Gender considerations

Possible examples It is essential that these examples be applied in consideration of the context. They are not usually appropriate for controversial or highly personal issues. Three time-tested and well received methods are Sociograms41, Six Degrees of Separation and “Clickers”42 . The diagram below explains the principles of each. Note that multilingual issues must be taken into consideration at this introductory stage. Sociograms can be applied with the help of simultaneous interpretation, and Clickers can present questions and answers in two or more languages, but the Six Degrees of Separation ice-breaker is not appropriate for participant groups whose working abilities are in more than one common language.

41 For instructions see the Sociometrics fiche: http://www.box.net/shared/vq11spcutx 42 For instructions see the Audience Response Systems fiche: http://www.box.net/shared/1uhxypuozv

Online Ice-breakers Online ice-breakers can be conducted in Wikis43 or on Discussion Forums44. Here are a few examples:

ACTRAV distance courses have a “café” discussion forum section where participants introduce themselves, discuss and posts more personal information such as vacation tips or pictures, youtube videos, etc. This forum is used throughout the course and facilitates building group dynamics.

In the Lifelong E-learning course, participants connect through Linkedin in Phase 1. (you could also ask them to upload their resumes). Each participants can then read about another‟s professional background and describe/introduce them in a threaded discussion.

An innovative twist to using discussion forums is to apply voice threads. They can be used as an introductory icebreaker to have participants present themselves through audio and video features45. Or you can pair up participants and ask them to interview each other and present their colleagues using their picture and a short audio file.

By making these last two icebreakers a team activity, you are increasing the chance everyone will participate. Ice-breakers can also be conducted in Wikis46, or using other techniques for distance learning programmes or phases. Pose questions or create assignments that encourage sharing and interaction at an introductory level.

43 For instructions see the Wiki fiche: http://box.net/shared/271terkji7 44 For instructions see the Discussion Forum fiche: http://box.net/shared/qq5i4 45 For instructions on the voice thread see the Discussion Forum fiche: http://www.box.net/shared/qq5i4zh76n 46 For instructions see the Wiki fiche:

Develop

Once the learning objectives are identified, course content and activities have been blended into the course structure it is time to start the development of learning materials to be used with the learning activities which have been designed in the previous stage.

During this phase the material development should be validated by sample participants, colleagues and subject matter experts frequently. It should also be checked against the learning objectives and activities designed in the previous stage.

Once the materials have been produced the actual blend between materials and activities should be tested by piloting the course. Feedback from the pilot run must be integrated before actually running the course. These two last steps may be repeated multiple times.

Purposes of learning material

This guide holds that learning material cannot be thought of separately from the activities it is supposed to support. Learning materials thus are content which is transformed in order provide support for learning activities. Since these activities range from simple reading or watching a video to exercise simulations of processes and situations it is expected that the same content will be developed in various formats and media in order to better adapt to the learning activity need.

Based on this understanding, any piece of audio, video or text may become a useful learning material if a meaningful learning activity is designed to accompany it.

Learning materials abound but may frequently be packaged in ways that are not suitable for the needs of an activity. The ever increasing digitalization of materials allow every day for faster and more flexible material development based on pre-existing materials. The web is also an important source of free materials although much care has to be put into checking copyright issues before selecting and using these materials.

Material can be developed for information delivery, self-learning, face to face learning, distance learning, and so on. It may be required to be “formal” or not. It may be the backbone of an activity, but may also be created to fit into a specific session or just as information delivery.

In any of these scenarios the material developed should be consistent with the design phase and any mismatches with the design should be solved either by altering the design or by ruling out the source of mismatch introduced in the development of the material.

The need for a more visual approach The impact of visual representations has long been recognized, as well as the difficulty in determining the best visual approaches. Since early 2009, two blog posts have been written in the L & T Blog about learning, training and technology at ITC-ILO. The first focuses on infographics, visual representations of information, data and knowledge. It is an ideal instrument to present or communicate complex information in a simple way.

This makes it also a useful tool for learning and training. It quickly conveys knowledge and it engages viewers. More information can be found here: http://itcilo.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/visualizing-with-infographics/. The second of these articles provides inspiration for interesting and engaging use of images in learning activities (http://itcilo.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/about-the-importance-of-visualization/). The fiche on