Assignment 2: Transmedia Story Proposal

INTRODUCTION

In training or learning environments, mid and executive level managers have progressed beyond the commonly used instructional methods of lecture, self-paced computer lessons, or even online collaborative training scenarios.  The trainees’ performance and ultimately satisfaction in the training experience come from two principles embedded in adult learning:  experience and sharing.  

 

To provide a worthwhile training experience for employees in this range, the instructional designer must shift focalization from reliance on “Listen to me (the instructor, the expert by positional authority)” to the individuals within the class, “Listen to you (the experts with experiential authority).”

 

The stories written for the evolving Transmedia assignment will use case studies (vignettes) to educate leaders about the core qualifications (competencies) needed within the federal culture (civilian and military).  The five executive core qualifications defined by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) include:

• Leading Change

• Leading People

• Results Driven

• Business Acumen

• Building Coalitions

DISCUSSION

Vignettes are short written instances that describe a situation, an idea, or a character.  To be effective as a training tool the vignette must provide the learner with valuable information that is “. . . easy to understand and remember” (Willingham, 2004)

 

Prevalent in business literature is “case study,” a literary technique that briefly describes a scene and portrays characters with which the readers (students) can relate.  The instructor leading the case study poses questions about the decisions made by the characters in the study or, if the study is open-ended, asks the students to provide their analysis of the situation and recommendations for resolution. 

 

The case study is a successful training tool because it allows the adult learners to interject themselves into the story as omniscient beings.  The learners are able to view the situation from all perspectives, analyze the alternatives, weigh the possibilities, and come to conclusions in a safe environment. 

Harvard Business Review is one of the premier authors of the case study.  Using in-house experts and soliciting contributions from professionals in the field, the HBS studies maintain currency and relevancy in business literature.  The case studies are short and the learners can understand because the studies present situations with which they can identify.

A second technique that has been financially successful in the field of business literature is the use of the parable.  Who Moved My Cheese (Johnson, 1998) remains in the top of business best sellers because the readers can readily identify with the characters’ plights even though the characters are mice.  The humanistic portrayal of the mice as they go about their business is such that the readers can comprehend the various situations, analyze the pitfalls, and predict the outcomes.  The central theme of Change is universal to business organizations and the challenges of dealing with change are universal to the individual managers and employees.  Johnson’s parable maintains its success for the same reasons that the case study does; it’s brief and it presents dilemmas with which the readers can identify and understand.

 

I intend to use first and third person case studies illustrating one or more of the executive core competencies.   Learners will identify with a character in the study and will be asked to assess the situation at hand and provide resolution.

Frequently case studies are independent snapshots in time.  However, I propose to develop a cast of characters within an organization who will interact over time.  When possible, a specific case study may refer to events within another; however, resolution of one must not be dependent on another.  Time will become a player rather than an anchor.  Flash forwards and backs will enhance character perspectives.

PRESENTATION

The first pass will be text only vignettes to introduce the characters and present simple challenges to the learners.  The second pass will incorporate text and image and the third will include audio as well.  Harvard Business Review’s interactive case study, “We Googled You,” married with the ideas from Orlando Regional Healthcare, “These are our stories,” and NASA’s Ask Magazine’s “Interviews” have given me some ideas to explore.  I’d like to move the traditional case study beyond the short story format.  The fourth pass will be interactive and menu driven.

CHALLENGES

Time to create as well as the skills needed to produce an interactive multimedia story will be the major challenges.  In my profession I see the big picture and the end goal, but I’ve always had the advantage of having skilled graphic artists and programmers to realize my creations.  To help overcome these challenges, I’ll schedule more time than usual to accomplish assignments and find collaborators in the technical areas.

REFERENCES

Harvard Business Review (2007).  We Googled You.  Retrieved May 27, 2007, from http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/flatmm/ics/index.html 

Johnson, S. (1998).  Who Moved My Cheese.  New York:  Putnam.

 

NASA Ask Magazine.  Interviews.  Retrieved May 27, 2007, from http://appel.nasa.gov/ask/issues/26/index26.php

 

Office of Personnel Management.  Executive Core Qualifications. Retrieved May 27, 2007, from http://www.opm.gov/ses/qualify.asp.

 

Orlando Regional Healthcare.  These are our stories.  Retrieved May 27, 2007, from http://www.orlandoregional.org/orlandoregional/HealingStory/

 

Willingham, W.  (Summer 2004).  Ask the cognitive scientist:  The privileged status of story.  AFT Publications, American Educator.  Retrieved May 27, 2007, from www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer04/cogsci.htm