eLearning Thoughts

Collaboration...Key to Learning at all Levels?

2007-08-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

When gathering information on what we can expect with eLearning 2.0 (here and here for more info) in the corporate environment, one term that jumps out at me is "collaboration." eLearning 2.0 will provide the tools and technology for all users to collaborate with each other and to provide content so each can actively take part in the learning process.

Now, take a look at this argument to reshape our schools by adopting what is called Story-Centered Curriculum (SCC). Notice the similarities with eLearning 2.0 in the corporate environment, especially the collaboration effort and how each student has the ability to shape and deliver the learning topic.

Can You Work and eLearn at the Same Time?

2007-07-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Many self-paced eLearning courses have been developed, and deployed by management, with the perfect world in mind: The users will be able to take these courses, right from their workstation computer, during breaks, lunch, slow-times, or even by staying a bit late! Rick Nigol at Breakthough eLearning, does a good job in explaining that eLearning at your desk isn't quite that simple and there are a lot of factors at play. (This is a follow-up to the responses from the question posed by the Masie Center).

As a project manager who has been involved in rolling out eLearning programs in a corporate environment, I think it is very naive to simply make the lessons available to the employees and hope that they find the time. As everyone knows, too often training initiatives get put on the back burner, and if the employees sense that management really isn't behind the initiative, then you can bet the users won't go out of their way to find the time to complete the training. If you expect users to take eLearning at their desks, then there has to be 100% management support to back it up. If the importance is not stressed, then there is no way that users will work through their daily distractions to find the time. Here are some ways that management can support an eLearning imitative:

1. Keep users informed of the eLearning development progress along the way. Let the users know what will be coming and what they will need to do. Also, most importantly, explain how the applicable eLearning training initiative will help them perform better at their jobs.

2. Create a communication, marketing campaign designed to build interest for the users, weeks or even months before the training is rolled out. For example, one client of ours had a promotional day designed to provide information about the rollout. Project managers and SMEs wore specially designed t-shirts and a festival like atmosphere (food and contests) was created to build excitement.

3. Make sure that a certification process, or a passing score, is required to complete the training. If a mandatory element is placed on the eLearning course material, then the users will be more inclined to complete the training.

4. Face facts and don't expect the users to "find" the time to take the training at their desks. Direct supervisors need to think of the training program as a mandatory job function and schedule time for users to complete the training. This may mean having someone else perform an employee's duties while they take the training, or even authorizing overtime so they can take the training.

5. Do what you can so users have an opportunity to take the eLearning at their desks, however, create a secondary option for the users, if their environment just has too many distractions. For example, we had a client that made and entire nearby training room available for the training rollout. This room, and all the computers, were available 24 hours a day as a designated eLearning center. This provided the users with a quite alternative, if learning at their desks just wasn't possible.

Narration in eLearning

2007-07-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

B.J. Schone at eLearning Weekly, shared his experiences with incorporating audio narration into eLearning courses. His strategy, is mainly to do as much as possible in house and to avoid hiring outside professional audio help, such as voice talent and a studio engineer.

I too firmly believe in the high value that narration adds to a course. However, for many of the issues that B.J states, we long ago, gave up attempting to do audio ourselves by "volunteering" our co-workers and using them as the voice talent. If a client requests audio for a program we now only use professional voice talent and do all of our recording in a studio. Without seasoned voice talent, who have years of experience in providing narration, it turned out to be too much of a crap shoot. My co-workers are great, however, speaking into a microphone, is not their strong suit (myself included!)...The quality of the audio was just not there. In addition, the recording equipment was not sophisticated enough and this also affected the quality of the audio output.

Here are some general guidelines that we follow when audio narration is required:

1. At the beginning of the project, set up a detailed schedule of when audio narration will begin. It is always recommended that the audio recording session take place near the end of the project after the client has complete at least two content reviews. To avoid the problems of the course's content changing after the recording is complete, the client must be made aware that there needs to be a content "freeze" date when changes can no longer be made. We usually reinforce this by stating in the contract that if significant changes do take place, then additional costs may be required.

2. If costs allow, use professional voice talent, or at least a person who has some acting or even singing experience. A nice sounding voice goes along way.

3. Make sure the script matches the course content and that it has been reviewed by the client. The client should not be surprised. They need to know before the session, what material you intend to narrate and what will not be narrated. For example, it is our general practice that we do not use audio narration for any assessment of mastery tests. This is something we bring to the client's attention very early.

4. Speaking of scripts, make sure the voice talent (whether amateur or professional) has a copy several days in advance. We have notices that if the talent sees the script beforehand and practices a little, the recording session goes more smoothly. Also, depending on how technical the content, there may be some very difficult industry related words or terms...give the talent an idea of how difficult (or not) the content will be.

5. Keep the client involved in the process and have the primary client project manager attend the recording session...This is a must. It is very important to have the client actually attend the session in person. There have been many times, that once the narrator starts reading a page of content, it suddenly doesn't make sense anymore. By having the client there, they can make immediate decisions on any changes that affect the audio.

Use a little Creativity in your Instrucitonal Design

2007-07-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Using a little creativity can go along way to improving the instructional design of an eLearning course...and can save $$$. For example, using some video in your courses can definitely add instructional value. However, they can be quite expensive to produce, not too mention they can be quite passive and end up increasing the boredom factor.

Commoncraft has a great example of how they used video to explain the concept of wikis. By using a little creativity, they came up with a very low-tech solution, yet it definitely gets the point across. Also, this unorthodox approach coupled with just the right amount of humor has most definitely increased the retention factor (I'm sure you won't easily forget how to use a wiki). On a final note, this video, also makes excellent use of storytelling...storytelling can be a very powerful instructional design technique in eLearning courses to help with retention.

Drop the "e"?

2007-07-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's Time to Drop E-Learning argues that it is about time to lose the "e" in eLearning...too much stigma and it has lost its meaning.

There is a bit too much thought into this I believe. eLearning merely describes what type of medium for the training. It is descriptive and provides me with an immediate cue; I will be accessing the computer for the training. I think this is powerful, just like "email"...any questions on what this means?

Our Blogosphere Kickoff

2007-07-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

Hello All! I want to welcome you to our very first blog posting. We sure hope you return to peruse our thoughts on everything eLearning and training related. ASK International has been progressing with the industry since 1983, so we have been through all the changes and we hope to share our years of experience.

One item I want to start with, is the overlooked value that training consultants provide. The temptation, is once hired, to immediately sign on to the client's vision and plan for the training. What consulting companies need to bring to the table, is to always provide our straightforward advice, in other words, we need to "consult." This means telling the client something other than what they think they already know. So many times at a start of a project, the client tells us that X course needs to cover Y tasks and will be Z hours in length. However, to make a long story short, if we do our job right, more times than not, we can document that the course should in fact cover A tasks and will be about B hours in length.

This may seem like a no brainer...of course this is the consultants job! However, at the beginning of many projects the client has a pretty good idea of how the course should "look" and how big it should be. It is all too easy to sometimes go along with their initial assessment and not do any of the hard work or ask the tough questions that need asking.