Design the Designer

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Analyzing Scope Creep

Posted by freedus on December 6, 2012
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Avoiding Scope Creep img

While the Scope of a project defines the work that will be done during and the intended results of the project, Portny et. al. (2008) defines scope creep as “the natural tendency of the client, as well as project team members, to try to improve the project’s output as the project progresses” (Pg. 436).  When I first read that definition it sounds so benevolent compared to the proverbial wrecking ball that scope creep can truly be in a project. I mean how could want to ‘improve’ a project’s output be bad? Well as stated by Sharma (2010) “Scope creep leads to providing the client more at the expense of project resources and project budget” (Para. 2).  In 2010, my department, physician education, was tasked with updating a web based course geared toward physicians and residents for a software implementation for one of the network hospital facilities.  At the time, since it was supposed to be just an update to existing materials, I was the only resource allocated to the project from an education standpoint. Within the first couple of weeks of meeting with the ever expanding number of subject matter experts, two things had become crystal clear: this was NOT going to be a simple education update and I was in WAY over my head. During the course of the project, the scope grew to include a complete redesign and additional lesson development for the course and development of a robust assessment featuring questions pools and scenarios. The project also ended up including classroom training and development of superuser training for nursing, education normally handled by a completely different department!  The department also ended up supporting 24 hour coverage go-live weekend in addition to a slew of catered help sessions in a new physician lounge that we were expected to cover. As the director of my department did not want to be perceived as a non-team player, the department was just forced to adjust.  The department brought in two instructional design consultants to assist with the design of content and contract developer for development and database management.  By the end of the project, the department’s staff was so overworked that the director decided to give us all a paid day off.

If I had it to do over and was in a position of power, I would have paid more attention to the initial project scope and analysis phases of the project and looked at the educational and support needs of historical implementations. Many of the support measures, such as the instructor lead sessions, took many resources to develop and support but were hardly used.  I would have also developed a better communication and change management process to be able to communicate issues and then quickly find solutions to address them. For example, the 24 hour go-live support that my department provided was hardly utilized at all as IS was also providing rounders for OJT and a 24 hour command center for support. There was no need for both departments to provide go-live support.  Not only did this serve to further fray already shredded nerves, it was a complete waste of resources.

Resources

Managing Scope Creep and Scope Changes in Project Scope Management. (2010, Sept. 10). Retrieved 12 6, 2012, from Bright Hub PM: http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/51868-managing-scope-creep-and-scope-changes-in-project-scope-management/

Portny, S. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Communicating Effectively

Posted by freedus on November 15, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. 3 Comments

After receiving the communication via the three separate modalities in the “Art of Effective Communication” multimedia program, my perception or interpretation of the communication did not really change. However, I will say that the face-to-face message did present the message in the friendliest way versus the other modalities.  Being able to see the individual’s genuine concerned but non-threatening facial expressions and demeanor definitely was able to enhance the message. While electronic communication has is pros, such as speed and convenience, face-to face communication definitely is the most advantageous communication modality.  According to Stolz (2011) “Face to Face communication gives you all the communication tools – verbal and non verbal – to effectively share your message and ensure that the other person got and understood what you are sharing with them or asking them to do” (Para. 3).  While face-to-face is the most ideal form of communication, it is unrealistic for a PM to expect to interact with team members and stakeholders in the modality alone.  This underscores the importance of overall communication skills in the process of effective project management.  When it comes to electronic communication (phone, email, etc), PMs must remember that critical elements in communication are missing, the sender’s tone and/or body language.  In the absence of tone or body language, receivers are able to focus and add their own perception to what the sender is communication.  Written words have a ‘perceived voice’ of which the sender must be aware.  For example, most email readers consider typing in all capital letters as yelling. While typing in text speak in an email (“R U running l8?”) as unprofessional and frankly just plain annoying.  According to Neely (2012) ” You may not realize it, but every person has a unique “voice” when it comes to writing. Everyone has a baseline that tells their personality right off the bat, and it comes from the way they phrase and punctuate their thoughts. Much like physical body language, everyone also has cues for when they are excited, pleased, worried, annoyed or downright upset as well” (Para 3).  PMs need to utilize etiquette that is appropriate for the modality in order to communicate effectively while not offending. In terms of written communication, the PM should do the following:

