Gamification & VLE's:

Example of a medical Virtual Learning Environment

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) have become a new favourite buzz word to describe the next  and most exciting innovation in learning,; and over the past year when discussing learning or training of any sort,  and the term “Gamification” has emerged as the best way of describing the nature of a VLE.  

VLE’s utilize simulations and Gamification to greatly increase a learner’s engagement, motivation and focus through a more immersive experience. The technology simulates real life situations customized for specific workplace environments and allows learners who are already familiar with the technology, i.e., student population, to easily navigate the learning experience. 

Gamification, while a new term in the learning vernacular, is really a tested and true approach that leverages new technologies. Using a VLE provides an opportunity for more interactive teaching. It is important to note that Gamification is not the same as games which are intended for fun and leisure but uses the best game elements and applies them to a learning situation. Typical customization say for a healthcare scenario might be to allow the learner to select their gender, ethnic makeup and persona as an avatar in the VLE. They can then navigate the simulation as a doctor or nurse, for example, and engage in the functions and activities consistent with that role. They can dialogue with patients, engage in interprofessional consultations, review medical records & test results and perform actual medical procedures. The student maintains constant feedback on their progress through the interaction. Teachers and administrators also have access to comprehensive interactive data. Such simulations can be embedded in the typical E-Learning environment or they can also work as a stand-alone teaching opportunity.  

VLE’s offer a cost-effective way to create a practice environment that can supplement expensive classroom or workplace training for developing complex skills. As with other more traditional E-Learning strategies, learners work through scenarios in a self-paced manner and are also able to complete additional learning assignments and testing.

Ycommunicate is now engaged in planning several pilot projects for health care that utilize a virtual learning environment  for self-paced and blended learning situations. Experiential learning using Virtual Learning Environments represents the future of online E-Learning. Let’s take a quick look at a short list of the Pros and Cons.

The Pros

•  From a production point of view, the simulation environment remains completely within your control – this reduces demands on people, locations and intellectual property rights
• The learner is afforded more familiar control over the interactive environment
• The leaner has a better feedback mechanism in the dashboard display- allowing better comprehension ad real-time corrective actions to affect outcomes
• Age, gender and ethnic minorities are much easier to include as interactive components
• Learners can share their experiences with others or even compete depending on the scenario
• VLE's will minimize the cost of in-classroom teaching and be more consistent in its learning outcomes

The Cons

• Gamification of learning comes with a cost. The additional production required for a more comprehensive experience will drive up development costs
• The initial level of involvement by professionals is more intense in curriculum development at the outset
• Skill sets required  by the production companies is significant 
• The time required for production increases significantly

Having said all that, the strengths of Gamification will increase learning capacity significantly as we seek to absorb more and more information in the delivery of increasingly complex roles.  Strong project management and a clear commitment to defining goals and expectation will be critical in the success of ANY Virtual Learning Environment and Gamification in learning. 

What I learned From Quentin Tarantino

I have only been to TIFF once; of course it was not called TIFF then, back in 1992. I was thinking about making a film and had just completed the Maruska Stankova, Directing, Acting and Writing for Cameraworkshop.

I decided to attend the event and in particular sit in the “Gorilla Film Workshop” which featured among others as its panelists Quentin Tarantino. It was the usual workshop setting with perhaps 100 attendees in theatre style seating, and a handful of panelists up at the front, behind a row of tables on an elevated platform.

Each talked about their personal experience in film making, but a largely unknown film maker then, Quentin Tarantino, was getting a bit of buzz before the workshop and his story was compelling. He talked about his experience in getting his film, Reservoir Dogs made, and the need to “just do it”, as he described it. This was the seminal message for the workshop and in particular for Quentin. He described some details about the making of the film including some production issues.

But I didn’t get the whole story until later in the lobby when I was standing around deciding what to do when Quentin came into the lobby and sat down in one of the large chairs …just hanging out and decompressing I guess. I worked up a bit of nerve and sat down in an adjacent chair and began chatting with him and asking a few questions about his film making experience. He was more than happy to offer his thoughts and tell me a little more detail about how Reservoir Dogs got made.

He explained that he had been writing scripts while he was working at the video store and had tried unsuccessfully to make a film on more than one occasion and had become disillusioned with the process. Every studio wanted bigger guns and more T&A. It seems he finally had a script that he was able to sell  - and he agreed to be paid $ 30,000 for the script. His plan was to simply make a film with $30,000 – he wanted and needed the experience of making a film and …he not only wanted to write the script,  he wanted to direct the film.

He told me how he started seeking a low budget producer for the Reservoir Dogs script and when he finally settled on one he was promptly told that this was a great script and it should be shopped to all the studios. He immediately said absolutely not – he was convinced it would meet with more calls for bigger action and more sex. He was gong going to make a low budget feature the way he wanted it made, no matter what!

