Shout Out: Abbey Stahl--All the Rage

Tonight's supplement to my daily newspaper is a paper within a paper called All the Rage, For Teens! By Teens! About Teens!

Typical teen stuff, what to wear to the prom, choosing a college and so forth. However, one article caught my eye "MySpace, IM--why so addictive?"

We spend a lot of time in the blogosphere talking about the future of learning, making predictions and lamenting formal instructional design but rarely is the voice of the "gamer generation" heard...the voice of the learners who will be demanding that we design instruction differently.

This article, written by Ms Abbey Stahl from Shikellamy High School, provides insight into the thinking of current high school students. The article provides great information about what the upcoming gamer generation is going to demand in terms of learning.

Here is some of the article:

Yes, these terms --Instant Messanger and Myspace--may seem foreign to your parents, but to us teenagers they're essential to keep up with the lastest ins and outs. Communication has developed enormously in the last couple hundred years. It used to be that people would have to travel miles to talk to a person before the postal service was established. But who wants to mail a letter and wait a week for the reply? Now telephones are even becoming impractical. Is the internet the new communication wave of the future? Nearly any Myspace or Instant Messenger user will tell you that they are addicted to it. Why?

It's a fact that us teenagers, more than anyone need to talk to our friends. We can easily carry [on] more than one converation, listen to music and search the web for a homework assignment all at once.

First I was really struck by the comment, "Now telephones are even becoming impractical." Not obsolete but impractical. Not practical to use...a telephone. So the gamers find it more practical to communicate via the Internet than via a telephone.

Also, the social aspect of the Internet is an important and a integral part of being a teenager and communicating with others. Social networking is, as stated often, critically important to this gamer generation. We need to be prepared to leverage this fondness for electronic social networking.

Finally, Ms Stahl (probably 16 or 17) tells us adults what we have frustrately witnessed for years--teenagers expect to multitask and enjoy dealing with the whirlwind of technology that is constantly at their finger tips. Rather than be overwhelmed by it, they embrace it.

Thank you to Ms Stahl for re-confirming the fact that the gamer generation is coming and that they have different learning and information expectations than the boomers or the Gen Xers. Anyone responsible for providing learning opportunities for these gamers better be ready.

Thanks Abbey and a shout out to you.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learning to Spell

Learning to spell in elementary school can be a drag, it is all rote memorization. Writing the words over and over again so you can learn them for the test. A web-site named Spelling Time has developed a fun an interactive method to teach kids in grades 1-5 spelling in an engaging manner. The process involves multiple steps, first an animated character speaks a word and then you type the word.

You then play a hangman type game for any words that you misspelled and then you are asked to get a piece of paper and a pencil and write the words you missed three times and the ones you got correct once (talk about an integrated blended learning approach). Finally, you are rewarded with points and allowed to play a game where you can send the high score to a friend or anyone on the high score list.



The application has built in repetition designed to teach facts which is an effective learning strategy. It has engaging activities and characters that provide an exciting learner experience and has built in motivation. It also works blended learning right into the learning process.

Plus it is fun, my 9 year old son in 4th grade had so much fun he played the demo twice. It would be a great way for him to practice his spelling words. Watch out the company is also working on topics like understanding money, math, geography, the solar system and others. Look out FDA compliance training...

Designers of instruction should take a number of pointers from this example of well designed instruction.
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Implementation: Evaluating Collaboration

One of the goals of Web 2.0 and other technologies is to foster collaboration. But, there seems to be an issue with how many people actually collaborate. According to many sources, less than 1% of the people who visit blogs or wikis actually contribute or collaborate with the author of the wiki or blog. This is called the 1% rule.

One of the major issues with collaboration in an academic or even a corporate setting is determining how to evaluate each individual's contribution to the overall collaboration. How do you ensure equal participation? How to you judge one person's work against another?

One answer is to create a collaboration rubric: Here are examples of several collaboration rubrics.
Collaboration Rubric 1
Collaboration Rubric 2
Collaboration Rubric 3

None are perfect but they can be the basis for building your own tool that begins to approach the concept of evaluating collaboration within your classroom or organization.

