M-Learning Program
This project challenged us to design and develop a 10-minute m-learning program informed by instructional design theories and graphic design principles, using software including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Captivate, and Final Cut Pro. To do this we addressed an authentic problem among the McGill “Le James” bookstore’s new staff, identified by our SME and team member, Michael Colatruglio. The result is a 10-minute m-learning program that teaches new customer service staff (or old staff who could use some extra support), how to navigate the store’s primary software, WinPrism—an ability directly related to their success in serving customers.
Pitch Video
As part of our project, we were to "pitch" our envisioned program to our classmates. We created this video to support our pitch for our prospective m-learning program.
The purpose of this video was to bring to life the existing issues new customer service staff face at the bookstore through interactions with unhappy customers. Scenes are exaggerated for emphasis and humor. We had a great time filming this and based on our classmates' responses, it seems they had a great time watching it, too.
We filmed and edited this video with our own equipment, before being introduced to equipment made available by the university. As a result, the quality of this video is lesser than that of our explainer video, which you'll be able to watch further down the page. Team members Michael, Sophie and Anna acted, while I filmed and edited.
The purpose of this video was to bring to life the existing issues new customer service staff face at the bookstore through interactions with unhappy customers. Scenes are exaggerated for emphasis and humor. We had a great time filming this and based on our classmates' responses, it seems they had a great time watching it, too.
We filmed and edited this video with our own equipment, before being introduced to equipment made available by the university. As a result, the quality of this video is lesser than that of our explainer video, which you'll be able to watch further down the page. Team members Michael, Sophie and Anna acted, while I filmed and edited.
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Concept Map Our concept map displays relationships between the different aspects that make up the program: the program's objectives, its learners, the design, etc |
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Storyboard Our storyboard depicts our design concepts, from text through to transitions, visuals, and audio. This was created as a base from which our training was developed. Certain details were modified throughout the development process, as you'll see in the final training below. |
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Information Architecture Our IA is a visual representation of the navigation experience learners will go through when using our training program. It was developed during the design phase of the project, before the training was realized in Adobe Captivate. Images are taken from screen shots of our storyboard. |
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Explainer Video
Below is a video our team created to support our pitch for our prospective m-learning program.
The purpose of this video was to bring to life the existing issues new customer service staff face at the bookstore through interactions with unhappy customers. Scenes are exaggerated for emphasis and humour. We had a great time filming this and based on our classmates' responses, it seems they had a great time watching it, too.
We filmed and edited this video with our own equipment, before being introduced to equipment made available by the university. As a result, the quality of this video is lesser than that of our explainer video, which you'll be able to watch further down the page. Team members Michael, Sophie and Anna acted, while I filmed and edited.
The purpose of this video was to bring to life the existing issues new customer service staff face at the bookstore through interactions with unhappy customers. Scenes are exaggerated for emphasis and humour. We had a great time filming this and based on our classmates' responses, it seems they had a great time watching it, too.
We filmed and edited this video with our own equipment, before being introduced to equipment made available by the university. As a result, the quality of this video is lesser than that of our explainer video, which you'll be able to watch further down the page. Team members Michael, Sophie and Anna acted, while I filmed and edited.
m-Learning Program: Le James Bookstore Training
Our team created designs, plans, and two videos to boot.
Below is the final culmination of our efforts, our m-learning program.
The training is hosted on a third party website called Scorm. In order to access it, you'll need to create a Scorm account yourself. But don't worry—it's free to use and easy to sign up: https://cloud.scorm.com/sc/guest/SignUpForm
Once you've created your own Scorm account, click on the button below and input your account information into the pop-up screen that follows. After doing this the training will begin. We hope you enjoy it—thanks for your interest!
M-Learning Program Narrative
Project brief description
This project challenged us to design and develop a 10-minute m-learning program informed by instructional design theories and graphic design principles, using software including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Captivate, and Final Cut Pro. To do this we addressed an authentic problem among the McGill “Le James” bookstore’s new staff, identified by our SME and team member, Michael Colatruglio. The result is a 10-minute m-learning program that teaches new customer service staff (or old staff who could use some extra support), how to navigate the store’s primary software, WinPrism—an ability directly related to their success in serving customers.
Team Information
This project was created by Anna Rosenfield, Sophie Benghazi, Michael Colatruglio and myself Jeremy Tanguay.
