Chief Learning Officer - January 2009 - (Page 42) ing styles and conditions for your learners. Consider how many times you have seen training developed in a mode that was easy for the developer but didn’t even consider the audience. For example, I witnessed an instructor-led session being designed for personnel who spent most of their day at a computer screen. The course was intended to teach them how to use a new computer application, and the training immediately took them away from the application itself. We must focus our efforts and analysis to accurately capture the nature of our target audience and align Many learning organizations undertake blended learning initiatives without a strategic mindset and approach. They go tactical and pay the price. the learning solution to the modality that best suits the audience’s needs. • Learning objectives: Why are the participants in training? Is this training session for knowledge exchange? Or is it for skills application? There is a huge difference in what approach to use when you consider the learning objectives. Focus the design elements on the objectives of the training. • Blended learning environment: Having the right environment for blended learning is crucial to the outcome. Also, ensure the learning strategies inject a strong dose of reality. Mixing Modalities Now that you understand your target audience’s needs, the learning objectives and the environment necessary for success, designing your solution requires careful evaluation of the media and modes of learning and how they can deliver optimal results. The design phase is similar to designing a car for a specific application: sporty design for the thrill drivers, vans for multiple passengers and storage, compacts for efficiency and so on. The primary point is that when designing the training, consider what your desired outcomes are and how you can weave the best components together to design a complete and successful program. To do that, stick to the basics. If you are addressing a transfer of knowledge, many forms of knowledge exchange are at your disposal, such as paper-based reading materials, job aids, audio tapes 42 Chief Learning Officer • January 2009 • www.clomedia.com and — most prevalent today — Web-based training modules. If you are focused on information that centers on facts, figures, processes or related cognitive pieces of information, asynchronous learning is a viable approach. The trick is not to bypass the results of the analysis, but to truly understand what the learners need to satisfactorily complete a task from a knowledge perspective. Then determine which vehicle is best for providing that information to them. Likewise, the skills portion is an incredibly important and often overlooked aspect. The learner should have the opportunity to practice and gain the skills necessary to complete a task or job role. Return to your learning objectives and the analysis insights to best design the skills portion. Why do we have technicians who are required to sit through hours of Web-based or instructor-led training when what they really need is lab time? The leadership experiences that people take away from great leadership courses are those that immerse the participant in real-life scenarios. Experiential learning is the toprated form of learning. That’s because we as learners are able to apply and adapt as we are learning, and build our own base of important facts and outcomes from that experience. Engaging Your Participants You also want to design your program to really engage the participant. Interactive learning that leads to experiential learning provides the greatest return for both the organization and the participant. Create integrated learning sessions that intertwine with one another, not just stand-alone segments. Too many training courses are poorly integrated into a cohesive learning process. They become stand-alone training occurrences that a learner is forced to work to connect. Focus the design to dovetail from one session into the next, or you risk losing the engagement of the learner. Develop World-Class Content Aim for development that focuses on breaking the different modes into highly effective, focused training elements that, when blended together, create a truly robust learning experience. Often, training curriculums require a classroom or e-learning to span the entire learning spectrum and then wonder why the training falls short of expectations. Design the training so each modality has a purpose or else isn’t used. Then let each modality do its respective job and come together with the other modes to complete the learning picture. Don’t be afraid to call upon multiple modalities. Simple job aids and procedural graphics can be instrumental in assisting new employees in learning new processes. Structured http://www.clomedia.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.