Learning Theories

Difficulties in learning through Podcasts

2006-08-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts these days. There are podcasts that are mere entertainers and a few others, educative. However I found the following factors playing a critical role in making Podcast an effective learning medium.

1. Voice: Not all experts have a great voice to listen to and not all voiceover artists can pronounce technical words the right way or sound natually knowledgeable!

2. Time: Any educational podcast that runs for more than 8 minutes (average) starts to sound boring (my observation, and I don't want to debate on this).

3. Continuity: The experts who do a good job really don't find time to complete their series. Most of the podcast series hang right in the middle of some part of an episode for want of time!

4. Takers: I'm still not too sure if the learners would find the podcast interesting unless I get some feedback from them. So choosing the right set of audience for the podcasts is a very important factor.

Race to use podcast for training

2006-08-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

I read a report on Bersin & Associates on how organizantions have started using Podcasts for training. Here is a gist of what I read in that article.
1. Karen O’Leonard, a principal analyst with Bersin & Associates, says that companies in the US are using podcasts to train their sales forces.
2. Podcasts are used to provide regular updates and company news to workforces and customers.
3. Podcasts are also used as supplements to online courses.
4. Employees in companies that have adopted Podcasting have expressed positive feedback about the intiative.
5. Leonard says that the podcasts should be kept within 15 to 20 minutes and also provide an online help for people to download and listen to the content.

Visit the following link to read the complete report. - courtesey, Bersin & Associates news letter.
http://www.elabs2.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=29281&mlid=73&siteid=15988&uid=568149cdf2

Podcasts to improve communication skills

2006-08-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

I consider podcasts to be a really effective medium for learning when it comes to improving communication skills. I listened to ESLpod episodes and prescribed it to a few others who had genuine difficulty in expressing their thoughts. I received fabulous feedback from them.

The hunger to improve communication skills is incredibly high, especially in the rural Indian youth. I get to see so many of them lately. Most of them suffer from constipation of words. But all of them beam with enthusiasm when asked to deliver a talk before a crowd.

I have been experimenting on creating some simple podcasts on communication skills in the last few weeks. The series has been a hit and people have been posting messages asking for more on the podcast site. I think podcast is the right medium to deliver content that requires learners to listen.

I'm back

2006-08-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

I just could not pardon myself for not being regular in posting my thoughts on this blog. I have been far from being orderly these days. However, this is my attempt to bring that enthusiasm back in me. I have added one more parameter to my PQI defect chart (will talk about that sometime). I shall blog at least once in two days. That's my promise.
Catch ya

Creating a video cast

2006-07-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

Hah! I found a new way to convert presentations into Pod-runnable presentations. I did this using a slightly complex method. Neverthless, you will find it interesting and useful.

Here are the steps to do that.
1. Export your slides as jpeg files.
2. Import them inside Movie Maker, one slide after the other.
3. Add voice narration to each slide in your own voice. Use the Narrate Timeline tool.
4. Export the movie as a WMV.
5. Convert the WMV file into MPEG using any of the free video-to-ipod converter software.

Very easy. I did that with the pictures I took during my vacation!

Is podcasting a good medium for learning?

2006-04-26T00:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long time now that I blogged. Well, I have a lot of wrong reasons for that :-). These days I've been into podcasting. I have registered for a personal podcasting station with switch pod. Uploaded a couple of episodes as well.
Now that has really made me think of podcasting as a serious medium to deliver learning content. Especially when I know that most of those employed in my organization use iPods or simple mp3 players.
Many of us in my organization travel. When I say travel, they do close to two to three hours of travel every day! Now that is a lot of time. If we can tap that time to get some relevant content delivered right up to their eardrums, I would call it e-learning evangelism.
I've been asking myself this question; is podcasting a good medium to deliver learning content? Why not? Afterall, listening to FM radio programs is becoming a fad in the country I live. So audio medium cannot be branded as obsolete!
However, the success factor is in what we deliver, how we deliver and in what quantity we deliver. I've been studying the possibilities of unleashing the potential that podcasting has in it as a learning medium. I will try to document my findings here in the next few posts.

Err to be Educated

2005-08-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for having been inactive for a long time. Just that blogging regularly requires a lot of discipline and I seem to lack that completely.
Here is my latest technique to ensure better retention.

Preamble
Can you recollect the day when your friend touched the loose end of a live wire and learnt what electricity can do to human tissue?

Do you remember the day when you first broke that glassware when you were a kid, withstood the stare your mother gave you and learnt how to handle brittle items?
To err is human, but the impact these events create, translates into fast learning (not referring to speed here).

Effectiveness of learning is measured in terms of comprehension and application of the subject by the learner. Retention of what is learnt is the key to successful learning. Long-term retention cannot be achieved merely through rhetoric-study techniques. Applying concepts and principles to solve problems or to analyze specific situations could offer better retention.

Ty Johnson, the award winning e-learning designer, states in one of his papers, “We rarely forget our mistakes. So, do we give our learners plenty of opportunities to mess up in our courses? If not, perhaps we should.”

Essence
Allowing your learner to err is not to encourage learners to just commit mistakes, but to enable them to learn from them. There are two parts to this thought.

Allow learners to commit common mistakes without causing embarrassment.
Provide timely feedback that explains why it was a mistake and what the correct procedure/answer is.

