C2 Workshop's E-Learning Blog

E-Learning: SCORM

“The course is SCORM complaint, right? Awright… Let’s release it.”

I’ve been exposed to this question for quite a while now. It’s almost a routine that I’ve almost got used to. But, then… that cannot be, I told myself in one of those self-candid moments.

Need to know – or, learn, should I say?? - how the whole thing works... more so, when this happens to be a critical factor in influencing an e-learning experience.
 
And, this is what I learnt.

As an instructional designer, I go about creating an e-learning course by plugging in all the necessary ingredients... ID models, graphic components, voiceovers, knowledge checks. I am told this is a SCO. A sharable content object. The content that could be shared with so many people, at the same time. Wonderful! Awright.

Cut to the scene of a group of learners in various corners of the world, looking at the material, on their respective Learning Management Systems (LMSs). A natural progression! 

Now, the question is... how do they get to see the content as a course, with all those navigation features enabled, get feedback on their knowledge check attempts, get their score, and even get their certification? What happens in between my creating the course and their getting their experience out of it?

There should be a common standard that ensures the SCO and the LMS work with each other. It’s like my purchasing an audio CD and playing it in my music system. What makes both these compatible with each other? The audio CD is designed for the same standard which the music system is also made for. So, there is a synergy.

Something similar to this – though not exactly the same – is what happens with my SCO and the LMS. And, the standard is SCORM. Sharable Content Object Reference Model. Great!

It is called a Reference Model, because they say, it only references on various standards that have been floating around in the industry and tells developers how to make best use of them. 
 
But, the truth is, SCORM is, for all practices, a standard by itself.

In addition to all that it has been doing so far, it has come up with a brand new version of itself... Tin Can API.

Something that will keep the ID in me, hooked for a long, long time to come.

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

Images FOR e-Learning!

One of those things to have gate-crashed into the super-fast evolutionary track is photography.

Having been into professional photography myself for almost seven years, I’ve seen it metamorphosing from being a conventional film technology into a digital avatar, almost overnight. Suddenly gone were the days when one had to ‘process’ a film into a negative that would, in turn, get processed into polaroids. 

These days, the images are counted in megapixels and get transported as files. Quite a transformation indeed!

And, what a rub-off it has had on a seemingly far-off subject like e-learning! I’m amazed at the speed with which visuals could get plugged into courses, thanks to the proliferation of stock-images!

But, as they say, there is no capping the ‘eternal’ needs. Some of them are perfectly justifiable, as in the case of e-learning. What if I have a story to tell, with the same characters having to appear frame after frame, with different expressions? Where do I source such images from? The usual stock-image websites are nowhere close to fulfilling this need of mine.

This dire strait, therefore, mothers sites like elearningArt that give me sequential images for different contexts. Perfect! Not just that, they give me templates for various platforms like Powerpoint, Captivate, etc. The pampering gets complete, with them giving me background templates that I could use, to create relevant backdrops for my courses. Sounds out-of-the-world, really!

Now, what is waiting to be tapped into, is the creative take on the whole thing... arresting e-learning courses that learners could lap up!

That nudges the ball back into my court. Voila!     

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

E-Learning: Social Conversational Partner!

This term Social Conversational Partner jumped at me in one of my casual ‘flip-throughs’ on the net. Nudged by curiosity, I sat up and took notice of its implications. Interesting!

Would I take to someone whose voice is laced with a pompous tone? Would I yack with a dude who sounds so official in a weekend party? Could a dim character evoke an active interest in me?

All these questions would have answers unanimously resonating in the negative. Simple! No ‘subjective’ contexts here!

Now, coming back to the Social Conversational Partner! Clark and Mayor state that ‘personalisation induces learners to engage with the computer as a social conversational partner’.

The e-learning course we produce, ‘speaks’ to the learner, and is supposed to hold the attention, say, for 60 minutes. Should not the tone of the voice be just right, to keep the learner hooked? Anything other than this – belonging to any of the territories we discussed above – is sure to have the learner cringe away from the course... forever.

Now, if done right, the whole thing becomes a holistic deal, complemented by the right style of writing, visuals, and even the font(s).

It would be like raising the toast to the learner, basically!

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

Who Could Be An Instructional Designer?

Wonder what you could do with your passion for writing? Wonder if you could convert it into a promising career? This video is for you. Check it out...

 

MSTP for E-Learning: Parallelism

There is a beauty in these railway tracks.

