Examples of Award Winning Entries: Best Innovation in Learning Technology

As Brandon Hall calls for entries for 2009 awards, it lists examples of last year's winners of their site. You can view all examples on their site. In this post I review the best innovation in learning technology.

Best innovation in learning technology

This example presents an interesting authoring tool. I have seen and worked on similar tools, including those in my organizations. What I really liked was the simplicity of the interface of RapidIntake's Unison tool. Some cool features are automatic conversion of media formats into Internet friendly format (mp3, Flash video, jpg etc.), tags for media assets, chat with others who might be working on the same course. They have clever SaaS pricing models too. For example you get source files for your course only if you are a Pro member.

Of course, there is more to building an elearning course, especially if you are a vendor for custom content. The customer will always want something else and there is much work to be done in building assets outside a tool like this one. Notwithstanding this, I really like this product.

Note to self: Thought innovation in learning technology category was about LMS or something like that. Need to volunteer to be a judge in this category too.

Related posts:

Review of Best Custom Content

To, The Respected SMEs ... With Regards

For elearning practice SME is an important pillar to build an effective course. He is one player who can make or break the whole vision. So how do we treat an SME in real life? We give them a special place. We ask them specific stereo type questions. Subconsciously, this fear that s/he may not run away leads to a very formal behavior from our end. Trust me, formal behavior can never be human and warm. Air hostesses/ cabin crew serving at flight are great example of formal and learnt behavior. All of them greet us with same plastic smile and same facial gestures. Does it make us feel warm or have a relationship, binding, or ownership? NO not at all. Becoz their job ends with the journey.

But in elearning relationship has to be established. It is a long term relationship. Just validating the course material in time should not be the end objective. While dealing with SMEs, it is crucial to build a warm and human relationship. It is essential to make them comfortable enough that they start talking about their experiences. It should be passed on to them that the end learning from this course is the objective. SME can provide various other practical or on ground realities about the subject. He is also the right person to tell about the areas where students tend to feel uncomfortable in the course. His on ground experience in the field can lead to better learning and assessment strategies. Same shall be conveyed to the SMEs. He should be made part and parcel of discussions where ever possible. We should keep him posted about development of the course. Let him/her feel the pain and joy of the work in process.

One of my observations is that there is a belief that SMEs are not paid well enough. So they are not dedicated enough. As far as my experience and understanding about academician goes, they like to share there wide experience on the field. They are in academics becoz they love to teach. They love their subject; they want to see more and more students and professional in the same field. SME is with most updated information on the subject. Do we leverage on these points?

They are surely a different cadre of people- they are intellectuals of the society. They have devoted their lives to their passion- their subject. But how can we optimum utilize their knowledge? Let see, if the following factors help us:
• Be a good listeners.
• Allow them to talk and discuss about the subject and their experiences. Let them share their passion about their subjects.
• Try to bring shared ownership with them.
• Don't ask stereo type questions.Try to be more human and spontaneous.
• Write the areas of queries/ concerns, but don't read out questions like an automated machine.
• Study the subject before you get into discussions. Lack of basic knowledge of the subject will lead to a put of the SME.Basic knowledge of subject will lead to spontaneous interaction.

Definitely, there must be much more areas of improvement, which remain untouched in this article. I hope to hear those factors and areas from you all...

Thinking...website design

I have very often heard this statement… “The Customer is Always Right”. This statement has been interpreted in different ways by different people. But I must say that this statement has always triggered me to provide the most suitable solution to the customer in the given circumstances.

I recall one such instance where we were working on designing a website for a leading humanitarian organization that is dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice. The goal of designing this website was to offer newly-hired staff with a more streamlined and consistent on-boarding experience.

Through this blog, I want to share how the design-related challenges that we, as a team, faced and the way we came up with an appropriate solution. The final solution not only delighted the clients but also gave us repeat business.

One of the first challenges was to design and develop this website in-house without vendor support within a limited budget. Second challenge was that this organization had been supporting more than 1,000 poverty-fighting projects in 71 countries to reach more than 65 million people. Most staff members (who were also the SMEs) were very keen to share their valuable experiences with the new employees through this website. So NIIT was instructed to accommodate all these experiences, thoughts and ideas into this website.

