just a simulation with scoring. (See Kongregate for casual games with a social aspect.) They are naturally 'sticky'. People are more easily engaged in a game than in traditional training. What if you were to incorporate casual games with a social aspect (such as a chat window). Then you would see how people learn from each other and created teams. And if you think about it, that's how most people's work environment are as well, formed in teams. So, games for gaming sake probably won't be the answer. But if you align the game objectives with the learning objectives, then you have something that can be really effective.
My last session of the day was also an ID Zone presentation. "Once Upon a Time: The Impact of Storytelling on your Design". This also got its own blog post. I liked this session. They helped you plan out how to organize the components of developing a good story: the objective, facts, the situation, the charaters, the plot and finally the resolution.
It was a good, long day. Can't wait for the next one.
Jeff Howe's keynote presentation on Crowdsourcing was an interesting concept. Got a problem? Share it with the un-named, un-faced public and their collective knowledge and creativity can often return a soltuion that is revoltuionary. There is little to no cost for the problem poster, the talent pool for the problem solvers is endless and the recognition that the problem solvers receive is payment enough for their efforts.
I liked the examples he presented, threadless.com and istockphoto.com becasue I actually use both of those sites.
I snuck out a little early to attend Tom Kuhlmann's presentation at the ID Zone, "Is Rapid E-Learning a Myth?" What I enjoyed most about Tom's session is that it wasn't an Articulate advertisement, but practical application of using a rapid e-learning tool, any tool, to develop engaging learning courses. I read his blog religiously and greatly appreciate all the tips and tricks he provides. But I am a newly converted Articulate lover and I was able to get my product specific questions answered by Tom later in the afternoon. I can't wait to get my hands dirty with Quizmaker and Engage.
My first session of the day was with Patti Shank on "What Activities are Needed?" I never read her books or seen her before. My first thought was 'Damn! This woman has a mind that's all over the place!' Patti is an energetic person who self-admittadly does not think linearly. At times it was hard to follow where she was going, but overall, I enjoyed her session. I didn't blog or tweet while her session was going on because my laptop was recharging. I had to revert to notetaking 1.0 -- pen and paper.
Learning is about DOing (which will be a recurring theme today), so training should be about opportunities to practice what learners will ultimately DO on the job. She shared a cute and interesting tidbit: even songbirds need to learn how to sing. They practice just like the rest of us.
There are three steps to her process:
- Uncover the DO
- Convert the DO into activities
- Select media to support the activity
After lunch I attended Will Thalheimer's session on Situation-based Learning Design. I was looking forward to his session since I've heard him present at a webinar and I follow his blog. He uses research to back up his message: if you make your learning context similar to the work context, there is higher incidence of recall and the learner does the right thing at the right time. I took notes and posted them separately.
I was looking forward to the session by the Suddenly Smart team "A Better Way to Design and Build Immersive eLearning". The premise was intersting: there was to be audience participation & presenter challenge -- collect a topic from the audience that presents a performance need. Then, while Robert does the presentation, Blake will build the course that meets the performance need using the rapid development tool, Smartbuilder.
However the first 15 minutes were back and forth conversations to a few individual members of the audience and completely left out the rest of the audience. They spent so much time trying to get the details of the course they were going to spontaneously build that they forgot that they had an actual session to present. I left quickly after that to find something that was more interesting, which is a shame because I would have really liked to learn more about immersive eLearning.
Instead, I went back to the ID Zone and listened to "Game On! Can You Have Fun and Learn?" with Metcalf and Oehlert. Turns out you can. I arrived late so I didn't do a full blog on this, but I did tweet a lot. Casual games (solitaire, tetris, etc) are simple games that aren't graphic impressive. But how many hours have you found yourself glued to the screen?
Games are really just a simulation with scoring. (See Kongregate for casual games with a social aspect.) They are naturally 'sticky'. People are more easily engaged in a game than in traditional training. What if you were to incorporate casual games with a social aspect (such as a chat window). Then you would see how people learn from each other and created teams. And if you think about it, that's how most people's work environment are as well, formed in teams. So, games for gaming sake probably won't be the answer. But if you align the game objectives with the learning objectives, then you have something that can be really effective.
