Category: Learning Experience 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!

large_scale_learning_program_CTA

What Makes a Visionary Learning Strategy?

by Tim Coffey

SweetRush thought leaders share their experience working with learning and development organizations that have adopted a visionary learning strategy.

The quintessential example of a visionary is Martin Luther King Jr., who led the fight for civil rights with strength and compassion. Visionaries like King have one thing in common—they all have a clear, long-range view of how things should be.

True visionaries pair their vision with their ability to manipulate a medium or system to enact change or make something beautiful. Think of Mozart’s artistic vision paired with his innate understanding of the notes on a piano.

At SweetRush, we’ve been privileged to partner with hundreds of highly successful organizations. We’ve worked with true visionaries, from CLOs to directors to program managers, who challenge the status quo and shape a new vision for learning in their organizations. We are always excited to push our craft to new heights by collaborating on and contributing to visionary learning strategies.

We asked some of our own visionaries at SweetRush about what it means to have a visionary learning strategy. We spoke with Lisa Van Damme and Annie Hodson, Solution Architects who work with our clients to analyze training needs and design effective learning solutions. We also spoke with Creative Director Annie Dickerson, whose role is to shape engaging artistic treatments for our learning solutions in alignment with our clients’ design standards.

All three of our SweetRushians are quick to point out the ever-present tension between being visionary and being pragmatic. Vision requires innovation. It can be risky, and business constraints such as budget and time often suppress innovation.
visionary_learning_strategy
Lisa compares this tension to a bungee cord. “You’re trying to jump forward, but the tension increases the farther you go. A strong leader will try to get a little farther with each jump,” she says. You may get pulled back, but you should keep bouncing forward. And with the added momentum of others, you’ll gain some serious ground.

Annie Dickerson considers Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be a modern-day visionary. “He ‘gets’ something that the rest of us don’t. He’s able to take all the data, break it down to something simple, and articulate it very clearly. He clears away the fog so that other people can see his vision.”
visionary_learning_strategy

Having the vision is just part of the equation. The other is cutting through all the noise to make it clear so others may understand. Annie Hodson describes this experience perfectly: “When you start creating a learning strategy, it feels foggy, and you can spend a really long time figuring it out. But when you’re finished, it seems simple and straightforward.”

From our Solution Architects’ feedback, it’s clear that a visionary learning strategy follows a pattern. It starts with a great deal of obscurity, but the solution eventually becomes clear.

What we’re all striving for is a learning strategy that, while visionary, also yields real results. It affects the bottom line or results in measurable behavioral change. With a learning strategy, as with any investment (financial or otherwise), a risk-versus-reward struggle is at play, and sometimes more aggressive, less conventional solutions yield greater results.
visionary_learning_strategy

Visionaries are often idealists, and Annie Dickerson’s “pie in the sky” visionary learning strategy is as idealistic as it gets. She says, “Imagine if every learner could get exactly the learning and the content they need at the time that they need it, in a way they prefer to engage with it, and in a manner that’s delightful. Every learner gets their own customized package for learning.”

That sounds like a vision to strive for, doesn’t it?

Want to read more about visionary learning strategies? Check out these posts from our SweetRush colleagues!

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.

agile eLearning development

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.

Three Solutions for Custom eLearning Challenges

by Lauren Granahan

“All eLearning must be engaging.” “All eLearning must be interactive.” Of course I agree with these industry mantras. But interactivity for its own sake does not make a successful custom eLearning. Each project comes with its own set of challenges—the trick to creating truly successful custom eLearning is finding a way to address these unique challenges in creative ways in your solution.

Challenge #1: People think they know this content (but they don’t).

Solution #1: OK, smarty pants, prove it! Throw the learner into a situation where they are called on to handle a real-life scenario. If they can’t do it—you now have their attention!

Challenge #2: The classroom version of this training had collaboration and competition, and those items were identified as key success factors.

Solution #2: Build it in! Asynchronous eLearning can still incorporate competition through leaderboards and social tools. If collaboration is key, build in synchronous, collaborative sharing events throughout the learning process, either through a social tool or a virtual meeting platform. When converting instructor-led training to custom eLearning, get creative in your approach in order to maintain the key components that make the learning successful.

Challenge #3: No one wants to take this compliance training! They’re not going to pay attention anyway.

