Tag: computer based training

Instructional Designer for hire!

I received some unfortunate news yesterday. After a mid-day call with my employer I learned several positions, including my own, would be eliminated based on the economic downturn and uncertainty relating to Coronavirus.

My time with Traliant was amazing and had such potential, and I’m ready to find a similar role! If you’re looking for help with your training initiatives, reach out. We can arrange a time to discuss how my talents and skills may align with your needs. Of course, you can see samples of my work here at my blog, and I’ve also uploaded an fresh résumé.

In addition to Instructional Design and Articulate Storyline work, I’m open to other projects. With a background in recruiting and hiring, I’d be glad to apply my Human Resources AND design skills to help you re-format and re-design your own résumé to something more attention getting! Also, I miss designing corporate communications similar to the newsletter example that is here. If something like that would help in your organization, let me know. I could also apply this background and skillset to helping you freshen up other HR and communication forms, too.

I hope things are back to normal soon. Above all, I hope we all stay healthy and safe. In the mean time, I’m pressing forward with an aggressive job search, enjoying extra time with my family, taking time to update my blog, and hoping for the best- for us all.

FAQ Using a Scrolling Panel

In my previous role, I worked in the company’s Human Resources Department, and like many other functions, we answered the same questions routinely. How do I update my direct deposit? When will I accrue more vacation time? What is the 401K match and when is it distributed? How to I bid on internal vacancies or job positions?

To address the department’s frequently asked questions and the common questions that new hires presented, I developed similar Storyline productions that we housed at the department’s intranet site.

  • The simple production featured a collection of buttons the learner could peruse via scrolling panel.
  • When the button was clicked/selected a layer appears, as dictated by the slide’s trigger panel.

The demonstration here features simple information regarding my current place of residence- Durham, North Carolina. You could easily feature new hires FAQs and department FAQs (as mentioned above), but I think this design would also work well with a compliance topic’s FAQs. It is another great example of Articulate Storyline’s flexibility to create engaging and interactive learning resources.

Click here to see this example!

Policy Acknowledgement (Part 2)

As mentioned in my last post, my favorite training focuses on the behavioral change required based on policy or procedures changes or “missed” performance markers.  In effect, what should the learner to better or do differently after he/she/they complete the training?

I also understand why it is important to include policy text in a lesson.  When there are new guidelines or rules, you want to take every chance possible to review that information, but let’s face it- how many times do people pay attention to text heavy, lengthy policy slides?  That’s why it is important to build engaging and interactive training to help the learn grasp and practice processing new information.  (My background is in Human Resources.  More than once, I have handed an employee policy to review and acknowledge and then watched as they sign the form without thoroughly reading the document.)

In the past, I’ve offered the following example to project stakeholders and subject matter experts when discussing how to include policy. 

  • Include a few slides that give a high-level review of the policy- why it is in place or why it is updated, what the person should do new or differently, and what may happen if the person fails to abide by the policy. 
  • The fourth slide in my example features a scrolling panel with the entire policy text and an acknowledgement button. 
  • Be sure your lesson includes scenarios, simulated conversations, decision-making, true/false slides or other interactions to help the learner apply and practice the new skills. 
    • Your lesson design could route as follows:  Introduction, DOs/DON’Ts, acknowledgement, interactive content, conclusion/review.
    • Your lesson design could also route:  Introduction, DOs/DON’Ts, interactive content, conclusion/review, acknowledgement.
    • Regardless of where you place the acknowledgement in your design, hopefully your LMS is capable of tracking the user’s interaction with the button.
    • You could also add a second button- “I need more practice regarding how to apply this policy”.  When clicked, the user would repeat the more interactive content.

With many projects, a designer’s biggest challenge is balancing the subject matter experts content needs and expectations with solid instructional practices.  I think this example does exactly that! 

Click here to see the example!

Policy Acknowledgement (Part 1)

Teaching new policy isn’t my favorite use of online training.  I would rather develop lessons on behavioral change and focus on what should the learner should do differently based on the new or updated rules and related procedures.  But I get it- sometimes an online learning lesson is the easiest and most efficient way to disseminate information and details regarding a new guideline.

There are plenty of details to consider when you design this sort of information heavy lesson, but you will always want to include some sort of acknowledgement interaction.  The next two posts will demonstrate few ideas you may be able to apply to confirm learners’ understanding and acknowledgement of the policies you are teaching and demonstrating.

Today we’ll look at the built-in, graded question format “check many”.  You may typically use this type of slide during a quiz or interaction to check a learner’s competencies.  (For example:  Select all the vegetables:  carrots; celery; apples; strawberries; onion; spinach; grapes; potatoes.)  For the design purposes briefly mentioned above you could add this type of slide to a policy tutorial to have the learner acknowledge his/her understanding of the policy, procedure, or guideline discussed during your lesson.

You can use the link at the bottom of this post to see this in action! Just remember, if you’re using this type of acknowledgement be sure to set up the course reporting to track this slide- either as part of the graded quizzing OR tracking for completion. (Select whatever may work best for your needs, your learners, your LMS, and other tracking/reporting considerations.)

Visit again soon! In the next post, I’ll demonstrate my favorite way to collect a policy acknowledgement during a lesson.

Click here

Instructional Designers (and the Department of Louise) are important

The article I’m sharing first appeared in my news feed a few weeks ago, and I’ve read through it several times since then. Having began my career in more of a Generalist role, I understand how difficult it can be to balance policy and training. This is especially true when the policy or training isn’t well written, which can even happen in highly functioning organizations.

