Influential Trends, March 20, 2001
Volume 3, Issue #5- The Creative Instructional Process

Struggling with the balancing act of providing visually exciting, interactive learning experiences and the limitations of bandwidth, budgets, and development timelines? We must breakthrough these constraints or lose our learners with lackluster e-Learning experiences.

The Creative Instructional Process
by Clare Marsch & Brad Stensberg of LearningByte International, www.learningbyte.com, and Valerie Beeman of Stanford University, www.stanford.edu.

The characteristics of creative online learning experiences are: engaging, interactive, and relevant; challenging to the mind beyond simply spilling out text to be read; providing refreshing opportunities with easy access to review points; and providing tools for on-the-job performance support. Here is a 4-step process we've fine-tuned through numerous WBT development efforts to create compelling online learning. We call this the Creative Instructional Process.

Step 1: Do Your Homework Good design does not happen in a vacuum. You need solid information about what you're trying to teach, the audience you are addressing, the environment in which the learning will take place, and most importantly, what it is you want your learners to do differently as a result of the learning experience.

Step 2: Gather the Team The range of competencies to develop all aspects of a creative WBT program are seldom found in a one person design team. More minds are always better than one, so brainstorming around a specific lesson design should include a creative team that ideally consists of an instructional designer/writer, interface/graphics designer(s), subject matter expert, learner representative, and business stakeholder or client, such as the business unit manager. If you can't have everyone in the actual brainstorming session, at least try to have the various points of view represented. A Creative Director, or someone who takes on that role, should lead this team.

Step 3: Create a Prototype Great ideas can often fizzle when put into practice. Graphics that are too heavy can hamper download times, and too much detail can make a screen text-heavy. A technique that is overly creative can leave learners confused about what area to click on next. Taking the extra time and expense to build a working prototype can save much more in the long-run. Test out new instructional strategies in a real user experience. The design-prototype process may be iterative, until the result achieved is just right. Keep communication open during this process, and work collaboratively with the team, especially with the client. This will help ensure that the prototype is what the client envisioned, rather than what the team created.

Step 4: Lock In the Final Design Once you've found the strategies that work with your content and your audience, stop re-designing. Lock in what you've demonstrated in the prototype and manage your production processes around these specifics. All the details should be provided in the design document and technical specifications document so that the entire production team (including the client) is clear on what is being built, and processes can be streamlined to produce the project on time and within budget. Resist the temptation to "tweak" in the middle of a production effort. More likely than not, this will introduce variables into production that can send a budget out of control, or a timeline off the critical path.

The WBT Producer 2001 Conference is your key source for learning about producing e-Learning. Come hear more on the Creative Instructional Process in the authors' session, #505, Managing the Creative Process in WBT: Michelangelo on a Deadline. For complete conference information and convenient online registration using our secure server, visit www.influent.com/wbt2001.

Copyright Influent Technology Group
3.20.2001
www.influent.com