Performance Support Tools
1. Reference information (where you get it if it is a website; authors, article title, journal title, and date of publication if it is a journal article, report accordingly if it is other sources)
Hall, MJ. (2018, November 1). Learning at the Moment of Need. Association for Talent Development. Retrieved from https://www.td.org/insights/learning-at-the-moment-of-need
Mosher, B. (2014, March 17). Supporting the Application of Learning. Chief Learning Officer. Retrieved from https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2014/03/17/supporting-the-application-of-learning/
Narum, C. (2018, April 20). 10 Types Of Performance Support Tools From Quick Reference Guides To Mobile Apps. eLearning Industry. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/performance-support-tools-quick-reference-guides-mobile-apps-10-types
Rowan, J. (2017, May 15). What Is Performance Support? Why Won’t People Stop Talking About It? Dashe and Thomson. https://www.dashe.com/blog/what-is-performance-support-and-why-wont-people-stop-talking-about-it
2. A brief description of the case
Once students complete your online course, they go back to their job and try to put the skills they learned into practice. Performance support tools help them remember what they learned, trouble-shoot problems and complete tasks they otherwise would struggle with.
Storing performance support tools on the same website you have the training course located will make it easier for the user to access all of the training needed to do their job. Using a WordPress knowledge base plugin to manage job aids, infographics, videos and just-in-time training material is an efficient way to keep content organized.
3. The purpose of the innovation
According to Narum (2018), “By combining learning opportunities in class or online with the implementation of a Performance Support System, we can improve on-the-job performance with quick and accessible resources at the moment of need.” Keeping the performance support tools on the same website as the LMS makes it easier for your users to access all that they need to implement their new knowledge. As with the LMS, users don’t realize an online course and job aids are different things and could be stored in different areas.
4. The technology and resources involved (e.g. facility, network, equipment, software, online program)
Echo Knowledge Base (https://wordpress.org/plugins/echo-knowledge-base/) is an example of a knowledge base plugin that organizes your educational content. You install it on your WordPress site and configure it to contain job aids, quick start guides, infographics, videos, FAQs and any other training material you have to help your users when they go back to work and apply what they have learned.
5. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students?
Students should have taken your online course and be familiar with how the knowledge base operates. They need a computer with an internet connection and know how to navigate your website.
6. What are students asked to accomplish exactly (product or process)?
Students are asked to use the knowledge base to search for answers to their questions about what they have learned in the online course. Performance support tools act as extra memory when a project requires multiple steps, or if the learner runs into a problem that they need to trouble-shoot. It can also be used to explain more complex workflows that weren’t covered in class that the user is ready to learn once they have some practice with the subject matter.
7. What are the procedures of the project (steps to teach the technology skills)?
The learner should be familiar with how to search or browse a knowledge base. The specifics of your individual plugin can be covered in your online class or in introductory material on the knowledge base front page.
The instructor needs to know how to install a plugin, know some basic HTML/website design and how to configure the specific plugin they’ve installed. The instructor also needs to create all of the performance support tools or research links to tools already available on the internet.
8. What are the advantages of the project?
Keeping all your training material in one place helps the user learn the content faster. It decreases frustration if they don’t have to hunt for information in multiple places. Users will have a higher level of satisfaction if they know where to go for their training solutions.
9. What are the disadvantages of the project?
Training material needs to be kept up to date. It’s also a large project to create new training material in addition to creating an online course. Multiple plugins could interact with each other. The instructor needs to have a high level of technical skill to put everything together in one platform.
10. What types of effective instructional strategies are included?
Multimedia training materials that use images, audio, video and reading materials offer multiple ways for the learner to absorb the material. Using different modes of communication also keeps the users interest for a longer period of time.
Having material available for just-in-time access helps the adult learner find what they need when they need it.
11. What are the possibilities that innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content, and different school settings?
This method of blending online instruction with performance support can be used in almost any subject. Once a template has been set up for the performance support system, it can be reused for any other topic.