Educational Technology

On-line chat: October 31, 1996, 4-5pm

Bob: Oops, there I am!

Traci: Hello.

Bob: Hi Pat, congratulations! Patrícia was on earlier, so I hope she'll be back. Anyone else there?

Pat:: Helloooo! It's Halloweennn.

Bob: Hi Traci. This week we're looking at the heart of our discipline -- designing instruction. Took us awhile to get here, didn't' it?

Bob: One of the things I didn't get to include in the book yet was the ARCS model of motivation. ARCS stands for Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. Its a model developed by a fellow named Keller, and is pretty much the standard model in our field. Any of you familiar with it?

Traci: No, I'm not.

Pat:: I've discovered that Imay have done my entire task analysis on my job aid rather than the instruction of it. What were we supposed to be flow charting?

Bob: Attention just means you need to get folks attention, not only ata the beginning of instruction, but also maintain it throughout. You can use things like perceptual arousal (video, exciting speaker), Inquiry arousal, like "Where would you like to be right now if you could be anywhere in the world?", or variability -- a change of pace.

Bob: Hi Patrícia. To provide relevance you can show folks how your instruction relates to their own career or personal goals, to their values (power, affiliation, etc.). You can also just provide instruction in a familiar format. More "relevant" than an uunfamiliar one. So much for this course, huh?

Patricia2: Interesting ...

Bob: Pat, look up Keller, John and "motivation" -- he's all over the place. To assure confidence, you can state objectives, start instruction with easy tasks and then move to harder ones, provide immediate feedback, and give people control over their learning.

Traci: I guess our customer training has a built-in relevance...learn this software or find another job ;-)

Bob: To insture satisfaction, give people knowledge of results, and assure equity -- fairness in your evaluation. Simple system, but very useful for us as instructional designers.

Patricia2: Yes, this course is very "fast" and "broad" (we see a little peace of the world)

Bob: This is all really just an ellaboration of the motivation stuff in Gagne's events. Make sense? Yes, Traci, although fear is not always the best motivator, when it comes down to that.

Traci: Bob, I'm not sure about the "to insure satisfaction" part. Do you mean tell people how they did, or how they should do?

Bob: My question to you all is: Do you see the connection between Gagne and CDT? Do you see how they fit? How they're different? Any problems with them? Which do you like better?

Patricia2: :-?

Bob: Traci, you want to make them feel like they've accomplished something. It can be as simple as "We've now completed section III. Just one more to go." To making sure they feel they are being evaluated fairly.

Bob: For instance, in this course, with the peer evaluations, we've gone overboard to insure fairness. You get more than one eval, you can drop the lowest score, you can appeal anytime to Bob, etc. Helps people feel there is equity, and this contributes to satisfaction with the learning experience. We hope, anyway!

Dan: Happy All Saints Eve!

Patricia2: I'm sorry Pat, but I don't understand you.

Bob: Hi Dan. Ask a question, Patricia2.

Bob: Pat, yes, its important with CDT to be able to classify the objective (actually, Merrill is pretty "old" now, too -- but we'll get to that later).

Bob: Classification isn't so hard if you ask yourself what people are really trying to do. Look at it from their point of view. Sure, sometimes its a little ambiguous, but mostly you can figure it out. Want to try an example?

Patricia2: At this moment, I feel that it was a little bit complex to me ( a lot of information).

Bob: Here's an objective (from someone in our class). Girl scouts will be able to create a picture using common shapes such as circles, squares, and rectangles. What type of knowledge is that?

Bob: Patricia2, sorry! It'll "digest" in a while? How can we help you get it?

Dan: Process? I don't think creating qualifies as a procedure.

Traci: I was thinking it is a procedure, because it doesn't describe a system...

Bob: Think of processes as things we observe or do as groups, mainly, not things we do as individuals. Rule of thumb only, but... Let's think of the picture thing this way. How would you describe to the girls how to make a picture using these elements?

Bob: Wow, this IS hard, isn't it? Let's look at it from the point of view of a procedure. Would you tell the girls, "OK, step 1, draw a circle in the middle of the page?"

Patricia2: Something important: after we have defined our problem, just now we are thing about learning. Normally, here, in Brazil, we thinking about it first, and ... after we are sure ... we launch our goals and others. It is a different kind of work. Am I clear ?

Bob: Or would you be more likely to say something like, "Look at the doggie. What shape does the doggie's head remind you of? A circle? A rectangle? Draw whichever shape it reminds you of." Does that work for you?

Patricia2: Apply principles, I think.

Bob: Exactly, Pat. We're teaching them a set of "rules" to go about making drawings of anything. Its not a procedure that is always done exactly the same way. Make sense?

Bob: Patricia, yes, apply principles. Could you rephrase your question?

Patricia2: In this new way, students can star new connections and relationships...

Traci: Yes, when you explain it to me it makes sense ;-) This has been the hardest part of the course for me...

Patricia2: Yes, Bob, I'll try... wait a minute, please..

