Evaluation Type: Think Aloud
User 1: Spouse (Project Manager)
User 2: Co-Worker (Training Manager)
User 3: Class Listserv

I conducted a “Think Aloud” evaluation for my “Twitter for learning” multimedia page with my wife, a co-worker, and I also got some good feedback from the class listserv.  The evaluation proved to be helpful as I found a few changes that should definitely improve my project described below.

• Twitter screenshot image size – My co-worker who also works with a lot of multimedia for training purposes suggested reducing the size of the image of the twitter screenshot.  I was actually hoping to do this after posting it on the page but did not realize that you could not do that.  I’ll be using Photoshop to shrink the image so that it fits better on the page.
• Style sheet discrepancies – After sending my first draft out to the class listserv I got some feedback that my section headings didn’t meet the requirements outlined in the style sheets.  This was a quick change that has already been implemented.  I also found that I need to add my “signature” to the end of the page as described in the style sheet page.
• Typo – My wife found a small typo where I incorrectly used a <br/> html tag to add a line of space.  This is an easy fix that has already been implemented.
• Embed Common Craft Video – Both my co worker and my wife suggested that I embed the common craft video in the page like I did with the “Twitter Experiment” video.  I didn’t do this at first because I thought it might clutter the page but I think once I shrink the image it will de-clutter the page .  I think it’s a worthwhile change considering both of my testers mentioned the same thing.
• More Links – Throughout the article there are Twitter terms used that not everybody is familiar with as my co-worker who does not use Twitter pointed out.  To address this I added hyperlinks for terms such as “Tweet,” “Hash Tag,” and “Back Channel.”

All of these changes will be easy to make and will definitely improve my page.  An evaluation never sounds like a fun thing to do but always proves necessary.  There’s nothing like a fresh set of eyes to find things you may be over looking.

I chose to read the chapter about designing instructional and informational text because as somebody who spends their day’s developing e-learning I feel it is definitely something that can improve the effectiveness of my work.  I see a lot of research about how to best use images but not a lot about text so I thought this would be a good topic to learn more about. I also feel it is becoming more and more important to make text as clear and concise as possible as people are scanning more and reading less.  These day’s if you are going to get your point across with text it better be clear and attention grabbing or it’s going to get scanned over.

A lot of what they described as being effective in text are the basics that we learned in elementary school but learning more about the research behind what makes those things effective was helpful.  The basics of structuring sentences and paragraphs has become second nature but I have to admit that after all these years I have become a little lazy and this article was a good reminder of what I learned many years ago.  Although much of it seemed like common sense, it can be easy to get lost in your own writing and overlook the basics of structuring sentences and paragraphs so that they are easy to read and understand.

Something I found interesting was the notion that maybe today’s text books are too easy to read and not challenging enough to keep students engaged.  We always do all we can to make text as easy to read as possible but when it comes to a complex topic maybe simple is not best.  Perhaps making the student work harder to understand keeps them engaged and challenged.  It’s definitely something that needs a lot more research but an idea that I found interesting.

Overall, I thought it was a helpful article although much of it seemed like common sense or basic English.  What the author discussed as being effective is basic but if you think about examples of text that was not clear or concise, it is usually because they broke the rules of common sense or basic English.

Hartley, J. (2004). Virtual realities. In D. Jonassen, (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed., pp. 461-497). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers

Outline:

I. What is Twitter?

• Common Craft video (Pending Copyright)

• Twitter Terminology – Possible word cloud visual

II. Why use Twitter for Learning

• “The Twitter Experiment” (Pending Copyright)

III. How to use Twitter for Learning

• Activities – (Back Channel,TweetChat’s, Research, Collaborative Writing, Bulletin Board)

Visuals:
There are multiple opportunities for visuals that I need to narrow down.

