Learning Linkage Mishmash

Just a few quick links worth checking out:

Working/Learning carnival: the latest session, a blog carnival from "Daves Whiteboard." Whats a "blog carnival," you ask? Forget the explanation, just go experience it yourself.

Design Under Constraint: How Limits Boost Creativity, an excellent article from the March 09 edition of Wired. Wired Creative Director, Scott Dadich's launch of the article is an excellent, yet short, treatise on how parameters actually help improve design, while recent history (re: Wall Street, Detroit, etc.) teaches that "the lack of limits has proven to be a false freedom."

Presentation Innovation, a must read (see?) collection of superb examples on presenting done for TED. Even thinking "PowerPoint" while watching these makes you feel ashamed. (My favorite is Steven Strogatz's presentation on syncing in nature)

Weird Connections: "Monkey Genius" is a great episode demonstrating how we can actually better tap into our creativity by eliminating our reliance on evolutionarily advanced functions like language (Sorry, this particular episode is not yet available to view online, so make sure to check your local listings, set your DVR, etc.).

First Annual Allen Limerick Contest

Here at Allen, we try to blend both time for creativity and time for work. Today, for St. Patrick's Day, we had an office party with our first annual Limerick contest. Here they are, for better or for worse:

There once was a man named Mike
who loved to wear Spandex and bike.
He discovered that his family,
found the Stone O'Blarney,
so he threw an Irish party all liked.

There once was a room that was red
where contractors often were led.
The ceiling was low,
and the walls almost glowed,
until all brilliant thoughts left his or her head

There was a young laddie from Nor
whose mouth was as big as a door.
While grinning a grin,
He slipped and fell in,
and laid inside out on the floor.

Many think marketing we don't need
That a website is enough of a seed.
But without a brand,
or styling at hand,
Allen has no family to feed.

I'm staring all night at the screen
The doe is due--know what I mean?
My face pales with terror,
as I edit each error,
for St. Patty's I'll truly be green.

The auditor came here inspecting
to see if our courseware is taxing.
More money for state coffers, said he,
not so fast, said we,
and we showed him Todd Miller relaxing!

There once was a salesman named Marty
who spent too much time at a party.
He drank all their beer,
and now it's unclear,
why everyone calls him a "SMARTY."

There once was a salesman named Oel
who had a large annual goal.
But he thought so much about gel,
that he neglected to sell,
and now he eats noodles from a bowl.

There once was a woman named Jen,
Who purchased a free-range hen.
She said she’d go green,
It’s efficient, and clean,
And benefits all women and men.


Of course, we only had a few minutes to create these.

Like to try your hand at it? We'd love to read your limericks.

Here are the rules from http://www.poetryamerica.com/Limerick.asp:

The rhyme scheme is AABBA with the accent on the words like this:
da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH
da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH
da-DAH da-DAH
da-DAH da-DAH
da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH

Does Music in Courseware Promote Instruction or Distraction?

As the world of multimedia becomes ever more varied and complex, in the realm of custom courseware we attempt to appeal to all different kinds of learners as well as compete with the likes of HD television and 3D video games. But when it comes to learning, does more multimedia equate with more effective instruction? In particular, would it benefit the learner to use music more often in web-based training?

Sharon Guan of DePaul University suggests, "...media redundancy distracts learners. It adds unnecessary workload (extraneous cognitive load) to the brain, leaving less room for it to process the information. So, instructional designers who are constantly tempted by various fancy tech tools ought to remember that making things simple and direct remains the rule of thumb." So it seems that music or even an overload of multimedia could be considered a distraction rather than a tool to aid learning.

In addition, Dr. Dolf Zilmann (1994) a noted scholar in the field of communications noted the following:

The evidence concerning the use of music in educational efforts is most
discouraging. Surely, as we have shown, music can help to attract [learners] to
the educational message (in selected situations). But once they are exposed, the
presence of music is detrimental to learning. That's what the experimental
research tells us. The findings are very consistent, showing that it is sweet
illusion for educators to think that music could further the learning process.
Music is a message that competes with educational information for attention, and
it usually wins contest.

At Allen, we often use music, animation, and graphics at the beginning of a course to attract the learner's attention and give the course some movement and innovation. According to Zilmann, this is an effective way to use music in particular.

On the other hand, S. Ruth Harris states that music can create and activate prior knowledge, focus a learner's attention, function as a mnemonic device to aid recall of information, and foster a positive attitude towards learning.

It seems that the key to using music to enhance learning is to ensure that the learner's entire focus can be dedicated to listening to it and that it is the primary means for instruction. When it competes with other sensory information, the learner can experience overload and it can inhibit learning. But when done right, music can enhance content, illicit emotion, and engage the learner in a way nothing else can.