Much like the old saying "you get what you measure." Perhaps if collaboration were better measured, more true collaboration would occur.
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Design: A Friendly Human/Computer Interface

One important thing we need to remember as designers of instruction or people who create "learner experiences" is to consider how to create an engaging user interface. Most interfaces are un-intuitive, unimaginative and confusing (thus the reason for so much software training...press the submit button to...)

Designers often end up creating page-turning e-learning and not focusing on the experience for the learner. However, pundits always point to interfaces like Google and call it the "e-learning" of the future that nano-learning is the way to go. While I see Google as a clean, easy-to-use software, I do not see it as creating any kind of learner experience, in fact, it is rather COLD. Efficient but cold.

But what are the alternatives to that cold interface? Well, you could check out the search engine known as Ms Dewey for an alternative. Much more friendly and interactive than Google. It brought a smile to my face the first few times I interacted with the program.
Do I have some issues with the display of results and the overall functionality...some...but the interface is much more friendly than Google and should serve as a model for thinking about creating learner experiences and not just instruction.

Next time you sit down to create an e-learning course, think instead about creating a learner experience.

For more information and ideas on creating an effective learner/computer interface, check out the Jack Principles created by the makers of You Don't Know Jack, the folks over at Jellyvision.
Check out any of their "Jack" games to see how you can create a real sense of relationship between the learner and the computer program. A great way think about the design of learner experience. Also, you can play You Don't Know Jack online.(not appropriate for work)


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Delivery: Collaborating in a Virtual Classroom

Online collaboration does not just occur in a wiki or with Web 2.0 products, one exciting, and sometimes forgotten, method of online collaboration is within a virtual classroom envrionment. Recently I conducted a session online in a virtual classroom using breakout rooms. It was fun and educational.

You can read about it on my post Collaborating in a Virtual Classroom at the TrainingDay Blog.

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Out and About: Rapid E-Learning of Interest

Thank you to everyone who attended ASTD's Rapid E-Learning Seminar. The desire to learn more about rapid e-learning is obvious, we had the largest ASTD Webinar attendance to date, over 650 individuals.

Allison Rossett did a wonderful job of talking about the Big Tent of e-learning and how we need to expand our thinking beyond courses to performance support systems. She also made an excellent point that some things cannot be taught rapidly. Sometimes "time" is an instructional methodology. She provided wonderful examples of blending learning into the workflow for rapid learning on the job.

I discussed the importance of instructional strategies (suprise, suprise) and how rapid e-learning doesn't need to be boring e-learning. I call that the Z-factor...even though it is rapid, you can still make it interesting with large images, engaging activities, thoughtful scenarios and questions that make the learner think.

Also, templates are an important aid in developing rapid instruction and I stressed the importance of having a toolkit of templates, reusable engines and other development that aids can shorten the creation process for e-learning.
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Value of Instructional Designers Discussion

In case you haven't noticed, I have been having a great discussion with Barton Pursel and Brent Schlenker about the value or lack of value of instructional designers. I think they have value, others are not so sure. Check out the the comments section of my post Value of Instructional Designers, please chip in your ideas, however, be warned it is a lively discussion.

Are you with me? Do you think instructional designers have value or do you tend to agree with Brent and think designers do not have value?...Bart...I think he is in the middle but leaning more toward no value.

All this spanned from The Learning Circuits Blog: February Big Question: What Questions? So join in the discussion.
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Shout Out: Ryan Reilly

Ryan recently graduated from the Instructional Technology program at Bloomsburg University where I had the pleasure of having him as a student. While at Bloomsburg, he created a neat game to help kids learn the capitals of the United States. The game was great but had one or two gliches.

When he graduated he said that he would fix the gliches and send us a revised copy. Well, you know how many times I have heard that "line" and never saw a revised project...

However, Ryan was true to his word and sent a great version of the game State The Captial.

