With the guiding principles of design for informal learning in mind—reconsidering the role of instructional objectives and the approach to assessment, making informal learning accessible and quick, and designing for short attention spans—we will now consider some of the specific strategies for designing informal learning programs. These strategies include:

• Take a two-tiered approach to design

• Design the curriculum as a performance improvement campaign with builtin consistency and redundancy

• Consider informal learning either as a stand-alone program or a supplement to formal programs

• Creatively package content

• Ensure easy navigation to the learning content

Take a Two-Tiered Approach to Design

Many instructional design texts suggest taking a two-tiered approach to designing individual courses. The two tiers include:

• Ahigh-level design, which presents the overall strategy for designing a curriculum. It explains how the content will be divided among specific learning programs and the general strategy for approaching content in each of those programs. A high-level design is much like the site plan for a new construction project. It states the different components of the curriculum, shows how they interrelate with one another, and states the main (terminal) objectives that each covers.

• Adetailed design, which provides in-depth plans for each of the learning programs identified in the high-level design. In e-learning, a detailed strategy often includes storyboards for each screen in the program, showing exactly which content will be covered on a screen, and the graphics, audio cues, and programming accompanying that screen. A detailed design is much like the blueprints for a construction project. The two-tiered approach is essential to designing a curriculum for informal learning. Although learners are not likely to go through each component of the curriculum, designers can provide a number of resources—some redundant—that are likely to provide learners with the type of content and support that they seek at a given point in the development of their skills and competencies.

For example, people who are new to a topic often need to be convinced of its worth before exploring it. Similarly, in addition to the basics of “how do you do this,” novices often want answers to specific, common questions or to develop a broad understanding of the content. Sometimes, novices also require reminders about how to perform specific tasks. Intermediate users often want to find a faster way of completing a task or to break beyond the basic ways of handling specific work online. Experienced users often seek answers to questions that are not covered in formal courses. When preparing a high-level design, instructional designers consider the different needs at different phases of performance. Below, you may find in depth four general phases in the development of learners’ skills.

Advance Notice

Learners benefit from material that builds motivation to learn the concept or technical subject. Informal learning products whose objectives are primarily affective (motivational) work best. These include brief demonstrations (guided tours), preview articles in newsletters, and “advertisements” of the concept. If some learners might have previous experience, self-assessments help learners determine the extent of their prior knowledge and build their confidence in transferring skills.

Getting Started

This is the time when learners are trying out a skill or concept for the first time. Motivation to learn is high, but so is apprehension. Formal learning products that are focused on developing first-day performance (that is, getting people to perform something useful on the first day and that shield users from unnecessary choice) are most useful. Informal learning products—some of which might be introduced in the formal class—serve as reminders back on the job.

Feeling Arrogant

These are intermediate users who have mastered the basic skills and now want to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Some affectionately refer to learners at this level as “arrogant” because they often become a bit overconfident in their skill at this phase, unaware of the extent of what they do not know. A combination of formal and informal learning products helps learners at this phase. Short tutorials introduce learners to what they can do; help and other informal types of products provide instructions.

Feeling Humble

 These are advanced users who are ready to tackle content that might not even be documented yet. Some affectionately refer to learners at this level as “humble” because, although they are extremely proficient with the basic and intermediate skills, they are usually aware of the limits of their knowledge. Informal learning products that let learners interact with other experts help learners most at this level.

Design the Curriculum as a Performance Improvement Campaign with Built-in Consistency and Redundancy

When choosing strategies to address these different needs, instructional designers must also consider how to reach learners in the most logical, efficient manner. That is, instructional designers must consider what learners might be doing at the moment they sense a need for the content. Then instructional designers need to think about where learners are likely to look for that content, so that learners are likely to find the content of interest when they seek it.

For example, if learners are wondering how to perform a specific task, they are probably performing something already and might look up the instructions in an online user’s guide or online help screen. In contrast, to learn new ideas, learners might check sources external to the situation at hand, such as a newsletter or website. Because these similar questions may arise at different times and in different situations, a curriculum of informal learning usually includes several separate learning programs. This is called a campaign, because, in the way that the pieces of an advertising campaign (Web, television and newspaper advertisements, billboards, and other promotions) work together to present a message, so the pieces of a performance campaign work together to build skills in a broad topic area.

