Category: Instructional Design

How to Create Large Scale Learning Programs

by Carolina Montero

Professionals who are new to learning and development are often curious about how to create large scale learning programs. Running this programs is no easy task. It requires a program manager with great communication skills, the right tools, and the ability to orchestrate multiple teams.


Of course, there’s more to it than just effective program management. In learning and development, we must be mindful of the best approach for learners, stakeholders, and senior management so that we can create a program that achieves its business and learning objectives.

That’s why I found the article “Secrets of Successful Large-Scale Learning Programs” so fascinating. Written by Erin Krebs, SweetRush’s Director of Client Solutions, it was recently published in Training Industry Magazine.

“These are exciting and challenging times to be embarking on a complex development and rollout,” says Krebs. “There are new technologies and tools to leverage and learners expect higher levels of polish and engagement.”

In writing about four key secrets of large-scale learning programs, Erin uses real-life examples to illustrate her each of her topics, which include:

  • Branding your program
  • Building anticipation
  • Setting a new bar for training
  • Emphasizing caring and empathy so your team thrives

“Let’s not rehash the basics—obvious things, like choosing the right vendor—but rather hone in on the things that you’re not necessarily thinking about,” says Krebs, about the focus of the article.

Erin encourages learning and development teams to be creative, to make the experience enjoyable, and to nurture a positive team culture. This last part is essential, Krebs says, because “when there are bumps—and there will be some—caring kicks in and everyone works together to find a solution and move forward.”

Go ahead—discover the best practices for how to create large scale learning programs!

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Agile eLearning Development: Let’s Have That ‘Agile’ Conversation

by Esteban Cascante

If you’ve worked in the eLearning industry for a while, it’s likely you’ve recently (or not that recently) heard the buzzword “agile,” possibly in combination with other words like “process,” “production methodology,” and so on. We’ve heard it too, I’d like to share our story, perspective, and conclusions about what agile eLearning development means for SweetRush.

As a company that values continuous improvement and raising the bar on our craft, we feel constant pressure to do things faster, better, and more efficiently. In the past few years, every time we discussed these topics, someone would inevitably say, “What if we were more agile? Maybe that would solve our problems.” In these situations, I couldn’t help but wonder, is agile really the magic pill the learning and development industry has been waiting for?

With this and many other questions in mind, we decided last year to have “that agile conversation.” This is what we found.

Our industry has traditionally used the ADDIE model for creation and delivery of instructional design (including eLearning development). If you’re not familiar, ADDIE stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation and it has (again, traditionally) been a linear model. For years, everyone felt comfortable with ADDIE. But with time, its weaknesses started to become more and more evident: it takes quite some time to “really see” something, it does not accommodate spin-offs or variations well, and sometimes it can inhibit creativity once the storyboard is done.

We put together a multidisciplinary group and charged it with the task of remapping our production process to make it more agile. But once we started, we realized that we needed to ask ourselves, what does “agile eLearning development” really mean for us?

As we started sharing our experiences in the group, we learned that every client that had specifically asked for a project to be managed in an “agile” way had a different understanding of what that meant and that we all had our own ideas about it too.

So we had to go back to the books and find the definition of “agile” that we all could use and apply to eLearning development.

We learned that because the ADDIE and waterfall models are linear, the most common mistake people make is to assume that any iterative model is “agile” by definition.

An iterative model is a lot more flexible than linear models, but to be agile (in the strict use of the term), being iterative is not enough; it needs to follow the principles of agile software development. Personally I really like the following three concepts I invite you to read them all at agilemanifesto.org.

“Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential.”

“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”

“Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.”

Besides studying the SAM, Lean, and Scrum models, we also decided to talk to our contacts who have experience in implementing these processes. Coworkers, clients, and partners were more than happy to share their experiences with agile eLearning development.

When we asked about the benefits of implementing agile for their teams, we started to see some patterns. Everyone talked about:

  • More motivated teams
  • Better relationship with stakeholders
  • More communication at the beginning that led to less feedback later
  • Higher-quality products

Interestingly enough, almost no one mentioned shorter timelines, profitability, or efficiency as being the main takeaways of the agile production process.