Kudos to Ryan for his follow through. He was a really good student and has a great internship right now (and they would be best to keep him) however, if you are looking for a good designer, check out his portfolio.
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Out and About: Honored to be Nominated

I just received a message in my email today. I was simultaneous, shocked, surprised and honored:

On behalf of Training Industry, Inc., please accept our congratulations for your recent nomination to the Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals Award! Our Nominations Committee reviewed many nominations and have selected you as one who is notable and worthy of recognition for this honor. This Award is prestigious as it is voted on completely by your peers and other professionals within the training industry. Voting will be done online at TrainingIndustry.com from February 20 through March 2.

The list is filled with some really impressive individuals in the field of e-learning, not exactly sure how I made the list...this may sound like a cliche but I really mean it when I say, "I am honored just to be nominated." I seemed to have accidently got mixed in with some giants in the field.

If you would like to see the entire field of nominees and cast a vote, you can go to TrainingIndustry Top 20.

Thank you to everyone and anyone who had a hand in the nomination.
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Design: Rapid E-Learning

Just because you are creating Rapid E-Learning, that doesn't mean it needs to be boring e-learing. Follow these tips to increase the "applicability" of your rapid e-learning to the learner's job.

• Specifically point out how the learning will impact the learner's job (if you don't know this, don't create the instruction.)
  
  
• Show the learner the WIIFM. (What's In It For Me). Let them know that the learning can and will make the job easier/faster/more profitable.
  
  
• Create the instruction to solve the learners problems. Making the learner "aware" of something is not enough, (aware of FDA concerns)...create action items. (You have a problem inspecting the vials, here is how to solve it to be in compliance with FDA regulations...
  
  
• Creatively use media, you don't always need a graphic in the right corner and text on the left, use a graphic that takes up the entire screen with text over top or use a single screen with one line of text to make a point. Be creative within the context of the work environment.

Here is a post with more Rapid E-Learning ideas.
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Welcome

As the blog community continues to grow... more and more interesting people are joining the conversation every day and adding interesting perspectives. Two people who have recently joined will make it especially interesting

First a welcome to Tony O’Driscoll who leads Performance Architecture Analysis and Design for IBM Sales Learning. He already has a great post about Second Life and I am anxious to read more about IBM's committment to the platform. Although I don't know him personnally, I have read his work and he always has something interesting to say. Visit Tony at Learning Matters and check out his posting Second Life =Experience Economy Platform.

The second person I would like to welcome (although he did have a blog in the past) is Michael Qaissaunee who is the Director, Mid-Atlantic Institute for Telecommunications Technologies and a professor at Brookdale Community College. Mike has some great ideas about technical education and the convergence of learning and technology. Visit Mike at Frequently Asked Q. His post on visual literacy, "Beyond tables, pie charts and bar charts" is well worth the visit.

So, check out these interesting thinkers, stop by their blogs and leave a comment or two.
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ASTD Webcast: Rapid E-Learning

Here is a reminder for you ASTD Members.

February's Featured T+D Webcast: Rapid Learning

Join ASTD tomorrow at 2:00 PM ET for this month's featured T+D Webcast, which examines how the need to deliver training materials faster is altering design and delivery of training programs.

Karl Kapp, a faculty member at Bloomsburg University, and Allison Rossett, professor of educational technology at San Diego State University, will also discuss the design challenges of rapid learning and the future of this training approach.

Rapid Learning
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Note: Please do not log in until 1:30 p.m. EST (I'll be rehearsing)

Webcast registration is free for ASTD members. Go over to www.astd.org and register. Hope to see you there and if you attend and heard about it from this blog, please let me know.

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Value of Instructional Designers

Lately there has been some talk about what exactly instructional designers do and what value they add to the process. Brent Schlenker in his response to the ASTD Big Question asks, Well, I think the biggest question is STILL, "Why US?". Why do we ("learning professionals") continue to think we have the answers that are special to learning...how it should be done...who should create it...and how should others consume it? Maybe the question is "Do we still add value to the new learning equation?

Over at ASTD's Learning Blog, Clark Aldrich asks Is it possible to have a universal argument, Simulations work better than traditional formal learning programs?

