Where's the partisan tonight?

It has now been more than a year of me noticing a very worrisome trend on my social media timeline - the trend of sever partisan attitudes. Here is a simple algorithm that will easily predict how a partisan person will react for the 4 situations that occur.

For the Party / Person you support

1. If they do something good, post it all over social media.

2. If they do something bad,

    a. Keep quiet. Don't speak a word!

    b. Find a justification of the deed or something to disassociate the deed from the party / person and publicize

    c. Find something bad done by a party / person you don't like and post about that all over social media

For the Party / Person you don't support

3. If the party / person you don't support, does something good

    (What nonsense? A party that I don't support can't do any good)

    a. Find even the smallest of things that are or can be problems in this good thing, magnify them and project that as the evil hidden in the good all over social media.

    b. Find something remotely similar that has been done by the party / person you support, and amplify that saying we did it first - they are only copying

    c. Keep quiet. Don't say anything.

4. If the party / person you don't support, does something bad, this is it - the moment you have been waiting for - go the whole hog, spare no effort to bad-mouth all over social media!

Just because you don't like someone, doesn't mean that the person is capable of no good and just because you like someone, doesn't mean that the person is capable of no bad!

And your posting stuff may or may not change the readers' opinion about the party / person in question, it may change the readers' opinion about you!

Making your IDs say I Do!

In continuation with my previous post, where I had discussed the IDentity Crysis, in this post, I am trying to address the issue of Instructional Designers not staying long enough!

From my experience and discussions with several people in the industry, IDs leave for a variety of reasons, some of which are common across any professions - more pay, personal reasons etc. I would like to focus on the very ID-specific issues that arise:

• Accidental IDs: I entered the field of ID / e-learning in 1994, at which time, it was a newly-born industry, not many had heard of and most of us who joined, did not plan on becoming IDs.In fact, I have rubbed shoulders with a lawyer, a molecular biologist, a hotel management professional, a exercise physiologist, a Harappan researcher - you name it, we had people from all types of professions enter the field of ID. So, it is natural that many of them were here to try this out and obviously, not every one of these will stick on and grow.
• Creative IDs: Then there were the class of people who were highly creative and needed to be engaged in very creative and challenging work all the time. But, that is not always the case  - most of the time, IDs needed to be doing "non-creative" grunge work - copying material from some source files, capturing steps of a software etc. And even if they do get actual creative work, there is the dreaded standards to deal with! And so, this tribe after enduring this for some time, leave to join another organization, hoping that creative work will come their way or change their field completely!
• Managerial IDs: This class of people want to grow either in terms of number of people reporting or in terms of money or both! And in the Indian context, that typically means growing out of the pure ID role and moving in the direction of ID reviews, Managing ID resources or project management. And therefore, we either lose a good ID or we never had a good ID to begin with.

Each of these types need to be addressed and can be addressed...

• The accidental IDs need to be clearly communicated with upfront and one has to take a decision on whether one can afford to have them trained, work for a bit only to leave. There is always the option of understanding what they want to do and see if that can be achieved through an alternate path via the ID route. Conversion is difficult, so you may be better off with a temporary / contractual arrangement, or not taking them on at all!
• Creative IDs are slightly easier to address - again the key is expectation management. Having a good visibility into the type of projects and a fair distribution of creative and non-creative work is one way to go! The other way is to reconcile to the fact that work may always be boring and looks for other ways of unleashing creativity - an official blog, paint the office, conduct team training  / internal workshops etc. Of course, part-timing is another great way to address this - do serious / boring work at office and then do creative stuff on your own time! BTW: Injecting creativity is possible in almost all situations, so more often than not, this issue can be addressed if you yourself or your ID leader has enough experience.
• The managerial IDs can be dealt with in many different ways. The main one is to ensure that experienced IDs are well paid and in order for that it is important to show them the need for IDs to be involved in sales and solution design. Most IDs will be okay mentoring and reviewing other IDs. It is the business and reporting aspect that may make them all jittery! Again, part-timing is a wonderful option here too!

I guess in the next couple of months, I will be able to report back on whether and how I have been able to implement my own suggestions!