  • Make sure their messages utilize proper English (spell checked, proper grammar, free of short-hand, proper punctuation and sentence structure)
  • Avoid phrases that may be perceived as rude or curt by using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
  • Make correspondence easy to read- keep it as short as possible, use headers, bullets, etc. (Pilley, 2011)

Project Managers must ensure that they are exercising effective communication skills appropriate to the mode they are  utilizing, otherwise they will spend a great deal of time mending fences and/or resolving confusion among team members.

 

Resources

Neely, A. (2012, Oct 6). How Well Do You Use Virtual Body Language in Project Communications? Retrieved Nov 15, 2012, from Bright Hub PM: http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/127106-virtual-body-language-in-project-communications/

Pilley, M. (2011, Aug 4). Brushing Up on Your Email Etiquette Skills. Retrieved Nov 15, 2012, from Bright Hub PM: http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/82453-brushing-up-on-your-email-etiquette-skills/

Stolz, S. (2011, Jan 19). Business Communication – The Benefits of Face to Face Contact. Retrieved Nov 15, 2012, from EzineArticles: http://EzineArticles.com/5756355

Project Post-Mortem

Posted by freedus on November 10, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. 4 Comments

I do not have any projects that I can recall that I would characterize as ‘not successful’. Have projects always gone as planned? Never.  There are always opportunities for improvement with every project. Therefore for this post mortem I am utilizing the most recent project that I completed. In the project my role was as instructional designer to develop classroom curriculum to build on a pre-existing web based training course to implement computerized physician order entry (CPOE) in the emergency department of a network hospital.

I am proud of the deliverables that I developed for the course. The classroom curriculum was scenario based, which was more applicable to busy ER physicians and presented them with real life situations in which they would need to use the EMR and CPOE.  The allotted time for the classroom training was 1 hour as expressed by the PM. Prior to developing the curriculum, we conducted a task analysis survey of previous implementation sites to prioritize the tasks associated with CPOE by urgency, frequency and difficulty.  High ranking tasks then became the basis of our curriculum. The curriculum also focused on teaching the physicians system efficiencies that would make their job easier.

Frustrations occurred due to I.S. SMEs who were involved in the curriculum planning initially and then bowed out when an ED SME was brought in to develop scenarios, suddenly came back into the project and began complaining about the curriculum.  They caused a big stink even though the ED medical director had taken the course and liked it. I.S. went over his head and to the facility medical director because the course was not being taught to their liking.  In the future, I would take better SME meeting minutes and distribute them to individuals involved whether they had bowed out or not.  I ceased communicating with the overall project manager as our departmental project lead had taken over that role. I do not know what she communicated and what she didn’t communicate.  I also did not attend the project conference call as there were many miscommunications over call in (webex) information.

EDUC 6135 Distance Education Reflection

Posted by freedus on October 28, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. 1 Comment

The future for distance education points towards exponential growth, increased acceptance as a viable education and development route but increased challenges due to demand and technological advancement.  According Adkins (2012) growth projections for online learning in North America alone will be a modest 4.4% which translates to a staggering $27.2 billion dollar industry.  There are a multitude of factors and forces at play that driving the distance education market and its acceptance.  George Siemans, in the course resource video program The Future of Distance cites the increases in online communication and experience with new tools, as well as comfort with online discourse and ability to communicate with diverse and global groups (Laureate Education, 2010). In addition there are practical matters such as the current economy that is driving working adults back for new skills.  While I agree with Dr. Simonson’s assessment in the course resource video program Distance Education: Higher Education, K–12, and the Corporate World that distance education will never truly replace traditional classroom training in such places as Higher Education, but as it continues to grow and more individuals have experiences with distance learning it will continue to be an acceptable form of education.