The situations in the course may allow the learners to commit mistakes, but they should not cause emotional set back or aversion to the subject. Secondly, the feedback should not just inform the learner that he/she has committed a mistake. Rather, the feedback should be constructive. It should explain why the action performed by the learner is incorrect and provide a clue to lead to the right action. This way, the learner will never feel lost at any point in time during the course.

Deliverance
The technique could prove beneficial to present procedural content or create awareness on adherence of codes, policies. This style can also be used to assist problem-based learning. Scenarios can be built to simulate a typical situation where the learner could go wrong and then provide appropriate feedback to guide the learner to the right path.

For example, if the learners were to learn about Disaster Recovery, they may be presented with a list of typical disasters, which the recovery policy addresses. The learner chooses to be amidst a hypothetical disaster situation. The situation can be narrated through simple text or audio, and options to recover from the disaster flashed for the learner to choose from. The learner’s choice can then be validated, suitable feedback provided and remediation suggested if required.

Measure
The outcome of this style of learning should be measured through gauging the practical knowledge that the learner has acquired. The immediate effectiveness of the course can be measured through an immediate feedback collected from the learner. However, the actual effectiveness would surface only at the time when the learner applies his/her knowledge to solve problems and through sustained level of retention recorded over a period in time.

Video-based learning, new benefits

2005-06-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

My May month postings included articles on the Video-based learning. It has been some time now and I came across a radical change in dimension on using video-based learning modules as alternative training aids!

In my observation, video-based learning modules require high bandwidth to reach the learners. However, if you are still inclined towards the video-based learning, there are three great solutions I have.

1. The video-based learning modules can be made available on a CD/DVD and screened in the classroom in case a trainer is not available to handle a session! Here, the module would almost replace the trainer, but for an interactive query session. Even that can be handled through an embedded FAQ.

2. Learners may be given these video-based modules as freebies for them to view the contents at their own pace, at a later point in time. The modules would serve as revision aid.

3. A classroom server based quick-learning session can be conducted using the video-based learning module, pre-lecture to introduce the trivial portions of the subject. Though this may need clear planning and sequencing the classroom session accordingly, I personally feel that this would be very effective in delivering the content.

My two paise :-)

Video-based learning, revisited

2005-06-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

I had a discussion with the multimedia programmer in my team on creating video-based learning modules. The current problem that I think we will face is the bandwidth on the local network. We have been trying to run a few modules with video through an embedded windows media player. Primarily I see that the video clips are at least 3 minutes to 8 minutes.
I know that I face two important issues where I need to find the solution.
1. Change Windows Media Player to Flash Video (FLV)
2. Keep the footage to less than 2 minutes each and splice content to snippets mapped to the last possible level of topics.

I have cut out a path for the research. I shall incubate this thought and get into trying different solutions for the next few days. I do not want to use a streaming server. I'm sure I will see some result soon. Comments from the cosmos are welcome.

Real characters for real experience

2005-05-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the web for good e-learning courses online for some fresh ideas. I went through the language training course at http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/French/lj/menu.shtml - courtesy BBC. Great experience! The course has scenarios depicted through a series of photographs. I noticed two advantages of using photographs in e-learning courses:
1. Cuts down time to create graphic illustrations, especially if it is character based.
2. Quick to load over low-bandwidth network.
3. Changes to the photos can either be done by editing the photographs. Otherwise its easy to shoot again.
4. Low cost when compared with video-based solution.

Assume that you have scenarios to be explained and you vote for video-based learning. However, you find that the bandwidth cannot support videos. Photographs will come handy in illustrating the scenario, without loss of essence. I found photograph-illustrated scenarios just as interesting as video-illustrated scenarios. The only element I found missing in the photographs is the movement/animation. However, that did not let die the life in the course.

I feel that photographs also add reality element to the course. Learner experiences a sense of realness in the modules through the photographs.

My next move is to get this thought into action. Will share my experiences through this blog soon.

Video-based learning (continued)

2005-05-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I was mentioning about some "watch-outs" that you need to be aware of while deciding to present content in a video-based learning course. My list of such watch-outs are:
1. If you decide to stick to a character representation in your videos, you need to keep in mind that you may want to modify parts of the module later in time, and you will have to find the same actor for playing the character.
2. You need to hire a professional videographer for the purpose who would know the lighting techniques to ensure you do not have too bright or dull output.
3. Streaming!!! If you have a low bandwidth network, your learners will come screaming about the unusual delay in loading time.
4. Size of the video in your course interface should ideally be the same as the actual size. If you scale down the size, there could be loss of clarity.
5. Beware of writing on whiteboard if you have someone explaining a concept. This sometimes become very hard to see due to bright light reflecting on the board.
6. Decide on supplementary information that need to be shown on the screen and how and when they would appear on the screen. A good interface should be planned accordingly.
7. Usually when you complete a video shoot, you will have the complete video sequence that need to be chunked into frame-wise snippets. Its a good idea to create a worksheet with scenes and corresponding timeline to be cut from the video, mapped to each other before you start your work.

I'm still in the process of collecting information. Will share if I get more.