The team got together to understand and explore how best to accommodate all essential information into the website. The points listed below provide a quick recap of the design elements we integrated into the Web site. I am sure all of us are quite familiar with most of these elements. However, they will help you evaluate how these design elements were accommodated into the end product (once you actually look at the end product shared as a link at the end).

1. Easy Navigation: This website was designed in such a way that the main links were placed at the top of the page, drop down menus were created along with “bread crumbs” to ensure smooth navigation. This way the end user would not have to click on one page in order to find a link to navigator to another page. The layout used was very similar to the New York University website.

2. Quick Downloads: We know the end users do not want to wait to get to the right information. Use of high quality graphics and rich interactive media makes the site look attractive but slows the load time of web pages. So the graphics were constructed only for those instances where they added maximum value to the website's information. This way we achieved faster loading time for the web pages.

3. Attractive Color Scheme: This is an important and underrated area in web design. Use of bright backgrounds like red, yellow and green draws much attention from the users but also distracts them from what is important on the website. The users want to feel comfortable and relaxed while going through this website. Thus, the team used warm, attractive, earth colors that complimented well with each other.

4. Page Layout: Layout of web pages was consistent ensuring navigation took place from the same location. All important information was prioritized and located in different headings and sub headings in a manner that was easy to find. These pages had a common theme throughout the site.

5. Avoid Sideways Scrolling: We know that websites with horizontal scrolling is not user friendly. It is very likely that the users will not scroll and may miss valuable information. So all vital information like the important contact IDs, site addresses, information of their Country Offices, talks about the successful projects/achievements, etc were included as a separate link.
The biggest constraint was to accommodate 16 pages of content received from SMEs all over the world. We could neither disappoint the SMEs nor single out any one of them. They were all very enthusiastic to share their thoughts and ideas with the new joinees.

That is when the team’s creativity and “out of the box” thinking came to work. We introduced the Perspectives column in the Home page of all main links, included the photographs of the SMEs and wrote their ideas in form of two links- “ What I wish…” and "One tip to help you…” This was a major breakthrough. We not only delighted the SMEs by adding their photos (that gave a personal touch) but also included most of the contents provided by then. In fact NIIT team received a special appreciation in the Credit link of this website.

I have added the Perspectives column in the beginning of this post to help you visualize its layout and functionality. Please feel free to access the link below to visit the website:

http://www.careacademy.org/navigatingcare

Collaborating With SMEs

We all know the importance of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in a training project. We have, at some point, worked with SMEs. Here are my views on how to make the relationship successful and ensure that SMEs become a perfect partner in training development. Use the CIA Approach to collaborate with SMEs.
What is CIA? Read more on my blog.

Another very interesting article on the same topic is called Strategies to Gain Cooperation and Win Respect.
This article explores various strategies and tips to achieve success in SME/ID relationship. The points highlighted by the writer are relevant and very doable!

Working Efficiently with the SME

What does it take to clap? Just two hands, right? Think again. Try clapping by using one of your hands and one hand of a friend. Even if you succeed a few times, sustaining it is very difficult. You need perfect coordination and timing. Course development is no different--in some ways at least. It takes an equal contribution from a subject matter expert (SME) and a learning designer (LD) to create effective learning material.

So what’s the contribution of each? The simplest answer to this question is “what” and “how.” The SME decides what is to be taught and the LD decides how to teach it. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. For most SMEs, making courses is not a full time profession. For most LDs, it is. Therefore, SMEs availability, responsiveness, understanding of the process, understanding of the role of an LD, and similar issues become showstoppers and often lead to delays, deterioration of quality, and frustration.

