By Rick Nigol

A few years ago, one of our clients asked me to review an online training simulation and provide feedback on its effectiveness. The simulation was titled ExperienceCSR, developed by a Toronto-based company called ExperiencePoint. It takes a participant through a process of planning and implementing a corporate social responsibility program within a fictional organization. You have to make key decisions, get buy-in within the organization, and work with limited time and money toward pre-defined goals. The program provides feedback on user decisions throughout and lets the user know how close he/she is getting to the goal, and how much time and money are left.

 

Long story short: six hours flew by before I knew what happened. What I thought might take me an hour or so turned out to take most of the day. Why? Because I was totally engaged. Remember, I had no motivation for reviewing this simulation other than doing a client a favour. I was not getting paid to do this, I was not getting any credit, and the topic was not one that I probably would have signed on for of my own account. However, I completed the whole program in one go because it was interesting, it made me think, I could immediately see the results of my decisions, and I had the competitive motivation of seeing if I could reach the goal before my time and money ran out (story of my life).

 

That experience really reinforced for me the power of simulations. When done correctly, simulations can foster active learning. They are a great way of moving beyond the tell-and-test approach that unfortunately passes for most training these days. Learning becomes internalized because learners are actively engaged in making decisions and solving problems.

 

 

I recently had an opportunity to interview James Chisholm (left), a Co-founder and Principal of ExperiencePoint...

 

 

JC: ExperiencePoint's mission is to help executives and managers make better decisions, faster. We believe that the best (most effective, quickest) way to learn something is through experience. We believe that the best way to learn how to negotiate, for example, is to create an experience where participants must negotiate. We've created a variety of simulation learning experiences over the past 10 years - both computer-based and paper-based, large events (>500 people) and single-user self-directed experiences. We've built a reputation, however, as a leader in merging the worlds of video games with business learning.

 

I grew up playing video games. I always found it incredible how engaging, and frankly addictive the experience was (and continues to be). You don't need fancy graphics or 3D environments. Some of my favourite games were Commodore 64 games. It is a very exciting time in the industry. We've written about our current take on the industry in our newsletter in an article titled "Simulation's Perfect Storm." (posted below)

 

 

JC: The simulation uses a fuzzy logic engine that says there is no single right time to implement a tactic, but rather shades of grey (in terms of appropriateness). This gives us almost 1.5 x 10 (to the power of 50) possible combinations - a very big number for sure. However, only a very small number will result in success. When building a simulation like ExperienceChange, it is important to have subject matter experts at the table. They can help shape the initial model. What is more critical, we've found, is to be continuously integrating feedback from participants into the engine. The web-based version of the EC simulation was first released in 2000, and now we are at version 4 - and over 25,000 users. Every release "feels" more realistic because of input from the previous users.

 

We use an engine approach to all of our games. Much like Quake has a graphic rendering engine with editable maps, we store all of our game content in a database. This allows us to very quickly change the content or model and have the game play differently - right away.

 

 

JC: The precursor to EC was created for CD-ROM in 1996-1997. It was a classic "garage" startup. We are very lucky today to have an incredible development team. We strive to keep a tight-knit shop - 1 lead programmer, 1 creative director, 1 sim architect, and then contract out additional work as required. We now have several "experience" engines that we can build upon when developing new games. To create an engine takes a long time - upwards of 1 year. However, to create a new simulation based on an existing engine is quite quick. We can create an ExperienceChange-like simulation in as little as 10 weeks.

 

Note: We are lucky to have James as a special guest in our upcoming webinar titled How to Use Simulations to Bring Your eLearning to Life, to be held at 12:00 noon Eastern on Thursday, August 10, 2006.  Here are sign up details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Michael Grant
Co-Founder and Director of Research
eLearn Campus

 

Last week, I discussed how to make the case for eLearning within a learning organization.  Now let’s say you have made the case and decided to proceed with an eLearning program.  Almost by definition, the initial case for eLearning is theoretical.  You may be able to say that the program will deliver value to your organization (e.g. growing enrollments, learner satisfaction, and member retention) but the bridge between the theoretical case and the reality is the doing.

