The Three Dimensions of E-Learning

The promise of E-Learning has been around for a while, unfortunately the peace – love generation of the sixties, now firmly in control of administration in the hallowed halls of learning in public and private enterprises have been very slow to adapt.  For some unknown reason organizations continue to favour  more costly solutions such as conferences, seminars, workshops;  and all supported by low-tech legacy solutions such as DVD’s,  print, web pages built largely on  static content  buttressed by the commitment of travelling to a single location from every corner of the country.

 Apparently, the social aspect of meeting in person far outweighs the financial consideration of engaging in E-learning.  Now if you ask the participants and administrators, you would get various rationales for this luddite approach; ranging from networking or lateral learning opportunities to, “this is the way we always do it.”  While these explanations may have a kernel of truth, the vast majority of learning can be mirrored or encompassed within the E-Learning scenario; and if organizations take a collaborative approach, E-Learning can provide solutions to complex long term learning problems, very cost efficiently. Perhaps one of the most telling indicators of the potential for E-Learning is the fact that senior decisions makers are already significant users of mobile communications devices to interact and share information.  

Today, as has historically happened , many companies new to the learning process  simply transfer their development skill sets,  from one medium to another  and in this case from web sites to E-learning  in the mistaken belief that this is simply the next evolution in online interactivity. E-Learning at its most effective is more of a three-dimensional   solution utilizing a variety of media such as video, animation, simulations, live interaction, audio and print in an instructional context that mimics the exploratory nature of learning through interaction and feedback.  E-Learning can be very much like a live event where participants can learn from structured content, explore ideas and hear the thoughts of visionary leaders.

This is a lot more than just the next evolution in online information of knowledge – it is a three –dimensional mirror of the learning process. E-Learning, as a technology solution seeks to mimic the process of learning by using the best practices of a classroom and removing the social aspect of learning that often bogs down the learning process. As young adults social interaction in learning scenarios is important in that we are learning a set of skills above and beyond the content.  As we age and the content is more specific and we are more focused on absorbing the outcomes, social interaction becomes less important in absorbing the content and becomes more on the exchange of ideas, interaction among peers, and access to up to date knowledge.

E-learning is becoming increasingly important in a world where the validity of any web content can be called into question and the market for E-Learning is increasing exponentially each year. Organizations have a unique opportunity to become the brand in their knowledge category by developing and maintaining an evergreen approach to their knowledge base through three-dimensional E-Learning.  The three dimensions of E-Learning are: 1) interactive content, 2) knowledge sharing and 3) comprehension. Currently, companies new to the E-learning scenario do not have the skill set to develop the interactive learning content in a way that allows for full three-dimensional E- learning.

Three-dimensional E-learning requires a unique skill set that includes the ability to conceptualize and produce a narrative story. This experience e is often gained through production in traditional mediums such as videos, documentaries, theatre etc. It also includes an understanding of the web medium, the tool sets used for E-learning development and how best to use them to emulate an interactive learning experience. The final tool set understands the administration/communications required to implement it effectively.

The current tool set is relatively mature and will allow for the development of three-dimensional E-Learning but do you have the creative skill sets, instructional design and technical expertise to work with an organization to implement  three-dimensional E-Learning effectively?

Synchronous or A Synchronous E-Learning?

The question is not really “which” but “how” and perhaps even “when” do we use Synchronous or Asynchronous E-Learning. It’s kind of like the relationship between the “text book” and the “teacher” or the more colloquial “hand and glove.”  But before we can tackle the subject of “which” we need to determine “what” defines Synchronous or Asynchronous E-Learning.

Asynchronous learning is a student-centered teaching method that uses online learning resources to facilitate information sharing outside the constraints of time and place among a network of people. This approach combines self-study with asynchronous interactions to promote learning, and this combined network of learners and the electronic network in which they communicate is referred to as an asynchronous learning network.

