making effective adobe captivate elearning modules

8/7/2019 Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules

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AsIbegantoproduceeLearningcontent,Iwasfortunateenoughtoworkwithacognitive

scientist amanwhodfocusedonearlybrainresearchforoneofmyveryfirstprojects.It

wastremendouslyhelpful.

Therearealotofpreconceptionsweallbringtothetablewhenitcomestolearning.

Someuniversalfeelingsofdissatisfaction anddisengagementwithconventionalmethods

ofinstructionaswellaswitheLearning soitwasreallygoodtogetstartedwithsome

andfeellike.

Sure,Ivetaughtformorethan20years,butjustbecauseyouvemanagedtohandlethose

facetofaceexperiencesdoesnotmeanthatyoureequippedtodesigninstructionthat

eventuallyislikelytobelearnedwithoutthepresenceoftheinstructor.Myquestionswere

likelythesameonesthatmanyofyoufaceeveryday.HowonearthdoesthiseLearning

stuffwork ormorecommonly,whyisntitworking? Isthereamoreefficientwayto

createit ordoesusingefficiencytoolstakeawaythevalidityofthelearning,andwhat

canIdotoensurethatthereissomekindofgaininthelearning orthattheresatleasta

documentableROIformycompany?


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NowIknowthatmostofthetimewhenfolks cometotheseseminars thehopeisthatIll

deliveramagicbulletthatwillcuretheproblemsandmakeitinstantlyeffortlesstousethe

software.ThistimeImlettingyouknowrightatthegate thatsourultimategoalwith

thisseries,butitsnotgoingtohappeninjustonehour.Itsgoingtotakesometime.

Todays sessioniswhatourtheoreticiansforthedaywouldcallanapplicationofthepre

trainingprinciple.Weregoingtogiveanoverviewofalotofbigfoundationalideasthatare

.

youunderstandwhyrapideLearningsoftwareisthewayitis,andhowtobegintoimagine

coursesthattakefulladvantageofthetoolsinsidethesoftware.Butwellstartwiththis

toplevelexaminationofthehistoricalbreakthroughsandtheoriesandtheninthecoming

weeksIlltakeoneoftheprinciplesweexamineheretodayandbreakitdowninto

examplesofhowspecificfeaturesinCaptivatecanbeusedtoimplementthatlearning

principleeffectively.


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Remembermyproblem?Allthisresearchintocognitivetheory goestoaddressthefirst

element Howdoesthisstuffwork.


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ThefirstthingIhad todotomovethatbigoldboulderwastomakeroomforachangein

thewayIthoughtaboutlearning.YouseeCognitivescientistswereinfluencingthewaywe

understoodthehumanmind,anditwasonlyamatteroftimebeforeeducatorslikeRichard

Mayerbegantoseethesignificanceofcognitiveresearchtowardthewayweimplement

learning.


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Foralongtimeweunderstoodlearningasadeliverymodel.Learnersweretheconsumers

andeducatorsweretheproducersorcreators. Thisinformationdeliverymodelcarries

withitalotofassumptionsaboutthewaycontentshouldbecreated,packagedand

delivered.Itsitsontheassumptionthatthemodeofdelivery,solongasitisefficient,is

irrelevanttoinstruction,becauseultimatelythejoboftheteacherisjusttoproduceitand

thestudentwillconsumeit.

,

moreandmoreavailableandaccepted,wesawachangeinmanyareas learningkey

amongthem.


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Turnsoutworkingmemorytheories withincognitivetheorysuggestthatwehaveacouple

ofmethodsforreceivinginformation butthatthosemethodsarelimitedbyaveryshort

retentionperiod.Wecantaketheinformationin,(andatleastasfarasClarkinitially

proposedbasedontheresearchatthetime)wetakeitinthroughtwomajorrecievers

whichmakessense.


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Nowthosereceivers areabletotakethethingsweseeintotheprefrontalareaofthebrain

andthenholdtheminthepartofworkingmemorythatcognitivescientistscallavisual

spatialsketchpadandaPhonologicalLoop.Thethingsweseecomeinthroughourvision

andareheldforaverybrieftimeinourvisualspatialsketchpad fromtheretheyare

analyzed,organized,sortedandassignedtolongtermmemoryaccordingtoourown

decisionsbasedonasortofmastercontrolpartofthemind.


