Conference Summary and SuggestedTraining Plan

Submitted by Patty David

Pre-conference certification program attended:
Agile Project Management for Instructional Design
Presenter: Megan Torrance of Torrance Learning
Elearning Guilds Learning Solutions Conference
March 24, 2015, 8:30-4:30 in Orlando, Florida
This document roughly summarizes the material presented in the one-day
certification program in Agile Project Management for Instructional Design at the
Learning Solutions Conference in Orlando. Since the seminar was geared more
toward e-learning for training and for learners already familiar with Agile, Ive
rearranged and expanded the information and included illustrations and concepts I
feel would be most relevant to higher education instructional design and, more
specifically, to our instructional design department here at Bisk Education. Ive also
arranged the material in an instructional format that could be used in a series of
lunch and learns or in a morning or afternoon seminar.
Consequently, in this document Im not telling you what I learned, but showing you
how we could use what I learned to benefit others in our department. [See below.]
Using Agile to Implement Agile: This is one takeaway that I found particularly
relevant, especially given our recent meetings where we were exploring how to use
Agile to implement Agile. This was the suggestion of the presenter: Make it an
iterative process. Add little pieces at a time and get feedback; then tweak it until we
get something that works. She cautioned us, Do not become a slave to the
process; use the process to make you more effective. There are some managers
who have an all or nothing approach, advocating full use of Agile (Scrum) from the
start. But starting out small, testing one element at a time, receiving feedback, and
building our process/structure one piece at a time is not only wise, its also Agile.
Outline for Possible Training Program
I.

HOUR ONE: MINDSET

A. Thinking Agile: Two Illustrations
B. Agile and ADDIE

II.

HOUR TWO: MECHANICS

Agile Tools, Terms and Processes: Project Management

III.

HOUR THREE: METHODS, Part 1

Creating Personas

IV.

HOUR FOUR: METHODS, Part 2

Action Mapping

____________________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONAL HOUR ONE MINDSET
Thinking Agile: Two Illustrations
1. Eating a cake in slices, not layers. Serve each attendee a slide of a multilayered cake. As theyre eating, ask some easy questions:

What do you like most about the cake?

What elements might we want to change? [ratio of frosting to cake, flavor of
icing or cake, cake decorations, etc.]
If I had given you only the icing to try, or only the bottom layer, how would
that have changed your experience? Would you know what needed to change
in the final product?
Limitations of this illustration: For a cake, once you try the slice, its pretty
hard to go back and make changes. Why? [Because youre not eating the
slice until the entire cake is finished. So, this illustration is limited. Lets look
at another]

2. Building a bus [From A Quick Guide to LLAMA by Megan Torrance, 2014]

Version 1
Youre assigned to build a bus. You start off by building the engine, then
optimizing it like crazy. Two weeks later, the project sponsor arrives in your
shop.
Can we take it for a test drive?
You start listing the engines technical specifications. You describe your
victory in finding just the right components. You show off the chrome
fashion styling and the embossed logo.
Thats nice. Can we take it for a drive?
No, but we have these really nice little pink rhinestones over here. Arent
they great?
Youre only two weeks into the project. Why would you want to test drive?

Version 2
Youre assigned to build a bus. You start off by building a rough skeleton of
the bus, with a basic frame, a basic engine, a steering wheel and
something to sit on. Two weeks later, the project sponsor arrives in your
shop.

Can we take it for a test drive?

Sure! Lets go.
This is nice, but I forgot to tell you that we are going to be driving this
bus in Ireland, so the steering wheel needs to be on the other side.
Sure thing!
Youre only two weeks into the project. Why cant the requirements
change like this?

Version 3
Youre assigned to build a bus. You start off by building a rough skeleton of
the bus, with a basic frame, a basic engine, a steering wheel and
something to sit on. Two weeks later, the project sponsor arrives in your
shop.
Can we take it for a test drive?
Sure! Lets go.
This is nice. But you know what would be really cool? What if we could
make it amphibious, too?!?! Can you do that?
Sure thing!
Youre only two weeks into the project. Why couldnt you accept radical
changes to the plan?

Takeaways: What are our takeaways from these two illustrations (lets not apply
it to learning yet)?