Synchronous learning refers to a group of people learning the same things at the same time in the same place. This is the type of pedagogy practiced in most schools which emulate a face-to-face environment and with the advent of web conferencing tools, people can learn at the same time in different places as well. For example, use of instant messaging or live chat, webinars and video conferencing allow for students and teachers to collaborate and learn in real time.

Best practice E-Learning may use one or both Synchronous and Asynchronous learning to generate effective comprehension. Which method works best is defined by the nature of the content and the audience.  

Some content is best suited for Asynchronous E-Learning, where more technical, regulatory or systematic knowledge needs to be imparted and the leaner can learn at their own pace within a preferred environment.  This can often take the form of mandated learning such as workplace regulatory knowledge or compliance related information. Asynchronous E-Learning continues to utilize the broad spectrum of tools such as video, text, images, interactivity and photos and can incorporate a social aspect as well through forums, blogs, chat rooms, etc. Asynchronous E-Learning is a natural extension of Synchronous E-Learning and while these two components of learning complement each other they can be used independently of each other. 

 Synchronous E-Learning is often used when on-site physical demonstrations are required or when the learner has to be qualified as having gained the level of knowledge originally set out in the learning objectives or a given curriculum. Synchronous E-Learning can also be employed when the benefits of social interaction such as in a classroom, workshop or webinar will benefit the learning process.

Asynchronous E-Learning is a part of that process; it breaks information down and makes it more easily digestible as a stand-alone presentation, learn at your own pace, discrete  segment of information that is required learning; or for information that is used as a building block for much more complex ideas and concepts. Asynchronous E-Learning is a natural extension of Synchronous E-Learning and while these two components of learning complement each other they can be used independently of each other.

Effective E-Learning, whether Synchronous or Asynchronous, emulates good teaching style and utilizes the attributes of the electronic medium and the best practices of learning, utilizing sound preparation, illustrative anecdotes, humour, personal experience and thought provoking insight to engage and inspire learners in an anytime, anywhere format (that’s the Asynchronous part.)

Ultimately E-Learning as a whole, whether Synchronous or Asynchronous allow for repeated and consistent deployment of well thought out knowledge without the day-to-day participation of an instructor. This adds significant cost savings, reduces teaching time, improves comprehension and standardizes the information to insure consistent delivery of knowledge. This does not mean that instructors are not used, it simply  means that the instructor or in most circumstances, group of instructors develop the content and then deploy it in a Synchronous E-Learning module that uses best practices teaching strategies for developing the content.

Asynchronous E-Learning uses the discrete building blocks of Synchronous E-learning to emulate a classroom setting more closely and communicate complex ideas that allow the learners to engage in a more Interactive dialogue with the instructor and with other learners. This process combines best practices of teaching and E-Learning because such presentations are repeated and greater care and support is given to the dynamic of learning in the Asynchronous learning process.  It is also expected that such curriculums, once developed offer a longer life cycle when the content is revised annually. It is my suggestion that Synchronous E-Learning will someday replace textbooks entirely and will be updated by organizations whose sole responsibility it is to maintain up to date information on learning topics, similar to text book publishers today.

I think it’s safe to say that E-Learning in any form is more than an amalgam of parameters, media and instructional design, it’s a learning environment that reflects the learning objectives, the nature of the content and the makeup of the audience.  

The Value Proposition: A Lever to Change the World

“Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth” the law of the lever, often attributed to the Greek Mathematician and inventor Archimedes, applies to marketing in a very real way.  The idea concerns the understanding that a small force can move a great weight by means of a lever.   

In this age of gimmicks, giveaways, sex and popular culture the true nature of marketing or the use of a good lever has been misused.  Like Archimedes’ lever the basic marketing principle is similar in that a small, inalienable truth properly developed and promoted can have a dramatic effect on the fortunes of a company or product.  

The advent of social media, twitter and the elevation of popular culture helps us define who we are - and it is a decidedly younger demographic that controls the bulk of buying power in today’s society. So, having a lever or creative idea that defines the value proposition and appeals to a younger audience has become more important. It allows the value proposition about a product to become a lever that can be understood more rapidly and shared more broadly. The products we like, use and share attach a certain cache to our personalities and so have an inordinate importance that marketing can leverage to promote products.  All of these influencing factors have made it a great time to market and realize significant growth as a result.

