Purpose
To support new members in navigating the suite products and services provided by the professional organization, the new member orientation will be refreshed to provide a more flexible approach. The proposed delivery model, designed to be framed within a continuous improvement mindset, will allow the organization to be more nimble and proactive in training delivery. As a part of the continuous improvement framework, capacity including an annually reviewed budget allocation and timeline of review procedures will be established.
Over the next year the organization plans to operationalize multiple new products and services, all of which will require strong communication and on-going training. The new format will allow training lessons to be continually improved as new products or services are introduced, or as shifts in the industry occur.
Learning Goals
The new member orientation will:
- Provide an orientation to industry and organizational rules, regulations, professional standards and by-laws.
- Deliver an overview of each of the products and services provided by the professional organization in a blended model of on-demand lessons and quarterly in-person sessions.
- Chunk materials into topic-based lessons, which can be accessed when needed or through suggested learning paths.
- Provide quarterly in-person sessions that allow members to access timely information delivered by subject matter experts, and to network with members from the industry and from supporting industries.
- Increase members’ confidence that they understand the key learning deliverables of each lesson through the administration of a knowledge check at the end of each lesson.
Intended Audience
The intended audience for this digital learning resource is new members of the professional organization but will also provide existing members with opportunities to access help when they need it, as access will be housed on the organization’s secure member page.
Rationale
Based on feedback gleaned from a human-centered needs assessment, the new member orientation must accommodate the needs of learners from multiple backgrounds and levels of experience. Some learners are experienced in the industry, yet they lack the ability to navigate the suite of available products and services efficiently, and require an understanding of the organization’s policies, procedures, rules and regulations. Other learners are new to both the industry and the organization, so require additional support around the industry’s policies, procedures, rules and regulations.
Members of the professional organization are all cooperating competitors who earn a commission-based pay structure. To that end, their business activity cannot always be planned, as activity must be planned according to the schedule of members’ customers. In the current iteration of the new member orientation, members must block an entire day out of their calendars, to get a crash course on all the benefits of membership, including a content-driven overview of everything they need to know to get up and running in their professional practice. In the refreshed model new members are provided an in-person, 30-minute orientation which includes support in accessing the new member orientation program, after which lessons can be accessed in an on-demand model.
Tools
The refreshed design follows a blended approach, including a series of on-demand lessons and, at least quarterly, face-to-face networking sessions each of which includes a discrete learning opportunity. Examples of quarterly sessions include: access to a panel of experts on a practice-specific topic, co-sponsored events with members from supporting industries, or technology labs where members can access one-on-one support.
Criteria Required
- To support a continuous improvement framework, tools must allow content to be further developed as the organization shifts and grows.
- To support accurate and current content, course development must include the ability to collaborate with subject matter experts.
- As the course will be mandatory for new members, tools must allow a way to track course completions.
- To provide broader access to existing members who may wish to access the course topics in an on-demand model, tools must allow learners to access specific topics as needed.
- To allow members to have confidence that they understand the key learning deliverables for any topic, tools must allow for an assessment component.
Tools Chosen
Articulate Rise.
The ability to easily collaborate is important as there are subject matter experts for all products and services. Inviting experts to collaborate during course development will allow for the content to be both current and accurate, with Articulate Rise allowing invitations for collaboration to be sent to any subject matter expert. Collaborators can be added and removed from a course as needed, and course ownership can be transferred as needed during development or continuous improvement stages.
Flexibility is a key consideration in the development of the new member orientation and includes that content must be accessible by learners through a wide range of devices. Articulate’s software allows content to flex seamlessly between device types, allowing learners to effectively access the content on laptops or desktops, iPads or tablets, or any mobile phone.
One challenge that the organization faces is that they do not have an LMS, as current learning activities are only delivered in-person. However, one of the organization’s current strategic priorities is to support professionalism for the members, so decision makers are open to considering an investment into professional development infrastructure.
Articulate Rise does allow that courses are downloaded for off-line viewing, however to access embedded links, the learner would have to be connected to the internet. For this assignment, the course will be shared for feedback using a password-protected weblink.
Piktochart.