Having a taste of the finished product helps you identify things you want
to change
People want to see something that works
Its easiest to make changes before a job is complete
You can be more flexible earlier in the process

The heart of Agile Project Management is the MVP the minimum viable
product, the most basic version of the project at each iteration. Its the slice of
cake or the bare bones of the bus. If you get it out into the real world and let
someone try it out, you can get valuable feedback before youve wasted time
and energy going down the wrong design or development path. The more
feedback, the better the final product and the less time wasted from repeating
mistakes or creating a product that isnt what the sponsor had in mind.
Quotes worth remembering:

Make small mistakes faster. Skip the big mistakes. [From Agile
Explained, Menlo Innovations]
Do the simplest thing that can possibly work. [From Kent Beck, author of
Extreme Programming (XP) Explained]

Agile and Addie

Now lets begin to think about what we do here at Bisk and how these principles
apply to our instructional design process. Most of you are familiar with the ADDIE
approach to instructional design: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and
Evaluate. Its generally thought of as a linear process (even though that wasnt
necessarily the intention): we complete one step after the other. [Show diagram.]

Traditionally, where have we spent most of our time and energy here at Bisk?
[Design, Develop, and Implement]
What portions of ADDIE do we tend to miss? [Analyze and Evaluate]
What could be the consequences?
o Creating learning experiences that miss the mark
o Finishing the entire process before we receive instructor feedback
could result in major changes at the end
o We could make major mistakes early on that arent caught until the
end
o Things could slip through the cracks and not be completed at all and
no one would know until we got to our final review process

Well look at analysis later. But for now, we want to discover how to bring evaluation
into our process before we get to the end to make ADDIE more Agile. ADDIE and
Agile work together through very short iterations:

What are some of our MVPs minimum viable products that we can create
and evaluate in smaller segments?
o One week built out in the LMS
o One video presentation or Captivate
o One storyboard
o Graphics request for one week
Why do we tend to feel like we cant show anyone our work until its all done?
o Fear?

Dont really want anyone elses opinion?

No one else is interested or has the time to give feedback?
No time in our process?
are the benefits of getting feedback early?
Identify places where youre wasting time (e.g., learn shortcut in
Captivate)
o Clarify PM or instructors expectations
o Brainstorm better ideas that will carry over into the rest of the project
Who should be involved in your feedback process? Just instructional
designers? Whats the benefit of cross-functional teams?
o Different perspectives
o Taking advantage of others expertise
o Transferring work (working as a team)
o Two heads are better than one
How could you implement the Agile process right now in your course design
and development? What can you do this week?
o Schedule consult with DM
o Hold pre-production meeting with studio
o Show first storyboard to PM
o Hold a brainstorming session about your course or lecture
o Show the instructor your storyboard or first iteration of a video
o Tell your manager what youre working on
o
o
o
What
o

____________________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONAL HOUR TWO MECHANICS
Agile Tools, Terms, and Processes: Project Management [Note: This section
would need to be fleshed out a little bit more in order to deliver training. I dont
think we should go into too much detail, because we dont want our teams to get
lost in the details and miss the spirit of Agile!]
The Taboo Game: In teams of two, one team member will describe a picture to the
other while that person attempts to draw it. The only caveat is that there are words
the explainers cannot use in their descriptions.
Picture #1
Do not use the terms:
Cake
Bake
Icing
Candles
Flame
Slice
Birthday

Picture #2
Do not use the terms:
Motorcycle
Bike
Camper
RV
House
Wheels

What types of descriptions did you use functional or physical?

What made it difficult to communicate? [Not having the terms to
communicate clearly?]
How many of you actually looked at what the other person was drawing to
give instructions as they were drawing it? If not, why not?
What does this game have to do with our current instructional design process
at Bisk?
o Sometimes we think we know what a manager or ID wants, but their
vision and what I perceive as their vision dont always match up
o No one usually looks at what were doing while were doing it, and we
dont often get feedback in the process
o Precise communication is key to getting the desired final product