Video-based learning

2005-05-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Video-based learning is the in-thing with my team these days. Though my team had been working on video-driven e-learning modules lately, I do not see them evolve into true video-based learning modules. Most of the modules turned out to be quick and easy job of converting classroom sessions caught on tape into video-PPT combo stuff.

What do I mean by video-based learning?
I'm no HE-man in this subject. However, in my observation, a true video-based learning module should ideally present the subject itself as video and not some trainer taking class on white board. For example, if you were to explain an ethical code of conduct to your learner, show a scenario enacted by a couple of actors and then derive learning through the visual. That's what I call, video-based learning.

Where and When
For convenience sake, let me call video-based learning as VBL. VBL should ideally be used in courses that address Application or Analysis level on Blooms. VBL comes handy while presenting real life scenarios either enacted or shot live. Videos should not become an obsession though. Preferably, videos should be used to present subject that needs observation and reflection from the learner.

Scoring high!
True VBL scores high on the following points:
1. Video presents a live scenario for the learners. Cross-over to the real world.
2. Effective strategy and planning cuts down the time taken to create graphics.
3. Video snippets reduce complexities in creating character-based graphical animations.
4. Videos usually call for low rate of criticism unless run on poor bandwidth or lack clarity.

Watchout! VBL is not a bed of roses. More to come...

Eighth Intelligence

2005-01-25T01:44:00.000-08:00

Naturalistic Intelligence as Howard Gardner explains it, the eighth intelligence is something that our education system in India needs to consider. The latest Tsunami disaster in the South Asian coastal belt has had a great impact on my writing this column. I read in one of the post Tsunami articles that did some "forensic analysis" about the aboriginal of Andaman-Nicobar islands and their ability to pickup clues from nature of disasters.

There were many articles on how the aboriginal and other "intelligent" animals could sense the danger lurking beyond the calm sea shore. There were no casualty recorded of wild animals in their natural habitats near the coastal belts. Amazing!

While board exams are being given the optimum importance in a child's life, schools should wake up to this lesson we need to learn from these events. We need to become more nature savvy. Children should be taught to develop the skill, the eighth intelligence. The only way to do this is to encourage field trips and make environmental studies a part of the curriculum.

I do not deny the fact that the current geographic studies curriculum does cover much about nature, environment etc. But is that it? Is there any importance attached to the topics covered? Are these children really understand whats in the book? Are they taught how to convert the bookish lessons into some real knowledge?

We all need to think.

Happy New Year

2005-01-05T03:28:00.000-08:00

Rock yourself to the tune and jive
Make merry coz you are alive
Be alert, be smart not too naive
Get going its two thousand five

Timing the creation - screen per minute

2004-12-21T21:08:00.000-08:00

I recently read at the msn forum for Instructional Designers that the ball park figure (at least accepted within the closely knit group of content mangers) for arriving at the number of screens read by a learner is one per 60 seconds.

I remember to have used this number for calculating the number of frames in my earlier e-learning projects. I was anyways wanting to validate my assumption. The number may not be entirely true with all e-learning modules. It however provides a starting point for estimating the effort involved in creating such modules.

Note that this number comes with some related assumptions, such as the rate of animation and interactivity. Typically any assessment screen would vary between 60 to 90 seconds based on the size and difficulty level of the question.

More to come...

Timing the creation

2004-12-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

Estimating the time required to create content is definitely the most important and the most difficult thing to do at the beginning of any project. In all the forum discussions and seminars, most of the project managers I meet have one question on how do we estimate the time for an hour of instruction (either instructor-led or electronic).

While I personally feel that there is no thumb rule available (to the best of my knowledge), there are definite parameters, such as intensity of graphics, interactivity and frames/pages to be considered to arrive at the estimate. (long sentence, phew)

I have blogged this thought now. I would delve on it for the next few days to arrive at some guidelines that can help me and those who share my platform. Any comments?

KMS and LMS go together

2004-12-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

Knowledge management has been on top of the wish list for many companies including mine. I see that there are various tools available for knowledge management, such as Lotus Notes or even Wiki (which I have been using for some time now).

Again, LMS is another area that has plenty of tools to manage Learning/Learning Content. There is a wide range from freeware, such as the Moodle to high performance LCMS, such as the Clicks, LMS and LCMS have taken the industry by storm. No doubt.

I have personally heard of ideas to marry LMS and KMS (that's a great idea and would sound music to many content managers like me). I hear people talk about such products already available in the market but I do not get to hear any big names using it.

If I were to pick one up for my team the following are the keys I would look for.
1. The LKMS (naming the new system for convenience) should pick topics from the knowledge banks already existing as databases.
2. The system should provide key roles for content managers, authors, and viewer/learners.
3. Every learner should be tracked for hours of usage, modules visited and bookmark.
4. The system should support online assessment with instant reporting and result management.

I would look forward to one soon to hit the market. I shall key my notes on such a tool when I get my hands on it someday.

Seeing Reason

2004-12-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

I was talking to one of the school teachers who had attended a training program on effective pedagogy. She shared with me her experience on learning how to use project-based learning techniques to integrate technology with basal subjects.

We were discussing about the technique called Seeing Reason which is considered to be an effective method to teach students to analyse and learn concepts. This method sounds closer to the causal analysis and Pareto. I'm yet to test it myself. For more information visit http://www.intel.com/education/seeingreason/

Trends...

