Welcome to this Questionmark podcast. Questionmark podcasts bring you news, ideas, and advice about assessments and learning.
Joan Phaup, Questionmark: This is Joan Phaup, and I’m pleased to be spending a few minutes with Lynn Cram, a training and development project manager at Progressive Insurance. Lynn has attended every single one of our Questionmark Users’ Conferences in the United States, and will be joining us again in Miami this March. I’m eager to find out what makes Lynn keep wanting to return. Welcome, Lynn.
Lynn Cram: Thank you. It’s good to be with you.
Joan: So could you put me in the picture first about how you use Questionmark Perception in your work?
Lynn: Well I work in claims training, and one of our objectives states that we will measure every learning experience. We employ Kirkpatrick’s four levels of measurement, and Questionmark is the tool we use to deliver our level one core surveys to measure student reaction to the training, our level two tests and exams to measure knowledge gain from the training, and our level three post-class surveys to measure transferred knowledge from the training to the workplace. I’m the chief cook and bottle washer for claims Questionmark. I am the author and system administrator. I assist our trainers and instructional designers with question construction, and I also help them compile and analyze their level one to level three measurement data.
Joan: In other words, you’re very busy.
Lynn: Yes. I am.
Joan: What first drew you to the conference?
Lynn: I’ve been working with online training since about the mid-80s. Boy, that’s kinda aging me, but originally I worked with Phoenix, which was a mainframe authoring system. Phoenix had a user group and a conference which I attended and found great value in. I started using Questionmark in I think it was 1999, and when they announced they would be hosting a users’ conference in 2003 I decided to attend, hoping that I would find the same value as I had found in the Phoenix users’ conferences, and I was not disappointed. It exceeded my expectations.
Joan: That’s great. What would you say is the main reason you’ve returned every year?
Lynn: As you know, our profession is constantly changing and evolving. The conference is a great way to keep up with the changes, learn new methods and processes and better ways to do things. Questionmark is always a wonderful host, not only the work aspect of the conference, but the social aspect.
Joan: Can you tell me what your conference sessions and activities are?
Lynn: I can’t say I have a favorite. I like them all. I usually determine which session I’m going to attend by the topic, not necessarily the track.
Joan: Okay. So you just pick and choose between the different tracks and...
Lynn: Yes.
Joan: Good. What advice might you have for people who are thinking about attending the conference this year, Lynn?
Lynn: If Questionmark is a major part of your job, you should attend. The conference concentrates on topics directly related to the application and its use, so you’re never at a loss for sessions to attend. Access to their technical staff is a plus. Last year, I was able to have one-on-one assistance with some graphic problems that I was experiencing.
Joan: What do you hope to get out of the conference this year in particular?
Lynn: I’m looking forward to seeing version five and all its features, and I also want to learn how to use Questionmark Live. Since we do not have multiple authors, having our trainers and instructional designers enabled to create drafts of their surveys and tests will be a significant efficiency gain for me.
Joan: Great. Well we’re looking forward to seeing you at the conference, Lynn, and I appreciate talking to you today.
Lynn: Well I’m looking forward to seeing everybody too, and living in Cleveland, I’m also looking forward to warmer weather for a few days.
Joan: Same here. Thanks a lot, Lynn.
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