I recently attended this Kineo event. I had originally intended to produce a Storify from this event, but there were several different event hashtags in use throughout the day, so I rapidly gave up on the idea – sure I could’ve manually added the tweets but you know how it is…
Instead, over the next few posts I’d like to share with you a few tools and platforms that @DonaldClark referred to during his session, starting off with ‘Encore’.
Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of anything that can be done minimise the forgetting curve and automate the process of ‘forcing’ the act of recall around a subject so I was pleased to see Donald highlight ‘Encore‘.
In a nutshell, it’s a Moodle plugin that can be used to synchronise with a free app. The plugin is configured with certain content reminders / frequency etc and then pushes those to the app allowing a steady drip-drip-drip of ‘tasks’ directly to the employees / students mobile device.
Encore showing an alert on an iPhone
The FREE demo involves undertaking a SCORM piece of eLearning with a Moodle, completing a ‘self assessment’ using Moodle’s inbuilt assessment tool which then unlocks the ‘Encore’ plugin. At this stage you can select to receive the automated ‘tasks’ by email or the Encore app (see below)
‘Tasks’ showing within the Encore app
As sound as the principle is, there are a few areas where I feel some improvement could be made. Having spoken to Learning Pool (the company behind the app) they were very vocal about their desire to receive feedback so I going to speak to them at the end of the 3-week ‘demo’ that is available and relay this feedback onto them.
Firstly (and this is not a criticism, just an observation) but if you’re not using Moodle (or possibly Totara?) then this obviously isn’t for you! Hopefully other LMS/VLE providers will latch onto the idea though??Despite this being a Moodle extension it’s not freely available. Having spoken to Learning Pool they said that even if your Moodle (possibly Totara?) isn’t supplied by them that that the Encore extension could probably be purchased from them.The Encore app is only available on iOS and Android, with Windows on the roadmap but a definite ‘No’ to Blackberries (possibly a stumbling block for corporates who currently use BB?Whilst the end user has the option of receiving the reminders via email or the app for me this still relies on (assuming that the organisation is wishing to tap into the mobility of the employee / student) the end user having a smartphone. I’d like to see the option of using SMS as a delivery channel. Sure, some of the more media rich activities may not be accessible to feature phone users, but as I see it, at present, none of it is accessible to feature phone users.Some of the activities I undertook in the trial period were just tests of short term memory (see below), which for me, weren’t the best examples of spaced activation of learning, however I think with some thought around reflective questions (possibly with the option for ‘free text’ responses) and short videos there could be a real opportunity for this app to serve as a ‘trigger’ for deeper thought and processing. An example of a ‘task’ within the Encore app
All in all, I think this is a great step forward in terms of demonstrating that mobile learning can be and is so much more than responsive ‘click next’ elearning.
The key to success is having clear goals and then mapping out a way to meet those goals. Without the map, you’ll never know if you got where you intended to go. In a previous post we looked at how to build learning objectives. Today we’ll take it a step farther and look at a simple process that will help structure the objectives around measurable actions.
There are many courses that exist for reasons other than performance improvement. For example, a lot of annual compliance or things like sexual harassment training are usually more about the awareness of policies and less about actionable activities.
On the other hand, there are many courses that do expect that upon completion the learner is able to do something specific. Perhaps they’ve learned a new procedure or how to apply a given policy in the work environment.
Understanding the type of course you build is important because it’ll help you craft the appropriate types of objectives, measure their success, and help you manage your resources.
Once you understand why you’re building the course you can focus on who is going to take it, why, and what expectations exist after the course. One way to begin is by answering the questions below.
Who is the learner Why is this important to him? In what situation would he use this information? What is the course objective? How does he prove that he’s met the objective?
I create a simple table to look over the answers. Here’s an example based on my experience working for some large organizations.
As part of our ethics training, there was a course on how to deal with bribes. This course was important because we had a number of international sites and many of our sales and procurement staff had to deal with bribery as part of the business culture. Even though we only had a handful of international staff, everyone who took the ethics training had to take the bribery course, regardless of getting bribed.
For the international staff the bribery course was performance-based. We had specific behavioral expectations. For all of our other staff, the objective wasn’t centered on their performance. Instead the objective was to build awareness of the company’s policies on bribery which fit into the larger context of being an ethical organization.