In such situations, the LD needs to synergize with the SME by following specific strategies. A LD works closely with the SME for at least two and a half months. In most cases, having a professional yet friendly relationship works better than a dry transaction-based association. Since it’s rare to meet the SME in person, making friends with them is challenging. Here are some tips for LDs to have a good professional relationship with SMEs:

• Know your SME/CW: Collect as much information as you can about the CW— their likes and dislikes, preferred time slots, mode of communication, family, beliefs, etc. Use Internet, their CV, and be attentive in the calls to collect this information. However, don’t ask direct questions to collect personal information—some of them will not be comfortable in sharing the same.
  Document and use this information smartly during the course development. For example, if your CW does not work on Tuesdays and Wednesday, you could expect faster turnaround from them on those days as compared to Mondays.
• Always keep commitments: If you have committed to send a document on a date, meet that. In rare cases, when you can’t, tell them in advance so that they could adjust their time accordingly. You will notice that they will start keeping commitments when you will do the same.
• Speak like an expert: Most SMEs don’t understand the value an instructional designer adds to the course development. They feel that the LD is there to do language checks and formatting for them. Therefore, when it comes to presentation of content, you should take the charge. Feel free to suggest new teaching strategy to the CW. For example, an interactive game in the classroom is a better strategy than a boring lecture. However, you should never advice a CW on a technical aspect in the course. If something feels illogical, ask a polite question.
• Care for their feelings: After you write each e-mail to the SME, think about how the person will feel after reading the e-mail considering his personality and circumstances (which you would know if you follow point# 1). Then, rewrite or rephrase portions of the email so that all negative feelings generative elements are avoided. Also explain the workaround to them, which clarifies the adjustment you have made to accommodate their schedule (or any other limitation.) The bottom line is to make them feel part of the team and synergize with them.
• Watch your tone: Since the primary mode of communication between you and the SME will be e-mail, you need to be very careful with the tone. Consider the following example:
  
  “Please submit the deliverable positively by Monday.” Although this sentence starts with a ‘please’, it has an authoritative tone. However, changing one or two words here and there would not change the tone. For example, even when you remove the word “positively” or make it into a question form (Could you please submit the deliverable by Monday?), the implied tone is still authoritative.
  
  Now consider the following sentences:
  
  “Since, Wednesday is our drop-dead date for the client submission, having the deliverable from your side on or before Monday will ensure that we will do our internal checks and meet Wednesday’s deadline. I don’t like making you work on the weekend . So please share if you have any thoughts of avoiding it and still meeting the deadline.”
  
  You would have noticed that a lot of information has been added in the improved example. Most of the times, sharing the big picture and giving a rationale for an expected date helps. This may not be necessary for a SME who does not want to know.
• Stay in touch: Some SMEs complain that they are not contacted for a long period and all of a sudden they are expected to submit a deliverable with an unreasonable turn around time. Therefore, it’s a good idea to stay in touch with them.
  
  It is suggested that a 10 min status call is conducted every week, in which the SME is informed about the development and the concerns are addressed. Make sure that the time and day of the call is decided beforehand and the call does not get longer than 10 minutes, unless the SME want it to go longer.
• Avoid multiple touch points: With a number of people working on the project, it becomes difficult for SMEs to remember each one’s role. Therefore, only the LD should interact with the SME on a regular basis while the rest should work in the background. However, escalation routes should be told to the SME so that they can complain to the relevant people if and when required.

To summarize, it does take two hands to clap. But when one hand is LD's and the other one belongs to the SME, it is the LD who needs to put in extra effort and synchronize with SME. This extra effort results in creation of effective learning material--something that looks good, sounds good, and acheives the learning outcomes.

An Effective Design Walkthrough: A Step towards Delivering the Best Design

In this collaborative learning Environment, I would like to Engage all of you in a discussion around 'Effective Design Walkthroughs'. I Encourage you to Explore this area with me further.

Let's identify ways and means to implement and use one of the most powerful quality tools available to instructional designers. Let's share the guidelines and best practices for planning, conducting, and participating in an effective design walkthrough.

The following are my views on this topic.

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A design walkthrough is a quality practice that allows designers to obtain an early validation of design decisions related to the development and treatment of content, design of the graphical user interface, and the elements of product functionality. Design walkthroughs provide designers with a way to identify and assess early on whether the proposed design meets the requirements and addresses the project’s goal.

For a design walkthrough to be effective, it needs to include specific components. The following guidelines highlight these key components. Use these guidelines to plan, conduct, and participate in design walkthroughs and increase their effectiveness.

• Plan for a design walkthrough - A design walkthrough should be scheduled when detailing the micro-level tasks of a project. Time and effort of every participant should be built into the project plan so that participants can schedule their personal work plans accordingly. The plan should include time for individual preparation, the design walkthrough (meeting), and the likely rework.

