eLearning

elearning Mistakes > Tip 2 - Do It Learning to Keep the End in Mind

2011-09-23T10:39:00.031-04:00

This is another post in the continuing series on what I believe buyers of eLearning often get wrong. As a "survivor" in the online learning industry for last 20 years, I've noticed some recurring trends and misconceptions that I would like to share some insights on, from a "vendor's" perspective.

Tip #2: "Remember the real end product"

Like other vendors, we are often sent requests for proposals (RFP) or are contacted by prospective clients who tell us they need an eLearning course. Often, they contact several vendors, giving all of us the same requirements: they need a course that's a virtual office environment, like Second Life, where learners choose avatars and explore different environments... oh yes, and the course needs to be on marketing.

Often, vendors will take this information and scramble to respond, by pitching virtual worlds of "lip synching" avatars and full fidelity simulations. Not surprisingly, when the client evaluates these proposals, they get sticker shock when they see the high price tag. As a result, the client may lose enthusiasm and put the project on indefinite hold. Or, the client may select the lowest bidder, move into production, only to discover six months and countless dollars later that they can't measure a return on the investment (ROI).

Begin with the end in mind

One of Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" states that we should "begin with the end in mind." For any type of learning design, it's critical to remember that the true "end product" is not a virtual world, talking avatars or even an eLearning course at all. It's a learner who knows or can do something they couldn't do before the experience — something that directly aligns with a business need or objective that can be measured.

In this hypothetical example, the end product should have been a successful marketing manager. The experience needed to make sure the learner understands and can follow the process of market analysis, aligning with finance and creating test market plans. All of this might be best accomplished through a simulation, but perhaps not. Without fully understanding the learning gap and the problems within the organization, a vendor might just create the virtual world the client asked for, only to miss the mark on the real end product. A lose-lose.

If clients would invite vendors in to help determine what the problem is, then propose the recommended solution, this misalignment would happen less often.

Case Study — "Do It" Learning

At Digitec, we had a client who wanted an online course to teach search engine optimization (SEO). Instead of proposing a solution, right off, we met with the client several times to find out what the true end product needed to be. The "final product" was a business owner or marketer who understood SEO and could perform web site analysis related to their industry in order to create an effective SEO Web Strategy Document.

Other factors? The budget was tight and the content was very prone to frequent change. Knowing this, our solution was to use Knowledge Direct to create a series of PowerPoint modules that served as the tutorials. These short modules included animations, audio narration and embedded videos.

Using Knowledge Direct, we developed a constructivist learning approach. We uploaded the PowerPoint .pptx files into the built-in rapid content authoring tool within Knowledge Direct. Then we used the "Do It!" doc features within Knowledge Direct to enable learners to create their own SEO Web Strategy Document while they are learning. Do It! is a cloud-based "workbook-style" document creation tool. The feature enables a Knowledge Direct administrator to create document frameworks, then choose where to insert specific prompts within a module. Learners then respond to these prompts while they take the course content, to create their own final product.

Within a module — Demystifying SEO, for example, the learner used the embedded Do It! doc to answer questions and help them formulate their strategy by creating and researching their own search terms.

Throughout the course, the responses were redisplayed, so the learner could revise and refine their approach. Ultimately, at the end of the course, learners had completed their own SEO Web Strategy Document which they could export to Word, .pdf, email or access online. For the client, the end product was an easy-to-update course which enabled them to view detailed reporting, as well as view and comment on the learner's actual web optimization strategy.

Why this worked...

In this example, the final product was not extremely flashy or expensive. The modules did not include virtual worlds, and there were no lip-synched avatars. But the project was produced well under the client's budget, is simple for the client to update in-house using PowerPoint, and enables a coach to measure the effectiveness by accessing the learner's actual Web Strategy Document — the true end product.

I'd like to hear your "finished product" story. Please comment to this post. Let me know if you like to learn more about Do It learning.

What eLearning Clients Get Wrong

2011-07-22T10:46:00.016-04:00

A vendor's take on choosing the right vendor

Choosing an e-Learning vendor is no easy task. It seems as though anyone who can create a PowerPoint file is an eLearning vendor. And even though there is a science to instructional design and effective visual and user interface design, my prediction is that if a client chose half a dozen vendors for the same project, they'd end up with six different products that would not even resemble one another. A successful eLearning project should be a creative project, and so there is definitely an element of risk and uncertainty involved when choosing a vendor. So it's not surprising that clients can get it wrong.

In the next several posts, I'd like to make some suggestions and offer tips for training managers or directors doing vendor selection, based on observations over the last couple of decades in eLearning, working on projects that were stellar successes and others that... weren't.

Tip #1: Never say: "I don't want you learning on my project."

The statement seems reasonable. When selecting a vendor, you want to know they have experience. But think about this. When you start a new initiative within your organization, do you instantly "stop learning" and only work based on what you know from your last project? Probably not. Successful companies, like successful individuals continue to learn, daily, and you should encourage potential vendors to innovate.

Case study on the benefits of learning on a project

In my murky past, we were contacted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Florida. The organization needed a way to train and certify counselors who were responsible for assessing at-risk children, in terms of their mental health and the severity of their disorders. Originally, the organization was sending a training staff around the state to conduct half-day workshops, then administering the certification exam.

During these visits, DCF found that many counselors assessed the same child differently. They were not necessarily rating the child consistently, and as a result, the assessments could be considered unreliable.

The client wanted a simulation, with the counselor interviewing a random mix of children. During the rating stage, counsellors were provided feedback when their rating went outside the norm for that issue. The client wanted the simulation to provide practice and virtual coaching, then a standard certification exam to enable counselors to practice and certify on their own.

At the time, I had never designed a simulation like this. In fact, this was in the mid-90s, and very few web-based simulations were even being done. The standard internet connection was 28.8K dial-up, and the development tool was Allaire's ColdFusion.

Why that project worked

DCF was a smart client. Since this technology and approach was truly cutting-edge, they didn't expect to see a finished product before choosing us as a vendor. Instead, our client expected that we'd be "learning" on her project.

The outcome? The project was a huge success, saving tens of thousands of dollars annually on travel alone, but more importantly, providing the reporting to show that state-wide, counselors had far improved their ability to rate consistently.

Were their bumps in the road? Absolutely. Admittedly, we never anticipated so much traffic to the application around the same time of year. The certifications needed to be renewed on a specific date, and the counselors (like most of us would) waited until the last minute. The traffic clobbered the server, until we could up-size to larger capacity and meet the need.

The bottom line is that the issues created by the "learning curve" on the project paled in comparison to the return-on-investment (ROI) to the organization. Had our client insisted that we not learn on her project, this success would never have been realized.

For better or worse, we've chosen a field that is in constant change. If you embrace it and demand that your vendors "learn" on your project, you may be very pleasantly surprised.

Mobile Apps for Learning > Ode to the Low Tech

2011-06-28T11:05:00.009-04:00

With tablet technologies, the App Store, Android Market and so many technologies dominating the learning discussion these days, I wanted to tell a personal story of how the low-tech Apple iPod gave me insights into what we might be overlooking in a learning strategy: simplicity.

When I received my first iPod, my first chore was figuring out what to do with it. Tell me that some of you didn't (or don't) have a iPod somewhere at home gathering dust - especially now that our mobile devices store all our music, which will soon move to the cloud.

The paradigm shift for me came with the discovery of podcasts. What could be more low-tech? Audio recordings are downloaded to your iPod on a scheduled basis. Subscribers automatically get the latest downloads to listen to, when they want.

One of my goals has always been to learn Spanish, but I found it difficult to find classes that fit my schedule. I turned to Rosetta Stone, and while it was effective, I found that being "chained" to my computer was difficult to accommodate in my schedule, as well.

One thing, of course, I could always schedule was my Saturday morning 15 mile bike treks. So I started getting into the habit of strapping on my iPod when I strapped on my bike helmet. Finally, my iPod had a purpose! I'd synch my iPod to download the 80 or so Coffee Break Spanish lessons, then make my way through each one, episode by episode. I started with Lesson 1, three years ago, listening, unabashedly repeating the phrases to the wind, behind my dark sunglasses, babbling away on solitary bike trails in complete anonymity. If something didn't make sense, I'd simply reach across to my arm-tethered iPod, pause, replay, continue.

How simple and effective can you get? I suppose I must be an aural learner, because after numerous episode replays, I found myself memorizing Mark and Cara's dialog, verbatim. I was learning.

Why was the iPod so effective? I found out one Saturday morning, when my iPod was dead. So, instead, I brought along my iPhone. Same thing, right? Wrong. Now, when the podcast rattled away beyond my comprehension, I needed to unlock my phone, navigate to iTunes, pause the playback, then touch and drag on the timeline to try and replay what I'd missed. If you've ever tried this, you'll see that not only is it awkward, on bike at 15 MPH, it's dangerous.

Shortly after this experience, I worked with my developers to ensure that our eLearning platform automatically created podcast versions of our modules. It captures the audio from PowerPoint recordings and creates a combined audio podcast. Very simple. Very effective, especially for all of us aural learners.

Just recently, after three years, I've completed the Coffee Break Spanish series and am on to another series called Showtime Spanish. I've augmented my learning with continual evening classes in intensive Spanish and continue to work away at the higher levels on Rosetta Stone.

This post is merely to suggest that sometimes the most effective learning can come from the simplest sources.

This is also my "shout out" to Coffee Break Spanish. The series is free and incredibly well designed and presented.

eLearning or mobile learning: Integrated is the answer

2011-05-13T15:34:00.013-04:00

In past, I've discussed how many organizations are struggling to see where Mobile Learning or "mLearning" fits into an overall learning strategy. The answer from industry seems to be rolling out utilities that "convert" eLearning into mLearning. So now, modules published for an eLearning course are also ported out to the iPhone, iPad, Droid and other devices. Problem solved? No. Simply converting eLearning content to a mobile platform is not the solution. eLearning and mLearning take place in two drastically different contexts, which are often not compatible, regardless of what the file formats say. What is needed is an integrated approach between the two, where each delivers the right kind of content, based on its learning context and the learner expectation.