My last session of the day was also an ID Zone presentation. "Once Upon a Time: The Impact of Storytelling on your Design". This also got its own blog post. I liked this session. They helped you plan out how to organize the components of developing a good story: the objective, facts, the situation, the charaters, the plot and finally the resolution.
It was a good, long day. Can't wait for the next one.
ID Zone: Storytelling in eLearning
You are a natural born storyteller! Every time you tell a joke, relate an incident, explain facts & figures, talk about your childhood, recreate the steps in a task... See, you can do it.
How does storytelling relate to eLearning?
For design:
Nonfiction stories in eLearning
Those stories are captured from direct observation or interviews. These are true events. Nonfiction stories can put the learning into context for the learner and make the resulting training more relevant.
Fiction stories
They may be based on real-life scenarios. Often a composite of many experiences. They can be used as cautionary tales or to model exemplary behavior.
So, let's create a story...
First, let's create an objective.
Demonstrate a useful, non-traditional way to use a toothbrush.
A good story contains:
Who does this? Define the user categories.
What are their goals?
There are many useful ways to get more from life from a used toothbrush.
Where does this happen and in what circumstance?
You can reuse an old toothbrush at home, at work, for cleaning, or other creative projects.
Characters really bring the story to life.
Personas represent characters' similarities and differences. Personas are composites of user analysis and turning it into a particular character. Also a user profile. They're not one real person, not a sterotype but an archetype, and not your average joe. They have specific properties.
They include:
Now, what's the conflict?
BAck to our example. Kathy, our character is having trouble keeping the areas of her sink clean.
The resolution?
Kathy heard from a friend that a toothbrush could help.
Now yout can take that, put it all together, and you can build a scenario that is more robust. Remember elementary school? A scenario is really a story problem.
Change the persona, and the whole scenario changes. Instead of grandma Kathy, how about Paris Hilton or MacGyver?
Go and have fun. How can you use it in your design, in your content and in your evaluation?
How does storytelling relate to eLearning?
For design:
- confirm what to cover (objectives)
- decide how to cover it (design)
- using scenarios
- sell the course to futures learners (WIIFM)
- learn how peiple are using the couse in real life
Nonfiction stories in eLearning
Those stories are captured from direct observation or interviews. These are true events. Nonfiction stories can put the learning into context for the learner and make the resulting training more relevant.
Fiction stories
They may be based on real-life scenarios. Often a composite of many experiences. They can be used as cautionary tales or to model exemplary behavior.
So, let's create a story...
First, let's create an objective.
Demonstrate a useful, non-traditional way to use a toothbrush.
A good story contains:
- facts
- situation
- characters
- plot (conflict)
- resolution (ending)
Who does this? Define the user categories.
What are their goals?
There are many useful ways to get more from life from a used toothbrush.
Where does this happen and in what circumstance?
You can reuse an old toothbrush at home, at work, for cleaning, or other creative projects.
Characters really bring the story to life.
Personas represent characters' similarities and differences. Personas are composites of user analysis and turning it into a particular character. Also a user profile. They're not one real person, not a sterotype but an archetype, and not your average joe. They have specific properties.
They include:
- name/picture
- job title
- demographics
- goals and tasks in relation to the subject
- environment
- a quote that sums up what matters most to the persona.
Now, what's the conflict?
BAck to our example. Kathy, our character is having trouble keeping the areas of her sink clean.
The resolution?
Kathy heard from a friend that a toothbrush could help.
Now yout can take that, put it all together, and you can build a scenario that is more robust. Remember elementary school? A scenario is really a story problem.
Change the persona, and the whole scenario changes. Instead of grandma Kathy, how about Paris Hilton or MacGyver?
Go and have fun. How can you use it in your design, in your content and in your evaluation?
Situation Based Learning Design
Situation-Based Learning Design: Research Insights for Enhanced Remembering and Performance
Will Thalheimer, willatworklearning.com
It's just about standing room only in Will's session. Glad I came early and swiped a chair next to a power outlet. These seats are scarce!
