Avoid a Fatal Error: Lack of Specificity in eLearning Interactive Stories

Synthesis:
In eLearning design and development, the lack of specificity is fatal. Know the value of adding details to eLearning stories. Details help learners understand and relate to the content’s meaning and lessons.
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Sometimes in classroom training sessions we see participants with wide glazed eyes with a wondering thought, “This is great story, fun, but what is the meaning of this?”

Stories, cases, illustrations and examples without details and lack SPECIFICITY tend to elude the learners mind. In eLearning design and development, the lack of specificity is fatal.

Consider these are two examples.

Example A

John lost a major client because he failed to disclose the risks of the investment.

Example B

John lost Mercy Flanagan, a high asset customer who belongs to the $10 Million Club, because he failed to disclose the fact that the Brazilian company investment is not a Class A stock classification.

Example A is pretty generic. Although it could trigger a response from the learner, the learner needs to exert more effort to “connect the meaning of the story to his/her own context.”

Example B, on the other hand, provides sufficient details to make clear the story’s meaning to the learner.

Strong and effortless stories in eLearning come in three design approaches.

1. Immediate recognition of context. This is done by quickly increasing the speed of connecting the story to the learner’s situation.

In eLearning, the values of stories are acquired through a learner’s immediate recognition of its meaning as well as the story’s accessibility. Fuzzy and aimless, yet warm and enjoyable stories are dismissed by the learners. “It’s fun, but, so what?”

In the above example B, the very details of the story suggest the emotional tone and the impact of the story to the learners’ real-life situation.

John must take care of this client because it can lead him to losing his job or result to company losses. The nature of the details carries with them the risks and consequences.

2. Vividness of stories. This is making the story more vivid so the learners can relate to the content you wish the learner to learn.

The main purpose of using stories in eLearning is to help learners learn by embedding lesson content in the story. The story above shows that it is immediately obvious to the learner that the issues they need to reflect on are the following: the disclosed policies and ethical issues related to investments, and the financial impacts and liabilities which can harm the company as well. The detail of the story embeds the lesson.

3. Increase usefulness. This process aids the learner to find the multiple circumstances in his/her job and, therefore, increases the usefulness of the story.

4. Correlate and analyze stories. They allow learners to correlate or analyze the stories and apply them in several situations. “This is a similar situation in disclosing investments in real-life portfolios from mortgage houses” is an example where the learner is correlating the same story but in another context.

The details make is possible for the learners to bridge the story at hand to another situation due to the abundance of details supplied.

Tips

One of the important steps in “The Story eLearning Design Process” is to flash out details of the story. Do not skip in answering the questions. You run the risk of having weak stories. The more details you provide the easier for the learners to learn.

These are the questions:

• What is an emotional event related to the lesson content?
• Who are the characters?
• What are the conversations?
• What are the emotions?

What are the conflicts that need to be resolved?

• What are the risks and consequences if they are not resolved?
• What are the resolutions? What are the discoveries of the learners as they go through the stories?

Provide sufficient details. These help learners understand your embedded content quickly.

Caveat

The more you add specific details, the likelihood that the story becomes inflexible for other uses. The details can limit the context to a very narrow setting. Find the right balance of details, if you plan to use the lesson and story with multiple types of users with varying backgrounds.

Summary:
Details in eLearning stories help learners understand lessons and relate the content to their own context or situation.

References:
Story Impacts Learning and Performance eBook. Click here to access a free ebook

Related Posts:
Making Technical and Compliance Learning Fun and Engaging
Making Facts Stick With Stories - Jiggling Atoms

Are you guilty of interrupting the learners learning?

Synthesis:
Provide learners the ability to interpret and form their own discoveries from the content via self-reflection. A story-based learning material that is free of a designer’s explanations of the events allows learners to learn faster. _____________________________________________________


I just concluded an extensive workshop on Story-Based eLearning design and one highly debated issue was about shorter and faster learning. Many think that learning today needs to be short and concise to facilitate instant learning.

Is there such thing as instant learning? If it exists, how do we apply the ideas so we can help learners benefit from instant learning?

One conclusion from the workshop discussion was that to arrive at shorter and faster learning is not about shorter lessons per se; although it helps. But it is about whether our eLearning design slows down or interrupts the learners’ learning.

We define instant learning as providing learners a miniscule of message to help them reflect on an issue. By helping learners reflect on an issue or content, we trigger the critical process of learning, which is the reflection of an incident and its meaning in the learners’ situation.

Are you guilty of interrupting learners’ learning?

Compare these two illustrations:

Illustration A

“Martin came in late. This was the last straw. Due to his repeated absences, he was terminated immediately.”

Martin approached his boss, Nancy.

“Nancy, this is really unfair! Although I was late and absent a few times, I also did a lot of overtime.”

“Well, that’s not enough to compensate for the absences.”

