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12.4.1 Week 4 Mastery Journal

1) How has each course contributed to your personal and professional development as an instructional designer?

Month 1: Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership

I found the book we used in this class, Mastery by Robert Greene, to be very interesting. One of the points the book made repeatedly was that people need to play to their strengths. As I progressed through this course of study, I found myself going back to that idea over and over. The result was that I used the skills I already have to add a new skill – instructional design – to my repertoire.

Month 2: Strategies for Learner Engagement

In this course, I began to see the power of interactive infographics. When I created the interactive infographic that was the main assignment, I was amazed at how much more engaging the information became. The result is that I have used that concept very effectively on my job, and have received a lot of positive feedback from people, because of how much more appealing the information is.

Month 3: Visual and Verbal Communication in Instructional Design

In this class, I learned a lot about why feedback among peers is important, as well the right and wrong way of giving feedback. For example, during this class, we were involved in creating typography posters. Since several of my classmates were not designers by profession, I was able to share with some of them a few of the principles of good design. Hopefully, they found it to be helpful.

Month 4: Corporate Training and Motivational Development

This was the first class where we had to write a script, and then edit it to a specific time or shorter. One of my problems is that, too often, there is so much information that I think is necessary to impart, that I can run long – sometime, way too long. Even though there were several classes where we had to edit our scripts brutally, this class was the first that let me know that well-edited scripts were going to be a necessity.

Month 5: Instructional Design and Evaluation

This class was actually one of the ones that I found to be harder than the others, because this one focused more closely on educational theory than the ones before had. While previous classes had touched on educational theory to varying degrees, this one was the first where I actually found myself struggling at times to understand and discuss the subject matter.

Month 6: Digital Media and Learning Applications

This class was the first one where we had to write one of those research papers that all of us hated so badly. I think that I learned more about APA formatting in this class than I had in all of the ones before it. The project that we did in this class – the interactive web quiz – also came in very handy, because I was able to take that framework and use it very effectively later on at my job.

Month 7: Music and Audio for Instructional Design

I think this class was the one I found to be the most fun. I have a long history of doing voiceover work and sound design, so I was able to just have fun with the assignments. However, that is not to say that I did not learn anything from the class. In my experience, it doesn’t matter how familiar you may be with a particular discipline, if you take a class on it, you will learn something you did not know before. In this case, I was able to learn certain audio compression and equalization techniques that I did not know before.

Month 8: Filmmaking Principles for Instructional Design

The real thing I learned from this course that helps me as an instructional designer is how to use storytelling techniques make a subject more interesting. Furthermore, I learned techniques to use that would keep the story from going into a lot of unnecessary detail, but to keep it as short and succinct as possible.

Month 9: Game Strategies and Motivation

In this course, I learned that it is possible to use gamification techniques without making a game. I remember that one of my classmates works for a Department of Energy contractor just like I do, and we were able to have several very productive discussions on this subject. The fact is that a profession like the nuclear industry is usually populated by technical people who tend to look down on games as “not serious enough.” This class taught me how to use the techniques without having to make a “game” of it.

Month 10: Learning Management Systems and Organization

I had never worked in an LMS before, so this class presented a new experience for me. In fact, in my opinion, I was very lucky that this class fell during the month of July, and we had the week of Independence Day as a free week. Consequently, I was able to do a lot of extra research to learn what I needed for this class.

Month 11: Media Asset Creation

Creating a Training Needs Assessment from start to finish was the single biggest challenge that this class offered. I really struggled with this assignment, but the feedback I received from Dr. Wyly was extremely beneficial. Of course, once I turned in my first draft and received her feedback, I had to go back and redo a large portion of it, but, as is usually the case in a situation like this, I learned more from what I did wrong than what I had done correctly.

Month 12: Final Instructional Design and Technology Project

This class was helpful in teaching me the correct way to create a portfolio web site. I had created them before, but as I worked with Professor Cleveland and Dr. Wyly, I learned several things that helped me make it more effective. In fact, my work on this portfolio site will not stop with this class. I plan on using this as my portfolio from this point on, and to continue to refine it.

2) How well were you able to utilize the concepts and techniques you learned from the program (theories, systems design, interface styling, and the creation of multimedia content) as you designed, developed, and implemented your Final Project?

I believe that I was able to utilize what I have learned throughout this course of study extremely well. I would like to give one basic example: As I have progressed as a multimedia designer over the years, I have come to understand that it is a good idea to keep your designs as simple as possible. In my opinion, to many designs are ruined just because the designer wanted to do all kinds of “neat stuff,” and did not know when to stop. Bu then I learned that, as much as I am a proponent of simplicity, I still had the tendency to make things more complicated than necessary. The result was that this over-complication in design actually had the capability of preventing students from learning the material well. Therefore, a lot of the work I did later in the program had a very different look than it did when I began the program. Even on my job, my work has begun to take on a very different appearance, and it has been a definite improvement.

3) Describe your most outstanding personal triumph in each course.

Month 1: Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership

I believe the biggest triumph I experienced in this class was coming to the conclusion that, yes, I could do the work. I was very nervous going into this program, because I was not at all confident that I was capable of passing. I tend to struggle with what is known as the imposter syndrome, where I have a tendency to downplay my accomplishments, and suspect that the day will come when I am exposed as a fraud who is not nearly as smart as people think I am, and that I really don’t have a lot of talent as a designer. And while that is probably something with which I will struggle all my life, this first class did give me a shot of confidence in my ability to do the work the program demanded.

Month 2: Strategies for Learner Engagement

As I stated earlier, one thing that had a profound effect on me was Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia. It was in this class where I was first exposed to those principles, and what I learned from them literally transformed my work, not only from an academic standpoint, but professionally as well.

