Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Instructional Designer & Consultant

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E-Learning Challenge #36: Interactive Step Graphics in Online Training

I’ve been feeling pretty slack lately, but I won’t argue about being too busy to participate to my fullest potential. In any event, this week’s e-learning challenge is all about interactive step graphics in online training – coming from a Defence background, this is a great challenge for me, because at least 80% of the work I did previously was procedural training for complex procedures (e.g. aircraft maintenance training). I will warn you that this week’s submission is 1 – a throwback to one of my initial portfolio pieces (because this month has been all about the hustle) and is 2 – likely not going to dazzle you as much as an Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) for removing the main landing gear of an aircraft.

The Concept

Create an interactive step graphic that trains users on a very important procedure. In this case, I chose to discuss the steps for bathing your cat. This is a very tricky procedure, so be especially cognizant of Step 3. Full Disclosure: Our cats are very good at cleaning themselves and we have never had to forego this procedure first-hand. Please let me know, in the comments, how you’ve fared in your attempts. I’ve heard that some cat’s need to be sedated; if this is the situation you’re faced with, and you find it challenging to administer pills to your feline, Bruce Graham has a lovely training module to help you with this problem.

The Method

For some reason, I really wanted to have a background image, so I sourced one from ColourLOVERS and modified the transparency. Then, I sought about creating some cute looking tabs and writing the procedural documentation for how to bathe a cat. I consulted WikiHow for these assistance, and they did not disappoint, providing me with many fantastic images to use within the module.

I tossed everything together and added triggers to my tabs, with each trigger displaying a layer. Images were called up within a new lightbox-esque (but not to be confused with an actual lightbox) layer, and Bob was my uncle.

The Result

Cat_Bath_Lg

 

To view the complete interaction and potentially save yourself a world of hurt (literally), click here.

Terminology Tuesday: Instructional Strategy

I have a little something in the works, and it will make a lot more sense (and application) once it’s revealed. Until then, it’s back to regular business. This week, I’ll be discussing the term ‘Instructional Strategy’, explaining a couple of variations, and providing a few reasons why it’s essential to understand the term in relation to your course development.

Instructional Strategy

Basically, an instructional strategy is an all-encompassing plan of attack for your course. It defines what will be taught and how that information will be taught. Essentially, the instructional strategy is the blueprint that drives your learners to achieve the performance objectives (more on that in the coming weeks) you have defined.

Instructional strategies are typically selected based upon the type of learning that needs to occur. One person may take a philosophical approach (e.g. learning based exposure to the environment) while another chooses an instructional strategy based on the type of learning (e.g. verbal information needs to be conveyed meaningfully in order to enhance retention). In the end, it all comes down to personal preference and most folks learn as they go.

Alright…sounds simple enough, but why is it so important?

The instructional strategy is important because it is used to conceptualize and lay out the course before getting bogged down in the design and development (it’s quite costly to fly by the seat of your pants in those phases). Without a clear instructional strategy, you will be doomed to make some costly mistakes later on down the line. Furthermore, failing to develop an instructional strategy will open up your work to further interpretation by clients, potentially increasing revision cycles (time is money).

Two types to consider:

A macro-instructional strategy provides an overall blueprint for a larger learning experience (e.g. an entire course), whereas a micro-instructional strategy dictates each part of the learning experience (from the course to the module to the unit to the lesson, etc.). If you’re looking for a cover-your-butt type of instructional strategy, the kind that doesn’t come back to haunt you in the end, the micro-instructional strategy is the way to go. Think about how annoying you feel when someone else is micro-managing you. Well – there’s good reason (sometimes), and that’s because the want to dictate each and every little thing…annoying for many occupations, but as an Instructional Designer, it really just protects you in the end.

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E-Learning Challenge #35: What’s In Your Course Design Toolkit?

This week, David decided us to dole out an easy challenge; I was initially going to develop an interaction-based submission, but it’s not required and I’ve been experiencing a heavy work-week. I will assure you that my recommendations will be just as functional in text as they would have been as interactions. This week’s blog post will be a bit different in that it won’t include the method, just the concept and result.

The Concept

Share my favourite tools that help make course design easier. There are a lot of tools out there and it’s really up to you which tools you choose to make your course design easier, but I have attempted to compile a list of tools that make me curse a lot less (while working), and I hope they might help you curse less too!

