When employees of the US Internal Revenue Service need to find out what taxpayers are doing, they look online. How would you train them to dig deep into the web without violating privacy laws?

David Anderson has linked to the script of an online course that the IRS uses to train its employees. It was released during a Freedom of Information Act case and posted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As David points out, the script uses the common tell-then-test approach.

What could they have done differently?

Here’s the script, thanks to the EFF. You’ll see that it’s clearly written and organized, which is great.

Like most elearning, it presents a lot of information and then quickly tests our understanding of that info. It also uses some interesting examples from real life.

The course is a perfectly capable information presentation. But since my tax dollars helped pay for it, I can’t help wishing they had done it differently. So let’s give the IRS some friendly suggestions.

What would happen if we changed the objectives?

The IRS course has these objectives: (more…)

Are you dreaming of an immersive simulation while your team members plan yet another Jeopardy game? If you want stakeholders to expand their horizons, a working prototype is your best friend.

A working prototype has simple placeholder graphics, but the clicking and dragging work as they will in the final activity. Build a quick-and-dirty version of the activity of your dreams, and use it to convert everyone on your team.

Here’s a two-part video that shows what I mean. Leif Cederblom of SmartBuilder compares two prototypes of the same activity and highlights the goals and benefits of prototyping.

Part 1: The conventional drag-and-drop: busywork that’s easy to forget

Part 2: A more realistic activity that’s more likely to change behavior

Try both prototypes yourself and see how the contrast between the two underscores the power of the more realistic activity. No amount of polish would make the drag-and-drop more than a rote activity, while the “leave the lab” prototype is effective even in its raw, prototype form.

Can’t afford a full-fledged simulation? You can still recreate the learner’s world in your materials, even if your only tool is the lowly multiple-choice question.

Let’s say you’re writing materials for people who create custom pet hedgehogs using genetic engineering. You might be tempted to write a question like the one below.

It’s a good idea to include parrot genes in a custom hedgehog.

1. True
2. False (correct)

How could you make this question more realistically reflect the learner’s world?

First ask yourself, “Why does the learner need to know this fact?”

Then write a question that tests both the learner’s knowledge of the fact and their ability to apply it in the real world. “What if…” questions come in handy for this.

(more…)

When stakeholders think every detail is equally important, the result can be bloated elearning.

This hilarious YouTube video shows what I mean.

To fight the enemy, we have to see it

My favorite writing teacher used parody to help us recognize and remove bloat. Here’s a small example.

The following statement is sort of Apple style–minimal and direct. Your assignment is to rewrite it, packing in as many words and details as possible.

Don’t bring your cat to work, because some of your colleagues could be allergic.

Here’s one possible rewrite: (more…)

“No one reads the objectives.” If that’s true, maybe it’s because we tend to write objectives in TrainerSpeak. In this makeover we’ll turn some conventional objectives into goals that learners care about.

Let’s say that the following objectives appear at the beginning of a course for customer service representatives (CSRs). You’re a CSR. How do these objectives make you feel?

This course is designed to enable the learner to:

• Describe how vocal tone affects customer rapport
• Understand the importance of positively impacting customer impressions
• Describe the 5 steps of the Dissatisfied-to-Satisfied Customer Transformation Model
• State which psychological techniques can be used to increase customer acceptance of negative information

(more…)

Here’s the first in a sporadic series of makeovers. I’ll grab some elearning that might need perking up, add some perk, and put it here for you to critique.

The first sample comes from the US government, which published Teen Worker Safety in Restaurants. There’s a lot to the site, but I’ll focus on just one aspect.

Like many instructors, the authors tell, and then they show. I think it can be more powerful to reverse those steps and show, then tell–especially when you’re talking about possible amputation. (more…)