Here’s an example of how this I could have completed the table for this course and the tow different audiences.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
You’ll notice that I broke out the two types of learners and their course objectives. For those who encounter bribes, we focus on the performance aspect. As we build the course, we want to create the types of situations they encounter and have then make the decisions that are in line with the organization’s policies.
For the IT analyst who is never bribed, we create a scaled down course. There’s no need for them to go through time-wasting situations not relevant to their job expectations. In their case, the objective is general awareness of the policy. Presenting the content in an engaging manner and having them certify their understanding is all we need.
A few key thoughts:
Build the course appropriate to the performance expectations of the learner. If none exist, then don’t force them through the same type of course for those who do have performance expectations. Taking a course costs time which is equal to money. And pulling someone from their work to go through irrelevant scenarios is a time-waster. Don’t overstate the importance of the course. Subject matter experts have the tendency to do this. In this example, the temptation is to suggest that everyone needs to be able to make the appropriate decisions so they should all go through the same training. While it’s technically true if presented with a situation everyone should make the right decisions, but forcing people to take certain types of training because of some remote chance that they’ll be bribed is a waste of time. Focus on how the learners will prove their understanding. Are they able to make the right decisions in certain situations? How do you know? If the person needs to make certain types of decisions in certain situations then make that the burden of proof. Create situations like they’ll encounter in the real world and have them demonstrate their understanding through the decisions they make. If they don’t encounter those situations, then the level of understanding centers on general awareness. Instead of a decision-making situation, you can focus on the principles that drive the policies. Perhaps a simple case study would do the trick.
I know that some people say the non-performance courses shouldn’t even be built. They should be job aids. Perhaps. But they do get built and often you’re not in a position to force that change. By understanding what the organization expects from the learner you’ll be able to craft good course objectives and determine the appropriate proof to ensure they’ve been met. If they have performance expectations focus on what you want them to do. If it’s about policy awareness, certify their understanding with a simple quiz.
How do you determine the course objectives in your training programs?
Click here to cast your vote.May 4-7: Washington DC. I’ll be at ASTD International Conference & Expo. Swing by the Articulate booth #419 to say hello.
May 20 & 21: Fargo, ND (ASTD). Sign up for one or both days here. Day 1: PowerPoint for E-Learning Day 2: Build Interactive E-Learning with Articulate Storyline
June 11 & 12: Lincoln (ASTD). Sign up for one or both days here. Day 1: PowerPoint’s No Longer a Slideshow Freak Day 2: Getting Started with Articulate Studio ‘13.
…. Actually following today’s eLN event ‘Innovation in Compliance Training’ maybe it isn’t an oxymoron!
I’d had really been looking forward to this particular event as my organisation is heavily regulated and delivers a great deal of compliance training; to that end I was really keen to discover how other organisations and Instructional Designers have gone about dealing with the dry, uninspiring beast that is Compliance Training. I was so excited about the potential of the event that I invited my organisations Health & Safety Manager along, which he duly accepted… now the event had to deliver….
The day kicked as usual with @RobHubbard welcoming everybody and we were swiftly into the 1st session…
Creating a successful compliance culture – Viv Cole
This was a great intro session for many reasons, not least of which was that it was a group discussion exercise (so it got us all talking, first thing in the morning) on the subject of our thoughts and opinions on a compliance culture/training. Our particular table recognised the need for a lot of the Compliance Training that goes on, however a consistent thread of discussion was the fact that a lot of organisations adopt a ‘carpet bombing’ approach to compliance training. There was even an example of a financial sector organisation forcing there groundsmen to undertake basic FSA training; talk about ‘LARGE hand, small map’! I was pleased to explain that in my organisation there are only 2 x events that every employee has to undertake:
Fire SafetyDisplay Screen Equipment Awareness
and that we have adopted an Assess-Train-Assess approach to many of the other compliance events that we deliver, meaning that an individuals competence (or lack of) is the driver for refresher training as opposed to a refresher period expiring. This was something that I had hoped to deliver a Pecha Kucha on at today’s event, but circumstances unfortunately prevented me from doing so.
