E-Learning - The Shift Is On!

Many organizations today understand the need and the rationale for implementing E-Learning, i.e., reduced costs, greater efficiency in time management, better learning outcomes, more up to date content, greater consistency and the maturity of the technology. What has held organizations back from a more rapid implementation is the technology’s demand for a paradigm shift. E-Learning has far reaching effects that ripple throughout an organization in areas like administration, customer service, human resources, sales and supplier education. This has been further exacerbated by the sudden proliferation of vendors who have rushed to fill the void and perhaps most importantly, the technology’s implied relationship with hardware and software (aka IT), making it a seemingly complex issue to address.

 The state of current learning systems has as much to do with this as anything else. Most learning systems within an organization have evolved using traditional mediums such as, print, video, PDFs,workshops, presentations and web portals.  As each new medium has come along the existing legacy content has been adopted to fit the new format yet the nature of the content and the learning has not changed. If an organization or company is going to benefit from E-Learning it demands a paradigm shift, a re-thinking of how learning will help build brand, create greater awareness around its products/services, improve its partnerships and galvanize employees.

If we can now recognize the far reaching effects of E-Learning, we can begin to understand why there has been such foot-dragging on the implementation of something that seems to make so much sense on the surface of it. I generally don’t like lists, tips, rules or guidelines, so on this occasion I will simply call them thoughts to consider when implementing E-Learning stratyegies:  

1.      E-Learning is a relatively mature technology – it should work like the telephone – no special hardware or software required – just use it

2.      No IT department is required unless you plan to become a learning institution

3.      Subject matter experts are part of the solution. You will need them in designing content in a variety of learning “flavours” ranging from blended learning to self-paced learning

4.      Legacy material cannot be converted into E-Learning – it can be used as the basis to developing E-Learning

5.      Allow learners to have more control over learning: when, what, where,

6.      Be prepared to engage with learners – moderating forums, frequent updates of content, answering questions, promoting the value of content, rewarding learners, challenging learners

7.      Try an emulate the classroom, accommodate different learning styles and levels of accomplishment

8.      Start from scratch and first implement a pilot project to work out the kinks, then evolve to the next level

9.      This is a hands-on enterprise. There are great rewards to be had…along with great rewards come great responsibility

10.   The archive of images, video, etc., you have will not meet the demands of this new initiative. Think long term

11.  Allow for creative interpretation, the content has to inspire the learner …just like that teacher that inspired you…don’t drain the life, or fun out of E-Learning

12.  Create opportunity for interaction among learners

13.  E-Learning technology is constantly evolving  - avoid licensing and plan to ensure your content is portable  so that you are not trapped by proprietary hardware/software

14.   Create more opportunities for social interaction within E-learning

15.  You must provide opportunities to recognize, respond and act on learner feedback

 

If you have questions ..please post and I am happy to answer as honestly as I can... 

Video By The Numbers

Over the years I have produced, directed and written many videos, ranging through commercials, television programs, corporate videos, documentaries, dramas, and more. I have been producing video projects since 1985. I worked in television as a producer a number of years as well so what I am about to say is drawn directly from real experience!

Fewer good videos are being produced today as most clients are blinded by a fascination with online experiences, limited budgets, little or no experience with the medium, an idea that today’s videos are low cost (because of cheap equipment), a feeling that anyone with a camera can produce video and the infiltration of the idea that reality TV is the future and its low cost.

A couple of quick observations before I get onto my main theme here …good videos still have to be carefully planned, good interviews are often a result of good interviewers, great footage demands a good eye for composition, understanding the audio mix, i.e., music, sound effects and voice are essential to completing  a  great video. The final significant factor in producing good video is having a director who the ability to see a video in his/her head. For me it’s like running a movie in your mind, images are crisp, bright, inspiring, unexpected, warm and human…telling a story that is compelling and always leaving your audience wanting more. It’s a lot more than a commodity.

That is why it’s so frustrating to see organizations, most institutional, breaking video projects down to numbers while ignoring the vision of a video and its powerful ability to persuade.  Films and video can inspire, incite action, and create a range of human emotions from pride to hatred. Video is and remains, a powerful medium with the potential to create change. 

Most videos today are produced by large organizations who have the budgets and the need for this medium. They are often used in a variety of ways both in events and online interactive presentations to maximize their effectiveness. They are planned in a boardroom and often bids are solicited through bidding portals such as Biddingo, Buy & Sell or Merx, to make sure that budgets get “the best band for their buck” ( sounds reasonable doesn’t it).  Most solicitation for bids come from institutions like schools, cities, various levels of government, health care institutions, national organizations, etc.   