To his question I answered in the comment:The answer for radio, television, video, and computer-based instruction is...that when well designed instruction is created and delivered, the medium doesn't matter. It is effective regardless of the technology. The medium is NOT the message. So, a well design simulation may be better than poorly designed classroom instruction but given an equally well designed classroom experience and a simulation...it will always be a tie.

So it is the design of the instruction that matters more than how the instruction is delivered (a lesson that needs to be learned by many Instructional Technologists).

To me, instructional design is

"the deliberate application of instructional strategies and tactics to facilitate the learning process in a manner that is as efficient as possible for both initial learning and long term retention and that leads to a change in behavior, knowledge or attitude based on defining the needs of the learners and the attributes of the content to be learned."

(See other definitions)

The discipline (and it is a discipline) borrows heavily from psychology, cognitive science, behavioral science, information design theory, and media design theory. However, it is the blending of these theories and ideas into the design of instruction that makes the difference between merely presenting information and creating an event in which learning actually occurs.

While learning can and does happen in non-designed situations, it may not be as efficient as it could be, it may not be deliberate and retention may not occur. Is there value in non-designed learning...of course! But that doesn't diminish the need to design learning carefully and properly or the value of well designed instruction itself--just because informal learning is important that doesn't mean formal learning isn't. We've all been in poorly designed training classes or taken bad e-learning...we always console ourselves with "if I learn one thing then it was valueable." NO!

We should learn multiple new pieces of information or links between existing information and instructional designers (good ones) faciliate the learning process. We learn many things from well designed instruction.

In many situations it is better to have instruction designed than to let it happen haphazardly. This is true for compliance training, customer service, engineering, and even, I would submit, problem-solving.

As Tom Haskins once wrote in a comment:
As long as there are factories and bureaucracies, there will be a need for instructional design methods and practitioners. The hardware/brick & mortar parts of the economy don’t mess around. There is one right answer for every detail. There are costly mistakes. Experts provide accurate content to port into instructional designs. Compliance training needs to get results. Procedures are linear and need to be followed in sequence. Amen.

So, while anyone on Earth can put together some powerpoints for either online delivery or a stand up lecture and present information, far fewer Earthlings can design instruction that is efficient, effective and actually facilitates a change in the learner's behavior, knowledge or attitude. That skill set is invaluable in our knowledge economy...that is the value designers should and do bring to the table.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Broadband Reaches Half-Way Point

One thing Second Life, Online games, and high quality streaming video need to be successful is a broadband connection. Fortunately, it seems that broadband access is becoming less and less of an issue:

U.S. residential broadband penetration is expected to exceed 50 percent in 2007--and the U.K. isn't far behind. By the end of 2007, more than 60 million U.S. households will be connected--around 55 percent--according to market researcher Parks Associates. During 2006, broadband subscriptions grew by more than 20 percent in the U.S. and by the end of the year around 50 million households had fat pipes.

Read the entire article, Broadband adoption passes halfway mark in U.S.


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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learn About Knee Surgery

Ever wonder how they perform knee or hip surgery, find out for yourself at EdHeads. Actually, you get to perform the surgery with a little guidance. You are patiently provided instruction on how to mark the leg, clean the area, make the incision and repair the damage. Even though the surgery was 2D, I still got a little sqeamish.

The site also has a virtual hip replacement surgery simulation as well as other interesting educational games. Compare the interaction of these educational modules with what you are designing. Remember, these are for kids...but they allow for application, problem-solving and interactivity.

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Industry News: elearning Company Purchase

Here is the big announcement:

Kaplan, Inc., one of the world’s leading providers of educational services, has signed an agreement to acquire EduNeering Holdings, Inc., a top provider of knowledge management solutions that assure regulatory compliance and improve business performance. EduNeering designs and deploys knowledge management solutions for organizations in the pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare, energy and manufacturing sectors. The transaction is awaiting clearance by the Federal Trade Commission.

EduNeering has outstanding management and a long-standing commitment to delivering the highest quality knowledge solutions,” said William Macpherson, CEO of Kaplan Professional. “The company will complement Kaplan Professional’s growing suite of compliance services.”

Read the entire press release.

