I had this great opportunity of being at the right place, at the right time. What am I referring to? I got an opportunity to attend Geetha Krishnan's session at Kern during my one week long visit to Hyderabad. Geetha conducted a dynamite session where he introduced teasers that made us to think about several aspects of learning and technology. You can read (must read, actually) what was discussed during the session here. Now, given below are the truths and my response to these.  1. Learner's real world is full of distractions.Do we really assume that the we have the learner's undivided attention? We sure do. We think we have designed an absolutely compelling, thought provoking, visually appealing training program that will glue the learners to their seats. Keeping our massive egos aside, let us accept the truth. For the learner, this is 'just another training program.' There I have said it! They will do any or all of the following as they take your training program - take calls, chat, check their mails, scratch their head, think about what they are going to eat for dinner, talk to a colleague, wonder how long your training program is going to last, and so on. Think about it. We have done all these and more when we were in school/college. Why should our learners be any different? So, what can we do? Take your content dump and attack it with a butcher's knife. Chop out all the unnecessary things, slice out extra information, keep information that is directly linked to the learning objectives. Ensure that you keep your course as close to the learner's reality as possible. Why? Because this increases their chances of remembering it. During the session, Geetha mentioned that it is important that the content is 'familiar to the learner' but not 'obvious to the learner.' Don't teach him things he already knows. But, ensure that what you teach him is very close to his world. Design the course keeping in mind the learner's work and work environment. For example, we had to design training on grooming and personality development for sales executives of a retail store. They had to stop everything they did to attend to a customer. Therefore, we designed really short learning nuggets for them. On the other hand, in a very recent project, we were told that the learner will take this training program in the first three months of joining. First three months are totally dedicated to training, therefore, we know for sure that they will not be interrupted by customers.The advantage of eLearning is that they can revisit it whenever they want to. Therefore, do not expect them to remember everything. Ensure that the most important information registers. Strike an emotional chord. The higher the impact of training, the more interested they are going to be. Understand them before you design for them. Find out what makes them tick, what inspires them. During the session, Geetha Krishnan mentioned that he was not a big fan of usability testing as people tell you what you want to hear. I think any form of testing is an attempt in the right direction. Whether controlled or not, you are making an attempt to design for your learner. And if the interviews are conducted right, people are going to give you valuable information. 2. Learners in eLearning are quasi-customersFirst and foremost, I think it is great if teams truly design eLearning based on mental models of the learners. In most cases, it is typically the mental models of clients and IDs (or their bosses) that the team keeps in mind. Learner diversities can be kept in mind by doing extensive research during learner analysis. At Kern, we do contextual inquiry, mystery shopping (for sales related roles), interviews, observations, and secondary research to understand who our learners truly are. Based on the learner profiles, we also create learner personae if we see contradictory or a variety of prominent traits and characteristics. While I agree, that a trainer in a classroom has 30 participants in front of him and he needs to cater to different mindsets. I don't think this is any less true in online training. Having said that, I must accept that I have had a chance to meet and talk to learners in 90% of my projects. Some others are just not as lucky.  Also, I have attended training programs where the trainers have a very sketchy idea of who their participants are. They gauge the learner's reaction for half the day and then change their training style to meet the learner's needs. While it is great that these trainers think on their feet and quickly undo any damage done, I think half a day is crucial and if you don't make the right impression immediately, you have already been judged. Also, in most classroom sessions, you have only two days and therefore, half a day is a long time. Understanding who the learners are and how they will react to your program has to happen much earlier.3. Faculty considers technology to be their enemy.Why? Because they are worried that technology will make them redundant? They think that they may not be able to provide ALL the information a learner may need? They are scared of parting with 'their' content? Your guess is as good as mine. Another interesting thought that jumped to my mind is... why do ID's love technology? Because it gives them more control? It gives an opportunity to try fancy things or do things differently?4. If technology helps people learn, what do ID's do?As Geetha mentions, technology is only the 'way' a training module is delivered and ID the 'how'. Technology plays a crucial role in the learning experiences and therefore, must be selected carefully. Instead of the client telling you that they need an eLearning course, it should be derived from the learner's needs. It is not about using the latest technology to awe the learner. It is about using the most effective technology to deliver your training. Remember the technology that inspires you, may just scare your learner off. For a project, we wanted to introduce web 2.0 tools to encourage discussion and informal learning. But, during concept testing, we realized that our learners were not comfortable sharing their opinions out in the open. Therefore, technology must be decided based on the learner's needs/attitudes.This doesn't mean that we continue doing things the way we have been doing for ages. If we do not explore newer technology, how will we know the learner's reaction to it? Ensure that you do your research well, involve your learners, seek their feedback/opinion regularly. Geetha mentions that faculty love their content most. Do IDs love their technology and tools most? What do you think?5. Why are marketing and learning the first two industries to explore technologies?I do not think these industries are insecure. I believe they are early adopters and constant learners. From the learning industry's perspective, it is necessary to explore technology to know whether this will excite the learners, reduce drop out rates, engage them further, make learning more entwined with their work. I think it is important to add newer ways of delivering content to the already existing basket. You can pick from wider range of choices based on your learner's needs and your client's budget. I don't believe that a technology will replace another. I am reminded of this point that Geetha Krishnan brought up - Informal learning and networking will kill eLearning. While I agree that we can not design/control/measure informal learning, I don't believe that eLearning is going to die. Yes, eLearning as we have seen it or understand it, may cease to exist. But, it is not going to die. Secondly, Kern does not believe that eLearning is the only solution. While eLearning is our forte, we do understand that other forms of delivery may just be the answer to our learner's needs. This, I think, is the mark of a learning solutions company.  Informal learning is important. It has always existed. In online training, informal learning can ensure that the learner get an opportunity to share their thoughts and reach out to a wider audience. Having said that, informal learning will continue to take place even if you do not design avenues for it.6. Adult learners hate eLearning, why? I think adult learners hate training, period. It doesn't matter if it is eLearning or classroom training. When delivered at the wrong time to the wrong people, this is the response we are going to get. Discourage clients from implementing 'one size fits all' training programs. Encourage them to understand importance of customization and relevance to learners. Geetha opened my eyes to a very valid point. We teach within a very specific context and this context is typically true for that organization only. But when we design training for our clients, we try and ensure that it meets their organization objectives also. Training vs education is an interesting discussion. I think training meets an immediate need and education a larger need (which may not be obvious to the learner).7. Training happens at transition points.Training happens on a verge of a role change. This is why training is necessarily specific to the organization and this immediate need to ensure that they adjust well and quickly.  Geetha Krishnan also asked why people give so much importance to networking. I think it is the basic social need to be known and to connect. People want to share common experiences and find out what others are up to.Finally, is learning open-source? This is question Geetha left us to chew on as he ended his session. It left several more queries in my head and I am not sure if I am closer to an answer. Help me out, guys. Learning is open source. Everything is available on the Internet, on the job, and in the social interactions. Learning is also very personal to the learner. He draws his own inferences from the training based on his experiences, attitudes and his motivations or immediate need. Learning is open source today when you involve the learner in design, development, and implementation process. They have a say in what they are going to learn. They share their opinions and feedback. They have an opportunity to approve/disapprove. They have an opportunity to be more in control of what they learn.    

