Speak Out

Storyboarding at Kern

2011-07-25T18:17:00.002+05:30

Recently, we had a client request us to storyboard on Microsoft Word. Whenever I hear this request, I cringe as I recollect my previous experiences of storyboard on Word. Why?

Word is a 'text-centered' tool. Word encourages me to write long descriptions of what will happen in each screen. Using drawing tools in Word is a pain. I am a more visual person (or so I have been told). While storyboarding, I have to see:

how my screen looks
where are the elements placed
what is the sequence of animation
what is the visual hierarchy and how will the eye move

Do you know how painful it is to work on tables in Word? Typically, Word storyboards have tables with screen number, OST, Audio, graphic description, and so on. The first time, it acts perfect. By the second review, the text and/or images will start disappearing. I can't tell you how frustrating it is.
Word storyboards leave the course characterless and there is a huge dependency on visual designers to bring life into the course.
Scanning across pages becomes a tedious affair because pages are top-down scroll. It requires a lot of concentration to identify what you are looking for.

I am going to share a few examples of how we used different Microsoft Office tools to storyboard at Kern Learning Solutions.

When do We use Word for Storyboarding?

I remember using Word well for storyboarding, when the instructional approach was simple branching stories.

Why did we use Word? We used it because we did not want to focus on visualization just then. We had the more important task of ensuring that the content flow was right and that there were no loose ends. Every option had a consequence and therefore, we used the hyperlink feature to keep track of how the stories end.

When do We use Excel for Storyboarding?

We used Excel for simple, branching MCQ.

Why did we use excel? The ideas was to show a negative consequence immediately and ask the learner to reconsider. It was important for us to keep an eye on all the consequences. We had to ensure that all options were extremely plausible and there was no repetition.

When do We use PPT?

We extensively use PPT as a storyboarding tool.

In this case, we created a wireframe in PPT. The learner had access to different resources. He/she had to glance through before making a decision. The complexity of questions increased as we went along. The hyper-linking ensured a close to real experience. The PPT also helped us give a visual feel.

Again, we designed a visual storyboard. Where information was displayed in a easy to read and interesting format.

What are the advantages of this:

The ID thinks through where things are placed on his/her screen.
The essence of the storyboard is communicated not only to the visual designers but also to the client. It is easier to show people outside the industry how it will work.
It helps give a base for the visual designers and really good visual designers add further value by giving it the right finish and adding their own touches.
This helps minimize text on screen. The ID constantly thinks 'How can I display information in a easy to read and interesting fashion?'
We don't use templates in PPT, but use grids and guidelines in a disciplined fashion. The storyboard communicated uniformity and consistency.

What are your experiences working with Microsoft tools for storyboarding? How have you used them best?

Power of Learner Analysis

2011-05-05T17:18:00.000+05:30

When I starting writing this blog, I posted 'Why I like doing what I do'. Every other juncture in my life, I continue to reflect on why I like doing what I do and surprising my list only grows longer.

Understanding the inner workings for the learner
I think the importance of learner analysis is understated. There is so much we can learn by talking to the people we are designing the training for. The more obvious results are training needs, but what interests me more is the psyche of the learner. When you meet 'real' people with 'real ideologies and beliefs', you know before hand what will work and what won't.

I recently conducted face-to-face interviews with learners from an automobile research and development company. The management knew that they wanted training on time management. Now, when I heard time management, I thought of a noisy company with overworked staff who are continuously missing deadlines. I was in for a pleasant surprise. After I spoke to 5 people, I began to see a trend. This organization had a dream work culture and ideal work timings. Being a European company, working late was frowned upon and working over weekends was a sure no. As I walked through the office to reach the cafeteria during the lunch break, I was stunned by the hushed tones and the 'quiet'. I remember thinking to myself, the biggest distraction at work must be the silence. :) So, why did they need a session on time management? Well, as I spoke to people I realized that while the work culture and timelines was relaxed, they still missed deadlines. Therefore, it was important for the people to understand the value of time and how they can manage their self better.

If my trainer had gone into the training program without knowing this, we may have delivered a canned training program with the 4 quadrants and prioritizing theories. It is important to understand what makes the learners tick and then build a program that will be effective.

Strategies for any training are thought of as a result of learner analysis. Understand the people, the need and then device the solution. We designed a product training for sales force of an MNC. The product was meant to help smokers quit smoking.We realized that the learners had to empathize with the smokers to understand why people were addicted and then how the product works. We designed a case study approach where we introduced a couple and helped learners understand that while a smoker may want to quit, it is not an easy task. But, how can we help him? This made the problem of smoking very real and therefore, learning of how the product works was very useful.

This is why I love doing what I do. Every project I work on is different from the other. A client of ours once fell love with a course we had designed for another client. They told us you can follow the same style. But, did we? No! It is easy right, follow the same strategy, don't use your brains too much. After all, CLIENT requested it. After we spoke to the learners, the strategy, automatically fell in place. It was not only visually different, but also in terms of the instructional strategy used. The instructional strategy is dependent on the work culture, the people, and the learning objective. Work culture plays an extremely crucial role and it would help to understand this well enough before you storyboard. In this organization, the hierarchy was very clear. If I am the manager, you listen. Knowing this helped us design really good scenarios that people could relate to.

During lunch break of the time management training session, two really sweet participants kept me company. During small talk, they wanted to know what I do. I explained that I was an instructional designer and so on. One of them asked me, 'How do you decide which session should be elearning and which ILTs?' Now, the real answer to this (as it happens in most organizations) is the client decides based on their own logic and budgets. Some of the weirdest reasons I have heard are:

'Learning is effective only when it is face-to-face. There has to be a human contact.'
'People don't take onus of learning and therefore, have to be put in a classroom.'
'Complicated topics have to be tackled by experts face-to-face.'

I have designed strategies for both eLearning and ILTs and have immense respect for both. What should be the deciding factors?

If you want to discuss personal issues such as workplace violence, sexual harassment, conflict management, personal hygiene and so on, eLearning is possible your solution. Why? Because learners may not come out and discuss these topics. With eLearning, they can reflect on these in their own space and be honest to themselves.
If you want to the people in the office to mix with each other and (like most companies in India) do not have social media support, you can arrange an ILT. People come and share their experience and learn from each other as well as from the session. It helps for them to understand that there are people who experience similar things.
If you want a refresher, eLearning works like a dream. The content can be really crisp and always available for people as they work.
When you want sustainability of learning, it has to be a blended approach. Learning is most effective when it is holistic.
Finally, I think both work extremely well, if designed right.

All the effort we put into learner analysis pays off when we sit behind our learners and watch them take our course during learner testing. We always get inputs and value ads, but till date we have never been off our mark. Recently, we got a rating of 6.5 out of 7 for our course and it was reason enough for all of us to rejoice. If learners like it, we have understood them well and designed for them. The satisfaction you feel for doing your job right is incomparable. So, do you understand the inner workings of your learner?

A Little Professionalism Please?

2011-04-15T20:00:00.000+05:30

Is professionalism going extinct? The more I interact with people outside my organization, the more I realize that professionalism is becoming the thing of the past. For those of you who are professional, the following list may seem very obvious. But, trust me, the people who are not need to read this:

1) It is not OK to take credit for another person's work. Whether you are a vendor, a senior, a junior, a stakeholder, SME, client, you have no right to take away credit from hard work done. In today's age of collaboration, it is very unprofessional to steal the limelight to look good in front of others. Always give credit where it's due. If you see good work/manners/attitude, appreciate it openly. You can do the same with anyone regardless of your age or position. It is becoming more and more common for people to say "I am putting in far more effort than I was required to." Why do you feel this way?

You didn't understand the effort involved right at the beginning. You probably went wrong in your time/effort estimation. No point blaming anyone else.
You are not working efficiently enough. You keep thinking of new things to add or do or you work in a very unstructured fashion.
You are probably doing a million other things and therefore, feel stretched. You may not be putting in extra effort, but feel over-worked.
You are not the only one working hard. It is important to acknowledge that it is a team effort. Respect other people's time and effort. They have brains too you know.

SMEs especially think they are doing 'too much'. It was always their job to provide and check content. Therefore, if the review cycles are longer its mostly because they are adding content and making changes at a later stage. Let us NOT expect anybody else to do our job please.

2) It is not OK to dangle the carrot in front of people till you get what you want. Please say no and people will appreciate far more than adding a list of ridiculous conditions. If you are not the decision-maker, do not arrange meetings where decision making is required. If you have doubts, voice them out loudly. Do not push people in the corner and expect them to do their job well. Do not get so well entrenched in the work and then make demands because it may be tough to replace you. This is just not the way it is done.

I actually had to sit through a call where two stakeholders discussed what working was not coming to me. This is the heights! Please carry out all internal meetings before your call with the consultant. Then, share what is coming to her.

3) It is not OK to lash out. This is extremely common. You raise a point of concern and the other party lashes back with a list of things you have done wrong. Let us understand we are all human and trying to work as efficiently as is possible. Let us also stop the blame game, we are not children any more. Let us please think before we write out an email. Respond with our heads and not react emotionally. Here's what you can do:

Use facts and figures to make your case.
Do not be judgmental and assume that the other party is useless. Respect the people you work with.
If you are upset about a mail, do not respond back immediately. Take a break. Come back to it when you have thought it through calmly. Seek a second opinion when in doubt.
Always be honest to yourself and those you work with. If it is your fault, accept it.
Understand what happened from all parties before you respond. There are managers who blindly respond without having all the information. Be informed.

If people are lashing out, don't take it lying down. Some really unfair things come out when people are lashing out and it is important to make your point. But do so in a professional manner. Other can rant as much as they want. You be in control.

4) Use some tact and discretion while sharing information. If your association with me is at a business level, I would appreciate if you don't cross certain boundaries. I do not want to hear a word against my organization or my colleagues. Being friendly, does not amount to listening to anything and everything that you may have to say. I am not your counselor. Use discretion when sharing information with people outside as they are bound to use it against you or your company at some instance. Taking feedback is fine, but if people are not tactful, you have all rights to get offended. Everyone thinks that the vendor/client is out to cheat them. Trust people and see before you tarnish their image. Be sensitive to others feelings. If you are writing a blunt mail, do not cc the world on it. It makes it more difficult for the person to see your point.

5) Do not look for a scapegoat to make yourself look good. Some people believe that there are here to make a big difference. Which is great and long as you don't think the way to do that is to whip those around you. Be collaborative and this will be more fruitful than breathing down a person's neck.

I have sat through uncomfortable meetings where the manager questions an employee's actions. I am an outsider, why make your own employee feel uncomfortable. Isn't common sense that you put a common front to me? These kind of managers are always looking to pass on the blame. They will lash out saying 'This is not what I expected!' You point out that these were the expectations and they immediately turn to find another scapegoat. If you are managing the project, every flaw in the product is as much yours as it is your employees. You need to be aware of what is happening. It is not cool to wash your hands of everything. I have seen how great managers take criticism for the work that their subordinates have done. I have admired them and learnt from them. I wish it were more obvious to some other people.

Respect for Age - An overrated concept

2011-03-31T18:29:00.001+05:30

Have you ever come across a situation where you are not taken seriously because of your age? Have you had to throw in a line about your child to ensure that you are seen as a responsible person? Just take a minute and look around you, you will find several people who either look younger than their age or those who strive to look younger than their age. Noone is trying to look old. But I got this bizarre request from a client that has me thinking will this change soon?

Coming to the request, here's the conversation:
Client: Can you please share profiles of trainers who are older and have some grey hair?
Me: Sure, but they charge a bomb because they are thought leaders.
Client: Oh ok. Actually, I don't need older trainers but trainers who look old.

Hmm. Here I am thinking whether I need to plan a new selection process for the trainer. How many wrinkles does he/she have? How many greys does he/she have? I do understand where they are coming from. In our culture, age is given a lot of respect. Therefore, the idea that the trainer will command respect through age and therefore, will have more control over learning. While I do respect older people, I also respect people who know what they are talking about. Regardless of the age, position, or gender, I am willing to listen to someone if what they have to say is worthwhile. A small example is when I conducted a session on LMS for Kern. I am an instructional designer and not a developer. But I have been involved in the LionSher LMS development process at Kern. People at the conference heard me out and enjoyed the session because I spoke their language (layman's), I believed in what I was saying, I had done my research, and the session was extremely interactive.

A trainer I know keeps telling me 'I am going to color my hair grey next time. I am not as young as I look.' This had me thinking, does age really matter. I have seen an 'older' trainer command respect and unfortunately instill fear in the participants. I have seen good trainers facilitate great learning regardless of their age and background. What I look for in a trainer is:

Does he/she match Kern's way of thinking?
Does he/she put the learner in the center?
Is he/she reliable? (It is totally uncool to cancel at the last minute unless you are dying.)
Will the person have the energy required to carry off a session in a lively fashion?
Is he/she collaborative in nature?

If the answers are yes, then age really doesn't matter.

Have you also come across a situation where your boss makes you the point of contact and similarly the point of contact at the client's end also changes? Why? Is it because they want people at similar levels to talk to each other? Why are some companies so hierarchical? Why do they fail to understand that the handover has taken place because of a specialization and not because it is not important enough for the boss to handle the project? I am grateful enough to say that clients have thought they can walk all over me, but have finally realized that I know what I am talking about (atleast where learning is concerned). Now, they seek my opinion and wish to work with me on their projects. See, age doesn't matter.

Have you faced similar situations? Do share. Would love to know that it not just me. :)

What is the 'Learning' World Coming to?

2011-03-04T22:40:00.002+05:30

1. Need for Control: If I got a penny every time a stakeholder told me 'Our guys will just click Next-Next-Next and complete the course,' I would be the richest person alive. The demand to lock the Next button is becoming a common feature that really (and I mean REALLY) excites the stakeholders. Do we have such little faith in the employees and even lesser faith in the quality of learning?

My take: If the learner feels the urge to click next and finish the course, we have failed to create a good product. But we will never know till we test this and find out. Adding restrictions and forcing action surely seems like the wrong move. What ever happened to learner control and understanding of adult learning?

2. Unconventional Requests: You hear the most bizarre requests from time to time. The advantage of these are that they make you question why we have been doing certain things. And, if you have no explanation, you can accept the request. Else, you can make a good case to explain why you can't.
Special ones:
We want something far simpler. It really does not require so much work This actually means just come train and go and charge us close to nothing.
Do you really expect us to do all the work? Just to explain 'all the work' included giving us information about the internal process and validating content.
Can we use this really cool approach of blah and blah? I say Oh but it sounds like a force fit after a few screens. They say, yeah whatever but we like it. Okay then...
We know we want a course but we are still trying to figure what the focus should be. Each of us wants a different thing. What to do? You need help!

My take: Keep your feet grounded. Stakeholders will be more impressed with expert opinions grounded in logic than you being a 'yes sir' person. They have had too many bad experiences to trust you completely. Build it slowly. Always keep the learning objective and the learner in mind. There are some requests that are inconsequential to learning, go ahead and accept these. Never accept those that are detrimental to learning, regardless of who it is coming from. If the stakeholder insists, seek a compromise that does no/least damage.

3. Me, Myself and I: Till very recently, I thought instructional designers (including me) are full of themselves. Folks at work keep us grounded by giving due credit and respect to all roles involved in learning. But if you have had a chance to meet a classic SME or trainer, you will realize that they refuse to acknowledge instructional design (and you). A SME once told me you just put these slides together and while presenting I will make the program exciting. I had to tell that's not how it works. You give me all the dope and I make it instructionally sound. The more trainers I meet, the more convinced I am that the training they deliver is not instructionally sound. A trainer once said it is finally what we do and how we add spice to the program that makes it what it is. Well, thanks for taking away all the effort and credit that the others put in. A good trainer with poorly designed session can only make sure that people have fun, but may not be able to make the learning stick.

I have quietly heard out trainers going on and on about this technique and that game. All the time, I thought to myself 'good, they know their stuff.' But, I am pretty sure they are clueless about ID and that is because that's my job. I respect you for what you bring to the table, you can respect me for what I bring. Fair deal!

My take: Everyone plays an equally crucial role in making the product what it is. The reviewers, the IDs, GDs, VDs, SMEs, stakeholders, learners, trainers (if ILT), organizers and printers (if ILT). I have had trainers tell me that we at Kern design really cool ILT sessions. Coming from a trainer, it is a big thing. I guess I just need to wait for the trainers to work with us to realize the true value (and meaning) of instructional design. Give others credit where it's due and you will get credit for your work too.

Soft Skills - Don't Take it Lightly

2011-03-03T17:22:00.000+05:30

I have been in this field long enough to know that soft skills training does not get any respect from the client, the learner and the vendor. I seriously feel we are making a big mistake by taking this domain very lightly. Here's why...

Myth: Designing technical training is far more challenging than soft skills training.
Technical training is challenging because of the content itself. You as an ID come from a completely different world and so you need to understand a whole lot of complicated stuff before you design the training. But, the challenge with soft skills training is to make it work. You may design a fun program that the learner may forget as soon as they are out of the classroom. But, how do you make the learning stick? How do you make an impact on their psyche? How do you change attitudes and behavior? You decide now which is more challenging.

Myth: Soft skills does not require any customization. Communication skills is communication skills regardless of who it is for.
What is customization? Customization is ensuring that learning happens in a defined context, which is typically the learner's reality. While I do believe that age old games have their space, I do think that customized cases/activities are far more effective. Training is a very common occurrence these days. You need newer and more effective ways of getting a message across. Case studies, games, group discussions can be designed to bring out effective learning. High impact learning makes the learner think.

Communication skills for a team leader is very different from communication skills for a CEO. Telephone etiquettes is very different for a receptionist vs for a call center executive. Presentation skills is very different for advertising than for design engineers. I don't believe in mixing a few existing slides and customizing it on the floor. I have seen this happen to and trust me it doesn't work. The minute you go with customized learning, the learner trusts you. Why? Because you have taken the effort to understand his world and so, he will help you through this process of transferring learning.

My dad keeps asking me 'How can a person who has spent 0 hours in the field, come and tell me how I am supposed to work?' While this opens several other debates, I think if the trainer had understood my dad's work environment, he wouldn't have let on that he has 0 experience in the field.

Myth: Embarrass the learner to make an impact and see the difference. It requires a highly skilled trainer with great charisma to get away with whatever they say. Otherwise, it requires a very good understanding of how your learners will react to this technique. These techniques may work wonderfully or scar the learning experience. I remember the trainer was conducting roles plays and he was being very rude. A learner got up and said 'Sir, we are not actors.' Therefore, the impact was negative and I doubt whether people bothered to listen after that. Soft skills are such that everyone has their own take on it. There is a lot of gray here. Therefore, you have to allow that space for the learner to think. And, make a convincing case of why what you are saying is relevant to them.

Myth: Theories define personalities. A trainer was explaining some model. A learner got up and asked why? Guess what the trainer said? 'Because that's is the way it is. This theory is age old and has been discussed by several experts.' Theories are just theories and are pretty much useless in soft skill programs. People don't buy the argument that some great soul said it so believe it! Give them a more solid reason to believe. This can happen only if they can see the trends in their daily experiences.

These are all the things people get wrong when they approach soft skills training. Make soft skill programs activity based. Let people learn from each other. Don't use ancient techniques. Try innovative, thought provoking stuff. Soft skills is not an easy domain. Even learner who need these skills think they already have it. It requires the facilitator to bring about a self-realization and reflection on oneself.

Everything about ILT

2010-12-16T18:43:00.000+05:30

How can an ID add value to an ILT?

ILT requires as much instructional design as an eLearning does. Even if PPT is the backbone of your presentation, an ID can do a lot. Make sure the course is real.

Give your slides character: You can do this using a template or interface for your presentation. Define a theme for your ILT. Think of adjectives (vibrant, cool, fun, strong) that help define the character of your ILT.
Visual Look and Feel: Use placeholders for images. Rather than screens than look flat, introduce elements that give more depth to your slides.
Instructional Flow: Keep a very close eye on the visual flow. Since ILTs are instructor-led, we tend to take the instructional flow for granted. Transitions, logical breaks, activities need to be positioned well.
Mix it up: Ensure that your program does not over-use a single method of interaction. For example: Do you over-use role plays. Role plays can be very distracting and can go on a tangent. Also, too much of it will be an over kill. Use a healthy mix of role plays, games, group activities, debates, quizzes, and so on.
Readable and useful information: Keep only the necessary information on screen. Avoid too much text. Otherwise, the learner will read it rather than listen to your instructor.
Planning: Ensure that you set time for every topic, activity and break. This will ensure that the topics are well spaced out and conducted in a disciplined manner.
Interact with the SME: If the SME dumps information, do not accept. Push them to understand that the key goal is to help the learner learn. Ask them "What will the learner do with this information?" Avoid theoretical information. Simplify to help the learner understand the crux.
Interact with the trainer: Ensure that you give all the information - learner profile and mix, your expectations, client's expectations - that the trainer needs to deliver it the way you planned it in your head. Ensure that you are there to answer any queries about the learners and the program. If required, connect the trainer to the SME to ensure clearer understanding of complex topics.
Pilot: Insist on a pilot with atleast 10 learners. Attend the session and see how the learners react. Capture feedback and plug it into your course. Keep a gap of at least 10 days before the training goes live. Pilots are useless if you are going to have the first session the very next day.

How do you know that you have selected the right SME?

Collaborative: You want to work with SMEs who are open to discussion and collaborative. Avoid working with SMEs who stuff information down your throat (easier said that done, agreed.) Be tougher if required. Let them know that if you are not convinced, it won't go in the program.
Availability: You want to work with SMEs who have the time to interact with you and revise the content as many times as is required to make it work. Avoid SMEs who are doing too many things at a time. Chances are that you will get a half-baked product or work that you cannot revise because he is never available.
Timelines: Your SMEs should stick to the timelines set. It is important that they understand that you are working as per a schedule.
Learner-centric: When the SME writes content based on the learners, you know you have hit jackpot! The SME has to keep in mind the end objective while writing a content. Let's face it is easier to write a book than write content for a specific audience. It requires a high level of customization. You need to understand their world and realities to connect with them. If your SME gets this, you have a crucial ingredient for a great program.
Right attitude: I have heard SMEs say "There is no way the learner will do this." Well, its our job to encourage them to see the value in it and show them how they can do this. Let us do everything we can make him see this. If we don't believe in it, how can we make the learners believe in it. If something radical needs to be done, we want the SME with the right attitude around. We want a SME who believes that iterations are part and parcel of good work.

What makes a good trainer?

Asks the right questions: I was surprised when a trainer called me and said "Please tell me about everything about the learners." After I finished, he actually said "I wish I were part of the contextual inquiry, it really helps understand the people better." This is exactly how you want your trainers to start. Trainers must understand that the central point of the training are the learners and not the content.
Prepares well in advance: If you get a call at 10:00 in the night and trainer says, "I am unable to view the activity page." You have every reason to panic. Trainers must spend necessary time preparing for the training. I have heard trainers say "It's a piece of cake. I have been doing this all my life." You may be confident about the domain, but you have to spend time preparing for your session.
Reliable: You don't want your trainer disappearing a few days before training. Imagine you are trying to reach him and his phone is switched off! You need reliable trainers who will reply promptly to mails and answer or return your calls. The trainers should have a calendar that is handy to check availability of dates. You do not want to work with trainers who are clueless or disorganized.
Stick to the process: When you have training programs in four different zones of the country and have to train 400 people, you want to ensure that the trainers stick to the process. The training has to be uniform to a large extent. Trainers must not skip important topics or activities because of lack of time.
Timing: It is important for trainers to stick to time allotted for each topic. I have come across trainers who spend ages on the first few topics and run through the rest. They have to space it out well.
Judge learner's reactions: I had an opportunity to witness a veteran trainer in action last year. He always had his finger on the pulse. He observed the learner's reactions closely. When he realized that interest level was dwindling, he quickly moved to a light or interesting activity to charge them up. It is important for the trainer to understand what the audience needs at that point in time.
Respect the learners: I also happened to witness a trainer reprimand a learner for not getting it right. Let us understand that if the learner is not doing it right, it is our fault and not theirs. We are not teaching it right.