It's important to create metaphors that are understandable by "real people".
This session is to share the evolution of the concept of "situation-based learning".
Goal for eLearning designer:
Retrieval = Learning - Forgetting + Spontaneous Remembering.
Don't forget the forgetting factor. Include opportunities for learners to retrieve the information in regular intervals otherwise the learning is lost.
Situation-based learning begins with the magic question: "What do we want out learners to be able to do and in what situations do we want our learners to do those things?"
SEDA - Real-world application process to situation-based learning
The problem is presenting concepts without providing practice. This turns into a test of memorization. Or provide decisions with no actions. Or provide inadequate evaluations of situations. Or offer a decision without proving the proper situation to apply. All bad and doesn't provide adequate results.
All steps must be followed through to allow the learner to retrieve the knowedlge at the appropriate time.
We absorb more than just the learning message. It's the learning message and background stimuli (noise, sights, smells, emotions, etc.). When it comes down to retrieving the information, memories of background stimuli can also trigger the retreival event. Multiple cues (triggers) improve the retreival results.
A practical example: you're in the kitchen and remember to get something out of the living room. You go to the living room and forget want you needed. So you go back to the kitchen and remember what you needed in the living room. Your background stimulus (location) triggered the memory.
Move from topic-based to situation-based design. By aligning the situational cues to real-world events, the retrieval is more effective.
Summary
Will Thalheimer, willatworklearning.com
It's just about standing room only in Will's session. Glad I came early and swiped a chair next to a power outlet. These seats are scarce!
It's important to create metaphors that are understandable by "real people".
This session is to share the evolution of the concept of "situation-based learning".
Goal for eLearning designer:
- get learners to act differerntly
- to perform far-reaching tasks
- to retrieve the information they need to apply what was learned
- an environmental cue can trigger a memory
- our mind searches the information
- from rehearsal, we apply the knowledge
Retrieval = Learning - Forgetting + Spontaneous Remembering.
Don't forget the forgetting factor. Include opportunities for learners to retrieve the information in regular intervals otherwise the learning is lost.
Situation-based learning begins with the magic question: "What do we want out learners to be able to do and in what situations do we want our learners to do those things?"
SEDA - Real-world application process to situation-based learning
- Situation
- Evaluation
- Decide
- Action
The problem is presenting concepts without providing practice. This turns into a test of memorization. Or provide decisions with no actions. Or provide inadequate evaluations of situations. Or offer a decision without proving the proper situation to apply. All bad and doesn't provide adequate results.
All steps must be followed through to allow the learner to retrieve the knowedlge at the appropriate time.
We absorb more than just the learning message. It's the learning message and background stimuli (noise, sights, smells, emotions, etc.). When it comes down to retrieving the information, memories of background stimuli can also trigger the retreival event. Multiple cues (triggers) improve the retreival results.
A practical example: you're in the kitchen and remember to get something out of the living room. You go to the living room and forget want you needed. So you go back to the kitchen and remember what you needed in the living room. Your background stimulus (location) triggered the memory.
Move from topic-based to situation-based design. By aligning the situational cues to real-world events, the retrieval is more effective.
Summary
- By aligning contexts, we can create spontaneous remembering
- Start designing differently - based on what learners should DO and not KNOW
- Benefits = more remembering, better results
ID Zone: Is Rapid e-Learning a Myth?
Tom Kuhlmann, Articulate
Author of the Rapid E-Learning Blog
Finally, after reading his blog for months, I get to put a face to a name!
Rapid isn't a myth, it 's a reality. Its' not PPT to Flash. (Bad PPT = bad e-learning). Rapid eLearning is the allowing the software to automate the production process for you.
It's not how great your tools are, is how great you're getting the information to the learner.
10 (really 4) you need to know about e-learning:
Author of the Rapid E-Learning Blog
Finally, after reading his blog for months, I get to put a face to a name!
Rapid isn't a myth, it 's a reality. Its' not PPT to Flash. (Bad PPT = bad e-learning). Rapid eLearning is the allowing the software to automate the production process for you.