With that information, we decided to compare the strengths and weaknesses of our own process against the benefits of switching completely to agile.

After a thorough analysis, we concluded that we already had some of the strengths agile would provide: we already had a highly motivated team, and the industry has recognized the quality of our eLearning development work with several awards.

We also identified that not all projects are a good fit for agile. Linear processes are still relevant and a good choice for some projects and clients.

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As I said, we are always looking to improve, which means challenging long-standing assumptions and not being afraid to experiment to push to the next level. However, we also recognize we need to do so in ways that enhance our relationships with our clients and partners.

So the question remained: What should we do?

We decided that it would be a mistake to switch completely to a new production process that would not be a good fit for every project. But we also saw that it would be a mistake to ignore the good ideas the agile methodology has to offer.

With this guiding philosophy, we’ve made several exciting improvements to our process over the last year that embrace agile eLearning development:

  • We embrace and support early collaboration between different stakeholders and team members.
  • We are ready and able to create prototypes, wireframes, and proposals as part of the initial stages of the project.
  • We are well prepared to take on projects that should be developed using the full agile methodology.

Also, as a result of these discussions, we found and applied a lot of refinements that have improved the efficiency of our existing process.

What’s next?

This experience brought into focus our strong commitment to continuous improvement at SweetRush. Taking it a step further, it’s helped us map out a process and a multidisciplinary approach to continuous improvement that we can apply to aspects of our craft, such as embracing industry trends, remaining competitive, and making sure that our clients and partners feel good—and that we feel good—about the services we offer.

Lessons Sixth Graders Taught Me About Adult Learning

by Jo.Coulson

I know adult learning theories. I’m skilled in instructional design and a master of curriculum models. I’m an expert in the facilitation and evaluation of learning. I am a learning professional! (Cue superhero music…)

Then I was asked to create a course for sixth graders.

They told me the goals were simple: Create an elective for the sixth grade using project-based learning. Use all the academic disciplines (English, math, science, history, art, and music) to demonstrate practical application in the real world. Incorporate a project that will introduce career education, teach project management skills, and instill teamwork. (Teamwork? Have they met any sixth graders?) Also, I was told to keep in mind that these students are “only 12 years old” — a phrase I later learned meant they were smarter and more creative than most adults I know.

How hard could it be? (BTW, this phrase will be the inscription on my tombstone someday.)

Before I tell you what they taught me, let me give you a little brief on the course. The students were to write a business plan to open a candy store, and then present it to “investors” for funding. Three teams — Finance, Marketing, and Products/Distribution — had to find a location based on demographics, create a floor plan, decide on a store name, create marketing materials, decide what products to sell, and determine the cost. Each team worked on specific tasks, but they had to work together as a group to make decisions and make sure everything worked together. They learned a great many lessons, but then so did I.

Lesson 1: I taught them basic project management skills and was questioned extensively on my experience in PM and/or opening a candy store. My lesson: Don’t try to pull anything over on them: the little twerps grilled me about my credentials!

Lesson 2: We played a team-building and problem-solving game where they had to get one piece of candy from Point A to Point B. One of the obstacles was that the teacher (me) grabbed one piece of candy and ate it, so they had to start over. This happened four times, which they were all too happy to report, but they did finally complete the task. My lesson: Apparently teamwork doesn’t apply to the teacher. (Note to self: next time, don’t bring chocolates.)

Lesson 3: To meet the science requirement, we decided to teach about crystallization, so we made rock candy in the classroom. Just think: sugar-water everywhere. They are still cleaning it up. My lesson: (This one came from the students.) Find a different science experiment.

Lesson 4: We built-in accountability to each other, not to the teacher or a grade. They took it very seriously and kept each other on task. And they did so in a respectful manner with surprising little emotion in spite of raging 12-year-old hormones! My lesson: Peer pressure can be positive!

Lesson 5: We gave them a few Internet resources to get them started, but they found a ton more than I ever thought existed. My lesson: The next time I need to do research, I’m calling one of them.

Lesson 6: They were given an opportunity to present to “investors.” One of the students scheduled to present was unexpectedly out that day, but her team didn’t miss a beat. Had they not apologized for her absence, we never would have known. Their presentations were thorough and incredibly creative. My lesson: (This one is my favorite.) Give them the opportunity, and they will rise to the occasion.

