Has been difficult to say the least. The formatting kept changing, my browser kept closing (I learnt my lesson early and kept saving after each change I made) everytime I tried to preview, and my pictures look a little small and insignificant . . . oh well.

If I had more time I would have probably tried to work out if I could have done something like a chapter system or something as its a really long page.

Reflections? Thoughts? – I think its been a challenging thing for me to complete this assignment, as I don’t think I quite understood what I really wanted to do. When we do storyboards at work, the learning theories aren’t quite as prominent as they are here. I think its more instinctive than anything else.

Overall I quite enjoyed this assignment (shock horror!). It made me think about plausible and fantastical. I’m not very creative but I did try my best. I think my conventional take on things may hinder my design aspirations in the future.

Yay for holidays!!!

Creating storyboards is one of the first steps in designing an e-learning course. This podcast outlines some of the issues that need to be thought about when creating a storyboard.

This was the main site that I used to put together my first podcast. Its an old site and there are some problems opening it, but it really has a step-by-step guide in how to use Audacity and to create audio files.

http://teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk/index.php/2006/01/10/podcasting-part3/

So check out my first podcast here – Podcast

The use of colour can influence learner perceptions of the information being presented. Colours convey emotion, feeling, mood and a sense of context. For example, the colour blue is often a calm, watery colour. In Australia, sky blue is predominately used in newspaper sites and other corporate sites. I think that this has something to do with the fact that Australia is not only surrounded by water, but has clear blue skies (currently not, but usually).

When designing an e-learning platform or anything online, I believe that understanding your audience will influence the colour scheme used. The type of graphics used will either draw attention to it or supplement the information that is being presented.

A colour wheel (left) is used to select complimentary colours that could be used in an e-learning platform or activity. Keeping colours consistent throughout a course is vital as it helps signal to learners the learning progress and links previous material to current learning.

When selecting colours to use, consider the current fashion, environment (hot or cold), and culture. For example, green can mean different things to different cultures and in different environments. In Australia, the green is more likely to be a pastel than a bright lime green as Australia is usually hot and dry so pastels can cool the environment. In Europe, colours tend to be brighter and more vibrant to creat a feeling of warmth in a colder climate. Colours are both culture and context specific. For example, in Islamic countries, green signifies heaven whilst green in Ireland represents good luck.

Therefore it is imperative that colour is considered when designing e-learning and websites so that learners are actively engaged.

Visual hierarchy is important to guide learners which elements are the most important and to present the information in a predictable and logical manner. Learners are generally attracted to large colour masses and shapes before focusing on graphics (if present) and then text. 

Ensuring that there is contrast between headings and block text will draw the learner into reading the content. Spacing and colour also help signal to the learner the important and differing elements within an organised structure. 

However in designing a web page, ensure that you understand the audience to which the webpage is meant to address. Consideration of internet speeds is important as lots of large graphics will slow downloads and may frustrate users. A balance of small graphics and text will ensure learners get maximum visual effect and demonstrate effective visual design.

Check out this website for more information on Visual Design: http://www.webstyleguide.com/page/hierarchy.html

When developing multimedia learning modules, keeping things to the bare basics with information that they must know, rather than it is nice to know is essential for knowledge transfer (reducing cognitive load). Limiting e-learning to only once form of communication can limit transfer of learning. For example, Mayer and Moreno (2003) state that learners learn better when there is animation and narration, rather than a combination of animation, narration and text. This can be too much of a cognitive load on learners who will probably struggle to grasp the concept and fully understand what is being taught.

For my particular course that I am currently storyboarding, possibilities of multimedia use could relate to scenarios of how to implement best practice guidelines and ask learners to make decisions based on their knowledge. I’m not too sure how this could be built and what platform could be used, but it is an interesting option to utilise.

If animation or video were used for scenarios, narration would be useful and benefial for learner knowledge transfer. However I would definitely not include on-screen text for these scenarios, unless it flashed up at the beginning and disappeared before the animation began to cue learners as to what content was being covered. On-screen text during the animation/video would prove much too distracting for learners as it divides their attention and therefore reduces learning transfer.

Reference

Mayer, R.E. & Moreno, R. 2003, “Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning”, Educational Psychologist, Vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 43-52.

