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Five Tips For Successful Webinars

March 15, 2010 By

Good webinars don’t just happen.  Beyond having a relevant topic and a great presenter, there are a number factors that affect the end result.  Whether you are scheduling and producing webinars, or creating and presenting them, these tips will help you deliver a great webinar experience for everyone.
5tips

  1. Write for the medium: Regardless of the webinar platform you use, tailor the lesson plan to the webinar environment.  Most webinars consist of an audio feed, a chat space, and a space that allows the presenter to share a slideshow, and possibly share their desktop or a whiteboard.  The webinar environment doesn’t allow for the useful visual cues that body language and eye contact provide in a f2f environment, and may not even provide audio feedback for the presenter.  For these reasons, well-designed lessons that work like a charm in a f2f environment might fail to engage the audience and hold their attention in a webinar environment.


    You can mitigate these issues and engage the audience by building in more questions, and taking advantage of whatever interactive features are offered in your platform.  Does your platform offer polling?  Use it!  Shared whiteboard?  Use it!  Hand-raising or yes/no capability for participants?  Use them!!

    MORE INTERACTION
    I like to start webinars by posting a map of the state (or country) and asking participants to use the arrow tool in Wimba to point to where they are on the map.  This communicates to the participants early on that the webinar will not be a passive experience for them–they are going to be involved.  I also work with trainers/presenters to build in slides/questions that can be drawn on (literally) during the webinar, and encourage presenters to include these types of interactive activities throughout the presentation.  At minimum, plan on using more questions, and using them early, to mentally engage participants and create the expectation that they will not be passive observers.

  2. Know your platform:  There are many good webinar platforms out there including Acrobat Connect Pro, iLInc, Elluminate, Wimba, WebEx, DimDim, and GoToWebinar.  Each platform has its own benefits and its own limitations.  You wouldn’t go into a f2f training without knowing the room layout and the availability of training tools such as chartpads, markers, laptop, AV, projectors, screen, etc., so don’t go into your webinar environment without knowing the layout, the tools available, and how to use them.   Most webinar platforms offer some great screen-shot heavy help files and/or recorded screencasts you can use to learn the layout and the tools.  Find them.  Use them.  Once you know your platform…

  3. Test, Test Test: The most common reason a webinar tanks is technology failure.  Wait, let me rephrase that.  The failure is not the technology, but the failure of the webinar producer, presenter, and participants to account for the platform’s limitations, and prepare and test their computers.  Each platform has it’s own requirements regarding browsers, operating systems, necessary bandwidth, and downloads/plugins recommended or required.  Each platform generally offers a simple link that can be clicked to setup/test the user’s computer.  Every person involved in the webinar must click the setup link prior to the webinar and make certain their computer is set up, tested, and ready to go.  Send this information out early and often to the participants. And make sure the presenter has tested/setup the computer they will be presenting from, and make sure it is a wired, not wireless, connection. 
    Let everyone know the preferred method of audio participation.  Nothing beats a good noise-canceling headset. (I love my Logitech Premium Notebook Headset.)  If you’re offering dial-in access, send/post the number/PIN.  If participants are going to use laptop or desktop speakers, make sure they know to mute their microphones!  Nothing ruins a webinar faster than feedback (which is why you also need to know how to mute participants individually or en masse–it’s a lifesaver.)

  4. Practice, Practice, Practice Whether you are the webinar producer, presenter, or both (not recommended), it is imperative that you log some practice time in the webinar environment.   I highly recommend that there is at least one “producer” in the webinar (i.e. someone other than the presenter who knows the webinar platform cold.)  The more experienced the producer, the less time the presenter has to practice–but the presenter ALWAYS has to practice.  At minimum, the presenter should know how to advance slides (if using them), and how to log out and log back in again, in case of a network interruption.  Desktop/application sharing, a vital part of some webinars, adds a higher level of complication, and usually requires the presenter to master the application sharing mechanism–something that is not always simple or intuitive.  The producer needs to know everything else: How to advance slides, how to mute participants, how to expand/limit control of various room features (whiteboards, control of microphone, etc.), how to toggle between various features (polls, whiteboards, slides.)