It’s not just about the scenic landscapes they take us through, but the way they are structured too. The mathematical precision behind their ‘parallel’ architecture is what gives traction to the long, serpentine body of the train to slide over them at tremendous speed. Imagine a micrometer deviation in the architecture. You don’t need to fancy the consequence.

The lack of parallelism in the language – especially when we design e-learning courses - may not spell catastrophe of such enormous proportions. But, it definitely crucifies the beauty of aesthetics. For sure.

Consider this. “The Search command on the Start menu locates the document, and you can then open it. Double-clicking a document icon opens a document” vis-à-vis “Use the Search command on the Start menu to locate the document, and then open it. Double-click the document icon to open a document.” This is about parallelism in lists.

Now, consider this. “Clicking Start, you point to Settings, and then click Printers. In the Printers window, the printer that you want to share should be selected. On the File menu, click Sharing.” vis-à-vis “Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers. In the Printers window, click the printer that you want to share. On the File menu, click Sharing.” This is about parallelism in procedures.

And, consider this. “The User’s Guide contains common tasks, visual overviews, a catalog of features, and illustrated glossary of terms.” vis-à-vis “The User’s Guide contains common tasks, visual overviews, a catalog of features, and an illustrated glossary of terms.” (Parallel objects, with the articles added.) This is about parallelism in sentences.

As we can see, MSTP wonderfully articulates the effect parallelism could have on the sentence constructs. “Parallelism is ensuring that elements of sentences that are similar in purpose are also similar in structure. Parallel structures enhance readability by making the content more predictable. If, for instance, the first item in a list begins with an imperative verb, all the items in the list should begin with an imperative verb.”

Going by MSTP’s remarkable delineation on Parallelism, we could see that the grace of the language cruising on the rails of parallelism is the same as that of the train sliding on its tracks.  

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

MSTP for E-Learning: Anthropomorphism!

How vividly I remember the awe-inspiring impact such wizard characters had on my psyche, when I was a kid! Especially those creations of J.R.R. Tolkien! They would take me along to an ethereal world and let me ‘live’ with them.

Back to the real world and I accost the wizard in a different avatar. As a computer terminology! How is that? Where is the connect? I scratch the surface a little bit… I see it is Anthropomorphism that is at work. Attributing human characteristics or behavior to things that are not human!

Wizard, in this particular case… A ‘user interface’ or an ‘application programming interface’ that is supposed to guide the learner, is metaphorically anthropomorphized into a wizard.

Metaphor has its charm. My connecting to something new, becomes much easier when it is presented to me on lines of something else that I am completely familiar with. Sounds poetic! The technical matter presented in a relatable format!

“But, be on the watch out”, cautions the MSTP. “Anthropomorphism could often be the result of an imprecise or incomplete understanding of the topic at hand.” Not just that. “Not all readers would grasp the limits of the metaphor. Further, anthropomorphic metaphors may be interpreted differently by people from different cultures.” For instance, “a child object is said to inherit attributes from its parent or ancestors” could as well be a nightmare for an ill-informed learner.

At the end of the whole thing, the lesson I take home is this. While metaphor has its pluses, it nevertheless needs to be employed with utmost care, keeping in mind the learner’s sensitivities.

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

MSTP for E-Learning: Easy & Fun? Maybe Not!

There is a Buddha in all of us. Kindness galore, when we try to impart knowledge to others. “Hey, don’t you worry, awright?! This is so simple you’ll love doing it.”

Perfect! This really works big time. Psychology! It’s the best way to motivate someone to learn without much fuss.

But, it works just the other way round for me. I always find myself stumped when I get to hear such so called motivational words. I find myself reacting, “Easy, did you say? Really? But, I don’t find it so.” Even before I could finish uttering these words, I find a sense of inferiority complex sneaking its way into me like a virus and corrupting the entire intellectual ecosystem – whatever little I have of it.

“Whatever is easy for you need not be easy for me, for heaven’s sake”, I feel like saying. But, having been endowed with a weak intellect, I can’t dare to express myself and so I keep me to myself. 

But, this is where I find the savior coming in, in the form of MSTP. I feel excited and almost jump in happiness, when I read, “Avoid overusing subjective terms such as easy, fast, fun, and so on. If we say something is easy and the user finds it hard, we’ve risked alienating them. Being told over and over how easy and fun something is, can lead to distrust. Instead, demonstrate that something is easy or fun.”