2004-11-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

I recently read an interview with William Horton, author of Designing Web-based Training and E-learning Tools and Technologies. An interesting read...
(courtesy: my boss)

WHAT ARE TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN TRENDS RIGHT NOW?

First, putting learners in control. Instructional design is moving from teaching people whether they want it or not to creating potential learning experiences. Learning to educate the non-captive audience is the biggest challenge facing instructional designers today.

Second, the use of technology at every level of training and education. Instructional designers are struggling to use technology to make learning effective, efficient and universally available. At the same time, they must defend against inappropriate intrusions of irrelevant or distracting technology into the learning process.

WHAT ARE FIVE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING MEDIA?

Picking media is hard and requires careful thought and judgment.
Avoid formulas such as, "Always use _______ to teach _______."
Forget your personal preferences. Ignore what worked on your last project. Consider these criteria:

o Speak the natural language. Pick media to fit your learner, subject and learning goals. The choice for teaching emergency medical procedures to high school coaches would differ from those for teaching estate attorneys the wrinkles of the latest revisions of the tax code. Ask yourself, "What is the most direct, immediate, natural way to accomplish my goal in teaching this subject to this learner?"

o Combine media for crucial messages. Seeing and hearing a message leads to greater retention and later application than seeing or hearing the message alone. If your primary medium fails for some reason, your secondary medium saves the day. Complementary choices of media can overcome difficulties of equipment failure, sensory disabilities, and human fatigue and inattention.

o Function first. Aesthetics second. Entertainment third. Communicate your message. Then make it pleasing and attractive. Only then consider adding touches of cleverness and entertainment. Edutainment is neither. Go Hollywood at your own risk.

o Stay pragmatic. Consider your ability to produce media and your learner's ability to play it. Full-screen video might be the ideal medium, but not for learners who must access your learning over a slow network connection. Richly detailed character animation might work well in the laboratory but fail when subject to real-world constraints of budget and schedule. Well-written words and convincing graphics are more effective than amateurish video or stuttering animation.

o Speak the natural language. Yeah, I know I said that already. But it is the first and last word in media choices.

Beware of Graphics

2004-11-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

From my recent experiences, I observe that at least 30 % of the errors ignored in a finished learning content are the text in the illustrations.

Most of the artists I've worked with are masters in creativity. However, their ATD runs low when they are to add labels and text to their masterpieces. Prevention is better than cure. I just thought I would share a few things that I check in an illustration when I review them.

Spelling errors in the titles and labels
Appropriate casing of text in the labels and titles
Sequence of elements to be shown in an illustration as against the content
Direction of arrowheads, if any
Legibility of text against the background (contrast)
Background of the illustration and the ambient colour when integrated with the content
Naming convention followed for the image files (this helps when the illustrations are integrated with the content while composing or authoring)

Assessment questions - a guideline

2004-10-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Let me continue with my earlier post on assessment guidelines. The following is an excerpt from my team Wiki (that runs off my PC). Of course these guidelines apply to test technical subjects, however, many of these points may be applicable to create assessment questions for other subjects too.

Questions should use positive connotation only.
Example: Which one of the following is a feature of Logo?
Non-example: Which one of the following is not a feature of Logo?
Answer options too should use positive connotation.
Example: Raju is yet to save the file.
Non-example: Raju did not save the file.
It is advisable to restrict types of questions to MCQs so that the lot can be used for online tests, quickly, if required.
Questions stem should be articulate and should not be convoluted.
Example: How will you copy-protect a CD?
Non Example: How will you ensure that contents on a CD, either applications or documents, are usable to general public but not available for illegal copying?
While referring to tools on the toolbar, pictures of the tools should be shown instead of referring to them by their names. This applies to both the question stem and the answer options.
Questions should not be repeated across sets (versions) of question papers, if the sets are prepared as a printable version.
Questions should test the skill level of the learner to perform a task and not his/her ability to remember names of buttons, tabs and tools or identify the location of a tool on the screen/menu.
The distracters (non answers) should not be non existent options. For example, an option should not be a menu or a command that is either non-existent or wrongly associated with a location. The user is always guided through the GUI components and thus does not require to memorise the menu sequences.

... is what I call tacit knowledge

Assessment Blueprint

2004-10-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Starting to write some questions for your learning module? Start with a good blueprint to give you a complete picture of what, how much and which level of learning would you address through your questions.

An assessment blueprint provides an exhaustive list of objectives relating to each chapter or learning module. The following are the features of a blueprint.

A list of objectives mapping to each chapter or module (for example, Word, Excel, and Power Point in total) is prepared.
Each objective is identified with a corresponding level in the Blooms Taxonomy. Check with your client (if you find them knowledgeable) if they are specific about the level to be addressed.
Each objective should test the learner on only one specific task. Example: To compare the menu commands to publish a Web page. Non-example: To create, save, print and modify a workbook.
Objectives should address the skill level of the learner to perform a task and not his/her ability to remember names of buttons, tabs and tools or identify the location of a tool on the screen/menu.

Such a blueprint can be used to prepare 3 or more sets of assessment question papers. Using a standard blueprint to prepare multiple sets will ensure that all learners are tested on the same set of objectives irrespective of the question paper set they attempt in their exam.

More on guidelines to write questions to come...