Now, having said that, why are most companies and organization undervaluing the use of marketing and promotions when it could have profound affect on awareness and productivity?  Have we become enmeshed in the day to day administrative routines or have we imagined ourselves as the marketing gurus? Or are we so entrenched in its everyday use that we have overlooked it or we feel we can effectively create ideas and marketing around our products without the aid of costly outside marketing expertise. It’s probably more a combination of these factors and the helplessness that most companies or organizations feel in the proliferation of mediums and technology. Often when we are overwhelmed and we seek the comfort of simplicity using predictable avenues and strategies that are familiar to us.

Taking the time to consult with a marketing expert and have them develop both a great creative idea and a marketing strategy.  (Note - creative ideas and marketing strategies are not the same). The creative idea is a unique tool that marketing uses across all mediums in a variety of forms to create a consistent perception or inalienable truth about your company or product and the marketing strategy is the plan that puts that tool into play.

We are fortunate in that we live in a time when a marketing idea can change the fortunes of a company on a dime yet few companies employ a focused strategy that leverages the value proposition and good creative idea. Old school marketing gurus like David Ogilvy, Lee Clow, Phyllis K. Robinson, Hal Riney and many others  knew and understood this concept and used in landmark campaigns that have changed the buying habits of people around the world …simply with a good creative idea and fervent belief .   

You can quote me on this “Give me a great creative idea and I can change the world.”  You just have to take the time to understand the value proposition and use it as a lever.

E-Learning Delivery: The Four Steps

We work with many national and international organizations in the delivery of learning.  Learning can take many forms but for the purposes of this discussion I have chosen to focus on E-Learning medium.

The lessons we have learned about E-Learning, and that are reviewed here can be applied to any form of learning.

There are four unique components that must be addressed when considering a new education, awareness or communication initiative.  Such initiatives can include delivering specific knowledge to the general membership of an organizational body, communicating guidelines and protocols to employees of a company or even informing a broad public audience. Regardless of the audience, the four steps of delivery must be observed if the project is to be successful. The four steps in order of implementation are Strategic Planning, Content Development, Implementation and Promotion.   

Strategic planning for E-learning, on the surface appears relatively simple but I would suggest that it is far from it. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, E-Learning is not a layered on delivery medium it is unique, and it combines all previous delivery methods of information and education delivery into one medium, i.e., video, text, images, simulations, interactivity, threshold learning imperatives, etc., and as a result is must be include both a short term and a longer term strategic plan since its implementation demands changes in administration, policies and protocols and responsibilities within the organization responsible. While this may seem daunting it can be implemented in a phased in approach that allows the originating body to learn as it implements and to allow learners to participate in that process. Strategic planning also includes one additional important aspect and that is it helps define what content will be included and what level of expertise is required to help define that level of knowledge.

The next step is fairly simple, content development has utilized the same basic methodology since the industrial revolution.  The body implementing the learning brings together a committee or group of experts that have a broad cross section expertise directly relating to the content as defined by the strategic plan. Usually they represent a fairly academic group depending on the industry and knowledge being delivered.  The one trait most subject matter experts share is a lack of understanding of the medium they are working in -  and a general uneasiness in dealing with instructional designers or those providing the interactive experience that engages learners.  This is often the result of having to allow developers to work with the content where subject matter experts cannot exercise direct control over content.  This is usually overcome once the subject matter experts have an opportunity to view the results of the interactive process.  

The implementation is standard for the most part but as well, however, in the case of E-learning there can be, “a few curves in the road” so to speak. Organizations typically have to grapple with defining an effective way to manage and administer learning in a way that can include a dialogue with learners and include learners input and feedback. This can be difficult with reduced budgets and increased staff responsibilities.  This is where longer term planning has a more direct impact on delivery; and understanding that budgeting and staff responsibilities can be streamlined when E-Learning is implemented as a replacement for traditional learning as to realize better cost management and knowledge retention.

