Diffusion of Innovations

Helping an organization to adopt a new technology is not easy. Often resistance is encountered and people become frustrated. To help organizations understand this process of how an innovation (new technology) is adopted among members of a group, researcher Everett M. Roger has done extensive study of how new technologies are accepted among social groups.

Rogers is the author of the well-known book, “Diffusion of Innovations.” In his book and research, Rogers describes the characteristics of an innovation that makes it attractive for a group to adopt.


First, he defines the acceptance of an innovation among a group as a diffusion of an innovation. His formal definition is:

Diffusion is the process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. It is a special type of communication, in that the messages are concerned with new ideas.(Rogers, pg.5)

Rogers “Attractiveness” Criteria

According to Rogers, innovations, such as the adoption of mobile learning or virtual learning worlds, catch on quickly in organizations when they have the characteristics which Rogers calls Attractiveness Criteria. To examine attractiveness criteria, let's consider the criteria as related to the adoption of MMOLEs or virtual learning worlds.

Relative Advantage—This is the degree to which the innovation is perceived as being better than the idea it supersedes. Executives and managers must see the use of virtual learning worlds within the organization as having an advantage over the existing training methodologies such as classroom instruction or traditional e-learning. If virtual learning worlds are not positioned as an advantage over other forms of learning or as an effective support tool, its adoption could be delayed.

Compatibility—This is the degree by which the innovation (virtual learning worlds) is perceived by the employees and management as being consistent with the current mission of the organization, past experiences of the workforce, current technology, and current needs of the employees. The message must be sent that virtual learning worlds are compatible with the current and future ways in which an organization is planning to do business.

Complexity—The complexity of an innovation, as perceived by members of a social system, is negatively related to its rate of adoption. The higher the perception of complexity, the slower the rate of adoption. Virtual worlds must be perceived as being simple and straightforward for employees to use. Efforts must be made to reinforce the “ease-of-use” attributes of virtual learning worlds.

Trialability—This is the idea of “kicking-the-tires.” Later adopters of an innovation are influenced strongly by those who have adopted the innovation earlier. This means giving members of a workforce the chance to “try out” virtual learning worlds in a safe and comfortable environment.

Observability—This refers to the ability of a person to observe another person working with the technology. An important aspect of observability is that the person being observed is of a similar status as the person doing the observation.

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Dangerous Duo :)

Lately I've had the great opportunity to work side by side with Clark Aldrich and John Cone. I'm learning a lot working with these two wonderful learning minds. Here I caught them trying to leave without me:)

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Learning Object Interview

After my post Inexpensive Game Shells: Add Your Own Content, eLearning Teacher & Entrepreneur Jon Aleckson posted some information and thoughts about what Kay Chitwood the Director of Learning Innovations at Fox Valley Technical College did concerning learning objects since she is the lead on the project that lead to the creation the learning objects.

You can read what Jon had to say in his post Queen of Learning Objects.

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Finding a MMOLE/Virtual Learning World Vendor

A screen shot from the MMOLE of ProtoSphere.
There are a number of preliminary things to consider when beginning to search for vendors to assist you in developing a MMOLE.

Tie your request to a business need. Successful projects start by aligning virtual world needs with your organization’s goals. Whether the goal is to reach out to alumni through a shared virtual space or creating a virtual machine shop to teach safety to mechanics, the underlying purpose and business objective must be articulated to the vendor. When the vendor understands the business requirements, they can better craft the solution.

Know what to expect. The virtual learning marketplace is relatively young and is just now beginning an accelerated growth path. This means that companies will appear and disappear, mergers and acquisitions will occur at a high rate and companies will suddenly arrive out of nowhere with new and improve virtual world technologies. The virtual world marketplace is fast growing with many different players. It is still too young for any major shakeouts to have occurred. So it is important you understand the vendor landscape, the technologies, the learning potential and the affordances of 3D virtual worlds. You need an understanding of what is happening within the field before you can make informed decisions. Attend tradeshows focused on 3D learning, read blogs by virtual learning thought leaders, read publications and vendor brochures, look at web sites and educate yourself on the vast number of virtual world options. Immediately limiting yourself to one or two well known virtual world vendors will limit your choices and options. Speaking with only vendors provides a limited view of the field. You need to explore. Take the time to read industry literature and become educated on the direction of the field before you rush into choosing a vendor to build a learning space.

