Focusing on the experience rather than the “product” – so why do IDs focus on “training” all the time?

Steve Jobs focused on the Apple “experience” rather than the product – you can see a GREAT YouTube video here that shows this.

In the same vein – why do Instructional Designers seem to focus so much on the “course”, and the “training” – rather than the REASON we spend all our hours producing all of this content?

I had a discussion earlier this week on “An Ebola Course”. But for me it was not “…an ebola course”, it would be online content that saved lives. This is a mind-switch.

I would LOVE to see a forum or group of IDs have “No Training Words Week“, where – just for a week, just 7 days, we NEVER used words like “training”, “course”, “authoring”, “quiz”, “test” or ANY of the other “learning’y” words.

Could we/they do it?

Could we get through ONE working week with nothing but discussions on VALUE, or workflow, or profit/loss, or process re-engineering, or risk, or profit, or production or technique or re-financing, or loss, or problem-solving, or creativity.

Is it really too hard? Those are the words our customers and clients use in THEIR daily lives.

Try to talk the same language your customer/prospect/client uses – do you even know what language they DO speak?

Freelancer Instructional Designers – take a risk, sometimes it guarantees success rather than putting the next invoice at risk! Take up that flag of professionalism, but become a “business pro”, not just a “training pro(vider)”. It makes sense doesn’t it?

That mind-switch can be hard, and sometimes, your prospect, customer or client does not want it – but that is no reason not to TRY it. You owe it to yourself don’t you? If nothing else you certainly owe it to your profession.

Just wanted to say “THANKS!”

Somehow, based on “Social Appeal”, this little blog reached #2 in the rankings at http://elearningfeeds.com/top-elearning-blogs/

So – I just wanted to say THANK YOU to anyone and everyone that might have looked, circulated, retweeted or any other social thing. Hugely appreciated.

I’ll try and keep useful and provocative (?) thoughts coming.

Articulate Challenge – Audio Setup and Tips

Quick post – my entry for this weeks Articulate Elearning Challenge – audio tips and tricks.

A really GREAT thread appearing on the Challenges page, superb hints and tips for anyone wanting to try voiceover on an eLearning course.

Learning Technique – from the window of a high street butcher, (warning, contains pork).

I was walking to a client earlier this week, and I passed an old-fashioned high street butchers shop. On the window was an advert which read “Pork…it’s tasty…try some now!”

I laughed to myself, thinking about the simplicity and almost child-like communication. How “quaint”. 7 hours later, after a heavy day of Articulate Storyline examples and semantic juggling, I walked back to the station, once again passing the same advert.

It was a GREAT example of learning technique

• State the case for something to your learners – “Pork…”
• Explain the potential benefits to the user – “…it’s tasty”
• State the solution to an assumed problem (lack of pork), with a specific behavioural action – “…try some now”

I had just spent a day largely doing just this – taking words and messages, and simplifying them with/for a client into learner actions. Perhaps we should all, occasionally, look back to the past to see where we are going.

In the interests of keeping the “pork” theme going – I remembered a simple flowchart I once produced using Articulate Storyline – so I’ll leave you with the “Should I Eat Bacon” flowchart“.

And now for something completely different…

Apart from the fact that a good Instructional Designer should probably not begin ANY sentence with “and”, this blog post celebrates the triumphant return of The Monty Python Team, (nearly all of them…) to the London stage last night, and some complete silliness from a Skype discussion I had earlier.

I was trying to discuss the merits of 14:9 Articulate Storyline slide dimensions with a colleague versus 4:3.

When I type :3 something wonderful happened….

It interprets :3 as a cat licking its paw.

I never knew that, and I suspect you did not either. Unless you are cleverer than me and understand social media more. Or talk about eLearning or PowerPoint slide dimensions a lot in your Skype-life.

If you did NOT know this, promise me that next time you Skype someone, at an opportune moment you will just type :3, and then pretend you have no idea what you did.

We all have to right to be silly once in a while – and on that note “Hurrah for Monty Python!”

I just need to slap someone with a fish now…..

 

#Freelancers – original thoughts anyone?