  5. THE ACTUAL EVENT:  So, the presenter has written a great lesson, you’ve learned your platform inside and out, everything has been setup and tested.  Now there’s just the little matter of actually having the webinar!  Here are a few tips that I’ve found will greatly reduce problems and add to the overall quality on the day of the event:
  • Arrive early: Both the presenter and producer should arrive at least 15 minutes early to get logged in and do a final test to make sure the technology is working, and do one final review of the tools/features to be used.
  • Webinar Environment Review: Before the presenter begins the lesson/presentation, spend five minutes doing a brief review of the webinar environment with participants.  Walk them through playing with the features that they will be using during the webinar (writing tools, pointing tools, etc.)
  • Have a wingman (or woman): In webinar parlance, the wingman is the the producer’s assistant.  The wingman ideally knows the webinar platform inside and out, and is available to help participants with any tech/audio issues, and keep an eye on chat for questions or problems.
  • Recording: Yeah, it’s a newbie mistake, but it happens to everyone.  Don’t forget to hit “record”!  (I put this right into my script in 24 point bold type.  But then again, I need notes to myself to remember to leave the house with my pants on in the morning.  Whatever works for you.)
  • Take notes during the webinar: During the course of the webinar many useful resources and/or URL’s may be mentioned by the presenter or by the participants in chat.  It’s a great value-added service if you can capture these resources and post them with the recording and other handouts (i.e. the presenter’s slideshow, supporting documents) after the webinar.
  • Save the chat: Before logging out, copy and paste everything in the chat into a word document and save that document… Besides being a good backup for the recording, having a text copy of the chat to share with the webinar participants after the webinar can help them quickly  find useful pieces of information that may have been shared in chat.  I treat the chat transcript as semi-confidential and I don’t post it–but depending on the webinar I will send copies directly to those who participated.
  • Extend the Learning. Post the recording, notes, handouts:  Finally, spend some time in post-production (the specifics vary with each webinar platform) and get the recording posted to a website along with related documents and the presenter’s presentation, if available.

I hope you find these five tips useful in creating or presenting your webinars.  Let us know what works for you!

Peter Bromberg

Filed Under: E-Learning, Presentation Tips, Technology Tagged With:

Making Microsoft Office Sing

March 12, 2010 By

Are you one of the lucky ones tasked with training Microsoft Office products?  Does the thought of doing so overwhelm you?  Relax, there are a ton of resources available to help you put together a suite of training that will knock anyone’s socks off!

Knock Socks Off

Original photo from cheezburger.com

First, I know this is a bit late, but at MPOW a few of us are just now moving to Office2007.  We are planning on moving the whole system to Office2010 eventually.  For now, my challenge was helping the few of us moving to 2007 without launching an entire training program since everyone else is still using 2003.  I was so happy to find the Guides to the Ribbon on Microsoft’s site.

The most challenging part of moving from Office2003 to Office2007 is the Ribbon.  I’m still not thrilled with the thing, but I can see that if I were a brand new user who hasn’t been a slave to the Office Suite for more years than I care to count, it is probably a bit easier to learn.  My brain to hand movements for making Office work are automatic after years of using and training on the software.  I love the Interactive Guides that you can run right from the page or, even better, download to have with you at any time.  I have the guides on my computer’s desktop so I can get to them quickly and I also carry them around on my thumb drive to use when helping people on location.

Here is a quick screencast of what the guides look like in action:

Now let’s look at all of the various resources out there that can help you put together that awesome training program for your staff or patrons.

The obvious place to start is Microsoft Office’s site itself.  They have many free, self-paced online training courses.  They’ve just launched an awesome tool called the Enterprise Learning Framework.  This helps you to develop a training and communication plan during deployments of upgrades.  You choose the topics you want people to learn and it will create a customized email with links to all of the online training available.  Very cool!  There are also free training presentations, and the Unlimited Potential Curriculum which is free for non commercial use in nonprofits.  I still have more to explore in Microsoft’s resources.  Check them out and please let us know in comments other tools you may have used from this rich collection.

Next stop is WebJunction’s Technology area.  There are a wealth of resources there.  When focusing on Office, be sure to see the Office Applications area.  Don’t reinvent the wheel, there are many others who have already done this.

I also like the stuff put out by GCF Learn Free a part of the Goodwill Community Foundation, Inc.  They have a YouTube channel that I subscribe to that puts out quick and easy tutorials on a variety of topics including Office.

Don’t forget a Google search on free microsoft office training!

If you’re willing to spend some money, there are many companies that have already done the hard work of creating the curriculums needed for Office training.  Again, a Google search on microsoft office training curriculum will get you started.

Personally, I had to go the route of putting out some cash to save me the hours of time it would take to build my own curriculum.  It would have been more expensive for my system to pay me to do that than it is for me to renew my license with CustomGuide every year.  The price is very minimal for a non profit.  Their courseware is totally customizable and includes online learning as well.  They have pre-assessments and post assessments to help as well.

I hope you have fun building your own Office Training Program.  It’s amazing how you can make someone’s day by showing them an easier and more efficient way to get the job done using Office.

Please let us know what you’ve done and share your links with us!