The Context
This program was developed out of an authentic need for training the part-time staff at McGill’s Le James bookstore, established through a needs assessment conducted with the bookstore’s staff. Our team member Michael had been a bookstore employee for two years at the time of this project, and so was able to further investigate an issue he suspected could be helped with a learning program.
Being an employee himself, Michael identified that despite an otherwise enjoyable environment, employee turnover was high, averaging at about one month between someone being hired and leaving the role. Additionally, he noticed that many employees (of which the majority were new) were unable to provide customers with accurate information, leading to unhappy clientele and stressed-out staff. With some assessing through interviews and surveys, Michael discovered that an important contribution to this issue was the fact that after moving and the store being split into several new locations, there was no longer any uniform training occuring. Therefore, this launched the need for a program that provided formal, concrete information to support new staff members.
The technological context of this program considers the use of the bookstore’s main software, WinPrism. The understanding of how to navigate this software is central to the success of new bookstore staff, and so it became the crux of our program’s material. Because we are in an age where people are short on time and demand flexibility, we sought to develop a program that was both suitable for desktop use (so that one could do the training while simultaneously practicing on the bookstore’s software) and accessible via mobile phone (while in landscape view).
Driving questions
This program seeks to address three driving questions:
Project Goal
The goal of the Le James training program is to provide a simple, practical and easily accessible training tool for the use of the Le James part-time student staff. The program will be a 10-minute mobile learning program that will focus on the cataloguing software WinPrism, which is the primary source of information for the staff about any of the material in the store. Through information provided by subject matter experts and through the use of the Adobe Captivate software, we intended to produce this m-learning training within a timeframe of 2 months.
Project Objectives
Main Objective 1: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to provide every customer who requests help their necessary course material.
Supporting Objective 1.1: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to identify all the necessary steps to look up the course material using the cataloguing software “WinPrism” without additional help.
Supporting Objective 1.2: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to provide a raincheck for sold out coursepacks whenever a customer requires one.
Supporting Objective 1.3: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to provide information on any book in the store using the cataloguing software “WinPrism” without additional help.
Theoretical concepts
The design of this project was informed by a number of concepts and principles. Most notably the mastery approach, Bandura’s social learning theory, and interactive design principles outlined by educational technologist, Richard E. Mayer.
The instructional strategy underpinning this program is the mastery approach, which instructs learners—usually novices—through a step-by-step demonstration of the skills to be attained, followed by the opportunity to practice them (Carliner, 2015). In this case, demonstrations are executed throughout the tutorial via the use of guiding narration and screen captures. The training also asks that learners practice the steps themselves on the WinPrism program (software that cannot be accessed anywhere but at the bookstore itself). This approach was applied as it best suits the technical nature of this training, instructing learners to develop skills in a prescribed manner (Carliner, 2015).
Building on the mastery approach, this program reflects aspects of social learning theory, specifically its use of modeling. Though in this context the model is not a person, (as is the case in the truest sense of social learning theory), our use of “James”, a personified book, serves as the character who provides explanations with visual cues, setting the learner up for observational learning (Bandura, 1961).
Principles for designing this training were also drawn from Mayer’s research on interactive multimedia design, specifically signaling, personalization, and the use of voice. A critical consideration to maximize information retention is the use of signaling, which refers to highlighting essential material for the learner (Mayer, 2014). This was done by bolding keywords and learning points in each slide. By doing so, a clear correlation between the overall step and related microsteps was secured. A conversational style, both in the narration and text was also used. This is referred to as personalization, which enables the learner to more deeply process information. To add to this, we decided to incorporate narration to the training using a real voice versus a computerized one. Again, this supports deepening the learner’s cognitive process through triggering a social presence in him/her. (Mayer, 2014)
Target Audience
Our audience for this training program is primarily the new customer service employees of the McGill bookstore, though all customer service staff are welcome to refer to it. These employees are part-time staff and full or part-time McGill students. Through conducting a needs assessment, we discovered that in addition to the information above, our learners are in their twenties, are English-speaking, and are mostly female. Our survey results (carried out in a needs assessment) signified that 50% of staff (both new and old) expressed their lack of confidence regarding their ability to accurately serve customers. The same results appeared for those believing they could benefit from a training on the bookstore’s main software.
Timeline, Process, Collaboration, and Methods
Our team’s process was rooted in identifying each other’s strengths and organizing tasks from this understanding. This program demanded a variety of skills, ranging from technical to artistic. In getting to know each other’s backgrounds, skillsets, and preferences, each team member was held accountable for roles within his/her domain.