We have a real opportunity (in web-based training in particular) to branch into all forms of multimedia, especially music, and utilize its power to enhance learners' engagement and overall experience. The challenge is to use it effectively and give it sufficient focus.

Learning and Development Recessionary Sensibility

Oh boy. I just took a look at the stock market returns. I need to stop doing that. I need to treat it the same way as my retirement accounts: ignore. I even heard the dreaded economic “d” word tossed around this week. Depression. Whether we head that way or not, we’re probably all feeling a bit depressed one way or another. It’s a tough world out there right now. We’re all hunkering down. Particularly in the world of organizational learning. Who can blame us?

In these times, it pays to be sensible (sorry for the puns). Interestingly, many people interpret “being sensible” as “wait and see.” No question—this is often the right and best course of action. For example, I’m not about to run out and buy an expensive car. Other times, though, it’s not the right course of action, and in fact can even be the exact wrong choice. See, while I’m not going to buy a fancy car, I definitely should get that clicking sound checked out. And I’m not going to avoid the vehicle’s maintenance schedule. That’s because I know in the long run, I understand the costs of neglecting what matters. Or, as we buzz it in the business world, what’s mission critical.

Another area of sensibility to consider is not just what you spend capital on, but how and with whom. For example, just last week, we received calls from two large global organizations, both of which have been left holding the bag as their partner vendors have bitten the dust. It’s obvious yet difficult, the whole being sensible about where you put your money—and trust (just ask former Madoff customers). Is going with the big boys only the best method? Is taking a gamble on a lower cost vendor the right thing to do? How do you determine the best—and most prudent—vendor? I suppose the answer is found in the vetting process itself, with its RFPs, sales cycles, etc. And there are certainly scores of books, white papers, consultants and more avenues that give insight into it.

Of course, as a vendor, we will tell you that we’re your best option. After all, we have been doing this a looonnng time. We’ve weathered all sorts of storms, but we’ve also lead the way. In our estimation, there has to be some credibility there, right? Well, in reality, the goal of this post is not to convince you of this factor of credibility. Rather, my goal is for all of us to be sensible in how we take care of our mission-critical initiatives. We can do that by first determining what truly is mission critical, then—come depression or high water—we must ensure that we lead in successfully accomplishing our organizations’ mission-critical tasks. Of course, key to that is using resources, whether internally or externally, that will help us do just that.

Of course, I recommend that you call Allen today to discuss how we can help you in that area. But for here and now, I’d like to hear what you or your peers are doing (or even wish you were doing) to ensure success in your mission-critical learning and development. To get through these tough times, we’ll need to share successes and warnings, tips and tricks, to come out on top stronger as professionals and as an industry once the downturn turns around.

Innovation: Step Away from the Box

I recently read an article about the state of our economy that had an interesting take on the problem.  It didn't blame the Bernie Madoffs of the world, or the past administration, or the housing crisis.  Instead, it blamed the whole thing on an acceleration in technology over the past fifteen years.  This author postulated that somewhere in there, we moved from the Industrial Age to the Information-Technology Age, and someone forgot to tell the CEOs.

He has a good point.  Frames of reference and perspectives that have been valid to this point are now outdated and useless.  Information is finally more important than brick and mortar, and to be quite honest, it's a little scary.  Making an impact on the bottom line in any organization requires more than just thinking outside the box; in some cases it requires disregarding the box altogether.

What does that mean for those of us who live in the training and development world?  In the past year, we've seen our budgets shrink, our headcount disappear, and our responsibilities increase.  We're expected to deliver better training to more people for less money.  If ever there was a group of people in desperate need of innovation it would be this one.

The good news is that while this is a scary time to be doing some crazy stuff, it's also the best time to be doing some crazy stuff.  When organizations are going through turmoil (and let's face it, most of them are), people expect change.  And when they expect change, there is less pushback on new ideas and approaches from both management and employees.

So, fellow trainers and developers, I encourage you to start thinking differently about your responsibilities and how you plan on accomplishing them.  To ignite the spark of innovation that resides in you all, I offer the following suggestions:

1. Copy shamelessly.  Companies like IDEO and IBM (among others) have made a name for themselves by doing things differently.  Look at processes from companies and organizations that you admire and see which ones are adaptable.
2. Fail fast.  Don't be afraid to try new things, but don't bet the farm either.  Use small groups to test new ideas and analyze results quickly but carefully before launching broad initiatives.
3. Be the box.  In this environment, there is no such thing as the proverbial box.  Boundaries have disappeared--embrace the freedom and create!
4. Leverage technology.  Utilize existing tools in training, including blogging, webcasts, videoconferencing, screen sharing, podcasts, and others to maximize learning and minimize costs.

In the next few posts I plan on providing some examples of wild and crazy training and development ideas--companies or organizations that have effectively stepped away from the box.  If you have great examples, we would love to hear from you.