My Visual Bio
My Visual Bio
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How to write effective learning objectives
We write learning objectives for our courses every day. I have observed a lot of Instructional Designers write the learning objectives after completing the storyboard, just to fill the space. This is obviously not the correct practice.
However, I can’t blame them since writing objectives is rarely covered in details during ID training, apart from emphasizing that each sentence should start with an actionable verb.
In this post I will cover the basics of writing effective learning objectives.
A well written learning objective should consist of three parts, performance, condition and criterion.
A learning objective should describe:
- What the learner will be able to do after completing the session. This part is known as performance or behaviour.
- Under what constraints the learner demonstrates the expected performance or behaviour, known as condition.
- At what point the performance is acceptable. What are the standards of acceptance? This part is known as criterion.
For example, “At the end of this session you will be able to describe at least 10 unique features of the Speedo Bike, without referring to the sales manual.”
Here:
- Performance is that you will be able to describe the unique features of the Speedo Bike.
- Condition is that you cannot refer to the sales manual
- And the criterion is that you should be able to describe at least 10 unique features
A non example will be, “At the end of this session you will understand why Speedo Bike is unique.”
You can clearly see that in the later example it is impossible to measure the effectiveness of the training.
To sum up while writing learning objectives it is important that we pay attention to describe the expected behaviour, clearly state the conditions and describe the acceptable performance criteria.
Noise Free Audio Recording for Free
As e-learning professionals every day you come across situations where you have to do quick audio recording for a course. In an ideal situation you will have access to a sound proof studio with mixing consoles and so on.But in real world most probably you will have a laptop with PC microphone and will be carrying out the recordings in some conference/discussion room.
The question is does it make a great deal of difference? In my opinion, NO.
Today even the consumer quality sound equipments and on board sound cards are quite capable of meeting every day needs. As long as you are not targeting for a theatrical release any computer with a soundcard and any consumer quality PC microphone is good.
However, the most common problem encountered during this type of recording situation is the background noise, such as humming of the air-conditioning system. This can easily ruin, otherwise, a perfect recording.
Here is a simple process for removing background noise and achieving crystal clear audio recording.I will be using Audacity a free audio editing tool in this example. You may download the same from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
Step 1
Open the audacity interface and hit the Record button.
Step 2
Record a few seconds of background noise. Do not speak into the microphone during this period.
Step 3
Select the audio track by pressing Ctrl+A key combination on your key board.
Step 4
Click ‘Effect’ from the top bar and from the drop down select ‘Noise Removal’
Step 5
The ‘Noise Removal’ window will appear. Click the ‘Get Noise Profile’ button. Audacity will learn what is to be considered as noise based on the sample you have recorded.
Step 6
Now, open the track you want to clean and repeat step 4. The only change here will be that you will click the ‘OK’ button this time instead of ‘Get Noise Profile.’ Please note that this button may also appear as ‘Remove Noise’ based on the version of Audacity you are using.
You can experiment with the sliders to achieve the desired quality. In my suggestion you should keep the ‘Noise Reduction’ at 10 db and keep other parameters at default level. But, feel free to experiment.
Step 7
On clicking ‘OK’ Audacity will clean the track by cancelling all sounds in the frequency range of the sample provided by you and thereby creating a background noise free audio track.
That’s about it. Just a note, this method works well with constant noise like humming of air conditioner or some machinery but won’t work with uneven noises like ringing of a telephone or sound of a door closing.
ID Models: Why you should bother about them
So, when’s the last time you looked at an ID model while designing a learning solution?
We hear it all the time, theories sound good in books, but you can’t use them in real world etc. etc. I was one of them too.
But we need to understand that theories are meant to be tools for understanding, explaining, and making predictions about a given subject matter. In other words, whenever you are presented with a problem, theories may help you to define the best path that can be adopted in order to solve that problem.
Let me tell you a story…
The client was an automotive giant with dealerships across Asia. All the dealerships use an ERP system to perform various service related transactions such as job card opening, booking service request etc. The roles executing these jobs ranged from Service Assistants to General Managers.
The company often needed to upgrade the ERP system in order to enhance functionalities and accommodate new business needs. There was hardly any conceptual change but whenever they upgraded the system all hell used to break loose.
There used to be utter confusion on how to perform the tasks using the new system. For sure the company arranged for classroom training, but that was not sufficient to tackle the problem. The scope of the training was huge and there was no opportunity for the learners to practice. So the retention was poor.
In fact it was so bad that the company has to set up a call centre just to answer ERP related queries from the dealers.After taking up consulting assignment we interviewed a number of stack holders. We went through the problem cases and finally arrived at some basic requirements that the training solution should address.
