Designing Partaking Studying Experiences: Half 1
To be innovative out of necessity
The relationship between learning designers and learning experiences is based on the assumption that we are up to date with how learning science has changed in the 21st century. From knowing exactly how adults learn in the 21st century, we derive teaching principles that actually talk about how instructional designers create effective learning experiences for those who need to work on continuing education.
Traditional role of instructional designer
If you asked the typical instructional designer what steps they would take in designing learning experiences, they would usually answer:
- Meet with the client to find out what their expectations are of the ideal eLearning course, taking into account their target audience. Other ideas that would need to be resolved are the development of a mission statement, the largely localized orientation of the course or the transfer to other branches of the organization at home and abroad, and the hardware requirements.
- Once the instructional designer has these important insights, the focus is on which tools are used in the design process. At the time of this writing, there are many very useful and proven design tools available, such as: B. PowerPoint, Captivate, Articulate, etc. Tools are created to take advantage of the new technologies that research becomes available. Even a simple presentation tool like Doodly enables a beginning instructional designer to break into their profession.
- Once a tool or combination of tools has been selected, scripting and storyboarding is the next logical step. This is the creative step where the instructional designer plans the flow of the learning experience. This may involve the use of media such as voice-over-audio or very defined branch-tracking scripts where decisions by the learner determine the path that the script and experience will follow.
- Production will now begin using the tools to create a beta version of the course which will then be used for testing to collect data that will talk about what remains and what needs to be changed. This process is determined by the choice of model used. Currently, two of the most popular models are ADDIE and SAM; Everyone has their advantages and disadvantages.
- The next logical step is to get your customer’s approval for the product you are creating. This can mean literally going back to the drawing board or storyboard.
- The final step is to publish and implement. In a 24/7 connected world, this means the product should be accessible and scaled on any mobile device so that it can be viewed clearly on any device.
The question that arises from following this process is, “What happens when our understanding of how adults learn in the 21st century is so imprecise that we cannot follow these traditional steps to lead to an effective learning experience.” reach?”
One of the biggest problems we have as business organizations is our inability to adapt to change. Always doing things as we have always done leads us to the barrier of “getting used to”. This is where “analysis paralysis” kicks in when we need to change and innovate.
A Ted Talk by Tony Fadell, titled “The First Secret to Great Design” (below) highlights this trap instructional designers can fall into when creating a learning product for corporate organizations that need to educate employees for the future.
Principles of teaching Connection to principles of teaching design
Given the symbiotic relationship between instructional design, learning, and principles of teaching, it is important that the relationship be harmonious at a time of great change.
In 2002, Dr. David Merrill proposed what he called “The First Principles of Teaching”. In this article, Dr. Merrill not only on what he calls “e3” (effective, efficient, engaged), but how applying the 5 principles he outlined as a guide is critical to how instructional designers create critical learning experiences that will help you the employees of a corporate organization to achieve a higher level of performance.
In a recent interview with Dr. David Merrill, titled “Dr. David Merrill Importance of Instructional Science Off-the-Cuff Episode # 50” (below) instructs Dr. Merrill points out how this speaks for today’s instructional designer. It should be noted that these principles (as listed below) are prescriptive (design-oriented) rather than descriptive (learner-oriented).
- Learning is encouraged when learners are busy solving real-world problems.
- Learning is encouraged when existing knowledge (and skills) are activated as the basis for new knowledge (and skills).
- Learning is encouraged when new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner.
- Learning is encouraged when the learner applies new knowledge.
- Learning is encouraged when new knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world.
Of interest to instructional designers in creating engaging learning experiences for employees in corporate organizations are:
Principle 1
The solution to real problems clearly indicates that the previous aim of the draft of overloading the learner’s mind with content only (“cognitive burden”) is not only naive, but also no longer works. Content is not king in the 21st century. In order for learners to learn what they need to learn, they need to be involved using interactive simulations or immersive scenarios. Business organizations like Conducttr clearly show what this would look like. I encourage instructional designers interested in incorporating scenarios like this into their training to try out some of the demos they offer.
Principle 2
In business education, learners need to relate to what is presented to them in order to get involved. Otherwise, this will be dismissed as irrelevant to your specific area of expertise. Many of us who went through the one-shot training session were either engaged at the beginning because we could relate to what was being offered, or we immediately said to ourselves, “Why do they keep tormenting us with such sessions?” The big question here is, “Do we shoot past the training session for random or sustained engagement?” Online learning used in training courses has often received harsh reviews because too often it looks like compliance training. In order to make the qualifications of employees relevant, we have to individualize the lessons. This means that there needs to be a person within the organization, and not necessarily in the HR department, who is responsible for tracking the learning and skills development of the employees. This leads us to some very valid, practical questions:
- How can a company with over 1,000 employees achieve this?
- Does this mean we should expand the role of the CLO or the ID?
- Does this bring the idea of big data and the use of predictive analytics into play?
Principle 3 and 4
These two principles are linked. They depend on each other to function. If new knowledge cannot be proven, it cannot be applied. The question is, “What method can be used to demonstrate new knowledge to the learner that is most effective when the learner can apply the new knowledge to his or her particular subject?” One of the main complaints about the typical training session is that it is often too far removed from what the employee is doing and that there is no way to test actual understanding and get effective feedback in the workplace.
Principle 5
The idea of what is learned to be integrated into the learner’s world depends on a number of factors, such as daily reinforcement and feedback on the knowledge and skills learned in the actual workplace. Simply put, if my specialty is setting up hybrid cloud storage for the business, I must find that my newly acquired knowledge and skills make this task much more understandable and improve my overall performance at what I do. My understanding of the new knowledge and skills will also be demonstrated and observed so that if there is an unusual problem that I need to solve, I can use the new knowledge and skills to adapt to a solution.
These principles not only speak for our methods as instructional designers, but also point to a very important question: “How do the new technological innovations fit into an evolving process of instructional design and how do I use them to fully exploit their potential”. in creating engaging, collaborative, and effective learning experiences for a business organization that looks to the future? “
This is the focus of Part 2 of this article …
