Ultimately, Glerb is designed to
give two things to learners: competence,
from being expected to master 100% of the material presented, and confidence, from following a paradigm
that assures that material is retained over a long period of time. You just
feel good about what you know well.
These posts are divided into
“rules of thumb.” Each one is a guideline to writing effective Glerb content
sessions.
Rule #1: Use Glerb to
pretest and instruct.
Glerb uses a test-teach model, meaning that it evaluates
first and then teaches through corrective feedback and interval review. Often
content is created to review material, but the Glerb system can be used for new
material as well. Typically a session contains 12-15 items, particularly if the
content is new for most learners. However, a lesson of 20 items is not uncommon
if the session is a mix of new and reviewed content. We recommend that you not
exceed 20 items because the session will take too much time and you’re likely
to lose learner interest.
Good Example:
Alice is in charge of training her company's
interns. She gives the interns a two-page document to read and then uses a
brief Glerb session to
help them remember key concepts and
ensure that they are clearly understood.
Good Example:
Victor is in a discussion group
that meets weekly to talk about current events and it is essential that he
understands the key people, places, and events in the news. He uses a Glerb
session to debrief himself and sends it to other group members to ensure
everyone is ready to engage the discussion once the meeting begins.
Weak Example:
Nicole is a high school chemistry
teacher. She wants her students to master the names of the elements of the
periodic table. Nicole creates a session with 112 items.
Why this is weak: A session with 112 items will be all but
impossible to complete in any reasonable amount of time. Additionally, because
of the tediousness of seeing so many items in multiple intervals, the learning
will not be effective as students will become frustrated and bored.
How to fix this: Divide the content into nine sessions of 12-13
items each. The first two sessions might include the most common elements to
master (Hydrogen, Oxygen, Helium, Sodium, Carbon, etc.).
Weak Example:
Josh designs a Glerb finance
session as the final evaluation of his online speaking series on financial independence.
Why this is weak: Glerb is for pre-evaluating and building
knowledge, rather than testing. Missed questions are reviewed at increasing
intervals. The session is not finished until the user obtains 100% mastery.
This makes Glerb a learning tool, not a tool for evaluation. Glerb should be
used near the beginning of the learning process and for review, rather than the
end.
How to fix this: Instead of using a Glerb session as a final
evaluation, Josh could pair a Glerb session with each video to ensure his
followers are understanding her key points as he goes.