The IDentity Crysis

Yes, you read that right! It is about Identity of Instructional Designers (IDs) and it certainly makes me want to cry!!!

When companies decide they need IDs, one is never sure, what it is they want to get done from these IDs. So, before getting into the whole crisis thing, a little bit on Instructional Design. What is it? While there are a myriad different ways in which it is described, I am satisfied to go with the definition I found on Wikipedia:

Instructional Design is the practice of creating "instructional experiences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing."

Please note the following:

• Creating instructional experiences
• Which makes acquisition more efficient, effective and appealing

Now let us see what many Instructional Designers end up doing:

• Convert existing material as is into e-learning: The existing material may be in the form of documents, presentations, or worse video and sometimes just audio! So, the job of an ID is restricted to:
• transcribing text from audio / video
• copy-pasting text from pdf / ppt
• chunking content into screens for pdf
• think up of graphical representation of the topic being taught
• Convert existing material into e-learning with interactivity: Yes, the previous category exists. You might argue that e-learning without any interaction is pointless, but the reality is that to save a few pennies and to get a tick-in-the-box implementation of e-learning, IDs are used for simple conversion. Coming back to this category, here the additional work that the ID does is:
• creates interactions (mostly MCQs) based on the content
• slightly better off - creates some tabbed interactions
• Convert manuals into e-learning: Although, this comes under the general realm of conversion, this requires even more rudimentary skills:
• take every step in the manual and put it up screen-by-screen
• if it is a software manual, then the screen captures are also done by the ID using one of the several capture utilities

I am sure you get the general idea... IDs don't just do conversion you say! Oh! I agree with you, the other thing that is a hit these days is getting IDs to simply create a bank of questions - a whole lot of them - bulk produce questions at break-neck productivity - 5 minutes per question or some such speed.

• Generally skim through the content and think up of as many MCQs as required
• In some cases, think up of some scenarios and then create multiple MCQs by simply changing the variables in the scenario

So, as you can see, hardly any emphasis on creating instructional experiences or anything which ensures efficient, effective and appealing acquisition! Oh, you might get someone to say - get me some jazzy, eye-catching graphics or create a game around this - but that is usually only eye-candy, with hardly any focus on learning!

There is a very small percentage of IDs who are lucky enough to get actual ID work, and I am sure many would agree that even that is not guaranteed all the time. So, many a times, even the most experienced IDs would be gritting their teeth working on some project that is purportedly an ID project.

Refusing non-ID work is the luxury afforded by the lucky few, who don't have bills to pay and mouth to feed. Otherwise, it is an uphill task, trying to convince a stakeholder to go through the full cycle of:

• Analysing what the audience needs
• What are the objectives that need to be fulfilled
• What is the best way of fulfilling these objectives

And only then getting pen to hit paper.

As Instructional Designers, what is it that we can do:

• We need to become evangelists - at least the more senior ones and we need to convince both clients and sales teams that doing the right thing is the profitable thing in the long run
• For this, we need to come out of our shells (a lot of IDs are introverts - sorry about the generalizations) and learn more about the business drivers and customer mindsets. We need to go for more sales meetings and delve deep into the solution designing aspect.

In continuing with what I had written in my last post - Keeping the main thing the main thing,

If we do not know what is the main thing, we will never be able to keep the main thing the main thing

And that is what being aware of the business compulsions and how these can be mitigated through proper use of ID will help creating the virtuous cycle:

• Quality of learning material will improve
• Learners will learn and perform better
• Stakeholders will appreciate the improvement
• Instructional Designers will get more credit
• Instructional Design will emerge as a good career option
• Instructional Designers will get better work to do

A good analogy would be professions like Interior Designing or Fashion Designing, where anyone and everyone including a mason or a tailor would profess to be a designer, but they are not. Similarly, if we do our job diligently and instead of converting content, if we convert stakeholders into believers in Instructional Design, the world will be a more learned place!

So, the next time you do a conversion project:

Don't Convert Content, Convert Stakeholders

The main thing!

I had written earlier about how the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!

So, what is the main thing in an LMS implementation?

