My Job Description

Note: I wrote this post back in 2007 and have since changed companies and jobs. So view this as a historical slice in time...(CB: August 2011)

I work at a small e-Learning company, which means I play lots of different roles. My job title is Manager of Instructional Design. And yet, on a day to day basis (at least lately) I do very little of that.

The focus here the last few months has been less on creating custom courses for clients and more on building Templates and Learning Portals (think LMS-lite).

I think a lot about instructional design, but I don't really practice it. Haven't written a course script in a long time here. Haven't designed an interactive exercise in ages. Haven't written an assessment question in months.

So, what do I do if I'm not doing that?

Marketing: I write the fact sheets. The website copy. I work on the demos. The content, not the graphics.

Sales Presentations: My CEO leads the demo. I schmooze. I talk instructional design. I ask questions. I use words like "cognitive load theory" or "working memory".

Proposal Writing: When the sales demo goes well, I write the proposal. Put it all together. I craft the approach we would take for this particular project, for this particular customer.

Solution Design: Design from a functional perspective, not the look and feel. How does their Learning Portal need to work? What should their Templates be able to do?

Project Management: Just that. Manage the project. Check in with the development team. See how we're doing on the schedule. Communicate with our clients. Write all the design documents, project plans, change orders, etc.

Client Relations: This mostly falls under Project Management. Build and nurture the client relationship. Answer questions. Handle issues.

QA Testing: And then we have to test the products that we build. I'm not such an anal person, so this isn't my favorite thing in the world.

Product Vision: This is a key area where blogging has really helped me lately. And by blogging, I mean both the reading and the writing thereof.

Through blogs I can feel the pulse of the industry; stay on top of trends; read what other people are doing. I learn what books I need to read, what research I need to track down. I learn what technologies are being pushed, what people are embracing. In my work, this translates into figuring out what we can add to our products and what I should be writing/saying about them.

• How can we improve our templates?
• How can I help our clients better use our tools?
• What strategies are helping other vendors succeed?
• What additional training and services should we be offering our clients?
• What would be really cool for us to do?
• What do we need to do to stay current? To provide what the market is asking for?
• What is the market asking for?
  

e-Learning Strategy Consulting: This is a new area for me. Untested waters. And I'm really excited about the project I'm working on. We've got a gig to help an organization with a large membership craft an e-Learning strategy. Such an opportunity! I'll write more about this as things unfold -- so far it's really fun.

Did I say instructional design?

Hmmm....Maybe I need a different job title. Suggestions?

Blogging is the new Graduate School

I'm not the only one getting an informal master's degree out here.

In a guest post on the Brazen Careerist, Ryan Healy writes, "maybe blogging is the new graduate school."

Twentysomething: Blogging is the new Graduate School

It’s ironic, though, because blogging is a way to deal with the biggest problem at the beginning of one’s career: No expertise. If you offer intelligent opinions or advice on a credible blog, then you are an expert. This is why more young people should blog. If you have a focused blog, then you can jump from job to job and learn many skills, but the constant will be that you are an expert in whatever area you choose to research and write about.

Now I'm not at the beginning of my career and I'd like to think that I have some expertise...if but a little. But I do see my knowledge growing along with my expertise the more I partake of this beautiful blogging world.

Dan Roddy has gone off on a cognitive load theory research stint lately. It feels like some of us are moving in the same streams. Or perhaps that a pebble thrown in one place produces ripples in lots of ponds. Knowledge is viral.

Brain Plasticity & Cognitive Abilities

I've just read Richard Nantel's post The Ultimate Pretest in which he talks about his interest in brain plasticity.

Scientists are finding ways to change the brain through intellectual exercises. People with poor auditory memory, for instance, can benefit greatly by memorizing poetry. People who are socially clumsy can be given exercises that improve their brain’s ability to read nonverbal clues.

I'm a believer in this stuff. It gives me hope that me get smarter some day. Haven't yet read that brain plasticity book, but it's on my list.

So I have no expertise in this area -- and perhaps this is really just a note to self to look into this topic more -- but I'm just wondering how brain plasticity relates to the recent NIH study out that claims that cognitive ability is mostly developed by adolescence (found via Jay Cross).

• Are brains plastic in some ways/areas of thinking, but not others?
  
• Is cognitive ability plastic? And what is cognitive ability, really?
  
• They say cognitive ability is mostly developed by adolescence -- so is that stuff no longer plastic and it's just all the rest that remains plastic?
• Or does cognitive ability actually have nothing whatsoever to do with brain plasticity -- we can form better neural pathways to better remember things, but perhaps that's not cognitive ability at all. That's just remembering stuff.
  

