Putting Learning Back in E- Learning :

1. Putting Learning Back in E-Learning: Gus Prestera, PhD, CPT President effectPerformance, Inc. Performance-Based Design Processes Ty Johnson Vice-President of Learning and Consulting Services SoftAssist, Inc. 2005 ASTD TechKnowledge Conference, Las Vegas Session TH101, February 3rd, 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM

2. Is there a problem with e-learning? Usage rate: 14% Dropout rate: 60% Source: 2001 ASTD Benchmarking Report

3. The Learner’s Cry • It must be relevant to my individual needs! • Make it relevant to my work context! • Show me how to do it! • Let me practice doing it! • Give me meaningful feedback! • Don’t waste my time! TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

4. Bad Designers? Bad Clients? Bad SMEs? Bad Learners? Bad Tools? Too Little Time? Too Much Time? Bad Processes? Root Causes “When a good worker goes up against a bad process, the bad process wins… every time” (Mager). TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

5. How will we know if the process works? What is “good” e-learning? Some examples…

6. Exhaustive list of facts and rules, organized into modules Assessment questions focus on recall/comprehension of guidelines and facts, often outside of any particular context Hard to recognize from the training what the associated real-world tasks are “Tell, then ask” methodology generally followed User interactions often revolve around revealing new information Instruction centers around contextual experiences Facts and rules are learned/practiced as components for performing real-world tasks, and are often made accessible at the point of need Much of the most powerful learning occurs as feedback to learner input on contextual scenarios—frequent opportunities to learn by doing How are they different? Knowledge-Based Performance-Based TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

7. Activity:Dissecting Our Process Raise your hand if you hear something fishy

8. Content Gathering Content Analysis Piloting Storyboarding Production Testing Typical Process TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

9. So what’s wrong? • The Source, of Course • Artifacts… neat and conveniently clear-cut • The SME Paradox • Topic Blindness • Outlines lead to topic thinking • Topics are not skills… Slippery slope • Upfront Costs: Reluctance to Abandon • Laboratory Testing: Test Tube Logic • Don’t Forget Your PALs TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

10. Remember Your PALs TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

11. Content Gathering Content Analysis Piloting Storyboarding Production Testing Move the Mountain Design the Performance Test Pilot the Idea, not the Code StoryBORING Integrate with Design Get Learners Involved Some “Crazy” Alternatives TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

12. Received large content document from SME Divided document into logical units and added T/F and multiple-choice questions Searched for graphics that corresponded to textual content Never met or spoke to any member of the target audience Observed and interviewed members of target audience in actual work environment—including expert vs. novice performers Focused SME questioning on most common contexts, most frequent errors, etc. “Backed into” knowledge components (e.g. What do you have to know in order to effectively perform this task/behavior?) Analysis Techniques Knowledge-Based Performance-Based TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson

13. Questions? Comments?

14. Slides available at http://www.effectperformance.com/html/library.htm#2 Ty JohnsonVice-President, Learning and Consulting Services 700 American AvenueValley Forge Square, Suite 206King of Prussia, PA 19406 Phone: 610-265-8484 eMail: tyjohnson@softassist.com TechKnowledge 2005, Prestera & Johnson