They are as follows:
- It should train the learners on how to perform a particular task optimally
- There should be enough opportunity for practice
- It should never overwhelm the learners
- Concepts should be covered in brief
- There should be some just in time support
Based on our analysis we built an e-learning solution that categorized each role and the entire task performed by that particular role. Each task is packaged as an independent learning object (LO) woven together by a visual interface.
Each LO is consisted of a simulation of the task and a practice section. In the simulation section the learner was provided with a guided tour of the task. The practice section allowed the learners to perform the task in a simulated environment with feedback on each step.
The navigation was designed in such a way that any point of time a learner could pull out a list of steps and navigate to an exact step during the guided tour.
There was even a live help component plugged in that allowed a learner to send across any query not addressed by the program and get a response from an expert.
The solution worked very well. The number or errors made by the users of the system reduced and the support calls dropped drastically. We even got referred to their other businesses.
But what’s the relationship with theories?
The problem is the situation we handled here was hardly unique. More or less all large organizations face similar problems. And there is an exact Instructional Design model that tells us how to handle this kind of situation!
It’s known as van Merriënboer’s 4C/ID Model. The model simply breaks down the blueprint of a design into four parts:
- Learning Tasks
- Supportive Information
- JIT Information
- Part-task Practice
Can you see the connection now? It exactly tells us what to do in a situation like one described here.You can read more about this model here: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/4c_id.html
If I were aware of this model at the time of taking up the assignment, it could’ve saved us a lot of time and effort spent while designing the solution. That point onwards I made it a habit to run all problems against some established models to rapidly design solutions.
I would love to know your experience of using ID models to design solutions. Do drop me a line sharing your experiences.
Selling e-learning
Selling e-learning is probably the easiest job in the world. You enter a client’s office with your presentation. You show her the demos and talk about ADDIE model. She’s bowled over by the Flash animation and choked with emotions looking at your instructional design strategy. She can’t wait to sign the cheque. You exceed your sales target by 3; earn all your variable pay, get that big house, get that big car and live happily ever after. Crash! Boom! Slap! Pinch…that’s not the reality…
In reality, selling e-learning is one of the hardest things to do. Simply because you are trying to sell products which still have low mainstream awareness. Add to that the so-called e-learning vendors with horrendous products, who might have already visited your client, you have a nightmare in making!
So what can be done differently so that your client thinks of you as a friend and not a pesky salesperson?
Here are a few pointers that may help:
Do not speak Hebrew: My observation is that we talk more about what we know than what the client requires. There’s too much emphasis on technology and jargons rather than the solution. We start with Blooms Taxonomy, Instructional Design Strategy, Visual Design principles, SCORM configuration and blah blah blah. At the end of the presentation we have a thoroughly confused client who will most probably stick classroom training because e-learning is complicated.
Do your homework: Yes, it’s not always possible to understand your client’s anticipations. However, doing some research on a prospective client’s line of business can come handy. During the meeting it will also show that you are serious about your pitch.
And please, make sure you have the correct password for your demo site, have the required software installed in your laptop etc. It looks pretty ugly when you enter into a conference call with the tech team in front of a prospective client.
Take a task based approach: It helps if you can list out the tasks that can be accomplished using your solution and not providing organization development gyan. Remember if they require OD consulting, they’ll probably go to someone else.
Be careful about value addition: I know incidents where deals didn’t go through because the vendor scared the clients with too much value addition. The solution became too complicated at the end and the client went to classroom training.
Just picture this, you go to buy a LCD TV, but the dealer insists that he will attach a refrigerator at the bottom and a washing machine on the left side of the TV. He will also attach a GPS enabled voice navigation system in case you want to carry it around in your car. All these for few thousand extra bucks and 3 months of training. Will you buy it from him? Probably not…
Looks Matter: Lot of vendors still design content which looks like from 70’s. Times have changed, today; we can design engaging content even using PowerPoint. So, when you are pitching as an e-learning vendors with a team of qualified designers make sure that your designs reflect that.
e-learning Jargon Buster
This is something basic which I should’ve dealt in the first post, but as you may have realized by now I can’t claim to be the world’s most organized person. I realized that there are lots of new people coming into the e-learning world every day. It can be difficult for him/her when someone dishes out something like, “No problem, all we have to do is to convert all the media to .flv so it can be embedded to the swf and publish the SCORM package to the LMS.”
So in this post I will try re-write some commonly used terminologies in plain English so that everybody understands everybody. I will add more in my next posts.
E-learning: Any learning content that can be delivered using technology. It can be over the Internet, Intranet, CD/DVD, Thumb Drives so on. As long as you can open it in your computer and view it, it’s e-learning. Some other terms used interchangeably include Computer Based Training (CBT), Internet Based Training (IBT), Web Based Training (WBT), Online Training etc.
