This post is the continuation of my earlier post, Tips for Gathering Source Contents from SMEs_Part 2.

In this post, I will share information on tools or softwares that an Instructional Designer (ID) could use when gathering source contents from the Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Here are the possible instances which  an ID might come across when gathering source contents from the SME, and the tools that can be used in each of those instances:

Instance 1

The SME  provides all the source contents in the form of Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, PDF documents, blog posts, and Web site articles. Therefore, an ID does not require additional sessions to gather source contents from the SME.

The ID and the SME can use the following tools in this instance:

• If the ID and the SME belong to different organizations, they can use free FTP tools like File Zilla for uploading and downloading files from a common FTP site.  
• If the ID and the SME are from the same organization, they can use the file server like Microsoft Office SharePoint Server or other file servers being used in their organization. 

Instance 2

In addition to standard documents and presentations, an ID, especially for developing courses on software applications, requires source contents that include screen grabs with relevant audio being spoken by the SME. Therefore, the ID need to attend one-to-one sessions with the SME to gather required source contents.

The ID and the SME can use the following tools in this instance:

• If the ID and the SME are from the same organization, the SME can share his or her desktop screen with the ID by using tools such as Microsoft NetMeeting and Microsoft Office Communicator. The ID can place his or her laptop closer to the SME’s laptop or desktop, enable the in-built microphone in the laptop, and use tools such as TechSmith Camtasia and Adobe Captivate to record screen grabs and audio being spoken by the SME.
• If the ID and the SME belong to different organizations, they can arrange one-to-one sessions through effective Web conferencing tools like WebEx and use the screen sharing, conferencing, and recording features in those tools.

This brings to the end of the series of posts on effectively gathering source contents from the SME. Thanks for visiting these posts and watch out the ‘Blog’ section frequently for more interesting posts

This post is the continuation of my earlier post, Tips for Gathering Source Contents from SMEs_Part 1.

Here are the different challenges, which an Instructional Designer (ID) might face when gathering source contents from the Subject Matter Expert (SME), and the best practices for effectively managing those challenges:

Challenge 1

The SME may be located in other countries or remote locations.

Here are the best practices for managing challenge 1:

• An ID must establish a good rapport with the SME before stepping into the input gathering phase.
• The ID and the SME, who are based in the same office location, can arrange for a face-to-face introductory session. If the SME is based in remote office location, the ID can arrange for a one-to-one introductory session with the SME through teleconference or video conference.
  • The introductory session must be supported with a presentation that emphasizes on how the SME and his/her source contents play a vital role to the success of an e-learning course.
  • The presentation must also include essential information such as the roles and responsibilities of the SME, and the modes of communication with the ID.

Challenge 2

The ID receives a number of documents, links, and presentations from the SME, especially for courses on software applications.

Here is the best practice for managing chellenge 2:

• It is the best practice to convey details such as the word count for a particular topic or page in an e-learning course template to the SME. Thus, the probability of receiving extensive source contents for a particular topic from the SME is less. This approach will also reduce the additional efforts of an ID for analyzing and comprehending all the supporting documents and presentations.

Challenge 3

The SME, especially for engineering and complex subjects, seldom has documents and presentations related to the course. Therefore, an ID needs to have a separate teleconference session or other interactive sessions with the SME for gathering required source contents. 

Here are the best practice for managing challenge 3:

• The ID can establish an interactive session with the SME to develop the training plan of an e-learning course. This traning plan should include the following essential details:
  • Training objectives
  • Target audience profile
  • Prerequisite knowledge of the learner
  • Titles of the topics to be included in the course
  • Key points or key content areas to be included in each topic.
• The ID can then request the SME to provide source contents that map to the traning plan. 

These are some of the essential best practices for effectively managing challenges that occur when gathering source contents from the SME. This brings to the end of this post. In my next post related to this topic, I will share information on tools that an ID can use to dynamically gather source contents from the SME. Watch out the ‘Blog’ section frequently!

Gathering effective and precise source contents from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) has always been a challenging task for Instructional Designers (IDs). Majority of SMEs provide good source content.  Rarely, IDs face one or more of the following challenges when gathering the source contents from SMEs:

• SMEs, especially for engineering and complex subjects, seldom have documents and presentations  related to the course. Therefore, IDs need to have a separate teleconference session or other interactive sessions with SMEs for gathering required source contents.
• IDs receive a number of documents, links, and presentations from SMEs, especially for courses on software applications.
• SMEs may be located in other countries or remote locations.

