An Introduction to SAM for Instructional Designers
The ADDIE model is probably the most well-known approach for mapping out the course design process. But it isn’t the only game in town these days. One popular alternative is SAM: the Successive Approximation Model. Created by Allen Interactions, SAM offers an instructional design approach consisting of a few steps that you repeat as many times as necessary. These iterations address common instructional design pain points like meeting timelines, staying on budget, and collaborating with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). So what is SAM? And how is it different from ADDIE? Is one better than the other? Let’s dig in and uncover some answers to these questions. What’s the difference between ADDIE and SAM? ADDIE and SAM are two different approaches for crafting learning solutions that share some similar language. To better see where they differ, it’s helpful to understand how each of them works. Let’s start with ADDIE. ADDIE ADDIE stands for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. It’s a linear approach—like a production line—with each step depending on the successful completion of the previous one. To borrow some terminology from project managers, ADDIE is a “waterfall approach.” And in a traditional waterfall method, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation are all treated as ordered steps in the overall development process. While this model is preferred in many organizations, some folks say this sequential approach contributes to many of the challenges faced by instructional designers, including: Prolonged development cycles: Have you ever had your project come to a screeching halt in the development phase? It’s not uncommon for new training or technology requirements to emerge in the project development phase, bogging down your productivity with re-work. Communication challenges with SMEs and stakeholders: Even the most thorough explanations and storyboards are still open to interpretation. And with a sequential approach, SMEs and stakeholders typically don’t get to try a hands-on version of the project until well into the development phase. This can mean it’s not until you’re near the end of the project—when you’re out of time and money—that you discover your vision doesn’t match theirs. No time for testing: When projects run out of time or money, what’s the phase of the process we tend to skimp on? In my experience, it’s testing. Shortchanging this step may save you time, but with risky downsides like a training product that doesn’t work—or work effectively—to address a critical performance gap. Successive Approximation Model (SAM) SAM, on the other hand, is considered to be an “agile approach” that can be scaled from basic (SAM1) to extended (SAM2) to suit your needs. Both SAM models use iterative cycles to create the end product right from the start—all while continually analyzing and refining your work as it’s being produced. Proponents of using agile methods for creating e-learning claim that models like SAM can alleviate many of the challenges discussed above—in particular, improving the project team’s visibility into the instructional design process and reducing development time frames. The basic process—SAM1—can be a good fit for smaller projects or teams. This flavor of SAM is a simple model with three iterations of the familiar instructional design steps of evaluation, design, and development. Using this approach, everyone’s ideas and assumptions can be discussed, prototyped, and tested early on, bringing you closer to a usable product more quickly. And what if your project is more complex? That’s where SAM2 comes into play. SAM2 is an extended take on SAM1. It consists of eight iterative instructional design steps spread across three project phases: Preparation, Iterative Design, and Iterative Development. In addition to the incremental cycles, another notable feature of the SAM2 model is the preparation phase. It consists of two steps to help you prepare for your design and development work fast: gathering information and then holding a brainstorming and prototyping meeting known as a “Savvy Start.” Which is better—ADDIE or SAM? When it comes to evaluating which design model is a better fit for you and your team, it really boils down to what you’re trying to achieve and what your work environment will support. When applied in the right situations and fully committed to by everyone involved, SAM’s flexibility can get you to a successful final course fast. Its iterative approach both helps you use prototypes to get stakeholder buy-in quickly and also makes it easy to pivot should your course requirements change. However, many instructional designers work in organizations that have embraced agility in theory but not so much in practice. Applying an agile approach like SAM can be difficult when your environment doesn’t encourage rapid feedback or flexible processes. In those cases, ADDIE’s waterfall model may be a better choice. Because ADDIE is a waterfall method that’s been used for years, it might make clients, stakeholders, and even team members more comfortable. And while it’s still not as flexible as SAM, many people find an adapted version of ADDIE that includes some iterative loops does a good job of splitting the difference between both methods. More Learning Whatever design model you follow—whether it’s ADDIE, SAM, or another one entirely—weighing your options for more thoughtful, responsive development practices can be a great way to build collaboration and grease the wheels for smoother training rollouts. Start by digging into these related articles from the archives. An Introduction to ADDIE for Instructional Designers What’s the PADDIE Model of Instructional Design? Best Practices for Effective E-Learning Project Management How to Manage E-Learning Project Scope Creep What design model is closest to how you really work? What are your thoughts on ADDIE vs. SAM? We love hearing from you, so share your thoughts in a comment. Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.Make Working with SMEs a Breeze with These 3 Downloads