 

So this week I want to address a key consideration in the doing, namely how to develop the capacity to deliver on the promise of eLearning.   I will provide readers with a three-step process for building capacity to deliver effective eLearning.

 

Learning organizations are distinguished from other organizations in that there is usually a significant existing (often face-to-face) program in place.  That is a good thing from the point of view that it can provide a solid foundation of content, expertise and willing learners.  But existing programs can also create barriers to the development of effective eLearning either because online learning is viewed as a threat to existing programs (as opposed to a growth opportunity) or because the organization assumes that online learning is requires the same competencies as face-to-face learning.

 

As long as an organization builds from its solid foundation and takes a sensible approach to the development of online learning as a unique mode, then the organization can expand its offering, reach more people, and offer greater flexibility without reducing the quality of its offering.

 

 

There are several roles that go into the design and delivery of excellent eLearning.  These are:

●   Subject Matter Expertise (SME): Subject matter expertise can take many forms.  It is essentially the “what” of the eLearning project.  Sometimes you are working with an experienced practitioner to develop a curriculum.  In other instances, there is hard copy content (training manuals) that needs to be brought alive in an online setting.  It makes sense to separate the subject matter expertise from the project management and other roles as the subject matter expert is most likely to think in terms of a text-based or a face-to-face presentation of material.

 

●   Design: There are two online learning design elements: learning design (the method of teaching online) and media design (using graphics and interactive software like Flash to engage the learner online).  Designers draft the blueprint for the product developers. People who do this are called Online Instructional Designers and Graphical or Visual Communicators

●   Development: This is all about the producing the online product based on the designer’s “blueprint”.  These are the people who do the technical work around product development to ensure that it runs smoothly on the users’ platform, which will typically be some sort of desktop environment (but may vary in many ways).  The people who do this are often called Web Developers, Flash Programmers and the like.

●   Support: Once the product is developed, you have to think about ongoing support.  This can vary from the mundane (users may need hand holding for the first time) to ensuring that the online course is maintained and up and running.  The people who do this are called Learner Support Specialists or Technical Support Specialists.

It is important to assess your existing capabilities to deliver on these aspects of an online learning program.  In doing this assessment, you should keep in mind three things:

 

1.  Online learning is not like classroom learning.  It requires a special set of competencies.  The competencies are really a combination of teaching and media production.  Don’t make the assumption that you simply dump the content from your face-to-face courses online and make them work.

2.  Focus on core competencies and be open to bringing in outside expertise to help (we call this “insourcing” because the outside expertise should be integrated into your entire team).  We have worked with major universities to bring their programs online, so you don’t have to be ashamed about bringing in outside expertise, especially in the early stages.  In the event that you require outside expertise, it is important that you develop efficient mechanisms to bring in this expertise.  We discuss this further in our recorded webinar on vendor relationships.

3.  Take a long term view of capacity building that considers your stage of development.  Your decisions on capacity building are not set in stone.  It makes sense to bring in outside expertise if you are new to eLearning but to have a longer term plan for developing the internal capacity as your program grows. Also, you need to decide how you can quickly ramp up internal capacity.  Your core competency is about the things that are critical to your organization which is usually your understanding of the needs of your learners and the management of their satisfaction.

 

Once you have decided who will do what, you need to decide whether your internal team requires competency upgrades before starting the project.  That is why we offer online eLearning management courses that can be completed in a couple of months.

 

Also, it is very important to develop a sensible workplan and to use this to integrate the efforts of all the members of the team (both internal and insourced).  A good workplan will include a series of benchmarks to determine progress and a contingency plan for hiccups along the way.  Sound workplan management is the art of combining a disciplined workplan, managing a team, and being flexible as circumstances change.

 

In the final installment of this series, I will discuss the ongoing management of eLearning programs and linking this to a metrics-based evaluation system.