The L&D leadership has set up new processes and procedures for working on projects with their business units that seem to come out of our instructional design textbooks of our dreams. I know this may sound silly, but the L&D leadership “gets it”. They also have 100% support from the C-Level team, something I’ve rarely seen. The entire organization is moving forward in a way that, again, instructional designers only dream of when they have a moment to take time and reflect on their profession.

Our asynchronous course consists of about a dozen, very brief e-learning tutorials with acompanying PDF job aids. It’s systems training for a web-base application that fits into a very large and global learning initiative. The L&D team is going to use our design as a model going forward of “what good looks like” for future projects.

Wow. I was amazed. I didn’t think I did all that much in my design approach, except suggest an instructional design I’ve always dreamed of doing…AND…have heard other IDs wishing and sighing that they could do. When the leadership only wants a “book online” all the time, it can get frustrating for us ISDs. And, we can grow cranky over time.

For this project, the team had a very open mind. I didn’t know how they’d respond to my idea of “mini-tutorials” no longer than 10 minutes duration. They loved it; they wanted a fresh approach. I can never thank them enough for being great champions of the instructional design, and I will miss them a great deal. They truly are a team of my dreams.

This blog post for you, dear reader, is to encourage you. Make sure you take time out of your busy day to read the “best” books on instructional design. Take time to read the exceptional blogs written by your fellow ISDs and by professors in respected ISD degree programs. Learn from ASTD and The e-Learning Guild. File away your dream ideas, and don’t let your love and passion for your profession die as you publish yet another “book online” for an organization.

I use the phrase “take time” instead of “make time” because, frankly, we cannot make more time. We need to seize the days and take moments of time out of our busy schedules to focus on our professional development. Why? Because, one day you will find yourself working on that Dream Team, and they’ll be open minded and waiting to hear your suggestions for an innovative instructional design.

If you’re not sure where to begin to “take time”, I recommend beginning with these two books and then do research to find additional books to read:

• e-Learning and the Science of Instruction, by Dr. Ruth Clark.
• Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning (by Michael Allen, of course).

Please feel free to share your favorite books and ISD ideas in the Comments section of this blog post or on Twitter.

@jenisecook

When I’m developing an e-learning course in a PowerPoint-based tool, like Articulate Presenter, I obviously create the storyboards in PowerPoint (PPT) most of the time. Most of my SMEs use PPT at work anyway, so they’re comfortable with it. In Notes View, the upper section of the page shows my mock-up or rough sketch of the screens, and the Notes Pane below contains my notes about the OSDs (on-screen directions), programing notes, course content, and audio/visual ideas.

My gratitude for the Master Slide feature in PowerPoint knows no bounds! This post is about a 127-slide storyboard for an e-learning course on a 401(k) plan, for a non-linear course where learners can choose the topics they want to review. And, once viewing the selected topic, the learners go through branching scenarios in a non-linear fashion.

The PPT storyboard successfully completed two review cycles! Then, one day, about a week or so before launch on the enterprise LMS, I got the SME phone call:

“Ah, we’re changing the title of the course…. ”

From: [ ACME's Retirement Plans ]

To: [ ACME's ACRONYM 401(k) Plan ]

Because I had built the storyboard/course on PPT’s Master Slides, I could keep my cool and calmly tell the SME

“No problem! That’s an easy fix.”

With the course background and main title on the storyboard’s Master Slide, I only needed to change the title one time, and that change was applied to all 127 slides.

Okay, I can hear you now:

“That’s a no brainer!”, you cry out. “We all know about that. It’s old news.”

I’m a Mentor, You’re a Mentor….Wouldn’t You Like to Be a Mentor, Too?

True, the above is a no brainer perhaps, but not everyone thinks about using the Master Slides, especially SMEs. I often mentor SMEs in rapid e-learning course design and development. I tell them that it really pays to think through, plan, and try to capture everything needed (requirements) at the very beginning of a project.

