eLearning and an Aging Workforce

Article Title: eLearning and an Aging Workforce

Publication: Integrated Learnings: eLearning

Summary: Media outlets frequently analyze the implications of our aging workforce and remind us that a growing proportion is in their fifties and beyond. This article examines what instructional designers should do to accommodate this growing population from an eLearning perspective, based on the principles of learning theory and learning styles research.

A common theme in the literature addressing generations and learning preferences is that older generations tend to prefer a linear learning structure while younger generations prefer a more exploratory structure. Maybe this is true, maybe it’s not. Regardless, this is an area where instructional design principles can guide us.

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Systems Training: Choose Your Own Adventure

Article Title: Systems Training: Choose Your Own Adventure

Publication: Integrated Learnings: eLearning

Summary: Learners have varying levels of computer savvy, and this article suggests that eLearning accommodate that by offering multiple types of systems training for learners to choose from.

Would learning theory approve of offering both approaches?

I think Jerome Bruner, who studied discovery learning, would say yes.

Bruner suggested that discovery learning can be a highly effective approach when learners have some prior knowledge and a basic level of comfort with what they must learn. However, learners without this would likely experience frustration and failure.

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E-Learning Research Published in The Journal of Effective Teaching

Article Title: The Role of Intrinsic Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and E-Learning Practice in Engineering Education (link connects to article abstract)

Publication: The Journal of Effective Teaching

Comments:

Spoiler: The study found that supplemental e-learning activities improved the academic performance of engineering students.

I was an e-learning developer for the Materials Science & Engineering program at Boise State University for a couple of years. My position was funded by a National Science Foundation grant. The grant funded a study to determine whether supplementing an introductory engineering class with e-learning activities would help students learn.

Good news – it did!

During those two years, I was assigned engineering textbook chapters and tasked with designing and developing key content into e-learning activities. We tracked students’ use of those activities and their class performance.

And this study is the subject of a recently published paper called The Role of Intrinsic Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and E-Learning Practice in Engineering Education. I know…it’s a mouthful. But that’s how it works with academic articles.

The article was just published in The Journal of Effective Teaching.

FYI – This is published under my maiden name, Berg.

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Audio in E-Learning…What is Your Vote?

Article Title: Audio in eLearning…What is Your Vote?

Publication: Integrated Learnings: eLearning

Comments: When I first got involved in training and instructional design several years ago, all of the training I designed was either instructor-led classroom training or on-the-job training. In my first e-learning position, we included audio narration in everything we developed…so I initially accepted this as the logical norm.

In my current position, audio narration in e-learning is not the norm. So while it’s certainly an option, it requires thought and justification.

But as a general rule, is it better to include audio narration or not?

That’s what my latest post for the Integrated Learnings: eLearning blog is about. The article is called Audio in eLearning…What is Your Vote?, and it explores the pros and cons of audio in e-learning.

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Practical Tips for Using Online Learning Technologies

Practical Tips for Using Online Learning Technologies is the second in a series of articles written for the InternetCE blog. The purpose of this series is to offer readers suggestions on how to get the most from online learning courses. Click here to access the article directly.

Writing Reflections

The article provides tips on how to use an online course from a basic technical perspective. To write it, I reflected on the online courses I’ve taken through various organizations and made a list of the features that most of them shared. Besides moving forward and back, what navigational options were available? What tricks have I employed to move through a course more quickly? And as usual, I collected ideas from training peers as well.

At first, I wasn’t going to include a section on navigational tips in the article…I thought it was too basic. But after talking with a few friends about their eLearning experiences, I was surprised to find that some were unaware that you can do more than just move forward and back. I guess it’s easier to catch on to these tricks when you design this stuff for a living.

The Gig

For some basic info about InternetCE and this particular writing gig, read what I posted after writing my first article for them.

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