Author Archives: Lacey Clifton

Understanding the Process to Researching Problems

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research problems

I have always enjoyed blogging because it is a chance to express my own thoughts and opinions in a free-flow form.  Although I greatly enjoy school and learning, research papers have always felt stifling to me and have resulted in my distaste for research (I have been lovingly teased by my peers for being the “engineer” of the group because… Read more »

Audience Analysis for Workshop Performance Enhancement: Putting a Measurement on Free

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Low attendance at free workshops is a problem

Many non-profit organizations share the same truth-revealing inside-joke: you can’t fire someone who works for free.  Similarly, they often don’t have any measurements or milestones in place because it’s very hard to measure the ROI (return on investment) of something that is given as a free service and/or funded by free labor.  But in order to know if an organization… Read more »

Audience Analysis for Workshop Performance Enhancement: Change Management

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ADKAR in change management

While I have been worrying about the effects of the change curve on my client, I realized that their workshop attendees are subject to the same cycle of contentment being left for doubt, eventually transforming into hope, confidence, and satisfaction.  The workshops are not merely a source of information, but they are trying to elicit change from the learners, too…. Read more »

Social Media Creates Timely Feedback in Distance Education

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Modern learners demand immediate feedback and social media can achieve this.

Abstract Modern learners are consumers of knowledge, and as consumers they are accustomed to on-demand gratification.  The environment of consumers caters to a real-time fulfillment of needs that has conditioned an expectation of immediate results which distance education systems must now comply with in order to link the learner to the instructor and material in the manner expected by the… Read more »

Audience Analysis for Workshop Performance Enhancement: Gathering Data Points

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gathering data points

My work with a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit association for performance enhancement to their workshop program has settled into place and is running smoothly on their end.  They are handing out workshop surveys and have 90% of their attendees completing the survey.  I have begun gathering national statistics for comparison and the results are very interesting. I found the information I… Read more »

Audience Analysis for Workshop Performance Enhancement: Preventing False Solutions

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preventing false solutions

I am currently working on a performance enhancement project with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that assists local small business owners (the “Association”). I was given a presenting problem and informed that a solution was already at hand, but what I heard during several preliminary discussions was that the solution prescribed was not based on anything whatsoever and was going to… Read more »

Defining Distance Education in Online Learning

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Abstract Distance education as an instructional strategy is one of four fundamental components to instructional design.  It serves a purpose to the learner and facilitator with its unique position to provide effective instruction across a distance of time and/or space with flexibility and freedom of choice.  Distance education must remain interactive through two-way communication to maintain its status as an… Read more »

Rebuilding LMS – Learning Moves to the Stratosphere

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Abstract One of the hottest trends in software has made its way to the Instructional Design and Technology field: Software-as-a-Service, more commonly known as SaaS.  With the ability to scale easily to fit the smallest and biggest projects, SaaS models are being applied to Learning Management Systems in professional and university settings.  When Edmodo, an LMS popular with K-12 schools,… Read more »

The Business Performance Dilemma

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Studies may empirically show that human capital yields higher rates of return than physical capital in corporate settings (Lickert and Pyle 1971, Stewart 1994, and Bradley 1996), but my corporate life has empirically shown that a focus on performance never appears with a value of accomplishment, performance support will always lack its database, knowledge management is in no way organized,… Read more »