To me, this is nectar, for I identify with these words so much. Not just that… being an instructional designer – and, a very humane one at that – I can’t wait to apply this philosophy in my writing with 100% conviction.

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

E-Learning & Angry Birds

Back in 2009, Rovio, the Finnish developer of computer games run by brothers Mikael and Niklas Hed, was close to bankruptcy. Faced with a crisis, the brothers had to come up with “the perfect game, do every other little thing exactly right, and keep on doing it.” And one day in March, they happened to do exactly that. They developed a screenshot which showed a flock of wingless, fat, and mighty cross-looking birds, pottering towards a stack of blocks.

About eight months later, following zillion changes, "and after almost abandoning the project, Niklas watched his mother burn a Christmas turkey, distracted by playing the finished game. "She doesn't play any games. I realised: this is it.""

The name of the game? Angry Birds!

So what is the game about, considering:

1. Angry Birds has been downloaded in excess of 500 million times.

2. Every day, people spend 200 million minutes playing the game.

3. Eight out of ten people who have played the game will continue to download updates.

4. It has sold in excess of 12 million copies in the App Store.

5. It is the best selling paid app till date.

6. Justin Beiber, David Cameron, and Salman Rushdie are fans.

Here’s the plot: Pigs steal birds’ eggs. Birds become cross. Birds want eggs back. Birds embark on mission to win eggs back. Angry-as-hell birds launch themselves (…you have to do this bit) from slingshots, catapults, and what-have-you medieval launchers into the pigs’ fortresses, bringing them crashing down.

Silly you say. But the point is, anyone who’s played Angry Birds knows it is a very “addictive, clever and challenging puzzler.” Like a love drug. Tommy rot you say, considering it’s all about angry finches and green pigs giving the dodge. Not quite, given that it does provide valuable insights to Instructional Designers on how to make their e-learning programs equally sticky in appeal!

Now, before you baulk and say that launching birds at greedy pigs is NOT the same thing as teaching a skill, here’s a look at what makes Angry Birds tick. 

IT'S EASY TO PLAYAngry Birds has a simple interface which is extremely user friendly. All that gamers have to do is press “Play” and they are on… Even first-time users do not require detailed “How to” instructions and pages of screen heavy content to teach them how to correctly angle the birds at the pigs. There is just a small graphic that explains the motivation as to why you really need to do the pigs in. The rest follows as you play the game.

Point to Ponder: E-learning programs should try and make their tasks equally easy to start. And NO content-heavy user instructions.

THE TASK GETS COMPLICATED GRADUALLYWhen we learn, we first acquire a basic skill, then an intermediate skill, finally moving on to an advanced skill. Angry Birds follows the same pattern.

So at the start of the game you get to launch the simplest red bird at the pigs’ bastions. Once you clear levels, the playing field’s complexity intensifies, requiring you to use the basic red bird more dextrously. So you keep on clearing several levels till you become adept at using this bird, and it is only then that additional new birds with special abilities appear which require greater skill to play. This structure is carried forward through the next levels, so that you remain consistently engaged and motivated.

Point to ponder: Do e-learning programs reflect paced learning?

IT'S EASY TO SPRING BACK FROM FAILUREThere’s no one way to play Angry Birds. Players can explore options and try different techniques to eliminate the hard-to-destroy swines (considering the game was developed right after swine-flu swamped the world!) and advance to the next level. So, by following a trial and error method, players learn to navigate through the levels… maybe 120 in all. So the basic structure is learning on the go… to understand what worked well and what didn’t, and then play again with your newfound perspective. Even if your birds get defeated, pressing the “Undo” button will get you set to go at the pigs again, because your losses are not tallied at the end of the game score.

Point to Ponder: Can e-learning programs also encourage learning through experimentation? 

IT OFFERS INCENTIVES TO PRACTICEPractice makes perfect. That said, getting learners to practice on their own can be tough. Angry Birds, however, turns this very challenge on its head by motivating players to go back and replay an already cleared level by offering incentives. You see, in Angry Birds, you can pass levels with grades just like in school. So, depending on how you cleared a particular level, you can get either a one-, two-, or three-star rating. This motivates players to go back and again play cleared levels till they master the method.

Point to Ponder: E-learning programs should adopt similar engaging paths toward skill-building.

