By Mauricio Palli

When working on an assignment for TRDV 499, I stumbled on a few articles online that explored the idea of mind mapping and how it can increase student success rates while promoting engagement. I found this topic interesting, so I decided to research it a bit more. I found a pretty neat article via the Robert Morris Teaching Institute Lounge page (Click here) . This particular article explained how mind mapping is a learning technique that allows the student to explore different concepts while connecting them to create a bigger idea. Moreover, this behavior promotes higher-level critical thinking skills, and allows the student to think outside of the box. I also found the idea of using pictures in a mind map intriguing.

Let’s backtrack a minute to find out more about the individual who is responsible for this interesting and creative idea: author and educational consultant Tony Buzan. Tony came about this idea by studying how the mind works when looking at an idea or problem. He says “a mind map is a thinking tool that reflects externally what goes on inside your head”.

Mind mapping can be fun and exciting. One starts in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. In the middle of the sheet, you write down the main component or idea. This idea can be a new plan, a problem, a challenge, and so forth. Then you connect main branches to the main idea. These main branches can then be broken down into sub branches. According to Tony, these branches are curvy rather then straight because he believes that the brain focuses on one idea, which then explodes into multiple solutions or procedures (Click here).

Here is another example of a mind-mapping worksheet: 

Tony has been able to use his idea to develop a multi-million dollar industry, featured on his two websites. He is also the inventor of iMindMap5, which is a software package for developing unique mind maps. This software can be used on a PC, laptop, tablet, and even smartphones. Tony has also worked with multiple industries to show how mind mapping can work in the education, training, business, and corporate fields.

Now that you have a bit of background information regarding mind mapping, let’s revisit my findings on how this tool can be used for learning. Apparently, this important component allows students to recall information they were thinking about when creating the mind map. Many students at almost all levels are using this particular idea to assist them when working on a project or paper. Plus, creating a mind can lead to the engagement part of learning between students and groups. In a training session, one can use mind maps to create department unity. This can also lead to individuals working together to solve a problem or innovate a new concept.

There are a ton of free resources out there for instructors to use. There are also a few pay sites where you can design and purchase your very own mind map tool and tailor it for your class or lessons – if you have room in your budget. I also found a pretty cool video on YouTube (Click here) that explained visually how to create a mind map, featuring actual examples.

Overall, mind mapping is a great tool because it can connect multiple areas in the spectrum of learning. For more information on Tony Buzan’s ideas and software, visit his websites at:

http://www.tonybuzan.com/

http://www.thinkbuzan.com/us/

Watch their video and take their Learning Organization Survey to test how well your organization is doing.  Their survey is also a fine example of an OD assessment tool.  If time allows, read their article which discusses their survey and its uses.

What are your thoughts about learning organizations?  How might organizations reinforce the building blocks of the learning organization (supportive learning environment, learning processes and practices, and leadership that supports learning)?

Each student in the Graduate Program in Training and Development will leave us with a well-designed portfolio that documents the expertise  developed in our curriculum.   Many of our graduates have told us that their portfolio was essential to their landing a new job or promotion after graduation.  Here are just a few additional demonstrated benefits of portfolios:

1. A portfolio will help you organize documents. Everything will be in one place, ready for future situations when you may be asked to show what you have accomplished and what you know.
2. Portfolios promote the concept of lifelong learning and allow for both formative and summative self-evaluations (Treuer, & Jenson, 2003).
3. Learners can participate actively in assessing their strengths, weaknesses, and growth and development over time.
4. In academic settings, portfolios facilitate the assessment process. Multiple
5. examples of expertise present a richer snapshot of learning.
6. Students are no longer mere recipients of information; rather, they construct
7. meaning from information and transform it to knowledge (Gathercoal, Love, Bryde, & McKean, 2002).
8. A portfolio increases your visibility and will, quite likely, impress those who view it.

Whether you are just beginning your studies, or nearing completion, you should keep thoughts about your portfolio front and center at all times.  Newbies can prepare for their final class, TRDV 499:  Master’s Portfolio right from the beginning by formulating career goals and connecting those goals to their coursework.  Most of the classes you will complete with us have a major project that has the potential for becoming part of your professional portfolio—this makes every class and every assignment important!   In TRDV 499 you will revisit those assignments, tying them to the theories you have studied, to form the basis of your portfolio.