Some of the issues to consider when preparing the high-level plan for a curriculum include:

• Consistency. Although the different informal learning programs in a curriculum are separate from one another, they should look like they come from the same place. This means ensuring consistency on a number of different levels, including:

• Visual consistency. That is, the individual informal learning programs need to look like they came from the same place. Using the same type families, layout grids, and color schemes helps to promote visual consistency. • Intellectual consistency. That is, content presented in one learning program should not contradict that in another (unless the contradiction is explicitly stated and the reason for it is explained).

• Editorial consistency. Although the learning programs are separate from one another, they should express similar ideas in similar ways. Terminology presents a special challenge for instructional designers, because it needs to be consistent across the different learning programs (which may be developed by different people and, therefore, raises the possibility of inconsistency). For example, in the early days of computers, the screen went by several different names—work station, monitor, terminal, and CRT display. While representing some technical difference to the authors, the terms meant the same thing to users and, rather than conveying distinct technical meanings, the terms only confused users.

• Purposeful overlap and redundancy. In many instances, instructional designers cannot expect informal learners to have read prerequisite material or to have seen other sources. (They often don’t do so for formal learning and are even less likely to do so for informal learning.) In such instances, instructional designers must include information in all relevant places. But because the content is essentially the same, it should read essentially the same. One way to do so is to repeat the content verbatim. Such situations are one of the instances that people had in mind when developing the concept of reusable content. Why write the material again when it is essentially the same? Note, however, that although the content is identical, the formatting of it might not be, or the context may differ.

Here’s an example of this concept at work. Suppose that a learner is wondering how to change margins with a desktop publishing program. The designer decides to provide the information through informal learning. The designer makes the content available through a user’s guide (which is available online as a PDF file), online help, and as a Frequently Asked Question. Although the material is identical in all three situations, it must be formatted distinctly in each. In the user’s guide, the material is designed for printing and might include screen shots with examples. In online help, the material is presented in a separate window, often without screen shots as samples. As a Frequently Asked Question, the material is formatted much like that in the online help, but as a web page.

Consider Informal Learning as Either a Stand-Alone Program or a Supplement to Formal Programs

In a curriculum, informal learning programs can either stand on their own as a series of related programs, or they can be designed to work in conjunction with formal learning programs. The following sections explore both uses.

Informal Learning as a Stand-Alone Program

In some instances, designers create entire curricula from a series of related informal learning programs.

Two e-learning contexts specifically support informal learning:

• Knowledge management. This represents an effort by organizations to manage knowledge in the same way they manage other assets, like inventory and real estate. At the least, managing knowledge involves recording all of the “known” or explicit knowledge in their organizations, cataloging it, and making it available to all members of the community. Explicit knowledge refers to material as mundane as names and addresses in a telephone directory and as complex as the various versions of plans for a new product. At the most, knowledge management involves generating and recording the knowledge that is in people’s heads, also known as tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge might include different peoples’ perspectives on a strategic direction for the organization and the alternative approaches for solving technology problems. The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) is an example of a knowledge management system designed for the general public. The Online Writing Center at Purdue University (http://owl.english .purdue.edu/) is a knowledge management system that provides extensive online resources on academic writing, as well as information on in-person services available to students.

• Performance support. Performance support provides workers with the informational and educational resources needed to perform their jobs online and within the flow of the work. Popularized by Gloria Gery in the early 1990s, the concept is sometimes called workflow-based training (Adkins, 2003). Quicken®, the popular personal accounting software that walks users through each financial activity, is an example of a performance support system. Informal Learning as Supplement to Formal Learning In other instances, designers use informal learning as a supplement to formal courses and create a curriculum that blends the two. For example, many university professors supplement their classroom courses with websites. In addition to resources that support formal learning, such as syllabi, course schedules, and assignments, these websites might also include links to external websites, professional associations, alternative commentaries, and similar resources that allow highly motivated students to continue their learning.

Similar approaches can be taken with online, asynchronous training courses. For example, at the end of a course on how to use a new heart monitor, one provider sends informal e-mail messages to learners at intervals after the training to remind learners about the proper use and care of the devices. Such after-course, on-the-job reminders of content are called job aids because they’re intended to aid participants in remembering key learning points on the job

Creatively Package Content

Because informal learning does not rely on formal courses to deliver content, it challenges instructional designers to find ways to ingeniously and effectively place content in front of learners. This is called packaging the content, because, like a package sent through a delivery service, this effort involves “wrapping” content in approved “containers” and delivering it to learners.

Change the Package

Because most instructional designers are used to one primary type of package—the course—and just a few ways of delivering it—classroom, synchronously online, and asynchronously online—we often have difficulty identifying alternate packages for our content. Furthermore, because our teaching repertoire is often developed within the context of teaching courses and that’s what we’re most comfortable developing, we often have difficulty expanding our repertoire to include formats that are most appropriate to “packaging” informal learning content.

