This post is in response to some conversations I had during the last ASTD conference in Washington, DC.  There were some people who suggested that rapid elearning was only good for basic linear courses and they lamented that they couldn’t build interactive scenarios.

I’ve built hundreds of rapid elearning courses and I can tell you that building branched scenarios with your rapid elearning tools is not only possible, but it’s actually pretty easy to do.

In today’s post, I’ll start by showing you the three-step model I use to build the scenario infrastructure.  Once you know how to do this, you can pre-build all sorts of scenario wire-frames with placeholder content.  Then when you want to use one in your course, it’s just a matter of inserting the pre-built scenario, setting your links, and adding your content.

The Three C’s of Scenario-Building

I like to keep things simple.  So I use what I call, the “3C Model.”  Each scenario consists of a challenge, some choices, and then consequences of those choices.  That’s basically it.

When I build out my scenarios, sometimes I’ll use one branch to let the learners test their understanding.  I don’t score it or anything like that.  I just want to give the learner a way to test what they know.  Other times, I’ll use the branch to sort the learner.  If they get it, they move on.  If not, I can send them down a path to get additional info.  With interactive branching you can also convert a linear elearning course into more of a story-like course that both engages the learner and lets them interact with the content.

I start by creating a generic 3C model where I provide a challenge, choices, and consequences.  Then when I want a scenario, I drop in a 3C.  If I want to continue the scenario, I drop in another 3C.  So I can make my branch as simple or complex as I want it to be.  Once I have the infrastructure built, I swap out the placeholder content with my real course content and I’m done.

The image below represents the structure for a generic three-choice branch.  This is what I pre-build.  I also pre-build two-choice and four-choice branches.  Then when I need them, all I have to do is insert them into the course.

So in the example above, you’re presenting a challenge to the learner.  The learner makes a decision and then selects the appropriate choice.  The choice made produces consequences.  At this point you can provide feedback and have the learner continue through the course.  Or you can add another 3C structure at the end of the consequence.  So you’d end up with something that could look like the image below.

There are a few ways to structure this ongoing branch.  In the first 3C section, the learner gets to the consequence.  At that point, you could provide feedback.  Then move on and present another challenge.

Or you could do what I did in the second section.  Instead of providing feedback, I just jumped right into another challenge.  Thus, the consequence of the choice the learner makes creates another challenge.

To make my scenario-building easier, I have some pre-built scenarios that I can quickly drop into my course.  They represent the generic scenario structure and they’re built with placeholder content which I can easily swap out with the content from my course.

The 3C model is a very simple model to use.  Whenever you want to create a decision-making scenario, just drop in a 3C template.  If you want to continue the scenario, then add another 3C template.  You can add as many as you like and make your scenario as simple or complex as you want.

Just keep in mind that if you want to make a complex scenario (which could provide a very rich learning environment) you really need to understand the subject matter and create something of value.  Don’t just create branched scenarios to be “interactive.”  Make sure that they’re relevant and meaningful.  There’s nothing worse than forcing your learners to click through a meaningless scenario that is both obvious and a waste of their time.

If you can tell the person in one sentence what they’d learn through a ten-click scenario, odds are that you’re better off sticking with the one sentence.  Personally, I’m from the Archie Bunker School of Scenario-building.  I don’t have the patience to click through a bunch of pointless choices.  And my guess is that your learners feel the same way.

One last point, spend some time pre-building all sorts of scenario looks.  Then duplicate them and create versions with different choice options.  For example, each scenario look should have a two-choice, three-choice, and four choice option.  You could add more, but typically, it’s hard to come up with more than four viable choices.  And if you continue the branching, you could end up with a real confusing mess since the options would grow exponentially.

The image below shows three different scenario looks.  There’s the placeholder look that you’d create, and an example of how it might look with real content.

As you can see, building a scenario using the 3C model is pretty easy to do.  It always starts with challenging the learner’s understanding or assumptions.  Then you present choices for the learner to make decisions.  Each decision produces a consequence where you can provide feedback or move the learner to a new challenge for more decisions.

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All courses begin with an overarching goal.  Assuming that the goal is clear, you build learning objectives to meet the goal.  In today’s post we’ll explore a simple way to create objectives for your course.

Learning Objectives Start with Clear Goals

Make sure that when you work with your clients you have very clear goals.  What do they hope the course will accomplish?  From that conversation, you’ll be able to discern what the learning needs are.  This helps you build your objectives.

The main area of focus is to understand where you currently are and where you need to be.  Then map out the activities and learning experience to get from one point to the next.

What is the Core Learning Objective?

Start by creating your main objective and then use that to drill down to the additional content you need to meet it.  Basically, your objectives are built on three critical questions.

• What needs to be learned?
• Who needs to learn it?
• What do they need to know before they can start?

What needs to be learned?  What you teach should be linked to real performance.  Essentially it’s all about what the learner is going to be able to DO with what they learn from the course.  Avoid using words like “understand.”  That’s not clear.  Find the basis for understanding and then build your objective around that.

Here’s a common type of objective: Understand how to edit time cards. 

This is vague because it is not aligned to a real measure.  What does “understand” mean?  A better objective is to state what the learner will be able to DO with the new information.  If they understand something, how would you know it?  Build a measurement around that.

Who needs to learn it?    Who are your learners?  Who is going to take the course?  By including this in your objective you are able to qualify potential learners and tell your client who is being taught.  Are they new employees?  Managers?  At this point you don’t need to do a full analysis of the learner.  You only want to identify the audience for the course and what they’ll be able to do after completing it.