It certainly is NOT the technological act of installing the LMS on a server, creating the structure and adding learners. What is the point of having a system that tracks learning, if there is nothing to learn? Which brings us to the next item in the LMS implementation - courses.

At a basic level, courses will be either Instructor Led, which means that the LMS is used simply to track attendance and feedback. So, in this approach, the LMS turns out to be a very expensive attendance and feedback tracking system.

At the next level, we have content dumps - pdfs, videos, slide decks, audio and animations, which are simply uploaded for learners to view. Again, quite an expensive proposition to simply store and run content repositories.

The real impact of an LMS really comes to the fore, only when content is created specifically for self-paced learning, which is packaged for the LMS, so that at least the basic benefits of tracking progress and assessment scores can be achieved. This in turn allows learning administrators to analyse data and trends from real-time learning activities that an LMS is adept at tracking. Therein lies the true value of an LMS.

Therefore, in my view, in an LMS implementation, packaged self-paced learning content is the main thing in an LMS implementation. Without this, the LMS will remain a tool which is used to track attendance and maybe feedback, which in turn will lead to less usage of the LMS.

Which brings me to my next point... When budgeting for an LMS implementation, it is absolutely important to budget for development of content. This budgeting for content development can be either in-house or out-sourced (the quintessential make vs. buy conundrum), which will be dealt with in another post.

Therefore, I submit

Content is King, And that is the Main Thing!!

Oh to learn like a child!

Today is when India celebrates children's day, on the occassion on the birthday of its first Prime Minister, Nehru, who was so fond of children that he was called Chacha Nehru by everyone! (Chacha in Hindi means paternal uncle)

I only thought it apt to post this thought today. As teachers / trainers / coaches, can we make learning enjoyable? As enjoyable as it is for a child? Can we ensure that everyone learns like a child?

CHILD...

Continuous

A child is continuously learning. It learns to rollover on its tummy, then rollback, then turnover and rollback from both sides, then crawl, then stand, then walk, then run!

All of us would have heard the term continuous learning or lifelong learners, but how many of us are indeed lifelong learners? The most important aspect in continuous learning is the presence of milestones. And each milestone should be something that has tangible benefits associated with it. As trainers, we must ensure that our learners are aware of the milestones and what benefit will accrue on achievement of the milestone.

This is where terminal objectives and enabling objectives come in handy.

What is also noteworthy is that a terminal objective will be an enabling objective to some other complex task that the learner can move on to. Once the child learns to run, locomotion does not stop, there is the whole array of jumping, climbing, hopping, somersaulting etc.

Honest

A child is honest in its learning, in both effort and intent.

How many times as both learners and trainers have we experienced people who are at a training (either attending or conducting) for a reason other than to ensure learning.

Without honesty, even the best-designed training will not fulfill its ultimate requirement - that is to ensure learning.

So, when encountered with situations which go against this basic tenet (we just want to reward our employees by sending them on an offsite, and to make it look official, we want a training conducted during that time), what do you need to do? You need to follow your heart and list down the learning implications and ensure that the program being designed is honest and ensures learning.

Remember, every situation can be converted to a learning situation, but not every learning situation doesn't require training!

Intrinsic

A child learns because it wants to from within. It doesn't need any outside stimulation, although that always helps. It wants to crawl and walk because it knows that once it is able to move from one location to another it can get to whatever toy it wants without needing to depend on someone else.

How can we as trainers ensure that what is being taught is grabbed by the learners with an open and eager mind? We need to ensure that the benefit is clearly articulated in a manner that is appealing to the learners. And in order to do so, you need to have a very good understanding of the learners - not just their demographics, but their entire past (how did they get here, what all have they done), present (why are they here) and their future (what do they want to do / achieve).

Here is where audience analysis, complete with environmental conditions come in most handy and if done comprehensively, learners will come seeking learning, which obviously is a wonderful situation to be in.

Lived

Have you ever seen a child who learns something but does not use it? Precisely... Learning has to be lived! Remember the good old school days when subjects were taught just because they were prescribed as part of a syllabus?

Unless, you live what you learn, i.e. you are able to put into practice the knowledge or skill you have gained, it will be very ineffective. Which is where it becomes extremely important to ensure that what is being taught is related to real-life and that the learner is given an opportunity to practice what has been learned immediately.