As I reflected on this incredible experience, I realized there were parallel lessons for those of us who spend most of our time creating programs for adults.

  1. Credibility: Our clients expect us to be both skilled in our profession and have at least a working knowledge of their business.
  2. Teams: Creating the right obstacle can teach more than problem-solving: it can build a team. (Except if you’re the teacher I guess!)
  3. Experiential learning: It’s a great teaching tool; just make sure it’s manageable.
  4. Accountability: Responsibility to each other can be a strong motivator, especially when the outcome is shared.
  5. Resources: Don’t think you have to supply all the resources. Teach the learner to find them.
  6. Accomplishment: Create the opportunity, and you’d be amazed at what a group of individuals — regardless of age — can accomplish.

And the final lesson for those of you who are worried about the future: don’t be. I’ve met the future and it is very bright!

Photo Credit: Worcester Academy via Compfight cc

Unearthing Gems: Subject-Matter Experts and Tacit Knowledge

by Cindy.McCabe

Star performers, master salesmen — really any kind of subject-matter expert (SME) — know what they know based on years of experience. They’ve seen many situations, solved many problems. From a training perspective, the value these experts bring is their developed understanding — not only of what they do, but, more importantly, why they do what they do.

When working with subject-matter experts, these areas of “tacit” knowledge are often the most difficult to mine. By definition, tacit knowledge is more challenging to explain because it can’t be explicitly stated and written down like a fact. Yet these gems can make the difference between a learning experience that simply imparts information and one that inspires improvement, growth, and change by providing the deeper context.

A recent experience, outside of my day-to-day working with SMEs in corporate settings, made me pause to consider the challenge of unearthing tacit knowledge. My husband, Mark, is a math teacher, and he tutors students for the AP Calculus exam. Part of the AP exam is free response: students must solve problems to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject. As Mark has learned, there are many AP prep books and programs out there that teach the what — both of calculus and AP test tactics — but there is a dearth of available guidance that gets to the why — how to think about calculus problems.

Mark’s goal is to help students analyze a problem, not answer a question. So, he set himself to a task: he worked every AP Calculus free-response problem in the last 10 years… not to understand the what — he already knows the what — but to help him get to the underlying why. Doing this has allowed him to extrapolate back to the set of guiding principles that appear in the AP exams, and he’s categorized each problem (and problem subpart) by principle type.

From this, he’s developing side-by-side solutions for each AP free-response problem:

  • Down the left side of the page, he provides his thought process — the why — by explicitly writing down how he thinks about solving the problem using one or more of the guiding principles.
  • Down the right side of the page, he provides the what — the solution steps that he would show on the AP exam itself, with whatever time-saving tactics the AP exam allows for.

Now, getting a SME to commit to this kind of effort probably isn’t realistic for most corporate training efforts. But you can use the same approach in interviewing SMEs. Here’s how:

  • Ask the SME to provide several examples of common issues. You’re not looking for the black-and-white situations; you’re looking for the ones that are shades of grey, where the SME had to apply judgment. Ideally, you want three or four examples per topic.
  • Let the SME explain what he or she did, and probe for the why. Why did you choose to do that as opposed to something else? What in your experience told you that was the correct approach? What factors did you consider? Which are the most important? Least important? If X changed, how would that change your thinking?

Ultimately, what you’re trying to get to are those guiding principles that the SME is using to make a decision based on a given set of circumstances.

I’ll be honest: it’s not easy. Most tacit knowledge is so ingrained that SMEs don’t even realize what they know. But if you can dig for these diamonds, it will make your training sparkle.

On Being an Instructional Designer, Part Two

by Catherine Davis

Life seemed a lot more challenging before having that virtual portal to the world at my fingertips — the Internet. Everything took so long, and I had to really work to obtain information! Driving an hour through snowdrifts to locate the only copy of academic journals in the tri-county area; muddling through mazes of dimly lit, dusty stacks of books; pumping copy machines full of dimes; taking power naps on avocado-green vinyl couches in preparation for excavating resources on the second half of my to-do list… and so on.

