Cool Technology vs. Good Learning Design

An interesting thread in one of my LinkedIn discussions regards a poll. The question was:

Have we strayed from basic adult learning principles in favor of “cool” technology?
Responses as of October 3 were:

• No, we are enhancing (26%)
• No, we are on target (10%)
• Yes, we have strayed (42%)
• Yes, we are going for cool factor (15%)
• Don't know (5%)

Jacinta Penn commented in her blog post about the poll that no one brought up the fact that "some people never used good learning principles in the first place." This is true both in face-to-face situations such as academic courses and workshops. No one can tell me that having someone stand in front of a large group of people and drone on and on with an occasional PowerPoint slide of bulleted points  interspersed represents good pedagogy. In these cases, I'm often reminded of Ben Stein's segment in Ferris Beuller's Day Off.



I have seen elearning courses that greatly resemble this approach. They are linear in design, largely text-based, with a few YouTube videos thrown in for good measure. They often include the bullets from the PowerPoint presentations without any explanation. Learners have little choice but to progress from one page of text to the next.

As I develop my online courses and modules, I keep good pedagogy in mind:

• Chunk information into small pieces
• Provide a variety of ways for the learner to gain information
• Built in formative and summative assessment to check understanding and reflect on what they are learning
• Keep it simple--less text the better
• Easy to use and navigate--intuitive, accessible design, guidance when necessary
• Incorporate visual examples
• Relate to real life--authentic learning usually with scenarios
• Keep the content relevant and at the right level for the learner
• Make the learner interact with the screen or make decisions
• Educational focus--even though may include "game-like" approaches

This approach recognizes the interdependence of ‘design’ (of e-learning materials and environments) and ‘teaching’, in that I am able to incorporate a wide range of learning opportunities in the design. The technology allows me to accomplish my goals. I no longer have to provide a linear  elearning experience.  I have learned a lot from the Articulate Community (E-Learning Heroes) blogs, forums, and award-winning course examples.  Not only does Tom Kuhlman discuss the technical aspects of developing courses, but he also incorporates pedagogical best practices.

How Long Does it Take to Create ELearning

A colleague recently asked me to ballpark how much it would cost/time it would take to create an elearning course with 40 slides and no assessment. I explained that I didn't have enough information to accurately answer that question. As Sarah Gilbert explains in her recent blog post,  calculating the time is based on a number of variables--the type of project, the developer's content and technology knowledge, the relationship between the developer and the SME, the level of interactivity, existing assets vs creating assets, etc.

I provided a recent interaction that I was working on as part of a larger module started out as four pages of text in Word and became over 30 slide with hyperlinking and level 2 interactivity (just beyond the page-turner format). Even though I started out with a template idea from a previous course, it still took me several days to complete that one section of the module. Adding in additional interactions and extending the branching would add more time.

This SlideShare presentation uploaded by Chapman Alliance contains research collected from 249 respondents about how long it takes to create different formats of learning including instructor-led training materials, Level 1 eLearning (Basic), Level 2 (Interactive), Level 3 (advanced, simulations and games), and blended learning. The research is available as Creative Common meaning you are welcome to share the contents with anyone, as long as you list the source when referencing.

How Long Does it Take to Create Learning? from Chapman Alliance

Inspiration from the Web

The folks at Born4Design agency recently posted a list of 12 free web design resources. The first 8 are available as ebooks and can be downloaded at PDFs for reading on a computer or mobile device. Although these resources are directed at web designers, they can also provide useful ideas for the e-learning course designer.

Tom Kuhlman at The Rapid E-Learning Blog advises that one way to get away from the inherent linear, bullet-point presentation model in many courses and PowerPoint presentations is to create your own templates. One spark of inspiration for his template designs is other Web site designs. He likes to periodically peruse the Web sites of ad agencies and graphic design sites and look at their project portfolios. He not only gets ideas about design elements but also color combinations. Take a screenshot of the site and create an "inspiration collection." You might even consider posting your images to Flickr as Patrick Haney did. You can also collect your clips in an Evernote notebook.

When we design a course, we are asking our learners to spend their valuable time take that course. These are some tips that will help you design courses that look good.  Combine inviting design elements that with sound instructional design and you’ll have courses that hook your learners from the start and never let them go.

Lessons Learned

As I reviewed my EDU 271 course as well as other courses that I have developed, I started writing down my reflections. I've posted some of the more cogent lessons below. I would welcome comments and other reflections.