The Result

http://articulate.com – Articulate products are my favourite authoring tools. I find myself using Articulate Studio less than Articulate Storyline, however, I still leverage Articulate Studio for developing slick interactions to embed within my Articulate Storyline files. There are a few kinks when going between programs, but I’m seldom disappointed.

http://community.articulate.com/forums/ – The E-Learning Heroes forum is my favourite resource for industry-related content. There is SO MUCH talent within this forum, and it’s nice to collaboratively learn from one another. This community is like an extended family, and everyone is so positive and eager to help. I consult this resource whenever I have a general instructional design, e-learning, or Articulate product query. The responses are quick and the expertise is phenomenal!

http://colourlovers.com – COLOURlovers is my favourite resource for colour picking because it allows me to visualize colours in palette and pattern situations. As someone who isn’t super creative, this is HUGE for me! I will say that I find it odd the domain spells ‘colour’ with a ‘u’, yet they refer to colours as ‘color’ without a ‘u’ throughout the site – even looking at it spelled that way is weirding me out!

http://smashingmagazine.com – I’m not going to lie; I visit this resource at least once a month to download a user-submitted calendar for my desktop. However, this is also a great resource for CSS quandaries and finding good JavaScript codes for use in Articulate Storyline!

http://adobe.com – There are several Adobe programs I use on a regular basis, namely Captivate and Photoshop. Captivate I use less and less with the emergence of Articulate Storyline; however, I still find myself using Captivate for text-to-speech exports. Photoshop I use whenever I need to manipulate or create images; I only have one license for it, so I seldom use it within my Articulate development, as I need to dual-boot into Windows OS for Articulate use, and my Photoshop license is for Mac OS.

http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html – SnagIt was first introduced to me within my first Instructional Design role, and I was smitten! Why? Because it is such a user-friendly tool for creating screen captures, recordings, and editing. I found SnagIt particularly useful when liaising with Subject Matter Experts (SME) off-site, as I could easily highlight areas I was discussing and copy them into emails, without being burdened by including the image as an attachment.

http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html – I love Camtasia so much that I purchased a Windows AND Mac OS license. I use Camtasia primarily for creating screencasts and editing video files; it’s just as user-friendly as SnagIt (both products developed by tech smith, so makes sense), and it creates high-quality video files.

http://dropbox.com  – I use dropbox for filesharing.

http://drive.google.com – Google Drive is great for filesharing AND collaborative working. Un-drive-related – I also leverage google for my primary email provider and Google Hangouts.

http://skype.com – I use Skype for communicating with colleagues and clients; it’s free and I can screenshare.

http://wordpress.com – WordPress is my website platform of choice; I support any movement to a self-hosted site using WordPress, and know many designers and developers if you need assistance. There are tons of themes available, and a TON of customization options.

http://pinterest.com – Pinterest is great for inspiration, from personal interests like finding the best tutorial for rockabilly hairstyles to professional interests like sourcing free fonts or locating templates or tutorials for your e-learning products.

http://creativemarket.com – I use creative market SO MUCH! They release weekly freebies, which are amazing, because nothing is free anymore, and you can purchase nearly anything (icons/stock images/templates) for reasonable prices.

http://fetchsoftworks.com – Fetch is my FTP client of choose because it’s been more reliable than others for me, annnnnd…I’m a dog owner. Appropriate, no?

I’ll add to this list as things change, so stay tuned!

Terminology Tuesday: Learning Management Systems

This week, I was inspired to write about Learning Management Systems (LMS’) after experiencing several frustrating days lodging support tickets with a client’s LMS of choice (well – with the folks in charge of support; I doubt very much the LMS would have been able to respond to my queries, especially once they became a bit more emotionally charged). I was explaining my frustration to a friend, who was perplexed by the acronym, so I decided that 1 – I was being ignorant, assuming that everyone was privy to its meaning, and 2 – that it would be a good term to define on this week’s edition of Terminology Tuesday!

So, “What is an LMS?,” you ask.

Ryan K. Ellis defines an LMS as “a software application that automates administration, tracking, and reporting of training events.” (2009) While this definition is quite broad, it does the trick at describing the basic functions of an LMS. Basically, an LMS is where individuals may house and deliver their training materials (administration), track student progress (or even the progress of courses in development), and generate reports (varying from storyboards to student progress to student achievement). It really depends on how robust the LMS is, because all LMS’ are not one in the same. While they may all serve similar functions, there’s a market, and organizations developing these LMS’ want to stand out from their competition, so there is usually some variation from LMS to LMS.

Alright. It sounds like I need to get me one of them LMS’; how do I decide?

Choosing an LMS is like choosing the type of underwear you prefer – it’s really about preference, what meets your individual needs, and what you’re most comfortable with. There are many variables to consider when selecting an LMS, and I could talk your ear off for hours, so for now I’ll just narrow it down to a few guiding questions you should ask yourself:

  1. What is your budget? There are several reliable open-source options (Moodle, for example), which are free. But free comes with it’s own limitations. Moodle has been around for many moons, so there is a fairly large support community in place and a lot of equally free plugins to leverage the LMS’ out-of-the-box capabilities. If you’ve got some cash to spend on the infrastructure, you can choose between smaller or larger scale LMS’ – you also have the option to select an LMS on a per-user type of pricing model (e.g. many post-secondary institutions use the per-user pricing model because it turns out to be more cost-effective than spending say 100,000+ on a large enterprise priced model (which are often used by larger organizations like the Department of National Defence or other government entities).
  2. What do you need from your LMS? Do you need an LMS that is easy to set up and more or less idiot proof? Do you need one with robust reporting capabilities? Do you need one that will allow you to easily control access to courses? Do you need one that can handle a large volume of students?

