Computer Based Training
ITSW 1410, Presentation Media Software
Instructor: Glenda H. Easter
Challenges of Computer-Based
Training
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You are writing for the screen, so you must say
more with less.
You are creating an application, so you may also
have to invent or modify a user interface for your
CBT.
You may need to learn an authoring program or
language in order to produce your effects.
(HyperCard or Authoring are two programs that
will allow you to author programs.
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Challenges of Computer-Based
Training (Continued)
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You may have to devote 100 hours to a 20minute training disk.
If you have not come to technical writing
from teaching, you may need to team up
with an instructional designer to ensure that
you reveal ideas at an appropriate pace,
without overwhelming your viewer.
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Challenges of Computer-Based
Training (Continued)
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You can catch most mistakes a user might make,
so you need to anticipate them and create helpful
messages showing what the learner should do to
correct the mistake and go on.
You may have to develop a way to confirm that
users have learned what you expect they will to
justify the expense of creating the computerbased training.
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Advantages with ComputerBased Training
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Advantage: They don’t have to flip through a
book to learn about the software package or the
computer.
Advantage: It gives user the feeling that they are
interacting with the computer immediately.
CBT lessons run on some other software; they
imitate the software you are teaching but rarely
let learners risk getting into trouble with the
product itself.
Advantage: Learners are able to feel that they are
learning immediately.
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Disadvantages with ComputerBased Training
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Disadvantages: Users feel cocooned.
Disadvantages: When they graduate to the
actual software, they are frequently puzzled
at the inconsistency with the package and
the CBT.
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Begin On Target and In Focus
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Your CBT should open with a screen that
announces your subject.
Teach navigation first
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Tell the user how to move around in a
package, which keys to press to obtain a
certain goal.
Introduce them to navigation gradually.
Limit the number of interface elements, and
make them simple and logical.
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Begin On Target and In Focus
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Make a menu outlining what people will learn to
do.
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Menus in a CBT perform the same role as a table of
contents does in a book.
If possible, suggest how much time the training will
take and then invite people to choose a module.
In constructing your menu, remember the following:
Define your objectives in terms of actions, and use
those as the headings for your modules.
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Begin On Target and In Focus
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Make a menu outlining what people will learn to
do.
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If you want people to go through your modules in
order, number them. If order doesn’t matter, do not
number, indicating they can start with any module.
When a module is completed, flag it in the main
menu so they can see their progress each time they
return.
If possible, when someone clicks a module title,
clarify what in that section by showing them the
subtopics giving a brief description.
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Begin On Target and In Focus
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Make a menu outlining what people will
learn to do.
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Make sure your instructions tell people how
to choose the menu item they want.
If a module has several submits within it,
create a submenu for the module and make
sure it works the same way as the main menu.
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Involve the Learner
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Make every segment short
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Modules should be between five - fifteen (5-15)
minutes
Try not to teach more than two or three key skills in
one module.
Pare the explanations down.
Encourage interaction
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Alternate between any necessary lectures and
exercises.
Let readers do something, read, then do again.
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Involve the Learner
(Continued)
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Encourage guessing
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See if they pick up a function after doing it a couple
of times. If so, it boosts their confidence, if not,
show them how to do it again.
Don’t punish the student or grade them for wrong
answers, but nudge them along so they learn the right
ones.
You should set a limit on the number of wrong
guesses a person can take before you step in and give
them the right answer.
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Involve the Learner
(Continued)
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Offer remedies
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If a learner does make a mistake, you haven’t
written the instructions clearly or explained
things simply enough.
Be as specific as possible in commenting on
their responses.
Avoid terms like error, mistake, foul-up.
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Involve the Learner
(Continued)
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Write real responses
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Vary your responses so the CBT does not get boring.
Make sure your answers indicate that the writer of
the CBT knows what the user is responding to.
Do the boring stuff first
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You may have the user to type in some information
that is needed, such as typing a position of a
document, then let the CBT do the rest.
Don’t make people spend all their time keying in
information that could be done by the computer.
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Involve the Learner
(Continued)
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Encourage free play
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Let people apply what they’ve learned in the CBT by
actually working with the software package.
While this is an ideal way to learn, you need to be
careful that their “play time” is not destructive to the
system.
If a programmer could write a component that would
emulate the software package -- outside of the CBT,
the training would be the optimum.
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Work Within the Constraints of
the Screen
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Keep the CBT world distinct from that of
the software
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Create a distinct area for the control panel.
Clump together the elements of each group,
and then put all these groups in one area to
keep them distinct from the software, which
appears to be running in the background.
You need another distinct area for your
words, if they appear on the screen.
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Work Within the Constraints of
the Screen (Continued)
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You may box your on screen text in front of
the imitation software.
Inside your text you would often start with an
explanation of what has just happened, and
then offer an instruction for the next step
learners should take.
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Work Within the Constraints of
the Screen (Continued)
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Imitate the real software
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Let people feel they are using the software as they
would in real life.
Show them the real screens and dialog boxes, and
when something beeps or flashes in the original,
make it beep in your CBT.
Fake the events so you can catch people when they
trip.
But make your imitation look just like the original.
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Work Within the Constraints of
the Screen (Continued)
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Write for the screen
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People don’t like to read much on the screen.
Every time you see your words on the screen, pare
them down as much as possible. Don’t ask the user
to read a great deal off the screen.
Be briefer and more conversational than you would
be on paper.
No detours please!
Your tone conveys an attitude toward the material-and that attitude should be neutral, confident, and at
ease.
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Work Within the Constraints of
the Screen (Continued)
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Format for the screen
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Format your text so it can be read easily.
The average best font is 14 points unless you
have little dialog. In that case, you could go
to a higher point, but never lower.
Don’t use a variety of typographical styles.
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Provide Summaries
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Many times people don’t realize how much
they’ve learned unless you point it out to them.
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Summaries help people remember what they’ve
learned.
Quizzes should be optional.
Tell people where to go next
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At the end of the module, and at the end of the disk,
tell people what they should do next.
Don’t leave anything out. Don’t make them wonder
where whether to start the program, open the manual,
or go to lunch.
Be very explicit on the disk.
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Checklist
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Begin on target and focus
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Announce your subject in the opening screen and
advise what is to come.
Introduce navigation first and gradually.
Make a menu to serve as a table of contents.
Involve the learner
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Teach actions, not just ideas, so that people do, not
just think.
Keep each module between five and fifteen minutes
in length.
Encourage interaction by alternating between lecture
and exercises. Computer-Based Training
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Checklist (Continued)
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Work within the constraints of the screen
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Keep the CBT interface distinct from that of the
software interface.
Let people seem to use the software as they would in
real life.
Write interactions as if they were conversations
between you and the learners.
Format for the screen.
Provide optional self-assessment quizzes at the end.
Tell people where to go next.
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