Use Visual Demonstration - Learn it Solutionslearnitsolutions.com/pdf/Inspired_Key6_v1.pdf · Although we don’t really want training to become marketing, there are definite lessons

1 Use Visual Demonstration: Key #6 for Elevating Confidence & Performance

Use Visual Demonstration Key #6 for Elevating Confidence & Performance

“10 Keys” Online Learning Design Series


Table of Contents

KEY #6 – USE VISUAL DEMONSTRATION ................................. 3

1. IMMEDIATE MENTAL INVOLVEMENT ................................... 5

2. PERSISTENT PHYSICAL INVOLVEMENT ................................ 6

3. FAST-PACED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ............................. 7

4. CREATE REAL-WORLD SCENARIOS ........................................ 8

5. SEEING IS BELIEVING ................................................................... 9

Use Visual Demonstration Key #6 for Elevating Confidence & Performance Written by: Rich DiBenedetto The author has taken care in preparation of this White Paper, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 1st printing June 2014 Copyright © 2014 Rich DiBenedetto All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Internet, or information storage and retrieval systems—without the written permission of Rich DiBenedetto.


KEY #6 – USE VISUAL DEMONSTRATION

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

— 1984, George Orwell1

Quickly capturing someone’s attention in an engaging and interesting way is

essential to providing a memorable experience. Who could resist being intrigued by

Orwell’s distortion of time? The same concept holds true when creating a training

experience. A connection needs to be made on a psychological and emotional level that

draws the learner into the story and provides an opportunity to become fully immersed.

Adding a relevant visual component takes the training a step further by coupling

an aspect of realism with entertainment that puts the learner at ease. In essence, you’ve

strategically relieved the perceived burden of having to “work” to learn.

The use of dynamic video scenarios is a highly effective way to visually demonstrate

a desired skill, attitude, or behavior that you want the learner to emulate in the

performance of a task. In this format, you can present scenarios that contain visual aspects

of an action or activity that simply cannot be conveyed accurately in text, audio, or still

images.

I’ve used video scenarios to create reenactments of activities in a work environment

where the skill, attitude, or behavior was expected to be performed. As a result, I’ve found

that this contextual presentation further ingrained the message and significantly elevated

comprehension.

1 University of Houston (2014). American Book Review. As retrieved from http://americanbookreview.org /100bestlines.asp


Although a legitimate argument can be made that hands-on training is the only

way to convey the actual sensory experience, the real challenge is to maintain consistency

across a distributed workforce. Just because an instructor in Dallas teaches “by the book”

does not mean that an instructor in Kansas City even opens the book. Using video

scenarios provides an opportunity for the learner to repeatedly view the lesson until it

sticks – without the fear of public failure or embarrassment. Naturally, hands-on training is

an essential aspect of a complete learning life-cycle, but depending on your needs,

scenario-based training can be an effective supplement or even a viable stand-alone

alternative.

If you can guarantee consistency in the training message,

you can be confident that policies, procedures, and

regulations are being presented in a way that will increase

comprehension.

Although there are many methods for engaging a learner in a training event, there

are four sure-fire strategies that can capture the learner’s attention quickly and spur

engagement in the learning process.


1. IMMEDIATE MENTAL INVOLVEMENT Have you ever submitted a book to a publisher? Do you know anyone who has? If

so, then I am sure you are familiar with the process they use to judge a book. If not, I’ll

share a secret with you; they read the first few paragraphs and if they are intrigued, they

read on. If they are not intrigued…ever heard of the “round file”? Learners are very much

like publishers. Although they might not be able to remove themselves from the event,

they can certainly disengage. A way to prevent this is to make a great first impression by

setting the tone of the learning experience immediately.

How do we effectively engage the brain? Tell an interesting story. A simple way is

to open a training event by providing a short, engaging video montage highlighting the

upcoming content in order to trigger a degree of anticipation. I’ve also had success by

kicking off courses with a branched learning exercise that progressed based on the

learner’s choice to decision point questions. If you can create immediate interest, the

learner will be more inclined to become fully engaged.


2. PERSISTENT PHYSICAL INVOLVEMENT The difference between an effective training event presented in a seminar, in a

video, or in a self-paced online course is the extent to which the learner is compelled to

participate in the event. There is often no requirement for a learner to become actively

engaged in a seminar situation. The learner might pay attention and take excellent notes,

but there is no immediate guarantee, or proof, that comprehension is taking place.

Watching a video can be educational and entertaining, but it can also be an opportunity

for the learner’s mind to drift toward unrelated and sometimes more interesting subjects.

Unless you are going to require leaners to take a post test, you should use seminar and

video training for the “nice to have” information.

One way to guarantee participation in the training process is to require the learner

to perform an action that directly impacts the progress of the training. For example, a self-

paced course can present small chunks of information in the form of engaging video

scenarios. When the video ends, a “Next” button appears that requires the learner to click

in order to advance the lesson. This simple and reliable design feature guarantees active

physical participation in the learning process in the form of learner interaction. Keep in

mind that interaction does not always equal engagement.


3. FAST-PACED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Marketing agencies tells us that to gain someone’s attention you need to create a

dynamic sensory experience and that it only takes seconds for viewers to decide to stay

tuned or move on. A marketer’s ultimate goal is to connect their presentation to a

memory in order to stir an emotion and cause us to do whatever it is they are trying to get

us to do.