A Tale of Two Courses

The trend in "converting" eLearning into mLearning reminds me of the early days of web-based training. Back in the mid-90s, authoring tools like Macromedia Director and Authorware, which were great tools for producing CD-ROM-based courses, began offering "conversion utilities" to create web-based training. I still recall my first web-based training course, created in Authorware. It was horrible. The original course was great, obviously. Lots of multimedia, interactivity, a very engaging storyline. But it had no business being on the web.

At the time, most of us were accessing the web over very slow dial-up connections. Remember 14.4 KBps modems? So within this context, while the course did convert, it required a huge Authorware player download and suffered from numerous browser compatibility issues during playback. The results were not pretty, because the course was not designed to its context.

Yet, during this time, I did produce some successful web-based training courses. These were HTML-based, primarily simply text and graphics with some animation and lots of hypertexting. The course included less media, but downloaded very quickly, and supported the way people used the internet -- fast access to scannable, hyper-linked content.

The key difference between these courses was that the more effective one was designed in context - not converted out of context.

The "Great Expectations"

Designing in context has been the key in traditional publishing, as well. Back in the 19th Century, the Romantics were writing novels to appeal to the tastes of their consumers, so 500 pages of highly descriptive passages were all the rage. Authors like Dicken, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Jane Austin, adapted their writing to these generational tastes. Today, while these novels have been converted to eReaders, the most popular cultural trends are coming from Flash fiction, short films, YouTube videos -- all designed in context to high-bandwidth internet connections and a media-driven audience.

These shifts have also come to learning strategy. Anyone involved in training recognizes the generational shift in today's learner. While a passive "teacher-centric" model may have worked well in the past, today's learner wants interactive, "learner-centric" delivery. And these expectations are even greater for mLearning.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Context

e-Learning often occurs at the desktop or laptop, usually within a learner's workspace. In most cases, this context lends itself to focused engagement and learner reflection. There is a greater willingness to invest longer periods of time, as long as there is incremental and meaningful interactivity to keep the learner engaged.

Now look at a highly successful mobile app like "Angry Birds." It's completely interactive, player focused and continually engaging.

So what happens when you "convert" a good eLearning course for mobile delivery? The user who recently finished a game of Angry Birds is curious about your new mLearning app, so they open it and find content that has been converted from an eLearning course. Obviously, most learners aren't expecting "Angry Birds - the eLearning edition," but there are different expectations. And those same instructional design features that resulted in learner reflection and engagement just don't "play" on a mobile device. The context brings expectations, and these will not be met by most converted eLearning courses.

In the next few posts, I'll offer some design suggestions and case studies to continue exploring how to create effective mLearning in the context of this new world.

What have been your most successful "conversions?" Drop me a comment.

mobile learning Apps > statistics and trends

2011-03-24T17:29:00.008-04:00

Mobile Learning Apps: Statistics and Trends

With the explosive growth in mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets, mobile learning, or "mLearning" is a natural application for this new technology. With the portability that these devices now give us, we can access the right information, right when and where we need it. How many times have you turned to your cell phone, when you needed directions or wanted to find out how to fix a leaky sink? It's the perfect "learning" tool. Yet, many in the training and development industry are holding back on a mobile learning strategy, and I think that's a huge mistake.

Making the case for Mobile Learning

It's simple to make the business case for mLearning. Just look at the numbers. The growth is occurring so fast, that it's no longer feasible to expect our learners NOT to be mobile. How fast is it growing? Here are some statistics from "Mobile by the Numbers" posted by Mashable's Sarah Kessler:

* Of the 4 billion mobile phones globally, 1.08 billion are smart phones
* By 2014, access to the internet through mobile devices will overtake access from the desktop
* 50% of all searches are performed on mobile devices
* Americans spend an average 2.7 hours a day socializing on their mobile devices, which includes 1/3 of all Facebook posts and 50% of all tweets

What does this mean for learning? It's already happening out there, so don't expect your employees to go back to the desktop when it's "time to learn."

Where does mLearning fit?

Whether you offer mobile learning options through your corporate portal or not, your learners are already "mLearning". It's just that the process comes so naturally, we don't think to call it learning.

According to a 2008 eLearning Guild 360 degree Report on mLearning, here are the numbers on how it's being used today, according to a survey of eLearning Guild members:

1. On-demand access to information (64.1%)
2. Job aids and/or checklists (55.9%)
3. Procedures (51.4%)

While "training" did make this list as well, it was farther down, as it should be. Mobile devices and the explosion of wireless access everywhere opens up incredible possibilities for learning. Just because it doesn't reside on a corporate intranet or has been assigned to someone's learning plan, doesn't mean it isn't valid. As educators, shouldn't this be our goal? Continual learning?

I've heard from quite a few training and HR executives on mLearning. Many are saying something like: "We're not looking at mobile learning, right now. That's further downstream for us." My only response is to look out. The water is rising... and fast. You might not be ready, but believe me, your learners are.

eLearning > How to incorporate e-Learning 2.0 features

2011-01-28T14:58:00.015-05:00

Based on the results from the eLearning Guild’s recent survey “Getting Started with e-Learning 2.0,” it’s clear that the learning environment is changing. Organizations are struggling to redefine their learning strategies to accommodate more collaborative, user-focused approaches. What is “e-Learning 2.0,” and how can you reflect these tenets in your instructional design?

There are many interpretations of what “e-Learning 2.0” even means. If we broadly categorize it based on its “Web 2.0” predecessor, eLearning 2.0 means increasing social interaction, on-demand learning, and user-contributed content. So what are some practical ideas to reflect these?

As an adjunct college professor, I have been teaching online for the last six years. Since then, my “classroom” has been a laboratory where I’ve experimented with various e-learning 2.0 approaches. In addition, as Creative Director at Digitec, I’ve been able to implement e-Learning 2.0 techniques for corporate and association clients. In this first installment on a series, I want to discuss some simple, low costs ways to engage your learners and implement some of the most effective Web 2.0 features into your learning strategies.

Discussion forums. Low cost, low tech and simple to implement, the return on investment from discussions puts it top on my list. Learning is social, and often, we feel that in implementing eLearning, we lose interaction; however, a well constructed discussion forum can add and create real-time context and encourage connection and peer-learning. When you use the forum to elicit feedback from your learner, they can reflect on the learning experience, contribute content and connect to their peers.

Ideas: If you’re responsible for sales training, post the forum as a question to your learners to share their most successful “solution sales” technique or story. Often, these learners will be happy to brag and contribute their stories. This allows those learners to apply the learning objective in a contextual “reflexive” way, personally connecting with the content. This contribution also allows students to learn from one another, connecting with their peers and the content. You can also add forums to enable students to post their questions on the topic. Hopefully, common questions can be answered by your staff, once rather than numerous calls or confusion. A very practical technique to share with your learners is that a learner can often post a question and subscribe to that forum, so that they will be automatically notified when their question is answered.

Tips: Make sure that someone monitors the discussions to assure that learners aren’t communicating incorrect answers or deviating from the accepted policies. Also, to encourage use, it’s important that someone responds to posted questions. It’s a good idea to subscribe to the forum yourself, to ensure that questions don’t go unanswered.

Next post, I’ll be discussing how to use video in your eLearning 2.0 designs.
Want to share your eLearning 2.0 ideas? Post a comment.

How e-Learning 2.0 Will Transform Education

2010-11-29T18:13:00.008-05:00

The eLearning Guild recently released their “Getting Started with e-Learning 2.0” survey report, and the results serve as further evidence that the learning landscape is changing… and needs to.

The survey, based on the responses from 876 professionals from the eLearning Guild, asked about the use of Web 2.0 type applications in their learning programs. The survey also asked members how likely they are to begin incorporating these technologies in the future.

What is e-Learning 2.0?

The term “e-Learning 2.0” directly relates to “Web 2.0,” or the use of web-based collaborative tools or applications, such as wikis, blogs, YouTube or social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The results, at a glance:

70% of respondents said e-Learning 2.0 initiatives are somewhat or very worthwhile
50% reported needing to embrace these technologies to stay competitive
Larger organizations are making limited use of these resources, while smaller organization will be making significant use

How e-Learning 2.0 Will Transform How we Learn

Typically, educators have followed the expert-based model. Formal learning is typically designed and selectively organized by a teacher or instructional designer. The “course” is then presented outside the work environment, where learners passively consume this knowledge and demonstrate mastery by answering multiple-choice questions, a measurement rarely suitable for measuring competency.

The key feature of e-Learning 2.0 is that it encourages two-way communication; whereas, formal learning has been more one-way. So why is this significant?

You might be familiar with the Princeton University 70/20/10 learning model. This model states that 70% of learning and development happens on the job; 20% of learning occurs during feedback and observation of others; and only 10% of learning and development comes from formal learning. Simply stated, e-Learning 2.0 features better align with the 70/20/10 model by:

- Providing more two-way communication, while on-the-job
- Encouraging feedback from experts and others
- Allowing learners to observe others doing the job, through YouTube videos for example.

So, based on this 70/20/10 learning model, it makes sense that social media is well-suited for education. And with the continued growth of mobile devices and the speed of change, learners will expect learning resources that provide solutions to their problems, whenever and wherever they are. So how do we adapt learning to meet these expectations?

Be sure to read my next post, where I’ll feature some specific ways that you can implement the most popular e-Learning 2.0 features into your learning strategy.

Are you providing any e-Learning 2.0 features in your organization? How successful do you think they are? Leave a comment and share your advice.