One of my favorite things about being an e-learning designer is creating courses on a wide variety of topics. I’ve learned so much over the years! When I look back on it, it’s almost like I had to become an expert in every subject in order to create the most effective learning experience. And while some of my knowledge came from my own research, more often than not it was gleaned from the content provided by my project’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Subject Matter Experts play a critical role in course design. They have the knowledge, experience, and insight to help you create the most impactful training. Despite their importance to your projects, working with SMEs can also be challenging. From different perspectives around how content should be presented to old-fashioned beliefs around how people learn, many e-learning pros find themselves in a battle of wills with their SMEs when all they really want is a productive partnership. This problem can be especially vexing when creating custom e-learning in a powerful app like Storyline 360. With so many creative possibilities, there are countless ways to present content. So how do you help your SMEs visualize different treatments and bridge gaps in understanding, all while building positive relationships with your SMEs? Here are three documents I’ve found essential for communicating clearly and aligning expectations from the start. Document 1: Project Kickoff Questions Before meeting with your project’s SMEs, it pays to do a little prep work. If you already have some source content pulled together, study it to get a basic understanding of the material. And if you don’t have content, research the topic or the company to make the most of your time with your SMEs. As you study, prepare a list of questions to help guide the conversation and show the SME how much you value their time. Need to kick-start your thinking? Download and customize this Project Kickoff Questionnaire for your needs. Download With all of your prep work done, you’re ready to set up a meeting with your SME to discuss the project. Make sure to bring your list of questions, and then listen actively and take notes. This is your time to build trust with your SMEs and identify knowledge and performance gaps to determine the right solution. Document 2: Project Plan After you determine the right solution, it’s time to put the details in writing so you’re all on the same page. A project plan can be a great way to align expectations. In the project plan, you can include the project background, course information, deliverables, timelines, and any other important details. Once you’re done preparing the project plan, have the SME review it and confirm its accuracy before moving forward with design. Need help creating a project plan? I’ve got you covered! Download this free project plan template. Download Document 3: Storyboard Now that you and the SME are on the same page, it’s time to start designing the project. If you’re using a slide-based authoring app like Storyline 360, the best way to make sure you have a solid foundation for development is to create a storyboard. A storyboard is the blueprint for a course that outlines the content screen by screen. Storyboards help your SMEs visualize how the content will flow and allows them to make edits before you start development in your authoring app. Note: If you’re using a web-based authoring app like Rise 360, you can skip the storyboarding phase and go straight to development since it’s easy to use and quick to make changes. Need help getting started? Then download and customize this storyboard template with your content. Download What Next? After the storyboard is finalized, you can feel confident knowing you have a solid foundation to start building your course. Taking the time to develop project kickoff questions, create a clear project plan, and storyboard the content before you start developing it in your authoring app will set you, the SME, and the learners up for success. For more ideas on working with SMEs, check out this series on Everything You Need to Know About Working with SMEs. Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.Review 360: Share Items with Team Folders
Create shared team folders in Review 360 to organize your content and assign permissions. Allow multiple authors to publish new versions of the content you shared in these folders for better collaboration. Share Folders and Items Understand Tasks and Permissions Publish Collaboratively Get Answers to FAQs Share Folders and Items Move Review 360 items to the Team directory to share them with everyone on the team and let them publish new versions. Share them in folders to stay organized and customize the share settings. There are two ways to move folders and items. Hover over a single folder in the sidebar or an item card in the main window and click the More (•••) icon, then select the Move option. Move multiple items and folders by clicking the checkboxes that appear when you hover over them in the main window, then clicking the Move icon on the dynamic action toolbar at the top. Then, you have three where you can move your selected items and folders, each with slightly different steps. Team Root Directory Select Team from the tree directory and click Move. If you're moving a folder, click Set share settings. Add the Everyone group or choose specific team members in the folder share settings, then click Save. Note: Everyone on the team has editor permission for items in the team root directory. See the Understand Tasks and Permissions section below for more details. Existing Folder Select a folder in Team, then click Move. If you're moving a folder, Review 360 adds the share settings