Any media/article (starting from good old news paper and magazine) need to have high initial perceived "value" to garner mind and eyeballs direction. Even before the content is read, a scan of the structure and skimming of the document would reveal the interest level for continuation.
An ordinary paragraph and bullet looking document, can be transformed much better with visuals and side bar snippets. Further enhancements happen with providing action clues for participative reading such as, "Try this exercise", Can you list down 3 points before proceeding to next chapter", "While you continue to read, think on what other options can the protogonist explore, experience (since that would be you) ", etc.
In many e-Learning courses, we tend to structure Course->Module -> Lessons -> Topics for any given content.Do they share a credible analysis or is it based on a single dimension to make them smaller/atomic LMS-friendly "standard compliant" chunks ? Many answers revolve around theories, standards, models. These are one-dimensional as the structure and storyline is content based. Rather shouldn't structure and storyline should be "User-based"?
A better structure stack could be:
1. Lead -> 2. List -> 3. Build Up -> 3. Break -> 4. Recap -> 5. Climax/Conclusions -> 6. References/Credits
Most e-Learning courses never contain the "references/credits" section. After taking a course, I am not sure, how credible the source is. In case of custom content, giving due credit to a senior management or an accepted subject expert in the company, gives the much needed brand anchor to the study. In case of catalog content, an approval from a known authority or a preface enables users to sift this master piece from the clutter.
Similarly the standard mostly used is: Pretest -> Objectives -> Content -> knowledge Check -> Summary -> Post test while designing an instructionally sound course, but it does not give any credence to existence of storyline. A better instruction model could be:
1. Introduce Gap (Minimal Information) and exercise -> 2.Set actions -> 3. See and Follow Through -> 4. Dramatize ->5. Summarize ->Test and Analyze
Stating and rephrasing the content as smaller instruction pieces is what is considered "prevalent" Instruction Design. This is primarily, many time, the reason why SME's consider ID work frivolous. It has been very difficult to convince customer centric Subject Matter Experts that their role is in "defining" the content, while the Instruction Designer is to structure and story-base it for reaching out. "Dramatize" is the key differentiator between an ID and SME. ID to emphasize content need to dramatize portions of content. The tools available are phrases, quotes, questions, leading text, images, audio, background score, animations, exercises.
The best answer I expect from a designer is "My structure is what a user tells me they are comfortable with, and storyline is what the user desires to feel about the content material they already know or might have seen."
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Learning Practice by Shrinivasan.G is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 India License All views expressed here are my own and does not reflect that of my employer or clients or any other sources.
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This post deserves a longer, more well-thought out answer. However, I will quickly jot down a few points that occurred to me at first reading...
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to the thoughts expressed here. Some of my thoughts as well in response...
In many e-Learning courses, we tend to structure Course->Module -> Lessons -> Topics for any given content.Do they share a credible analysis or is it based on a single dimension to make them smaller/atomic LMS-friendly "standard compliant" chunks?
As an ID, I envisage this breakdown as helping a learner to see the logical inter-connection of the "content" of the course. This can be compared to the Content section of a book where we see the names of Chapters and sub-chapters. These in their entirety should tell the learner at a glance what the book is about...all the chapters should add up to the core message of the book.
If it were only for the LMS configuration, then that would not be of any value to a learner. An LMS primarily acts as a tracking system and is hence valued by the management who need it to keep tabs.
A better instruction model could be:
1. Introduce Gap (Minimal Information) and exercise -> 2.Set actions -> 3. See and Follow Through -> 4. Dramatize ->5. Summarize ->Test and Analyze
This would be and is an ideal ID model. However, as an ID I can say that analyzing the "nature" of the content and thinking through it to give it this shape requires focused time, brainstorming sessions, creation of "meant to be scrapped" prototypes, continuous dialogue with the client, allocated project time for these activities... (Michael Allen's model of quick and ugly is required here.)
Increasingly, today's business needs demand that the courses be rolled out asap to meet the changing needs/business objectives...The longer one takes to deliver a course the greater is the risk that the baseline requirement may have changed. Hence, the approach adopted by e-learning development organizations have been to define a structure and place the content within that for quick delivery.
While as an ID I would love to have the luxury of thinking through the design, brainstorm with colleagues, sometimes the situation demands that the storyboards be churned out as fast as possible. This challenge is compounded if the content is such that requires SMEs input for clarity.
Yes, for the sake of the learners and learning, it is imperative that a balance be struck. This can be done by using powerful visuals, a combination of visuals and text (Ruth Colvin Clark's principles) and audio/video support.
Lastly, design and presentation of a course is a team activity--where inputs of both Instructional Designers and Visual Designers are equally important. Together they can transform the content into communication that sticks in the mind of the learners, can be recalled with ease, becomes practically applicable...