New Technologies: Keller’s ARCS Model

Assignment: Briefly describe a situation in which you have encouraged people to use a new technology and have been met with resistance or disappointing results. What attitudes did these people exhibit? What behaviors did they demonstrate? Using Keller’s ARCS model, describe how you could change the motivation of these people, or learners, to encourage success.
Response: According to John Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivational Design, there are four steps for promoting and sustaining motivation in the learning process: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS). As I reflect back to when I was an independent consultant, I was trying to land a contract with the “City of Irving, Texas”. They had a need to train staff across multiple business units on new hardware and software platforms. Their old systems were quite antiquated and the motivation to learn new technology was extremely low! They wanted to train their employees online to save money and expedite the learning process. With a very commendable turn-over rate, the City had employees with majority tenures of more than 20 years. Although a very stable environment, along with employee tenure was the fear of learning new technologies and possibly being exposed or branded as a less than a satisfactory employee if they couldn't navigate online courses (Most were baby boomers). The first step to launching this project was to identify “Champions” to advocate the advantages of taking an online course— Gain credibility and present a value proposition. The Champions were instructed to communicate the variety of options that would be available for course delivery and that the project took into consideration different learning styled (e.g. use of videos, short lectures, mini-discussion groups).

Once the “Champions” were identified, they were the first to take the training so that they could minister to those who were weary of taking the leap. Brain-storming sessions were facilitated to gather feedback in terms of how to get all participants on-board. Once the advocates provided risk analysis in terms of deploying the training, small pilot groups were introduced to the course materials, followed by surveys for improvement. The pilot groups then became evangelist. Role Plays based on transition, mini lectures and discussion groups were formed to support the process. The future participant’s were individually interview, and told the value of learning online (e.g., privacy, easy access, on demand learning). Multiple modalities were available in terms of training formats. Participants were told how online training would make them more competitive in the work place, support was available each step of the way, and possibly position them for higher rankings within their divisions. Ultimately, the participants felt that they were being heavily supported, their competency levels were being elevated and the training complemented their existing skill-set. The participants felt they had some “say” in the process of learning and confident that it would improve their work environment.The final grade or approval rate was equivalent to “A-“.

Sondra

Reference

Keller, J. M. (1987). Development and use of the ARCS model of motivational design. Journal of Instructional Development, 10(3), 2 – 10.
Learning – Theories.com. (2010). ARCS Model of Motivational Design (Keller). Retrieved on November 8th, 2010. From http://www.learning-theories.com/kellers-arcs-model-of-motivational-design.html