Developing Materials

1
Developing Materials

• Instructor
• Paul Clothier
• An Infopeople Workshop
• 2004

2
This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople
Project

• Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project
  supported by the California State Library. It
  provides a wide variety of training to California
  libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered
  around the state and are open registration on a
  first-come, first-served basis.
• For a complete list of workshops, and for other
  information about the Project, go to the
  Infopeople Web site at infopeople.org.

3
Outline

• Targeting your audience
• Outlining, chunking and sequencing
• Choosing types of training materials
• Simplicity and clarity
• Creating exercises
• The appropriate use graphics
• Adding interest to materials

4
A Materials Development Process
Add MeaningfulGraphics
Use Materials
What is the Purpose of the Materials?
Review
Flesh OutMaterials
What Type of Materials are Needed?
Evaluate Materials
Requirements
Review
Create Exercises
Who is the Audience?
Review
Review
Create Job Aids
Review
Collate Content
Spice Up Materials
Outline, Chunk and Sequence
Review
Final Review
5

• What different purposes do training materials
  serve?

6
The Purpose of Training Materials

• To support instructor-led training
• during and after class
• For self-study
• hardcopy, online
• As a job aid
• cheat-sheet, process steps

7
Targeting your Audience

8
Prerequisites

• Avoid developing material that should be a
  prerequisite
• If necessary provide a cheat-sheet or appendix
  for prerequisite reference material

9
Style and Preference

• What is their predominant learning style?
• Auditory, Visual, Written, Kinesthetic?
• How do they approach new information
• Are they Dynamic-Active or Passive-Reflective
  learners?

10
Experience

• Beginner
• Provide very simple, clear, unambiguous
  instructions with graphics
• Materials should make no assumptions
• More Advanced
• You often wont need to detail every single step
  or keystroke - just provide basic ideas.
• Materials can be less thorough as long as
  appropriate detailed references are available

11
Outlining, Chunking and Sequencing

12
Outlining

• Flesh out your content incrementally
• Review at each stage

Objective
Topics
Main points
Final content
13
Written Exercise

• 1 Outlining

14
Chunking
Idea IDEA Concept Idea concept
Idea .. .. ..
Concept .. .. ..
concept .. .. ..
Idea .. .. ..
?
?

• Chunk content by concept, idea or task
• One concept, idea or task per page, screen or
  graphic
• Chunk content early in the process

15
Example - Intro to PowerPoint

• Topic Slide Layout
• Main Point Using Graphics
• Chunks
• - The value of a graphic
• - Where to find graphics
• - Two ways to insert a graphic
• - How to resize a graphic
• - Grouping graphic elements

16
Written Exercise

• 2 Chunking

17
Sequencing

• Cover the simplest first
• Ramp up the complexity
• Let the content build on previous sections
• Have someone review the sequence
• Sequence at the outlining stage

18
Choosing Types of Training Materials

19
Determining the Type of Material
20
Written Exercise

• 3 Purpose of Materials Checklist

21
Before Creating Content

• Does the content already exist?
• From other workshops
• In a book
• Online
• Pre-existing manual
• Can you reuse any content?

22
Using Templates
Dont reinvent the wheel - use standard templates.
23
Highlight Vital Information

• Use bullets, bold type, and large type to
  highlight vital information.

24
Help Learners Organize Information
Use flowcharts, tables, lists, graphics, charts,
schematics, and models to help learners organize
information.
25
Use Icons and Symbols
Use icons or symbols to help learners spot key
points and references quickly.
26
Use Graphics to Support Text
Use graphics, photos, and icons to clarify text
and to break up large amounts of text.
27
Quick References

• Ensure they are
• Simple
• Clear
• Sequenced
• Show main ideas/steps
• Consider
• Color-coding
• Laminating
• Placing online

28
Content Considerations

• Handout-
• Training Content Consideration List

29
Written Exercise

• 4 Content Considerations

30
Simplicity and Clarity
31
Concepts vs Procedures

• Be sure to separate concepts from procedures
• Concepts must be understood for procedures to
  make sense

32
Written Exercise

• 5 Concepts vs Procedures

33
Showing Procedures
Separate what they do from other content
34
Using Icons
Whenever possible use screenshots of buttons and
icons when referring to them.
35
Use Screenshots

• Dont explain what theyll see - show it

Choose Format gt Paragraph and under the Indents
and Spacing tab you will see a whole list of
indentation and spacing options. On the right
hand side of the dialog box you will see Special
and a drop-down menu. Choose First Line from the
drop-down.
Choose First Line
?
?
36
Manual Design

• Dont make font sizes too small
• Use a consistent style and format
• Utilize headers and footers
• Use spiral bindings if possible
• Dont print too many manuals

37
Create a Format Convention
38
Using White Space
?
?
39
Using White Space
Margins
Space aroundGraphics
Line Spacing
40
Bullets or Numbering?

• Choose File gt Save As
• Type in myFile
• Click OK
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint

• Choose File gt Save As
• Type in myFile
• Click OK
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint

?
?
?
?
41
Referencing Information
Section 1

• Make content easy to find and refer to
• Number pages and sections
• Number pages, graphics, and tables
• Provide a table of contents or index

Fig. 2 An Entity
10
42
Creating Exercises
43
The Value of Exercises

• Allow learners to
• Become involved
• Think independently
• Test skills or knowledge
• Build confidence
• Express creativity

44
Types of Exercises

• Exercises should reflect the tasks learners will
  be asked to perform
• Skills training
• Have them practice skills - hands-on
• Knowledge training
• Test understanding - test recall
• Attitude training
• Role playing and discussion

45
Thinking vs Following Steps
Where possible exercises should be designed to
challenge the learner to think or recall.

• Click on File gt Open
• Select abc.doc from the list of files
• Go to the end of the document by pressing
  ltCtrlgtltEndgt
• Open the Word document abc
• Move to the end of the document by using a
  shortcut key

A
B
46
Other Exercises

• Consider creating more advanced, bonus
  exercises
• Emphasize thinking and problem solving
• Useful for a class that has a wide range of
  abilities
• Give them a challenge
• See if you can
• On-the-spot exercises

47
Written Exercise

• 6 Designing an Exercise

48
The Appropriate Use of Graphics

What is the use of a book, thought Alice,
without pictures. Lewis Carroll
49
The Value of Graphics

• Well designed graphics
• Are easier to communicate process
• Reduce the explanatory text needed
• Help communicate concepts
• Simplify complexity
• Add interest

50
When to Include a Graphic

• When it clarifies or simplifies
• When you are explaining a process or how things
  work together
• When content is highly conceptual
• When a diagram would provide more information
  than simple text.

51
Creating Elegant Diagrams

• Keep it as simple as possible
• Keep it as clear as possible
• Have it be self-explanatory
• Use colors for a purpose
• Use arrows to show order, action, direction
• Include standard symbols/icons

52
Good Diagram
53
Poor Diagram
54
Written Exercise

• 7 Designing a Diagram

55
Adding Interest to Materials

56
Quotations
What is the use of a book, thought Alice,
without pictures. Lewis Carroll
57
Cartoons and Humor
58
Slideware Animation
Understanding Your Body
shoulder
head
hand three digits
hip
torso
leg
foot
59
Jeopardy Quiz