According to Mayer and Moreno (2003), there are principles of multimedia design which can reduce cognitive load for learners. Cognitive load refers to when a learning task requires more effort to process the learning than the learner can actually handle.

There are nine ways to reduce cognitive load:

1. Off-loading – reducing essential processing from multiple communication channels to one or two. Eg, transferring from visual to auditory channel as most learners learn from hearing than reading

    

2. Segmenting – chunking information into bite-size bits of learning allows for improved learning transfer

    

3. Pre-training – in how to use the training program which reduces the effort required by the learner to link components and the casual links

    

4. Weeding – concentrate on having “need to know” information and removing embellishments will ensure the information is transferred effectively as it reduces the amount of information that the learner is processing

    

5. Signalling – if embellishments are unable to be removed provide cues to the learner about how to process the information

    

6. Aligning – placing corresponding text next to the related graphic/image

    

7. Eliminating redundancy – in a multimedia presentation do narration, not narration and on-screen text

    

8.  Synchronising – the visual and auditory material being presented to the learner is presented simultaneously rather than sequentially

9. Individualisation –  refers to how high-spatial learners are able to transfer learning better with simultaneous rather than sequential presentations. In low-spatial learners, Mayer and Moreno found that there was no significant difference in learning transfer between simultaneous or sequential presentations

Reference

Mayer, R.E. & Moreno R. 2003, “Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning”, Educational Psychologist, Vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 43-52.

Multimedia seems to have evolved into Web 2.0 technologies. For some people, multimedia is what they consider to be old-school pre-cursor learning technologies. Seely Brown and Adler (2008) have raised the issue that learners are becoming more participative and active in the creation of their own learning material. In the past when multimedia CD-roms were distributed as educational material, learners were passive in the creation of the content.

Within today’s context, multimedia is simply part of Web 2.0 technologies. We commonly see wikis and blogs displaying videos and links to animations, texts and other sources of information. Social learning technology platforms such as Facebook enable users to create and share content. Virtual worlds such as Second Life have evolved the multimedia educational program to become a much more interactive and synchronous learning experience. I believe that multimedia has become incorporated into Web 2.0 technologies and what we grew up on has evolved and become part of everyday learning technologies.

Reference 

Seely Brown, J. & Adler, R.P. 2008, “Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail and learning 2.0”, Educause Review, January/February 2008, <http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/MindsonFireOpenEducationt/45823>.

Multimedia is just that – it refers to a product which incorporates multiple media types that are used to engage people’s attention. Multimedia incorporates videos, text, graphics, pictures, sound and animation into a product.

Computer games have been used in the past (using CD-Rom) to engage people into learning new things. For example Sims and other problem-based solving games have utilised a combintation of text, graphics, sounds and animation to engage players.

The internet has spawned a few websites which incorporate multimedia to impart information to learners. The BBC has a few short learning courses which allow users to read about the topic, complete activities and do short quizzes. The BBC seem to have taken a constructivist approach to the design with a linear structure that allows learners to access the modules in no particular order. I did not notice if a particular demographic of learners were in mind, but the information seemed aimed at a high school level of learning.

How Stuff Works is another website which utilises mulitmedia to demonstrate how a toilet flushes and the mechanics behind it. Personally I found it interesting, although the toilet flushed too quickly and would have benefited from a slow-motion version or even versions which demonstrated the interaction between the different moving parts.

I’ve been thinking about which learning theory suits which technology and can’t come up with a definitive answer. To make online learning more interesting and engaging for learners, most of the learning approaches would be appropriate depending on the content of what is being learnt.

For example, the behaviourist approach would be quite frustrating for learners who if they failed the module, would have to repeat it over and over again until they get it right.

Blogs, wikis, social networking, and virtual worlds would be applicable to Bandura’s social learning theory, humanist approach, constructivist approach and cognitive approach to learning. Different aspects of each learning approach can be applied to various activities or design frameworks that use these online technologies.

Podcasting, vodcasting and mlearning technologies can be used to deliver content to learners using a cognitive or a constructivist approach. Potentially, a mixture of learning approaches could be used within a learning module, depending on the context and types of learners. These are definitely things to consider when designing an e-learning module.