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Phones for Kids, again

Gushers are clearly aimed at kids, adults don't eat these things. Yet, here is an ad for the kids to get 4 cell phones. The marketers certainly understand that kids love gadgets.

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: ESL in SL

This weekend I attended an English as a Second Language (ESL) class. It was a surreal experience for two reasons. 1) I already speak English (unfortunately, the only language I do speak except for a little French which I continually butcher, oui) 2) the class was in Second Life (SL).

The instructor, Kip, separated the attendees into two groups and then asked a series of questions in English using slides and then the participants answered with written English sentences. The instructor would correct the students (most of whom spoke German as a first language) by typing a correction or the entire correct sentence.

It worked surprisingly well. The students raised their hands with questions and there was good rapport between the students and the instructor. Many of whom used that medium as their only method of learning English.

It was interesting to attend a class online in SL. I would strongly urge you to do so if given the chance, one can certainly see the potential and the promise of learning in 3D for a language.

For example, the instructor could move the class to a restaurant and have the students order a meal or go to a train station and have them buy a ticket or ask for the restroom or walk down a street in Paris and ask a policeman for directions. The SL environment provides a great opportunity to immerse the learner in the language and the situation. A guided tour designed to help learners speak the language.



Special thanks to Deanna!
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Design: Level One E-Learning Questions

Rarely are e-learning courses evaluated at the reaction level (level 1). The level that provides face validity to the content and measures customer satisfaction.

I have created a short list of questions related to level 1 e-learning evaluations but would really like some input on other questions that might be appropriate at the end of an e-learning class. Please feel free to add some of those questions as a comment to this blog or write a posting on your own blog and I'll link.

Here is what I have so far:

• How relevant was the course content to your job?
  
• How effectively will you be able to apply what you’ve learned to your job?
  
• How closely does the content match the tasks you perform on a daily basis?
  
• How valuable will the content be in helping you to better perform your job?
  
• How convenient did you find the online learning module?
  
• Rate the ease-of-navigation of the online learning module?

I place most of these questions on a Likert-type scale. (1-5 with 1 being good and 5 rerepresenting bad)

I realize the questions are only the learner's opinion after a learning event, however, I believe some merit can be given to the learner's opinion:)

What questions might you ask?
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Hand Held PC

Here is a cool little gadget called the OQO.





It is literally a fully functional PC in the palm of your hand. I have a first generation version and I love it. Small, portable but powerful. The OQO two looks even better. Thanks to Andy Shean, a former student who brought this to my attention.

Here is what Andy writes:
…looks like a pretty intense piece of hardware. With a gig of ram, and a 60 gig hard drive, this thing can run Windows Vista and just about any application that you want to throw at it. Released as of a few days ago you can also have broadband Internet built into it from Verizon or Sprint for Internet anywhere. With the travel package, broadband access, Vista Ultimate and the warranty it totaled roughly $2600

Here is what the company says.

• Ergonomically designed for usability on the go, the model 02 features an integrated backlit thumb keyboard, track stick, and capacitive TouchScrollers™.
  
• Encased in a magnesium alloy chassis, the model 02 is a standalone, handheld computer with shock mounted hard drive and drop detect technology.
  
• At the office, the model 02 functions as a desktop PC. The optional OQO docking station allows quick and easy connection to a full size display, keyboard, mouse, and wired Ethernet.

Here is what I say:
One neat gadget to lug to conferences, light weight and powerful enough to show all your slide shows. And it is fun to pull it out and set it up, always draws a crowd.

Check out more about the OQO2. It is one neat gadget. Thanks Andy for dropping me the note about the new OQO!
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Out & About: A Change is Coming to Higher Ed

The future of higher education is online. Unfortunately, many faculty and administrators can't see the tidal wave of online learning that is approaching but it is approaching. The cost of higher education is untenable in its current form. Just like manufacturing was 20 years ago, same with financial institutions, insurance...those industries were changed forever by technology...higher education is next. It will be stripped to the bare bones before too long.

As Scott McNealy, Chairman of Sun stated:

Technology has to play a huge role in education. (It's) changed commerce...publishing...banking. It's got to change education big time.

