Volume
1 | Number 2 | Summer 2004 |
Volume
1 | Number 2 | Summer 2004 |
II. The Instructional Design & Learning Progression
III. Tools Progression I. PresentationsHow One Department Handles Online EducationPresented by Elizabeth A. Monske, Kristine L. Blair, Amie Caroline Wolf, Jude Edminister, and Cheryl Hoy Our panel was inspired by the recent developments at our Bowling Green State University English Department within the last couple of years. Involved in a new instructional design initiative, our session dealt with how both faculty and doctoral candidates are becoming involved with online writing courses, ranging from first year writing courses to graduate level courses. Within the five presentations, we specifically addressed: Instructional Design Initiatives and ResourcesKristine Blair discussed why and how she developed an educational technology assistance program called Digital Language and Literacy made up of rhetoric and technical communication graduate students created to assist faculty in developing fully online courses. The DLL houses multiple projects: the instructional design element, Computers and Composition Online editorial staff, computer literacy for senior citizens, and dissertations dealing with Rhetoric and Composition and distance education. Creation of Online Courses:Amie Wolf detailed her experience of working within the DLL when she was paired with a faculty member to transform a traditional course into an online environment. She noted the importance of collaboration and having the faculty members to take ownership of, not only, their course, its look, and material but for the development of her technological literacy as well. Implications of the Adult Learner in Online CoursesCheryl Hoy explained different strategies for incorporating the adult learner more effectively based on her experience teaching an online writing course for returning non-traditional students. Having personally experienced being an adult learner, Hoy stresses the importance of understanding who the adult learner and what pedagogical approaches work best for them. Encouragement of CollaborationJude Edminster discussed the results of her digital collaboration experiences in her introductory online technical writing course she taught over the summer of 2003. She examined and compared her most successful collaborators with an existing study dealing with Hasler-Walters and Napier's "Building and Supporting Student Team Collaboration in the Virtual Classroom." Implementation of Assessment MeasuresI discussed findings from my dissertation about the need to implement online-specific course evaluations and self-assessments for teachers and students into an online course in order to prepare and maintain student and teacher interest in the course. Integrated within our five presentations, we understand the need to share our work in order to provide better opportunities not only for our students but also for our colleagues and plan to continue this community effort. Our English Department is currently in our second year of pairing graduate students who have taken ENG 780: Online Education for English Educators with faculty members placing courses online. Another new element to our department is that the Scientific and Technical Communication Master's program is commencing an online certification degree this summer. Under the auspices of the DLL, we have been able to encourage explorations into distance education and its impact on our department For more information about this presentation, please contact: Design & Delivery Principles of Synchronous Online LearningPresented by Hadiya Nuriddin Synchronous online learning is maturing. A recent report published by the eLearning Guild indicates that while companies are using web conferencing services for informational web seminars (or "webinars") more than ever, many companies are now also using web conferencing to deliver interactive courses. Instructional designers who are just beginning to design courses for synchronous online delivery, however, may have difficulty finding guidance about how to design courses for the live, online environment. By combining research on adult learning, online learning, and instructional design, five instructional design principles emerge that can be used to inform decisions when designing for the live, online environment: 1. Master the tools of the synchronous classroomInstructional designers can apply the same instructional design techniques used for designing classroom-based courses. In order to do this successfully, however, designers must understand the tools of the synchronous classroom as well as they understand the tools of the physical classroom. Failure to do so results in passive learning experiences. 2. Design for varying technical abilitiesDo not assume that all participants will be comfortable using the tools of the synchronous classroom. While incorporating a variety of tools into the course design will make the class more interactive, participants who are uncomfortable with computers will be too distracted by the new technology to learn the content. Try to strike a balance between challenging participants and allowing them to remain in their comfort zones. 3. Blend the class with other methodsA live, online event should last no longer than 90 minutes because it is simply too difficult for participants to stay engaged in a synchronous session for a longer period of time. This means that only learning tasks that require collaboration among participants and instant feedback from the instruction should be taught synchronously. Information that can be learned by participants independently should be distributed using an asynchronous medium. 