By Archana | Apr14, 2009 |
Sprints
Do we consider mental models of our learner before we design training? Is this necessary? Let us first understand the concept of mental models better. Mental models is a person’s perception of reality and how they understand a particular concept. Cognitive scientists studied mental models to gain a better understanding of how humans think and perceive things. Donald Norman explains that people constantly form mental models of themselves and of things they are interacting with. These models help people understand certain phenomena. Read more…
Audio is a crucial aspect of an elearning application. There are lots of courses that do not have audio. These courses can still be good if the learner hates audio. But audio can play an important role in learning. Audio:
- Sets the tone for your course. If the audio is formal, the theme of your course will be formal. If the audio is humorous, the theme of your course is light and humorous.
- Adds a personal touch by giving your course a personality. This does not apply for robot-like audio.
- Captures learner’s attention.
- Completes the learning experience.
- Reinforces learning by supplementing visuals and content. Read more…
By Archana | Oct30, 2008 |
Main Articles
This post has been authored by Geeta Bose.
The objective of the approach is to design courses that help learners achieve their learning outcomes and increase the ROI of stakeholders. This research is based on proven research in human factors engineering, which has techniques, processes, and procedures to design user-centered products.
Read more…
Laadli is a game designed to raise awareness of sex identification and female foeticide. This game was launched by Zapak and Population First (Read the more about at the original post). The main objective of the game is to make a ‘move against female foeticide’. Zapak and Population first has identified the potential learners as the youth (very abstract… who is the youth?).
Read more…
By Archana | Jun24, 2008 |
Main Articles
Decision trees or branching stories are alternate paths a learner takes as a direct consequence of decision made. The outcome is different based on the choices you make. Therefore, if you attempt the exercise more than once selecting the other choices, the outcomes may be different each time. Several educational simulations use decision trees to impart skills. A few examples are Account Challenge Sales Simulation, EAP lifescape, aids awareness, and so on. Read more…
By Archana | Mar07, 2008 |
Main Articles
Let us consider a situation. You need to teach learners about Internet Fraud. The possible two ways of doing this are:
- You get right to the business and tell the learners about Internet Fraud. In this approach, you define the concept, then list the types of fraud, and then explain how to avoid such frauds.
- You describe a scenario with a fraudster in action. Then you show several scenarios using the fraudster to help learners understand about Internet Fraud and the types of frauds. Using similar scenarios, you also explain how learners can avoid such frauds.
Read more…
By Archana | Oct25, 2007 |
Main Articles
As promised, here’s the follow-up article on ‘Do you test your elearning courses?’. Before I proceed to explain how we conduct learnability testing at Kern, let me briefly explain the origins of this testing methodology. eLearning at Kern is highly influenced by usability. We apply design logic, contextual inquiry, usability testing, design principles typography, accessibility, and lots more to our eLearning courses. Learnability testing is inspired by usability testing. In simple words, usability testing is a controlled experiment that tests how well people use a particular product. The user performs a series of tasks while the observer watches him and takes notes. Read more…
What is testing in a typical eLearning environment?
In a typical eLearning company, testing involves several rounds of QA. To ensure that the course is error-free, these QA rounds generate numerous defect reports. But is that all that you need to test the course for? Read more…
How it is typically done……
IDs go through the content dump and a set of requirements from the clients. Most of these requirements are based on what the client wants to see in the course. The IDs then sit down to design strategies based on the content and the client’s likes or dislikes. In the process, the learner is left in the lurch trying to figure out what they have to learn when they go through the course. Read more…
By Archana | Apr25, 2007 |
Sprints
Every design has some basic thumb rules and guidelines. The objective of this article is to quickly jot down the guidelines for creating assessment questions in an elearning program. Remember, these are just tips and not rules. Each company has different versions of these rules. Here’s a quick list of what we follow. Read more…