What do they need to know before they can start to learn?  All elearning courses require some prerequisite understanding or experience. By identifying what that is, you avoid some assumptions about the learner. You can either require it prior to starting the course or you need to create the additional content to get the learner to the prerequisite level.

Think of it this way.  I give you a map and tell you to go to Seattle.  First you locate Seattle (your goal) and then you figure out where you’re at (prerequisite) so that you can chart your course.  You can’t reach your goal, if you don’t know the starting point. In the same sense, it’s difficult to teach your learners without knowing where they’re at.

Once you have your main objective, you can start to drill down.  What assumptions does your objective require you to make?  Those assumptions become the foundation for your sub-objectives.  Let’s look at the example below.

You know who is going to learn (front line managers), what they’ll learn (edit time cards), and what they need to know to learn it (ACME payroll system).

Editing time cards assumes that the learner knows how to use the ACME payroll system. Thus, if you want your learners to be successful at editing time cards, they need to know how to use the payroll system.  So you can create another objective that includes learning to use the ACME payroll system.  From there, the prerequisite might be that the person knows how to collect the time card data.  Or perhaps they need to understand the company’s time card policies.

The key is to continue to drill down and ask what the learner needs to know prior to learning this new information.  At that point, you determine if you make it a requirement to take the course or if you’ll teach the additional content in your course.  Once you have your objectives, you can begin to collect and sort your content to meet them.

You have a lot of latitude in how you write your objectives.  You’re not stuck in any particular model.  What’s critical is that the objective is performance-based and that who the learner is and what she needs to know prior to starting is clear.

By following the approach above, you’ll align your course objectives with the overarching goals.  You’ll also communicate to your client what the course accomplishes.  And your learners understand what’s in it for them.  Once you have your learning objectives, you can begin to build the course.

When you build you courses, what do you do to determine your learning objectives?

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“Help! My client just dumped a 200-slide PowerPoint file on my desk and wants me to turn it into an elearning course.  What do I do?”

Do you feel his pain?  If you’ve been building elearning courses for any length of time, then you know exactly what he’s going through.  In fact, this is one of the questions I’m asked the most.  Everyone wants to know how to weed through all of the text and data that the client wants to throw into the course and still make it a good course.

In this post, I’ll go through a few considerations when you’re reviewing the course content and give you some ideas on how to weed out the unnecessary data.

Define the Objectives

Your client wants an elearning course for a reason and your job is to figure out what that is.  I put courses in one of two buckets.  The course objective is to change behaviors for performance improvement or the objective is to share information.

Performance-based courses have some sort of measurable goal that lets you know if behaviors have changed and what impact it had on performance.  Information-based courses are a little trickier.  Typically, the objective is to share the information without explicit behavioral change and the measure of success is a report of completion.  This is typical of compulsory training.

By identifying the objectives of the course, you’re able to figure out what content you need to meet them.

If It Doesn’t Help Meet the Objective, Take it Out of the Course

Your subject matter experts will always give you more information than you need.  But, you don’t need every piece of information they have to share.  As an instructional designer, your job is to determine what to keep and what to leave out?  These three questions help you make that determination.

1. What’s the learner supposed to do?

Design the course from the learners’ perspective.  What are they supposed to do at the end of the course?  Typically the learners are expected to accomplish a specific task or be able to solve certain problems.

Training focused on just sharing information gets tricky because the focus is less on doing so the measurable expectations are not as evident.  In those cases you need to ask how the learner is expected to use the information in the course.  This helps you shift the compliance content out of the information bucket and into the performance bucket to make it relevant to the learner’s performance expectations.

2. What course content will help the learner meet the course objectives? 

Once you understand the objectives and performance expectations, sort the the course content and identify what information the learner needs to meet the course goals?

For example, I once did an elearning project for a financial institution where the learners were trained on completing a financial form.  However the training not only covered the process of completing the form, it also covered the whole history of the financial industry through a series of Congressional reforms and various regulations.

While the background information was important, it wasn’t critical when it came to the performance expectations of completing the form accurately.  And that’s the key point.  You’re trying to find the content that is critical to meeting the objectives.  The rest of it is just extra information.  There’s a place for it, just not as the essential course content.

3. How will the learner use this in the real world?

Effective elearning connects the course’s information to the learner’s world.  Knowing what that connection is will help you build the right course and sort through the pages of subject matter information.

Why does the learner need to know this information?  Which situations does the learner experience in the real world that requires knowing the course content?  How will the learner use the information?

Going back to the lending course, unless Alex Trebek shows up to get a loan, most likely the learner only needs to know how to collect the right information from the borrowers to accurately complete the form.  And, that’s what the course content should focus on.  All of the contextual information about the industry and the various regulations can be added as resource data to augment the course, but it’s not critical to completing the form.  So in that case, you’d build an elearning course that mirrors the lending process so that the learner understands why the course is relevant to meeting performance expectations.

Put the Course Content into the Learner’s World

As you sort the content, you’ll end up with two piles.  One pile has “need to know” information and the other pile has “nice to know.”  The “need to know” is used to build learning activities to help change the learner’s behaviors.  The “nice to know” is resource data to provide additional information if the learner wants or needs it.

Have the learner use the “need to know” information in a real world context.  Instead of doing an information dump with multiple slides of bullet points and text, create a situation where the learner needs to use the new information.  Generally, you’d do something like this to share the information with the learners:

• Set up the real-world scenario and then provide critical background information.
• The learner will go through a decision-making process.  At that point you can provide additional information.
• After the learner makes a decision, you can provide even more information as feedback.

As you can see, this simple approach gives you three ways to pump information into the course that you might have previously just put on a few screens with bullet points.

