Week 3 Post 2

This afternoon I completed the reading assignment on HPT Theory.

I was intrigued by the feedback portion. I am terribly guilty at inserting feedback while watching students' performance. I just want to help and be a good teacher but I can see that their mind cannot process trying to remember what they need to remember to complete the task and the additional load I am imposing on them with my so-called helpful comments. Further down the article, the author advised that having the learner verbalize the procedure while practicing the task improves performance. Overall, the article demonstrated that I should continue reading and researching these issues and using validated best practice methods. The case study reading echoed a real life example of HPT Theory.

After the readings, I did a Google search of HPT Theory. One interesting website simply reviewed "What is Human Performance Technology" by describing the analysis of gaps between current and desired performance and the subsequent interventions undertaken to narrow the gap. Usually this is done in an organization of people to improve business outcomes such as profits or sales. The wording on this website was vaguely familiar. I wonder if they copied the text from one of the professional sites I reveiwed a couple of weeks ago.

Another search led me to an article about a HPT course from a Master's program in Los Angeles. This class had several projects including a webquest on CPT. The main course project was the Instructional Design and Technology students wanting to understand the role IDT can play in solving problems related to the HIV epidemic in Africa. Very interesting project! The article describes HPT in detail and distinguishes between IDT methods. One of the key differences is the focus on problem elimination rather than instructional goals. The remainder of the article focused on the students' development from novice to HPT expert over the course of the semester. I wish the article had more information on the HIV project outcome however it was interesting to read student comments about a course very similar to ours.

http://www.siue.edu/~mthomec/HPTTheory_Stolovitch.pdf
http://www.siue.edu/~mthomec/PIQ_KMCase.pdf
http://www.citehr.com/27958-what-human-performance-technology.html
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/publicat/today/pdf/javeriproposal_2008_hpt.pdf

Week 3 Post 1

This blog entry is a reflection of my initial reaction to the Assignment 1 readings.

I do understand the concept of specialty certification for professional reasons. I have undertaken several of these myself for my own profession. I was shocked at the cost of the CPT exam. As I do my research, I am interested in the value this certification will bring to a person.

The professional sites do not mention the CPT on their homepages. They do mention other specialty certifications and workshops to gain additional experience. These workshops also have a very high pricetag!

So as I continue research and writing of the CPT report, I will be looking for answers to the cost vs. benefits of the certification.

Week 2 - Post 2

This post started with reading the 4 architectures article. One of the first points to jump out at me is that training is a critical element for HPT. Different instructional strategies are needed to meet the needs of the wide variety of individuals with their varied cognitive abilities and motivation. I was pleased to find that this article made sense with my ed psych class knowledge! I have come a long, long way since that first IT class :-)

Since the classes I teach are quite practical, technical courses, I am readily able to relate HPT to the progress of my students. The four levels (receptive, behavioral, guided discovery, and exploratory) are all used to some extent in my day to day work with these students. However, the guided discovery architecture seems best suited to both the student needs and the desired outcomes of the program.

After reading this article, I did a web search of "Guided discovery HPT" and came up with a variety of interesting articles. The first one I read was about a training program moving away from T&D to HPT. The instructional strategies used for this training was a mix of techniques. The program used receptive with small group, guided discovery with group, highly participatory presentation, exploratory learning, simulation, mentoring, and case-based learning. Each of these methods has value to the learner and results in improved encoding of information into long term memory.

I had a few more minutes to study this topic and chose a blog for my final website today. The blog appears to be quite professional and is full of information on the HPT-Architecture topic. The heading is what made me think: "Formal "Architected" Performance-based Instruction & Information is needed, where warranted by the risks and rewards, to enable the workflow, either during and/or prior to the workflow performance. For Performance Competence. And ROI." This is the same idea that has been presented throughout all of my IDLT coursework: instruction must be planned for it to be effective. Once you know the desired outcome, you can plan the most effective instruction for the audience. I would recommend browsing this blog for all students in this course. It has many interesting posts on a variety of HPT issues.


http://www.siue.edu/~mthomec/4architectures.pdf
http://debwagner.info/hpttoolkit/blendlearn_hpt.htm
http://pursuingperformanceblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/research-evidence-against-informal.html

SCORM-compliant courseware

I began with the e-Learning strategy article. This article was a terrific review of fundamentals of e-learning in the corporate environment. It listed pros and cons of the program and steps needed for successful implementation in an organization. I noticed the acronym SCORM in a visual representation along with other unfamiliar acronyms. The article later listed the full name as Shareable Courseware Object Reference Module. Given the context, I am assuming it is some sort of standardized delivery method. Although the article was very informative about e-learning approaches in the business world, it did not get to the base level that I needed for some terminology.

After reviewing the requirements for Assignment 2, I decided to Google "SCORM-compliant courseware." I did this because I keep seeing the term SCORM in different situations and have no idea what the concept meant.

The first Google search found topics too advanced for my current needs. I then revised the search to simply "SCORM." This search yielded the Wikipedia entry which is where I began. I now know that SCORM is a set of standards and specifications for web-based learning. I also learned that this is the phenomenon responsible for setting the sequence of training through an e-module. From a few other classes, I can recall training being set up in this fashion; being able to bookmark, stop, start, and assess learning along the way. However, as I got a little deeper into the specifics, it is quite clear that I do not have the computer background needed to process the complexities of this concept.

So.... while reviewing the posted links at the bottom of my Wikipedia page, I found a terrific resource called "One Minute SCORM Overview for Anyone." Looked to be just up my alley!!! My synopsis after reading this page is that SCORM is a technology standard for content developers that want to sell their product to a wide audience. The audience already has their learning management system in place whether it be Blackboard or Angel or some other system out there. The audience wants to buy, for example, a piece of content to supplement their text book. The SCORM-compliant content developer knows that many colleges with different LMS' use the same text and will be buyers for his content. Therefore it is in his best interest to develop just ONE product that will work with everyone's equipment rather than a different development for each system.

Another link on the Google search led me to a Moodle forum with a discussion of the basics. This one had a graphic representation of SCORM that I would recommend to anyone desiring an alternate way of visualizing SCORM.


So then I went back to the original search and still came up with pages that didn't make much sense to me. I guess I need to continue reading up on the topic and save it for future blogs...

http://www.siue.edu/~mthomec/e-LearningStrategy.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCORM
http://www.scorm.com/resources/oneminuteoverview/OneMinuteOverview.htm
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=3757

Wow - I guess I'm already behind and I barely got started. I enjoyed reading all of the other blogs - thanks for posting the links! Next post will be a bit more substantial.