Solution #3: This is my favorite challenge! Learners come to this type of training with a preconceived notion of what the experience will be—this is our chance to surprise them. One idea a colleague had recently that I loved was to start the training with a montage of old photos that you would expect to see in a compliance video and then abruptly STOP the sequence and unveil a modern, 3-D environment with animated avatars and humor. This abrupt visual shift tells the learner that this isn’t your usual boring compliance training. And now you have their attention!

So, my tip: If you approach each custom eLearning project as a new, unique challenge to be solved, each solution will be tailored to, and targeted to address, that specific challenge. The interactivity and engagement will surely follow.

Download CTA Instructional Design Trends 2020 Report

3 Great Blog Posts with Gamification Examples and Techniques

by Carolina Montero

First, we found the inspiration . . . now let me show you some gamification examples with techniques you can use to make a winning game-based learning solution.

In my previous blog, I shared several blog posts to inspire you to create a game-based learning solution. To kick off this blog series, I presented you with a scenario: You have to create a new learning program for your employees, and you want an engaging, interesting, and effective solution that no one will want to put down. Why not create a game?

Let’s continue to imagine that scenario, but now you have the idea, the inspiration, the sparkle of what will be the best approach for your learners’ needs. Now what? Well, let’s get some examples of gamification leveraging successful techniques.

What techniques should you use in your game-based solution to be a game that makes my learners want to play and play and play and learn and learn and learn?

To help answer this question, I chose these three blog posts written by SweetRush experts, posts that include details, descriptions, and the best uses of techniques for gamification in learning. Game on!

Show your learners how they are progressing

One of the secrets to keeping engagement and motivation high is to show learners how they are advancing through the game. Read about the framework of a gamification example that shows progress, and get ideas and the winning formula for effective gamification design.

Read: Make Progress Obvious in Gamification for Learning

Gamification examples show correct use of badges

So many learning solutions are called “gamification,” and all they do is give learners a badge for completing a course or task. Not the most effective way to use gamification! There are several details that you need to consider to correctly and effectively use badges to reinforce the learning strategy and the goals. Find out how through these gamification examples.
Read: Creating Relevant Badges in Gamification

Employ gamification at the program level

Use the same considerations and gamification techniques at the curriculum level to make your onboarding, certification, or professional development programs more engaging and less confusing.
Read: Gamification at the Curriculum Level

If you want to continue learning about game-based learning solutions, check out our Games & Simulations page.

To learn more about gamification trends and use cases, or see a comparison guide and ratings for gamification software, check out this gamification guide.

And … don’t miss the last blog post of this series coming soon: Gamification for Corporate Training 101.

5 Blogs to Inspire Your Next Game-Based Learning Solution

by Carolina Montero

Who says games are just for kids? Get inspired by these five blog posts and make your next game-based learning solution engaging, creative, and fun!

Imagine the scenario: You have to create a new learning solution for your employees and you want not only an engaging but an interesting and effective one so that no one will want to stop learning. Why not create a game?

We take games very seriously. So seriously, that some of our solutions have been recognized by the industry.

I bet you want to know what inspires our experts!

These five blogs will give you that inspirational spark or idea to make your next game-based learning solution engaging and effective. Bookmark your favorite—or should I say, game on? 😉

Let’s Learn from Monopoly

Monopoly, of course, is a very popular board game, and nearly all of us have at least one edition in our homes. In this blog post, learn what characteristics make McDonald’s version of Monopoly so effective and how you can use these features to take your game-based learning solution to the next level.
Read: 4 Lessons McDonald’s MONOPOLY Teaches about Learning Games

Step by Step: Create a Game with Articulate

Kids love challenges, and so do adults. This blog post features a fun eLearning solution using one of the top authoring tools in our industry: Articulate Storyline. As you will see, this game-based learning solution has great potential for both adults and kids.
Read: Digital Easter Egg Hunt in the E-Learning Household

Popular Games Are Always an Inspiration

The best way to learn how to make a learning game is by playing them and being aware of what elements popular games have that engage you. Find out what characteristics you can use in your next learning solution by leveraging those from popular games and game-based learning.
Read: Learning by Playing Games in Real Life

Design Strategies from Candy Crush

Candy Crush looks like a simple game, but it keeps players engaged. There are people who have been playing for years—through the 500-plus levels in the map—and will probably continue playing every day! If you are interested in creating a game-based learning solution, why not look at this game from a design perspective and gather some ideas?
Read: 4 Effective Gamification Strategies for Corporate Training

Inspiration from a SweetRush Internal Game

We’re not just a company that creates gamification solutions for our clients, we actually “walk the talk.” Within our asset management system, Cocoa, we created a gamification experience for employee engagement. For a completely virtual company like ours, this is a unique, educational, competitive, and engaging solution.
Read: How a Gamification Developer Games Its Employees

Want to learn more about game-based learning solutions? Check out our Games & Simulations page.

