I was busy last two months and that’s one main reason, I have kept away from this blog. This month is better and I have been catching up with some of my friends and fellow Instructional Designers A  short discussion with my fellow Instructional Designers on the state of Instructional Design/Instructional Designers in India prompted me to write this post. What is the actual state of Instructional Design and Instructional Designers in India today - This is something I guess all of us in India want to know!! Note: When I say Instructional Designers, I do not mean learning/performance consultants. I mean people who develop training material. Based on my discussions with people in the e-learning industry and what I have seen in the recent past, here is what I assume/think is happening: Rapid e-learning is very much in. Flash based e-learning exists but is getting stagnant. Software/Application training material dominates the e-learning market. K12/Soft Skills/Other non technical training materials are getting developed but not in abundance. MNCs still go for Instructor led  training programs. How does this affect the area of Instructional Design? Instructional Design can no longer be associated with creativity, innovation, thinking out of the box because templates, standards, rules and guidelines are very much in. Technical Writing becomes a part of Instructional Design because most Instructional Designers today work on SAP training modules or any other technology related training material. How does this affect Instructional Designers? Apart from  regular skills/knowledge, Instructional Designers today : MUST/NEED to be tech savvy Domain expertise (software/technology/aviation/finance/more) is a must Must learn to work with templates, rules, standards and guidelines Must know technical writing standards Must know how to use rapid e-learning tools like Articulate, Captivate, Camtasia. Must know HTML, CSS Well, whatever I have listed here is based on assumptions. I really don’t have facts or findings. Can you help? If you are in the e-learning industry or into the e-learning business, please take sometime to correct whatever I have shared in this post or share facts/findings, if you have any. This will help a lot of people in India.

You have an amazing software product….. the product is going to create great value for your customers…. you plan to invest a lot in support and training and increase  product adoption…… Wow! Is that good enough? Have you thought of a way to increase product adoption, keeping training and support costs low? Well, it’s not simple,  I know. However it’s not impossible either…. Solution: Invest more in the usability of the  product. Focus on user effectiveness. increase success rate and reduce users errors improve ease of use and ease of learning increase user productivity and user satisfaction increase user trust in the system I know this sounds very theoretical. Will try to share some case studies in the coming days. Meanwhile I would like to hear from you. Please share your views or case studies if any.

Vote for the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2014until Friday 26 September 2014. The list will be revealed on Monday, 29 September 2014. It is possible to vote through the c4lpt website or by tweeting to @C4LPT. Voters much choose 10 tools for learning.My vote in 2013 and my vote for 2014:Small differences regarding the choices in 2013. I still vote for Classdojo, the only gamified tool in my list. Last year's list is available at The Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 (#1 Twitter, #2 Google Drive, #3 Youtube). 

Hi All, My sincere apologies to all of you who come to this blog regularly. Its been a year now and haven’t been able to write much or post useful stuff here. I have been reading all your comments and even queries. I am so sorry for not responding. I am taking some active steps to revive this blog. As a supplement to this blog, I have created a Facebook group which will serve as a learning platform for all us. Here’s all you have to do: Click on the image below to view the group. Click Join Group and I will accept your request Let’s get to know one another, interact and discuss Instructional Design through this group. Hoping to see you all join this group. Thank you   Rupa Rajagopalan

CSEDU 2015, the International Conference on Computer Supported Education, aims at becoming a yearly meeting place for presenting and discussing new educational environments, best practices and case studies on innovative technology-based learning strategies, institutional policies on computer supported education including open and distance education, using computers. In particular, the Web is currently a preferred medium for distance learning and the learning practice in this context is usually referred to as e-learning. CSEDU 2014 is expected to give an overview of the state of the art as well as upcoming trends, and to promote discussion about the pedagogical potential of new learning and educational technologies in the academic and corporate world.Conference Areas:Information Technologies Supporting Learning Learning/Teaching Methodologies and Assessment Social Context and Learning Environments Domain Applications and Case Studies Ubiquitous LearningUpcoming Deadlines:Regular Paper Submission: December 16, 2014 Regular Paper Authors Notification: March 11, 2015 Regular Paper Camera Ready and Registration: March 25, 2015

Its been quite some time since I connected with you all. So I am just curious to know what you/other Instructional Designers are working on these days? Please go ahead and take this poll. Feel free to choose more than one response. If you are working on custom e-learning, please do not choose the rest of the options. I am sure the results are going to be interesting Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

