Corporate Podcasting Expressway

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There is more to eLearning…
Many commentators on eLearning suggest that Blended learning is key.
However, what about complementary corporate assets such as Corporate Podcasts or even case-study packs.
This week we look at how standards work and also the core concepts behind Learning Management Systems.

Popularity: 9% [?]

The latest Know-wow show is now available through i-tunes and over the next few days through Videopodcasts.TV

This month we outline a number of Learning management Strategies.
In addition, we discuss the concept of eLearning learning objects and how they can be applied to core learning initiatives.

NB this podcast can also be downloaded onto your video ipod.

Popularity: 42% [?]

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In part 1 We look at effective strategies for implementing e-Learning programmes

Part 2 outlines the concept of Content Remediation and associated project tips.

The latter, Content Remediation is an interesting area as it involves re-visting your corporate content, for example, if new compliance training is required, when corporate competencies change or even when a company has to change due to a takeover or merger.

Feedback, as always, is most welcome.

Popularity: 50% [?]

Recently I was asked about the issue of content remediation.
Surprisingly there is limited information on this subject.

Therefore, I suggested and developed the following approach…

There are a number of reasons why an organisation would wish to perform content remediation, especially in the context of learning content. Firstly, to update courses, for example, due to compliance issues or because a learning management system’s (LMS) core functionality has changed. Or, to rationalise, harmonise or refine skills. The latter, could be due to a change in course structure or awareness of synergies between different courses, i.e: gaining greater value by bringing them together. This is natural as over time it can surface that new improvements can be achieved post experience. Sometimes companies change and that may mean new core-competency frameworks have to be put in place.

A typical approach for content remediation project would be to:

* Define players
* Define project scope
* Understand internal expectations
* Review the possibility to structure the project into phases
* Create a contact list
* Assemble project dashboard items (inc: capturing success criteria)

Organisational
* Structure plans
* Create timelines showing milestone markers
* Categorise issues
* Run a risk analysis workshop
* Establish Risk and issue log

Technical
* Perform a technical analysis (inc: risk assessment)
* Categorise as many content areas as possible, both initially and and on-route
* Develop a content matrix with the following initial headings:

- New
- Conversion (low, medium, high or re-develop)
- Reusable
- Update needed
- Screens version code
- Assessment data parsing capability
- Replace audio?
- Use web 2.0 features to enhance - Opportunities
- Re-record audio / video and then check the Learning Management system to understand if it can include podcast versions of these media types.
- Check for Packaging compliance - especially important for SCORM integration.
- Build a cross-reference document to document exactly what changes have been performed on the content.
- Accessibility Reviewed Y/N?
- Estimated cost of conversion
- Components to be changed (state content type and time per item)
* For example, building a Priority Course list for cleansing or conversion. The latter matrix could be used in conjunction with a 3rd party vendor to assess their capability of actually delivering each course for conversion.
* Build a test lab (need to spec this first!)
* Immediate skills assessment of 3rd party provider(s)
* Agree SLA with the latter
* Pilot a series of course’s to identify the most common migration  issues.

Team Assembly
* Identify roles
* Lobby strategy for Project board (Strategic Advisory Team)
* Suggest stakeholders for Project Assurance Team (Business, Technical & User assurers)
* Define reporting structure / schedule

Project specific
* Agree a project brief
* Agree a project approach (Specs, documentation and remediation approach)
* Commence Project initiation with agreed stage charts
* Agree PRINCE 2 products
* Agree signoff criteria
* Agree plan & update process
* Assemble a project support office (sized as required)

Finally, as per most project it is important to phase expectations to achievements!
To help the latter, a wiki could be set-up as a bridge between content cleansers, developers and user acceptance test personnel. Wiki’s are great for informing progress.

Popularity: 58% [?]

In the United Kingdom over the next few years the school leaver age will change from 16 to 18.
In addition, new courses will be offered, for example the IT Diploma.

I’ve been asked to join one of the course design teams as an advisor - a great honour for me.

To provide some context, the following is an extract from an interview that was recorded last week:

Q3. Do you consider the Specialised Diploma in IT is a good opportunity for students?

Dr Savi - Yes, if delivered with support from business, upon completion it should offer potential employers students with greater business acumen.

