Dump the-drone-easy-steps-to-livelier-elearning-1201324532943289-5

Dump the DroneEasy Steps to Livelier Elearning ElearningBlueprint.com

Who are your learners?How do they feel about elearning? ElearningBlueprint.com

Fantasy I love to sit at my computer and read read read! ElearningBlueprint.com

RealityThey want me to take another online course?It had better be worth it. ElearningBlueprint.com

The problem ElearningBlueprint.com

What makes a course boring? ElearningBlueprint.com

A major causeCorporate Drone It’s a language! It’s a mindset! ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a language • Buzzwords This course enhances the expertise of R&D staff so that they may leverage collaborative concepts to provide a competitive advantage. ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a language • Buzzwords • Blather This activity will help develop an understanding of the basics of brand management and how it can be effectively used to inform a marketing strategy that ensures that the companys unique position in the marketplace is maintained. ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a language • Buzzwords • Blather • Bogus “Because I am new to marketing, I would like to ask you some questions. First, how can I better communicate with the sales force to ensure a productive relationship?” ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a language • Buzzwords • Blather • Bogus • Boring ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a mindset • Big words are This course enhances the impressive! expertise of R&D staff so that they may leverage collaborative concepts to provide a competitive advantage. ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a mindset • Big words are impressive! • Lots of words This activity will help develop are impressive! an understanding of the basics of brand management and how it can be effectively used to blah blah blah. ElearningBlueprint.com

It’s a mindset • We’re so busy trying to impress, we’ve forgotten how to sound like human beings. “How can I better communicate with the sales force to ensure a productive relationship?” ElearningBlueprint.com

Drone infects design Droning design: • Tells, tells, tells, then tests • Cares more about content than learners • Makes learners work harder than necessary • Fears humor, conflict, and creativity ElearningBlueprint.com

Why do we drone?We’re brainwashed in school. • Droners get better grades. • The higher the degree, the greater the pressure to drone.Assignments force us to be wordy. • “Write 12 pages on...”We bring this training to the businessworld. ElearningBlueprint.com

Nasty effectsCorporate drone:• Makes it harder to learn• Kills motivation• Costs more to produce ElearningBlueprint.com

“But if we make our courseseasy to read, our learnerswon’t respect them!” ElearningBlueprint.com

Language = interfaceWould you intentionally make yourinterface hard to use?Language is part of your interface.It’s a way to deliver content. ElearningBlueprint.com

Want respect? Make your content challenging, not your language. ElearningBlueprint.com

TechniquesFor Eradication of Demotivating Communication to Dump the Drone ElearningBlueprint.com

Clear, creative design inspires clear, creative language. ElearningBlueprint.com

Design 1 Vary your rhythm 2 Make them laughContent 3 You Who Do 4 Chop 5 Run the numbers ElearningBlueprint.com

1. Vary your rhythm ElearningBlueprint.com

rhythmDesign • Give the learner control • They’ll set the pace and rhythm • Vary the format (media, text...) • Present content from two perspectives • “Opposing viewpoints” • Break up text with headings and bulleted lists • Interrupt yourself (callouts, boxed quotes) ElearningBlueprint.com

rhythmLanguage, too Vary sentence... • Length • Short is good, but variety is more interesting. • Type • Have you asked a question lately? • Structure • Spice it up--change direction with dashes; tack on a thought with a semicolon. ElearningBlueprint.com

2. Make them laugh ElearningBlueprint.com

How can you add “safe” humor? ElearningBlueprint.com

laugh“Safe” humor Some ideas: • Use embarrassing situations that apply worldwide • Give a character a blind spot • Exaggerate • Use non-human characters that aren’t likely to be offensive • Use unrealistic examples • Give up on reality altogether ElearningBlueprint.com

laughSpoof Who are your learners? • Do they make fun of themselves? • Can you make fun of them, too? • Are they experienced elearners? • Spoof elearning! ElearningBlueprint.com

