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CBT/EPSS - Formación asistida por computadora/Ayudas electrónicas

THINK PERFORMANCE
A Conversation With Gloria Gery

BUILDERS OF ELECTRONIC PERFOMANCE-SUPPORT SYSTEM BELIEVE THEY ARE WINNING THE WAR AGAINST POOR PERFOMANCE AT WORK.
GLORIA GERY IS THEIR JOAN OF ARC.

Do you think an electronic performance-support system is just a job aid with a God complex? Think again, says "technochange" guru , Gloria Gery. Electronic performance support is not about then application of technologies it’s about an attitude.

Gery is the author of electronic Performance Support Systems : How and Why to Remake then Workplace Through the strategic Application of Technology. It’s the bible of EPSS, complete whit parables about companies that uses EPSSs and homilies on leading you company into the promised land of improved performance.

Gery’s book is to performance development what Michael Hammer and James Champy’s Reengineering then Corporation is to organization design – a manifesto for radical change.

"We have an opportunity to revolutionize the process of performance development. Technology permits new theories, and we must invent then because then ones we have are outmoded," claims Gery.

ORIGINS

Gery and some training developers at AT&T coined then electronic performance-support system in 1989 while working on strategy for delivering electronic training EPSS refers to any intersecting that offer just-in –time learning tools to a person with a task or a job to do.

The EPSS concept grew out of a comparison of conversational training to something they called knowledge-support system. Their idea spread, and four years later EPSSs have a small but passionate following.

At the heart of an EPSS attitude is a belief that most organizations today face a performance crisis that training alone cannot , conversational training events are inefficient learning tools compared to an EPSS that makes learning just a point-and-click away. An EPSS provides task structuring an puts learning tools and data at a performer’s fingertips – something conventional training can’t do.

"When you strip away the collusion about what is working and what isn’t , you have to face the fact that training methodologies are based on a set of fallacious assumptions from public education in the 19^th century," says Gery.

"Until the 1960s the only model for transfer of knowledge was the Socratic dialogue and the apprenticeship. And that only changed because the number of people needing training grew too large for one-on-one methods. That’s what gave us group training.

Group training may have worked in simpler times, she says, but now "work complexity and instability of knowledge lessen its effect."

Training events remove novices from real life and from the experts.

What’s in an EPSS?

The following elements make up a typical EPSS:

information in the form of data bases (text, visual, or audio) and knowledge bases

system that support the user in achieving a performance objective – examples include expert system that help solve problems; productivity software such as spreadsheets; application software that performs such tasks as pricing or rating; help system that give explanations, demonstrations, advice, and alternatives for operating in the system, assessment systems to tell users about the appropriateness of their actions in the system

the user interface, or window through which the user and the technology communicate

a structure built by the developer of designer.

From Electronic Performance Support System, by Gloria Gery. Published by Weingarten Press.

Who really know the work , says Gery. People are trained and outfitted with manuals and job aids, but they still don’t have the competence of experts. Back on the job, most can’t perform at the experts level on tasks they were trained to do. And for tasks not covered in training at all, they are left to covered in training at all, they are left to their own devices.

Letting go of old frameworks for learning is hard for people raised in the classroom instruction model, admits Gery, "It’s the only legitimized model we have for learning."

EPSS concepts are "full of thrill potential, Gery says. She likens their development to a ride at a theme park. "this ride is not for the faint of hear or those who need absolute certainty about what to do, how to do it, and what will happened before the begin"

Gives good interface

So wat is all the excitement about? The hardware and software in performance-support system (hypermedia,interactive instruction , data bases , and expert system) aren’t all that new, as technologies go unbelievers say EPSS is no different from computer-based training or electronic job aids.

One big difference , Gery says, "is the degree to which EPSSs support performers through process or task logic by means of the interface (the link between a uses and a computer system). "Another difference is that an EPSS integrated information ,tools and methodology for user. Automated learning lets learners control when they learn , but very few technologies let learners decide haw they will learn. EPSS does.

In some cases a performance support system automates tasks. In all cases, it structures what need to be done, and it provides learning resources with which the performer creates the learning process. It responds to the performer with explanations, definitions, descriptions, demonstrations, practice activities , assessments ,feedback , and other resources as need.

Computer-bases training is not a complete solution to a performance problem ,says Gery. "Most CBT programs are just automated lectures built on the old transfer model of learning. Most overemphasize content over simulated task because they are easier to develop the way. Help desks , automated manuals. And experts systems are just more patches on a creaky model."

What’s needed , says Gery, is the conscious and systematic design of electronic performance-support systems that

Establish an integrated work context.

Offer task logic.

Provides on demand access to all the resource a person needs to solve a problem to perform a task , or to do entire job.

How’s that again? Doesn’t training technology already help people solve problems, perform task , and do their jobs?

New technology has helped to a degree to make learning faster and more efficient, Gery says. But that is not the same as making workers competent.