Knowledge Management - key to trap tacit knowledge

2004-10-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Life is a constant cycle of learning. I'm not being philosophical, just beginning my write up with something higher in the order of thinking. To me, knowledge can be acquired from reading books and through practice. Knowledge available in books could be so specific to a given situation that it may not apply to other situations, or too generic that you have to rely on your capacity to use it to your best.

Tacit Knowledge
Though theories and principles cover many aspects in a domain, knowledge gained through experience often go undocumented. Loss of such invaluable cognition is one of the key issues that many organisations fight to contain.

Tools to Tackle the Trouble
I would like to share what I have been experimenting for quite some time now to document tacit knowledge at work - Wiking and Blogging. More than an year back, I downloaded an intranet version of Wiki (quick web) and installed it on my computer (I have IIS running on my system, serving as an intranet site on my network segment)

I had to slowly drive the point of using the Wiki (among my writers and editors) to document their learning at work. Now I see that I have a database of checklists, case studies and thumb rules that people have derived through the Wiki over a period. I see that its growing to become a powerful tool to trap tacit knowledge which is sharable within a group of knowledge workers.

I took to blogging quite late. I have sincerely tried to blog whatever ideas I conceived so far and maintain a record of some tacit knowledge. I see that my organisation ( at least my division) has also recognised the power of blogs and wikis that I see some initiative on setting up secured Wiki for a few management discussions.

I see blogs and wikis as effective tools for knowledge management. I shall continue blogging and wiking...

Knowledge Models - tools to drive home the concepts

2004-10-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

Knowledge Models help drive home any concept effectively. Diagrammatic representation of theories through Knowledge Models, such as concept maps, decision ladders, and process maps enable easy understanding and retention.

I hit upon the following Web site on the knowledge models, which also provides some good examples to understand and use the models better. Nice read.

http://www.epistemics.co.uk/Notes/90-0-0.htm

Constructivism impacts learning

2004-10-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

The subtle existence of Constructivism can be found in almost all forms of learning materials these days. Strategising the learning technique for students to build upon their prior observations/knowledge is the key to effective learning.

Recently I read a good article on Constructivism and its impact on curriculum, instruction and assessment. Thought I would leave a link to the same here.
http://www.funderstanding.com/constructivism.cfm

2004-10-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

At Work

Churning IDs - Part 2

2004-10-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

So how to churn IDs? - I have seen a better way to churn IDs for the work on hand. This is effective yet requires some time and energy.

This is the reverse engineering of what I had written in my part1 of this message (This message is a sequel to the one I wrote a few days back).

I cannot explain it further coz it would invite political trouble :-)

Churning IDs - Part 1

2004-10-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

With the advent of e-learning, instructional designers are the most-sort-after species these days. I have personally observed that getting a bunch of creative minds to work on instructional designing is not duck soup. IT involves,
1. Identifying the profile of candidates to suite the project (IT, non IT, special subjects...).
2. Sourcing prospective candidates from some consultant or through WOM or ad.
3. Interviewing, testing, negotiating...

After all this, find that the one you chose is not the one you wanted!

How to solve this problem?
Fix. Take in people the way you have planned the recruitment process, then put them through an intensive training on instructional strategies, theories, methodologies, style guides, tests... Shape them up to take on the challenge, give them that float board to get them into water.

Solution. This would take a minimum of one month, but sure to work. This has worked in the past but let me warn you. You need some brand mileage to take up this solution.

But wait... I reserve that solution for my next post.

Can knowing some learning theories make you a good instructional designer?

2004-09-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

It is disheartening to hear someone say that courseware development is all easy job. Just involves effective use of Copy and Paste commands on the menu. What do they know about Instructional Designing?

It takes years to make someone competent to design instructional material. Those who share my pedestal would appreciate the time and effort spent on mastering the art of instructional designing.

Now the question: What will make someone a good instructional designer? experience? knowledge? flair? inherent flavour? training?
I would say, all the above would attribute in a way for someone to become a good instructional designer.

Most important? Flair and proper training.

You should aspire to prosper. The fire within to learn, to observe how learning happens, to come up with creative ideas, all these should be inherent qualities of an instructional designer. Empathy is again the greatest trait that I would want to see in those who join me in my team. If you do not have the flair for teaching, its difficult to make an instructional designer of you.

Training. The mould that fits the clay to bring it to a usable shape. Training would help mould the raring intellect into an intelligent instructional designer.

There could be another question... How will I generate a breed of such individuals?
Hmmm... Good question. I have some thoughts and some practical solutions (which has worked in the past with my organisation). Will reveal that in my next post.

Learning modules or Hollywood movies?

2004-09-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

At the Instructional Designers Forum, MSN, there was this interesting comment on customers demanding their instructional modules (CBTs/WBTs) to be fancy and with graphic gimmicks. I have personally experienced this with my clients in Singapore. I particularly remember my interactions with an naval officer, who was my onsite SME from the client end. My team was to develop a CBT on how a generator works. Well, the entire course was on some circuit diagrams and troubleshooting parts of the device.

The best instructional strategy that one can think of could be to provide simulated circuit diagrams that track the flow of charge to each relay and how the relays respond. Instead, the SME was focussed on how snazzy the interface should look like and how to add some animated 3D buttons.

