Training structure is just a good story

When designing a training course its sometimes difficult to know where to start or how to make sense of all the information you believe you need to get across. Well if you think of it as one of those great stories you've read then you have got the inspiration to follow in the authors footsteps.

So where do you think the authorr started, with a character, a setting, the beginning, some magic moment? Lets be frank, a good book has a great ending and that's probably where they started. This is our 'outcome'. If the story doesn't know where its going then the author starts to wonder as they progress whats the point, there seems no purpose in whats happening. You need to keep your ending in mind as you progress through your story to keep all the events relevant.

Like all good stories it should start with a bang, something to capture the iimagination of the participant. Characters, places, events are all clearly described. Each objective of our training courses could easily be chapters of the book. Nicely chunked, not too long, each has a defining point and something that is memorable. Above all its relevant to the story and not wandering off the point.

As you start to look at your structure you will see the course coming together, all moving towards the outcome that you had understood at the beginning. You'll be able to see if there are holes in your story as the ending just won't make sense. You'll see if some chapters start to become too long and really need chunking down. Above all else your story should flow from one chapter to another.

A good training course will demonstrate all these elements. I know we state the outcome at the beginning but it should start by explaining (signposting) how the story will progress (chapters). In our training courses how the story will progress should be clearly visible for the participants as well so they know where they are. Each chapter or objective should be written so it can be evaluated or checked. Otherwise how do you know the participant is following your story. It isn't good enough just to read it to them, how will you know they understood, where they listening and even if they just repeat back what you have said what have they learnt?

So remember that good book you read. I bet you bought it because the story looked interesting, it had you hooked from the beginning, it flowed seamlessly as it went along, each chapter was memorable and followed the last and the end made you smile and say what a great story.

Whats in a training course for the trainee

Here's a presentation designed for the trainee and what they can expect from our training courses. Hopefully this will also aid the trainers among us to make sure we are meeting the trainees needs as its them who are coming to learn.


http://prezi.com/fcgltdugh7jw/whats-in-a-training-course-for-you/

Twitter for all

I've recently been part of a trial using Twitter to showcase to the world the different jobs that happen in my workplace. Over a two week period myself and approx 15 other members of staff tweeted actual elements of their job as it happened. Looking to highlight learning issues as we went or just post up best practice was a goal I had set myself and was keen to see if that also happened amongst the group.

Everyone who took part felt really engaged in the activity, especially as most where home workers who only ever meet their colleagues once or twice a month. For those in the trial who did different jobs to the majority it was a good insight in to what really happened on an hour to hour, day to day basis. Communication was great, members of the trial even started to post stories of what happened out of work and the group bonded much better than ever anticipated.

But what of any learning on the job, sharing of best practice? Well it was only a two week trial but there wasn't much to report. May be staff got caught up in the new technology, the opportunity to be able to communicate in 'real time' or just in the purpose of the trial to communicate their job.

So am I disappointed? Not at all. Having an engaged team in times when workloads are higher, targets are shorter and overall we all feel under that extra amount of pressure can't be all bad. Social media is new to all of us. The ability to blog, tweet, post or upload our thoughts and experiences are now in the very palms of our hands 24/7 and anytime anywhere. Setting guidelines in the work environment is worth giving some thought with social media so it makes it easier to filter the information you really need.

So engagement or learning tool? Its both and I'm sure over the next few years as more people embrace these tools for these purposes then we'll see a different aspect to our communication and learning needs in the workplace.

So what's the need

In our current times when staff numbers seem low yet the workload gets larger how should we go about analysing what the customer wants. Right now i have an in-tray full of requirements, training needs, communication pieces, strategy docs etc. So what's my first step?

Well first of all do i understand them and do my customers know what I already know. Thus here is my first step;



1, what does my customer want?

I need to get in there and start asking questions and listen very carefully. Listening is a skill which is hard to practice, but its important at this stage to make sure YOU understand the requirement. Always best to make sure you take minutes of these conversations so you can reference back as well. This will aid any piece of work in the future and make sure you stay on track.

2, what doesn't the customer want?

Never presume at this point that items not mentioned are out of scope but try and get a clear picture of what the end result looks like and this will eliminate some of what may be the initial requirements. Always be checking back with the customer on progress. As issues arise then its good to know if you need to plough on or descope some of the work.

3, so who is the audience?

Knowing who you are delivering to will help with timescales, methods, media and costings. A picture should now be starting to emerge.

4, funds

Some pieces of our jobs don't cost anything do they, or may be they do? Time is probably our big cost at the moment with more and more work to get through. So be clear with this one - how long is it going to take to get the job done? Yes its an indirect cost but one which easily has an impact on those tasks which bring in the money. On the flip side make sure there is money in the budget to make your tasks happen.