During the A-Analysis phase of ADDIE, the SMEs need to thoroughly brainstorm not only the course content and outcomes, but how they will use their design and development tools such as PPT. And, that’s where you and I, as Learning Consultants, come in as mentors.

As a mentor, that Analysis phase includes sharing with my SMEs the PPT storyboard tips-and-tricks that keep the project on time and within budget. This is important because many times SMEs will throw a PPT slide deck at e-learning designers and developers and say,

“Make this an online course. I need it in a month.”

When we all mentor our SMEs on how to effectively and efficiently use PPT as a tool, we can all relax a little bit more during Alpha and Beta review cycles.

If you have your favorite PPT tips-and-tricks, please share them in your Comment on this post! Or, tweet them to me on Twitter.com

@jenisecook  on Twitter.com

The mentor role ensures that I’m “Always Learning”, and that I pass on lessons learned to my SMEs.

In the USA, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day is a federal holiday observed this year on Monday, January 16th. Americans who take that day off from work are encouraged to spend their time off by giving back to their communities through volunteer time and effort.

For the e-learning community, there are many opportunities for volunteer service, and I’d like to point out just one:

LINGOs eLearning Global Give Back Competiton

From their Web site:

Now in its third year, the eLearning Global Giveback Competition provides the opportunity for course developers to work with international non-profit organizations to develop online courses. These courses help the global staff of NGOs (non-governmental organizations)  do their work in the fields of humanitarian relief, development, conservation and social justice even better.

So, if you (or someone you know) is looking for a service project, this “competiton” is a great way for e-learning professionals to volunteer and serve!

As a blast from the past, here’s a blog post I wrote after working with World Vision, Inc. on a LINGOs project.

Why I Entered the 2010 Articulate Guru Awards

My Apple Story

The world has lost Apple’s CEO to pancreatic cancer. I have felt sad this month as Apple, the company, has been a small part of my life. A good friend of mine worked at Apple for 10 years. Some years ago, when the Macintosh unit was “young”, my friend gave me a tour of Infinite Loop and the Mac building which was off campus (down the street). My friend told me the Mac team worked almost around the clock and the inside joke was that spouses and significant others were called Mac Widows or Mac Widowers. However, the sense of awe and excitement about the Macintosh project was very palpable in my friend and even inside the main headquarters. As we toured the Mac building and I saw the fun ammenities Steve provided to the Mac team, I could feel a magnetic pull. I wanted to be a part of such an exciting project.

But, I’m not an engineer. I worked as both an instructional designer and a technical writer at that time. As my friend and I walked inside Apple’s headquarters and I saw my friend’s workstation, my friend offered me an employment application and asked if I’d want to work at Apple. Apple was hiring Technical Writers at the time. My friend would help me move to Cupertino and rent a room in a nice house.

At my place of employment at the time, I was loaned an Apple Lisa computer to create forms for the Human Resources department. I LOVED the Lisa and its Graphical User Interface. My friend told me the Macintosh would be much more than the Lisa could ever be. I felt drawn to join the company that had created the Lisa, and was aiming for an even better desktop computer experience. In the end, I stayed at my employer and did not apply for the job at Apple. The rest is history, as people say.

Zoom ahead to October 2011, and yes, I do regret that I didn’t apply for the job. I regret that I missed out on experiencing Apple the company. While my friend worked there over 10 years, I lived the experience vicariously. As I write this, I’m not afraid to say that I feel regret. I know that hindsight is always 20/20, and I can face my regret with courage. When we humans are faced with making significant life decisions, we have many things to weigh in the balance. Family. Obligations. Responsibilities. Then, we also have to look at our dreams, desires, divine guidance, and our five-year plan.

I wanted to work at Apple, and it would have been a great decision and would have created many positive experiences not only in my career, but also in my personal life. That’s why, over the past 15 years or so, I’ve made decisions based more on dreams, desires, divine guidance, and my five-year plan. And now that Steve Jobs has passed away this month, I’m even more grateful that my DH and I made a big move this year, to pursue new opportunities (click here to read my “How to Live a Dream” post).