Although we don’t really want training to become marketing, there are definite

lessons to be learned from this approach. One lesson is to make the training event

relevant in order to trigger a memory which can stir an emotion and lead to increased

comprehension. Another lesson is to hit the ground running by getting the learner

involved in the process quickly. If you can design an environment that requires a reaction

to challenging questions or decision points, the learner then becomes the catalyst for

meaningful action and progression.

Active engagement allows learners to:

Absorb the information in a meaningful way

Make use of the concepts in relevant “real world” scenarios

Make a lasting connection between the activities being presented in the chunk of instruction (learning context) and the activities required for successful job performance (performance context)


4. CREATE REAL-WORLD SCENARIOS Credibility. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary provides one definition as “the

quality or power of inspiring belief.”2 This is the main ingredient in a creating a video

scenario. By incorporating realism, you can create conditions necessary for learning and

changed behavior to occur.

As you know, learners tend to judge a training event by its relevance. Therefore, it

is critical that you create instructional material for specific objectives while being

flexible enough to accommodate important variances in target populations. I know,

this sounds like a lot of work (and it is). But it’s well worth the time and effort because

these re-creations of desired behavioral performance become the building blocks for

transferring knowledge, imparting skills, or changing attitudes. You’ll gain the most

success by deliberately focusing attention on teaching work methods, processes,

procedures, and compliance requirements. An effective way to gain insight into creating

believable scenarios is to get firsthand accounts by connecting with the people who are

actually performing the tasks that you need to teach.

Gaining attention by providing a relevant learning

environment will elevate confidence and performance,

while providing a highly satisfying learning experience.

2 Merriam-Webster (2014). Credibility. As retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/credibility


5. SEEING IS BELIEVING

Imagine that you are reading instructions on how to tile a bathroom floor. After

finding the correct language, you quickly scan the document to see how many steps are

involved. The list of materials is helpful, but you’re not sure what a “grout float” is, or how

a “notched trowel” is used. The instructions have some drawings, but they rely on your

ability to figure out the finer details. Your confidence level is not rising as you tentatively

open the first box of tile.3

3 Wikihow (2014). Images and text retrieved from www.wikihow.com/Tile-a-Bathroom-Floor


Now imagine that you have the same bathroom tiling project but this time you

have access to a video demonstration conducted by a home improvement expert. You are

visually presented with the tools you’ll need and the expert explains the use of each one.

The expert then details the process that you’ll follow to achieve the desired results. Finally,

you are led down a path that provides step-by-step visual activities that result in a

masterfully tiled bathroom.4

4 Anderson, J. (2014). How To Lay A Stone Tile Floor. This Old House. As retrieved from www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/step/0,,20670738_21276257,00.html


What was the real difference? There are plenty of examples of people successfully

accomplishing a task using written instructions with artistic renderings. Just think about

all the times that you’ve put together a grill, or a child’s toy, without the use of a video.

However, if you were to try and perform that same task again sometime down the road,

you will likely have a difficult time recalling the steps in the instructional material.

The real difference is in the way the brain effectively absorbs and efficiently stores

the information contained in the visual demonstration. Motivation to learn is increased

when people realize that the presentation format can actually help them reach their goal

(relevance!).

In order to facilitate a mental connection and ultimately place the targeted content

in long term memory, be sure to present the training in a relevant learning context. This

connection becomes a source of guidance for accurate recall when the learner is

presented with a similar situation (performance context) in the future.

Once the learner is fully engaged and tuned into an activity, a fascinating mental

process takes place.

Scientifically speaking (just for a moment), the brain’s ability to process visual

information makes for a more effective learning experience when the content is impactful,

important, and relevant to the performance context. Research conducted by C. M. Janell,

J. D. Champenoy, S. A. Coombes, and M. B. Mousseau, as reported in the Journal of Sports

Sciences, demonstrated that the:

“…effectiveness of video models has been corroborated by studies suggesting that

information provided by a model is equally effective for the observer, regardless of whether

modeling is conveyed through live demonstration or by video. From a methodological


standpoint, video models are advantageous as they provide an invariant demonstration of

the task, eliminating would-be confounds incurred with the use of inherently inconsistent live

demonstrations” (Janell, et al., 2003, p. 826).5

In other words, scenario based training can be as effective as live

demonstration while providing a more consistent message. Pretty cool.

The bottom line is that a visual demonstration of a skill,

attitude, or behavior may be stored in long-term memory as

an experience that may later be accurately recalled when

performing in an actual situation.

5 Janell, Christopher M., Champenoy, Jamy D., Coombes, Stephen A., and Mousseau, Melanie B. (2003). Mechanisms of attentional cueing during observational learning to facilitate motor skill acquisition. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2003, 21, 825-838. Gainsville, FL.


About Learn it Solutions

Our team consists of professionals with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Our

expertise is in learning design, multimedia production, and learning technologies. We

incorporate these strengths into a process and product that is designed to produce an

exceptional learning experience that elevate confidence, performance, and profits.

We published this white paper to help anyone responsible for creating online

training and education courses to better understand some of the critical factors necessary

to end the epidemic of boring online courses.

To find out more about creating engaging and dynamic online training and

education courses, feel free to contact us at 877.343.7863 or [email protected].

Learn it Solutions

545 Washington Blvd., 22nd Floor

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

www.learnitsolutions.com

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Use Visual Demonstration - Learn it Solutionslearnitsolutions.com/pdf/Inspired_Key6_v1.pdf · Although we don’t really want training to become marketing, there are definite lessons