• I have learned that my students are not as technologically literate and savvy as we might think. One student commented that she had never thought to evaluate the information that she found on the Internet until she had an assignment to do so in my class.
• We need to provide more technology "how-to" support (within the course) if we want to have students utilize Web 2.0 and other emerging technologies to demonstrate knowledge. Several students were still not even familiar with the basic Office Suite of programs--much less blogs and wikis. If we assign technology related projects, then we need to make sure that we provide handouts, videos, tutorials, etc. to help students learn the technology as well. We also need to consider that the students are also learning the technology as well as demonstrating their understanding of the concept/topic.
• A single course is not enough time to not only expose students (and faculty) to new technologies but to also help them learn how to use the technology and then develop activities and assignments that utilize that technology. Breaking the course into several courses has been suggested; however, the technology component needs to be incorporated across the curriculum. Right now, the students seem to get a smattering of technology depending on who they have as instructors. Therefore, their exposure is uneven.
• I have also learned that not only do we have to change our teaching paradigm, we need to get students to change their learning paradigm. All too often they expect to be spoon-fed the information (as in lectures) and then to simply regurgitate it on an exam. They have no expectations of ever using the information--even when they are studying to become teachers.
• Finally, we need to evaluate how we are teaching our teachers to teach. If we expect them to integrate technology in their teaching practices, if we expect them to use collaborative learning in their classrooms, if we expect them to teach their students how to become digital citizens--then shouldn't we be modeling this type of teaching?
  

Follow-Up Course Design for Learning

I am currently participating in a discussion with the ISTE LinkedIn Group. The discussion started out with asking for ideas for integrating Google Maps into Learning Activities; however, a side discussion lead to a conversation regarding designing learning activities/courses.  The following is my response, which references my previous post/presentation Course Design for Learning.

All too often I've seen Education faculty require their students to create lesson plans and/or activities out of context. However, when the students get into the "real world" they will need to consider a lot more. I like to have my students essentially develop a case study scenario in which they define the state standards and learner characteristics for their classroom--then build a thematic unit plan (rather than a series of individual learning activities) so they see how to integrate technology (and multiple disciplines) throughout the unit.

I'm a great believer in metacognition--understanding WHY you do something. Therefore, I see the course design process as a reflective process. What I try to get my students (and faculty) to understand is that your goals and objectives drive the activities and ultimately assessment. You have to think through which concepts need to be "covered" and what you want the students to be able to do/understand first. That means you have to know what your state/county/district wants you to teach as well as what your students know/don't know. (The ISTE standards (NETS) are another consideration.) Knowing your students is as important as knowing your objectives. You also have to consider your learning environment--what kinds of technology do your students have access to--at school and at home? What kind of support will they need--you provide? Then you need to consider the teaching and learning process--teacher-centered/student-centered or a combination. Teachers need to have a toolbox of instructional strategies that fit their teaching philosophy and think about the materials/resources that can support those strategies (be they low tech or high tech or no tech).

NOTE: Course design is an iterative--not linear--process. Although I listed assessment last, it actually needs to be considered throughout the process (formative vs. summative). 

The following related Chronicle of Higher Education article was recently shared on LinkedIn Updates: Planning a Class with Backward Design Mark Sample referenced the book, Understanding by Design, by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTigh. Wiggins and McTigh call the process of designing courses around learning goals “the backward design process.”  They offered a three-stage diagram of the backward design process:

1. Identify desired results (What should students know, understand, and be able to do? What is worthy of understanding? What enduring understandings are desired?
2. Determine Acceptable Evidence (How will we know if students have achieved the desired results and met the standards? What will we accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency?)
3. Plan Learning Experiences (With clearly identified results (enduring understandings) and appropriate evidence of understanding in mind, educators can now plan instructional activities.)

Just as I outlined in my LinkedIn post, during the first stage, consider your goals, examine established content standards (national, state, and district), and review curriculum expectations. Imagine the first stage as a series of concentric circles or nested rings. The first stage allows us to prioritize what you need to teach. The outer ring represents knowledge “worth being familiar with” for students. This area represents the field of possible content (topics, skills, and resources) that might be examined during the unit or course. The middle ring encapsulates knowledge and skills “important to know and do.” In this area, we begin to set priorities by identifying important knowledge (facts, concepts, and principles) and skills (processes, strategies, and methods) that are essential for students to master. Another way of looking at this area is this is where we specify the prerequisite knowledge and skills needed for students to successfully accomplish key performances. Finally, the smallest ring, the inner ring, represents “enduring understandings”—the fundamental, "big" ideas you want students to remember days and months and years later, even after they’ve forgotten the details of the course. These understandings should anchor the course or unit.