Piktochart was chosen as the tool used to develop overview information pages for all topics. Piktochart provides a free version that allows users to access templates that can be customized to meet the user’s needs. Additionally, completed work can be exported as blocks that will be used in the Articulate Rise course so there is continuity in the design approach.
Additional features, such as PDF exports, custom colour schemes, watermark removal and additional security through password protection can be accessed by upgrading the free version currently in use. Upon completion of the pilot lessons, organizational decision makers will consider how future iterations can be improved through the investment of an upgraded paid version of the tool.
Screencast-O-Matic.
Screencast-O-Matic is video recording and editing tool that allows designers to record their screen, while adding voiceovers. Based on feedback from previous attempts at sharing courses through Articulate Rise, an introductory video that showcases how to navigate the course will be provided.
Depending on future needs of the organization, a paid account, such as Solo Deluxe may be purchased, as it will allow the removal of the watermark and access to a full video editing suite.
PowToon.
PowToon is a tool that allows designers to develop videos using templates and to include customized voiceovers to enhance the content. The organization has a subscription to a PRO account and has used this tool effectively for short explainer videos over the last year. PowToon will be leveraged again in some of the lessons, to engage learners and to provide content variety.
Feedback and Assessment Plan
Formal assessment will be given through end-of-lesson quizzes, with correct answers provided for incorrect submissions in real time. By providing frequent quizzes, learners will remain constantly engaged with the material (Halpern, Graesser, & Hakel, 2007). For those who choose to retest their knowledge, at the culmination of all lessons a more fulsome quiz is provided, again with incorrect submissions corrected in real time, supporting better long-term retention of the materials (Halpern, Graesser, & Hakel, 2007).
Learning Theories
Motivation theory.
Keller and Suzuki’s ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction) model principles will support learner engagement (Keller & Suzuki, 2004). At the beginning of each lesson, learners will be engaged with a video overview that will capture their attention and inform them of the relevance of each lesson. Feedback will be provided in end-of-lesson quizzes to engage learner confidence, further supplemented by in-person sessions where learners gain satisfaction by applying “what they learn in real-life situations” (Ally, 2008, p. 29).
Cognitivism.
To help manage cognitive load, lessons will follow both the coherence principle and special contiguity principles (Halpern, Graesser, & Hakel, 2007). Lesson content will be chunked into appropriate size to facilitate effective processing with no more than five to nine items on a screen (Ally, 2008).
The in-person interventions will allow for cognitive flexibility (Halpern, Graesser, & Hakel, 2007) as learners will be encouraged to collaborate with peers and experts to share ideas and viewpoints.
Constructivism.
In constructivism, where the learner is at the centre of the learning, personal meaning is gleaned through active processes (Ally, 2008), where learners are given control of the learning process through a guided process. Collaborative and cooperative learning will be achieved by encouraging learners to participate in face-to-face learning interventions, allowing higher level interaction with peers and subject matter experts (Anderson, 2016).
Instructional Design Principles
The following six design principles work in concert to guide decision points and ensure that the new or renewed approaches taken in developing courses provide a positive learner experience.
- Honour learner diversity.
- Use gender neutral language and mindfully include a variety of examples to resonate with learners from all backgrounds and levels of experience.
- Use Mattelmäki et al’s (2014) four layers of sensitivity for consistency in empathetic design: sensitivity towards humans, sensitivity toward design, sensitivity toward techniques and sensitivity toward collaboration.
- Make time for collaboration.
- Encourage the sharing of perspectives in everything we do and with stakeholders from all levels.
- Be solutions-focused. Our shared actions help us reach our shared vision.
- Use plain language.
- Employ readability tools to ensure content is written at an appropriate level for learners.
- Explain jargon, culture-specific language and limit use of acronyms.
- Remember pedagogical frameworks.
- Use a consistent template throughout materials and chunk knowledge into building blocks to decrease cognitive load for learners.
- Consider Keller and Suzuki’s (2004) ARCS motivation model throughout design, including all four sub-sets: attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction.
- Allow collaboration and cooperation by including opportunities for learners to work together.
- Support knowledge retention.