Agile project management focuses on collaboration, continuous feedback, and small

chunks of work that can be presented and evaluated in regular cycles (one to two
weeks). Communication is key. Lets look at some ways implementing Agile helps to
improve communication.
Daily scrum: This is a daily huddle, or stand-up, or sync session. It doesnt
matter what you call it. It only matters that you do it. Youve probably seen all the
managers disappear at 9:30 every morning for their 15-minute scrum. In this
meeting, each person briefly explains what they completed yesterday, what they
plan to complete today, and whats standing in their way. The goal is to find ways to
help each other accomplish our tasks. Its where we communicate problems and
issues and bottlenecks in the process.
The sprint: A predetermined period of time that is long enough to produce an MVP
(minimum viable product). Some groups have one-month sprints or two-week
sprints. My team uses one-week sprints for now.
An Agile project is a marathon run in short sprints. [Megan Torrance in A
Quick Guide to LLAMA]

[Stories are business needs and performance outcomes that help define scope.
Well look at these in part three of our instruction.]
The backlog and the backlog slice: The backlog is a list of all the elements that
have to be completed in a project. The backlog slice is a list of all the elements or
tasks that will be completed during the current sprint. You might think of it as your
teams task list for the week.
Planning/task board: A visible means of organizing weekly work. You may have
seen many of these around our buildings, and no two are exactly alike. The planning
board helps everyone quickly see what needs to be done (the backlog or the
backlog slide), whos doing it, and where it is in the process of being done. [Show
pictures of several types of planning boards and explain the various setups.]
Tracking progress is incredibly visible. At no point should the projects status
be a mystery. [Megan Torrance in A Quick Guide to LLAMA]
For those of you who have been using a planning board, what does it accomplish
and how does it aid in department-wide communication?

Everyone can quickly see the status of a project (graphics for a course, study
guide, CCE request)
We can identify tasks that are taking too long
Its tactile and tangible, which can offer immediate extrinsic reward
We can see who might be struggling

What are the inadequacies of this system?

Cant access when working remotely

Cant always tell how much time any task takes or when it will be completed
Cant tell how much free time team members have available to take on other
tasks

What are some solutions?

Use legos (small piece = 4 hours of work)

Organize boards by team members and weeks

Remember that all of us are new to the Agile process and we are exploring ways to
make it work for us. Were walking through this process together and tweaking it as
we go along. It may feel frustrating at first, but the aim really is better
communication and greater collaboration and efficiency.
A word of warning:
People-pleasers, brown-nosers and over-achievers struggle with Agile
[Megan Torrance in A Quick Guide to LLAMA]
It takes a certain amount of self-discipline and trust to stick to the tasks on the
planning board that have been authorized in the way theyve been authorized. You

have to trust the product owner and the Agile process. And you have to work as a
team.
Homework: Walk through our buildings and stop to really look at the planning
boards in different departments. Look at how theyre set up and the categories the
various teams use. Which ones make sense to you? Which ones are confusing?
Think about how you would set up a planning/task board if you had to create one for
yourself or your team.
____________________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONAL HOUR THREE METHODS, Part 1
Creating Personas
In Agile, project scope is maintained by creating stories, which take this basic
format:
As a ____________, I want ____________, so I can ____________.
This story process in Agile is a bit clunky for use in elearning. Its great for software,
apps, and mechanical elements, but not so good with instructional design. Some of
the stories we might write are outside the scope of our responsibilities as
instructional designers:
As an instructor, I want an LMS with flexible grading functionality so I can
spend less time importing grades and spend more time interacting with
students.
As an instructional designer, I want an LMS that has easy editing capabilities
so I can quickly update courses.
As a manager, I want more reporting functions so I can quickly see which
courses are missing elements.
These are fine stories, but as instructional designers, we dont control these
elements. What we can control is the learner experience. Were concerned mostly
with stories that begin with As a student. So, the most important part of our
analysis is defining the student. We do this by creating personas. Ask the question,
Who is my target student?
What factors influence the answer to that question?

The average student currently attending my university?

The type of student we want to reach with this program?
The type of student who is at risk of dropping out of this program?
The type of student who would benefit most from this instruction?
Who the school thinks is important?
Who the instructor is capable of reaching?

