Monday, May 9, 2011

Jane Bozarth on Converting Classroom Programs to Online

Many of us are not designing programs for online learning but converting our traditional training for usage online. Here's a brief article by Dr. Jane Bozarth on the conversion process. 

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“Find out which aspects of the classroom program are most successful ... and which aspects fail. Talk with learners and the classroom instructors, and review any evaluation or follow-up data they are able to provide.”
Converting an existing classroom course to an online format can be a tricky, time-consuming undertaking. The easy way out — simply moving the content and lecture portions to an electronic means of delivery — is what leads to e“Learning” at its worst: slide after slide of bulleted information and loss of engaging activities and the contributions of individual instructors.
What’s a better way to go? Look for ways to capture the richness that a good instructor brings to the classroom, such as responsiveness, a sense of humor, interesting stories and examples, and immediate feedback. Also, when considering moving a classroom course online, approach it not just as converting one form to another, but as an opportunity to improve the existing product. This is a chance to leverage technology for what it can do. Here are some specific re-design tips that work.

Cut-n-chunk

This is a good time to reexamine purpose, intent, and objectives. In order to “work” online, you must distill a full-day classroom program to its essential elements. Cut out extraneous, “nice to know” information. Is some information population-specific? Is some information tangentially relevant to most but really relevant to none? Every element of the online program needs to be relevant to most learners. Another issue to consider: how old is the classroom program? Are there newer means of delivering the same content, perhaps through a performance support tool?

What’s working? What’s not?

Find out which aspects of the classroom program are most successful — and which aspects fail. Talk with learners and the classroom instructors, and review any evaluation or follow-up data they are able to provide. Are learners leaving the classroom fully prepared to perform successfully back on the job? If not, where are the gaps? Where do instructors feel they need to provide additional explanation? What concepts are difficult to explain? What questions or misunderstandings come up time and again? Does the classroom use cases, simulations, and scenarios for practice? What do goodindividual instructors add to the experience?

Inventory your assets

In examining the existing classroom program don’t overlook the assets associated with it. Assemble everything — handouts, PowerPoint shows, videos, case studies, and evaluation forms — everythingassociated with the program. There are likely many paper documents—outlines, worksheets, quizzes — that you might repurpose for the online version. Likewise, slide shows, video clips, case studies and role play information may be useful too as part of the eLearning program. You may find that much can be adapted for your new purpose.

Converting from classroom to online: the process

  1. Analyze the current state of the classroom program.
  2. Update and cut-and-chunk material.
  3. Identify ways of adding interactivity and capturing the richness of the “live” event.

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