My Learning Blog

Sumtotal acquires Docent, Click2learn, Pathlore Saba acquires Thinq, Centra Adobe acquires Macromedia Oracle acquires Peoplesoft KnowledgePlanet acquires KnowledgeImpact Blackboard and WebCT merge Convergys acquires DigitalThink Image sourced from: www.lonelydriver.com

Conduct one-on-one, small group discussion, field test Employ informal talk, short test, discussion, survey form (any/few) Evaluate training needs, objectives and methods Determine the improvements that can be made on the training program Determine if supplemental information can cater for the additional training topics identified Implement suggestions that make sense

A team member called me on my cell phone last morning, "Aradhana, I am not coming to office." me: "You're taking leave?" tm: "No, I am not coming. The questions that I forgot to include in the script...." me (interrupting): "Are you saying you are not coming back to office? Are you leaving the company?" tm: "Yes" (!!!) In the afternoon, her colleague/friend comes to me, "Aradhana, its not that she's got another job. She was just scared to face up to you after the mistake she made." me: "Which mistake?" colleague: "The questions she forgot to add to the script she worked on. We made her understand and now she wants to come back." (!!!) Decision to leave a job based on a mistake as basic as this, communicating leaving a job by a simple phone call and then conveying intention to return...it was a strange incident.

Of late, I'm hearing that e-learning is on the decline. That our world is changing--e-learning would soon get replaced by say, mobile learning (learn anywhere, even while riding back from work). That the tools are getting smarter--allowing organizations and corporate to cater for their training needs internally without having to go to the training companies. The way I see it, these developments are great! We might then have within reach a breadth of media--ILT, online basic (say, e-briefings), online advanced (e-learning), WBT, mobile and a blend of all these. Most likely one media would not win over another. Just as radios, television, films, theatre and television have a definite place in the entertainment world. If organizations cater for their training needs through inhouse teams (with tools getting simpler and more powerful), our expertise would demanded for times when the training does not need to be just rapid but both effective and extensive. Whether e-learning/training sho...

Today I complete three years in my current organization (Convergys Learning Solutions, formerly DigitalThink). Its been an enriching journey!

Instructional design principles remain the same irrespective of the content. its analyze content not as a subject, but at a higher level--what is the key problem the training intervention is trying to address? Based on the content provided, what objectives contribute towards the solving the problem? How do these objectives tie with the interactions so that the course is within the the scope? What would be the evaluation criteria? Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) might consider some concepts as a given while providing content, without considering the audience profile. The language used for the online media is direct and straightforward. ID-SME collaboration helps to break complex concepts into simpler, easily understandable content. Audiences tend to think within their departmental/team silos. Even within the team, people have different levels of subject knowledge. IDs use their skill with content to preempt questions for all levels of learners.

At the onset, set and communicate well-defined team principles. Share this information with the entire team. Clearly communicate your expectations from the team. Listen their expectations from the work experience. Exchange this information with the entire team or during one-on-one sessions with each team member. Reinforce the team priniciples and values continually and encourage team members who personify those values. Share this information with the entire team. Lead by example. Encourage three important values--share learning, help each other and be polite. Perform this activity with the entire team. Expect team to handle conflicts with other team members one-on-one. Explain techniques on how this can be done. Share this information with the entire team.

Particular about adherence to schedules, quality standards and lucid communicaton. Define process clearly and actively emphasize on it adherence. Transparent, true and honest in relationships. Attention to individual growth, interests and current capabilites. Direct and straighforward communication. Emphasis on learning and spreading learning. Encourage questions and discussions on the project. Open. Organized.

Instructional Theories: http://ide.ed.psu.edu/idde/theories.htm http://tip.psychology.org/theories.html http://mitworld.mit.edu

Important Note : Assume that there is a separate the content QE process that addresses script styles, grammar and other issues for the script and this QE refers primarily to the functionality check. There are no missing instruction text. Instruction/common text are consistent and accurately written. Popups, glossary, resources, jobtools, instruction text, page numbers, slide numbers, coach, tutor and all other course features and attributes function as expected. Exceptions are well-addressed. Popups, glossary, resources, jobtools, instruction text, page numbers, slide numbers, coach, tutor and all other common course features and attributes have consistent look and feel and reference, for curriculum development. The content flow is alignes with the script. Reverse flow is well desgned. There are no usability concerns - for example, no distinction betweem visited and not visited states. Outstanding alpha, beta and other issues are adequately addressed and implemented. Image quality and ...