I had a tough time explaining to him that adding animation everywhere and making them dance on the screen would only distract a learner. We had to convene a meeting with the top officials and explain in their presence the instructional values that we are adding to the course in doing away with those 'Matrix' like gimmicks from the course.

There, my knowledge on learning theories came handy when I could easily map our design strategies to Gagne's and Blooms. I had mapped each feature we were to provide in the CBTs to Gagne and relate every aspect of the assessment to Bloom's levels. Any good instructional material need not be graphic intensive, but definitely structured and carry instructional values.

A sound knowledge of the learning theories is a must for anyone who interracts with the clients. Educating the clients on instructional strategies goes a long way in convincing the clients on what is right.

Is Gagne's cognetive or constructivist?

2004-09-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

Most of the instructional designing models seem to be addressing more than just one type of learning. I found this particularly interesting discussion about Gagne's 9 instructional events. Many of us know that the 9 events addresses cognetive learning style. What I mean here is that each event in the Gagne's model targets learner at the three predefined levels of learning:

Memorisation
Understanding
Application

But did anyone observe that in event 3 (Recall Prior Learning) and event 9 (Reinforce and Transfer) the shift is towards constructivist theory? I feel that though Gagne's model may have been based on the rudiments of cognetive learning, there is definitely an impact of constructivist spiral learning theory.

Interesting, isn't it?

New age IT curriculum

2004-09-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

School education has become a flourishing business. Schools compete to show value in their curriculum. As a matter of fact, schools look for 'that' differentiator, the edge over their competitors.

Many schools try to gain mileage through introducing new technologies as subjects. IT has been a subject in almost all private schools, so IT is not an USP anymore. Therefore, there has been a drive to introduce new trends in positioning the IT curriculum as an inevitable aspect of life and earn that edge.

IT curriculum should now be woven closer to the lifestyle of the new generation. IT curriculum should stop focussing on teaching children to just program calculators and draw lines. The new age IT curriculum should help children to use gadgetry, innovate applications that can be used in daily life, integrate media and become intelligent users of the technology.

I strongly welcome the change in paradigm from considering IT as a programming subject to looking up for an IT curriculum to make children, intelligent users of technology.

Rapid E-Learning

2004-09-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

I was discussing this with my friend and thought I would blog this for my reference. During my discussion with my friend on this topic, we documented the sequence of steps we followed to build an e-learning module with minimum effort.

1. Select the topic to be covered and check if there are any presentations already avilable on the subject. Create presentations if required, to bridge topics.
2. Get an expert trainer to handle the subject in a classroom mode, in front of a running camera. Videograph the sessions based on the presentations.
3. Cut the footage into appropriate sizes, matching the slides in the presentations.
4. Port the footage and the slides into Flash and use cuepoint animation to sync.
5. Ensure that you have some questions at the end to evaluate your leaner's understanding on the subject.
You are ready with a rapid e-learning module. (More or less a talking head)

We have tried this on experiment basis. The topic we chose was Instructional Designing, so we neither had to search for an expert or appropriate presentations. We had them all with us :-)

Felder-Silverman: Another Theory?! (Part2)

2004-09-20T03:25:00.000-07:00

Continuing with my earlier post on the Felder-Silverman model...
I was wondering if this model can really be used in the pedagogy that I was working on, a few days back. My team was involved in designing a new strategy to address "difficult to learn" topics for school children through a not-very-usual a medium.
The challenge was to address all types of learners; visual, active, auditory, kinesthetic... I could relate to Felder-Silverman model immediately.

I understand that the model provides classification of learners under different learning patterns. I feel that a common stimuli cannot address all learners, but definitely most of the learners. For example, the model we were working on had
1. visual illustration of concepts in the form of pictures and animations. This would address visual learners.
2. audio explanations coupled with the illustrations to address the verbal learners.
3. group discussions to address active learners.
4. individual exercises for the reflective learners to guage their understanding by themselves.
5. a sequence of steps for the sensing and sequential learners who would like to follow a precise set of instructions.

But what have I understood from this whole exercise are some rudimentary principles of Instructional Design. Any learning module should address:
1. well articulated objectives and summary
2. visuals/illustrations
3. explanation in short text/audio
4. exercises for the self evaluation and discussion

If the above mentioned features are religiously adhered to in a coursematerial/CBT perectly fits any learning model (I have at least seen them to fit Gagne and Silverman models).

Felder-Silverman: Another Theory?!

2004-09-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

When I discuss learning theories while strategising methodologies for curriculum, I see that people easily relate to Bloom's or Gagne's models. Felder-Silverman? Well, people raise their brows. Is it because they have not considered pondering this learning style? I feel that there is no harm in understanding what Felder-Silverman model suggests about learners.

These are some notes for reference on the Felder-Silverman model (I hope it would help me sometime later)

Learners as per the model:
1. Active and Reflective
2. Sensing and Intutive
3. Visual and Verbal
4. Sequential and Global
5. Inductive and Deductive

Will write more columns on how I and others I know have addressed each learner through our learning modules.

2004-08-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

It may sound silly, prima facie, but makes a lot of sense when considered as a tool to reinforce learning for both pedagogical and andragogical training streams.

Game-based assessment is especially seen flying with middle school children as their

I defer my postings on project-based learning

2004-08-17T03:11:00.000-07:00

I defer my postings on project based learning for some political reasons.