It is important that distance learning courses, especially courses that began in a traditional format and transitioning, are designed with sound instructional design models and developed with the learner in mind.  In addition to the normal analysis, design, etc. tasks that go along with a model that an ID would choose to following for the development of a distance learning course, there are some unique factors that must addressed and defined for a successful course. As Gutierrez (2012) states

What works well in person and in traditional classroom situations does not translate to the eLearning environment. Take the Power Point, for example. In traditional training sessions, instructors can stop and discuss each slide more deeply, answer questions and encourage discussion. In the eLearning environment, the Power Point becomes a boring slide show that employees simply click through as quickly as possible or only refer to when completing the assignment (Para. 4).

In particular, designers must plan and define how instructional content is presented in an online classroom and the paradigms of learner interaction (learner-learner, learner-content and learner-instructor).  I personally think the planning or analysis of a distance education course is by far one of the most important phases of course development next to the evaluation.

Where as in a classroom, instructors can verbally explain confusing instructions to sideline sources of learner confusion and frustration, the nature distance learning environment makes that a bit more difficult. Learners will be accessing content at all times of the day and night and the learner’s ability to clearly identify where content is located within the C.M.S. or L.M.S. and easily understand what is being required of them is critical. This is where designers can benefit from pulling a page from a web designer’s playbook, by creating logical site maps prior to building the online classroom and test the site map with novice and expert distance learners alike to make sure content is in a logical location.  As a distance learner, I find that there are few things that frustrates me more than a navigational maze when it comes to moving through an online classroom.  In addition, the text surrounding class policies, procedures and even assignments must be carefully crafted and reviewed as text is quite literal and should not be open to interpretation. Along with a site map, the course should have a well developed syllabus that serves as the ‘source of truth’ for learners and defines communication methods and etiquette, what is expected of learners, assignments, resources etc. A well craft syllabus saves the learners and instructors time as it is not wasted on answering questions or searching for information.

In any design project, the designer must identify which instruction strategies will best convey the course objectives. Where traditional classroom may be somewhat limited in its possibilities to illustrate key concepts, the online classroom offers a whole host of technological opportunities for Designers and Instructors to achieve objectives, while injecting opportunities for learner interaction at any and all junctures. Simonson et al. (2012) likened a distance education course without interactivity to the ‘kiss of death’.   In terms of learner interaction with the course content, designer can utilize a variety of tools to give learners an interactive and meaningful experience, including interactive 3-D models, e-tutorials, diagrams, graphics, interactive study guides, etc.  Threaded discussions, webinars, chats etc. are all great asynchronous and synchronous methods learners can use to interact with other learners and the course instructors.

Threaded discussions, where learners are presented a question or scenario to which they are to respond, are one of the most popular tools in distance education courses as it offers a variety of benefits. According to Elmendorf & Ottenhoff (2009) discussions foster extended engagement, rich exchanges, reflective understanding, intellectual play and community building. Discussions offer learners an opportunity to further work with the course material and utilize critical thinking skills. Learners are allowed time to research and respond in a thoughtful manner, collectively raising the intellectual quality of the communication.  The discussion also serves as formative evaluation as the instructor can gauge the learners understanding of the content in a more expressive way than any test or quiz could (Bouchat, December 17, 2007). In a threaded discussion, instructors play a unique role as their participation or lack thereof sets the tone for the discussion.  Discussion topics should be structured enough to meet the objectives but flexible enough to allow students room to respond in a personal way.  Ideally, instructors would respond to every 4th or 5th student response with leading questions that further discussion (Simonson et al, 2012).  However, with great opportunities comes a great responsibility.  As with all technology tools, glitches happen, servers fail, websites go down.  Distance learning course designers must address these issues in the analysis phase with a beta testing protocol to identify and address issues before they become a problem and with a contingency plan for unforeseen problems. These plans should be communicated and continuously evaluated.

Overall, the entire distance course should be evaluated continuously utilizing models such AEIOU. According to Simonson et. al (2012) “Distance education programs and even single courses should be accountable to their goals, should be at least as effective as alternative approaches, and should have a positive impact”(Pg. 361). An evaluation of a distance education program should answer the following questions:

[A]ccountability-Did the course planners do what they said they were going to do?

[E]ffectiveness-How well done was the project?

[I]mpact-Did the project, course, or program make a difference?