Thus, IDs put in additional efforts for attending unplanned sessions, analyzing, and comprehending all the supporting documents and presentations. As a result, there is a considerable impact on the budget and planned efforts for developing an e-learning course.

I am going to share the best practices for overcoming the aforementioned challenges. Keep visiting the ‘Blog’ section for a series of posts related to gathering the source contents from SMEs efficiently.

Let me share with an informative blog post on interactvity in e-learning. I always recommend to view this post when someone asks me for basic information on interactivity strategies.

Click here to view the post.

Click here to view a useful post on adding an Articulate Engage Interaction within another.

Each interaction type in Articulate Engage has its own specifications in terms of the sizes for images and videos. Here is a useful information on the maximum sizes for images and videos. Thanks to Gabe Anderson for sharing these details in his blog. 

Hi all,

I just viewed a useful post on creating engaging assessments by using Articulate Engage.  Its really worth sharing, and thus you have this post right now.

Click here to view the post. 

Hi all,

Recently, I read an useful article on how to encourage learners to take e-Learning courses. I am sure this article will be more meaningful for organizations that have planned to implement e-Learning for their training purpose.

Click here to view the article.

I just read Tony Karrer’s interesting article on e-Learning 2.0. He describes the basics concepts of e-Learning 2.0, and compares it with e-Learning 1.0 and 1.3

I found it very useful. Hope you will also admire his article!

Click here to view the article.

Let me share with a Web site that contains a plenty of useful information on the different phases of instructional design.

Click here to view it!

Let me share with an informative post from Rupa’s blog. She used the Microsoft product demo to provide several guidelines for developing effective product demos. Hope you will also find it useful.

Click here to view Rupa’s post!   

Let me share with an informative URL that contains a list of international Instructional Designers with their qualification and other contact details. 

Click here to view the list!

A number of debates are conducted all across the Globe regarding the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Meanwhile, let me share with a Wiki page that includes the details of Bloom’s Taxonomy and its  revisions. This Wiki page also includes a Web link to download the Microsoft Office PowerPoint Quiz that enables you to test your Bloom’s Taxonomy knowledge. Hope you will find this post useful!

Click here to view the Wiki page!

Thanks to Christy Tucker for referring an interesting presentation by Karl Kapp. The presentation emphasizes on how to develop an engaging MS PowerPoint presentation. In the presentation, Karl Kapp shows some examples of bad PowerPoint slides. Then, he follows up with his suggestions on how to present the slides in an engaging manner to the audience.

Here are his words that impressed me the most:
“We cannot blame the tool. Study after study shows that good design, regardless of the technology, is what that makes good learning. In the end, it’s the design and not the tool that impacts learning.”

Great words, isn’t?

Click here to view the presentation!

During the input collection process or during the storyboard development stage, an Instructional Designer (ID) might require content-related clarifications from the Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Here are a few instances in which an ID shall raise content-related queries or issues to the SME.

1) Missing contents: It is recommended to raise the SME query for contents that do not have required information.

For example, consider that there is an abbreviated term called ‘ICT’ without any expansion in the SME’s source content. In such a case, the ID shall raise the following query to the SME:
“This course has a term called ‘ICT’ without any expansion. Please provide the expansion for the same.”

It is to be noted that this query can be raised only after a thorough exploration on the abbreviated term (like search in Internet or in other resources) at the ID end. Then, the ID shall inform the SME with the following note:
“This course has a term called ‘ICT’ without any expansion. From an article relevant to this course, I found the expansion of the term ‘ICT’ to be ‘Information and Communication Technology’. Please confirm if it is correct.”

2) Complex, ambiguous, and lengthier sentences: It is advisable to make a note to the SME on sentences that are complex, lengthier, and ambiguous.

For example, the content provided by the SME may contain complex, ambiguous, and lengthier sentences. While junking them into precise or shorter sentences, there is a possibility of content loss. In such cases, the ID shall inform the SME with the following note:
“This sentence looks complex and ambiguous. However, I have tried to make it precise and shorter. Please let me know if I can proceed with my sentence formation. Alternatively, please provide a simpler sentence for content clarity.”

3) Redundant or irrelevant sentences: It is better to make a note to the SME on redundant or irrelevant sentences in the source content.

