Back when I was working through my undergraduate degree, I managed a busy Starbucks. It was an incredible experience because it allowed me to foster some of my longest standing friendships, and I had a pretty friggin’ amazing staff. With management comes training. This was one of my first tastes of training and professional development (of others), and I take some of the principles used in this corporate training experience with me as I move throughout my current role and even my life. One such training principle that Starbucks introduced me to is: Tell, Show, Do. Tell, Show, Do? The idea behind tell, show, do is exactly how it sounds. You begin your training experience by telling the trainee what they will learn. You then show them what they will learn. Finally, you let the trainee try their hand at whatever it is you’re training them to do. As a kinaesthetic learner, especially when it comes to procedural training, I found this training method extremely effective. Great. Now I know what you’re talking about, but how would this type of training look? You know how Starbucks comes out with new drinks every now and again, or even re-introduces old favourites (hey, Pumpkin Spice Latte, amiright?)? Well, every time there’s a new product launch, an old drink is reintroduced, or a recipe changes, a whole training requirement comes down the pipeline. Each employee needs to complete the training, regardless of time spent at the company or proficiency. Scenario: A new employee is learning to make a latte. Step 1 - Explain to the trainee that they will be learning to make a latte, that the recipe card is located in x location, and explain the procedure for making the latte. Step 2 - You, as the trainer, make a latte, explaining each of the steps as you make the latte. Steps will align with the recipe card. Step 3 - Finally, you let the trainee make a latte, in accordance with the recipe card specifications. Once the training session is completed, the trainer will assess the training and will provide constructive feedback to the trainee. Such feedback will allow the trainee to improve their performance on the next attempt. Ahead of the next attempt, the trainer should use Tell, Show, Do as they emphasize elements of the training where the trainee missed the mark. This feedback should also help the trainee improve performance in their next attempt. Stay tuned next week for another training tip I learned at Starbucks and continue to bring with me!

This week I wanted to show you some quick and easy ways to come up with colour schemes for your e-learning. Within this screencast, I discuss three websites for hunting down your finest e-learning colour palettes: Colourlovers Coolors Color.adobe.com

Following on the coat tails of last week’s discussion of Tell, Show, Do, I figured I would share another training tip I learned during my tenure at Starbucks: Sandwiching. And no - I’m not talking about the process of making a killer Peanut Butter and Jelly. Sandwiching? Sandwiching is a fun training term that is related to professional development and training. The premise is that when providing feedback to someone, you sandwich the constructive criticism between two positives. This method is effective with regard to providing feedback because it gives the recipient relevant compliments on a task, with a small constructive criticism of the task - something for them to improve on in the future. It lessens the blow of the critique, which can be critical, especially if you work with some very sensitive souls. The important thing with this method is that all points must be relevant. Below, I’ll illustrate a bad sandwiching conversation and a good sandwiching conversation. Bad Sandwiching Supervisor: Hey, Becky! I just thought I would tell you that your new polo shirt fits you really well, but you suck at making lattes. Great hairstyle - did you just get it cut?! This is an example of bad sandwiching because all points are not relevant to the constructive criticism. The positives are superfluous. Nice compliments, but a terrible training strategy. Good Sandwiching Supervisor: Hey, Becky! Your milk aeration is on point! Although, when you make your lattes, could you please hold the foam back with a spoon or give the milk time to separate from the foam? Otherwise your lattes will be too light and will be closer to a cappuccino - more foam than milk. You did also do really well keeping steaming your milk to the appropriate temperature. This is an example of good sandwiching because all points are relevant to the constructive criticism. Good sandwiching conversations may take a bit longer to have, but that’s because they aren’t superfluous. They have the goal of hitting three relevant points, all providing feedback related to the task at hand, in this case, making a latte.

My apologies for the late post; I was going to do a first impression type of screencast with a new technology that has me pretty excited, but there was a bit of a glitch during the demo, and I’m still waiting for technical support to get back to me. Maybe you’ll see the demo next week…maybe not at all - who knows?! This week we’ll look at how you can easily extend slide content using layers in Articulate Storyline. Understanding all of the ways in which you can extend slide content is essential as it may allow you to reduce overall slide count in your projects, leading to a more streamlined and efficient project structure.

Moving forward with the topic of extending slide content in Articulate Storyline, I wanted to show you two very easy and functional ways that you can use Lightbox Slides to extend display content - this works particularly well with navigation instructions and media carousels (which I’ll discuss on another day).

