Why do we blame the tool?

In Brent Schlenker's post "20 years of death by PowerPoint", he talks about all that is wrong with PowerPoint. This has got me wondering, why do we blame the tool for its misuse? Why do we blame the big guy?

It is partly this attitude that led me down the path of using more complicated tools to do the same job that PowerPoint itself would do. In creating training material, I used Illustrator and Frame to create most of the content. PowerPoint was only used to create the final instructor slides, as this is what PowerPoint was indended for. The problem with this solution: no one but me could maintain the content. When anyone wanted a minor change in a graphic, I had to make that change. One of the beauties of a pure PowerPoint solution was that everyone had it. Not everyone was good at using it, but everyone had it!

So that leads to the heart of the problem. It isn't the tool that is wrong, it is the lack of appreciation for the skill in using the tool appropriately. Too many people do not recognize that developing a decent PowerPoint presentation takes more than just subject matter expert skills. Figuring out presentation flow as well as developing decent look-and-feel are skills that go under appreciated in many places.

That being said, one of the key learnings from my last job was that often even the client (or student) does not appreciate the difference between excellent, good, and mediocre training material. If the client can't tell the difference between mediocre and good, why waste your time and money producing something good. Just have your subject-matter-experts throw together some PowerPoint slides and run with it. That is the beauty of PowerPoint.

One of the bigger issues with the use of PowerPoint is that corporate templates kill effective presentations. Frequently the header and footer information on corporate templates take away the emphasis on the content. (For a good tips on how to generate good presentations, see Beyond Bullet Points). Too often corporate templates are developed by people that do not understand nuances of the delivery medium. I have seen many a presentation that looks good on the developers computer, but doesn't display well on the projected screen (I too have made that mistake). Finding the balance between branding and good presentations is a challenge.

One other point that Brent brings up is the use of PowerPoint to generate quick and easy E-Learning. I think this CAN be done well. The issue is not the tool set, it is the people behind the tools. Too many people do not understand the complexity of creating good e-learning. That being said, you still need to ask yourself, does it need to be good? Will mediocre meet the training need? If it will, then go for it.

Of course, when mediocre training meets the need, it leaves me without a job! It is OK to recognize in industry, that mediocre is often all that is required. And there are many people out there that can develop mediocre training and many tools out there to make it fast and easy to do. I just need to find myself the organization that actually NEEDS good, or better yet, excellent training.

Cheers,
Becky

A different perspective

The people enter the ritual room, each with a sharp implement in their hand. They carry satchels over their shoulders that appear to contain a variety of different tools. As they enter the room, they stack their satchels around the outside edges of the room.

The room is well-lit. It has tables setup in rows with a chair on each end. Each of the people sit within a chair. Strangely, they do not sit next to each other. Each person is far enough apart to see the other person, but not close enough to share any intimate communication.

The authority figure (perhaps a priest or a minister) enters the room. He is older than most of the people. Most of the people are about 18-24 years old, where the priest is easily past 40, perhaps even past 50.

The priest speaks briefly and then passes an offering out to each of the people. The people each take exactly one of the items offered and any remainders are given back to the priest. The room is silent. The priest writes a number and some letters on a large writing stone, that all the people can see. The priest speaks again briefly.

In silence, the people use their sharp implements to make markings upon the offering. Each persons markings are unique. The people are concentrating and working very hard to get their markings just right. Some of the markings are letters and numbers, others are letters and numbers being scratched out and replaced with other markings.

After what seems like a long time (perhaps 2 hours), some of the people start getting up. One at a time mostly, and returning the offering to the priest. The priest accepts the offering without a word or an expression. After giving their offering, the people pick up the satchels they brought in (the same satchel), and depart the ritual room.

After three hours the priest speaks again, and the remaining people stop marking their offerings. The priest walks by each row of tables, and the remaining people give the offering back to the priest. The priest is still expressionless.

The remaining people pick up their satchels and depart.

---

This was an exercise from my sociology text book (Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology V. , second Canadian Edition, by John J. Macionis, NijoleBenokraitis, and Bruce Ravelli). Did you figure out what the ritual was? The goal of the exercise was to try and remove yourself from a familiar setting and view it as an observer without the pre-knowledge of the activity.

Sociology 100 (1101 actually)

Since my job ended at exactly the right time, I'm taking a short sociology course this summer. I have wanted to take such a course for a while, so when I saw that the course started just after I finished work, I figured why not.

I decided to audit the course, and I'm really glad I did. I really do not agree with tests as a means of motivation or validating knowledge. It turns out the course has a midterm worth 40% and a final worth 50%. So, I'm certain I made the correct decision.

The first class was fascinating. The professor is very good at story telling. He described various concepts and had a story to go with each one (one might call them examples, but the way he told it, it was more like a story).