Project-based Learning - Posting# 1

2004-08-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Project-based learning, as I look at it, is a lush green pasture. I had a great time designing one recently. The key that I find in designing a project-based curriculum is the subject that you would want to address the level to which it lends itself to be learnt through the project-based learning style.

When I say project-based learning, I relate it to a technology-driven curriculum. The one I was working on was to provide project-based learning on technology tools. The challenge was to build it close to the basal curriculum for school children!

Though the idea of building a project-based technology curriculum close to basal subjects looks pretty straight, prima facie, I found a few hidden caveats.
This posting is just the beginning of my round of jottings on this subject. Will continue with this post shortly.

Syllabus and TOC

2004-07-14T01:28:00.000-07:00

Syllabus lists all topics/concepts/principles and subjects to be a part of the curriculum. Well, I have never seen a syllabus that talks about methodology or audience (unless the program caters to audience of multiple age groups or skill sets).

Syllabus is typically a 'dhobi-list' of topics to be covered in the program. But when it comes to writing coursematerial for a program, a list of topics may not be sufficient to chalk out details. A TOC or table of content is required with a clear definition of the subject matter into units, chapters, topics and subtopics.

TOC is a typical drilldown to the deepest level of content chunking to ensure that all necessary information is covered in the coursematerial. TOC is the key to the success of a courseware development project, but still I would bet on the curriculum document for the effective implementation of the entire program.

So, the hierarchy is Curriculum followed by Syllabus and the TOC.

Curriculum and Syllabus

2004-07-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

I see a lot of people unaware of the difference between a curriculum and a syllabus. In my understanding (having worked on couple of curriculum design projects myself), curriculum is a superset of syllabus and does not just stop with mentioning the contents and session plan for a program (course).

Curriculum defines the scope of the program. The key aspects that you have to look for in a curriculum are:
1. Objective of the program (what level of competency can you expect of the participants at the end of the program)
2. Goals of the program (what will be acheived during the program. This is more elaborate than the objectives)
3. Program overview with specification on any affiliation with some univ or an edu body, duration of the course, intended audience, all this in a nutshell
4. Program detail to define the features such as duration of the course, courseware design, delivery mechanism, evaluation of performance, guidance (mentor), support systems (EPSS etc)

I have observed that it is a good practice to keep your curriculum document as elaborate as possible. Design phase is the best time to think of cause and effect of any new methodology or delivery mechanism. A dry run would help find holes to be cemented.

For example we were planning a whiteboard-marker driven classroom methodology coupled with computers for the students to practice after every topic is discussed in the classroom. When we did a dry run with a top brass we did find that we had not taken into account the most trivial thing of identifying where the course coordinator would get the necessary props for the class! Trivial, yet vital
(to be continued)

Blended Learning - Competency Driven

2004-07-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Tacit knowledge - often retained by experts is the key aspect that any training manager would want to find a perfect solution to address. Competency-driven blended learning model offers the solution to make tacit knowledge transfer through a training program. People learn or rather absorb tacit knowledge by working along with an expert on the job.

The key to the success of a competency-driven blended learning model is in balancing the live mentoring sessions by experts with ample practice on the job or through a simulated environment.

Competency-driven blended learning model should focus on providing opportunity for the learners to spend focused time on real life applications/situation with support from an experienced mentor (an expert in the field).

Key techniques include a combination of:
1. Computer simulations of usual/unusual situations
2. Role plays in classrooms
3. Field visits with support from a mentor
4. Discussion on situations based on a videographed instances
5. Live-character talking head

How Formative and Summative evaluation helped

2004-07-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

I remember the initial phase of my project. My team was all set to roll out the development plan for creating content for school children on basic IT topics.

The content overview was ready and the audience age level mapped (on papers from earlier experience) and the table of contents prepared for the entire book. I so struck me that we were working with a set of audience who are a cent different from those we have already worked with.

I insisted on preparing sample chapters and conducting a formative evaluation to verify my assessment of the audience. It worked! Well, it didn't. Both ways. My formative evaluation really paid off, giving us the true picture of the field. It worked. The stance we had taken on the choice of language (reading level) was not matching the actual reading level of the audience, our reading level didn't work. We woke up.

Field study at formative level is very important. I would've learnt in theory that formative evaluation is necessary to build confidence in yourself, while testing the concept's workability and suitability in the field. But, applying the same in real life meant great revelation in the field of instruction design to me.

Of course summative evaluation was done at the end of the product dev cycle. The reports signaled a successful product and we were able to market it.

Summary: Formative evaluation as important as summative evaluation.

Blended Learning - Attitude Driven

2004-07-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Also known as the behaviour-driven learning model, this approach is a mixture of classroom-based and online learning. Typically this model suits the soft-skill courses that require more face-to-face interaction and intervensions from a mentor.

What makes it different from Skill-Driven Blended Learning Model?

Skill-driven model focuses on improving an individual's knowledge or skill on a specific subject, which can be acheived through constant practice (self-paced may be). They require minimal intervension coz the interactions are primarily aimed at comparing best practices and sharing experience.

Behaviour-driven model focuses on improving an individual's emotional balance. This is the reason why a behaviour learning course would require constant interaction with peers and group activities. A personal approach would maximise benefit that one can draw from this model.