At a glance, the team could expect Sophie to undertake anything artistic, Jeremy to lead anything technical, Michael to direct the content (he was our SME), and Anna to ensure the group’s alignment and organization.
Our team dynamic was friendly and informal, which not only made the process all the more enjoyable, but also proved to be beneficial in the way we organized our time. Because we were working alongside structured deadlines instilled by our course outline, it was simple to determine what needed to be achieved by when. More than this, though, was our willingness to make time to work together, as many of the tasks required us to be in the same space at once, as in the case of filming our explainer video, for example. Typically, our group would touch base in person once a week through class, keep in constant contact through a shared Facebook message, video chat occasionally, and meet up once or twice per week to work on whatever needed to be completed. Overall, we approached the components of this projects in a sort of “microtasks” way, addressing tasks on a week-by-week basis, while always referring back to the greater goal.
Media components
For the explainer video:
The purpose of our explainer video is to highlight the need for our m-learning program through depicting the existing problem bookstore staff and customers are experiencing, contrasted with their performance and confidence post-training. We wanted to bring an otherwise dry topic to life, and so decided to inject humour into the narrative by creating a mockumentary-style video inspired by the popular TV series, The Office (US version specifically).
For our initial pitch, our team chose to create a video portraying a day in the life of a new employee interacting with a customer—exaggerated for drama and humour. This consisted of typical problem scenarios staff might face: providing the wrong stock information and providing the wrong course material information. When it came time to create our explainer video, which not only explored the problem but highlighted the solution through our training, we decided to build on this initial video but add the “after” component. Additionally, in our first video emphasis was placed on the perspective of the customer. This time we considered our intended learners as our main audience, and developed a story from their vantage point to encourage their motivation to use the training.
Using our pitch video and The Office as inspiration, we wrote a loose script following three bookstore employees (played by Anna, Sophie, and Michael). The video opens with b-roll of the bookstore’s facade and inside, with Anna stocking books. This sets the stage while upbeat music plays to contribute to the light mood of the story. The narrative then leads to three problem-scenarios with immediate follow-up interviews in which each staff member expresses their discomfort in their role due to lack of knowledge. Awkward moments and uncertainty in their expressions contribute to the video’s sense of levity.
The video then cuts to a brief overview of the key factors of the m-learning program, informing the audience of the training to come, while also serving as a segway into the new capabilities of staff who’ve experienced it.
In the second half of the video, the same three staff members are interviewed again, only this time their tone has changed to one of optimism and confidence...with some subtle sarcasm to boot. The story closes with an image of the bookstore’s logo, followed by outtakes of the three staff members laughing.
In creating this video we used a Canon t5i to film, a Rode microphone for sound, a LED light kit, and Final Cut Pro to edit. As expected, editing took up the bulk of our time as we decided on the takes to include and the music to select (free to use), and executed cuts, transitions, etc.
For the training itself:
The purpose of the training was to create an interactive program for the Le James bookstore employees from McGill University. The training was conceived in order to train staff on the diverse tasks required to perform in the bookstore through the use of their main cataloguing system, WinPrism.
Because the content of this training is dry, we began by brainstorming the ways in which we could make the experience engaging for our learners. We decided that using a personified book as our guide would be a stimulating way to captivate the learner’s attention, while also ruling out decisions around gender, ethnicity, etc., creating an inclusive mascot. And so, “James”, a friendly character to guide the employee through the training, was born. We chose the name James as a direct homage to James McGill and the name of the bookstore itself. This being said, we made the creative decision to narrate using the voice of a female to balance out questions of any specific gender. Also, our target audience is mostly female, so this aspect caters to them.
We designed this training with two “sub-audiences” in mind: those who are new to WinPrism, and those who have gone through our new employee training and could benefit from a job aid. With this said, once the training has loaded, the learner lands on a page with two options: new employee training, or employee job aid. We decided to provide a branch of options here, as older employees or those who have already done the full training may find it helpful to refer to an overview while serving customers. Should the learner choose the “new employee training” option, a training of about 10 minutes is launched. This training is made up of a series of practical steps that customer service staff will face regularly when serving customers. To facilitate knowledge acquisition, we used a combination of titles, screen captures of the software (with red circles emphasizing key details within them), photos of bookstore material, succinct text with bolded keywords, and friendly narration. To navigate the training, books signaling “next page”, “previous page”, and “home page” sit at the bottom of the screen. We chose these images, which were hand-drawn along with James, to keep with the bookstore theme. Once drawn by hand, these images were transferred to Adobe Photoshop and edited before being inserted into our template on Adobe Captivate.