It will change but it takes time for large entrenched institutions to change. Heck, Harvard has just now decided to have its first women president.

Or, maybe a more moderate approach will occur, as advocated by Charles Reed,, chancellor of the largest four-year university system in the United States (the California State University System).

He envisions:

...students becoming more like telecommuters. They might meet with faculty and peers one day a week on campus, and then use simulations, virtual worlds and downloaded information the rest of the week to complete coursework.

I ask, why do they need to meet once a week? And what are those colleges going to do with those huge classrooms and infrastructure the other 6 days of the week? It's got to be expensive to heat or cool all those mostly empty buildings.

Yet, colleges are still on a building frenzy. Driving up costs and hoping to get a large return. It reminds me (as I think I've said before) of Ford building the SUVs when anyone could see a gas shortage coming. But they just forged ahead. Is higher education doing the same thing...

Read the more optimistic article that sparked this post titled Universities register for virtual future
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Second Life by the Numbers

Here is an article brought to my attention by one of my students Jason Kojtek. The article, The Second Life Census provides a link to a spreadsheet showing some interesting SL numbers. For example, the number of non-repeat credit card accounts is 2 million and the number of people online at any time is between 10,000 and 30,000.

But the most interesting part of the article are the comments posted afterward. The vast majority blasting Second Life because it is not a "game" and there is nothing to do in Second Life except walk around.

Interesting, I think a lot of early technologies are seen as "non-exciting" by all but the techies and then, when someone figures out something cool to do with them, they catch on or when someone else makes them simplier to use. Remember, not everyone had a bag phone but when they became smaller, cell phones became a must have.

Also, I remember when GPS seemed unnecessary, now I can't live without it or when PDAs first came on the scene. I think we are on the verge of something but, perhaps, Second Life isn't the final form, however, I think we owe it to ourselves to explore the possiblities so we know what works and what doesn't in these new metaverses.
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High Tech Homework Assignments

This weekend, do some high-tech homework. Especially if you are not really comfortable with all this Web 2.0 stuff. You can read the assignment at my post This Weekend Go High Tech at the TrainingDay Blog.

Even if you are high-tech, there are some neat things to see.
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Design: Creating Good Questions

One of the most important elements of good instructional design is creating good questions, even if you are doing rapid e-learning. One rapid e-learning package that I have been introduced to recently is Flashform by a company called Rapid Intake.

They have a package that allows the designer to quickly create instruction and to add quesitons. The question creation screen is shown in the top of the blog. I think creating effective questions is one of the most important elements of good e-learning. Too often we create memorization questions. Instead we need force our learners to think. With straightforward question creation templates, we can still write a scenario that forces the learner to think and apply what he or she has learned.

I have written about this before in Creating Good Compliance Questions and in Test Creation Tips.

The other thing that caught my attention about Rapid Intake is the community they are building at their web site. They have a forum, newsletter, books you can buy, lots of good stuff. Go to their Store. With each product they have a See It, Try It and Buy It option. I think that is a great idea and really takes advantage of the power of the web.

Wouldn't it be great as training developers to have content in our courses labeled, Demonstration, Guided Tour, You Try It.

We designers need to consider creating communities around our topics and subjects.

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Questions, Questions and More Questions

To answer the question at ASTD’s Learning Circuits Blog, I am going to try to stick to Tony’s initial thought of specific questions and dive very deep into the technique I use when consulting for a needs assessment or evaluation.

I use a technique I call the 360 Needs Assessment. This process involves asking questions at several levels within an organization. The idea is to separate the facts from the opinions. If I can triangulate information, I know that I have a fact, if I can’s substantiate it…well then more investigation is required. Or I know that the information is a minority opinion.

So, I first ask questions of the stakeholders:

• Why do you think this is a problem?
  
• Have you every tried to solve it before? How? What was the result?
  
• Why do you think training is the answer?
  
• If the problem is solved, describe the ideal state, the results, the outcome, your expectations.
  
• If the problem isn’t solved, what are the consequences?
  
• Did the employees ever know how to do this in the past?
  