“Martin was furious. He felt dismissal was unjust. He wants to file a complaint.”

Does Martin have a valid claim?

Illustration B

Martin: “This is unfair. I have clocked-in a lot of overtime.”

Nancy: “It does not matter. Your overtime hours were not sufficient to cover the time lost during absences.”

Martin: “I feel I have been unjustly treated. I will file a complaint.”

What should you do Nancy?

What is the difference between illustration A and B? Which one has the potential to help in instant learning?

In illustration A, there are four characters or voices in the story: Martin, Nancy, the narrator, and you, as the learner.

In illustration B, there are only three characters or voices in the story: Martin, Nancy and you.

Which illustration will help speed up the process of a learner’s reflection?
I would suggest it is illustration B.

In illustration B, we removed the narrator. In illustration A, the narrator tends to slow down the delivery of the message. It often interrupts the learner. The narrator’s interpretation of the events deprives the learner the opportunity to interpret the story on his/her own.

What is one cause of this tendency to interrupt the learners’ reflections?

In the classical definition of story structure, there is emphasis on the “telling” side of a story. This is why we loved so much listening to our parents or grandparents who told us stories when we were children. As we bring story-based learning in corporate learning, we stick to the old behavior and continue to apply the “telling” approach.

There is another side of a story design - that is the learner’s interpretation of the events, issues and characters. Although the narrator helps the learner, it is far more important that the learner reflects on the events and not be influenced by the narrator.

The biggest challenge among designers when developing stories is not to push their opinions on the content they are presenting. Instead, they need to facilitate a learner’s innate ability to self-reflect. Designers find this process difficult because we are so accustomed to the role of content providers. This is like we are slamming the brakes on the learner’s learning.

For instant learning to be effective, learners must be allowed to draw their own conclusions through the process of self-reflection.

Tips for eLearning designers and developers who want to use stories for instant learning.

1. Allow learners to reflect on the content by making them part of the story.

2. Avoid giving your interpretation or descriptions of the story.

3. Always use the character’s own voice. Allow the characters to talk. Avoid interpreting what characters are going to say. Give characters the opportunity to speak.

4. Embed the lesson in the story. Refrain from giving your own opinion of the story simply because you are afraid that the learner might miss the point if you don’t offer an explanation.

Summary:Instant learning requires the ability of the learner to interpret a particular content. For instant learning to be effective, learners must be allowed to draw their own conclusions through the process of self-reflection.

References:Story Impacts Learning and Performance eBook.

Click here to access a free copy

List of Story Impacts:Symptoms of Information Overload
Learners Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
Are Trainers Still Needed?

Related Posts:Instant Learning: How it works and how to make it happen?

Boring Technical eLearning Can be Engaging

Synthesis
The challenge in designing technical learning content is how to make it more engaging.
Technical information can come alive with the right approach that grabs learners' attention and keep them focused while learning its value and impacts on their jobs. __________________________________________________________________________

How do you make technical eLearning content engaging and interesting? So many of us give up the struggle. But there is a way to engage learners in technical learning.
 
For example, in a workshop, a participant from an insurance company asked me how to help learners understand the definition of “spouse.” She wanted to train learners about the definition of the word. I argued with her and asked, “Do you really want learners to remember the definition or do you want them to learn the application in real life of the definition like “spouse?” The end result is I helped her to develop this vignette “Would Maria Qualify as Spouse?”.
 
When deciding what how to create engaging elearning, interactivity and if scenario works for the content, ask yourselves this question:
 
Does the content require an engaging method or exploration method to help learners learn? Is the investment in scenarios the right investment to deliver learning?
 
When considering micro-scenario approaches to technical content it may be helpful to dwell on these points:
 
1. Think of it in its real-life consequences, positive or negative, or real-life meaning.  For example, why is it important to understand the definition of a spouse? What happens when they fail to understand the definition, the meaning and the impacts?
 
2. Learners must see the reason why it is important to know terms well – the possible error or misunderstanding of factual data and terms in the context of real-life scenarios they face.
 
3. What do learners need to pay attention to so they are able to delineate the terms, the potential problems and the impacts to job performance.
 
4. Learners do not care much for the factual definition. They care why it matters in their jobs.
 
Micro-scenarios are powerful metaphors of looking at things - like real-life mirrors.
It can be a potent tool in technical training or eLearning. It brings to life usual factual information and relates it to real events.  (Related blog: Engaging Technical eLearning – Tips on Design and Delivery)
 
Like Sherlock Holmes, understanding technical content (definitions, how-to’s, implementation, probing, problem solving, etc.) is like detecting criminals or finding proof.  It is conducting an investigation into real impacts of actual cases.
 
Look for facts – how facts happen in real-life. How do people respond to it?  Consider the events that unfold. Discern the truth. Detect suspicious characters.  Crime busting is not just text book - based.  It is also observing how people behave.
 