Viv then went on to share a list with us of the crucial ingredients to a successful compliance that had been created during a round table event with a number of compliance managers earlier this year list:
Leaders walking the walkclear responsibilitymandatory inductionregular updatesconsequence of non-complianceautomation of chasing mechanisms2-way relationshipalignment to business drivers
Stephanie Dedhar -User focused design to deliver gold-standard compliance training
I had been looking forward to Stephanie’s session in particular, as we had been tweeting in the run-up to the event and I was really intrigued as to how she was going to incorporate the Wordle that she had been requesting words from via Twitter.
What she did, which I thought was a really clever idea (and one that I intend to steal in the near future) was to use the responses from eLN members as a TNA tool to determine the content of her session, and here she is in full swing…
Stephanie extolled a 3 stage principle of:
Making the learners careShowing them that it mattersHelping them to live it
Like any good speaker, she inspired me to look into a few of her ideas in greater detail/implement a few actions on my return to work; they were:
Review this YouTube video on typographyAsk our Compliance department to provide facts and figures on fire-related incidents and Display Screen Equipment related injuries. This data would be broadcast over our info-screens to (hopefully) make the learners ‘care’.Review Stephanie’s award-winning piece of compliance elearning (Stephanie has subsequently informed me that she is no longer able to provide access to the content itself, but has directed me here)
Laura Overton – How the recession has impacted elearning
Laura Overton then took to the mic, to launch the Towards Maturity Learning Technology Benchmark 2010. Given that these were the results of an in-depth survey, there was a lot of data which would not be done justice by my Blog, so why don’t you mosey on down to the the Towards Maturity website and have a look at the report yourself? What really surprised me was that the use of Virtual Classrooms was reported as dropping compared to the previous benchmark??? How come? Surely in the ‘greener’, more cost-focussed world are living in, the uptake of tools such as this would be on the increase? Maybe @barrysampson’s tweet hit the nail on the head?
My action planning point from this session is actually a carry-over from a conversation with Laura at WOLCE and that is to:
Take part in a Beta test of the 24/7 online tool that Towards Maturity are developing.
Clive Shepherd – Competency or Compliance?
@cliveshepherd started off by regaling a tale of some time that he had spent in Uganda (which has been, and still is still considered as a risk-area) which had been preceded by a piece of understandably necessary elearning. The point that Clive was making was that the moment he was told it was MANDATORY, he became turned off to it.
To use Clive’s own words “we are the keepers of our brains, if we put ourselves of the learning itself then there is little if any chance of it happening“. This struck a real chord with me as my organisation does make many pieces of learning MANDATORY, now given that a significant % of our learning activities are H&S related, then perhaps this is inescapable, but for me there was a tie-in to what Stephanie had said about making the learner ‘care‘ about undertaking the learner.
Clive mentioned the great Blog post by @shackletonjones on the Affective Context Model. I’ve seen/read this blog post a few times and I get something different from it each time; it’s definitely worth a view, or 2, or 3….
Action planning points from this?
Review the Affective Context model blog (again)Consider a coloured hue with a photo to reinforce the context of the image (I spotted Clive has done this with a couple of images taken of him sitting at his PC)
Holborn Bars once again came up trumps with the lunch and we were back in for the Pecha Kucha 2010 final between Phil Green, Tony Frascina and Matt Brewer with Matt Brewer walking away with a Kindle for his efforts, which I hope he will be donating to his daughter, given her efforts in producing the images for his Pecha Kucha
Peter Phillips – Zzzzzzz Wakey Wakey, compliance doesn’t need to be boring.
Peter took us on something of a whirlwind tour of good and bad elearning design. He reminded us how easy it was to write bad multiple choice questions and how quickly you could fall into the trap of just designing ‘click next’ type elearning – in fact he showed us an example where the learner had to undertake 41 (no that isn’t a typo) consecutive mouse clicks to progress!!!
Peter referenced @CatMoores work a number of times, in particular her ‘Dump the Drone’ blog post
And Tom Kuhlmanns work in relation to do we really need instructions on how to use an elearning course?
He also showed us some great examples of engaging, emotionally charged elearning in these 2 examples
What really struck home for me though was his statement “good learning is good learning, regardless of the ‘e’” – and I do believe he’s right!
It was during the ensuing comfort break, that I had a quick chat with @larshyland who came up with a great phrase “think campaign, not course“. Great point Lars, and with my organisation now having a graphic designer and TV film/production crew, this is something that I will look to leverage in the future.