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Themastercontrolelementofthebrain isespeciallyimportantforlearningbecauseit

ASSIGNSPRIORITIES chooseswhichthingtofocuson.

Nowhaveyounoticedthatsuddenlythefocushasshiftedfromasystemwheretheteacher

isdoingallthecontrollingandchoosingtoasystemwherethelearnerseemstohavethe

bulkofthecontrol?Infactthisisoneofthemajortenetsofcognitivelearningtheory,that

ultimatelythelearnerhastomakeactivedecisionstolearnandwhat/howtolearn.

Idontmeanthislike,itssomekindofsubversiveactivityandthelearnercanacceptor

rejectbasedonsheerstubbornness Imeanevenawellintentionedlearnerissubjecttoa

systemwhichrequiresthemtomakeactivechoices,focusongivenaspectsandsoon.


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Nowthesemodelsarelargelydependentontheworkofacognitivescientistnamed

Baddely,whoaddedathirdelementofworkingmemorytothecalculationin2000.Thisis

notablyafterClark&MayerandmanyothereLearningMultimediatheorycontributorshad

donetheirinitialinvestigationsandreports.Thepurposeoftheepisodicbuffer(also

referencedasapartoflongtermmemorybysomeothercognitivetheorists)istoassist

withtheorganizationandmetacognitive orderofthings.)

theroleofconstructednarrativesandscaffolds.Activelearnershavetobuildsystemsto

relateideastootherideas thatsthecoreofitall andunderstandingtheroleof

somethinglikeanepisodicbuffercouldhelpustoworkoutwhythereseemstobesomuch

powerinexplanationsasnarratives asstories.

ItalsomayhelpusunderstandwhyCONTEXTplayssuchanimportantroleinboththe

learningandtheRECALLofinformation whichofcourseisafundamentalpartofthe

process.


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Soforallofthistowork thebrainneedstodoafewthings,itneedstotakeinformation

in throughtheeyesandtheears.Thenithastoorganizethatinformation figuringout

whattofocuson andthenitneedstobothtransferthatinformationtolongterm

memory andindex/relatetheinformationtootherthings sothatthelearned

informationcanthenberecalledbythelearnereasily.


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MorerecentbrainresearchfromAllenPaivio suggests thattheremaybeanadditionalbit

ofworkgoingoninthevisualspatialandphonologicalareasofthebrain oratleast

somethingthatseemstocorrelatetothe2partmodel.Paivios dualcodingtheory says

thatwebreakinformationupintotwotypes(AnalogueandSymbolic) Thisisa

particularlyusefuldistinctionforfolksincognitivelearningtheory.

Analoguemapstothevisualsystem.Itscommonlyusedtoreferencethethingsthatwe

. ,

analoguereferenceofatree.

Symbolicmapstotheabstracteddefinitionsandcodesweusetorepresentthings.While

therecanbebothaudioandvisualexamplesofsymbolsandanalogueswecaneasilymap

symbolictothePhonologicalprocessingpartofthemodel

WhyisthishelpfulforeLearning?Becauseaswellseeinamomenttherearesome

distinctionsbetweenpresentingstuffthatissymbolic liketextandspokenlanguage,and

presentingstuffthatisanalogous likeimagesorvideosofactualthings,orevensounds

thatevokeunderstandingofrealthings.


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Mayer, alongwithClark&othersdefineseveralbasicprinciplesofmultimediaeLearning.

Whatisparticularlyusefulabouttheseprincipledefinitionsisthattheybothhelptomake

itclearerhowCognitiveTheoryisrelevanttothecreationanddeliveryofeLearning,and

theyhelptogiveguidelinesfortheactualcreationofeLearningcontent.

ItistheseguidepoststhatImgoingtofocuson.Soaswebegintolookatthem,Imgoing

tofirstimposemyownrulesontheprinciples,inordertofurtherbreakthemdownand

.