What is the point of choices if they do not work for you?This is the new tagline for the latest commercial of Monster India, a online job search site. The ads are funny and the message is really strong. Whenever I view this ad, I am reminded of how true this is in the learning arena also. Do we give our learner too much of content and expect them to choose what will suit them? I remember Geeta telling me that a client wanted a compliance training program that can cater to everyone in the organization. During my early years, Geeta drilled it into my head (and I am so glad for that) that we cannot have a single solution for EVERYONE. Compliance (for example) means different things for different people. For some, say the security staff, it may mean application-based knowledge while it may mean good to know information for certain roles.  Learning paths can also be confused as categorization of content. Content chunking as individual/independent topics is very different from learning paths. Learning paths are customized based on rationale such as age, role, gender, need, and so on. But giving learners access to different topics and expecting them to pick out what ever they want may become a case of giving them too many choices. How about features on the interface of an eLearning application? Do we add unnecessary features for the learners to use? Do we even stop to think whether it adds real value to the course and whether people truly use these features? We automatically include features that we think must be included such as audio, mute, transcripts, glossary, references, etc. The bottom line is the more unnecessary choices you give to the learner, the more confused he is going to be. He will not be able to figure out to do with them. Will leave you to think about this with this piece from The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less by Barry SchwartzAbout six years ago, I went to the GAP to buy a pair of jeans. I tend to wear my jeans until they're falling apart, so it had been quite a while since my last purchase. A nice young salesperson walked up to me and asked if she could help. "I want a pair of jeans - 32-28," I said"Do you want them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy, or extra baggy?" she replied."Do you want them stone washed, acid-washed, or distressed? Do you want them button-fly or zipper-fly? Do you want them faded or regular?"I was stunned. A moment or two later I spluttered out something like, "I just want regular jeans. You know, the kind that used to be the only kind." I turned out she didn't know, but after consulting one of her older colleagues, she was able to figure out what "regular" jeans used to be, and she pointed me in the right direction. The jeans I chose turned out fine, but it occurred to me that day that buying a pair of pants should not be a daylong project. By creating all these options, the store undoubtedly had done a favor for customers with varied tastes and body types. However, by vastly expanding the range of choices, they had also created a new problem that needed to be solved. Before these options were available,, a buyer like myself had to settle for an imperfect fit, but at least purchasing jeans was a five-minute affair. Now it was a complex decision in which I was forced to invest time, energy, and no small amount of self-doubt, anxiety, and dread.   

I was reading this articles posted by Geeta, NO Next and Back Buttons on Learnability Matters. It was great reading and reminiscing the experience of designing the course on 'Dealing with Conflict Management.' At Kern, we give a lot of importance to user and learning experience. How you ask? Let me ask you a question.How do you decide what goes on the learner interface?A. We use the basic buttons/features: Next, Back, Pause/Play, Audio Mute, References, GlossaryB. We decide based on the learner profile and the need for featuresIf your answer is A: That's incorrect! (Love telling that to the learner, but hate having to read it ourselves?) Why? Because there is no such thing called "basic" buttons. Focus on learning experiences rather than adding features. Think about it. Who says that these are the basic or the most essential buttons that your learner needs to navigate through the course? We assume this to be the case. Do a really small experiment. Take a course and test it on your learners. See which buttons they use and why. You will observe that they will not use the buttons you thought were essential. And what's worse, they may look for other features that you have not included.  The idea is not to undermine the importance of features provided in a course. But, to ensure that you integrate the right set of features in your package. Why give the learner features he will not use? Why miss out a feature that he/she is likely to search for? What do we do to get the right set of features?1. Do a learner analysis: Understand the following:a. What's their typical day like?b. Have they taken an eLearning course before? How comfortable are they with the computer?c. If they are expected to take the course during their work hours, what are the possible distractions in the learning environment?2. Based on the profile and instructional design strategy, pick the features that are essential for the course. For example, if your course is an audio-dependent course, do not add a mute button. Instead add a pause button. If your learner is not fluent with the language, avoid transcripts.3. Ask why and not why not. When discussing the features that you want to add on the learner interface, always ask your team why the learner needs a particular feature. In most cases, we say 'why not; let's just include this. This is bound to be useful'. If there is a doubt, keep it out. You can always add the feature later if your learner really needs it.4. Do not design for edge cases and what ifs: Design for your primary user and for second visits. Do not design for edge cases and try to accommodate the what if scenarios.5. Keep it simple. You cannot go wrong if you keep it simple. It is an extremely challenging task to just keep it simple. But it ensures that learner experience is not hindered due to clutter and unnecessary choices.6. Test your course on sample learners: Test your course on atleast 5-7 learners. If you do not have access to them, test it on people who have a similar profile. This really helps understand how your learners will react to your course. It will give you a first hand experience of what their experience is like.It is important to understand what the learners need than to just populate the learner interface with the regular features. Are we forcing actions that the learner does not need? Learner interface, navigation in particular, plays a crucial role in making your training program a success. So, think it out well. Spend some time getting it right.        

About the project: We had to design an induction-product training for employees of a global bank. We had to share the history of the bank and share information about the products.The challenges: The learner profile was diverse. We had people who had varied roles and experience. The course had to cater to the needs of a new joinee and also cater to the needs of an existing employee who has moved to a new vertical. It was essential for the learners to not only know about the products in their vertical, but also to understand what other products the bank had to offer. While the learner is interested in understanding the products that he/she is going to deal with, why would he/she be interested in learning about the other products? The motivation to read about their products was high and the motivation to read about other products was low. The learners had to take other trainings along with this one. Therefore, 'the what is in it for me' had to be clear enough. We had SMEs sharing ocean of information. An overdose of information will kill any motivation to learn. Information had to be readily accessible. Interest levels for different topics were varied. Through learner analysis, we knew that most people did not absorb anything during inductions and mostly learnt things on the job. The solutions: Since the learner profile was diverse, we ensured that product information was available a click away. Therefore, the learner can select the topics that interest them first and check the others later. It was important to show the relevance. We had to make the learners understand why they needed to know about credit cards even if they belonged to investments. How did we do this? We told them: You are the face of the bank for your customer. Your customer sees you as the one-point contact with the bank. Therefore, if he has any queries about the bank or its products, he will ask you. In this situation, how would it look if you didn't have an answer. Wouldn't you rather be sure, confident, and helpful? We started each topic with a gain attention where a person is stuck in an embarrassing situation where he/she couldn't answer a simple query.   Our strategy was a simple one - customer-centricity. We did not list features, plans, tariffs, blah blah blah. We shared scenarios of real customers and showed them how they benefit from the product. We filtered information and ensured that only the most important information was covered in this section. We had the detailed product training for phase 2. Therefore, there was no need to include everything in this course. We ensured that we identified a common structure for all products and shared similar information. The main idea was - What kind of questions will customers ask you? And, how can you answer these? We ensured that information was available upfront. The learner can explore which ever topic she wishes from the menu page. We also ensured that the topics were relatively short, say 7-10 minutes duration. To keep the interest levels high, the testing points were also designed as customer queries. Inductions can be overwhelming for new joinees. They think they have a lot to learn and no context to learn it in. How will he remember which product to suggest if he doesn't understand the context? We defined the context right at the beginning to ensure that they absorb the information.   With this strategy, what the ID was doing was simplifying the information to make it easier to read and understand. Imagine you have PPT with a list of products and its features and you need to show this from the customer's point of view and make it interesting and easy to read. It was a challenge which we thoroughly enjoyed. Do you have similar experiences of tackling Product Training or Inductions differently? If yes, I would loved to hear them.