Stephanie Zimmerman

Stephanie Zimmerman is the Training Coordinator for the Library System of Lancaster County (Pennsylvania), a federated system with 14 member libraries, three branches and a bookmobile, which serves 490,562 residents. She designs and implements technology and development training and consulting to the member libraries. This includes training on Innovative’s Millennium Integrated Library System, Microsoft Office Applications, emerging technologies (i.e. social media) and various other areas. Her goal is to remove the fear of technology and help others to realize the amazing possibilities it provides. Teaching others to do things for themselves and see their excitement when they break through their barriers is her greatest reward. Stephanie has been a software trainer for 15 years. Her past employment involved training on federal and county government applications. She also worked for a private industry marketing company where she traveled across the country showing manufacturers and retailers in the consumer packaged goods industry how to use geodemographic targeting software. Always wanting to help others, Stephanie graduated from Millersville University (in Pennsylvania) cum laude with a BA in Social Work. She was also a student in the Computer Information Systems program at Harrisburg Area Community College. She is a member of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development). She is also a regular contributor to the T is for Training podcast which focuses on training in libraries. She was a trainer for WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach project and has done training for Commonwealth Libraries. She is grateful to have landed in the world of libraries. When she began her current job in January of 2004, there were no other library trainers in her immediate area. She turned to the social web to begin networking with other library trainers across the world and immediately realized her passion for social networking and social media. All of her continuing education has been done through these networks and she can’t help but push others to discover the immense opportunities available through online collaboration. Stephanie lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her family which includes husband, Bill (a self-employed stay-at-home-dad) and two children (ages 2 and 4 months). When she’s not being Mommy, or working, you’ll most likely find her singing. Stephanie can be reached at szimmerman[at]lancasterlibraries.org.

Filed Under: E-Learning, Resources for Trainers, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Transfer of Training in a 2.0 World

March 10, 2010 By

If you follow ALA Learning, you’ve probably realized by now that I’m an e-learning addict. In my last post, Fighting for Attention, I shared some insight into how to add digital pizzazz to your e-learning efforts. Today I want to invite you to come and play inside my digital sandbox, and check out three intriguing tools I’ve been tinkering with to help with transferring knowledge from the classroom back to the work environment.
 

Twitter Gaming
I was a huge fan of Terminator and Terminator II: Judgment Day. Needless to say that was I stoked to learn that Sony would release another Terminator flick after the apocalyptic letdown that was Terminator III. Before the launch of Terminator Salvation, Sony cooked up Resistance 2018, an elaborate game using Twitter, in which members of the human resistance army were using Twitter to decode messages from Skynet. Players earned points by decoding the messages. As players earned points, they rose up the leader boards on the Resistance 2018 website and achieved higher rank in the army.

I’ve been experimenting with the setup of how to make a Terminator-esque Twitter game for my library. A spiel of this sort can be used as a follow up exercise for any class where you need to do a knowledge check. For example, I’ve created a basic reference e-learning module, and the “homework” portion of the class is a massive set of reference questions. While I believe in the value of having folks new to libraries demonstrate an understanding of reference resources, I heard seen in my evaluation surveys that new hires really dislike the chore answering the questions. For my next batch of new hires, I plan to use a Twitter game like Resistance 2018 in which I invite the new hires to use their Twitter accounts to answer reference questions sent by me. As in Resistance 2018, the person who answers a question the quickest with the correct answering (citing their source along the way) will receive the most points. I’ll set up a leader board on a private Sharepoint blog so the newbies can compete for bragging rights.
 

ExitReality
For years companies have valiantly attempted to transform casual web-browsing into an interactive 3D experience. Platforms like GoGoFrog and 3dxplorer can give you an overall feel for the web in three dimensions. Both sites have potential, but by and large, the result is a clunky 3D browser that subtracts – not add – value to your web surfing experience. ExitReality is one of those tools that I find absolutely useless when used as a method for web surfing; however, ExitReality serves as an outstanding three dimensional meeting platform.

ExitReality is a small plugin that, once downloaded onto a computer, turns any webpage into a 3D space based on a theme of your choosing. Turn a webpage into an apartment, dojo, movie theater, etc. The list goes on. Users can select from more than 100 available avatars and then begin chatting immediately – either with text or through VoIP, thanks to the dynamo that is Flash 10. Rooms vary in size, but most are large enough to comfortably handle a small group of 5-7 participants with plenty of space to move around.

Since the plugin automatically renders websites, you will find that pages that have many links on them are somewhat difficult to use in 3D. As a work around, I recommend designing your own simple webpage using Microsoft Word. Include a few links to material that supplement what was taught in class and then publish your site online using a free web hosting site, like X10 Hosting.