And keep an eye on our blogs: this one is the first in a new gamification series! Next I will show you the best five blog posts about gamification examples and techniques. 🙂

9 Must-Read Articles About Mobile Learning

by Carolina Montero

As a learning and development professional, when you think about mobile learning, you need to consider the best way to use smartphones or tablets to create a successful performance improvement and learning solution.

Lucky for you, our SweetRush experts have written about strategy, trends, and best practices in mobile content development, design, and technology! Take a look and discover new resources, tips, and tricks.

How do you choose the right authoring tool for your mobile learning solutions?

With so many options for mobile learning authoring tools, the choice may seem complicated. In this article, we help you understand the important considerations to choose the right tool for mobile learning.
Read: Mobile Learning Solutions: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job

What are some of the most common questions about mobile learning strategy?

At our webinar, our thoughtful audience had great questions—and here you can see the answers!
Read: Mobile Learning Consulting Webinar: Answers to Your Questions!

How can you publish offline with Articulate Storyline on a iPad?

There are options to produce and publish content on the tablet offline, and our Director of Engineering, Misha Milshtein, explains step by step how to do it in a simple way.
Read: Offline Publishing and Viewing Options with Articulate Storyline

What is a practical and custom development tool for mobile learning?

This article describes why Articulate is a good option for mLearning if you are looking for a rapid custom development tool.
Read:Articulate: Tools for eLearning and mLearning Done Right

How do you know if mobile learning is the right learning solution for your organization?

To get results your company needs from training, it’s important for you to identify the correct platform for delivery. Check out these questions and tips to identify if this technology is a good fit.
Read: mLearning: Is It Right for Your Organization?

How do you avoid risks when developing mobile learning?

Mobile learning is not without its challenges—this article highlights some of the potential pitfalls so you don’t get burned.
Read: Hot Plate! Hot Plate! Three Ways to Avoid Getting Burned with Mobile Learning

How should instructional designers approach mobile learning solutions?

If you are an instructional designer, this article is perfect for you! Learn the two hats that you need to wear when consulting.
Read: Consulting for Mobile Learning: A Tale of (at Least) Two Hats

What does it mean to be a “learner advocate” when designing mobile learning solutions?

Learner advocates consider context, learner motivation, and customizing the experience when designing mobile learning.

Read: Mobile Learning Solutions: 3 Tips for Being a Learner Advocate

Want even more tips?

We’ve put together a great collection of articles to help instructional designers with tips to develop mobile learning solutions.

Read: 31+ Mobile Learning Tips for Instructional Designers

Mobile Learning Solutions: How to Choose the Right Tool

by Lauren Granahan

As demand has increased for mobile learning solutions, so have the options for authoring tools! I recently wrote a piece for eLearningIndustry.com to help bring some clarity to this decision.

Here are a couple of highlights:

    • These days we can put tools into two categories: tools that create learning solutions that are designed for the phone and ones that create solutions that work on the phone. It’s an important distinction that definitely affects the learner experience.

 

    • What do you need to think about when choosing your mobile learning authoring tool? Important considerations include the learning environment, your training objectives and content, what functionality you might need, and accessibility needs, among others.

 

The chart below summarizes the key points. For more detail, be sure to check out the full article, “Mobile Learning Solutions: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job.”

right tool considerations for mobile learning

I want to thank my colleague Misha Milshtein, SweetRush’s Director of Engineering and Development, who contributed valuable insights to the article!

And be sure to check out my colleagues’ articles on mobile learning solutions!

 

Can we help you design and develop a mobile learning solution for your organization? We’re here to help! Get in touch with Lauren and our Solution Architect team at [email protected]. It would make our day to hear from you.

Mobile Learning Consulting Webinar: Answers to Your Questions!

by Danielle Hart

We recently held a webinar about mobile learning consulting, and we received some great questions from the participants regarding our mobile learning experience.