• Do you think internal or external forces are causing the change.

Then I move to the employees impacted by the problem/challenge/potential training, I want to know if the stakeholders (usually management) know what is going on in the trenches (hint, they rarely do).I use similar questions but not always phrased as below.

• What do you think is causing the problem?
  
• What do you think is the solution to the problem?
  
• Are their incentives that drive you away from the desired goal?
  
• Is the environment conducive to your obtaining the desired outcome?
  
• Would training in XYZ solve this problem for you?
  
• Do you feel that you know how to perform the tasks that are required?
  
• What would you do to solve this problem?
  
• Have you ever seen this problem before? What was the attempt to solve it?

Then I move to managers of the employees:

• How long has this been a problem?
  
• Is it as "bad" or "good" as indicated by the stakeholders?
  
• Why aren’t employees performing (solving the problem?)
  
• What is the result on the customers or downstream employees?
  
• Is their another way (besides training) to solve this problem?
  
• Do you have the right people in place?
  
• What external or internal factors are contributing this is problem?

Next, I talk to downstream employees

• What problems do you encounter as a result of the performance upstream?
  
• What outputs would you like to see but are not getting from the upstream employees?
  
• Why do you think you are not getting what you need?
  
• How would you solve the problem?
  
• How often do you meet with employees upstream? (usually never)
  
• How do you have to compensate for the employees upstream?

Finally, I talk to the ultimate customers; usually they are outside of the organization. This is not always possible for many reasons but can be extremely insightful.

• Please rate the product/service/attention provided by organizations XYZ?
  
• What would you like to see improved?
  
• What is fantastic and that you don’t want to see change?
  
• How has performance changed over time?
  
• Is the organization responsive to your needs?
  
• What are your needs?
  
• How does organization XYZ understand what your needs are?

These are some of the tactical questions I ask. I don’t always get access to all these people but I certainly try. I also like to get people who have been with the organization for a long time, short time and intermediate. The goal is to gather data from a variety of places. Sometimes when you learn something at one level, you need to go back to another level and ask more questions.

It does take a while with intense interviews, however, you can cram a number of interviews into a day or week and really get a feel for the answers after doing a half-a-dozen or so.
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Design: Compliance Complaints

Compliance training is seen by many organizations as a "necessary evil." Training that is mandated. Well, yes it might be mandated but that doesn't mean it needs to be "death by powerpoint"
Or
"PDF on a stick" (that is a PDF document that a learner reads and signs off on to indicate they’ve been trained). Compliance training can and should be made attractive, relevant and interesting.

Here are common problems and suggested solutions.

• Much of the content of compliance courses are a list of what the learner should NOT do...how about what they can or should do for compliance and profitability.
  
  
• The format seems to be a page of text followed by two more pages of text followed by a multiple choice question (repeat until final mastery test)...let’s be a little more original with clickable spots, drag and drops and scenarios.
  
  
• The course is simply the memorization of information and then a regurgitation of the exact same information...how about application questions or scenarios where the learner applies what he or she has learned to solve a problem encountered on the job.
  
  
• These courses tend to have a lack of war stories or history of what has happened at that company...when an organization does have a compliance violation (like not reporting a large deposit and tracking it to an illegal activity and the subsequent firing of the individual)...how about adding that to the training...make it relative to the people at THAT organization.
  
  
• The courses do not have a chain of events sequence...what I mean by this is that most compliance disasters or major problems are a result of not one violation but a series of violations often by different people, illustrate this chain of events so learners understand how one little oversight can be compounded into a larger problem.
  
  
• The "Why" is missing. The learner is told what not to do but the real impact on the individual in terms of what might happen to them or their co-workers is never explained. Hey...I know I shouldn't speed but if I do...what could happen? Compliance programs need to explain...you could loose control of your car, get a speeding ticket, be unable to avoid an obstacle on the road, not notice a warning sign..etc.

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Attending an ISTE Meeting in SL

Last night I attended my first meeting in Second Life. It was sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education better known as ISTE. (that's me in the hat with the blue and black striped shirt.)