At the end of the training there is a brief assessment in the form of a drag-and-drop quiz. We provided learners with three scenarios to address by placing the necessary steps to serve the customer in the correct order.
In addition to our consideration of James as our guide and books as navigation buttons, the programs aims to reflect the design of the bookstore. To do this, our template is a replica of the bookstore’s logo, and uses the same colours throughout: white, red, black, and grey. We wanted to limit the learner’s cognitive overload, and so used the “horror vacui” design principle, which maximizes white space on the page. In doing this, we achieved a look that is simple and direct, so that the learner is clear on the key learnings of each step.
As touched on above, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Captivate were used to create the design and structure of the training program. With these softwares we used a blend of original and pre-existing images. Photoshop was also used to create our information architecture, which lays out the flow of the training, page-by-page.
In addition to these softwares, Google slides was used to develop our storyboard, as well as GarageBand for our voiceover work, and Final Cut Pro for both our pitch and explainer videos.
Challenges
Towards the final stages of completing our program we faced two main challenges: one which led us to gain more clarity around the program’s intended use and another which we’ve taken as a learning moment for future program developing.
With reference to the first challenge, to create the training we used Adobe Creative Suite’s Captivate software. In doing so, we chose to design the program to best match desktop use, and so developed it in this format. Once the final version was nearly complete, we thought it would be interesting to transfer the program into a mobile phone format so that learners could refer to the training “on-the-go.” Alas, in doing this we confronted challenges surrounding reformatting, establishing a standard size that would work on most phones, etc. Because we needed to format the training to one particular ratio (of our choice), we tried to determine the size that would fit on the majority of phones, as not all screens are the same size, making the program look distorted on some while clear on others. While troubleshooting, we realized two aspects about our desktop version that led us to stick with it:
The second challenge refers to the quiz portion of our program. In our original design, we intended on creating a quiz in a drag-and-drop style, for which learners would be presented with a scenario and asked to determine which steps were required to serve the customer and in which order. They would do this by selecting the right steps out of a bank of answers on the screen, and place them in the appropriate box indicating the step’s order in the chain of responses. We were happy with this plan, and took our design through to the development stage, only to later realize that the combination of selecting the right responses out of a bank of possible answers and having to place them in the right order left far too much room for error (think hundreds of thousand of possibilities!).
We then started from scratch and came up with another idea. We would use a blend of quiz styles: one drag-and-drop with a focus solely on the order of steps; one drag and drop with one right answer that finishes a sentence; and one multiple choice question. We thought this would be an engaging and impactful way to assess learners that was not too difficult, but didn’t spoonfeed them the answers, either. And so, on the final hour we tried to execute this, only to come up against challenges with the Captivate software. After hours of researching through forums and talking with classmates, it seemed that without delving into a layer of coding, we weren’t able to do the simple task of creating a multiple choice quiz (which must be created in it’s own template) while having the option to insert a “next page” button. What’s more, doing this would not allow us to use the same navigation buttons and template style used throughout the program. Without coding experience and wanting to keep our program’s look consistent and user-friendly, we regretfully decided to abandon the idea.
We then realized that we weren’t able to take the “finish the sentence” approach, as each scenario had already been narrated and changing the text would mean going back to record. Alas we didn’t have time for this—something that surely can be avoided with more foresight in the future.
Ultimately, we decided to make the best of what we could work with and created a quiz using our original drag-and-drop idea, only now learners were solely asked to put the steps in the right order. By doing this we could avoid setting learners up for facing the abyss of seemingly infinite possibilities, and ensure that with some reflection they would be able to get it right.
While we can’t help what our given software (Captivate) will or will not allow us to do, facing this challenge serves as an important reminder to take the required time to understand the capabilities of the software we’re using and use this information to guide our design plans. This challenge has also been a keen reminder to keep the learner’s experience at the forefront of our mind’s throughout the process.
Personal Reflection
This project was truly a learning experience. Being one of the largest, if not the largest project I've completed so far in this program, I encountered many challenges along the way.
One of the biggest challenges I faced was in regards to software. Much of the software used to create this project was new to me each presenting their own hurtles along the way. Whether it be spending hours attempting to create our information architecture only to realize the software we were using didn't allow us to accomplish what we wanted and that using an other software would be much more efficient and produce a far better outcome. Similarly, while I had previous experience with video editing software, I was new to Final Cut Pro and was unable at first to do many of the features I wanted to use. Furthermore, using Adobe Captivate provide to be the biggest challenge. Where, much of your initial plan proved to be unrealizable through Captive. On many occasions we had to negotiate between our envisioned final product and what our skills allowed us to accomplish on the software.