To answer your questions, we reached out to the experts! Director of Engineering and Technology Misha Milshtein, QA Manager Susan Gravel, Solution Architect Erin Krebs, and our speakers, Manager of Instructional Design Clare Dygert and Senior Instructional Designer Shauna Vaughan, provided valuable insights and tips.

If you’d like to stay informed about our upcoming webinars, we invite you to follow us on LinkedIn!

What development tool(s) do you use for parallel development between the laptop, tablet, and phone?

Misha Milshtein: We use a mix of the industry-standard tools (including Articulate® Storyline and Adobe® Captivate®) and proprietary coding frameworks depending on the project need and the client need. The current spread is about 70/30 in favor of standard tools. The selection of the tool depends on many variables, and some of the important ones are the features and functionality desired, the quality of the tool’s output to the desired formats, and whether the client desires to maintain (i.e., update) the solution in house moving forward.

Deploying on phones is often not the main priority and more of a “just in case.” So again, we would take that into consideration when choosing the tool.

When there is a true need for compatibility with phones, we’ve used such frameworks as PhoneGap™ for a phone-based app and Adapt framework for e-learning needs.

Authoring tool vs. HTML5 for creation: what’s more typical?

Misha Milshtein: In our experience, authoring tools are in much heavier demand. SweetRush also heavily relies on our own authoring frameworks, which provide us flexibility as well as development efficiencies.

Custom and framework-based HTML5 solutions come into play when there is a specific need that cannot be addressed by standard tools. Often, this is related to a specific feature or a set of features, or a complexity that cannot be achieved with WYSIWYG tools. The two examples that quickly come to mind are:

  • Heavily gamified training with animation elements, scoring, and a sophisticated scenario randomization engine
  • Large programs with emphasis on 508 compliance features, such as screen reader readiness and a closed captions mechanism

To what extent do you test your mobile learning on different devices? Can you talk about your testing once a course is built?

Misha Milshtein: We employ both internal and external testing. This means that in most cases, the mobile product is being tested by team members on multiple devices, then sent to an outside contractor for proper independent testing.

Susan Gravel: Specifications are defined up front as to what the client’s preference is. If no preference is indicated, then testing would occur on the latest devices. A stringent set of test cases are run on each device and if issues occur, the issue is documented, along with a screenshot, which makes it easy for our dev team to identify and fix.

When it comes to troubleshooting an issue with an individual’s device, how far do you go with this—especially if individuals might not work for your company?

Misha Milshtein: In the best case scenario, someone on the team can reproduce the issue. Once it is reproduced, in most cases it can be fixed. If we cannot reproduce the issue, we will try to get in contact with the person(s) who reported the defect. If we can at least see the problem on someone’s screen, it is easier for us to establish patterns and catch the culprit. Unfortunately, we might find out that we are dealing with a “known issue” in the authoring tool, and the issue cannot be fixed until the next update of the tool. In such cases, we might need to look for workarounds or alternative techniques.

What are some ways to incorporate mobile learning into the work environment (e.g., utilizing the mobile medium and portability to create a dynamic learning environment)?

Shauna Vaughan: Just-in-time performance support is a perfect way to incorporate learning into the work environment. For example, let’s say a factory worker needs to troubleshoot a piece of equipment. Using a phone or tablet, he or she could quickly access information to do so. (Using augmented reality, the worker could use his or her device to “hover” over the equipment and see the same information visually.) My husband, a paramedic, keeps reference guides (apps) on his phone and uses them at the point of need. Keep in mind that incorporating mobile learning into the workplace as a new mode of learning will require some change management and communication planning.

Clare Dygert: Do you have location-sensitive performance support? For example, special processes to check out equipment or to remind users of safety information. You could post QR codes in the places that the learner uses to retrieve the information. (Ed. note: Or use beacon technology to do the same.)

How long does it take to create a mobile solution?

Erin Krebs: The timeline for creating a mobile solution varies greatly by the type of learning you are developing. Here are a few sample timelines from recent projects:

  • Tablet-based learning using Articulate Storyline – start to finish is similar to typical e-learning timelines. Anywhere from 8–16 weeks based on level of complexity, engagement, multimedia elements, etc. The important note here is that when using a tool like Storyline, there is no additional time for developing a course for mobile vs. PC. Depending on which devices you are targeting, you might want to add a week to the timeline for additional QA testing and revisions.
  • Tablet-based apps or phone apps – app development is typically a bit longer than e-learning. We often run app development in tandem with the learning components that will be delivered via the app. For app development, assume anywhere from 16–20 weeks.
  • Phone only – there are many options for delivering mobile-phone learning, including authoring tools. We often use Adapt as a tool for building learning for phones, and timelines are similar to e-learning, 8–12 weeks. Because phones have smaller screens and less complex interactivity features, graphics can be simpler, reducing seat time. On the other hand, if you’re developing a game for mobile phones or complex 3D animations, time would be longer than a typical e-learning.

