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Synopsis
Entrepreneur Strategies, a business consulting company, wanted to deliver Essential Team Building Skills as a web learning course.
Problem
Statement
Entrepreneur Strategies was seeing a trend that their clients did not always
have the tools of teambuilding or effective skills in collaboration. Many
client business challenges were directly related to their inefficient management
of teams, communication, and group leadership. Entrepreneur Strategies has
an existing face - to - face training program they would like to convert into
a web learning course. Their clients are either geographically located in
different area or would not be able to attend a seminar or training for other
business reasons. The client's time and availability is a consideration in
delivery of a training program to meet their business and time considerations.
Scope
Many of the clients of Entrepreneur Strategies are exceptional in their field
or industry, but are untrained in the areas of communication, team building,
group leadership, and managing group dynamics. The lack of skill by management
and employees interfere with the business efficiencies. Business success is
hindered by the absence of shared goals, effective communication, and gaps
in knowledge.
The Audience
Entrepreneur Strategies clients range from large companies to sole-proprietors.
Many of the clients using the services need basic business experience or assistance
with their business structure. Most clients have some experience with technology
and can use email, Internet, and most office software. The technology skill
level of the clientele is varied and diverse.
The Learning
Environment
Entrepreneur Strategies offers services and content to clients through email,
face-to-face meetings, and professional development sessions. The scope of
content changes depending on the clients and can often be reused depending
on the business situation. The learning environment will be often at the convenience
of the learners and will depend on their personal computing environment. Most
learners will be accessing the learning using their home computer. Every learner
will have a different set of learning environment challenges with computer
technology, software, and distractions.
Technology
Infrastructure
Entrepreneur Strategies has a Website that is hosted on a Windows server.
Any additional applications beyond the existing business web site would need
to be compatible with this infrastructure. Clients using our services are
most often on modems, making high speed a distant option for applications
that require bandwidth and speed. Most clients are setup to use the Internet
and use personal computers.
To evaluate the learners I conducted a learner survey. This survey was conducted to determine the needs of the learners and resources needed to provide for virtual business learning environments. The survey revealed:
The
learners access the Internet daily for learning or accessing resources
Most learners still
access the Internet using a Modem
86.4% of respondents
indicated they would expect to have web tutorials
>>available to them in a virtual business
learning environment
43.2% expect to have
access to webinars and on-line seminars
57.5% of respondents
indicated they expected to pay for webinars
82.6% indicated they
would use the learning
This survey validated
the needs of the learners and provided information for determining design
and technology considerations for a virtual learning environment.
Constraints
Entrepreneur Strategies is a small business and the clientele is dispersed
throughout the US, making delivery of face-to-face instruction impractical.
Most of the audience is unavailable to take a reasonable chunk of time away
from their business. In some cases the owner and their staff all need to participate
together and taking staff away from the business will cause other challenges
in coverage and staff availability for customers.
Any new technologies a client must learn may cause some discomfort initially. Once a client is comfortable with the technology and the practice of using a particular application, the ease of use and comfort level will raise with their understanding of how to navigate and use the course. The initial discomfort of the clients to get up to speed and start using a system would require training. This is an educational constraint that would need to be addressed in the implementation of any program.
Entrepreneur Strategies had an existing face to face course, but it would require some redevelopment to make it suitable for delivering on the Internet. The existing course required some redevelopment to make the coursework more interactive, educational and flow well on the web.
The implementation
of a web version of the training required:
Review of content and
update to instructional content
Review of delivery methods
and reinvent learning to web learning enabled
Design interaction with
coach for student coaching and mentoring
Design web resources
and content to supplement the course
Design group work and
instructional models to create a virtual learning
> environment
I spent time researching design strategies for web based learning, designing courses for the web and interaction that would make the course more interesting for the learners. As a part of the redesign I explored adult learning theories related to web learning environments. I was especially interested to discover how to design for the web based learning environment, since the needs of the learners are different from a traditional face to face learning environment. My research gave me good references, resources and ideas on how to design for this environment and helped me to be a bit more creative with the use of technology and learning tools.
The course was developed into four modules and used a variety of technologies to support the different learning styles of each adult learner. The course uses teleconferencing to help introduce the learners to the course, one another and help work with students who are more auditory. The teleconferencing is used to help bridge the instruction with connections in the course and with the people.