Consider using ExitReality as a live, real-time discussion forum for your learners to meet after class and discuss concepts or ask additional questions of instructors. The added layer of interactivity is nice, and the core functionality of multi-user chat with VoIP is well worth this 4.5mb download.

A 3D intro video to one of my e-learning classes shown on the big screen in Exit Reality.

 
Bubblr
Bubblr is an easy to use, web-based program that allows users to create comic strips from Flickr photos. After a strip is published, it can be printed, shared by email, or embedded in a blog. I envision Bubblr as a tool to where you can invite learners to demonstrate comprehension of class concepts by synthesizing their knowledge through a comic strip. For instance, I’ll be conducting an orientation soon to provide new employees with an overview of the library. As a follow up exercise, the new employees will need to create a short comic strip that demonstrates that they understand how our branches are arranged. Here is a quick strip that I put together to showcase this neat tool.

What online tools are you using to maximize training transfer?

Jay Turner

Jay Turner, Training Manager at Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia, is responsible for all aspects of learning and development for a staff of 300+ employees. He considers himself a lifelong student, and delights in sharing his passion for learning with anyone willing to listen (much to their chagrin!) He is a library lifer, who began working in libraries as a teen and has worn almost every conceivable public services hat since. Jay’s diversity of experience helps him develop and deliver solutions that are creative, practical, and effective. He is a self-proclaimed information and tech junkie, who gets his fix by playing in his “digital sandbox” with new tools and neat ideas to make learning more accessible, more flexible, and more fun across any medium. He can be reached at jayturner[at]comcast.net.

Filed Under: Cool Tools, E-Learning, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

Fighting for Attention: Engaging E-Learning Hacks

December 21, 2009 By

Designing e-learning is my creative passion. I get stoked at the prospect of authoring a course that is fun, engaging, and appealing to learners. As an erstwhile student and current professional, I’ve taken scores of self-paced e-learning courses over the years. I’m often astonished by how static and dull most of these presentations are. Granted, there are technical limitations (and in some cases, design standards) that dictate how much multimedia can be used in self-paced course modules. However, smart uses of multimedia in online courses can help capture attention, which is fundamental to facilitating the learning process. Below you’ll find some of my favorite hacks for adding pizzazz to online presentations. Be sure to adhere to the terms of service of each resource listed… and be a good librarian by respecting copyright.

Let’s Get Visual

If you are in need of fun photorealistic visuals, but you are not a Photoshop pro, check out 3dVia’s 3D Collage app. This neat Facebook application allows you to design hybrid 2D/3D images by using a photograph as a backdrop and importing 3D models into the scene. 3D Collage is fast, fun, and free. Simply upload your own 2D image into the program or snag one from Flickr, locate a 3D model from inside the app’s library, and then publish the output to your Facebook profile. Once the picture has been published, simply save a copy of it and paste it into your e-learning course. I’m currently working on a point-and-click adventure about customer experience, and I’ve used 3D Collage to develop all the in-game images.

Hit learners with a quick shot of fun and creativity by using any of these e-learning hacks.

Hit learners with a quick shot of fun and creativity by using any of these e-learning hacks.


Of course there are times when you may need to add video to your e-learning modules. Youtube is an excellent clearinghouse for finding video assets. Depending on your authoring tool, however, streaming videos can present a challenge. If you are using Adobe Captivate 4, there is an excellent Youtube widget that allows for streaming directly to your Captivate presentation. If you do not have Captivate 4, you can likely import the Youtube video as a Flash video file. To save Youtube video as FLV, simply go to KeepVid, enter the URL of the video you want snag, download the file, and then save it as an FLV. Voila! You should now be able to insert the Flash video into your presentation. This tip is useful for authoring tools like Articulate and the free online course builder, Udutu.

Another hack I commonly use is recording screencasts to demonstrate processes. Screencasts are digital recordings of computer screen output. You do not need anything expensive like the commercial version of Camtasia to record one. It’s possible to make a screencast directly from your browser by using Screencast-o-matic.com. Screencast-o-matic integrates with Youtube so that you have a place to host your screencasts for free, provided you have a Youtube account. After recording the screencast, simply upload it to YouTube from the Screencast-o-matic interface. You can link to the screencast, stream it during a course if you are using Captivate’s Youtube widget, or you can rip the FLV file using KeepVid.