It’s like building a house: depending on the type of house you’re building, it will take less or more time. However, these examples should give you a good starting point.

Why is a second version of each course required for phone learning?

Misha Milshtein: Phones, tablets, and desktop PCs are all different devices for a reason. They serve different purposes and are not fully interchangeable. It is only natural to expect that the content created for and distributed on those devices might need to be tailored for each type.

Shauna Vaughan: The user experience for each device varies. For example, people expect to sit at a computer or laptop so they are accustomed to (but don’t necessarily enjoy!) longer courses on that device. Tablets are often used in lieu of laptops as a more portable option, so the experience on tablets is similar to PCs (so is the screen real estate). Phones are very different; people use them in a quicker and more purposeful way, and the screen real estate is much smaller. Therefore, the content design needs to be adjusted (e.g., smaller chunks) as well as the visual design.

Erin makes an analogy that I like. People have been doing their taxes using computer software for years. And now there are apps for doing your taxes on your phone. Imagine if they took that computer software and just put it on a phone, with no consideration for the screen size and how you use the phone. You would be constantly expanding and shrinking the size, trying to put your finger in little boxes to enter the numbers. Sounds pretty unpleasant and clunky, right? This is why we need to consider and optimize for delivery on mobile devices.

Clare Dygert: Another thing to consider is that the phones might have additional capability that desktops don’t include, such as GPS enablement, that could be used in the learning solution.

Is there any significant difference for instance with an iPad® and iPad mini™?

Misha Milshtein: There is not a significant difference.

What types of content are companies using m-learning for (i.e. systems, soft skills, etc.)?

Erin Krebs: We represent clients from a variety of industries (hospitality, retail, healthcare, banking and finance, automotive… the list goes on) and all of them are considering or already using m-learning for their training needs. They use it for anything from soft-skills training around communications and community organizing to tips for selling tires. What’s most important to consider is the desired learning outcomes and business objectives, and then looking at which delivery channels will be most effective in meeting those outcomes and objectives.

Shauna Vaughan: The type of content is less relevant than the context of the content and how it is expected that it will be applied.

Clare Dygert: I agree with Shauna: it’s all about the context when it comes to mobile.

I’m interested in your thoughts on how to convey complex learning processes on smartphones—for example, how to deal with teaching higher levels of a foreign language? It seems to me that the material is too complex for the screen size.

Shauna Vaughan: Remember that you are not bound to the technology for teaching. Consulting with the client might determine that the content is too complex or robust (or whatever) for a phone or other device. Heck, technology may not be the answer at all! And, with phones (and tablets), you aren’t bound to just presenting and teaching on the screen in the same way you are with a laptop or desktop. Use the camera for Facetime® or Skype™, use GPS, etc. There are LOTS of features and functions to incorporate into your content and learning solution.

Clare Dygert: Consider breaking it into its subprocesses using a visual infographic. Also, use the context—where the learner is located. I’m not a kid, but I use my iPhone® for EVERYthing these days—including going to non-mobile, enhanced websites. I’ve learned how to enlarge parts of the page, etc. It’s not optimal, but it’s what people actually do.

Thank you again for attending and we look forward to seeing you at our next event! Remember to follow us on Linkedin to hear about upcoming events.

 

Unconscious Bias: Being Racist, Sexist, and Having Cave People’s Brains

by Dr. Steve Yacovelli

I have a confession to make: I’m a racist.

If you know me (or see that my job title is Director of Inclusion and Change), this might come as a shock–especially because I’m a diversity and inclusion consultant. Still, yes, I’m a racist. But you know what? To some extent, you are, too.

If you’ve ever seen the musical Avenue Q (winner of the 2004 Tony Award for Best Broadway Musical, FYI), you might be familiar with the song “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” (warning: lyrics NSFW!). In this song, several of the characters sing (joyously!) about how they’re racist. They sing not about overt or explicit racism but more subversive, unconscious bias that we, as humans, all have. It was at the moment I first heard this song that the concept of hidden or unconscious bias hit my, well, consciousness.