How can an ID add value to an ILT?ILT requires as much instructional design as an eLearning does. Even if PPT is the backbone of your presentation, an ID can do a lot. Make sure the course is real. Give your slides character: You can do this using a template or interface for your presentation. Define a theme for your ILT. Think of adjectives (vibrant, cool, fun, strong) that help define the character of your ILT. Visual Look and Feel: Use placeholders for images. Rather than screens than look flat, introduce elements that give more depth to your slides. Instructional Flow: Keep a very close eye on the visual flow. Since ILTs are instructor-led, we tend to take the instructional flow for granted. Transitions, logical breaks, activities need to be positioned well. Mix it up: Ensure that your program does not over-use a single method of interaction. For example: Do you over-use role plays. Role plays can be very distracting and can go on a tangent. Also, too much of it will be an over kill. Use a healthy mix of role plays, games, group activities, debates, quizzes, and so on. Readable and useful information: Keep only the necessary information on screen. Avoid too much text. Otherwise, the learner will read it rather than listen to your instructor. Planning: Ensure that you set time for every topic, activity and break. This will ensure that the topics are well spaced out and conducted in a disciplined manner. Interact with the SME: If the SME dumps information, do not accept. Push them to understand that the key goal is to help the learner learn. Ask them "What will the learner do with this information?" Avoid theoretical information. Simplify to help the learner understand the crux. Interact with the trainer: Ensure that you give all the information - learner profile and mix, your expectations, client's expectations - that the trainer needs to deliver it the way you planned it in your head. Ensure that you are there to answer any queries about the learners and the program. If required, connect the trainer to the SME to ensure clearer understanding of complex topics. Pilot: Insist on a pilot with atleast 10 learners. Attend the session and see how the learners react. Capture feedback and plug it into your course. Keep a gap of at least 10 days before the training goes live. Pilots are useless if you are going to have the first session the very next day. How do you know that you have selected the right SME? Collaborative: You want to work with SMEs who are open to discussion and collaborative. Avoid working with SMEs who stuff information down your throat (easier said that done, agreed.) Be tougher if required. Let them know that if you are not convinced, it won't go in the program. Availability: You want to work with SMEs who have the time to interact with you and revise the content as many times as is required to make it work. Avoid SMEs who are doing too many things at a time. Chances are that you will get a half-baked product or work that you cannot revise because he is never available. Timelines: Your SMEs should stick to the timelines set. It is important that they understand that you are working as per a schedule. Learner-centric: When the SME writes content based on the learners, you know you have hit jackpot! The SME has to keep in mind the end objective while writing a content. Let's face it is easier to write a book than write content for a specific audience. It requires a high level of customization. You need to understand their world and realities to connect with them. If your SME gets this, you have a crucial ingredient for a great program.Right attitude: I have heard SMEs say "There is no way the learner will do this." Well, its our job to encourage them to see the value in it and show them how they can do this. Let us do everything we can make him see this. If we don't believe in it, how can we make the learners believe in it. If something radical needs to be done, we want the SME with the right attitude around. We want a SME who believes that iterations are part and parcel of good work. What makes a good trainer? Asks the right questions: I was surprised when a trainer called me and said "Please tell me about everything about the learners." After I finished, he actually said "I wish I were part of the contextual inquiry, it really helps understand the people better." This is exactly how you want your trainers to start. Trainers must understand that the central point of the training are the learners and not the content. Prepares well in advance: If you get a call at 10:00 in the night and trainer says, "I am unable to view the activity page." You have every reason to panic. Trainers must spend necessary time preparing for the training. I have heard trainers say "It's a piece of cake. I have been doing this all my life." You may be confident about the domain, but you have to spend time preparing for your session. Reliable: You don't want your trainer disappearing a few days before training. Imagine you are trying to reach him and his phone is switched off! You need reliable trainers who will reply promptly to mails and answer or return your calls. The trainers should have a calendar that is handy to check availability of dates. You do not want to work with trainers who are clueless or disorganized. Stick to the process: When you have training programs in four different zones of the country and have to train 400 people, you want to ensure that the trainers stick to the process. The training has to be uniform to a large extent. Trainers must not skip important topics or activities because of lack of time. Timing: It is important for trainers to stick to time allotted for each topic. I have come across trainers who spend ages on the first few topics and run through the rest. They have to space it out well. Judge learner's reactions: I had an opportunity to witness a veteran trainer in action last year. He always had his finger on the pulse. He observed the learner's reactions closely. When he realized that interest level was dwindling, he quickly moved to a light or interesting activity to charge them up. It is important for the trainer to understand what the audience needs at that point in time. Respect the learners: I also happened to witness a trainer reprimand a learner for not getting it right. Let us understand that if the learner is not doing it right, it is our fault and not theirs. We are not teaching it right. Feedback should be specific to the incident and not to the learner. If you pick on the learner, your audience is going to turn against you. I have seen this happen. Don't talk down to the learner. You are not teaching them something. You are just facilitating learning. You are helping them explore concepts for themselves. You really don't know more than them. If you think you do, they will do their best to prove you wrong. Stay out of their personal space. Do not lean into them and stand uncomfortably close to the learner. Do not force them to answer your question thinking you are encouraging them to talk. They will feel cornered. Keep the energy levels high: If the trainer is sloppy and drained, the learners will not listen. There are trainers who just make you want to listen to them because they have that energy reverberating through them. Involve the learners: A good trainer makes the learning come from the learner. He only guides them to reach the possible answers. The learners feels like he has discovered the points himself. the trainer keeps an open mind to other solutions and acknowledges them. Give the learners the power and make them feel good. If you don't know, say you don't know: I have heard trainers laugh about how they say they will get back to the query and evade it completely. Hello! Learners/students recognize this trick. They will respect you more if you say you don't know and will have to check. Also, ensure that you do get back to them later. What makes a good client?Clients who take an active role in the training are definitely great to work with. We had four top level individuals attend pilot sessions. The learners felt good that they were being looked after and we had tremendous respect for these individuals because they truly cared. You want to work with people who genuinely seek the feedback of the learners and share it with you. Clients must ensure that venue is suitable for training and everything is available for the training to progress smoothly.I am sure there is a lot more we can add to my lists. Please feel free to do so. (I have to stop somewhere! :))

I have been in this field long enough to know that soft skills training does not get any respect from the client, the learner and the vendor. I seriously feel we are making a big mistake by taking this domain very lightly. Here's why...Myth: Designing technical training is far more challenging than soft skills training. Technical training is challenging because of the content itself. You as an ID come from a completely different world and so you need to understand a whole lot of complicated stuff before you design the training. But, the challenge with soft skills training is to make it work. You may design a fun program that the learner may forget as soon as they are out of the classroom. But, how do you make the learning stick? How do you make an impact on their psyche? How do you change attitudes and behavior? You decide now which is more challenging.Myth: Soft skills does not require any customization. Communication skills is communication skills regardless of who it is for.What is customization? Customization is ensuring that learning happens in a defined context, which is typically the learner's reality. While I do believe that age old games have their space, I do think that customized cases/activities are far more effective. Training is a very common occurrence these days. You need newer and more effective ways of getting a message across. Case studies, games, group discussions can be designed to bring out effective learning. High impact learning makes the learner think.Communication skills for a team leader is very different from communication skills for a CEO. Telephone etiquettes is very different for a receptionist vs for a call center executive. Presentation skills is very different for advertising than for design engineers. I don't believe in mixing a few existing slides and customizing it on the floor. I have seen this happen to and trust me it doesn't work. The minute you go with customized learning, the learner trusts you. Why? Because you have taken the effort to understand his world and so, he will help you through this process of transferring learning.My dad keeps asking me 'How can a person who has spent 0 hours in the field, come and tell me how I am supposed to work?' While this opens several other debates, I think if the trainer had understood my dad's work environment, he wouldn't have let on that he has 0 experience in the field.Myth: Embarrass the learner to make an impact and see the difference. It requires a highly skilled trainer with great charisma to get away with whatever they say. Otherwise, it requires a very good understanding of how your learners will react to this technique. These techniques may work wonderfully or scar the learning experience. I remember the trainer was conducting roles plays and he was being very rude. A learner got up and said 'Sir, we are not actors.' Therefore, the impact was negative and I doubt whether people bothered to listen after that. Soft skills are such that everyone has their own take on it. There is a lot of gray here. Therefore, you have to allow that space for the learner to think. And, make a convincing case of why what you are saying is relevant to them.Myth: Theories define personalities. A trainer was explaining some model. A learner got up and asked why? Guess what the trainer said? 'Because that's is the way it is. This theory is age old and has been discussed by several experts.' Theories are just theories and are pretty much useless in soft skill programs. People don't buy the argument that some great soul said it so believe it! Give them a more solid reason to believe. This can happen only if they can see the trends in their daily experiences.These are all the things people get wrong when they approach soft skills training. Make soft skill programs activity based. Let people learn from each other. Don't use ancient techniques. Try innovative, thought provoking stuff.  Soft skills is not an easy domain. Even learner who need these skills think they already have it. It requires the facilitator to bring about a self-realization and reflection on oneself.

