Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Instructional Designer & Consultant

Grab the free Course Development Plan

Sign up for my newsletter and grab your free Course Development Plan PDF to streamline course creation.

Terminology Tuesday: Subject Matter Experts

I know. I know. I skipped a week, but I promise that I have something special in store for all of you Terminology Tuesday fans, so pipe down!

This week I sifted through my archives and was surprised that I had yet to discuss Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), so it seemed like no better time than the present to table that term for explanation and discussion.

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

SMEs are just that – ‘experts’ within a given subject matter. These individuals are often the authority for content accuracy within your e-learning projects. SMEs come from all walks of life, but generally have a wealth of academic and/or on-the-job experience to be considered proficient in their domain.

Typically, Instructional Designers will work closely with SMEs to determine learning objectives, define training plans and outlines, and ensure accuracy of content within the storyboarding and/or prototyping phases. Occasionally, SMEs may write assessment items, or the Instructional Designer may work in liaison with the SME to determine appropriate assessment items and distractors.

The relationship between the Instructional Designer and the SME can be an intricate one…The Instructional Designer often needs to navigate how to effectively communicate with the SME in order to acquire necessary information for the project. SMEs sometimes have a hard time separating the nice to know from the need to know, and this is really where the Instructional Designer needs to learn how to effectively question the SME to ensure they are developing instructionally sound content, and not overloading learners with extraneous information.

In further considering the relationship between Instructional Designer and SME, it is very important to define roles and responsibilities at the beginning of each project. Without doing so, or without being able to assert dominance within a given area (e.g. design versus content accuracy), a SME can easily run away with the project, negatively impacting the overall design. It has been my experience (not always), that some SMEs believe they could better design the e-learning, which is why it’s important for both individuals to understand their roles and to respect one another’s role in the project.

Above all else, communication is the magic ingredient when it comes to working with a SME. If you can nail down an effective communication strategy, you should be golden!

  1. What have been your experiences working with SMEs? 
  2. How do you navigate your working relationship with SMEs to ensure utmost respectability and fair treatment?

Resources

How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio – Part 4

Portfolio

Alrighty folks! Today is the final edition of the How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio blog series. I’m sad to see it finish, but I’ve been happy to have helped so many of you!

This post is one in a four-part series for How to Build Your E-learning Portfolio. You can read Part 1 Here, Part 2 Here, and Part 3 Here.

Part 4 is all about actually building out your portfolio and promoting yourself!

Building Out Your Portfolio

For many, building out your portfolio may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be difficult!

You can post samples to dribbble, dropbox, or google drive (if you’re wondering how to share your Storyline samples using Google Drive or Dropbox, I recorded a screencast showing you how to do just that – Click Here). I love sharing knowledge with others, so I incorporated my portfolio into my blog using WordPress (self-hosted); occasionally I do show my work posts, and I have a portfolio section of my website that uses a simple WordPress plugin. It’s also important to invest in yourself, so if you don’t have the time or expertise to easily add portfolio pieces to your website, pay someone who does have the expertise. For example, I spent about 5 hours of my time trying to figure out how to get the ‘simple WordPress plugin’ to work properly and finally conceeded to paying someone to do it for me…it took them half an hour, and only cost 30 dollars. WORTH IT.

  • One important thing to note is that you should always ask your clients during the course of the project (or at the end), if you can use a sample from the project in your portfolio. Sometimes they’ll say “sure!”, and you can do what you want. Sometimes they’ll say “sure, but not everything”, and you’ll need to pare things down and have the client review ahead of posting. Sometimes they’ll say “You can’t share the actual project, but you can share a screencast of you walking through the project,” and you can do just that – these situations may crop up if you develop a project that will be resold, and screencast demos are neat because they show the world a behind the scenes peak into your process. Sometimes the client will allow you to include a screenshot or two and specify that a video screencast demo of the project can be made available on request (this occurred with my samples for the YMCA). Whatever your client’s preference, there is usually some way of working a portion of the project into your samples; you just need to think outside of the box.

My current portfolio isn’t fancy, but it does exactly what I need it to do. Clients don’t want to view 500 full courses before deciding they like your work, but they do need to see some representation of your capabilities within the world of e-learning. Every client is different, so it’s important to consider a varied approach to your portfolio. What I mean by this is to include a representative sample of portfolio pieces – several work samples, several personal samples, perhaps some design samples if that’s something you’re good at. Your prospective clients need to believe, from your portfolio or discussions with you, that you are the right person for the job!

