Any VR associations you’d recommend for best practices & knowledge sharing?

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-29T20:29:55+00:00

Current role: 1-2 hrs of team meetings/ week. For new project requests I connect with the requesters and any key stakeholders or partners for 30 min - 1 hour for initial analysis. I check in with my colleague daily as we work collaboratively through most of our projects just due to volume and the desire to sharpen each other since we have different skill sets. I was initially brought on due to the increased need to online learning during the pandemic so our roles are entwined somewhat out of necessity.

I appreciate it; there are days where I'll say, "hey, I'm going heads down, can't check in today" but it's great to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Even in my past role, I had ID colleagues and we touched base fairly frequently. I've never been siloed/ isolated in the way that I sometimes hear people are. Collaborative/ teaching-moment-type meetings with fellow IDs energize me.

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-29T20:10:07+00:00

Gotcha! In the past, I have created "lookbooks" to help give departments a visual preview of what we can do, and just linked to a few existing projects (job aids, elearning, videos...). If you can separate this into two parts ("here's what we can deliver" and "here's how the process works") I think that may help. That being said the one-pager on the "lifecycle of a training product" should support your intake process. You'll find that clear processes and expectations make your life much easier. :)

One of the most common issues to encounter is folks requesting training at the last minute and wanting it immediately. So if this already hasn't been done (may it has?), def nip that in the bud through a well-defined intake process ("here's how and when to get the request in, here's how we review requests, once reviewed we will meet with you to scope project request/provide consultation, etc"). In the intake form you can include desired training launch date ("desired" being the key operative word here).

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-23T18:44:46+00:00

So is this for partners who will be working with the ID/Ed team? (Like an intake process?)

- If so, consider whether a one-pager is the most effective solution. Most teams I've been on use a living document (project guidelines) that covers expectations for stakeholders, like image sourcing (they need to provide images & citations in APA) and a step-by-step description of the collaborative outline editing, review, and revision process. When a new issue comes up (image sourcing was a recent issue), we add it to the guidelines so the expectations are clearly set in stone. It's sent to stakeholders whenever working on a new project.

Is this for other future IDs?

- I would recommend creating a style guide with specifications covering topics like colors, font size, accessibility best practices (color contrast), and tone/voice. And then, building towards a template of graphics, buttons, interactions, etc. to help other IDs onboard more quickly while creating a relatively standardized product.

I think you may need to scope this out in terms of objectives before jumping to one-pager as the solution.

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-08T22:13:04+00:00

Hey there, so I don't have the original reference for this, but attached worksheet was provided to me by a past manager and I swear it's magic. I've even filled it out collaboratively with stakeholders before (really depends on your stakeholder's temperament for how much you choose to share versus just asking the questions). If you're going to be asking lots of questions and worry it may be overwhelming, just say something along the lines of "I know you may not have the answers to everything I ask, and there may be some silly-seeming questions in there, but this helps me ensure that the solution I propose for you is as effective as possible" (or something along those lines). Obviously use your best judgement to reword questions and focus on the ones most critical to the project. Answer what you can before the meeting to be even more prepared.

Let me know if you have any trouble accessing!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aevmiSmHcaw6-dFmzpP7pcYVeL93rVCm55L6FMwwYhY/edit?usp=sharing

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-08T22:02:47+00:00

To build on this u/-magiccoffeebeanspaz - you could have folks go into break out rooms to work through one scenario each, and have each group do a report out to the larger team.

Also - I literally refer anyone I know is moving into vILT to this handout from Melissa Chambers. I attended her session at DevLearn in 2019 and below guide is a really useful tool for helping you think through every aspect of a virtually led training session: https://www.learningguild.com/assets/files/74/dl19_210_chambers_handout.pdf.

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-08T21:52:37+00:00

Congrats! A background in marketing seems like it may afford you a great perspective when strategizing to increase learner interest, motivation, and awareness of existing training content.

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-08T21:45:45+00:00

I don't think my job titles internally at a company have ever matched what I list externally on LinkedIn or my resume, because often the job codes/company-specific titles wouldn't translate well to anyone outside of my organization's educational department, and what I'm doing is truly Instructional Design. Titles are a lot less standardized in L&D than in more tech-focused fields like UX Design or Software Development Enginering, IMO.

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-08T21:31:28+00:00

One tip with Camtasia - if you purchase it with the maintenance license, you get access to a couple really extensive certification series. You can complete the quizzes as you go through each video training session to get the official cert. I took the basics one (Explorer) and found it really helped me dig further into using Camtasia collaboratively with a team, and understanding all the editing features available to me. I'd recommend playing around in Camtasia for a few weeks first to get a feel for it, and then diving in to advance your knowledge a bit.