Like you, I get bombarded by feeds from social media, and frankly, I’m getting bored by most of them.

For me – social media is about sharing thoughts, sharing observations, helping other freelancers, perhaps give away the odd company secret and/or technique for success.

I am bored of getting endless re-posts, re-tweets, recommendations, and posts purporting to share knowledge that hide under a thin veil of “Buy my/our product”. I appreciate the concept of “curating”, but it does NOT just mean “Here’s a collection of stuff that you could probably find yourself if you learned how to use a Search Engine correctly”.

Many instructional designers, and many freelancers live in 1-person worlds, where communication time is short, and valued. I’d much rather receive a post from a co-worker, colleague or friend that asked an original question than get an In-Box full of content that was supposedly showing me the “52-best ways…” to do something, or covertly advertising something I do not need.

I’d love to see more questions, more engagement, and more relationships formed rather than the same information going round and round. Let’s give more – more of us, not more of others.

The value of REAL networking in your freelancer community.

There’s an old business saying along the lines of “Never annoy anyone on your way to the top, because you may need their help when you are on the way down“. Basically, I take that to mean try and treat everyone right, and they will treat you right when you need them, (even if you are still on the way up).

Earlier this week I got a call from a very influential/well-known UK Institute. They had a problem. They had contacted me because I have 2 specific skills – #Articulate #Storyline and #Sparkol #Videoscribe – two products that are essential for their project rollout.

They need nearly 100 short, 10/12-slide, 10-minute courses produced – originally the deadline was sometime early in 2015, it is now late August 2014. It is almost the end-June now. There will be around 30-40 standalone Videoscribes to produce after that.

I went to see them, to see what I could do to help, if anything. To cut a long story short, after the meeting I placed a call to a Storyline colleague, to see if he could help, because there is no way I can do this on my own. He told me that he had diversified from Storyline, and had entered the Video Marketing world too using a new product – had I heard of a product called “Sparkol Videoscribe”?

He also knows of another resource who can help us with these skills. Sometimes – the planets just align perfectly.

In the meeting, both the client and I accepted the project dates were bordering on insanity, however, after a couple of hours, some laying down of the production “rules”, and some networking, this project has become completely realistic. I’m not saying it will be easy, but 1 person has become 3, and the light at the end of the tunnel is certainly brighter than it was. In contacting this colleague, and giving some work AWAY, a project is now more likely to happen, with me at the middle, managing it, and client panic (hopefully) turning to client delight and future repeat business.

I believe that effective Freelancer networks are ESSENTIAL, especially in my own eLearning business world . There are so many products and tools, no-one can be effective in them all. Work with REAL people, contact REAL people, and do not just be “Social Media Friends”. Be REAL friends and REAL colleagues. I am totally sick and tired of social media contacts to “Like” and “Friend” and so on – where they just ask, but offer no explanation WHY they want me to like, friend, buddy, connect and generally add to my Inbox.

That way, a massive piece of business, crazy to look at on paper MIGHT just become a workable reality with one phonecall. Freelancers often on PC/mobile tools to be effective, but do not, ever forget the value of ongoing contacts, and the occasional social call just in case you need their help.

It does not have to be deadly dull…

I am having a lot of fun creating eLearning at the moment…yes…fun.

Just because eLearning is deadly serious that does not mean that it has to be deadly dull.

I’m developing a course on corporate Fraud – it has loads of little animations built to represent cheating partners and annoyed stationery-stealing staff, built using PowToon and Sparkol Videoscribe.

 

You see – “animation” does not necessarily mean “funny”, or “disrespectful”.

All it means is that – animated.

Google “define animated” and the first entry is:

full of life or excitement; lively

Isn’t that what we are all trying to do in (most) eLearning? 

I am developing one course on the Hospitality Industry. I just use PowToon to bring in 3 images of what different grades of hotel look like, but because they come in with a “Pop” effect, (like a PowerPoint “Grow” but with a pronounced bounce), on a brightly coloured template, they do not LOOK like PowerPoint.