Self-Promotion

Once you have your portfolio built, promote yourself! I’m active in several communities (Freelance to Freedom, Articulate E-Learning Heroes, ATD, and LinkedIn), so I promote myself by participating in those communities; this participation is meant to spread knowledge, and be less overt. Ensure you have completed your profiles for any site you participate in, and include links to your website and social media accounts. Twitter and LinkedIn are the only social media platforms that I really use for business, and most of my promotion comes from retweets, views, or from colleagues sharing my content.

I share my content on social media, but it’s also important to share relevant posts from your colleagues because self-promotion shouldn’t be selfish. You should want to support others who are trying to share information and enhance the knowledge exchange. So promote yourself, but don’t be selfish!

If you can afford or have the opportunity to attend or present at industry conferences, this is a fantastic way to promote yourself and to support others. I love presenting at the Articulate Community Roadshows (I’m presenting at another this June!) and I thoroughly enjoyed presenting at and attending Learning Solutions 2015. Not only can you share your wealth of knowledge with a greater audience, but you can support your colleagues as they do the same. You can network the heck of the events, if you’re into that, but I’m a bit more introverted, so I tend to let folks come to me or reach out to individuals I already know. Ensure you have business cards – I don’t hand out a ton, but they’re available if someone asks. Be ready!

Final Note

I hope that this series has provided more clarity as to why an e-learning portfolio is so important and how you can easily create one – remember, your portfolio can provide you with the freedom to choose work you’re most passionate about, so make some time, and show yourself off! Please let me know, in the comments or through the Contact page, if you have any outstanding questions, and I will do my very best to answer expediently.

E-Learning Challenge #83 – 10 Reaction Gifs for Every E-Learning Challenge

FINALLY, David! Something I can squeeze into my regular procrastination! THANK YOU!

The Concept

This week’s challenge is to share a collection of reaction gifs for any e-learning topic we wish to discuss. Very simple concept that I feel most folks, also keen on procrastinating, can stand behind.

The Method

Staying on topic, I chose to select reaction gifs related to some of the 83 e-learning challenges we’ve had. I also chose to stick with pop culture references, in terms of television/YouTube/Internet…I guess all of these gifs (that exist) are pop culture references to some extent, so I think my point is moot. I then curated a bunch of gifs to express various reactions I’ve had to the challenges over the years, and then I sifted through the previous challenges to see which previous challenge elicited which reaction.

The Result

1. Just when you thought a terrible challenge was over.

(via Gifrific)

That’s how I felt when I saw that E-Learning Challenge #32 – Death, Taxes, and E-Learning Mistakes was coming back to haunt me in E-Learning Challenge # 33 – Fix Your E-Learning Mistakes…and how I feel each time I see one of those challenges retweeted.

2. When you see that the world will finally understand the importance of font choice.

(via OffColorTV)

This is how I felt when E-Learning Challenge #51 – Font Games and Interactions for E-Learning Designers announced.

3. When you know exactly what tool you’ll use to complete a challenge.

(via Tumblr)

When E-Learning Challenge #53 – Create Your Own E-Learning Characters with Pictograms was announced, I knew immediately that I would be using PowerPoint for this challenge (which I have yet to complete…shhh).

4. When David finally posts an ‘easy’ (re: less time-consuming) challenge.

(via Tumblr)

Much like my feeling for this challenge, and for E-Learning Challenge #39 – Education Podcasts for Online Training and E-Learning Challenge #67 – Podcast: How Do Instructional Designers Get Things Done?, I see this challenges and do a happy dance. I don’t have as many hours in the day as Beyonce, but I got this, boo!

5. When you hear about some new technology.

(via pandawhale)

When reviewing the entries for E-Learning Challenge #45 – Audio Recording Tips for E-Learning Designers, I decided to purchase a better mic for my audio setup.

6. When David posts a challenge that I know will require my brain.

(via reactiongifs)

This is how I feel the majority of the time David posts a challenge, because time is one thing in my life that is lacking. Math is not my strong suit, so I definitely felt like this when I saw E-Learning Challenge #71 – Teaching Math Concepts with E-Learning. Pythagorean, whaaaat?!

7. How some challenge titles make me feel.

(via wifflegif)

E-Learning Challenge #80 – Can You Pass an Eight-Grade Science Test? Uh…no. I can’t, and I do not wish to return to age 14…I’ll have flashbacks.