The final step in the delivery process is promotion and I have blogged about this a few times in the past. Promotion is often overlooked and under-appreciated. Most organizations whether we are referring to a membership body or a corporation believe that “if we build it they will come.”  Have faith brothers and sisters – we put it on our web site, we have announced it in the newsletter and we even sent them an e-mail with links.  All must do steps, but these fall far short from inspiring or engaging learners; and it does little to encourage them to buy into the benefit of that very specific information you are providing. If an organization has spent all that time and effort to create information, why is there no plan to promote the value of the content and its benefits to learners above and beyond the standard methods?  Organizations must employ what ad agencies have known forever, an event around the delivery of a valuable product.  Gaining participation in advance from your potential learning audience through events and teasers helps create awareness and anticipation. Using social media forums, contests and rewarding participation creates a buzz around the delivery creating a general groundswell of support for the information and awareness and its underscores the value that the organization places on information.

Synchronous E-Learning: Simulation, Video or Animation?

As synchronous and a–synchronous learning become more entrenched in transferring knowledge from one source to the other, ideally through such tools as E-Learning, a number of complex issues begin to emerge in setting the bar for comprehension.

How to effectively delve into the content and communicate it in a meaningful and cost effective way is essential to understanding what tools offer the greatest efficacy. The later part of that statement is key since up to this point E-Learning has grown at snail’s pace, largely due to cost.

Often in Learning in general and E-Learning in particular, these methods of communicating knowledge are designed to inform us about the correct or preferred way to do something. They help us understand the decision making process that support a best practices and allow us to think through a process. If it is truly interactive it allows us to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes by visualizing what might occur and how we might handle unique situations or barriers to completing a task.

The current pantheon of tools has grown in ease of use, cost of deployment, penetration in the marketplace and feasibility in general. Let’s have a quick look at each to better understand their strengths and weaknesses. The first we can review is simulation. 

While simulations can take many forms they generally include still images, coupled with audio. These can include illustrated characters, or drawn figures, as well as real people that are animated to some degree. Using such imagery and motion helps us break down a process and are often more generic in nature so as not to skew the learning process with gender, age or ethnic biases. A simulation helps us control the environment down to the smallest detail and can be cost efficient. Its weakness is its strength, it can appear very simplistic to a well educated audience and appear to be “taking down” to learners while the technology that controls these figures often introduce slight delays. I must also say that in many professional environments, given the wide range of opinions, there will be some very positive and some very negative reactions. Simulations can be very effective when using inanimate objects and illustrating a process.

Video has been around for awhile and of course it is often the preferred means of illustrating a scenario.  Its strengths are that it shows real people undertaking specific processes that most of your audience can relate to. It often employs the willing suspension of disbelief in that its displays scenarios that may not have been experienced by the learner.  Its strengths are that audiences have become accustomed to video and recently in reality TV and now accept working professionals portraying their day-to-day roles much more so than actors. This allows us to cut costs by using real people doing their jobs, but it introduces complexity by demanding more careful planning, places more responsibility on the client as participant in developing the scenarios. Costs have some down dramatically for videotaping and editing as low cost, high definition technology is now readily available with a skilled workforce to support it. Since the decisions around using real people relate to availability, cost and knowledge we have to remain vigilant about stereotyping.

Animation remains a fairly high cost alternative since it utilizes more specific software and hardware and there are fewer skilled technicians to undertake production. Animation can offer some very dramatic and effective illustration of scenarios and it excels when trying to demonstrate three-dimensional images.  Its weaknesses are that it is still relatively costly to deliver on a consistent basis  and like the simulation it can over-simplify a scenario.

My experience suggests that each of these technologies has a place in the development of synchronous learning but the parameters of any given assignment will dictate which technology to use. The three main parameters used to determine which technology is most appropriate to illustrate protocols and techniques are cost, available resources and comprehension. More often than not comprehension is the least considered parameter for supporting the choice and cost is the most important.  



E-Learning – Not an Additive …An innovation!