Here are  strategies you can use to make the portfolio design process simpler and more effective from your first class with us:

1. Save your projects.  Don’t just save them on your hard drive, but create a back up CD that contains all your assignments from each class that you complete with us.
2. Keep theory in mind as you complete your projects.  Think about key theorists and research that you have used as you complete each assignment.
3. Use APA style for all assignments and develop proficiency throughout your studies with us.
4. Consider creating a digital portfolio that you can expand and add to throughout your studies.

Resources:

Here is a digital portfolio created by a past student:  http://www.mgenta.com/

To learn more about web-based portfolios, visit Helen Barrett’s site at http://electronicportfolios.com/

What questions or thoughts do you have about professional portfolios?  How might you prepare and use your portfolio in the future?

Welcome back -

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States; the university is, of course, closed. To honor Dr. King, I’d like to begin a conversation about the role of Training & Development (T&D) and Human Performance Improvement (HPI) in helping to turn around the economy and in helping people to develop new practical skills or to improve their existing skills. The New York Times is running a series of articles on the theme of ‘Learn to Earn’ or vocational training. If you would like to participate in the conversation, please read the article available at the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/business/states-pay-to-train-workers-to-companies-benefit.html

After reading the article, and perhaps viewing any accompanying videos, add your thoughts about how our field could improve the work that is being done. What makes a job training program work? What could be done to improve what is going on?  If possible, give not just your personal opinion but also provide data to support your viewpoint.  I am looking forward to engaging with you on this very important topic.

The Ground Rules:  Though there are clearly political—and politically fiscal/tax—implications to job training programs and their funding, let’s refrain from addressing them and keep the focus on T&D and HPI as contributors to this endeavor.  Remember, social justice is 24-7.

Vince Cyboran, Ed.D.
Associate Professor,
Graduate Program in Training and Development

E-Learning Instructional Designers – Storyboard production

Looking for volunteers to create storyboards for e-learning. The need is for volunteers to develop 2 storyboards/lessons each. Lesson themes, learning goals, storyboard templates and an on-line volunteer support forum are all provided. New groups start each month. The approximate time commitment is 30-40 hours over a 3-month period. If interested, please visit www.e-learningforkids.org and download the volunteer registration form. E-mail the form to Jenna at jderies@e-learningforkids.org. Please copy ccastd.community@gmail.com on your email to Jenna.

About e-Learning for Kids: e-Learning for Kids a global non-profit foundation, depends on learning professionals like yourself to continue to grow the 175+ basic skills curriculum by providing new best-in-class, highly engaging and interactive FREE e-Learning courses for children ages 5-12 around the world. Courses help students build and strengthen skills in Math, Language Arts, Science, Computers, Health/Life Skills and the English language.

Learning Technologies: Transforming your Workforce

3 Steps to Virtual Training

Click on the “News and Events” page to register.

To prepare future trainers for the e-Learning revolution, Roosevelt University is pleased to offer its latest cutting-edge course in technology: TRDV 453 E-Learning Course Development & Delivery.

Designed to be an in-depth introduction to the tools and techniques of the e-Learning trade, TRDV 453 will teach students not only how to use the technology, but which software is the best fit for the project. You’ll learn how to create an e-Learning prototype from top to bottom in a self-paced study, becoming familiar with how to get the job done while avoiding the hidden pitfalls.  Best of all, you’ll get training on the e-Learning Guild’s top-ranked software package: Adobe Captivate.

Adobe Captivate is a robust web authoring tool that’s both powerful and easy to use. In addition to learning authoring skills, students are eligible for an educational discount – normally around $799, your discount slashes the price to $299.

The top-seven tools that people reported using, in order of most use to least, are:

1. Adobe Captivate
2. Articulate Presenter
3. Articulate Engage
4. Adobe Connect
5. TechSmith Camtasia
6. Adobe Presenter
7. Harbinger Raptivity

TRDV 453 will be taught by Vince Cyboran, Associate Professor for Training and Development. With over 25 years of experience in the field, Dr. Cyboran will give you a bird’s-eye view of how these programs are being used in the field, and how you can get the most out of them. Classes start this spring – mark your calendars to get in on this groundbreaking course.