Use the “nice to know” information as a way to augment the course content.  Some learners like to know more before they make decisions.  They’ll want some of the information you pulled out of the course.

There are a number of ways you can provide access to the additional content without dragging down the course or interfering with the learning process.  Here are a few ideas.

• Link to a help line.  This could be a link to an intranet site or if you want to get creative you can create a virtual helper like an HR assistant who can provide more information.  It could be as simple as a clip art image of “Sally the HR Manager” that links to a screen with additional information.
• Compress the data into resource tabs.  For example, using an Engage interaction you can build FAQs or a Glossary that can easily hold all of the contextual information that you weeded out of the main course content.  They sit on the top of the player as drop down tabs and whenever you need more information, you can click on them without losing your place in the course.
• Create additional documentation that the user can access.  You can put it online as a simple web page or publish a PDF that the learner can download a
  nd use as a resource later.

You’re always going to have more information than you need for the course.  Clear learning objectives (tied to performance expectations) provide a framework for filtering out the critical information from all of the extra information.  Keep focused on how the learners use the course content and build activities that let them get the information in a way that’s real to their world.  In this way, you’ll streamline your course content and build courses that have a positive impact on your organization.

I look forward to your thoughts and feedback.  Feel free to add them by clicking on the comments link.

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There’s a good chance that if you neglect the information in this post you’ll lose your job.  Want to know why?

You can present a lot of good information in your e-learning courses, but you can’t really control whether a person learns from them.  The learners own what they learn and much of it is determined by their level of motivation.

The good news is that while you can’t make a person learn, you can create an environment that is more conducive to learning.  You do this by tapping into the learner’s motivation.  Your job is to figure out what will motivate your learners and then use that angle to lure them into the course.

Typically, people are motivated when their learning has meaning.  For example, if I know that passing a course will equate to an increase in my income, I am motivated to pass the course.  The same can be said for being motivated by personal safety.

When I was in basic training at the beginning of my military service, I was given one opportunity to throw a live grenade.  I was in Finance and normally they didn’t trust us with much more than a pencil.  Before I got to throw the live grenade, I had to go through a series of practice sessions and safety procedures.  Considering the implications of making a mistake while throwing the grenade, you can be sure that I paid real close attention to what I was being taught.

The odds are that most of your e-learning content doesn’t have life or death implications, so you must be a little more creative at tapping into what will motivate those who take your e-learning courses.

5 Ways to Motivate Your Learners

Reward Your Learners.  People are motivated by rewards.  Figure out what type of reward you can give the learners and then build that into the course.  Sometimes the rewards can be timed challenges or reaching a certain level of achievement.  Other rewards could be actual merchandise, like winning an iPod.  It all depends on the course.

Rewards don’t have to be tangible items.  They can be simple things like affirmation and encouragement.  The main point is to connect with the learners and find a way to have them feel good about some sort of achievement in your course.  The reward is something as simple as being able to test out of the course.

Make Sure Your Course Has Real Value.  Before your learners click on that first button, they want to know if the course has any value or benefit.  The truth is that most people who take e-learning courses don’t see the real benefit and because of that they either aren’t engaged with the course, or they don’t complete it.  If it happens to be a mandatory course, then they’re just trying to figure out how to click through it as fast as possible.  That doesn’t have to be the case.

I used to work at an organization where any time we met with a certain executive, he’d ask about our company’s performance metrics or last quarter’s earnings report.  He wanted to make sure we knew why we were working for him.  Because he had this knack for putting you on the spot, you were more motivated to pay attention to the organization’s goals and performance.

In that case, each e-learning course had meaning and implications to my job.  This also had an additional benefit.  Not only did I have a heighten sense of awareness to previously “boring” information, but I also always felt good (see the first point) when he called me out and I knew the answer.

Help Your Learners Perform Better.  This ties into the previous point.  Your course needs to have value and it needs to be relevant to what your learners do.  People will be motivated to take your course and pay attention as they know it will help them perform better.

Your job is to connect the learner to the course content.  If I’m taking a site safety course, I’m less motivated by clicking a button on a simple assessment than if I’m thrown into a real-life scenario where I am challenged to work through some issues like what I’ll face at work.  This type of approach connects me to the content, more so than screen after screen of bullet point information.

Set Clear Expectations for the Course.  I’m amazed to see my children just click around on the computer screen to get what they want.  On the other hand, I’ve watched adults fearful of clicking a next arrow not sure what will happen.

People tend to be leery of things they don’t understand, or if they’re not sure where they’re going.  However, once they get a sense of what’s going on, they’re more apt to be responsive to the course.

If you want your learners motivated, then an effective way to get them there is to let them know what to expect from the course that you want them to take. This all ties into the points above.  You’re asking the learners to spend some of their valuable time going through your course.  They expect clarity on what they’ll do, why, and what type of outcome to expect.

Along with clear expectations is to make sure that the learner knows how to navigate your course.  I’m not saying that you must create an addendum course on how to click the “next” button.  Instead, what I’m saying is that you don’t want to create a frustrating learning experience because the learner doesn’t know what to do with the course or how to get through it.  One of the best ways to de-motivate your learners is to make your course navigation so confusing that they just leave and never come back.

Tell Them They’re Wrong.  Controversy gets our attention and is a good way to motivate.  Challenge what a person believes, or even tell him he’s wrong, and you’ll see a person motivated to prove you wrong.  Of course, this approach needs to be tempered with common sense.

However, there is a lot of value in challenging people and what they know.  It’s just a matter of knowing how to do it in a manner that is appropriate.  When a person is challenged it puts them at risk and they tend to pay more attention.