As the writer states, maybe we’ve missed a vital point, having been unable to view the lesson that preceded the question. I’m hoping Best Buy will respond, and she’ll be able to amend this article or write a follow-up. From the outside looking in, I feel like input from an Instructional Designer would certainly help in this situation.

Sometimes our role goes beyond designing and developing training. Sometimes we need to play the role of Louise, not necessarily to be contrarian, but to ensure project success. (Check out the article and the author’s reference to humorist Dave Barry.) As I often tell Subject Matter Experts, sometimes we don’t see the hole or error with a process policy until we sit down to discuss it in depth, step by step to begin training design. In my opinion, it is part of the the designer’s job to fill in those holes to make sure a learner can easily grasp each step and each piece of new information.

The last thing you ever want as a designer or presenter is eye rolls from your audience. I’m worried the Best Buy employee who shared this via his/her Twitter feed is a little less engaged with the organization, his/her function, and especially with the training process. Again, here’s hoping the author will hear back from Best Buy, and we can find clarification on this policy, this lesson, and the differences between greeting and welcoming customers.

Viral Best Buy Training Questions Is A Perfect Example Of Clueless Corporate Policies

Do you have thoughts on the question example and semantics in the article or the balance between well-written policy and well-designed training? Share this in the comments area!

Using Video as an Articulate “Background”

I love using a (carefully selected) image as a background in a training slide, whether that is produced using Articulate products or PowerPoint.  Recently, I had been wondering what it might look like to use a video as a background instead, and while working on travel plans for a training session, I was inspired to create this quick example.

I’m not sure I would use a “busy” or cluttered video, nor would I want video background on a lengthy slide.  I think both of those would create more distraction than depth, but with this simple topic and simple slide I believe the video looks great.

Use the link below to see the example of a video background in the mock Travel Expense Policy training!

Click here

Happy New Year!

The transition between years is a time we often reflect on the past and prescribe changes for the future, which makes an update here most appropriate. During 2018 there was plenty of change, and I’m very excited for the potential and opportunity 2019 holds!

First, effective late August 2018 I began working remotely. When my significant other was laid-off and then relocated for a new opportunity, I wanted to follow. My employer was gracious enough to allow me to begin working remotely from our new home, and I’m to first person in our department to take this leap! (Interestingly, Human Resources is considered to be one of the fastest growing work from home fields. It makes sense for our organization, where most of our interaction is with persons at field locations throughout the US.)

I commute back to our corporate office, 120 miles each way, once each month to catch up with other staff members, subject matter experts, and to have face-to-face time with my colleagues. I’ve even been commuting some via train, which has been a nice experience! After several months in my new office (also known as “the spare bedroom”) I’ve adjusted to the quiet, but I miss the social interactions of an office terribly.

As mentioned, the new year holds a great deal of potential, including launching several projects that have been in the works for some time. It will be nice to further build on these strategic ideas, develop a foundation for more detailed training curriculum, and watch our function grow. Another goal for 2019 is to keep my blog and portfolio up to date. Not only does this challenge my creativity and offer me a chance to get my ideas onto “paper”, it helps me share my ideas and capabilities with others. I’m already drafting and brainstorming a few PowerPoint tips and some suggestions for instructor-led training events.

I’m sure as I learn more about my craft, favorite softwares (Articulate Storyline and Microsoft PowerPoint) and grow the training function for my current employer, I’ll be inspired and prompted to share more ideas with you. I hope your 2019 is also filled with potential and prospects- both professionally and personally!

One of my favorite Storyline 360 features

Often times I will include a brief introduction with details about my design thoughts or processes.  With this post I’ll refrain from doing so.  Instead, this simple presentation explain one of my favorite new features in Storyline 360 or Storyline 3.

Click here to check it out!

Articulate Problem Solving Interaction

Problem solving is one of the early themes in our upcoming soft skills curriculum, and one lesson includes what is now my favorite Articulate developed module!  In this example, the learner must complete a challenge as part of his/her responsibility for planning a child’s birthday party.  Anyone who has helped plan even the smallest event certainly knows how frustrating and chaotic it can be.   While it is seems like a far-fetched for a corporate learning lesson, we wanted to steer clear of office-like examples.  We expect the non-workplace scenario will help learners concentrate on problem solving principles instead of focusing on the specific problems he or she may face during work assignment.  These problem solving skills can be easily applied to any situation, work related or not!

What makes this example so exciting from a developer’s perspective?  Obviously, each grid on the interaction slide needs an answer, but this means there must also be states and variables based on correct AND incorrect answers for each grid.  This is the first time I’ve used such detailed logic in a course, but I believe it produced a learning challenge that will require participants to think rationally and exercise his/her problem solving skills.  Further, this development reminded me the possibilities in Articulate are near limitless!

Click here

to see the superhero birthday challenge.

Carousel Effect- Part 2

As promised with my last post, here is version of the carousel effect where the slide progresses automatically, and even though I prefer the first edition (since it requires the learner to interact with the screen), I still think this is a neat effect.

With this example, the arrow click logic is removed, and the change is triggered based on slide timing.  The carousel will circle through three times, but it would be relatively easy build a continuation of this rotation if the learner would benefit or need to see the information repeated again.  (Simply copy and paste the trigger, and edit the timing cue.)

Click here to see example two!