Instructional design in virtual worlds

I attended a class this week in instructional design for virtual worlds hosted by the Gronstedt Group in Second Life (SL). As an aside, you might want to check out the article Anders Grondstedt wrote about training and 3D worlds in Training and Development magazine. When the class began, we teleported to MIST Island and were shown instructional design examples by our guide, Abbott Bundy (his SL name), a teacher in SL.

We learned some interesting things in the class, almost all of it related to instructional layout and design for 3D worlds. In the image above we are seen entering a large classroom with floating chairs for viewing three screens. The instructor spoke about optimal layout and design for maximum viewing. We also discovered techniques for learner engagement, such as creating treasure hunts to gather information and learner checkpoints to measure progress. We also learned how to build a training center that gives the idea of a separate space without a huge time investment spent building the architecture.

I'm convinced the need for sound instructional design will not go away. With the currently changing information landscape, there are many new ways to deliver content to learners. What is exciting are the variety of ways we can engage learners, a vital component of today's knowledge economy.

When marketing and elearning collide

This morning I came across Apple's elearning when reading a blog entry called elearning is selling. I tend to agree with the opinion put forth in the blog. Today, people don't want to waste time being 'sold'. Consumers are smart and they know what they want. Show the the goods, how to use them, and let buyers decide is a better approach to marketing communication. I predict that marketing and elearning will increasingly collide as consumers seek answers to questions they have prior to buying a product or service.

I wanted to showcase this example of instructional design. I particularly like the way each short topic-based video clip appears as a graphic because the mind can simultaneously see both the specific topic and what they will learn as a whole. A suggestion would be to include the time in the lower right hand corner, e.g., 30 sec, to give the viewer an idea of how long each clip is.

This is an appealing way to present the content. The layout of the videos takes into consideration the fact that we recognize objects more quickly in patterns than in lines or lists. For example, if you place many marbles side by side in a line it is more difficult to accurately estimate the number than if they are separated into a polygonal or hexagonal shapes. With patterns, our mind makes a visual connection to the whole and can more easily break it down into parts. Any other thoughts you have on the instructional design of this example?

Addressing engagement in elearning

The author of the Courseware Development blog posted an interesting entry about the challenges of keeping people engaged in elearning. In addition to the bang-on comments of other readers found there, I'd like to add two that I think are important to capturing attention:

1. Addressing the WIFM (what's in it for me) factor
2. Applying the psychology of change management (refer to Michael Allen's sage advice found on his website here)

For #1, corporate sponsorship of any large elearning rollout is critical. People think - if this is important to management, I probably need to pay attention. Making the learning as engaging as possible and addressing cognitive load are also key factors.

For #2, Mr. Allen deals with the psychology of change management, which is often overlooked in our field. Since much of our elearning material aims to change a situation in business, e.g., reducing workplace hazards, improving compliance, increasing sales, it is important to consider learners' current perception of the need to change. If the perception is that the status quo is fine, there will be limited interest in more training. In such cases, deal with the perception first and, as people see how their lack of knowledge fits into the larger picture, they will be more motivated and receptive to learning. Mr.Allen has a number of resourceful webinars and interviews on his site that address this topic and others like it.

Since I already added the above thoughts in the comments section of the original post, you might want to go there to add any comments you have.

Instructional design in virtual worlds

This image (click to enlarge) was taken at the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) location in Second Life (SL). I found it was an effective instructional design example and wanted to post it on my blog. It is strategically placed when you arrive at the ASTD headquarters in SL so that, as a first-timer, you can quickly get up to speed and start making your way around in SL. This makes me think about my profession and whether there are different techniques for improving technical communication in a virtual world.

As a member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and working as an instructional designer for online learning, I've often seen the overlap between the two fields. Most of the people I know in the technical communication field specialize in writing. I think as more people go online for learning and training, the shift toward more visual instruction is necessary. Why? It is too difficult to sit and read large amounts of text while staring at a screen for long periods of time. I'd like to see an area of training develop on how to best instruct for virtual worlds. I will definitely continue exploring this while I build training there. I would also welcome any tips, books or links anyone would like to share on how to improve instruction in SL.

Podcast tip #1: Level out sound using GigaVox Levelator

A useful technique for capturing subject matter expertise is to record an interview. This can provide an invaluable resource to go over if you will be producing any instructional content on a topic. There might be times when you will want to broadcast the interviews as a podcast to your learners and would like to improve the quality of the sound. Here is a short (1.5 minute) demo showing a free tool called the GigaVox levelator that improves the sound quality by leveling out different volumes of two or more speakers.

How Do you Teach People about Hardware and Software?

I saw this on another blog, and had to send it to my husband, who works in IT, and share it here. A funny plug for the usefulness of screencast demos.