1. Need for Control: If I got a penny every time a stakeholder told me 'Our guys will just click Next-Next-Next and complete the course,' I would be the richest person alive. The demand to lock the Next button is becoming a common feature that really (and I mean REALLY) excites the stakeholders. Do we have such little faith in the employees and even lesser faith in the quality of learning?My take: If the learner feels the urge to click next and finish the course, we have failed to create a good product. But we will never know till we test this and find out. Adding restrictions and forcing action surely seems like the wrong move. What ever happened to learner control and understanding of adult learning?2. Unconventional Requests: You hear the most bizarre requests from time to time. The advantage of these are that they make you question why we have been doing certain things. And, if you have no explanation, you can accept the request. Else, you can make a good case to explain why you can't.Special ones:We want something far simpler. It really does not require so much work This actually means just come train and go and charge us close to nothing.Do you really expect us to do all the work? Just to explain 'all the work' included giving us information about the internal process and validating content.Can we use this really cool approach of blah and blah? I say Oh but it sounds like a force fit after a few screens. They say, yeah whatever but we like it. Okay then...We know we want a course but we are still trying to figure what the focus should be. Each of us wants a different thing. What to do? You need help! My take: Keep your feet grounded. Stakeholders will be more impressed with expert opinions grounded in logic than you being a 'yes sir' person. They have had too many bad experiences to trust you completely. Build it slowly. Always keep the learning objective and the learner in mind. There are some requests that are inconsequential to learning, go ahead and accept these. Never accept those that are detrimental to learning, regardless of who it is coming from. If the stakeholder insists, seek a compromise that does no/least damage.3. Me, Myself and I: Till very recently, I thought instructional designers (including me) are full of themselves. Folks at work keep us grounded by giving due credit and respect to all roles involved in learning. But if you have had a chance to meet a classic SME or trainer, you will realize that they refuse to acknowledge instructional design (and you). A SME once told me you just put these slides together and while presenting I will make the program exciting. I had to tell that's not how it works. You give me all the dope and I make it instructionally sound. The more trainers I meet, the more convinced I am that the training they deliver is not instructionally sound. A trainer once said it is finally what we do and how we add spice to the program that makes it what it is. Well, thanks for taking away all the effort and credit that the others put in. A good trainer with poorly designed session can only make sure that people have fun, but may not be able to make the learning stick. I have quietly heard out trainers going on and on about this technique and that game. All the time, I thought to myself 'good, they know their stuff.' But, I am pretty sure they are clueless about ID and that is because that's my job. I respect you for what you bring to the table, you can respect me for what I bring. Fair deal!My take: Everyone plays an equally crucial role in making the product what it is. The reviewers, the IDs, GDs, VDs, SMEs, stakeholders, learners, trainers (if ILT), organizers and printers (if ILT). I have had trainers tell me that we at Kern design really cool ILT sessions. Coming from a trainer, it is a big thing. I guess I just need to wait for the trainers to work with us to realize the true value (and meaning) of instructional design. Give others credit where it's due and you will get credit for your work too.  

Have you ever come across a situation where you are not taken seriously because of your age? Have you had to throw in a line about your child to ensure that you are seen as a responsible person? Just take a minute and look around you, you will find several people who either look younger than their age or those who strive to look younger than their age. Noone is trying to look old. But I got this bizarre request from a client that has me thinking will this change soon?Coming to the request, here's the conversation:Client: Can you please share profiles of trainers who are older and have some grey hair?Me: Sure, but they charge a bomb because they are thought leaders.Client: Oh ok. Actually, I don't need older trainers but trainers who look old.Hmm. Here I am thinking whether I need to plan a new selection process for the trainer. How many wrinkles does he/she have? How many greys does he/she have? I do understand where they are coming from. In our culture, age is given a lot of respect. Therefore, the idea that the trainer will command respect through age and therefore, will have more control over learning. While I do respect older people, I also respect people who know what they are talking about. Regardless of the age, position, or gender, I am willing to listen to someone if what they have to say is worthwhile. A small example is when I conducted a session on LMS for Kern. I am an instructional designer and not a developer. But I have been involved in the LionSher LMS development process at Kern. People at the conference heard me out and enjoyed the session because I spoke their language (layman's), I believed in what I was saying, I had done my research, and the session was extremely interactive. A trainer I know keeps telling me 'I am going to color my hair grey next time. I am not as young as I look.' This had me thinking, does age really matter. I have seen an 'older' trainer command respect and unfortunately instill fear in the participants. I have seen good trainers facilitate great learning regardless of their age and background. What I look for in a trainer is:Does he/she match Kern's way of thinking? Does he/she put the learner in the center?Is he/she reliable? (It is totally uncool to cancel at the last minute unless you are dying.)Will the person have the energy required to carry off a session in a lively fashion?Is he/she collaborative in nature? If the answers are yes, then age really doesn't matter.   Have you also come across a situation where your boss makes you the point of contact and similarly the point of contact at the client's end also changes? Why? Is it because they want people at similar levels to talk to each other? Why are some companies so hierarchical? Why do they fail to understand that the handover has taken place because of a specialization and not because it is not important enough for the boss to handle the project? I am grateful enough to say that clients have thought they can walk all over me, but have finally realized that I know what I am talking about (atleast where learning is concerned). Now, they seek my opinion and wish to work with me on their projects. See, age doesn't matter. Have you faced similar situations? Do share. Would love to know that it not just me. :)

Is professionalism going extinct? The more I interact with people outside my organization, the more I realize that professionalism is becoming the thing of the past. For those of you who are professional, the following list may seem very obvious. But, trust me, the people who are not need to read this:   1) It is not OK to take credit for another person's work. Whether you are a vendor, a senior, a junior, a stakeholder, SME, client, you have no right to take away credit from hard work done. In today's age of collaboration, it is very unprofessional to steal the limelight to look good in front of others. Always give credit where it's due. If you see good work/manners/attitude, appreciate it openly. You can do the same with anyone regardless of your age or position. It is becoming more and more common for people to say "I am putting in far more effort than I was required to." Why do you feel this way?You didn't understand the effort involved right at the beginning. You probably went wrong in your time/effort estimation. No point blaming anyone else. You are not working efficiently enough. You keep thinking of new things to add or do or you work in a very unstructured fashion. You are probably doing a million other things and therefore, feel stretched. You may not be putting in extra effort, but feel over-worked. You are not the only one working hard. It is important to acknowledge that it is a team effort. Respect other people's time and effort. They have brains too you know. SMEs especially think they are doing 'too much'. It was always their job to provide and check content. Therefore, if the review cycles are longer its mostly because they are adding content and making changes at a later stage. Let us NOT expect anybody else to do our job please.  2) It is not OK to dangle the carrot in front of people till you get what you want. Please say no and people will appreciate far more than adding a list of ridiculous conditions. If you are not the decision-maker, do not arrange meetings where decision making is required. If you have doubts, voice them out loudly. Do not push people in the corner and expect them to do their job well. Do not get so well entrenched in the work and then make demands because it may be tough to replace you. This is just not the way it is done.I actually had to sit through a call where two stakeholders discussed what working was not coming to me. This is the heights! Please carry out all internal meetings before your call with the consultant. Then, share what is coming to her. 3) It is not OK to lash out. This is extremely common. You raise a point of concern and the other party lashes back with a list of things you have done wrong. Let us understand we are all human and trying to work as efficiently as is possible. Let us also stop the blame game, we are not children any more. Let us please think before we write out an email. Respond with our heads and not react emotionally. Here's what you can do:Use facts and figures to make your case. Do not be judgmental and assume that the other party is useless. Respect the people you work with.  If you are upset about a mail, do not respond back immediately. Take a break. Come back to it when you have thought it through calmly. Seek a second opinion when in doubt. Always be honest to yourself and those you work with. If it is your fault, accept it. Understand what happened from all parties before you respond. There are managers who blindly respond without having all the information. Be informed.  If people are lashing out, don't take it lying down. Some really unfair things come out when people are lashing out and it is important to make your point. But do so in a professional manner. Other can rant as much as they want. You be in control.  4) Use some tact and discretion while sharing information. If your association with me is at a business level, I would appreciate if you don't cross certain boundaries. I do not want to hear a word against my organization or my colleagues. Being friendly, does not amount to listening to anything and everything that you may have to say. I am not your counselor. Use discretion when sharing information with people outside as they are bound to use it against you or your company at some instance. Taking feedback is fine, but if people are not tactful, you have all rights to get offended. Everyone thinks that the vendor/client is out to cheat them. Trust people and see before you tarnish their image. Be sensitive to others feelings. If you are writing a blunt mail, do not cc the world on it. It makes it more difficult for the person to see your point. 5) Do not look for a scapegoat to make yourself look good. Some people believe that there are here to make a big difference. Which is great and long as you don't think the way to do that is to whip those around you. Be collaborative and this will be more fruitful than breathing down a person's neck.I have sat through uncomfortable meetings where the manager questions an employee's actions. I am an outsider, why make your own employee feel uncomfortable. Isn't common sense that you put a common front to me? These kind of managers are always looking to pass on the blame. They will lash out saying 'This is not what I expected!' You point out that these were the expectations and they immediately turn to find another scapegoat. If you are managing the project, every flaw in the product is as much yours as it is your employees. You need to be aware of what is happening. It is not cool to wash your hands of everything. I have seen how great managers take criticism for the work that their subordinates have done. I have admired them and learnt from them. I wish it were more obvious to some other people.