Learning Objects (LO): It’s an independent unit of learning. This means this unit is not connected to any previous or next unit. These units can be arranged in different orders to create multiple courses from the same set of LOs. For example you have a set of LOs that teaches how to survive a Zombie attack. You can put together these LOs and create different courses that will cater to people who are interested in just surviving and the advanced user who might be interested killing a few zombies too in the process.
Learning Management System (LMS): Once you have created your e-learning course you will need to put it in a place for the learners to access it. You may also be interested in some reports that show time taken to complete, assessment score etc. A Learning Management System (LMS) is the answer to your prayers. It’s a platform that helps you to host courses, catalog them, publish a calendar and create various reports. It helps students to register and access courses.
Learning Content Management System (LCMS): Add the ability of creating content to a platform apart from usual LMS capabilities and you have your LCMS.
Flash: Flash is a technology platform originally developed by Macromedia and later acquired and developed by Adobe systems that allow development of animated content which can be played using a browser. This is done by using the ‘Flash Player’ which is freely downloadable from adobe.com. It’s a widely used format. According to the statistics 95% of the PCs in the world has flash player installed.
SWF: .swf is a file format, which stands for Small Web Format. This format can store multimedia and vector graphic and still retain a very small footprint which is ideal for the Web. This format was originally designed by a company called FutureWave Software. The company was later acquired by Macromedia.
Authoring Tools: As e-learning become popular educators felt the need for tools that do not require programming knowledge to create content. These tools basically provides the user with pre-built templates for inserting content, images, audio, video etc. Once everything aligned with the template the user can publish the content. The user can specify the intended platform, like Web, CD ROM and even mobile phones.
Some of the authoring tools even allow the users to use PowerPoint slides as the input material. Some of the popular authoring tools are Articulate, Lectora, Knowledge Presenter, Adobe Captivate/Presenter etc. Some of the open source authoring tools includes CourseLab, CALI Author, eXe etc.
A-D-D-I-E Model: A widely used model that divides the entire e-learning development process in five steps. Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate.
F2F: Face to face training.
Formative Evaluation: A types of evaluation that runs along as the learner progresses through a module. The knowledge check types of questions can be broadly categorized under formative evaluation.
Summative Evaluation: Assessment generally done at the end of a module/session. Ideally, it should measure more than recalled knowledge.
GUI: Graphical User Interface. It’s the part of any software you see on-screen.
FLV: Flash Video is a container file format used to deliver video over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player.
SCORM: Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. Basically, different people create content using different technologies and methods. So when you try to put the content on an LMS there may be a compatibility problem. Adhering to SCORM makes sure that any content can be used with any LMS.
Understanding Instructional Design
1. None of my friends (most of them happen to be professionals) understand what I mean when I say that my core competency is Instructional Design.
2. None of my cousins (again mostly professionals) have no clue what do I do for living.
3. I get an average two mails/calls everyday from different companies about instructional design opening and I have not even updated my CV in years.
4. I regularly get calls from my friends in the industry asking if I know any ID to fill up that urgent vacancy.
So what do these observations mean? They mean that there are great career opportunities for Instructional Designers and at the same time there is almost no awareness about the profession. In this post I will try provide an overview of Instructional Design.
What is Instructional Design?
Imagine you have to create some learning content for a particular group of learners. You are supplied with tons of material. There is even a subject matter expert to help you out. In other words, you have enough material to keep the learners reading for at least a month.
However, we have a problem here. Your client is very specific that the content should be designed in such a way that the learners can complete it one hour. Once they complete the session you should be able to measure their learning too!
What do you do in such a situation? Well, you simply turn to Instructional Design for help.
Instructional Design is the systematic process of translating general principles of learning and instruction into plans for instructional materials and learning.
In other words by applying the theories and practices of Instructional Design, you will able to separate the essential from the extra. You will be able to identify what exactly your learners need.
You will also be able structure your content in such a way that the learners move towards some pre-defined learning objectives; and at the end you will be able to measure if the objectives were met.
The person who applies these theories and practices of Instructional Design is known as an Instructional Designer (ID).
Sounds cool! But what does this Instructional Designer (ID) person do?
Well, she does the exactly same thing to an e-learning course that a scriptwriter do to a movie. She creates the foundation of an e-learning course by creating a document known as the storyboard. Like a movie script this document lists all the details of a course.
In the storyboard an ID lays down the content collected and researched from various sources in a structured way. She defines the learning objectives and makes sure that enough content is provided to meet those objectives. She also designs assessments to measure a learner’s performance.
The storyboard acts a guideline for the design guy too. It tells the design guy what the content should look like, how it will flow, where to sync the voiceover, what kind of animations/interactivity to be created, where and what kind of images to be used and so on.
Awesome! I want to be an Instructional Designer too. Where do I sign?
All right, if you want to become a successful ID you should have some basic qualities. Here are my top five:
You should be able to think in English. As most of the e-learning in the world is written in English, it is a must. You don’t have to be a literature graduate. As long as you can write clear, simple and correct English, you are eligible.