Advertisements

Promotions of various aspects of a product or service. Often appear inside the front or back covers of a publication or on the screens displayed by an application when users start or install it.

Blogs

An online column of sorts, in which the author (blogger) provides ongoing commentary and links to related websites on a particular topic of interest. Publication frequency varies, but may be as frequently as daily and as infrequently as whenever the blogger has time to contribute. In a few instances, a blog might have several contributors.

Columns Ongoing feature articles from experts whom learners come to respect. Although similar to a newspaper columnist, columnists contributing to informal learning usually provide how-to information in their columns, rather than opinions (as many news columnists do). Learners seek out the advice of these experts in their given areas. Columns might be posted semi-weekly, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Coaches Online

Tools that assist users with cognitive (intellectual) tasks. Examples of and Advisors coaches include:

• Online assistants that prompt customer support representatives whose traditional job has been taking address changes to identify marketing opportunities

• Online assistants that tell customer service representatives at credit card companies whether or not they can extend a customer’s credit limit

• Online tools that help workers choose a personalized curriculum of training courses

Cue Cards

 Instructions that tell learners how to perform a task and that are displayed by the system one step at a time. These visually resemble a flash or cue cards, from which they receive their name.

e-Mail Reminders

Provide a follow-up reminder to learners about a topic presented in another context. For example, following a formal course on clean room procedures, learners might receive a few reminder messages by e-mail with checklists they should go through before entering a particle-free manufacturing area. Or an intermediate learner who finds a couple of useful tips in a newsletter might sign up to receive free tips later on.

e-Newsletters and Webzines

Contain a collection of articles and provide ongoing communication with a target group. For example, a product newsletter provides ongoing contact with the customers who have already purchased a product. An employee newsletter provides ongoing contact with the employees in a department or within an entire organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

A list of questions that help users answer an immediate question. The questions often emerge from logs of feedback from users. Because the logs indicate that users frequently ask certain questions, designers place those questions online so users can quickly receive an answer without having to call for help. In some instances (especially for content that is so new that people have not yet used it), content designers and developers generate the list of questions based on ones they anticipate users having.

Gaming/Simulations

 Learning experiences that replicate the central characteristics of complex situations (that’s the simulation) and that let users experience the consequences of decisions made in that situation (the gaming aspect). Examples of gaming/simulations include:

• Aircraft and nuclear simulators, which recreate disaster situations that can be used to train pilots and operators

• Training courses in interpersonal relations, such as sales and management

References

 Encyclopedic listings of all major topics on designated subjects. A telephone directory is a reference. So is the Physician’s Desk Reference, as are the programming references provided with software. Programming references list all of the commands that programmers can use to create their own applications using that software.

Tips of the Day

A tip about a product or subject that is not required for everyday use, but the knowledge of which could increase the productivity of the user.

Virtual Classes

A lesson, or series of lessons, intended to develop a skill that users can immediately use. The lessons are taken synchronously. That is, the learners interact online with an instructor who is online at the same time. A recording of the learning session might be available for later use.

Wizards

Online “agents” that automatically perform complex tasks for learners, only prompting learners when they must make a decision. When learners are prompted to make decisions, the system should have a default (presumed) choice to offer

Consider the Packaging

One of the ways to build comfort working with a new type of “package,” or form of learning content, is by becoming aware of the conventions associated with it. Different types of packages are actually different genres of materials. You may be familiar with the term genre from literature and film. Just as film has different genres, such as comedies and dramas, so learning materials have different genres, such as tutorials and references. One characteristic of genres is that each has specific conventions —the expectations that learners bring to that type of learning product (Kostelnick & Roberts, 1998). These conventions help audiences receive messages and respond meaningfully (Allen, 2000), thus improving the productivity of reading and using content. For example, a convention in Frequently Asked Questions is the display of a series of questions and answers. A convention in printed references is an alphabetical ordering of topics.

In addition to choosing a genre when designing informal learning materials, designers must also consider the conventions of that genre. By considering the conventions and designing around them, designers take advantage of learners’ existing knowledge and help them to use the materials more efficiently. Specifically, designers should consider the following issues to make sure that they correctly design materials for the chosen genre:

• The way that learners will find or be presented with information. Different types of learners are likely to bring different expectations about the way that they will be led to content of interest to them. For example, people are likely to expect to go directly to information of interest in a reference through use of searches and an alphabetical listing of entries, but to be led through the information in a tutorial one screen at a time. These conventions also extend to the manner in which users navigate through the content. They are more likely to rely on search strategies in reference material and more likely to use buttons moving them forward and backward in a tutorial.