It’s Not What You Say, but How You Say It

I prefer self-paced e-learning modules that have audio narration (with the option to mute in the event that the narrator is terrible!) When recording audio, course authors must be mindful of sound quality and audio level. A best practice that I recommend is to record the audio separately, using an editor like the freeware Audacity, and then optimize the audio before importing it into a course. This ensures that all slides have equal sound levels. You can also use Audacity for more creative purposes. Consider applying a voice filter to the narration of an objective slide for a change in pace. If you are using characters or agents in your e-learning, you can also apply filters to their voices for a bit of variety. Here are my three favorite custom filters for Audacity and directions for creating each.

Robot Voice Filter:
1. Record voice
2. Highlight selection
3. Go to Effect, then scroll down to Delay
4. Change the Decay amount 10
5. Change the Delay time to .009
6. Change the Number of Echoes to 30, then click OK
7. Go back to Effect, and repeat Delay four times.
8. Play your edited track

Chipmunk filter:
1. Record voice
2. Highlight selection
3. Go to Effect, then select Change Pitch
4. Modify the Percent Change to 117.50
5. Play your edited track

Walkie-Talkie Filter:
1. Record voice
2. Highlight selection
3. Go to Effect, then FFT Filter
4. Click on purple line and drag it up to the top (12db)
5. Click 10000Hz
6. Click OK
7. Click Effect, then High Pass Filter
8. Change Cutoff Frequency to 2000, then click OK
9. Repeat this process 2 times
10. Play your edited track

Have fun using these hacks, but resist the urge of inserting too many. There is no substitute to sound instructional design.

Jay Turner

Jay Turner, Training Manager at Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia, is responsible for all aspects of learning and development for a staff of 300+ employees. He considers himself a lifelong student, and delights in sharing his passion for learning with anyone willing to listen (much to their chagrin!) He is a library lifer, who began working in libraries as a teen and has worn almost every conceivable public services hat since. Jay’s diversity of experience helps him develop and deliver solutions that are creative, practical, and effective. He is a self-proclaimed information and tech junkie, who gets his fix by playing in his “digital sandbox” with new tools and neat ideas to make learning more accessible, more flexible, and more fun across any medium. He can be reached at jayturner[at]comcast.net.

Filed Under: Asynchronous Learning, Cool Tools, E-Learning, Screencasting Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Library Trainer as Constructivist eLearner

November 27, 2009 By


Instructional Design by Lauren Pressley

Image: Instructional Design by Lauren Pressley


Like many others I’m learning how to do most of my job on the fly. Because the precepts of my own learning  require me to share, I thought I’d air my own personal learning adventures in case there are others in the same situation. Learning Just In Time, I’m grappling Andragogy (Adult Learning theory) and Instructional Design theory so that I can effectively build professional learning plans in a Learning Management System for HMCPL staff.


After my recommendation, we have a brand new installation of Moodle, the leading open source LMS application in the educational community, as the basis for what will be a series of competency-based learning plans for staff. While it’s still in the ITS testing phase, I’m trying to get in the right frame of mind before I begin. Of the three learning theories (Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism) Moodle’s philosophy is guided by a “social constructionist pedagogy” which might be perfectly suited for library staff learning. The concept behind PLCMC’s “23 Things” seems to be an excellent example of Constructivism, in that by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in.


While there are There are Model-Based Usability Heuristics for Constructivist e-Learning, I do plan on submitting a budget request so that I may participate in a Moodle-based class titled “Implementing Online Teaching and Learning: Using Moodle and Other Web 2.0 Features” by Diane K. Kovaks. Until then, I’ve come up with a syllabus of my own: I’m subscribed to eLearning Learning Community’s feed for Instructional Design to keep up with the latest posts on the subject and I’m absorbing well. I’m following Thursday evenings’ #lrnchat on Twitter. Though still at the legitimate peripheral participation (lurking) stage, I spoke up just this week and was rewarded with good conversation about learning. Moodle tutorials (2 Minute Moodles) are to familiarize myself with the Moodle interface, while Martin Ryder of the University of Colorado at Denver School of Education has compiled an exhaustive list of Instructional Design Models and I’m working through those.


Interesting that Catherine Lombardozzi is studying the Constructivist theory within the ADDIE Instructional Design Model to develop a Learning Environment Design model.  A more common, systematic approach to eLearning, the ADDIE model get’s it’s name from the following five components: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. Raleigh Way of Georgia Southern University’s Center for Online Learning says that ADDIE is a “strategic planning of a course. It is a blueprint that you design and follow. It helps us connect all the dots to form a clear picture of teaching and learning events” and has an excellent set of tutorials here.


Thought recently maligned, I appreciate the systemic manner and fluid hierarchy of ADDIE, and the more I study it more I feel this approach can be given to almost any talk, course or series of learning opportunities.

