Generating Solutions from an analysis of learner needs
Once you analyze the learner groups and determine the problem you want to solve, you will need to define the problem clearly. This will help you to understand what needs to be addressed and what goals need to be achieved. You may find that the problem you thought you needed to solve changed slightly. Work through the process with an open mind.
Conduct research: Conduct research to gain a deeper understanding of the problem. Look for similar problems and solutions that have been used in the past. This will help you to generate ideas and avoid repeating past mistakes.
Brainstorm: Brainstorming is a popular technique used to generate ideas. Gather a group of people and ask them to suggest as many ideas as possible. Encourage everyone to participate and don't judge or criticize any idea at this stage.
Mind mapping: Mind mapping is another useful technique for generating ideas. Start with a central idea and then branch out to related ideas. This will help you to explore different aspects of the problem and generate new ideas. (example below)
Collaborate with others: Collaboration can help you to generate ideas that you might not have considered on your own. Working with others can help you to approach the problem from different perspectives and generate more creative solutions.
Use analogies: Analogies can be a useful tool for generating ideas. Look for similar problems in other areas and think about how they were solved. Then try to apply these solutions to your instructional problem.
Prototype and test: Creating prototypes and testing them can be a great way to generate new ideas. Create a rough prototype and test it out with users. This will help you to identify any problems and generate new ideas for improvement.
My mind map example (click here for earlier posts) :
With this example, I used “mind-mapping” to ideate on solutions. Using mind-mapping you are thinking in a more “divergent” way because mind-mapping forces you to think about every aspect of the problem and produce different solutions. Mind-mapping is by nature a divergent thinking exercise that allows you to pick apart different ideas because you must take apart the problem into its basic components.
By creating the mind map, you will be generating ideas and starting to understand better what you want to cover with your eLearning. I then created a couple ideas for the eLearning solution I wanted:
1.) “Compare and Contrast communication tools”
This idea involves employees first learning about the different communication tools available. Once employees learn about the different tools, they will complete an activity that requires them to compare/contrast the different tools. This could be an interactive module with drag and drop descriptions or images where learners must decide what tool fits a specific need best. This activity could culminate in a review of everyone's submissions (anonymously) to note any differences/learn from each other.
This idea is unique because it can be done completely in the LMS but still involves a social aspect.
2.) “How to use Microsoft Teams and Outlook”
This idea would involve learners following along with instructions to complete basic functions within Microsoft Teams. Ideally you would have this group of learners together at the same time as this idea involves: messaging through chat, sending/replying/forwarding an email, starting a video call, and interacting within a call, etc. This activity could end with a discussion held on Teams.
This idea is unique because it involves complete hands-on practice of the tools they need to learn.
3.) “Developing better Relationships with Salesforce”
This idea would involve both the practical uses of Salesforce and how this customer relationship manager can improve customer relationships. This activity would focus on the Salesforce platform functions that the sales teams use as well as giving them insight into how other departments interact with the application. There would need to be some soft skills training as well as a social aspect so the sales team can better utilize the tools that can improve customer relations.
This idea is unique because it mixes the practical applications of Salesforce with the soft skills related to selling and relationship building.
Choosing the best option from your brainstorming session should involve more than just your personal opinion. Collaboration is really key to choosing a good solution. Another important focus should be on whether or not those eLearning ideas are solid when it comes to Learning Theories. The ideas you generate also need to focus on the learner needs that you should have analyzed early in the process. Finally, you need to look at any limitations to your proposed solution.
The information below explains how each of my 3 above ideas cater to the needs of the learners in my case study:
1.) The first idea is supported by Cognitivism since it involves a low-level of learning (when looking at Blooms Taxonomy. Learners in this group just need to understand the basics of the applications and will need to use that prior knowledge to categorize the uses. This solution would address the learners' needs because it is directly related to an established learning objective for this group, has potential for self-pacing, and allows an aspect of social learning. One potential limitation for this solution includes lack of participation at the end (not being able to compare your work to others/learn from others). Another potential limitation would be lack of engagement since the activity is a simple compare/contrast. I think to solve the engagement problem would involve a lot of prototyping to see what works best.
2.) The second idea is best supported by Constructivism and Connectivism. The activity is supported by Constructivism because it involves using the application and encouraging learners to try to figure out how to do something based on using other applications like Teams/Outlook. Connectivism is also part of this idea because it involves learning from others on their teams. This will address the learners need to learn socially as well as addressing the fact that many of them have prior knowledge to build upon. A limitation for this would involve learners who already know how to use Teams/Outlook therefore not being engaged in the training. This can be addressed by using those advanced users like SME’s and allowing them to mentor others. Another limitation would involve scheduling a group to work together synchronously since they are sales agents and in my experience are not available all together most times. This could be solved by creating more asynchronous training but keeping the social aspect of sending messages/interacting with one another.
3.) The final idea is also supported by both Constructivism and Connectivism. This activity is supported by Constructivism because most sales agents have some prior knowledge of both sales-related soft skills and how to use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. Connectivism comes into play at the end of the activity where learners work together to understand the best uses for the CRM. Connectivism is also the theory behind engaging with other departments (outside of the sales team) to understand how/why they use the CRM. This solution directly addresses the need for adult learners to learn practical job skills. This idea also engages adult learners by asking for their expertise and allowing them to share with others. One limitation for this idea is like the previous idea: trying to get a group of sales agents together at the same time can be challenging. This is something that could be asynchronous, or it could be smaller groups. If you used small-group instruction, it would be a good idea to send out/post a summary of all the best tips/tricks from other groups to share. Another limitation might also come from trying to engage with other groups about how they use Salesforce. There will be information that is not incredibly useful to these Sales Agents so you will want to ensure you do not put too much information into the training that is not pertinent to these adult learners.
