No, Seriously… If Not ADDIE, Then What?

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Judy Unrein

Image of a female sprinter It’s been a couple of weeks since this series ended and the response has been fabulous! (Welcome, new readers!) But I’ve since realized… I never really answered the question, If not ADDIE, Then What?

Here’s what I mean: ADDIE is a project management model. And while it doesn’t inform interaction design, the other models in this series don’t tell us much about managing projects. And project management is an important part of most IDs’ jobs.

I’ve seen an increasing awareness in the last few years that elearning projects benefit from some of the same methods as software development. Just two examples: Michael Allen has long promoted successive approximation (again, read Designing Successful E-Learning for more). And my coworker, Tanya Coomes, just made another contribution: her visualization of elearning project planning à la SCRUM.

What else would you recommend to IDs looking for project management resources?

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If Not ADDIE, Then What? Part 3: Michael Allen’s CCAF

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Judy Unrein

In this short series, I’m highlighting instructional design models that have had profound impacts on my work… specifically those that speak to the creative process, and specifically those that have originated in the practice of creating corporate learning.

Microsoft's old, ugly clipart of four puzzle pieces stuck together

Yeah. I went there.

Dr. Michael Allen’s CCAF (Context/Challenge/Activity/Feedback) model is one of the first I was introduced to in anything close to a formal way, through ASTD’s E-Learning Instructional Design certificate program.

CCAF focuses on the parts of the interaction, including two that aren’t often appreciated — Context and Challenge — and Dr. Allen gives guidelines to make each of them powerful, relevant, and integrated with the others. I’ve come to think of these like the legs of a table: Each has to be well built in order for the table to be strong.

The link to the blog posts above will be helpful, but for a complete explanation, I highly suggest reading Allen’s Designing Successful E-Learning.

Well, that’s it for this series! These are some of the most helpful models I know of that actually influence what kind of learning experiences you create and how effective they are. Now it’s your turn… what would you add?

If Not ADDIE, Then What? Part 2: Cathy Moore’s Action Mapping

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Judy Unrein

In this short series, I’m highlighting instructional design models that have had profound impact on my work… specifically those that speak to the creative process, and specifically those that have originated in the practice of creating corporate learning.

Silhouette of a ninja in front of red and white "action-y" background The Action Mapping process, developed by Cathy Moore, has a heavy emphasis on relating practice activities to what the learner will actually be required to do on the job to meet a business goal, and then working backward from that to decide which information to include in the course. Cathy explains Action Mapping, the reasons it’s important, and a tool that she uses to facilitate it, on her Making Change blog.

Bonus: Action Mapping helps you figure out which information is truly necessary, but then you usually have to help your SMEs or stakeholders see that perspective. A couple of months ago, Diane Elkins posted on the E-Learning Uncovered blog about how to have those conversations.

Now that you know which goals you need activities around and which information to include, how do you design the actual interactions?

Stay tuned.

If Not ADDIE, Then What? Part 1: Thiagi’s 4-Door Model

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Judy Unrein

Thiagi’s 4-Door Model describes a structure in which there are four entry points into the course: the library, the playground, the cafe, and the assessment center. These areas represent different ways in which the learner can interact with the content of the course and even other learners. Learners can enter through any door they choose.

If Not ADDIE, Then What?

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Judy Unrein

ADDIE is often maligned in our industry these days, and often for good cause. I’m not going to delve into criticisms here; rather, I’m just writing to introduce a series of short posts I will make over the next few days, highlighting instructional design models that have had profound impacts on my work — specifically those that:

speak to the creative process of creating learning experiences, and
have originated in the practice of creating corporate learning (rather than in academic theory).

I hope to reach designers who might be hearing criticisms of the models promoted by their organizations, associations, and schools, and might be asking themselves the question in the title of this post.

Please stay tuned and feel free to share your own inspirations, as well!