• Get the right participants- It is important to invite the right participants to a design walkthrough. The reviewers/experts should have the appropriate skills and knowledge to make the walkthrough meaningful for all. It is imperative that participants add quality and value to the product and not simply ‘add to their learning.’

• Understand key roles and responsibilities - All participants in the design walkthrough should clearly understand their role and responsibilities so that they can consistently practice effective and efficient reviews.

• Prepare for a design walkthrough - Besides planning, all participants need to prepare for the design walkthrough. One cannot possibly find all high-impact mistakes in a work product that they have looked at only 10 minutes before the meeting. If all participants are adequately prepared as per their responsibilities, the design walkthrough is likely to be more effective.

• Use a well-structured process - A design walkthrough should follow a well-structured, documented process. This process should help define the key purpose of the walkthrough and should provide systematic practices and rules of conduct that can help participants collaborate with one another and add value to the review.

• Review and critique the product, not the designer - The design walkthrough should be used as a means to review and critique the product—not the person who created the design. Use the collective wisdom to improve the quality of the product, add value to the interactions, and encourage participants to submit their products for a design walkthrough.

• Review, do not solve problems - A design walkthrough has only one purpose—to find defects. There may, however, be times when participants drift from the main purpose. A moderator needs to prevent this from happening and ensure that the walkthrough focuses on the defects or weaknesses rather than identifying fixes or resolutions.
  

In addition to these guidelines, there are a few best practices that can help you work towards effective design walkthroughs:

• The document or work product for the design walkthrough should be complete from all respects including all the necessary reviews/filters.
  
• Plan for a design walkthrough in a time-box mode. A session should be scheduled for a minimum of one hour and should not stretch beyond two and a half hours—when walkthroughs last more than three hours, the effectiveness of the design walkthrough and the review process decreases dramatically.
  
• It is best to work with 5–10 participants to add different perspectives to the design walkthrough. However, with more than 15 participants, the process becomes slow and each participant may not be able to contribute to their full capacity.
  
• Design walkthroughs planned for morning sessions work better than afternoon sessions.
  
• A design walkthrough should definitely include the instructional designers, graphic artists, course architects, and any other roles that have been instrumental in creating the design. You may also want to invite designers from other projects to add a fresh and independent perspective to the review process.
  
• Involving senior management or business decision makers in a design walkthrough may not always be a good idea as it can intimidate the designers and they may feel that the senior management is judging their competencies in design. With senior management in the room, other participants and reviewers may also be hesitant in sharing problems with the design.
  
• Effective design walkthroughs rely on a ‘moderator’ who is a strong Lead Reviewer and is in charge of the review process. It is critical that the group remains focused on the task at hand. The Lead Reviewer can help in this process by curbing unnecessary discussions and lead the group in the right direction.
  
• Design walkthroughs are more effective if the reviewers use specific checklists for reviewing various aspects of the work product.
  
• It is a good practice to involve the potential end users in the design walkthrough. However, in most situations it is difficult to get access to the end users. Therefore, you may request reviewer(s) to take on the role of the end user and review the product from the end-user perspective. These reviewers may be Subject Matter Experts or practitioners in the same field/industry who have an understanding of the audience profile for the product.
  
• The effectiveness of a design walkthrough depends on what happens after the defects have been identified in the meeting and how the defects are addressed and closed in the work product. The team needs to prioritize the defects based on their impact and assign responsibility for closing the defects.

Design walkthroughs, if done correctly, provide immediate short-term benefits, like early defect detection and correction within the current project and offer important long-term returns. From a long-term perspective, design walkthroughs help designers identify their mistakes and learn from them, therefore moving towards continuous improvement. During the process, designers are also able to unravel the basic principles of design and the key mistakes that violate these principles. By participating in walkthroughs, reviewers are able to create a mental ‘ catalogue of mistakes’ that are likely to happen and are therefore more equipped to detect these early in any product. By analyzing the kind of defects made by designers, over time, reviewers can use this information to support root-cause analysis and participate in organization-wide improvement initiatives.

Effective design walkthroughs are one of the most powerful quality tools that can be leveraged by designers to detect defects early and promote steps towards continuous improvement.

By
Taruna Goel