What’s hidden or unconscious bias?

Hidden or unconscious bias is the preference for or against a person, thing, or group held at an unconscious level. This means we don’t even realize that our minds possess this bias of, say, that person on the phone who must be unintelligent because his English isn’t as good as yours, or that the masculine-looking woman in front of you at the store must be a lesbian. In contrast, an overt – or explicit – bias is an attitude or prejudice that one endorses at a conscious level; it’s obvious and blatant. And sometimes, what’s “overt” bias to one person is “unconscious” bias to another, based upon our individual self-awareness.

Research on hidden bias shows that, regardless of the best intentions, most people hold deep-seated resistance to the “difference” of others, whether that difference is defined by evident factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, age, or physical characteristics, or more subtle ones such as background, personality type, experiences, or even sexual orientation. But bias can also exist in a positive sense: we might favor our family, our community, and people with whom we feel a connection based on shared characteristics or experiences (e.g., same alma mater or employer).

These hidden biases aren’t purposely or consciously created; they are products of our brain’s self-generated definitions of normal, acceptable, or positive. They’re shaped by many factors: from past experiences to our local or cultural environment, to the influence of social community and the media. We don’t consciously create these definitions of “normal” versus “different,” “good” versus “bad,” or “acceptable” versus “unacceptable.” In fact, conscious and unconscious biases are often divergent; our hidden biases might exist in spite of our sincere desire to be bias-free, and in direct contradiction of the attitudes we believe we have.

Why do we have hidden biases?

Well, we can blame it on our cave ancestors. Back in the day, a cave person had to quickly decide if the big, furry, sharp-toothed animal at the cave door was friend or foe; and those quick assertations of safety were processed in our cave brains. Science has shown that we’re bombarded with 11 million bits of information every moment, but we consciously process only 40 bits of data at any time. How do we manage with that 99.9999996{d89e4f83f6b6a066fc09cee339cefb53fa8e17050e8090b978ce7abfcf69967c} gap? Through our unconscious bias. So as humans, it is perfectly natural for us to create these “cognitive shortcuts” to help us be safe, survive, and manage all this data input.

But in 2015, we aren’t cave folk, and that wiring sometimes goes against how we want our “auto systems” to work, for the most part. Think about you at work: do you want your cave wiring impulsively taking over who you should work with, the feelings you have toward hiring someone, or defining how you act toward a new coworker? No, you don’t. You want your conscious brain to be prevalent, and that’s not always easy to do.

How can you manage your unconscious cave self?

Well, the first step is accepting that we do have unconscious bias. Recently I was running a workshop on unconscious bias and asked the question, “Who’s racist?” I raised my hand, and out of the 60-plus attendees, about four others acknowledged that they’re racist. As my co-facilitator noted, what was interesting wasn’t those of us who raised our hands, but that nearly all workshop participants didn’t also raise theirs. We each have a skewed view of the world looking through our respective lenses, but it’s having the awareness that we do have skewed world views that is vital to foster change, manage our behaviors, and not succumb to our unconscious. (Want to discover yours? Go to www.projectimplicit.com to take an assessment that highlights your biases. It’s fun!)

Next, it’s about educating others as to their own hidden biases. “But I’m not racist,” you might hear. “I have many black (or white or Latino, etc.) friends!” These types of statements are coming from the conscious brain, and not necessarily from our unconscious or hidden biased selves. So helping people – respectfully – understand that their biases are showing is important.

Finally, it’s looking at the bigger picture: the institutional biases that exist, how they affect your (personal and professional) life detrimentally, and how we can start to challenge them. Why does your company hire mostly white dudes? Are your marketing messages pretty non-inclusive and exclude non-traditional families? Do you tend to have friends whose demographic makeup is very similar to yours (all straight friends, all Hispanic friends)? Think about these and decide if your unconscious biases are influencing your actions.

Hidden bias means you’re human.

So we’re all racist, or sexist, or homophobic, or any other –ist. And that’s OK; this means we’re human. Ultimately, it’s how we manage these feelings and our actions that are key to “unbiasing” ourselves and gaining the rewards of that freedom.

A different version of this story was published by Watermark Media on November 3, 2015.