4. Make the class inherently motivatingThe synchronous trainer is competing for a participant's attention with email, the Web, and the participant's coworkers. Certainly, students can be motivated by treats and gifts, but the most effective type of motivation is built into the design of the course. 5. Design authentic interactionsMeaningful, frequent, and varied participant-teacher, participant-content, and participant-participant interaction must be fully integrated into the course design. While a poll question at the end of each segment does help reinforce learning, interaction should be part of the entire lesson as a way to initially learn the material, not just to review it. The synchronous online classroom and the physical classroom share many characteristics. Instructional designers should ask the same questions (i.e. What are the characteristics of your learners?) when designing for any delivery medium; however, once designers understand the synchronous classroom, it becomes obvious the answers to those questions will differ from medium to medium. Finding those answers is never easy, but applying the five design principles of synchronous online training is a good place to start. For more information about this presentation, please contact: Don't Make Me Do That! Making Learning Fun and EngagingPresented by Lance Gelein This presentation provided innovative training ideas to help you think outside the book. This included using gaming technology, online learning systems, Web casts, quick reference materials, video, and whatever it takes to engage the learner: doing the unexpected; reading the audience; and delivering learning that's applicable to their needs--even when they are resistant. The whole experience! The presentation included:
The presentation also included demonstrations of the various methods that can be used. Participants were engaged in this process and had some fun, too. For more information about this presentation, please contact: Analyzing Games for Use in TrainingPresented by Karen Baranich and Cynthia Currie Subtitled "Play Along! Using Games to Teach," this workshop examined the use and development of training games. Topics included:
Participants played and analyzed games, and had some fun. We discussed the differences and similarities between games for learning and activities such as icebreakers, energizers, exercises, and simulations, which are commonly called games, but often meet totally different learning objectives. The audience learned how existing game formats can be adapted for a variety of training objectives and used these principles to design their own game. For more information about this presentation, please contact: Cindy Currie is Senior Consultant for Hewlett-Packard's Technology Solutions Group (TSG) in Nashua, NH. Cindy is an STC Associate Fellow and frequent presenter at local and national STC conferences and meetings. She is also the STC's International Publications Competition Manager. You can contact Cindy at cynthia.currie@hp.com or (603) 884-1249 . e-Learning Evaluation SessionEvaluators: Sylvia Miller, Jane Smith, and Frances Wirth In this session, each of three evaluators provided review comments and suggestions to their e-Learning completed or in-progress e-Learning projects. The areas evaluated were:
Participants all felt that they received positive feedback on their course's strengths along with constructive suggestions for their improvement or for change in future courses. Although we didn't have a big turnout, we plan to provide this session again, perhaps even opening it up to evaluation of all training materials. If you have any comments or suggestions about the e-learning evaluations,
please contact: Using Games in Technical TrainingPresented by Paul Sinasohn Games provide an enjoyable vehicle for learning and should be considered as an instructional method. If games are selected and used with a focus on the learning they can enhance, your training courses will be events that people talk about and want to attend. Games are of greatest value when they:
For more information about this presentation, please contact: You can find details about this presentation and other resources at:
Transitioning Print-Based Training into Web Delivery: Lessons LearnedPresented by Dr. Susan Codone & Lance Stuckey This presentation explored a specific project conducted by the Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC) in which an existing MERC-designed United States Air Force print-based training was rapidly converted to web-based training. MERC designers employed basic fundamentals of technical communication to successfully accomplish their task. This presenters gave a candid look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the conversion process that documented MERC's first efforts toward eLearning. Specific issues discussed in this presentation included:
For more information about this presentation, please contact: Lance Stuckey is an Instructional Systems Designer at Mercer Engineering Research Center in Warner Robins, GA. He is a 2002 Technical Communication graduate from the Mercer University School of Engineering and a member of the Society of Technical Communication since 1999. You can contact Lance at lstuckey@merc.mercer.edu. II. Instructional Design & Learning ProgressionAbout the Progression: Karen Baranich organized this years' Instructional Design and Learning progression. It consisted of several mini-sessions (presentation-discussion) that lasted approximately 20 minutes; at the end of each mini-session, participants rotated to another topic of their interest. Here are some of the topics presented! Training Impact Evaluation and ROI: Why Do It?Presented by Cindy Currie As corporate cost cutting continues, instructional design consultants must become true partners in an organization.They must be responsible and accountable for defining and measuring their contribution to business success. To do this, evaluation and measurement must become routine activities. The ability to forecast and then demonstrate the business impact of training programs is key to continuation of these programs, and perhaps even to the continuation of their employment and the longevity of the organization. Below are several common misconceptions associated with training impact evaluation and ROI. Use the facts presented here to help you justify why these key activities must become routine in your organization. You cannot measure the results of a training program quantitatively. (Or, you can't do it!)Of course you can! If your program is well designed around clear and measurable objectives, then you certainly can measure its results where it should be fairly easy to figure out what data you need to look at to determine if your program is successful. It's very important to identify the measurements/ metrics associated with your program objectives. This is how you will define what "success" is within the context of your program. In addition, your program should be results based, that is focused on improving performance. Thus, you know what results you are striving for, so from that you will have quantifiable measures of performance. Evaluation programs are very expensive. (Or, it costs too much to do it!)Yes, there is a cost associated with designing and conducting an evaluation, particularly if you are interested in ROI. However, it's likely to be a small cost in comparison to the cost of the program when it's built in as an integral part of the program. You do need to size the evaluation to fit the program; spending 5-10% of the total cost of the program on evaluation is reasonable. My organization does not require measurable results. (Or, why should I do it when I don't have to?)In today's business climate, every function is accountable and must be able to demonstrate clearly its contribution to the organization. While many individuals may have a proven track record of excellent results (and no need to justify their existence), your organization as a whole may need to prove its effectiveness. With mergers and acquisitions now fairly commonplace, old or new management may suddenly require your organization to justify its existence ... prove your value or you're gone! You can't do this without clear-cut data! Be ready! Evaluation may reflect on my organization negatively and make it vulnerable. (Or, yikes! This could make us look bad!)Yes, it could. So, truthfully, if your organization is not receptive to feedback, some of it unfavorable, then you probably shouldn't conduct a serious evaluation. Also, if your organization is not in a position to make changes based on feedback, don't do it. However, you may get some surprising results, both positive and negative, that could lead to important changes in your program that bring greater success. If you don't conduct an impact evaluation, you'll never really know, now will you? For more information about this presentation, please
contact: Should Learners Control the Sequence of e-Learning?Presented by Mike Tillmans The ConflictWhat is your e-learning strategy as a developer of online learning materials? Do you "turn 'em loose" or do you try to "control all the choices"? or somewhere in between? If you are like most other instructional designers, this presents a conflict.
In the ideal world, the learners are prepared to make these choices wisely. They may already know something about your topic—-enough to help organize the new information so it can be related to their current knowledge. Part of this organizing strategy is to recognize what is known already, and what new material needs to be learned. Feelings and FindingsHowever, most of us don't live in that ideal world. When the design conflict was presented at the ID Progression sessions, slightly more than half the participants felt it would be best for the author (or developer) to retain control in some way, because they did not believe learners could make the necessary decisions. Research (found in Clarke and Mayer, 2003) indicates that most learners are not accurate when they are asked to judge how much they know about a topic, which is certainly a key skill in being able to make good decisions about what is needed for study. Equally important is a student's self-organizing skills (metacognition). Possible SolutionsSo the practical aspect of the discussion turns to helping learners make better decisions. There are several instructional strategies available to e-learning developers to assist learners in decision-making (these are described more fully in the references at the conclusion of the article):
Wonderful ResourcesRuth Clark. Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement, 2nd ed. Silver Spring, MD: ISPI, 2003. Clark, Ruth Colvin and Richard E. Mayer, e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2003. Gagne, Robert M. and Karen L. Medsker, The Conditions of Learning: Training Applications. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1996. Morrison, Gary R., Steven M. Ross, and Jerrold E. Kemp,Designing Effective Instruction, 4th ed. John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Smith, Patricia L. and Tillman J. Ragan, . Instructional Design, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999. For more information about this presentation, please contact: Conducting the Job Task Analysis, or "Stickie Bingo" for Better Course DesignPresented by Jane Smith Participants experienced the ease of conducting a job task analysis for forming the basis of good course design as we played "stickie bingo." This visual method makes quick work of a once tedious task. In this short session in the IDL Progression, I presented a very visual way of conducting the job task analysis by using Post-it® Notes of different colors and sizes on flipcharts. These Post-It Notes represent aspects of a completed task analysis:
Participants and I walked through an analysis, complete with the identification of an objective and exercise/assessment for a task. This is a very effective, visual method to use with a diverse group of SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and IDs (Instructional Designers) to obtain agreement on course content and design. For more information about this presentation, please contact: Technical Writing and Instructional Design TechniquesPresented by Jackie Damrau The IDL Progression had several table topics that were well attended. I was honored this year to lead a table topic on "Technical Writing & Instructional Design Techniques." I had a total of 37 folks attend my table. It was interesting to see that people were pulling up chairs from other tables to listen to this topic. While 25 minutes is not enough time to share the vast knowledge that goes with this topic, it was a whirlwind speaking engagement for me. The comments from those attending my table were "That's a lot of information, but it gives me a place to start." "Wow, I never thought I could do instructional design." The highlights from my presentation focused on the use of the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) model and how technical writers do use this model perhaps without knowing it. The two-page handout provided during the topic listed the top five questions that need to be asked when preparing instructional materials. Time didn't allow me to cover the use of style guides or training engagement methodology. Brief time was spent covering copyright and alerting new instructional designers to becoming more aware of content when being asked to include it in training materials, presentations, and such. Send email to jdamrau3@airmail.net if you would like a copy of the handout. It is similar to my proceedings paper that appears on the STC conference website. I have presented this same topic as a 1-hour presentation at the Lone Star chapter's Newcomers SIG meeting for the past two years and also as a 3-hour workshop at its Fall Workshop Series. The workshop was the most fun I ever had in presenting for the same reasons as presenting at the IDL Progression. To see the eyes light up in technical communicators who didn't think they could write instructional material was well worth my time. One of the attendees at the Fall Workshop even used the techniques she used to help get her a project management job at BeautiControl. Think I'm bragging; of course, I am. Here's to Seattle where I hope to meet more STC instructional designers and share our tools, techniques, and methodologies. For more information about this presentation, please contact: You can find details about this presentation and links to handouts
at: A Look at StoryboardsPresented by Frances Wirth Storyboards play a central role in the courseware development process. In this session we discussed how storyboards are used, what elements an effective storyboard should contain, and why they are so important. We also took a sneak preview of the whizID Storyboarder, a new storyboard development tool. Some key points about storyboards:
A detailed, well-constructed storyboard benefits everyone on the project team, including the designer, SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), graphic artists and other media creators, developers and programmers, QA (Quality Assurance), management, and the client. For more information about this presentation, please contact: You can find details about this presentation and links to handouts
at: III. Tools ProgressionMacromedia's CourseBuilder Extension to Dreamweaver CoursebuilderPresented by Ann-Marie Grissino This is an extension to Macromedia's Dreamweaver, so it must be used within Dreamweaver. It works in Dreamweaver 3.0, 4.0, and Dreamweaver MX. With it, you can create interactions or controls for use in Web pages. Using CourseBuilder is an excellent way to insert questions or items that require student interactions in Web-based courses. It is easy and requires no programming experience. CourseBuilder creates HTML and Javascript for you. It creates consistent code across multiple pages. You can create unique questions and responses to students' actions. Interactions
Controls
Capabilities
To Obtain the Free CourseBuilder Extension After installing CourseBuilder, you access the interactions in the following ways:
For more information about this tool, please contact: AuthorwarePresented by Jane Smith Authorware is a robust, full-service Authoring tool that is tried and true in the industry. With Authorware, you can develop training for any type of content and any delivery method. Authorware is used extensively in the education arena as well as in the training field. Authorware uses a timeline means of representing the course flow, allowing you to drag and drop elements into the timeline. For more information about this tool, please contact: You can find more information about this tool at:
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The Instructional Design & Learning SIG, The Society for Technical Communication
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