Ever been to a surprise party or having received one? How was the experience? What do you remember most about it? Surprise parties are extraordinary experiences. You take an ordinary day, with ordinary events and then suddenly: BOOM! The bomb…
Tag: micro-scenario
Using Story Morals To Turn Bad Situations into Learning Goldmines – Tip #45
A story without morals or lessons might be entertaining, but does not add value to skills learning. Morals and lessons promise learners that they, too, can make a “turning point.” What makes story morals or lessons effective tools in learning?…
Creating Perfect Learning Moments – Tip #44
The Myth of Orpheus According to Greek legend, Orpheus was a young man with such a prodigious skill in music that he moved the clouds in the sky and the rocks under the earth every time that he played. When…
How to Use Questions to Immerse Learners in Your Lesson – Tip #43
The SRIA (Set Up, Relate, Interpret, and Apply) model is the cornerstone of the effective use of interactive stories in learning design. It contains the four key elements that gives the learner the best possible experience and helps him or…
Provoking Learners with Story Questions – Tip #42
Why are questions powerful and important? How do we design them to provoke, instigate and encourage learners to think and reflect and apply learning ideas? Shifting Gears Story questions help learners “shift gears” in their minds during learning and un-learning. …
How to Weave Hard Facts and Emotions into your eLearning Lessons – Tip #41
How do we strike a balance between the scientific and the emotional? What checkpoints can we use to determine if we are hitting the right notes? Balancing Act: What we know vs. what we feel W. Tecumseh Fitch is a…
Your Brain Prefers Interactive Stories: Not Lectures – Tip #40
Why do we snooze when we are lectured at and why do we perk up when we are watching a story unfold? In the previous installments we talked about the different learner types as well as the elements of an effective interactive story that…
Employing Story Structure and Dynamics to Engage Different Learners – Tip #39
Now that we know what types of learners we are likely to face, it becomes clearer how we can improve the way we create and use stories in our learning objectives. Storytelling and Interactive Stories – The Difference Our focus…
Making Learning Styles Come Alive in Interactive Stories – Tip #38
Imagine trying to explain the color red to someone who is blind. Or trying to help a deaf person understand how the music of Beethoven or the Rolling Stones make you feel. Impossible? No. Difficult? Perhaps. But with the right…
Making Learners Cry by Using Positive Stories – Tip #37
It is easier to find negative stories and use them for learning purposes. There are plenty in our daily lives. Some examples would be accidents, fiascos, errors and blunders. Although negative by nature, using errors as lessons is one way of learning. …
Why Experience Results in Superior Learning – Tip #36
We face a major dilemma in the training world today. The growth of technologies provides an abundance in opportunities to help learners learn better. However, the same capacity allows us to produce massive amount of content so efficiently we choke,…
Instant Learning Impacts Performance: One Idea, One Action Learning Events – Tip #35
How does the concept of Instant Learning impact performance? How do we utilize the brain’s tendencies to maximize its ability to learn? What advantage does a singularly-focused idea have that helps learners comprehend faster and recall better? Relatability Before we…
Are you a Master Storyteller Trainer and Designer? – Tip #34
Stories are powerful tools to help learners learn. A Master Storyteller Trainer and Designer uses the persuasive nature of stories to engage learners and deliver effective eLearning courses. The Master Storyteller Survey and Profile below is a product of my…
Using Problems, Diagnostics and Solutions in eLearning – Tip #33
What is “Learning by Oops”? Have you seen something like the error in Image 1 below when using your computer? It can be annoying, right? Don’t you sometimes want to hit your head with the keyboard or bang it on…
Creating Interactive Videos from Really Boring Talking Heads, Lectures and Demo Videos – Tip #32
How does the world of video abundance impact the way we learn? We live in a world of so much abundance in terms of videos, whether it be corporate training or personal videos. Video abundance can either make the learners…