Create an environment where they can safely fail or make mistakes and you’ll challenge them and keep them engaged.

These are some basic tips and things to consider when building your courses.  What you can do in your e-learning courses to motivate your learners is dependent on the course and your resources.  However, the main point is that you find the angle that works for your learners and the course you build, and then use it to engage your learner’s motivation.  A motivated learner will learn.

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We all know that doing a needs analysis is a good idea.  The problem is that we can become so focused on the analysis that we never get anything done.

I’ve worked on projects where I spent more time analyzing and filling out project forms than I did on actually creating courses.  On the other hand, I’ve also worked on projects where we did no analysis at all.  You can waste time and money using either approach.  So, where’s the balance?

Keep this goal in mind: create courses where the content is real to the learners.  That is the essence of all of the analysis.

If you have the resources, I’m sure that you can go through a very structured process to collect data and then put together some nice charts to show your client a bunch of bell curves and talk about statistical standard deviations.

What about those who don’t have time or money to do an exhaustive analysis?  Today, I’m going to give you some quick tips on how to collect the information you need to create relevant elearning courses.

Leave your cubicle.

I’m sure you work a lot of hours and you’re under pressure to get your work done.  Because of this, you get stuck at your desk and lose sight of the world around you.  This is especially true if you design elearning away from the world of your learners.

You have a computer at your desk, but your learners might share a computer in a lab.  Or, some of them don’t have sound cards or fast network connections.  You use a computer every day, but some of your learners don’t even know how to use a mouse, let alone click a “next” button.

Schedule some time to investigate the physical environment of those who’ll take your elearning course.  It’ll help put the course in the proper context.

Meet your learners.

In the same way you want to know the learner’s world, you also want to know the learner.  Who are the people that are taking your course?  Why do they need that information?  How will they use it?

Sit with your learners and get a feel for the work they do and how they’d apply the course content to their work.  The better you know your learners, the more relevant you can make the course.  If you’re pressed for time, only meet with two people.  Sometimes, just spending a couple of hours watching them work can be enough.

Assemble a pilot team.

If you don’t have the luxury of scheduling time to meet learners or visiting their work locations, a good alternative is to assemble a pilot team of people who represent your learners.  In fact, I’d assemble a pilot team either way.

These are people who can help you navigate the content and give you insight into how to make it relevant.  While you want experience and expertise on the team, make sure you don’t get stuck with the “know-it-all” expert.  Some of your best insight will come from recent learners.

Rapid prototype your courses.

I’ve worked on projects where we followed formal ADDIE steps and it would take months to roll out the courses.  Not anymore.  Why wait for it to be “perfect” if it means a delay in getting critical content to the right people?  With today’s tools, you can quickly build a course, test it out, get feedback, and then make adjustments.

While the tools let you build the course structure rapidly, a nice way to get the right context for the course is to get your users or pilot group to brainstorm scenarios where’d they use the content.  You get the benefit of learning more about their jobs and you get to rapidly prototype scenarios for use in your courses.

Create a survey.

So you work at one location and you don’t have access to your learners.  You won’t get to meet them.  In that case, create a survey.  It’s not as dynamic as spending real time with people, but you can still collect good information.  In addition, you can probably touch more people with a survey than you can with face-to-face contact.

There are a lot of good survey tools.  If you’re an Articulate user, you can leverage the surveys in Quizmaker.  If not, try one of the services like Zoomerang or Survey Monkey.  The trick with the survey is to collect the right information and to avoid collecting so much that you can’t process it.

Don’t bother doing an analysis.

Sometimes you don’t need an analysis.  There’s a good chance that your customer can give you what you need or you’re resourceful enough to trust your intuition.

I know I’ll get some flack for this advice, but from my experience that’s what’s happening anyway.  The last three organizations that I’ve worked for have been multibillion dollar companies with tens of thousands of employees.  At one, we actually were named the #1 training company.  I can tell you now, that doing any sort of analysis was in the minority.  And it wasn’t just at those companies.  It’s been that way everywhere I’ve worked.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t do an analysis.  There are just some projects that don’t require a lot.  Collect the information you need and do what you think is best.  Worst case, you learn what projects to spend time analyzing.

The goal in all of this isn’t to avoid doing a proper analysis of your course and determining how to best meet your objectives.  Instead, it’s to find the right balance between collecting the relevant information and getting your courses delivered in a timely manner.

I know that the blog readers come from diverse industries and what’s true from a corporate perspective might not be for those who design curriculum for the academic world or K12.  I’m interested in hearing your thoughts and tips on quickly doing a needs analysis. Feel free to share them with us in the comments section.

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Last week we looked at some of the issues with compliance-based elearning and how taking a different approach to its design can save your organization time and money.  And of course an additional benefit is that it makes your employees happier.  There are a number of good comments to the post and some ideas that you can explore.

Many times, how we approach building our compliance training is based on hearsay or regulatory urban legends.  So we end up with bloated and time consuming courses that only serve the purposes of sleep-deprived insomniacs.

One of the key points of last week’s post was to contact your legal department and find out what are the real requirements for your organization.  Then build your training around them rather than what you think the regulations say.

The ideal is to meet your compliance needs and at the same time identify legitimate gaps in understanding.  This allows you to address those gaps and provide the type of intervention that gets people up to the desired skill and performance level.

While there are many ways to design your elearning courses, today’s post features three simple strategies that will help you meet your certification needs and get your people back to work.

1. Create a Pre-Assessment

Put the certification test at the beginning of your course.  Make it a very comprehensive assessment so that you can truly identify their knowledge and skill level.  If the user passes the test, he jumps to the end and is certified.  If the user doesn’t pass, then you direct him to the course where he can get remedial training and additional assistance.

