Electronic Performance Support for E-Learning Analysis and Design

Corporate instructional designers often follow an instructional systems design (ISD) process to plan, create, and implement training programs. Increased demand for elearning as a replacement or addition to classroom training means that, in the current corporate environment, instructional designers are called upon to produce a wide variety of instructional formats and have to make more decisions during the ISD process. E-learning is evolving into a total performance improvement solution rather than simply as a means to delivering distance training and consequently, in an effort to achieve business goals, many corporations are turning to it as a cost effective way to deliver training and support to employees and customers. Corporate e-learning applications can incorporate knowledge management and electronic performance support as well as support for multiple formats of online learning, adding to the complexity of the instructional designer\u27s job and the ISD process. While the ISD process is well documented and numerous operational models exist, instructional designers often have difficulty in its application given the complexity of an e-learning application. The study analyzed the impact of an experimental electronic performance support system (EPSS) on the performance of e-learning instructional designers. An EPSS intended to provide assistance during the analysis and design stages of an e-learning project was created to aid corporate instructional designers make tradeoffs among time, cost, and quality of various analysis and design procedures and techniques. Formative reviews by instructional designers experienced in e-learning added to the validity of the contents of the EPSS. Summative evaluator’s pilot tested the EPSS by using it in conjunction with the analysis and design activities of three corporate e-learning projects. Evaluation results indicated that an instructional design EPSS can help designers sequence and prioritize tasks, allocate time and resources to task execution, and focus tasks on user performance and client goals

E-Learning in the workplace: an annotated bibliography

Provides an overview of the literature relating to e-learning in workplaces in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Summary The key findings of this annotated bibliography are: E-learning can provide flexible learning options for employees and allow them to upskill more rapidly. E-learning in the workplace can decrease the costs of upskilling a workforce through reducing travel and employee time away from work. E-learning is particularly useful for a geographically-dispersed workforce because it can deliver a consistent training experience. The uptake of e-learning in the workplace is increasing. Many New Zealand firms have the systems and infrastructure to support e-learning, but often lack the capability to implement it successfully. To overcome design inadequacies in e-learning courses, new skills and personnel are required in the teams charged with developing and delivering it. Firms need to have strategies and plans in place to support their e-learning which integrate or align with their overall plans and strategies. Support by managers for  e-learning in the workplace (including allocating sufficient time for it) is critical to success. Large organisations are more likely to adopt e-learning than small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because they have better infrastructure and systems and can more readily achieve economies of scale and return on investment. SMEs can form collaborative networks to share knowledge, resources, and expertise to overcome the cost and relevance barriers they face when implementing e-learning. E-learning is most often used in workplaces to supplement traditional delivery (blended learning). Blended learning can contribute to significant gains in learner achievement. The focus in workplace e-learning has moved from ‘courses’ to learning content that is available to employees as and when needed. E-learning is more effective when people can access it in small ‘chunks’, reflect on it, and then apply it immediately. E-learning supports informal learning in the workplace because it makes it easier to codify information and knowledge and make this available to the organisation and its external stakeholders. The most common technologies and systems used to support workplace e-learning are learning management systems, video, mobile devices, social networking tools, wikis, weblogs, simulations/virtual reality, CD-ROMs, and DVDs. Some of the main barriers to implementing e-learning in the workplace are: high up-front costs that include new and/or upgraded systems, training the trainers, and developing interactive and/or personalised content employee resistance to e-learning organisations not having an appropriate learning culture in place lack of management support adopting technologies and systems that are difficult to use and access, are unreliable, and/or lack technical support employees and trainers lacking the skills and capabilities to teach and learn in e-learning environments irrelevance to real-time work tasks and not integrated with business processes

Building-block solutions for developing instructional software.