Mobile learning using PowerPoint > Then and Now

2010-10-11T13:27:00.011-04:00

How times change. Last post, Game-based learning > mobile apps, I recalled how our earliest application for mobile learning (mLearning) was dismissed by eLearning thought leaders in 2003. Back then, despite the growth of WEP-enabled cell phones and the Palm OS personal digital assistants (PDA), there just weren't enough handsets out there to justify mLearning delivery or support, and so, it failed.

The recent release of the iPad is a sign that things are changing... fast. A CNBC report cited the iPad as the most quickly adopted non-phone electronic device ever! And despite the fact that growth has slowed, somewhat, mobile adoption of the Droid and iPhone 4 continue to build. The bottom line is that these consumers will expect to be able to take their learning on these devices.

There is no doubt, now, that mLearning is here. The key now is to make sure that the learning will be ready to support the variety of mobile devices, including the Droid, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and all the rest and will be easily supported.

Instead of the Digitec "skunk works" here dreaming up another content management system (CMS) approach to creating mLearning, our mLearning solution was to adapt our existing tools to accommodate the new technology, to provide simple cross-platform delivery and support.

Knowledge Direct is now mLearning compatible. Our Direct-to-WEB rapid eLearning content creation tool not only allows you to create game-based learning using PowerPoint, but it ports directly out to iPhone, iPad, Droid, Blackberry, as well as PodCast versions of the eLearning.

Now, learners can log into Knowledge Direct, take their modules and complete their assessments, all from their mobile device.

It's really interesting how times change. When I look back at the "failure," of our initial mLearning app, I have to remind myself that Apple's first mobile device was actually the Newton. Anybody remember that?

Game-based learning > mobile apps

2010-08-27T13:39:00.012-04:00

When it comes to Mobile Learning, or mLearning as it's become known, it's amazing how quickly attitudes change. Today, with the staggering growth of iPad and iPhone apps, the learning community is scrambling to apply the new technology. But that hasn't always been the case.

Back in 2002, my company released a product called "Knowledge Direct PDA." One of my genius coders, Michael Roberts, engineered a web app that enabled administrators to log in, create modules of content, and assign tests and interactive checklists.

Learners could login from any WEP-enabled cell phone (preferably a PDA), access the modules and complete the assigned tests and checklists. It seemed to us as though the benefits of the application were obvious. For the employee, they had instant access to content wherever they were. For administrators, test scores and task completion reporting could be wirelessly transmitted back to the server or updated during the next synch. To us, this product was the next logical step in combining "learning on demand" with mobile performance support.

In 2003, we presented the product to the eLearning Consortium - a group of about a 100 or so thought leaders from mostly Fortune 500 companies led by Elliott Masie. No one was interested. Despite being members of the leading-edge learning technology consortium, not a single attendee had any plans for mobile learning.

A recent article by Fast Company magazine describes how receptive kids are to mLearning. Whether teaching themselves the alphabet with First Words or playing KidsCalc Math Fun, they get it. Granted, our first-gen mobile app didn't compare with Clifford's Be Big with Words app, but I sometimes wonder how different things might have been if I had been pitching to a roomful of seven-year-olds. "The Child is the Father of Man."

Let's hope that the latest onslaught of technology has made us all a little more receptive to recognizing what might appear to be a crazy idea.

What's your favorite mLearning app? I'm pretty addicted to the PromeToys' Spanish Conjugations for the iPhone.

The Nausea of Disruptive Learning Technologies

2010-07-19T12:45:00.003-04:00

Clive Sheperd's blog posting on "A solution looking for a problem?" really hit home.

Never before can I remember the release of so many disruptive technologies that directly affect learning. With new tools emerging such as mobile delivery, rapid development, Second Life-style immersive experience, and augmented reality… how do we know which are going to be the best fit for learning?

I often see learning professionals put off making a decision, waiting for more certainty. The point I think Sheperd is making is that we so often address these technologies by looking for the problems they solve, and so each new technology is seen as a new "solution looking for a problem." But I agree that's the wrong direction. Our only real problems are those that affect us: What hinders our learning community? What inspires our learners? How can we give them what they need, when they need it? How can we integrate technology, whatever it may be, so transparently that it doesn't "disrupt" their lives? We need to remember these problems when choosing technologies.

Still this requires analyzing so many new technologies. As an eLearning solution provider, walking an exhibition floor at Learning conferences can be disorienting. It reminds me of that scene in "Nauseau" by Jean-Paul Sartre, where the main character suddenly realizes how many choices there truly are in life. The character becomes literally ill when recognizing the sheer number of possibilities in life. Should I invest in a technology? Which one? What if it's the wrong choice? Will it survive?

These are the same concerns we had in the early days of interactive learning --with interactive videodisc, LAN servers, TenCore, Icon Author... and then Macromedia Authorware, and Director. But back then, technology felt more exciting. This was when the term "multimedia maven" became popular, and there was such anticipation with each new product or version release, because each represented some new possibility that it might solve our problems.

I think we need to view this new world with an old eye toward potentiality. As educators living amid so much disruptive technology, it is our responsibility to be aware of the latest technology, embrace those we really believe in, and then start applying the technology to create solutions to our real problems.

Knowledge Direct Now Intergrates with Twitter

2010-05-25T13:30:00.017-04:00

Social learning is nothing new.

In fact, an estimated 70% of what we learn, we learn NOT in the class, but from one another.

Social networking isn't new, either. Twitter actually began in 2006, but since then, its growth has been exponential. According to Kevin Weil of the Twitter Analytics team, there are roughly 50 million tweets per day. In fact, between 2008 and 2009, Twitter increased 1,400%.

What is new

... is that Digitec has taken these two established ideas and created a social learning component for the new version of Knowledge Direct, Digitec's highly innovated learning platform. But instead of learners needing to create new profiles and "feed" yet another social networking site, Knowledge Direct® integrates directly with Twitter. Now, learners can follow others within their organization or student profiles, using an embedded live Twitter feed.
This social learning feature even gives users the ability to pose questions and receive "near" real-time answers from selected peer groups; directly from the Knowledge Direct desktop.

Now that's something worth tweeting about!

I'm interested in hearing how others are using social learning to solve real problems or how you feel about social learning, in general. Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

Microlearning > CLO Magazine Interview

2010-04-30T13:43:00.014-04:00

In its July issue, CLO Magazine will be featuring a story on the eLearning trend towards microlearning. As part of that issue, I was interviewed on my perspective on microlearning and what the buzz is all about. Here are a few Q&As for a preview on the topic and my philosophy on microlearning.

What is microlearning?

Microlearning is an instructional design methodology that promotes just-in-time or on-demand learning. Influenced by the Google generation, it is designed to be very short, providing quick bursts of learning on a very focused topic.

How did microlearning come to be?

Microlearning has evolved from a more traditional "expert-based" model, where a subject-matter-expert (SME) dictates the content, as well as the context, and scope & sequence. In contrast, microlearning is more like "self-serve" education. It was definitely influenced by the internet and search engine approaches, where users can search, retrieve and use the content.

What broad trends facilitated the increasing adoption of microlearning?

Three things: smarter search engines, the rise of "user-generated" content, and mobile technology. It used to be that learning resided in mysterious repositories, whose secrets were only unlocked by highly trained academics or subject matter experts. As the internet and smarter search engines have opened and "deregulated" these repositories, it has made content more accessible to everyone. Also, digital media and tools have made it easier for anyone to post and disseminate content. The "democratization" of content, through user-generated repositories, like blogs, wikis, file sharing sites, etc has made information more accessible to everyone, with instant access. And with the 3G revolution, now many people use their cell phones and portable appliances more readily than a computer, and microlearning provides shorter and more accessible delivery to these devices.
Once these walls starting falling down, many progressive organizations are saying "why not embrace it".

What purpose does microlearning serve?

When it comes right down to it, the goal of education is problem solving. If a learner can react to a situation, respond by searching and retrieving a piece of content, just-in-time, and then apply that learning to solve the problem. Isn't that the goal of education?

How can microlearning be used in organizations?

For the learner, ad-hoc microlearning can be very effective. When it's designed right, it's short, sweet, tailored to just what the learner wants, when they want it. But for the organization, it's important to create learning that adapts to this style while also tracking access and consumption, for planning, resource management, compliance, a hundred reasons.

So microlearning needs to be embraced by the organization. We need to relinquish some control over the content, and start creating learning that meets this need and encourages its use.

It would also be helpful to take a page from Web 2.0 technologies, employing search strategies like those used by Amazon, recommending other relevant resources, based on the search criteria. To do this, we need reporting to track access and patterns, so we can predict and suggest other related modules to serve the learner more completely. This way, learners can "create their own learning" but do it within pre-determined but adaptable parameters or profiles.

Is there value in microlearning?

Right now, when I talk to trainers, who continue to teach in a traditional corporate learning environment or in a classroom, the passive, one-way delivery of content is becoming more and more ineffective. The next generation is now, and learners are demanding more relevance and application.

Learning needs to happen when a subject comes into contact with just the right content at just the right time. Microlearning can do this extremely well. While not always the right answer to a training need, microlearning can be extremely valuable for teaching specific, stand-alone topics - a "Frequently Asked Questions" approach to learning.

What are some of the challenges or things learning leaders should watch out for when implementing enterprise microlearning?

It's important to insist of quality, accuracy and good instructional design. Micro-learning development needs to be looked at in context to larger organizational needs. Developers need to avoid arbitrarily create resources. The same discipline and planning needs to be conducted in choosing and creating the resources, but instead of developing larger courses, we need to assess specific needs, based on usage and organizational needs, then design shorter, more focuses topics, that can stand alone, apart from a broader context.

Also, it's still important to create the resources within a learning repository to more easily track and maintain them. Also, it's important to focus on the "skill". Include the enabling objectives within the content delivery, but keep microlearning task-focused, so that learners are still hands-on in learning.

