Digital Dialogues

e-Learning Terminology

I'm currently working with some groups of learners, all new to e-Learning in the organisational context - one of the challenges is getting their heads around all the terminology - so - we look for quality glossaries of terms online as reference points.
I found this one the other day - and thought I'd just have to share this gem of a definition:

Construct Irrelevance:
"The extent to which test scores are influenced by factors that are irrelevant to the construct that the test is intended to measure. Such extraneous factors distort the meaning of test scores from what is implied in the proposed interpretation."

Right...now that makes wonderful sense in plain English to people new to e-Learning (and in this case online assessment) - do you think they mean: Don't ask irrelevant questions in assessment quizzes?
:-)

Developing e-Learning Content

Christie Schneider - The Learning Group - Lead instructional designer
Barry Gordon - Savv-e - Lead Instructional designer

These guys started then a cute little banter - really challenged some of the previous presentations....challenging that e-Learning is not really about content - how they handle the clients and strategies to develop content!

Christie: Designing e-Learning that works:

• "clicking does not engage or imply learning is occurring!" Yes - now we're getting there!
• "Throw a situation in their face" - then let them work through it.....
• "You don't have to include everything..." go for the 80/20 rule....focus your interactivity on the mistakes you're seeing

Barry: Focus of content

• a focus creates a narrative.....based on individual experiences...we all created dots in our head and join them...
• we need to look harder at the focus and our principles (of ID, I think he means) - we need a coherent narrative at the end...

Components of instructional design:

• how much contingency support are you going to embed into your e-Learning course
• using threaded recurring focus points throughout the course - repetition

Christie: Tips

• provide different ways to access the information
• use more white spaces
• use minimal graphics...

(aaaahhhh - these guys are talking about what I'm supposed to be talking about....- and I'm up next!!!)

• when to outsource - when you don't have the skills!!!!!
• how will you manage changes to your course?

Barry: talking about blah blah blah blah blah....and how that turns into scripts of content...
Turning points about decisions for outsourcing - can you produce the quality...

How to select a content developer - apart from the obvious (select them!) - time spent up front with the developers is crucial!
Time at analysis and design is absolutely critical - it's not about rapid design....

Christie: Ask lots of questions of your providers - ask for a client list and a reference list - talk to them!
Ask these clients about the outcomes, the scope, QA process...how consistently did the developer communicate with you...
Web design companies are not e-Learning providers/developers!
Ask them about instructional learning strategies - what do they know about them!

Steps to working with developers:

• realise that developers are relying on your to express what is important about your project, what you're trying to achieve
• control of source material - up-to-date, on time materials (that's a please from the developers)
• be aware of content scope or feature creep!
• invovle yourself in key points throughout the project - the more feedback the better from the client - leaving feedback until the end is TOO late!
• also consider future changes and update - have a management strategy

email Overload

How many emails - not counting spam - do you receive a day?  Even taking a couple of days off creates havoc in my inbox!!!

I found this article the other day in the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter and thought there was some great ideas & tips that we could all practice...I wonder where this email newsletter fits in??

Tips for Mastering email Overload

e-Learning Design made simple

From the new Training Pacakges @ Work website - teachers, trainers and stakeholders in the Australian vocational education and training system can now benefit from the latest tips on developing and delivering e-learning programs. The website offers simple guidelines for developing e-learning courses, and includes case studies of successful e-learning programs and a detailed guide to online assessment - and lots more!

Scenario-based Questions

What's the best way to measure learning with scenario-based questions?

From Questionmark 

Scenario-based questions present learners with realistic situations and ask them to make decisions appropriate for those situations. These questions, sometimes called simulation-like questions, are much more effective than traditional knowledge-based questions because they prepare learners to remember what to do. Scenario-based questions can also be used as tools for assessing learning.

Suppose you're running a 3-day workshop. Which of the following methods would provide the best measure of how likely it is that learners could remember what they learned as they perform their jobs?

• Provide scenario-based questions at the end of the workshop's final day.
• Provide scenario-based questions four days after the end of the workshop.
• Provide traditional knowledge-based questions at the workshop's end and four days afterward.

Answering this question from Work-Learning Research will give you comprehensive feedback about the effective use of pre-questions:

http://www.questionmark.com/go/question13.htm

Usability in e-Learning

From the latest edition of Learning Circuits - ASTDs online e-zine is a valuable article on usability. FOr anyone developing their own products - this is an essential part of the process BEFORE you launch it on a large scale! For practitioners buying products off-the-shelf - this is equally essential to the success of the launch - I'd even be asking vendors if you can conduct a small pilot test (at a special rate) before you commit to a large scale purchase of licensing!

Usability in E-Learning By Michael J. Miller
While a large number of organizations have adopted e-learning programs, far fewer have addressed the usability of their learning applications. More attention should be devoted to assuring the usability of e-learning applications if organizations are to fully benefit from their investments.

More on Gen X-ers!

The information on 4 Generations in the Workplace has been one of the most regularly visited entries on the LTUG blog.

To further enhance our practice, here are some articles on Generation X that may be of interest:

Tips for Managing Gen-Xers:

http://www.workforce.com/archive/artcile/22/05/28.php

Short list of ways to interact with and motivate 20-somethings.

Learning: Generation does matter! by Lesley Darling
http://www.elementk.com/training_advice/htm/05-02-learninggen.asp

Boomers, Gen-Xer¹s, and Millenials: Understanding the New Students by Diana Oblinger http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0342.pdf

TMR Research report on collaboration products

Here's a detailed research report on virtual classroom and collaboration systems from TMR (Training Media Review) - features a detailed WebEx product review too!

http://www.tmreview.com/researchreports/pdf/WebEx.pdf

Google it!

A new addition from Google:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html
If you haven't already discovered this part of Google, then explore it and direct your students there - besides, they Google everything already, don't they?!!!

Video-conferencing excursions!

Want some ideas about where to go for your next educational video-conferencing or virtual field trip? Then stop by this site - it's a HUGE resource for all sorts of places that have the facilities to conduct VC field trips:

http://www.kn.sbc.com/wired/vidconf/adventures.html