tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16512639515645572082024-02-08T11:42:29.710-08:00All About E-Learning and Instructional DesignA forum to share ideas and experiences related to instructional design and e-learningAnuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17248704114780142257noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-33298689016433625822012-06-21T01:11:00.000-07:002012-09-28T00:08:48.824-07:00Do Games Teach?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #244061; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Recently,
I came across an article titled <a href="http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/L-and-D-Blog/2012/04/Why-Games-Dont-Teach">Why
Games Don't Teach</a> from <a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Instructional_Technology/Ruth_Clark">Ruth
Clark</a>. The article sparked a lot of controversy and debate in the learning
circles, primarily because of its title. <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlkapp">Karl Kapp</a> even responded
back to Ruth's article with <a href="http://www.uleduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2012/05/games-teach/">Games
Teach</a>. And, he quoted various researches to prove his point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #244061; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Personally,
I do think that Ruth's views about the value games bring to e-learning actually
make a lot of sense. So far, I haven’t seen many few game-like components that
work for learners. Mostly, in the effort to provide a game-like feel to a
course, we end up adding unnecessary complexity and hampering
learning. Any unnecessary complexity kills the learning experience, and
that's what most of the so-called games do. This view is substantiated by
the experimental evidence provided by Ruth in the section “Beware Masquerading
Your Content in Game Costume” in her article.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #244061; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However,
the entire controversy sparked by Ruth’s article is also because of the lack of
a formal definition for games in e-learning. What most learning designers call
games are scenario-based simulations with game-based interfaces. And, there is no doubt about the fact that simulations work. What can work better than
experiential learning in a simulated environment, anyway. A simulation teaches
the real-world application and in some ways "looks" like a game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #244061; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, I hold
my view unless I see a game (and not a game-based interface or a simulation) in
e-learning that actually teaches . Do let me know if you come across any.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17248704114780142257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-57255666551792176562012-06-04T00:00:00.000-07:002012-06-04T00:09:14.576-07:00Storytelling: When Does it Work?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Storytelling"
as a communication tool has been around for years and is very powerful too. For
e-learning, I used to think that stories typically work to grab attention
etc. A passive story running through the course? Too boring! Over a period
of time, I discovered that even passive storytelling works for the
following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span><b>Establishing the training
need</b>: There can't be a better way to grab learners' attention, for sure.
Training employees on a new system/application implemented in the organization?
Tell them how it helped a certain employee with a similar profile and get them
hooked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">2.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Connecting various topics:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Weave the magical connection by
having<b> </b> an overarching story for the training course, and
connect different topics using smaller stories derived from the same story.
Apart from building connections, stories help break the monotony, build motivation,
and reinforce teaching points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">3.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Teaching abstract topics:</b> A
subject that is not literal or experiential (by five senses, that is) may get
difficult to explain. Nothing works better than using stories and analogies
from real life to transfer these concepts effectively. Need to sensitize people
about avoiding debt? Tell them a story about how debt spelled doom for certain
characters and see the results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Anuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17248704114780142257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-5550690933868234562012-05-07T06:27:00.001-07:002012-05-07T06:30:47.312-07:00Role of an Instructional Designer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The primary role of an Instructional Designer is to
develop training materials that are instructionally sound to the learners. In
other words, when developing a training material, the Instructional Designer
not only has to focus on writing the content but also has to think and
visualize on how to make the content interesting to the learners. Therefore,
apart from good writing skills, it is essential that an Instructional Designer
should be creative, innovative, and a good visualizer, have a knack for
attention to details and out of the box solutions, and always possess good
comprehension skills.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Most of the times, the role of an Instructional
Designer seems to be limited to designing and making the training ready for
development for a project. However, due to the diverse characteristics and
qualities of the Instructional Designers, their roles can span across the
different stages of the training development life cycle.</span></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Analysis</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">:
In this stage, the role of the Instructional Designer is to identify the
training requirements, analyze the audience, analyze the content, and deduce
whether the available content is suitable enough for developing the
training for the target audience.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Design</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">:
In this stage, the Instructional Designer summarizes his/her finding in the
Analysis stage to create the Content Outline of the training as well as the
Design Document depicting the high-level and low-level designs of the training
as well as the strategies, models, and theories to be followed while developing
the training.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Development</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">:
The role of the Instructional Designer in the development phase is to actually
create the storyboards as per the Content Outline and the specifications
mentioned in the Design Document.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Implementation</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">:
In this stage, the role of the Instructional designer is to review the training
developed based on his/her storyboards and ensure that whatever s/he documented
and visualized are reflected accurately in the final output.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Evaluation</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">:
In the evaluation stage, the Instructional Designer has to measure whether the
training output is able to meet the requirements s/he identified at the very
beginning of training development.</span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-37102727391270847302012-05-02T02:15:00.001-07:002012-05-02T09:21:56.881-07:00Get Rid of Your Unnecessary Bulleted Lists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Bulleted lists are used to present information relating to classification of data, a
step-by-step process, or the phases of a life cycle. In other words, they are
used specifically to represent a list of phrases or sentences that can
represent either an ordered process or some disjoint points belonging to a
particular category. However, too much use of bulleted list could make your training look repetitive and dull. So, here’re a few alternatives that you can use in your trainings to replace the bulleted points which could not only reduce