of the parent folder to the folder you moved. Learn more about permissions. New Folder Select a location in the Team section and click the Create new folder icon in the lower-left corner. Give your new folder a name, add/remove team members, and click Save. Note: Moving items to different folders or directories does not change their share link. Unshare a Folder or Item Unshare a folder or item by moving it anywhere in your Private directory. Use either of the two ways to move folders and items discussed above, then select a location in the Private section. Only owners can move folders and items they've shared. If you unshare a folder that contains folders or items owned by others, those folders and items are also unshared and moved to their Private directories. Delete a Shared Folder or Item Select folders and items as mentioned above, click the More (•••) icon, and select Delete. Only owners can delete their shared folder or item and move them to their Deleted Items folder. If you delete a folder that contains folders or items owned by others, those folders and items are also moved to their Deleted Items folders. Tip: Folders and items can only be deleted one at a time. Need to delete several items and folders? Move them to a new folder in bulk and then delete the folder. Restore a Shared Folder or Item From the Deleted Items, select the folder or item, and choose Remove from trash. Restoring shared folders or items moves them back to their original location. If the location or folder no longer exists, you'll find them in your Private directory. Understand Tasks and Permissions Everyone on the team has editor permissions to all Review 360 items in the root Team directory. Control who sees your shared items by moving them to team folders and customizing the folder share settings, as described below. Hover over the folder in the sidebar or the folder breadcrumb on top, click the More (•••) icon that appears, and choose Folder share settings. Or select the checkbox in the upper-left corner of the folder, then click the share icon on the dynamic action toolbar on top. In the pop-up that displays, search for specific team members by name or email and click their names to add them as editors. Or add the "Everyone" group to give all seatholders access to the folder. To remove access, hover over selected members and click the trash icon. Permissions can be either explicit or inherited. Explicit permission is manually adding the user or group through the folder share settings. It doesn't change even when you move the folder. Inherited permission is when the folder automatically adds the share settings from the parent folder. If the folder is moved to another location, its inherited permissions are replaced with the new parent folder's share settings. To convert inherited permissions to explicit, remove the permissions and manually add them back. Updating folder share settings applies the change to all subfolders under it. Currently, this also affects folders owned by other members. The permission on the updated folder is explicit, while the permissions on the subfolders are inherited. There are two roles in the folder share settings: owner and editor. See the table below to compare owner and editor permissions: Folders Tasks Owner Editor View the shared folder x x View shared folder permissions x x Create a subfolder in the shared folder x x Add a new item in the shared folder x x Rename the shared folder x x Change shared folder permissions x Move the shared folder x Delete the shared folder x Items Tasks Owner Editor View items x x Download videos x x Publish new versions of an item x x Insert items as Storyline blocks in Rise 360 x x Hide and unhide versions of items x x Download Storyline 360 project backups x x Disable and re-enable comments x x Export videos to an LMS x x Modify share settings x x Copy the shareable link x x Allow users without Articulate IDs to comment x x Set a password to view the item x x Rename item titles x x Duplicate items x x Move items x Delete items x Restore versions x Delete comments x Publish Collaboratively Allow multiple authors to publish new versions of Review 360 items you shared using any Articulate 360 authoring app. Here's how: Publish your content to Review 360. Items are stored in the Private root directory when you first publish directly from authoring apps. Move it to any folder in the Team directory, including the root folder. Make sure co-authors have editor access to the folder. When co-authors choose to publish a new version of an existing item to Review 360 using the same authoring app, they'll see the item you shared on the list. For Storyline 360 items, editors also have the option to upload a new version, as shown below. Learn more about other editor tasks in the Understand Tasks and Permissions section above. To see who made changes to the shared item, click the Version drop-down list in the upper left corner of the screen to switch between versions. Editors can hide or unhide versions, but only owners can restore a version. Get Answers to FAQs Can I transfer ownership of folders and items? No, but editors can duplicate Review 360 items, and they'll own the copies. However, these won't include comments. You can also transfer ownership when removing the owner from the team subscription and selecting a new team member as the owner. As a folder editor, I can publish new versions of Rise 360 content in team folders, even if I'm not a course/microlearning manager in Rise 360. Is this expected? Yes, any seatholder in the same subscription with editor access to the Rise 360 item in Review 360 can publish a new version. This may include content on which you aren't assigned a collaborator role. Assigned collaborator roles in Rise 360 control who can publish the course or microlearning to Review 360. Assigned folder permissions in Review 360 team folders control who can publish new versions of the items