• Types of information available. Within different types of learning products, learners expect to find different types of content. For example, people expect to find screen shots to illustrate procedures in a user’s guide, but just the basic instructions in online help.

• Format of the information. Within different types of learning products, learners expect different presentation strategies that are tailored to both the nature of the content and users’ needs and motivations. For example, people are likely to expect step-by-step procedures in a user’s guide, but just a general overview of a procedure in a newsletter article.

• Writing style. Within different contexts, users are likely to expect communicators to address not only their need for content, but their roles in accessing it and motivation to use it. For example, people are likely to expect a direct writing style in references and a more supportive and persuasive style in tutorials.

• Screen design. As a result of conditioning by similar sites, learners are likely to expect that certain types of online content will follow a certain type of presentation. For example, tutorial screens usually fit the physical screen and do not require users to scroll. In contrast, news-like articles typically extend beyond “the fold” (the length of the screen) and begin with a mini table of contents, linking readers to different sections of the article.

• Organization. Within different contexts, learners are likely to expect not only a different organization of the content, but also differing levels of control. For example, tutorials follow a well-defined structure and often recommend a path that users should follow. Tutorials typically begin with objectives and follow with an introduction of the material, exercises, summary, and an assessment. In contrast, references provide a search structure or follow an alphabetic organization. Learners expect parallel structures among entries within the reference, especially if the structures address the same type of content (for example, learners would expect the sections on individual commands in programming languages to have identical section headings). • Quantity of content .Within different contexts, learners are likely to expect different quantities of information. For example, a novice learner checking a tutorial might expect to learn only one way to cut and paste text, while a user checking a reference manual might expect to see all available methods described.

One tool for ensuring that content in various formats meets the expectations of learners is the use of templates. Templates are forms that standardize the format of content in particular situations. For example, suppose that you are designing a help system to promote formal learning. You might have a particular format for each topic, and prepare a template to ensure that every topic follows a consistent structure and has a consistent appearance.

In addition to considering the expectations of learners, designers must also consider programming, technical, and usability issues when considering the form (genre) of given learning materials in some instances. For example, when preparing wizards, designers try to shield users from the complexity of tasks. Designers must program the system to perform tasks for users—and make sure that the system performs them efficiently. Although the system performs most of the work in a wizard, in some instances, the system must prompt users for information on how to complete the task. In those instances, designers must present users with a limited number of well-selected choices and, when possible, a logical default choice.

Ensure Easy Navigation to the Learning Content

The last consideration in designing informal learning is ensuring easy navigation to the learning content of interest. Because informal learning often happens within the context of another task and may be needed instantaneously, the way that learners find and gain access to it significantly differs from formal learning. Rather than going to course catalogs and registering for courses, informal learners sense a need and look for the first available source.

Because some informal learning is needed within a particular work context, the ideal way of helping learners navigate to it is by building the learning within that context in an obvious way. For example, when learners want to develop reports with Quicken, they click on Reports on the menu bar. Or when learners need to learn the official airport code for a city, they can click on the Airport Code options just below the entry field in most online travel services.

Sometimes, designers cannot make the learning so obvious. In those instances, they can use the Help menu to make learning options clearer. For example, some Help menus have had options like “What is?” and “How do I?” to help direct learners to either explanations or procedures.

In other instances, learners want to find specific pieces of information. In such instances, “search” provides a useful option. For example, suppose that a learner wants to find out how to change line spacing on a PowerPoint® slide. Because the number of procedures for PowerPoint is large, a learner could speed up the search by typing the words into a search field. While helpful, however, studies show that users find the intended information with search in less than 50 percent of their searches. One reason is terminology; learners have one term for a concept while the designers of the content have another. For example, line spacing is called “leading” in publishing circles, but “line spacing” in PowerPoint. Designers can address that problem by including synonyms in indexes.

But sometimes, learners simply don’t know what they’re looking for. In such instances, a hierarchy of menus is helpful. Many designers are concerned that using menus to direct learners to a particular piece of information might require that designers violate the “three clicks rule.” The “three clicks rule” says that users should have to click no more than three times to get to content of interest. But the truth is, no one knows where the three clicks rule comes from, and other studies suggest that if users feel that their search is fruitful, they’ll stick with it until they reach content of interest.