A colleague told me yesterday that sometimes just to evoke a reaction or kick up a discussion, he intentionally misrepresents a fact. Nice strategy!

Know who your prospective manager. Get information from your prospective manager on the attrition rate in the team. His/her answer would be a good indicator on the kind of manager he/she is. Obviously, lesser the attrition, more successful the manager. Find from him/her your first assignment and how you would be considered successful--you would know how much thought has gone into working out your role description or how important the role is to the organization. Insist on meeting other members of the organization--you would get a clue of the culture and the people in the organization and whether you really fit in that environment. If you aren't happy with the salary being offered, make sure your prospective mananger knows of it and find out how they plan to address this concern once you onboard. Typically, if you aren't really happy with the salary offered and salary is your primary motivator, I would recommend not accepting the offer--I believe that one of the best times for n...

Set expectations on the role of mentor If the mentee is new to the organization, make him/her welcome; if not, express happiness in working together Structure mentoring plans on a weekly, daily and hourly levels Create a blend of guided and unguided, self-paced and time-based components If you have work other than mentoring, discourage the tendency of the mentees to seek clarifications any time. Allocate time in the middle/end of each day for questions Be open and honest about things that you don't know Follow-up

The clients blowing things out of proportion and getting intolerant about the minutest slipups The production team just does not get it! A peer asks the question already addressed in an email sent days ago A team member commits the same error explained a number of times before The production team forgets to implement the change so important for the client These are some of the frustrations I face in my role as a Learning Strategist, just as many other professionals in this role. In time, my best practice has been to be polite. If that's tough to be rightaway, I just take a break - coffee, tea, friends..anything that allows me to be kind to the 'perpetrator' :) and gives me space to be able to present my dissatisfaction in a dignified manner. I have to accept that there have been times when I have been direct in my criticism. Having done that, I have almost always regretted my action - it takes away team spirit and the scars sometimes remain much after the project is long ov...

I completed another one of my performance appraisals last Thursday. My best practices for writing self review: Keep the records straight: I keep aside postive mails, records etc. received over the year in a separate folder. This practice not only helps me remember my accomplishments for the year but also provides enough material to substantiate my claims. Leave aside unnecessary humility or modesty: My self review states the facts for the year. Places where I have led, taken initiative, influenced a decision are stated as is. A self review document is a business document. Shying from stating acheivements as is can backfire. Substantiate each claim: If client consulting is my strength. I provide examples justifying this claim. If multitasking is another of my strength, I state the number of courses I worked on, activities I undertook in addition to the project work. Clearly state next year's goals: I keep the goals for the upcoming year achievable, measurable and aligned to my inter...

Strategy: Work out the curriculum and course level instructional strategy. Identify consistent elements for the entire curriculum - what are the look-and-feel elements and functionality what will remain same for the entire curriculum. Identify the disparate elements - what look-and-feel elements and functionality will change for a specific course within the curriculum so that the learner interest is maintained. Work out a higher level assessment strategy for the entire curriculum. Decide if pre- and post- assessment will be provided at curriculum level, course level or both. Scripting: Maintain a comprehensive style guide. Keep the document alive. Maintain a glossary document that houses the glossary terms and descriptions for all the courses, as they develop. You will be able to easily reference this document for newer courses. Make sure the design changes as a result of content variation is aligned to the curriculum look and project scope. Keep an eye on the word count to make sure t...

CBT Installable/downloadable to learners' hard-disks Allows course access without Internet/Intranet Learners can track their progress No bandwidth concerns Convenient for traveling learners Does not allow community-building and score comparison WBT Course accessed using a virtual address or location using the Intranet/Internet Learners can track progress and compare result with other learners Bandwidth and net access speed are the primary design factors Convenient for traveling learners with Internet/VPN access Provides tremendous scope for community-building, for example, tutors, chats and web-seminars

-Introduce yourself. -Ask open ended questions that covering the following aspects: Behavioral - Conflict, challenges, prioritization, pride project Technical - Process work flow, instructional design, instructional theories and their application -While the interviewee grapples with the questions take additional notes on: Communication skills Individual dynamic and the impact it might have on your team Skillset that the candidate adds to the team - If you are a panel of interviewers, divide the questions. Allow some overlap. -Provide an overview of the company's operation and function. -Address the any questions that the interviewee might have. Which area do the questions fall in? -Fill out a predefined evaluation format that covers the parameters that are important for your team. -Debrief