The producer and Quentin, as the story goes, batted this around for a while; the producer steadfast in suggesting that it be shopped rather than produced as a low budget film and Quentin refusing to budge, until finally Quentin relented when the producer told him he would make the film if , after shopping it,  he could not set up a suitable arrangement …and, oh yea, one of the provisions was that Quentin had to be the director.  

As expected, each time they presented the script the production company asked for more guns and more woman (remember there are only guys in the Reservoir Dogs.) Incredibility, after walking out on many studio meetings, Newline finally agreed to make the picture on a budget of a million dollars with one proviso – Quentin would not be the director.  Quentin talked them into allowing him to shoot some scenes as the director and he agreed - if they were not happy with the results he would acquiesce to their demands for another director.

In the end he got what he wanted and he added this bit of detail. Sitting at home one night, after sending the script to Harvey Keitel through a friend of a friend, Harvey calls him up. Shocked and surprised in his small, sparse flat eating macaroni and cheese, the very man who he wrote the main part for was on the phone talking to him about the script!

Needless to say, Harvey agreed to play the part and even went on to support the movie’s promotion out of this own pocket and helped Quentin by introducing him to all the right people when he flew him to New York for a lunch at the he Russian Tea House.

Great thing’s from a very stubborn beginning, a passion for film and a belief in one’s self. I guess the moral of the tale is  that sometimes, regardless of what the right way of doing something is ….you simply have to ignore that and just do it!

Accountability: A Question of Leadership?

I work with many businesses and organizations on a regular basis. The marketing issues we discuss often extend into business management areas such as business processes, customer service, business management strategies and protocols, etc.  These areas affect how customers do business with your company every day so they have to be evaluated if a marketing strategy is going to be effective. The most common complaint or issue that organizational leaders seem to have is their frustration with the lack of accountability from their employees.

 Since the recent downturn on the economy in 2008, business seems to have gotten a little harder for every part of the supply management chain. Companies and organizations are more focused on core issues and have less time for strategic planning. This has had a significant impact on businesses and their ability to train staff, enhance organizational work flow or clearly define accountability and responsibility within the company. Also, businesses often don’t have access to a Human Resource specialist that can set parameters for accountability and responsibility within an organization.

 How does marketing responsibility venture into the rarified air of human resources one might ask?  It is a gray area for most small businesses that constantly undergoes change in an effort to respond to customer needs and marketplace demands. This coupled with staff turn overs and the need to “wear many hats” within a smaller organization means that the leader manages the company in a manner that  treats the employees with dignity and respect …in other words, he or she hope they do the job they are supposed to do.

Internal work processes reviews, client accounts, multi-level discussions, meetings, products reviews and more all teach employees what their responsibilities are from a task oriented point of view but they rarely help staff understand the larger picture that allows them to take responsibility for their action as it relates to clients. This is where accountability and responsibility can break down within an organization, causing serious customer service issues.

We have painted a picture of an over-worked organizational leader under siege who has relied on the accountability of his staff. Unfortunately the responsibility must rest with the leader in this breakdown. While he or she has provided task oriented information on internal work flow they have not provided clear role definition or parameters for external accountability. And in many circumstances they have not reinforced internal work flow accountability by defining consequences and reinforcing those positive outcomes with incentives.  

 A leader is responsible for setting common goals and objectives. This can be accomplished by first writing up job responsibilities and expectations clearly for each role. Then a leader must be prepared to set a clear vision for the company and its responsibility to its clients. Your staff must understand that they have an equal allegiance to both you and your clients. The next step is to constantly reinforce organizational goals, objectives and vision for the company along with their responsibility through meetings and recognition programs within the organization.

 The final step is creating the opportunity for feedback and the opportunities to create scenarios that allow employees to work outside their comfort zone and exercise that responsibility. Be prepared to reward success and use failure as a teaching moment.

Preparing for Video

With the advent of desk top editing and smaller cameras and an increasing demand for online video, video production has become a smaller or more compact business for media production companies and their mid-sized clients. The reduced demand for elaborate productions and the need to reduce costs coupled with the explosion of high quality and cheap production technology has created new business opportunities for the do-it-yourself editors or all-in-one cameraman/editors.

 

Today, whether you are working at a national news service, large production firm or small production company most clients, i.e., agency representative, free-lance producer or corporate client, you are trying to do more with less and media production companies are expected to do it all for one low cost.  Editing, a once respected profession, as an important video discipline is now a part of the cameraman’s job, an interviewer is the cameraman, and the cameraman is the lighting director and possibly the writer as well. I think you get where I am going with this…

 

It was tough to get these functions done well when they were discreet roles, but now, combining many of these makes it more difficult to produce video that is compelling and dynamic. The production values for the most part remain good in this category in terms of the technical aspects of videos and it is more flexible than ever; but there is a “fly in the ointment”… producers are showing up less prepared than ever to the shoot or the edit suite assuming that new and enhanced production facilities can mask lack of creative and good planning.