Feedback should be specific to the incident and not to the learner. If you pick on the learner, your audience is going to turn against you. I have seen this happen.
Don't talk down to the learner. You are not teaching them something. You are just facilitating learning. You are helping them explore concepts for themselves. You really don't know more than them. If you think you do, they will do their best to prove you wrong.
Stay out of their personal space. Do not lean into them and stand uncomfortably close to the learner. Do not force them to answer your question thinking you are encouraging them to talk. They will feel cornered.

Keep the energy levels high: If the trainer is sloppy and drained, the learners will not listen. There are trainers who just make you want to listen to them because they have that energy reverberating through them.
Involve the learners: A good trainer makes the learning come from the learner. He only guides them to reach the possible answers. The learners feels like he has discovered the points himself. the trainer keeps an open mind to other solutions and acknowledges them. Give the learners the power and make them feel good.
If you don't know, say you don't know: I have heard trainers laugh about how they say they will get back to the query and evade it completely. Hello! Learners/students recognize this trick. They will respect you more if you say you don't know and will have to check. Also, ensure that you do get back to them later.

What makes a good client?

Clients who take an active role in the training are definitely great to work with. We had four top level individuals attend pilot sessions. The learners felt good that they were being looked after and we had tremendous respect for these individuals because they truly cared. You want to work with people who genuinely seek the feedback of the learners and share it with you. Clients must ensure that venue is suitable for training and everything is available for the training to progress smoothly.

I am sure there is a lot more we can add to my lists. Please feel free to do so. (I have to stop somewhere! :))

Designing Product Training - Challenges and Solutions

2010-12-15T17:45:00.000+05:30

About the project: We had to design an induction-product training for employees of a global bank. We had to share the history of the bank and share information about the products.

The challenges:

The learner profile was diverse. We had people who had varied roles and experience. The course had to cater to the needs of a new joinee and also cater to the needs of an existing employee who has moved to a new vertical.
It was essential for the learners to not only know about the products in their vertical, but also to understand what other products the bank had to offer. While the learner is interested in understanding the products that he/she is going to deal with, why would he/she be interested in learning about the other products? The motivation to read about their products was high and the motivation to read about other products was low.
The learners had to take other trainings along with this one. Therefore, 'the what is in it for me' had to be clear enough. We had SMEs sharing ocean of information. An overdose of information will kill any motivation to learn.
Information had to be readily accessible. Interest levels for different topics were varied.
Through learner analysis, we knew that most people did not absorb anything during inductions and mostly learnt things on the job.

The solutions:

Since the learner profile was diverse, we ensured that product information was available a click away. Therefore, the learner can select the topics that interest them first and check the others later.
It was important to show the relevance. We had to make the learners understand why they needed to know about credit cards even if they belonged to investments. How did we do this? We told them: You are the face of the bank for your customer. Your customer sees you as the one-point contact with the bank. Therefore, if he has any queries about the bank or its products, he will ask you. In this situation, how would it look if you didn't have an answer. Wouldn't you rather be sure, confident, and helpful? We started each topic with a gain attention where a person is stuck in an embarrassing situation where he/she couldn't answer a simple query.
Our strategy was a simple one - customer-centricity. We did not list features, plans, tariffs, blah blah blah. We shared scenarios of real customers and showed them how they benefit from the product. We filtered information and ensured that only the most important information was covered in this section. We had the detailed product training for phase 2. Therefore, there was no need to include everything in this course. We ensured that we identified a common structure for all products and shared similar information. The main idea was - What kind of questions will customers ask you? And, how can you answer these?
We ensured that information was available upfront. The learner can explore which ever topic she wishes from the menu page. We also ensured that the topics were relatively short, say 7-10 minutes duration. To keep the interest levels high, the testing points were also designed as customer queries.
Inductions can be overwhelming for new joinees. They think they have a lot to learn and no context to learn it in. How will he remember which product to suggest if he doesn't understand the context? We defined the context right at the beginning to ensure that they absorb the information.

With this strategy, what the ID was doing was simplifying the information to make it easier to read and understand. Imagine you have PPT with a list of products and its features and you need to show this from the customer's point of view and make it interesting and easy to read. It was a challenge which we thoroughly enjoyed. Do you have similar experiences of tackling Product Training or Inductions differently? If yes, I would loved to hear them.

Which feature do I add on the learner interface?

2010-11-22T15:26:00.000+05:30

I was reading this articles posted by Geeta, NO Next and Back Buttons on Learnability Matters. It was great reading and reminiscing the experience of designing the course on 'Dealing with Conflict Management.' At Kern, we give a lot of importance to user and learning experience. How you ask? Let me ask you a question.

How do you decide what goes on the learner interface?
A. We use the basic buttons/features: Next, Back, Pause/Play, Audio Mute, References, Glossary
B. We decide based on the learner profile and the need for features

If your answer is A: That's incorrect! (Love telling that to the learner, but hate having to read it ourselves?) Why? Because there is no such thing called "basic" buttons. Focus on learning experiences rather than adding features. Think about it. Who says that these are the basic or the most essential buttons that your learner needs to navigate through the course? We assume this to be the case. Do a really small experiment. Take a course and test it on your learners. See which buttons they use and why. You will observe that they will not use the buttons you thought were essential. And what's worse, they may look for other features that you have not included.

The idea is not to undermine the importance of features provided in a course. But, to ensure that you integrate the right set of features in your package. Why give the learner features he will not use? Why miss out a feature that he/she is likely to search for? What do we do to get the right set of features?

1. Do a learner analysis: Understand the following:
a. What's their typical day like?
b. Have they taken an eLearning course before? How comfortable are they with the computer?
c. If they are expected to take the course during their work hours, what are the possible distractions in the learning environment?

2. Based on the profile and instructional design strategy, pick the features that are essential for the course. For example, if your course is an audio-dependent course, do not add a mute button. Instead add a pause button. If your learner is not fluent with the language, avoid transcripts.

3. Ask why and not why not. When discussing the features that you want to add on the learner interface, always ask your team why the learner needs a particular feature. In most cases, we say 'why not; let's just include this. This is bound to be useful'. If there is a doubt, keep it out. You can always add the feature later if your learner really needs it.

4. Do not design for edge cases and what ifs: Design for your primary user and for second visits. Do not design for edge cases and try to accommodate the what if scenarios.

5. Keep it simple. You cannot go wrong if you keep it simple. It is an extremely challenging task to just keep it simple. But it ensures that learner experience is not hindered due to clutter and unnecessary choices.

6. Test your course on sample learners: Test your course on atleast 5-7 learners. If you do not have access to them, test it on people who have a similar profile. This really helps understand how your learners will react to your course. It will give you a first hand experience of what their experience is like.

It is important to understand what the learners need than to just populate the learner interface with the regular features. Are we forcing actions that the learner does not need? Learner interface, navigation in particular, plays a crucial role in making your training program a success. So, think it out well. Spend some time getting it right.

Choices - Too Many Does Not Help Anyone

2010-08-11T11:15:00.002+05:30

What is the point of choices if they do not work for you?

This is the new tagline for the latest commercial of Monster India, a online job search site. The ads are funny and the message is really strong. Whenever I view this ad, I am reminded of how true this is in the learning arena also.

Do we give our learner too much of content and expect them to choose what will suit them? I remember Geeta telling me that a client wanted a compliance training program that can cater to everyone in the organization. During my early years, Geeta drilled it into my head (and I am so glad for that) that we cannot have a single solution for EVERYONE. Compliance (for example) means different things for different people. For some, say the security staff, it may mean application-based knowledge while it may mean good to know information for certain roles.

Learning paths can also be confused as categorization of content. Content chunking as individual/independent topics is very different from learning paths. Learning paths are customized based on rationale such as age, role, gender, need, and so on. But giving learners access to different topics and expecting them to pick out what ever they want may become a case of giving them too many choices.

How about features on the interface of an eLearning application? Do we add unnecessary features for the learners to use? Do we even stop to think whether it adds real value to the course and whether people truly use these features? We automatically include features that we think must be included such as audio, mute, transcripts, glossary, references, etc.

The bottom line is the more unnecessary choices you give to the learner, the more confused he is going to be. He will not be able to figure out to do with them. Will leave you to think about this with this piece from The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz

About six years ago, I went to the GAP to buy a pair of jeans. I tend to wear my jeans until they're falling apart, so it had been quite a while since my last purchase. A nice young salesperson walked up to me and asked if she could help.
"I want a pair of jeans - 32-28," I said
"Do you want them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy, or extra baggy?" she replied."Do you want them stone washed, acid-washed, or distressed? Do you want them button-fly or zipper-fly? Do you want them faded or regular?"
I was stunned. A moment or two later I spluttered out something like, "I just want regular jeans. You know, the kind that used to be the only kind." I turned out she didn't know, but after consulting one of her older colleagues, she was able to figure out what "regular" jeans used to be, and she pointed me in the right direction.
The jeans I chose turned out fine, but it occurred to me that day that buying a pair of pants should not be a daylong project. By creating all these options, the store undoubtedly had done a favor for customers with varied tastes and body types. However, by vastly expanding the range of choices, they had also created a new problem that needed to be solved. Before these options were available,, a buyer like myself had to settle for an imperfect fit, but at least purchasing jeans was a five-minute affair. Now it was a complex decision in which I was forced to invest time, energy, and no small amount of self-doubt, anxiety, and dread.

My Thoughts on Geetha Krishnan's session on Learning and Technology

2010-06-28T20:01:00.001+05:30

I had this great opportunity of being at the right place, at the right time. What am I referring to? I got an opportunity to attend Geetha Krishnan's session at Kern during my one week long visit to Hyderabad. Geetha conducted a dynamite session where he introduced teasers that made us to think about several aspects of learning and technology. You can read (must read, actually) what was discussed during the session here. Now, given below are the truths and my response to these.

1. Learner's real world is full of distractions.
Do we really assume that the we have the learner's undivided attention? We sure do. We think we have designed an absolutely compelling, thought provoking, visually appealing training program that will glue the learners to their seats. Keeping our massive egos aside, let us accept the truth. For the learner, this is 'just another training program.' There I have said it! They will do any or all of the following as they take your training program - take calls, chat, check their mails, scratch their head, think about what they are going to eat for dinner, talk to a colleague, wonder how long your training program is going to last, and so on. Think about it. We have done all these and more when we were in school/college. Why should our learners be any different? So, what can we do?

Take your content dump and attack it with a butcher's knife. Chop out all the unnecessary things, slice out extra information, keep information that is directly linked to the learning objectives.
Ensure that you keep your course as close to the learner's reality as possible. Why? Because this increases their chances of remembering it. During the session, Geetha mentioned that it is important that the content is 'familiar to the learner' but not 'obvious to the learner.' Don't teach him things he already knows. But, ensure that what you teach him is very close to his world.
Design the course keeping in mind the learner's work and work environment. For example, we had to design training on grooming and personality development for sales executives of a retail store. They had to stop everything they did to attend to a customer. Therefore, we designed really short learning nuggets for them. On the other hand, in a very recent project, we were told that the learner will take this training program in the first three months of joining. First three months are totally dedicated to training, therefore, we know for sure that they will not be interrupted by customers.
The advantage of eLearning is that they can revisit it whenever they want to. Therefore, do not expect them to remember everything. Ensure that the most important information registers.
Strike an emotional chord. The higher the impact of training, the more interested they are going to be.
Understand them before you design for them. Find out what makes them tick, what inspires them. During the session, Geetha Krishnan mentioned that he was not a big fan of usability testing as people tell you what you want to hear. I think any form of testing is an attempt in the right direction. Whether controlled or not, you are making an attempt to design for your learner. And if the interviews are conducted right, people are going to give you valuable information.

2. Learners in eLearning are quasi-customers
First and foremost, I think it is great if teams truly design eLearning based on mental models of the learners. In most cases, it is typically the mental models of clients and IDs (or their bosses) that the team keeps in mind. Learner diversities can be kept in mind by doing extensive research during learner analysis. At Kern, we do contextual inquiry, mystery shopping (for sales related roles), interviews, observations, and secondary research to understand who our learners truly are. Based on the learner profiles, we also create learner personae if we see contradictory or a variety of prominent traits and characteristics. While I agree, that a trainer in a classroom has 30 participants in front of him and he needs to cater to different mindsets. I don't think this is any less true in online training. Having said that, I must accept that I have had a chance to meet and talk to learners in 90% of my projects. Some others are just not as lucky.

Also, I have attended training programs where the trainers have a very sketchy idea of who their participants are. They gauge the learner's reaction for half the day and then change their training style to meet the learner's needs. While it is great that these trainers think on their feet and quickly undo any damage done, I think half a day is crucial and if you don't make the right impression immediately, you have already been judged. Also, in most classroom sessions, you have only two days and therefore, half a day is a long time. Understanding who the learners are and how they will react to your program has to happen much earlier.

3. Faculty considers technology to be their enemy.
Why? Because they are worried that technology will make them redundant? They think that they may not be able to provide ALL the information a learner may need? They are scared of parting with 'their' content? Your guess is as good as mine. Another interesting thought that jumped to my mind is... why do ID's love technology? Because it gives them more control? It gives an opportunity to try fancy things or do things differently?

4. If technology helps people learn, what do ID's do?
As Geetha mentions, technology is only the 'way' a training module is delivered and ID the 'how'. Technology plays a crucial role in the learning experiences and therefore, must be selected carefully. Instead of the client telling you that they need an eLearning course, it should be derived from the learner's needs. It is not about using the latest technology to awe the learner. It is about using the most effective technology to deliver your training. Remember the technology that inspires you, may just scare your learner off. For a project, we wanted to introduce web 2.0 tools to encourage discussion and informal learning. But, during concept testing, we realized that our learners were not comfortable sharing their opinions out in the open. Therefore, technology must be decided based on the learner's needs/attitudes.

This doesn't mean that we continue doing things the way we have been doing for ages. If we do not explore newer technology, how will we know the learner's reaction to it? Ensure that you do your research well, involve your learners, seek their feedback/opinion regularly. Geetha mentions that faculty love their content most. Do IDs love their technology and tools most? What do you think?

5. Why are marketing and learning the first two industries to explore technologies?
I do not think these industries are insecure. I believe they are early adopters and constant learners. From the learning industry's perspective, it is necessary to explore technology to know whether this will excite the learners, reduce drop out rates, engage them further, make learning more entwined with their work. I think it is important to add newer ways of delivering content to the already existing basket. You can pick from wider range of choices based on your learner's needs and your client's budget. I don't believe that a technology will replace another. I am reminded of this point that Geetha Krishnan brought up - Informal learning and networking will kill eLearning. While I agree that we can not design/control/measure informal learning, I don't believe that eLearning is going to die. Yes, eLearning as we have seen it or understand it, may cease to exist. But, it is not going to die. Secondly, Kern does not believe that eLearning is the only solution. While eLearning is our forte, we do understand that other forms of delivery may just be the answer to our learner's needs. This, I think, is the mark of a learning solutions company. Informal learning is important. It has always existed. In online training, informal learning can ensure that the learner get an opportunity to share their thoughts and reach out to a wider audience. Having said that, informal learning will continue to take place even if you do not design avenues for it.

6. Adult learners hate eLearning, why?
I think adult learners hate training, period. It doesn't matter if it is eLearning or classroom training. When delivered at the wrong time to the wrong people, this is the response we are going to get. Discourage clients from implementing 'one size fits all' training programs. Encourage them to understand importance of customization and relevance to learners. Geetha opened my eyes to a very valid point. We teach within a very specific context and this context is typically true for that organization only. But when we design training for our clients, we try and ensure that it meets their organization objectives also. Training vs education is an interesting discussion. I think training meets an immediate need and education a larger need (which may not be obvious to the learner).

7. Training happens at transition points.
Training happens on a verge of a role change. This is why training is necessarily specific to the organization and this immediate need to ensure that they adjust well and quickly.

Geetha Krishnan also asked why people give so much importance to networking. I think it is the basic social need to be known and to connect. People want to share common experiences and find out what others are up to.

Finally, is learning open-source? This is question Geetha left us to chew on as he ended his session. It left several more queries in my head and I am not sure if I am closer to an answer. Help me out, guys. Learning is open source. Everything is available on the Internet, on the job, and in the social interactions. Learning is also very personal to the learner. He draws his own inferences from the training based on his experiences, attitudes and his motivations or immediate need.

Learning is open source today when you involve the learner in design, development, and implementation process. They have a say in what they are going to learn. They share their opinions and feedback. They have an opportunity to approve/disapprove. They have an opportunity to be more in control of what they learn.

The Grays in Learning

2010-06-03T10:18:00.006+05:30

I was reading Donald Clark's latest post on Funny Exam Answers. I found the Neils Bohr's incident particularly interesting. Read the post to understand what I am referring to. This had me thinking.

Do we always assume that there is only one way to do something or one right answer?
When we design assessments, do we fail to take into consideration that there may be more than one right answer?
Do we ever consider that the subject we are dealing with may have gray areas and is not necessarily black and white?
Do we take into account the fact that there are several variables in a real situation? Are we making it too simplistic and therefore, unusable because we fail to include the various permutations and combination that exist in real life?
Do we restrict our learner's imagination and insult their experience by giving them multiple choice questions that keep in mind only one aspect of real life?
Do we given them type in answers and then reprimand them for getting a spelling wrong or for not writing things the way we taught them?

I remember an incident from my college days. My English teacher would recite a poetry and would ask us to interpret the meaning of a verse. I would always wonder that there are several interpretations that can be drawn out from poetry. It all depends on the way you look at it. Most of the times, we are going to have different people interpreting different things and very seldom there is one right answer. Also, I think we want our learner to think of several situations. They should be able to apply what they have learnt in different contexts using their discretion, knowledge, and experience. We do not want to make all learners similar by expecting them to behave in the exact same fashion. We want to encourage them to think and make the right choices. Read another post that I had written some time back on Exercises that help reflect on gray areas.

Recently, we developed a small learning nugget on understanding your consumers and positioning a product. This nugget was meant as a refresher for an ILT program. The objective was very clear. The learner should be able to apply what he learnt during the ILT. He should be able to observe the farmer and his realities, identify what type of consumer this is and position a product accordingly. This was the learner's first experience to eLearning. During Learner testing, we realized that they wanted much more. They wanted more cases, they wanted to compare farmers, they wanted more variable factors and increase in complexity. Simplicity is fine, but pointless when it fails to capture the real influencing factors. The common misconception may as well be that simplicity means fewer variables. What I now understand is that multiple variable factors is far more realistic. So is it about simplicity vs. reality? Are we trying to equip the learners to deal with what is real or are we massaging their egos that giving them easy stuff? That's the question that needs to be answered.

Help L&D Transition to T&D

2010-05-19T16:13:00.006+05:30

I was reading 'Is it a dead-end for L&D professionals?' thoughts shared by Mathew Kuruvilla. In August, I had blogged on 8 Tips for the Training Department, but after reading this post I got an opportunity to understand things from the other side of the table. Mathew mentions:

“Unless L&D professionals evolve to a more strategic role in the organization, it’s going to be dead end for them. L&D will always be treated as a support function to HR.”

If you are just filling in the training calender with courses no one needs, it is surely a dead end for these L&D professionals. When you read Mathew's thoughts, you will know exactly what the L&D needs to do to ensure that move to a more strategic role. What I am more interested is how can learning consultants help make this transition from L&D to T&D (Talent and Development)? What are the challenges that learning consultants face? How can these be overcome? Let us take this one at a time.

How can learning consultants help L&D transition to T&D?
For every project, start with a contextual inquiry. I have seen that contextual inquiry gives you a wider access into the organization. It gives a clear picture as to what gaps exist and these gaps may not necessarily be training related. We have suggested process changes, structural changes, training, and so on to address these gaps. Assessment centers also help the L&D departments understand the existing competencies and the areas of focus (if any). This will help identify the key needs to help the employees grow.

What I truly appreciate in Mathew's interview was his 3-E mechanism: Education, Exposure, and Experience. This truly helps the employee grow in a more holistic fashion. Most times, we end up giving extra attention to just one of these aspects. These make the person who they are and therefore, it is important to understand this. Most L&D professionals consider their employees as a 'clean slate'. I have often heard my cousin from the IT industry grumble that he needs to take a compliance course every year because of a US law. He mentioned that the scenarios are tweaked but the same thing is presented year after year. Imagine the effect of this on motivation! Why not have a a simple check to ensure that the person still remembers what was taught. It is less painful for the employee and we have done our job of keeping the US government happy.

The crux of the matter is that training decisions have to be strategic decisions. How will the employees benefit from this? Do they really need it? What am I hoping to achieve? If only more L&D professionals think like Mathew does.

What are the challenges that learning consultants face? How can these be overcome?
The article touches on the challenges that L&D professionals face. But what challenges do learning consultants face?
1. We are treated more like vendors who execute training rather than consultants who provide suggestions. We know our work best and that's why we do it. Make your opinions count. Make them trust you to make the right suggestions. Be extremely transparent. Don't think about your pocket, think about success. Work as an extended team.
2. We do not have access to the real learners. If your clients trust you, they will open the doors and give you all the access you need. If they know why you are suggesting a particular task, they will understand that you have only their interests at heart.
3. Clients underestimate the importance of training. Give them holistic learning, not just training. Support them while they implement the training. Give them ideas and solutions to make learning a habit, to encourage transfer of knowledge. Your task does not end with implementation. You are an extended team that supports them when they need it. You do your work right and your clients will see the difference for themselves.

Can we really help L&D professionals make this transition to T&D role? Are you going to stand by and watch them make this transition or are you going to make your presence and importance felt by helping them? I am quite sure there is a lot more to this. Please add to this or share your thoughts or critique mine.

Working with the Client, not for Them

2010-04-27T15:27:00.004+05:30

I thought this video was very funny. I get the joke, seriously, I do! But what really gets to me is that most us may be working this way. I wish the designer had given an opinion, made a case for himself, suggested why certain things work and certain things don't. WAKE UP, man! As a designer, your job is not to create SOMETHING for the client. You job is to understand what your client wants, what is the goal of the project and then give your expert suggestions. They have hired you because you are an expert at what you do.

In training, keep the learning goal and the learner as the focus. Back up your suggestions with logic for why it would work and why it wouldn't. Don't just give in because finally the client is bound to be disappointed with your work. Your work is to find out what will truly work and ensure that the client gets that. If they are still insistent, let them know you are not happy about it but will do as is suggested. They will treat you as an expert. They will ask you for your opinion. Why?

They trust you are looking out for the good of the company. They realize that you are trying to do your job right. They will support you as your goal is in line with their goal.
They realize that you know what you are talking about. You have the expertise in this field and that you rationalize things before you suggest them. You don't say no, I can't do it. You say this may not be good for the design because....
You are part of their team and not just any vendor. They respect you and value your presence.

So, do you have a spine? Do you blindly do as you have been told? Do you think for yourself before your execute? Do you behave like an expert? It is tough, but the least we can do is try and try really hard.

Also read That Dirty Word -Creative and Getting Stuck and Unstuck.

Gain Attention - What's the Fuss?

2010-04-26T19:18:00.009+05:30

The first few minutes of any interaction is crucial because the people involved are all judging what they are experiencing. This is true for face to face interaction, the first few pages of a book or movie, a phone conversation, and so on. First impressions... Have you ever picked up a novel and found it difficult to complete it? Have you sat in class and starting doodling or passing notes because you couldn't care less what the lecturer had to say? Have you formed an opinion to not like a movie just by looking at its trailer?

