AMERiCA LEARNiNG MEDiA

What innovations are expected in the field of learning technologies in the coming years? How can companies avoid bad practices in eLearning? Challenges for integrating technologies into the e-learning process.

(@americalearning) Interview with Cammy Bean - VP of Learning Design for Kineo, a global organization provider of learning solutions. She has been designing eLearning programs for a wide variety of clients since the mid-1990s. Author of ‘The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age’ (ASTD Press, 2014), Cammy also writes the popular blog Learning Visions.

Cammy will participate in the ATD 2015 Learning Technologies track with Cindy Huggett - an independent consultant, Jane Bozarth - E-Learning Coordinator at State of NC, Jonathan Halls – Principal at Jonathan Halls & Associates and Michael Allen - Chairman & CEO at Allen Interactions.

What learning technologies are currently leading the market?

Cammy Bean: The learning field has traditionally been pretty slow to change. A lot of companies are still creating PowerPoint decks and slapping the name 'eLearning' on them and considering their training program complete.

But the more forward thinking organizations are doing more than that.

Mobile learning has finally tipped and we’re seeing more organizations looking for smart ways to adopt mobile devices into the learning at work strategies.

We see companies unlocking content from their traditional Learning Management Systems and instead putting content up on portals and more accessible company Intranet and social networking sites.

More user generated content is bubbling up, with video content (easily captured today with a smart phone or computer) allowing people to share their work processes, narrating their work to help people better understand the thought processes behind it.

What innovations are expected in the field of learning technologies in the coming years?

I think you have to look at what technologies are up and coming on the Gartner Hype Cycle to see what’s on the path right now. I’ve been seeing a lot more talk of 3D printing with people printing out parts for equipment and more. How will that impact training? What about wearable technology like the Apple Watch? Google Glass was the darling for many years in the augmented reality space; now we’re seeing the shift onto Oculus Rift which Facebook now owns.

What are the best practices for integrating technologies into the learning process? And the main challenges?

Take a look around and consider what technologies people are using every day in their lives and how they’re using them. That’s the best place to start, in my mind, for considering how to integrate technology into the learning processes within our orgs. Technology should feel natural to the learning process and it should meet people where they already are. For instance, if someone needs to look up a how-to process that they need right now, it doesn’t make sense to make them hunt for the Learning Management System, login to the system, and then vainly search for the content they need. They’ll much sooner just ask the person at the desk next to them then bother with all that. But if you make your content easily searchable, even from a mobile device, then maybe you’ll provide something useful. The technology needs to fit into the lifestyle naturally. However, we’re all so easily seduced by the shiny new technologies and we tend to over-complicate things. Keep it simple.

Recently you wrote the articles ‘Why No One Cares About Your Lousy eLearning’ and ‘Does Your eLearning Smell Bad?’. How can companies avoid bad practices in eLearning?

Too much of the so-called eLearning that gets produced out there are just glorified PowerPoint decks stuffed with text bullets. These types of experiences have given the rest of eLearning a bad name. We need to find the stories in the content and share those stories in order to make these programs more memorable and relevant to people’s lives. We need to tap into people’s natural ways of learning, making content easily discoverable and searchable.

You've been designing and developing corporate training and eLearning programs for almost fifteen years. From your vast experience: Could you indicate the main key to developing successful eLearning projects?

In one word: partnership. At the beginning of a project, it’s important to partner with a project’s stakeholders to agree to the project’s success criteria and to outline the ways you will work together. As you gather content from a subject matter expert, you need to work in partnership with them to get the right content. You need to ask great questions and get them to tell the right stories. Ideally, you’re also partnering with the end-users – the people who need the content you’re sharing, the people who need to learn these skills. Partner with those end-users to better understand the problems they’re trying to solve and how you can help them. As you write a script and work with members of your development team, partnership is essential to ensure you’re all working toward the same goal and that you’re clear on project deliverables and timelines.

What skills or mindsets does an instructional designer need to do?

To do a great job as an instructional designer, it helps to have an innate sense of curiosity. No matter the subject matter area you’re working in, if you’re curious about how things work and can adopt a beginner’s mind with every project, then you’ll be primed for success. Having that beginner’s mind means you should be able ask the right questions and can anticipate the questions that the audience will have. This ties in very closely to a need for empathy. It’s so important to empathize with the people who will be taking your training programs – to step into their shoes and get a sense for what they need and how to make the content relevant and meaningful to them.

May 2015