RavingLEARNatics

Instructional Designers - Exercise your Creativity

I've done enough instructional design over the years to know that occasionally when you are looking at content like SEC Rules and Regulations Updates you sometimes get a creative mental block on how to present the information. As actor/comedian John Cleese says . . . "Creativity is not a talent, it is a way of operating." 

In an effort to help pump up your creativity/imagination, I put some tips from folks like John Cleese, Dan Pink, Scott McCloud, Pixar, Seth Godin, Hugh MacLeod into a learning toon . . . Click the image to see a larger version of the cartoon and the resources supporting the information.

 

Also, here are a couple of good video clips on creativity to check out . . . 

John Cleese on Creativity (36 mins)

 

Daniel Pink: Exercise Creativity at Your Job (36 mins)

 

 

Content + Animation does not equal engagement

I recently created a 5 minute lesson on information security titled Digital Indiscretion, designed as a 25 page cartoon and delivered as a pdf file. It's been a great learning experience for me. I shared it with colleagues and most liked the concept and the content . . . "this is great, but it would be more engaging if it were animated" . . . "Very cool. It would be dynamite and very engaging if it were a video. The pdf format is more like a storyboard" . . . "Great overview of information security, but maybe add more depth to the content you present." Those comments above were exactly why I have been on a mission to better understand the science behind learning and engagement for the past 5 years, and why I decided to experiement a bit and develop a brief, visual, story-based, cartoon-style lesson. 

We all know that adding animation or turning static content into a video does not ensure engagement. Good content that is not animated is still good content, and bad content that is animated is still bad content. I've been guilty of animating bad content. At one point in my career animating content was my go to. Now I know better. I learned from personal experience as well as knowledged gained from other professionals, both learning and non-learning. Here's what I've learned . . . leaving some room for interpretation, leaving some things out, allowing the viewer to use their imagination to piece things together is impactful and a catalyst for engagement. According to e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning by Ruth Clark and Richard Mayer, "static images with words seems to foster active processing because learner has to mentally animate changes from frame to frame and are able to control order and pace of their processing. --- They mentally fill in the blanks. Animation with narration fosters passive learning because learner did not have to mentally animate (fill in the blanks) and could not control pace or order."

In the article Want To Spark Innovation? Think Like A Cartoonist, Matthew May shares some insights of comics theorist Scott McCloud . . . "the magic and mystery of comics does not live in what is drawn. Rather, it is the 'gutter'--the white space between the frames--that holds the secret. There is nothing in the space between, yet it’s here where the real action occurs. It’s here that the reader is drawn in and engaged, because it’s here that the story is left open to interpretation. It’s here that attention is focused, here that the imagination is sparked. So it’s here that the real story takes place." McCloud calls it "closure" and it is what he finds most interesting. In his book Understanding Comics,McCloud says . . . "The phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole is called closure. Comics use closure like no other medium. A medium where the audience is a willing and conscious collaborator and closure is the agent of change, time and motion. The space between two comic panels is where human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them to a single idea. Nothing is seen between panels, but experience tells you something must be there. Comic panels fracture both time and space, but closure allows us to connect these moments and mentally construct a continuous, unified reality. Participation – allowing the viewers to use their imaginations- is a powerful force in any medium." He goes on to say that theatre also uses the idea that less is more. "Finding balance between too much and too little is crucial. Comics rely on only one of the senses to convey a world of experience. Within the panels we can only convey information visually. Between panels, none of our senses are required at all, which is why all of our senses are engaged. The reader is released into the open air of imagination, then caught by the next panel."

May closes his article with "The art of limiting information is really about letting people write their own story, which becomes much more engaging and powerful because they’ve invested their own intelligence and imagination and emotion." McCloud feels that when people have the opportunity to "create their own narratives" it becomes "much more natural, much more organic, and much more like our childhood experiences of imagining, and playing. 

So my mission is to make the learner use their imagination more by leaving room for interpretation, and though the style of Digital Indiscretion isn't the final answer, I'm confident it is a springboard toward a more impactful experience and a catalyst for engagement.

 

Video in Action: Educate/Communicate/Entertain

Consider this for a second… Right now, online video makes up more than 50% of all consumer Internet traffic. In fact, international companies like Cisco and YouTube predict that number could rise as high as 90% really soon. Personally, this trend excites me quite a bit. I never imagined that the visual medium I fell in love with as a boy, would become such an important part of the way we communicate, learn, and do business today.

If you think about it though, it makes sense. Since the invention of television, video has been a great way to showcase products and create buzz. After all, we are a visually driven society, and with the improvements in the Internet over the last few years, we can now distribute videos to audiences everywhere.

So if the use of online video is on the rise, the next question is “How are people using it effectively?”

Over the past several years, I have been working with a wide variety of client partners (both big and small) to produce online videos and multimedia experiences. Generally speaking, I have observed that the effective use of video usually falls into one of three areas: Education, Communication, or Entertainment. Here are some of my observations.