 All too often administrators and managers see new technologies as add-on elements to their existing continuum of learning. Not so with E-Learning …rather than layer on E-Learning to existing learning processes such as classroom training, lectures,  print materials, workshops, video, internet etc. We really have to begin thinking about replacing existing learning with E-Learning as the cornerstone of an integrated learning process.

As the increasing demands of maintaining up to date knowledge overwhelm us in an avalanche of information we need to adopt strategies that allow us to cope with it. Many theories suggest that the total human knowledge doubles every five years and every two years in health and medicine.

Developing a unique strategy for implementing learning that utilizes new technologies, addresses changing social norms and considers human interaction and communications as it relates to learning will help organizations be more effective and deliver a better return on investment for each learning dollar spent. This can be a significant undertaking but testing the implementation of unique learning environments and validating that test allows us to understand how to develop new learning standards and implement administrative protocols that are applied across an organization. Layering on E-Learning onto existing learning process simply drives up the cost and does not hold the learner responsible for comprehension. 

There is a cost and the only way that this cost can be rationalized is by reducing budgets and expenses on traditional learning processes that are not as effective.  We first have to look at existing learning processes and ensure we understand the costs involved with having instructor led programs, the cost of having a group of people sitting in a room, the cost of preparing tools and learning assets, the travel expense, the cost of qualified instructors, the follow up costs and the administration of these traditional learning initiatives. Overhauling an entire system may seem daunting but if we select a unique project based on priorities we can test the scenario and mange the parameters to ensure a firm understanding of the learning’s effectiveness in terms of comprehension and cost. Such tests can include both a-synchronous learning and/or blended learning but parameters and protocols have to be defined in advance to ensure we can benefit from what we learn in such E- Learning tests.

One of the most important protocols in implementing such a test is that existing traditional methods of learning such as classroom, instructor led or simple printed information presentations must be removed as an option in the learning process.  Once we have taken the time to design and implement a learning process that responds to our needs, we have to ensure that learners cannot not fall back into familiar patterns of learning.  The new strategy must be championed to ensure the new learning standards are implemented effectively and that and the initiative can be measured for effectiveness of comprehension, ease of administration and return on investment.

The Basic Press Release

One of the most important lessons that beginners need to learn is that writing media releases is all about developing a persuasive communication within the framework of a traditional news story format.

Editors will quickly trash media releases that make outlandish promotional promises -- "the best ever," "everyone wins," "one-of-a-kind," "changing humankind forever." You get the idea. Instead, press release writers must think like a reporter. Media releases must follow journalistic style in order to be given any kind of consideration. How do you accomplish this task? Here's the basics.

1. The Headline: In about ten words -- or less -- you need to grab the attention of the editor. The headline should summarize the information in the press release, but in a way that is exciting and dynamic; think of it as a billboard along a highway -- you have just a few words to make your release stand out among the many others editors receive on any given day.
2. Opening Paragraph: Sometimes called a summary lead, your first paragraph is critical. This paragraph must explain "the five Ws and one H" of the story -- the who, what, when, where, why, and how. This paragraph must summarize the press release, with the following paragraphs providing the detail.

The opening paragraph must also contain the hook: the one thing that gets your audience interested in reading more -- but remember that the hook has to be relevant to your audience as well as to the news media. A hook is not a hard sell or a devious promotion -- it's just a factual statement.

3. The Body: Using a strategy called the inverted pyramid, the body of the press release should be written with the most important information and quotes first. This inverted pyramid technique is used so that if editors need to cut the story to fit space constraints, they can cut from the end without losing critical information.
4. The Closing Paragraph: Repeat the critical contact information, including the name of the person, his or her phone number and/or email address.

Something to Enhance

Add Video or Images to the press release to offer other media outlets package materials that they can use in writing articles about the content of your press release. It may cost more but it is worth it.
Include a spokesperson who is available for post-press-release interviews with the media and can speak about the contents of the press release in detail. Finally, try and i
nclude observations and comments by respected industry peers that confirm the contents of your press release.