It's not how great your tools are, is how great you're getting the information to the learner.
10 (really 4) you need to know about e-learning:
- Types of authoring tools
Form based
Freeform
Screencast - You are the bridge between the client and the learner
You need to create that environment that will help the learner actually learn. - Make rapid elearning your default position
Start thinking that that's the approach you'll take. Then as the needs presents itself, look for hybrid, then custom solutions. Save your Flash designers' skill sets (and budgets) for more complex, challenging projects. - There's more to it than the course
- CPR Demo
Learner has the option to get info linearly, or jump into the activity. - JustLeapIn.com
3D Virtual reality tool that can be imported into PPT for a more engaging exprience - Tinychat
Embed a chat room to allow learners (or maybe even a SME) to interact real time Creates sort of a blended-learning environment
AG09 - Keynote Speaker
Jeff Howe, Wired Magazine
Crowdsourcing: Why the power of the crowd is drivin the future of business
Jeff's video explanation of Crowdsourcing:
The internet created a virtual crowd that comes together through shared interests. When a company takes a job that was once performed by employees and changes it to an open call, undefined position to the general public. Photography is an example. Digital SLR, Photoshop & the Internet make amateur photographers now providig their work to stock photo sites. These groups come up as organicaly by people formally know as customers. Online communities are the building block of crowdsourcing. Shows that people can come together and create organized units.
The Warped Tour grabbed his interest on how the participants have a creative relationship with the tools to create their art. The art isn't about the technology but how the 'kids' used it to seemlessly create thir own works. It's not about content. It's about everyone having a changed relationship with their products. There is a blurring of the lines of producer and consumer.
Example: Threadless.com. User created designs for t-shirts. Then, users can vote on t-shirt designs. The tasks are things that can happen in 30 seconds. Revenue exploded. What started as an idea to please their designer friends, the site creators are now 'doing very well for themselves." What does the crowd do for Treadless?
- gives cheep labor by creating the designs
- designers become pseudo-famous because their designs are everywhere
- marketing & advertising (Threadless Street Team) Threadless never spent $ on an advertising budget becaues their users do all the free advertising.
- instant metrics for consumer demand
Example: iStockphoto.com. User genereated photos for general use. Pay by credits, not by photo. Created to benefit the community. Photographers have a place to publish their work. Designers have a place to purchase cheep photos.
Cardinal Rule of Crowdsourcing:
Ask not what your community can do for you -- ask what you can do for your community.
... left early to attend ID Zone.
Mar 10, 2009
Designing Scenario-based eLearning
Today was the first day of the eLearning Guild's Annual Gathering 2009. I took the Designing Scenario-based eLearning certificate program.
Tom Eucker, a colleague of Ruth Clark started off talking about his experience, then brought up this statistic:
The US spent $134 Billion on training in 2007! (ASTD: 2008 report) Most of that (62.2%) is salaries, development, admin, etc. Classroom training has been leading the charge, but technology is rapidly gaining ground. Most of the technology has been self-study. But classroom will never go away. There's always the human element that people like to be around other people to get their perspective. Most relevant in complex and deep topics.
Info
There is a shift happening from near-transfer to far-transfer situations. Routine tasks are being done by machines. Workers are being asked to do more problem-solving, troubleshooting tasks.
Three course architectures:
Three views of learning
Three levels of knowledge:
Experiential Learning
Key Features of SBL
Tom Eucker, a colleague of Ruth Clark started off talking about his experience, then brought up this statistic:
The US spent $134 Billion on training in 2007! (ASTD: 2008 report) Most of that (62.2%) is salaries, development, admin, etc. Classroom training has been leading the charge, but technology is rapidly gaining ground. Most of the technology has been self-study. But classroom will never go away. There's always the human element that people like to be around other people to get their perspective. Most relevant in complex and deep topics.
Info
- Inform: to present information
- Perform: to build skills
- near transfer - the training is similar to real life; precedural; routine tasks
- far transfer - learn a generic ability, but it can be applied to different situations; strategic skills; problem solving
There is a shift happening from near-transfer to far-transfer situations. Routine tasks are being done by machines. Workers are being asked to do more problem-solving, troubleshooting tasks.
