I often build courses that introduce new topics, or software upgrades, and there is always new terminology that needs to be introduced. I'm tired of just putting up the term and then the definition.
Who can give me some interactive/creative/out-of-the-box ideas about presenting new terminology using Storyline. I want people to learn the new terms, and not just skip over them because they don't want to read/listen to that section.
So, part of the issue with adult learners (and I am one...so I know from experience, not just andragogy ) is that we resist learning something that we feel we won't use. Will your Learners benefit from learning these terms because features associated with them will improve their productivity or facilitate their use of the software?
So, just off the top of my head, let's say that Paste It Your Way is a new term in Microsoft Word (it's not...but maybe it should be). I'm part of your target audience, and I don't care...too many new words, not enough time. Don't bother me.
But, what I don't know is that I could benefit from this because every time I copy/paste into a Word document the copied formatting comes with me and it's not what I want...I want the formatting to match. So I spend eons of time reformatting.
To engage the Learner, a scenario could be presented: Does this ever happen to you? And another scenario: Did you know you can do this (showing the paste button on the Home tab (clipboard group) and/or the same with a right-click with keep source, merge, and text only)
Is it the case that these new terms/situations will help the Learners? If not, is there a reason the terms are being introduced? Should they/can they be introduced only to those who WILL benefit from them? Can you provide more info?
This training is for a 30 minute course that will introduce the audience to their new intranet environment, built on SharePoint 2010. The previous intranet was on a different platform that the company is scraping, so its like starting from scratch for this group, so there are a lot of new "SharePoint" terms and understanding that the audience needs to know before jumping into the course.
The audience is Content Authors for their specifc site pages (new term), and how to use the new SP enviornment, limitations, etc.
Well, it's easy from my seat to provide instructions, for sure! But you say "there are a lot of new 'SharepPoint' terms and understanding that the audience needs to know before jumping into the course."
Do they have to "know" all the terms before jumping in? Because of course they won't remember them all anyway (which is why they don't want to take the time to read them)
I'm thinking back to my F-2-F trainings and why I didn't use the pre-packaged course materials when I did software training: because there was all this prereq stuff that "had to be done" before jumping in. Instead I WOULD jump in and introduce things on an as needed basis.
For me, it was the difference between topic-oriented and task-oriented training. Task-oriented is the way I would always go.
A couple thoughts that may or may not work for you:
Scramble the letters and have the learner try to guess the word by typing it into a fill in the blank quiz question. Regardless if they get it right, they can be directed to a slide with a definition/explanation
List several words in a multiple choice or drag and drop question and reveal 3-4 hints, one at a time. The hints basically replace a definition. See how quickly they can guess the right term. All hints can be revealed once the right answer is selected. The addition of a timer would be nice. They don't need to know the definition in advance, the point is they are learning as they play.
@ Rebecca: Nice contributions. i particularly agree with your comment that "we resist learning something that we feel we won't use". Too true.
@Josh... don't mean to be disparaging, but it sounds as if you're thinking about "interactivity" from the designer's point of view (rather than the learners') and/or from an "interactivity for the sake of interactivity" perspective. Personally, I wouldn't employ these kinds of approaches. Here's why...
---
Katy, I recommend asking yourself why the learners need to know these terms. What will "break" or what will they screw up or where will they get confused or which operation will they be unable to perform... etc. without clearly understanding the terminology?
That should give you a starting point around which you can build a framework for your task(s).
The reason I commented on Josh's suggestions as I did is that I've seen thousands of "tasks/activities" in which learners have to "do something" but the reason for doing it is either unclear or -- even worse! -- deliberately withheld (by the task designer). This is hoop-jumping and is very frustrating for adults and children alike.
So riffing on the "Paste It Your Way" example...
You might, for example, ask learners to do a task (which has been appropriately contextualised, of course) in which learners [paste something] and if they do it the "old" way, no problem, they get it done.
This is where you start messing with them...
Design the task immediately following this one in such a way that it cannot be completed without understanding the "new" way. Learners will, of course, go to repeat the same operation and get stuck.
They then have a real-world motivation for learning how to do something they thought they could do standing on their head.
At this point you (or your Clippy, the peperclip courseguide equivalent) pop up with a "Hey, there's a quick and easy way to do what you're trying to do here... I can show you how, step by step. Click here..."
Then, as part of demonstrating how to do something useful (in the real world -- as opposed to memorising esoteric terminology for the sake of it), you cover the necessary terminology (which is seamlessly and meaningful contextualised, increasing the likelihood that learners will not only remember the term, but "hook" it to the particular operation).
