From all the intuitive functional blocs of VTS Editor, the “flag” appears as the differentiating tool to give a real added value to your Digital Learning modules. They give pedagogical designers the opportunity to “score” essential points of the simulation to provide, directly or at the end of the course, qualitative feedback according to the path taken by the learner.
How does it work?
Flag blocs allow to define actions according to the answers chosen by the learner. The “flag” and “verify flag” blocs are two inseparable blocs:
- The “flag” bloc allows you to mark an essential point in your simulation.
- The “check flag” bloc is used to check whether or not the learner has validated the point scored by the instructional designer.
We will take as an example “the simulation of which you are the hero”. If you have not tried this simulation, there is still time!
In this simulation, the aim is to find a lost envelope… On the principle of the book of which you are the hero, the learner’s choices influence the future of the events and take him/her on different paths. For such a simulation, the flags are totally relevant to check if the player has passed the necessary steps to resolve the investigation.
Let’s take the example of the key: to open the door of the house, you must find the key. In a very intuitive way, we use the blog flag to check if the player has obtained or not the key to the apartment. The moment he finds himself in front of the house, we use the “checkflag” to know if the player has the key and if so, let him in.
Innovative functionality for effective teaching
The flag allows to give learners a very qualitative feedback according to their pedagogical paths within the simulation. We are no longer simply in the verification of knowledge but in a real evaluation of competencies according to the pedagogical objectives. Since feedback is an important part of the learning experience, and especially in Digital Learning, it is necessary to work well. The implementation of feedback is considered as a key element to reinforce motivation and support learners’ success.
If you want to work with your learners on good practices and raise their awareness by using a virtual coach for example, you can easily use the flags to debrief the learner and offer him/her a relevant evaluation based on his/her training experience.
The evaluation of a training is traditionally based on the Kirkpatrick model through 4 levels :
– Evaluation of reactions
– Assessment of learning outcomes
– Behavioural assessment
– Evaluation of results.
Thanks to the use of flags in the authoring software VTS Editor, you can go further in the evaluation and work on the level 3 defined by Kirkpatrick. Here we are interested in evaluating the learner’s behaviour at the end of his digital training experience and the implementation of newly acquired skills. At this level, you assess the extent to which learners have changed their behaviour, depending on their training path. It is now easy thanks to the “flag” functionality to provide qualitative feedback to your learners, to make them aware of good practices in order to influence their behaviour and work on their automatisms.
On this subject, Olivier Capizzi, e-Learning specialist in Konica Minolta’s Human Resources Department, explains:” Thanks to the simulators produced with the authoring software VTS Editor, trainers can provide better support with the support of a coach-avatar who intervenes at the end of each training session“. (Click to read the entire client case)
Taking these behaviours into account and mastering skills are major challenges and a prelude to reaching the last level of evaluation according to Kirkpatrick: the results. We will then talk about ROI of training… And even ROE (Return On Expectations), to define if the pedagogical objectives set at the beginning for the company and the employees have been achieved.
