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.

Imagine that you’re in a competition to overhaul an information-heavy course so it creates a real change in the world. What changes would you make? Check out this story-based presentation to see what one fictional company did.

If some type is too small, click the “full” icon in the player and you’ll get the big-screen version.

The presentation is an adaptation of a talk I’ve been giving at the Australian Flexible Learning Framework conferences. It’s designed to help people break free of the traditional information-first approach to instructional design.

One of the challenges with using the approach described in the presentation is that it usually requires more design time. Since many clients don’t actually measure the effectiveness of their materials and just want information put online quickly, it can be hard to argue for immersive scenarios. Have you successfully used scenarios? Did you have to convince stakeholders to let you use them?

For a quick overview of the Action Mapping process described in this interaction, see Be an elearning action hero. For in-depth help with applying this process to your own materials, check out the Elearning Blueprint.

How I designed and built the scenario

Some people avoid creating branching scenarios because they seem too complex. In case it’s helpful, here’s the approach I took. (more…)

Pop quiz!

1. What do these people need to do?

A. Put out the fire

B. Describe the techniques used to extinguish a fire

2. What does this woman need to do to stay in business?

A. Sell flowers

B. Explain the principles of the flower-selling process

3. This young man wants you to give him money. Which objective are you more likely to fund?

A. Build a home for a displaced family in Sudan

B. Describe how to build a home for a displaced family in Sudan

Learning objectives are wimpy

A typical learning objective focuses on what each person supposedly needs to know, ignoring whether this knowledge will actually lead to useful action.

Instead, to create elearning that changes real-world behavior, we have to first identify what people need to do, and only then decide if there’s anything that they need to know.

Identify the action, then the knowledge

Many people start their design by writing learning objectives. Instead, it’s helpful to first choose a business goal for your project and then identify each “action” needed to reach that goal. (See action mapping and the Elearning Blueprint for lots more on this.)

What’s an action?

An action: (more…)

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…)

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?

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.