photo by quinn.anya
I have been thinking a lot about how to apply all this information we have been learning, but specifically how to apply it in corporate America. With all the firewalls and different sites that are blocked by corporate security, many of the tools we have learned cannot be used in my work setting. But learning all these new tools and what they can do has opened up a whole new world of options for me as an instructional designer. I am fortunate to work with e-learning developers that have access to tools similar to what we have learned, the difference being their tools are approved for use. The problem is as a designer that provides them with instruction on what to create, I have been the one that has held back our ability to use these technologies because I had no idea what could be done.
I feel sorry for my teammates now; I am going to be asking for all kinds of new things. :) I love the idea of audio files, like those we made with audacity. We use audio in the computer based training we create, but that is it. I can see us using it in so many other ways. We could
- have leaders provide a short message about how important the training is and the WIIFM. The link to this message could be included in the invitations to training.
- provide short audio clips from the facilitator or leader to recap key points from training. These could be sent out as reminders a week or two after training.
- capture role play activities for customer service or sales training for good examples or even non-examples.
And don't forget about Wikis. I am not sure my company is ready for the concept of a self correcting system that does not have 15 levels of review before information is posted, but I think we can use these in a few situations. I am thinking about a class I am designing for our corporate training and development community. It was be a great way to share what they are learning, how they have applied, best practices... Oh wait - they should decide what it become not me. Anyway - I think it would be fun to try it with that group.
I will continue processing all this new information and considering how I can use it, and I will keep you posted on how it goes.
I was nodding my head as I read your blog. Very much agree with what you are saying. What a gift to learn what we've learned and realize that we may, in some cases, have been our own stumbling block. Many of the ideas you have are, in fact, where I think we need to go as a profession. There is certainly a transformation occurring with the advances in technology. The ability to create real learning paths instead of event based learning (wether there be an event, virtual class, etc.) is limitless. Good luck putting some of your ideas into action and watch out for the compliance department. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I see both the potential and the challenges of this technology. While some of it is relatively easy to incorporate - audio, video, some chat features - others like wikis really take a shift in culture to be successful. I've tried putting wikis in front of college students before. According to Wikinomics, you'd think the Net Gen would be all over it, but the fact is they aren't. It is just one more thing for them to do, and Wiki's require engaged volunteers/participants to really be successful.
ReplyDelete