[O]rganizational Context– What structures, policies, or events in the organization or environment helped or hindered the project in accomplishing its goals?

[U]nanticipated Consequences– What changes or consequences of importance happened as a result of the project that was not expected? (Simonson et. al, 2012).

Designers, instructors, shareholders, etc. should evaluate the program based on this model by reviewing data from a variety of sources, such as design documents, survey responses, assessment scores, interviews, etc. This evaluation process is an excellent opportunity to continuously improve courses driving them with better organization, more interaction and ultimately for learner-centered.

 

 

Resources

Adkins, S. (2012). North American eLearning Market to Reach $27.2 billion by 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from Ambient Institute Research: http://www.ambientinsight.com/News/Ambient-Insight-2011-2016-NorthAmerica-eLearning-Market.aspx

Bouchat, C. (December 17, 2007). Threaded Discussion Tips for Designers. The eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions eMagazine , 1-9.

Elmendorf, H., & Ottenhoff, J. (2009). The Importance of Conversation in Learning and the Value of Web-based Discussion Tools. Retrieved Oct 16, 2012, from Academic Commons: http://academiccommons.org/commons/essay/importance-conversation-learning

Gutierrez, K (2012). Best Practices: Converting from Traditional Training to eLearning. Retrieved Oct 20, 2012, SHIFT’s eLearning Blog http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/222701/Best-Practices-Converting-from-Traditional-Training-to-eLearning

Laureate Education, I. (Director). (2010). The Future of Distance Ed. (Video Program) [Motion Picture].

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

Posted by freedus on October 20, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Scenario: A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

Response:

As the trainer begins the process of developing distance learning format for his training course, there must be a realization that simply transferring the content that is currently used online will not be sufficient. As Gutierrez (2012) states

What works well in person and in traditional classroom situations does not translate to the eLearning environment. Take the Power Point, for example. In traditional training sessions, instructors can stop and discuss each slide more deeply, answer questions and encourage discussion. In the eLearning environment, the Power Point becomes a boring slide show that employees simply click through as quickly as possible or only refer to when completing the assignment (Para. 4).

Developing a distance education course requires an extensive amount of pre-planning. In redesigning the course, the trainer should take this opportunity to evaluate the learning system in its current state and try to pinpoint some possible reasons for why quality communication is lacking. Just as with any instructional project, a systematic approach must utilized that will examine the individual components that make up the learning system and how they interact, including the learners, facilitators, content, instructional strategies/methods and materials. According to Simonson et. al (2012) “Taking the time to learn about the learners in the class yields a more productive learning environment”(Pg. 154). Since the learner’s needs should be at the heart of the course design, it is important to understand the learner’s

  • Ages
  • Cultural backgrounds,
  • Interests
  • Educational Levels
  • Level of familiarity with distance education and the instructional methods being used or considered
  • How knowledge in the course will be applied
  • General cognitive abilities

Once, the course objectives are defined and the essential content identified and how it is divided up, the trainer should examine the many instructional strategies available for use in a distance education environment. During this examination, there should be a focus on activities that encourage and provide opportunities for interactivity and student group work with clearly defined goals. Whereas the traditional course format may be limited in its ability to illustrate course content, in moving the course online, the opportunity should be taken to examine and evaluate multimedia tools that can illustrate key concepts or topics such as 3-D simulations, videos, tables, etc.

As is customary when dealing with any technology, a testing and contingency plan must also be developed to identify potential technical problems and to address unforeseen technical problems that will undoubtedly occur at some point (Simonson et. al, 2012).

The quality of student interactions and communication could potentially be greatly improved by the addition of a threaded discussion to the course. According to Simonson et al. (2012) threaded discussions are “one of the most effective techniques to promote interaction in distance education”(Pg. 156). According to Elmendorf & Ottenhoff (2009) discussions foster extended engagement, rich exchanges, reflective understanding, intellectual play and community building. Threaded discussions are beneficial because students are given ample time to formulate informed responses. The instructor’s involvement is important in these threads and in the course as whole. In the learner-centered distance education course, students are much more responsible for their learning and the instructor is more of a facilitator. For their part in the threaded discussions, the instructor’s responses and their frequency set the tone for the discussion; and the instructor’s leading questions can help learners further understand and encourage further interaction.