Keep in mind that even though it’s an assessment doesn’t mean it has to be a standard multiple choice or true/false quiz.  You can do an assessment as a series of case studies or scenarios, as well as a traditional quiz.

How you design the assessment and course is up to you.  You can use a simple linear approach, or create a dynamic scenario-based process.  It really doesn’t matter.  The point is that even if you use a simple structure like this, you can make the assessment more than a click-and-read process and, instead, make it as engaging as you want.

2. Empower the User

The first idea is to create the assessment up front and then direct the user based on the assessment result.  While it is a simple approach and easy to design, this can be intimidating for some users.  Here’s a way to soften it up and empower them at the same time.

Instead of just starting with the assessment, give the user a choice.  Tell them that they can go through the course and at any time they like, attempt to take the assessment.  Then unlock the course so the user can navigate it and see what’s covered.

Think of it this way.  You go to a book store and look through the pages of a good book on elearning.  Most likely, you’ll look at the table of contents, and then perhaps go to the index and look for specific areas of interest.  If you’re visual, you’ll flip through the pages to see what type of illustrations and examples are in the book.  It’s your way of assessing the book’s value and relevance.

In a similar sense, when it comes to elearning courses, many people like to skim through the course content to get a sense of what’s in it.  Once they see the content and how it’s laid out, they get a sense of what they know and can determine if they need the course or not to help them pass the assessment.  This is why it’s important to unlock the course and give the learners room to explore.

Remember, these are courses for people who most likely already know the content and just need to demonstrate it and be certified.  It’s kind of like an experienced driver getting a new license.  The driver doesn’t need to take a driving class.  Instead, she takes a driver’s test.  If she passes, she gets a license.  If she can’t pass the test, she takes a class and practices until she can.

Using this approach lets the user see what’s required and mentally assess what he does or doesn’t know.  He can jump into a few sections to test his knowledge and comfort level and then take the assessment at any time.  In addition, odds are that he will self-assess and identify the area where he needs to know more and then review those sections.

3. Break the Content into Sections

Even if you can create courses with pre-tests, I’ve found that some organizations still won’t do it.  They’ll still request a formal “course.”  I’ve had customers tell me that even if people already know the information, it doesn’t hurt them to go through the course anyway.  I assume they think the information is going to stick to the learners like a static cling sock right out of the dryer.

In addition, some customers just aren’t comfortable with this type of approach where the user can self-navigate and choose when to take the assessment.  They don’t like the fact that people can test out.  Instead, they want them exposed to something that resembles a course.

While some customers shy away from a pre-test and still want a formal course, I’ve found that many are flexible enough to embrace the following approach.

Break the course content into distinct sections.  At the beginning of each section, give the user a choice to assess or go through the content.  At the end of all of the sections, do a final assessment.

You can still capture some time savings because a knowledgeable person can go through each section and test out quickly.  However, by breaking it into sections you can be more specific in the assessment process and catch areas where people might not be as fluent.

For example, if you only had one assessment for a course, a person might pass at 80% and be certified.  However, what happens if the 20% she didn’t get correct was all from the same area?  That could be a potential problem.

The advice in this post probably doesn’t work for courses where you’re trying to teach new skills.  However, if you do a lot of certification or annual refresher training, these three approaches should come in handy.

If you do something different or have an approach that you’d like to share with the community, feel free to do so.

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Building an e-learning course can be time-consuming and costly.  Because of this you don’t want to waste your resources by making your e-learning course more complex than it needs to be.  Instead, your objective is to create the best e-learning course you can with the limited resources you have.

Identify the Course’s Purpose

The intent of most e-learning courses is to change performance.  However, the type of course that’s usually built focuses on sharing information rather than performance improvements.  This happens because most people focus on delivering content rather than on changing performance.

Your first step is to get your client focused on the real performance goals and then guide them to the right type of intervention.  Sometimes it means they don’t need an e-learning course.  In that case you save time and money by not building the e-learning course.

However, if they still need (or want) an e-learning course, then determine what type of course they need.  By identifying the type of course you are building, it’s easier to determine what resources you can commit.

Understand the Type of Course

E-learning courses typically focus one of two things: sharing information or changing performance. And, within that framework, there are basically three types of e-learning courses.

1. Communicate information with no performance expectations.   Information-based courses communicate new information but have no built-in expectations of changed performance.  A good example is a course that highlights new features of a software application.  You learn about the new the features but you aren’t required to do anything with this new information.
2. Give step-by-step instructions that have specific outcomes.  These courses are focused on procedures and how to do something.  They’re made up of repeatable tasks that are very close to what the learner will do at work.  A good example is showing someone how to complete a worksheet or use software.
3. Share guidelines to help the learner solve problems.  The most challenging courses to design are those where you teach principles or guidelines versus repeatable steps.  You really have to understand the nuances of the learner’s situation and how the principles can be applied while respecting the fact that each application is somewhat unique.

All three types of courses can be as simple or complex in design as you want to make them.  Keep in mind that the more complex the course is, the more time and effort it will take to build it.

Your best bet is to minimize the complexity and free your resources for the projects that are going to make the most impact.

To build good e-learning courses means that you have to know what type of course you’re building and get the most out of your resources.  Learn to differentiate between information and performance based courses.  Then move your resources to those courses that are going to have the most impact.

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Unless you work for the Count of Monte Cristo, you most likely have limited resources to build your e-learning courses.  Here are three techniques I’ve used that will make your e-learning development go faster and cost less.