Another important challenge was regarding team work. As it seems to be the common thread among the various projects, group work presented its own challenges. Being that I was unaccustomed to working in groups, I found it challenging to have to schedule the time spent on the project rather than work at my own pace. Furthermore, early on I was faced with the realization of the imperativeness of effective communication. When working in a group everyone needs to have a shared understanding of what the finished product should look like and often, what we might believe is a shared vision is in reality much different. Working on ensuring we had a shared understanding aloud us to work at a much faster pace and that none of the work had to be redone.
In the end I can truly say this project has been a learning experience in regards to design, software use and group work.
References
Bandura, A. (1969). Social Learning Theory of Identificatory Processes. In D.A. Goslin (Author) , Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research (pp. 213-262). Chicago, IL: Rand McNally & Company.
Carliner, S. (2015.) Training Design Basics, second edition. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.
Mayer, R. E. (2014). Research-based principles for designing multimedia instruction. In V. Benassi, C. Overson, C. Hakala (Eds.), Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum (pp. 59–70). The Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Retrieved from https://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/background_reading.pdf
Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2011). Universal Principles of Design. Rockport Publishers.
This project challenged us to design and develop a 10-minute m-learning program informed by instructional design theories and graphic design principles, using software including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Captivate, and Final Cut Pro. To do this we addressed an authentic problem among the McGill “Le James” bookstore’s new staff, identified by our SME and team member, Michael Colatruglio. The result is a 10-minute m-learning program that teaches new customer service staff (or old staff who could use some extra support), how to navigate the store’s primary software, WinPrism—an ability directly related to their success in serving customers.
Team Information
This project was created by Anna Rosenfield, Sophie Benghazi, Michael Colatruglio and myself Jeremy Tanguay.
The Context
This program was developed out of an authentic need for training the part-time staff at McGill’s Le James bookstore, established through a needs assessment conducted with the bookstore’s staff. Our team member Michael had been a bookstore employee for two years at the time of this project, and so was able to further investigate an issue he suspected could be helped with a learning program.
Being an employee himself, Michael identified that despite an otherwise enjoyable environment, employee turnover was high, averaging at about one month between someone being hired and leaving the role. Additionally, he noticed that many employees (of which the majority were new) were unable to provide customers with accurate information, leading to unhappy clientele and stressed-out staff. With some assessing through interviews and surveys, Michael discovered that an important contribution to this issue was the fact that after moving and the store being split into several new locations, there was no longer any uniform training occuring. Therefore, this launched the need for a program that provided formal, concrete information to support new staff members.
The technological context of this program considers the use of the bookstore’s main software, WinPrism. The understanding of how to navigate this software is central to the success of new bookstore staff, and so it became the crux of our program’s material. Because we are in an age where people are short on time and demand flexibility, we sought to develop a program that was both suitable for desktop use (so that one could do the training while simultaneously practicing on the bookstore’s software) and accessible via mobile phone (while in landscape view).
Driving questions
This program seeks to address three driving questions:
- What do new employees of the McGill bookstore need to master in order to serve their customers with accuracy and confidence?
- What are the key functions in the bookstore’s main operating software—WinPrism—that new employees must master in order to search for course material, provide information about material, and provide rainchecks to sold out course packs?
- How can we best communicate these steps in a way that is accessible and practical to new employees with limited knowledge of WinPrism?
Project Goal
The goal of the Le James training program is to provide a simple, practical and easily accessible training tool for the use of the Le James part-time student staff. The program will be a 10-minute mobile learning program that will focus on the cataloguing software WinPrism, which is the primary source of information for the staff about any of the material in the store. Through information provided by subject matter experts and through the use of the Adobe Captivate software, we intended to produce this m-learning training within a timeframe of 2 months.
Project Objectives
Main Objective 1: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to provide every customer who requests help their necessary course material.
Supporting Objective 1.1: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to identify all the necessary steps to look up the course material using the cataloguing software “WinPrism” without additional help.
Supporting Objective 1.2: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to provide a raincheck for sold out coursepacks whenever a customer requires one.
Supporting Objective 1.3: With the completion of this training program—and with reference to the embedded job aid—employees will be able to provide information on any book in the store using the cataloguing software “WinPrism” without additional help.