Best Practices Guide

  • Utilize established instructional design models to systematically design course
  • Define course objectives and equivalent assessment criteria to measure when objectives have been met
  • Identify and understand the learner characteristics
  • Identify essential course content and how it is divided over the period of the course
  • Develop a syllabus
  • Identify course multimedia and resources to illustrate key concepts
  • Develop formative assessment activities that offer the learner opportunities for interactivity with other learners, the content and the facilitator i.e. chats, blogs, discussions, wikis, group projects etc.
  • Utilize threaded discussions
    • Develop open ended discussion questions and scenarios
    • Divide learners into subgroups
    • Facilitator should respond to every 4-5 learner post with leading questions to promote further discussion
  • Develop a technology testing and contingency plan to identify and handle technical issues
    • Alpha, Beta Testing
    • Backup Plan
  • Evaluate course and constantly revise
    • Surveys
    • Assessment Scores

 

 

References

Elmendorf, H., & Ottenhoff, J. (2009). The Importance of Conversation in Learning and the Value of Web-based Discussion Tools. Retrieved Oct 16, 2012, from Academic Commons: http://academiccommons.org/commons/essay/importance-conversation-learning

Gutierrez, K (2012). Best Practices: Converting from Traditional Training to eLearning. Retrieved Oct 20, 2012, SHIFT’s eLearning Blog http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/222701/Best-Practices-Converting-from-Traditional-Training-to-eLearning

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

The Impact of Open Source

Posted by freedus on October 7, 2012
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Open Courseware (OCW) is an ambitious project taken on by the prestigious university, in conjunction with Harvard University, to make essentially all of its offered courses available online and free of charge. While the courses do not provide any college credit, they make these premiere education resources available to many individuals, who would normally have no feasible access.

For the purpose of this assignment, I reviewed the Introduction to Biology course accessed via http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-012-introduction-to-biology-fall-2004/. While I think the MIT program is excellent, I found it quite difficult to review for the purposes of this assignment. While these are archived course materials, it is unclear whether or not the courses were initially taught as hybrid courses or if these courses were traditional courses that were later put into a distance education format for this OCW project. This makes it difficult to assess this course on the basis of planning. While I understand the intent putting the course in the OCW library, for it to actually be effective, the course would need to be a hybrid course as it relies to a varying degree on face-to-face interactions, i.e. recitations, etc.

Simonson et. al (2012) states “Issues of format or structure are important to help students quickly and easily become involved in learning rather than students trying to puzzle through how the course is delivered” (Pg. 198). The Biology course appears to be delivered via sound web design rather than via the use of CMS or LMS platform and is easily navigated.

In terms of accessibility, the course features language translators and transcripts for media clips such as the lectures. The video clips also feature closed captioning for hearing impaired.

According to Simonson et al (2012) “The syllabus is the single-most important document an instructor can prepare” (Pg. 199). The course syllabus should provide learners with important information such as required and optional resources, course timelines, assignment details and course policies regarding instructor contact, conduct etc. (Worchester Polytechnic Institute Academic Technology Center , 2005). In addition, the course syllabus is an excellent opportunity to present the learner with their specific responsibilities regarding communication, attendance and class participation. The Biology courses features all pertinent information regarding resources, attendance, assignments, exams and grading. The course is linear is presented in a linear structure, where the course components (lecture, assignments, etc) are organized by into concepts blocks that culminate with an exam.

The primary learning strategy in this course appears to be very similar to the strategies implemented in the traditional face-to-face courses, consisting of lectures, recitation and lab. In distance education, as with any education format, instructional strategy select is critical. Simonson et al (2012) states “The instructor needs to focus on selecting instructional strategies that engage all learners in active learning” (Pg. 159). While lecture is a strategy more for the purpose of providing basic knowledge and low level performance, offering students opportunities to discuss and participate in activities helps foster active learning and higher levels of performance (Clark, 2010). The recitations feature problem worksheets and quizzes that the learners are to cover with a teaching assistant. According to the course syllabus, the labs are optional opportunities for students to “hands-on experience with the organisms, equipment, techniques, and thought process used by molecular biologists” (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004).