Many organizations adopted microlearning tools during the recession because it's relatively cost-effective. Do you think enterprise micro-learning is just a fad or does it have staying power?

Microlearning needs to have staying power. Now that the "genie is out of the bottle," learners will continue to demand learning that's relevant, focused and just-in-time. Since the goal of education is problem solving, we as educators need to adapt to this learning styles, providing the best possible tools to serve the learner.

What's your take on microlearning? I'd be interested in your comments and viewpoints.

What does the LMS of the Future Look Like?

2010-03-30T16:31:00.004-04:00

Last week, Digitec moderated a lively session at the Learning Solutions 10 Conference in Orlando, sponsored by the eLearning Guild.

The session was an open forum to discuss the features that a "Learning Management System of the Future" might have. As the scribe for this session, I organized the session feedback and brainstorming into these main areas.

1. Talent Management - the group recognized the fact that there is a large group of "Baby Boomers" about to hit retirement age. How will the next generation workforce be developed, when mentors and coaches are dwindling? Talent Management was seen as a way for workers to be assigned to profiles, which document their learning needs, then track their progress and development, tailoring new learning as they progress in the organization and in their role assignments. These features should enable administrators to use the LMS for succession planning and resource management, as well.

2. Social Networking - since an estimated 70% of what we learn occurs "on the job" from our peers, eLearning is the perfect candidate for social networking. The features could include SMS texting to pose questions and get answers, instantly, as well as integration with Twitter to broadcast and receive real-time answers, globally. While there are corporate network security issues to be resolved, social networking was a "must have" on the list for the future.

3. Content Management - with information constantly changing, rapid eLearning "content" creation was high on the list, but this content still needs to be managed. This function really transforms the LMS into a Learning Content Management System (LCMS). The LCMS will need to centralize and track this content, so that as changes occur and eLearning is updated, those changes can be filtered across versioned content delivered through mobile devices, within performance support systems, wikis, etc. In addition, the "LMS" of the Future will need to address change management, so that as content changes, these downstream instances can be found and updated as well. This approach was thought to help address the problem of "silos of content" that become difficult to manage within an enterprise.

4. Workflow Management - there was much discussion on the process of creating eLearning and how a future LMS might be able to facilitate that process. The discussion led to features that would enable reviewers and subject matter experts (SMEs) to be assigned courses, while in development. This role would have the ability to review course content, then insert comments on a screen as well as potentially make the content changes, themselves, following a "wiki" style of editorial control. The LMS could also support more real-time collaboration, where comments are viewed by all reviewers, tracked and approved more quickly and easily.

5. eLearning and Performance Support - the LMS of the future might also reflect a new model for learning that incorporates both eLearning instruction and performance support, so that eLearning modules might allow you to perform a job or create a product during the instruction. This would be the ultimate constructivist learning approach.

6. Mobile Learning - even today, more and more LMSs are supporting smart phones, providing alternative versions of online eLearning that can be taken on a mobile device. Again, this implies a Learning "Content" Management System (LCMS) approach, where eLearning content is available in a variety of portable formats and platforms.

While there were many more features discussed, there appeared to be general consensus within these six categories -- now comes the fun part for us developers - making this future vision a reality.

If you have feedback on any of these or some suggestions for the list, please leave a comment.

Avatar - maybe not yet for elearning

2010-02-15T10:29:00.002-05:00

Are your learners ready to enter the world of "Avatar"?

A recent article in Learning Solutions magazine - "Learners' Love/Hate Relationship with 3-D Virtual Worlds" suggests maybe not.

The article describes a research study that included 300 students in a college-level Financial Accounting course that used the virtual world - Second Life to teach accounting.

While the participants were considered "Next Gen" students - 18-22 years old, many found the experience disorienting and were frustrated by performance and technical glitches. And Second Life has a steep learning curve, so the reports suggests that it may be better for longer course experiences - like full term college courses.

Ironically, what participants found most useful in the experience was the interactive accounting model and the instructional videos, both of which really have little to do with the 3-D immersive world but simply good instructional design features. These components could be delivered through traditional learning platforms, just as effectively.

Are there successful Second Life style, avatar-based learning experiences?

Digitec attends Association for Continuing Medical Education Conference

2010-01-20T11:37:00.008-05:00

Digitec is launching our new Knowledge Direct MEDICAL learning management system next week at the Association for Continuing Medical Education conference in New Orleans.

If you're attending the conference, please stop by our booth and say hello!

I am also pleased to share with you an interview with Jeff Cobb of Tagoras. They are the firm that conducts the annual Association Learning Management Systems report. Jeff interviewed me a few weeks ago about Digitec, what is driving the industry today and where the industry is heading.

Have a listen and let me know what you think...

http://www.tagoras.com/2010/01/06/association-lms-digitec-interactive/

Shakespeare Goes Interactive

2009-12-19T14:49:00.010-05:00

Digitec developed and just recently launched an innovative course for Florida Virtual School. The Virtual Globe Theatre features the Bard himself, William Shakespeare as the guide for this English IV online course. The interactive games are used as part of the course for junior and senior level high school students.

In each level of the game, the player tries to secure a position within the Globe's resident company of performers, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (and later, the King's Men). During the game, the player explores the areas of the theatre, attempting to solve riddles posed by the Bard. Players interact with actors, patrons and even Shakespeare during the three levels of the game.

The game is rendered in Flash. The script is a mix of Shakespearean iambic pentameter and Elizabethan-era prose to pull players right back into the era of the Globe. Supporting information for the training is in modern English, providing clues and in-depth information about the society and time, including supplemental details about the Globe. Players immerse themselves in the complete Globe experience.

We had a great time developing this course as many of us are great fans of the Bard. In this instance, it was exciting to combine proven learning theory with technology and history to engage today's youth in learning opportunities.

Let me know what you are doing with learning theory and technology. Are you developing new and exciting courses? How are you incorporating them into your learning management systems? Facing roadblocks?

EDUPUNK - Reinventing Education

2009-10-29T13:35:00.008-04:00

Just recently ran across an article in one of the latest issues of FastCompany magazine, called: "How web-savvy edupunks are transforming American higher education."

This is definitely a must-read for those of us passionate about reinventing education and the idea of continuing education. There's finally beginning to be a groundswell, and it's very exciting to see this happening. Let your edupunk flag fly!

Check it out and let me know what you think.

How to Create Effective AND Engaging Learning Games

2009-04-29T15:26:00.006-04:00

I co-presented a session at the eLearning Gathering in Orlando in March and at the eLearning Guild Online Forum last month on "How to Create Effective AND Engaging Learning Games.

My co-presenter was Ron Weaver, who teaches at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), a graduate videogame design school at the University of Central Florida. FIEA is an accredited Master's degree in interactive entertainment. It was really interesting collaborating with Ron on this session, since his perspective on game play and game design comes from a commercial game development world.

Even though I come from an educational game background, it was really interesting how similar our philosophies on engagement are.

So, how do you create effective and engaging learning games? The strategies include:

- Focusing on gameplay first, then the course content
- Embedding lessons into the gameplay
- Using simulation to focus only on what needs to be taught

Focusing on gameplay first, then course content

This is probably contrary to everything we've learned as instructional designers. But the issue with focusing on the specific content first is that we instinctively begin creating a "scope and sequence" or a flow to the content. This usually results in linear (and boring) game. Instead, this first rule of engaging gameplay is to find the verb. What do you need the player to be able to know or (preferably) do at the end of the level or game? This outcomes-based approach focuses on the ends instead of the means. The idea is that if the player needs to be able to design and launch a new product, then the game play needs to allow the player do this. Once you think about it from a performance objectives perspective, then this starts to make sense. The argument will be: "But they don't know how to do that!" Which leads into the next strategy.

Embedding lessons into the gameplay

With the performance objectives identified, now you create the game design to "teach" through play. To do this, you may need to break your performance objectives down into more discrete tasks: "Be able to identify a product need", "Determine your target demographic" etc. This will allow you to "embed" the enabling objectives into the level. This sounds easier than it is, of course. I recommend several brainstorming sessions, where you walk through potential use-cases or "game plays" so you can create meaningful interactions - interactions that enable the player to fail (in a fun way) and to get immediate feedback on what works and why. Now, some learners will get very frustrated with this "fail forward" approach to learning, so I suggest creating "embedded" linear tutorials that present the information in a more conventional way. This will accommodate those who just don't like to learn through immersive play, but may like more casual style games.

Using simulation to focus only on what needs to be taught

This is the toughest strategy to follow. When you are developing an instructional game, there will be reviewers or people on your team who will want to simulate everything. This not only takes countless development hours, but can also squeeze the life out of your game. As a game, it doesn't need to be realistic. The learning just needs to be accurate. So does it matter that that the player can choose the 20 or so strategic factors for a new product? Or can you have them select three and achieve the learning just as well? That's the question you need to keep in mind as you design.

If anyone has any examples of how they've achieved effective AND engaging learning games, please drop me a note. If it's okay, I'd like to share those best practices on this blog.

sales training > using eLearning for customer acquisition

2008-12-31T14:17:00.015-05:00

If you are only using eLearning inside your organization - for employee training, compliance training, etc., you may be missing out on a valuable revenue generation resource.

In a Brandon Hall 2004 independent research study, organizations who used eLearning for sales training showed an increase in sales by 30% and a Return on Investment (ROI) of up to 100%.

If eLearning is this successful for sales training, how can you use it to attract and retain customers? By using your eLearning outside your organization, you can not only improve sales, but also acquire new and better educated customers.

Sales training model

Traditionally, sales training has been used only to assist the sale. Certainly, training is a proven way to help sales become educated on your products, industry topics and sales strategies. But the sales person is still responsible for retaining, filtering, retrieving and applying this information in the appropriate context. In today's rapidly changing world, this can be a challenge.