• YouTube Videos – The “Twitter Experiment” and Common Craft videos are great resources for my topic but I am unsure if there are any copyright issues with using them for this project.
• Terminology Word Cloud
• Presentation/Demonstration showing Twitter in action

Resources:

• Bozarth, Jane. (2010) Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Enhancing and Extending Learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
• Twitter in the Classroom – The Twitter Experiment (YouTube) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8
• Twitter in Plain English, Common Craft – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

After reading through this article I was struck most by how far we have come in such a short amount of time when it comes to the use of visual elements in instructional design.  At the beginning of the conclusions section the author emphasizes the need for future research and I couldn’t agree with that more. To be honest, several times throughout this article I found myself rolling my eyes because to me it seems obvious that animations and other visuals are going to contribute to learning. I believe any research that points to visual elements being ineffective is due to poor design and shouldn’t be used to form generalizations regarding the widespread effectiveness of visual elements. Like most things, static and animated graphics are effective when used properly.

I wish that the article included screenshots of the static and animated visuals used to conduct the research so that we could see examples of what did and did not work. Much of the research was conducted in the early and mid 90’s and although that wasn’t long ago we have come a long way in that amount of time when it comes to using visual elements in instructional design. When reading about graphics that were ineffective I’m picturing some horrible graphic that distracts from the content.  It would be interesting to compare graphics used in an e-learning course from the early 90′s to graphics used in e-learning now.  If you conducted a study on which is more effective I’m sure the results would show that we are making better use of static and animated graphics these day’s.

Overall, the article was interesting and although I agree with one of the authors that further research is needed, there are some good tips that will be helpful to ensure my graphics contribute to learning and don’t distract from the content.  Yes, we can create more effective graphics these day’s but they can still be ineffective when not used properly.  There’s a time and place for everything and that is especially true when it comes to using graphics in instructional design.

Anglin, G; Vaez, H; Cunningham, K. (2004). Virtual realities. In D. Jonassen, (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed., pp. 461-497). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

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(Animation I created for multimedia tools assignment)

(Tutorial used to complete assignment)

Props:

• Stool for actor to sit on
• Donate Life clothing/button
• Fireplace setting in background

Equipment:

• Camera
• Internal microphone on camera
• Tripod
• Lighting (Basic lighting in room)
• Laptop to be used as teleprompter

Schedule:

• 10/12 – Test set for lighting and overall layout and setup.  Test camera angles and microphone volume.  Overall test run.
• 10/9 – Final production and recording.  Will do final test of lighting, camera, and sound prior to takes.  View recordings in between takes to make adjustments and re take as needed.
• 10/15 – 10/16 – Editing and development of final video.

Set Plan:

I thought it would be best to take some test “shots” of the set since it is a basic setup.  The short test video below served as a good test of lighting, sound, camera settings, and the overall look of the scene.  I learned I am going to need to do the recording mid day for the best lighting and the best settings for the camera. This set layout will be replicated for final shoot.

I found this article to be very helpful because it focuses on what does and does not work in distance education or “Internet Based Learning” and makes those finding easy to apply to my work.  The authors of this research article cited several studies on the effectiveness of “Internet Based Learning” and summarized the key findings of what contributed to the effectiveness of a distance course or what contributed to a distance course not being perceived as effective.  Although many of the factors that make a distance class successful seem obvious it can be easy to get caught up in technical aspects and forget to follow through with the obvious factors that can make the course a success.

An aspect of a successful distance class mentioned in the article that caught my interest was the idea of “Social Presence” and being there for the student.  In an online class there is no brick and mortar classroom where you are “There” for students so you have to build in opportunities to be “There” through the virtual classroom and follow through on those opportunities to be “Socially Present.”  When developing a distance course it can be easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of getting a site up and running then go into cruise control once you have the site and resources done.  This article pointed out the importance of providing individualized feedback so that your students feel connected to the group in turn reducing the likelihood that they will leave the environment.  I’m definitely guilty of getting caught up in the technical aspects and this article reminded me that I can’t do that or I run the risk of having the students feeling disconnected with the course.

Hill, J.; Wiley D.; Nelson L.; and Han, S. (2004). Virtual realities. In D. Jonassen, (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed., pp. 461-497). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

I am still working through a couple of different ideas for the layout of each slide and the graphics I am going to use but this gives me a good starting to point.  I have the narration script written in the presentation notes but you have to open the presentation in a new window to view them.  To access the notes click the “Open in New Window” icon in the toolbar, then click the “Actions” option after the presentation opens in a new window and you will see an option to view presenter notes.