When I starting writing this blog, I posted 'Why I like doing what I do'. Every other juncture in my life, I continue to reflect on why I like doing what I do and surprising my list only grows longer. Understanding the inner workings for the learnerI think the importance of learner analysis is understated. There is so much we can learn by talking to the people we are designing the training for. The more obvious results are training needs, but what interests me more is the psyche of the learner. When you meet 'real' people with 'real ideologies and beliefs', you know before hand what will work and what won't.I recently conducted face-to-face interviews with learners from an automobile research and development company. The management knew that they wanted training on time management. Now, when I heard time management, I thought of a noisy company with overworked staff who are continuously missing deadlines. I was in for a pleasant surprise. After I spoke to 5 people, I began to see a trend. This organization had a dream work culture and ideal work timings. Being a European company, working late was frowned upon and working over weekends was a sure no. As I walked through the office to reach the cafeteria during the lunch break, I was stunned by the hushed tones and the 'quiet'. I remember thinking to myself, the biggest distraction at work must be the silence. :) So, why did they need a session on time management? Well, as I spoke to people I realized that while the work culture and timelines was relaxed, they still missed deadlines. Therefore, it was important for the people to understand the value of time and how they can manage their self better.If my trainer had gone into the training program without knowing this, we may have delivered a canned training program with the 4 quadrants and prioritizing theories. It is important to understand what makes the learners tick and then build a program that will be effective.Strategies for any training are thought of as a result of learner analysis. Understand the people, the need and then device the solution. We designed a product training for sales force of an MNC. The product was meant to help smokers quit smoking.We realized that the learners had to empathize with the smokers to understand why people were addicted and then how the product works. We designed a case study approach where we introduced a couple and helped learners understand that while a smoker may want to quit, it is not an easy task. But, how can we help him? This made the problem of smoking very real and therefore, learning of how the product works was very useful.This is why I love doing what I do. Every project I work on is different from the other. A client of ours once fell love with a course we had designed for another client. They told us you can follow the same style. But, did we? No! It is easy right, follow the same strategy, don't use your brains too much. After all, CLIENT requested it. After we spoke to the learners, the strategy, automatically fell in place. It was not only visually different, but also in terms of the instructional strategy used. The instructional strategy is dependent on the work culture, the people, and the learning objective. Work culture plays an extremely crucial role and it would help to understand this well enough before you storyboard. In this organization, the hierarchy was very clear. If I am the manager, you listen. Knowing this helped us design really good scenarios that people could relate to.   During lunch break of the time management training session, two really sweet participants kept me company. During small talk, they wanted to know what I do. I explained that I was an instructional designer and so on. One of them asked me, 'How do you decide which session should be elearning and which ILTs?' Now, the real answer to this (as it happens in most organizations) is the client decides based on their own logic and budgets. Some of the weirdest reasons I have heard are:'Learning is effective only when it is face-to-face. There has to be a human contact.''People don't take onus of learning and therefore, have to be put in a classroom.''Complicated topics have to be tackled by experts face-to-face.' I have designed strategies for both eLearning and ILTs and have immense respect for both. What should be the deciding factors?If you want to discuss personal issues such as workplace violence, sexual harassment, conflict management, personal hygiene and so on, eLearning is possible your solution. Why? Because learners may not come out and discuss these topics. With eLearning, they can reflect on these in their own space and be honest to themselves. If you want to the people in the office to mix with each other and (like most companies in India) do not have social media support, you can arrange an ILT. People come and share their experience and learn from each other as well as from the session. It helps for them to understand that there are people who experience similar things. If you want a refresher, eLearning works like a dream. The content can be really crisp and always available for people as they work.When you want sustainability of learning, it has to be a blended approach. Learning is most effective when it is holistic. Finally, I think both work extremely well, if designed right.  All the effort we put into learner analysis pays off when we sit behind our learners and watch them take our course during learner testing. We always get inputs and value ads, but till date we have never been off our mark. Recently, we got a rating of 6.5 out of 7 for our course and it was reason enough for all of us to rejoice. If learners like it, we have understood them well and designed for them. The satisfaction you feel for doing your job right is incomparable. So, do you understand the inner workings of your learner?    

Recently, we had a client request us to storyboard on Microsoft Word. Whenever I hear this request, I cringe as I recollect my previous experiences of storyboard on Word. Why?Word is a 'text-centered' tool. Word encourages me to write long descriptions of what will happen in each screen. Using drawing tools in Word is a pain. I am a more visual person (or so I have been told). While storyboarding, I have to see: how my screen looks where are the elements placedwhat is the sequence of animation what is the visual hierarchy and how will the eye move Do you know how painful it is to work on tables in Word? Typically, Word storyboards have tables with screen number, OST, Audio, graphic description, and so on. The first time, it acts perfect. By the second review, the text and/or images will start disappearing. I can't tell you how frustrating it is. Word storyboards leave the course characterless and there is a huge dependency on visual designers to bring life into the course. Scanning across pages becomes a tedious affair because pages are top-down scroll. It requires a lot of concentration to identify what you are looking for. I am going to share a few examples of how we used different Microsoft Office tools to storyboard at Kern Learning Solutions.When do We use Word for Storyboarding?I remember using Word well for storyboarding, when the instructional approach was simple branching stories.  Why did we use Word? We used it because we did not want to focus on visualization just then. We had the more important task of ensuring that the content flow was right and that there were no loose ends. Every option had a consequence and therefore, we used the hyperlink feature to keep track of how the stories end.When do We use Excel for Storyboarding? We used Excel for simple, branching MCQ.Why did we use excel? The ideas was to show a negative consequence immediately and ask the learner to reconsider. It was important for us to keep an eye on all the consequences. We had to ensure that all options were extremely plausible and there was no repetition.When do We use PPT?We extensively use PPT as a storyboarding tool.  In this case, we created a wireframe in PPT. The learner had access to different resources. He/she had to glance through before making a decision. The complexity of questions increased as we went along. The hyper-linking ensured a close to real experience. The PPT also helped us give a visual feel.Again, we designed a visual storyboard. Where information was displayed in a easy to read and interesting format.What are the advantages of this:The ID thinks through where things are placed on his/her screen.  The essence of the storyboard is communicated not only to the visual designers but also to the client. It is easier to show people outside the industry how it will work. It helps give a base for the visual designers and really good visual designers add further value by giving it the right finish and adding their own touches. This helps minimize text on screen. The ID constantly thinks 'How can I display information in a easy to read and interesting fashion?'We don't use templates in PPT, but use grids and guidelines in a disciplined fashion. The storyboard communicated uniformity and consistency. What are your experiences working with Microsoft tools for storyboarding? How have you used them best?

