Performance Learning Filter

Today I watched a webinar presented by Allen Interactions on Performance Learning Filters.

Typically, there are three types of training.

Information & Awareness training courses just provide suface content. Its purpose is to transfer knowledge. But with more effort, training can extend deeper to teach learners how to apply the knowledge and to ultimately increast performance by fostering behavior change.

The Performance Learning Filter, when applied, can move a training course from the surface level Information & Awareness level down to further, more performance-driven levels.

• Context - The content must be presented in the same way that the learner will be expected to act upon it in his/her job.


• Challenge - The learner must be able to think about the information and apply it on the job.


• Activity - This is the physical response the learner does to the challenge. Clicking on something with the mouse, dragging one object to another location. The activitydetermines how a learner makes a decision based on the challenge presented.


• Feedback - The response that is provoded to the learner to show his/her effectiveness to the challenge.

When you are designing a course, ask yourself if it has all four parts of the filter. If it does, then your course moves beyond the surface into more performance-based learning.

View presentation PDF.
View recorded version of webcast.

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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.

• Spoken
• Written - symbolic form of our spoken language
• Math - symbols for concepts and data
• Body - language of expression or gesture
• Graphic - visual language

Look at that! I can now say I can communicate in 5 languages!

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 Roam

Squares, 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:

• Adobe Dreamweaver (more complicated than it's worth for XML)
  
• XML Notepad Editor (free!)
  
• Microsoft Notepad (free!)
  

Advantages to using XML

• Interoperable
• Content is external from the engine/design
• Faster load times
• Write your own set of tags
  

Disadvantages

• A lot of upfront work
• Need an applicaiton to run XML
• code must be well-formed

Streamline eLearning by creating user-friendly templates for IDs and Flash developers.

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:

• 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).

PSU QA standards based on Quality Matters.

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

They can be used for a new course, to review an existing course, to provide feedback to IDs.

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.