Confessions of an ID: why turn text into conversations and adventure stories?

We have, in some contexts, become rather formal in our ideas and expectations, and when it comes to education, we tend to steer away from labelling our designed learning experiences as 'fun' (Roush, 2016, 02:57), and let's not even mention the word 'game'. Rather we substitute this for the far more acceptable term, 'engagement'.

Ok, so what is engagement? We talk about it enough, but have you stopped to think about what it really means when learning is engaging? As a designer, when I think of engagement, I mostly think of interactivity, but not in terms of bells, whistles or SFX.

Interactivity, engagement and conversations

I've mentioned Nathan Shedroff previously (see: Confessions of an ID: literacy diversity and UDL for accessible e-learning) and touched on his continuum of interactivity with a focus on learner control (2009). But, if you look closely, there is a strong alignment with one thing we do everyday to transfer knowledge from one person to another- communicating, or more specifically, having conversations.

Here is one extrapolation of Shedroff's (2009) continuum...

Let's take a look at that now, in terms of conversations...

The first thing we notice about his continuum is that there are six components, and the less of each, the more passive the experience. And, vice versa. So, let's look at each of these components in terms of a conversation:

One - Feedback. When we have a conversation, we usually get a reply aka feedback. If we didn't the conversation would be pretty short. We'd get bored, we are not engaged. We can do that by responding to options by justification, or provide realistic responses (consequences). Imagery can also help to add meaning, reinforce the feedback by using characters with facial expressions or injuries, buildings on fire, etc.

Two - Control. When we have a conversation, we want to choose our own response. We need options that would make sense, such as choose what you would do next.

Three & Four. Creativity/Co-creativity & Productivity. Selecting options means learners can create their own pathway through the course. In terms of conversations, or choose your own ending (adventure) stories, we can do this using a variety of approaches, simulating email, phone text messages, answers to prompts, etc.

Five - Communication. Communication is essential for any interactive conversation, and if you can't have real-time then you can script and create virtual conversations using, again, email, phone text messages, audio telephone messages, etc.

Six - Adaptability. Conversations can be scripted to go in the direction the learner wants to take, rather than restricting the flow of information into a set direction. The story and the information will tend to dictate how adaptive the design can be.

But, these things alone are just the framework, we really want to get learners' attention, and keep them engaged, we want them to want to find out what happens next...

Flow, engagement and conversations

Before we have a look at how this could look, there is one more component of engagement that needs mention. And, if you think back to some amazing conversations you have had in your life, where you feel secure, where you are not only sharing but receiving and processing information, maybe solving a problem and brainstorming; you become totally immersed and disappear to that place where time passes us by; we are in, what Csikszentmihalyi (1990) calls 'flow' or the 'state of optimal experience'.

For flow to happen we must be interested, challenged, and feel secure. Challenges must be realistic to what the learner knows now, but help to alter the brain through experiences that help learners to grow and adapt. Ah, and I guess an important point here is, if there is no challenge, if the experience is too easy, and not real, learners will become disengaged. Without challenge, they can extract little sense of achievement, they will not enter flow- a state where you enter an experience and nothing else seems to matter (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; FightMediocraty, 2015, 01.30).

Your e-learning experience designs are the perfect place to embed engagement and flow.

What does an engaging, conversation look like? And, how do you create them?

Firstly, I find it easier if I stop thinking about delivering content, and start thinking about the conversations that occur around it. Most adults, learn information as needed, often informally, often on the job, in the home, travelling, etc. (Arets, 2016; Cross & ITG, n.d.; NCVER, 2009). We learn as we go, because we search for information as we need it. Most of us do not go around learning things 'just in case', rather it is 'just-in-time'. Some business have adopted Employee Performance Support Solutions for just this reason, providing contextual help while using an application. And that's what we can do with this conversational, or story-based, approach to learning- deliver that 'content' in a simulated, but realistic, environment.

Mock-up 1: A face-to-face character-based scenario conversations

This is a simple mockup of a conversation that's initially face-to-face, and feedback is via messaging. The questions are designed so that they are scaffolded to become more complex and challenging; to deal with more complicated client needs as learners become more practiced at applying the rules and building customer relationships. The encasing logic, or rule structure, should be designed so they '[make] the game more fun' (Roush, 2016, 02:52)- whoops we aren't using the 'game' word... That aside, we add badging to offer a little bit of extrinsic motivation, we could add a customer rating meter to link performance with customer satisfaction, and feedback is contextual and consequential- its better as actual responses (the learner can work out what they did wrong- we don't need to tell them).

Premise: You are training to be a loans officer in a financial institution, and you need to assess applications and make decisions that not only follow procedure, but look after your client. You have with you your trusty laptop, which provides access to policies and procedures, a supervisor and your client's customer file.

Learners access 'content' just-in-time, and through realistic avenues...

Looks like that was a good decision...

Hmmmm- are you sure about that?

A debrief is a great way to clarify points further, once your learner has completed the full story, and doesn't need to be as conversational (Its up to you- you could use a supervisor character here).

Mock-up 2: A text message

And, here's what you could do using purely SMS conversations, and is easily transferred to email or phone options.

Premise: You are a team leader in a legal firm, you are working on a big case, and one of your team messages you to say they can't work for the day...

Go forth and create conversations and flow

These are a couple of approaches to the concept, and I can already see improvements that could be made, but its a seed, and it will grow. I hope there is a seed planted for your next design- all the best! :-)

References

1. Arets, J. (2016). Informal learning is more important than formal learning – moving forward with 70:20:10. Retrieved from : https://702010institute.com/informal-learning-important-formal-learning-moving-forward-702010/
2. Cross, J. & Internet Time Group (ITG). (n.d.). Where did the 80% come from? Retrieved from http://www.informl.com/where-did-the-80-come-from/
3. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.  
4. FightMediocraty. (2016). Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | Animated book review [Video]. TEDxWorthingtonED (Eds.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h6IMYRoCZw
5. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). (2009). Informal learning: at a glance. Retrieved from https://www.ala.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/research/Informal_learning-At_a_glance.pdf
6. Rouse, M. (2016). Five Rules of Design Thinking to Reach All Students [Video]. TEDxWorthingtonED (Eds.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAV08bn5uEo&t=9s
7. Shedroff, N. (2009). What do we know about interactivity? Retrieved from http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/interpres/c.html (This link isn't active any more but you can find out more from http://nathan.com/experience-design-books/)