GMEL 3: Provide Opportunities for Success

One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."

Like the fox in the fable, early failure or lack of confidence that success is possible in a training program might cause a student to drop out and label the training program “sour.” One of the great challenges of eLearning is to overcome the dropout factor.

Albert Bandura, Stanford University, wrote that behavior corresponds closely to level of self-efficacy change, regardless of the method by which self-efficacy is enhanced. Therefore people that have a bit of success will continue down the path while others that experience failure can give up trying because they seriously doubt that they can do what is required (American Psychologist 1982, 37(2)).

According to Rossert and Chan, an effective eLearning program must provide opportunities for success, not failure or uncertainty (Engaging in the New eLearning). Taking an online course that is difficult and time-consuming and downs’t reinforce that learning is occurring can be discouraging and cause the learner to drop out. If your confidence takes a hit then motivation decreases and involvement will stop. As you design a program, design in ways to nurture self-efficacy in participants. Rather than testing participants to reveal how much they do not know, remind them of related prior knowledge and past successes.

LearningZen provides multiple ways in which this issue can be addressed. Here are some examples:

• LearningZen was designed for the seminar-type course not the 40+ hour university course. By creating smaller courses, students will not get bogged down in a long and consuming course, but have the opportunity for quick success and validation.


• LearningZen provides the educator the opportunity to create post-course exams that are valid with less than a perfect passing score. This allows the student to achieve some success without perfection.


• The educator can allow tests to be taken multiple times in order to allow the student to continue to learn even though the first time through may not have provided the desired results.


• LearningZen will provide pre-tests in order for the student and teacher to see progress from before the course is taken. The pre-test also provides the student with an idea or roadmap to what content is important.


• Tests can be taken open book to allow the student further learning opportunities by reviewing material that may not be remembered.


• LearningZen is ideal for reinforcing concepts taught in the classroom with additional practice and reinforcement of important concepts.

We have watched as educators have used the flexibility of LearningZen to design courses that are very creative in how material is presented. Practice exercises, homework reviews, self-test and review, downloading of sample work, and many other ideas have come out that enhance self-efficacy. These creative solutions will help reduce the dropout rate and improve the learning opportunity for all.

GMEL 2: Making a Vivid Case for Value

NOTE: LearningZen Co-Founder Dennis Phillips is writing a series of blogs with regard to Getting the Most from e-Learning (GMEL) This is number one in the series. The introductory blog can be found in the archives.

One of the great challenges of eLearning is to overcome the dropout factor. In the first article of this series, I discussed the need to create e-Learning content that is perceived as useful. But if the value is not obvious, a vivid case must be made for the course (Engaging in the New eLearning).

The potential student will ask one question that must be answered by the educator: Is this for me? If the answer to that question is not obvious, you will lose your student and the opportunity for learning.

In his book What would Google Do, author Jeff Jarvis states that “one benefit of the distributed, connected university is that students may select teachers. Instructors won’t be able to rest on tenure…but rise on merit.” (p.215) LearningZen provides numerous tools to create fantastic content. However, in reality, a piece of e-learning could include the best graphics, lots of interaction, numerous tests and content written by the most learned subject matter experts, if the learner themselves is not really interested in the topic, that course will more than likely not be completed. (Learning Technologies)

LearningZen provides two methods for vividly stating the case of value for a course. The first is the internal rating system. The course below shows ratings for both the course and the author.

Each and every student that comes to LearningZen and takes a course has the opportunity to rate and comment on both the course and the author. For example, this course and author have been rated.This simple system of 5-stars allows the value of a course to be seen immediately by potential students. This is the same concept that has proven so valuable to trusted vendors on eBay and Amazon. Over time, the best courses and the best instructors will rise to the top and the value will be obvious.

The second feature that allows the user to immediately see value is that LearningZen provides a template for course creation that shows the student right away what is included in the course. You've probably heard the following three sentences before. Though simplistic, they offer great advice.

• Tell your audience what you're going to tell them.
• Tell them.
• Then tell them what you told them.

Here is an example of a course that states the value of the course in the introduction.

This is really a streamlined version of Aristotle's ideas on giving speeches (Presentations), and LearningZen has built the course creator tool around this idea. Each course includes an introduction, the content or chapters and a review or summary. While an Author can certainly choose not to follow this template, the template provides a pattern for showing the value of the course to potential students. Following this template will keep you on track as you prepare your course. It will make your students comfortable and secure because they'll know where you're headed. And it'll help keep you focused as you make your. It will also provide you a means of vividly showing the value in your course.

See more at www.learningzen.com

GMEL 1: eLearning must be Perceived as Useful

NOTE: LearningZen Co-Founder Dennis Phillips is writing a series of blogs with regard to Getting the Most from e-Learning (GMEL) This is number one in the series. The introductory blog can be found in the archives.