CHI PLAY is a new international and interdisciplinary conference (by ACM SIGCHI) for researchers and professionals across all areas of play, games and human-computer interaction (HCI). We call this area "player-computer interaction". The goal of the conference is to highlight and foster discussion of current high quality research in games and HCI as foundations for the future of digital play. To the end, the conference will feature streams that blend academic research and games with research papers, interactive demos, and industry case studies.CHI PLAY grew out of the increasing work around games and play emerging from the ACM annual conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) as well as smaller conferences such as Fun and Games and Gamification. CHI PLAY is sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Group for Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI).Important Dates (Submission Deadlines):May 18, 2014: Full papers (talks/demos/videos) and workshopsJune 26, 2014 Student competition, courses and tutorials, panels, doctoral consortium, industry case studies and works-in-progressThemes:Game InteractionNovel Game ControlNovel Implementation Techniques that Affect Player ExperienceEvaluation of Feedback and Display Technologies for GamesGamificationNeurogamingPersuasive GamesGames for Health, Learning and ChangeExertion GamesPlayer ExperienceVirtual and Augmented Reality GamesGames User ResearchGame Evaluation MethodsPsychology of Players and GamesPlayer TypologiesAccessible and Inclusive Game DesignNovel Game Mechanics Impacting Player ExperienceCasual Game Design StudiesSocial Game ExperiencesSerious GamesAlternate Reality GamesTools for Game CreationDeveloper Experiences and Studies of DevelopersIndustry Case Studies

Target Audience: Beginner/Intermediate (Instructional Designers/Content Writers/Technical Writers) _______________________ Before I get to the crux of this post, here is a short note on what prompted me to write this post: I like taking good photos, though am not particularly interested in photography. I find it really hard to work with SLR settings. So I settled for a camera which has a lot of automatic settings and some basic SLR settings, that are easy to work with. I was not sure what to do with the options AV/TV. So I googled to learn about these options and stumbled upon lot of articles. I did get something out all of those articles I read. But then, I was still confused. It is then I found this article : How to use aperture priority, AV (for Canon) or A (for Nikon) mode on your digital SLR camera.  While I clearly learned how to use the AV option in my camera, I realized that this article very nicely  illustrates the 4 essential steps you need to follow to teach a new concept/technique to a user/learner. And this prompted me to list the 4 essential steps here. So here we begin:    Always define/explain the new concept/technique with an example Explain the benefits of using the concept/technique  List the steps to use the the concept/technique using a real life example.      Finally allow the learner/user to try out  the concept/technique The assessment below not only gives a recap of the steps but also allows the learner/user to practically try out the steps to use the AV mode. _________________________ So what do you think about this post? Please take some time to post a comment.

Agree or not, ours is a very weight conscious society. Meet people after ages, the first thing they tell you how fat or how slim you look. Most often it is either a compliment on your weight loss or a criticism on weight gain. Aishwarya Rai’s weight gain became a national issue, recently. Sounds funny but it’s true. Why am I talking about all these here, you may wonder? Well, I do find a striking similarity between dieting and learning.  You got to do both these right to get good results. So in this post, I use dieting as an analogy to convey how to do your learning activity the right way. Here we go: 1. Start with a small target, something that is doable It is highly ambitious and unhealthy to lose 20 pounds in a month.Rather you must target about 10 pounds or less in a month, which is doable. Likewise while learning, you need to set short targets. For example, if you are trying to learn a new programming language, a reasonable target is to write basic programs within 1 or 2 months and then you move to the next level. 2. Choose a program that  fits you There are tons and tons of diet plans all over the internet. You need to keep your target in mind, and then choose a program that fits your requirement. Let’s say I need to lose 2 pounds in a month. I would choose a plan that will help me achieve this target. For example, I will eat frequently but small meals throughout  the day. I will choose a diet plan that has a lot of  sprouts and fruits, some vegetables and less carbohydrates included. I cannot forgo milk and sugar completely so I will include them in my diet in such a way that they do  not add to my calories and keep me away from my target. Probably I will do some light exercise 4 days a week. Likewise, when you are starting to learn something, you will find lots of learning tools/ schedules/plans/material. Plan your learning in such a way that you learn effectively. For example, you are trying to learn Photoshop and are freaked out by the instructions in the help manuals. Then stop. Do you enjoy watching videos? If yes, look up videos on YouTube and try out the tasks in Photoshop. This will probably speed up your learning. 3. Enjoy the process Be it dieting or learning, you need to enjoy it. Believe me, if you do not enjoy, you will never get the results you want.  Let’s say, you are on a detox diet for 7 days and all through you feel deprived of pizzas and burgers. There are a lot of chances that you give up your detox diet much before the 5th day or you end up frustrated/distressed at the end of the 7th day. Either ways, it is not working well. You must never force yourself to eat something that you do not like and never starve. Likewise, when you are learning something new, make sure you are enjoying it. For example, if you are taking up an e-learning program in your organization just because it is a part of an induction program, then let me tell you it is as good as not taking the program. Instead if you think, you need to be aware of the company business, process/policies and more, so that you can contribute better and it will add value to your career, it will make a lot of difference. 4. Don’t get desperate about results You diet for two days and expect the weighing scale to show a pound lesser. No way! This is not going to happen. You need to give this some time. Likewise, while learning, don’t overwork your brain. This will end in a lot of tension and frustration. Most students in India fail to learn, because all that they see is the grades/marks they need to score in the examination. You just need to focus on your target which is reasonable to achieve and keep working towards it. Learning will happen automatically. ___________________ What do you think of this post? Please leave your 2 cents in the Comments section.

