Let's Get Conversational

This week's chapter and discussions focused around making online training more personal and less formal. In a word, more conversational. I think this is a great idea, but it's something I have found difficult to put into practice. I was an English major as an undergraduate student and I have a tendency to lapse into formal writing whenever I am doing any kind of professional writing. To me, formal writing is designed to impress others -- whether it's a supervisor or an instructor -- and I guess I like to show off as much as anyone else. But as far as e-Learning is concerned, formal writing does not always apply, and I will endeavor (no... I will try) to incorporate more of an informal style when it's appropriate.

Another aspect of this chapter that I found interesting was the virtues of virtual coaches. To me, a virtual coach can be effective if credibility is maintained. We don't want learners to say, "That's really dumb" or "How silly" when the virtual coach appears; otherwise, we have lost the learner. I discussed this with my supervisor and she agreed with me that there's a fine line to be walked when implementing virtual coaches so that there's enough of a positive return (in terms of learning and transfer) on the investment of creating the virtual coaches in the first place.