|
Summer 2008 |
Synchronism
design for learning |
|
|
|
In this issue:
The introduction of ‘rapid’ elearning development tools means that you don’t need to understand flash or html to produce high quality, effective elearning content. So does this mean that anyone in your training team can develop elearning now? The answer is yes – and no!
The good news is that anyone with good instructional design skills can now produce professional elearning materials without needing skills in creating web pages or flash movies. For example there are a number of pieces of software which convert PowerPoint files into flash movies. This means we can use software most trainers are very familiar with and simply convert to flash at the press of a button (well, almost that easily!). There are some great advantages from this, which will change the way elearning is developed:
§ anyone in your training team should be able to design a fully blended learning solution, incorporating elearning and classroom materials
§ the time required to develop elearning solutions is dramatically reduced
§ you can take back control of elearning design and development – no more need to contract out to third party developers, with associated costs and difficulty in updating materials
§ elearning should become just another way of providing training – not a solution which is separate (or in some way in opposition to) more traditional classroom or on-the-job training.
So what’s the catch? Well, I did mention the need for ‘good instructional design skills’ – and I think that’s the catch. The potential drawback of rapid design tools is that it’s almost too easy to convert a PowerPoint presentation into a flash movie. The danger is that we take a boring, badly designed pack of PowerPoint slides add some voiceover and believe that we’ve created elearning. But is this going to engage learners and achieve the learning outcomes we need? We still need to consider ways in which to make learning engaging and interactive – for example through meaningful, real-life activities and by giving learners a chance to explore and apply the materials covered. And we need to make sure we don’t fall into the trap of thinking that using lovely multimedia effects (music, voiceover, transitions which have words zipping and rotating across the screen) equals learner engagement.
So, the conclusion... Yes, rapid development tools are a real breakthrough in letting us design elearning which looks professional, with minimal technical skills. And instructional design skills are still just as important, to ensure a high level of learner engagement. So I have put together a series of workshops on elearning development and instructional design - for Learning and Development teams who want to develop their own elearning materials using these new tools.
One of my favourite elearning sites (the Articulate Rapid eLearning Blog) recently had a few things to say about compliance training. In the first article, Tom Kuhlmann claimed that compliance training has more to do with testing how much someone already knows than providing them with learning or new information. He asked whether a better approach to compliance training is therefore some sort of pre-assessment, with learners only directed to course materials if they cannot pass the test without them. If you’ve ever sat through pages and pages of content on a topic such as the Privacy Act, just so you can be accredited to work in a particular role, you may agree with him! Especially if you have to repeat the ‘learning’ every year to be re-accredited. I found this out when I needed to complete some compliance training in one financial organisation I worked for. The content was very long and – let’s admit it – boring. But, the number of attempts at the test was not limited. So most staff took an initial test, as a way of finding out what they needed to know to pass the test. They could then work through the learning materials selectively, looking for the answers (speeding up the process considerably). Yes, the test questions were presented in random order, to stop people just learning the answers, but it was only by doing the test that you really had any idea what you were supposed to learn.
But, is this really what compliance training is about? Are you just interested in keeping records to show that all new starters passed a test about Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), for example, within 3 months of starting with your company? Or do you want to change people’s behaviour? I think this is a key decision you need to make, which then informs the design of your training. Isn’t it possible that I can complete a compliance assessment without any impact on the way I behave? Is there a difference between knowing something (as a fact) and changing the way we work? I can score 10/10 on an OH&S quiz one day and use my office chair as a ladder to reach a heavy object on the top shelf in the storage room the next. One of my favourite illustrations of this is the high percentage of prison inmates who are apparently able to correctly identify the missing word in the following phrase!
__________ is the best policy.
So, Tom’s blog has a lot of useful suggestions to make about streamlining the compliance / certification process, and it’s worth looking through what he has to day. But do you want the training that relates to typical ‘compliance’ topics to do more than just allow your staff to pass an assessment?
Here are some of the websites and resources I’ve found helpful in recent months:
§ Some recent research on graphic design has taught me the importance of having a colour palette to apply to learning materials (booklets, slide presentations or elearning content). A great resource to help you develop a colour palette is www.colourlovers.com. It takes all of the guesswork out of choosing colours that go well together.
§ How well does a multiple choice test really assess the learner’s ability to understand and apply the material in a course? Writing meaningful multiple choice questions is a real challenge. Here are a few resources with some tips to help:
o
Writing multiple choice questions that demand critical thinking
§ Articulate’s blog on elearning – I’ve mentioned this above. First time visitors might want to take a look through their archives. This is a very hands-on and practical resource with great tips and even demonstrations of how to get the most out of PowerPoint as an elearning tool.
Note: Links to resources and
other sites are offered in the spirit of sharing information. Inclusion of a
site in this newsletter should not be regarded as an endorsement by Synchronism
of any product, service or opinion offered by the linked site.