The actual course takes place asynchronously using the weekly calendar on the Internet course site. The static content on the Website is provided for each section with learning tools and resources for additional learning. Each team is assigned roles and responsibilities to help practice the skills, work virtually in a collaborative team and work through the problem based skills. The team work is and class work is supplemented with a discussion area where the teams can meet and the class is exploring the material and discussing the learning asynchronously. Each module has a brief assessment that is completed on-line using a form. The assessment is partially a smile and an assessment of learning.
The instructor holds office hours through chat, to provide feedback and class interaction to help bridge the static learning environment with synchronous events. The office hours are scheduled to work with the student learning and help to assure the students are on track and getting the support they require from their virtual instructor.
A debrief by teleconference is scheduled at the end of the course to discuss the course, opportunities for learning and to help the class finish the course and any remaining items. This session is also to help provide feedback to the instructors and discover opportunities for improvement in the course design and delivery methods. The course intentionally uses a variety of technologies to address the virtual learning environment, learning styles and provide many opportunities to engage the learners and encourage them to experience the virtual learning through different methods.
Since the learners are all going to have different learning requirements, the teleconference allows the group to meet and start to build a community. The learning through team activities takes the content and practice of learning together from static content to actual team practice and skill development. Finally, the use of chat and discussion provides forums for the learners to interact with their team, their class and their instructors. In the virtual learning environment the use of Flash, Demos and other media is limited with the Internet access of most of the learners. The design of the course takes advantage of the technologies available to even low speed Modem connections.
The
target date for the course to be delivered was scheduled for March, 2003.
In establishing this as a delivery date the owners felt they would have sufficient
time to market and enroll clients into the program. In reality the co-owner
of Entrepreneur Strategies has very little time for extra projects during
this time due to other business activities. The course has been rescheduled
for Fall, 2003.
As a precursor to the actual delivery of the program to learners the owners
conducted an informal formative evaluation by inviting several members of
their professional community to review the materials, to go on-line and review
the content and the course. They have solicited their feedback in order to
improve the product.
The feedback on the product has been favorable. Most of the reviewers are
technical and very comfortable with technology. They were not uncomfortable
with navigation, the design, and the requirements to use a variety of technologies.
They did believe that the level of engagement and activity involved in the
course was too much and thought some of the requirements for interaction should
be cut back. They didn't have any suggestions on how to do this, but indicated
that most business professionals might peruse the course content and the materials
and "check-out" on the activities requiring participation. Other
feedback they provided indicated the use of too many technologies interfering
with the program. The course is only four weeks long and should not require
a new user to have to assume too much responsibility for learning a lot of
new technologies while participating in a course.
During
our formative evaluation we received some evidence that the program provides
learning opportunities to improve team building. In asking the reviewers to
reflect on their experiences some respondents indicated they did know most
of the material, but it was refreshing to review the content and be reminded.
They felt the information was presented in a manner that made it accessible
and easy to remember. They liked the navigation for each module and felt that
by presenting every module in the same format they were much more comfortable
with the actual learning experience. A few students indicated that there were
some policy and procedure information that was not in the student area that
they wanted to access from the learning area. In other words there was a disconnect
between the policies and the program.
The formative evaluation presented good opportunities to review the materials,
the content, the navigation and the user experience. The initial feedback
provided indications that the materials were well received and would be easy
to use and engaging for the on-line learner. When the course is conducted
in the Fall, 2003 the owners will be able to evaluate the value of learning
through review of the feedback from the participants throughout the course,
by reviewing the summative evaluation in the assessments and the final feedback
comments in the debrief teleconference. The first offering of the course will
provide the next opportunity to see what can be improved in the product and
delivery of the course.
This project provided a variety of exceptional learning opportunities. This was my first experience of taking a face to face course and converting it to the web. To take an existing course and redevelop the content into an web learning course required additional knowledge in instructional design for web based learning. I researched topics on instructional design, web based learning, virtual learning, motivation and interaction in web based courses. My research gave me knowledge and tools to understand what learners need and some strategies for instructional design for this environment. From the research I was able to gain some understanding of how to build in interactivity and learning activities that would help bridge the content from being static and boring to interesting and fun. One of my goals in developing this course was to make the course interesting, fun, and engaging. The research gave me tools to bring this into the course for the learners.
In completing the analysis I recognized the learners need to be involved in a community of learning, where support for learning and active learning was part of the design. In the analysis I recognized the need to provide a variety of learning opportunities to work with the different styles of learning. The needs of the learners was part of how I came to decide to use additional technologies, like chat and discussion forums to help bridge the learning styles and provide options for learning the content in different ways that scaffolded on the learning from the static web pages. The consideration of learning styles helped to be more creative in the design and use of technologies as it provided additional opportunities for me to explore how to present information for different types of learners.