 

They just provide a breather, a change of tempo for a few seconds, and the visuals (instead of text), provide an increased change of learning. It’s like a change of tempo in a musical piece, or the “middle 8” of some jazz – the same, but different. I’m still using the Corporate Articulate Storyline template, so it’s all OK from a brand perspective, but having a consistent brand/style does NOT mean everything has to ALWAYS look the same.

 

Humour is all around us. I have just seen a Driving School car labelled with their logo and brand “AcciDON’T”. I think that’s funny!

 

Sainsburys supermarket in the UK are selling a “Basics” version of their twin garlic baguettes – on the pack it says “Made with margarine not butter – but it still takes your breath away”. I think that’s brilliant!

 

So be brave, suggest humour, or even better, just create some, and place it into your courses. Certainly my clients seem to LOVE it, and I suspect, (when used appropriately), yours will too.

 

Have a fun time!

Great when you find that “right” solution

The good people at Sparkol made a great blog post about me today (woohoo!).

Whilst it’s always nice to see your name, and what you do in print, the really great part is knowing that the client loved what I did, right from the start.

The concept was proposed, (using Videoscribe scribes in almost every slide within an Articulate Storyline framework), and then the more we did, the more it “worked”.

Sometimes you just need to trust your instinct, however, your instinct has to be based on some reasonable thought processes. In this instance, the subject – creativity – was clearly a “visual” subject, so it made sense to suggest using a highly visual medium.

Building short modules, and then also offering them as a consolidated module allowed my client the maximum options for selling the final product, and they all share the same visual style.

“Animation” and “cartoons” are not dirty words in corporate eLearning, they do not have to be funny, and used well you can make it a hugely effective addition to your eLearning arsenal.

WHAAM! – Roy Lichtenstein reminds me of Instructional Design Techniques

Last weekend I attended an art exhibition featuring the works of Roy Lichtenstein.

His most well-known work is probably the pop-art image WHAAM!

The exhibition reminded me of the multi-layered approach to learning that is so important to us as designers.

1. There were the pictures, (the “data” if you will…), laid out in a number of different rooms. Most people were just ambling around, going “Ooh – look at…”, or giving the paintings and sculpture a cursory glance, perhaps pausing to see the limited explanatory viewing notes written on the wall as they entered the room. This level provided input and some guidance, but IMHO, very little else in terms of depth.
2. A small booklet was available for everyone. This provided more detail on each area, aiming to sum up the different sections, and categorise the pictures into themes, with the occasional image to fill out the booklet. As I walked around I noticed that while a few people were looking at these, many people just ambled around carrying them, shut.
3. For the first time ever, I hired one of those iPod-like audio devices to accompany me. This made the exhibition come alive for me in ways I could never have imagined.
   • Optional videos from his wife explained some of the personal aspects of his life.
   • The exhibition curator explained why some images had, for example, been placed in the rooms they occupied.
   • Music added to the realism of some objects, he loved jazz and this was played at appropriate times.
   • The relationship between objects, (a Note/Scrapbook and the art, a comic and WHAAM!) helped me understand the process of the artist, and allowed me to make mental connections between one of his works and Picasso’s life. Without the audio device I would have only looked at the image and thought “…that looks a bit like a Picasso…”

What’s my point?

My point is that well-placed, well-designed and interesting additional material, (voice, audio, video and imagery) adds a considerable depth to a learning experience. In Articulate Storyline we can easily add this through Layers, Video, Resources and so on.

Provide great material, the “data”, then add an explanation to it (making it relevant to the viewer).

Then make it stick by creating that important emotional link between the viewer/learner and the subject matter – add layers of optional depth that can be explored if required. Make that “stickiness” create a state where the learner recognises, and then executes the need for behavioural change.

Rapid eLearning does not mean the consumption has to be rapid – it can be measured, slow, and enjoyable for the learner if we, the Instructional Designers, perform our role well. We are not there just to tell learners facts, we are there to tell them why the facts matter – and to this end we need to understand more about our subject than perhaps many of them want to learn. Only that way can we make the content interesting, relevant, and “sticky” – bringing about a behavioural change that they see a need for. It’s much easier (and more fun) than just “telling” them, and then wondering why nothing happened.