 

 

In the labs, students are given opportunities to see the concepts discussed in the lecture come to life through experiments. These activities not only allow students to interact with the content but with their fellow students to foster knowledge sharing (Dede, 2005). The course also features interactive 3D models and online study groups for further interaction.

 

Overall, I think the course is very well laid out and great starting point for a distance education Biology course. To further it along and to make it even more successful, I would suggest looking for alternative instructional strategies to lecture or ways to incorporate more multimedia tools into the lecture material. Making the concepts presented in lecture more visual only serves as method to making the instruction more active.

 

Resources

Clark, D. (2010, July 5). Learning Strategies or Instructional Strategies. Retrieved Oct 7, 2012, from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/strategy.html

Dede, C. (2005). Planning for neomillennial learning styles. Educause Quarterly, 28(1) , 7–12 .

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2004). Introduction to Biology Syllabus. Retrieved Oct. 7, 2012, from MITOPENCOURSEWARE: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-012-introduction-to-biology-fall-2004/syllabus/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Worchester Polytechnic Institute Academic Technology Center . (2005, Aug 30). Writing a Syllabus for a Distance Learning Class. Retrieved Oct 3, 2012, from Worchester Polytechnic Institute: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Collaboratory/Teaching/syllabus.html

 

Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

Posted by freedus on September 22, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Scenario:

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

 

Possible Distance Solutions:

Due to time and geographic constraints, the above scenario calls for the development of an educational program that includes asynchronous communication tools and the collaboration and development. I believe a sound instructional development proposal should include a course management system featuring a wiki, containing the collaborative documents developed by staff members, and e-learning modules.

Simonson et al. (2012) describes wikis as “an excellent tool for collaborative online writing assignments and group activities compiling information in a single online resource”(Pg. 129). These collaborative environments are surprisingly effective as a training tool as it can leverage the knowledge of an organization’s workforce, a fact that course management corporation, Blackboard, stumbled onto in their own organization. The company had to quickly expand the internal tool to keep pace with employee demand. Blackboard’s internal wiki is incorporated into new employee education and they are encouraged to add to it (Laff, 2007). Wikis have proved to be quick and efficient ways to get updated information in front of employees. According to Laff “Instead of writing white papers, which must pass through onerous reviews, staff members can simply add content to a number of different channels such as client support. Access to some documents is controlled so some documents are “read-only”. Mistakes can be edited by experts when necessary” (2007, Pg.31).

In educating a vast workforce spread throughout a large geographic and time zone variances, e-learning modules can be very effective and efficient, saving countless hours when compared to instructor led training and retraining. Using authoring programs, such as Adobe Captivate, modules can be developed that cover specific tasks within the automated staff information system combined with system. Following a class tell-show-do-practice model, the e-learning modules could be comprised of actual system screenshots, on screen prompts, and audio narration. This combination allows users to receive instruction and the ability to practice and hone their skills in the application safely. According to Vayuvegula (2012) “Simulated screen capturing software enables users to watch the working of the software with users getting a step by step demo on using the software. Not only that, they can try using the software in a simulated environment, and do tests to reinforce one’s understanding of its functioning. That way, they are better prepared to handle the software on the job”(Para. 3). This method of applications training has been popular in the business world for several years. The computer and software company, IBM, is as famous for its industry-leading efficiency methods and commitment to workforce development as it is for making computers. IBM developed its award winning Basic Blue e-learning program to meet a challenge similar to the one described in this scenario, a need to train a large number of people spread throughout the world in an efficient manner (Ng, 2001, Mar 19).

 

 

References

Laff, M. (2007). The world according to WIKI. T + D, 61(5) , 28-31.

Ng, P. (2001, Mar 19). E-learning as a business strategy: Walking the talk at IBM. Business Times , 12-22.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Vayuvegula, A. (2012, Sept. 10). E-learning Solutions for Software Applications. Retrieved Sept 22, 2012, from CommLab India: http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning/elearning-software-applications

 

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