Bottom-Line Performance

We receive frequent requests to convert ILT courses to e-learning or distance learning. And sometimes I think that people perceive the process will go something like this:

1. We start with a 126 slide PowerPoint presentation.
2. We insert the presentation into a conversion machine.
3. An engaging, effective e-learning course comes out on the other side. (and includes all 126 slides.)

I’m exaggerating a little to make my point, but even I can be convinced that starting from an existing course can be faster, and that’s not always the case. In my experience, here are a few realities I have found to be true:

• It’s difficult to let go of the slides. Allow for a mourning period. Sometimes subject matter experts (SMEs) think that we’ll be able to translate their slides “as is” to an e-learning course.
  • This is not usually true. It’s my job to help the team realize that a clear slide for an ILT course may be very confusing in an online environment.
  • One way that I help the team through this grieving process is with the e-learning course design document. For each screen we plan to have, I’ll insert thumbnails of the slides that will be used to build those screens. That way the team knows that the information isn’t being trashed.

• You’re probably going to have to cut some of the content. There is usually content that doesn’t make it into the e-learning course due to time constraints or because it can’t be translated online effectively.

• In theory, the e-learning version of the course should be about ½ of the ILT version. (See Tony Karrer’s blog for some good info on this math.) But it doesn’t always work exactly. I recently had a project where we translated a 16 hour ILT course into a 45 minute e-learning course. Obviously, something had to go.
• One approach to determine what can go is through a “slide-sort”. We have a face to face meeting with the team. We print off each slide and lay them out on a conference table. Then, as a team, we evaluate what stays and if the order gets adjusted. It’s a good way for the SME to 1) realize just how many slides they have and 2) identify the impact of their changes on the rest of the course content.

• Translating activities online is going to take longer than you think. Since I’m not a programmer by trade, it can be easy to look at an ILT worksheet or activity and say, “Yes, we can translate that into a great online activity by….” And while that might be true, it isn’t always a quick process.

• A good example is the below activity we developed for a recent ILT to distance learning conversion. In the ILT course, learners used fun-size bags of M&Ms to learn about basic statistical concepts. I thought, “we can make that an online activity!” And we did. While this is a slick interaction, we dealt with several unknowns throughout development, from how much to randomize the colors of the candies, to how learners will share their results with their instructors. Click the image below to test out the activity for yourself.

• Someone has to capture what the instructor “says”. I’ve submitted an e-learning script to a SME for review and heard back, “But that’s not what I say when I teach the class.” It’s important to the team to not just convert the content, but also the discussions and points made by the facilitator. Obviously, not everything a facilitator says can be kept in the e-learning course, but be sure and find out what happens in the class. It is frequently those discussions that are what you really want to keep, rather than slides full of bullet points. You can capture this by:

• Observing a class, taking lots of notes, and talking with the learners in the room.
• Interviewing the facilitator. A good way is to walk with them slide by slide and have them share the key points as well as frequently asked questions.

• Don’t be afraid to express your professional opinion. As a joint team, we need to have open, frank discussions about what the best approach is to the e-learning or distance learning version of the course. Sometimes the course needs to be almost completely redesigned, especially if the ILT version wasn’t instructionally sound.

Those are just a few of my guiding principles when dealing with ILT conversions. What would you add to the list?

I’ve watched eagerly as Apple moved from concept to launch with the iPad. For at least two years I’ve believed that training and education will be revolutionized when we finally have a hand-held device that puts rich multimedia experiences literally in the hands of learners – from kids to corporate-types. I’m not talking about the typical SmartPhone – I’m talking about a device about the size of my Kindle. For me, a phone is too small. I want something that gives me a screen big enough to REALLY experience media on while still being truly portable.

We are SO close to this learning revolution. Read Fast Company’s article on how SmartPhones and mobile apps are changing learning in the classroom. I was PUMPED when I read about the math and reading progress first graders made using a portable device called “Teacher’s Mate.” Kids went from below to above grade level using these tools – something the teacher readily admits she could not have accomplished on her own.