Look into your company's reference location, you might find a wealth of information there. If there is no such location, create one. Talk to members of other teams - educate yourself on the work they do and find out how your job fits into the overall picture. Have technical discussions with your own team members, if they have time or match their lunch/tea times with yours. :) Visit technical sites and e-zines to keep yourself posted on the latest trends. Maintain your blog.

http://www.pitt.edu/~poole/onlinelearninglinks.html#assessment http://www.globaled.com/articles.html http://www.webscenarios.webcentral.com.au/id3756h/ http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/InstructionalDesign.htm http://www.elearningguild.com/ http://www.clomedia.com http://captology.stanford.edu/ http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/ http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/lessons/lindex.htm

A content collection guide (CCG) is a tool that allows the subject matter experts (SMEs) to provide content for the course. A CCG eases communication and smoothens the content collection process. Here is how to create one- Write out the lesson objectives. Against each learning objective, describe the content required. Exemplify the content. Insist that the SMEs provide only the core content and not spend time on cleaning the language. Invite the SMEs to provide urls and other referenece materials. Add a note on how to use the document in the beginning and finally- Provide a thank you note at the end of the document.

Identify the primary, secondary and tertiary users of the template. For example - external clients might be the primary users, instructional designers (ID) secondary and the production team tertiary users. Collect the requirement and expectation that each set of users has with the template. Work out how your design would address these needs. For example, it might be important for the external clients to be able to visualize the solution. Hence they might need some props like images of the interactivity. For one of my solutions, I devised, "Interactivity at a glance" which was a series of key interaction frames to address this requirement of the clients. Evaluate the interactions that have been approved for the project. You might need to get in touch with your production team or the Creative Director to get this information. Group the interactivities in their families. This will help you decide if you need to create a different template for each interaction variation or if the...

While reviewing scripts, I ask myself- Is the course/lesson/module titled properly? Are the lessons structured in accordance to the instructional strategy? Is the numbering for the lesson/interactivity/page correct (so that when the course goes into production there are minimal clarifications from that team)? Do the content blocks belong to the lesson that they are placed in or are they more suitable elsewhere in the course? If so, which location? Does the script follow the style conventions adopted for the project? Are the sentences grammatically correct? Is there a sentence that is long and difficult to understand? If so, how can it be modified to make it easier to understand of the learner? Are the instructional texts for interactivities/lessons/pages provided? Are the course/lesson objectives mentioned in the beginning of the course/lesson and revised again at the end? Do the assessment questions appropriately address all the core components of the lesson? For a series of courses w...

If your project courses are primarily technical, google to find the training centers for those software, languages, packages or OS. Locate the Corporate office for the training institute. Talk to the hiring in-charge. Express your requirement for a technical talent who can write. Suggest that they post the requirement to all their centers, shortlist candidates based on your requirement and send them to you. You may also suggest the number of applications that you are willing to entertain at one time. Mail the hiring in-charge the company profile, job requirement, number of vacancies open and if you prefer to disclose - salary range candidates can expect. Hope to get resumes that match your project need!

Audience : Instructional designers interacting with distributed production teams. Objective : List the best practices for interfacing with distributed production team. Best practices: General communication 1. Premise: Distributed development is slower, requires greater process maturity, constant definition, stricter change management and over-communication. 2. Trust: Trust helps to better relationships, allow faster communication and reduce stress. It is a good practice to have an honest and open conversation about things that don't work. 3. Questions: Precise questions give an opportunity to the team member to clarify. You can ask team members to repeat or summarize so that both sides are clear. If you are making an assumption, it’s a good practice to state that. 4. Expectation: Finding out what works for the team and communicating what works for you could be a good way to begin working in a new project. For example, you might say: “I am a early-morning riser and am normally at wo...

I hope to post on the following subjects in the near future, not necessarily in the same order- Defining learning objectives Creating instructional creative strategy Creating scripting templates Interacting with globally distributed production teams Designing e-learning curriculum Designing content collection guide Interacting with US-based clients Role of e-learning copy-editors The art of peer review The art of quality testing online courses Brainstorming Scoping e-learning projects and curriculum Sourcing the right writers