Read up on the Guild’s Top Authoring Tools here: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/768/?utm_campaign=lsmag&utm_medium=email&utm_source=lsm-news

Writing assessments is one of the more labor-intensive work components inherent in the role of instructional and curriculum design. At the same time, it is most rewarding when this deliverable is in place and aligned to content, objectives, and the larger purpose of student learning.

There are several assessment types, such as:

• Pre-assessments, to determine a learner’s current knowledge on key concepts and skills;
• Formative assessments, which typically check in on learning progress and provide feedback to the learners at prescribed points within the course; or
• Summative assessments, which is usually administered at the conclusion of a course, especially one that requires testing quantitative knowledge of the learners, typically without feedback.

I say “typically without feedback” because a recent article from the Memory Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri identifies that a change is in order. Their findings, related to information recall, indicate that “Quizzes with feedback delayed until the end of the assessment gave better results than those with feedback after each question.” The article and its resources show that assessments which provide feedback get better learner end results than those which do not.

Another interesting finding is that the final learning results are even better when feedback is provided at the end of the assessment rather than after each individual question. The reason cited is because of a beneficial delay in recalling information, which becomes an opportunity for an incorrect choice selection to dissipate.

The research finding has larger implications beyond the quiz. It puts focus on the intended purpose and desired outcome of a program as well as its assessments, particularly course and comprehensive exams. I see two lines of thought here: the first is to aid learners in the learning process, and the other to simply measure a learner’s retained knowledge on the subject matter.

From the perspective of professional certification testing, one of the desired outcomes of a certification program is to promote high levels of performance and success in a given profession – thus the desire is to promote optimal learning opportunities. However, the assessments (exams) and their correct answers are kept confidential to ensure exam integrity, so providing feedback and identifying correct answers would work against established safeguarding efforts. In addition, the comprehensive exam’s main purpose is to measure learning to determine qualification for certification.

To better capture prescribed instances where learning occurs through direct questioning, a certification program that has required courses leading up to a comprehensive certification exam might consider the following directions:

• Provide module/chapter quizzes with feedback at the completion of the assessment;
• Provide course exams with feedback at the completion of the assessment; and
• Provide a comprehensive exam at the end of the curriculum to measure learning, and then provide learners with a “hint file” at the conclusion of this assessment, with identified topics for further study based on incorrect answers.

Circling back to the opening statement, writing assessments will remain one of the more labor-intensive deliverables. There exists the prospect for improving them with expanded banks for exam items and meaningful feedback (for delivery at the end of the assessment), to promote learning opportunities and produce better learner results.

Do you see your common practice for delivering assessments and feedback to change based on the research finding? What do you see as the larger implication of these findings? Does the idea of using a “hint file” at the end of a comprehensive exam where no feedback is given provide a viable tool to continue learning?

Self-directed learners are the critical mass of today’s successful learning organizations.  Compared to traditional training, self-directed learning has more focus, higher flexibility, lower cost and a greater rate of translating learning into performance.  Considering rapidly-changing business environments, dwindling half-lives of knowledge and reduced training budgets, these attributes become even more relevant.

Here are ten ways to increase self-directed learning in your organization:

1)     Build your team with self-directed learners.  Use one of the established testing methods, such as the self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) to ensure additions to the team have self-directed learning skills. Make sure you probe for self-directed training when interviewing. Keep in mind that degrees are the starting point of career learning, rather than the end.

2)     Make employees aware of self-directed learning.  Stress the necessity of self-directed learning for every high-performance organization. Communicate methods for self-directed learning. Encourage employees to share self-directed learning experiences. Create awareness that learning results can be facilitated by different learning styles. Have employees with different levels of self-directed learning experience connect formally or informally.

3)     Create space and time for learning. Allow your employees to read work-related literature during work hours. Provide spaces where employees are free from distractions and interruptions to learn. Supply books, trade magazines, internet access, and multimedia equipment for a learning center. Permit your employees to work from home when engaging in a learning project.