The answer to this question isnt as easy as it sounds. Should your target learner be
the student youre most likely to see at your school or the person most likely to drop
out? Do you assume that the above-average student will stay engaged no matter
what the design and therefore design for the below-average student? Or do you
design for the student you dont have but would like to have? These are difficult
questions and not ones you can answer alone.
The target student may be different for each of our schools, and he/she may be
different in certificates versus degree programs. We shouldnt be guessing about
our target student. We should know him or her in and out, which may require
contacting someone at the school or in marketing.
When creating a persona, we want to be able to answer as many questions as
possible about our fictional character. We might start by writing two or three
personas and then determining the critical learner. Whenever we come to a design
decision, we ask ourselves what we should do for our primary/critical learner. There
may be other students with needs, but the primary learner is the final tie-breaker in
any design decision.
Persona activity: In teams of 3, create two or three personas that encapsulate the
typical student for your school. Consider some of these questions [provide handout
list of 64 questions provided at seminar from Torrance Learning]:

Is it a male or female?
Whats his/her name?
What is his/her race?
What is his/her primary
language?
What is his/her marital status?
Does he/she have children?
What are his/her political views?
What company does he/she
work for?
What is his/her job title?
What is his/her income?
What motivated him/her to take
this course?
Has he/she taken elearning
courses before?
What type of computer does
he/she have?

What other skills and abilities

does he/she have?
Does he/she have any
disabilities or health concerns?
What career aspirations does
he/she have?
How does he/she use social
media?
What does he/she like to do
during spare time?
What was the last book he/she
read?
What kind of car does he/she
drive
Is he/she an introvert or an
extrovert?
[See handout for a list of 64
questions to create a learner
persona.]

When finished, have each team determine who is their primary learner and why.
Allow teams to share their personas as time allows.

What information are you lacking that youd like to know?

In what way might knowing this primary learner better influence your
instructional design choices?
o Types of assignments
o Discussion board questions
o Video presentation topics
o Live sessions or group study
o Assessments

[Consider having our IMT department create visual representations of our primary
learner for each school and post them someplace where we can see them daily.
What affect might that have on our course design?]
____________________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONAL HOUR FOUR METHODS, Part 2
Action Mapping
Once we have a target student in mind, we can use action mapping to decide how
to best reach that student. Lets look at an example from a training environment
and then try it ourselves.
[Talk through slides from Cathy Moores card deck on action mapping from
http://blog.cathy-moore.com/action-mapping-a-visual-approach-to-training-design/.
See my accompanying PowerPoint presentation 26 slides.]

Action Mapping is a four stage process:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Identify the business goal

Identify what people need to do to reach that goal
Design activities that help people practice each behavior
Identify the minimum information people need to complete each activity

Now that weve walked through a business training example (increasing Widget
sales), lets see if we can answer the question, How does all this relate to what we
do at Bisk? [As we discuss this question, our instructional designers will no doubt
point out how our learning objectives should be learner-centered and actionoriented. They might equate the business goal with a course objective and the
actions people must take to meet the business goals with weekly learning
objectives. They might also note that this is just the opposite of how we normally
design a course (where the instructor may start with a textbook and a list of
lectures he/she would like to record for students to watch.] But, with action mapping
we start with what we want our learners to be able to do and how we will help them
practice those behaviors BEFORE we determine the information we give them
(through lectures or textbook readings). The end result is more effective courses
and probably more interesting ones, too!]
Try it yourself activity: In teams, try action mapping a course objective we
might find in one of our University Alliance courses. Given the central business
goal or course objective, teams should map three to five actions students would
need to complete (weekly learning objectives), activities, and minimum information
required.
Choose one of these three course objectives as the central business goal
for this action-mapping activity [write these on a handout for each team]:

Evaluate ones own culture, identity, biases, prejudices, and

stereotypes toward diverse groups (from MGT814, Managing Diversity
in the Workplace, MSU)
Acquire the skills needed to identify effective training methods (from
EHR3340, Training and Development, FIT)
Develop solutions to real communication problems (from HIM6320,
Managerial Communications, USF)

When the teams are finished, we will discuss how action mapping can help us (if at
all) in our course design. Question to discuss: What lessons did you learn through
this activity?
This activity would naturally lead into a demonstration of how to use our courseplan-at-a-glance and our detailed course plan, which could be the subject of another
lunch and learn, another seminar, or an additional hour in a training seminar.
____________________________________________________________________________________

SUGGESTION FOR FOLLOW-UP INSTRUCTION: Using the course-plan-at-aglance and the detailed course plan (Cristina)