First impressions... In learning also, first impressions are crucial. The first few seconds decide the fate of your course. The learner may just drop out or click Next continuously to 'get it done with'. If first impression is not positive, your great ID strategies within may just fall on deaf ears.

Gain attention:
1. Sets expectation: What is in it for me? and What is this all about?
2. Get them thinking: Really?/ No way!/ So true!!
3. Makes an impact: Strike an emotional chord. Touches the learner's heart. I don't mean 'mush' :)
4. Makes them give you a chance: They want to hear/see more. You have their undivided attention.

Types of gain attentions:

Myth breaking: Break an existing Myth. There is nothing like challenging an individuals belief's systems. It triggers an emotion in them. If you prove what you say right, you may have found respect for your course.
Fact Sharing: Share facts that will inspire/surprise them. Saying Roses are red isn't going to make them notice. Share information that will really interest them.
Challenge/pretests: This is good for learners who believe they know it all and there is nothing more to learn and for demotivated learners. Do not test the learner. The objective is for him to understand where he stands, to judge himself. Don't try to trick him. (When should we use pretests?)
Story/Scenarios: Make the learner empathize with a scenario or people in the scenario. Make them want to help the people out. Give them control over the destiny of another individual's lives. Creaet scenarios that will make them feel, 'Hey, this happens with me all the time!' or 'That's a tough one. How will she get out of it?' Make learners love/hate the characters.

I think gain attentions should have 'depth'. Visuals is a way to communicate the message. But the visuals never become more important than the message itself. If you really on WOWing the learner based on just the 'look and feel', you may just manage to capture his attention for a few seconds.

If you WOW the learner through an effective message, you will grab the learner's attention for way longer. Like Micheal Allen says what use is a fancy graphics and a spinning logo if it does not aid learning.

I think we don't fuss about it enough. Gain attention makes your users sit up and notice. It makes them want to see what lies ahead. It makes an impression and they are willing to give you a chance. Grab it while you can!

DezineConnect: Connecting Designers

2010-04-21T17:28:00.003+05:30

Are you a designer? Are you inspired by one? Do you want to know how their mind works? Do you want a sneak peek into the kind of work they do? DezineConnect interviewed Neil Dantas, designer who designs graphical T-shirts with a strong social message. Read more here and be inspired!

As an Instructional Designer, I think it is great that these sites bring us closer to the design community. There is so much we can learn from them. A little about DezineConnect:

DezineConnect celebrates design from India. It connects creative people to the world. DezineConnect aims to showcase designers, design buyers, and design support people.

If you know a great designer, who must be featured here, get in touch with the DezineConnect team. You can follow DezineConnect on Facebook and Twitter. Stay connected to see some interesting stuff!

5 Unlearnable Elements in Your eLearning

2010-04-20T09:37:00.012+05:30

What are the 5 unlearnable elements that all IDs should steer clear off?

1. Definitions

Definitions (especially poorly written ones) are not important. Look at a few examples.

Negotiable instrument is a written document by which a right is created in favour of some person and this is transferable by delivery.

Meaning?

Credit is the provision of resources by one party to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately.

Sounds confusing!

Direct manipulation is a human-computer interaction style which involved continuous representation of objects of interest and rapid, reversible, incremental actions and feedback.

Now in English please...

How many of us are comfortable introducing a concept using a definition? Have we ever stopped to wonder how effective these definitions are? Here's what we typically do: Start any module with a definition because it makes the content look authentic. Then, we go on to simplify the definition further. If we stop to think about it, we may just realize how unlearnable these definitions are.

Definitions are meant to simplify a concept. Help understand an idea/process better. Why is it important to share a definition when you can jump directly to the explanation? I remember in school how I had all the important definitions by heart. But looking back now, the visual depiction of evaporation or osmosis was far more useful in understanding the concept. Think about it. Is it important for a manager to know the definition of conflict or identify a conflict situation and react appropriately? Don't bother with definitions. They only intimidate or confuse the learner further and serve no learning purpose.

2. History

Why does man have the urge to start from the beginning? Why is it so important to know what happened in the past? When I learnt about computers, it started with history of computers. When I learnt about the Internet, it started with history. When I learn about Search Engines, it starts with history. Really, how important is this information to me? What can I do with the knowledge of history? When can you use history?

Teach a scientist the history of a particular theory because it may important for him to know: 'This has already been tried and the results were 'this'.
When you want to drive home the important of a current process vs a previous process. Common Craft Videos do this beautifully.

Don't use it unless it is absolutely critical to learning. If your SME insists, move it to references.

3. Information dump

Some eLearning applications look like a dump of information. What we need to understand is that SMEs (at least 99% of them) will give you information. Let me share an instance with you. I was handed responsibility of storyboarding for a technical skill-based course. I had a never ending content dump. Most of the content in this was theoretical and could be classified under information. When I asked the SME for examples to substantiate the theory, the SME told me: 'We have done all the research that need to be done. So you don't need any more information. All you need to do is make it learnable.' Sure. I didn't give up and thankfully I had another very cooperative SME. I would surf the Internet for suitable examples and get it validated. The content dump and the course look completely different.

Next time you dump information in your storyboard, dont bother. Just mail the word document to the learners. Your eLearning is as learnable as the content dump. No one is going to give you information in the learnable format. It is our job to make it learnable. Make information learnable. Remove all the necessary content and get the real stuff out.

4. Visuals

Simply putting an attractive visual on the screen will not help the learner learn. I have seen SBs where the visuals are based on the least important information on the screen. Focus on designing learnable, useful visuals. They must support and reinforce what is being described.

5. Exercises

Exercises for the sake of it is a pure waste of time. The usefulness of the exercise is in danger if it is:
1. Very obvious

the question is poorly designed and gives the answers away
the question is really not important/too simplistic
The question does not require much thought (while designing or solving)

2. Forced (because I have to add an exercise after 10 screens)

Exercises also have to be learnable. They have to have a purpose. They must make the learner think.

Next time, we start storyboarding let us not start with the definition, move to the history, dump information on screens, provide useless visuals, and add pointless exercises at regular intervals. What are the other common used unlearnable elements that you have witnessed?

Challenge: Facing it or running away?

2010-04-05T11:25:00.009+05:30

I was chatting with my colleague Yatin, when he jokingly told me 'Well, you don't seem to like the challenge then.' I always thought myself as a person who enjoyed challenges. I hate mechanical, dry, boring, work. I have to have to use my head, else my heart is not in it. And, I cannot work if my heart is not in it. So, then why did I not like that particular challenge?

I like a challenge, when:
1. I can see the light at the end of tunnel. I know that there is a way out. Like in games, when you know that you just have to keep planning your attack and finally you will get past to the next level.

2. I am confident that I have what it takes. Let us face it. We are good at certain things and not so good at others. It is ok to accept that there are things that I do bad. What can I do about this? Think about how I can improve. Read more about it. Talk to people who are good at it. If it is not worth investing time in, I check whether someone else can help me do this while I focus on doing what I am really good at.

3. I have all the resources that I need. I have everything I need to tackle this challenge. Or I know where I can find these resources. If I don't have the resources, the challenge is impossible to meet. Brings me to the next point...

4. The challenge is truly attainable. Don't you just hate challenges that you can do nothing about it. Like a dead end in a game or an impossible opponet who refuses to die. As a gamer, I prefer to give up my life and redo things better. But the challenge has to be attainable, else I give it.

5. The possibility of an 'epic win'. I have to know that I am close to an epic win. That I can crack this case. That I am soooo close that it will be stupid to give up. That I am on the verge of something great.
6. I have the time and luxury to sort things out. Conquering a challenge requires clarity of thought. Therefore, I need time to figure things out. I need to sort things out in my head before I attempt to try my hand at this challenge.

Have you ever given up a game because it was just too frustrating to continue? Have you felt so disappointed with loosing that you never try again? So, I think there are challenges and there are challenges. Some of them excite you and some of them scare you off. Some of them make you want to give it your best, while others make you want to quit. I think these are really useful when we design online training also. We use challenges to engage the learner, but this will fall flat if we don't:
1. Make the challenges attainable.
2. Show them light at the end of the tunnel.
3. Reward them for right choices.
4. Create situations where epic wins are possible.
5. Provide necessary information to make the right decision.
6. Give sufficient time to figure things out.

Instructional Design and Experiential Learning

2010-03-18T09:20:00.008+05:30

I was reading an interesting blog post on Instructional Design versus Experiential Design: do you have what it takes? by Koreen Olbrish. I have picked out a particularly interesting bit.

Experiential learning is a process of learning by doing. According to David Kolb, an individual learns from personal experiences and from the environment.

1. Having said this, I think it may be incorrect to deduce that elearning/workshops may not be able to provide experiential learning. In well designed programs, the learner can learn by doing and needless to say, he will learn from his own experiences and from the environment.

2. Instructional design is based on the learner's true needs. Therefore, it will be a systematic layout of content if the learner truly needs this. Instructional design is about designing the program such that learning happens. Therefore, the type of instructional strategy suggested above is just one among millions.

3. Even VLEs require to have a sound instructional base. Why? Your environment may be extremely real and may wow the learner. But, if you have learning presented in a manner where they are required to read off a book, attend a lecture in a VLE, or have information which is just difficult to find, this will make it less easy to learn. The learner may be better off with an eLearning program.

4. Even games have boundaries, rules, logic that can be learnt very quickly. If these are defined well in an eLearning program, I think we can design experiential learning. If the learner gets to do things to learn, I think you have a good program. Again, it has to have a strong instructional base.

5. I guess it is great if instructional designers break content into simpler chunks to ensure that they have a greater understanding of the content itself. But how the content should be presented, should be based on the learner's current knowledge and the skills that he wishes to acquire.

6. I am a huge fan of VLEs provided the usability issues are removed. But, I think it may not be right to say that great eLearning programs and workshops cannot provide for experiential learning.

7. I completely agree with Koreen that it requires a different kind of skill set to actually design experiential learning. It requires a lot of research into the learner's reality, the content itself, iteration in the design process, lots of brainstorming, and competent instructional designers, visual designers, and SMEs.

8. Therefore, my point in a nutshell, it is never Instructional design versus Experiential design. If your learners are learning, there is always instructional design in work there. You may not have designed it your self. I remember @Abhinava mentioning the same during his session at the IDCI session. We learn a lot of things unconsciously but this is always backed up by good instructional design.

What do you think?
1. Can we ensure experiential learning in eLearning/workshops?
2. Is experiential design truly possible only in a VLEs?
3. Is instructional design always about simplifying content?

Unconventional ILTs

2010-03-14T17:53:00.007+05:30

In my last post, The Role of a Trainer, I touched on what it takes to be a good trainer and what are the list of don'ts that the trainer can keep in mind. There are several more aspects of ILT that I find intriguing.

1. How your ID strategies may be absolutely brilliant but your trainer can ruin the training very easily or how a brilliant trainer can make up for poor ID
2. How ID for ILT is so very different than ID for an eLearning module
3. How an instructional designer has to take into consideration several things: other learners, the venue, the seating arrangement, the facilities, the space, the trainer, the mood, the attitude, and so on

What I find even more intriguing is designing activities for ILTs. Activities in ILT are the crux of the training (atleast I think so). The activities encourage social learning and active participation. It also ensure 'hands on learning'. What do you need to keep in mind when designing an activity for an ILT:
1. What type of activity are you designing? Is it a case study/scenario/game/individual exercise?
2. How do you want to divide your participants? In groups of 2, 3, 4, 5?
3. Are any props required? Can you use relevant props that will aid learning and make the experience extremely memorable for the learner?
4. How much time would this activity take? 20 mins inclusive of discussion? 30 mins?
5. How will they share what they have done? Should a representative present the thoughts/findings? Should the class see the whole 'event' unfold in front of them?
6. How is feedback shared? Ask the other learners to share their thoughts in what just transpired?
7. How do you summarize the learning to make it easy to remember? Here's an experience that has to stored as learning. How can this be done?
8. How do you ensure healthy competition? Offer an award/reward by listing the criteria for emerging winner? Offering praise at the end?

When we think ILT, unfortunately, everyone imagines training within four walls. While this is not wrong, I wish out bound trainings also sprang into our minds. Or when we think of training within the classroom, we do not imagine the trainer near the whiteboard and the learners seated in an orderly fashion. I wish we would think of people all over the room, enthusiasm in their faces, order within chaos, almost like a play where everyone gets to play a part and learn from it. Hmmm, FUN!

I wish in the near future, I get to design such a training program where learners are on their feet and learning by doing. Soon.... Meanwhile, if you have designed such a training, please do share. Would love to hear and turn green with jealousy! :)

Also, check this video out: What Makes a Great Teacher?

The Role of a Trainer

2010-03-14T14:33:00.004+05:30

I have always worked on eLearning rather than ILTs. I did start my ID career working on an ILT. But last year, I have had the opportunity to work on two completely different types of ILT.

Type 1: During this session, we had to teach call center executives the basics of Internet. We conducted telephonic contextual inquiry and mystery shopping (over the phone) to understand our learners. The learners were a fun loving lot: young, eager to work well, motivated. Designing ILT for these guys was absolutely fun. We introduced several videos and interesting activities and group discussions, which had the desired impact. We also had young, enthusiastic trainers run the training program.

Type 2: This was much, much more challenging. This training program was huge! Kern Learning Solutions conducted an assessment center to understand the current competencies and carried out detailed contextual inquiry. Based on the findings, training areas were formulated. I learnt a lot during the storyboarding phase of this project:
1. Working with SMEs
2. Designing activities that interested the learners
3. Ensuring printing too place (believe me this can be a nightmare)
5. Clear communication with the trainers

I attended the pilot to check how the learners responded to the training. The experience needless to say was absolutely thrilling. I learnt a lot. I specifically wanted to share what I thought of the role of the trainer. During a #KernLearn session on Twitter, I posed the following question:

rnarchana What makes a trainer 'good' during classroom training?
partvinu The trainers should be able to involve the participants in the discussion through listening, and creative interventions.
chneels Should be able to convey the right message and content to the learners without putting them to sleep:)
chneels trainers should teach content with more examples and situations..
partvinu trainers can use humor but only to enliven the atmosphere, not to divert the attention of the learners
sandeepdev Learning by doing & learning by mistakes... the holy way of teaching
geetabose Good teachers do not provide asnwers, they say Find out yourself! RT @sandeepdev: Learning by doing & learning by mistakes...
rnarchana Good trainers always have their finger on the pulse of the audience. They adjust based on the participant's needs.
rnarchana They inspire, encourage, and praise. RT @geetabose: Good teachers do not provide answers, they say Find out yourself!
rnarchana A good trainer is extremely 'likeable', 'approachable', 'full of energy', 'good listener', 'highly observant', 'confident'.
rnarchana A good trainer makes the 'learning' come alive. He engages the learners mind without solely depending on presentation tools
rnarchana A good trainer will never be heard saying 'Man! The participants are terrible. They won't open their mouths.'
rnarchana gd trainer ensures that every participant gets a chance 2 voice their opinion/participate. He uses their names (not hey U! )
rnarchana Good trainers are well-prepared. They find all the answers. And if they don't know an answer, they are not afraid to accept it.
mutechords @rnarchana A good trainer is one who can visualize the realistic outcome of the training program
mutechords I enjoy trainings where there were no PPTs but more interactions+anaysis of situations. good trainers are like that i guess. even before it has started
shana1729 @rnarchana A good trainer shud b interactive n engaging
shana1729 @rnarchana A good trainer will have a clear learning/teaching objective, wil conduct mock sessions before he goes live..
shana1729 @rnarchana A good trainer should be able to tackle the participants who goes on and on debating something useless.
shana1729 @rnarchana A good trainer will never read out the text on the slide!
shana1729 @rnarchana A gud trainer ll nvr underestimate learners. But understands and digs out the deep knowledge n crazy ideas from participants..
shana1729 @rnarchana A good trainer Sets expectation participants before starting off then maps Expectation and Achievements at d end
shana1729 My views on a good ILT, nd my bad experiences as well: http://bit.ly/Z5maD #KernLearn
sumeet_moghe @rnarchana that's the one part i slightly disagree with. good trainers are facilitators -- they guide participants to the answers.

This discussion captures the characteristic of a good trainer. What are the 'don'ts'?
(Photo credit: Veer)
1. Do not invade the learner's personal space. If the trainer goes too close, he will end up intimidating the learner.
2. Do not 'stuff' information down the learner's throat. The trainer must remember that the learner has 'prior knowledge and experience'. It would be terrible to assume that the learner knows nothing. The trainer show draw out the answers from the learners and ensure that everyone learns from each other.
3. Don't be rigid. The trainer is a facilitator of learning. It is ok to add more points to the training material. The attitude 'It is not in the text book' will not work here.
4. Don't hurry topics because you have to meet a deadline. Don't skip activities or rush through the topics because you are worried you won't finish on time.
5. If there are obstacles, underplay them. For example, there is a power cut as you are taking a session, what would you do? Make a hue and cry over the facilities or the lack of it? Or ensure that you continue with the discussion without allowing anything to interrupt your flow?
6. Don't drag your feet. If the trainer is not energetic, how will the learner energy levels stay up? Regardless of how well they know their stuff, if there is no energy, they are detrimental to learning.
7. Don't digress. Too many thoughts/ideas is not what they need. Stay on the right track. Prepare well in advance to crystallize your thoughts.
8. Never blame it on the learner. If they don't respond to you, it is because you have made ZERO impact on them.

If you have any more points to add to this list, feel free to comment.

Kern Turns Green!

2010-03-14T14:30:00.003+05:30

Kern Turns Green! Check our new website, brand new us! http://kernlearning.com/

More on why 'Green' later. Watch this space! In the meantime, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to share your thoughts on our website.

The Art of Giving Feedback

2010-02-24T21:51:00.005+05:30

(Photo Credit: Veer)

Giving feedback is truly an art that one needs to master. Before I go ahead, let me make it clear that I am referring to feedback given for assessments. We had this really interesting #KernLearn session on Twitter last week on Designing Assessment in eLearning. Given below is the transcript.
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rnarchana 1. Do assessment questions aid learning? How can they be designed so as to enrich the learning experience? #KernLearn
partvinu #KernLearn yes, they do, the strategies are dependent on multiple variables, formative or summative, blooms level, audience maturity etc
shana1729 @rnarchana 1) IF designed better, assessments enrich, otherwise kill learning. understand learner motivation n design acordingly. #KernLearn
shana1729 @rnarchana how to design assessment in elearning- a guide: http://bit.ly/1x8C7 #KernLearn
shana1729 @rnarchana A) Numerous no. of qn kills interest B) design in innovative way- dare 2 move out of traditonal methods, yet learnable #KernLearn
shana1729 @rnarchana C) Make assessments more visual, but avoid unnecesary images. In elearning, a dry screen de-motivates learner.. #KernLearn
shana1729 @rnarchana D) Challenge the learner (if the profile of learner fits it) E) Make it game based F) Design around a story..#KernLearn
shana1729 @rnarchana F) Don't let learner think that "I am being examined" #KernLearn
shana1729 @rnarchana #KernLearn 2. I think max is 10 if it is designed in traditional methods - mcq, mmcq etc..
geetabose 1. Assessments in refresher courses: used an exercise to help learners recall skills & clearly identify areas to brushup & focus. #KernLearn
geetabose 1. What was special abt this exercise - it cud guide learners across levels based on response & help zero in on thr focus area. #KernLearn
rnarchana 2. Assements in eLearning: How much is too much? Any thumb rules you follow? #KernLearn
geetabose @rnarchana Clearly depends on the key testing points identified and their impact on learning outcome... 1-2/ LO is a good measure #KernLearn
geetabose RT @shana1729: F) Don't let learner think that "I am being examined" #KernLearn | this is an interesting point...
rnarchana 2. Learner will think its too many only if he does not see the purpose. If designed well, a quesn will have him wanting more. #kernlearn
geetabose For adult learners, their motivation is high if they know upfront they r being examined & know the consequences @shana1729: F) #KernLearn
rnarchana 2. 2 many/2 little is relative. How many testing points do U have 4 the learning objectives is. imp & R they motivating enuf #KernLearn
partvinu #KernLearn 3 screens 1 AQ, and final assessments generally 1 per objective, or 2 per topic
geetabose RT @rnarchana: 2 many/2 little is relative. How many testing points do U hav 4 learning objectives is imp & R thy motivating enuf #KernLearn
geetabose Most critical aspect of assessments that aid learning is the 'diagnostic' feedback that the learner receives - #KernLearn
rnarchana Assessments should have rewards and punishments. Increases impact. These should be designed based on the learner's motivations. #KernLearn
rnarchana RT @geetabose: Most critical aspect of assessments that aid learning is the 'diagnostic' feedback that the learner receives - #KernLearn
rnarchana Designing assessments is not about tricking the learner into making errors. It is about making them think rather than guess #KernLearn
geetabose Use assessments creatively- enable learners to demonstrate knowledge, explain reasoning, develop argument or evaluate a situation #KernLearn
geetabose What's the most creative use of assessment that you have seen? Share some examples? #KernLearn
vijeesh @rnarchana Assessment Qs: Response and analysis based assessment Qs can work wonders #KernLearn
vijeesh @rnarchana 2. 10 interactive and motivating Qs per half an hour #KernLearn
vijeesh 1. Most important! RT @shana1729: @rnarchana F) Don't let learner think that "I am being examined" #KernLearn
rnarchana An example for interesting assessments: http://tr.im/OpPJ Check Employee Security, Front Line Loss Prevention, #KernLearn
rnarchana Examples of interesting assessment in ELearning http://tr.im/OpQB Check examples of scenario based learning #KernLearn
rnarchana Examples of interesting assessments in eL http://tr.im/OpRE Check Pre-Op intro and Main Surgery #KernLearn
varmarashmi RT @rnarchana: 2. 2 many/2 little is relative. How many testing points do U have 4 the learning objectives is. imp & R they motivating enuf #KernLearn
varmarashmi RT @geetabose: RT @shana1729: F) Don't let learner think that "I am being examined" #KernLearn | this is an interesting point...
varmarashmi RT @geetabose: Most critical aspect of assessments that aid learning is the 'diagnostic' feedback that the learner receives - #KernLearn
varmarashmi Assessments enhance learner involvement and interaction (also visible in twitter sessions) #KernLearn
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While there are several thoughts here that interest me, the one that mattered most is the one shared by Geeta: Most critical aspect of assessments that aid learning is 'diagnostic' feedback that learner receives.

Tell me something...

1. While designing feedback, do you ever think, 'How will my learner react to the tone of the feedback?'
Why is this important, you ask? What is the standard feedback that you use "That is correct. or That is incorrect? I will tell you what I think is wrong with these (I could be biased as I hate conventional ways).
a. It just sounds too robotic! The learner will find no joy in getting it right. On the other hand, if he does get it wrong, it is going to have 'zero' impact on the learner.
b. It sounds condescending. If your learner is the sensitive/timid/introvert/self-respecting type, he is going to be offended. Learner motivation dips and you have lost him.

What can you do instead?
Think about the tone. Think about the feeling that you want to evoke in your learners. Use direct feedback to make them feel good (You are right! or Absolutely! or We agree!). Use milder (but still effective) ways to tell him he got it wrong (Oops! or Nope. or Really? or Are you sure?). Please do not reprimand. We want to encourage him to learn and not make him feel small.

2. Do you ever think about what you want the feedback to do?
For example, how does the following feedback help?
Feedback for incorrect answer: That is incorrect. Rakesh falls in the low income group.

This learner has got this assessment wrong. This means that 'something' went wrong. She has not understood what you have explained previously. (Remember that is also not her fault) This is your opportunity to ensure learning is checked. This is your chance to set things straight. Here, you can explain why Rakesh falls in the low income group. If you don't, the learner is not going to go back and check (not even the studious ones go back). He will move ahead and your learning objective is already in danger.