3. Say...“You” “Who” “Do” ElearningBlueprint.com

Say “you” ElearningBlueprint.com

youExample 1 This activity will help develop an understanding of... ElearningBlueprint.com

youRewrite 1 This activity will help develop an understanding of... This activity will help you understand... ElearningBlueprint.com

youBenefits • Puts you in conversation mode • Makes you care more about your learner • Makes your language more concrete • Identifies who does what ElearningBlueprint.com

youExample 2 The ﬁre extinguisher should be recharged every six months. ElearningBlueprint.com

youRewrite 2 The ﬁre extinguisher should be recharged every six Who does it? months. Recharge the ﬁre extinguisher You do it! every six months. ElearningBlueprint.com

Say “who” ElearningBlueprint.com

whoExample 1 Each quarter, a new sales report is created. Who does it? ElearningBlueprint.com

whoExample 1 Each quarter, a new sales report is created. “divine passive” ElearningBlueprint.com

whoRewrite 1 Each quarter, a new sales report is created by the product manager. Now we know who does it, but it’s still passive. ElearningBlueprint.com

whoRewrite 1 Each quarter, a new sales report is created. Each quarter, the product manager creates a new sales report. stronger verb than “is” We’ve added a human being! ElearningBlueprint.com

whoWho does what? Make clear who is doing what to whom. • You’ll be easier to understand. • You’ll use stronger verbs. • Your course will have more people in it. ElearningBlueprint.com

whoExample 2 The ﬁeld of child advocacy helps children who... ElearningBlueprint.com

whoRewrite 2 The ﬁeld of child advocacy helps children who... Abstract noun turns into Child advocates human beings! help children who... ElearningBlueprint.com

whoAdd even more people • Create composite characters • Add audio or video of real people • Learners • Leaders • Customers • Risky: Introduce a guide who appears throughout the course • Make people up ElearningBlueprint.com

whoMake people up... ...but make sure they’re interesting! ElearningBlueprint.com

What makes a character interesting? ElearningBlueprint.com

Which man is more interesting? ElearningBlueprint.com

whoSuffering is interesting! Make your characters suffer. • A flaw, such as • Arrogance • Over-enthusiasm • Jumping to conclusions • An embarrassing situation • Email gone horribly wrong ElearningBlueprint.com

whoCluelessness is boring No one cares about the clueless newbie! She’s just a blank slate. ElearningBlueprint.com

whoHappiness is boring ...unless the character has suffered first ElearningBlueprint.com

Say “do” ElearningBlueprint.com

doNouns are boring• They’re not people (usually).• They don’t DO anything. They just pile up: the product management process workshop ElearningBlueprint.com

doNouns are sneaky • Often, you can’t even picture them: functionality leadership • They try to trick you into thinking they’re verbs: Buying is an important consumer behavior. Boring noun masquerading as verb! ElearningBlueprint.com

doChange nouns to verbs The only verb in the entire sentence The vetting group services are centered on researching, reviewing, and approving wording in customer documentation. The vetting group researches, reviews, and approves wording in customer documentation. ElearningBlueprint.com

doPick a lively verb lift is grab push touch ElearningBlueprint.com

doTell a story Even the most dry material has a story. • Make chronology clear. • Make actors clear. Then, before ﬁnal scripts are written, the content is vetted by Legal. First Legal vets the content, and then the writer creates the ﬁnal scripts. ElearningBlueprint.com

What are some ways touse fiction in a course? ElearningBlueprint.com

doTell a story: fiction Some possibilities: • Immediately plunge learners into a story. Give them info and tools as they need them. • Write a story that appears as scenes throughout the course. • Introduce each course section with a scenario. Revisit the scenario at the end of the section. ElearningBlueprint.com

What makes a story interesting? ElearningBlueprint.com

Is this interesting? ElearningBlueprint.com

Is this any better? ElearningBlueprint.com

doConflict is interesting Conflict is any challenge. Your characters could: • Disagree • Want something but face a barrier • Make a mistake • Need to rescue others • Get an unpleasant surprise ElearningBlueprint.com

doKeep moving! • Your story probably needs less setup than you think. • Every scene & every bit of dialog should move the story. • Add urgency--put characters under pressure with a deadline. ElearningBlueprint.com

doShow, don’t tellWhen you tell, you explain everything: At the conference, Jacob told someone about the planned widget enhancement. This was a mistake, because a competitor overheard and enhanced their widget ﬁrst. Jacob’s boss was upset and wondered who had leaked the secret. ElearningBlueprint.com

doShow, don’t tellShow instead. We’re going to enhance our widget next quarter.At the conference... ElearningBlueprint.com

do Show, don’t tell One month later... Our competitorjust enhanced their widget! How did they know? ElearningBlueprint.com

doShow, don’t tellLet your learners draw conclusions. And the moral is... ElearningBlueprint.com