Customer acquisition model

How can you use eLearning to more effectively support the sale and acquire new customers? Let's use a pharmaceutical company as an example. In the customer acquisition model, eLearning is used inside and outside the organization, from sales training to sales performance support to customer training. The customer acquisition model leverages eLearning and applies the technology across all three facets of the sales process. The model involves three steps:

Assist the sale - one-to-one targeted prescriptive eLearning for sales training
Involve the sale - just-in-time learning approaches & performance support tools
Inform the sale - highly targeted end-user learning for customers: physicians and their patients

Assist the sale

Suppose an organization releases a new product related to oncology. It's critical that the sales force is aware of the product and that they understand when and how to offer it to which doctors.

First off, the product affects only one division and a specific segment of that division's sales force. Since they are the one who will be selling the product, you need to target the learning to that audience.

To speed development, your training staff creates the product training as a series of short, eLearning modules, using templates and standardized development tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint. This learning template approach enables your in-house trainers to focus less on technology and more on content, instructional design and rapid production and distribution.

To effectively assist the sale, the modules are exported to a variety of portable formats, including web, CD-ROM, MP3 audio files, and mobile learning that can be taken on a cell phone or portable device.

The modules are published to an eLearning portal, and the assigned sales representatives are automatically alerted on the new product training. They then access the portal and take the modules, at their convenience. This approach creates a more targeted, highly personalized, one-to-one training plan, based on user profiles.

Using a targeted learning portal, the training is targeted, relevant and available when sales needs it.

Involve the sale

ELearning offers the convenience and standardized delivery that gives learners access to content, anytime. But with mobile connectivity and portability, eLearning now becomes performance support, as well.

During a five-minute sales call, the physician has questions on the new product. Is it right for her patients? Here, our sales rep Gloria uses her WAP-enabled cell phone to access the training modules and quickly search and retrieve details to answer the doctor's questions, right in the office.

Inform the Sale

The final step in the customer acquisition model shares the eLearning with the appropriate customers and prospective customers. When the company's training staff produced the sales training, they also created an edited version of the assigned modules suitable for the end-user, the patient, in this example. These eLearning tutorials are tagged as "customer friendly resources." They are also assigned to the most appropriate learner profiles, such as oncology, obstetrics, etc.

Since these modules were developed by the training staff as subsets of the original eLearning content, they provide a consistent follow-up message for a doctor and a resource she can use for her patients.

Here's how it works. On her way back to the office, Gloria stops off for coffee. Using the wireless connection, she accesses her eLearning portal, remotely.

Gloria follows-up from this morning's office visit by assigning the "customer friendly" modules to an eLearning portal branded for Dr. Harris’ practice.

By noon, Dr. Harris receives an e-mail from Gloria, thanking her for her time and providing a link to the tailored eLearning site, providing more information on the product they were discussing this morning.

Dr. Harris follows the link and takes the module, which answers her remaining questions. She can also forward the link on to her patients.

Power of the customer acquisition model

Typically, we've reserved eLearning for inside the organization. But the customer acquisition model leverages your eLearning technology investment to benefit both the organization and the customer.

Your sales force benefits from more tailored just-in-time learning, along with corresponding performance support tools.

By offering eLearning to your customer's customers, you can increase the odds of acquiring new customers, while helping educate and retain your existing customers, as well.

Contact me, if you are interested in more information on how to implement this model in your organization. Knowledge Direct has all these features built-in to the portal, so you can start gaining more customers and better serving the ones you already have.

DEVLEARN08>DevLearn08>Game Design Document Samples

2008-11-19T15:20:00.009-05:00

Just got back from DevLearn08 in San Jose, California. The conference was really well-attended. I brought back some great ideas, met some new people and gained some insight into the science of play.

Moneytopia - An Immersive Learning Simulation

We presented a session called "Immersive Learning Simulations," and it seemed to be a big success. We showed "Moneytopia - the Big Dream," an immersive learning simulation we produced for FINRA. The personal finance game was modeled after the Sims and the Game of Life. Players choose an avatar to play in the game, choose their friends who will provide advice along the way, then outfit their world in the Dream Machine. The Dream Machine is this big vending machine in the sky, where players can purchase their home, car, furniture, TV, PC, as well as their "Big Dream." Time is accelerated in the game, so if the player lives beyond his/her means, the Repo Man cometh and taketh everything away. If the player runs out of money and out of time, they lose the game. But stay on budget and on track for retirement and they win their Big Dream and the game.

Ruining People's Lives at DemoFest

The game was selected for this year's DemoFest, and I had a blast ruining people's lives. DevLearn attendees would unwittingly wander by Table 5, and I'd set them up in the game. First they'd pick an avatar with a modest $30,000 annual income, and then I'd take them through the Dream Machine. We'd choose the mansion to live in, the expensive Italian sports car, the fancy bling, and before you knew it, they were thrown out Moneytopia. It was great fun. How often do you get to make all those bad decisions?

And I think that's the fun of an immersive learning simulation. You can learn a lot by losing, big. It was interesting too when we'd play another round, those same players would instinctively be more cautious about their purchases, checking their finances, reviewing the tutorials, blah, blah, blah. That made it a little less fun for me, but I wonder if that meant that the game made a bit of an impact. Will those players think twice before buying the 60" Flat panel I picked out for them? It's hard to tell. The problem with game-based learning, and any kind of learning program, is that it's difficult to measure long-term behavior change, and since that's what really matters, we constantly need to seek out research.

Sample Design Documents for Immersive Learning Simulations

Since designing immersive learning simulations is so different than designing traditional elearning, I've uploaded a couple of documents to help instructional designers create game design documents and instructional design documents. Feel free to use these and tailor them to your projects.

game-based learning > cooperative play for learning

2008-09-15T14:51:00.003-04:00

Team Training - a perfect fit for Co-Op Play

So we've made some projections of what the future might hold for e-Learning. This is a posting on what we can do today to implement some game-play features into eLearning, specifically focusing on 'cooperative play' or co-op. The military has actually been using co-op 'play' for years, but now we're at a place where we can perhaps take this technique out of the multi-million dollar simulator and onto the web.

Video-based Co-Op - where it began

Years ago, I worked on a project for the Army, where special forces teams practiced resolving hostage situations using a full video-based simulation. The environment included video sequences where the "bad guys" would emerge from doorways or from behind crates in a warehouse environment. I think there was a James Bond film that was something like this (Life imitates Art.) When the mission starts, the team has to take cover, separate and shoot at the virtual "bad guys" in a team environment. The computer system tracked the shots fired to assess how well the team performed.

Co-Op in the game world

In the game world, co-op play enables players on a team to cooperatively compete for a common goal, which makes this type of gameplay a perfect fit for immersive game-based learning. A good example of the power of co-op gameplay is Valve’s Half-Life series; in the two-player co-op mode, players must decipher puzzles and problems while a split-screen allows them to be in two different areas of the game world at once. The two players cannot advance or learn anything new in the game unless the two of them work together.

Imagine this in the context of e-Learning. Groups of learners or students could log into the same game world or environment, and their mutual cooperation determines their success. One set of players could be assigned a certain task and a time in which to complete it, while another set has to solve a puzzle to gain more information or unlock a vital area. Thus, by doing and learning together, the group as a whole can increase its knowledge and skills.

As e-Learning continues to evolve, co-op gameplay will almost certainly grow more popular, particularly as developers create game worlds which can host thousands or even millions of players, such as the wildly popular World of Warcraft. Next post, I'll talk a little about how to use the concept of Clans or Guilds in learning.

game-based learning > Are wii there yet? eLearning predictions

2008-07-31T17:06:00.003-04:00

So, today I was interviewed by Training magazine for the October issue, which will be featuring game-based learning. To prepare for the interview, I started listing some predictions I have for the future of eLearning and game-based learning, based on the current trends.

From what I've learned from my pals over at Electronic Arts, you need to announce a new release with a bullet list of your five top "features" for the game. So here's my features list for what's coming soon in elearning and game-based learning:

Cooperative play -- One of the most popular features that I've seen in commercial games is cooperative play. This feature enables players on a team to cooperatively compete for a common goal. We designed this feature into a game design we pitched to Cisco, called the "Network Assault" game. It's a perfect example of immersive game-based learning. The game is a "capture the flag" mod to the Unreal Tournament PC game. The "Capture the Flag" style game involves teams attacking another's flag, while simultaneously protecting their own. The cooperative play means that teams need to delegate tasks, searching the level for network patches, firewalls, etc, so they can defend their network, while also seeking viruses and trojans to assault the opponent's network. This not only builds teamwork but reinforces the principles of good network design.

Clans or Guilds -- World of Warcraft is arguably one of the most popular online games. One reason it is so addictive is that you join guilds and clans, and these online families tend to rely on you. There's a real sense of community and connection, along with prestige when your guild performs well. Sound familiar? Isn't this what we've always tried to promote in a classroom environment? I predict that eLearning will include more of these components. Imagine an online simulation where players are grouped into teams or clans. They have a common mission -- launch a new product line for a fictional brand or retail chain. The missions simulate real world situations, where success depends on meeting deadlines and delegating tasks to certain team members. The feature could work both synchronously (using game engines like Unreal) or asynchronously, where players work on the level individually, then save their game to a Shared Flash object file, so that a team leader or other team members can contribute later.

Holodeck -- Remember the Star Trek episodes where Picard ran a war game simulation to find solutions to those unwinnable situations with the Romulans? Did you ever hear Picard or the crew refer to that as a "game" or "training?" It was living virtually, rehearsing possible solutions and seeing the consequences. Sound familiar? Isn't that what good user-centric learning should do? The military has been doing this type of simulation for years, but now that the technology has become more commercialized, I think we'll see "holodeck" in a box, sold as a peripheral to your PC. Now that the Wii has untethered us from the mouse and keyboard, I predict that we'll soon be interacting in virtual space.