The implementation of the project required a tremendous amount of time to work with the subject matter expert (SME) to refine the process, content and design. I found that by being the instructional designer, technologist and project manager I was fulfilling many roles that required different strengths. I also managed a formative evaluation on the project at different stages of the project. I feel I gained the most knowledge and experience in managing the project by taking in consideration the needs of the owners, the SME and the reviewers. Often the information provided was either helpful and useful to the design and improving the product, or provided feedback that was not in balance with the theories of instructional design for web based learning. In both cases I often had to reflect on what was being shared and revisit what was in the best interest of the learners. In the summative evaluation by learners I will be able to reassess this need again and continue to refine the product based on the learning and meeting of the learning objectives.
When the class is delivered I will be interested to see whether the technology will interfere with the learning and the user experience. Specifically, I am considering another way to deliver some of the learning interaction through a learning portal. I will continue to look at this issue and see whether the way the course is organized now needs to shift to make the course smoother for the user. I will be conducting additional evaluation on the courses, when the courses are taught and reused and make improvements as needed.
This program required me to research instructional design for web based learning and strategies for providing learning through the web. When I worked on this project I did not have the formal knowledge of how to design for web based learning environments or the adult theory for this delivery method. The project required knowledge in adult theories, distance learning, problem based learning and design for virtual learning. The research I completed helped to give me a strong foundation for adult web learning design strategies that I was able to translate into the design and development of the course.
#2: Designs instruction or human performance strategy to meet the needs of learners
The course was
a redesign of an existing course and required a full front-end analysis. The
course had a different learning environment, different learning needs and
different course objectives. The front end analysis was conducted to provide
basic knowledge about the project and how the instruction needed to be designed
and developed. The blueprint
is available for this product. This product has a full review of the user,
environment and considerations of development and design.
#3: Uses a variety
of multimedia
Based on the
research on designing for web based learning I chose several technologies
for the delivery of this course. The course was presented using static web
pages that provided the learners with the basic content, resources, links
and information. The course uses visual aides throughout the program where
appropriate. Additionally, the program delivery is supplemented with chat,
discussion, teleconferencing to provide both synchronous and asynchronous
learning. The media was chosen to facilitate the interaction, group activities
and delivery in a web learning environment. The program was designed to use
the media as tools in delivery of the content while making the course more
interactive, engaging and interesting.
#4: Designs for the needs of the learners
The course was designed with the consideration of the needs of the users in an on-line learning environment. The program was designed to use chat, for learners that wanted to engage directly with the instructor, like office hours. The telebridge was designed into the program to make sure the students had the chance to engage together before starting the actual instruction on-line and learn about the course and the other participants. The threaded discussion and group activities were designed to create a learning environment, where everyone is learning together and has more involvement. The learner survey provided evidence that high speed interactions would not be possible, since many users are on dial-up. It became apparent that the delivery methods needed to address the learning styles in a web learning environment, making the use of multiple strategies for technology and delivery of instruction an important part of the instructional learning environment. The design considerations included providing ways for the learners to interact using different media including tools that work with audio and visual learning.
The requirements of the course development were to identify the barriers to the web learning and create ways to help the learners over come these obstacles. In designing this course I worked with designing for the multiple learning styles and used a variety of technologies to remove the barriers to learning soft skills in an on-line course.
This project
required working with a team of people to design the instruction, create the
product, and conduct the review. In addition to conducting the research and
analysis, I worked with the subject matter expert to create and refine the
actual project. I collaborated with the learners and reviewers to conduct
the formative evaluation. Additionally, I worked with setting up the site,
managing the technologies and resourcing the information on how to setup and
design with the technologies. This project required the management of knowledge,
resources, people and technologies to design and implement.
I conducted formative evaluation to review the instructional content, design and delivery to improve the product. The program was informally reviewed by subject matter experts and interested learners. The feedback of the formative evaluation was used to improve the product and identify areas of weakness or challenges in the design. Some of the suggestions were utilized to improve the product. Other suggestions or areas of improvement will be areas for observation once the course is administered in a course with learners.
Each of the modules have a test your knowledge at the end of each section that is reported into a database. This information captures first and second level evaluation information about the knowledge of the learner and their experience.
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