What can you do instead?
Do not underestimate the role of feedback. It can play a very crucial role in checking misconceptions/understanding. We all know that assessments are designed to check understanding. But checking does not mean identifying whether they got it right or wrong. By checking, I mean providing them the rationale. Tell them why they went wrong. It is not important to prove them wrong but to make them understand why it is wrong. Even if the learner gets it right, the rationale reinforces all that she has learnt. When she reads it, she feels good that she also had the same logic in mind. If it was good guess work, at least she can read why it is right.

3. Feedback can be more than just text!
Text is just one way of giving feedback. Coming back to a point that I have touched briefly, what is the desired impact? Do you want to the feedback to have a high impact? Make the learner think? Use more than just 'That is correct. or That is incorrect.'

What can you do instead?
Audio: You can use audio to let them know how they have done. Audio is a very powerful medium of getting feedback across. You must have seen how games such as Mario Brothers, Pacman, Tetris, and others use audio to indicate whether your move was a good one or bad.
Visual: Show the consequence of an action as a visual. For example: image of a happy or a angry customer.
Rewards and punishments: Add a challenge and raise the stakes. This ensures high impact. Some simple ways to do this could be points system, a (virtual) pat on the back, a big jump ahead, happy ending, and so on.

3. Choose my feedback strategy based on my learner.
But most importantly, chose your feedback strategy based on your learner (or as we say at Kern, learner persona). Why? Imagine this.
Your learner has to take your course because your research shows that this is a skill that he needs help with. But your learner believes otherwise. He thinks he knows everything he needs to about the topic.
So what will you do? I would suggest you go for rewards and punishments. If you go by the conventional method, he will think he knows better and that the exercise itself must be flawed. So, challenge him. Trust me this works like a dream. At the end of the course, the learner still feels good about himself and he has also learnt a lot.

If your learner persona is a shy type who is afraid of getting it wrong, keep your strategy fairly simple. Encourage him all the way and he will do his best to learn. Therefore, chose your feedback strategy based on who your learner is. Understand their motivations and design your feedback accordingly.

Next time you are writing feedback for an assessment, ask yourself 'What do I want to do with this feedback?' (I pray the answer is not 'nothing' :)) Let us work on mastering the art of giving good feedback. Do share instances of how you use (un)conventional feedback to teach better.

Understanding Your learners: All things that you can do wrong

2010-01-06T14:20:00.007+05:30

Jai and Prachi live in Bangalore with their 2 year and 2 month-old son, Druv. Druv is an active kid. He loves watching Hanuman and Jungle Book. He repeats words as soon as he hears them. He stays at home with his grandparents and parents. They typically converse in their mother tongue. He is the darling of the house. Thinking it is time, the parents start looking for a school for their son. They research the best schools in the area. They visit a few and select one. They approach the faculty for admissions. A faculty member mentions that the kid is a little younger and therefore, the parents will have to meet the headmistress. An appointment is made with the headmistress. The parents and Druv finally meet the headmistress. The headmistress takes a few plastic fruits and asks Druv to name them. Druv gets Apple and Banana right. She then shows him a watermelon. Druv has never seen a watermelon before and therefore, refuses to answer her. She continues to ask him the name of the fruit. Finally, Druv gives in an says "Stop it!" and talks in his own language (child talk). The headmistress says, "Your son does not know English. How will he fit in class?" She asks Druv's mother to ask a few questions in their mother tongue. Druv promptly answers all these questions. The headmistress watched him closely. She then tells the parents that their son may have a speech problem. She says that she has been in this industry for a long time and has seen several 2 year olds. Children of his age should be able to speak a complete sentence. The fact that Druv was unable to do so and was blabbering shows that Druv has a speech problem. She suggests that they take him to a spastic society and get some tests done. She also suggests that they come back with the test results. She mentioned that this school also took in special student and therefore, she can help them. The parents were shocked and quite stunned to react. The parents were later extremely angry and offended. They checked with Druv's pediatrician. She was equally angry. She explained that kids at the age of two connect a few words together and cannot be expected to talk fluently.

VIBGYOR High is the name of this school. This is a real incident. The parents discussed here are people very close to me. Druv is like my very own son. I also have a two year old son. He does not talk in English and cannot talk complete sentences. He only connects two or three words together. So what was my reaction to this? Why am I sharing this here? I am absolutely appalled by the headmistresses behavior. Why?

1. You do not judge kids based on their behavior the very first time you meet them: Children are different at home and extremely different in front of new people. The headmistress who has seen several 2 year olds should have known this. Before you reach such conclusion, you must spend some time with the child.

In our realm: Do you make rash judgments about your learners based on their behavior the very first time you meet them? There is always more that what meets the eye and it is your duty to understand the complete picture before you describe a learner. Remember how offended the parents were. If you jump to the wrong conclusions about your learners, you are going to offend the company.

2. Stress interviews are not for learners: At home, you may teach your kid names of cars rather than fruits. How can the headmistress expect the kid to name the fruits without understanding what he already knows? Is it a crime for the kid to not know what a watermelon is? She should have made the kid feel comfortable, rather than forcing him to answer. Is a stress interview really necessary for kid?

In our realm: Do you make your learners feel comfortable when asking them questions about their work? Do they feel like they are being 'tested' or judged. There is no doubt that it is exactly was this headmistress was doing. Judging the kid...

3. Do not expect the learner to 'know': Any kids goes to school to learn languages, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. The headmistress had no right expecting the kid to know English and names of fruits.

In our realm: Do you assume that your learners must know certain things? When you meet your learners, you must be free of preconceived notions of how they must behave, they must know, and what they need to learn.

4. Handle learners with kid gloves: The headmistress should have been more sensitive to the parent's feelings. She should have shared her thoughts on the kid's speech in a very tactful and sensitive manner. You cannot just declare such things out loud. If you want the parents to take you seriously and not get offended, you must ensure that you have enough facts and that you consider their feeling before giving them that information. This headmistress was hardly professional. She neither took the time to understand the kid better, nor did she handle the parents well.

In our realm: Do you identify learning gaps after a detailed analysis and backed by research? Or do you general push a list of courses that you think may solve a surface level issues? Be sensitive to your learner's and client's needs. Treat them with care and more importantly, with respect.

Please do not put your kid in VIBGYOR High. If the headmistress is like this, imagine how the staff would be. All children (learners) are different. Each has a different learning curve. Some kids start walking earlier, some starts talking later, and so on. It would be wrong to pass judgments without really understanding them. Someone I know started talking only when he was 5, does this mean he that he had a speech problem? I don't think so. He speaks fine. If headmistresses and teachers don't understand that each child is different, I dread the day when I have to put my son in school! Finally, I really don't understand why schools want to take only the so called 'smart' children. What is great in taking the cream and showing to the world that you get the best grades? Take all children and do the same and that would be truly great! Do we have the option of making just the smart learners take the course? No. This would be crazy! Infact, our focus is on the so called low performers. At this point, I must warn you: When you request your client to share names and numbers of learner who you can talk to, they may give you their best performers. Ensure that this is not the case. You want to talk to all 'types' of learners and not just the management favorites.

My last and final point: During learner analysis, please do not be this headmistress! Acting as she has, you will only damage the learner and the learning. Understanding your learner requires higher EQ. Be human...

Hate to Rework?

2009-10-14T16:05:00.007+05:30

What is your attitude toward rework? How often have you heard or said 'I already changed that! You want me to work on that again?' Rework can really demotivate you, especially when you are new to the field. You will see rework as you not getting it right the first time or reviewer not appreciating the effort you put in. Rework can also be very mechanical. You just need to add a line here, replace an image or remove word there.

When is it ok to rework several times?

a. When you are exploring a new approach: When you are trying something new, be prepared to rework. You are bound to realize that there are loose ends; things you had not thought of earlier; newer ideas that you think will work better; that old ideas do not have the necessary impact and so on.

How to tackle: Ensure that you are working in a group. Extra heads help identify the issues at an earlier stage. Have smaller milestones and frequent reviews.

b. When you have time to improve the quality: You know that your design is good but not great. The reviewer points out relevant value adds that can make your design great. Be open to this.

c. When you want to ensure you get it right: When is it important to get it 100% right? It is important to get it right when:

the training is in line with a primary role/skill
you want to being a attitudinal/behavioral change
you need solutions to bring about a mind shit
you have promised results

d. When the reviewer is adding value: It is important to allow the reviewer to add value to your work. If it can be improved, then why not? Be open to newer ideas.

When is rework frustrating?

a. When you don't see eye to eye with person giving the feedback: The person giving you feedback may be a client, an authority, a SME and so on. But, never fix something because you are being told to do so. Ensure that you are convinced that the change is a value add and will aid learning further.

How to tackle: Have long drawn discussions about why this change needs to be made. Share your concerns. Ensure you reach a consensus.

b: When there is no clarity on what the reviewer is thinking: This can be very frustratedly. If you continue blindly fixing, you will have several version before things are clear in the head of the reviewer.

How to tackle: Have detailed discussions to understand what the reviewer is trying to say. Ask the right questions to ensure that the reviewer thinks further. Do some research and share information with reviewer. Also, double check by restating what you have understood and what you are going to change.

c. When new things creep up at every round of review: This happens to most of us. Where the reviewer is pressed for time and therefore, scans through the storyboards and shares a top level feedback. This never gets over till they actually sit down and go through it.

How to tackle: If possible, arrange a meeting with the reviewer. Take them through the storyboard and fix issues in front of them.

d. When you are pressed for time: If you are pressed for time and the review cycles are just not getting over, there is a major problem. The possible reasons:

Time-effort allocation for this project was incorrect.
The reviewer has great expectations.
You are just not cut out for this work.

Attitude to Rework

Why did I feel the urge to blog on such a topic? This is because I used to hate rework myself. But, over the years, I would like to believe that I have checked this attitude. Two months back, I worked on a project that required extensive rework at several phases. I realized that (though I was frustrated at times) every time I reworked the product looked better. It is highly satisfying when you look at rework from this point of view.

Rework is probably as important as writing the storyboard for the first time. Be open to it. Respect the people you work with. Remember most people want to ensure that we have a good product. Your goal should also be aligned to this. It will help if you reduce obvious errors while storyboarding/fixing. The more challenging the project, the more the chances of rework. Follow this and it will help reduce rework:

Ensure you understand what is required clearly before attempting to do it.
Ask the right questions so that you have all the answers.
Ensure that you are totally convinced about what you have done. If you are not, the reviewer is surely not going to be.
Be proactive. Do some research to get a clearer understanding if you are unable to get it from the reviewer.
Bounce ideas off peer if you are stuck.

Scenario Based Learning

2009-10-05T10:13:00.002+05:30

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Scenario Based Learning

View more presentations from Kern Learning Solution.

Speak Out Featured in eLearning Learning

2009-09-18T10:02:00.003+05:30

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that Speak Out is now a part of eLearning Learning. For those of you who have not heard of this site, I recommend you visit it now. The tag line of this site says it all: 'A community collecting and organizing the best information on the web about eLearning'. This site acts as a huge reservoir of information. The best blogs in the field of eLearning are featured here. Tony Karrer has brought together the best blogs under one roof.

If you are a learning professional, here are the reasons why you must visit eLearning Learning:

This site includes the latest posts by all the great bloggers (who you are probably already subscribed to). The difference being you can now go to one site and find all the new posts there.
Search has now been made easier. If you have a query, what do you do? Go to your favorite blog and hope the author has written on it? Google it? Now, all you need to do is visit this site and search. You will find relevant posts from several blogs.
Tony Karrer makes life even easier by assimilating a list of best blog posts for a particular category or month.

Quoting eLearning Learning:

The goals of eLearning Learning are:
Collect High Quality Content - The goal of a content community is to provide a high quality destination that highlights the most recent and best content from as defined by the community.

Provide an Easy to Navigate Site - End users most often are people who are not regular readers of the blogs and other sources. They come to the content community to find information on particular topics of interest to them. This links them across to the sources themselves.

Be A Jump Off Point - To be clear all content communities are only jump off points to the sources of the content.

Help Surface Content that Might Not be Found - It’s often hard to find and understand blog content that’s spread across sites. Most users are not regular subscribers to these blogs and other content sources.

Do visit it to see what this site has to offer.

7 Traits an ID Must Have

2009-09-07T20:18:00.008+05:30

I know I have already blogged about how most people outside the industry frown on eLearning. I am ready to crib about something else now. :) Why do people think instructional design is easy?

Case 1:
Acquaintance (who happens to be a software engineer): So, what do you do?
Me: I am an instructional designer. I design learning programs for corporates.
Acquaintance: Really? I am usually free during weekends, give me some work. I would like to do something.
Me: Yeah ok.

Thinking to myself: Do you know that you need to learn how to do my work? I was trained for a whole year and am still learning about how I can work better. You think you can master this task over the weekend?

Case 2:
Acquaintance: Hi, I hear you work from home. Can you get me a job like that?
Me: I don't think so.

Thinking to myself: Do you even know what kind of work I do? How do you know whether you will like it or not? I work from home, but this is 'serious' work. (I get this very often. People think my job is a hobby and not a 'real' job.)

Case 3:
ID: I didn't realize storyboarding was so tough. I thought having good writing skills was sufficient.
Me: Well, ID is a lot more than that. (I go on to share my experiences and crib about how people think instructional design is easy.)

Coming back to my original question: why do people think being ID is easy? Is ID about throwing a few slides together? Is ID about content chunking/content development? I'd say it takes alot more than that. If you are looking to take up a job as an instructional designer, you may want to check whether you have the following traits:

a. Ability to read and grasp varied subjects: Do you read a lot? Do you read all sorts of books/blogs? An ID should be a voracious reader. He must have the ability to read anything and grasp what is being said.

Why?
You will come across diverse subjects in your career as an ID. You cannot afford to be 'comfortable' with just one domain (such as soft skills/technical). You should be able to read all kinds of subjects and understand what is being conveyed. Be it rocket science or how to dress to a prom, you should be able to read it and understand it.

b. Deconstruct theory and convert into practical examples: You should be able to look beyond the theory and search for real life examples. You can pick on the SME's brain, Google it, read books/blogs, and so on. But, get the information that will help you design learning effectively. Being an ID is not about copying information from one source and transferring to another source. What you do with this information is important. Transform it, make it learnable. (Believe me, it is easier said that done)

Why?
There are several reasons. Everyone understands a concept better when you share an example. Examples help apply knowledge. What will people do with theories? They want information that they can use. The SME may not be helpful enough to understand why theory is not sufficient or he may be too lazy to do the research for you. So, get used to it. Don't depend on others, go looking for the information yourself.

c. Understand the DLC: Instructional design is not just a part of the process, it is the process. ID is not only about identifying training needs. It is about identifying what the need is. It may not be training the way you understand it. It may mean relooking at the organization structure or the policies and procedures. Even if you are going to play a small role in this process, understand how the process works. Instructional designing is no longer (if it ever was) about storyboarding. It is a lot more. ID starts when you talk to your client, do research to understand your learners, propose the solution, design the table of content, brainstorming about the mode of delivery and implementation plan, storyboard, develop the program, do a QA, test it, and roll it out. Ensure that you know about the entire process. See how you can contribute at all times.

Why?
If you are lucky, you may get to play a part in all stages of the process. You shouldn't have to learn about this later. Believe it or not, in all my projects, I am involved right from the word go till the very end. The project is mine and I know it inside out. I believe in it and know what works for it and what doesn't. I work in a team. My work is not done when the storyboarding is done. I love how my boss (Geeta Bose) puts it: This is not an assembly line where everyone plays a small part and exits. This is so true. If you are designing a part, quit now and join a company that will allow you to design the product itself.

d. Being sensitive to people's needs: Are you intuitive? Are you observant? Are you non-judgmental? If the answer is yes, you will be a good ID. You need to understand your learners. You need to observe them at work and pick up important details that the client will not share with you. Don't judge them for being the way they are. Like Abhinava (@Abhinava) says, love your learners and they will love you.

Why?
It is important to be attached, not detached. You need to understand what your learners feel and why. How can you fill this gap? Getting these answers will help you design an effective learning program.

e. Keep your feet firmly on the ground: Every day you will read about new technology, how it is great and is going to replace all other forms of teaching. Read it. Think about it. Use it. But do not replace this information with whatever you have learnt so far.

Why?
Designing effective learning solutions is not about using the latest technology or applying the latest theory. It is about identifying the right solutions given your audience. Do not look down upon any form of teaching. Your solution may lie in ILTs, eLearning, out bound training, job aids, a book, restructuring of an organization. Keep your options open and choose wisely.

f. Visualize what you read: Do you visualize what you read? Do you have an imagination? I know there are visual designers for this job. But I firmly believe that as an ID, you need to visualize what the program is going to look like. A job of an ID does not end with content chunking and organization. It also involves visualizing how each screen or idea will unfold.

Why?
Visualization is not only about graphic elements. It is about how graphics, text, audio, and other learning elements come together to make information learnable. Visualize how the complete training program will unfold. If you are clear about this, the product will be brilliant.

g. Openness to learn: Are you open to learning yourself? It is not only about making others learn. It is equally important for you to learn. Unfortunately, several people think work pressure is a good enough reason to not learn. This only means that you are not managing your time well. Invest in learning and you will do well. Network and learn from others. Find out what others are doing, listen to what they are saying.

Why?
It is important for you to believe in 'learning' if you are going to want your learners to do it. You have to constantly learn to ensure that you have all the information and the skills required to do your job well. What you learn may not be useful immediately, but will help you in the long run.

h. Respect yourself: Are you used to voicing out your opinions? Will you fight for what is right? I know it sounds idealistic, but it really helps. IDs must questions why. Believe in what you are doing and stop blindly following orders. You respect yourself and people will automatically respect you.

Why?
It is important to know why certain things are the way they are. You may raise questions that others haven't thought of yet. Clients will appreciate that you are truly trying to design an effective program.

I am sure there are several more things that can be added to my list. But, I have to stop somewhere. Finally, do not become an ID if:

1. You think its is going to be an easy and comfortable job. No job is easy.
2. You love technology and are dying to use it. Design for learner and not because you want to try out a fancy technology.
3. You think you know a lot and can share it. Like Abhinava says, it is never about you. It is always about the learners. You may know lots or nothing. As long as you are willing to learn and read, you will do fine.

Read Instructional Designers need more skills than just writing! to really know what ID is really about (while you are there, check out the other great posts as well). If you already in the field, read 5 things an ID can think differently about!

Have you ever got the impression that people thought your job was easy? Share your experiences here. Also, if you have anything to add to my list, feel free to do so.

Characters in eLearning

2009-09-01T17:37:00.004+05:30

I read this interesting post on Have you thought of Character Driven Stories for Your eLearning? by Rupa (@ruparajgo). I was tempted to blog about it myself (thanks for the inspiration, Rupa).

What role can a character(s) play in your eLearning porgram?

1. Expert: This is probably the most common use of a character in eLearning.
Type 1: This type takes you through the course and is a constant feature. You can design an expert who will take the learner through the course. This expert simplifies information or provides useful tips drawing from his experience.

The character takes on the role of a mentor. The character symbolizes wisdom and is always present to see the learner through tough situations. He/she could encourage and motivate the learner through the course.

Type 2: This type "pops up" when necessary. The role could be defined such that he/she makes an entry to challenge, guide, provide useful information, and so on. This character supplements the content when necessary.

2. Peer: The learner is introduced to the world of a peer. We define the environment and then ask the learner to observe the peer in action and help when the peer gets stuck.

Peer is the 'damsel-in-distress' (not necessarily a damsel). The peer depends on the learner to help him/her through a tough situation. The learner has to make the right decisions to get the situation under control.

3. Guide: The guide is a another common character in eLearning. I have seen several online courses that have an animated character on the top left corner that lip syncs the audio (Her eyes follow your cursor. It is a little freaky.) I have never understood the value these characters add to a learning program. They are neither experts, nor peers. They are the host, who accompanies you through the course.

4. Trouble maker: This could be a boss, an expert, a peer, a competitor, or an enemy. This character challenges the learner at specific instances. Their feedback is blunt, even rude at times. They reprimand the learner if he/she goes wrong and grudgingly accept if they get it right.

The relationship is that of power. The character throws a challenge: Let us see how to get past this hurdle. The learner has to make the right choices to save face or 'win'.

Like Rupa mentions, characters make the course more lively. Remember the following when creating a character:
Give them a personality: I love building a persona for the character. Give him a name, a background, prominent traits, and so on. When creating such a character, I think to myself, what impression do I want this character to make on my learners. Do I want my learners to admire him? Do I want them to empathize with the character? Do I want them to respect him?
Ensure Consistency: It is important to ensure that the character is consistent in behavior across the course. You do not want a timid character being very bold in another scenario. The learner will get confused.
Weave the storyline well: The storyline must blend in well with your theme. Do not introduce characters in an abrupt fashion. Build a simple storyline. Ensure that the storyline is in sync with the theme. Also, ensure that the storyline will flow smoothly through the complete course. Some become too forced if not thought through.
Do not use characters as decorative elements: Characters must aid to learning and the overall learning experience. These characters are not meant to be eye candies.

Sharing some great resources on this:
Learning Agents Part 1: Why Learning Agents
Learning Agents Part 2: Learning Agents Done Well
Learning Agents Part 3: Done Poorly

IDCI: LH Theory by Abhinava

2009-08-24T09:30:00.007+05:30

Saturday, I had an opportunity to meet fellow IDCI members at Adobe, Bangalore. It was great to meet and interact with instructional designers from other companies. I was finally getting to meet the people I interact with online through Twitter, Ning, Linkedin, and blogs. Everyone was extremely friendly and the quick coffee before the session helped me catch up with everyone.

Abhinava (@Abhinava)presented on the LH theory. LH theory or the love-hate theory is a philosophy Abhinava swears by for successes in life and work. Abhinava started the session by making us think about ourselves as learners. He posed several questions such as when do you learn, what do you learn, how do you learn. Most things we learn are not necessarily through formal training. After discussing these, he summarized by saying that we learn when there is a need. He linked this need to the Maslow's theory. Abhinava asked us to reflect on the concept of Love and Hate. You can view Abhinava's presentation here.

What does it mean to design using love?
Designing using love means:

Giving the learners positive motivations to meet a need or help them gain something
Design a 'feel good' learning program
Providing a source to love such as the company itself, the narrator of the course, and so on
Taking your time to provide continuous, ongoing reinforcements to ensure that learning occurs
Ensuring that you have the learner's buy in every step of the way by providing logical reasons/explanations
In other words, ensure that the learner understands the consequences of learning
Works well for motivated learners and those with high EQ

Designing using hate means:

Giving the learners negative motivations to force them to protect an existing need or to avoid some kind of loss
Forcing your hand to ensure that they learn to avoid repercussions
Ensuring that you remove the source of hate as soon as the objective is met to ensure that learning is sustained
Providing quick, useful information that the learner needs
Ensuring that the learner understands the consequences of NOT learning
Works well with learners with 'I do not care' attitudes

Remember the following points:

Use both love and hate wisely. Too much of hate is detrimental to learning. Too much love is wasted if there is no need.
Do not try and trick the learner. Be honest and transparent.
Design for the learners and not for the content.
Ensure that the source of love is available always and the source of hate is removed as soon as its objective is met.
It is not about IDs or the content. It is always about the learner.
Love your learner always and they will love you back.