Boot, E. (2005). Building-block solutions for developing instructional software. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Open University of the Netherlands, The Netherlands

E-Learning

E-learning enables students to pace their studies according to their needs, making learning accessible to (1) people who do not have enough free time for studying - they can program their lessons according to their available schedule; (2) those far from a school (geographical issues), or the ones unable to attend classes due to some physical or medical restriction. Therefore, cultural, geographical and physical obstructions can be removed, making it possible for students to select their path and time for the learning course. Students are then allowed to choose the main objectives they are suitable to fulfill. This book regards E-learning challenges, opening a way to understand and discuss questions related to long-distance and lifelong learning, E-learning for people with special needs and, lastly, presenting case study about the relationship between the quality of interaction and the quality of learning achieved in experiences of E-learning formation

International conference "Information technologies in education in the 21st century": Conference proceedings.

Proceedings of a conference which concluded TEMPUS project JEP 25008_200

Teaching Visual Effects for Audiovisual Production using Digital Learning Objects

This Ph.D. research deals with the production of a digital learning object (DLO) to aid teaching activity, more specifically in the execution of practical exercises for the production of visual effects (VFX) in audiovisual in higher education courses. The study performs a literature review on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education, Learning Objects (LOs), Digital Learning Objects (DLOs), and Blended Learning (BL). In the research, it seeks to understand the methods and procedures of design, implementation, evaluation, and validation of such technologies to be able to apply to the prototype to be developed. It presents the stages of development of the prototype and all the challenges faced for its realization. With the fully functional tool already developed and tested, the methodological procedures used for its use and evaluation are demonstrated. The field research is reported and documented, presenting the results achieved. Forms were used with students participating in the research, in addition to blind analysis of the practical work they developed. Such data are analyzed and the reflections and contributions from this whole experimentation process are presented. It was possible to conclude that the tool (DLO) designed managed to achieve its objectives and answer the research questions that fostered it, having been considered by the participants as useful, motivating, and functional in helping the learning process. The blind analysis undertaken did not show significant differences between the control and test groups in the quality of the work performed, however, it evidenced the possibility of using other methodologies in conjunction with those used, to improve future research. It is believed that all the discussion and experimentation carried out and documented reaches its objectives positively and demonstrates its contribution in to assist in the scientific discussion about the pedagogical effectiveness of DLOs, create an unprecedented DLO, in addition to presenting the DLOs production methodologies used.Esta pesquisa de doutoramento trata sobre a produção de um objeto de aprendizagem digital para o auxílio à atividade docente, mais especificamente na execução de exercícios práticos para a produção de efeitos visuais em audiovisual em cursos de nível superior. O estudo realiza uma revisão da literatura sobre o uso de Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação na educação, objetos de aprendizagem, objetos de aprendizagem digitais e aprendizagem combinada. Na investigação, busca compreender os métodos e procedimentos de design, implementação, avaliação e validação de tais tecnologias para aplicar ao protótipo a ser desenvolvido. Apresenta as etapas de desenvolvimento do protótipo e todos os desafios enfrentados para sua concretização. Com a ferramenta totalmente funcional já desenvolvida e testada, são demonstrados os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados para seu uso e avaliação. A pesquisa de campo encontra-se relatada e documentada, apresentando os resultados alcançados. Foram utilizados formulários com os alunos participantes da pesquisa, além de análise cega sobre os trabalhos práticos por eles desenvolvidos. Tais dados são analisados e apresentadas as reflexões e contribuições advindas de todo este processo de experimentação. Foi possível concluir que a ferramenta (objeto de aprendizagem digital) projetada conseguiu atingir seus objetivos e responder às perguntas de pesquisa que o fomentou, tendo sido considerada pelos participantes como útil, motivadora e funcional para o auxílio do processo de aprendizagem. A análise cega empreendida não demonstrou diferenças significativas entre os grupos controle e teste na qualidade dos trabalhos executados, contudo, evidenciou a possibilidade de utilização de outras metodologias em conjunto com as utilizadas, para aprimoramento de pesquisas futuras. Acredita-se que toda a discussão e experimentação realizada e documentada atinge positivamente seus objetivos e demonstra sua contribuição ao auxiliar na discussão científica sobre a efetividade pedagógica dos objetos de aprendizagem digitais, criar um destes objetos/software inédito, além de apresentar as metodologias de produção utilizadas

An introduction to informatics (not only) for the humanities

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