Theoretical concepts
The design of this project was informed by a number of concepts and principles. Most notably the mastery approach, Bandura’s social learning theory, and interactive design principles outlined by educational technologist, Richard E. Mayer.
The instructional strategy underpinning this program is the mastery approach, which instructs learners—usually novices—through a step-by-step demonstration of the skills to be attained, followed by the opportunity to practice them (Carliner, 2015). In this case, demonstrations are executed throughout the tutorial via the use of guiding narration and screen captures. The training also asks that learners practice the steps themselves on the WinPrism program (software that cannot be accessed anywhere but at the bookstore itself). This approach was applied as it best suits the technical nature of this training, instructing learners to develop skills in a prescribed manner (Carliner, 2015).
Building on the mastery approach, this program reflects aspects of social learning theory, specifically its use of modeling. Though in this context the model is not a person, (as is the case in the truest sense of social learning theory), our use of “James”, a personified book, serves as the character who provides explanations with visual cues, setting the learner up for observational learning (Bandura, 1961).
Principles for designing this training were also drawn from Mayer’s research on interactive multimedia design, specifically signaling, personalization, and the use of voice. A critical consideration to maximize information retention is the use of signaling, which refers to highlighting essential material for the learner (Mayer, 2014). This was done by bolding keywords and learning points in each slide. By doing so, a clear correlation between the overall step and related microsteps was secured. A conversational style, both in the narration and text was also used. This is referred to as personalization, which enables the learner to more deeply process information. To add to this, we decided to incorporate narration to the training using a real voice versus a computerized one. Again, this supports deepening the learner’s cognitive process through triggering a social presence in him/her. (Mayer, 2014)
Target Audience
Our audience for this training program is primarily the new customer service employees of the McGill bookstore, though all customer service staff are welcome to refer to it. These employees are part-time staff and full or part-time McGill students. Through conducting a needs assessment, we discovered that in addition to the information above, our learners are in their twenties, are English-speaking, and are mostly female. Our survey results (carried out in a needs assessment) signified that 50% of staff (both new and old) expressed their lack of confidence regarding their ability to accurately serve customers. The same results appeared for those believing they could benefit from a training on the bookstore’s main software.
Timeline, Process, Collaboration, and Methods
Our team’s process was rooted in identifying each other’s strengths and organizing tasks from this understanding. This program demanded a variety of skills, ranging from technical to artistic. In getting to know each other’s backgrounds, skillsets, and preferences, each team member was held accountable for roles within his/her domain.
At a glance, the team could expect Sophie to undertake anything artistic, Jeremy to lead anything technical, Michael to direct the content (he was our SME), and Anna to ensure the group’s alignment and organization.
Our team dynamic was friendly and informal, which not only made the process all the more enjoyable, but also proved to be beneficial in the way we organized our time. Because we were working alongside structured deadlines instilled by our course outline, it was simple to determine what needed to be achieved by when. More than this, though, was our willingness to make time to work together, as many of the tasks required us to be in the same space at once, as in the case of filming our explainer video, for example. Typically, our group would touch base in person once a week through class, keep in constant contact through a shared Facebook message, video chat occasionally, and meet up once or twice per week to work on whatever needed to be completed. Overall, we approached the components of this projects in a sort of “microtasks” way, addressing tasks on a week-by-week basis, while always referring back to the greater goal.
Media components
For the explainer video:
The purpose of our explainer video is to highlight the need for our m-learning program through depicting the existing problem bookstore staff and customers are experiencing, contrasted with their performance and confidence post-training. We wanted to bring an otherwise dry topic to life, and so decided to inject humour into the narrative by creating a mockumentary-style video inspired by the popular TV series, The Office (US version specifically).
For our initial pitch, our team chose to create a video portraying a day in the life of a new employee interacting with a customer—exaggerated for drama and humour. This consisted of typical problem scenarios staff might face: providing the wrong stock information and providing the wrong course material information. When it came time to create our explainer video, which not only explored the problem but highlighted the solution through our training, we decided to build on this initial video but add the “after” component. Additionally, in our first video emphasis was placed on the perspective of the customer. This time we considered our intended learners as our main audience, and developed a story from their vantage point to encourage their motivation to use the training.