A farmer, being on the point of death, wished to be sure that his children would give the same attention to his farm as he himself had given it. He called them to his bedside and said, "My children, there is a great treasure hid in one of my fields." The children, after his death, took their spades and mattocks and carefully dug over every portion of their land. They found no treasure, but the fields repaid their labor by an extraordinary and superabundant crop.

Just like the farmer, we educators want our students to be anxiously engaged in looking for great treasure. In order to do that, we need to create interesting and valuable content. One of the key issues with e-learning is overcoming the high dropout rate. There are no national statistics, but a recent report in the Chronicle for Higher Education found that institutions report dropout rates ranging from 20 to 50 percent for distance learners. And administrators of online courses concur dropout rates are often 10 to 20 percentage points higher in distance offerings than in their face-to-face counterparts (Frankola).

According to a recent white paper (Engaging in the New eLearning) the most important factor in making e-learning effective is the students “must see the value in what is available and what is asked of them—and they must spot that importance swiftly. There is little patience for murky benefits to be revealed in the future.”

Our eLearning programs must have obvious and immediate benefit or we will lose the attention of those we serve with our training. A teacher in a seminar, or a classroom, has a captive audience. The value can come slowly and the educator has multiple opportunities to catch the attention of the student. Not so in e-learning.

At LearningZen, we have addressed this important factor in two ways. The first is the ability to prove that learning has taken place. LearningZen provides a certification to each and every student that completes a course and passes the associated exam. This is one of the distinguishing features of LearningZen. Obviously a certificate is no more valuable than the certifying body. However, if your company or teacher recognizes the certification and places a duly earned certificate in your personnel folder or your report card, that is true value and will encourage you to continue with the course to completion.

The second way that we have addressed this concern is by providing the educators with a plethora of tools to make your courses as rich as possible. Courses that have been published on LearningZen are not just plain HTML text that you might see on Wikipedia or other repositories of information. Rather the educators have been creative in using multiple fonts, text sizes and styles. In addition, courses contain images, audio, video, flash and many other documents. There is really no limitation to the quality and interest that a course can have outside of the educator’s ability and willingness to be creative.

Like the farmer in the fable at the beginning of the blog, I say “There is gold in them there hills!” And we hope our students will diligently search for it. Have fun designing great classes.

See more at http://www.learningzen.com/

Getting the Most from eLearning

The fable is told of a crow that was perishing with thirst. As he flew over the countryside he saw a pitcher, and hoping to find water, flew to it with delight. When he reached it, he discovered to his grief that it contained so little water that he could not possibly get at it. He tried everything he could think of to reach the water, but all his efforts were in vain. At last he collected as many pebbles as he could carry and dropped them one by one with his beak into the pitcher, until he brought the water within his reach and thus saved his life.

For those that are responsible for training and development, we know that there are a plethora of e-learning tools available for use. We have social networking, wikis, twitter, blogs, learning management systems, virtual environments, and the list goes on and on. We literally can see the water at the bottom of the pitcher and know that it will quench our thirst if we could just get at it.

But having access to the water and knowing how to drink it is a different story. We can deliver training and information at will but is it effective and will it “quench the thirst?” I recently read a white paper written by Allison Rossett, long-time professor of educational technology at San Diego State University and Antonia Chan, a Fulbright scholar from Panama. You can find the white paper at Engaging in the New eLearning. In the paper, the authors discuss what we can do to make our e-learning efforts effective. They outline 12 different factors to consider when creating courses or programs. I think these are the pebbles that if used, will allow your content to quench the thirst for effective e-learning. They are:

1. The e-Learning must be perceived as useful by participants.


2. If value is not obvious, a vivid case must be made.


3. The program must provide opportunities for success, not failure or uncertainty.


4. Make it real.


5. Since the new e-Learning relies on involvement and generosity, reveal what that participation might look like.


6. Make it active and thoughtful.


7. Showcase people, emotions, and successes.


8. Guide and track participants.


9. Situate e-Learning within a blend.


10. Make relationships, collaboration, and teaming a part of the effort.


11. Make it WOW.


12. Measure and continuously improve.

We have seen numerous courses published in LearningZen. At last count, we were over 90 courses with at least twice that in some stage of development. I have created many courses myself some better than others. In my efforts, I have found several tricks that can perhaps assist you in creation of effective content. Over the next few weeks, I will share with you examples of courses and techniques that address each of these 12 points listed above. We realize that creation of content is really the difficult and talent driven task associated with LearningZen and want to do our best to provide resources that will allow you to use this tool to create effective e-learning.

Change

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. (Henri Louis Bergeson )

It is a commentary on my life these days that you find me mentioning change frequently in my posts. But as Bergeson said, maturing is an endless process of creating oneself. Perhaps the real pain is in resisting the change.

I watch as all around me change also.