8. Whenever I see my first E-Learning Heroes Challenge entry retweeted

(via Tumblr)

Whenever David retweets my first E-Learning Heroes Challenge entry – E-Learning Challenge #25 – Instructional Design Tips that Really Pop, I get a little sentimental.

9. When I can finally participate in a challenge!

Swanson

(via imgur)

Whenever I locate the elusive creature called ‘time’ and can actually participate in a challenge, I feel like doing a happy dance, like Ron Swanson. That’s how I felt when I participated, most recently, in E-Learning Challenge #78 – E-Learning Icons: Show and Share Your Favourite Styles.

10. When I realize my entry is the first submission for a challenge.

(via Tumblr)

This is how I feel today, posting my entry for E-Learning Challenge #83 – 10 Reaction Gifs for Every E-Learning Challenge.

Day in the Life

Thanks ttcInnovations for the opportunity to linkup with other bloggers and share a sneak peek into my daily routine! Everyone who’s participating is sharing their own stories so check them out: ttcInnovations, Jackie Van Nice, Rachel Barnum, Melissa Milloway.

5:45am

The Wake-Up Light has been gradually getting brighter for the past 15 minutes, but I’m not ready to get out of bed! By 6am, my husband is reminding me that the shower is free (aka ‘get your butt out of bed already!’).

6:30am-7:45am

Breakfast consists of multi-grain cheerios and a green smoothie, and I flip through my emails, check Twitter, and download a source file while I eat. Joe takes Oliver out to play frisbee and tire him out, so I feed the cats, dry my hair, do my face, and throw on some clothes.

We’re out the door by 7:10am, and as with most things in my life, nothing productive really begins until coffee has made its way to my mouth, so we stop for coffee.

By 7:30am I drop Joe off at work, and I’m at the university by 7:45am.

7:45am-6pm

photo-2

I’m at the university until 3:30pm. First and foremost, I tackle coffee and write out my to-do list, and then I do several development plan and course reviews.

I brew and drink a tea while quickly uploading some revisions for a client. This brings me to 10:45am, so I take a walk around campus before heading to the gym around 11am. At the gym, I run a quick 2.51 km – I’m running a half-marathon on Sunday, and I’m trying to squeeze some very short runs and cross-training in ahead of the race. Dodgeball starts tomorrow and softball practices is on Thursday and Friday, so I don’t want to do too much more than that.

After the gym, I grab a slice of pizza from my favourite pizza place because…life’s all about balance, right?

I make my way back to the university, and populate another faculty member’s course, answer some faculty questions, and record some audio narration, taking me to 3:30pm. Life at the university is definitely a lot busier than it sounds! Having written this, it seems like I do nothing, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day.

While at the university, I monitor three different email accounts to ensure nothing pressing comes up with my clients outside of the university. Nothing major is going on today, so I feel good about being productive this evening.

At 3:30pm I pack up and leave the university and head back to pick Joe up from work.

photo

By 5pm, we’re home. I toss supper on (hummus-crusted baked chicken and roasted sweet potato) and begin to plug away at client work. I catch up on some YouTube videos and blog-reading while I wait for supper to finish.

6pm-7pm

I deliver revisions for two courses (for one client), and plug away at another course for this client – the one I recorded audio for earlier. The course is pretty much finished, but I need to edit and synchronize the audio, which is tedious…but I love what I do, so it ain’t no biggie.

I read a low-rated review of Articulate Storyline Essentials and get discouraged for a little while. I’m really proud of having written that book, but it was really tough to pare down content to just the basics. The screenshot walkthrough style isn’t for everyone; different strokes for different folks I guess. I’m trying to focus on the positive reviews I’ve received, and not let it hold me back from working on the book I’m currently writing.

7pm-9pm

I continue working on the course and toss a load of in the dryer. I’m doing my work over a beer and the glow of the TV as I use the Blue Jays/Orioles game as background noise. I deliver the course for review, get in bed, and read to wind down. I’ll be out like a light by 10pm.

Terminology Tuesday: Scripts

I’ve been working on a lot of content scripts lately, and was surprised that I haven’t yet addressed the concept of scripting in one of my Terminology Tuesday posts, so today is the day!

Scripts in E-Learning

When it comes to writing scripts for e-learning, I’m familiar with two main approaches: content scripts, and audio/narration scripts.

