March Big Question - Open Content in Workplace Learning
This month’s Big Question is “how do we leverage open content in workplace learning?” To learn more about about some of opportunities available in open content, I visited the sites listed on the Big Question post. These were OER Commons and Open Courseware Consortium. For the first time, I perused these sites. A bit embarrassed that I have not visited these sites before, but it is never too late to find new learning opportunities. My first impression was that these are very heavy on the academic end. They certainly have many opportunities for learning and development. In fact, I found a course on e-learning accessibility, an interest of mine.
So, back to the Big Question. I am confident there are corporate trainers creating the same training content as their brethren. Wouldn’t it be great to upload those software sims, leadership or sales courses, etc. somewhere that other companies’ staff can access them. And in return, I don’t need to create those ______ software sims because XYZ, Inc. made their sims available to my staff. Oh, how great would that be?
Sorry to piss on the parade, but here are the challenges that pop into my mind that make sharing corporate training difficult:
- Most corporate training is designed specifically to the company’s audience. For example, the training probably includes policies and procedures as they pertain to internal staff.
- Much of the content is proprietary information not to be shared externally.
- Often quality training is seen as one of the things that “gives us the edge” over the competitor, why just hand it over?
- “Do we have to talk to legal about whether we can do this?” Will they find a potential liability?
Would I like to leverage open content in the workplace? Yes. Something I will do is to keep an eye out not only for open content that will benefit my company, but also what am I producing that can be used as open content. Of course, anything shared as open content has to overcome the fore-mentioned hurdles.
If You are Reviewing It Online, Why Do You Want Me to Print the Course
All too often people reviewing a web-based training (WBT), including subject matter experts (SMEs), request the course printed for them. If it is the absolutely only way they will review it, then I do accommodate them. Keep in mind this is after I have exhausted all other attempts of getting them to do a proper online review.
Here are reasons not to print courses for a review:
- It is important for anyone reviewing a course to not just look at content, but to review the entire learning experience including the delivery medium.
- If they themselves are not willing to participate online how can they expect, or request, our audience to participate.
- Online courses are very often non-linear. Thus, do not fit in a printed, linear format.
- Courses are interactive. They may contain anything from simple rollovers to complex games or simulations. Interactivity does not translate to a printed page.
- Once printed it is occasionally handed around for others to review without the designer’s knowledge. This can result in not being able to identify the origins of edits, if needed. It can also result in draft content mistakenly being distributed to the end user. This can all be prevented by setting appropriate access in an LMS.
- Depending on the authoring tools used, it can be time consuming to print a course. For example, a course that contains many interactive Flash elements will require many screenshots to be taken. Time is better spent on on design and development.
- It is more environmentally friendly to review online. As a fellow e-learning designer said to me recently, “I killed many trees with “WBT to be printed out” for SMEs, higher ups, etc.”
The reality is people reviewing courses are going to push for a printed version and sometimes the only way to get them to review it will be to comply. However, I am not going to comply without at least explaining the importance of an online review. In the end, even if I send them a printed version, or screenshots, I always supply easy access to the online course along with several reminders of how important it is to also review it online.
Want to Learn More About Beta Testing?
Benjamin Martin has published “Beta Testing an Online Course“ in Learning Solutions Magazine. It details his approach to beta testing online courses and provides practical advice for what is a very important stage of e-learning development. If you are creating e-learning, then you are probably involved in beta testing and will find this article helpful. If you are not beta testing your courses, then you should be and this article can help you get started.
You will need to subscribe to Learning Solutions Magazine or have a membership to the e-Learning Guild to read the article in its entirety. However, associate membership is free and in my opinion an absolute must for anyone in the e-learning field.
Informal Learning - 2010
Informal learning (a.k.a. social learning) grew immensely in 2009. I think there is little doubt that it will grow further in 2010, but I also expect it to find more of a foothold in corporate training departments where its adoption been a challenge. Now I know there are corporate training departments that have embraced informal learning, but those are the more innovative companies. There are many that are slower to change and often do not adopt new approaches until they see others, including competitors, reap the benefits of such approaches.
As I am confident we will see informal learning become more prevalent in the corporate environment, companies must also be cautious when jumping into the social media and informal learning stampede. There are many social media tools and approaches. Be strategic when identifying social media tools, how they will be implemented, and how you can facilitate learning within the media. Remember, you cannot truly manage informal learning, but you can facilitate learning along with coaching others to facilitate learning. You can also coach learners on how to effectively use social media to meet the learning objectives they set for themselves.
Here are some great resources on informal learning that help us understand this transition from the formal to informal.
First off, Jay Cross and Clark Quinn on how meta-learning subverts the traditional training hierarchy.
Jane Hart’s “From e-Learning to Social Learning.”
Plus, last November the Learning Circuits blog’s Big Question was “Presenting the Value of Social Media for Learning,” which had many valuable comments and advice for anyone implementing social media in the workplace.
I think this democratization of learning will be a benefit to corporate staff and if engaged by corporate training departments it will be boon to their ability to assist learners in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for their success.
Reflecting on 2009’s Posts - Big Question
December’s Big Question at the Learning Circuits blog is “What did you learn about learning in 2009,” but they also suggest looking at your top 2009 posts for “aha moments.” So, here are my top ten 2009 posts according my blog’s best of list found through eLearningLearning. I have simply added my thoughts next to each.