A few months ago, I got an opportunity to interact with learning professionals from behavioral and technical domains in a reputed company. Given below are a few things I noticed:1) All domains require instructional design to ensure that the sessions are interactive and engaging. Most of the technical training is handled in-house because it is vital to the business. When I spoke to the learning professionals in technical domain, I realized that they were plagued with concerns about boredom, dropouts, retention of information, design of presentations, and so on. It was essential for the employees to sit through these technical programs to prepare them for their roles. But, this was not motivation enough for the employees to attend or sit through these sessions.Lot of people assume that training-directly related to work will automatically have higher levels of motivation. While this may be true, any motivation is killed by drab trainings. All trainings need instructional designe to ensure motivational levels are high throughout. 2) Most trainers have no clue what instructional design is and the role it plays in designing effective learning. My husband is also a trainer and therefore, through my work and his, I get to meet a lot of trainers. What strikes me is? All trainers think ID is synonymous with content development. They believe that ID is all about content creation. During an interaction, a trainer asked me what my role was. I explained that I am an instructional designer. Her immediate response was 'You create content all the time. Don't you get bored.' She also went on to say how dry instructional design as a topic was. Needless to say, my jaw touched the floor and I was ready to beat this person up. thankfully, I put on my professional face and explained what ID really was.Instructional design is understanding the learner's psyche, their needs and motivations and identifying the most effective way to teach.3) Trainers in the behavioral department identify training sessions based on their interests. Is it just me or does anybody else see a big flaw in this? Like I mentioned, there was one person who thought ID was very boring and I just love this topic. See how people have different interests. What interests me may not interest you. Why would people sit through a session that interests you? The biggest flaw is that you assume that if I like it, people will love it. This is not necessarily true.A trainer told me how they wanted to do sessions on emotional quotients and a great book that he had read. But what they fail to realize is:This may not be important or necessary for the learners.Even if people opt to attend a training out of genuine love for learning (rarely happens!), people always want to see what is relevant for in their workspace. Only trainers and IDs love learning, others don't have the patience or time for it at work.Learner's time is precious, give it the respect it deserved. Session topics must be decided based on learning needs only. Else, they may be redundant and absolutely irrelevant. 4) Trainers are content-centric rather than learner-centric. Like most SMEs, trainers love the content and therefore, somewhere along the way they forget to answer the most important question 'What's in it for the learner?' Learners look for real life examples, processes/tips/learning that they can immediately use and apply. Trainers do not understand the importance or need to customize learning for a specific audience. I know trainers who pick up case studies and content off the Internet. They forget that they are dealing with an Indian audience with a very specific need. Keep it real. Do learner analysis to understand your learners and their realities. This will help you build case studies and write examples. No one wants to read theories. 5) Trainers struggle with identifying proper ID approaches. Not many trainers think of 'How can I teach this best? How do people learn?' There was a trainer who taught through stories. I found this very interesting till I realized, every slide has a new story. Overkill, don't you think? Even a really interesting ID approach can die a fatal death because it is executed poorly.Trainers also struggle with designing scenarios, examples and case studies. These people have access to real experiences but don't know how to use them to teach effectively.Trainers seem to be stuck up about experiential learning. While this is a great approach, there are several more. And I don't whether experiential learning is really possible or necessary for all types of situations/content/learners/outcomes.     Understand the different ID approaches that you can use and select the most effective one. I don't mean to generalize there are several trainers who are good IDs as well and IDs who are bad IDs. Some trainers use their instinct and design good programs. While trained IDs continue to design horrible courses. Having said that trainers must take the time out to understand instructional design better.

These are a series of posts about a boy full of life, a happy child who sees no differences in people. A boy who thinks each and every person out there is a friend. A boy who doesn't see that people are judging him because he is different. It is about a boy who faces the usual challenges of a boy his age and several more challenges than a boy his age.  THE BOY AND THE SCHOOLThe teacher complained that this boy was hitting other children in class. He needed help with his work. He was not interested in doing his work. She said please teach him at home also. The parents took the role of a teacher at home. But when the parent sat to teach, the child howled and cried and refused to learn. They dreaded opening the school diary to see complaints like 'your son is troubling children of 1st grade.' The son played really well with children in the building. The parents were confused why their child was different in school.  The parents tried to ask questions to the teacher such as 'what caused the child to lash out?' 'how do you handle it?' 'does he target specific children?' The teacher was vague in her answers, insisting that he just lashes out. On further questioning, she shared that he was not recognizing alphabets and numbers. She advised that the parents should try harder. These things happen because of working parents who don't have time for their children. She advised that the parents should hang alphabets and numbers chart and not to worry about the decor of the house. Soon, the child got very restless at home also. He came back home and said 'Children say I don't know ABCs; I don't know how to talk; I don't know anything.' The distressed parents spoke to the pediatrician and special educator. They were both supportive and insisted we wait a few more months. An assessment was conducted after six months. The child was diagnosed as being at risk of a learning disability.The parents shared the information with the teacher. The teacher hinted that these children do well in special schools. The parents had arranged a meeting with the Principal. The teacher calls the parent and says 'Ma'am, can you please tell the Principal that I helped you identify the problem? We are never given credit for anything. Also, the management is pro-parents and therefore insists that we say only nice things to the parents.' Needless to say, the parent already extremely emotional and stressed politely told the teacher to get lost.The Principal was very supportive and the special educator worked her magic with the child. But things worsened in the classroom. Complaints kept coming in steadily from the class teacher. Her way of 'handling' him was to give simple tasks and then send him out to play. The communication between the teacher and the special educator was extremely poor due to the teacher's ego. The parents requested the teacher to become more sensitive and understand how to handle the child from the special educator. But resistance was evident. 'Why should I focus on one child when I have 29 others?' Every other day, the child would come and tell the parent that he was punished. One day, the child came back and said 'I don't like my teacher. She asked me to get out of the school.' The parents, who had been very patient so far, met the Principal, gave feedback and removed the child from the school. The Principal explained that they are not equipped to handle these children (and by this I guess she meant, we also don't plan to be) and washed her hands off. What do we expect from the teachers?We expect them to be impartial. Treat all children alike. We expect them to encourage children and provide them a positive environment to learn. We expect them to have the student's interests at heart. What is the point in focusing on the so called 'bright' children? We do look for professional behavior. Where do we take our children if the school that claims to be inclusive is really not? During a telephonic conversation, the teacher tells the parent 'I am a software engineer, I came into this line after my son was born. I wanted to be with children.' Is this reason enough to hire a teacher? Most schools may think kindergarten is not so critical. But it is equally critical as children that young have mouldable personalities and hearts. The child, in this case especially, has a fragile ego and imagine what kind of risk we are putting him in by exposing him to insensitive and untrained teachers.The teacher must not judge the child or their parents. Parents always want to do the best for their child. This particular teacher must remember that she is a working mother too. And must understand what causes learning disabilities before making statements that only prove her ignorance in the matter. Coming back to the boy.... he was sent to The Deens Academy, where the Special Educator has a group of trained teaches, a classroom setting and good infrastructure to support children with mild to moderate difficulties. The Principal, the special ed staff, headmistress and the teacher in the class are all aware of the child's individual plan. The communication is open and therefore, the child is not treated wrongly. The teacher seeks out the special ed teacher incase she wants inputs on how a tantrum or a behavior can be corrected. Where would parents take their children if such schools didn't exist? Scary....   If your child has a learning disability, ensure that you put him or her in the right environment. These children are very intelligent and learn differently. Put them in a positive environment where teachers and the school actually do the job they are meant to do --- tap the child's potential.

I have been running more graphic facilitation workshops and everyone asks me how to draw icons. Icon drawing comes from both having both a visual vocabulary in one’s head/practice, and being able to draw with just a few strokes. I need a ton of practice in this area, and have started compiling my own "icon" book - basically looking at others’ icons and practicing drawing them myself. Today via DroolyDog I ran into some slide decks from Betsy Streeter that I found really easy and useful. (I tried to embed them, but today something is amiss, so you’ll have to just follow the links.) Draw Faces Your Own Way View more presentations from Betsy Streeter via Draw Faces Your Own Way. Here is another on "Drawing Nothing". !! How To Draw Nothing View more presentations from Betsy Streeter My goal is to do some practice EVERY DAY. Wanna hold me to it? Ask me about it whenever you see me. A little pressure never hurt. But I promise to remain a model of "the person who can’t draw who can do this graphic stuff" — we can all create beauty in our own way! Here is a yesterday’s practice piece - a visual self introduction. This was my second version. I decided I wanted something with SOME sort of cohesion and chalk coloring in the first version didn’t do it for me. So I decided to do a "one line" drawing. This is essentially keeping your pen on the paper the whole time. Then I went back and colored in. I liked this version better and shared it as part of my work in the AlphaChimp Studio’s online "Graphic Rockstars" workshop.

Choconancy1 posted a photo: we talked about something so important,, so useful, so energizing, it makes us want to jump out of bed in the morning and engage!