Don’t Create an E-Learning Course

Clients typically think every problem can be solved through training.  Sometimes the best value you bring is that of a gatekeeper.  If you can avoid creating a course, do so.

Your job is to help your clients make the right decisions by assessing their needs and advising them on the best course of action.  By avoiding unnecessary e-learning projects, you free your resources to work on those that bring real value.

Use Kuhlmann’s E-Learning Hierarchy

I use a three-tiered approach for e-learning design.  I start by automating as much of the production process as I can and freeing up my more expensive developers to work on projects that best utilize their skills.

1. Make rapid e-learning the default approach unless you need more. This allows you to meet your objectives without committing more expensive resources to the project.
2. Build custom e-learning pieces that you can drop into your rapid e-learning course.  Rapid e-learning software is very flexible and allows you to add custom content such as web objects or iframes.  This hybrid approach allows you to build the pieces you need and still leverage the benefits of quicker production using the rapid e-learning software.
3. Commit your multimedia resources to custom development.  If you follow the first two steps, then you can free up your resources to build custom content.  It doesn’t make sense to pay a skilled multimedia programmer to build something that you can do with a rapid e-learning tool.  Instead, push as much work to the rapid development side as you can and get your expensive developers to work on those projects that require custom development and best utilize their skills.

Incorporate External Content Resources

Most of the e-learning is focused on delivery of information.  And most of these courses use content that is already available elsewhere, like the organization’s intranet.  Instead of just regurgitating content, do this.  Build your course to teach the learner how to find the content outside of the course.

If you do this, you won’t need to cover everything in the course.  This allows you to create learner independence and means you must build less content.  It also helps with maintaining the course as the content changes.

In addition, many step-by-step courses only require a brief overview and then some cheat sheets or simple tips that the learners can use at their workplaces.  Why build a time-consuming course, when you might be able to provide a less expensive document that serves the same purpose?

The key to your success is investing your time and resources where you get the most value.  Following these tips helps you do that.

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Information isn’t the same as understanding. Many e-learning courses are designed to just share information. In some cases, that’s fine. But, there are many e-learning courses that are performance-based and in those cases we need to change how the learner thinks and acts rather than just regurgitate facts.

One evening I was working late and we had a fire drill. Everyone did what we learned to do in our safety course and we made our way to the exit. However, the exit was a sliding door that shut down during the drill.

Since the training didn’t provide information on how to open the sliding door once power was lost, we just sat there waiting for someone to come by and open the door for us. What struck me was that no one really knew what to do once we were presented with a challenge that wasn’t part of our training.

This was a reminder that there’s a difference between passing a site safety course (information) and really knowing what to do in the event of an emergency (understanding).

The safety course was typical of many e-learning courses. They’re designed to share information, but don’t usually go beyond that. Information sharing doesn’t work for courses where the learner is expected to take action or complete tasks. In those cases, the e-learning course needs to be designed to go beyond the facts and move towards creating new levels of understanding.

How Do I Create Understanding?

When we teach others we’re not looking for them to just know information. Instead, we want them to use information in context to make good decisions.

The challenge when creating e-learning courses is knowing how to build an environment where the learner can process the information and place it in the appropriate context and through that demonstrate greater levels of understanding. This all starts with some fundamental ideas around course design.

1. Establish clear learning objectives.

For the e-learning course to be successful, you need to establish clear learning objectives. This seems obvious. However, I’ve been involved in enough training programs to know that that’s not always the case.

Without clear objectives, you’ll have problems reaching your goals and you’ll probably not engage the learner. Like the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, most likely you’ll have no problems getting there.”

2. Determine what evidence proves understanding.

Once you establish the learning objectives, you need to determine how you’ll know they’ve been met. What evidence proves that the learner is able to meet the goals?

This goes beyond just creating a multiple choice quiz. What you really need to shoot for is evidence that demonstrates understanding not just how to do something but why.

3. Build the course to provide information AND create a learning experience.

Once I determine the right type of evidence to prove the learner’s understanding, I can build the experiences into my course that helps the learner get to the desired level of understanding.

I want to measure the learner’s grasp of the facts and I want to put the learner in a situation where she can use the facts and apply them to the nuances of real life decisions. This helps me see that not only does she get the information but that she is able to use the facts in an appropriate manner to make performance-based decisions.

4. Create the ability for learners to reflect on the information.

E-learning courses are good at sharing facts and information. The goal is to help the learner pull all of the information together and make good decisions. A step in the direction of creating real understanding is to help the learner reflect on the new information.

So often we share information and then move on assuming that the learner understands why the information is important. By reflecting on the information, you put the learner in a position to take abstract and disconnected facts and place them in an appropriate context. Here are some ideas on how to build reflection as part of the learning process:

• Ask questions to hook the learners and get them to think about the information in a context that is important to them.
• Have the learner’s review scenarios or case studies so that they can take the information out of the course and put it into the real world.
• Create some sort of learning journal where the learners have to think about the course’s information and write out their thoughts. This helps them personalize the information and make it more than just a bunch of facts.

5. Create a way for learners to explore.

The other day I was out walking and I saw a skateboarder practice jumping in the air with the board. In the time I observed him, he must have jumped unsuccessfully at least twenty times. What intrigued me was that each time he jumped, somewhere in his brain he was making minor adjustments to his technique that will allow him to eventually become proficient at jumping.

How does this translate to e-learning? To get a learner beyond rote facts means that you have to create a place where the learner can make those “minor adjustments.” Learners need the ability to explore, to have a place of “what if’s” to see cause and effect.