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Letsfirstbreak downthebasicideasMayerpresentsintothreebuckets.

MessageamplificationisatermborrowedfromCommunicationtheory.Mypointhereis

thattheseprinciplesareonesthatwillhelpustomakeourmessagemoreeffective.They

willbethingsweshoulddoinordertoensurethemessagegetsthroughinthemost

effectivemanner.

.

fundamentallyidentifyingnoiseproblems thenoiseisinternal,andhastodointhiscase

withthefailureofmessageencodingduetolimitedcapacityintheworkingmemoryetc.

FinallyMetaOrganizationwillbetheareawhereweplaceMayersideasaboutthingsthat

helpthelearnerorganizetheinformation.


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Dontworryifyouhavenocluewhatthesetermsmean Illdefinetheminthefollowing

section.Fornowill giveyoujustashortdefinitionofeach.

Withinmessageamplificationwewillfindthemultimediaprinciple(thenotionthatwe

shouldusemorethanonekindofmediaatonce),thecontiguityprinciple,whichbasically

saysthatweshouldputrelatedimagesandtextcaptionstogetherincloseproximity,the

modalityprinciple whicharguesthatweshouldgenerallyuseaudiooverprintedtext,and

.


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Multimediaprinciple(usewordsandgraphicstogether)

Atthecoreofcognitivetheory(asopposedtoinformationdeliverytheory)isthenotionthatpeoplemustactively

participateinlearning andinfactchoosewhatandwhentolearn,thereforeinCognitivetheorylearningismorelikelyto

occurwhenwords(languageinanyformat symboliccodes)andimages(analoguecodes)arepresentedatthesametime.Inthe

earliermodelofinformationdeliverytheory words(analoguecodes)alonewouldbesufficient.Makingananalogue symbolicconnectionisanimportantpartofactivatinglearninginthe

cognitivetheorymodel.Mostlikelytolearnwhenimageandsymbolsalign.

notepeoplecanimagineeitherone(butitsmorework)peoplecanbedistractedwhentheydon'taligniftoomanyarepresentedatonetime peoplewillchoosea'focus'indicatingorsuggestingafocus/orderforthefocuswillreducecognitive

loadandincreaselikelihoodof

learning(roomforthebicyclepumphere?)

How?Illustrationstoreinforcefact,concept,process,procedure,principletopicorganizers(esp.wrt selectionoffocus)

Interface(aformofCONTEXTforthelearning)


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Contiguity . .

Why?Rootedincognitivetheory,peopleare'sensemakers' andcontiguityinpresentation

makesiteasiertodrawanalogue

/symbolicrelationships.(likewise,whencontiguityisabsent,cognitiveloadisincreased.)

How?Captions(symbols)directlynexttoimages(analogues)Feedback sameproximitykeepallelementsofagivenconcepttogetherkeepitallvisible


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ModalityUsingspo enau io e ivere wor s sym o sgenera ytrumpswrittentextMitigatedbycasesofoverload toomuchdata,toocomplexdata


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Ifyoulookattheproblem thisway youarepouringdoubleinformationintoasinglec anne ,an comp ete yignoring eaving ormantt eot erc anne .


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Why?Cognitivet eorysaysour rains aveau ioinputc anne vi eoinput

channel.Usingaudioforsymbolicinputsandvideochannelforanalogic inputsyieldsbetterlearningoutcomes.

How?ingeneralbyusingaudiotosupplementimage butwiththecaveatthat

coordinationofaudiotoimagemayrequireanimationtoexpresscorrelation.Likewiseif , ,

beinglearned(thechunk)istoolargeforthenormalworkingmemorybuffers.Inthatcasesupplementingwithtextorusingtextinordertoenablethelearnerrepeatedorlongertermaccessmaybebetter.


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Persona ization

Useconversationalstyleandonscreencoaches

Why?sensemakingversusinformationconsumption.Peopleworkharderto

understandwhentheyfeeltheyareinaconversation thisechoesthenotionthatlearning .

derivativeofinformationdeliverytheory whichsaysthatpeoplewillconsumeformalinformationbetterbecauseitismoreefficient.