This week I thought it might be useful to talk about development plans, as I work within them nearly everyday within my current role. What is a Development Plan? A development plan is a document that outlines an entire course. Typically, it will consist of the following information: Course Developer, including contact information General Course Information, such as: Course Name Course Title Calendar Description Required Text Credit Weight Overall Course Goals When the course will be offered or revised Prerequisites Enrolment information High-Level Leaning Objectives Module Information, including: Module Names Module-Specific Learning Objectives Topics Learning Activities, which may or may not be assessed References or Resources (e.g. module readings/videos/etc.) Assignment Information Assessment and Evaluation Strategy Wow. That’s a lot of information. Why is a Development Plan important? That’s exactly why development plans are important - because that IS a lot of information! Development plans serve as a course outline, and streamline things once the course developer gets to the development phase. A well written development plan will have a lot of elements that have been fleshed out and are ready to be copied from the development plan into the course site. Development plans are also important because they allow key reviewers (e.g. department chairs, subject matter experts, etc.) to review the plan and make necessary changes or recommendations prior to entering the development phase…and it’s a lot easier to modify a Word document than it is to modify content in an authoring tool. In online learning, development plans may also come in handy when it comes to fleshing out your activities and assessment strategies with an instructional designer, especially if you’re used to teaching in more traditional mediums (e.g. in a classroom).

Continuing with the theme of extending slide content in Articulate Storyline, this week I’m showing you just how easy it is to extend slide content within a ‘container’ by using a scroll panel. If after this demo you’re interested in learning a bit more about scroll panels, check out the Automatic Scrolling Effect demo! (Also - Please excuse the sound of my dog gnawing on his toes)

First - Hats off to David for not doing this sooner! - I can only imagine how tiring it can be to come up with challenges and examples for challenges each week. The Concept This week’s challenge was to choose your own e-learning challenge topic and create an example for that topic, with the caveat that it must be an original challenge (a feat when you consider there have been 129 challenges - go, David!). The Method I had a dream about this last night…well. More specifically, I had a dream about colour palettes and one of my favourite websites, Coolors.co. I love the colour generator feature of this website because it makes my life a whole heck of a lot easier when my creativity is waning and I need some colour inspiration for my e-learning projects. With that, my e-learning challenge topic is: App-Inspired E-Learning Resources. The challenge will be to create an e-learning resource inspired by one of your favourite, existing, applications. To achieve a coolors-inspired resource, I tossed 5 rectangles on a slide, changed the colours for each rectangle, added the hex code to the bottom of the shape, and modified the player to appear as desired. After duplicating each slide and adjusting colours and hex codes appropriately, I added a trigger that would jump to the next slide when the user presses the Space key. While this coolers-inspired resource is not as all-encompassing as the actual app itself, I feel like it’s a pretty good representation and it can definitely be expanded upon with an infinite number of slides/colour palettes. The Result To view the full interaction, Click Here. To download the .story file, Click Here.

This week I thought I would leave Articulate Storyline alone for a bit and show you an application that I have been rapidly recommending to faculty members for syllabus inclusion as a helpful hint for students, especially in courses that are largely video-based. It is an AMAZING student study tool! Check out the demo, below, and hopefully you too can find some use for this handy, open-sourced application.

I’m often asked where I find clients and/or e-learning support, and my answer is always "E-Learning Communities". I’ve learned so much from my peers, and have found many fantastic clients by participating in e-learning communities, so I recommend joining any of these: Articulate E-Learning Heroes - The E-Learning Heroes Community has by and large been one of my greatest support systems, particularly when I was first starting out as an independent contractor. The weekly e-learning challenges have helped me grow my development skills and my portfolio, the community members have provided continual support - from reviewing my e-learning and providing feedback to helping me troubleshoot projects in a pinch, and I’ve met many of the Articulate folks at Community Roadshows and conferences - all of them are incredibly fantastic and supportive. Another great thing about the E-Learning Heroes Community is the new(ish)-fangled Job Board - there are LOADS of e-learning jobs being posted here all the time, so if you’re in the market for clients, you should be trolling this board regularly The Online Network of Independent Learning Professionals - Patti Bryant started this group on Linkedin, and members meet every Thursday (live and online!) to chat about pointed topics or have community hours. Usually, one member will present on a given topic, and then a panel will be available to answer community member questions. Each session is recorded, so if you can’t tune in live, you can watch/listen later! This group has such a wealth of knowledge and I would consider participating - even if it’s only passively listening to the sessions - to be essential for any learning and development professional. The Instructional Design Sub-Reddit - Fellow E-Learning Heroes Community member, Rachel Barnum, keeps this sub-reddit moving like a well-oiled machine, and there always seems to be readers kicking around asking questions, providing feedback, posting jobs, and offering support to folks new to the industry.