Abhinava also touched upon another very interesting aspect. I have been thinking about this for very long. What does Instructional Design encompass? Just the content? Just designing strategies for the course? Well, no! It involves a lot more than that. So, let us see what it involves:

Identifying the problem: What is the current gap that the organization is trying to fill? How can this problem be solved? Training may not be solution. You may realize that the organization needs to relook at their structure or processes. Training may also not be the sole solution. You may need a combination of changes to make it an effective solution.
Understanding the learner: Identify need: How is filling this gap (if through training) going to cater to the learner's need? How will they benefit? Identify motivations: What are their internal motivations? What are their attitudes? Will they want to take this course? Why or why not? Understand learning environment: Where will they take this course? How much time can they take out from their daily work? Are there any disturbances? Are there any factors that will hinder learning?
Understanding the content and identifying the ID strategy: ID is not about page level strategies only. It is about the macro strategy that will bind your learning program together. It is about effectively connecting the different learning solutions together.
Delivery medium: Identifying the most effective medium/media to delivery learning.
Implementation plan: Ensure a successful implementation plan to ensure retention and application of knowledge.

On the whole, the session was highly interactive and informative. Looking forward to many more! (For IDCI members: If I have missed anything or misunderstood something, feel free to add/correct me!)

8 Tips for the Training Department

2009-08-20T15:26:00.005+05:30

Given below are two views on training:

Jaya: I have a list of courses that I am supposed to take. Most of them are irrelevant as I know most of what is covered. These elearning courses are updated regularly. But this typically means that that they change the names in the scenarios and then ask us to take the course all over again. There are a few courses that we are required to take every year because of some rules set by the U.S Government. It seems pointless to go over the same course over and over again.

Ravi: I attending a classroom training when I joined. This session was on product knowledge. I found it very useful as it helped me understand the products we were dealing with. I am sure I will benefit from any other training my organization wishes me to attend. I would like training on communication skills.

Here, we have two individuals with completely differing viewpoints on training. Interesting, isn't it? The first individual works for a big software company and the other works as a shop floor marketing personnel. Most software professionals will give you a similar response. Why are the viewpoints so different? Jaya hates training, while Ravi is open to it.

Let us look at the reasons why Jaya is against training.

1. Learn About Everything Under the Sun
The training/HR department has about 200 courses on their LMS. A huge list of courses is shared with an employee and they are asked to take it in their own pace. This is mandatory. A person will check if employees are completing the course. Therefore, Jaya clicks next on most of the courses and therefore, manages to finish her list of courses. Does the training department do any research at all? Do they know they know how their employees feel about training? Do they have any clue as to what their employees need and what they don't? Do they consider the employees motivations? Employee says: Why do I have to learn about communication skills? I don't interact with clients anyway! Having employees take courses that are not relevant does not help the cause. It does more harm actually.

2. I have enough work, Thanks!
Most employees (and not necessarily software professionals) will tell you this when you ask them whether they have time for training. This is because:
a. They do not see value in training. They do not feel the need to invest time in training as they are sure they know all there is to know.
b. They do have lots of work. They have pressing deadlines, but the training department insists that they complete specific courses within a given period of time. They are distracted as they are more concerned about a deadline looming over their heads.

3. It is just sooo boring...yawn!
Most software employees will tell you how boring the eLearning sessions are and how they click them away! The course do not interest them and therefore, they do not give it a moment's thought. An hour long course is over in a matter of minutes. What is worse is that they would have done extremely well in assessment section. Therefore, they feel confident that they know everything.

Let us look at the reasons why Ravi is pro training.

1. I benefited from it last time!
Simple! Ravi has a positive attitude towards training because he very clearly benefited from it the last time. He feels confident that any training that his management suggests will help him work better.

2. Thirst for Knowledge
Ravi feels he will benefit from a course on communication skills. He obviously realizes that he has lots to learn in this area and that a training program may be a great idea.

I have already blogged about How to tackle a demotivated learner? So, now I am going to share a few tips for the training department.

STOP churning out courses because you have to!
The training department has a budget allotted for training. That's great! But, please do not churn out unnecessary courses! Stop trying to fill in your employees' calenders just because you HAVE to! Most employees in the corporate world are over exposed to training. Remember Ravi? Another reason he likes training was because it was new to him. Try newer ways of teaching. Avoid stuffing eLearning/ILTs down the employees throats! Avoid packing their days with unnecessary training.

START investing time in research
The training department (especially of software companies) has no excuse for not trying to understand their employee's needs. Do some research. Understand the skills sets required for a particular role, map the competencies of employees, and suggest courses. Understand what your learner's motivation and attitudes are. Use this valuable information to design a powerful course that will make a difference.

PLAN well for training
Ensure that your employees do not feel the need to balance work and learning. Ensure that you have their deadlines, schedules, and time in mind when you plan training. This way neither work nor learning gets affected. DO NOT make them choose between the two. The employee will always choose work. If it is a core skill, give them time off work to take it. Ensure that you make their training as smooth as your possibly can.

DESIGN a powerful course
How? The learner is taking an hour or so from his/her work to learn. Give them something that excites them and makes them think. After a full day's work, it is extremely tiring to go through boring training. Give them a breath of fresh air. Make their learning experience a memorable one. Ensure that they do not feel like they are putting in extra effort to take and finish the course. Do not make them regret the time they have invested in this.

STOP ruining it for others
There are so may demotivated learners and the main reason for this is lack of respect for learners. Value their time and treat them with respect. Please do not hold a gun to their heads and say LEARN! Encourage a climate of knowledge sharing. Make them want to learn. Bad training programs poisons the employee's mind against learning itself. A job of a trainer/ID is tough as it. The job is made twice as hard with bad experiences with training.

START exploring newer ways of teaching
See what works for your employees. Avoid resorting to tried and tested modes of delivering learning. Try newer ways of teaching things. Explore how you can encourage social learning at your workplace. How can you get people to learn from each other? Use effective combination of solutions to deploy learning.

DO NOT insist on employees taking the same course over and over
The learner should have the option of revisiting a course if he/she wishes to do so. Do not impose this on them. If you have a rule saying certain courses have to be taken every year, use different ways of refreshing their memories. This could be in the form of handouts, discussion, quick games/scenario-based checks, and so on.

CUSTOMIZE your courses
Most training departments buy off-the-shelf products for soft skills and for technical training, they arrange classroom sessions. If soft skill such as communication is a core skill, then no off-the-shelf is going to cater to the needs of your learner. If soft skill is not a core skill but a concern, no off-the-shelf is going to help! Why? If your employee does not communicate with client face-to-face but only over emails and audio conference, the scenarios in off-the-shelf course may be very general and may not cover these. You need a course that will include scenarios that the learners face in their day-to-day lives. Therefore, off-the-shelf is anyway a bad idea. If you are buying a ready made course, ensure that you have it customized for your needs. Technical training, on the other hand, can be very dull. Ensure that you decide a mode of delivery that will allow active participation. Also, ensure that it is not theoretical and you give information that the employees can actually use.

Think about the effect your courses are having on the learner's psyche. If it is a negative one, stop what you are doing immediately and rethink your approach. Please do not ruin it for other who are trying to do their jobs right. If it is positive, pat yourself on your back and continue to change lives for the better.

Social learning without Web 2.0 tools?

2009-08-07T17:50:00.006+05:30

Many companies are reluctant to invest in social learning using the Web 2.0 tools. You can try and convince your clients about its power and usefulness. But this may not be the only thing stopping IDs from using Web 2.0 tools. In India, Internet and Web 2.0 tools are accessible to very small percentage of learners. Most learners:

Do not have access to Internet. We have learners who work in villages/districts to learners who are foot-on-street sales executives to learners who have access to just one computer.
Are still very much lurkers. Learnability testing has shown us that people are very reluctant to voice out their thoughts in a public forum.

I use tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and so on for my own self-development. But these tools are very specific to a learner profile and therefore, not the only learning solution. If the learners do not have access to or are not inclined to use Web 2.0 tools, what can we do to ensure social learning takes place? Social/informal learning has been around for ages and is not a new phenomenon. People exchange notes in class, outside class. Employees discuss training at work and outside work. So, how can you encourage people to talk about what they have learnt during and outside the training?

1. Include activities. This works well regardless of whether it is during or after training. Ensure that you make these activities fun and challenging. Ask them to do some research and share with the team.

How: Include this as your implementation plan and get the buy in of the management. Encourage learners to take an hour from their work. Let them come together in an informal setting (such as a cafeteria, outside in the lawn).

For example, for a sales executive, you could have impromptu role plays on selling skills. Divide people into groups of two and have them enact different situations.

2. Induce competition. This especially works for highly motivated learners and if the learning objective is a skill based one.

How: Include this in your implementation plan. Ask the management to send an informal mail or put an informal notice for all to see. Make it fun and do not enforce it on employees. Involve internal managers and ask them to observe the behavior and decide the winners. Put the names of the winners on the notice board or send an email out to everyone appreciating them. Basically, give them due recognition.

For example: We had to provide grooming skills for shop floor executives. We suggested that the management announce 'The Best Groomed Employee' at the end of every week. The employee was required to apply what was learnt to achieve this. The store chief helped identify the best groomed employee in his store.

3. Use learning aids. Put up interesting posters, catchy motto/lines, distribute flash cards.

How: Design eye catchy posters/handouts. Keep this very informal. Use bright colors and interesting illustrations. make the learners laugh if you can (comic strips should do the trick). Remember to share only the key points. Things that will help reinforce the most important concepts. Keep these in places where it will catch the learners eye.

For example: To help customer service associates touch up their make up, we suggested posters be put up in the washrooms. Visual description of the steps guide them and reinforces learning.

4. Design a great course. The biggest drawback about eLearning is that it is self paced (I know this has been discussed as a boon and I completely agree). People take courses and then forget about them as soon as they click exit. Designing the course right helps a big deal. If a course that inspires learners or makes them think, they will talk about it. Think about it. When you read an exciting book or watch a great movie, what do you do? Discuss with your friends? Share your thoughts on how the piece moved you or inspired you.

How: Understand your learners. Find out what makes them tick. Identify what motivates them and how they think. Understand their attitudes. Why will they like your course? Find the answer to this.

For all the above, avoid having too many. Focus only on the key learning points and stick to these. Informal/social learning is about people connecting with one another to learn. Try these and social learning will take place even if your learners do not have access to Web 2.0 tools. The key is to keep it informal. Give people the freedom to participate. Involve people from within the organization to take responsibility for these.

Bringing About a Change

2009-07-25T09:52:00.005+05:30

Dave Ferguson raises a valid point in my previous post "Are you ready to change?" I have made an attempt to respond to Dave's concern. Please feel free to add your thoughts.

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This is a bit tangential to your question, but I saw cell-phone use while driving as a behavior that's widespread among early adopters and change agents.

These are often the people trying to get others to change. What's more, my hunch is that they see their behavior as skilled multitasking, and dismiss evidence suggesting that talking while driving is on a par with driving after two or three drinks.

So: how comfortable, convenient, effective would they find it to make their own change? To do what the bumper sticker puts gently as "hang up and drive!"

One story I see in this is that if you don't want to change, or don't care to change, then change is hard, even if it's rearranging your desk or trying new outfits. All the more difficult if we're talking about significant changes to the way you work (or prefer to work).

I'm not defending people who don't change. On the other hand, I think some people who constantl push change might balk at what they'd see as changing back.

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I am reminded of the post by Geetha Krishnan on Changing Behavior. As Dave suggests, most of us know using the cell phone while driving is hazardous but we still do it. Similarly, there are several other things that we continue doing though we know we shouldn't be. Dave discusses an interesting point: "What's more, my hunch is that they see their behavior as skilled multitasking..." Many believe that multitasking in reality reduces efficiency and that at any point in time you are actually focusing on one task before you switch to another. (Change Blindness; you cannot be aware of everything) The concern that Dave voices is that early adopters and change agents themselves refuse to change. Like Dave mentioned, people take drinking and driving more seriously than talking and driving. Why?

People do not seriously believe that talking while driving can cause any serious harm. This is especially true in the case of early adopters and change agents.
Most people spend several hours commuting from home to their place of work and back. Busy as life is, they take this time to catch up with others. Cell phones are also important links between home and work. I will probably not ignore a call from home because I may consider it urgent. (Though I strictly do not use cell phones when I drive. I prefer to stop the car and then attend to any urgent calls. But, that could be because I am sure I can not concentrate on driving and talking.)
Curiosity may be a strong reason why people take calls. When they see a name flashing, they wonder 'What could he/she want?" This question has to be answered and therefore, they take the call.
Sometimes you just have to take the call. It could be a client, your boss, wife/husband, or a person you have been trying to get in touch with for ages.
People genuinely think they call keep the call short (while waiting at the traffic signal) but are unable to do so.

When do people 'change'?

When it suits them: It is as simple as that. People change when it suits them. I have seen people answer the cell and say I am driving right now and make their excuses. The same people have chatted on other occasions. Therefore, people 'change' when it suits them. This is along the same lines of people 'learn' things that confirm their own ideas or thoughts (read it somewhere on Twitter and agreed this made sense).
When people experience a negative experience: Negative experiences impact behavior. It could be a near-death experience, a traumatic experience, a humiliating experience, or an emotional experience. These have huge impact on an individual's psyche. People change to ensure that this kind of experience never happens to them again.
When they see a HUGE benefit: I say huge (in caps) because it has to really big from people to change their behavior. What is beneficial for one person may not be the same for another. People may change to set an example and earn a good name. People may change to acquire a goal they have set their minds to.

What can we do to ensure a change to encourage a desired behavior? I know most people claim that bringing about a behavioral change is close to impossible through training. I think it depends on what kind of behavioral change you are trying to bring about. If it is a deep routed value/belief/habit that you are trying to change, it is bound to be extremely difficult. In other cases, what are the things that you can do to ensure a change is brought about:

Monitor behavior: If it is a workplace behavior (which it is most of the time), ensure that you have monitoring in place immediately after training is delivered. This may seem school-like, but if you are required to bring about a change, the management must show that they are serious about it.
Provide positive reinforcements: This again may seem school-like. But it works brilliantly. We had to teach sales executives at a retail store about grooming skills. In the form of positive reinforcement, we had suggested internal competition with announcement of Best Groomed Employee. This worked wonders. The learners were highly motivated after taking the tutorial and we all geared to display the newly acquired knowledge to win the title.
Make it a habit: Through monitoring and positive reinforcements, you can ensure that the behavior becomes a habit. For example: people buckle in their seat belts (not in India thought) as soon as they are in their vehicle due to a habit and not because its a rule.
Show consequences: In some cases, it becomes necessary to show a cause and effect relationship. It is important for the learner to see the consequence of their actions to understand how the decision they have made it going to effect them.
Show them, rather than tell them: Rather than telling them how they should be doing it. Ensure that you show them scenarios in which they get to see the plot unfold. Let the learners arrive at their own conclusions. Ensure that your case it a strong one, else learners will find excuses. For example: Recently, we designed a course for programmers. During the learner testing, we realized that the learners were making excuses for applications by passing the blame on to the users. Therefore, we realized that the impact had to be higher and we had to ensure that all loose ends were tied.

I am sure they are still doubts as to whether external factors can change an individual and I think the external factors could play an important role. Rest is upto the individual. If the person does not want to change, nothing you say or do will bring about a change. I don't necessarily agree that people who push for a change may not want to change themselves. I think it depends on what aspect they need to change. Again, if it is an internal belief which they feel strongly about (say religion), change may be impossible. But, if it suits them, most early adopters and change agents will change. I think it is a matter of making sure that it also suits them.

Your thoughts are welcome.

Are you ready to change?

2009-07-20T18:46:00.005+05:30

I was reading Dave Ferguson's post, Resisting change: a phone-y example. This had me thinking. How do people in the training/learning field resist change? (These are only generalizations.)

Clients:

Avoid trying news modes of delivering training.
Refuse to understand that a learning program that is fun, can also be serious.
Spend money on things they have been spending money on for so many years.
Being part of the brainstorming session which will help them contribute and stay in the loop.
Refuse to treat their learners as responsible adults and are always suspicious of their intentions.

Trainers:

Refuse to let go. They have to have the power and control. (Read Jane Bozarth's post)
Resist innovative ways of teaching.
Insist on sticking to the content centric outlook.
Think they know what is best for the learners.
Hate to say 'I don't know.'

Instructional Designers:

Stick to Gagne's nine events without trying anything new.
Include assessment questions right at the end of the course.
Overuse right image-left text templates.
Think they know what is best for the learners.
Design for themselves rather than for the learners.
Have an irresistible itch to design even before they have the information.
Do not do enough research to identify interesting videos, example, and case studies.
Do not network and prefer to interact through e-mails only.
Do not wish to stay in touch with news and events.
Think it is not necessary to learn about new technology.

SME:

Refuse to treat ID's as experts and learners as adults.
Refuse to make learning interesting.
Refuse to take responsibility for their role.
Do not play a more pro active role in the design phase. IDs have to haunt them to get something out of them.
They only validate, but add no value to the program.
Continue to have a content centric outlook.

People, being people, resist change. All of us do. What makes us change is a powerful, positive or negative experience. Keep the following in mind:

If you wish to change someone else's life through training, remember to make it a high impact, powerful learning experience.
And, keep your mind open.
Look for opportunities to try something different.
Do not stick to things you are comfortable doing.
Read a lot and form your own opinions!
Network, you will learn a lot from others.
Always remember that you can always do things better.

Easier said than done! But, let us give it a shot.

Getting Information Gathering Right

2009-07-16T16:33:00.005+05:30

Have you noticed that most clients hate the information gathering stage? You may want to do detailed research and have answers to all your queries before you propose a solution, but several clients wonder "Why are they over doing it?" Have you experienced this? What could be the reasons for this?

The information we ask is common sense to them and therefore, they wonder why you haven't figured it out yourself.
They wonder how certain information is going to help you design the training program and therefore, they feel that you are asking way too many irrelevant questions.
They have sent you all the documents but they feel you have not read them and that you continue to ask the same questions.
My previous vendor did not bother me with a third degree. Why are these people wasting my time?

Why is information gathering important?

Anyone can design a training program based on documents shared by the client, but getting the right information will help you design a training program that will make a difference. You are expected to deliver an effective training program. How are you going to do so without understanding the organization and its employees?
This stage also plays a crucial role in building credibility, trust, and rapport with the client. This is the instance where your team gets to interact and make an impression with the client.
It helps clearly understand the reality. All misconception, ambiguity is discarded right at the beginning.

On some accounts the client are right. What can you do to ensure that information gathering stage is effective.

Ensure that you keep it short. If this stage takes too long to close, it is bound to test the client's patience. They want to see solutions and results. The faster you propose a solution the better. Avoid long breaks between meetings. Ensure that you get the information you need over a short span of time. Also, ensure that you make good use of the time allotted to you by the client.
Fix an agenda for the meeting. Ensure that the client knows in advance what the goal of the meeting is. This will give them time to prepare for the meeting. They will be able to answer your queries immediately.
Ask the right questions. Do not have a standard list of questions and ask all your clients the same questions. Each project is different. You need to modify your questions as per the need. Remove the irrelevant questions and stick to the ones that will provide you valuable information to move ahead.
Ensure that you read all the documents shared by the client. It is a bad idea to think that you can get the information directly from the client and therefore, avoid reading the documents. Clients will be offended if they realize that you have not read the information they shared.
Do not ask the same questions over and over again. Get your question right and record the answer.
Do not introduce new team members halfway through the information gathering stage. If you do, ensure that they are briefed well. Else, they are going to ask the same questions and it may be difficult for them to catch up.
Explain the rationale for the questions. This will help clients understand why you need this information. It will help them see that you are not over doing it but just doing your job right.

Pecha Kucha and Learning

2009-07-15T16:07:00.008+05:30

Each Kernite gets an opportunity to present on a topic of their interest on Tuesdays and Fridays. This has not become a ritual at Kern. It was my turn to present and I was looking for a topic to present on. This was when I came across the term Pecha Kucha. I read more about this and was quickly fascinated. I presented on Using Pecha Kucha in Learning. This session was meant to be interactive where we all pooled in our thoughts to understand how and whether Pecha Kucha would be a useful tool in training. Given below is a brief introduction to the concept and then thoughts by Kernites.

Pecha Kucha (pronounced as peh-chak-cha) is a Japanese term for chatter or chit chat. In 2003, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham designed with presentation format to ensure that young designers got an opportunity to share their work. The idea was the keep each presentation really short and concise to ensure that the audience stayed focused. This also allowed multiple presenters to present at one event. The most fascinating aspect about pecha kucha is that the environment has to be informal. Pecha kucha is not about being locked indoors with a presenter going on and on and the audience sleeping with their eyes open. Check out the pictures in Pecha Kucha's official website to get an idea of what informal means http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

A typical pecha kucha night has 8-14 presenters. Each presenter is allotted 6 minutes and 40 seconds. They can show 20 images for 20 seconds each. Pecha kucha must be highly visual. Presentations do not have text and bullets. Instead, they have eye catching images/photographs that supplement what is being said by the presenter. Let us look at a popular example of pecha kucha.

This presentation format is widely used in the field of design, architecture, photography, art, education, and business. In the corporate world, employees are opting for this format for internal presentations to:

check the length of the presentation
ensure that the presenter zeroes in on the message
avoid interruptions
avoid horrible poorly designed PPT presentations

The essence is to keep the presentation crisp and short. During a pecha kucha presentation, the slide automatically moves to the next one as the presenter talks. The presenter must practice to ensure that he/she says what he/she has to say in the span of 20 seconds.

Can pecha kucha be an effective learning tool? I think so! Why?

It is bound to grab the audience's attention (especially Gen Y).
The presentation is crisp and to the point. All unnecessary information is filtered out leaving behing the real message.
It may help bring people out of their shell. Since the setting is informal, people may be more comfortable.
It is energy packed and highly dynamic.

Pecha kucha as an instructional tool
A trainer can teach a concept using this presentation format. But, we Kernites were not too kicked about this idea. Why? Pecha kucha is supposed to involve several presenters. The fun may be lost if it is restricted to just one. Also, 6 minutes and 20 seconds may not be suitable for all learners and topics. The learner may feel that the lesson was rushed. Another disadvantage is that the Q&A happens at the end of the session.

However, it may be an effective tool to recap what has already been taught or prior knowledge. It may also be useful to summarize a particular topic using pecha kucha. How? Allot one topic to each group in the audience. Ask them to design a pecha kucha presentation summarizing the topic assigned to them. From each team, have a presenter present their topic. This will ensure high involvement and motivation. This will also encourage healthy discussions and in turn, informal learning among learners. If your learners are spread across the globe, you could conduct pecha kucha online. This may not be as effective as conducting the event in a physical location but it is good enough.

Pecha Kucha as an Assessment Tool
How can pecha kucha be used as an assessment tool?

Problem Solving: Give a case study to your learners. Ask them to arrive at a solution(s) based on what they have learnt. Ask them to present this to other learners using the pecha kucha format.
Analysis/Critique/Reflection: Pose a question or a statement and ask the learner to analyze, critique, or reflect on it using the pecha kucha format.

Pecha kucha is a great collaboration tool. It not only brings learners together, it also encourages informal learning. One concern that Vaishnavi, a Kernite, raised was that not all will be comfortable with the presentation format. She personally feels that she would feel under pressure if she was asked to stick to 20 seconds per slide. The environment must be informal and dynamic. It must encourage participation. Presenters must also ensure that time has been kept aside for Q&A.

Have you used Pecha Kucha for training? Please share your thoughts and experiences.

Also read:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-09/st_pechakucha#
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501060724-1214999,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecha_Kucha
http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=8c161680-e761-4c33-9d4d-b250c15567ce&k=32343

Testing eLearning Products

2009-06-18T18:23:00.001+05:30

Testing E Learning Products

View more OpenOffice presentations from Kern Learning solutions.

A presentation by Kern Learning Solutions.

