Katherine Abrahams 1

OMDE 610 9020

Teaching Corporate Employees Microsoft Outlook 2013

Introduction
This lesson is designed from a behaviorist learning theory point of view. The lesson is on
how to use Microsoft Outlook 2013 and is intended for corporate or professional workers,
specifically entry-level workers or those who do not have strong skills utilizing a professional e-
mail program.
Key Objectives
The objectives for this lesson are to understand new features of Outlook 2013; be able to
send an email using Outlook 2013; to create and edit contacts or contact groups; to create and
edit appointments and meetings; and finally to create, edit, and track tasks.

Outline of Lesson Plan
1. Lecture review purpose of Outlook 2013 upgrade and review key feature upgrades from
2007 version of Microsoft Office to 2013.
2. Review of basic e-mail components: sending an email, specifying recipients, specifying a
subject line, and writing a message in the body of the email. This will also include a
review of new features to Outlook 2013 in terms of sending a new email including
shortcuts, quick tips, and formatting differences in the new version.
3. Activity break: Users will send an email to the instructor to demonstrate their
understanding of the basics of sending email.
4. Lecture: review of contacts and contact groups. This will include adding a contact,
creating a contact group and sending an email to a contact group.
Katherine Abrahams 2
OMDE 610 9020

5. Activity break In this activity, the instructor will break the group into breakout rooms
of 3-4 and have users exchange email addresses. Then in these small break out groups,
users will create contact groups. They will include the instructor/instructional aide as a
member. Then they will take a screenshot and email it to the instructor.
6. Knowledge check break This is a short interactive (group) quiz/poll testing knowledge.
Results will be displayed but kept anonymous (except to the instructor).
7. Lecture - Review appointments/calendar feature. This will include creating, deleting, and
editing appointments and meetings.
8. Activity break Users will create a new meeting and invite the instructor plus members
of the break out group.
9. Lecture The instructor will review the task feature and show students how to create,
edit, and manage tasks.
10. Activity Users will create a new task and assign it to the contact group.
11. Knowledge Check This is similar to the last quiz or knowledge check but will assess
user knowledge of the calendar and task functions.
12. Feedback section/functional test - Write an email to the instructor and answer small
questionnaire about the class. Questions to be posted on-screen.

Lesson Technology
The lesson will uses a virtual meeting space (Like GoToMeeting or Adobe Connect),
Outlook 2013 (preferably set up on the company Exchange server), and VoIP or phone
conferencing system. Also by necessity, users will need their own workstations or laptops.
Katherine Abrahams 3
OMDE 610 9020

The lesson is facilitated by use of a virtual meeting space as well as users actually
utilizing Outlook. The lecturer will both explain and show on screen the features of the program
by sharing the desktop, or having a presentation ready. The students will be able to follow along
by either watching or by looking at their own program at the same time.
Activities will make use of the virtual room featuresprivate chat, public chat, and break
out roomsto help ensure that the students accomplish the course learning goals. Students will
also use Outlook 2013 itself to complete some of the tasks (send an email and add a contact).
Small group activities promote engagement and collaboration. Keeping groups small help
eliminate student confusion and to keep activities short.
During the test or quiz phase of the lesson, the interactive poll feature will allow the
student to check his or her knowledge as well as the instructor to gauge understanding. Ideally,
the instructor will be able to gauge individual progress privately but students will not be able to
see other students answers. If the majority of the class is not answering the questions correctly,
then the instructor can make adjustments to the pacing of the lesson.
Finally, users are free to VoIP/interrupt with questions, private or public chat the
instructor or other users during the presentation. The ability to group chat is automatically
included because of the software, but not explicitly used as an activity since there are specific
goals to accomplish with this training. Any questions that may arise here, however, can be
addressed by the instructor during pauses or at the end of the lesson.
Theory
For this activity, I chose a behaviorist approach because for a focused, directed lesson
where I am imparting direct skills or knowledge, this seemed to be the best way to impart and
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OMDE 610 9020

then assess knowledge transfer and learning. Harasim (2012) writes that a behaviorist approach
focuses on observable behaviorthat which can be seen in response to stimuli. Harasim (2012)
goes on to say that behaviorism may discount cognition and subjectivity, but I did consider this
in my choice of lesson design; I chose behaviorism primarily on the notion that the approach
focuses on precision, prediction and replication (p. 31). As the goals of the course are for users
to perform certain tasks essential to performing job functions (send an e-mail, create a new
contact, or edit meeting invites), the lesson needed to be suited to teaching these skills. It would
also need to be able to measure the learners ability to perform the tasks.
Harasim (2012) argues that behaviorism and cognitivism are linked in terms of
instructional design. For example, a cognitivist learning activity also utilizes the methods of
presenting stimuli to a learner as well as eliciting performance from a student and then assessing
them (Harasim, 2012, p. 52). However, behaviorists may assess students differently or include
more open-ended projects instead of a method like a multiple choice test (Harasim, 2012, p. 52).
A direct, straightforward approach to assessing the learning of the students in a corporate course
like this one seemed more appropriate than an open-ended approach or no assessment at all.

Katherine Abrahams 5
OMDE 610 9020

Rubric
Score Email Contacts Calendar Tasks Knowledge
Checks
3 User has
completed Activity
1; email
successfully sent
to Instructor and
demonstrates
understanding of
email functions
User has
completed Activity
2; user participated
in break out group
session and sent an
email containing
screenshot
User completed
Activity 3;
meeting invite
was created and
instructor and
breakout group
invited with all
relevant fields
filled out

User
completed
Activity 4; task
was
successfully
assigned to
instructor &
break out
group
User has
attempted all
questions in
knowledge
checks; majority
of answers are
correct
2 User has
completed Activity
1; email sent to
instructor is
lacking one or
more components
(subject, body
text)
User completed
Activity 2; user
participated in
break out group
and emailed
instructor, but
screenshot may
contain errors in
understanding
User completed
Activity 3;
meeting invite
only sent to
instructor or a
few group
members but not
both. Meeting
invite may have
fields missing

User
completed
Activity 3; task
only sent to
instructor or
contact group
but not both.
Task may have
fields missing
User attempted
fewer than half
the questions per
knowledge
check; some
answers correct
1 User has attempted
Activity 1 but
email was not sent
to instructor; user
may have reached
out for technical
support during the
activity or
throughout class
User participated
in Activity 2 and
in break out
session but did not
send an email or a
screenshot
User attempted to
complete activity
3; meeting invite
only sent to
instructor or other
individual and is
missing
substantial
information
User attempted
to complete
Activity 4 but
no task was
assigned to
members of the
group or
instructor; user
may have
reached out for
technical
support
User attempted
one or two
questions in
knowledge
check; few or no
correct answers
0 No attempt made
to send e-mail to
instructor (Activity
1)
No attempt made
to complete
Activity 2
No attempt made
to complete
Activity 3
No attempt
made to
complete
Activity 4
No attempt made
to complete
knowledge
checks 1 and 2



Katherine Abrahams 6
OMDE 610 9020

References
Harasim, L. (2012). Behaviorist learning theory. Learning theory and online technologies (pp.
31-45). New York, NY: Routledge.