Creative Training Course Titles: Around the Corner vs How a Differential Works

In my last post I asked you to review a couple training videos about the complex gearing system in cars known as the differential.

I purposely did not mention which video I viewed first.  The video that Dan Roam shared on Facebook was the video from 1937.  I'll be honest and say my reaction to the first 60secs or so was something short of "this is lame! I must have clicked the wrong link.  These are motorcycles, not cars."  But then of course the story begins to unfold and connections are made.  Nothing short of BRILLIANT!

I will spend the next few posts pondering the instructional design of each video as I see it.  You may not see it the same as me.  And so, I'm hoping you'll join me in a conversation about these 2 videos and the 70+ years of instructional design and corporate eLearning theory between them.  As a quick primer I started with the simple yet often overlooked TITLE.

Around the Corner
What is in a name? What I completely missed in the 1937 video, the first viewing, is the catchy little title to the story...oh wait... excuse me... training.  They titled it Around the Corner.  What?  Why around the corner?  AH, NOW I GET IT!  Holy moly, they actually incorporated the problem being solved into the title...nice!  And besides, simply being curious about WHY the "course" is titled in such a way engages the learner.  I would think that even on a subconscious level creating interest in the first 5 secs with a mysterious title would be a good thing.  Even if the learners simply asked themselves why a training video would begin with such a title.

How a Differential Works
The title of the 2011 video is predictably How a Differential Works.  I'd swear the first spoken words are straight out of the designers handbook on how to write an appropriate objective,

 "We're going to explore what a differential is...".  

I wonder how many instructional design reviews it took for the Ph.D. to finally land on the word "explore" as apposed to learn, or discover, or look into.  I'll bet some of you reading this were critiquing every word.  Go ahead, it's okay to admit it.  You've been "trained" well, and you paid a lot for that masters degree, so you have every right to question each and every word your peer has chosen.  While I'm at it I'd like to point my finger at those of you dying to tell me that these are "information" and  <eyes rolling>  not REALLY training. </eyes rolling>
"For cryin' out loud, man!  Where's the practice and feedback?" 
Yea, I get it.  Now get over it.
But I digress...

I love these videos for so many reasons.  Discussing the titles is only the beginning.  The next time you begin the design process you might want to ask yourself how you might incorporate a creative title into your design.  Your stakeholders may not approve, but if they ask you "Why did you title it this way?"... well... then you've done your job well.

What Have We Learned about Training in over 70 years? [VIDEO]

My favorite design thinker Dan Roam posted a YouTube video on how a Differential System works on cars. I was blown away by the quality of the video and how confident I felt in understanding the complex system of a differential. After watching the video I noticed other videos in that right hand column of YouTube and so I watched another training video.

The videos I watched are in this post. Do me a favor. Watch them both and tell me your immediate gut reaction. Also, tell me if you had prior knowledge of the topic before viewing these videos.

What do they have in common?  Can you see, or simply sense, a particular learning model?  Or template?  Or format?  What about the development technology?  Did it one work better than the other? What about the scripting?  Put yourself in the shoes of the instructional designers.  What methods does it look like they used to design and develop this training?  Better yet, is this even training at all?
Ready? Go!
 

Creative Problem Solving Infographic - Works with More than Just Product Development

I found this infographic on Mashable Business.  

from Mashable Business - by Ronald Brown

I kind of feel like we have TOO many process frameworks to choose from at times.  But I like this one. I like that its NOT specifically designed for eLearning developers.  Yet, I think it fits nicely into what we do.

For example, we talk a lot about the A in the ADDIE model, Analysis.  But nobody every really breaks that down into what analysis actually means.  I would argue in this model that steps ONE to SIX are ALL part of analysis...maybe starting to flow into design a little.

I LOVE 4 and 5.  I think disconnecting (4) is something I do naturally when it comes to projects.  And that sounds VERY counter-intuitive, I know.  A more analytical mind would call this "unproductive", when in fact it's when the best mental work begins to happen.  I can't prove it, but I've heard similar stories from other creatives.

Number 5 is priceless in it's definition.  "Wait for an idea to appear." BRILLIANT!  Some might argue that you need to MAKE things happens.  I'm not a big fan of forcing the natural creative process.  However, sometimes you have no choice and you need to be creative RIGHT NOW!  I get that.  And sometimes those constraints can influence a different kind of creativity.  But in general the BEST ideas I've had always festered in the back of my mind for a while, incubating, before something popped.  And that's number 5, RETRIEVE.  But I like "Waiting for something to pop" ;-)