"4-D" models -- Fine, so we have our holodeck in a box, but who's inside this virtual world? In Second Life, other players inhabit the world. This is fine for entertainment, but for training, we need to make sure that there is efficacy. We can probably extend the Heisenberg Principal to also guess that people don't react online as they would in the real world. So developers, instructional designers and behavioral psychologists will begin developing and marketing "4-D" consumer models. Based on your targeted demographic/psychographic segment, you could "purchase" 4-D models who will inhabit your Holodeck simulations. This way, your sales force can explore a virtual sales floor and interact with people modeled to respond realistically. These “4-D” models could be downloaded and integrated into a variety of simulation games, so that sale training could become sales practice.

Modding and user-generated content -- So you have your Holodeck environment and now you have a library of 4-D personas to interact with. So what's the storyline? Here's where instructional designers, writers and producers will be able to create situations and events. I predict authoring tools that will enable designers to use a simple dashboard to tweak and refine the algorithms, so that they can constantly refine and create new situations and explore "what if" scenarios. This type of control will allow organizations to tailor their immersive learning simulations, encouraging creative solutions to tricky situations -- like Captain Picard. And as in the holodeck, by providing variability in the situation, environment and personas, we can truly create a virtual world and revolutionize how we learn to live in it.

Game-based learning? If some of these predictions come to pass, this will be serious technology and have serious implications on how we learn. By then, I don't think anyone will be referring to any of this as merely a game.

Game-Based Learning Research > New Study Shows Increased Performance

2008-06-30T14:13:00.003-04:00

The most common question we hear related to game-based learning is... does it really work? And that's a question that has been difficult to answer using actual research... until now. Last week, the University of Central Florida releases a new study that shows math scores increasing when presented using game-based learning.

Up to now, most of us assumed as much. It seems pretty obvious that it's more enjoyable to play a game than to sit through a class. And we can probably safely assume that since it is more interactive, it might be more readily applied.

Last week, the University of Central Florida released a new study that seems to provides some qualitative evidence that game-based learning is more effective than more traditional teaching methods.

The study was conducted with 193 high school math students over the course of 18 weeks. The students were split into two groups: those who played the interactive math videogame as part of their coursework, and those who did not. The game itself contained traditional videogame elements such as 3-D graphics, sound, animation, and an immersive storyline.

The results indicated a significant difference:

Students in the test group, which played the videogame as part of their learning, showed an 8.07 point increase in their math scores.
Students in the control group, which did not play the videogame, showed a 3.74 point increase in their math scores.

Just as significantly, both the students and teachers felt that the videogame component truly made a difference not just in how the students learned the material, but also in how much they wanted to learn it. Students remarked that the videogame elements made the learning fun, while teachers noted that having math concepts in a videogame enabled many students to conquer a phobia of math.

This is only one study, and it is far from definitive, but it is some good science to support what most of us have known.

If anyone knows of other studies supporting or dispelling the use of game-based learning, please let me know.

eLearning Design > 9 Steps to Story Theatre

2008-05-28T16:49:00.006-04:00

I was manning the Digitec booth at the Society of Pharma and Bio-Tech Trainer's (SPBT) Conference in Orlando last week and had the opportunity to sit in on an excellent session by Doug Stevenson on Story Theatre. Being a theatre guy, his booth caught my eye, and I ducked into his session. He has a really interesting approach to creating dramatic and memorable learning. While his session was directed more to trainers and stand-up instruction, I think eLearning designers can apply these nine steps to create really effective eLearning.

Doug reinforced, though, that you need to choose a story with one very specific educational point in mind. We've all sat in on classroom training, and probably suffered through long-winded stories that didn't seem to have a point. Doug's advice is to make sure that your stories have a single focused point. Next, a good story will be personal, and it is set at a moment of crisis. Visualize a crisis you faced in the past, one that illustrates some instructional point. Okay, got a story? Now, follow these steps to make it memorable:

Set the scene. Establish a sense of place and dig deep for the details to bring that scene to life. Establish the exact time, specifics on the place, the emotion. Now, paint that picture. Use video, audio, whatever, but use details.
Focus on a main character. The most memorable stories I've ever heard were confessional. Think about how powerful it is to confess your own personal blunder. But they don't have to be personal to be memorable. Your story should focus on a main character facing a crisis.
Begin the journey. Here, you want to focus on action. What is the main character doing, specifically when the crisis occurs? Action is the heart of drama, so choose a story where the main character is doing something meaningful.
Encounter the obstacle. This should be the climax of the story. Who does the main character confront? What happens? Doug acted out the scene onstage, which worked really effectively. For eLearning, consider using video with professional onscreen talent to achieve this. I know it's expensive, but you get what you pay for, and the minute your audience sees Joan from HR trying to act, you'll lose the suspension of disbelief that a story conveys.
Overcome the obstacle. While Doug didn't suggest this, an eLearning technique to acheive this may be to leave the story hanging at that crisis. Then you can introduce your instruction while you've got the learner's attention. Hopefully, you've established a sense of urgency and anticipation that will keep them engaged. You can then come back to the crisis to look at how the main character dealt with the obstacle. Here's where incorporating short video segments into your eLearning will help convey the story more effectively than words.
Resolve the story. Pretty obvious, here. Remember, use poetic license as necessary to make sure the resolution reinforces your one single point. Lie, whenever necessary. Remember Blanche DuBois' famous line in Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire: "I don't tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth."
Make the point. Doug describes this as "sticking the landing." Like a gymnast doing a dismount, make your point, then salute. Don't ramble or stumble. For eLearning, make sure this point is made clearly. Doug's suggestion was to even frame the message with: "What that experience taught me was...." This approach ensures clarity of message, and I completely agree.
Ask the question. Here, you are trying to evoke personal reflection. Has this ever happened to you? The irony is that a story is really memorable when it's personal and universal. The learner must relate! For eLearning, consider posting the question to a forum. I've been pleasantly surprised at how strong the responses are, and it creates a great sense of community among the learners, too.
Restate the point. Pretty obvious. It's that "rule of three" I learned writing for theatre. If you want the audience to remember something, you need to mention it three times.

So those are the 9 steps. My thanks to Doug Stevenson for this session. While attendance at the conference was disappointingly low, this session made the event worthwhile.

Next Gen Learners > video

2008-04-30T17:33:00.003-04:00

Dick Hofmann at Digitec found this link off YouTube, and it's so apt, based on what I heard at the eLearning Guild conference earlier this month, and what I see teaching my college students.

This is a challenge we all need to meet... and we're running out of time.

Next Gen Learning video

next gen eLearning > Future predictions

2008-04-17T11:03:00.005-04:00

So the eLearning Guild 08 Gathering just wrapped up in Orlando, and there were some really good sessions. I moderated a session on "What does the Next Gen Learning Experience Look Like." Even though the session was held a 7:15 am on Tuesday morning (and I hadn't slept at all the night before), we had a good group and a productive session. These are the results of our collective brainstorm.

Next Generation Learner

With recent studies showing that 40% of the workforce will retire by 2015, we used the "21st Century Students Deserve a 21st Century Education" survey of 1.2 million K-12 students, teachers, administrators and parents representing over 14,000 schools in all 50 states. This seemed like the obvious place to start, since this group will constitute our target audience in a few years.

So to predict what the Next Gen Learning experience might be like, we started by listing what we saw as the trends. Here's the list we came up with:

"Always on" connectivity with their peer group
User generated content, self-publishing video (YouTube), blogging and posting to (MySpace, Facebook)
Social connectivity, accessing a looser set of networks more casually for problem solving, companionship or just to feel connected to a larger group
Gamers, with nearly a 50% split between males/females enjoying console or computer games

Based on these trends (which are certainly not exhaustive), we tried to imagine the type of learning environment that would engage this profiled learner. Here's what we came up with:

Bite-sized intruction - the group pretty much agreed that an instructional session longer than 40 minutes would be deadly. Ideally, ten minutes is even better.
Context-heavy - The Next Gen Learner is less likely to accept an instructor's opinion of the importance of the content.
Embedded learning - Rather than "force-feed" content, learners seem to want more "just-in-time" learning that they can access only when they need it.
User-generated content - Based on the research, students value creativity and teamwork, moreso than the Boomer or Gen X, so more project-based instruction and constructivist styles would be more effective.
Scenario-based/role-play - Learners are used to virtual worlds where there are multiple choices that can be made, rather than one correct answer.

What Does Nex Gen Learning Look Like?

We agreed that we may need to rethink the traditional form of assessment, looking at outcomes first and perhaps measuring assessment through job performance, rather than based on arbitrary learning requirements or test scores.

We need to foster the creativity to allow learning to be ad-hoc, continual and learner-directed. This continuing education model may require managers to play a larger role in professional development and performance assessment. This could actually take the form of learning through special projects - acheiving a true constructivist model that encourages creative thinking and decision making.

Finally, the tools for learning need to be portable to many devices, so that learning occurs on-demand, when learners need it, rather than when we decide they need to learn. These "job aids" may need to include performance support, featuring interactive multimedia.

So that's the recap. Feel free to chime in and contribute to these ideas. This was a really cool exercise, and this type of mind-experiment is a great way for educators to continually leverage new media and technology to explore better ways to evolve and adapt to the nex gen learner.

learning management systems>Next Gen Learning Environments

2008-03-18T15:10:00.006-04:00

So in prepping for our upcoming session at the eLearning Guild Conference in Orlando, on April 15, I've been doing a bunch of research on the trends in learning management systems.

I ran across a really good white paper by Ecto, titled: In search of the next generation online learning environment. The thing that really impressed me was one quote in particular:

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, classroom pedagogy was characterized by one-way, teacher centered/text-book-centered delivery of single-media information to students whose role was that of passive receptor.

This is dead on, and those days are gone. How are today's learners learning? Well, it's collaborative; it's social, and it's quasi-connected. So how do learning management systems accommodate for these qualities?