It was facilitated by Kittygloom Cassady. She did a great job! I kept the bubbles over everyone's head for the picture to show a little of the environment in which the chat took place. We had about 22 folks attend the meeting.

The diverse group is trying to work toward determining the best ways of teaching within a virtual world. We heard examples of mock courts, English as a Second Language (ESL) and the creation of ancient cities as well as role-plays.

The meeting was, at times, chaotic with many people chatting and, I noticed, Second Life doesn't really have any classroom management features, it is hard to tell who raised their hand first and a little difficult to avoid one person talking over another. Also, when people got "bored" they would stand or even fly or jump...interesting, never had that in an actual classroom (flying that is)



One thing I think that should happen once a meeting starts is that protocols are created for making the meeting effective. For example, have chat words like DONE at the end when a person is done with their comments. Don't raise your hand or ask to speak until the person has indicated DONE. Perhaps take questions from left to right so that it is orderly.

These are just some ideas. It really reminded me of when virtual classrooms like Centra started to appear, eventually the software grew into its use by the pioneers.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Welcome to Nicktropolis (must be under age 14 to enter)

There should be a place where kids can join a metaverse and just hangout, kids under the age of 14 that is...and of course Nickelodeon has done it in the form of Nicktropolis.

Now kids can create their own room, play games, watch videos and connect with friends and Nick characters. The metaverse has pre-written messages or Nick Safe Chat to communicate with other kids logged in with "NickNames."
These are kids in grade school who are now interacting in virtual 3D worlds with each other and with fictitious computer-generated characters from the Nickelodeon cartoon line up.

So…I’m not sure those kids are really going to want to listen to that 45 minute static history lesson or, when they grow up…take that mind-numbing, page-turning e-learning course you developed.


Nickelodeon didn’t blindly jump into this, they did some homework. As indicated in the article It's a kid's life in new virtual world

Nickelodeon said a 2006 research study, called "Living in a Digital World," found that 86 percent of kids aged between eight and 14 were playing games online. More than half of this age group, or 51 percent, were watching TV shows and videos online, 37 percent were instant messaging and 12 percent were participating in chat rooms. "Nicktropolis is built from our knowledge that kids' interest in social networking is all about gaming," said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group in a statement.

As we think of the future of e-learning, we need to consider MMOLEs as the platform that will be used for future formal and informal learning interactions.
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Out and About: Need for Speed, Interview and Webcast

In this month's T&D Magazine published by ASTD, I have a number of quotes in the Need for Speed article by Michael Laff.

In the article, I (and others) talk about the drivers of rapid e-learning and how the design aspect of rapid e-learning should not be compromised. I discuss non-traditional inspirations for creating rapid e-learning.

Here is a little from the article:

Besides the demand for quick training on everyday business applications, Kapp noted a spike in demand among organizatoins that seek rapid learning to address sales training for companies that continually launch new products compliance training for Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, or international compliance regulations for companies doing business overseas...Kapp advises trainers who are designing rapid learning modules to take a cue from websites such as the Cartoon Network and Nick Jr. that, while designed for kids, are easy to navigate. Kapp states...There are tools that can decrease the time to develop, but I haven't seen anything for design...the design phase is crucial. It's the last part you should squeeze, but a lot of companies try to do it.

The article has gained interest and I am now teaming with Allison Rossett from San Diego State Univ. for an ASTD Featured Webcast. The details are below, if you have time, register and attend, it would be great to have you on the webcast.

Join us on Tuesday, February 20, for a special webcast for ASTD members. The webcast, based on the February T+D article “The Need for Speed” written by Michael Laff, will examine how the need to deliver training materials faster is altering design and delivery of training programs. Karl Kapp, a faculty member at Bloomsburg University, and Allison Rossett, professor of educational technology at San Diego State University, will also examine the design challenges of rapid learning and the future of this training approach.

Title: Rapid Learning
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
You can register if you are an ASTD member here.

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Design: New Environments, New Challenges

How are workplace learning professionals going to react to online learning environments, are we going to be on the cutting edge or play catch up.

See my post: New Environments, New Challenges at the TrainingDay Blog.
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