Content scripts are essentially content dumps of all client-furnished materials related to the module, course, or topic you’re working on. When I write a content script, it typically includes the learning objectives, any lessons contained within the course and/or module, and any knowledge checks or assessment items located within those lessons. The goal is to have all of this content handy so that it can just be copied/pasted into the authoring tool or storyboard (depending on what milestones exist within your project). Scripting content also familiarizes you with the content, so when you get further down the wormhole of development, you have some ideas when it comes to factors such as interactivity and/or media treatment.

Audio/narration scripts are developed for the voice talent, and include elements such as screen identifier, pronunciation guide, the text requiring narration, and an audio filename. In my process, I tend not to script the audio narration until the client has signed off 100% on the textual content. Revisions to audio are often timely and expensive, so having the client review the textual content ahead of the audio scripting phase is a best practice.

Sure. Scripting is an additional step (or two) in the development process, but it really does help in the long run. It makes all of the subsequent development tasks a lot more smoother, and there is often less revision involved…or the revisions are caught in the scripting phase, leading to fewer revisions in the storyboarding and/or authoring phases. Time is money, so efficiency is always at a premium.

How do you use scripts? Are you using them primarily for content or audio scripting? What elements do you include in your scripts? Let me know in the comments!

How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio – Part 3

Portfolio

 

This post is one in a four-part series for How to Build Your E-learning Portfolio. You can read Part 1 Here and Part 2 Here.

Part 3 is meant to address two of the most common challenges: what do I do if all of my work is proprietary or I’ve signed an air-tight non-disclosure agreement?, and I’m not creative, where can I find inspiration?

Sanitize That Sample!

Folks are always asking me what to do in situations where they are legally not allowed to share their work samples, and for those individuals, I recommend sanitizing that sample! Check out the two versions below:

Original

Sample 1

The original is part of a client project that I used as an example for how easily you can sanitize a work sample. Now, I will say that the conversion is not the most visually appealing, but it serves the purpose of illustrating that sanitation doesn’t need to be a huge undertaking.

Sanitized

Sample 2

As you can see in the example provided, sanitizing a work sample doesn’t need to be a huge undertaking. In this case, I removed the logo, changed the background, and changed the colour palette. The content for this organization is readily available online, so it’s not considered controlled goods; therefore, I was able to keep all of the existing textual content. For those of you who are restricted by branding AND textual content, I would suggest removing all branding and replace textual content with dummy text, and tada! You’ve sanitized your work sample!

I came from the wonderful world of military contracts, and there is not a whole heck of a lot (aka nothing) you can share because everything is considered controlled goods. But don’t get hung up on not being able to include the super cool 3D render of an aircraft, and instead just focus on pulling apart the elements of the e-learning project (e.g. the menu structure, the iconography, the visual elements used in various screen styles). So, another suggestion for dealing with proprietary content would be to pull elements from existing work and create your own customized version of it. This is great because if you’ve been working on a project for awhile, there might be things about it that you hate (but which have been approved by a higher power), so you can change those things and really make it yours!

Finding Inspiration

Inspiration comes in many forms, and you just need to make something your muse and run with it! There are so many websites and cool apps out there now, so you can easily fall in love with a beautiful design – you might find inspiration in websites, digital magazines, video games, or templates built by others. Whatever inspires you, put your own stamp on it, build it out, and don’t forget to toss it into your portfolio!

For example, one of the E-learning Heroes Challenges (more on that in a moment), was to create our own digital magazine template. These creations were inspired by existing digital magazines and they elements they consist of, and with a little imagination, I was able to bring together my own digital magazine, The Meadows.

Mag

Click to view the full interaction.

The E-Learning Heroes Challenges

For me, the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Challenges were huge when it came to kickstarting my motivation. Half the battle is your own imagination, so the challenges were great. Each week, there would be a new challenge and a prompt for entry submissions, and each week, I would be blown away by the entries.

The E-Learning Heroes Community is a supportive environment, and comments tend to be positive or constructive in nature – I’ve made some of my closest friends here! The weekly challenges are a great way to see what your peers are capable of doing and get ideas for how you can apply similar approaches in your future projects.

My portfolio has grown considerably since I began participating in the weekly e-learning challenges, and the greatest praise I have for the weekly challenge is just that; it challenges me to think outside of the box and create interactions I may not have previously considered creating!