IT PROVIDES IMMEDIATE AND USEFUL FEEDBACKHurling a finch at a pig requires pondering over varying the angles and force with which to hit the hog. And once you set the bird in motion, you immediately notice the bird’s trajectory path being etched out in dots. So basically, the bird leaves behind a trail. A trail that not only acquaints you with the power of your catapult and the birds, but also teaches you how to avoid making the same mistake next time in case you missed! Immediate feedback it is! (Click here for what makes a great feedback.)

Point to Ponder: Immediate and useful feedback in e-learning programs would make a world of a difference.

IT HAS ITS OWN ECOSYSTEMOne look around, and you will realize Angry Birds has created an ‘ecosystem’ with an awe-inspiring fan following. It’s part of the ‘popular culture’, where gamers interact with each other even outside the game through affinity groups, online chat forums, fan-created sites and so on. And it is into this ‘ecosystem’, that its makers have plugged in to promote its offerings. Fans receive product updates on Facebook, Twitter, and what have you. There is a virtual abandonment of traditional mass media and embracing of the social media driven by Angry Birds consumers. Thus, the interconnectivity of technology, marketing, and culture makes the game instantly accessible and continuously engaging… the reason behind its global adaptation.

Point to Ponder: E-Learning programs could have more visibility among its learners.

So, as evident from above, there is no one reason why Angry Birds is so insanely popular. However, we do realize it follows a logic we are all acquainted with… that any activity should encourage action and decision-making, present sequentially challenging tasks, and award immediate feedback and rewards. No reason why e-learning programs should not be game for the same!

Darn those pigs! Look at what they started!

(Banshori Bhattacharya, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

MSTP for E-Learning: Design the Attitude - Part 2

“Small drops make an ocean”. How true these words are. And, how relevant they are, to our discussion!

Just in case you have landed straight on this part of the discussion, I would request you to check out the previous post, before taking on from here.   

‘Designing the attitude’ carries those small little things that, if taken passionately, could make all the difference to the way an elearning course shapes up.

Take, for instance, our having to feel responsible for the way our words would be perceived by the learners. If they feel they are being ‘dictated’ on what they are learning, we would have lost the very purpose of designing the course.  Consider our telling them, “A free technical support is available when you register with the company” vis-a-vis “You must register with the company to avail free technical support.” It does make a difference, right?

Similarly, inspiring our learners on what they can do – rather than what they cannot - happens to be another important aspect of instructional design. Helping them realize that they have immense opportunities they had not thought of before, is a great way to ensure they learn to their potential. Consider our telling them, “You will find it easy to accomplish these tasks, once you complete these exercises” vis-à-vis “You will not be able to accomplish these tasks, unless you complete these exercises.”

Thirdly, understanding the needs of our learners helps in the way we present our subject… be it a product or a service. It completely shifts the focus from our talking about the product to our helping them with ways to use the product. Consider our telling them, “This product would help you clean the floor in a jiffy” vis-à-vis “This internationally acclaimed brand enjoys the numero uno status in its category.”

These samples of ‘instructional design’ commandments are just indicators of a vast potential lying out there, to be explored and internalized.

More, in the next blog post!

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)

MSTP for E-Learning: Design the Attitude!

One of the things we keep in mind, while scripting the courses on the e-learning format, is the fact that our learners are not going to be with us… in person.

If indeed they are physically around us, we would face them (coming off the e-learning format), smile at them, stand next to them and explain what they do not understand. They would imbibe not just what we tell them, but how we tell them what we tell them. Our body language comes into play, our attitude is there for them to see. So, the connect – or, the absence of it – is perfect.

This is one of the obstacles we instructional designers are up against… having to make up for the physical gap between us and our learners! We succeed in overcoming it, when we focus not just on designing the course, but on designing our attitude towards our learners as well.

Designing our attitude! That sounds interesting. Don’t you think? Now, the question is, ‘How?’

MSTP (Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications).

It tells us, “In addition to providing technically accurate information, we need to convey our trustworthiness, responsibility, empathy, and passion. Style is not just what we say to our users, it’s how we say it. An essential aspect of style is establishing a consistent and friendly voice. Even though the content we produce varies widely depending on audience, subject matter, and intent, it’s important that it share a consistent, recognizable voice.”

And, it goes ahead and compiles a few wonderful pointers for us, on ‘designing the attitude’.

Stay tuned. We will discuss them in our next blog post.

(Nirmal Ranganathan, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)