Monday, January 18, 2010

Learning in 3D blog book tour stop

Welcome to today's stop on the Learning in 3D blog book tour.

Does the passage below sound familiar? Substitute “VIE” with any other term you like: “technology”, “tool”, “course” “blog”, “Facebook group”, “webinar software”…:

“Some organizations create a virtual space with only vague learning outcomes and no formal assessment plan. Then, after a few months of inactivity, no visible learning outcomes, and frustration, the organization drops the VIE because it doesn’t seem productive.” (p.204)

Learning in 3D offers sound advice for avoiding what the authors call a “virtual ghost town” and maximizing time and work put into the efforts. As with all things elearning, the magic lies not with a tool but with a deliberate, thoughtful approach to design and desired outcomes. Authors Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll stress the importance of planning, of intent, of systemic approach and strategy. They also acknowledge the background and expertise of their audience, assuring readers that moving to VIEs is largely a matter of adjusting existing skill sets and learning to focus as much on environment as context.

Question: For those of you who have made the move from more traditional training and elearning, what did you find helped the transition most?

6 comments:

Karl Kapp said...

Jane,

You are so right. The problem with many technological implementations in the training field is that learning and development professionals (and our managers and directors) become enamored with the technology and forget the business needs driving the use of the technology.

In the book we, wanted to provide a foundation for understanding when 3D virtual immersive environments (VIEs) are appropriate and when they are not and I think many of the principles used to determine if a technology is appropriate for a particular situation are universal regardless of the technology, from e-learning to mobile learning to VIEs.

Also, I wanted to point out chapter 7 "Overcoming Being Addled by ADDIE" discusses how to make sound decisions about the design aspects of VIEs and highlights how instructional designers can leverage these environments.

Thanks for being a great stop, see you at a future #lrnchat.

Unknown said...

Jane,

Thanks so much for being part of the book tour!

So glad to see you honed in on the fact that Karl and I tried to be as prescriptive as possible in how to go about successfully implementing a VIE. As you rightly point out, just like in traditional e-learning, there are lots of issues that can derail a successful implementation.

While some are quite familiar, others are more tricky due to the fact that the third dimension adds more cognitive and technical complexity into the mix.

We anticipate that the Case-Studies, Learning Architecture and Rules from Revolutionaries will be particularly helpful for those who want to integrate VIEs into their learning blends.

We sincerely hope the book can serve as a "Go-To" resource for any learning professional who steps up to the plate and decides to swing for the 3D fences.

Take care and talk soon

Jane Bozarth said...

Hello fellows! I knew others would be writing extensively about the tech side of working in virtual worlds so thought I'd pick something closer to the business side. I forgot to mention the added (free!) instructor guide available to those wanting to use the book as a course text.

Tony O'Driscoll: Why don't I ever see you? You know my house is 10 minutes from your office? Let's do lunch or something sometime... we can Skype Karl in. Or send him a virtual pizza.

Good job on the book--
JB

BunchberryFern said...

Part of the problem is the approval process that businesses use.

Most of the projects I'm involved in are prefaced by the word 'pilot'. This is the nature of Organisational Development and Change.

A traditional pilot = small scale test, limit the damage, make it ready for prime time and then launch when ready.

Imagine a business running a traditional pilot with just one mobile phone. Some of these things (and I'm waiting to read Karl and Tony's book, but I'm pretty sure this includes VIEs) only work at scale.

Nearly finished Clark Aldritch's but this one's not out in the UK yet. Boo ;)

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