Me brain feels very, very small.

Whee! We got Wii!

My son just turned 4. He is blessed with an indulgent grandmother. Because he seems to like gaming, she got him a Wii for his birthday. (Don't ask me how -- and I don't even want to know how much she paid for it.)

My son "games" by watching us grownups play. He's not coordinated enough yet to work the controls, but he seems to have the basic strategy down and tells us where to go.

I've written about my gaming experience before. It's rather limited.

So last night I stayed up until 1:00 playing Zelda: The Twilight Princess. I had to force myself to stop.

The graphics are amazing. The controller is so fluid and much more intuitive than the Nintendo 64. I'm definitely hooked -- you might say, "immersed" or "addicted".

And now that I've been reading about games via the blog-o-sphere, I've got a different appreciation for them. I just played in the first village last night. This is basic training mode for the novice. You solve a few simple puzzles. You learn how to use your slingshot, ride a horse, wield your sword, go fishing.

I was learning and I hardly even noticed.

Wii!

Kineo Rapid e-Learning Podcast with Gabe Anderson

Another good podcast from the folks at Kineo: an interview with Stephen Walsh (Kineo) and Gabe Anderson (Articulate).

Part 1 is a nice definition and description of rapid e-Learning. Good for beginners.

If you don't have tons o' time, just listen to part 2. I thought it had more useful nuggets:

• Who should be developing rapid e-Learning? Always a good discussion topic -- SMEs, IDs, some combination?
  
• Next generation of Articulate tools -- and where rapid e-learning tools are going (less linear, more interactivity, more branching, integrated quizzes, more 'human element' with characters, more flexibility in general to help folks think "outside of the PowerPoint box").
• Some discussion on moving to more collaborative, online tools. At this point, Gabe sees no plans to move away from a desktop authoring tool -- in his view, there are too many limitations.

Big challenges ahead:

• It's all about design
• Integrating content with Learning Management Systems. Even though Articulate products are SCORM/AICC compliant, LMS are not created the same way so there always has to be tweaking. This is why they brought Articulate Online onto the market.

But why don't you just go ahead and listen yourself?

Adobe/Bersin Overview of the eLearning Industry

I listened in this afternoon to the Adobe seminar: Overview of the eLearning Industry. Nothing shocking, but some interesting tidbits. My notes here....

------------------------
Overview of the eLearning Industry

The evolving state of the industry

Host: Ellen Wagner, Adobe
Guest Speaker: Chris Howard, Principal Analyst at Bersin Associates (research and advisory firm in corporate training and performance management)

Research done by Bersin in the last several months. Collaborated with Adobe to identify trends in elearning industry re: content creation and trends in development.

This session will provide big picture of trends in the industry.

1. Study Methodology: Studied Adobe customer base -- how using the product and how they might like to be using it.
2. E-learning Market Overview
3. Key findings
4. Industry Data

Corporate Training Market is BIG -- almost $56 billion in the U.S.
Technology = $1 billion of this total

Corporate training trends:

• blended learning (can't do it all online)
• on-demand (smaller chunks)
• rapid tools (get training out quickly)
• shared services (orgs setting up centrally managed training tech groups)
• talent management (hiring, development, performance management, succession planning)
• technology adoption (LMS is maturing in large companies -- 80% of large companies have at least 1 LMS)
• shifting of spending (more $ on outsourcing and technology)

E-Learning Segment Definitions

• Off-the-shelf content
• Custom content
• Services
• Technology

Key Finding #1: Informal content is growing.

• Provide support for SME online, resources, rapid e-learning chunks. Can take a lot of resources, but even small companies can do this with right expertise.
• 72% of training content is used informally. This is expected to increase.
• Podcasting, rapid e-learning, short videos, mobile delivery

Content Maturity Model

• Started with Traditional Content -- modeled after instructor led. Content is hand-crafted (Dreamweaver, Flash)
  
• Rapid
• Collaborative (development efficiency)
• Enterprise (share info across depts)
• On-demand -- focus is on target audience -- better access to content.

Most orgs have a blend of these models.

Example: On-Demand architecture
create content in smaller chunks
leverage it across delivery formats
chats, PDF, etc.
This doesn't have to be a big investment

Key Finding #2: The Rise in ASP Models ("externally hosted" or "software as a service" -- SAAS)

• taking desktop metaphor and putting into a browser
• trend towards companies giving other people the headaches of dealing with the backend solutions
• great for small organizations
• Saba, Learn.com, Adobe Connect, Articulate, etc.
• Virtual Classroom is the most popular application of ASP solutions
• Adobe looking at/is partnering with Verizon and Qualcomm
  

Key Finding #3: Mobile Content starting to take off (still a niche)

• Ipods, blackberry, cell phone.
• Huge market
• Experimentation going on in this area
• People starting to use it and it's going to get bigger (although it won't replace other media)
• Good for specific applications: folks in the field, product training, reference material to support a course, sales
  
• Assessment uses in mobile technology (drill and practice)
• In the participant poll, 1 person said "we are now using mobile devices"; 39% said "we are researching mobile"; 24% "no interest in mobile"; the rest not sure...