in the folder. Note: When publishing a new version from Rise 360, you can select any content to which you have editor permissions in Review 360. Let us know how this works for your organization. What happens to shared content when the owner is removed from the team? When you remove someone from your team, you must transfer all their shared content to another member to complete the process. To keep the user's unshared content with their Articulate ID account, uncheck the Include personal content box. This is handy when the user is a contractor or freelancer who used their personal Articulate ID to join your team and has personal content connected to it. See this article for more information about managing content when users leave your team. If you're leaving the team, move all the content you want to keep to your Private directory first, then ask your admin to uncheck the Include personal content box when removing your access. More details on how long we'll keep your data here. Can I give non-seatholder admins access to team folders? Only seatholders in the same subscription can access team folders. Will I be notified when someone updates the items I shared? No, we don't send any notifications for team folders at this time. What should I do when I plan to merge subscriptions? We'll help you combine multiple Articulate 360 subscriptions to ensure shared content is transferred to the new subscription. Learn more about merging subscriptions. What happens when the subscription expires and I want to reactivate it? Shared content, such as Review 360 items in team folders, stays with the subscription. If you think you might renew your subscription later and want to keep your shared items, move them to your private directory before your subscription expires. Your online data remains intact if you renew your subscription with the same Articulate ID within six months. You'll have access to all your personal content items. Let us know if you need help retrieving shared content.Project Kickoff Questions
Are you starting a new project, but aren’t sure what to ask your Subject Matter Experts? Then download and customize this project kickoff questionnaire to help guide the conversation. If you found this document helpful, then check out:Make Working With SMEs a Breeze with These 3 DownloadsAccessible E-Learning Checklist
Did you know that some of the people in your organization might be missing out on critical training simply because your e-learning courses aren’t accessible? Now you can download and use this checklist to ensure your online learning materials and experiences are inclusive, accessible, and usable by the widest possible range of learners.E-Learning Project Plan
Set clear expectations from the start with this E-Learning Project Plan. Download and customize this Microsoft Word document to help you and your Subject Matter Experts get on the same page. If you found this document helpful, then check out:Make Working With SMEs a Breeze with These 3 Downloads9 Steps to Better E-Learning Project Management
For e-learning creators, the success of any e-learning project often hinges on how it’s planned and managed. You can have a fantastic idea, design it to perfection, and even line up awesome tools to build your course. But without a solid project management plan, you might find yourself facing some frustrating—and unnecessary—challenges. This e-book walks you through the steps you need to manage your e-learning course projects effectively, from start to finish. You’ll find effective tips, resources, and strategies to help you create and deliver an e-learning course that meets everyone’s expectations. This nine-step guide will show you how to: Get the right people on board Set goals and expectations with your team—and execute on them Find the best solution to meet your project goals Create success metrics and a service level agreement Develop a project plan that shows who’s doing what and by when Avoid common pitfalls that can derail a project Build a foolproof rollout and implementation plan Measure your course’s success6 Agenda Items for Your E-Learning Project Kickoff Meeting
Project kickoff meetings are an important part of the e-learning process. It’s the first time you meet with stakeholders, SMEs, and anyone else who has a hand in your project to get the ball rolling. But this meeting isn’t just a formality. It’s a crucial first step in starting your e-learning project. To make sure everything gets off to a good start, it’s important to use your time wisely. In this article, I’ll walk you through six key items you should discuss for a successful project kickoff. 1. Find Out Who Has the Final Word Identifying your primary stakeholder(s) is a crucial part of any successful project. There’s nothing worse than spending weeks designing a course, calling it ready to roll out, and then having someone say, “Now, let’s take it to Bob so he can review it.” To avoid this situation, you want to know who’s ultimately responsible for approving a project from the start. Touch base with them and find out their criteria for success, then have them review your project periodically. Doing this up front saves time and money on the back end. 2. Agree on Deliverables The key project deliverables can vary from one project to another depending on a variety of factors, like the e-learning development app you use, the level of course complexity involved, etc. For example, if your client wants to use an app like Rise 360, you know you can skip creating a prototype. That’s because with Rise 360, the visual design and functionality are done for you—all you need to do is select colors and fonts—saving tons of time. Take time to chat with your client and decide which deliverables make sense for their project. Maybe they don’t need a prototype or a storyboard, but they want a few extra review cycles. As long as you’re both on the same page from the beginning, it doesn’t matter what you decide. Once you’ve made a decision, make sure to document it to avoid extra work, wasted resources, and frustration. After you’ve nailed down the deliverables, it’s time to look at your timeline. 