ALPS, Active Learning Practice for Schools, developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Project Zero defines the enduring understandings as Throughlines. Throughlines are overarching describe the most important understandings that students should develop during an entire course. The understanding goals for particular units should be closely related to one or more of the throughlines of the course. 

The enduring understandings, the throughlines, should be the target for developing our course/unit/learning activity. In developing the enduring understanding goals, ask yourself, "When my students leave my class at the end of the course, what are the most important things I want them to take away with them?" You may have to review several learning units to find common themes or skills/knowledge that seem to resurface each time you teach. Sometimes it is easier to phrase the overarching goals as questions rather than statements.

Links for Online Course Content Resources

Much front-end production time in creating a new course or converting a course to online will be spent planning and producing content.

In considering media for inclusion in your online course, consider Fleming's six-element typology of teaching tasks and objectives: 1) attention, 2) perception and recall, 3) organization and sequencing, 4) instruction and feedback, 5) learner participation, and 6) higher-order thinking and concept formation. The following media and modes are considered because they are common and familiar, and also because they constitute the tools most available to online teachers, trainers, and learners: 1) print and text, 2) still graphics and illustrations, 3) sound and music, 4) video and moving graphics, and 5) multimedia.

Over the next few postings, I plan to provide a variety of annotated links to resources on the web for instructors to use in developing their lessons. We’ll start with Science.

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CHEMISTRY COLLECTIVE is a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, and concepts tests which can be incorporated into a variety of teaching approaches as pre-labs, alternatives to textbook homework, and in-class activities for individuals or teams. It is organized by a group of faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon University for college and high school teachers who are interested in using, assessing, and/or creating engaging online activities for chemistry education.

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THE BIOLOGY PLACE
(LabBench Activities)
Site maintained by Pearson--series of interactive flash demonstrations

• Lab 1: Diffusion & Osmosis
• Lab 2: Enzyme Catalysis
• Lab 3: Mitosis & Meiosis
• Lab 4: Plant Pigments & Photosynthesis
• Lab 5: Cell Respiration
• Lab 6: Molecular Biology
• Lab 7: Genetics of Organisms
• Lab 8: Population Genetics
• Lab 9: Transpiration
• Lab 10: Circulatory Physiology
• Lab 11: Animal Behavior
• Lab 12: Dissolved Oxygen

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BIOINTERACTIVE VIRTUAL LABS: Maintained by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Virtual Labs won top honors in the 2002 Pirelli INTERNETional Award competition.More than 1,200 multimedia entries competed for the Top Pirelli Prize, which recognizes the best multimedia products designed to use the Internet to educate about science and technology. The site a variety of video clips, animations, and virtual labs.

• The Transgenic Fly Virtual Lab
• The Bacterial Identification Lab
• The Cardiology Lab
• The Neurophysiology Lab
• The Immunology Lab

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Virtual Science: Experiments,"Hands-on", Laboratories (from MIT)

• Links to interactive science resources gathered by MIT

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VADLO: Biomedical and Life Sciences Search Engine: Vadlo was developed by two biology scientists who wish to make it easier to locate biology research related information on the web. Vadlo search engine caters to all branches of life sciences. VADLO allows users to search within five categories: Protocols, Online Tools, Seminars, Databases and Software. Feel free to copy the Cartoons for your personal use and PowerPoint presentations!

New Slideshow Posted to Slideshare

I recently created a PowerPoint presentation as an overview of the content for our Tech in the Classroom course. I finally got around to putting it up on my SlideShare account. Although SlideShare says you can now include YouTube videos in your slide shows, it limits the number to 5. Therefore, I deleted many of the videos I had included for how-to and clarification information. Unfortunately, I could only get the first video to play. So...back to the drawing board. This time, I took a screen shot of the video and hyperlinked it to the original. Luckily, the hyperlinks worked on the videos. They didn't always work for the hyperlinked text within the presentation. Sometimes, all I got was a hand allowing me to go forward or backward in the presentation rather than go to the site. Oh, well...

I hope you take the time to check out my slideshow. My Web 2.0: Imagine presentation, which I uploaded about 2 years ago has over 12000 views and 52 embeds. The newest presentation has similar information, but cleaner and more informative.