The professor also provided students with many tips on what or how we should be "learning". The class is a 3-hour lecture format, with a 15 minute break in the middle. During the break I heard fellow students discussing the course. Their entire discussion was about whether they were understanding what information they should be writing down and trying to interpret how to "read" the instructor from a testing perspective. I found this to be so sad. These are the students that our institutions are generating. Their entire world resolved around how they were going to prepare for the test. They did not discuss a single thing related to the actual topics presented.

I had to think back and try and remember what it was like. Was I so test focused during my undergrad years? I don't think so, but I'm not sure. The only social science courses I took were math related philosophy courses and they were all about getting an easy credit, not about the knowledge. So, I guess I must have been in a vary similar mindset.

I think the masters degree I did online (which involved many discussions and papers, and NO tests), has helped me figure out how I learn best. It has also showed me what education could be. Unfortunately, we do not prepare our kids for real education. We teach them to "figure out what the teacher wants" rather than doing any real creative or critical thinking on their own. (By the way, it sounded to me like the professor was looking for critical thinking, so these students may very well be in for a real surprise when they get there results back).

Being honest though, I did find the class a struggle in some respects. I tried very hard to concentrate on listening to the professor. What I haven't figured out yet, is how I will make the best of this opportunity. I need to teach myself how to learn again using the lecture format, rather than the online discussion format.

I am also trying to figure out the best way to take notes in a less linear manner. I saw someone at an Informal Learning unworkshop take notes in the form of a mind map. I thought that was fascinating; however, I don't find the traditional mind maps at all represent how I think. (I think it is related to my inability to consistently file anything!). So, at the moment my notes are a jumble of words, sometimes with arrows connecting the different ideas. I think that I mostly take notes so that I am doing something kinesthetic during the lecture. I wonder if knitting during a lecture would be frowned upon ;).

Cheers,
Becky

How not to introduce a new presentation paradigm

Hi all,

This is the first in my series on what I learned in my last job as training specialist at a small high-tech start-up.

I picked up the book Beyond Bullet Points and wanted to give the new presentation paradigm a try. I was able to make some minor modifications to the corporate template to meet my needs, and I had complete control over content creation. I wasn't giving the presentation, I was just writing it. The presentations would be presented by instructors that where knowledgeable on the topic.

I created what I though was an amazing PowerPoint presentation, that used full sentence titles. If you looked only at the slide titles, you could follow the presentation's "story". The slide content itself was mostly graphical. As a general rule, the slides avoided bullet points. Some slides did have a key statement that supported or provided additional information relating to the slide title.

So, I setup a review meeting and asked one of the instructors do to the presentation for the review. I was really excited about the new graphics and the new format. I thought that everyone would find the presentation easy to follow and would be impressed by the ease with which the instructor presented the material. Unfortunately, that is not what happened :(

I did not brief the instructor, and the instructor did not really look at the slides in advance. As a result, he struggled to present the material. He would open a slide and look for the bullet points to help him figure out what to say next. Of course, there were no bullet points. Also, the new template had the unfortunate characteristic that the slide titles were faded out, so they were not obvious. The instructor struggled through the entire presentation without reading a single title! The entire presentation was build around the idea that the first thing that the instructor said was the slide title.

So, what did I learn?

First, when you are trying out a new template, make sure you preview/test the template on a projector (not just your screen) prior to the presentation. The titles which looked OK on my screen became washed out and almost invisible when they were projected.

Second, when you are trying something new and having someone else doing the presentation, make sure you brief the instructor on the new paradigm. It never occurred to me that the instructor would need to be "re-trained" on how to view and present the material. All I needed to tell the instructor in advance was to be sure to read the titles. (I did this with a different presentation and different instructor and it worked brilliantly). When titles are topic based, you often don't read them. However, with this new paradigm, the titles were a critical component of the story.

In the end, I think the new paradigm that uses full sentence titles really does help communicate the intended message. It also helps ensure that the instructor knows what the instructional designer intended with the particular slide. However, the instructors do need to be re-trained on what to expect and how to present the material. Without bullet points, the instructors need to be more knowledgeable on the subject and more familiar with the presentation itself.

Cheers.

Regular Postings - What I learned

Hello world :).

Now that I am soon to be unemployed (at least briefly), I hope to get back to regular blog posts. One of the first series I shall do is, what I learned during my last job. My last job, was a the "Training Specialist" for a high tech start-up. I was the only training person on staff. In addition, this was my first experience in a company with 80-110 people.

Look for posts, soon to come, on the following topics:
- Creating material that anyone can present.
- Creating material that anyone can maintain.
- Real needs versus perceived needs.
- Sometimes "OK" is good enough.
- Breaking the barrier between formal "training" and informal learning.

Another series I hope to put together will include pictures and possibly stories from my northern British Columbia vacation. I am planning a trip up to Kitimat, BC, to go fishing with my parents. This time of year (the week of summer solstice), Kitimat gets about 4-hours of darkness. The long days allow for lots of time to enjoy nature. I'm looking forward to the week of allergy free peace and quiet.

Cheers,
Becky