4)     Encourage employees to become active members of trade and industry organizations.  Let them attend chapter meetings on company time. Arrange for a fair split of dues between company and personal funds. Encourage your employee to tap into online resources such as forums and list servers.

5)     Increase the level of professional certification among your team. Encourage employees to leverage studying for their certification as an opportunity to survey their field and discover additional learning opportunities.

6)     Create acceptance for mistakes as learning opportunities. Deal constructively with failures and communicate lessons learned.

7)     Use learning contracts to agree on specific learning initiatives with your employees. Make learning projects an integral part of the annual review process. Establish learning as a part of every job description.

8)     Create a culture where willingness to share is encouraged. Reward employees that exemplify self-directed learning behavior. Allow learners to collaborate. Stress that self-directed learning is not the same as learning in isolation.

9)     Transform your training department from a provider of training solutions to a resource for learning opportunities.  Have your training department teach employees how to identify their learning needs and use learning resources. Publish learning guides. Transform trainers into learning coaches.

10) Leverage technology. Encourage the use of computer-based training, knowledge data bases, wikis and intranets as tools for self-directed learning.

What are your organization’s approaches to promoting self-directed learning among employees? What successes and failures have resulted from those methods?

Before I rush out the door, I do a quick inventory review. Laptop: check. Blackberry phone: check. iPod touch: check. And, last but not least, keys and purse: check. I’m rushing out to join the other members of mobile society. According to e-Learning Guild, 82.7% of employees are increasingly mobile, owning at least one mobile device. No doubt, the trend will grow, as technology continues to provide more portable devices with advanced features at affordable prices. 

Evidence of this can be seen in the tablet market (the fastest-growing segment of the mobile revolution). 2010 alone brought Apple’s iPad2, Motorola’s Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy, Blackberry’s Playbook and Dell’s Streak. Soon they will be joined by HP’s Touchpad, LG’s GSlate and Toshiba’s tablet.  Smartphones are so plentiful, it seems as if there’s a new one being introduced every week: according to a Comscore survey, 60.7 million Americans will own a Smartphone by end of October 2010, and 50% of new phone sales in 2011 will be a Smartphone. Projections for tablet sales in theUSalone will grow 26% (4.4 million units).  Just when you thought Apple couldn’t do much more to their iPod touch (MP3 device), the latest version offers high-definition viewing. 

All of this is excellent news for the future of e-learning: while the concept of mobile learning is not new, the possibilities for learning are teeming. The table below lists the functional capabilities of each portable device.

Portable Devices

Although these portable devices enable us to take our learning on the go, simply moving learning content to a mobile device doesn’t guarantee the same learning experience.  Care must be given to ensure that learning via a mobile device truly enables retention.  Existing material can and should be modified to take advantage of the mobile devices’ functional components. e-learning courses are a natural fit, needing fewer modifications and formatting for mobile learning. Consider each device and its design independently: 

• Screen sizes vary: MP3 players, laptops (including mini laptops), tablets and e-Readers all have unique visual displays.
• Course navigation capability: laptops and tablets offer a full range of navigation, with modified ranges available on Smartphones and limited ranges (download, read, and listen) with MP3 players and e-Readers. Laptops use mouse clicks, versus tablets which navigate through finger tapping or swiping.
• Web Access: consider file sizes, opting for smaller, more condensed files for quicker downloads. This is especially important for Wi-Fi users with a data plan.
• Video: understand devices’ abilities to play Flash, Quick Time, HTML5 and other file types. 

Given the advances in technology, more and more organizations are giving serious consideration to adding mobile learning to their course catalogs. e-learning Guild reports that 50% of their members who responded to their mobile learning survey are researching or currently working on a project for mobile learning. 

Questions to consider for implementing mobile learning for your organization:

 How would the organization benefit from adding mobile learning to our learning catalog?

1. What risks are associated with adding mobile learning? Do the costs outweigh the benefits?
2. How will employees react or respond to this new method of learning?
3. How many employees would be eligible to participate?
4. What are your thoughts for implementation and roll out to the organization?

 These questions are just the tip of the iceberg.  There’s a lot more that goes into implementing a new learning strategy; the question is how quickly your organization will jump onboard. One thing is for certain: mobile learning will continue to grow. As for me, I’ll be taking my learning to go!