Three course architectures:
- Receptive
- sit back and absorb
- lecture; video documentary
- best to inform learners.
- appropriate for anyone
- Directive
- bottom up; short lessons
- rule/example/practice + feedback
- most software training is directive
- best for near-transfer goals
- appropriate for novices
- Guided Discovery
- problem-centered
- inductive approach
- scenario-based learning
- best for far-transfer goals
- best for learners who have some prior knowledge
Three views of learning
- Transmisssion
- absorbtion teaching view
- Receptive
- Behavioral
- instructive teaching view (provide examples & drill)
- directive
- Knowledge construction
- inductive teaching view
- guided discovery
- provide learners with the skill to create their own connections in their head so they can recreate the correct response later on.
Three levels of knowledge:
- explicit (stuff you can read in a book, take a class, etc)
- implicit (learn by doing; the experts know the problems that novices won't know. Basis for scenario based learning)
- tacit (subconscionous knowledge where the person doesn't know how he knows)
- Directive
- Guidelines -> examples -> scenario
- Guided discovery
- scenario -> derive guilelines
Experiential Learning
- Experience (provide examples) [inductive approach: 1+2] SBL
- Process (develop rules)
- Generalize (create rules & examples) [deductive approach: 3+4]
- Apply (do it)
- problem based
- goal based
- scenario based
- cognative apprenticeships
- games / simulations
- cased based
- experiential
- challenge based
- role play
- interactive storytelling
Key Features of SBL
- evident problem / trigger event / job assignment
- lessons provide case/background information
- manage flounder (of content, not technology) with guidance (let them go down the wrong track for only a short time)
- access to knowledge and skills (experts, consultants)
- feedback provided
- intrinsic - the result of decision making built into the scenario
- instructional - popup text to work the scenario
- time compression
- mistakes are ok - you learn more from the mistakes you make rather than the successes you achieve.
- holistic vs. linear (choose your own adventure)
- inductive vs. instructive
- opportunities for reflection
- Begin with an authentic job problem
- job specific
- linkd to learnign objectives
- designed at the right level of complexity
- incorporates procedure, knowledge and starategic elements of the job
- provide acces to case related info
- job realistic
- easy to find and access
- reflect normal job sources
- linked to case objectives
- manage flounder factor
- closed (more guidance) vs. open (many choices) design
- simple to complex problems (give them feeling of success to start)
- provide guidance
- instructor
- collaborative groups
- model solutions
- worksheets
- pedagogical agents
- provide access to knowledge and skills
- traditional tutorials
- online experts
- links to docs and presentations
- examples and models of best practices
- email to instructor/coach (to get to the tacit knowledge that can't come from the training)
- plan scenario feedback
- peer comparisons
- model answers
- intrinsic-consequential
- instructional
- expert review & comments
Differences between text, video and animation in learning
Design Plan for SBL- Animation / Video returned higher test scores in application test and their satisfaction
- so long as the animation/video has a distinct purpose.
- narrow scope / broad scope
- directive architecture / guided discovery
- problems as a trigger to thinking / problems as enging
- low-end media (text/graphics) / video; animations
- behaviorial task analysis / cognitive task analysis
- branched scenarios / open simulation
- defined outcomes / variable outcomes
- instructor lead training / e-learning
- task deliverable (learning objective)
- what is the desired final outcome
- trigger event
- what initiates the problem? What's the storyline to start it?
- case data (givens)
- what kind of data will be provided
- where is it located
- feedback
- intrinsic
- instructional
- reflection opportunity
- process comparison
- rationally comparison
- feedback - replay
- Branched scenario
- closed design (fixed set of decisions and responses)
- choose your own adventure
- good for linear scenarios
- MEnu
- list (navigation) of all elements available to the learner
- non-linear
- Full simulation
- open design
- sequence doesn't matter
- simulation engine determines situations and outcomes
- Virtual World (Second Life)
- open ended
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