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ashley chiasson, m. ed

Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Instructional Designer & Consultant

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Terminology Tuesday: M-Learning

June 3, 2014

This week, I’m going to talk a bit about M-Learning. Why? Because it’s pretty popular – heck – I wouldn’t be surprised if my dog had a smartphone!

M-Learning – Say Whaaaat?

M-Learning (or Mobile Learning) refers to learning through means deployed by mobile devices. Really – it’s a pretty brilliant thing! In a world that is constantly on-the-go, what could be more convenient than being able to learn on the go? Mobile learning allows for this flexibility. With all of the devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets, MP3 players, digital books, etc.) learning has expanded its reach, and it’s up to us as Instructional Designers to work to develop solutions that are deployable through these devices. It’s a very exciting time!

One of my favourite aspects of M-Learning is the portability. I love that you can design training solutions or learning aids that professionals can take into the field and learn from on an need-to-know basis (similar to just-in-time training). Working within the Defence sector, I worked on many programs designed for aircraft maintenance technicians to be able to carry to the maintenance environment to consult during a procedure. Often these involved 3D demonstrations of part removal/installation. Alternatively, medics can use portable devices to access information as a sort of encyclopaedia, therefore M-Learning holds great capabilities – how many times can you say that something is capable of saving a life?!

You can also look at benefits of M-Learning from an efficiency standpoint. While mobile devices may be costly, it is a lot more cost efficient than having a school upgrade technology or purchase curriculum-based reading materials every other year. Our kids are growing up in a world where their backs no longer need to ache from carrying around all of the heavy books (I distinctly remember kicking myself in the butt for taking Biology, Physics, and Chemistry on the same day one semester…)!

I’m sold – are there really any limitations to M-Learning?

As with any technology-based approach to learning, there are limitations that range from the technology side of things (e.g. battery life) to the academic side of things (e.g. ensuring appropriate assessment and preparation for standardized testing) to the accessibility side of things (e.g. not everyone can afford or can access mobile devices). However, solutions are forthcoming! I read an article last week about a start-up organization who are launching public charging stations (free of charge!) – this would be fantastic in schools! There are many programs that provide mobile devices to students enrolled at academic institutions, and there are plenty of amazing instructional designers out there who are working hard to ensure students are being properly assessed.

In a digital age, it’s important to embrace changes in technology; now I’m not saying right away, but with proper research, I’m fairly certain you’ll understand that M-Learning is going to be a huge part of our future!

Helpful Resources

EDUCAUSE library of Mobile Learning resources

Why Mobile Learning is the Future of Workplace Learning

10 Mind-Blowing Mobile Learning Statistics

E-Learning Guild’s mLearnCon – Mobile Learning Conference and Expo

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Instructional Design Tagged: Terminology Tuesday

3 Ways to Take Your Freelance Instructional Design Full-Time

June 1, 2014

It’s only been two months since I took my side-gig Instructional Design work full-time, but I have been LOVING it! Making the leap was one of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made, but it has paid off, and I’m a lot happier for it. My favourite aspect so far is being location independent; it’s nice to not have to be tethered to an office to do my job, and I think our dog has been really enjoying the extra time spent home.

Now, taking your side-gig full-time does not always have its perks – this past month for instance has been extremely busy for me, which is a great problem to have, but it has also meant that I need to hustle harder to get my work done and invoice those clients! I’ve missed every Thursday poker night in May and was unable to go on a day-long hiking trip that I really wanted to go on, all in the name of work…and I’ve been working some long days (and nights…and weekends).

If you’ve been wondering how you can take your Instructional Design gig full-time (or even break out into the field), here are the best three bits of advice I have for you:

1. Build Your Portfolio

This is so important! I understand that it may be difficult to do – heck! I have over 5 years of work that’s considered ‘controlled goods’ that I can’t use in my portfolio – some of my best work…it’s disappointing. However, don’t let Non-Disclosure Agreements and controlled goods get you down, instead proactively build your portfolio. Research various types of courses to develop and create miniature one-offs of those courses.

Challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone by producing a creative portfolio that showcases your skills and abilities. If you need help, David Anderson puts up weekly e-learning challenges over on the E-Learning Heroes Community, and these are a great way to get your creative juices flowing and add pieces to your portfolio.