In TechSoup‘s recent webinar Tech Training Made Simple with Online Videos with Lee Lefever (creator of those fabulous CommonCraft videos) I asked Lee if he had any tips for library trainers on teaching technology. His reply was to tell a story with a sympathetic character, then solve that character’s problem. A dominating thread in his videos, we all relate to his characters and scenarios. While there is debate among professional Instructional Designers about the lack of ID theory in CommonCraft videos, there is no doubt as to their effectiveness on the adult learner. I know I’m just at the beginning of my learning journey here and that there are many experts to learn from. but this is the level of ‘explainability’ that I hope to achieve in our staff learning plans.


Do you have recommendations for creating courseware which inspires learning at the CommonCraft level? If so, please share. If it can’t be done, then why?

Marianne Lenox

As the Staff Training & Volunteer Coordinator for the Huntsville - Madison County Public Library in Alabama, Marianne is responsible for planning, directing, maintaining and implementing a comprehensive staff training and volunteer program for her library. She consistently strives to provide learning opportunities, professional information and technical training to ensure both better library service and the professional development of the Library’s staff and volunteers.

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Filed Under: E-Learning Tagged With: ,

Curiosity Rules!

September 17, 2009 By

Phrenology bustI am fascinated by brain science, or I could say my brain is fascinated. There is a heightened and growing knowledge of how that astounding organism really works. As I’m reading John Medina’s Brain Rules (the book, which goes much deeper than the website), I keep thinking of the recent study released by the Department of Education, which compares the effectiveness of face-to-face, online, and blended learning delivery. The meta-analysis of over 1000 studies conducted between 1996 and 2008 seems to provide a solid basis for the conclusion that online instruction is “more effective in improving student achievement than the purely face to face instruction.” I wasn’t all that surprised by the findings, but I wonder if the basic comparison is all that meaningful. Is it the online versus face-to-face dichotomy that is the important distinction? Or is it innovative versus traditional approaches that make a difference in a person’s learning?

Levine neuro-developmental systems.There is often an underlying presumption that the traditional, on-ground classroom offers a quality instructional experience. I can attest that I have had very inferior f2f classes and I’m sure I’m not alone. Even with a good instructor, there are serious limitations to traditional teaching methods. When I returned to graduate school in mid-life, I was dismayed to realize what a struggle it is for my brain to absorb auditory information delivered in a 1-2 hour lecture format. Having read Dr. Mel Levine’s A Mind at a Time just before entering grad school, I grasped that I wasn’t stupid—it’s just that my learning strengths did not mesh with this age-old form of teaching. Levine identifies eight key neuro-developmental systems of the brain, illustrated here. Individual variation in the strength of these systems is huge; a math “genius” may be strong in sequential ordering yet dismal in social thinking; a socially gregarious person may be strong in language but weak in higher thinking. Our traditional educational system emphasizes attention controls and higher thinking and undervalues social thinking and spatial controls. As Medina says, “our schools are designed so that most real learning has to occur at home.” Levine’s work has generated a non-profit organization that seeks to deliver knowledge to All Kinds of Minds.

In the Online Learning Study, the front-runner was actually the blend of face-to-face and online. I would guess that the blended approach provides the greatest variety of learning options, allowing learners to engage their strongest neuro-developmental systems. And perhaps purely online delivery won out over f2f because instructional designers are trying harder to be innovative and deploying more tools to address different learning styles. I’m not comfortable with Secretary of Education Anne Duncan’s summary of the report that we need to “incorporate digital content into everyday classes.” It’s not the digital component alone that provides the learning magic. There are many teachers in on-ground classrooms who are experimenting with new strategies to engage students in-person.

Medina sums up his book with this declaration:

“The greatest Brain Rule of all is something I cannot prove or characterize, but I believe in it with all my heart ….it is the importance of curiosity.”

We need to be designing learning to stimulate and satisfy curiosity. Whether that is accomplished online or in-person is secondary to the essential Brain Rule.

Betha Gutsche

Betha Gutsche has been a virtual librarian ever since receiving her MLIS from the University of Washington Information School. Immersed in the online community of WebJunction, she has cultivated community connections through forums, live online events, and writing stories about the library community. She has delved into e-learning design, curriculum development, needs assessment, and all things connected to social learning in the online world. Betha is the editor-in-chief of the Competency Index for the Library Field. She is now the manager of Project Compass, a program working with public libraries to augment their service to communities impacted by tough times. Underneath it all, Betha is an artist and loves to raise awareness of visual literacy and introduce people to the power of image.