In fact, what works best is if in real-life the learner can practice what has been learned. In order to achieve this, we need to ensure that we are not mere trainers, but we are completely aligned with the operations teams, where we are able to time the training such that real-life practice is available just after the training.

Delightful

And above all, the learning needs to be enjoyable. And to a large extent, if you have ensured that above four points, a large part of learner delight would have already been achieved.

Learners enjoy learning when they learn new and relevant things in a safe environment. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you are imparting new knowledge or skills, that these knowledge or skills are relevant and of interest to the learner. It is also important that these are imparted in an easy-to-understand manner. So, the language used, the examples given, the interactions used are all pegged at the level of the audience.

The most important point is to ensure that all of these are directed towards ensuring learning and not for any other purpose. What is the point of having a tough assessment, just to prove that the topic is complex? Wouldn't it be better to ensure that the complex topic is clearly understood by as many learners as possible?

Wish you CHILD-like learning!

Whose LMS is it anyway?

Continuing with my earlier post on LMS, I wanted to write about "the main thing", but Manish Mohan's post on What type of CLO are you, inspired me to write this post instead.

So, who does the LMS belong to? Here is a list that might sum up what you would have heard in several organizations.

• L&D: Well,duh! Aren’t we responsible for all learning-related matters? So, the LMS is ours!!!
• HR: Now, wait just a minute. We have this fantastic HRMS and LMS is part of it, so it’s ours!
• IT: You think this system will run on thin air! We control where and how it runs; it’s ours, and if you don’t agree, we’ll remove all your access rights. :)
• Finance: In this day and age, when websites can be made free, we don’t understand why we paid a tonne of money for this system, and it seems we will continue paying more. So, it’s ours; we need to keep a close watch on this!
• Operations: Meh! Who’s going to use this system? Us! Back off now!! It’s ours, and we will use it as we please.
• CEO: I think you are all forgetting, who agreed to this huge investment. It is my baby! I want to showcase it to the board as my idea and I will show what impact it has had on revenue, bottom line etc.

I guess in any organization, who the LMS belongs to, depends on various circumstances and situations specific to that organization. But what is most important is that in order for any LMS implementation to be successful, all involved departments must be in sync, and all three types of CLOs need to be satisfied!

Yell, Yum, Yes!!!

Yes, I am a South Indian, and yes, that is how many South Indians would pronounce LMS (Learning Management System), but that is not what this post is about.

Having interacted with a variety of stakeholders who want to get on the LMS bandwagon, I can broadly categorize them into the following three types.

The Yell type, the Yum type and the Yes type!!!

Yell
These are the ones who make a lot of noise. For them, the LMS is yet another means to publicize the work that they are getting done. Typical things you will hear from the Yell varieties:

• I need to make sure that I can justify to the board / top management etc. the investment that has been made in the LMS.
• How can we ensure that all people are enrolled in the system from day one?
• What kind of reports can be published to show usage?
• We need to populate this with as many courses as we know!

Yum
The yum varieties are those who are looking for the yumminess in the LMS. For them, this is another thing that must look good, feel good and be marketable. Typical things you will hear from the Yum varieties:

• We need the best-in-class LMS. Cost is not a consideration.
• Let's only upload high-end courses. All courses must have plenty of 3D animations, video, multimedia, the works!
• The interface must be customized to suit our company colors etc.
• We must have a learning companion / avtar throughout the course.

Yes

The yes varieties are the ones that we love. They are the ones concerned about the learners and learning! Typical things you will hear from the Yes varieties:

• What type of tracking is available?
• How easy is it for learners to search for courses?
• What types of assessments are available?
• Can learners retake the courses as many times as they want?
• What types of media are supported?

So, while I am sure, as an e-learning professional, you would love to have as many of the Yes varieties as possible, remember that you will come across a mixture of the above. Also, since typically, you will be dealing with multiple people in the same organization, you will find predominant Yells, predominant Yums and predominant Yesses.

The challenge with the Yells and the Yums, is as Stephen Covey would say:

The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing

And in an LMS project, the main thing is to ensure managed learning!!!