"The problem with most training technology is that it’s based on old, out of touch assumptions about training. Old assumptions_ about.

What training is needed , how it must be structured. Who must develop learning programs, and how they should be offered – are holding us back from solving our performance problems. Mager’s model (of instructional design) is not a law of nature."

Performance support is a different approach to the learning process. Because its goal is to help a person perform , it starts from the performer’s point of view , not the instructor’s. It’s available at the moment of need. Its support comes in the context of an actual job , and the learner is in control.

"The focus must shift from rigidly defined content and training-program structure created by an instructional designer , to truly individualized learning experiences created by the learner. We must stop applying new technology to old models and paradigms . It’s time to stop polishing the training apple."

New Roles

The territory opened up by Gery and her colleagues will not necessarily belong exclusively to trainers or instructional designers. Other groups .

How does an EPSS Work?

In an EPSS there should be a dynamic dialogue between the performer and the computer , through an interface that represents the context of work. Some system uses images – such as plant layout or a bookshelf_ as a starting point for the dialogue/ Other systems follow the model of the Socratic dialogue – a master leading an apprentice through a task. And in some situations, scripts or forms are appropriate representation of the actual work. In any event, the interface should reflect a real situation.. A diagnostic performance-support tool , for example, might ask. "What’s the problem?" and then present the user whit alternatives or chance to request specific data.

If procedural tasks must be completed , the performer might click a "how" button to get description, examples images an so on.

If the experts systems presents conclusions or recommendations the performer could click a "Why button to get an explanation.

Using the graphical uses interface- for example, buttons , menus , and dialogue boxes- and language that reflects the way people think and talk, a person interacts with an EPSS in a sort of conversation. There is not a sense of working with software, but of just doing work. Task logic (The sequence of a task and the relationship among relevant variables0 is built into the interface. And related knowledge is tightly coupled with the logic. either embedded within the display or accessible through "How" , "Why" or "tell me about"

Buttons.

EPSSs already exist in software that some of us use every day. Examples include the cue cards in Microsoft Word 6.0 , publisher 2.0 , profit , and Access . (see "The instructional designer in a new age" )

Other are in will maker by Nolo Press (Berkeley , California ) and Managing Pro by Avantos (Emerville, California) .

An EPSS at work : Computer Chips and Snack Chips

"This time , speak more firmly and add the words or else" That’s a line spoken by a portable electronic job aid to a cop who can’t get a criminal to pit down his gun, in the futuristic spoof film Demolition man.

The scene , as silly as it is shows how an electronic performance- support system works. It delivers help , in the context of an actual job, when a person need it most. That kind of help is available today to workers in a few pioneering companies. Though the technology and the conceptual framework of an EPSS are readily available. Only a handful of organizations have taken the plunge. One such company , a large international

Processor of food, uses an EPSS called performance to help makes perfect chips. It discovered very quickly that an EPSS is more than just a training tool.

At the time Performer was begin installed and verified , the plant has a recurring problem in one of its process lines. In the fryer section of the operation, chips were begin scorched , giving the finished product an unwanted oil flavor.

The problem was affected the output of the line and was hurting the plant’s productivity. Plant operators , plant managers , and R&D personnel from headquarters were all involved in troubleshooting the scorching problem.

When that conventional troubleshooting could not fix the scoring problem , performer saved the day- and part of the company’s bottom line.

Using the EPSS program a senior operator- with no training in how to use an EPSS- made the following selections or "Click" on the computer screen. First he chose "troubleshooting" Then he clicked on "product texture/flavor" followed by "off oil flavor".

After only three clicks the program presented the operator with a list of probable causes for the bad oil taste. Number one was high oxidation due to aeration during frying.

After the operator chose theirs cause , the EPSS recommended an adjustment to the choosing line’s oil flush to correct the problem . One more click led the operator or detailed steps for adjusting the flush procedure. Following the step corrected the problem and restored the line to full operation.

Performer was designed and developed in just 12 weeks by RWD technologies, of Columbia Maryland. Its development relied heavily on interviewing and observing operators at several plants and by working with subject mater experts. With only minor modifications, performer is now being used at many sites around the country.

The complete performer system provides operators with the following. ;

Troubleshooting diagnostics and corrective actions.

Product and process specification.

Operating and maintenance procedures

Process flow diagrams and equipment drawings and photos.

Animation to show proper operation of process equipment.

A "shift notebook" to record and search operating problems electronically.

 

Performer’s architecture is such that data bases can be updated centrally and distributed locally to each plant. Future versions of the EPSS will be integrated with and run on the same computer platforms the process control and monitoring system.

" We see performer as an easy-to-use knowledge resource for plant-flood operators to use around the clock. Seven days a week".

Says butler Newman, executive director of technology transfer for RWD Technologies.

"It is like packing the company’s best trainer and operator and making him or her available on demand. The EPSS provides a way to bridge the gap between basic apprenticeship skills and the experience of veteran operator."

Eager to own it include information system and technical- publications people.