Review my presentation and white paper to see what competitors to the iPad are emerging – and how they will go beyond what the iPad can do today.  I see a future that is amazing in terms of opportunities to design learning that truly engages and is delivered in a far more palatable way than most learning is served up today. Click the image below to see a presentation I developed on this topic.

Mobile Devices Revolutionize Learning

The top features we need to see to be ready for the full impact that mobile devices can have on learning include:

• A touch screen interface (i.e. like the iPad).
• A screen that doubles the real estate available on most phones. (Like the e-readers on the market)
• Batter life that allows the device to be used for several hours each day without need for plugging in to re-charge. This ensures true portability and anytime/anywhere access.
• WiFI Internet capability for accessing content and for sharing content with others.
• An operating system that supports Flash and Windows. (The business world is PC and they need PC tools that mirror what they have on their desktops/laptops. Flash is what most websites are developed in – refusing to support Flash (as Apple has) means that users are cut off from a huge amount of content. It also limits content creation.)
• The capability to deliver media-rich experiences that immerse the user. The iPad gives us a glimpse of what’s possible. Compare the viewing experience of the USA Today newspaper between the iPad and the Kindle. There IS no comparison. The iPad delivers an amazing, interactive experience. The Kindle…delivers text.

HP plans to launch a direct competitor to the iPad this year – and it’s worth checking out. It will be a “true” computer that supports Windows 7 – and Flash. It’s battery life is about half of the iPad (5 hours as opposed to 10), but it packs far more power and opportunity into its package. nVidia, known for its stellar graphics cards, is ready to launch an application processor that should give hardware manufacturers a powerful tool for creating mobile devices that compete well against the iPad.

I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes nipping at the heels of the iPad. In the coming months, we are going to see learning be available in the palms of our hands. It will make current e-learning offerings look anemic and will push traditional classroom instruction even further back in our minds than it already is.

I’ve been reading tons of posts lately on “Learning 2.0.” Folks have been talking about “Web 2.0″ since 2004 – it’s taken the learning community until 2009 to get onto the band wagon. The big question everyone is asking is, “How can we use Learning 2.0/Web 2.0 to facilitate informal learning in our organization and enhance the formal stuff we do?” Interesting to me that the question is HOW and not SHOULD WE. (Okay…I know opportunities exist to leverage it – but I think people are trying everything without fully evaluating which options are BEST.)

Thus far, there doesn’t seem to be a huge consensus on what works, though there are lots of folks trying lots of things. One interesting post I came across today detailed a pilot project where a university professor decided to make use of Twitter a requirement for his Shakespeare class. He does a nice job outlining is pilot – and documenting the results he got.

His students were less than impressed by it. One big comment I noted as I reviewed his results was that, for most students, their preference was for Facebook. They weren’t resistant to social media tools for learning – just having to ADD another tool onto one they already used daily.

Any implications for corporate training?

I think so. I’ve long been concerned that we’re so gung-ho on using Learning 2.0 that no one is stopping to ask 1) how much is too much, and 2) what’s most viable and least intrusive to learners. People only have so much time. We want their social learning to be meaningful – not a burden. My biggest sensation after attending the MarchSALT conference was that people are trying everything…and finding that even our digital natives (those in their teens and 20s) aren’t embracing nearly as many tools as folks imagined they would.

I’d love to see a robust discussion of what works and what doesn’t. I’d particularly like to hear from LEARNERS THEMSELVES. That was the power of the Kingston University pilot. They spent a lot of time gathering data from the learners to find out how they perceived Twitter as a learning tool. There’s lots of learning designers who are raving about the potential – but less data from the perspective of learners who have leveraged Web 2.0 as part of a learning experience.

Let’s hear from the learners!