Education

Online education has become huge over the last decade for good reason. It connects large nation-wide audiences to critical information, localized events, and just-in-time information that can be easily shared. Business leaders have discovered that online education not only saves money, it provides learners with the flexibility to access content when it best fits their schedules. As online training continues to expand, learners are now demanding richer content, and video has become a standard. Online audiences now expect to be able to stream, download, and view rich media not just on a computer, but on smartphones and other portable devices as well. Video is proving to be the most flexible and engaging way to reach large audiences and hold their attention longer.

Communication

When it comes to communication, the Internet truly is the Wild, Wild West. Businesses and individuals are all fighting for exposure through SEO, Social Media, and any other strategy thought to give them an edge. The important thing to remember however is that no matter what distribution channel you use, it’s your message that really matters. And creating an effective message is the most important priority. Professional marketers echoed this by considering video a higher priority over Facebook, Twitter, and blog interaction this year. Good for them because the data backs that decision. Videos in email marketing campaigns have shown improvements in click-through rates by up to 96%. Even just by using the word “Video” in an email subject line, open rates are shown to rise. Videos are shown to attract up to three times as many monthly website visitors and helps to keep them on your site longer. They also build consumer trust, and make a big impact on buying decisions.  

Entertainment

The really cool thing about the new millennium for Artists, is that the professional entertainment industry has become much more accessible than ever before. And since it doesn’t cost a million dollars for artists to produce content, independently produced media continues to rise. Producers can now take advantage of outlets such as iTunes, Blip, Dailymotion, and many others to share their work. While granted, you take the good with the bad; the accessibility of video offers musicians, filmmakers, and producers the ability to share their creativity with audiences like never before.

So as you consider your media strategy for the coming year, bear in mind that your audience’s expectations are changing.  And the challenge for educators, marketers, and entertainers alike is to capture and hold the attention of our viewers.

Jason W. Smith - CEO, Bright Giant Studios

www.brightgiantstudios.com

Break some rules

As the US moves into a phase where being innovative and entrepreneurial is becoming more and more critical in the face of the leveling field of worldwide competition, we look to two key elements that will help drive us there:

• creativity
• willingness to break rules

In the article Rebellion of an Innovation Mom, by Anne-Marie Slaughter, we learn about creativity and innovation and how we may be stifling it as parents if we aren't careful. This can also be transfered to the corporate learning environment.

Looking at creativity, Slaughter tells us that what is critical for nurturing creativity is "random association and connection" and down time that allows the brain to "run and turn over seemingly disconnected bits of information, images, and ideas." Experts suggest that allowing for periods of randomness to our lives allows this to happen. Too many of our e-learning courses are built to hold the hand of the audience and force feed them information. We rarely allow the audience to try and make sense of disconnected information and reflect on how things fit together. Shame on us. And by the way, an added benefit is that reflection is an important element of retention.  

Being entrepreneurial means developing something that doesn't already exist, whether creating something completely new, or transferring an idea that works in one space to another. Often this requires the entrepreneur to defy conventional wisdom. Slaughter says that to nurture the willingness to "persevere in the face of deep skepticism or outright opposition" it is critical that people are in some way "rewarded for breaking the rules, not meeting our expectations by jumping through an endless series of hoops." Tying this to the corporate learning experience means allowing more autonomy in learning. Holding the audience to certain required performance standards, but allowing them to break the learning rules sometimes and explore. 

Slaughter also touches on competition and cooperation. Competition "is important for later success of any kind, conventional or entrepreneurial," but cooperation and collaboration are what drives a key part of the creative process called the verification or revision stage. Verification and revision often comes from "tossing ideas around among members of a trusted group, as does the courage to launch something new."

Creativity, willingness to break rules, cooperation . . . The new competitive business world requires a workforce that can make quick, creative, effective decisions at the edges of the enterprise. Nurturing creativity, a willingness to break rules, and collaboration are three steps to achieving this. After all, this is the age of the Learning Democracy. 

Freerice

If you want to learn, play a game and help feed hungry people around the world check out Freerice.com. It's a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Programme that offers free education while helping to end world hunger at the same time. You can play educational games on various topics on the website and for every question you answers correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated to the hungry. It may not seem like much, but it adds up quickly. Check it out. Learn something. Help someone. 

 

mobile learning website

If you want to stay up on the latest news regarding mobile learning you have to check out Judy Brown's new website http://www.scoop.it/t/mobile-learning

Old thinking on corporate training

Why is it that most corporate training focuses on content and not audience? In other situations where there is content and an audience, the focus of successful companies is on the audience. Let's take marketing and selling products for example . . . Successful companies know their audience, know the audience's need, where their audience accesses information and how the audience prefers to have the content delivered - maybe a print ad, maybe a radio or TV commercial, maybe a catalog, or maybe a short story-based online show. In the corporate training world the focus is on the content, deliver the same content to everyone, in pretty much the same way. "Hey, we know what the audience needs and they'll take it how we give it to them" seems to be the attitude. Well, a funny thing is happening, a peaceful revolution is gathering steam, and it's personalized, and it's driven by the new economy and new workforce. Here it comes . . .