Ok, so now you have gone through this simple process you can hopefully prioritise that work you have in the in-tray. Some of the tasks won't seem as scary as first thought and you'll know a lot more of what to do as well.

Simple podcasts

Well I've just done my first podcast and it was a lot easier than I thought. Ok it was only 2 minutes long but that's ok and to be frank any longer and my audience would have fallen asleep!!

So why was it so easy. Well it was just some brief information i wanted to deliver and the fact the audience wouldn't stay still for too long meant it needed to be short and sweet.

I set about by reviewing the topics I wanted to get across, in this case 3, then some bullet points of the vital elements to talk about. Hey job done in 5 minutes! With my draft script written i was ready for a run through.

Now this is where a little I.T. knowledge helps. Currently in my workplace if someone calls me on my landline and i don't answer, it records the message and leaves a .wav file in my email for me to listen to. So there is option 1 for me to record my podcast - call myself. The only issue is i have no control over the file size.

So option 2. Using Adobe Captivate I can alter the bit rate settings and volume levels and record direct to this application. I can also trim the audio as I feel appropriate. Now i can control the file size a bit and i found that a 2 minute recording is only 3Mb. Job done.

With newsletters full of text and technical information this will hopefully be an excellent way of getting across what can be said in only a few minutes.

Simple screencasts

Making a recording, screencast or simulation couldn't be any easier these days with the many software applications on the market. From Adobe Captivate to Screenr these packages make it fairly easy to capture a piece of software as it happens on your own screen.

So here are a few tips on getting it right first time.

Why are you using a screencast in the first place - is it just to show a series of button presses and the process the user must follow? Or could it be something fundamental such as how to enter specific information in to dialogue boxes. Either way having a clear think about what you are trying to achieve is essential. Screencasts are quite passive and discussion would probably be through a comments box if available. They could be used though in a face to face environment if required (more of this later).

Then think about how the user will use this information. Screencasts make great resources but if someone is trying to follow a process and tackle it at the same time then they may need two monitors. One to watch and one to practice the learning.

Keep it short and snappy. It's amazing how long a user can really sit there and watch a simulation happening. If you learning goal demands that it's a complex or lengthy process then try creating in small segments. It's more than likely your users will only require small elements anyway.

Have a think about audio as it's not always neccessary. It does provide clarity and context but adding text box descriptions to your simulation may do that just as well.

Where are you going to store this resource? Placing it in a VLE / LMS / Intranet you are at the hands of network speeds. If users are recalling this over low bandwidth systems then you could be holding back a huge amount of your users. So have a good look at the size of your files when complete. It's here that using a screencast in a face to face situation could work well if you are reliant on a piece of software running over a network.

A few elements to consider and dependant on the screencast software you choose then you really can be very creative.

Social media the minefield

The are many facets to e-learning and one of those is Social Media. But how does it fit with learning within the workplace? Most of us would probably think of Facebook and Twitter as prime examples of social media applications and you wouldn't be wrong. They are there for the masses, easy to use and can be accessed almost anywhere. So what are these sites doing?

Communication, collaboration, comment, opinion or just people wanting to say stuff. Well it's all of those and that's where it can become confusing to adopt these in to our everyday working practices.

Social media in this format is about communicating to an audience in real-time which is why we need to think carefully about what we are trying to do with it. It's almost like designing a training course, what is the aim, do we have an objective, what is the content...............arh yes social media could meet our need. It's classic stuff really.

Then there's the audience to think about. Has your organisation embraced e-learning at all because if you go straight in with this type of social media there could easily be a knock back. Technology is definately there but again what has your organisation invested in already. Smartphones are everywhere and really can punch there weight. The iPad has turned the potential in to reality and can provide a very exciting experience on which to learn. But these technologies aren't cheap and in many businesses these are probably not the ideal or most effective solution at the moment.

But don't be scared off. We all have work colleagues rushed off their feet and looking for engagement. This type of e-learning which is go anywhere, access when you want, comment as you see fit will meet the needs of some. Lets not forget that alot of the most effective learning is informal and doesn't this type of technology provide that?

Social media should be looked at as an opportunity rather than just a new fad. It's a way for people to engage with learning, to update and maintain there skills and knowledge in an ever changing landscape.

Plenty of food for thought on what is a hot topic at the moment and I'm sure will be over the next few years as our workforce, technology, budgets and learning requirements constantly change.

Here's an interesting podcast from the CIPD titled ...... Learning and development in a socially networked age