For example, the source content may contain information that is redundant or irrelevant to the context. In such cases, the ID shall make the following prior notification to the SME on the deletion of redundant or irrelevant information:
“This sentence looks redundant or irrelevant to the context. Please let me know if I can remove this particular sentence.”

Hope the aforementioned tips for interacting with the SME on content-related issues are sufficient for a novice. However, I will update this post if I acquire any additional information.

Here is an informative Web site that might keep your life engaged forever.

http://www.quiknet.com/tcsmith/mags.htm 

This Web site has a list of 195 e-Learning magazines and related resources. Hope it will be useful to you!

Online Education Database (OEDb) has released a list of top 100 education blogs. You can view the list by clicking the following URL:

http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs

Here is a list of elements that shall be included in the e-Learning course template.

• Header or session title: It should display the session name.
• Frame title: It should display the frame title.
  
• Pagination information: It should provide information on the current frame number and the total number of frames in the session.
• Glossary button: It should provide the list of terms, definitions, and relevant description.
• Help button: It should provide assistance in operating and navigating through the session.
• Exit button: It should enable the learner to exit the session. It is appreciable to include a dialog box with an instruction like “Are you sure you want to exit?” when the exit button is clicked.
• Slider bar: It should enable the learner to navigate the frame contents either forward or backward.
• Audio ON or OFF button: It should enable the learner to play or mute the audio.
• Audio transcript button: It should display the contents read in the audio.
• Previous button: It should navigate to the previous frame.
• Next button: It should navigate to the next frame.
• Play or pause button: It should enable the learner to play or pause the execution of a frame.
• Template instruction bar: It should provide information on the template navigation instruction (for example, ‘Click Next to proceed‘, ‘Click Exit to exit the session‘, ‘Follow the instructions in OST‘, and so on) or the status of frame execution (for example, ‘Frame execution in progress‘) to the learner.
• Notes button: It should display a scribbling pad. The learner can type his or her notes, save, and print the same.
• Search button: It should enable the learner to search for his or her required terms and explanation.
• References or learning aids button: It should display all the reference materials and other learning aids related to the session.
• FAQ button: It should display the session’s frequently asked questions and their respective answers.

The aforementioned elements are some of the frequently used elements in the e-Learning course template. You can choose the elements based on the target audience and your client’s requirements. I will update this post if I acquire any additional information. Hence, I suggest you to visit this post frequently.

Let me share my knowledge on developing the course design strategy document.

The course design strategy document is developed before developing the storyboard and it gives an overall idea on the strategies to be incorporated in the courseware. Strategies here corresponds to both the instructional design and graphic strategies. It will be useful for both the client as well as the e-Learning team, which develops the courseware.

I suggest you can consider the following attributes or parameters or details for developing an efficient course design strategy document.

• Client name
• Course name
• Course objective
• Course complexity level (in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy)
• Course language
• Target audience
• Instructional strategies
• Graphic strategies
• Course flow

Let me emphasize the key instructional and graphic strategies to be populated into the course design strategy document.

Instructional strategies

Instructional strategies shall include the following details:

• Instructional theory to be adopted in the courseware
• Inclusion of the course guide (if planned)
• Usage of interactivities, such as roll over, point and click, select an option, text entry, drag and drop, and tool tip
• Assessment types with details, such as where the questions will come into existence  (within the content frames, after the content frames, as a separate module, and so on)

Graphic strategies

Graphic strategies shall include the following details:

• Level of graphics, such as 2-D or 3-D, screen grabs, and animations
• Inclusion of audio with details on the gender of voice
• Navigation details (linear or non linear navigation)

Note

It is better if you could include the reasons for incorporating the aforementioned instructional and graphic strategies.

Hope the aforementioned tips for developing the course design strategy document are sufficient for a novice. However, I will update this post if I acquire any additional information.

Here are my favourite groups or forums on e-Learning and Instructional Design. I will keep you updated with my favourite groups or forums through this post. Hence, I suggest you to view this post frequently.

• http://groups.msn.com/InstructionalDesignersForum/
• http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Instructional_Designers_Forum/
• http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/idindia/
• http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/instructional_designers/
• http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/eLearningDev/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Instructional_Designers_World/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InstructionalDesign/
• http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SCORM_Implementation_Group/
• http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/instructionaldesigners2/