You should be able to communicate. As an ID you will have to deal with various people including clients, subject matter experts, management representatives, designers, programmers and so on. You may have great ideas but unless you don’t make the person across the table to understand it, the ideas have little value.
You should be imaginative. When you create e-learning you have this huge task of fitting into the shoes of a trainer who’s not there. You have to design your content in such a manner that the learner never feels the absence of a trainer. To do this you will require strong imagination. You should be able to visualize each and every piece of content and find a way to represent it in front the learners.
You should be a team player. Creating an e-learning session is just like creating a piece of software. There will be different people involved in different phases. You should be able to get along with them all and still get your job done.
You should be an explorer. I am not saying that you have to travel around the world. But you should be actively tracking what’s happening around the world. What are the new technologies, tools people are talking about. Read a few blog, join a few forums and you should be alright.
Last question! Is there are any specialized courses that teaches Instructional Design?
Yes, there are quite a few actually. You may checkout the following courses:
Post Graduate Diploma in Instructional Design (PGDID) from Symbiosis: http://www.scdl.net/pgdid.asp
The Instructional Design and Content Writing Certificate course from Wavelength: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm
4-Credit Online Course on Instructional Design from SNDT University: http://www.det.sndt.ac.in/4credit.htm
e-learning on a budget
It’s been a little while since my last post. Partly because there’s a lot happening in the work front and partly because I tried to get too structured with the posts and got confused at the end. So, I will chuck my earlier plan of mapping the free tools with design phases and rather will keep presenting some useful free tools that comes handy a various stages of e-learning production. I will keep posting as I keep coming across useful tools. Here are three tools that should reduce your software cost significantly.
Image Editing: The designers generally need to do a lot of image editing during e-learning production. The preferred tool is of course Photoshop. However, Photoshop comes with a huge price tag. However, if you look carefully we probably only use 40% of the Photoshop features in our day-to-day work. Then why not use a tool which 80% as powerful as Photoshop and free too.
GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for tasks like photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It supports major operating systems like Windows, Mac OS X and UNIX.
It is one of the oldest and most stable Open Source software available and features an easy to use interface. You can download your free copy from http://www.gimp.org/
Gimp UI
Vector Image Editing: Image editing software have become quite common, you find a lot of free stuff apart from Gimp. However, when it comes to vector graphics editor the choices become limited. The market is dominated by software like Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw and Xara X. No doubt these packages are good but they are expensive too.
In this scenario Inkscape comes as relief for the people on a budget. It is an Open Source vector graphic editor with similar capabilities with other market leading product. It supports both Windows and Mac operating systems and is backed by a huge community of developers and designers.
Download you free copy from http://www.inkscape.org
inkscape UI
Sound Recording: Sounds recording sounds expensive! But not anymore with this superb free tool Audacity. It’s a free software for recording and editing sounds and comes with all features that you will find in a professional sound editor. It supports Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux operating systems. Audacity backed by a large community of developers and goes through continuous improvements.
You can download it from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Audacity UI
Create e-learning for free (Part 1)
Creating e-learning needs a lot of money, right? May be, but, what if I tell you that you can create e-learning without spending a dime! Surprised? Well, don’t be. Read on to discover how you can do it.
Before starting, if you are looking at creating e-learning like the BBC or NASA guys, yes, you need a big budget.
In this series, I will try to go through the steps of the ADDIE model and look how we can use various free resources to complete production.
Analysis: Here you will try to find out what actually your audience needs. Following are strategies you can adopt in this stage to understand your audience:
- Create a questioner
- Create a poll
- Create a survey
- Conduct face to face interview
- Conduct telephonic interviews
- Conduct interviews using the Web
- Any other documentation
Following are the free tools you can use to do the above tasks:
Open Office: It is one of the most reliable and comprehensive office suite and the best part is that it is totally free. You can use it for your all documentation needs. Download your free copy from http://www.openoffice.org/ . While you are there, do appreciate the clean and crisp design of the home page.
Micropoll: It allows you to create online polls for free in minutes. It supports various answer types like radio button, drop down menu and checkboxes. It also offers advance features like trends, IP blocking/logging, charts and so on. Try it on http://www.micropoll.com
Freeonlinesurveys: Need to create a survey/quiz quickly. Go no further than http://freeonlinesurveys.com .The free account allows you to create surveys with up to 20 questions, collect up to 50 responses per survey and keep a survey online for up to 10 days.
Dimdim: Web meeting is an easier alternative for conducting meetings. It is even better when it’s free! One of the première service providers in the segment is Dimdim. The basic package is completely free. You can conduct up to 20 people meeting using Dimdidm. You can access it from https://estore.dimdim.com
Sam
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elearnology by Shyamanta Baruah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 India License.