What am I planning to do with this sessions content?
Critically review the multiple choice assessments within the elearning I have produced
Donald Clarke – Compliance or Compliant?
Last up before the mad-dash for the tube was Donald Clarke who opened up by saying that he had no issues with the H&S related compliance training that took place, but it was the ‘Equality and Diversity’ type compliance training that he took issue with. Donald referenced several pieces of US research that disproved any benefit from undertaking such learning activities and came out with a fantastic soundbite
“The plural of anecdote is……. ‘not data’”
He also described the simple social media policy that the Channel 4 head implemented which went a little something like “Don’t be a dick!” – he then compared this to the tomes of rules that the BBC had produced, interestingly my organisation is considering implementing a Social Media, I wonder which approach model they will use
As previously mentioned I had taken my H&S Manager with me and I was really encouraged by his positive comments throughout the day and the vision and ideas that he had already started to formulate for the future.
There wasn’t much Tweeting going on throughout the day (which always surprises me, given the nature of these events), but for those of you who are interested here is the TweetDoc.
As always, the informal conversations that took place during the day were just as valuable as the formal sessions so I would like to thank everybody who contributed to an excellent day in whatever way. – Cheers!
If the answer to either of the above questions is ‘Yes’, then read on…
As many of you will know I’ve recently started working on a 6 month contract with an investment bank in the City of London, which means I’ve reluctantly joined the ‘not so exclusive’ commuting club!
Commuting has it’s downsides:
Long daysNot seeing my kids Mon-Friday (they’re in bed when I leave / get home)Having to pay a small fortune for the joy of being transported from A to B and back again via dirty, draughty, poorly maintained and very often delayed trains.
That’s why I was very pleased to discover an online service called DelayRepaySniper. Their site has been recently updated to a rather nice responsive design, thus making it far easier to use the site from a mobile device, which let’s face it, is what you’re likely to have available during a delayed train journey! (Train Operating Companies (TOC) take note in terms of your Delay Repay online forms!)
iPhone view of notifications page
The website allows you to input a number of journeys i.e.
Newhaven Town – London VictoriaLondon Victoria – Newhaven Town
and the site will then email you every 24 hours to let you know of any delays that have occurred on that route. (think of it as a ‘nudging’ reminder)
iPad/desktop view of notifications
You can then either make the claim yourself via the Delay Repay system of your TOC or DelayRepaySniper, for an additional fee, can process the claim on your behalf.
There’s obviously a lot more to it that that and I’d encourage you to take a close look at the site to see if this could be of use to you too.
iPad/desktop view of site
So how could this be used to get your ‘foot in the door’ with mobile learning?
Let’s be honest, people would rather have their hard earned salary in their pockets than in the pockets of a service provider who has failed to meet their service level agreements! Why not research this more closely, discuss and demo it to your work colleagues (on your smartphone / tablet) and if people within your organisation would benefit, then you’ve got a wonderful opportunity to ‘get your foot in the door‘ and prove the worth of performance support via mobile devices.
Why not take a look at the site and consider whether you might want to direct your colleagues towards them.
Delay Repay Sniper
If you’d like to find out more about ‘Delay Repay’, here’s a list of Google results – just look for your TOC
Google search results for ‘delay repay’
Inevitably there will be some people who do not have a mobile device and will bemoan the fact that you are offering their colleagues who do have a mobile device something that they themselves are unable to benefit from – don’t let this put you off.
Simply tell them to carry on using whatever tool or process they have always used – simples!!!
I probably review at least two hundred elearning courses each year. Most of them are designed by people just getting started so they then to look for feedback that can cover a broad range of topics.
Many of the courses I review have common design issues. Often it’s those little issues that make the difference between a course that looks like it’s built by a beginner and one that’s a bit more polished.
In a previous post I highlighted three common design issues and offered tips to fix them. Today’s tips are based on some things I see quite a bit related to the branding of courses.
While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the branding that happens in many online training courses, I understand why organizations do it. However, often the branding goes beyond common sense.
Look at the example above, how many times do you need to see the organization’s name or logo? It’s in the title, the logo panel, and on the screen at least three times.
What’s the point of this? Does all of this branding even do anything positive? I can’t imagine that it actually makes people feel better about taking courses or being part of the organization. What’s next, a company tattoo?
