Scenario

Today I received an awesome challenge from my professor in my Learning Distance course. I was asked to choose a scenario and identify learning technologies that will provide the best solution to the problem. So, after careful consideration I chose the one below. Take a moment to read it so later on; you’ll be able to understand my choice of technology.

In an effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their learning from the modules.

The first things that I’ve noticed are the requirements for the module. The modules have to be stand alone, have to illustrate safety practices, need to include step by step processes and availability, has to be made available to everyone on every shift. My first thought is; how much of this information can be learned and retained in a distance learning setting? My second thought is how can include engaging material and promote interactivity. According to (Beldarrain, 2006) distance education practitioners and researchers have always been concerned with how much interactivity a distance course could provide for students since interactivity is considered a necessary ingredient for a successful learning experience. My next thought was develop a PowerPoint presentation that contains all of the required information. I know what you’re thinking. Why PowerPoint? It’s so obvious and boring. I know, I know, but PowerPoint is a powerful tool if you’re adding other technology with it. For this scenario I’d choose PowerPoint, Articulate Presenter software and pod cast. Alone, PowerPoint will not be a successful tool in creating fun interactive modules that will catch the attention of anyone, but Articulate Presenter Pro contains other programs such as Quiz-Maker, Engage and Video Encoder and used with PowerPoint will create learning material that learners will remember and be able to use in the real world. Below I’ll explain what each program does.

1.     Quiz-Maker - Quizmaker, as its name indicates, is Articulate's tool for creating online quizzes. It “can integrate into an e-learning program or be used as a stand-alone product for creating long or short assessments that include true-false, multiple choice, drag and drop, and hotspot questions (Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”).

2.     Engage- Is a quick and easy tool that will allow me to create lean-forward experiences that learners love. It allows the ability to produce dazzling interactions that turn passive viewers into active learners and makes them examine in greater detail each step of a process. The learner can explore the relationship between timeline events through text, images and sound and drill down into key elements of a diagram to better understand the main points Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”)

3.     Video Encoder- Makes it easy to all full motion video to Articulate Presenter content. It also allows quick conversion of any video into FLV flash video format (Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”).

Articulate Presenter has been named the best e-learning software for six years in a row and has been used in many settings and many organizations to create fun, engaging learning material. There are many rave reviews and testimonies on and off the Articulate website that show how wonderful the software is, how easy it is to use and how simple it was to use in the creation of learning material. I’ve included a testimony below.

Kara Eulgen, a Technology Specialist from Assurant Health wrote “We’ve selected Articulate and we’ve never looked back. From the beginning, we loved how easy it was to use while still providing a rage of powerful features. Using it, we’ve been able to reduce the time it takes us to deliver training from months to days ((Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”)

Podcast are another way for employees to get some of the information needed and even though podcasting is not an asynchronous activity it provides students with information that will help them feel connected to the learning community (Beldarrain,2006). If employees are allowed to listen to their iPods and mp3 players while they work, they would also be able to listen to a podcast. There are many sites that offer podcasting opportunities and would be a great way for those employees to get at least some of the information they need to learn. I've linked some information and success stories on pod casting inside corporations below.


http://trafcom.typepad.com/blog/podcasting-inside-the-cor.html

I believe Articulate, PowerPoint , and podcasts will be the best choices in this scenario. All programs will provide the learner with engaging interaction, step by step process and will be able to assess whether the material has been learned. But I wouldn’t want to use Articulate alone. Even though it’s a wonderful piece of software that creates engaging interaction, I believe pod casts would also benefit the learners. They can listen while they work. Video would also work as well.

References:

Articulate Presenter (2011, January 1). The New Articulate Studio 09. Retrieved from http://www.articulate.com/products/studio.php

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2),139–153.
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