My Steve Jobs Story

I never met Steve Jobs in person, but through my friend’s employment at Apple, I learned about him. Yes, his dedication to product perfection could be brutal. He could hurt people’s feelings and be very blunt. To work with Steve, one had to have a very strong sense of self along with an almost religious dedication to Apple and its products. I don’t think anyone was lukewarm in their feelings about Steve. People either loved him or they strongly disliked him.

Steve Jobs began to influence me through Apple’s products, just like he touched everyone else. No matter what people will say about him as a man, a CEO, a husband, a father, a friend or enemy; for me Steve Job’s product passion represents what I, too, care about: the end user. The Lisa desktop computer made me feel good! It’s GUI was easy to use, and through the H.R. forms I created, the Lisa made me look good to my employers. As I type this in WordPress on my MacBook Pro, I chuckle when I think of the Lisa GUI and how clunky it seems to me today. But, that computer truly was a break-through design at the time, and I got to use it!

Steve Jobs had a passion for the end user. I see that passion not only in my MBPro, but also in the two iPods and the one iPad that I own. And, when I work on e-learning projects in design and development, I try my best to keep the end user (the learners) in mind first and foremost.

One last lesson I learned from Steve Jobs: For employment, do what you love and do what you do best. Yes, even in today’s economy with high unemployment…do what “floats your boat”. You will not only provide much-needed value to your employer and your “end users”, you will also not regret the time you spend working at your job.

Like Steve Jobs.

With some fear and trepidation, I am writing this post with the thought that maybe no one has missed me. Or, only a few people have missed me writing new posts on my blog. So, just for the record, I’m authoring a brief post on why the long silence because I will begin blogging again.

A Dream, a Plan, and a Change

We moved! We moved across state lines, and moving a household over 500 miles is a big endeavor. We sold our house, and that adds to the endeavor. I had a lot on my plate and my blog was very low on my priority list (but not Twitter nor Facebook!). Why did we do this, subject ourselves to such craziness?

We had dreams, and, more frequently, life was showing us that it is very, very short. In 2003, we took a 10-week course on personal financial management (via www.crown.org), and during the first week, we had to complete an assignment that had us (a) list our gifts, talents, and abilities; and (b) write out what we would do with our lives if money were no object. Wow, that was an eye-opening exercise!

In 2005, we felt led to create a plan to help us fulfill those dreams we listed in (a) and (b) in our assignment. So, in August of 2008, I moved from in-house corporate to working as an independent and telecommuting consultant so that my job would not be tied to a geographical location. Why was that important? So that my husband could pursue the next phase in his career/life.

We continued to make choices that would move us forward, hoping to begin our Dream Life in 2010. Well, we almost made it. The end of February 2011, we sold our house and moved to Prescott, Arizona!

I set up my home office, began working on some new projects, and my darling husband is working actively on his dreams and plans.

We moved from a huge, urban area to a rural county and a semi-rural small city. We have lots of shopping (yes, a mall), restaurants, cultural activities, and a new Trader Joe’s by the end of this year!

And so far, we are loving it! We couldn’t be happier.

Sometimes life (and divine guidance for those who believe in it) make a person sit down and take a hard look at things and ask: Am I going in a good direction? What could I be doing differently?

I hope it won’t be too cliché to include this, but the final stanza from poet Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is appropriate to me, to us, right now:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

That’s how we feel. The poem is now reality to us. The funny thing is, now that we’re in our new town, we constantly run into people who have moved here on a similar journey, so perhaps this road is not the one less traveled by after all.

It is going to make all the difference to my DH and me, however, that we did stand in the woods of our lives, gaze upon the two roads, and took the one road that, for us, is the less traveled road.

In fact, as I come to the end of this post, I can hear him in the other room working on his dream (to be revealed here in the future), and my heart is filled with JOY! I am doing what I love to do, so now it’s his turn.

And, if you’d like a brief video glimpse into our new location, watch what the City of Prescott created below; they did a great job capturing the essence of our new hometown.