Choconancy1 posted a photo:

Choconancy1 posted a photo:

Choconancy1 posted a photo:

Nancy’s Note: In June I was lucky to help facilitate a couple of events for UN University at eLearning Africa in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. One of our panelists was the wise and warm Adejare Amoo from Nigeria. Adejare’s role was to illuminate how business can be part of innovating in eLearning in Africa. In preparation for his part in our "fish bowl" exercise, he drafted an outline that I really appreciated. Because we did not have time to cover all his points, I invited him to do a guest post on my blog. I think Adejare is my FIRST guest post since I started this blog May 26, 2004. I will also post a few reflections from eLearning Africa in a subsequent post. As for Adejare’s post I love this line: "The higher education institutions in Africa need to follow the industrialists’ innovation concept and good practice policy, whereby they start their projects on a clean slate,  think big, start small, fail quickly, and scale fast, using ICT. Above all, the higher education institutions in Africa should adopt and adapt "open innovation policy" which has helped the industry to grow, just as it has helped most of the higher education institutions in the developed nations to use e-learning pedagogy for quality mass education production which has positively impacted their environments’ development." Read on! And thanks to Adejare! AN INDUSTRIALIST’S ROLE IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICA I am an e-learning entrepreneur, a highly innovation promoted and real time evolving industry. I am based in Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa (about 150 million population). Students as well as research & development results are identified as the products and services from  Higher education institutions in Africa. However these products and services form a core input in the industrialist’s production process system. In effect, the industrialist is a major consumer of higher education products and services. Furthermore, as a major stakeholder in higher education system in Africa, the industrialist sponsors some relevant higher education research and developments programmes, as well as some relevant higher education projects  -academic and non-academic, such as infrastructural developments. Some of the industrialist’s employees are parents and relations to the students, whose progress is of utmost importance to the industrialist’s organisation>. In addition to being a donor, the industrialist is a network builder in higher education system. As a council member, he contributes to higher education policy and practice formulation. HOW AN INDUSTRIALIST FEELS INNOVATION IS NEEDED IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICA Innovation has been identified as turning new ideas into beneficial and/or profitable products and services. It is characterised by information and communications technology (ICT) driven experimentations and sharing of ideas. Higher education system in Africa is confronted with some challenges. Both the admission and carrying capacities of the higher institutions are too low to satisfy the high demand for quality mass education delivery required to develop their environment.  Most of the institutions stick to their own obsolete ideas and practices, without allowing for other innovative ideas and practices from outside their institutions.  These institutions are starved of adequate funding. In view of the self contented policy and practice in most   African higher institutions, support assistance could not be readily obtained, since the donor partners could not understand their challenges. Most of the higher institutions in Africa are yet to apply technology in their education administration and delivery. The prerequisite solution to these challenges is radical innovation. The industrialist also needs innovation of his company’s products and services to improve on customer satisfaction, satisfactory return on investment (ROI) to the investors/shareholders, and efficient as well as  effective social responsibility performance as a corporate citizen. The stakeholders desire innovation in the company’s products and services, and which innovation must come from all the inputs in the production process. Such inputs include the identified higher education products and services, i.e. qualified manpower and research & development results. Expressed mathematically, "Summation of innovation of process inputs equals innovation of products and services." INDUSTRIALIST’S GOALS IN INITIATING OR SUPPORTING INNOVATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICA he industrialist’s primary goal is to achieve his organisation’s set vision, mission, and values. This is, most essentially, to be and remain no.1 profitable producer of his company’s quality products and services, as well as fulfil the company’s  good corporate citizenship responsibilities, through innovation. The industrialist also aims at achieving the planned innovation objectives and strategies for the organisation, products and services, through innovation from the higher education products and services as part of the inputs. As a corporate citizen, the industrialist needs to fulfil the organisation’s  responsibility in promoting innovation of higher education process system, plantation of entrepreneurial seeds for generation innovation, as well as promotion of the organisation’s image and network. INDUSTRIALIST’S MAIN STRENGTH OR ASSET INPUTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION INNOVATION PROCESS IN AFRICA. From the point of view of comparative contemporary policy and practice in the higher institutions in the developing and developed nations, it will be observed that most of the universities that make the first hundred leading universities global ratings worldwide employ the application of the above mentioned innovative characteristics, i.e.  information and communications technology (ICT) driven experimentation and sharing of ideas  in their administration and academic operations.  The ubiquitous internet technology application has facilitated sharing of ideas and good practices such that the entire world is reduced to a digital village, with respect to the higher education institutions in the developed world.  This must have been borrowed from the successful high tech companies, which believe and practice the idea that companies should make greater use of external ideas and technologies in their own business and allow their own technologies and ideas to be used by others.  (Henry Chesbrough, UC Berkeley). In Practer & Gamble (P & G)’s "Use-It-Or-Lose-It Programme" innovation strategy, after an internally generated innovation has been successfully applied within the organisation for three years, it is thrown open to other organisations that could benefit from it. The higher institutions could benefit from such strategy. The high tech industrialists have capitalised on the above mentioned innovation driving forces to make a significant impact in the higher education institutions, most especially in the developed nations. To the industrialist, innovation is a revolution. It involves high risk taking, along with high failure probability result, and to be undertaken by all stakeholders. The industrialist considers this phenomenon as part of innovation game. It provides opportunities for continuous experimentations as well as controlled frequent and rapid changes.  For instance, Microsoft’s innovation strategy allows its employees to spend about 20% of the company’s time on controlled experimentation of their personal innovative ideas, that could positively contribute to the company’s benefits and ROI to its stakeholders. The company accepts that about 50% of such experimentations could fail. Furthermore, Microsoft provides high tech tools and equipment to some higher education institutions, in Nigeria, for their digital/computer labs. On the other hand, while implementing its "Innovation Research Programme" strategy, Hewlett Packard (HP) votes a huge amount of dollars to sponsor research projects in the higher education institutions annually and use the generated results in its products and services innovation.  In the industry, consumer generated innovation is assuming a greater trend. Similarly, the industry should generate innovation from the higher education institutions, being the major consumers of the products and service, i.e. the students and research & development results. As the industrialist commits so much  resources into promotion of innovation in the higher education institutions, the challenge of ownership of proprietary rights of products and services resulting from such research and development activities, undertaken by the institutions, could become important and controversial issues. This is where mutual and collaborative understanding should be embraced by both the higher education institutions and the industry. The industrialist possesses and provides financial support to the higher education institutions, through grants, endowments, foundation, donations, scholarship, sponsorship for conferences, etc. Relevant examples of such donors in Nigeria include Microsoft, HP, Intel, Nestle, Shell, Chevron, and Dangote, among others. The company possesses relevant technology and infrastructure. Provision is made for both the students and teachers to access the industrialist’s technology and infrastructures such as laboratory for research and development. Places are provided for students/teacher industrial work experience, as well as for sabbatical work experience for teachers. Collaborative exchange programme between the industrialist’s staff and student/lecturers is promoted. The industrialist is involved in higher education institutions’ social and academic extra-curricular activities, building and sustaining network between the industrial group and the higher education institutions. Promotion of socio-cultural activities engages the industrialist. The company initiates and participates in community development programmes such as health, poverty alleviation, capacity building facilities, etc. The industrialist organises competitions and quiz and also provides facilities for entrepreneurial skills acquisition to be shared with relevant students/teachers. INDUSTRIALIST’S NEEDS TO HELP MAKE IT HAPPEN To effect the innovation, the industrialist will require collaboration and cooperation from higher education institutions leaders and the entire institutions’ community. Collaboration and cooperation from other stakeholders in higher education innovation — parents, NGO’s, and socio- cultural organisations, will be relevant. Open access process policy and practice will enhance "open innovation", which will involve sharing of technological developments and information, as well as ideas. High quality support/participants and manpower, with positive attitude, integrity, creativity, interpersonal relation, etc will be of mutual benefit. The industrialist will be a member of the governing council of the higher education institutions, where policy and practice are formulated. The industrialists will be represented on all relevant government’s boards and high powered policy and practice formulators, to make audible voice. The government will provide motivation in terms of tax rebate, recognition and other incentives, which will include conducive business environment — infrastructure, power supply, transportation means, peace, safety, security, etc. Funding from equity, loan and/or grant will be highly required. CONCLUSION The higher education institutions in Africa need to follow the industrialists’ innovation concept and good practice policy, whereby they start their projects on a clean slate,  think big, start small, fail quickly, and scale fast, using ICT. Above all, the higher education institutions in Africa should adopt and adapt "open innovation policy" which has helped the industry to grow, just as it has helped most of the higher education institutions in the developed nations to use e-learning pedagogy for quality mass education production which has positively impacted their environments’ development. Mine is just to provoke more contribution on the way forward to quality mass higher education delivery in Africa, using e-learning pedagogy and other information & communications technologies, for accelerated and sustainable development. I don’t pretend to have all the answers to the challenges confronting quality mass education delivery for development in Africa. Engr. ADEJARE AMOO ABOUT THE AUTHOR - ADEJARE  AMOO Engr. Adejare AMOO  is a Consultant/Managing Director of CorporateMind Associates Nigeria Limited, engaged in blended education, through their website www.corporatemind-elearn.com and a learning/study centre . This is in support of accelerated and sustainable realization of the goals of the global socio-economic development programs such as MDG, and EFA. The targets of his social entrepreneurial effort cover the disadvantaged communities , such as the youths, girl child, the physically challenged, and the women , among others, in the developing nations. He retired from Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in 2000 after 27 years work experience. He did an ICT Certificate course on e-Commerce  to support his passion for ICT in education. He is currently the Chairman of the ICT Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He participated in the stakeholders workshops organized by Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria, on education reform programs in 2006 to 2010. He participated in the eLearning Conference in Paris, and in EDUCA Berlin, as well as in the eLearning Africa Conferences between 2005 and 2010.He participated in the Second Science With Africa Conference in Addis Ababa, 2010. He participated in many international online education forums and webinars, including the e-Learning Expert Online Forum 2009, organized by UNU-ViE, Bonn. He is currently the Nigeria’s ambassador to WWW.SCIENCE-CONNECT.COM NGO. He authors and publishes the Nigeria wiki-page on the NGO’s website. He has a very strong international network. He is bilingual with proficiency in English and French languages. A youths mentor and a community leader, he is married with children. His ambition is to dedicate the rest of his life to support the less privileged  in the developing nations, using ICT.