Another alternative is to volunteer your services to small businesses; this is a great way to help out organizations to develop their training opportunities, while building your portfolio. If a contract is developed for such an arrangement, MAKE DAMN SURE that the only important requirement (on your end) is that you get to use the project in your portfolio – very few things in life are free, and free training is a steal! Cover your butt and make sure you spell it out in the contract, just to make sure!

“But is a portfolio necessary?” – You know, it’s really not. However, it does give you a HUGE leg up when you’re competing against others for an Instructional Design job. You’ll end up being more of an ‘on purpose instructional designer’ instead of an ‘accidental instructional designer’ (both are fine, but you want to highlight your worth)! My business has grown considerably since adding a few small pieces to my portfolio; now, professional pieces are still hard to come by due to the aforementioned NDAs and controlled goods issues, but just showcasing some of your abilities can really help clients visualize how you can work for them on their projects!

2. Get Online! Be Social! Be Proactive!

Now – I know you’re already online, because you’re reading this, but what I mean is go get a website and start blogging. Now that you’ve built an awesome portfolio, put it somewhere for all to see. Get on twitter! Be active in communities! Take time to build a profile and following on LinkedIn!

The internet and social media is amazing when it comes to promoting yourself – it’s one of the best marketing tools I’ve come across so far, and once you start building a group of followers (on your blog, twitter, LinkedIn, wherever)…you will begin to see results in the form of business.

 

Another downside of small business ownership can be the hustle – the time you spend, that you aren’t being paid for, promoting yourself and seeking new contracts. I have to be honest – at least 1 hour a day is still reserved for finding new business opportunities. It can be frustrating and discouraging, and every industry has its peaks and valleys, but you want to make sure you’re contracting yourself out in advance (as much as possible). Keep hustlin’ and don’t get lazy! You’ll quickly find out that in the world of freelance, lazy = no work = no pay = no mortgage payment.

Now, I will make one forewarning about being active on social media. Try your best to keep your participation to meaningful posts; reciprocate. If you’re involved in a community, try to be helpful! You’re there for a reason and so are others, the least you can do is engage in meaningful ways and share your wealth of knowledge.

3. Remember – You are on a continuous learning journey!

As Instructional Designers (or aspiring Instructional Designers), I would hope that you have long-since been embracing your journey as a continuous learner, but if you haven’t – GET ON IT, GIIIIRL! Making it on your own in a very competitive industry can be difficult, but it  doesn’t have to be. You can get a leg up on your competitors or find freelancers who need help with overflow work or even just need to collaborate with your services to get their contracts done, but the difference between you and your competitors will often be your abilities.

You don’t need a formal education, but I will say that it has definitely helped – people love qualifications, let me tell you! You don’t need a lot of experience, but start now, because it definitely helps! What you need are mad research skills – research anything and everything you think might help you improve your abilities. If you want to enhance current skills or acquire new skills, you can often find all of the information you need online.

Invest in yourself – TREAT YO’ SELF! It will pay off in spades, I promise. The Internet is a wonderful place – you can find courses on almost anything at sites like Udemy, SkillShare, and Lynda. If you make it to big and need real professional advice, don’t hesitate to employ marketing companies like YEAH Local. If you don’t want to outsource, many post-secondary institutions offer formal diplomas and/or certifications in Instructional Design, and there are SO MANY great books out there. You just need to do the research! By and large, the best resource I’ve found for my field has been the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Community. I’ll say it once, and I’ll say it again – THESE FOLKS ROCK! There is so much talent within those forums, it is unbelievable; when it comes to researching, you can find almost anything within that forum, and everyone is so supportive!

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3 Comments Filed Under: Getting Started Tagged: Freelance Advice

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

May 28, 2014

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.

1 Comment Filed Under: Instructional Design Tagged: E-Learning Challenge

Terminology Tuesday: Instructional Strategy

May 27, 2014

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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Leave a Comment Filed Under: Instructional Design Tagged: Terminology Tuesday

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

May 21, 2014

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!

8 Comments Filed Under: Instructional Design Tagged: E-Learning Challenge

Terminology Tuesday: Learning Management Systems

May 20, 2014

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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Meet Ashley

Ashley ChiassonI’m a Instructional Designer with over 15 years of professional experience, and have developed e-learning solutions for clients within the Defence, Post-Secondary Education, Health, and Sales sectors. For more about me, click here!

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