• Good friends grow old and pass on. It is sad to say goodbye, but my life has been enriched by knowing great people and they will not be forgotten.
• My family grows with new additions and though there is an adjustment, it is well worth it.
• I am moved from one position to another within my church community and the number that I can now serve increases though the time spent with old friends shrinks a bit.
• The company evolves and needs that I take on a different role with new challenges and new responsibilities.

It’s all good, as they say, and all a part of creating oneself endlessly. The exciting part is that I have no idea where the creating will lead. It is very difficult to picture exactly what the finished product will look like. But it is very easy to see that the work in process is better than originally thought. Thank Heavens!

For the freedom and opportunity to continue to do things, associate with those, and participate in activities that I truly love, I express divine gratitude. Bring on the change, I love the challenge!

Viral LearningZen

I am getting quite an education in viral marketing. For those that are new to that expression, here is the Wikipedia definition: The buzzwords viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. (Viral Marketing from Wikipedia )

As you may know, Gold Systems has launched a new website that is promoting and building an educational community. I won’t go into all of the details here (although you can find them at http://www.learningzen.com/ ) but suffice it to say that we are currently promoting it through viral methods.

We have some very savvy people on our staff that are helping this member of the older generation to understand and play in the sandbox. I have learned all about facebook, digit, reddit, stumbledupon, and Linkedin. Those are some very powerful social networking sites. I have yet to be asked to get involved in twitter or to tweet someone, but I am sure it is on the list of things to do. And I have never blogged so much in my life. I find that to be the most pleasant part of my assignment as I truly like to share my thoughts and experiences.

Two other marketing methods that we employed are more in line with traditional promotions. The first was to actually put some signage on our Washington DC office. Our office is on Florida Avenue in the Northwest quadrant of DC. It is between the Dupont Circle and the Adams Morgan areas. There is a ton of foot traffic and I was very pleased that as people walked by, they stopped to take note of the new sign. One lady stopped to write down the information. I decided to introduce myself and went outside and learned that she is a teacher in Washington DC and wanted to know what the “Learning Revolution” was all about. I gave her my card and asked her to visit us online. Very cool!

The second more traditional method is that we have also created some rather plain t-shirts with the url http://www.learningzen.com/ printed on the front. The most appealing characteristic of the t-shirt is the bright yellow color. I have been told that yellow is one of my best colors. So I like the t-shirt. I decided that I would get lots of marketing in Washington DC by proudly wearing my bright yellow t-shirt. I have included a few pictures just so that you know that the LearningZen t-shirt has been in a few popular places in DC.

I am looking forward to my continued education in viral marketing. If you get an email, tweet, or facebook note from me and it seems to be out of place, I beg your forgiveness. Better yet, instruct me on what I can do to better fit in this wonderful web 2.0 world that we now live in.

On the Shoulders of Giants

"Who sees further a dwarf or a giant? Surely a giant for his eyes are situated at a higher level than those of the dwarf. But if the dwarf is placed on the shoulders of the giant who sees further? ... So too we are dwarfs astride the shoulders of giants. We master their wisdom and move beyond it. Due to their wisdom we grow wise and are able to say all that we say, but not because we are greater than they" (Wikipedia on June 7, 2009)

My family is in the midst of a week-long exploration of our nation's capitol. We are re-discovering Washington DC. For my son, Andy, this is his first time to this cradle of American History. He took the red-eye special from Los Angeles and arrived at noon yesterday, chomping at the bit. So we went to the two most impressive structures in DC; the Washington Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

This was my first time inside the Washington Memorial. The view was incredible and the structure awesome. As we descended in the elevator, the park ranger slowed to allow us to see what we were missing, namely the myriad of plaques honoring the Father of our Country. What a shame that we could not continue to enjoy those tributes due to the acts of a few individuals.

But the most impressive and touching memorial on the mall, and the simplest, is the Lincoln Memorial. This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of this great man's birth. I am sure we will see many more exhibits honoring him. But I cannot help but be touched as I enter the Lincoln Memorial, see this great man and then read his inspired words.

I start with the Gettysburg Address on the left. I am choked up by the sacrifice of the soldiers that fought in the Civil War. They gave the ultimate sacrifice not against some invading horde but against thier brothers. I can't say it better than Honest Abe; "from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government : of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Gettysburg Address)

I then walked to the right side of the memorial and read again the words of the second inaguaral address. And this time, the words mean even more to me. Perhaps it is a sign on our time, but I was touched by these words: "It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing thier bread from the sweat of othermen's faces but let us judge not that we be not judged."

Two great principles that I learn from that simple statement.

• First that we shuld be responsible for ourselves and do the work needed to succeed on our own.
• Second, that we should not judge our brother, even in the most obvious of errors or ommissions.

I am humbled and grateful to have the shoulders of our forefathers an which to stand. If we choose to ignore thier wisdom, then we will be dwarves; straining to see the rising sun from the depths of the gully, when we could be standing on the shoulder's of giants and enjoying the beautiful dawn.