 

I have a saying for everything… but this particular one fits this very well “Failure to prepare … is preparing for Failure”. While the roles and responsibilities have become more integrated on the production side, the preparation and experience of the clients, i.e., producers, corporate marketers, company reps and agency producers that are using video production services are less prepared than ever. Now to be fair to producers, they are experiencing the same kinds of pressure from their customers …there seems to be less emphasis on quality and more of a desire to do it for less. Clients tend to try and write their own scripts and storyboard projects, and there are few opportunities for smaller production companies to mentor professional grade creative directors, writers or producers. This leads to recognizing that there are gaps in the video production process which can only be addressed through better preparation and attention to detail.   

 

The need for preparation, in terms of good scripting, careful thought about lighting, graphics preparation, interesting camera work all influence the outcome of a video  long before you ever hits the edit suite.  The popular cry of the producer “We will fix it post” is being carried to new heights as producers arrive at the edit suite with unlogged footage, poor shot selection, lack of creative understanding of how sound plays into a video and more.

 

Creative … in any video, the life blood that defines its impact upon an audience can only be achieved when careful thought and preparation are considered in advance of a trip to the edit suite or before you show up on site at a video shoot. Of course there is an old sayings for this (yes another one of my sayings); “Just because you can...does not mean you should!” and this fits rather nicely I think.

Is “What Ever “, The Most Annoying Phrase, A Sign?

For the fifth year in a row, the word “Whatever “is considered the most annoying word for 2013. This is generally a non-event for the most part but it does say something very important about our culture. This very annoying word, that does not seem to go away, is a dismissive term that defines the psychic of a whole generation who have grown up with the internet, gaming,  social media and all while being bombarded by advertising. 

Statistical data does not often predict cultural changes, more often - pop culture and social networks provide us with hints about what our future holds and it’s my contention that “Whatever” is just one of many small indicators that are telling us that a whole new generation has lost its trust in the daily information barrage …or has it gained a new filter for recognizing what is trustworthy or of real interest? 

The next generation has evolved to have the capacity to filter out the barrage of junk information floated in the various media and social media every day. Declarative or all-encompassing terms like “gridlock” or “fiscal cliff” are meant to dumb down ideas for mass consumption. We see this in virtually all forms of communications. The sound bite, the video clip, the Tweet, have all become over simplifications of thoughts and ideas. Maybe younger people today have gradually been able to tune in this new filter ….and when an idea is interesting to them they go deeper but otherwise it’s …”What Ever!” 

I even find myself saying “Whatever” more often, especially if you count the times that I feel that way but simply use other terms to make the same commentary.  Does this mean I am beginning to apply this filter? I think of it as the amphibian’s second eyelid that protects while maintaining visibility.  It’s an evolutionary adaptation and perhaps this is what is at work here as we seek to adapt to ever increasing flow and archive of information.  

I have used the word archive, very deliberately since in today’s world, immediate information is usually not the most trustworthy and perhaps some sobering second thought allows us to access information ‘on-demand” when we want, how we want and from a more trustworthy source. 

Maybe “Whatever” is not just an annoying word but idea whose time has come.  

E-Learning - The Shift Is On!

Many organizations today understand the need and the rationale for implementing E-Learning, i.e., reduced costs, greater efficiency in time management, better learning outcomes, more up to date content, greater consistency and the maturity of the technology. What has held organizations back from a more rapid implementation is the technology’s demand for a paradigm shift. E-Learning has far reaching effects that ripple throughout an organization in areas like administration, customer service, human resources, sales and supplier education. This has been further exacerbated by the sudden proliferation of vendors who have rushed to fill the void and perhaps most importantly, the technology’s implied relationship with hardware and software (aka IT), making it a seemingly complex issue to address.

 The state of current learning systems has as much to do with this as anything else. Most learning systems within an organization have evolved using traditional mediums such as, print, video, PDFs,workshops, presentations and web portals.  As each new medium has come along the existing legacy content has been adopted to fit the new format yet the nature of the content and the learning has not changed. If an organization or company is going to benefit from E-Learning it demands a paradigm shift, a re-thinking of how learning will help build brand, create greater awareness around its products/services, improve its partnerships and galvanize employees.