• Take a cue from Google. Free up the course navigation and give the learners the ability to click around and explore like they would online or if using a search engine. Present a challenge and have them look for an answer rather than just giving them the information.
• Create scenario-based branches that allow the learner to make a choice and get feedback specific to the choice made.
• Build an environment where the learners can modify variables to see the cause and effect of their decisions. Create interactive visual models where the learner can play around with “what if” scenarios.

To create an e-learning course that empowers the learner to make good decisions means that you have to create an environment where the learner gets important information and has time to reflect on its meaning and where it fits in the learner’s world.

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Years ago, I was enrolled in a course on video production. Each week we were given assignments to do. At the end of the week, the whole class would sit down and we’d review our projects.

One of the objectives was to have the other students share what they got out of the video before they knew what I intended to communicate. It was always eye opening to see how others perceived what I produced. Often what the audience got from the video was not what I had intended.

Through that process, I learned that it’s not enough to just put information together and assume that somehow the viewer would understand what I meant. Instead, it was my job to design my video in a way that allowed me to communicate my message to the viewer. The same principle holds true for elearning.

Online Communication Starts with Understanding the Communication Process

Clear communication is critical when you design your elearning course because what you present isn’t always received by the learner the way you intend it. If your learners aren’t getting what you intend for them to get, then most likely you won’t meet your learning objectives.

Here’s a simple illustration of what happens as learners go through an elearning course.

The first image below represents a screen from an elearning course on auto maintenance.

The second image shows how three different learners process the information. Notice that while they all get the same information, they each perceive it in a different way.

There are a number of reasons why the learners perceive information in different ways. Some come into the course with various levels of experience and expertise. There can be cultural or environmental differences. It also depends on the learner’s level of commitment to the course.

While you cannot control all of the perception issues, there are ways that you can remedy some of the confusion. Much of it is based on understanding the communication process and how that impacts learning. To get started, let’s look at what happens when we communicate.

The image below represents a basic communication process.

1. It all starts with a message. The message has to go from one person to the next.
2. The first person (transmitter) encodes the message into a signal that can be transmitted and received by the second person (receiver).
3. The message is transmitted.
4. Once the message is received, it is decoded.
5. Then the receiver responds to the message. This process repeats itself, back and forth.

To make it less technical, think of how we communicate in various languages. Suppose you have two people. One speaks German, the other Spanish. In order for them to communicate, they need to find a common language. A common language allows them to use words that they can communicate and understand (encoding and decoding).

How Does This Relate to the E-Learning & Online Communication?

Before we look at the elearning process, let’s see how this relates to traditional learning. In a classroom environment, you are actively communicating. That means the facilitator is continually giving and receiving information. This happens during conversation and by reading body language and other communication cues. Because of this you can assess the learner’s understanding and your ability to communicate the lesson and then make any adjustments on the fly.

The communication process is a open where you are in a constant state of give and take.

The elearning process is a little different because you do not have a way to alter the course content to enable better communication of your content. It is closed process. In an elearning environment you deliver content and the learner is dependent on processing it. Since the learner has no way to communicate with you, you do not know if the learner is “getting it.” Because of this, you have to build a way to assess the learner’s understanding and provide meaningful feedback.

From my experience, this is where many elearning courses fall down. Typically, they are focused on content delivery and have limited opportunities to assess the learner’s understanding and provide the right type of feedback.

Looking at the communication process model above and applying it to elearning development, we see three opportunities.

• Determine how you will prepare the material so that the learner can make sense of it (encoding). In a figurative sense, you are “trying to speak” to the learner. The course needs to be in a “language that the learner speaks.” In the “healthy car” example above, an assessment could easily clear up the confusion. If the next screen had the learner simulate changing the engine oil, the first two learners would have altered their understanding.
• Determine what obstacles exist that might prevent proper understanding (decoding). The better you know the learner, the better your course can be designed. A large part of effective communication in elearning is through establishing context. Going back to the “healthy car” example, if the screen had an image of the engine rather than the car, most likely the initial perception would have been correct because you are building a context for the information with the visual cue.
• Determine the best ways to engage the learner (transmission). People learn best when the content is relevant to the learner. I see the transmission process as one of engagement. How are you engaging the learners and creating a conduit for them to receive the information? The course needs to be motivating, effective, and interesting. A lot of this comes as a result of it being relevant. Relevance is one of the best motivators.

Effective communication is important for success. The more active you are in considering the communication challenges in your course, the better you can design the learning experience. In the following posts, we’ll look at how to create effective courses.

I’m interested in hearing of some of the communication challenges you’ve had and what you’ve done to overcome them.

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One of my first goals upon launching The Rapid E-Learning Blog was to understand how you define rapid elearning. You responded and we ended up with over 200 definitions.

I sealed the definitions in a tamper-proof envelope and took them to our crack team of etymologists. We ran an exhaustive battery of tests to determine the best definitions. From those tests, I was able to present five from which to choose.

After 3 weeks, the votes are in and the winning definition is from Bradley Mersereau.

Rapid E-Learning is the ability to produce, deliver and quantify quality interactive material to learners in a timely and cost effective manner.

Congratulations, Bradley! You receive a complimentary copy of Articulate Engage. Thank you to all who participated and voted.

Clear Communication is Critical to Effective Learning

The contest revealed that while we use the same words, we don’t necessarily say the same thing. There’s a context to our understanding that is buried beneath the words we use, and this context is not always evident. This is only magnified as we cross borders and train people from various countries and cultures.

It’s important that we don’t assume that our learners understand what we mean.