Bob: Let's try another. "TEAchers at an elementary school will use America On Line to send electronic mail to colleagues." What type?

Dan: Apply procedure. Definitely.

Pat:: Traci, I'm with you. AND, I'm not sure even Mager ALWAYS knows how to classify stuff. MAYBE, though, he faster at it than us novices:-?

Traci: Would this be "apply procedures," because sending email always requires the same steps?

Bob: You've got something there, Pat. Yes, Dan, sound to me like a procedure, too. So, going back to the drawing example. What CDT "components" would you use to teach this?

Patricia2: My observation is: in Brazil is common we think about what kind of learning we will want to promote before write goals. In this text and in our course, the strategy is different (in the other way). It is interesting to me. I need to learn to learn. Am I more clear , now ?

Bob: Yes, Traci, it is certainly applying a procedure.

Erik T:

Bob: Ah, interesting, Patrícia. But why would you sit around thinking, "Let's teach 'em some principles. What could our goals be for that?" I'm sure I've got it wrong, of course -- but give us an example, please...

Bob: Hi Erik -- welcome!

Dan: I think the best elements of CDT for this objective are examples, practice and feedback. It would be relatively easy to provide all three, and the girl scouts would eventually be able to apply the principles themselves.

Erik T: Hi, what's up?

Patricia2: A lot of examples, clarifying a procedure with diagrams, provide feedback at each step ...

Bob: Remember, with the drawing example we decided we're teaching them to apply a principle or principles.

Bob: Yes, Dan. Its usually useful to state the rules, too. Diagrams? You probably mean illustrations -- examples of pictures? Or do you actually mean diagrams?

Dan: I was trying to think of a way to state the principles used to create drawings. (for "information"). I need a SME.

Janet: Hello. Just got here. I still have trouble sorting out remember vs. apply

Bob: Right, DAn, but they are "state-able." On the other hand, occaionally you can let people infer the rules. That's a little risky unless you have lots of time and they're already pretty confident. Fun, though, especially if they know they're doing it!

Traci: Dan, I'm having the same problem. And how would you provide help? The book talks about analogies, but I'm not sure what kind of analogy you'd use for creating drawings.

Patricia2: In that course I have done in a school, I was criticized by a teacher because I didnt studied theories about learning environment before take some practice. I am trying to put the teachers in action first, and later, remember and reflect about what were happened with we.

Bob: Hi Janet!

Erik T: Would infering be appropriate for updating skills versus teaching new ones?

Dan: Well, I'm getting better every week at classifying knowledge types. Applying this concept has been challenging! Have to run, there is a monkey dressed in a ballerina outfit, a squirrel and Elvira waiting for me to go trick or treating. Bye all.

Erik T: I'm thinking about updating the skills of some illustrators I work with and in certain cases, they already know all of the basic rules.

Bob: Good point, Traci. In this case, I don't know that an analogy is appropriate. I can't think of one either. That's in the "help" component, which is more a menu of possible helps, not obligatory stuff. Capiche?

Patricia2: Bob, is late. In a few minutes I'll be back to my atomic life. Do you have something to me ?

Bob: Enjoy the managerie, Dan, see you next week! What COULD we use for help in this case, ya'll?

Traci: I thought I was getting better a classifying knowledge types, but then Bob tosses out those pesky real-life examples ;-)

Janet: Hi Pat.

Bob: Patrícia, I'll be sending youall the class activities we did last night -- look them over and see if you have any questions, comments, etc. I'll also be sending Chapter 11 and some other stuff. TAlk to you soon. Happy Haloween!

Patricia2: :-?

Traci: Gotta go, too. My little princess awaits!

Bob: OK, so for help on the drawing principles, I'd probably just explain them a little more, explain the "why" -- almost all objects can be broken down into basic shapes,etc. Its the kind of stuff, as Dan implied, that you really need the SME for. You can ask the SME, "are there any analogies for this? Why do you use this principle? How did you learn this? etc." Make sense?

Bob: OK, ya'll, I've got a tiny tot inside a dalmation puppy -- its off to the candy rush! See you all next week.

Erik T: We're running through the rules of producing animated gifs. A simple thing, but I need to provide simple instruction on how to do it as well as the standards we want to adhere to. The thing is that, as with all art, it's kind of a judgement call as to what is acceptable quality versus size.

Patricia2: Thanks. In many places here we are commemorating the Haloween. By all, see you next week.

Bob Belz-Roberts(the wheelchair guy): Hello, Prof. Hoffman. I am finially here on the chat line. I had trouble getting in,as this (*&(*^*^* computer kept telling me that there was a problem intering all the data to open the EDTEC home oage. Anyway as I lmissed yesterday I am here to catch up. what did I miss?

Bob: Erik, in some ways, I think you are dealing with both procedures and principles. There's the mechanical, software operation procedural side, and the principled, judgement side?

Erik T: Absolutely, and I think I am going to devote the weekend to defining the two and setting down principles versus procedures. I think my audience analysis will determine what I really need to teach.

page author: Bob Hoffman
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