Using our pitch video and The Office as inspiration, we wrote a loose script following three bookstore employees (played by Anna, Sophie, and Michael). The video opens with b-roll of the bookstore’s facade and inside, with Anna stocking books. This sets the stage while upbeat music plays to contribute to the light mood of the story. The narrative then leads to three problem-scenarios with immediate follow-up interviews in which each staff member expresses their discomfort in their role due to lack of knowledge. Awkward moments and uncertainty in their expressions contribute to the video’s sense of levity.
The video then cuts to a brief overview of the key factors of the m-learning program, informing the audience of the training to come, while also serving as a segway into the new capabilities of staff who’ve experienced it.
In the second half of the video, the same three staff members are interviewed again, only this time their tone has changed to one of optimism and confidence...with some subtle sarcasm to boot. The story closes with an image of the bookstore’s logo, followed by outtakes of the three staff members laughing.
In creating this video we used a Canon t5i to film, a Rode microphone for sound, a LED light kit, and Final Cut Pro to edit. As expected, editing took up the bulk of our time as we decided on the takes to include and the music to select (free to use), and executed cuts, transitions, etc.
For the training itself:
The purpose of the training was to create an interactive program for the Le James bookstore employees from McGill University. The training was conceived in order to train staff on the diverse tasks required to perform in the bookstore through the use of their main cataloguing system, WinPrism.
Because the content of this training is dry, we began by brainstorming the ways in which we could make the experience engaging for our learners. We decided that using a personified book as our guide would be a stimulating way to captivate the learner’s attention, while also ruling out decisions around gender, ethnicity, etc., creating an inclusive mascot. And so, “James”, a friendly character to guide the employee through the training, was born. We chose the name James as a direct homage to James McGill and the name of the bookstore itself. This being said, we made the creative decision to narrate using the voice of a female to balance out questions of any specific gender. Also, our target audience is mostly female, so this aspect caters to them.
We designed this training with two “sub-audiences” in mind: those who are new to WinPrism, and those who have gone through our new employee training and could benefit from a job aid. With this said, once the training has loaded, the learner lands on a page with two options: new employee training, or employee job aid. We decided to provide a branch of options here, as older employees or those who have already done the full training may find it helpful to refer to an overview while serving customers. Should the learner choose the “new employee training” option, a training of about 10 minutes is launched. This training is made up of a series of practical steps that customer service staff will face regularly when serving customers. To facilitate knowledge acquisition, we used a combination of titles, screen captures of the software (with red circles emphasizing key details within them), photos of bookstore material, succinct text with bolded keywords, and friendly narration. To navigate the training, books signaling “next page”, “previous page”, and “home page” sit at the bottom of the screen. We chose these images, which were hand-drawn along with James, to keep with the bookstore theme. Once drawn by hand, these images were transferred to Adobe Photoshop and edited before being inserted into our template on Adobe Captivate.
At the end of the training there is a brief assessment in the form of a drag-and-drop quiz. We provided learners with three scenarios to address by placing the necessary steps to serve the customer in the correct order.
In addition to our consideration of James as our guide and books as navigation buttons, the programs aims to reflect the design of the bookstore. To do this, our template is a replica of the bookstore’s logo, and uses the same colours throughout: white, red, black, and grey. We wanted to limit the learner’s cognitive overload, and so used the “horror vacui” design principle, which maximizes white space on the page. In doing this, we achieved a look that is simple and direct, so that the learner is clear on the key learnings of each step.
As touched on above, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Captivate were used to create the design and structure of the training program. With these softwares we used a blend of original and pre-existing images. Photoshop was also used to create our information architecture, which lays out the flow of the training, page-by-page.
In addition to these softwares, Google slides was used to develop our storyboard, as well as GarageBand for our voiceover work, and Final Cut Pro for both our pitch and explainer videos.
Challenges
Towards the final stages of completing our program we faced two main challenges: one which led us to gain more clarity around the program’s intended use and another which we’ve taken as a learning moment for future program developing.
With reference to the first challenge, to create the training we used Adobe Creative Suite’s Captivate software. In doing so, we chose to design the program to best match desktop use, and so developed it in this format. Once the final version was nearly complete, we thought it would be interesting to transfer the program into a mobile phone format so that learners could refer to the training “on-the-go.” Alas, in doing this we confronted challenges surrounding reformatting, establishing a standard size that would work on most phones, etc. Because we needed to format the training to one particular ratio (of our choice), we tried to determine the size that would fit on the majority of phones, as not all screens are the same size, making the program look distorted on some while clear on others. While troubleshooting, we realized two aspects about our desktop version that led us to stick with it:
- If opened on most phones that are turned horizontally in “landscape view”, the desktop version is just as clear on a mobile as it is on a computer.