• Build context for your e-learning course. Avoid presenting content without context. You’ll have more success if your learners are starting on the same page. Lay a foundation for understanding and then build on it.
• Design the course to test the learner’s assumptions. You can build context if you can determine what the learner already knows. Do this by starting with some decision-making interactions.
• Create clarity with a glossary. Sometimes it’s just good to have a glossary or some sort of resource where you can define specific terms or acronyms. It’s a lot easier than trying to explain everything. You can easily create one with a tool like Engage and then drop it into your course. Perhaps Bradley will lend a hand.

Learning is a Complex Process

The learning process is a lot like the diversity of the definitions. Things are not always black or white. Often there’s not a right or wrong answer, and sometimes people just have personal preferences that influence how they learn.

Many times, we approach training as a list of policies, procedures and metrics. Because of this, we design screen after screen of content as a “one size fits all” approach to learning. Unfortunately, rapid authoring can contribute to this.

Rapid e-learning tools are great because you can create and modify content quickly. The tools are also getting better at allowing you to create interactive content. The challenge is knowing how to leverage the rapid authoring technology so that the e-learning course you build is part of the real learning process and not just a required task.

• Understand your learner. This is needs analysis 101. Don’t just create content in a vacuum. Find out how your learner uses the information in the course. Then build a course that works in that context.
• E-learning can be more that individual learning. There’s no reason why you can’t leverage the technology to create a different e-learning environment. Why does it have to be one person behind one computer? Let’s get creative!
• Combine the e-learning course with real world practice. There are many ways to build a learning process where the learner gets content online and practices using it in the real world.

There’s a Whole Community Waiting to Help You

I have enjoyed the emails and new blogs that I’ve received these past few weeks from e-learning developers all over the world.

Most of what we know comes from others and that’s why it’s important to be connected. There’s power in community. And as we engage each other we become better at what we do.

• Take advantage of the great resources that are available to you at no cost. The Internet has opened the doors to all types of information that wasn’t readily available just a few years ago. There’s information and help for almost everything.
• Connect with others in our industry. There are a lot of good e-learning blogs. You can connect with people from all over the world and tap into work experience, knowledge, and resources that are not always available to you in your work environment, especially if you work in a small organization.
• Let your voice be heard. Create a blog or wiki. Share your thoughts and actively contribute to our industry.

We never stop learning. It’s just part of who we are.

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Many times you get projects where the customer has already determined what she wants. If the customer’s right, this is good and saves a lot of time. However, if the customer’s wrong, then you have a problem. You’ll waste time and money, and probably not meet anyone’s goals. Make sure your customer gets what she really wants versus what she think she wants.

At the beginning of the project, your job is to help your client identify the training objectives and then determine the appropriate means to achieve them. The better you do this, the more value you bring. Sometimes the right solution means no e-learning. Sometimes it means a simple e-learning course. Other times it means a more advanced course.

One Way to Determine the Right Solution is to Ask the Right Questions

Good questions help raise awareness. By asking the right questions, you help your customers identify their real needs. You also help set expectations.

Who is in charge of the e-learning course?

It’s important to get to this right away. You need to know who is paying for the project. Who is the final authority? There’s nothing worse than spending weeks designing a course, have it ready to roll out, and then have someone say, “Now let’s take it to Bob so he can review it.” If your project depends on Bob’s approval, then you need to know what Bob wants before you spend a lot of time developing the course.

What are the business objectives and how will this e-learning help you meet them?

This question helps you get to the meat of the matter. Training isn’t always the solution to the problem. “What do you want to do; and, will this training help you do it?” The answer to this question also helps establish some metrics for the training. For example, the customer says, “I want to increase production.” Assuming that training is the right solution, you can measure the effectiveness of your training by the increase in production.

What do you expect people to do that’s different than what they do today?

This feeds off the last question and gives you a sense of what you’ll need to do with the e-learning course. If the learner has to use some software in a different manner, you can build an e-learning course to do so. Or, if the learner needs to learn a new sales technique, then you build your training to meet the desired change in behavior. Surprisingly, a lot of e-learning offers good information but has no expectation of changed behavior.

When is the e-learning course needed?

It’s important to know the time lines up front. If the project needs to be done in two weeks, then the approach you take is different than a project where you have six months. The good thing with rapid e-learning tools is that you can use them for quick projects and still produce an effective e-learning course.

What do you know about the person who will take the e-learning course?

It’s important to get a sense of the people who are actually going to use the course. You want to know why this training is important to them and how it will change their jobs. If possible, schedule some time to meet with the end users of the course. It’s always a good idea to get them involved in the course design so that you build a course that meets real needs.

What do you know about the course content?

From where will the course content come? Who are the subject matter experts? What type of access will you have to them? Who will approve the final content? You need to know where the content is going to come from and who will provide it. There’s a big difference between you getting content from a subject matter expert and you having to do research and create it yourself…or have it funnel through a committee for approval.

What are some of the technology issues?

Do the learners have access to computers? Will they be able to hear any audio? Where will the e-learning course go? Do you need to track the course? How much multimedia can your network handle? There are many considerations when you deliver an e-learning course. It’s important to bring those out at the beginning of the project so that you can deal with any technical issues up front.

As a habit, it’s a good idea to make a list of basic questions to ask when you start a project. This way you’ll know you’re covering the bases. These questions are a start.

What questions would you ask?

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Want to learn more? Check out these articles and free resources in the community.	Here’s a great job board for e-learning, instructional design, and training jobs	Participate in the weekly e-learning challenges to sharpen your skills
Get your free PowerPoint templates and free graphics & stock images.	Lots of cool e-learning examples to check out and find inspiration.	Getting Started? This e-learning 101 series and the free e-books will help.