Do you have experience working with Graphic Designers? How would you interact with Graphic Designers and get things done? How would you sort out difference with Graphic Designers? These are common questions asked to Instructional Designers. These questions may not make sense to you, if you do not work with Graphic Designers in your organization. In some organizations, Instructional Designers also wear the hat of  Graphic Designers, especially if they are working with rapid e-learning tools. In some other organizations, where Instructional Designers work with templates, they have no direct interaction with Graphic Designers. However in custom e-learning companies, where flash based e-learning courses are developed, Instructional Designers work as a team, where Graphic Designers play an important role. In such a set up, creative differences between Instructional Designers and Graphic Designers are just too many. Instructional Designers conduct needs analysis and come up with course structure, design ideas and instructional strategies.  Based on these ideas, they create the storyboard with explicit design instructions to the Graphic Designer. But then finally, when the e-learning program is developed, though the course structure/content remains the same, the presentation is completely different from what was initially planned. How do Instructional Designers deal with such issues? Here are some tips: PS: I read this article - Working with Graphic Designers: Are you a graphic designer, or a non-designer? How do we work together? and the tips in this article are very valid. In this post, I use these tips and make it relevant to Instructional Designers. 1. Involve Graphic Designers right from the Analysis phase If you are working with Graphic Designers to develop your e-learning program, value their contribution. Make sure they are present during initial client interactions. If there are too many Graphic Designers, involve the lead Graphic Designer. Remember Graphic Designers need to know all the requirements for the e-learning program - why an e-learning program needs to be developed? what’s the subject? who is the target audience and what will appeal to them? and more. Make sure Graphic Designers are convinced that they are there not just to add color and decorate. 2. Don’t try to design alone Take some time to explain the course structure to the Graphic Designers. Remember Graphic Designers also need creative freedom just like Instructional Designers. Always brainstorm with Graphic Designers and then finalize design strategies for the e-learning program. While brainstorming, never propose solutions upfront - Graphic Designers will lose interest and do what they think is right. Let’s say, you want to create an interactive quiz. Instead of saying, "We have come up with a storyline. You need to create the visuals and use the drag and drop function here", try explaining the requirement and ask the Graphic Designers, "What are your ideas/suggestions?" There are high chances, Graphic Designers might suggest something more creative and appealing. Indulge in a healthy discussion - always reason out why you think a specific design strategy is critical to the e-learning program. Once your team has come to a consensus, create the Analysis and Design document and make sure  Graphic Designers also sign off the document. If the client requests a design change after the Analysis and Design document is created, make sure you inform  Graphic Designers and come  up with an alternative design idea, keeping them in loop. 3. Keep designers in loop while storyboarding Make sure you show Graphic Designers how the storyboard is shaping up. If there are multiple modules with a couple of lessons in each module, with the completion of each module/lesson, share the storyboard with Graphic Designers and allot some time to answer their questions or clarify their doubts. This will help you fix the instructions to the Graphic Designers in the storyboard and save errors during the development phase. 4. Sort differences before designers begin development Make sure Graphic Designers have no design issues with the storyboard. If there is an issue, sort it out before they start  the development activity. Make sure Instructional Design Reviews and Language Reviews  are done before the development activity. Frequently fixing/changing the content/ design after development can get highly frustrating for Graphic Designers. 5. Follow up with  designers during development While  Graphic Designers develop the e-learning program, make sure you drop in regularly and check how the program is shaping up. Request Graphic Designers to map the storyboard with the flash files. Request Graphic Designers to share the files after every module/lesson is developed. 6. Make sure designers also test the e-learning program In most companies, it is the Instructional Designer’s responsibility to test the e-learning program before it is shipped to the client. Since Graphic Designers also play an very critical role in e-learning development, they must be involved in testing. Give Graphic Designers a framework for testing the e-learning program. Use the framework to test the e-learning program yourself. Make sure everyone documents the bugs and Graphic Designers fix them on time. 7.  Acknowledge and appreciate designers’ work Articulate Graphic Designers’ contribution in the work done. Never take all the credit, if the e-learning program is appreciated by the client. _________________ You have any tips to work with Graphic Designers? Please post in the Comments section.