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Filed Under: E-Learning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

E-Learning Preparedness

May 14, 2009 By

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to participate in an online chat about e-learning best practices with our own Paul Signorelli.  As I answered questions for Paul, I had the opportunity to reflect on my experiences in introducing blended learning at Gwinnett County Public Library, an organization, that until a couple years ago, relied almost solely on classroom-based ILT for training.  In my ferver to get e-learning off the ground, I took a few lumps along way that could have been avoided had I taken more care to address early on a few fundamental questions in implementation regarding physical assets, supervisory needs, and administrative concerns.  I volunteered to Paul that I would be happy to compile and share a general e-learning preparation checklist for libraries considering e-learning, or for those that are relatively new to it.  Here goes (or visit the Google group T is for Training for a printer-friendly version):

E-Learning Preparedness Checklist

Physical

  • Does each work unit have an adequate number of PCs to be used primarily for e-learning?
  • Are the PCs in an area away from potential distractions?
  • Does each training PC have the necessary equipment and configuration for e-learning?
    • Consider equipment such as:
    • Headset microphones for webinars
    • Webcam for video conferencing
    • Browsers correctly configured (i.e., Java, Flash Player, Active X controls, popup blockers, software applets, etc)
  • Is there a Help Desk/Tech Support system in place?
  • Are there bandwidth bottlenecks during peak times of PC use in the branches?

Supervisory

  • Do employees have scheduled off-desk time to participate in e-learning?
  • Is training viewed as an essential job function and supported as such?
  • Are policies/guidelines in place to restrict hourly employees from accessing e-learning off the clock?
  • Will concepts taught in e-learning be modeled and reinforced in the workplace?

Training Administrator

  • Will e-learning offerings conflict with branch/department scheduling?
  • How will new e-learning opportunities be advertised?
  • Which, if any, e-learning classes count toward CEUs for your professional staff?
  • Have you communicated your vision for e-learning so that staff know what to expect?
  • Do you have the buy-in of key stakeholders, such as the Director, the IT department, line managers, etc?
  • What evaluative criteria will be used to determine the success of e-learning initiatives?

Jay Turner

Jay Turner, Training Manager at Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia, is responsible for all aspects of learning and development for a staff of 300+ employees. He considers himself a lifelong student, and delights in sharing his passion for learning with anyone willing to listen (much to their chagrin!) He is a library lifer, who began working in libraries as a teen and has worn almost every conceivable public services hat since. Jay’s diversity of experience helps him develop and deliver solutions that are creative, practical, and effective. He is a self-proclaimed information and tech junkie, who gets his fix by playing in his “digital sandbox” with new tools and neat ideas to make learning more accessible, more flexible, and more fun across any medium. He can be reached at jayturner[at]comcast.net.

Filed Under: E-Learning Tagged With: , ,

Is 3D Training the Way of the Future?

April 13, 2009 By

For several years now – at least since the advent of Second Life – learning professionals have been intrigued by the prospects of constructing immersive 3d worlds (metaverses) for training. It’s easy to understand why: one of the first things I learned in communication theory in undergrad is that aesthetics are powerful. Even the most astute and discerning among us form initial impressions from outer appearances. Ooh! Shiny, shiny! Let’s go buy the new tech-toy

I’ll hand it to those wily coyotes at Linden Lab – even this roadrunner was attempting to fast track a Second Life implementation at my library. Instead of diving off the cliff with nary a look, I decided to hold a magnifying glass up to the app first. Well, the bloom fell off that rose pretty damn quickly. I won’t air a laundary list of complaints here, although Wapedia does a decent job summing them up for me.

I’m not here to skewer Second Life, or any of the myriad pretenders to the throne, such as There, IMVU, or Kaneva. I firmly believe that immersive 3d worlds are a viable learning medium, especially when good rhetorical practices are utilized. For example, I love the art gallery critique that Michael Connors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison set up a couple years ago. Beyond teaching in a traditional sense, 3d environments add more interactivity to e-learning experiences, and we know that fully engaged students walk away better equipped to do their jobs.

If 3d training is indeed the way of the future, as experts have been extolling for the past few years, why aren’t more organizations taking the leap? In my opinion, there are two fundamental flaws to most 3d metaverses: the clients needed to run the applications and the metaverse structure itself. A typical metaverse requires that a client be downloaded and installed on the user’s computer. For instance, Second Life requires a 21MB client download and then a PC that is decently equipped for gaming And let’s not forget that these 3d spaces are bandwidth hogs. As students of Web 2.0, we have come to expect instant access, simplicity, and portability with online content – things that are conspicuously missing from online 3d worlds.