Now this is where things begin to go awry … in boardrooms, purchasing managers, administrators and subject matter experts define the RFP using the same RFP that an organization might use to order medical equipment, sidewalk construction or bathroom tissue dispensers, mostly to protect their investment and minimize risk? The timing of the RFP governs when and how a video is produced. For example, for most government organizations in Canada, budgets are developed and reviewed between late fall and early spring, they are then submitted before March 31, year end for most public sector organizations, budgets are then approved and finalized by early summer and money trickles down to each department by mid to late summer. Most staff organizations then solicit RFPs in late summer early fall and budgets are then exhausted before year end March 31.  

Now what does this have to do with producing a good video you may ask? The natural world is an important part of any video, whether we are talking outdoor locations, geographic settings, exteriors, water features or public access facilities. The amount and quality of daylight usually have an important role to play in a video. Also, a region and its unique landscape & features often help define history, culture, the mood or emotional state and our level of engagement …and by reason should be included in any “good video”, but because of the nature of the process, however, most videos are reduced to being produced in winter. The funding formula, along with administrative processes dictate how a video will look and ignore what is best for this unique medium. As a result, most often videos are produced in winter.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like winter but it does not hold a candle to summer when it comes to producing a video. Over the years I have produced many videos for real estate companies for example; who you would think, because they are not fettered by the government RFP process would want their development projects portrayed in the best light. Generally all are shot in the winter and stock footage is used to carry off summer settings. Orientation videos for new hires and staff for public sector organizations are all produced in winter… in fact winter is when most videos are produced in Canada, unfortunately. Canada has many varied landscapes, weather, geographic and historical sites & locations that add a great deal of dimension to a video. This is true with most videos.

It is important remember that video is an artistic medium  that is a powerful tool and to squeeze the best out of it… we often need to consider more than just numbers in the formula for great videos!   

Facebook: the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg

I have talked about storytelling in the last few posts and I find the recent admission by Facebook, that younger users are abandoning the medium, interesting.  It really reinforces what I have described in my last blog…that these technology tools will continue to evolve, to better emulate our subconscious desire for a more immersive storytelling experience. Now…the data in the study is not new (spring 2013) but Facebook’s admission that the data sets do confirm what they already know, is new.

 Facebook is like a one size fits all medium that has looked in the mirror and ignored what it really is - in favour of becoming what the marketplace wants it to be. In doing so it has abdicated its role as an unfettered story telling medium. Advertisers and the marketplace have put continual pressure on this medium to generate verifiable sales and return on investment and in doing so corrupting the very nature of the experience.  It’s kind of like the “Goose That Laid the Golden Egg”. Instead of allowing this medium to evolve and gradually respond to its audiences while we enjoy the fruits resulting from the process, market forces have shaped this medium into a blunt instrument that has created a hollow story telling experience and in doing so alienated young audiences. In short … the Goose is cooked!

 Parents who have been trained through television’s long incubation period, to tolerate or mindlessly ignore online ads, have flocked to Facebook in droves while younger audiences have begun abandoning the medium. The co-opting of this medium by advertisers, sponsored messages, ill-conceived social media strategies and the rush by companies to leverage the medium as an advertising channel have made it more like television and less like interactive storytelling.  It has become more like a place where older people watch and share personal dramas or post quotes from other people or brands. Not much of a story there!

 Unfortunately Facebook has not had the time to evolve and it’s my opinion that it will be surpassed in the not-to-distant future by a service we have not even heard of yet and relegated to “Yahoo” status ….alive but not well. What this does tell us is ….that tools like Facebook can be used if we are prepared to tell genuine stories about others and ourselves while immersing the audience in the experience. Audiences understand the genuine article when they see it. Advertisers and the medium itself have to treat their audience with respect rather than as a commodity.

Younger audiences are seeking to create their own narrative experiences (just like we did in the sixties) only to find out their parents have flocked to the medium to become cool. I think younger audiences might have been able to work around it or even tolerate it but the combination of their parents using the medium and an oversaturation of advertising is  finally “cooking the goose”. I am not slagging Social media here ...because I believe it has an important place in the social fabric of society and will continue to evolve - to a point where it emulate more realistically that primitive story telling experience.