If an electronic performance-support system can structure task and provide learning tools al the moment of need without a human intermediary, who need trainers and instructional designers anyway?

To stay in game, Gery says instructional designer will have to come to terms with new theories of learning that concentrate on the performer and not the teacher, and that emphasize establishing a context for learning. They will have to let go of the idea that training must offer instructional planning or guidance that it must tell the learner what to learn when.

Gery sees promising new models of learning coming out of Lucy Suchman and John Seely Brown’s work on situated cognition and from Strickel’s work on cognitive apprenticeship. Both of these theories emphasized that knowledge is in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used.

The role of trainers or help-desk workers as intermediaries in learning will change , say Gery. " They will focus less on contents an procedural task and more on abstract processes and on interpersonal or interaction skills.

To better embrace the possibilities in new learning models. Gery advises trainers to let go of the responsibility to teach. "All you can be responsible for is stimulating motivation and providing the resources that accommodate learning . Increasingly you ‘ll provide these resource electronically"

"Filling people up with facts or teaching them simple tasks – the stuff that fills up a lot of training classrooms now will be automated."

"To me this means people will have to think about know to construct learning to deal with things that won’t be supported by automated tools or with information that isn’t going to be available on demand."

Training skills are relevant ,but they need to be reapplied, says Gery. "training is an artifact , a construct. We made it up. We can change it’.

Electronic performance Support : Intelligent job aid or Snow Job?

Don’t get too excited about electronic performance support , warns Ruth Clark , a performance technologist in Phoenix Arizona . It may turn out to be just another flash in the instructional pan.

In May 1993 performance and instruction published an article by Clark called "EPSS= look before you leap." In it she cautioned HR professional to look critically at the use of EPSSs.

"To assume that they are automatically going to give us performance improvement could be a fatal assumption, " she says. Some of her evidence comes from a researcher named Robert Kozma who tested EPSS tools with novices and experts. He found that the combination that worked best for experts decreased the performance of novices. Novices worked better with no tools at all.

There’s a strong interaction between then tool , the type of task , and the level of user. So I think there should be a lot of thought about how EPSSs are applied-how to whom ,and for what kinds of tasks."

Clay Carr, author of many articles and a forthcoming book on work performance , think that it may be too late to raise such questions. "EPSS may be an idea whose time has come and gone for the training community. Major new software products for PCs are building in parts of what we have called performance-support systems. They incorporating ‘agents’ that do what you tell them to do organdie you through doing it. That’s what we envisioned for performance-support systems."

But he says that he strongly believes that trainers should become performance improvers. "This may not necessarily require a lot of technology. We deliver training by computer because that’s how people work now not because computers are intrinsically better at delivery. Instructional design is far more significant than the delivery mechanism.

Kim Ruyle – whose company ,plus Delta Performance , based in Galesville , Wisconsin , develops performance – support system for industrial maintenance application- thinks people are still confused about EPSSs. "Most things billed as performance –support- systems are just HyperCard stacks (of data0. A real performance-support system is more like an intelligent ,adaptive job aid"

Ruyle sees EPSS applications caching on in industrial maintenance "because the hardware for them is more available now" But there are still factors that make some of them work better than others.

The biggest single factor in the success of PSS, Ruyle says, is a good interface (the way the uses and the system communicate).

The other big success Factor, says Rule is making sure you sea PSS to solve a meaningful problem. "Applications that solve meaningful problems and have good interfaces are going to open up the market"

What next?

The current technology and the structure of EPSSs are inevitably transient , say Gery. But the notion of performance-centered application of technology to people job is here to stay. "More and more work will be computer-mediated or done with the help of some electronic device. And the hardware will get even more portable and convenient .think of personal digital assistants or those wearable CD-ROMs with little screen in headset.

"We are going to converging with (Computer) systems people very fast. I’d be careful not to stay too long in one place organizationally , conceptually theoretically , or technically..

"It’s like plate tectonics. Everything is rumbling , and pretty soon the continents are going to divide and new things going to surface to fill vacuums"

the vacuum that exists right now is integrated development and performance. "Everything is in silos now documentation training help .desks. peer support. Job aids. My advice is don’t hang onto a silo. Be an advocate for integration. Reengineer the process of performance development.

"improving search and retrieval (of information from data bases) is just patching. Hypertext files and supercards becomes unmaintenable in a very short time. Soon we will have a digital mess where previously we had an analog mess.

"I think we are going to be in the knowledge reorganization business for about 20 years. We’ll be applying the principles of object-oriented analysis and design based on classification principles Right now most knowledge bases are organized hierarchically in text files or video. But they certainly aren’t integrated.

‘Some of us will still be teaching and creating training events but I think the events will be different. They’re more likely to be generative. That is to bring people together to create knowledge.

"Events will still serve for bonding and socialization , but even this is more likely to be with the heap of some kind of digital technology to help transcend time and space."

"The technology that is going to do the work and build the bridges for integration is irrelevant. What is important is what it can do for us."

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