Is it possible?
I want to give a copy of this book-draft to anyone who has ever worked on any on line tutorial I’ve taken! This reading highlights the importance of going beyond tutorials as slide shows, manuals or glossy technical emails. All too often tutorials are crammed full of text with minimal interaction, minimal engagement, and let’s face it, minimal learning. Tutorials are a beast. They do not come to (my) mind as a particularly effective means of teaching, instructing or educating. Yet there they are! There is almost an expectation in corporate learning that any eLearning solution will include tutorials. So, what does one do with them? How does one maximize the design of a tutorial so that it is effective?
Dr. Tessmer’s provides illustrations of best practices in tutorial design through his book. Dr. Tessmer has delivered eLearning since before it was called eLearning. He’s seen fads come and go. He also understands how people learn, the constraints of customers and the tact that goes with navigating corporate cultures and SMEs. My take aways included:
- Important of Editing
- Strategic use of Assessment
- Engagement and Application through Interactivity
Edit, Edit, Edit: Concise and clear is the goal. SMEs and clients will argue for more text. Work with your SMEs but, focus your content. Edit it and then edit again (and then preferably a few more times). Think chunking and short term memory as your arguments. For practical ideas he suggests 200 words per slide maximum, one idea per slide, use of side box or links to add more but keep design clean. He reminds us to design for screen not print when creating tutorials. There is also a section of words that can usually be edited out of your writing, providing a nice resource for use.
Assessments and Strategy:I was very happy to see this issue addressed. A test that accompanies a tutorial has become the “learning du jour” in many corporations. It serves a tracking purpose, but what does it demonstrate in terms of a learner’s ability to apply skills or knowledge taught? Tessmer offers some alternative views of assessment. What about using tests with feedback as a means of engaging? Use an assessment up front to show a need for the learning. Make sure that the formal assessment is not the only time you are providing practice in your tutorial. Tessmer does a great job of balance on the subject of test taking and showing examples of types of feedback that can be given. I asked Dr. Tessmer if he had other useful sources cited for writing test questions, (a personal pet peeve, poorly worded assessment questions). He recommended a handbook for improving test construction and the site Questionmark for exploring legally defensible test and more on the topic of tests as feedback vs. tests as assessment.
Application Engagement and Interactivity (or real learning): Interaction, one must engage the learner for learning to take place. While the tutorial genre is limited in its ability to facilitate learner-learner, learner-instructor interactions, it must provide for interaction. Dr. Tessemer offers great practical examples of tutorials that create interactivity and engagement via, nano scenarios, practice opportunities, pull down interactions, etc… This section is another helpful resource. The point being, plan interactivity into tutorials you design and do so strategically. By strategically I mean tie this to application. Ask as you design; What can trainees do to learn the skill or concept being taught? Will the do activity indicate what they learned? How can meaningful feedback be provided? This to me, is where the learning takes place, the engagement with the learner in (and with a) context that provides application opportunities.
I enjoy Dr. Tessmer and his means of communicating (both in print and in person). I hope when his book is released, it meets with success. I’m thrilled to have a rough draft copy for my resources.