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

• 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

Scenario-based learning is geared for far transfer learning.
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:

1. Receptive
   
• sit back and absorb
• lecture; video documentary
• best to inform learners.
• appropriate for anyone
2. Directive
• bottom up; short lessons
• rule/example/practice + feedback
• most software training is directive
• best for near-transfer goals
• appropriate for novices
3. 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

1. Transmisssion
• absorbtion teaching view
• Receptive
2. Behavioral
• instructive teaching view (provide examples & drill)
• directive
3. 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)
  

SBL & Architectures

• Directive
• Guidelines -> examples -> scenario
• Guided discovery
• scenario -> derive guilelines

Experiential Learning

1. Experience (provide examples) [inductive approach: 1+2] SBL
2. Process (develop rules)
3. Generalize (create rules & examples) [deductive approach: 3+4]
4. Apply (do it)

SBL Synonyms

• 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

Design Features (posted separately at tinyurl.com/ag09-p1 )

1. Begin with an authentic job problem
1. job specific
2. linkd to learnign objectives
3. designed at the right level of complexity
4. incorporates procedure, knowledge and starategic elements of the job
2. provide acces to case related info
1. job realistic
2. easy to find and access
3. reflect normal job sources
4. linked to case objectives
3. manage flounder factor
1. closed (more guidance) vs. open (many choices) design
2. simple to complex problems (give them feeling of success to start)
3. provide guidance
1. instructor
2. collaborative groups
3. model solutions
4. worksheets
5. pedagogical agents
4. provide access to knowledge and skills
1. traditional tutorials
2. online experts
3. links to docs and presentations
4. examples and models of best practices
5. email to instructor/coach (to get to the tacit knowledge that can't come from the training)
   
5. plan scenario feedback
1. peer comparisons
2. model answers
3. intrinsic-consequential
4. instructional
5. expert review & comments

Differences between text, video and animation in learning

• Animation / Video returned higher test scores in application test and their satisfaction
• so long as the animation/video has a distinct purpose.
  

THere's a balance to the complexity of a SBL

• 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
  

Design Plan for SBL

1. task deliverable (learning objective)
   
1. what is the desired final outcome
2. trigger event
1. what initiates the problem? What's the storyline to start it?
3. case data (givens)
1. what kind of data will be provided
2. where is it located
4. feedback
1. intrinsic
2. instructional
5. reflection opportunity
1. process comparison
2. rationally comparison
3. feedback - replay
   

Program Design

• 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

Answering the call

Last night President Obama gave his first State of the Nation address to congress. One of the three areas his administration will invest in to secure our nation is education.

In a global economy, where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity. It is a prerequisite....So tonight I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be a community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.

This is good news to me because this means that there is a place for me and the work I want to do. My challenge is now finding how I fit in.

Doing More with Less

I went to the Mid-NJ ASTD Meeting today to attend the presentation "Doing More with Less: Adding Value in a Turbulent Economy" presented by Michael Schiavoni & Nicholas Russo.

Here is a presentation of my summary.

War Games

The NBC Nightly news ran this story about an Army recruiting site in the Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia, PA. But it's not your typical recruitment center. It's a place where people can play video games -- war simulation games -- to experience the front lines of an Army unit in a war zone.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As a marketing tool, I think it's brilliant. It targets young adults who are into video games. The facility has cutting-edge technology and is pretty much an opportunity to 'try before you buy'.

As a learning tool, I also think it has many of the characteristics mentioned in my previous post:

• Personalized and goal based - Individuals are part of a team to accomplish a mission. This parallels the goals and missions defined by military units.
  
• Coaching and immediate feedback - I'm not sure if there is coaching, but there is definitely immediate feedback based on the learner's actions. You can see if your shot was on target, or if you are not careful and get killed.
  
• Flexibility - The outcome of the simulation is based on the learner's actions. The simulation will be different each time it is used. Just as in combat, a soldiers actions have consequences and they must learn how to act and at what appropriate time.
  
• Simple, intuitive navigation - There isn't time to sit down and read the instructions. Just like in combat, learners must be able to hit the ground running.
  
• Hard fun - Because it is a simulation, learners have the chance to make mistakes, see the outcome, overcome challenges and try again.
  

What are your thoughts about the Army Experience? Do you see the learning value is these simulations and video games?

Hard Fun

It's time to come back to this blog. I'm on my last class for my masters degree and I think I can at least use my final project as a focus.

But in the meantime, I came across Rick Nigol's blog entry on what lessons he learned from using Wii Fit. He matched them to the same goals that should designers should strive for in creating e-learning courses.

• Personalized and goal based
• Coaching and immediate feedback
• Flexibility
• Simple, intuitive navigation
• Hard fun

It's important to me to be continually reminded on what elements make for a good e-learning course. I'm not doing any ID work at my current job -- yet, but I can see where the deficiencies are in the projects that are being developed. So I learn from examples and non-examples.

I especially like the last bullet, hard fun.

Learning something doesn't need to be a chore or so boring where the only 'interaction' is clicking on a "Continue" button. Learning should be challenging and relevant. It should make you think and not be afraid to fail. You should be able to take whatever facts and concepts that are presented and use them in a meaningful manner. It shouldn't be easy, because face it, life never is. But it should be fun.

I will keep this phrase in my mind as I start to develop my own courses.