You may notice the uptick in blogging. I have such a queue of draft blog posts that I resolved to start getting them out. In April, the amazing, wonderful and talented Heather Gold came to Seattle and ran one of her "unpresenting" workshops for us. While I was still raw from the death of my dad, I was still able to absorb some of her wonderful advice, mostly captured with some sketchnotes. What was most significant for me was that the advice she gave resonated with my best experiences. Being fully present. Don’t focus on content, focus on people, connection and conversation. Be fearless and fully yourself. Own it. Unpresenting with Heather Gold …a few visual notes by @NancyWhite :: bookr ::pimpampum.

And now a post just for the pure pleasure of music, from the folks at SeattleMagazine via YouTube - Broadcast Yourself..

It is hard to say "no" to friends. It is harder yet to predict what will happen when you say "yes." When you will stumble upon a magic moment.  Months ago I agreed to do an online session for one of my Australian pals, Frankie Forsythe, who I’ve known online for years since she took my (now dormant) online facilitation class. The event was the Australian Flexible Learning Frameworks’ eRealities online conference. I was to kick of the second day. Frankie and her colleagues asked me to do a session that wove together a ton of things and I was worried about a total fragmented mess. So after a few back and forths, we came to this description which you can see, could get one into trouble! It’s a story with three hearts. It has a scaffold with three legs. It is a story told for the ears, the eyes and the heart. Join me as we explore how we got to this crazy time of "social media" and what it means for our learning with and from each other, how we can do it the best we are able to in a rapidly changing and often tension-filled context, and consider together what kind of future we want to build going forward. At the end of the session participants were able to: • understand how the intersection of technology and group forms impact our learning together online • identify ways to work generatively with the tension of many opportunities and a scarcity of time (hey, what can we STOP doing?) • identify steps to prepare to move forward positively in a time of rapid change I had not overprepared for this session. I went in with 7 images and some thoughts, which is risky when you are in a "keynote" position. But my instinct was right. I was able to be really present. To listen. To follow and respond to/incorporate the chat stream into the conversation. We paused three times for full group input and people jumped in with head, heart and hand. You know those moments when you FEEL something. I was feeling it and I think at least some of the people in the online space were feeling it too. Dancing Into the Future with Head, Heart and Hands View more presentations from Nancy White So what was resonating? We were telling stories and using hand drawn images to reduce our electronic distance and barriers? We were talking about experiences that resonated for people in their work of teaching and learning online? I’m not sure. But it worked for me. I was grateful for the opportunity. When I was asked to send my invoice I said "contribute my honorarium to some local good cause. You gave me a gift." You can watch all the recorded sessions - you’ll have to register (free) but once you are in, you can find them all. Here is the information: For those who couldn’t make it to the live conference, or didn’t get to attend all the sessions they were interested in, session recordings and resources are now available. Just follow these steps: Log into the conference site - http://flexiblelearning.net.au/networksevents - if you have not previously registered you will need to do so to access the recordings Click on the Program tab Select the Title of the Session you would like to review Click on the blue "Enter’ button to open the recording of the session. Here are some of the event artifacts: Dancing Into the Future with Head, Heart and Hands View more presentations from Nancy White Chat text from ere11 session

CC Some rights reserved by Mundoo on Flickr I’m not a big fan of "training" — it feels like something we do "unto" others. But something from this Fast Company article on training at Google caught my eye. I’ve highlighted the bit… Once a quarter, the company tosses a larger training at the staff, called SalesPro, which takes a deep dive into one particular strategic issue, like display advertising or the mobile business. The soup-to-nuts program takes about six hours, but rather than delivering it all in one fell swoop, or even through a series of hour-long, do-it-yourself modules, Google breaks the information into bite-sized chunks lasting no more than seven minutes each, so agents can download and peruse them at their desks, on their commutes, even on their cell phones while watching Little League or waiting in line at airport security.Online games help agents dial in their knowledge. Leaderboards foster friendly competition. And quizzes following each training make sure the agents are absorbing the new information."This is a new, complicated, and very fast-moving market," Dennis Woodside, who took over as President, Americas, in 2009 when Tim Armstrong jumped ship to become CEO of AOL, tells Fast Company. "The challenge is: How do you get a comprehensive overview in a short period of time?"Google’s new tack is a far cry from the traditional methods of corporate training, that of corralling staffers into classrooms or having them click through tedious online modules. via Training Secrets From Inside The Googleplex | Fast Company. I’ve been doing a lot of online events and I’ve been trying to break things down more or less in seven minute segments to try and alternate information delivery with more intentional group interaction (shared whiteboarding, polls, chat, etc) If nothing else, it is a good reminder for me to shut up for a bit! It seems to help quite a bit in my experience. Now here is another interesting segment on the Google efforts that resonates "People learn best from experts," Newhouse says, "but they learn best from experts who are not droning on and on." The secret to the Product Spotlights, she says, is that rather than relying on product managers to dream up a course, the moderator simply guides them to the aspects of the product most relevant to the sales staff. Woodside says the new training method probably costs about the same as the old approach. Its more investment, he says, than cost. I’d replace the word "expert" with "practitioners." And really work hard to help those practitioners know/see/feel/hear how important their knowledge is to others. One of the things that always amazes me is how often people think what they know isn’t valuable to others. Most often it is. (Funny, there are also a few who think they are the center of the universe. And they probably aren’t!)

This is brilliant from TEDX Edmonton. Green. Social. Creative. I’m going to steal- um- borrow this idea! Thanks for blogging about it, Mack Male! Lunch was next on the schedule and as with the rest of TEDxEdmonton it was anything but ordinary. Instead of individual lunches, groups of five or six people were given a wooden box filled with sandwiches, salads, drinks, and treats and were encouraged to eat together. Most groups ended up outside where the sun was shining and the streets were packed for the Edmonton Pride Parade. It was great to see discussions happening all over the place. Kudos to Elm Café andDuchess Bake Shop for the delicious food and the creative presentation! via Recap: TEDxEdmonton 2011 - MasterMaq’s Blog. Photos from MasterMaq on Flickr.