With all that said, the copyright is a good idea. Don’t want anyone to steal that design.
If you have to add the branded items to your course then try to limit when you do so. A few simple ideas may be to make the logos smaller or watermark them so they’re less obvious.
Something I’ve done in the past is create an animated splash screen that I can add to the beginning or end of a course. It’s a bit more elegant and consistent with the brand requirements, but it doesn’t interfere with the course content. By moving the branded elements off your content screens you’ll have more room for the important stuff.
If you need to add branding to your course, then do it where it makes sense. Most authoring tools have a place for you to add a logo and you can also add brand colors to the template and player.
Click here to view the elearning example.
In the example above, a course on social media guidelines, Hitachi customized the template (and course colors) to match the branding in the logo. This helps meet the organization’s guidelines and still gives more control over the content on the screen.
I’m sure this will upset some people, but one thing I can’t stand about going to a kid’s play is that the play may only be 45 minutes long, but then after they spend another 30 minutes thanking everyone who helped out. That’s all good and I truly appreciate those who volunteered, but come on! No one came to the play for the credits. Do all of the back patting at a cast party.
The same can be said for elearning courses. Seems like I’m seeing more and more courses that begin with a series of screens like the ones above that are more like commercials and production credits. They have little to do with the course content so it’s probably a good idea to drop them.
If you do need to add all of that information, then take it off of the course screen. A simple solution is to create an “About Me” tab to hold all of that type of information. It’s in the course for those who want it, but it’s not part of the content flow.
Also, here’s a bonus tip. If you create a live action video don’t use the outtakes to create a gag reel. Unless you’re a master comedian like Emo Philips odds are the gag reel isn’t as funny as you think it is.
You don’t need to use all of the features in the player template that comes with your software. Here’s an example: many elearning templates offer a side menu. However, that feature can be turned off if it’s not needed.
In the example below, the only reason the side menu area exists is because the developer inserted the branded logo. Other than that, all of the space below the logo is wasted. It’s also confusing. If the learner is used to a side menu and then sees this example, she may think that something’s broken.
If you’re not using the side menu, a more elegant solution may be to get rid of the logo panel. This gives you a different course profile that doesn’t have a big empty area.
Like it or not, branding requirements exist. The key is to work them into your course design so meeting them makes sense. What do you do to deal with branding requirements that may interfere with your course design?
January 23 & 24: Las Vegas, NV (TechKnowledge): Mike Taylor will host two creation stations on Building Interactive E-Learning with Articulate Studio ‘13. January 29-30: London (Learning Technologies): I’ll be doing a quick presentation on interactive video using the Articulate applications. If you’re at the conference, swing by the Articulate booth. February 4-6: Karlsruhe (LEARNTEC 2014): I’ll be at the conference working in the Articulate booth and would love to meet you. March 11-12: Phoenix, AZ (ASTD). Details coming. March 19: Sydney (iDESIGNX): I’m excited to attend my first conference in Australia. Looking forward to meeting many of the blog readers there. I’m organizing a workshop while in town. Contact me if you’re interested and I’ll send details as soon as we know.Place I’ll be in 2014: Indianapolis, Lincoln, and Dallas. More to follow.
Craig chats with Lillian Soon, Kate Graham, Karyn Romeis, Laura Overton, Christie Fidura and Don Taylor on the ‘actions’ that they personally took away from their attendance at Learning Technologies 2011, along with the challenges that they anticipated in trying to achieve them!
Download podcast in mp3 format: Now the dust has settled
Craig chats with Lisa Johnson on the subject of her teams’ recent *award winning* work with the use of internal wikis and ‘just-in-time’ performance support videos.
Listening time: 25mins
Subscribe to the podcast in mp3 format: Lisa’s back!!!
Encore showing an alert on an iPhone
‘Tasks’ showing within the Encore app
An example of a ‘task’ within the Encore app
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Click here to cast your vote.May 4-7: Washington DC. I’ll be at ASTD International Conference & Expo. Swing by the Articulate booth #419 to say hello. 
My action planning point from this session is actually a carry-over from a conversation with Laura at WOLCE and that is to:
iPhone view of notifications page
iPad/desktop view of notifications
iPad/desktop view of site
Click here to view the elearning example.
