Implosion Avoidance

Implosion is a process in which objects are destroyed by collapsing in on themselves. The opposite of explosion, implosion concentrates matter and energy. An example of implosion is a submarine being crushed from the outside by the hydrostatic pressure of the surrounding water.

Another is my self-inflicted implosion (or self-inflicted implosion syndrome…because I’m sure there is a prescription drug in the US for it) of being crushed from the outside by the pressure of a perfect storm – moving a family, working full-time, and taking two graduate classes.

Um, hello? What were you thinking? (I know, I know, it’s all fully within my control). Big crybaby. Can you imagine living with this? My husband is a saint. Or insane. One of the two.

I recall my last “professional” perfect storm back when I was working in a training department. It involved a three-phase LMS implementation. While the LMS phase went off perfectly, I simply wasn’t ready for the LCMS (the second phase). It came along too quickly. When I was being trained on how to use the LCMS I was totally saturated with the stuff you think about when implementing an LMS – I could hear nothing, see nothing, understand nothing.

I am reminded of two things – Ruth Clark’s books on e-learning and building expertise (based on her cognitive research) and Karyn Romeis’ post How Does She Do It?. I have found Ruth’s strategies for avoiding overload as applied to instructional design valuable. (I grabbed these from Wikibooks since my books are packed somewhere in a sea of boxes).

• talk less and turn key learning points into brief reference notes
• do less and make learners do more
• chunk training appropriately and dispense it over time
• design workbook pages and computer-training screens so that they aid memory during practice
• design job aids to aid memory and transfer after training
• build automaticity
• provide “training wheels” for new learners
• detect and remedy while the training process is in session

Ruth Clark has also done work in the e-learning field. This is her DVEP model (Define, Visualize, Engage, and Package):

• Define – articulate business goals and the knowledge skills needed to achieve them, choose the instructional methods needed to achieve the stated learning objectives, and select the delivery media that best delivers the instructional methods identified.
• Visualize- select and/or design the various types of visuals that will best promote learning. (i.e., designers select visuals for learning functions, and not just because they look good).
• Engage – Design frequent, meaningful learner interactions with the content with frequent, job-related interactions.
• Package – Deal with technical issues, state any course objectives and assignments, establish a social presence, design working aids for handouts. (Done during the planning phases of design and linked to content, i.e. made relevant).

I recommend her books.

I have found KarynRomeis’ strategies for getting a lot accomplished in work and life equally valuable. (Karyn is a learning professional, wife, mother, blogger, and student). I am not nearly as together as she is but I think I’ll implement some of her strategies and a few more like hiring professional movers even though I’m only moving across town (the cartoon below reminds me of what I felt like moving my own stuff during our last move several weeks ago…).

Many of Karyn’s strategies can be applied to the workplace…I probably would’ve gotten more out of LCMS training I had delegated more, took advantage of conveniences, and taken a superficial approach to the LMS stuff that didn’t matter right then and saved it for a later time. And it would’ve been good if there had been a greater time lapse between system.

So it is possible to avoid personal and professional implosion. And, it’s possible to avoid putting your target audience in a state of information overload when designing instruction.

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Tagged as: Best Practices, E-learning, Instructional Design, women