Be specific about your requirements. Vendors cannot read your mind. They need a direction and a concept of what you want to achieve with the virtual learning world. It is acceptable to speak with vendors to help clarify what you want at trade shows and venues create for such interactions but when you finally craft a Request for Proposal, make sure you have a clear understanding of the requirements you need. The clearer you are in what you need from the vendor, the better they are able to provide you with a solution that meets your needs. Even if you want them to help craft your solution, you need to be clear that you are looking for advice and council verses looking to implement a full developed idea.

Visit the virtual space yourself. It is one thing to hear or read about a virtual learning space, it is something altogether different to immerse yourself in a 3D world. You need to become immersed in any potential virtual world you plan on purchasing. Ask the vendor if you can log into a demo site or into an example of their virtual world and explore that world for a while. Watching a machinima or example of their virtual world is not enough. You need to test drive the virtual learning environment yourself to determine how it functions, ease of navigation, comfort level with speaking to other avatars. Take time to login and see it first hand. You want to have some time by yourself to explore the product and understand how it works before you commit to a large scale implementation of that particular vendor’s virtual learning environment.
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Steps for Designing a Virtual Learning World Experience

Here is a step-by-step process for designing and launching a virtual world learning experience within an organization.

Step One: Identify the learning objective and outcomes required of learners.

Step Two: Determine the content that must be learned to enable participants can achieve the desired outcomes.

Step Three: Determine if content is appropriate for learning within a virtual world environment.

Step Four: Determine the Learning Archetype most appropriate for the content (role play, treasure hunt,etc.) Consider if instruction should be synchronous, asynchronous or a combination.

Step Five: Create storyboards outlining environment and flow of the instructional sequence and map content to environment in a manner appropriate with the chosen Learning Archetype.

Step Six: Build or purchase the necessary digital assets for the virtual learning environment.

Step Seven: Determine method of evaluating the learning and map learning outcomes to business outcomes.

Step Eight: Ensure that technical obstacles such as downloads, open ports, firewalls and graphic cards have been addressed.

Step Nine: Create guidelines to inform facilitator and learners of what they will be doing in the virtual learning environment. Create debriefing exercises to ensure learning.

Step Ten: Conduct a pilot test of environment and a small group of learners to work out any issues or obstacles.

Step Eleven: Provide sessions to teach learners how to navigate in a virtual world if they are novices to ensure navigation issues don’t interfere with learning.

Step Twelve: Launch and conduct training.

Step Thirteen: Conduct debrief on learning experience.

Step Fourteen: Gather feedback on experience and modify virtual learning environment as required.

Step Fifteen: Measure learning outcomes against on-the-job performance to measure impact of learning.


Did I miss something? Is something included that shouldn't be? Is this complete? Feedback encouraged and welcomed.
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Online University in a Box

Here is an interesting concept and one that I think will catch on.

UNC's Kenan-Flagler School of Business has recently begun offering a new e-Learning certificate program titled Business Essentials. Avalon Consulting developed the program in conjunction with UNC based on Avalon's "University in a Box." Check it out... UNC Business Essentials Certificate Program

The program:

“UNC Business Essentials allows the non-business major to become fluent in the language of business to stand out in an interview with a company, make a more meaningful impact in a non-profit or start their own business or organization,” says Susan Cates, associate dean of UNC Executive Development at Kenan-Flagler. “The program is a must-have for students and recent graduates who need to build their real-world relevant business knowledge and add a valuable credential to help distinguish them in the job market.”

You can read the entire article at UNC Executive Development at Kenan-Flagler Business School Launches Innovative Online Business Program with e-Learning Assistance of Avalon Consulting, LLC

Our aim in implementing our Online University in a Box program with Susan Cates, president of UNC Executive Development at Kenan-Flagler Business School, and her team was to instill in them the idea that putting together their "Business Essentials" program was more than just a focus on the content. There's no doubt that the quality content is important, however, ensuring the long term success of the program requires an equal emphasis on a number of key factors impacting sustainability. Establishing appropriate standards, carefully evaluating existing content to ensure it's compatible with e-Learning delivery methods, establishing a consistent and repeatable workflow and addressing key program management considerations all have an impact on long-term program success. All of these are addressed in the Online University in a Box program.

I really like the concept of sustainability of content and making sure that the content is compatible with e-Learning.
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3D:TLC Panel Photographs

Here are the photographs of the panel discussion on teaching from the 3D: Teaching, Learning and Collaboration conference. The description of the panel is below. You can lean more about the panel at my post 3D: TLC Conference Pannel Discussion. Photos are courtesy of John Royer...thanks John!