Key Finding #4: Gaming has potential, but growth likely slow

• Expense prevents people from using them
• "Games" has negative connotation in corporate environment
• Serious gaming -- still not quite the best game
• Chris Howard calls them "advanced simulations"
• Trend towards collaborative gaming platforms (SecondLife) -- simulate a real life environment
• Emergence of gaming engines that make building games easier -- this is starting to emerge
• Leadership & Management Training
• Rapid response applications (agencies that provide emergency help to give people a feel for emergency situatiosn)
• Military
• IBM
• Will become easier to build -- and collaborative aspect will make them attractive
• Forterra Systems, Linden Labs, Visual Purple, Proton Media)

Key Finding #5: Open Source Tools

• 33% of responders said they are currently using Open Source tools (software available for free and you can get the underlying code and reprogram yourself)
  
• Typically used in conjunction with other tools
• People looking for extensibility and flexibility
• Typically used for advanced users -- because the tools may need to be debugged
• Most popular ones were audio (Audicity) and video tools. Investment in use of tools is low, so if it doesn't work, you're ok. Whereas if higher risk (development of entire course), people more likely to use non-open source tools.
  

Industry Data

• Adobe and Microsoft most widely used for course development tools
  
• Online Meetings (20% don't use, 28% WebEx; 19% LiveMeeting, Adobe Connect (6.5%)
• Trend of these companies partnering with LMS systems (e.g., Saba and Centra)
• WebEx is partnering with an LMS provider as will Adobe
• http://www.adobe.com/resources/elearning/lms_integration.html
  

Rapid Development Trend

• How do you expect the % of informal usage to change over 2 years?" 52% of respondants said there will be an increase.
• Informal content development where info is developed and accessed quickly -- not in context of formal training
• Compliance -- get user to read something and take a basic assessment -- capture info and show that they "learned" it
• About half of this content is being configured to fit in with an LMS (if your company has an LMS, then generally yes). Adobe, Articulate building little back-end server technologies that enable you to build straightforward courses, install in LMS and track results.
• People have an expectation to produce content more quickly -- this drives productivity.
• Rapid content may get put out there quickly, then later it gets folded back into a more traditionally designed program.
• This may be a way of getting SMEs more involved in initial content creation -- then professional content developers (IDs) can take it to the next step.
• A lot of these rapid tools ARE being used by folks without training backgrounds. They may consider it more "information transfer" than formal training.
• Content Development/Training dept builds templates -- then gives to SMEs -- so that SME can think about key points, objectives, assessment questions -- then template given back to ISDs to organize it better, rephrase it.

Games/Blogs/Wikis

• Lots of folks saying they have no plans to use these (about 50%)
• The forward-thinking folks are going to use these tools
• Get users in touch with SMEs and each other -- share info with each other.
• Have someone to monitor this type of content to make sure it's appropriate.
• Chris Howard: wants people to rethink this and see the real potential in wikis and blogs -- training managers -- if you don't do this as the training manager, it will happen on its own and bypass you. This may be good or bad. Better off if we can incorporate training material into the wikis and blogs.
  
• Ellen: Training community needs to get on the bus or out of the way regarding blogs and wikis.

LMS vs. LCMS

• LMS -- manage training transactions and student date
• LCMS more with content creating (moving more to on-demand)
  
• Training Platform/Suite -- brings these together. typically ASP.

To create good e-learning:
1) Know your audience. How are they learning now? How will the applications be used?
2) Understand the business problem that you're trying to solve. Does it need to be solved quickly?
3) Don't let the technology get in the way of what you're trying to do.

This program will be available through the Adobe archive at Adobe.com

Don't Be a Tyrant!

A post from the Eide Neurolearning Blog from 2005.

The Tyranny of Thinking Styles

When some people hear the word "dog", they picture an image of a dog, while others see the printed word "d-o-g".

"It's worth our while to think more about the tyranny of our individual thinking styles, and the bias that can result if we don't consider how differently our students may think from us."

Thinking styles -- learning styles -- the point is, we all approach content differently. As teachers and instructional designers, what matters is that we keep this in mind and don't apply our own preferences as the sole method of presentation.