Quick Keys to Better E-Learning Archives

Quick Keys to Better E-Learning: Less Is More (Or, The Fika Rules)

Okay, so you have all your research done. You have pages of notes from your SME. You have input from relevant stakeholders. You’ve tossed the idea around to anyone and everyone who could possibly create a problem.

Team is on board. Client is on board. Designer is on board.

You’re ready. You’re set. It’s time to GO!

Your fingers fly. You and the keyboard are one. This is it. This is how it feels to have the metaphoric ADDIE winds blow through your hair.

It’s all coming so easily. The intro. The text. The activities. The conclusion. Magic.

This is the one. This is the mix of policy and prose that’ll earn you the Nobel Prize for e-learning. Picture it: sitting in Sweden with that medal around your neck, eating…um…whatever they serve in Sweden, while talking instructional design with the greatest minds on the planet.

Your masterpiece script is completed. Sit back now. Take a swig of that free soda they have in the break room (if you are fortunate enough to work for a company that has the vision to understand that freebies like this can improve morale).

Drink it all in. Bask in the glow of a job well done….

Now, cut out about a quarter of what you’ve written. Aw, shucks. Let’s be bold and cut about a third.

Now, take a little more off the edges. Don’t worry, you can redline it and add it back in later if you absolutely must.

You see, editing isn’t just for the e-learning world. Editing is for your stories, articles, lectures, in-person trainings, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, office visits with managers, and pretty much everything else in the universe.

According to a very interesting (and a little scary) website, statisticbrain.com, the average human attention span in 2015 is 8.25 seconds. To put that in perspective, a goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds. That means that a goldfish will pay more attention to your 10 second passage on bribery than the average human.

You’d better hope the most important points about bribery come in the first 8.24 seconds.

For those of you who write scripts, take time after the first draft to dig in and edit. I emphasize this in the Quick Key series, because I know how important this is. See where you can shrink things down. Lead sections with your most important information. Along the way, use graphics and interactive scenarios instead of script-speak to get people refocused. Tell folks why they should care. Give them real-world consequences early. Keep people invested.

In my last fiction manuscript, I spent a few months writing the first draft, then close to a year (or more?) putting the thing through 15 additional drafts. Each time it got tighter and tighter. When I look back at that first draft now, I am amazed at all the word splatter I created in the first go.

Unlike this post, shorter is usually better. Learn to not get so attached to your writing that you forget that your masterpiece and your audience may not agree.

Oh, and keep in mind that in Sweden, they have a national coffee break called the fika. So, if you plan on winning the Nobel Prize for e-learning, you may want to create a course with a short run time so people don’t miss that.

Just some extra incentive for you.

How do you cut and trim your e-learning scripts?

Quick Keys to Better E-Learning: Boring Doesn’t Have to Be Boring

It’s hard for most people to even read a few sentences on certain topics, so how in the world can we make training on them accessible?

A team I was on was charged with creating a new HIPAA script (how does HIPAA always get into these discussions?). It had to be an hour long. That’s right. Sixty minutes of HIPAA-compliance fun.

If you’re looking for a good time, read about HIPAA here. Maybe you’ll read two or three lines, but then you’ll click on to reading about something more interesting, like how long it takes paint to dry (the answer varies, depending on the type of paint; read all about it here).

So, what can we do? Here are three quick tips:

1. Have a clear picture of what the people want. Chances are, if someone’s asking for a lengthy course on some brittle topic, they have a good reason. Perhaps it’s a federal regulation or an internal policy that requires it. Perhaps it’s to test if e-learning really can get people to quit a job. Ask. Get a sense of why someone needs what they need. Knowing the why can get you to a better how.

2. Variety is the spice of life. Dictionary.com tells us that quote is by William Cowper, from his poem, “The Task.” Check out his picture. He looks like he could use some spice. Anyway, he’s right. Spice it up. Add video content. Try different types of activities and scenarios. Appeal to hearts and minds. Show learners consequences for non-compliance through juicy case studes. Give learners a reason to stay tuned in. Dry toast is dry toast until you add butter and seedless raspberry jam. Then, that toast is a catalyst for a sensory explosion. An e-learning course is no different.

3. Have a discussion, not a lecture. I used to teach philosophy, and I can tell you, the fastest way to lose a university student in a philosophy course is to lecture on philosophy. I had to create stories and conversations people could relate to. E-learning’s the same. Avoid lawspeak. Instead of this engaging nugget from hhs.gov: “Individuals, organizations, and agencies that meet the definition of a covered entity under HIPAA must comply with the Rules’ requirements to protect the privacy and security of health information and must provide individuals with certain rights with respect to their health information…” try something like this: “Our organization values customer privacy and security when it comes to health information. It’s up to you to help us follow the law to protect it!” Don’t like that? Then find some other way to say it. The point is, discuss the topic. Don’t poke people with it.

Look, we’ll always have boring legal rules, but we don’t have to be boring in our approach. What have you done to make e-learning more engaging? Share your stories!

Quick Keys to Better E-Learning: Get Focused, Then Get to Work

I had an e-learning job that I got to early in the morning. Really early.

Why?

Because no one else was there. I’d turn on the lights, turn on my computer, and take a moment. I’d listen to the buzz of electronic equipment in an empty office. I’d take a few breaths.

Center first. Then tackle courses.

If this sounds like the preface to a book called Zen and the Art of E-Learning Maintenance, then it should! This post isn’t meant to give advice on writing better scripts or test questions that appeal to a user’s mindset. It’s meant to get you to think about YOUR mindset before you try to create for others. We spend a lot of time trying to get into the user’s mind in e-learning; but where is OUR mind when we write?

If you write for pleasure, there’s no reason you can’t have that same feeling of mindful joy when you write for work–even when writing about the FCPA or HIPAA. Okay, maybe not HIPAA. But here are three quick tips to be a more mindful and fulfilled e-learning writer.

1. Get centered. Before you start the day, clear your mind so you can focus on your work. Breathe. Listen to the buzz of the office. Works for me.

2. Say this mantra: creating is creating. You went into this e-learning business to create and convey ideas. No matter how “boring” the topic, it is still about using words and design to bring ideas to life. Focus on that.

3. Take in your work. Yes, we have deadlines and work pressures. But every once in a while, do the “ABC.” ACKNOWLEDGE your work; BREATHE; and CONSIDER what you’ve written. Enjoy it for a moment. Yeah, it could be a training about using the new company phone system, but it’s still good work.

You will get frustrated. You will forget to breathe. You will butt heads with a SME. But as long as you can get back to your creative center, I know your courses, and your life, will improve.

Where has mindfulness and focus been a help in your creative life?