repetition but also help enhance the instructive value of the data.</span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One basic way to represent bulleted points is to show them using text boxes or block images with text included. This method is suitable for un-ordered lists. For example, you could simply show the features of an application by writing the features within different text boxes. In addition, you can also use arrows to connect such boxes to represent a process flow or ordered list.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another alternative is to include relevant icons with the text boxes to make the content inside those boxes more instructionally sound for the learners. For examples, if a bullet list talks about different types of web browsers, then you can use the icons for those browsers with their names. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sometimes an image is sufficient to represent a bullet point if that bullet point is read out in the audio. For example, if the audio reads out the name of the browsers of a bulleted list, then you can simply show the icons on screen without any supporting content. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can also use human cut-outs to represent bulleted points in such a way that the cut-outs are directly talking with the learners. For example, to show the responsibilities of an instructional designer, you could use a human cut-out and then show bulleted points representing his/her responsibilities using think/talk bubbles around that cut-out. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In some instances, you can use a single image to represent the bulleted list. For example, to represent some particular places mentioned in a bulleted list, you could show the map of the country and mark those places in that map. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another simple solution to avoid bulleted list is to present the content of the list within a table. For example, if the list defines some key terms, then you could create a table with one column representing the key terms while the second column showing their respective definitions. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One very good way to represent the steps of a process flow instead of using a bulleted list is to show the process through a flow chart. For example, the various phases of the project delivery process become more meaningful if you could represent them using a flowchart or a diagram.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-6287570624032420502012-04-30T00:24:00.003-07:002012-06-04T00:11:54.748-07:00"Knowing" vs "Using"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
Here’s another example of my favorite topic – “knowing” vs “using” information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Refer to revised<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/images/1/1e/Bloom_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/bloom.htm&h=260&w=562&sz=43&tbnid=zYu-_roai6JDzM:&tbnh=62&tbnw=133&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnew%2B'bloom's%2Btaxonomy%26tbm%3Di">bloom's
taxonomy</a>. It talks about six levels of performance. Level 2 maps to
“knowledge”, whereas level 3 maps to the “application” of information. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Option 1 (Know)</span><u1:p></u1:p></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Match the features of
following software modules with their names.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> Modules
Features</span><u1:p></u1:p></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">· <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Connect
Is
used to manage connectivity within a building<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">· <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Enterprise
Helps
manage all POUs from a central location<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">· <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Base
Is used to manage
connectivity within a building<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">· <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Power
Is required to run all PIM modules<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Option 2 (Use)</span><u1:p></u1:p></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Your customer has
three buildings in a campus environment. One of the buildings houses a formal
data center, and the other buildings simply use telecommunication rooms for
patching. They want to document their connectivity throughout the data center
and the enterprise from a central location. Which module will you offer them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal">Connect<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Enterprise<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Base<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Power<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">While option 1 helps
learners know the features, option 2 helps learners understand the customer
requirement and provide a solution accordingly. Besides, option 2 requires
learners to know the information too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Which option will you<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>use</b>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Anuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17248704114780142257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-52572762595035604872012-04-19T21:48:00.000-07:002012-04-19T21:48:17.719-07:00The Use of “All of the Above”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s
start with an example. A review round of the assessment questions hosted on the
LMS is going on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Client:</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Kunal, tell me one thing…what does this option “All of
the above” mean?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kunal:</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Steve, we can use this option when all the options or
answers are correct.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Client:</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Yes Kunal, I understand that. But what should I do
when it is <b>the first option is “All of
the above</b>!!!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This
happened to be a real-life scenario in one of the organizations I worked in
previously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">So,
why should we avoid the use of “All of the above” option in knowledge checks
and assessment questions?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s
take another example.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Question: What is 5 + 5?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Options:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">10</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">11</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">A duck</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">All of the above</span></i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Well,
to start with, each option has 25% chances of being correct. But, a giveaway
option like “a duck” definitely is not the correct answer. So, it automatically
makes the option “All of the above” incorrect as well. This leaves two options,
with each having 50% chance of being correct. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Isn’t
that a bit too much to test the knowledge of the learners?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">So,
we should always avoid the use of the options such as “All of the above” and
“None of the above”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
big reasons for it:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Once hosted on the
LMS, the options may be randomized. Makes you look like a fool if these options
do not remain the last in the list </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If one of the
options is a giveaway, it leaves the probability of the remaining options being
correct…HIGH! That’s not how we want to test the learners, right?</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
</div>Sujoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10317151506102441214noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1651263951564557208.post-83056408676066190742012-04-19T03:30:00.010-07:002012-06-04T00:12:24.130-07:00Five Ways to Develop Ineffective E-Learning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We all make mistakes.
I made some too. Reflecting on those mistakes has helped me correct them in the
long run.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here are some
mistakes that resulted in completely ineffective training programs:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Ignoring the big picture</b>: It's
important to consider the actual learning environment in which the training
will be deployed. "The customer did not share the details" is the
common excuse we hear. There's always an opportunity to ask, except that it has
to be done at the right time, which is usually the beginning of the project.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Letting SME(s) guide the development</b>:
SMEs are content experts, but "we" are instructional designers.
Orienting SMEs in the right way is our responsibility.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Implementing everything that the
customer says</b>: Sure, the customer is paying for the training. But, it's our
responsibility to make it effective. Most customers are not instructional
designers. Educating them in the right way helps achieve a win-win situation.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Leaving the design to
media/construction teams to implement</b>: Support teams are there to support
us, but "we" are the owners. No matter how detailed instructions we
write, we need to get involved in the entire life cycle to get our vision
translated to the final product.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Adding complexities to make it
"different"</b>: In an effort make our courses different or provide
something new, we often end up making things complicated. We add elements to UI
to make it look "different", and the same elements make it difficult
for the learner to navigate. We add unwanted features to make the instructional
strategy different, and the same features make comprehension difficult. Keep it
Simple. That's the key.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>Anuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17248704114780142257noreply@blogger.com1