Considerations for any Blended Learning Program

1. A schedule that includes plans for group learning or discussions
2. Introduction and summary sessions handled by the instructor
3. Leverage on the available technology in pacing the course. For example, reading
material could be given on a CD for the learners to munch on at their own pace.
There could be group discussion forums on the Internet/intranet to facilitate
offline discussions.
4. Technology intervensions could include CBTs, eBooks, e-mail support,
e-discussions, online assessment and feedback

CBT and Interaction

2004-07-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

Very recently, I had a discussion with some top brass in my company, who asked me to defend my product against a comment that it does not provide enough interaction. My product was a series of CBTs catering to school children. Though I had not really prepared to face such a question I did have a suitable answer to justify my stance.

The product series was timed to be completed within a slot of 20 minutes, thats the time allocated for children to work on the PC during an IT period at schools. If I err on providing much interaction, the system would wait for the user entry. This would result in more time taken by students to complete the session.

Interaction, in my humble opinion should be balanced with the time restrictions (if any) to complete a specific part of the e-learning module. If the learner is left to learn on his/her own, without any restriction on the time that the learner can spend, interraction can be extensive.

I'm not trying to defend some page turner here. I agree that a page turner CBT is as good or worse as a PowerPoint presentation. Balancing user interaction with time restrictions is the key to provide the best e-learning product.

Blended Learning: Skill Driven

2004-06-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

Objective: To provide training to a set of people to be trained on a new skill. For example, course for bank employees on a new automated banking system.

Detail: Provide a self-paced reading material coupled with support from an instructor through face-to-face interactions or online guidance through e-mail or an EPSS if it is truly technology based.

Explanation: Theories may be explained through study materials, CBTs or online manuals that the participants read at their own pace. There can be live support provided to clarify specific doubts in synchronous discussions in classroom or through group forums on the Internet/intranet. However, the essence of this model is to provide intuitive guidance through an instructor apart from providing learning materials.

Handling demonstrations: If the course requires demonstration of procedures, it can be done through an online simulated learning model or in the classroom based on the intensity of personal interference required for the subject/demonstration.

I read in one of the articles on the Web that 88% of learners felt that a trainer or facilitator play an active part of any online training program. Therefore, it is important that an instructor be made available, either physically in a classroom setup or over e-mail/discussion forum to make skill-driven blended learning program work well for your learners.

Blended Learning

2004-06-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

Blended learning comprises of several different methods to train inidividuals, such as software programs, electronic performance support systems (EPSS) and other Web-based courses blended with instructor-led or discussion-based learning in classrooms.

There seems to be no aparant formula for blended learning. However, I found the following guidelines as suggested by stalwarts in my company.

There are three different models for blended learning.
* Skill-driven learning
* Attitude-driven learning
* Competency-driven learning

Skill driven learning includes learning at your own pace with minimal guidance from an instructor.

Attitude-driven learning focuses more on inter-group discussions and team work facilated through different delivery media (Webinars, role-play simulations etc)

Competency-driven learning combines EPSS with knowledge management resources and mentoring to develop workplace competencies.

I'm still learning further on these points I have jotted here. Will record them here shortly for better understanding.

Knowing your audience

2004-06-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

In one of the latest projects I managed, we conducted an interesting experiment with school children to understand their pattern of learning. We had formed an opinion about the generic pedegogical values and the methodologies followed in most of the schools. We found that the way children learn to use technology is not similar to how they would learn other subjects.

Okay, at least in India, we would see children sit through classes, listening to lectures and reading book to learn their basal subjects. Now the paradigm shifts when you introduce technology as a subject.

These days technology is not the same as it was, a decade back. When I say technology, I mean IT. I'm looking back to my good old days when I was a student and learnt Cobol, Basic, and dBase, on Dos. Things were different. There were more focus on learning to code. There were none called "Power Users" who can operate a computer with some 'basic' knowledge on its operations. I would have spent hours in a classroom, learning to develop logic and pseudocodes and converting them into syntax.

Thats not the way people learn technology these days. The face of technology has changed. GUI has become the way of life and user-friendliness is the mantra of every software!

GUI tools cannot be taught in a classrooms, in the same chalk-n-talk methodology. There is a shift in paradigm now. Everything is visual and nothing is required to be remembered verbatim (even the syntax!) Well thats the background of the experiment we conducted in a school.

We took some sample chapters to teach Paint and basics of computers to children of middle school grades. Wow! what did we see? Children were more keen on learning from the pictures (screen shots) than from the steps of explanation given in the book!

Children are quick learners. They learn most of the things by doing than just be listening or reading. I wish this is understood clearly by people responsible in shaping the educational system in India. We need a change in educational methodologies in schools. We need clear goals set for children with focus more on application of knowledge than just accumulation of wasteful theories.

Blogging special for the learning theory geeks

2004-05-28T04:28:00.000-07:00

Hi,
My entry into this fascinating world of content creation and publishing was accidental. Though, I realise how wonderfully my life has taken a turn towards pastures of everygreen learning.
I will try to blog as often as possible on my learning and opinions on the intricacies in the vast field of content creation, e-learning, publishing and related theories and techniques. Feel free to write to me at vijayshriram@indiatimes.com