Design 1 Vary your rhythm 2 Make them laughContent 3 You Who Do •Identify actors •Add verbs •Add people •Tell a story We’re here 4 Chop 5 Run the numbers ElearningBlueprint.com

4. Chop it! ElearningBlueprint.com

chopWhy cut text? • We read 25% more slowly online • We’re used to scanning, not reading, online text • Younger learners are used to games • A quick pace is more interesting • Nielsen and others: “Cut text by 50%” ElearningBlueprint.com

chopChop these • Sections that don’t directly support an objective • “Duh” sentences Buying is an important consumer behavior. • Blather ElearningBlueprint.com

chopChop blather We’re not writing literature!One ﬁne day near the end of spring, when thewild roses in the hedges had reached their peak ofheady perfume, Little Red Riding Hood walkedinto the woods. ElearningBlueprint.com

chopChop blatherOne ﬁne day near the end of spring, when thewild roses in the hedges had reached their peak ofheady perfume, Little Red Riding Hood walkedinto the woods. ElearningBlueprint.com

chopChop blather Most adjectives and adverbs are blather.To successfully avoid unforeseen problems thatcould negatively impact costs, we mustproactively search for errors throughout allphases of product development. ElearningBlueprint.com

chopChop blather Most adjectives and adverbs are blather. expensiveTo successfully avoid unforeseen problems thatcould negatively impact costs, we mustproactively search for errors throughout allphases of product development. ElearningBlueprint.com

5. Run the numbers ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersA tool, not a solution Best uses for readability analysis: • Check progress during rewriting • Set standards for writers • Reassure clients Your course could get a good score but still be boring or confusing! ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersWord: Step 1 ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersWord: Step 2 Click this ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersWord: Step 3Make surethis ischecked ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersWord: Step 4Complete the spellcheck. You’ll seethis. ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersIgnore grade level Use this! Ignore this! ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersIgnore grade level Grade levels don’t apply to adult materials. • Use Flesch Reading Ease • Higher score = easier to read • Compare your score to the scores of familiar materials, like magazines ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersFind your score Reading ease = 40.4 ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersCompare Reading Material Ease EasyReader’s Digest 65Time 52Business Week 51Wall Street Journal 43Harvard Law Review 32Auto policy 10 Hard ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersCompare Reading Material Ease EasyReader’s Digest 65Time 52Business Week 51Wall Street Journal 43 Our course: 40Harvard Law Review 32Auto policy 10 Hard ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersCompare Our two-hour course is slightly harder to read than the Wall Street Journal. Would our learners enjoy reading the Wall Street Journal for two hours straight... ...online? ElearningBlueprint.com

numbersRewrite to raise your score Reading Material Ease Easy RecommendedReader’s Digest 65 for onlineTime 52Business Week 51Wall Street Journal 43Harvard Law Review 32Auto policy 10 Hard ElearningBlueprint.com

Design 1 Vary your rhythm 2 Make them laughContent 3 You Who Do •Identify actors •Add verbs •Add people •Tell a story 4 Chop 5 Run the numbers ElearningBlueprint.com

Want more? MakingChangeBlog.com More ideas like the ones in this slideshow ElearningBlueprint.com Interactive job aid that helps anyone create lively elearning Cathy Moore ElearningBlueprint.com

Dump the-drone-easy-steps-to-livelier-elearning-1201324532943289-5

by Joanie Mcmahon on Jan 21, 2011

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Dump the-drone-easy-steps-to-livelier-elearning-1201324532943289-5 — Presentation Transcript