“No”is a two-letter word that can launch a creative idea into a journeyto the abysmal cavern of lost progress. “No” is the fuel for theroad trip down the super highway to boring. “No” is a blindingglare that prevents us from seeing potential and opportunity. “No”is the enemy of next level thinking. “No” is all of these things,and unfortunately, “No” is very real.
Whetheryou are in sales, instructional design, or any career, “No” canbe a significant obstacle to solving problems and capitalizing oncreative ideas. This is hardly news to any experienced professional.“No” is a word we come across every day, and even in some casesevery time we deal with certain people in our profession. “No”doesn’t have to be the sharp dagger it is often known to be. “No”can be avoided if a viable alternative is available.
Avoiding “No” by taking money out of the discussion
Recently,I presented at Learning Solutions Conference in Orlando, Florida. Thetopic was “Tools, Techniques, and Tips for Low-to-No Budgete-Learning.” The goal of the session was to neutralize “No” asit relates to learning design. Not always, but often, “No” isused as a response to a lack of available funds. I took this problemand pondered. What if money wasn’t an issue? How empowering wouldit be for designers to know their creative ideas were no longerlimited by cost (at least in part, or to a lesser degree)?
Thismay sound like a fantasy, but the reality is this opportunity existstoday. We live in an era of “Beta Brands.” Free is the newcurrency. The economy of creativity is only limited by a lack ofparticipation and talent. Developers are sharing access to theirplatforms and merely expecting them to be used in exchange.
Beta Brand tactics
There are threetactics of learning that I structured the session around. All threebenefit greatly from the new currency of the “Beta Brands:”
Take advantage of informal learning using familiar platforms where your learning community exists or where you are looking to grow your learning community.
Incorporate engaging visual styles, techniques, and tactics to stimulate interest, attraction, and learning.
Capture SME (Subject Matter Expertise) as often as possible.
These may seemsimple enough but in my experience, they are often neglected due tothe constraints of cost.
The social solution
Two of the mostpopular social communities exist in Facebook and Twitter. I wouldeven venture to say of those reading this article, everyone has aFacebook account and a strong majority has Twitter accounts. Thereality is, so do your learners. So why not capitalize on this levelof familiarity and participation?
Facebook’sconversion to iFrames creates an incredible opportunity for thee-Learning author. With iFrames, you can now embed Articulate andCaptivate courses. To see a demonstration, visit the ISD2.0 Facebook Fan Page. The newest Twitter.com interface alsocreates a great tool for launching a multimedia course. You can learnhow by reading my previous column, Twainingin Twitter. Neither Facebook nor Twitter is an ideal managementsystem for every situation. However, they are applicable to manysolutions, especially training customers, recruiting employees, andessentially most learning opportunities that do not need a level ofsecurity around content.
Visuals with style
The secondprinciple, optimizing visual style is often one that designers willstray away from due to cost. There are many free tools andcombinations of tools that can improve the visual dynamics of yourcourse. Aviary is a free editingtool for photos, visual effects, screen capture, and audio. It’stime to move away from clip art (which your learners have probablyseen or even used themselves in dozens of other eCourses). Motiondoesn’t have to be a pipe dream, either. The combination of Avatarbuilding in virtual worlds (such as Second Life), the use ofscreen-casting tools (such as Screenr or Snagit), and an editingprogram (such as iMovies) can move your budget from $10,000 for anAvatar-building program to free or within a few hundred dollars (ifyou buy Vegas or similar video editing systems).
Capturing experts
Finally, capturingsubject matter expertise has never been easier or cheaper. There aretools that make distance and time irrelevant when trying toimmortalize expertise. Every Tuesday (10am PT), eLearnchatcaptures the expertise of learning professionals for a live streaminginterview. This can easily be duplicated with Skype and justin.tv orustream.tv. There is also a free version of Vidblasterwhich can give your streaming broadcast a professional look.
Get past “No” with Beta Brands
“No” is quicklybecoming an antiquated word in the e-Learning community. Costs areshrinking and accessibility is increasing. Learners are demandingdynamic delivery of relevant content and excuses are becoming lessvalid as we embrace and welcome more of these “Beta Brands” intoour learning community.