Q4. Do you agree that employers have a vital part to play in the development and support for the Specialised Diplomas?

Dr Savi - There are two points I’d like to make. Firstly, if we define the term development as verifying course content, then the Diploma can ‘open-up’ typical areas that I’ve found are not fully addressed on many other courses, for example: business etiquette, understanding emergent strategies and the political context of developing business solutions with many stake holders. Secondly, often the route of many publicised project failure’s has been the apparent the lack of planning skills or seriousness given to understanding initial requirements. Therefore, enriching the course to include areas such as project definition and the sign off of IT deliverables against key satisfaction criteria could really help our industry.

Q5. What is your vision for the future the workplace and the new skills that young people will need to maintain their competitiveness in a global economy?

Dr Savi - With the development of exciting new networking sites (social media – Web2.0), for example, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and CurrentTV (viewer created content, also known as VC2), future technologies will emerge to create what is known as ‘Mash-up’ solutions (Web 3.0 !), e.g: Mobile computing will create opportunities to surf the web to shop and then automatically guide you to the nearest outlet. From a global perspective this means that although support boundaries will change there will still be a requirement for greater local infrastructure, smarter support systems and a whole new array of services. This means lots of variety for roles in the IT sector.

Many thanks for agreeing to take part in this interview.
Dr Savi - It was a pleasure. As a company ethic we strongly believe in sharing knowledge, my blog is www.drsavi.com  please pop by for a visit!

Popularity: 26% [?]

Wikipedia defines Pedagogy as the art or science of being a teacher, generally refering to strategies of instruction. In addition, instructional design is defined as the practice of arranging media to help learners and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively.

I’m currently working on an e-Learning development and I found some nice pointers on eLearning design. The whole arena of instructional design is big!

I have summarised some of the e-Learning Instructional Design pointers below:

• The learning objectives stated clearly for the benefit of tutor(s) and for independent learners within both the material and the tutor documentation.
• The content should take the learner from the known to the new learning in appropriately sized / structured stages.
• The content should follow a clear strategy to achieve learning but need not be linear in design; a didactic approach to learning and the development of electronic page turning should be avoided.
• With regard to the latter, bite-sized chunks helps but in terms of breaking down the content into several leaves, requires good navigation techniques. For example, my company are working on a large eLearning development programme for one of the largest colleges in the UK and the first thing we have done is to ensure an agreed standard for layout and subject structuring. We’ve chosen learning objects rather than clumping all the learning content into one place.
• The content should help the learner to reflect on, review and digest new learning and not just regurgitate facts.  I’ve introduced the concept of ’show, try and summarise’
• The content should test performance to see if learning objectives have been met. This should not be limited to multiple choice questions and similar devices but should comprise a range of techniques. One could also introduce tests or content for reflection and self analysis.
• With regard to the latter, recently, I’ve added a cross-reference back to a syllabus to check to see if learning content does actually match what was just attempted to have been taught.
• The material should motivate the learner.
• The design should stimulate responses from the learner.
• The content should demonstrate how new knowledge and skills can be applied to real problems and situations.
• The materials should include activities for the learner and keep the learner involved – they should generate a desire in the user to learn and to continue to completion.
• The materials should provide a variety of strategies to accommodate different preferences in learning style.
• The language should be appropriate for the target audience.
• The materials should provide useful and supportive feedback based on the learners responses.
• Media (eg. video clips, sound files, animations) should be appropriate to the learning objectives and not be used gratuitously.
• The materials should provide appropriate help facilities for the learner.
• The content should be accurate, valid, up-to-date and without errors.

All-in-all a range of advice but the element of creativity is also essential. This also needs to be combined with understanding the audience. Cartoon’s do not always work but from experience I believe that story telling does.

One final point, accessibility is key for ensuring for example equality. For example, with deaf learners I remember meeting with Deafax. There are some great techniques, for example, when displaying text, following it with additional text in brackets can help to exert the word.

Extending / Formalising Off-line discussion
This is another area of learning that I believe is under utilised.
To a client I once introduced the concept of the ‘Course Home page’. Interestingly, this concept does actually exist inside products such as Blackboard, i.e: establishing related learning resources combined with a discussion forum.  Can student Blogs help?

Imagine what happens in a class-room, both pre and post the teaching session. In their own way students ask questions of each other, relating to homework/coursework or challenges. A forum is a good way to continue these discussions but on-line.

