In this issue:
1. A TRENDS Interview with Dr. Michael Allen
2. Thoughts on Technology Based Training
3. Resources for your Continuing Education
1. TRENDS Interview with Dr. Michael Allen
Dr. Allen is Chairman and CEO of Allen Interactions, Inc. (http://www.alleninteractions.com). He is the primary architect of Authorware and the founder of Authorware, Inc. (now Macromedia, Inc.) Trends caught up with Dr. Allen to ask him a few questions to help us avoid becoming an instructional design zombie!
TRENDS: What message will you give the participants of the NMID Symposium?
ALLEN: First and foremost, we must remember to keep our focus on the goal of training: to enable people to do the right things at the right times. To so enable people often requires us to create meaningful and memorable learning experiences. Admittedly, this is not easy to do. But with the technological capabilities we have today to distribute and replicate our designs for large audiences, poor designs waste ever increasing volumes of human life. We have many obligations to make interactions fruitful.
TRENDS: Where do you see instructional design going wrong?
ALLEN: Harder to answer is where do we see it going right! There have been extraordinary, life-changing experiences offered through interactive systems. I've seen them and I've seen the contributions they can make. They can truly help people realize more of their innate potential.
But mostly, I see the same old "tell and test" paradigms repeated ad nausium. Why is it we want to use our wonderful new capabilities to replicate the typically ineffective methods of traditional instruction? Why is it, for example, we see simple presentation of information equated with instruction? With so many new people flocking into positions to create interactive experiences, it's more important than ever that they have effective models on which to build.
TRENDS: There's a wealth of research and literature on human learning. Are you saying people are unaware of it or that it isn't valid?
ALLEN: I do believe that many people charged with instructional design aren't as well grounded as they might be. And I think we're seeing evidence that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Without significant study and grounding, people don't know how to interpret and apply most of the research literature. For example, to shape new behaviors in animals, it's important to give immediate reinforcing feedback for partially correct behaviors. Most everyone learns this in Psychology 101. Does this mean for human learning, we should do the same thing? This answer isn't a simple yes or no, but many have taken this to mean that after each answer it's imperative to tell learners immediately whether they are correct or incorrect. This turns out to be a dreadful imperative.
What we need as adult learners is interesting events leading to consequences of significance. We need events to not only challenge us but to have some relationship to real life (where immediate unambiguous feedback is rare). Life is not just a sequence of multiple choice questions.
Better designs often incorporate delayed feedback. Learners may need to make a series of decisions, some of which can be changed in the process, before instructional feedback is provided. This is true even when new behaviors are being learned. In my presentation at NMID, I plan to give a number of examples to illustrate how well-known principles from research are repeatedly misapplied.
TRENDS: Is it your message then that people need the equivalent of a graduate degree before they should accept instructional design responsibilities?
ALLEN: This is an interesting question. Certainly a deeper knowledge of how we learn should be valuable. But it's clearly not sufficient. We've seen some of the most boring and ineffective designs come from people who know the literature. And we've seen some terrific, imaginative, and effective designs come from people with no formal design education or training.
In recent years, I've been trying to reduce the enormous body of knowledge on learning, instruction, and design to some key principles that creative and intelligent people can use to guide them. While I think we've made an interesting start, I've been finding that people can talk key principles convincingly and then produce page-turning applications thinking they've actually applied the principles.
It seems that what we've come to is what we've probably needed most all along: clarifying examples of applied principles that can be borrowed, adapted, and applied. It's not necessary for a designer to invent all new solutions for each project in order to create effective applications. Most great instructional designs have many uses. People are just unaware of them, unaware of the key ingredients that make them great, and unaware of how to apply them in new contexts to new content.
I'm hoping we can work together as an industry and professional field to address these needs. Perhaps we'll find the problem isn't quite as formidable as it has appeared. In my presentation at NMID, I'll present a list of magic keys to effective instructional designs as a contribution.
Don't miss Dr. Allen's closing keynote, "Don't be an Instructional Design Zombie!" at the 4th Annual New Media Instructional Design Symposium, October 31-November 2, Washington, DC. Visit http://www.influent.com/nmid2000 for complete symposium program and registration details.
2. Thoughts Technology Based Training (TBT)
by Wendy Collins, TalentPoint, http://www2.talentpoint.com
The Web entices people to "think" big - which is a good thing - but this often leads to failed attempts to "do" big right out of the starting gate. While investing time in understanding the overall infrastructure issues and determining that an entire e-learning curriculum is necessary and worthwhile, you need to start with a manageable amount of content. Make sure that you can get your arms around the program's specific objectives and technical challenges. Create a prototype that allows you to introduce the concept to the user population, impress your stake holders and work out any technical kinks on a small scale first.
One of the best practices in current e-learning trends is to develop a set of reusable objects. The concept of reusable objects is quickly becoming another driving force behind the use of discrete learning moments. Reusable objects refers to nuggets of content - or code - that can be reused outside of the WBT for which it was initially developed. When used in reference to content, the term implies that a specific nugget, or learning moment, can be accessed from a variety of courses. Content that can be recycled or re-purposed for more than one WBT course is extremely valuable. A five minute training nugget on how to lead a productive meeting that could be pulled into a course on Management Basics or a course on Time Management.
When used in reference to code, the term implies that a specific interactive device can be used to deliver diverse content across various e-learning programs. Simple interactions such as multiple choice questions, drag-and-drop matching exercises, and fill-in-the-blank self-check questions are examples of reusable object code also known as templates. Once built, templates make the development process much more efficient. Many authoring systems on the market include ready-made reusable objects that allow novice developers to create simple interactions with ease. For more complex interactive objects, experienced developers can create templates to support instructional techniques such as video-based case studies and user-driven decision trees.
There are three decisions that positively affect the quality and effectiveness of TBT:
1. Look at other e-learning programs. Experience as many courses as you can as a learner. This practice will arm you with a better understanding of interactive instructional techniques that actually work as well as those that don't.
2. Do not introduce interactivity without a purpose that is tied directly to your learning objectives. Just because you discovered a new cool interactive technique you are not required to use it in your next e-learning course. Stay true to the course objectives and use the types of interactivity that matches the outcome you are looking for.
3. Learn about the technology that will drive the learning. The more you know about the capabilities and limitations of the delivery technology, the more effectively you will be able to design and develop an e-learning application. You do not have to be an expert in html, java, Director, etc... but you do need to be able to write to the technology's strengths and work around its weaknesses.
Wendy is on the faculty of the 4th Annual New Media Instructional Design Symposium., October 31-November 2. Her session is 203, Lessons Learned in the TBT Trenches. Visit http://www.influent.com/nmid2000 for complete symposium details.
3. Resources for Your Continuing Education
New Media Instructional Design Symposium
October 31-November 2 Symposium, Workshops on October 30 and November 3
Washington, DC, USA
The fourth annual New Media Instructional Design Symposium focuses on thinking outside of the box to discover ways to create faster, effective training using new approaches and tools. There is special focus on using Web technologies to deliver training. The concurrent sessions provide practical solutions for the issues and problems facing instructional designers and technologists. The symposium offers intense learning, active networking, provocative case studies, in-depth content and real life solutions that you can apply now. Keynote speakers are: Dr. Allison Rossett, Michael Gelb, and Dr. Michael A. Allen. Visit http://www.influent.com/nmid2000 for complete program details.
