e-learning design

Recommendations for Design

This paper describes an e-learning course based on a unit of competency. It will outline the learning theories which have informed the design of the course and will show how technologies can be integrated to produce an e-learning course.   

This course design will be based on the competency – Deliver and monitor a service to customers ( BSBCMN310A)

This competency unit is comprised of three elements.

 1. Identify customer needs,

2. Deliver a service to Customers,

3. Monitor and report on service delivery.

This is a fairly commonly used competency and is broadly used to describe customer service skills.

Context

I work in Learning and Development for a large international law firm, Minter Ellison (ME). Almost all staff are tertiary qualified, whereas we use competency based training for Legal Support staff and some Shared Services. For the purposes of this paper the learners will be Client Floor staff. Client Floor includes reception staff and waiters, and handles up to 200 guest per day. Their main job is to welcome guests when they arrive, take their enquiry or show them into the appropriate meeting room.

Many of the staff are new to the firm, and have prior experience in the hospitality industry, yet have no formal qualifications outside secondary school. For the purposes of this paper we will look at developing 5 staff. All staff are computer literate, and a few are gamers in their spare time.  The aim of the course is to ensure their customer service competency. 

Learning theory

Underpinning the design of this program will be Cognitive and Social Learning theories. Cognitive psychologists emphasise the role of experience, the development of meaning and the use of problem-solving and insight as the sources of learning.

Cognitive Learning theory works well in this unit of competency, as the topics explored in this unit have been previously experienced by the learner in either a conscious, or sub-conscious, fashion.  Cognitive Learning theory suggest that learners will be able to reorganize their experiences into systematic and meaningful patterns that lead to problem solving and insight. Social learning suggests that learners will ask “what am I doing here? What is this context? What’s my goal, and how do I make sense of what’s happening to me right now? (Wortham 2007)

 

 

This course is designed to be delivered in a small group environment, therefore it is beneficial to base some of the course design on Social Learning theory.  Social Learning theory emphasises the importance of observing and modeling. Bandura (1977) suggests there are two key elements to social learning theory:

1.       Experience enables us to learn the consequences of our actions.

2.       Expectations are formed by our experiences.   

A combination of Cognitive and Social Learning theory provide a sound platform on which to base the design of the course. The competency ‘Deliver and monitor a service to customers’ is comprised of three elements; these elements need to be completed in a liner fashion as the learnings from the first element are used to define and contextualize the second and third elements. Furthermore, the students are adult learners and they have been previously experienced the content and the messages contained within these elements. This unique combination of factors allows me to utilise not only Cognitive Learning theory but also Social Learning theory.  Social Learning Theory suggests that the learners will benefit from discussion and observational learning.

Storyboard

 

 

 

 

 

Module	Element	Technology	Platform
Module 1	Identify Customer Needs	Virtual World	Service ME
Module 2	Deliver a Service to Customers	Virtual World	Service ME
		Self Publishing	Wiki
Module 3	Monitor and report on service delivery	Self Publishing	Blog

 

 

Recommendations for integration of technologies

 

We are using two main technologies

 

1. Virtual Worlds – Second Life (Service ME)
2. Self Publishing Software such as Weblog and Wikis 

 

In the first instance I will use Second Life to build modules for the first 2 elements:

 

1. Identify Customer Needs
2. Deliver a service to customers.

 

I’ll create an island inside Second Life, called “Service ME” (ME standing for Minter Ellison). On ‘Service ME’ I’ll create 3 self-paced tutorials, which will effectively be interactive notice boards located around the island. I’ll also create 5 Avatars which will belong to the firm, and can be re-used as students require them.  The students will have to navigate around the island and complete the 3 tutorials. On the completion of the third tutorial students will be directed to complete a short quiz which is also located at a self-paced tutorial. Upon successful completion of the 3 tutorials and the quiz, the student avatar will be shown a roster. This is either an exit point, or the beginning of module 2. This is the staff roster is for the “Service ME” front counter. The student will have to ensure that their Avatar turns up for work on time at the front counter. Once the Avatar is at the front counter they will be confronted with several ‘auto bots.’ These Auto Bots will be preprogrammed to play the role of difficult clients. The interaction between the Avatar and the Auto Bots will be drawn from element 2 (deliver service to customers). The design of self-paced activities, along with practical experience supports cognitive learning theory. Once the students have successfully dealt with the difficult clients they will have completed the virtual component of the course.

 

Students will then be asked to add their experiences and reflections of the Service ME front desk to a wiki, which will have been created for the class. The reflective Wiki utilizes principles supported by Social Learning theory. I have decided to use a Wiki for this as opposed to a blog due to the fact that all the students will experience the same Auto Bots; therefore there will be a common thread to their posts. A wiki makes it easer to share ideas about a common experience than with a blog. Once the students have completed the virtual component and published their reflections to the wiki, they will have completed the first 2 modules. Due to the assessment constraints in Second Life I have decided to use the Wiki as evidence of completing the required tasks.

 

Module 3, which is based on Element 3 ‘Monitor and report on Service Delivery’ will be taught in a face-to-face (f2f) fashion. Following the F2F session students will be asked to keep a reflective blog for the next 3 months. Making a minimum of one blog per week, the content of the blog should reflect how they have implemented their learnings from the course.

 

By ensuring the course is designed on sound learning theory, I am confident that I have created every opportunity for the learning outcomes to be achieved. The integration of technologies along with the face to face aspect of this course will make for a robust and comprehensive education programme. The use of technologies both as learning resources and as assessment tools ensures the course is accessible and user friendly to both the learner and the educator.  

 

References

 

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

Wortham S (1997) Theories of Learning: Cognitivism Learning 2007 http://www.learning2007.com/p7/stanton-wortham-cognitivism.pdf (Viewed May 2008)