Aside from the technical issues associated with fat clients, the sprawling, unregulated structure of a metaverse is not congruent with fostering an environment for learning. I acknowledge that you can restrict access to your piece of a metaverse, but the idiocy of a virtual world gone mad is still out there. Seriously, who wants their 3d library orientation on ABC Island interrupted by some perv bunny rabbit avatar wanting to cyber??? In my estimation, the ideal 3d training environment needs to be self-enclosed and completely removed from a larger world.

There are flickers of hope piercing the matrix. Big brother Google made strides in tackling the fat client/wide-open world conundrum a little less than a year ago with its ephemeral Lively experiment. Lively operated as a thin-client, strictly through a web browser. There was no software to download to participate in this 3d world. Simply sign in, customize an avatar, and hop into a room if you weren’t inclined to spend five minutes making your own. If you constructed your own room, you could close it off and make it available by invitation only. Finally, you also had the option of embedding your room into your webpage. While Lively is offline (and sorely missed!), Vivaty is a thin service that allows users to create 3d chat rooms that can be embedded in other webpages. Finally, VastPark has an open source toolset that empowers moderately savvy users to author self-contained 3d environments that can be accessed exclusively through a web browser.The products that have come from Google, Vivaty, VastPark, and their ilk demonstrate that significant changes have occurred since Second Life launched six years ago. Maybe in another three, 3d learning environments will be reality in many organizations.

Jay Turner

Jay Turner, Training Manager at Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia, is responsible for all aspects of learning and development for a staff of 300+ employees. He considers himself a lifelong student, and delights in sharing his passion for learning with anyone willing to listen (much to their chagrin!) He is a library lifer, who began working in libraries as a teen and has worn almost every conceivable public services hat since. Jay’s diversity of experience helps him develop and deliver solutions that are creative, practical, and effective. He is a self-proclaimed information and tech junkie, who gets his fix by playing in his “digital sandbox” with new tools and neat ideas to make learning more accessible, more flexible, and more fun across any medium. He can be reached at jayturner[at]comcast.net.

Filed Under: E-Learning Tagged With: , , , ,

Taking the temperature of training

March 31, 2009 By

Elliott Masie has just released his Learning Resources Barometer, the results of a survey to determine how learning budgets and resources are enduring the tough economic times.

The survey measures the increase or decrease in:

  • learning budgets
  • learning departments
  • volume of elearning modules
  • volume of f2f classes
  • amount of employee travel for learning
  • use of social learning
  • and more…

Check it out to see if there are any surprises. While you’re there, take a look at the Social Learning survey results. Where do you think your staff training sits on the scale of things?

Betha Gutsche

Betha Gutsche has been a virtual librarian ever since receiving her MLIS from the University of Washington Information School. Immersed in the online community of WebJunction, she has cultivated community connections through forums, live online events, and writing stories about the library community. She has delved into e-learning design, curriculum development, needs assessment, and all things connected to social learning in the online world. Betha is the editor-in-chief of the Competency Index for the Library Field. She is now the manager of Project Compass, a program working with public libraries to augment their service to communities impacted by tough times. Underneath it all, Betha is an artist and loves to raise awareness of visual literacy and introduce people to the power of image.

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Filed Under: E-Learning Tagged With:

An elearning adventure

March 5, 2009 By

We’re conducting an experiment over at WebJunction. And you can help us discover the answers. It’s called the Learn Together Project.

The challenge: can we take a self-paced, online, non-library-specific course and give it meaningful, social engagement with library context?

The course: The Customer’s Voice, a course in improving our anticipation and satisfaction of customers’ (patrons’) expectations

The setup:

  • We (WJ) create a group as a virtual classroom.
  • We invite people in the library world to join the group and sign up for the same course at the same time. (This is where you come in.)
  • We have a live-online kickoff meeting to get the learning juices flowing.
  • We proceed independently through the course.
  • We share our insights and comments in the discussions, and share library-relevant resources with the group.
  • We feel increased motivation and energy to learn and to apply our new knowledge to improve customer service on the job.
  • We learn together.

If you want to participate in our social learning experiment, join the group, enroll in the course, and we’ll see you at the kick-off meeting.

Betha Gutsche

Betha Gutsche has been a virtual librarian ever since receiving her MLIS from the University of Washington Information School. Immersed in the online community of WebJunction, she has cultivated community connections through forums, live online events, and writing stories about the library community. She has delved into e-learning design, curriculum development, needs assessment, and all things connected to social learning in the online world. Betha is the editor-in-chief of the Competency Index for the Library Field. She is now the manager of Project Compass, a program working with public libraries to augment their service to communities impacted by tough times. Underneath it all, Betha is an artist and loves to raise awareness of visual literacy and introduce people to the power of image.

Website - Twitter - More Posts

Filed Under: Asynchronous Learning, E-Learning Tagged With: , ,
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