Old concepts new to me

Switching teams last week has left me with some extra time to read, learn, and think. I wanted to note some of the key themes that I have been thinking about. 

"New approaches to performance mean change, and preparing people for change is the business of training and its only justification." (Gilbert, T. 1982. "A Question of Performance Part II: Applying the PROBE Model." Training and Development Journal)

We commonly think about training as a solution to teach people things. Redefining training as "preparing people for change" is very compelling to me. I think that it really helps people focus on the performance impact that training has. 

"The process of design is not just for designers, but for anyone whose business it is to create or lead something... anyone whose job it is to imagine something that does not yet exist and then plot the path from imagination to existence." (Pacione, C. 2010. "Evolution of the Mind: A Case for Design Literacy." Interactions)

I love the description of what a designer does in the statement above. I don't think I had ever thought about what it really means to design something; as an instructional designer, I certainly imagine what doesn't exist and then make that solution happen.

"There are more starry-eyed engineers out there building incredibly hard-to-use things than there are competent designers trying to make things comprehensible and pleasurable for human beings." (Pacione, C. 2010. "Evolution of the Mind: A Case for Design Literacy." Interactions)

This is highly relevant to my new role of working on the engineering training team!

White House crashers: a training issue?

Last night on CNN, I heard a Senator talking about the "White House crashers." He said that this training issue would be addressed with the Secret Service. 

I confess to not knowing the ins and outs of this situation (thank goodness I'm not on the Secret Service training team), but I feel that this type of comment illustrates what's wrong with the perception of the training world. It seems that, in this scenario, the security guards knew that they were supposed to check the guest list and identification at the door. Why didn't he do it? If he knew how to check the guest list and identification, then this is not a training issue! It could have been another performance factor that interfered: were the expectations to check every single guest not clear? Was he not motivated to follow proper procedures? Were the procedures too arduous, was the line of guests too overwhelming? Was the process flawed? 

I don't profess to know all the answers, but I'm pretty sure that this was not simply a training issue. 

Thanks for attending our session at DevLearn!

We had a great turnout and a lot of fun. 

Remember that you can try out our tools and see results of the carousel survey at the session's website: http://sites.google.com/site/ispigoog/devlearn-home

What's the next generation of e-learning?

According to Marc Rosenberg, a presenter at the April, 2009 ISPI conference, the future of e-learning is a knowledge management system that combines online learning materials, communities of practice, direct access to experts, information repositories, and performance support.

Key points I took away from his presentation:

• work and learning are integrated; materials must be accessible at all times, in all locations
  
• mobility: people must learn wherever they are (ipods at the gym or on the subway, for example)
  
• we must think beyond just training to learning; most learning is informal (through colleagues, trial and error, Google searches)
  
• our role as performance consultants and instructional designers must shift from education and training to providing an infrastructure to enable information sharing
• the information must be accessible at the time of need
• the information should be generated by the learners
• "Don't kill the classroom!" There is a place for the classroom--some skills are most effectively taught in real life.
• Components of an effective Knowledge Management system:
• online training
• information repositories, which require structure, accurate content, and ease of use (examples of effective ones: WebMD , World Bank , Vehix.com)
• communities of practice, which are groups of employees with similar roles who are connected horizontally across the company (instead of just vertical groups) that share ideas and best practices
• access to experts and expertise, and a way of "matching the right expert to the right need at the right time"
• the best knowledge management system in the world is a library. You can walk into nearly any library in the world and find a specific book because they have common organizational structures. The implication is that information within a company should be easy to access, too, so disparate organizations within a company should agree on standard ways of presenting the information.
• performance support that helps employees accomplish a task at the moment of need is important, too
• Learning is a by-product of performance; learning alone should not be the focus of training initiatives

I look forward to continuing to advocate for these principles; we are spending a lot of effort conducting frustrating knowledge tests right now.

Summary of research about e-learning

The US Department of Education recently analyzed a series of research on the use of online learning. It was geared specifically for K12 education but contains interesting implications for adult use of e-learning as well.

The questions they set out to answer:

1. How does the effectiveness of online learning compare with that of face-to-face instruction?

2. Does supplementing face-to-face instruction with online instruction enhance learning?

3. What practices are associated with more effective online learning?

4. What conditions influence the effectiveness of online learning?

Some of the key findings:

• Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.
• Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.
• Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.
• Most of the variations in the way in which different studies implemented online learning did not affect student learning outcomes significantly.
• Of those variables, (a) the use of a blended rather than a purely online approach and (b) the expansion of time on task for online learners were the only statistically significant influences on effectiveness.
• Blended and purely online learning conditions implemented within a single study generally result in similar student learning outcomes.
• Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes.
• Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.
• Providing guidance for learning for groups of students appears less successful than does using such mechanisms with individual learners.

"Despite what appears to be strong support for online learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium. In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages. At the same time, one should note that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face instruction."

You can read the report here: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

(Originally found at http://www.brandon-hall.com/workplacelearningtoday/?p=5900)

What to do when you don't agree with your stakeholder's requests

When I attended the ISPI Principles and Practices of Performance Improvement three-day workshop last year, I remember a story that Miki Lane told. He was a young performance consultant when a company called him up and asked him to lead a team-building training. He said, "Yes, I am happy to help." He conducted a brief analysis and discovered that, in his opinion, this team did not need a team-building training. He recommended several alternative performance interventions. His client did not want to hear his ideas and did not hire Miki as a consultant. A few weeks later, he saw a news clip about ABC company taking their team on a team-building trip in the woods. 

This story has remained with me for over a year and seems particularly relevant in my current situation. It illustrates an example of when a stakeholder calls you up, knows exactly what solution they want, and doesn't want to listen to any alternative solutions. 

In my current situation, a key stakeholder has decided that he wants to implement a certification program that includes a difficult SAT-like examination. I am firmly opposed to any multiple-choice tests in the workplace (a topic for another day)! I do not believe they accurately measure performance. Since the vast majority of performance problems result from environmental problems (like a lack of clear expectations and feedback, inadequate tools and compensation models), why does it make sense to test people? 

The test will be used not only to assess individual's skill gaps but also to identify gaps in training offerings. It seems to me that if we have to create this test, we should create learning solutions from which people can study first. I am concerned about the self-esteem (or worse, employment) issues that may result from people "failing" the test. I am worried that it will be a waste of time because we do not have a clear plan of what we'll do with the data or how to communicate scores and gaps to the learners. 

And yet, the stakeholder says we must do it, so we will.

Presenting at DevLearn in November!

We will reprise our "Web2.0 and Performance: What's Working for Google Employees" presentation at the Elearning Guild's annual conference this year. 

We hope you will join us in November in San Jose at the DevLearn 09 conference!