- Flash Accessibility (508 Compliance) I was surprised to see 508 Compliance top the list. It is good to see it is an important topic to many readers, as it should be. What I learned is that with effort Flash courses can be accessible.
- Storyboard Templates and Resources Storyboard posts showed up twice (#2 and #4). It is not only a practical tool that many people value, but the post opened up opportunities for me to see how others use storyboards.
- Adobe FlashTutorials In my opinion, Flash is the best tool an e-learning designer can possess, but it does have a steep learning curve. And there is no end to that learning curve. As long as I am using Flash, there will be something new to learn.
- It Came From Hollywood - Storyboarding See #2.
- Where Organizations Go Wrong With e-Learning This was chance for me to gripe about the crazy, frustrating things I have seen.
- Using Gagne’s 9 Events of Learning in e-Learning My favorite post among the list! Gagne works for me and I love sharing ways the events can be applied.
- Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages We should all be cognisant of how non-elearning designers see online learning.
- Interested in Creating an Alternative Reality Games (ARG) for learning? Can’t go wrong with games and learning. They go together all too well.
- Quick Explanation of Google Wave - Video I, like others, was just trying to figure it out. FYI: I did get an invite shortly afterwards.
- Overview of Kirkpatrick’s 4 Levels of Evaluation Everyone wants to evaluate their courses as soon as they have the time.
I cannot speak about what I learned without mentioning that in 2009 my employer (Provident Bank) was acquired another bank. In 2009, I learned that I was extremely lucky to have been part of, and to have learned from, such a cohesive, talented and very effective team of trainers. Although it did not make the top 10, this was the most meaningful post for me - Farewell to a Great Corporate University.
Using Blogs and Social Networks to Engage K-12 Learners
Here is a nice video that shows good use of blogs and social networks in K-12 education.
Need a Storyboard? Here’s a Place to Get Them
The eLearning Coach now has the “Storyboard Depot,” where you can download free storyboard templates. If you have a storyboard template of your own that you would like to share on the depot, you can do that too.
The eLearning Coach is also full of other great resources. Take a look around at http://theelearningcoach.com.
LearnTrends 2009 Archive Videos Now Available
If you were not able to attend this past week’s LearnTrends Conference, they have recorded the sessions and made them available at the link below.
http://learntrends.ning.com/page/learntrends-2009-november
The sessions were wonderful. Thank you to everyone who put it together. I learned quite a bit during these 3 days and plan to visit the recordings of the few sessions I was unable to attend.
Interested in Creating an Alternative Reality Games (ARG) for learning?
The elearning Guild’s Learning Solutions e-magazine recently published an article by Brandon Carson, Dolly Joseph, and Enzo Silva tilted “ARGs Leverage Intelligence: Improving Performance through Collaborative Play.”
It is a worthwhile read. It includes some great examples of ARGs and a case study of an ARG implemented by Sun Learning Services (Sun Microsystems). Plus, there is practical advice regarding designing ARGs for learning, who should be on an ARG design team and their roles, and design risks.
FYI: You will need to log-in to the e-Learning Guild to access the e-magazine. If you are not a member, you can join as an Associate Member for free.
Here are few more resources on ARGs and learning:
Alternate Reality at the Smithsonian
Innovative Learning (including examples and design principles)
ARGology.org - ARGs in Education & Training (contains resources for getting started and examples)
Series of video interviews regarding games and learning from Frontline (PBS)
Hey You Rapid e-Learning Peeps, Slooow Down and Take a Little Drive on the ISD Side of Town
When I read e-Learning Magazine’s article by Bob Little, Rapid e-Learning Polarizes Opinion, I was very irked by it. Especially when I read the following excerpt.
“While purists sneer that e-learning produced via rapid tools may lack quality in terms of adhering to instructional design principles and may just be brain dumps by subject matters experts, if such e-learning materials improve workers’ performance, who can criticize their place in the learning and development armoury?”
I will say this, if they are not adhering to instructional design principles, then they are far less likely to improve workers’ performance. I have never been a fan of the term rapid e-learning. I believe there are some great rapid development tools, but these still require sound instructional design, which takes time and effort, starting with a needs analysis.
As stated, I am not fond of the term rapid e-Learning, but I do not wish to be negative or come across as bashing efforts made under only good intentions. Here is the reality, not all organizations have the luxary of employing an instructional designer or perhaps enough instructional designers. However, they do wish to offer their staff online training. So, the subject matter experts gets a hold of the new fangled software that says “create e-learning in only a matter of hours” or some such thing. They then do their very best, but because they did not identify the learner’s needs and create an effective course design it falls short and does not result in learning or impact behavior.
So, here is what I suggest.
First off, be willing to dedicate more time to the analysis and design phases of your project. Learn as much as you can about instructional design, more specifically e-learning design. Here are a few ways to get started:
- Follow e-learning blogs (the eLearningLearning blog community and eLearningPulse are chock full of great blogs)
- Attend conferences (there are plenty of great e-learning conferences out there)
- Join e-learning and instructional design societies and groups (the eLearning Guild and ASTD both have plenty of books, articles, research, webinars, conferences and more)
- Network with e-learning designers and ask for advice and reviews of your work (LinkedIn has plenty of e-learning and ID groups and Twitter is perfect for connecting with people in the e-learning world)
The more time you invest in instructional design, the more effective your courses will be and your audience will appreciate it too. And remember, sloooow doooown and spend some time in instructional design!