In the same sense, in technical training or eLearning, it is best to focus beyond the facts.  Rather than starting with the facts, begin with the impacts on real-life – work backwards.  It is like watching a movie in reverse.  It is looking into behavior then connecting to facts.

The Micro-scenario Formula:
1) Create a story or event
2) Put learner on the spot 
3) Ask learner to respond and react
4) Connect the definition by relating it to the story

In our story for the week," Would Maria Qualify as Spouse?", a common-law wife inquires into the insurance benefits of her common-law husband who just died in an accident. The vignette demonstrates how challenging technical topics can be learned through the presentation of a real-life scenario that teaches the value of investigating factual information and invites learners to understand, apply, appreciate and retain the importance of technical knowledge.  Click here to view "Would Maria Qualify as Spouse?"
 
How to Use the Vignette
 
Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE.
Vignettes are captivating and highly effective learning tools that can power up your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view “Would Maria Qualify as Spouse?". 
 
Join us  and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you have had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you. 


Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Engaging Technical eLearning – Tips on Design and Delivery

[Please add your comments below]

Engineer’s and Technical Writer’s View

Oftentimes, my development team works to help clients convert technical training into eLearning. An example is the Oracle HRIS and hardware training. The initial challenge is, “How do we make this boring content engaging?” Technical training programs are usually written by engineers who believe that users of their products just need to read the instructional guide. “If only they read the guide, they can solve almost all of the problems.” However, the dilemma is that most guides are designed for engineers not lay people.

Here are some tips and ideas to help you convert technical content into engaging eLearning programs.

Unbundling Content - From Technical View to Learner View
To make technical training engaging, we need to re-think the content and switch from the technical view (engineer, technical writer or subject matter expert (SME) point of view) to the learner or user point of view. Below is an illustration showing the comparison between the Technical View and the Learner View. The unbundling process allows us to successfully identify elements or parts of the content that help the learners gain knowledge and apply the content to different situations and delivery methods.

The advantage of adapting the Learner View of our technical content, is that it refocuses our attention to how learners can use the content in actual real-life work situations. Let us imagine for a moment that engineers, SMEs, and technical writers changed their focus and approach. This would alter the way content is organized, written, prepared and delivered. The content becomes more learner and user friendly.

Example

Content on Certification of Systems Administrators in Networking

Note: The content is not accurate and refers to an old product. The intention is to illustrate the reduction of content from class certification size to small slideshows then to 1-minute mobile applications. Once unbundled, we set ourselves free to think of our content in various delivery formats, e.g. classroom, slideshows, and then mobile learning.

Click here to view example of 15 Minute Slideshow (partial pages only)

Weaving technical content with cases/scenarios

Focused learning answers the limitations of the learners in terms of time and helps them avoid information overload. Using the case and scenario techniques enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of the learning process. Technical content becomes more engaging and learners become skilled and are able to rapidly apply knowledge in the real world or work.

(See eLearning Design for Short Attention Span and Overloaded Learners)

These are suggested steps to weave technical content with cases and scenarios.

Gather cases, scenarios and stories of how the content actually helps in real-work situations. See Instant Learning: How it works and how to make it happen

This is done by identifying the 20% of the content and the related cases in real-life work situations and their impacts on performance. For example, though login information is important, it is probably less significant compared to the consequence when users of the software fail to enter the right data for patient diagnostics or an employee classification (hourly or exempt). The effect of wrong data entry has potential catastrophic repercussions in billing, compliance, and others. So, instead of instructing learners on the features of the right data entry, we start with the cases and scenarios that heighten the positive or negative values and impacts of the specific feature and function.

In this example, when do we get to use the detailed guide or instruction? The detailed content becomes a reference, guide or resource. This serves as a valuable on-the-job learning and quick reference.

The number of cases and scenarios to be used depends on the amount of must-learn content you want learners to focus on, immediately. Should the learner need to connect a case or scenario to a detailed reference for a better comprehension of the case and content, it will be wise to provide a link to such reference.

Example

This is a software demo (compliments of Articulate.com) demonstrating how it combines a case / scenario and story to connect the technical content with a specific story by the narrator.

INSTRUCTION:

After reviewing the example, ask yourself the question: “How does a case, scenario or story help learners relate to the technical information?” Please read the blog and post your comments.

(Please click this link to preview the example)
 
Conclusion

There are two steps to make technical learning courses more engaging. First, unbundle the content so we can separate case/scenarios/stories, from must- learn and learn-on-need. This allows us to reduce the sizes of our content and help learners make it easy to use. Second, we prepare the course and weave case/scenarios with technical content. This heightens the must-learn elements of the course.

Related Links

Instant Learning: How it works and how to make it happen
eLearning Design for Short Attention Span and Overloaded Learners

Ray Jimenez, PhD
3Minute Worlds - Learning Community Social Learning, Work and Performance3Minute eLearning Games "Helping Learners Learn Their Way"