Podcasting and e-Learning
I noticed on a release of Blackboard that we’re working with that Podcasting can be incorporated. I assume this to be a summary of the lecture, say a recording of what took place. Way back (2-3 years ago - a long time in technology innovation terms!) I remember articles being circulated about Universities giving away IPODs to students to encourage them to listen / revise lectures. In terms of instructional design I wonder how much effort goes into the structuring and scheduling of each episode. For example, do they:

Use a standard format ?
Assume that all listener have portable units?
Use some of the instructional design pointers I listed above?
Serve as more than being just a gimmick?
Introduce an element of accessibility (sign-lanuage for video podcasts)?

Popularity: 28% [?]

A few years ago I was invited to a Business Exchange type of networking event - an event where there is hope that a lot of business folks can get together and hopefully help each other out in winning business or developing new strategies / synergies for products/services. It was held at a rather nice hotel, i.e.: what they (the hotel) describe as one of the finest hotels in London / the world - The Langham. With champagne and freshly squeezed orange juice ‘laid on’, together with hors d’oeuvre’s of all shapes and sizes - so were the attendees!
I probably didn’t know what to expect as the way the event had been described to me was very different to what it turned out to be. Upon arrival we were led to the hotel’s grand hall. Waiters rushed backwards and forwards ensuring that upon entry each entrant was supplied with a glass of his/her chosen damage. In front of me was a sea of dark suits, both men and women engaged in filling the hall with the sounds of rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb… With a glass in one hand and a plate of mini quiche’s in the other I walked towards bunches of people in a hope to contribute at an appropriate point of interlude.
One group was busy discussing the power of quality procedures, another on how financial management (cash flow et al) is important and another discussing financial management arrangements. It then dawned on me that most of the conversations were being led by financial and legal consultants who would typically emerge from the right hand side of the hall and ‘net’ individuals within their vocal grasp. I remember being financially propositioned (in a ‘would you be interested in a business loan’ manner) at least twice. In addition, being introduced to at least two legal experts, ceremonially leaving their cards with me on departure.
Another example is a recent conference that I was talking to one of the organisers about. At one point I have to admit that I got the impression that they (the organiser) had already made up their mind about who was important enough to present, chair or lead specific sessions - almost an ‘I’m in with the in crowd and I know where the in crowd goes’! Hey! I’m not afraid of clique’s but what I worry about is the danger of the creation of an exclusive club - a star chamber!
OK, maybe what I have described is not typical of what happens at all these events and I have had described to me lots of similar events where guest speakers pitch their services and there really is potential to engage in valuable debate around gaining new clients, together with identifying possible synergies - some regional and others national. Maybe I just had a bad experience but I hold out hope for the power of Web 2.0 and its potential to connect people in a non-threatening way and through sensible discussion (and equality). Most of all without boundaries or subversive control.
Interestingly, a year ago if one typed ‘Corporate podcasting’ into Google, hardly a handful of contributions emerged - Try the same today and then analyse what is going on. Is there a dominance of selective players? You decide and also consider what is leading it…
With social media people can exhibit their personal creativity, share thoughts and record activities, assuming of course that they know how to use the required/necessary online tools. This raises the question of whether those that are more technically savvy have an unfair advantage?
For example, I remember delivering an eLearning project for over 3,000 people at the UK Department of Health. I also pioneered the development of a concept called, ‘the aged learner’ (no not old learners!) that focused on looking at candidates that had not connected to the online system for more than 30, 60 or 90 days - similar to financial aged debtors. The point being, that technology for online learning was available, yet penetration and eventual completion was 10% and 5% respectively. This implies that although tools are available, take-up is limited due to factors such as time. What did work was the power of combining face-to-face and online learning - blended approaches. The latter was extremely hardwork from a logistical perspective.
Social media offers more that traditional online communication. NB PhP based forums such as BBPHP and even earlier Bulletin boards have been around for a while. However, Web 2.0 offers interactivity through RSS and greater chances for referencing.
If we take lessons from the example that I gave and created a blended networking infrastructure, then there maybe a chance that new and real business opportunities can emerge, niches can be identified, true friendship can emerge and less food can be wasted!

Popularity: 23% [?]