From left to right are Karl Kapp (standing) Dick Riedl, Christopher Keesey, Sarah Robbins, and Mitzi Montoya.

TEACH: Applying 3D To More Effectively And Efficiently TEACH Courses. Engage with a panel of pioneering educators on how they are using 3D technologies to more effectively and efficiently TEACH their courses. The discussion will discuss students’ experiences in engaging in 3D avatar mediated instruction; evidence, empirical and anecdotal, will be shared on effectiveness and/or efficiency of teaching courses via this medium; lessons learned in teaching via this medium that other educators should know.

Panel reviewing and reacting to some data collected by Mitzi.

A lively question and answer session emerged during the panel discussion as questions were rapidly taken and answered.

Panel members respond to audience questions.

Hope to see you next year at the conference.
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3D: TLC Conference Pannel Discussion

Yesterday, I had the privilege of moderating a panel with such virtual world notables as

• Dick Riedl, Ph.D., Chairman, Leadership and Educational Studies Department, Appalachian State University
  
  
• Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins, Director of Emerging Technologies, Kelley Executive Partners at Indiana University
  
  
• Christopher Keesey, Project Manager, Ohio University
  
  
• Mitzi M. Montoya, Ph.D., Zelnak Professor of Marketing Innovation, North Carolina State University

at the 3D Training, Learning and Collaboration conference in Washington, DC.

Here is the slide show with some good links and some of the questions the panel expertly addressed.

3D:TLC

View more presentations from kkapp.

One person requested some books on the topic of virtual worlds. In fact,Tony O'Driscoll and I are working on one called "Learning in 3D" but until that is published (fall 2009) other books of interest on the topic include:



The panel gave great insights into creating learning experiences such as having the learners dress as Kool-Aid men and go to a virtual night club to experience exclusion as described by Sarah. Mitzi discussed how her research is showing that the power or presence is extremely important for learning in a 3D environment. Dick discussed how he used virtual worlds to open up courses to students and how he visually displayed course requirements and created phone booths for student discussions. Chris talked about how good pedagogy in the physical world is good pedagogy in the virtual world and how he has seen both good and bad physical world and virtual world instruction. He discussed how he struggles to help others understand the impact of the virtual world environment on instruction.
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Who Needs to Be on Your 3D Development Team?

To successfully accomplish the task of creating a virtual learning world for the organizations must have specilized teams(or work with a vendor team). A typical team required for building a virtual learning environment consists of the following individuals.

Project Manager. The project manger is responsible for coordinating the activities of the other members of the group. This is a critical role in the development of a virtual learning space. The reason is because of all the interconnected and dependant activities. The project manager must ensure that the different individuals on the team are speaking the same language and working toward the same instructional goals.

Instructional Designer. This team member is responsible for developing the instructional framework and the pedagogy to make the learning effective within the 3D space. The Instructional Designer chooses the correct 3D learning archetype and determines the methods in which learners will interact both formally and informally within the space. This is the person who is responsible for thinking through the entire learning experience of the participant and determining how the space and environment will foster learning. The Instructional designer often creates the storyboards and design document that will be used as the foundation for the others to build the 3D spaces required for the learning.

Subject Matter Expert. This is the person who knows the subject matter to be learned within the 3D world. Sometimes the environment is carefully developed and scripted like the creation of a burning building that is being used to provide first responders with an opportunity for repeatedly practicing how to coordinate activities or it can be an environment that is less formal allowing for interaction like a series of diagrams placed on virtual billboards that avatars can review and discuss as they meet together in-world.

Context Developer/Builder. This is the person responsible for building the 3D environment in which the instruction will take place. This often requires knowledge of third party 3D development software such as Autodesk’s Maya or 3ds Max or knowledge of to use in-world modeling tools. A Context Developer/Builder needs to have the knowledge and skill necessary to align surfaces and Primitive elements (cubes, pyramids, cones, spheres, and torus) to create an object that looks realistic in the 3D world. Additionally, this person needs to understand how to use textures, light, scale and spacing to create the appropriate environment in which the learning is to occur.

Scripter/Programmer. This person is responsible for writing code that makes the 3D world function as desired. Often within the 3D world certain actions will be desired such as the opening of a door or the specific operation of a gage on an instrument panel. For the elements within an 3D world to function, they need to be scripted to perform as desired. This is the job of the scripter/programmer who writes scripts so objects and avatars interact as required.

