Thursday, June 3, 2021 from 12h00 to 15h00 EDT (New York time)
Technical Tips, Tricks, and Equipment Suggestions for Live Online Programs
So many folks are using Zoom, Bluejeans, Adobe Connect, WebEx, GoTo Training, Teams, and more to facilitate Live Online Training (LOT) Workshops (some use the acronym, VILT- Virtual Instructor-Led-Training). That’s great.
We would argue that LOTs are as good— and even in some cases— better than traditional in-person training. Why? Because the technology has caught up and our instructional designs can now be executed using the available tech. Specifically, we can deliver activities-based training for a myriad of topics. In fact, at The Thiagi Group, we have converted most of our games and simulations to the LOT setting. These are not direct translations. No. Rather, we have redesigned the activities to best leverage the platform and available tech to reach the objectives of the designs.
But, when it comes to platforms, equipment, plugins, apps, and other tools, what should you choose? Is that $400 microphone worth it? Or will the $40 one suffice? Well, the answer is… it depends. It depends on what you are trying to do. How do you set up multiple screens on a budget? What about lighting? How do you set up lighting in the first place? Can you stick with the built-in webcam on your computer, or should you invest in a better one? And which one? Screens, virtual backgrounds, walls, your bed in your bedroom? What about apps like Miro, Mural, Mentimeter, Kahoot? What about Padlet? Mmhmm? These days, there are soooooo many choices. What works for your objectives? What is additive? What is potentially distracting?
This three-hour program walks the talk. We will deliver it all on Zoom (although you can apply everything you learn to other platforms, as well). Throughout, we will provide you with tips, tricks, and shortcuts to make your LOT facilitation more effective, and more efficient. By the end of the session, you will be better equipped to make technical decisions about your online programs in this ever changing, expanding, and hopefully improving digital universe. At the Thiagi Group we are instructional designers and learning architects first. We are geeks second. Join us and your participants will thank you!
Click here for more information and to register: https://bit.ly/thiagitech
Tuesday, June 15, 2021 from 09h00 to 17h00 EDT (New York time)
Interactive Storytelling Techniques: Boosting Storytelling to the Next Level
Both common sense and research studies demonstrate the instructional and inspirational effectiveness of storytelling.
Storytelling, however, has a major limitation: It involves a one-way mode of communication in which the storyteller is active, and the listeners are passive. During the past 20 years, we have been working in the area of interactive storytelling in which the participants benefit from actively creating, selecting, listening, telling, and analyzing stories.
In some respects, there is nothing new about interactive storytelling. The case method, role playing, and simulation games all involve stories that are co-created, modified, advanced, and analyzed by participants. Our approach to interactive storytelling, however, focuses on the story and involves a variety of simple structures, or templates. We have used these frames in both face-to-face, live online, and asynchronous contexts.
Workshop Modules
1. Co-Created Stories: Facilitate teams of participants to identify a theme and plot line for a story related to a training topic.
2. Appreciate Stories: Facilitate teams of participants to create stories that identify employees’ strengths and portray a positive future.
3. Ministories: Present stories on training topics and ask the participants to shrink the stories into short-short versions that focus on the key points.
4. Scenarios and Roleplays: Present a story and stop at a critical juncture. Ask teams of participants to play the roles of important characters in the story and conduct appropriate conversations.
5. Plot Formulas: Present a series of frames, spines, or formulas for stories to be incorporated into training. Work with the participants to create their own story spines, meet the training needs, and suit their contexts.
6. Modifying Stories: Improve the instructional impact of stories by changing the setting, characters, theme, and cultural backgrounds.