According to the 2007 eLearning Guild 360 report, the Department of Labor studies show that 70% of our learning is "informal" or non-classroom, then why do we continue to turn to an outdated "classroom" teaching mode to model our learning environments? These don't reflect how we're learning or how we're living.

I've been teaching Humanities as an adjunct on the college level since '95, and I miss the days of standing in front of a classroom, interacting with live students, but this approach is fast becoming ineffective. It's not that it's just passive; it's no longer engaging to the 21st Century mind. We can't continue to model systems on this delivery method, exclusively.

So how do we create the Next Gen learning environment? The key is in turning to the use-case. Let's do some old-fashion learner analysis to see what needs to be learned and how. Then let's design a system that not only allows but encourages that behavior. If necessary, let's include technology that doesn't even exist yet. Maybe that will force us to consider near-term alternatives, creatively brainstorming an iterative approach to the next platform, rather than cherry picking from an outdated feature listing.

As we've developed the Knowledge Direct platform, we've continually asked ourselves "how and when would a learner user this?" If there's no clear vision, then it's probably just a feature, and not a function that will benefit the learner, administrator, instructor or content manager.

In my opinion, Next Gen learning needs to focus on continuing education, with learning portals that create centralized access to layers of interest -- sort of a true object oriented approach to learning. I run a technology company; I teach Ancient/Classical and 21st Century Humanities, but I also write stage plays. So I need a portal that centralizes just-in-time and filtered RSS feeds on those subjects, so I can continually develop and connect with resources to help me succeed. I need to be in control of my learning. But as long as we refer to training as a "learning event," it implies a singular, non-recurring interruption in our lives. This is wrong.

Learning must be continual, and we have a responsibility to invent a world that encourages that.

Game-based eLearning: what is Web 2.0 gaming?

2008-01-23T17:36:00.001-05:00

It seems as though Web 2.0 is pushing everyone in IT to change the paradigm, making the online experience more user-focused and experiential. And eLearning is no exception. Nowadays, a simple drag and drop "game" can hardly be considered "game-based elearning." So then what is considered "good game" by Web 2.0 standards, in terms of game-based elearning?

The short answer is "game," and what makes a good game isn't unique to Web 2.0. It's always been true of games. It's about strategy. A good game is one that sets a goal that can be attained in more than one way and provides a variety of success and fail combinations. And strategy needs to revolve around the choices a player makes.

Yes, this means your elearning needs to support multi-pathing. It needs to be non-linear, but it doesn't need to be daunting. So even though you might need to throw out the traditional eLearning precept of "scope and sequence," you can still simplify.

Game Play

Remember how the classic board games used to come with a dog-eared pamphlet that had the rules, objectives and how to play? That's a great way to look at designing effective game-based eLearning, too. It comes down to those three sections.

Objectives:

Consider a sales training game. Don't throw out your learning objectives. Instead, focus on the terminal learning objectives and align these with the performance objectives for the game. If a sales person needs to close 30% of sales, then the game objective might be that the "Player needs to engage with the animals in the dark forest of Trade Show Wood. To win, the player needs to use their selling skills to focus on the right prospects and sell the right product to the right animal in order to emerge from the woods."

Rules:

Any good game has rules, and the best games have SIMPLE rules. From a Web 2.0 perspective, these rules equate to defining the business rules for the game. If you're designing sales training, the rules have to state that a player has to successfully respond to the prospect's questions to win credibility and make the sale. If the player continually misses the mark, the rules need to state that if the player continually loses credibility, they should lose the sale. If they lose more than 30%, they lose the game. Keep it simple! And try not to require players to access "resources." Players will smell learning and get turned off, but once they figure out that if they access these, they'll win, you won't need to force it.

How to Play:

Forgot those long tutorials! A great rule of thumb for teaching players how to play is to avoid a long extracted "intro". When people think of games, they want to play not watch, so when you have a long intro Flash animation, players will typically skip this. Instead, have a set of Help files that players can access along the way. Or better yet, set a business rule that if a player hits a new event, trigger a short setup scene. Maybe have a character pop in and explain what's going on.

So if you're an eLearning designer, go 2.0, and have a good game!

Training Tech Solutions conference > Elearning Trip Reports

2007-10-24T15:57:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I just did a speaking engagement at last week's Training Tech Solutions conference in Salt Lake City. In years past, this was a great conference, and I had high hopes. They promoted it as the "Best of the Best," recruiting past sessions that were rated by attendees as definitely worth seeing again. Unfortunately, the session just never took off and was disappointing on a lot of levels.

First off, who would "redo" a presentation they gave a year ago? Come on. Elearning technology changes so rapidly, a six month old presentation would already be outdated. I ended up spending about 20 hours researching and updating our gamespace continuum model. So you can imagine the disappointment when (as the last speaker on the last day) I only had about 12 attendees for the 2 hour workshop session. It wasn't for lack of interest, I don't believe. Even on day one, there were MANY empty sessions. The attendees just didn't show.

And neither did the conference support. Late in the game, Digitec was offered a 30 minute sponsored session to demo our product. I clearly wrote up the sponsored session description: Using PowerPoint, Direct-to-WEB and Knowledge Direct WEB to produce game-based learning using PowerPoint. Pretty clear. But the attendees who showed up slammed me on my evaluation sheets for "promoting product" during the session. Yet, that's what a sponsored session does. And when there was no session support and no electricity for my laptop (or support to help), it didn't help matters that my demo crashed mid-game. Turns out that I plugged into the podium, which of course had no juice.

The other disappointment was that my company invested in exhibiting in Salt Lake, and the trade show hall was empty. In fact, Learning.com -- our neighbors across the aisle -- folded up shop just before the conference opened and left town. I guess they knew something we didn't.

Ultimately, what was most disappointing was that the sessions were really good. I sat in on several, and these weren't the typical "elearning design" talking sessions. The session facilitators used a lot of hands-on activities, great samples and very compelling case studies. High points were Susan Boyd and her discussion on job aids and Anne-Marie Sutch-Stabio and her session on gaming.

It's just too bad Training didn't get the turn-out.

eLearning design > Top Ten eLearning Design Tips

2007-08-27T11:44:00.000-04:00

So, it seems like everyone's going back to school... including me. I've been teaching college English and Humanities as an adjunct since 1991, and after last Fall, I needed a serious sabbatical. I was questioning my 'part-time profession.' Standing in the shadows of those great educators that shaped my life, I asked myself: "Can teaching online really make a difference to someone's life?" Not certain that I could answer that, I took a break to re-assess.

The Great Education Debate

There's a continued debate about online versus instructor-led training. In the business world, where I live and breathe during the daylight hours, Human Resources and Training departments across the globe bemoan the continued corporate push towards eLearning. They've led workshops and in-class instruction, and they see this movement to online as a way to improve not the quality of the education, but the economics. And I'll admit that I felt this way too when I began teaching online. As I designed my courses for online delivery, I saw myself losing the opportunity to be in the classroom, to interact with my students to perhaps influence them, as I had been influenced. I suppose that led to my hiatus. I was drained. In order to try and replicate the very best of an in-class experience, my eLearning design took more and more time, with less and less perceived personal gratification.

Student-centric learning

Let's try to look at this debate dispassionately. What is the goal of the educational process? To expose the learner to some content, yes, but it's also to: provide access to a community of learning that encourages personal reflection and active engagement; to expose learners to alternate opinions and perspectives; and to encourage a love of learning that will prompt students to continue their study, even after the class is over. Can all this be accomplished, online?

Instructors and teachers are often natural performers. They enjoy being the center of attention. The best classes I've ever attended were more "performance" than they were instructional. And this is great. It's a critical component of education -- exposing learners to content and to someone with an enthusiastic love of learning. Do we need to lose that? eLearning is by definition more student-focused. It has to be. Often, there is no set class meeting time or day, and there may be no instructor at the front of the class. So how can we create powerful learning in a student-centric way?

Top Ten ELearning Design Tips

So here are my top ten tips to encourage student-centric learning:

1. Speak to me.

This doesn't just mean write second-person to the learner, but it means doing your homework as an eLearning designer to continually evaluate the content: "does the learner really need or want to know this?" If it doesn't meet that test, then it's not student-centric.

2. Keep it relevant.

This relates back to number 1, but warrants repetition. Continually make connections between the content and the learner. Why should I care? What does this have to do with me? If you are creating sales training, answer the question: "How will this increase my sales?" This is what the learner needs to know to keep the content relevant and engaging.

3. Tell the story

Most of us had a high school teacher who told the most interesting stories. I'll bet, looking back, that's what you remember, rather than what was on the test. Don't lose that. Use scenario-based instruction to create a story of context for the content. Think in terms of what situations would exist that would require the learner to remember the content. Create those situations in your eLearning.

4. Encourage exploration.

As an educator, your first inclination might be to teach everything, which leads to boring eLearning that features lots of "click next to continue" instruction. Instead, design a "streamline" version of your course, with peripheral content available through weblinks and resources. You'll be surprised how many learners will access these and retain more than they would otherwise.

5. Allow for practice.

The rule of thumb in eLearning design is meaningful interaction every five to eight screens. Even if these are only questions on the previous topic, make sure to create opportunities for the learner to practice applying the concepts.

6. Create community

This can be difficult in an online environment, but it is extremely helpful to provide forums, blogs and discussion boards that encourage learners to connect with others involved in the class. Allow them to relate their own stories or challenges to offer the other learners a chance to establish relevance from someone other than you.

7. Allow for reflection.

This is one of the most overlooked facets of eLearning. Reflection is the process by which the learner carefully considers the content and decides how it applies. This can be accomplished by crafting discussion board questions, rather than answers. Have your learning community come up with the answers, after they've had time to reflect on their response.

8. Adapt to learning styles

We know that different learners have different learning styles -- visual, aural, tactile, etc. Try to accommodate these through the instruction. Design visuals or animations that directly reinforce the ideas you are trying to communicate. Use voice-over narration, along with text captioning to accommodate that style. Incorporate games and activities that will engage tactile learners.