Ahhhh! I’m Overwhelmed – Help!

Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. LMS’ are like any other technology – when it’s new to you, it can seem overwhelming to make a decision, but there are plenty of resources out there to help you out. Here are a few:

  1. Five Steps to Evaluate and Select an LMS: Proven Practices – Learning Solutions Magazine
  2. Choosing a Learning Management System – TrainingForce
  3. How to Choose the Right Learning Management System – Edweek

Alternatively, I am happy to provide consultation services, should the need arise. If you’re interested – hop on over to my contact form and send me your queries!

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E-Learning Challenge #34: Instructional Design Learning Activities

After a brief challenge hiatus, I decided that this week I would make a comeback. I’ve been swamped with work lately (not a bad problem to have), but was welcomed by some cognitive overload (goody!) earlier in the week and thought that this week’s challenge would be a great opportunity to (briefly) discuss Cognitive Load Theory. I would be lying if I said that my recent addiction to Lumosity wasn’t a motivating factor for wanting to discuss this topic…that rule game…with the words (or shapes)?! Come on! If that doesn’t scream German Cognitive Load…I don’t know what does!

The Concept

Select an Instructional Design (or learning) concept and create an interaction to explain this concept to others. Originally, I was going to do something related to Bloom’s Taxonomy, but 1 – I’m all Bloom’ed out for one month (to be honest) and 2 – there were already some great BT interactions kicking around the challenge thread, so I decided to choose Cognitive Load Theory as I often encounter training materials that are overloading (and overwhelming) learners to the point of becoming a hinderance on success.

Honestly, it is ESSENTIAL for anyone who develops instructional materials to be cognizant of Cognitive Load Theory. I once worked on a very complex project that sought to explain alternating and direct current flow on an aircraft…while the project ended up being a success (to the clients), I experienced a lot of cognitive overload and hopefully I was the only one – while successful to the administrators of the program, I really hope it was successful for students because it confused the pants right offa me! No amount of explaining Extraneous Cognitive Load was going to save me from that project.

The Method

When thinking about Cognitive Load Theory, I immediately  think about those complicated mathematical equations you would see people writing on university chalkboards in the movies (or maybe in your high school calculus class) – BARF. These equations would give me the math sweats. I would clam up and panic, and DREAD my teacher calling on me to come solve the equation in front of the class (seriously – whose idea of fun is this?!).  I consulted The Google and sourced some images of complex and simple mathematical equations to illustrate my point.

Then, I provided some explanations and examples of the three types of Cognitive Load, using hotspot interactions and layers. The tutorial was brief, I know, but to supplement, I included a few good links in the Resources tab, and folks can check them out if they so wish.

The Result

CLT_Large

To view the complete interaction, Click Here.

Terminology Tuesday: Content Curation

Woowee! This week I decided to tackle the term ‘content curation’ as I recently used the term ‘curating’ incorrectly and it created a bit of confusion. I was looking to develop a list of resources for a personal library of sorts – resources which I could consult, when necessary, to clear the air about Instructional Design related issues. However, what I actually meant was that I wanted to ‘collect’ or ‘compile’ a list of resources, not curate.

So what’s the difference?

Content curation can be considered the process of compiling content from all over the net (or even online), and then presenting that content to a larger audience in a meaningful way.  Just like museum curators – content curators often work around a them (e.g. Instructional Design or Ancient Egypt…) and track down all of best, most relevant content they can find, and display the content in a manner that renders the content most effective. Content curation also reminds me a little bit of the poster boards you developed as a kid when presenting information to your classmates – you were given a theme, and tasked with teaching your classmates about that theme using visual and textual content – curated from many resources.

Compiling or collecting content is essentially just creating a list of resources which you can consult at a later time. I would liken this to the bookmarking functionality of any web browser. For example, I bookmarked a fantastic looking recipe for making quinoa guacamole. I will be consulting this reference this evening when I make dinner for my family. Another example is Pinterest. Now, I feel as though Pinterest walks a fine line between curating and collecting, because the content is being presented to an audience…just not necessarily within a meaningful way; however, content is being collected, and many individuals use Pinterest to house this ‘found’ content, as a library of sorts, for consultation at a later time.

So while I’m having a very face-palm morning when it comes to content curation and content compilation, you no longer have to! I hope this week’s edition of Terminology Tuesday cleared the air for you. It certainly helped me out!

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