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:

• confirm what to cover (objectives)
• decide how to cover it (design)

For content:

• using scenarios

For motivation & evaluation

• sell the course to futures learners (WIIFM)
• learn how peiple are using the couse in real life

Stories and scenarios can be used interchangeably. Scenarios are real-file stories with a purpose. A really good story can become a really good scenario.

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)

Next, the facts:
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.

If you have a persona for your characters, they can be developed more 'realisticly'. Now, where can you find the domographic info to develop your characters? Think creatively. Customer profiles, Department of Labor statistics, direct observation.

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?

eLearning Samples

Again, Cathy Moore has a collection of samples of interactive graphics and simulations that can serve as great inspiration. Please take some time to go through the items on her list, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Some samples that I find most noteworthy:

1. Crimescene Game. This branching scenario evaluates your performance on the questions asked and your ability to gain the right information to solve the crime.
2. Skeleton Game. Expands upon a simple drag and drop exercise to be more engaging.
3. Nursing Simulation. Another branching scenario where your decisions are judjed.
4. A.S.K. Learning: e-Learning Portfolio. Click on the e-Learning Portfolio link on the right side, then check out their stuff. The Cisco HR Onboarding program and Westpac Relationship Management piece are nicely done. (Turn your Popup blockers off)

Not every project needs all the bells and whistles, but this list demonstrates how simple interactives can have as much impact as an elaborate one.

Article: "Making e-Learning More Fun"

Just the thought of sitting through another Breeze presentation to learn about some financial accounting policy can make any busy employee cringe. But that doesn't have to be the case.

In the US, e-learning has taken on the approach that in order for it to be effective, it must be effective and any fun is considered a distraction. Well the article I'm showcasing today says that's all wrong.

Learning providers need to make learning fit the way people work rather than insisting on it being a totally separate function. If we make it more enjoyable, so it is memorable and engaging, then it's likely to be more effective.

David Thomas' article 'Making e-Learning More Fun' is an interesting read. He asks the question, "If fun, pleasure and stimulation are so important for learning, then why is so much e-learning so dull?" Even boring subjects like financial accounting can be made more effective if we leave out the over-done pages and pages of text. How many times did they have to do that in school?

Adult learners bring their whole lifetime of experience to any learning situation, so we need to think in terms of problem solving rather than just content. If the learning is relevant to them, they will be far more willing to learn.