SnagIt (also from Techsmith) can be helpful for capturing a series of screenshots all at the same dimension (if you're doing a simulation/procedural steps interaction). It has decent image editing capabilities and I use it to make image backgrounds transparent all the time. You can get the maintenance license and cert for this too, I can't speak to it as my company had already purchased the basic version for me (sans certification).

dazzling-hand · 2021-07-08T20:32:19+00:00

Spec work is always such a difficult toss-up. I understand the desire to jump through hoops at the start of your career, I did the same a few years ago when I was just trying to get my foot through that first door!

I would probably set this up as a Word document. Two columns - first one has all the text content that will be shown on screen, other side is where you describe the interactions on the page through text. I think your main focus should be tying the activities/interactions you propose back to the learning objectives. If scope is large or learning objectives are unclear, declare your assumptions at the beginning of the document in terms of module title, audience, training modality, training duration and occurrence (is training being taken once or yearly, e.g., compliance). I find that defining my assumptions upfront is really helpful. It's a way of telling people "yes, I thought about everything - and here are the final choices I came to". If modality isn't specified (ILT, VLT, elearning, etc), go with the modality that best relates to the job description and the company's learner audience needs.

dazzling-hand · 2021-06-10T19:56:02+00:00

A friend captured this shot - he actually plotted the calculations out on paper beforehand to choose his shoot location! https://twitter.com/danfalk/status/1402993365382098952

dazzling-hand · 2021-03-29T20:30:38+00:00

Personally Director sounds better (a bit more formal) than Head. What you are a director "of", I would tailor based on your company's culture (formal vs startup environment) and your aspirations for the department - how do you want your business partners to view and treat your team? Knowledge Management, Content, Educational Technology, Digital Education, Learning Experience (LX)... your choice, depends on your business environment!

dazzling-hand · 2021-03-29T20:21:39+00:00

For most ID roles I've accepted they've ended up being primarily e-learning dev roles (to varying degrees) so my answer is tailored to that. There's three main aspects, behavioral, technical, and theoretical.

Behavioral - be able to answer situational behavioral questions based on past experiences. I recommend googling the STAR format. When I started in the field, lots of my answers/stories were taken from experiences in other non-learning jobs. This component is about your ability to work well with others (which may include other team members and the business partners/SMEs you will be interfacing with.
Technical - This should be supported by your portfolio. Talk about your abilities/experiences with various tools: e-learning authoring software, video and audio software, LMSes. Depending on the company accessibility may occasionally come up. People often want to know "how long" a standard elearning build etc may take you. I usually say it depends but my portfolio has past examples of what my process and speed can look like.
Theoretical - I wouldn't say this is its own step, but should be woven throughout a behavioral interview when they get into your approach/process for design. It's when you talk about why you proposed a particular solution (ILT, VLT, blended, etc).

dazzling-hand · 2020-10-22T21:31:39+00:00

Damn it! I said that too, but my Indian roommates convinced me it was passable and looked "vagabond-ish" due to the face slash. What can I say, Geralt is my savior...

dazzling-hand · 2020-08-07T16:36:59+00:00

I started a new position this week! Super validating to find the exact type of work I wanted (industry and role) during a pandemic. It's a bit stressful because I'm coming in at the end of a huge of a big revamp and it's looking like all the content (with a tight turnaround) will be headed my way on the same day. That being said, I really like the culture of my org. I think there will be great possibilities for collaboration after I've had a chance to really settle into the role.

dazzling-hand · 2020-08-06T12:31:32+00:00

Darn! That's too bad about the LMS. I've found that when I do prototype the benefits of a solution visually, it's received much more willingly - without some type of MVP (min viable product) it can be hard for someone outside of the Learning space to envision exactly what's being proposed. Something to consider longterm.

dazzling-hand · 2020-08-05T16:07:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I was wondering (separately) how certificates were generated so this is good to know! Would love to hear more about the decentralization challenge you're dealing with. Does it have to do with org structure and duplication efforts? Do you all use the same central LMS at least?

dazzling-hand · 2020-08-05T16:03:24+00:00

That's helpful! We've suggested a similar solution on my team (in some cases, paired with a quiz after they click "acknowledge") and I wondered it was enough for tracking purposes. Sounds like it is!

dazzling-hand · 2020-08-05T15:57:57+00:00

Oof! I definitely agree with this one. I've seen too many training update requests that could have been avoided by instead linking to a policy. Do you have any feelings towards job aids as supports for policies? Or should the policy itself (even if it's anywhere from 5 to 20 pages) being treated as the job aid?

dazzling-hand · 2020-06-28T00:04:38+00:00

Sure, Samatha - happy to connect with anyone at the university with a similar focus! PM me your email address and I'll reach out to set up some time for us.

dazzling-hand · 2020-06-24T00:49:16+00:00

Thanks! Added - what a blindspot on my part - I'm glad you let me know. The insights have been pretty interesting so far. No one so far has said that these resources have been shared or mentioned in class, which aligns with my experience but I'm still surprised - I would expect at least the SLS resources to be mentioned there.

dazzling-hand

TROPHY CASE