Information Technology Representative. When implementing a 3D world, a representative from the Information Technology department must be a team member. This is because of the technical requirements necessary to run a robust and effective 3D world. If the world is being hosted internally, there are server and bandwidth requirements not to mention requirements related to video and sound cards. If the worlds is hosted externally, there are requirements related to opening portals and firewall issues. Regardless of the actual physical location of the server housing the virtual world, a representative of the Information Technology department is required to minimize the technical issues that will be encountered.

Representative of Learner Population. One often overlooked team member is someone who represents the typical learner. This is someone from the target population who can help to inform the team of the mindset of the learners. This person can help make suggestions and contribute ideas that will help to shape the virtual learning experience and hopefully make it more comfortable for the learners who will be entering the 3D learning space.

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Learning Solutions at Johns Hopkins

Louis talks about creating good training and creating interest with images and audio...even if interactivity is minimal.

Louis Biggie, a veteran of CAC, presented on a couple of topics. One was about a program developed around the topic of cultural diversity and sensitivity. He discussed how to creatively develop instruction that appeals to learners and provides them with insight into diversity. Another topic was around how he guided the creation of SAP training on the campus. His group re-wrote and created a new curriculum to teach people about the SAP implementation so they could do their job with the software.

He discussed how they used Adobe Connect and other tools to provide a one stop shop for information about the software. They had 20 minute presentations with 40 minutes of questions so people can get the information they need. He also described how they used technologies they already had in place to help with the learning process.
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Change Management

Shawn reviewing the objectives of change management.

In these busy times, Shawn Milheim provided some ideas about change management. He discussed how learning professionals help other to adopt behaviors and provide tools to help others adapt to change.

he talked about hte strategic importance of change management and how managing change processes actually lead to an increase in ROI. He showed a slide that contrasted companies that have actively managed change vs. companies that have not.

He also pointed out that 70% of change initiatives fall short of expectations because of the people issues including the inability to laed, ineffecdtive leadership teams and management's inabilit y execute strategy.
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Web 2.0

This presentation discussed how Sharepoint is used to provide Web 2.0 tools for large organizatons.

Rachel and Nick discuss using Sharepoint as a Web 2.0 product within their organizations.

The team of Troychock and Troychock (Nick and Rachel) presented on the topic of using Web 2.0 technologies for online learning. Each representing a different company who adopted the technology.

Rachel explains the benefits of Web 2.0 to deliver instruction.

Some highlights:

Using a wiki to house class materials for a class of 30 students saved between 10,000-12,000 sheets of paper.

Participants loved having the wiki.

Development time was shortened

They had the ability to provided the most current content in a highly regulated environment.
Nick discussed how they over a million dollars in paper and printing costs.
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Server-Based Instructional Design Tool

Todd Osborn and Gabe Baumann from Landmark ASP Solutions presented a great tool for collaboratively developing a course using a server-based development platform. The tool allows subject matter experts scatter around the globe to comment on the course and provides great tracking of information as a course is being developed.

Gabe Baumann discussed how the tool allows for easy drag and drop of content right into the tool.
Some clients have cut development time by 1/3 because of the ease of commenting and corrections. Issue management gives a detailed history of what happened and when. You can track changes and produce a high quality course in less time.

Adding digital assets to a course is quick.

The tool is developed to be an authoring tool that can be used by a geographically dispirsed development team. Tool allows you to export course modules or slides to other formats if needed.
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Creating, Growing and Selling Your E-Learning Company

Bill discusses various funding options for an e-learning company.


Bill Jacobs presented to the group his experience of growing and eventually selling an e-learning company. He gave advise on how to consider the value of your company, making employees a part of the company and navigating through the tricky process of negotiating with the buyer.
Bill discusses how he purchased an e-learning company. He was a customer and liked it so much, he bought the company.
Bill also gave insights into his future plans which primarily include finishing his degree which he is taking here at Bloomsburg University's Instructional Technology program.

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Combining ID and Marketing

Cliff showing how to convert a text-heavy slide into an engaging piece.
Cliff Sobel of The Phoenix Group discussed how his team took rather boring and technical slides and converted the content into exciting, engaging and interactive presentation.

Cliff explained how instructional technology and marketing are very similar in needs and design considerations. Including knowing the audience, providing the benefit of the knowledge and providing the content in the best possible light. All of these attributes can be applied to instruction and market pieces. This is especially true as the two fields converge more and more through the shared us of technology.

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Instructional Design for Sports

Looking at how to teach sports with online learning elements.

Brian discusses the research behind the product he is developing.

How do we mix instructional design and sports education? Brian Seely is working on that answer. He is teaming with a group to provide an interesting and exciting method of teaching high school students about the right methods of playing certain sports.

