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Abby asked (see below) whether to improve WBT by adding greater depth or by
creating advanced modules...
I've done just a little WBT in the past and have found one of the chief
advantages is that you can layer information in such as way as to allow the
learner to dig as deeply as they need to for their own understanding.
Within the same lesson, you can present an overview of the basics, and one
click away, you can nest a secondary lesson on a subtopic for those who
might be having trouble with the concept. Within the subtopic, you can
provide another level of information ("Want to learn more? Click here!")
that will allow the learner to follow their own mind. It's generally advised
not to have more than three levels of information, or the learner is more
likely to get lost.
The same principles apply to online help.
The advantage to this approach is that you can pretty much dip into the WBT
with whatever resources you have and make incremental improvements without a
major overhaul or a substantial investment.
- Thom
www.documen.com
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-20657 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-20657 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com] On Behalf Of
aschiff -at- factset -dot- com
Sent: January 2, 2001 10:21 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: e-Learning strategy question
Strategic question here.
I work for a financial online/software company. We're in the process of
developing Web-Based Training (WBT) for our clients. So far we've stuck to
creating lessons on 'the basics' (essentially, the point-and-click stuff in
our software). However, now that that's done, we're not sure if we should:
(a) go for more depth across the basic subjects;
(b) try our hands at creating modules for the hard-core,
super-duper-powerful, customizable aspect of our software (which involves
learning a simple query language, writing code in it, & dealing with all
the scenarios and what-ifs that come with its infinite customization
possibilities.)
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