Being an ID and a manager, I recognize that life is good when I can relax in my comfy recliner with my feet up and access virtually any piece of information I want in a matter of seconds. I can keep abreast of what’s happening in the world of learning, sharpen my skills, test out the latest software packages and stay fresh on most everything I care to. As mentioned in Part One, I want to share a few of my favorite online resources for expanding my knowledge and skills, both on the ID front and in other areas of interest to me. None of these resources cost a dime… unlike the copy machines I fed over the years.

  • The Articulate Community
    • Download free trial versions of the Articulate Suite, including Storyline.
    • Watch numerous “how-to” functionality videos.
    • Check out the gallery of creative course examples for ideas and inspiration.

 

  • TED Talks and the Kahn Academy. There is a never-ending variety of educational and technical topics available to you. Sound overwhelming? Just set some mini-goals for yourself, such as focusing on one topic per week or month where you want to hone your skills or explore something new.

 

  • Coursera. This site offers a variety of college-level courses along with a certification if you complete the offline assignments. Like many busy professionals, I have time to audit courses by only watching the lectures. The commitment averages about one hour per week for this. Take note, they offer a six-week course on gamification, which will give you the basics to this latest trend in learning.

 

  • YouTube videos. It’s not all pets doing tricks or people ranting and raving about nothing in particular. There are loads of professional and self-educational videos on how to use various software packages or speakers focusing on the latest trends. Again, focus on one topic and carefully chose to watch a handful of videos. You can usually tell by the user rating if the content hits the mark and is worth your time.

 

Every day, the set of resources on the sites listed above continues to grow. Other sites continually pop up and expand as well. Be sure to take advantage of these fantastic resources as you work on new projects. Believe me, most interviewers and managers are pretty impressed if an ID mentions a relevant TED talk or other video resource when brainstorming on a project.

In case you missed it, in Part One I discuss the fundamentals managers like me are looking for to build a growing and successful ID team.

 

On Being an Instructional Designer, Part One

by Catherine Davis

“Do you work for the county ‘ID-ing’ bodies?” Such a response is accompanied by a furrowed brow from a perplexed individual when I respond to the question: “What do you do for a living?” I’ve learned to leave the term “ID” out of the equation and give a simple answer. Those of us in the learning industry know exactly what an ID is. An instructional designer is a content hunter/gatherer, an interviewer, a diplomat, a writer, a conceptual artist, and so much more.

But what does it take to be a successful ID in today’s climate? I can offer a few thoughts from the positive experiences I have had while in the trenches. If you are interviewing potential new team-members or vendor-partners, these are essentials to have on your checklist. And if you are on the other side being interviewed, take note: These are the fundamentals managers like me are looking for to build a growing and successful team.

  • Keep skills fresh. Yes, there are always new workshops and certifications you can obtain. But these likely will cost you some money. Don’t get me wrong, I do not discount their value, but there are loads of webinars, templates, videos, QRGs, etc. on the Internet that are FREE FREE FREE! Take advantage of these opportunities. I will offer up my preferred resources in part two of this blog.
  • Show appreciation. Send a thank-you email, eCard, or even an old school hand-written card to an interviewer or others who took that extra step to help you. Reciprocate kindness with kindness and you will be remembered.
  • Have a “can do” attitude. I know this is cliché, but it’s a measure of success. Focus on how you solve problems, pose creative alternatives, function well as part of a team, and go the extra mile. We have all had bosses and coworkers in the past that just didn’t “click” with us. Leave them in the past. Shut the door and throw away the key. Don’t invite them into your new gig or have them join you, in spirit, on an interview.
  • Be on time. All interviewers and managers know the interview and the initial projects kick-offs are part of the honeymoon phase. If you are late for these initial appointments, you are showing you will be habitually late for most of your internal and client meetings and calls. Show up early and bring work, a book, or an iPad with you for entertainment while you wait.

Sure, these ideas (and several more I could list) may seem like common sense. But it’s always nice to have a refresher for a self-check and do the necessary course correction, whether you are interviewer or interviewee. Now read on for Part Two, which focuses on some of my favorite online resources to keep your mind and your ID skills sharp.