3. Commit to a Timeline Your project timeline is important because it says when you’ll hand off deliverables to the client. Work directly with your client to build the timeline, and if you make any changes later on, be sure to loop them in right away. When working on a realistic and attainable project timeline, you should: Identify the dates your major deliverables are due Note any connected projects or resources owned by other teams that will need to be completed before the e-learning launches Outline the due dates of key milestones and when you expect to have the project wrapped up Include deadlines for items the client must provide to you, so they know their responsibilities Include dates when client reviews need to be completed Budget time for rework after each stage of review Build in time at the end of major phases as a buffer for any unexpected issues or events, since no project ever goes 100% as planned Once you’ve got your timeline set, document it along with the project deliverables and share them with your team for greater project visibility. Once you’ve got your timeline nailed down, it’s time to consider your learners and their needs. 4. Think About Your Audience The cornerstone of any successful e-learning project is a thorough audience analysis. An e-learning audience analysis is a deep dive into job- and context-related details. It teaches you who you’re training and covers important facts, like what your audience knows and how best to communicate with them. For example, what’s their level of prior knowledge? And are there any cultural considerations you should be aware of? If so, knowing this up front will help you design inclusive e-learning that resonates with your entire audience. While an audience analysis is incredibly helpful, it can’t account for everything. For example, a learner might have a disability they aren’t comfortable sharing with their employer. In that case, you won’t be aware of this disability either and can’t take it into account as you’re creating the course. That’s why it’s a best practice to always design courses that are accessible. This ensures all learners have equal access to your course content. 5. Clarify Learning Objectives Once you’ve thought through who your learners are and how to design an accessible course, it’s time to drill down and identify learning objectives. A great way to start is by answering these three questions: What needs to be learned? (What do they need to be able to do after taking the training?) What do they need to know before they can start? (What level of knowledge is required to understand the course content?) How will you measure whether they’ve learned what you set out to teach them? (By passing a knowledge check? By performing on-the-job demonstration?) After you’ve identified and written the learning objectives, make sure to get them approved by your key stakeholders and SMEs. The learning objectives will determine the content you include in your course, so it’s important to get buy-in up front to reduce project scope creep. 6. Think Through Technical Considerations The technical requirements for e-learning courses can vary greatly from one project to another, so it’s important to know what they are before you get started. Some good questions to ask are: Do learners have access to the technology they need to take the course (for example, computers or mobile devices)? Do they have headphones or speakers to listen to audio? Do you need to track the course progress and completion? How will you share the course with the learner (LMS, video hosting service, browser, etc.)? Do the learners have a high-speed internet connection? Figuring out answers to these questions will help you identify potential issues learners might run into. A good practice is to identify the worst-case scenario and build your training in a way that ensures it will still function even if that happens. After all, a course is only successful if learners can access it! Wrap-Up As you can see, there are many things to consider when kicking off an e-learning project and they are all important pieces of the puzzle. And while it might seem like a lot, covering these six items in your kickoff meeting will ensure you’re off to a good start. Want more project management tips? Check out these articles: 3 Tips for Building an Effective E-Learning Project Team Keep Your E-Learning Project Moving Forward with These 3 Tips 3 Ways to Ensure Your E-Learning Clients Keep Coming Back For More And here are someuseful templates: Basic Project Management Timeline in Excel Basic Project Management Plan in Word E-Learning Project Estimates Worksheet E-Learning Project Plan Remember tosubscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (Formerly Twitter). This article is part of our E-Learning 101 e-mail course, a series of expertly curated articles that’ll help you get started with e-learning—delivered right to your inbox. You’re only a click away from becoming an e-learning pro!Sign up here to enroll.Rise 360: An Interactive E-Learning Style Guide
Here's an interactive e-learning style guide I created for a mock tech company called "Dynamic Fuse." Itmakes heavy useof Rise 360 interactions like the accordion block, flip cards, sorting block,and the Storyline block to deliver loads of engaging, interactive ways toexplore e-learning design standards. View this project in action Creating an interactive style guide like this is so easy with Rise 360. I think the results are beautiful and professional—and will be a breeze to keep up-to-date as standards evolve. Click here to send a copy of this course to your Rise 360 dashboard. If you don’t have access to Rise 360, sign up for a free, 30-day trial of Articulate 360.