How?ConversationalNOTformalwritingstyle.YouwilldoblankandIwilldoblank

buildsametacognative mapforlearning.On screen coaches use on screen animations or ima es au mented b

conversationalnarrationtoemphasizeorassistwith

thelearning(nottoentertain.)


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NextIclassifytheelementsofMayerstheorythatarefundamentallywhatnottodo.You

caneasilythinkoftheamplificationcolumnasgoodrulestofollowwhilecreating

eLearning andthiscolumn,thenoisecolumn,asthingsNOTtodo.

Itsdividedintotwoparts,redundancy&Coherence. Redundancyisessentiallyawarning

nottorepeatthesamemessageonmorethanonechannelatthesametime.The

coherenceprinciplesuggestsavoidingunnecessarydistractions.


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Redundancy

one


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Redundancy

one

Why?People(especiallypeoplewhohavebeenwellinculcatedintotheprinciplesofinformation

deliverytheory)strugglewiththisprinciple.ThebasicnotionofInformationdeliveryisthatwedeliverinformationwhichisconsumedanditdoesn'tmattermuchhowitisdelivered(whatformitsin.)Thisleadstonotionsaboutalternativelearningstyles(whichseemsensibleonfirstpass butwhichareperhapsoverlysimplistic) thatsuggestthatthemorewayswedeliverthecontent(text,image,audio)thebetter.BUTincognitivelearningtheorytheworkingmemoryofthebrainsuggeststhatonlytwoinputavenuesexist.andif

.Thereforereducedefficacyismorelikelyfromtheredundantsymbolicrepresentationsinbothtextandaudio.

How?UseaudioforwordswhenpossibleandinformationisnottoocomplexOkaytousebothifassuredaslowpace(notethisdoesnotaccountforcognitivescience

basednotionrelatedto appropriatestimulus couldtalkbarneyvs.phillip glasshere.)okaytousebothifnocompetingimage


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Coherence

Why?Contrarytoarousaltheorywhichpredictsthatlearnerswhoarearousedbyexcitingbitsof

media,cognitivetheory

suggeststhatwithonlylimitedbandwidthinworkingmemory,distracting elements(eveniftheyareseductive)standtoimpede

learning.MayercallstheseDistraction,disruptionandseduction andsuggeststhateachelement(image, ,

audio)canhavenegativeimpactwhenthecontentisnotdirectlyrelevanttothelearningorguidingthelearning.(itsprobably

worthnotingherethatMayerseemstoignoreboththeepisodicworkingmemory whichi thinkcanbelinkedtotheefficacyof

narrativeandsituationalawareness)Itseemsthatoverlookingtheseelementsmayexplainwhywehavecommonsensehunchesthat

someemotionalstimulationinconjunctionwithdeliverycanincreasetheefficacy(spoonfulofsugar.)Thoughlogicallyensuring

thatanycontributorisontopicmustbemorelikelytoinvokelearning.

How?Makesureanypotentialarousalelementsarepertinenttothelearning.Lookforthe

intrinsicmotivatorsinthecontent

rat ert animposingt em.


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SegmentingprincipleBrea itupinto itesize c un s

Why?workingmemorylimitsnumberof/depthofoperations

How?Breakitbyconcepts whichlogicallycanbebrokenintopagesorslidesor


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SegmentingprincipleBrea itupinto itesize c un s

Why?workingmemorylimitsnumberof/depthofoperations

How?Breakitbyconcepts whichlogicallycanbebrokenintopagesorslidesor


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Pretrainingprinciple

Buildbasicinformationaboutessentialelementwhichareprerequisitestounderstandingthelargerconcepts

Why?Sometimesnecessarytodefinetermsorconditionstoremovethataspect

fromtheactuallearning removinga

potentiallydistractingsecondarylearningfromtheoveralllesson

How?Teachtheunderlyingorfoundationalprinciplesfirstandseparately.


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Nexttimewellbegin thediscussionwithpracticalapplicationsoftheseguidingprinciples

usingAdobeCaptivate.


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making effective adobe captivate elearning modules

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