by clive on September 10, 2010
Interaction is key to the online experience. With traditional offline media – print, TV, radio, tapes, CDs – we were never anything but passive consumers. Online we are active participants able to hunt down information, learn new skills, transact as buyers and sellers, form relationships, network with our peers and much more – all activities that we once had to carry out face-to-face or using much more primitive media such as the mail or telephone. To underline the importance of interaction, just imagine if our online tools allowed no interaction – we’d get no further than our browser’s home page or an email application full of nothing but spam.
There are some very good reasons why we need to interact online:
- To navigate, e.g. to follow links on the World Wide Web, to select from menus in an online application, to move between pages in an e-learning module.
- To configure, to set up the parameters of a particular decision or action, e.g. setting audio volume, determining how often we wish to receive email updates.
- To explore, to move around a space such as a map or 3D world, to scroll a document or search within an audio-visual resource.
- To converse with other humans, whether synchronously (live) or asynchronously (at our own pace), using text, audio or video.
- To provide information, e.g. a survey or form.
- To answer questions, in order to demonstrate learning.
There are essentially four mechanisms for interacting online:
- selecting – picking from the options provided
- supplying – coming up with our own responses
- sorting/connecting – matching and sequencing the options provided
- exploring – finding what we want within a space or body of content
To explore the nature of interaction in more detail, with a special emphasis on learning, I’ll be taking each of these in turn in an occasional series of postings over the next month or so. Who knows where this will lead us …
by clive on September 6, 2010
I remember two things from a one-day course that I attended in London on ‘how to create visual aids’, way back in the late 1970s, just weeks after I started as a trainer:
- Every word on a slide (and by ‘slide’ then we meant 35mm or overhead projector transparencies) is an admission of defeat.
- Don’t more words on a slide than you would on the front of a T shirt.
Wise words when you’re starting from the assumption that slides are primarily visual aids, although in recent years their purpose has been distorted somewhat by their use as presenters’ prompt cards and as as an alternative format for major consultancy reports. But the primary purpose of slides does remain, as visual aids or, to use another term that has disappeared from common parlance, ’speaker support ’.
The campaign against endless bullet points has gained ground in recent years and we are beginning at last to see a backlash. I have seen more great slide decks in the past year than in the past 10 put together and they have made a positive difference - more engaging, more informative, more memorable. But there’s always a danger that we go too far and regard words as an enemy, when used in moderation they can indeed be a friend.
Helping us to keep a sense of perspective is Olivia Mitchell, who has prepared her 9 reasons why you should put words on your slides. She’s done a fantastic job so, rather than paraphrase her work, I suggest you click on the link and take a look for yourselves.
Tagged as:
PowerPoint,
slides,
text
by clive on September 6, 2010
To wrap up this series of posts on strategies for learning and performance support, here’s a summary of the characteristics of each. To see the original posts, click on the images above or the column headers below.
| |
Exposition |
Instruction |
Guided discovery |
Exploration |
| Examples |
Lectures, presentations, policy documents, all types of required reading / viewing / listening |
Group instruction, on-job training, self-study materials |
Simulations, scenarios, games, discussion, case studies, projects, action learning, coaching |
Reading lists, links, online search, unconferences, social networking, social bookmarking, blogs; |
| Role of the teacher/trainer |
Subject expert |
Instructor |
Facilitator |
Librarian |
| Nature of the learning experience |
Learning material is delivered to the learner |
From the general to the specific / theory to practice; questioning and practical exercises are used to check for learning at each stage |
From the specific to the general; practical exercises and real-world experiences provide a basis for reflection and for the formulation of general principles |
The learner uses their own initiative to satisfy their particular needs for information and understanding, making use of available resources |
| Outcomes |
Communication of the material according to an established curriculum; no guarantee of the extent to which the material is retained |
Knowledge and skills transfer, with relatively predictable results based on specific objectives |
Development of insights and deeper levels of understanding; outcomes will vary from learner to learner |
Learners access whatever expertise it is they need; outcomes are entirely unpredictable |
| Nature of the interaction |
Minimal – perhaps just Q&A |
Structured exercises, Q&A |
Structured exercises |
Ad-hoc, peer-to-peer |
| Who’s in control? |
The teacher/trainer – this is a push process |
The teacher/trainer – this is a push process |
The teacher/trainer – this is a push process |
The learner – this is a pull process |
| Suitable for what type of learner |
Independent learners and those with more experience of the subject |
Anyone, but particularly more dependent learners and relative novices |
Anyone, as long as they are well supported and personal risk is minimised |
Independent learners and those with more experience of the subject |
| Suitable for what type of learning |
Familiarisation with a body of knowledge |
All types of knowledge and skill, particularly those that really do have to be acquired |
Understanding of principles and processes; attitude shifting; refinement of skills |
Just-in-time information; knowledge updates; exploration beyond the curriculum; creating new knowledge |