- Provide opportunities for continuous reinforcement and self-assessment throughout learning interventions.
- Stay with the learner; don’t jump ahead of their readiness. Provide learners with opportunities to self-assess, self-reflect, consider feedback and collaborate with fellow learners.
- Embrace a continuous improvement mindset.
- Measure learner satisfaction and evaluate responses for on-going improvement opportunities.
- Be committed with capacity and resources to evaluate and support feedback into meaningful improvements.
Instructions for Use
New members.
New members are currently provided with package of both paper and digital resources and are invited into the organization’s office to retrieve it. Members are then invited to participate in a one-day in-person workshop where they receive a high-level overview of the products and services provided by the organization.
In the refreshed approach, the Member Orientation team will connect with the new member to arrange a 30-minute in-person introduction to the organization. During this introduction the staff member will sit beside the new member in front of a work station to walk through the new member package and to provide a guided tour of the available resources, including lessons and a calendar of networking and learning opportunities. Members will be invited to bring along their preferred device, if they wish, so that they can customize their learning experience.
Existing members.
Proven communication protocols to existing members have been established, with 87.5 per cent of members reporting that they are satisfied with the organization’s communication in an April 2018 member satisfaction survey. To ensure deep message penetration, the launch of the program will be added to the content calendar as an on-going event, so that all members know when they can access training.
Plan for Use
The proposed refreshed approach to delivery supports only members of the professional organization, as membership fees fund the program and the information provided is proprietary. Due to these considerations, I will use an “All Rights Reserved” copyright (Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, 2009) to protect the content.
Future Iterations
The tools and approach chosen for the new member orientation uncovered multiples ideas for improvement of the learner experience and for the addition of additional audiences, as follows:
Access to more feedback.
To include informal feedback, each lesson of a future iteration will include pre- and post-self-assessments that allow members time to uncover their learning gaps and reflect on their learning.
Learning paths.
In a future iteration of the project learning paths will allow learners to choose to participate in a curated curriculum but can still engage with ad hoc topics that are timely for their practice.
Interactive PDFs.
In each lesson, members will have access to interactive PDFs that summarize key processes and information and provide space for members to take notes in their own words.
Increased access to content.
One of the organization’s strategic priorities includes work to help positively shift the public’s perception of members. In a future iteration, the materials provided to members can be refreshed to align with the needs of a new audience, the public. Doing so may help to inform members of the public of the benefits of working with a member of the organization and may help to provide information that will support more seamless transactions. If this iteration does occur, I will use an “Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works” (Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, 2009) license.
Added opportunities to continue professional development.
Learners who choose to continue their learning will have access to continuous development activities such as: community-based or organizational board member opportunities, options on becoming an instructor, procedures on how to develop a course, ideas on how to become more involved in committees or taskforces, etc.
Networking opportunities may be augmented by the addition of facilitated round tables that are either community or topic-specific. Round tables will provide learners with problem-based learning, wherein communities of practice may emerge (Halpern, Graesser, & Hakel, 2007).
References
Ally, M. (2008). Foundations of educational theory for online learning. In T. Anderson (Ed.), The theory and practice of online learning (pp.15-44). Edmonton, AB: AU Press.
Anderson, T. (2016). Theories for learning with emerging technologies. In G. Veletsianos (Ed.), Emergence and innovation in digital learning: Foundations and applications (pp. 35 – 50). Edmonton, AB: AU Press.
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. (2009). Which Creative Commons License is right for me? Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org.au/content/licensing-flowchart.pdf
Halpern, D. F., Graesser, A., & Hakel, M. (2007). (25) Learning principles to guide pedagogy and the design of learning environments. Washington, DC: Association of Psychological Science Taskforce on Lifelong Learning at Work and at Home.
Keller, J., & Suzuki, K. (2004). Learner motivation and e-learning design: A multinationally validated process. Journal of educational Media, 29(3), 229-239. doi:10.1080/1358t65042000283084
Mattelmäki, T., Vaajakallio, K., & Koskinen, I. (2014). What Happened to Empathic Design?. Design Issues, 30(1), 67-77. doi:10.1162/DESI_a_00249
