Do we still care about instructional design? This graph from Google Trends compares searches for “elearning” with searches for “instructional design.”

At first, “elearning” followed “instructional design” in a sad slope downward. But in the last couple of years, “elearning” has perked up again, while its friend “instructional design” continues its descent into obscurity.

Maybe fewer people are searching for “instructional design” because it’s no longer a new concept (”usability” suffered a similar decline). Or, possibly, fewer people are searching for “instructional design” because fewer people care about it.

Did “rapid” kill ADDIE? (more…)

A recent study suggests that the common habit of “building” information on a slide can interfere with learning.

The researchers used Camtasia Studio to create two presentations on information security. The audio narration was the same in both presentations. The visuals were the same, too, except one presentation used an average of 3.4 animations per slide to make bullet points, words, or images enter at different times. The other animation had static slides—the information was simply there.

After viewing the presentation, students answered a multiple-choice quiz. Students who saw the flying-bullet-points presentation scored 71.43%, while students who saw the more static version scored 81.98%, a statistically significant difference.

What does this mean? (more…)

I climbed onto the tram, folded my ticket, and with some trepidation stuck it into an unmarked metal box. A happy ding announced my success. I did it! I correctly rode a tram in Amsterdam!

Small victories like these make me love to travel. Every day I move from clueless to confident as I tackle questions like, “How do I peel and eat this hardboiled egg using only this tiny spoon?”

I find the answers through experimentation and observation—there’s no one telling me what to do at every step. And as a result I love the learning I’ve done and want to learn more.

How can we help our learners feel the same sense of achievement?

1. Let them figure some of it out (more…)

Some questions from blog readers have alerted me to the fact that when Apple “upgraded” Keynote 08 to create Keynote 09, they removed the ability to export slideshows as interactive Flash files. I’ve written a bit on this blog about how great it is that you can export from Keynote to Flash but…now you can’t! So:

• If you currently have Keynote 08, don’t upgrade.
• If you’re new to the Mac, you’ll get iWork 09 by default, which contains the unfortunate Keynote 09. You could buy iWork 08 through eBay or a similar outlet. Current prices appear to be $16-55.

Some posts in discussion forums suggest that you can export Keynote 09 slideshows as QuickTime files and then save those as Flash, but apparently you lose all interactivity, so there’s no point.

Shame on Apple for again removing useful features during an “upgrade.” iMovie recently suffered a similar fate. I don’t understand Apple’s reasoning at all.

Some more complex alternatives could be Adobe Captivate for Mac, which is looking for beta testers, and Techsmith’s Camtasia Studio for Mac, which is scheduled to be released in mid-2009.

Here’s a cool way to help learners experience what would otherwise be boring data: Turn the data into a roller coaster ride.

(If your organization blocks YouTube, you might be able to watch the video here on BlipTV.)

This video introduced me to the world of roller coaster simulators, such as this inexpensive one for Mac and Windows. I unfortunately don’t have time to experiment with new software, but if you do, please let us know how it works for you in the comments.

Are there any other inexpensive ways to turn statistics into a first-person adventure?

The Elearning Blueprint, an interactive job aid that helps anyone design lively elearning, is now available on a quarterly basis. Now you can access the blueprint just when you need it—you don’t have to sign up for a full year. For more information, visit the blueprint’s web site or go straight to the pricing page.

You lurch awake at 2 AM, thinking, “What if the client asks where I put sub-policy 12.5B? Did I cover it? Where?”

At the start of an elearning project, your client will often give you more information than will be useful. Some of it will go into your elearning material, some will go into job aids, and some will get cut. Here’s one way to track what happens to your client’s favorite content.

1. Agree on the goal and activities.

Make sure the client and you agree on what the materials are supposed to accomplish and, therefore, what content is likely to be included. Action mapping can be handy for this.

I start the content-sorting process when we’ve agreed on a high-level outline that briefly describes each activity and suggests what information will be needed.

2. Copy the client’s content files.

I work from copies so I can mark them up. The originals go into an “originals” folder.

3. Choose a place to dump the relevant info. (more…)

My latest project, the Elearning Blueprint, is now available and ready to help you save the world from boring elearning.

The blueprint is an interactive job aid that helps anyone design lean, lively elearning. It can be used by one person or an entire team—including subject matter experts. And because it’s based on Action Mapping, the blueprint helps you create materials that improve business performance.

With the blueprint, you can:

• Create action-packed elearning with your existing tools
• Streamline your instructional design process
• Confidently make design decisions that are supported by learning research
• Tie your elearning to business strategy—show that you’re indispensable!

Worksheets and other aids help you immediately apply what you’re learning to your current project.

Get better results from subject matter experts

Want your SMEs and designers to work together more effectively? With a team license for the blueprint, they’ll all use the same process and follow the same recommendations.

For less than the cost of sending one person to an instructional design workshop, you can improve the skills of everyone on your team. And rather than sitting in a class, they’ll learn by doing, right on the job.

Curious? Find out more and take a tour of the blueprint here.

U.S. Department of Justice staff are just like you and me—their retirement plan took a hit in the economic downturn. So when they got an email saying they might qualify for bailout money, some of them responded.

Unfortunately, the response required them to enter their account information at a fake website. Fortunately, the site was set up by their own employer. It was a test to see how many staff would fall for a phishing scheme.

Apparently, the test ended there. But the department could have turned the fake site into an interesting mini-lesson and used it to market their privacy course. Here’s one approach.

1. Separate the clueless from the savvy (more…)

Do stakeholders want to add text to your materials? Here’s one study you can use to show how wordiness can hurt learning.

The study compared three lessons about the same weather process. All lessons used the same illustrations but varied in the number of words.

The lesson with the fewest words resulted in the most learning.

Read the original publication (PDF) from the Journal of Educational Psychology, or see the summary on pp. 109-115 of Efficiency in Learning by Ruth Clark, Frank Nguyen, and John Sweller.