He spoke about how he developed the idea, how he created content and how he is blending online instruction with hands on sports instruction.

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CAC Presentations

Once again it is time for our bi-annual Corporate Advisory Council. This semester we have 32 professionals from over 20 different companies here to see our students present and provide information about what is happening in the field of e-learning.

The three day event starts with a representatives from different organizations discussing what they are doing. From sports related instructional design to creating interactive marketing pieces using an instructional design approach and running and selling and e-learning company to new technologies for designing instruction to Web 2.0 to the role Bloomsburg's grads play in instructional design at a large university.
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Inexpensive Game Shells: Add Your Own Content

One of the available game engines.
The folks at Wisc-Online (Wisconsin Online Resource Center) whom I've written about before in Library of Learning Objects have created a number of game shells that are inexpensive and available for use with students.

They have:

• Baseball
  
• Hangman
  
• Jeopardy
  
• Match
  
• Build Your Fortune
  
• Bingo
  
• Tic Tac Toe
  
• LearningLand
  
• Case Study
  
• Quiz
  
• Game Show

The games range from $1 to $3 each and provide unlimited usage for up to one full year. (A price even Jane Bozarth would love:)

Check them out and let me know how they work.
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Old Media Tries to Sue to Keep Old Paradigm (again)

With newspapers failing right and left, the Associated Press decided the best way to fight the web is to sue it. Sounds like the record industry and we all know how well that turned out...

The Associated Press board voted recently to "pursue legal and legislative actions" against aggregators who use content without permission, a new shot across the bow of internet news sites in the war over how little use is "fair use."

According to the article AP to Aggregators: We Will Sue You they want companies like Google who only show a headline or two to pay.

According to an article called A.P. to Take On Web Aggregators

One goal of The A.P. and its members, she said, is to make sure that the top search engine results for news are “the original source or the most authoritative source,” not a site that copied or paraphrased the work of news organization.

Neither Mr. Singleton nor a statement released by the A.P. mentioned Google or any other company by name. But many news executives, including some at The A.P., have spoken about their concern that their work has become a source of revenue for Google and, to a lesser extent, other aggregators, which can sell ads on search pages and news sites that turn up articles. At a time when newspaper revenue is collapsing and some papers are closing, the prospect of getting a share of revenue from Yahoo or Google is more tempting than ever.

So, we'll see if this works better for the print industry than the record industry or publishing industry or... come on, suing people who guide traffic to your site?

I promise here not to sue anyone who links to any of my blog posts...really I won't sue you.
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Top Ten Annoying Tech Phrases

This post is inspired by Oxford Researchers List Top 10 Most Annoying Phrases and Wayne and Garth.

I thought and thought but still came up two short...please...help me out with the last two annoying tech phrases, please add.

10. No, no move your mouse to the left (or right or anywhere "Back-seat computer driving")

9. Are you a Mac or a PC Person

8. I thought I sent you an email about that!

7. No, I didn't get that email, can you resend?

6. Didn't you read my Tweet?

5. Sent from my Blackberry (or iPhone)

4. That's so old, I blogged about it last week.

3. Are you on Facebook?

2.

1.
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Virtual Hospitals Protocol

Teaching young doctors to work with others is yet another skill that can be taught in a virtual world.

In an article titled Can Second Life help teach doctors to treat patients?

According to the article:

After the avatars enter the computer-generated hospital, they check in at a reception desk, put on an access badge, and then stop by professor Martyn Partridge's office to get their assignment. Partridge's online likeness bears an eerie resemblance to his real-life appearance.

If students forget to wash their hands before visiting a patient, their investigation is halted.

Then students enter a patient's room and their work begins. Because their assignment takes place in a respiratory ward, they can access recordings of real-life patients' breathing to help with their diagnoses. And if students decide that X-rays are needed, they can stroll down to the radiology department and order them.

All these steps are designed to reinforce lessons about responsibility and hospital protocol.

This shouldn't replace traditional medical education but it can certainly enhance and reinforce the skills they need to apply with patient. Virtual worlds are a good way to help reinforce people skills and conduct role-plays in realistic environments.
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ASTD Central Iowa Presentation Resources

Here are links and resources mentioned during the presentation:

Find out what level of "Gamer" you are with Gamer Rater.

Avoiding Death by PowerPoint.

Tell a story with your slides.

meet Jessica

View more presentations from bengardner135.

Wiki resources:

Wikispaces

PB Wiki

Social Networking Links

Ning

Facebook

LinkedIn

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