By Shelley A. Gable
Ever been handed a PowerPoint
slideshow by a client, with the request to convert
it into some kind of eLearning thingy?
Oh…and then also told that you only have a week to get it
done? (And of course, this is in addition to whatever you already planned to
accomplish this week.)
Even if you can’t influence “the powers that be” to allow
more time for a proper analysis
or to use a different approach, consider taking the actions below to produce a reasonably
effective eLearning lesson relatively quickly.
Ask the client what
learners must be able to DO after completing the training. Even if the
situation doesn’t allow you to conduct a gap and cause
analysis to validate the training
need, asking this question helps ensure that the training has the potential
to influence behavior.
Additionally, creating a quick list of what learners must be
able to do can help you:
- Write objectives
- Create relevant scenarios
- Chunk and organize the content around desired behaviors/tasks
- Distinguish between critical and nice to know information
Write scenarios
immediately. I’ve heard some people say that when deadlines are tight,
there just isn’t time to write scenarios. I understand how writing scenarios
can feel like an extra task,
considering that scenarios are probably not included in the original pile of
content. However, scenarios benefit learning in so many ways, it’s hard to
justify spending time picking out Clip Art to decorate slides rather than
writing even a few simple scenarios.
After all, consider these benefits:
- Introducing a task with a scenario (i.e., a problem for learners to solve) offers an immediate reason for learners to pay attention to the content
- Presenting scenarios “shows” learners the relevance of the content
- Providing scenarios for learners to successfully solve helps learners confirm they understand the content, builds confidence, and creates a sense of satisfaction/accomplishment (i.e., scenarios help create “ah ha!” moments)
- Describing a scenario can help learners recognize when to apply new knowledge on the job (i.e., they can potentially recognize “triggers” from a scenario when those same “triggers” occur on the job, prompting them to apply desired behaviors)
Even under the tightest of timelines, really simple
scenarios likely offer some benefit compared to presenting information with no
scenarios at all. If you attempt to draft scenarios immediately, you can send
them to your client and allow a day or two for review, while you charge ahead
with reorganizing and revising content.
Or, ask the client if
a subject matter expert can write scenarios for you. If a lack of time or
familiarity with the content makes you question your ability to draft decent
scenarios, perhaps the client knows someone who can do that part for you.
Depending on the complexity of the training, a subject
matter expert might be able to draft a few scenarios relatively quickly and
easily.
Cut the nice to know information whenever possible.
Many of the client-produced PowerPoint decks I’ve seen include a lot of extra
information that won’t necessarily help learners do a task. In some cases, it is because the deck was originally
compiled for a different type of audience and/or purpose. Perhaps the extra
information was relevant for that audience, and now it is my responsibility to
determine whether it is relevant for my intended audience.
In other cases, it may be because the client doesn’t know how to distinguish
between critical versus nice to know information. After all, as instructional
designers, this distinction tends to be on our minds more than it is for
others.
The point I’m trying to make is this: Don’t assume that all
the information in the deck you receive must also appear in training. Focus on
what learners must do after training,
and attempt to narrow content down to the information that directly instructs
those behaviors.
How do you handle
these requests?
If you have your own set of strategies for turning a stack
of PowerPoint slides into an eLearning lesson, please share!
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