If we can now recognize the far reaching effects of E-Learning, we can begin to understand why there has been such foot-dragging on the implementation of something that seems to make so much sense on the surface of it. I generally don’t like lists, tips, rules or guidelines, so on this occasion I will simply call them thoughts to consider when implementing E-Learning stratyegies:  

1.      E-Learning is a relatively mature technology – it should work like the telephone – no special hardware or software required – just use it

2.      No IT department is required unless you plan to become a learning institution

3.      Subject matter experts are part of the solution. You will need them in designing content in a variety of learning “flavours” ranging from blended learning to self-paced learning

4.      Legacy material cannot be converted into E-Learning – it can be used as the basis to developing E-Learning

5.      Allow learners to have more control over learning: when, what, where,

6.      Be prepared to engage with learners – moderating forums, frequent updates of content, answering questions, promoting the value of content, rewarding learners, challenging learners

7.      Try an emulate the classroom, accommodate different learning styles and levels of accomplishment

8.      Start from scratch and first implement a pilot project to work out the kinks, then evolve to the next level

9.      This is a hands-on enterprise. There are great rewards to be had…along with great rewards come great responsibility

10.   The archive of images, video, etc., you have will not meet the demands of this new initiative. Think long term

11.  Allow for creative interpretation, the content has to inspire the learner …just like that teacher that inspired you…don’t drain the life, or fun out of E-Learning

12.  Create opportunity for interaction among learners

13.  E-Learning technology is constantly evolving  - avoid licensing and plan to ensure your content is portable  so that you are not trapped by proprietary hardware/software

14.   Create more opportunities for social interaction within E-learning

15.  You must provide opportunities to recognize, respond and act on learner feedback

 

If you have questions ..please post and I am happy to answer as honestly as I can... 

Video By The Numbers

Over the years I have produced, directed and written many videos, ranging through commercials, television programs, corporate videos, documentaries, dramas, and more. I have been producing video projects since 1985. I worked in television as a producer a number of years as well so what I am about to say is drawn directly from real experience!

Fewer good videos are being produced today as most clients are blinded by a fascination with online experiences, limited budgets, little or no experience with the medium, an idea that today’s videos are low cost (because of cheap equipment), a feeling that anyone with a camera can produce video and the infiltration of the idea that reality TV is the future and its low cost.

A couple of quick observations before I get onto my main theme here …good videos still have to be carefully planned, good interviews are often a result of good interviewers, great footage demands a good eye for composition, understanding the audio mix, i.e., music, sound effects and voice are essential to completing  a  great video. The final significant factor in producing good video is having a director who the ability to see a video in his/her head. For me it’s like running a movie in your mind, images are crisp, bright, inspiring, unexpected, warm and human…telling a story that is compelling and always leaving your audience wanting more. It’s a lot more than a commodity.

That is why it’s so frustrating to see organizations, most institutional, breaking video projects down to numbers while ignoring the vision of a video and its powerful ability to persuade.  Films and video can inspire, incite action, and create a range of human emotions from pride to hatred. Video is and remains, a powerful medium with the potential to create change. 

Most videos today are produced by large organizations who have the budgets and the need for this medium. They are often used in a variety of ways both in events and online interactive presentations to maximize their effectiveness. They are planned in a boardroom and often bids are solicited through bidding portals such as Biddingo, Buy & Sell or Merx, to make sure that budgets get “the best band for their buck” ( sounds reasonable doesn’t it).  Most solicitation for bids come from institutions like schools, cities, various levels of government, health care institutions, national organizations, etc.   

Now this is where things begin to go awry … in boardrooms, purchasing managers, administrators and subject matter experts define the RFP using the same RFP that an organization might use to order medical equipment, sidewalk construction or bathroom tissue dispensers, mostly to protect their investment and minimize risk? The timing of the RFP governs when and how a video is produced. For example, for most government organizations in Canada, budgets are developed and reviewed between late fall and early spring, they are then submitted before March 31, year end for most public sector organizations, budgets are then approved and finalized by early summer and money trickles down to each department by mid to late summer. Most staff organizations then solicit RFPs in late summer early fall and budgets are then exhausted before year end March 31.  

Now what does this have to do with producing a good video you may ask? The natural world is an important part of any video, whether we are talking outdoor locations, geographic settings, exteriors, water features or public access facilities. The amount and quality of daylight usually have an important role to play in a video. Also, a region and its unique landscape & features often help define history, culture, the mood or emotional state and our level of engagement …and by reason should be included in any “good video”, but because of the nature of the process, however, most videos are reduced to being produced in winter. The funding formula, along with administrative processes dictate how a video will look and ignore what is best for this unique medium. As a result, most often videos are produced in winter.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like winter but it does not hold a candle to summer when it comes to producing a video. Over the years I have produced many videos for real estate companies for example; who you would think, because they are not fettered by the government RFP process would want their development projects portrayed in the best light. Generally all are shot in the winter and stock footage is used to carry off summer settings. Orientation videos for new hires and staff for public sector organizations are all produced in winter… in fact winter is when most videos are produced in Canada, unfortunately. Canada has many varied landscapes, weather, geographic and historical sites & locations that add a great deal of dimension to a video. This is true with most videos.

It is important remember that video is an artistic medium  that is a powerful tool and to squeeze the best out of it… we often need to consider more than just numbers in the formula for great videos!