9 Ways to Encourage the Adult E-Learners Recently I spent the day at the beach watching people learning to surf. One of the people learning to surf was a blind girl. It was very inspiring as she learned to balance on the board. She probably fell off of the surfboard a few dozen times before she successfully stood and balanced on it. And when she finally succeeded she let out a cry of joy. Learning is a funny thing. E-learning courses are an intrusion to the natural learning process. But in an elearning course, I have a room and equipment that is always available. Adult Learners Don’t Like to Fail Going back to the blind surfer, it takes a lot to fall down and continue getting up. Elearning presents a great opportunity to let people fail (or practice becoming successful) in private and in a safe environment. As learners, our culture conditions us to avoid failure. Embrace the Learning Process Here are some things to consider when building elearning courses: Set clear expectations and objectives. Tidbits:
Is Your Learning Ecosystem Effective? What is goal-based learning? « Rob's Learning and Technology Blog In order to thrive in today’s tough economic climate, it’s no longer enough for your people to just ‘know stuff’. Learning needs to be focussed on performance and that’s where goal-based learning comes in. Goal-based learning is an extension of Cathy Moore’s Action Mapping process, of which we’ve been firm advocates for a long time. It concentrates on developing real-world behaviours that will lead to performance improvement. Goal-based learning should not be top-down, instead it is very much focussed on empowering learners to take control of their own learning journeys, making them more able to respond to the changing requirements of their role. What organisation wouldn’t want a more agile workforce? So, what’s the process? Within a subject area, identify all the things that an expert in that subject would do. It’s fine to have lots of goals within a subject so learners have plenty of choice so that the learning can be more accurately tailored to each learner’s specific needs. Like this:
eLearning Materials - Dr. Patricia Delich - eLearningNetworks.com More eLearning Materials Ten Activities to Consider Before Developing Your First Online Course Many educators have asked me what they can do to prepare before they formally begin to develop an online course. This handout provides 10 activities for getting a start in online course development. Five Essential Emails for Online Students Communication with online students at the beginning of an online course is critical. Studies have shown that frequent contact in the first few weeks of an online course helps with student retention and course success. New Online Course Developer Survey This survey was created as an intake survey to help faculty self-assess their skills, readiness, and concerns in developing an online course. Online Course Rubric A number of years ago I conducted a pilot with faculty who were developing online courses and asked them to use two popular online course rubrics. More materials are available as well as custom-made materials specifically for eLearning. --T. - C.
6 Pervasive Corporate Training Pitfalls Remember when you were new to learning and development? If you really are new, congratulations and welcome to the field! If you’ve been around for a little while, I want you to think back: what do you wish you could tell your former self about what he/she is getting themselves into? Maybe you would warn “past you” about how easy it is for learners to tune out during training. Or perhaps you would tell a cautionary tale about how upper management is not easily convinced that the creative approaches you will want to try are worth the investment. I’m sure you’d want to mention just how often the content you need to teach changes, and how you are often left with too much to cover and too little time to do so. Are any of these challenges yours? As you probably noticed, the most common training challenges cited are highly interrelated. If only your former self had known what was coming! Not enough time for training The solution? Learners aren’t motivated or engaged
Why I LOVE Instructional Objectives by Allison Rossett “I know we agree that crummy objectives are useless, even harmful. Some are too big and some are just silly. Long lists cause eyes to glaze over, defying credulity. Hate, Marc? You write that it really is not hate that you feel. That isn’t the problem I run into. Objectives work for me When I look at objectives, I gain insight into what the program is all about. Objectives work for the organization A wise organization is concerned about the programs it places before its people. Savvy executives are not likely to be schmoozing about the relative value of objective formats a la Mager vs. Objectives work for instructional designers I’ve taught ABCD objectives (audience, behavior, condition, and degree) on many continents, and in universities, companies, and government agencies. Here are reasons for embracing the ABCD parts of objectives, presented in a table. Table 1 The ABCD Parts of Objectives Aided performance is a particularly rich aspect of objectives. Objectives work for learners
Instructional design: from “packaging” to “scaffolding” In my recent posts, The changing role of L&D: from “packaging” to “scaffolding” plus “social capability building” and Towards the Connected L&D Department I wrote about the need to move from a focus on “packaging” training to “scaffolding” learning, and I said I would talk more about what “scaffolding” looks like. For me, this is the key way for workplace learning professionals to move the learning industry into the future. In this post I’m going to look at “instructional scaffolding” but in subsequent posts, I will consider “scaffolding performance support & team collaboration” in the workplace as well as “scaffolding professional learning“. The concept of instuctional design is well known. It usually refers to the process of extracting knowledge from Subject Matter Experts, and presenting this content in a logical order for individuals to study. “Our workshops are designed to give just enough structure, without constraining personal and social learning.”
How to Successfully Implement a Training Program There are many famous quotes about planning – or the failure to plan. I like this one as it relates to the implementation of anything: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin Herman Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve has gotten a lot of new buzz in the past few years. Reinforcement and spaced practice is a significant component to help someone actually use what you are trying to teach them. When I do workshop sessions on implementation planning, I start by asking people to reflect on the Monday that will follow my session, which is typically their first day back at their jobs. These questions help participants realize that they are no different than the learners for whom they design solutions. The cost of poor implementation versus the value of strong implementation When I do sessions on implementation planning, I also ask participants to consider the cost of the forgetting curve or of poor/nonexistent transfer versus the benefits they hope to achieve.
20 Resources for New eLearning Professionals The following eLearning resources not only provide excellent, relevant and useful information on a variety of e-learning areas. Most also provide a means for you to connect with the other learning professionals, helping you to grow your personal learning network. eLearning Blogs: eLearning Blogs are a great way to not only learn about what’s happening in the learning profession but to get some alternative viewpoints. Craig Weiss – Craig writes the E-Learning 24/7 blog and has been identified as a thought leader and expert - (also on twitter @diegoinstudio)Ryan Tracey – Ryan is an Australian E-Learning manager, blogger, writer, advisor & reviewer who writes about a variety of learning topics - (also on twitter @ryantracey)Cathy Moore: On a mission to save the world from boring corporate elearning. eLearning Websites: eLearning Twitter Users: @lrnchat – a weekly twitter chat covering a variety of learning related topics.
From Three Phases to Four: Toolkit Approach to Product Launch Training | BLP For a long time, product launch training has been conducted with an event-based model. Reps show up for a launch meeting, listen as someone lectures through slide decks, spend a few days at a nice hotel, and head back to their territories. In many cases, these launch events are not training-focused at all. They are planned and run by marketing folks who need reps to effectively position the new product but don’t have a realistic plan to make it happen. Product managers and sales trainers in complex, competitive industries have long known that the event-based model is not enough. Just like the launch events themselves, these pre-work modules often leave a lot to be desired. By the time the launch event comes around, they will have forgotten a large percentage of what they learned in these modules. The Three-Phased Launch Approach Product launch training vendors have long encouraged clients to adopt a three-phase product launch model. Three phases are a great start, but they aren’t enough.
Difference Between Teaching and Training