Deconstructing My #DemoFest Course – Part 1
During this year’s DevLearn 2011 conference I won the DemoFest award for the Software Systems Training category. Being selected for this award really put me on Cloud 9. It is so flattering to have my course selected by the DevLearn attendees. Thank you everyone who attended DemoFest. And a big congratulations to all the other winners of this year’s DemoFest. It is a true honor to be in their company.
Over the coming weeks I am going to blog about the processes of designing, developing and implementing my DemoFest course. My intention is to share how I go about putting a course together and to provide the support materials used to design the course. For example, the course design plan, storyboards, communication plans, etc.
A good place start is to first provide an overview of the course and lessons learned as described in my DemoFest submission below.
Why was this project needed? Describe why you built it.
Johns Hopkins HealthCare began transitioning staff to Microsoft Office 2010 applications in February 2010. Staff required training on using the new application interfaces and learning how to complete Office tasks that have changed in the new and updated Office software.What authoring tools, systems, or technologies did you use to create this project?
Adobe Flash, Adobe Captivate, Articulate Presenter, Articulate Quizmaker, Microsoft Office 2010. Social Media included Twitter, Screenr videos, and Diigo social bookmarks.How many “learners” will benefit from this program or project?
760 Johns Hopkins HealthCare staff, but the course is being extended out to additional entities within the Johns Hopkins Health System.How long did it take you to complete this project?
Approximately 120 hours during a two month period. This time does not include ongoing learner support using social media and Intranet pages.What problems or challenges did you have to overcome while creating this project?
Time constraints, which resulted in not including audio in the course. Limited staff participation in the social media elements, specifically Twitter. The need to use multiple development tools in order to accomplish the project’s design.What valuable insights, lessons learned, or results did you discover when working with these challenges?
Due to the less-than-expected use of Twitter among staff, there was less participation in the social media elements. In the future, I would put more effort in marketing the benefits and use of Twitter among staff. Also, I would find a way to incentivize its adoption by staff. I learned that the ongoing support implemented on our Intranet pages, Screenr videos, Diigo social bookmarks, and job aids were highly valued by staff and seen as very practical and accessible resources that are continually being used. Also, the non-linear design and easy to navigate course encourages it to be also used as a refresher course. One of my most valuable insights was that the use of whimsical characters was an effective way to market the course, and increased recognition and participation in the project. Using the characters to market the course included placing full-size cut-outs of the course’s main character, Captain Upgrade, throughout our buildings, and appearing on LCD screen advertisements, flyers, and on our Intranet.
Below is the link to the Office 2010 course. I have also provided direct links to the learning program’s social learning elements.
And direct links to some of the social learning elements in the learning program:
In the next post I will describe the design process and share a copy of the course design plan and example storyboards.
Thank you again to all who attended DemoFest and a really big thank you to the eLearningGuild for holding an incredible DevLearn conference.
This Month’s #LCBQ – Fun
This month’s Big Question at the Learning Circuits blog is “How do you make e-learning fun?”
Before listing my ideas regarding e-learning fun, I do want to note that just because it’s fun does not necessarily mean learning objectives are being met, that it is relevant to participants’ learning needs, that it will motivate learners, etc. However, incorporating elements that are fun will keep the learner’s attention, make it an enjoyable experience and hopefully get people talking the course up to others. For me, one of the greatest compliments is when people say, “the course was fun and I learned a lot too.” FYI: If you are looking for a good way to engage and motive learners, in addition to making them fun, take a look at the ARCS Model and Gagne’s Nine Events of Learning.
Back to the Big Question, here is how I make e-learning fun:
- Add humor. When appropriate of course and never, ever offensive.
- Add fun characters. I like to use numerous characters to break up any monotony, add conversations and even increase attention by creating tension between characters.
- Incorporate games into courses or make the entire course a game itself.
- Silliness is a great way to get the audience’s attention and focus on specific content you want to be memorable.
- Incorporate interaction between audience members. Perhaps pose fun questions or topics they can discuss and make sure they know it is OK to have a fun, lighthearted discussion. Incorporating social media can help make this happen.
In regards to when to make e-learning fun, I try my best to make it fun whenever I can pull it off. Some topics do not easily lend themselves to being fun and if it is something emotionally sensitive then I keep it serious as not to offend. The same goes for topics that the audience and/or stakeholders take very, very seriously and do not want misinterpreted as something to be taken lightly.
Don’t forget to add your two bits to the Big Question or tweet your comments using the #LCBQ hashtag.
Characters
I like to use characters in courses because they can personalize a course and lend themselves to creating a more informal tone and an easy means of adding humor.
Here are some ways I like to use characters in e-learning.
- Guide or facilitator – Typically this person is the expert that walks you through the content and facilitates discussions, interaction, etc. At times I like to have two guides to break up any possible monotony. When working with two “experts” I will even include disagreement or some “ribbing” between the two. This makes it more entertaining and keeps participants’ attention. FYI: Disagreements are usually humorous in nature and should not compromise the integrity of any specific learning content in the course.
- Coworkers/project team – A course I once developed for an updated teller system consisted of the participant being assigned to a project team. As a member of the team you are assigned to numerous tasks and also assist and interact with other team members. It not only keeps participants on their toes, but they learned about the system and hopefully felt more vested in it too.
- Naive, struggling learner and/or jovial coworker – This character can occur along side a “straight man” and provides not just opportunities for humor, but chances to clarify and reinforce concepts as we correct their misconceptions.
- Monsters, ghosts, robots, anthropomorphic animals, etc. – I absolutely love to surprise course participants with the unusual. I do recommend that it not be random, but that the type of monster, animal, etc. relate to the learning in some way even if a humorous tie-in. For example, I once used the ghost of Alexander Graham Bell to provide instruction on the new phone system. Just never use a cyclops in a course, that just doesn’t make sense.
Here are some good resources on using characters. Cathy Moore’s Dump the Drone, which includes great information on using characters among other useful things, The Writers Gateway’s Have You Thought of Character Driven Stories for Your e-Learning?, and Speak Out’s Characters in eLearning.
If you have ideas or examples on how to use characters in e-learning, please feel free to share in the comments section.
Characters
I absolutely love using characters in my e-learning courses. They are great for gaining attention throughout the course, acting as training facilitators, or for playing a role in a storyline or simulation. Over the past five years I have created many characters in my courses. And since my current role is coming to an end due to the bank acquisition, I feel it would be good to pay a quick tribute to my fictional colleagues who have made training easier and funner over the years. FYI: The first 2 characters were made early on and are a combination of edited clip-art images. The rest are made from scratch within Adobe Flash. Please do not copy or use these images as they are copyrighted materials.
Captain Outlook
IRA - retiree who knows an awful lot about retirement accounts
Sam Price - known to poke around branches and learn a little too much
James Cyclops - Expert in One View software, but has also been seen playing the role of a persistent customer with many pertinent questions
And of course there's the bank's middle management
Well, those are some of my favorite characters I have developed over the years. I will be continuing as the e-Learning Designer with the newly merged bank and hopefully will develop many new and exciting courses and graphics.