Issues with Second Life

2009-06-15T14:08:00.006+05:30

Virtual worlds (VWs) must take user experience seriously. Are these VWs usable? Let us look at Second Life. This is based on my experience and are only thoughts (not expert opinions). I wish Second life would relook at the following:

Navigation: Why does the user have to spend time learning how to use the controls? Why isn't the navigation intuitive enough? Why is the Search option so confusing? As a new user, what do I search for? How do I decide where I would like to go? How do I know how big the VW is?
Editing Appearance:

Privacy: What is the first thing a user does? Most users edit their appearance. Why is this visible to the rest? I can see another user editing the appearance. The stance is weird and the appearance and disappearance of clothing items is downright funny! Can't the user have the privacy to change their appearance?
Filtering: Like other social networks, I wish SL provided the option to view a user's profile. This helps understand more about the person. This may help avoid awkward conversations and situations.
Usability: The slider widgets used to readjust length of clothing are not efficient. Removing a part of clothing is tricky. I had trouble getting rid of a skirt my avatar had on on top of her jeans. I have also seen my friends struggle to with hair, clothing, shoes, and so on.

Conversation: Why should avatar's type as you type on your keyboard? Let's admit it looks very funny. Is there no other intuitive way of letting another user know that you are typing?
Actions: It is hilarious to watch a user master the art of sitting at SL. Most times, they face away from us or just run around the place. :) This is a usability issue. A user need not have to practice several times to sit to get it right.

In terms of SL for learning, I like the thought of letting the learner create something. But, most objects in SL (atleast those I have come across in my brief time there) are PPTs. SL also has virtual classrooms. When we avoid making the learner read lengthy notes and sit through lectures, why use it in SL? When the fancy of the VW wears off (as it did with me), learner motivation is bound to dwindle. What then? Is there no other interesting format? Check these posts by Karl Kapp on how VWs effectively.
Examples of usaing virtual world 3d spaces learning
Virtual Hospitals Protocol
Three Virtual World Learning Best Practices

Quauntifying Time Spent on Web 2.0 Tools

2009-06-03T10:59:00.008+05:30

Is this a trick question? ;) My response to this month's Big Question:

How much time do you spend and how did you find time for all the relatively newer things like reading blogs, twitter, social networks, etc.?

I use TweetDeck and receive tweet notifications. If I am working on something that requires high concentration, I close this application. Else, I logically close a thought and quickly check what others are saying. If the tweet inspires me, I tweet back immediately. If it is an interesting link and a longish blog, I keep it open and read it during my next break. I blog has to be either really compelling or really short for me to read it immediately. I check Facebook only once or twice a day as I use it only for personal networking. Without a doubt, Web 2.0 makes us more effcient. Everyone values time. When a blogger blogs, he/she tries to keep it crisp. I scan through a blog before i decide if I want to invest time. Twitter is popular because writing/reading short tweets does not take time. Coming back to the question, I will not be able to say exactly how much time I spend networking/learning. It various as per project deliverables, my moods, blog updates, and twitter traffic.

What are you doing less of today than you were 3-5 years ago?

I used to take longish walks to breath in some fresh air when I was at office. Now, that I work from home, I tweet or read blogs. I don't go through my Google reader as most bloggers I follow share links on Twitter.
Earlier, I used to surf the Internet for hours together to find information that interests me. Today, I go looking for information only when my research is very specific to something. Most times, information comes to me (courtesy web 2.0). This surely means my search is more effective and productivity high as I spend lesser time surfing the Internet for information.
I also hardly spend time text messaging and talking over the phone (several relatives, including my sister, complains of this).
I am also a member of ASTD, Social Issues and Serious Games fourms. These discussions happen over mail and therefore, I don't read these anymore. Today, I prefer real time discussions.
Finally, do I neglect my work? No, I manage time better than I did 3-5 years back.

Do you have less of a life with all of these new things?

No, I still shut my computer down by max 7. I don't tweet or read blogs over weekends. My weekends are reserved for my family and myself. Anyway, I don't think people who are online all the time, don't have a life. (Unless ofcourse if you are recluse and unsocial, but who am I to judge ;)) I also think my life is 'more happening' now as I 'know' more people than I did before these new things were introduced.

Expert Usability Evaluation and Learning Audit of an Online Course

2009-06-01T13:53:00.007+05:30

You do not have access to learners or you are really short of time. However, you want to find out if your online course is easy to use and learn. What do you do? You can conduct an expert usability evaluation and expert learning audit. Both these evaluation techniques have their roots in usability inspection. Before I proceed further, these techniques have evolved from usability, but have been modified to suit the requirements of the learning field. If you use some other techniques, please do share. We are always eager to learn more effective ways of doing things.

How are these evaluations conducted?
An expert (usability/learning) judges the effectiveness of the course. The expert will go through the course and try everything a learner would if he/she were to take the course. They look for obstacles, ambiguity, functionality, and several other issues that hinder progress. Detailed reports are generated at the end of the evaluation.

What is an expert usability evaluation?
Using this technique, you evaluate the usability of an online course. An expert lists the parameters based on which the evaluation will take place. These could include:

Navigation: What is the primary form of navigation? Is this intuitive enough? This would ideally mean that we do not include 'Click Next to proceed' kind of instructions. The learner should intuitively know what the primary navigation is.
Visual hierarchy: Is the information organization in a logical manner? Eye movement is typically from left to right and from top to bottom. Are all elements positioned keeping this in mind? Will the learner know where the information starts and where it ends?
Accessibility of information: Are important elements placed upfront? Will the learner be able to access the most important information easily.
Affordance: Do buttons have the affordance of a click? Will the learner know when a click is required? Will he/she know what is expected on an interactive screen? During learner testing, I have seen learners click images that are not clickable or miss buttons that need to be clicked. This is because the element does not have the affordance of a click. Therefore, it is important to identify such issues.
Fonts and font sizes: Will the learner be able to read the text easily? Do font colors hinder readability? Are these fonts and font sizes consistent across?

What is the difference between a QA and an expert usability evaluation?

A QA checks whether the online course maps to the signed off storyboard/wireframe. It also checks functionality, consistency, and whether the course has any bugs.
Expert usability evaluation, on the other hand, checks whether the elements in the course are usable. It also takes into account user experience. Does the eLearning application cater to the five principles of usability - learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors, and satisfaction?

A QA is more content-centric while an expert usability evaluation is more user-centric. This is the main and the most crucial difference.

What is an expert learning audit?
Using this technique, you can evaluate the learning effectiveness of a course. An expert lists the parameters based on which the evaluation will take place. These could include:

Learning objectives - content mapping: Are the learning outcomes addressed? Can the content be directly mapped to the learning objectives? Is there more information than is stated in the learning objective?
Learner-content mapping: Is the content specific to the learner profile? Is it relevant? Will it help the learner meet the learning outcomes?
Learner motivation: Is the course motivating enough for the learner? Why will he/she complete the course? Will they find it interesting? Will he/she be motivated to take an exercise?
Vizualization: Do the visual elements aid learning? Are they similar in look and feel across the course?
Language: Will the learner understand what is written? Is there any ambiguity?

What is the difference between an ID review and learning audit?
By the time the course is developed, several ID reviews have already been done. The learning audit is conducted by a third person who has not been a part of the design phase. Therefore, the course is looked at by a fresh eye and this makes a world of difference. The expert looks at the course without considering the constraints. I believe this is a good thing because several times we compromise on learning because of we are thinking about the constraints. He/she looks to identify the obstacles that will hinder learnability. An expert can help us identify where we have compromised.

Keep the following in mind if you are evaluating:

Ensure that there are no distractions. This requires a lot of concentration, else you may miss a crucial issue.
Try everything. What is the learner were to click this? What would happen if I go here instead of there?
Use screen grabs to highlight issues. This is helpful as the reader will not have to shuffle between a report (xls, word) and the course.
Include suggestions wherever possible. Provide two or three alternatives if possible. It would be very effective to show a suggestion visually.
Ensure that you mark the repetitive issues as a global comment. But, it is also important to identify all those screens in which the issue is present. This will help save time when the reader is fixing the issues.
If you have set parameters, you could check each screen for each parameter in a logical manner rather than just scan a screen. This way you will not miss anything.
It can become very tedious, tiring, and repetitive. So, be prepared.

The reports generated from both the expert usability evaluation and the learning audit is valuable source of feedback. You will be able to identify the things that can be worked on based on the suggestions provided by the expert. Use these techniques to evaluate your online course. Try it once and see how much of a difference it actually makes. But, remember, this is still no match for direct feedback from the learner.

Informal Learning

2009-05-13T17:10:00.004+05:30

Ever since I joined Twitter, my account has been bombarded with tweets on informal/social learning. If you don't know or you need a quick refresher on what informal learning is read What is Social Learning? Is this a new type of learning? The answer is a sure no. Informal learning has been around for ages, even before formal training came into the picture. People have always been exchanging notes to perform better.

Read more about this on my latest post at Learnability Matters: Informal Learning - 7 reasons why organizations must promote it

How important is the SME?

2009-04-29T19:16:00.004+05:30

You would have interacted with several SMEs. I have attempted to classify the SME. Five prominent personae emerged. (These are based on my experiences. Please feel free to add your thoughts.)

1. Temperamental SME: This SME loves to throw her weight around. She demands that things be done her way, else she will not cooperate. She dons the role of the boss and tells you when she expects things. She expects you to work only on her project and on nothing else. She throws a tantrum every time she thinks she has been let down.

2. Easy Go Lucky SME: This SME agrees to everything you say. His typical response to a query is 'Sure! Go ahead.' You wonder whether he has actually heard what you asked him. He typically falls in with the process but expects you to keep reminding him to give you time. When he does, he signs off storyboards rapidly which leaves you wondering whether he really went through them.

3. Absentee SME: This SME is never around to share his thoughts. Whenever you call him, he is busy. He needs a call from a 'higher up' to ensure that he spares time for you. Eventually, when he is forced to spend time with you, he passes on his resentment of the situation onto you.

4. Doing Your Job SME: This SME thinks being an ID is no big deal. She thinks she knows the best way to teach and present things. She typically focuses more on how content can be presented rather than on the accuracy of content. This storyboard is her baby, you change anything and she freaks. You are only to make those changes that she suggests. She tries to design your course for you and you end up feeling like an assistant.

5. The Perfect SME: This SME respects timelines, works with you as a team, takes the learner's motivations and needs seriously, and gives valuable feedback. He researches and pulls out the best stuff to help you understand and transfer the thoughts to the SB. He encourages you to call anytime you get stuck.

In every ID's blog, you will find at least one post on interacting with the SME. Most of these posts cover in detail the problems they face with SME. In every discussion forum, you will find SME interaction listed as an important skill that any ID must master. Why is the SME so important?

SME is a library of information. He/she is an expert in the domain and has the knowledge that will make your training program effective for the learner.
SME can ensure that your course is relevant to your learner. In most situations, the SME is in the best position to share the learner's real life situations and happenings.
When the content is highly technical or unfamiliar, the SME becomes your walking stick. You have to interact with him/her to get comfortable with the content.
SME will always ensure content accuracy. This is really important. You might as well not teach covering something incorrectly.
From a sea of information, the SME helps decide what is absolutely necessary. SME can help prioritize topics and concepts.

Regardless of the SME's persona, you need to ensure that you have a process in place. Remember to keep these in mind:

Share the schedule with the SME. Let them know a day in advance that you are going to send them something. They can plan their reviews accordingly.
If you are send them two or three things, clearly let them know which ones you expect to receive first.
Most first time SME are not sure of what they need to do. Define their role clearly. If you send then a content dump, let them know what you expect from them. Let them know that they need to provide or validate examples.
It is important to explain the concept of a sign off. Ensure that they understand that if the TOC is signed off, revisiting it at a later stage would mean a scope change.
Build a rapport with them. You can going interact them for a long period of time. Ensure that this time is pleasant and fruitful for both.
Seek their opinion. Treat them like an expert.
If you do not agree with a feedback, discuss. Share your thoughts and concerns and hear them out. Never fix anything just because you have been told to do so.
Ensure that the SME also always keeps the learner in mind. Ask questions like 'Will the learner understand this?', 'Will the learner find this interesting?', 'Will the learner need this information?'

Exercises that help reflect on gray areas

2009-04-21T19:16:00.006+05:30

Think about this:

The objective is to get your learners to design better forms. The exercise shows a form in which the user wants to change his password. The learner can add/modify elements in the form to ensure that the errors are minimized.
The objective is to let the learners know that consumers are loyal to particular brands for specific reasons. The exercises makes the learners reflect on their own brand preferences and their reasons for it.
The objective is to let the learners understand their personality style and their traits. The exercise requires them to respond to particular situations. Their personality traits are displayed based on their responses.

Can these kind of exercises have one correct answer? The answer is no. In most instances, the answers are bound to be subjective and/or there are several correct answers. So, do you avoid these completely? No. These exercises are extremely powerful. They make the learner think, reflect, and respond based on their experiences and knowledge.

How may times have you been told by a SME or a client that all exercises must have the right and wrong answer? I have heard this often. Why is it so important to tell the learner, 'That's correct/That's incorrect.' Everything cannot be classified under black or white. As in most cases, there is a lot of gray area. Why do we get scared of designing exercises for this area? I had an interesting discussion on twitter with @thoughts and @manishmo.
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@rnarchana: All exercises must have RIGHT answers. Why this mindset? There are times when there are no right/wrong answers. The aim to make them think!
@thoughts: @rnarchana Exercises without correct answers can be an activity; perhaps not an assessment.
@rnarchana: @thoughts 1. exercises that teach/reinforce 2. exercises that assess the understanding. With quesns that have no rite ans, u cannot assess.... Just elaborated on your thought I guess. What I am trying to say is 'Activity' is a powerful learning tool too
@manishmo: @rnarchana So what do you want the learners to think (exercises w/o rite answers)? There's always a direction you are trying to push toward
@rnarchana: @manishmo Yes. Ex: Exercise that reinforces that we form perceptions based on material things (cars/clothes) is subjective; no right ans
@manishmo: @rnarchana But even in this case we want to move learners to the direction of "don't form perceptions".
@rnarchana: @manishmo Actually no. This exercise was only meant to make the learner conscious of the perceptions they make unconsciously.
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This discussion encouraged me to blog this to get my thoughts on the matter together (Thanks Manish and Geetha). Further, I had this interesting discussion with Geeta (my boss and mentor). I was explaining how the SME had requested that we insert a right/wrong answer feedback even though there were none.
Me: Why does everyone assume that learners have absolutely no prior knowledge and experience that they can use to make an approriate reponse? Why do we not encourage them to think and reflect?
Geeta: This is because most SMEs and IDs still promote the educational system followed in schools. The learner is not allowed to think. They treat adult learners as K12

Why is it so important to control everything? We should start letting the learner take responsibility for his/her own learning. This does not go to say that we should avoid exercises that provide correct answers. Exercises can play one of the following roles:

Exercises to teach, reinforce, and reflect on a concept
Exercise that check the learner's understanding

Use a healthy mix of these in your training program. As Geeta rightly suggested, we should look at opening the learner's minds to new possibilities rather than restricting them to what we suggest is the right answer. When using exercises without right/wrong answers, remember:

The aim is to make the learners reflect on a concept based on their experience and knowledge. Their answer is bound to be very subjective.
Do not use this assuming that that will come up with the right answer that you have in mind. This may not be necessarily true.
Use these are teasers. The learner may get curious and conduct their own search online to get their thoughts in order or even better discuss with a peer.
Provide all the information that the learner may require to make an informed decision.

I am working on a really challenging project. We have included several instances where we leave the learner to come up with the answer. We encourage them to share their answers, thoughts, and responses with their peers and experts in a social networking forum.

Can Online Learning Environment Kill Motivation?

2009-04-13T16:07:00.006+05:30

Ros Aini posed a question in my previous post, "Online learning environment can demotivate online learners. What do you think are the aspects that contribute to this matter?"

I am going to try an attempt answering this question based on my experience and what I have read/heard. If you think you disagree, please help me learn more by sharing your thoughts. If you agree and would like to add and give more clarity, please feel free to do so.

First let me clarify, online learning environment can demotivate online learners is a generalization. What aspects of online learning environment kill learner motivation?

1. Choosing the wrong learning environment for your learner
Your research should help you identify which is the most suitable learning environment in which your learner will learn. A virtual world such as second life may not be suitable for all online learners. You may realize that your learner prefers to read/write than actually 'be' in an environment where they can explore.
Tip: Always arrive at a solution (whether online or otherwise) based on research. You will be closer to getting it right.

2. When the learner control is zero
When you opt for a learning environment, ensure that it is designed such that the learner can decide their own learning path. Most online learners prefer to decide what they learn and how they learn. Avoid forcing your learners down a structured learning path. Several clients insist that the Next button be disabled till they attempt a practice. Give them the choice. If the practice is challenging enough, they are going to want to take it.
Tip: Give them several options such read, listen, do, experiment, share, and so on to learn.

3. When navigation is poor
Navigation plays an important role. Think about this, you have used a virtual world (VW) to teach. Your learner spends ages learning how to navigate within this VW and is not comfortable with the controls. Finally, he gives up frustrated about the fact that he is not getting it right. Poor navigation makes the learners feel dumb. And, no one enjoys this feeling. Navigation can kill motivation even if the training material is really good.
Tip: Ensure navigation is intuitive. The learner should spend minimum or no time learning how to navigate in the learning environment.

4. When system specifications are not shared upfront
Imagine this. You have provided several hyperlinks to blogs and wikis. The organization in which your learner works provides restricted Internet access. The learner tries to click on the link, but gets a 404 error. How frustrating would this be for the learner?
Tip: Always state the system and bandwidth requirements. Or design keeping the learner's bandwidth in mind.

Other than these, what else could demotivate an online learner?
- A know-it-all-peer who makes the learner feel very small, thereby making him reluctant to share his thoughts online again
- The learner may constantly doubt the authenticity of content and feel confused about what to internalize
- No access or an opportunity to interact with 'true' experts
- A learner may feel overwhelmed with the amount of information that is out there

How to tackle a demotivated learner?

2009-04-02T19:35:00.005+05:30

A demotivated learner is any IDs nightmare. Don't we love it when learners are highly motivated, thirsty for knowledge, and realize the 'what is in it for me' even before the course begins?

Symptoms of a demotivated learner:

During interviews, they frown over the concept that you are going to teach.
They do not appreciate the fact that HAVE to take the course. (I can't blame them.)
They try to convince you that they know everything they need to about the concept (you know otherwise through research).
They tell you that this course is not going to be useful for them as this concept will not help hone their core skill.
They are against the mode of delivery (elearning, ILT, or plain training) because of bad experience in the past.

The situation is very, very dangerous if you spot all the five symptoms in your learner profile. How do you tackle a demotivated learner? Find answers for the following:

What can I do to ensure that the learner takes the concept seriously? How can I make it interesting for them?
How can I show them that they do not know everything they need to know about the concept?
How can I show them that this concept if mastered is going to help them work better?
How can I change their bias against the mode of delivery?

To answer all these questions, I would first recommend that you have a nice long chat with your SME. This is important because my suggestions are going to require the SME's approval.

Suggestion 1: Challenge the learner
The learner thinks he/she knows all there is to know about the concept. Well, challenge him/her then. Design a very hands on course. The intention is to make the learner perform tasks designed keeping the theories of the concepts in mind. We want the learner to realize for themselves, 'Oh! I did not know that' or 'This is probably more effective than how I have been going about it'.

Suggestion 2: Do not bore them with theory
Please do not tell the learner blah blah blah. You will lose the learner even before the end of the screen. They do not want to hear the theory. Stick to pure application. It is definitely easier to describe a theory. Try teaching a theory with absolutely no words. Use tasks and examples. This is incredibly challenging for the ID and SME. But, trust me, the experience is absolutely worth it.

Suggestion 3: Ensure that your course is visual
This learner profile is not going to read anything more than two lines. Avoid content. Make it visual by displaying images/animations of examples. I avoid content heavy screens by using a bigger fonts. Try it sometime.

Suggestion 4: Encourage social learning
Introduce videos from YouTube, share blog links, create or encourage learners to join discussion forums. Do all that you have to and bring them in contact with other people. Encourage them to share their ideas with peers and experts. I do not have to stress the important of social learning.

Suggestion 5: Design challenging knowledge checks
Design the tasks keeping in mind the learner's reality. Make them curious about things. Ensure you grab their attention. Ensure that the answers are not obvious. Design assignment that have no correct answers. Encourage them to post reports or assignments on blogs/forums. Allow them to discuss their ideas and answers with others.

These are my list of suggestions. If you think there are other suggestions that help tackle a demotivated learner, please share them.

Audio - A Gamble?

2009-03-26T16:50:00.004+05:30

Audio is a crucial aspect of an elearning application. There are lots of courses that do not have audio. These courses can still be good if the learner hates audio. But audio can play an important role in learning. Audio:

Sets the tone for your course. If the audio is formal, the theme of your course will be formal. If the audio is humorous, the theme of your course is light and humorous.
Adds a personal touch by giving your course a personality. This does not apply for robot-like audio.
Captures learner's attention.
Completes the learning experience.
Reinforces learning by supplementing visuals and content.

Using audio in your course can be a gamble. If you do not play your cards right, you may end up ruining your course even if the ID strategy and theme is great. You need to keep in mind the following:

1. How much audio do I include in the course?
This is the most important and the most difficult question. Further questions that arise:

Do I have the audio artists read everything from the screen? Please don't have the audio artist read everything (especially if your screens are content heavy). It is very distracting and unnecessary. Kern conducts learner testing to check the effectiveness of a course before its roll out. We have seen learners look for audio mute/off button several times. They are thinking, I can read the content, thank you very much. We have also seen occasions on which audio is different from the OST and this troubles the learner. He/she feels that there is a variation in what is being said in the audio and what is written on screen.
Do I just include the main gist of what is being covered in the screen? You can do this. However, ensure that your audio captures the most crucial information and does not sound abrupt. Sometimes, you just wait for the audio to continue but it doesn't.
Do I include audio for just the important screens? Please don't do this. Imagine the learner listening to a para long audio on a screen. He moves to the next screen and meets silence. It can be very awkward. I have seen this during learner testing. You can see the learners anticipating, waiting for the audio to start. I am almost tempted to lean over and say You can move on now.
Do I include separate audio for the characters? Your could do this depending on your budget. But it can be a nightmare to get the tone and the pitch right for multiple audio artists.

2. Should the audio supplement content or vice versa?
Actually, it depends on the ID strategy you use for the course. If your course is highly visual, the audio will play a crucial role as it may act as a link between the screens. There are course in which the audio drones on and on, while nothing happens on the screen. This can hinder learning. The learner may switch off after sometime. Either reduce the audio, split the screens, or add animation to supplement the audio. Can you imagine staring at a screen waiting for the audio to get over? On the other hand, do not make a text heavy course, audio heavy. Like I already mentioned, it can be quite irritating for the learner. Find the right balance between audio and visuals.

3. Does the audio have the desired impact?
Yes! You have identified how much audio you want to use. You have also found the right balance between audio and visuals. Now, what else can go wrong?

An unprofessional audio artist can ruin your course. If the tone and pitch is not right, the course will sound bad.
If the audio is too fast or too slow, it could kill learner motivation.
If the audio is not in sync with what is happening on screen, it will confuse the learner.
If the audio is not edited well, it will ruin the course even if your audio artist is really good.

4. How can audio add value?
Audio in terms of background music can increase the imapct of the gain attention screen. Audio can also play a crucial role when used to indicate correct and incorrect feedback. This may be the best way to avoid 'That's correct' and 'That's incorrect' feedback. Audio plays an important role in games. It increases the thrill and increases the learner's curiosity.

There is no standard rule or guideline to say you can use this much audio in your course. Use audio wisely. Ensure that it has the desired impact. Use it to aid learning and make learning experience more pleasureable.

When are personality tests useful?