- Ideally, learners will be going through this training while on one of the bookstore’s desktop computers so that they can practice the steps on WinPrism themselves. With this in mind, it is most important that the training caters to desktop formatting. (We also considered the likelihood of employees doing this training in their free time—“on-the-go”—versus when at work and decided that the latter was more likely in any case.)
The second challenge refers to the quiz portion of our program. In our original design, we intended on creating a quiz in a drag-and-drop style, for which learners would be presented with a scenario and asked to determine which steps were required to serve the customer and in which order. They would do this by selecting the right steps out of a bank of answers on the screen, and place them in the appropriate box indicating the step’s order in the chain of responses. We were happy with this plan, and took our design through to the development stage, only to later realize that the combination of selecting the right responses out of a bank of possible answers and having to place them in the right order left far too much room for error (think hundreds of thousand of possibilities!).
We then started from scratch and came up with another idea. We would use a blend of quiz styles: one drag-and-drop with a focus solely on the order of steps; one drag and drop with one right answer that finishes a sentence; and one multiple choice question. We thought this would be an engaging and impactful way to assess learners that was not too difficult, but didn’t spoonfeed them the answers, either. And so, on the final hour we tried to execute this, only to come up against challenges with the Captivate software. After hours of researching through forums and talking with classmates, it seemed that without delving into a layer of coding, we weren’t able to do the simple task of creating a multiple choice quiz (which must be created in it’s own template) while having the option to insert a “next page” button. What’s more, doing this would not allow us to use the same navigation buttons and template style used throughout the program. Without coding experience and wanting to keep our program’s look consistent and user-friendly, we regretfully decided to abandon the idea.
We then realized that we weren’t able to take the “finish the sentence” approach, as each scenario had already been narrated and changing the text would mean going back to record. Alas we didn’t have time for this—something that surely can be avoided with more foresight in the future.
Ultimately, we decided to make the best of what we could work with and created a quiz using our original drag-and-drop idea, only now learners were solely asked to put the steps in the right order. By doing this we could avoid setting learners up for facing the abyss of seemingly infinite possibilities, and ensure that with some reflection they would be able to get it right.
While we can’t help what our given software (Captivate) will or will not allow us to do, facing this challenge serves as an important reminder to take the required time to understand the capabilities of the software we’re using and use this information to guide our design plans. This challenge has also been a keen reminder to keep the learner’s experience at the forefront of our mind’s throughout the process.
Personal Reflection
This project was truly a learning experience. Being one of the largest, if not the largest project I've completed so far in this program, I encountered many challenges along the way.
One of the biggest challenges I faced was in regards to software. Much of the software used to create this project was new to me each presenting their own hurtles along the way. Whether it be spending hours attempting to create our information architecture only to realize the software we were using didn't allow us to accomplish what we wanted and that using an other software would be much more efficient and produce a far better outcome. Similarly, while I had previous experience with video editing software, I was new to Final Cut Pro and was unable at first to do many of the features I wanted to use. Furthermore, using Adobe Captivate provide to be the biggest challenge. Where, much of your initial plan proved to be unrealizable through Captive. On many occasions we had to negotiate between our envisioned final product and what our skills allowed us to accomplish on the software.
Another important challenge was regarding team work. As it seems to be the common thread among the various projects, group work presented its own challenges. Being that I was unaccustomed to working in groups, I found it challenging to have to schedule the time spent on the project rather than work at my own pace. Furthermore, early on I was faced with the realization of the imperativeness of effective communication. When working in a group everyone needs to have a shared understanding of what the finished product should look like and often, what we might believe is a shared vision is in reality much different. Working on ensuring we had a shared understanding aloud us to work at a much faster pace and that none of the work had to be redone.
In the end I can truly say this project has been a learning experience in regards to design, software use and group work.
References
Bandura, A. (1969). Social Learning Theory of Identificatory Processes. In D.A. Goslin (Author) , Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research (pp. 213-262). Chicago, IL: Rand McNally & Company.
Carliner, S. (2015.) Training Design Basics, second edition. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.
Mayer, R. E. (2014). Research-based principles for designing multimedia instruction. In V. Benassi, C. Overson, C. Hakala (Eds.), Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum (pp. 59–70). The Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Retrieved from https://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/background_reading.pdf
Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2011). Universal Principles of Design. Rockport Publishers.