Most of my friends have a really hard time figuring out what I do for a living. Somehow, we started referring to it as a Chandler Bing job, because on Friends nobody could quite figure out what he did, either.

If you ask Wikipedia, Instructional Design (also called Instructional Systems Design (ISD)) is the practice of maximizing the effectiveness, efficiency and appeal of instruction and other learning experiences. I don’t use that at cocktail parties – for obvious reasons. Sometimes I tell people I write training – but that’s a pretty poor description of what I do, and it certainly doesn’t speak at all to how I add value.

I add value in four key ways

1. Identifying business drivers
2. Focusing on the course result
3. Understanding how adults learn
4. Knowing how technology can help

Identifying Business Drivers

The first question I ask when I sit down with someone who wants training is “why are you doing this project?” As often as not, if it’s someone I haven’t worked with before, I get sort of a quizzical look back. People will say something like “To provide training.” At which point I start asking why, usually more than once, until I get an answer that speaks to the overall goals of the business.

You see, I’m under no illusion that learning unlocks some sort of magic key to organizational success. Don’t get me wrong – I firmly believe that learning CAN be instrumental in business success. It’s just that I know for it to work, the information has to have a fundamental connection to the business problem you’re trying to solve. Training can only solve problems that are caused by people not knowing how to do something.

Once we have agreed that the problem we’re trying to solve CAN be solved by training, I start asking questions around what should be included in the training.

Focusing on the Course Results

When it comes to creating effective training, the experience most people have from school is less than helpful. In school, the goal is learning for the sake of learning. When people write papers for school, the more background and peripheral information they put in, the better their grade will be.

This model doesn’t carry over into the business world. These days, there is more information available on a topic than is really useful. I help clients focus in on what their learners need to know, do, and believe to reach those business results we identified earlier. The typical subject matter expert wants to include far more information in the course than the typical learner will ever use. I add value by helping them narrow their focus to just those pieces that actually tie to the overall results the course is supposed to deliver.

Understanding How Adults Learn

Even though we learn new things every day, most people don’t put much thought into how learning works and. Instructional designers put not only thought, but study into figuring out how to make learning efficient. Because let’s face it – to be valuable to an organization, learning through training has to be faster and more effective than just allowing people to figure things out on their own. Otherwise, I have no shot at showing the return on investment that’s so important to businesses.

I do that in a lot of ways, like organizing information into logical chunks. Making sure the language and information is appropriate to the learners. Providing effective practice opportunities so learners can see the consequences of different actions in a safe environment.

Knowing How Technology Can Help

Technology is not always helpful. Like training, there are some problems it will not solve. And the much-vaunted “cool factor” – the theory that learners will stick around for information just because it’s presented using new technology –isn’t actually credible

That said, the list of technologies useful for learning is constantly growing. One of my favorite things about working for BLP is that my colleagues and I are always evaluating new technologies, and finding ways to use them to make learning more effective for our clients.

My job will never be as easy to explain as “fireman” or “accountant”. Still, that minor difficulty explaining what I do doesn’t bother me at all, given how fun I get to have doing it every day.

Headed to the ISPI conference in a few weeks? Be sure to check out “Learning Technologies: Finding the Right Fit.” Nancy Harkness, BLP’s Learning Services Director, is conducting a 40-minute session on evaluating technology for use in learning. She’ll walk through BLP’s scan and focus evaluation process. She’ll also discuss some of the most common Web 2.0 tools and their potential use in learning. As part of the session, you will get a copy of the evaluation tool to use within your organization.

Her session is one of nearly 200 education and networking sessions at THE Performance Improvement Conference in San Francisco. This year’s conference focuses on adapting to the current external environmental forces and applying and implementing innovations. If you’re in California April 19-22, be sure to say hello to Nancy.

For more information on Nancy’s session or the entire ISPI conference, visit http://www.ispi.org/content.aspx?id=866&linkidentifier=id&itemid=866.