Actually, I was answering what I felt she asked for: "...some interactive/creative/out-of-the-box ideas about presenting new terminology using Storyline. I want people to learn the new terms, and not just skip over them because they don't want to read/listen to that section."
7 Replies
add some inline definitions like they do ion some websites, e.g. hover fore more information.
Hi Katy,
and welcome!
So, part of the issue with adult learners (and I am one...so I know from experience, not just andragogy
) is that we resist learning something that we feel we won't use. Will your Learners benefit from learning these terms because features associated with them will improve their productivity or facilitate their use of the software?
So, just off the top of my head, let's say that Paste It Your Way is a new term in Microsoft Word (it's not...but maybe it should be). I'm part of your target audience, and I don't care...too many new words, not enough time. Don't bother me.
But, what I don't know is that I could benefit from this because every time I copy/paste into a Word document the copied formatting comes with me and it's not what I want...I want the formatting to match. So I spend eons of time reformatting.
To engage the Learner, a scenario could be presented: Does this ever happen to you? And another scenario: Did you know you can do this (showing the paste button on the Home tab (clipboard group) and/or the same with a right-click with keep source, merge, and text only)
Is it the case that these new terms/situations will help the Learners? If not, is there a reason the terms are being introduced? Should they/can they be introduced only to those who WILL benefit from them? Can you provide more info?
This training is for a 30 minute course that will introduce the audience to their new intranet environment, built on SharePoint 2010. The previous intranet was on a different platform that the company is scraping, so its like starting from scratch for this group, so there are a lot of new "SharePoint" terms and understanding that the audience needs to know before jumping into the course.
The audience is Content Authors for their specifc site pages (new term), and how to use the new SP enviornment, limitations, etc.
Hope this helps.
HI Katy,
Well, it's easy from my seat to provide instructions, for sure! But you say "there are a lot of new 'SharepPoint' terms and understanding that the audience needs to know before jumping into the course."
Do they have to "know" all the terms before jumping in? Because of course they won't remember them all anyway (which is why they don't want to take the time to read them)
I'm thinking back to my F-2-F trainings and why I didn't use the pre-packaged course materials when I did software training: because there was all this prereq stuff that "had to be done" before jumping in. Instead I WOULD jump in and introduce things on an as needed basis.
For me, it was the difference between topic-oriented and task-oriented training. Task-oriented is the way I would always go.
...for what it's worth...
Good luck!
A couple thoughts that may or may not work for you:
Hi, Katy
@ Rebecca: Nice contributions. i particularly agree with your comment that "we resist learning something that we feel we won't use". Too true.
@Josh... don't mean to be disparaging, but it sounds as if you're thinking about "interactivity" from the designer's point of view (rather than the learners') and/or from an "interactivity for the sake of interactivity" perspective. Personally, I wouldn't employ these kinds of approaches. Here's why...
---
Katy, I recommend asking yourself why the learners need to know these terms. What will "break" or what will they screw up or where will they get confused or which operation will they be unable to perform... etc. without clearly understanding the terminology?
That should give you a starting point around which you can build a framework for your task(s).
The reason I commented on Josh's suggestions as I did is that I've seen thousands of "tasks/activities" in which learners have to "do something" but the reason for doing it is either unclear or -- even worse! -- deliberately withheld (by the task designer). This is hoop-jumping and is very frustrating for adults and children alike.
So riffing on the "Paste It Your Way" example...
You might, for example, ask learners to do a task (which has been appropriately contextualised, of course) in which learners [paste something] and if they do it the "old" way, no problem, they get it done.
This is where you start messing with them...
Design the task immediately following this one in such a way that it cannot be completed without understanding the "new" way. Learners will, of course, go to repeat the same operation and get stuck.
They then have a real-world motivation for learning how to do something they thought they could do standing on their head.
At this point you (or your Clippy, the peperclip courseguide equivalent) pop up with a "Hey, there's a quick and easy way to do what you're trying to do here... I can show you how, step by step. Click here..."
Then, as part of demonstrating how to do something useful (in the real world -- as opposed to memorising esoteric terminology for the sake of it), you cover the necessary terminology (which is seamlessly and meaningful contextualised, increasing the likelihood that learners will not only remember the term, but "hook" it to the particular operation).
Hope that helps!
Leslie
Actually, I was answering what I felt she asked for: "...some interactive/creative/out-of-the-box ideas about presenting new terminology using Storyline. I want people to learn the new terms, and not just skip over them because they don't want to read/listen to that section."
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