2009-03-13T18:05:00.004+05:30

I met a few training professionals who use DISC, a personality assessment to analyze people. They observe the person for sometime and then come to a conclusion about which personality traits (combination of D, I, S, and/or C) they portray. I asked one of them how this information helps them. He explained that knowing a personality helps me deal with the person at work. As a trainer, I answer a query/response based on the personality that my learner depicts. I also know that I need to have a high 'I' for my audience to 'like' me. They have to like me to want to listen to me. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it.

How are personality tests useful in learning? When can they be used? Here are my thoughts:

Personality tests are extremely useful when you want the learner to reflect on his/her own personality.
These tests are useful when you need to bring about a behavioral change. For example: For a salesperson, there are a list of attributes that he must have and others that are undesirable. We can use personality tests to check where the learner is, deliver learning, and check where the learner to identify if a behavioral change has taken place.
These tests will definitely help us understand the learner profile better. We can design courses keeping the dominant characteristics in mind.

Some thoughts that follow these points:

Does a behavioral change mean a personality change? Do we understand the deficiencies in our personality and consciously work on them? I guess, personalities are also outcomes of a person's socio-historic context (the environment). This would mean that our personalities are constantly changing based on our experiences.
Will the audience show a specific personality pattern? This could happen. If we take the salesperson's example again. When a company hires their sales executives, they look specific characteristics features. How confident is this person? Will he/she be able to hold my attention for long? Will he/she be able to convince/persuade me? So, they may show a specific pattern. (If anyone knows for sure, please share.)
Would it be more useful in classroom training? You interact with the learner directly. Based on how they behave, you quickly categorize them and respond accordingly. It sounds like a tough job.

Myth about eLearning and Interactivity

2009-03-12T16:35:00.004+05:30

At a social gathering, I explained that I work as an ID at Kern Communications. A person (Rajeev's idol cum mentor from the training fraternity) said you are more into elearning. Elearning is not that interactive, it is very forced.

These words have been ringing in my head. Why did do people think elearning is not interactive and forced? Here are my guesses:

Learners do not interact with other learners.
Some really bad elearning courses have ruined elearning's reputation.
The learner has to complete the course.

(Can't think of any more. Please add if you remember more.)

Now, coming to point 1. Interactivity can be cognitive, social, and clicks (motor if you wish to call it that). If the training is poorly designed, cognitive interaction is not going to happen anyway. The person (I was referring to earlier) meant that elearning lacked social interactivity (learners interacting with learners). My response was to point out how web 2.0 fills that gap. But, I was still not satisfied with my response. With eLearning, social interactivity has been always a part of the learning process in the form of informal learning.

After you take the course (or even as you take the course), the learners share/exchange notes with other learners.
Some courses provide access to other learners and experts via chat rooms, forums, emails, and so on.

Can't do much about point 2, but pray that people start doing things right. I hope they begin to understand that click interactivity does not help people learn. Having text box or a fancy tabbed presentation is not sufficient. A click is just a click.

Coming to point 3, if elearning is forced because the learner has to complete the course, so is any other form of training (especially if the learner motivation is low). Like Tony Karrer mentioned in his blog post, at least the learner can click next and finish the course.

Read more on interactivity here.

Using Game Elements in eLearning

2009-03-04T09:17:00.003+05:30

The typical mindset regarding use of game elements in elearning is "We don't have that kind of budget!" But, are we trying to design a high end graphic game? You can use game elements in a modest budget. How you ask? Let us think about the elements that make a game and which of these can be used for an elearning application.

Rewards and punishments
Goals and sub goals
Learner control
Decision making
Experiential learning
feel good factors (encouragement, sense of achievement/victory)
Challenges
Storyline/theme/drama
Environment/context
Characters and their personalities
Highly visual depiction of events

We had designed an elearning application for counselors in an English training institute. We designed a decision tree with branching stories. Given below is the description of how we included game elements in elearning.

Rewards and punishments were displayed in terms of the reaction of the customer to a particular action taken by the learner and points gained. The reaction of customer is unpleasant for the least appropriate answer and the points gained is zero. The reaction of the customer is positive for the most appropriate answer and the points gained is maximum. The learner is given the opportunity to recover from unpleasant situation.
The main goal of the course was to make a successful sale. The sub goals were successful application of the steps of the counseling process.
The learner makes decisions and experiences the consequences of his/her own actions. They get an opportunity to reflect on the events.
Each customer was given a distinct personality. The learner had to understand the customers' personalities and respond accordingly.
Customers' personalities helped decide what their typical response to a situation would be. Therefore, the situations were also clearly defined.

While using game elements in an elearning process, there are certain points that you must remember:

Avoid time-based tasks unless the skill to be mastered requires the learner to complete a particular taks within a specified time. For example: A call center executive has put the customer on hold to retreive some information the syste, The executive has to ensure that he/she informs the customer about how much time it might take and retreive the relevant information within this time.
Ensure that you do not have a parallel story. Invariably, the game/story aspect takes precedence over the learning. For example: Have you seen the demo on Peter Packet? This is a perfect example of this. The main aim of the game is to teach the learner about how the Internet functions. This demo begins with a story about how an Indian girl is unable to go to school. Peter has carry a packet to help the mail reach this girl in time. Peter then has to make his way through by jumping over other packets, avoiding viruses, going through a router, acquiring a key and finally completing the message. When I first played the game, I thought the main intention of the demo was to convey a social message. The information about Internet is displayed in pop up boxes that I can close if I am more involved in the game.
Ensure that you tie the loose ends, especially for branching stories. You do not want your learner to get stuck during the learning program.
The storyline should have sufficient information so that the learner can make an informed decision.
Feedback should be designed very carefully. It must have the desired impact. If you are not displaying a 'that's correct or incorrect' message, ensure that the learner understands clearly when he/she got it right and vice versa.

Siftables

2009-02-25T19:00:00.003+05:30

I came across this really cool and thought provoking video on siftables on the Simply Speaking blog. I just had to share it here. How interesting would it be to use this to teach?

Blog Personality Type

2009-02-20T10:44:00.003+05:30

The analysis indicates that the author of http://archiespeaksout.blogspot.com/ is of the type:

ISTJ - The Duty Fulfillers

The responsible and hardworking type. They are especially attuned to the details of life and are careful about getting the facts right. Conservative by nature they are often reluctant to take any risks whatsoever. The Duty Fulfillers are happy to be let alone and to be able to work int heir own pace. They know what they have to do and how to do it.

I am not sure if I agree. My blog personality for my other blog, Mum's the Word, is different. Can that be possible? Do I have a dual personality? :) Anyway, check out your blog personality at Typealyzer.

When should we use pre tests?

2009-02-16T17:52:00.003+05:30

I am hooked to Clark Quinn's blog posts on ID. When reading one such post, I came across another article, The Case Against Pre Testing for Online Courses by the same author. This had me thinking, when do I use pre-tests in courses?

When there is a discrepancy between what the learner knows and what he/she thinks he knows. It is a dangerous situation when the learner thinks he/she already knows what you are about to teach him/her but from your research you know otherwise.
If the learners' profile shows discrepancy in prior knowledge, pre tests help identify which path will be best suitable for the learner. For example, the pre test shows that the learner is good at communication skills but poor in active listening, he/she will be directly taken to active listening.
To help the learner understand which areas need more focus.
To help the learner understand more about themselves. For example: You have a personality test to help the learner understand his/her personality type.

This being said its not necessary to have a pre test in all courses. Pre test should not be used for the following:

To judge where the learner is; we should have already done our research to identify this
When motivation to learn is high; it may be demotivating to continue with the course if the feedback is not encouraging
To set expectations; your objectives screen and gain attention screen should be sufficient to set expectations

Pre tests are effective tools when used correctly. Pre tests should be designed carefully. These are very useful for soft skills such as communication, personality types, and so on. Well designed pre tests are non-judgemental and encouraging.

Micky Mouse Club House

2009-02-04T09:23:00.004+05:30

When surfing through channels, I paused at Disney channel (mostly because my one year old son was fascinated by the colors). Micky Mouse Club House was playing. If you have seen this show, you'd realize that the main objective of this program is to teach the children. Micky and gang did several tasks. For example: One of the characters needed a bow to go to the circus. A device named toodle is summoned. This device visually shows several tools that can be selected to carry out a particular task. Micky encourages the children to identify which tool can be used to make a bow. Ribbon is one such option. They select this and demonstrate how a bow can be made from a ribbon. There are two more tasks similar to this.

The strategies used:

An interesting storyline with heroes and a villain
Three set of objectives
Visual multiple choice exercises (with distractors) directly linked to the objectives
Small fun demonstrations (dance steps, how to march and so on)
Visual recap toward the end of the program

I think it is a very effective way to teach and entertain. What I loved about it is that it is all very visual. Catch it sometime if you can.

Design rules that you must always follow

2009-01-29T11:51:00.003+05:30

Rule 1: Unless you are conducting learner testing, do not experiment with positioning of buttons. There is a logic why the next button is positioned in the right bottom corner and why the exit button is positioned in the top right corner. Understand the logic before you experiment.

Rule 2: Always use radio buttons for single select MCQs and check boxes for MMCQs or multiple select questions.

Rule 3: Buttons should look clickable. Non-buttons such as placeholders, text boxes, and so on should not have the affordance of being clickable.

Rule 4: When selecting a font and font size, remember that readability is more important than visual appeal.

Rule 5: Colors should be selected using the color wheel. Do not assume that certain colors go well with each other. Check it out.

Rule 6: Ensure that there is a clear visual hierarchy. The contents of the screen need to be well-balanced.

Rule 7: Ensure that all elements such as feedback boxes, text boxes, placeholders, and so on belong to the same family.

Rule 8: Use grids to design your screen. Ensure alignment and proper spacing.

Rule 9: Ensure easy accessibility for those features that the learner is likely to use often. For example, the next and back buttons

Rule 10: Ensure that the icons and the graphics used are self-explanatory.

Internal Motivation

2009-01-28T18:48:00.004+05:30

I think every time I speak/write about the learner, I mention motivation at least once. As an ID, I take motivation very seriously. It is my responsibility to ensure that the learner's motivation is high as this will ensure that he/she actually learns. We do a detailed contextual inquiry to understand our learners. Then, we brainstorm for hours before we decide on the instructional strategy that we should use.

But regardless of the effort we put in, if the internal motivation is low, it is a tough situation. The learner should want to learn. I see this in my daily life whether it is working on a project, writing a blog, conducting research, working on a presentation... If the motivation is low, it shows. We may try to encourage them, push them, force them but none of this will work if their heart is not in it.

What influences internal motivation? Internal motivation is influenced by one's aspirations, goals, and needs. We have to understand these to ensure that their heart is in it. If we understand this, we may be able to show the learner the relevance and arouse their curiosity. But, if they still don't want to, they will not learn. That's scary... We can only ensure that we play all our cards right and hope that the learner is inspired enough. The onus is finally with the learner. I guess this goes back to the basic principle of adult learning: What is in it for me? We can show this relevance but it is for them to see it.

Please note that I am not trying to pass on the blame for courses that have not met their learning outcomes. I am only reflecting on the power of internal motivation.

ID close to extinction?

2009-01-23T17:52:00.003+05:30

I was reading some really interesting posts on Kern Learning Solutions Blog (authored by Vaishnavi). Vaishnavi's main interest is web 2.0. I am sure several people know what it is, yet there are others who think they know what it is, and further there are few who think it is just a fancy term. Anyway, if you wish to know more about it, read the KLS blog.

The posts on KLS blog had me thinking about how the role of an ID is constantly changing. Web 2.0 encourages learners to seek information for themselves. The learning is self-motivated. Does this mean that there will soon be no role for an ID? Who is an ID? An ID is a facilitator of learning. What we do is ensure that we understand our learner's needs and design instruction. So, if we are not designing elearning or ILT, what should we be doing?

I do not think ID is going to be out of the picture anytime soon. An ID should however be aware of what is happening around him/her and adapt to the changes. For example, if the learner's needs reflect a need to use a virtual world such as second life. The ID still needs to identify how information can be presented in the most learnable fashion in this medium. The ID needs to ensure that they understand what information the learner may need and make this available to the learner. Also, ID must keep in mind that the information should not be linear as they path the learner takes can not be predicted.

I think facilitating learning using Web 2.0 is going to be an extremely challenging task for an ID. I am waiting to increase my skill set by working on a web 2.0 project. Keeping my fingers crossed!

7 things you need not know about me

2009-01-19T11:33:00.003+05:30

I have been tagged by Manish Mohan and Mousumi. Here's my list of 7 things you need not know about me:

I always wanted to be a vet or a psychiatrist, but life had other plans and I have no patience or aptitude for heavy stuff.
I am a paranoid mom, who is constantly worrying about how I should bring up my child.
I hate monkeys. One monkey was extremely rude to me in the past, hence the dislike.
I have a terrible temper. I would however like to believe that I have mastered the art of controlling this.
I have a terrible, terrible memory. Ask me what I did yesterday and I would be lost.
I should be reading a lot more than I do right now. I used to be a voracious reader. Now, I am a lazy reader. I prefer light stuff and easy reads. Guess these are also signs of aging... :)
I used be a vivid gamer, but really regret the fact that i don't have the time or the bandwidth for games.

A Workshop on Web 2.0

2009-01-07T16:47:00.002+05:30

Here's a fabulous opportunity to learn about Web 2.0. Kern Communications is conducting a workshop on how Web 2.0 can be used for training. This workshop will allow HR managers and training heads to explore Web 2.0 for training purposes.

The workshop will help you:

Understand Web 2.0
Discuss training using sharing, collaboration, co-creation, user-generated content, social networking
Explore the use of tools such as wikis, blogs, virtual worlds, podcasts, videocasts, social networking to design training
Discuss case studies where trainers have effectively used these tools for training purposes
Experience learning and training in the virtual world

The workshop will be held on 31st January at Secundrabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. If you are interested or require more details, contact Vaishavi at vaishnavi@kern-comm.com or call her at 040-40171313. Also visit learnability matters.

To-Do List

2009-01-02T15:42:00.003+05:30

At the beginning of a new year, I think to myself, what do I want to do differently this year? Here's my list:

1. Think Out of the Box: This year I will try and consciously ensure that I try and think out of box and not resort to the tried and tested methods.
2. Learn More: I will read up more blogs and articles on whats happening, whats new, what works, what doesn't work and so on.
3. Share More: I will share what I have learnt with people I interact with.
4. Be More Efficient: I will reflect on whether I can further reduce the time involved in completing tasks without compromising quality.
5. Network with Learning Professionals: I will make an attempt to interact with other learning professionals across the world.

River City Project – An Example of MUVE

2008-12-23T18:27:00.008+05:30

Let us look at the most popular educational MUVE. River City is the most popular example of an educational MUVE. River City Project was funded by National Science Foundation. River City is designed for children in middle school. The theme is very interesting. River city is a city belonging to the 19^th century. This city is suffering from health problems. The tasks for children (belonging to the 20th century) is that they need to travel back in time and use the 21st century knowledge, skills and technology to resolve 19th century problems. How do they do this?

I was not able to access the virtual tour and therefore, I have relied heavily on what others have written on River City. Students can enter the virtual city as a team. They use avatars (graphical representations of themselves) to enter River City. They are welcomed by a man who gives them a tour of the city. Students need to form a hypotheses about the cause of the health problems. At the end of the project, teams get to compare their hypotheses.

This city has a river flowing through it and different types of terrains that influence the houses, water, industries, hospitals, and universities. At River City, avatars can enter buildings, climb mountains, and swim across water. To gain information, they can click on an objective that contains a hyperlink. Webpages, images, simulations or web-based applications pop-up. Students can conduct several experiments in the virtual city. For example, they can check the pollution levels in water, the number of patients admitted in hospitals, and so on. They can change one factor or more to see how the consequences.

The city comprises of avatars, computer-based agents, digital objects, and avatars of instructors. It has around fifty digital objects and data collection stations provide detailed information on water samples across the world. I was able to view a screen grab of a lab at River City. The left side showed a computer agent. The right side of the screen displayed the lab in which the learner could test samples. The learner got to see the consequences of their actions.

I was also able to see a screen grab that displayed a computer-based agent in conversation with the learner. Computer agents share information on the happening around the city. They provide subtle hints to the students. The dialogues are shown in the text box below the screen. The interface is supposedly designed carefully:

As an aid in their interactions, participants also have access to one-click interface features that enable the avatar to express (through stylized postures and gestures) emotions such as happiness, sadness, agreement, and disagreement.

- C. Dede, “Multi-User Virtual Environments,” New Horizons May/June 2003

Students share the data that they have acquired with other teams. They can also send ‘snapshots’ of their current situation (seen through their eyes) to their team members for a joint investigation. On the whole, 60 teachers and 4000 science students from US and Australia participated in this MUVE. Several reports suggest that students were really motivated. Their grades improved drastically.

MUVE is a very interesting topic. Several corporates are designing MUVEs for corporate training. They buy land on virtual world's such as Second Life and design elements that facilitate learning in it. MUVE is a fairly new teaching tool and it is definitely worth considering, researching, and studying.

The 'WOW' Moment

2008-12-12T11:11:00.004+05:30

If you are an ID, you must have come across a requirement to design a 'wow' moment in your course. Now, what is this 'wow' moment? Here are my guesses:

Making the learner think "Yes, I have experienced the same thing!"
Shocking the learner with 'big' incidents such as calamities, terror attacks, scandals, and so on
Getting the learner to empathize with a particular character
Making them relate to the scenarios and characters used
Making them think "Ok. What just happened? Did I miss something?"

Please note that it could be hazardous for the course if your team/reviewer is not sure of what they mean by a 'wow' moment. Everyone needs to be on the same page about what this means, when will this be introduced, and what is its goal.

A 'wow' moment is intended to make the learner think. I think this is clear enough. But what should we make the learner think about? This is debatable. If you really want to include this moment, it should be based on point 4. Else, it fails the purpose. If the learner cannot relate to it, it is not going to a wow moment. In all probability, your learner will be thinking about the incident and not the concept. What purpose does this solve? It is will create a ripple, not a wave. For this to have the desired impact, it is crucial to know who your learners are. You cannot create a course for a general audience say "Managers across Asia" and expect the course to make an impact on them.

According to me (I could be wrong), I don't want to give the learner a 'wow' moment. I want to give him/her a wow course. By wow, I don't mean only the look and feel, but the entire package. By wow, I also do not mean a course high on drama and suspense. By wow, I mean good ID strategies, visual elements, engaging exercises, several examples, and content that the learner can relate to. The entire package should be involving, engaging, and interactive. When it fulfills these three qualities, the course will also be fun for the learner.

ICICI's Token Box

2008-11-19T15:35:00.003+05:30

I had visited ICICI bank to get a bank statement and a letter confirming that I held an account with ICICI. I walked into ICICI and approached a counter that was free and explained what I needed. The bank executive moved his hand in the general direction of the entrance and explained that I had to collect a token from a machine and wait for my turn. I said thanks and went looking for this machine. Now, I didn't want to seem like a person who wouldn't know what this machine would look like. I looked around discreetly. I saw a screen displaying token numbers and counter numbers. I saw a phone hung on a wall and another screen. I was standing right in front of this maroon color box. It looked like a box you drop cheques and so on into. I looked around once more, hoping to find this machine. I noticed that a few people hurriedly pressed few buttons on the maroon box and hastily grabbed the slip that popped out. I had managed to find the machine!

I needed time to look at the machine to figure out what I needed to do. So while I was standing and trying to figure this out, several hands sneaked in to collect tokens. Let me try and explain this box... ahem, machine. (unfortunately, there was a big notice warning me against clicking a snap) In the middle of the box, there was a tiny digital screen that displayed the status. Below this was a number pad (1-7) and below these were the buttons: cancel, gold customer, customer and non-customer. On the left panel, there was a piece of paper that listed what pressing each number meant. I read this list several times but was unable to find a suitable category for my task. I decided to go with 6 which was for account related activities such as fixed deposits. Now, I just had to feed in my choice. Oops.... Do I type in my identity as a customer first or the task? I was not sure. I asked a man standing waiting to gather a token. He asked me to type in the number first and then customer. I did as told. On the digital screen, the message 'This service is not available' appeared. A slip slid out from the right panel. I picked this up and saw NA written on it. Assuming that the task had failed, I did the same thing again and got the same message. The kind man who had helped me earlier stepped up and said look at the slip, it displays a token number. I opened the slip that I had crushed in my hand. Oh yeah! There it was CS522. I handed the other token to the man and thanked him. I sat down to wait for my turn. I observed that everyone got the same message. Meanwhile, an ICICI executive came and stood next to the box. I asked her why it displays this message. She smiled apologetically and said that's the way it is! Brilliant.

Kern also offers usability. I was just thinking about how our team of usability experts would have reacted to this machine. It was a nightmare! The token system is very useful, no doubt. But, this machine is dreadful!

Communicating with a Client

2008-11-07T15:52:00.004+05:30

Client interaction is a skill that you need to master. Atleast, this is what I did. When I first joined this community, I would just observe the emails, the tones, and the discussions. I would ask my mentor, Geeta, what kind of information can we share. Over a period of time, I think I have a better understanding of what is expected.

Do's

Build a rapport with your client.
Always start a conversation by greeting them warming and exchanging pleasantries.
Identify very clearly what information you can divulge with your client and what you must withhold.
Be honest and sincere always. Your client will appreciate this.
Act and believe that you are the expert in your field. You know your stuff.
Be formal, but warm or friendly.
Always remain cool even in volatile situations.
If you are unsure or you need to consult someone before you make a decision, let your client know that you need sometime and that you will get back to them as soon as you can.
Make sure that you keep appointments. If your client requires weekly updates at 10:00 every Monday morning, ensure that you do this even if you have nothing new to share.
Always acknowledge the client's mails. If you receive feedback, always thank them for their inputs.
Greet them on festivals regardless of whether you are working on a project with them currently.
Ensure that you send a deliverable on time. If a delay is inevitable, inform the client and apologize for this.

Dont's

Don't be over-friendly or overly familiar with your client.
Don't butter or use flowery language to make a positive impression.
Don't be too impersonal and detached.
Do not overreact to a request made by the client.
Do not spit venom at your client in tough situations.
Do not prevaricate or lie to your client.
Do not avoid or ignore phone calls or mails.
Don't agree or disagree with everything. Remember to use logic to back up every decision.

Motivated or not?

2008-10-29T16:54:00.004+05:30

What motivates me as an ID?

Challenging projects - A project that is challenging and requires careful thought and a fresh outlook
Application of knowledge and skills - A project that ensures that I apply my knowledge and use my ID skills.
Freedom to be creative - A project that encourages creativity and is not bound in conditions and restrictions
A bright team - A project that involves a bright, intelligent, enthu team
Faith - The faith people have in me to execute the project well
Doing things right - The spirit of doing things right and not doing it for the sake of it

What demotivates me as an ID?

Poor clarity of thought - When the expectations from a project is not clearly defined
Templates - When project requires filling in templates
Mechanical work - When a project requires simple, mechanical work that requires no thought
Revision of idea - When a project undergoes revision suddenly because of indecisiveness, inability to foresee and poor planning
A team that is not united - When each team member is working on their own individualistic goal and not the united goal of generating good work
Delays - When projects goes on a hang or extends over a lifetime due to delays

MUVEs

2008-10-07T12:45:00.008+05:30

As is a ritual at Kern, we had our learning session and it was my turn to present. I chose to present on MUVE, a concept that most Kernites had not heard off. You must have come across multi-user virtual environments (MUVE). This concept developed from multi-user dungeon/domain/dimension (MUD) to facilitate role-playing games. A few examples of MUVE are Doom, MAdden NFL, EverQuest, Second life and so on. MUVEs can be used for training, shopping from home, multi-player games, and education.

Let us look at the features of a MUVE.