9. Keep it short.

The standard seems to be that moving online will reduce training time by approximately 25%. This usually results from objectively analyzing your content and editing what the learner doesn't need to know. Keep your narration direct and succinct. Streamline your delivery. Keep the content relevant, and shorter can be better.

10. Evaluate!

So often after designing an eLearning course for a client, I'll ask the training department how it's going, and they have no idea. The ADDIE model was supposed to be cyclical, where the "Evaluate" phase establishes improvements that are integrated into another "Analyze" phase. Keep a "Lessons Learned" file active during the course, that you commit to returning to at least six months later. This will force you to continually improve the course and keep the instruction current.

The continued debate

Which one's better -- online or instructor-led. I was fortunate enough to attend one of those "small liberal arts colleges back east," so that has been my prejudice. But in teaching online, I have students who are single moms, soldiers in Iraq, people struggling to survive. Without online learning, they wouldn't have access to an education at all. So maybe that's the greatest reason for creating the best learning environment we can - online or in-class.

eLearning Design>Should Games Teach?

2007-07-10T14:57:00.002-04:00

In Justin Peters' article in Slate "World of Borecraft", he bemoans the earliest examples of game-based learning. Remember Reader Rabbit? How about Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing? Let's face it. They may have been goofy, but these applications were the earliest examples of eLearning design. Back in the 1980s, these pioneers were out there trying to lure eyeballs away from the TV and turn the computer into a teacher.

Okay, so the results were imperfect, from a games standpoint. No matter how many of those little bugs you managed to keep off your windshield by madly typing away, Peters contends that these "games" just weren't that much fun. He asserts that given an alternative, kids would Alt-Tab over to their first-person shoot-em-up game in a heart beat. And I have no doubt that he's right.

As an educator, I too realize that some of my students would probably rather be watching the latest episode of the Spiderman saga or playing Halo than take my online Flash-based Humanities course. No matter how many cool eLearning games I build on Greek art and architecture, let's face it, if you're not into the Parthenon, those games are just more bugs hitting the windshield.

So should eLearning strive to compete against these commercial games? I contend that no matter what we do in eLearning design, a game will not teach, by itself. There needs to be some level of intellectual curiosity on the part of the learner. But the eLearning designer needs to earn this intellectual curiosity. How? Certainly, leveraging game theory and popular game design can help a great deal. I can recall when I began to teach writing in a computer lab, asking the students to turn off their computers before I began to teach. Why? Because more than once, I caught them playing solitaire while I was lecturing.

Since those early days, I've moved to a blended environment. Now, when we meet in the lab, I'll often catch my students playing my Flash drag and drop games. And they'll react just as sheepishly, as if they've been caught playing solitaire!

There are a lot of distractions to education. But if we can use game-based learning and game play strategies, we can hopefully better engage the learner throughout the eLearning experience. If they're engaged, maybe they'll be more receptive to the content, and maybe more learning can occur. So I think games can teach eLearning designers a lot.

One thing that Peters is right about. Today, we're up against some steep competition, not just from Hollywood anymore, but from Electronic Arts. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

eLearning Life's Lessons > Game-based Learning

2007-06-12T08:40:00.000-04:00

The New Game of Life

The drag about life is that once you learn the ropes, it's over... right? Or is it? Hasbro has just announced an update to their classic Game of Life, and this reincarnation might actually teach us something -- something that we need to apply to eLearning design and development.

In a recent International Herald Tribune article Meanwhile: Love and debt, The Game of Life Lawrence Downes really took me back. Among his priceless observations of Hasbro's original "Game of Life" was its meandering but overly simplified path to retirement -- a game experience that made Downes: "...long for the solace of death."

In the new game, you don't just have two "paths" in life -- college or career, but several other ways to play the game. And in "The Game of Life Twists and Turns," fulfilment is based on more than just money. It's about money, education, family and fun. Instead of a linear path, this game is circular, allowing you to play until time runs out. Art mirrors life. Who knows? With more dimensions and choices, maybe this time we'll actually learn that life is more than just chance -- and more than filling up a plastic car with pink and blue plastic spikes and earning more cash than the next guy.

Failing Forward and Game-based Learning

Choices, choices. Since the early 90s when I started out in eLearning and training, we've seen the benefits of simulations and game-based learning approaches. These force the learner to make choices -- choices that often lead to failure. That's why "The Game of Life" offered such great potential. If software can teach us how to fly a plane, maybe it could also teach us something about learning those life lessons, before we make those crucial mistakes.

John C. Maxwell's book "Failing Forward" reinforces the value of failure in learning and success. It's not about failure. It's about strategy -- learning what works and doesn't work and trying something different. The great thing about games and game-based learning is that when it's done right, it teaches strategy and failing forward.

Life Simulations

Right now, Digitec is developing a life simulation for a game-based learning project. And I can relate to Hasbro's original design. In fact, it was really difficult not to try and apply linear thinking or value judgements in designing the game. After lots of blue-sky sessions and heated discussions, let's face it, there are so many possibilities, that the algorithms made our head's spin.

But that is also the beauty of the game. In a true constructivist learning approach, players (NOT learners) create their own learning experience. To begin the game, they choose their Big Dream. It's eLearning, but there are no tests and no "Click Next to Continue" buttons. Players learn the game by living it, reacting to snags and events by making decisions and learning strategy. They might fail right away, amassing piles of debt, living in the cardboard box. They might play again and buy a house they can't afford. Eventually, maybe they'll employ some strategies to get that education, earn a promotion and achieve that Big Dream.

During focus group testing on the 18-24 year old demographic, players wanted to keep playing until they beat the game -- earning the lush retirement, private island or castle. So it was still about play -- about competition, but along that meandering path, they might just learn something, too.

I want the blue car.

Media-Savvy Workers Want eLearning Engagement > Game-Based Learning

2007-05-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

Playing with Media-Savvy Learners

Tony DiRomualdo's article on Wisconsin Technology Network makes some really insightful comments, connecting game-based learning and "media-savvy workers," who turn out to be not only the young, but also people like us! Let's face, you don't have to be a Gen X'er to be bored by traditional eLearning.

And it's not just eLearning, I'm seeing this trend in the corporate workplace, as well as academia, where I teach online Humanities courses to a lot of media-savvy students. Basically, they're connected big time. They're posting to MySpace, they're blogging, they're hooked wirelessly, and yet when they come to work or school, they're feeling inhibited. I even had one of my student volunteer to digitize some History channel documentaries and host the streaming video. Why? Not because he was a techno-geek, but because he wanted an engaging learning experience that included more resources than I, his teacher, could provide. Learning becomes a collaborative experience, which media savvy people demand.

In the last 15 years of doing eLearning development, I've seen the growing fear of technology from those who are afraid to relinquish their control -- whether it's control of information or control of the classroom. But the media savvy natives want the ability to free-form their way through work or school. They want to collaborate and contribute.

So what does all this have to do with game-based learning, or eLearning in general? We need to stop following the paradigm of the classroom -- forcing learners into the "click next to continue" model -- which is basically saying: "I know what and how you need to learn this content, so l sit back and watch." That model is dead, or at least it should be.

Unfortunately, too often eLearning management systems are helping to keep this model alive. With early SCORM conformance standards often dictating a simplisitic linear approach, learners aren't finding engagement. True, the latest versions of SCORM are allowing some non-linear approaches to eLearning development, but you have to be a rocket scientist to figure them out.

Game-based eLearning Approaches

So what does this trend mean? Sure, we need to adhere to eLearning standards, but designers need the ability to push themselves to create more engaging eLearning, using game strategies to increase collaboration, competition and self-directed learning.

What should eLearning look like? To find out, we need to stop exerting total control over the learning process and stop using standards issues as an excuse to produce linear learning. It's time to get as creative as those media-savvy workers and give them what they want -- engagement.

Best of the Best -- good idea

2007-05-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, so from doing speaking engagements at conferences, I've attended quite a few on eLearning -- and sat in on some sucky presentations, as I think we all have. You can usually tell, right? These people look good, have an impressive bio, a clever presentation title (!), open strong, and then... well, nothing. It usually takes about 12 minutes, in my opinion. At the 13 minute mark, that's when you look around and realize you made the critical error: you sat way too far from the door to slip out, discreetly.

Anyway, in those cases, what can you do? Sometimes, (rarely with the really sucky ones), the presenter will start out by saying: "Hey, if you start to realize this presentation is not for you, feel free to leave. It won't hurt my feelings!" But I think it would rarely occur to a really bad presenter to start out this way.

I know a lot of people who just bolt, but being a presenter -- and having taught at the college level for 10 years, I guess I'm a little more sympathetic. You can learn from anybody, right? -- even if it is learning how NOT to run a session.

But I just learned that the Training Conference has taken a really interesting approach to this. They contacted me because of a presentation on Game-based Learning I did at a Training Conference a couple of years ago. They said that based on the participant feedback, mine was judged as one of the "Best of the Best," and they want me to speak at the next Training conference in Utah, this October.

Okay, so this is smart on so many levels. (1) You appeal to a presenter's innate pride -- okay, ego -- and I'm sure they'll pull in a lot of the presenters they've contacted to do their sessions. (2) The folks who put on the show are going to see an increase in their tradeshow business. As a small business owner, we don't have the deep pockets that some of these large monster companies have. The best opportunity we have to meet people (aka. prospects) interesting in Game-based Learning is to speak at a session and then do 'booth duty.' Yes, I confess, I can be a shameless sales guy. Finally (3), the participants at the conference get better quality sessions. Hopefully, they really mean it, when the folks at Training say this is the "Best of the Best" and all of us can benefit from a great learning experience.

I guess we'll find out in October. Just in case, make sure not to sit too far from the door.