Users have access to virtual contexts.
Users can explore digital artifacts.
Users can represent themselves through avtaars.
Users can communicate with other users.
Users can get or give mentoring and guidance for 'problems' that exist in the real world.

What are the advantages of MUVE? MUVEs provide authentic learning conditions, create experiences that cannot be experienced or 'lived' in the real world, and allows us to monitor or capture learning. Educational MUVEs are inquiry-based learning that encourage conceptual understanding. The basic assumption is that there is no one right answer. There are several answers and some of them are more appropriate than the others. Typically, learners gather information offline and their experience is presented through a report or diary for others to read and discuss. It is believed that educational MUVEs should not solely rely on the virtual world. Students must have access to instructors or teachers also.

Let us look at a few examples of MUVE in education.

Example 1: Revolution is a multiplayer role playing game where students experience history and the American Revolution. They participate in a virtual community residing in Williamsburg, VA on the eve of American Revolution.

Example 2: Whyville is a graphical MUVE designed for children between middle childhood and adolescence. Whyville users or citizens access Whyville through a web-based interface to communicate with old friends, learn math, science and history through interactive activities, and build online identities.

Example 3: River City is designed for children in middle school science classrooms. These children travel back in time and use the 21st century knowledge, skills and technology to resolve 19th century problems.

After my presentation, I threw some questions at my audience. As is always the case with Kernites, we came up with some interesting insights. Given below is the summary of our discussion.

This learning solution will be best suitable for learners who need to experiment with new concepts and try out new skills. It is useful as learners will be able to see the consequence of their actions in a real time situation. It will also be useful for those people who need to interact with each other to arrive at conclusions and solves issues. Educational simulations are closed ended and though the learner thinks that he/she is in control of their learning, they are not.
In the case of MUVE, learner control is higher. There are several alternative paths that the visitor can take. Each time you enter the environment, your experience will be different. It is a huge challenge to ensure that learning happens in an educational MUVE.

An interesting write up on MUVE:
In the computer lab at her elementary school, Consuela was threading her way through a complex maze. The maze was not in the lab but in the "Narnia" MUVE (a text-based MUVE developed around the stories by C.S Lewis). Her classmates and fellow adventurers Joe and Fernando were "with" her in the maze, utilizing their Web-TV connections at their homes, as was her mentor, a small bear named Oliver (in reality, a high school senior, interested in mythology, who assumed a Pooh-like avatar in the virtual world of the MUVE). Mr. Curtis, the school principal, watched bemused from the doorway. How different things were in 2009, he thought, with students scattered across grade levels and dispersed throughout the city - yet all together in a shared, fantasy-based learning environment a full hour before school would even start! (The school building opened at the crack of dawn to enable lab-based web use by learners like Consuela, whose family had no access at home.)

"The extra effort is worth it," thought Mr. Curtis. Seven years into the technology initiative, student motivation was high (increased attendance, learners involved outside of school hours), and parents were impressed by the complex material and sophisticated skills their children were mastering. Even standardized test scores - which measured only a fraction of what was really happening - were rising. Most important, young girls such as Consuela were more involved with school. Because of their culture, Hispanic girls had been very reluctant to approach adult authority figures, like teachers, but the MUVE altered that by providing a costume-party environment in which the children's and teacher's avtars, wearing the "mask" of technology, could mingle without cultural constraints. "I wonder what the generation will be like in high school - or college?" mused Mr. Curtis.
Source: C. Dede, Emerging Technologies and Distributed Learning in Higher Education

Has the Avtaar taken over?

2008-09-30T10:29:00.006+05:30

Every Tuesdays and Fridays, we have learning sessions presented by each one of us. This week, it was my turn. I will be presenting on Multi-User Virtual Environments (will blog later on this). As for all presentations, I was reading up on this topic. During my coffee break, I picked up MetroPlus (Hindu) and read the first article, Trapped in the Net. This post talks about Internet addiction disorder (IAD), "...pathological use of computers, to engage in social interactivity."

"It is becoming common to know of someone, or have heard of someone, who has become obsessed with online activity to the point that their alternative online lives have masqueraded - and in some cases completely dominated - their identities. " "Broken marriages, lost jobs and plunging college grades are just some of the things that people who spend upto 18 hours per day in virtual reality face."

Interesting, isn't it? These quotes had me thinking of Second life. This is a multi-user virtual environment in which you can create an avtaar for yourself. This environment has its own economy (can you believe it?); the currency is Linden. You can buy and sell stuff in this environment. It must be so easy to dissolve yourself completely into this virtual environment that depicts real life through the eyes of the user. The avtaar is probably everything you want to be and are not. It is the ideal person that you want to be.

Now, coming to the point about IAD. So, would you start believing that the avtaar is actually the real you? It is upto to the user to realize their responsibilities and not let their avtaar become real.

Promoting Excellence in Learning Awards

2008-09-26T13:48:00.003+05:30

Who hasn't heard about Brandon Hall Awards? Every year I check out the list of winners which typically includes Allen Interaction Inc., A.S.K Learning, Enspire Learning and so on. I consider these companies to be the best in the industry. Well, that's why they are on the list right? This year, Kern (we have always been dreaming of entering) sent in an entry in the Best Use of Blended Learning category. We knew our work was good because we used our very own learner-centered methodology for this project.

Getting to the point, we have won a bronze award for this entry! This year, our name will appear on the list of who's who and someone else will look at it in awe. Kern Communications getting its due recognition through this award... We are now officially (I believe we always were) in the same league as the best in the industry!

I am extremely proud to have been part of this project, which was Geeta's brainchild btw, and to belong to this organization that continues to strive for the best.

Please read the official press release here.

Grab Your Learner's Attention

2008-09-17T16:58:00.005+05:30

Why are gain attention strategies important? Within the first few minutes of the training program, the learner decides whether this course is worth his/her time or not. An effective gain attention strategy has the power to increase the motivational level of your learner.

Using this, you can:

Arouse their curiosity.
Make them think about a particular concept.
Make them laugh or break the ice.
Help them grasp what is going to be covered in the course.
Build expectations.

Basically, it will make your learner want to see what comes ahead. Imagine! The learner is actually interested in learning. He/she is going to give you and your training program a chance. What qualifies as a gain attention strategy?

1. A pre-test that tells them where they stand at the beginning of the course
For example: Before we begin this module, let us attempt a brief questionnaire to identify your personality trait.

2. A challenge thrown their way
For example: You are a customer care executive at a call center. You have several customer calling you for information. You need to provide them with the information they require and close the close quickly to take the next call. How many calls can you close by end of day?

3. A problem-solution approach
For example: You have been appointed as the manager at SimCom. You manage a team of six smart and talented people. Your teams performance has been very poor over the past few months. You need to motivate your team and ensure that each person gives his/her best to this project. Your boss is keeping a close eye on you. Good luck!

4. A statistical report
For example: Attrition rates are within the range of 30-60% in the BPO industry. The typical reasons for attrition are salary, work timings, better jobs, and so on.

5. Did you know?
Did you know that The Big Five is a group of animals of Africa: cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino. This term was coined by hunters because of the challenge of hunting these wild ferocious animals when cornered.

6. A comic strip

7. A story/drama
You are a detective. Weird things have been happening at Reth City. Reports show that the number of males have been accelerating rapidly and no one seems to know the reason behind this. You have been offered this case. You need to go to the city to understand what is happening. You can talk to the city dwellers. If they seem secretive, you can look around the city for clues. Your assistant, Shweta, will hand out reports, newspaper clippings to help you crack the case. Hurry!

You can think of several innovative ways to design grab attention screens. If you have come across any, share them.

Creativity as I see it

2008-09-12T13:58:00.004+05:30

What is creativity? Thinking up something new/original? Not necessarily... The ideas we come up with are typically related to the knowledge we already have. No idea comes from nothing. Every idea is inspired by an old one or something your have read/seen/experienced. You either innovate an old idea or put few ideas together to come up with a more 'new' idea. Creativity is about thinking different, stretching the boundaries, trying things you haven’t done previously, or improvising on an exiting idea.

Creativity is inspired by passion. When you love what you do, you come up better ideas to do it better. You need your own space and time to be creative. You also need to be free of tension, stress and pressure. Organizations must give its employees the space to think freely and the freedom to execute new ideas. This will encourage employees to be creative at work. Is creativity a skill? I think so. You can consciously work on being creative.

Brainstorming helps hone your creative ability.
Stay in touch with what’s happening around you. This could be news, movies, good books, music, and so on.
Identify your personal space. You need room to think. Make this space for yourself.
Get inspired by creative things around you. This could be people, things, words, ideas.
Read, read and read some more. Read on varied topics. This will help open your mind.
Discuss, debate, argue. Engage discussions with colleagues, friends, and family.
Ask questions like ‘Why not?’ rather than accepting things as they are.
Think you can and not you can’t. Sit with a notepad and list down various possibilities. You will never know if you can or can’t till you try it.
If you think you are stuck and no creative juices are following, take a break. Do something that will help you relax and loosen up.
Have confidence in yourself. Only if you are sure of yourself, will you try to do something different.
Lateral thinking helps. Think beyond the obvious.
Know your facts/stuff.

Not all ideas are doable. But noting them down will help you filter and build on the idea that will work for you. What hinders creativity?

Ignorance
Lack of confidence
Noise and crowd
Working mechanically with no thought
Rigidity
Laziness
Narrow mindedness

You can see creativity everywhere. You can see this in the way Tupperware boxes are designed, specific advertisements that capture our interest, the choice of clothes we wear, interiors of your house, and so on.

When should I use tabbed presentations?

2008-09-04T13:01:00.004+05:30

I will begin by distinguishing between what we call 'must know information' and 'good to know information'. Must know information is directly linked to the learning outcomes. This information must be presented upfront and the learner should not have to search for it. Good to information is information that the learner can view if he/she wishes to read a little extra about the topic. This information can be displayed as click to know text, hyperlinks, tabbed presentations and so on. This information must not be presented upfront as it is not crucial to the learning objectives. Another logic behind this is quite simple. Learners tend to miss clicking the other tabs, links, buttons. Therefore, any information that will influence the learning outcome must be presented upfront.

ID's Identity

2008-08-29T15:35:00.004+05:30

My colleague, Mini, and I were having a discussion on content treatment strategies. During this discussion, we realized that our course are a level higher than the regular page turners. Why? Because page turners are edited content dumps, while in our courses, we actually take instructional design very seriously. We ensure that content treatment strategies map to the learner's needs and learning styles. Content is not displayed in the most fancy fashion but in the most effective fashion.

We avoid the content right, image left templates. These tend to be very text heavy and the image is generally a very general one, positioned there to make the slide look good. When we storyboard, we ensure that the logic for displaying content, instructional strategies are sound. It is not based on the whims and fancies of anyone. What is an ID required to do?

An ID must ensure that they have a learner persona in front of them always. Please map every design idea to this persona.
An ID must ensure that the content is held together with a common theme that the learner can relate to.
An ID must ensure that the instructional flow is maintained through the training program.
An ID must ensure that every page/slide is designed with the learner and the objective in mind.
An ID must ensure that quality is never compromised.

An ID is not an editor. Maintain your identity as an ID... :)

Designing Effective Assessment Questions

2008-08-21T13:35:00.010+05:30

Have you seen the following message before an assessment module?

On completion of this module, you will be awarded a certificate.

To me, this seems like the carrot stick technique to ensure that the learner takes the assessment questions. Another 'force' mechanism is disabling Next. You can only move forward if you attempt this assessment. If the learner is not motivated to take the assessment, he/she is not going to take it. He/she will just select an option randomly and move ahead.

Have you ever been told that we are designing a template for the assessment questions and therefore we can have only traditional MCQs? Or maybe you have been told that you must have 5 MCQs, 2 true or false and 3 fill in the blanks. Sheesh. Each testing point should be tested using the most effective assessment type. We have nothing against MCQs but we do have something against templates and standards that add to the project constraints. It is hard enough to create a assessments that challenge our learner without having this to contend with.

Assessment questions should be designed based on the learners and their motivation. If the motivation is high, please go ahead and use MCQs. (Though, we still believe that each testing point corresponds to an effective assessment type.) In cases where learner motivation is low, avoid traditional MCQs. According to me, fill in the blanks and true or false do not qualify as challenging questions and therefore, I will not classify them under assessment types. Let me show you some interesting examples of non-traditional assessment questions.

(Click on the images to view them clearly.)

I had a lot of fun looking for these examples. Hope you had fun reading this!

Tips for K12 Courses

2008-08-20T16:26:00.003+05:30

What things must you remember when designing K12 courses?

1. Learning is more effective when the examples are from the children's day to day experiences.
2. Repetition helps internalize the concepts taught. This is why we remember tables, alphabets, nursery rhymes. Say it over and over again. Make them practice over and over again with different examples.
3. Move from simple to complex. Ensure that when you introduce a concept you start from simple examples and then take them a level higher (complex). This move should be gradual to ensure that they are still with you.
4. Use visuals to make learning more effective and interesting. Design innovation exercises to ensure that it is fun and effective.

For example: You want to teach fifth graders proportions.

Step 1: Help them first identify the symbol ':' as proportionate to. Explain that his symbol helps make comparisons between two things. Explain that 1:4 reads as one is to four or one is proportionate to four. Have an exercise to check whether they are able read the equation correctly. For this exercise, use visuals, such as three dogs to five cats. Provide several examples to ensure internalization. Then, ask them to write out equations based on the visuals shown.

Step 2: Move them a level higher. At the nursery, there are girls and boys. For every two girls there is one boy. Write the equation. (Show visuals for this.) Then, give them a situation in which two equations need to be compared. Tina makes upma for breakfast. She typically adds two cups of water for one cup of rava. Today, she increases the quantity of rava to 2 cups. Can you complete the equation?
2 : 1 = ? : 2.

The examples should be from the learner's environment. Use names based on the nationality/location of the learner. Ensure that all items used as examples are things the learners see and recognize. For example, do not use examples such as upma for US learners. :)

Education by Emile Durkheim

2008-08-20T12:38:00.002+05:30

Durkheim, considered to be one of the founding fathers of sociology, taught pedagogy all his life to primary school teachers. According to him, education is a social fact. He believed that the focus of education is depend on the society's notion of an ideal man. He says, ' For each society, education is the means by which it secures, in the children, the essential conditions of its own existence'. Interesting way of describing what education is.

Durkheim defines education as -

Education is the influence exercised by adult generations on those that are not yet ready for social life. Its object is to develop in the child a certain number of physical , intellectual and moral states which are demanded of him by both the political society as a whole and the special milieu for which he is specifically destined.

The definition is a clear functionalist outlook. He saw education as a tool for socialization of the youth. There are two beings: individual being and social being. Education plays an important role in molding the social being. This covers religions, beliefs, moral beliefs, and traditions.

All this sounds very traditional and repressive? Well, let me tell you that Durkheim's time was around in the 18th century. Now, all this will make more sense. But it is interesting thought that education is defined by the society we live in.

Schedules

2008-08-12T15:04:00.003+05:30

What are schedules?

According to me and my work, schedules are systematic delegation of work and expected time within which this work has to be delivered. Schedules let everyone know when they are expected to start and finish a task. This includes ID team, development team, decision-makers, SMEs, clients, and so on. The schedule is signed off by the client to ensure that the dates suit them also.

Why are schedules important?

Everyone is clued in on when their intervention is required. Clients and SMEs are very clear on intervention points for clarifications and sign offs.
Schedules ensure that you do not spend extra time on a task that requires less time. Extra time on a task would mean you are eating into the company revenues. It also means that you are wasting resources that could be moved to another task.
The actual execution happens in a smooth and systematic function. There is no chaos and no ‘sleep time’. Sleep time, according to me, are those intervals in a projects where we are waiting for the next task to happen to continue with our work. The task could be feedback, response to clarifications or sign off. The projects goes to sleep till the other team wakes up and completes their task. Then, after ages, the project moves and everyone else has moved on.
When a schedule is drawn and shared at the beginning of a project, you get an opportunity to plan your time and resources in advance.
You have a clear plan that you can analyze later to check where and what the delays were. This will help you plan better for future projects.

How to create a schedule?

Always ensure that you understand the requirements clearly.
If you have an outer deadline, backtrack. Start from the end date and then reach the start date.
Based on you team’s strengths and weakness or availability, assign time for very task.
Ensure that you keep five days buffer time at the end of the project. This will take care of any surprises you may encounter during execution.
Ensure that you keep in mind the number of people and person days (how may days/weeks a person will spend on that particular task).
Always have reasonable timelines. Do not over or underestimate yourself and your team.
Take into account reviews, fixes, edits, audits and so on while creating the schedule.

A clear plan will help your team understand what is expected of them. They also get to see how they fit in the whole picture and how their contribution adds values (sorry about the functionalist thought :P). Even if you miss the deadline, if you have schedule in place, the delay will be short. But I should also add that if individuals just do not respect deadlines, nothing will work…

ADDIE - The most popular ISD

2008-08-05T11:54:00.004+05:30

ADDIE is a popular instructional systems design (ISD). I say popular because it is the most discussed about methodology and also several organization still follow this methodology (with small modifications). I thought I must quickly capture what ADDIE is all about. So, here goes...

ADDIE model was designed to solve training problems. It was first established by the department of defense. It became popular after World War II.

Analysis phase is typically the first phase in the e-learning lifecycle. It involves analyzing the business goals, content for the course, and the learner’s prior skills. Analysis phase checks the quality of your course. It guides the designer while creating learning objectives. This phase involves the identification of the people and the deliverables for each of the phases. The areas addressed in this phase are:

Goals and objectives of this course
Learners and their prior knowledge
Training gaps
Available resources

Design Phase includes three steps:

Planning a design strategy
Selecting a format for the course
Creating a design document

The planning team, such as the manager and Instruction designer (ID), develops the project plan that guides each of the e-learning teams in the various phases of their activity. The output for this phase is the e-learning project plan and the design document. This plan provides guidance during the various stages of the e-learning process. The areas addressed in this phase are:

Organization of content
Presentation of ideas to learners
Delivery format
Types of activities/exercises

Development phase involves the actual creation of course or storyboarding. Information collected in the analysis and design phase is used to create the course. The design document plays a crucial role when the course is being storyboarded. A prototype is created to check for efficiency. Based on efficiency of the prototype, the course material is developed. When the first draft is complete, the course undergoes several review cycles to ensure accuracy of content. Typically, a pilot session is conducted on a few learners to test the efficacy of the course. The activities that are covered in this phase include:

Develop instructions
Create a prototype
Develop the course material
Conduct a review
Run a pilot session

Implementation phase indicates the completion of course creation. The course is launched into the market based on the mode of delivery (CDs, web, PDA, etc.) decided by the planning team. The learners take the course. Learners and instructors are notified about the launch of the course. The activities that are covered in this phase include:

Schedule the courses, enroll learners, and reserve on-site and off-site classrooms
Notify learners and their supervisors about the course

Evaluation phase of e-learning tests the efficacy of the course. It judges/evaluates whether the course was successful and whether it helped the learners reach their end goal. The Evaluation specialist carries out the evaluation along with the instruction designer and the interface designer. Based on the feedback from the student assessment and instructors, the e-learning course material can be revised. The questions that are answered during this phase are:

Do learners like the course?
Did learners achieve the learning objectives at the end of the course?
Did the course help the company achieve its business goals?
Did your course bring about the desired behavioral change?

Many e-learning organizations have their e-learning life cycle that best suits them. ADDIE is the most popular approach. Many suggest that ADDIE is time consuming and very systematic. The focus invariably moves away from the learner. Some suggest that ADDIE involves many rounds of rework and documentation and creativity suffers.

Successive approximation is another alternative suggested by Michael Allen. This process involves creating a functional prototype that would be tested on typical learners. It is known to be an iterative process that involves less rework.

At Kern, we have our own DLC that is learner-centered. This process has been carefully designed to ensure that the DLC is iterative. At every phase, checks and value additions happen. It works well for us as every Kernite believes in this methodology.

Dick and Carey Model

2008-08-05T11:36:00.004+05:30

Walter Dick and Lou Carey created a systematic process for designing instruction. This theory borrowed from behaviorist, cognitivist, and constructivist schools. Dick and Carey were influenced by Robert Gagne’s conditions of learning. The basic assumptions based on which this theory was proposed are:

The relationship between instruction material-learning is similar to that of stimulus-response.
The sub-skills that have to be mastered should be identified.
Acquiring these sub-skills result in the intended behavior.

Let us look at the methodology in detail. The methodology suggests:

Design instructions based on the reductionist model (breaking down into smaller components).
Use appropriate conditions of learning.
Use an Instructional System Design, a systems approach for designing instruction.
Apply across a wide range: K12 – business – government and novice - expert

Dick and Carey outline a methodical design and development process. A system, according to Dick and Carey, is technically a set of interrelated parts, all of which work together toward a defined goal. This model is called systems approach because it contains components that are related to each other. Each component has an input and an output. Dick and Carey listed the following reasons for advocating a systems approach:

The focus is on what the learner is required to know/do by the end of the course.
Each component in the system is linked carefully to the other.
This process is empirical and replicable.

The steps proposed in the ISD refer to a set of procedures and techniques that an instructional designer should employ to design, develop, evaluate, and revise instruction. The steps proposed by Dick and Carey in ISD are given below.

Identify the Instructional Goals. Instructional designers should identify what the learner should be able to do at the end of the course. The instructional goal is set based on needs assessment and learner requirements.

Conduct Instructional Analysis. Instructional designers should identify the instructional steps and sub-steps that will help the learner attain his/her goal. Instructional analysis also involves analyzing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that the learners are required to possess to begin instruction. These are known as entry behaviors.

Analyze Learners and Contexts. Learners and contexts in which they will learn are analyzed in parallel while the instructional analysis is in progress. Learners’ prior skills, preferences, and attitudes are determined. The instructional setting in which the new skills will be used is also analyzed. Information gained at this stage is crucial as it decides the instructional strategy.

Write Performance Objectives. Based in the instructional analysis, findings of entry behaviors, and prior skills, the learning objectives are listed. Skills to be acquired, learning conditions, and criteria for successful performance will be considered while framing the objectives.

Develop Assessment Instruments. Based on the performance objectives, the instructional designers should develop the assessments. These assessments will measure the learners’ progress through the course. The assessments are framed to bring out the behavior defined in the objectives.

Develop Instructional Strategy. Based on the information gained from the previous steps, instructional designers are required to identify the instructional strategy. This strategy will cover the following areas:

pre-instructional activities
presentation of information
practice and feedback
testing and follow-through activities

The strategy will be based on the current learning theories and research, content to be taught, learners’ characteristics, and medium through which instruction will be delivered.

Develop and Select Instructional Materials. Instructional strategy is used to produce instruction. This done using learner manuals, tests, and instructional materials such as instructor’s guides, student modules, videotapes, computer-based multimedia formats, and web pages for distance learning. Original materials will be created based on the content being taught, availability of existing relevant materials, and other resources available. Based on a set of criteria, existing materials are selected.

Design and Conduct Formative Evaluation of Instruction. Several evaluations are conducted to improve instruction. Three types of evaluation are one-to-one evaluation, small-group evaluation, and field evaluation. These provide insights into how the instruction can be improved.

Revise Instruction. The findings from formative evaluation are used to revise the instruction. The obstacles in learning are related to the specific deficiencies/drawbacks in the instruction. Instructional analysis, assumptions about entry behaviors and learner profile is validated again. The learning objective, assessments, and instructional strategy are modified as per these findings.

Design and Conduct Summative Evaluation. After revision of instruction, evaluation of the absolute worth of the instruction takes place.

This model was mainly designed for a classroom setting in educational institutions. Is Dick and Carey model used today? Yes, it is in the form of ADDIE. Many believe that ADDIE evolved from Dick and Carey model. Will blog on ADDIE soon...