Month 3: Visual and Verbal Communication in Instructional Design

In this class, one of the concepts we explored was the connection between effective visuals and believability. We were taught that there is a direct correlation between effective design and credibility. Personally, I felt vindicated by that, because this is something that I have been trying to convey to some of the engineers with which I work. Or course, sometimes I feel like I am fighting a losing battle, but it is nice to have research to back up my assertions.

Month 4: Corporate Training and Motivational Development

I think it was during this class that I was really able to help some of my classmates with shooting video in front of green or blue screen. That is something I do on a regular basis on my job, and most of them had no experience with it at all. I really enjoyed being able to reach out and answer questions and give advice on how to make it work. It was a good feeling.

Month 5: Instructional Design and Evaluation

I think what I am most proud of in this class is the teamwork that may classmates and I showed in the final project. I have said this multiple times: We could not have had a better composition of skills than the one we saw in this class. For the final project, each of us played to our strengths: Robyn and Bruce used their educational backgrounds to outline the project; Heather’s skills as a graphic designer were put to effective use in creating the look of our project; my skills in voiceover and interactivity came into play as I put everything together. The result was that Dr. Deason said that it was one of the best presentations of that nature he had seen in a long time.

Month 6: Digital Media and Learning Applications

The first week of this class, I was on vacation. I also had the first of those hated research papers due. So, I spent something like 25 hours of my vacation researching and writing my paper. I turned in the first draft of my paper on the last day of my vacation. Imagine my surprise when I received Dr. McBride’s feedback, and I had a lot fewer changes that needed to be made than I expected. If I recall correctly, my final grade on the paper was a 95.

Month 7: Music and Audio for Instructional Design

As stated earlier, I really enjoyed this class. However, I think the thing that I consider the biggest personal triumph was Dr. Deason’s reaction to the final version of my audio version of Little Red Riding Hood. He was very complimentary about how I put it together. Then, he set up a web camera so I could see his daughter’s reactions when she listened to it. It was a really good feeling to know that he thought that highly of it.

Month 8: Filmmaking Principles for Instructional Design

The thing of which I am most proud as a result of this class was my rediscovery of how necessary storyboarding is. I have been doing video and animation for many years, but my storyboarding techniques were scattered, at best. The result was that, in too many cases, I wasted too much time when I ran into a problem. What I learned from this class is that creating detailed storyboards will frequently allow you to anticipate problems and solve them before you actually get into the production process.

Month 9: Game Strategies and Motivation

Ultimately, I considered the game I created for this class to be a personal triumph. Game creation and gamification were new concepts for me, so I was not at all confident in my ability in this area. However, at the end of the class, my final grade was around a 98, so I was satisfied with what I had done.

Month 10: Learning Management Systems and Organization

What I considered to be a personal triumph for this class was the sheer amount of work that I produced for it. The short course that I created was called Compositing in Photoshop, and I created five 10-minute tutorials for it, as well as an interactive simulation of Photoshop to help the students learn the interface. I was very proud of the final product.

Month 11: Media Asset Creation

In this class, I believe I produced some of the best material during the past year. Once I nailed down the Training Needs Assessment, I had all of the ideas in place; all I needed to do was generate the assets. Even though I was only given a week to produce each part, I had worked out so many of the details while I was writing the TNA that I could put every bit of creativity I possessed into the different pieces.

Month 12: Final Instructional Design and Technology Project

What I consider to be the biggest triumph of this class is the fact that I completed the entire course of study. For the last year, I have worked to the point of exhaustion, and have gotten discouraged several times. However, the encouragement of my classmates, my instructors, and my wife always gave me just enough motivation to stay the course.

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11.3.2 Week 3 Mastery

Reflect

Last month, we began charting new territory (at least, that is the case with me) when we started working with an LMS. After studying my options, I decided to go with Canvas as my LMS. The main reason I chose Canvas was because of ease of use. My line of thinking was that I would have enough to do that month without having to worry about a high learning curve on an LMS. In my short course, I used elements from the interactive infographic we created in month 2 of the program, “The Great War,” as a springboard for a class on compositing in Photoshop, which included the basics of graphic design.

Screen capture of the Photoshop simulation

Dr. Siegel said that the course was both useful and well-constructed, and my final grade was a 100.

Inquire

The area about which I really want to learn more is in the realm of learning types. In this course, we studied a lot about elemental vs. synthetic learning. A very simplified definition is that with synthetic learning, the student is memorizing and repeating facts; but with elemental learning, he or she is learning through creating something. I do not believe that we have to choose between one or the other in order to be an effective instructor. I do think that a combination of the two should make for a successful course. I believe that synthetic learning is useful when teaching the very basics, and then the students can apply those basics with elemental learning by practicing on appropriate projects. Having said that, I do think that this subject is one on which I should spend more time.

Tutorial screen capture

Suggest

If I had possessed more time, I would have liked to have gone farther into the subject of graphic design itself. With the amount of time that I had, the only thing I was able to use was a presentation that I had created a couple of years ago on presentation design, but which included a great deal about the universal principles of graphic design. In fact, one of my classmates commented that her only criticism of the course itself was that she would liked to have seen a section that dealt with graphic design on its own, and not one that was married to presentation design, especially since the course focuses on Photoshop.

Quiz screen capture

Elevate

One part of the course that was very well received was an interactive Photoshop simulation that I created in Captivate, where the students could practice the techniques that were being taught in the tutorials. The simulation went hand-in-hand with the first tutorial. I think that if I had been able to create a simulation that worked in tandem with each tutorial, that the students (particularly new users) would be able to better learn how to move around in the software.

Screen capture of some of the modules

One other thing that I believe would have made the rounded out the course and made it complete is a section on how to create interactivity. As I said earlier, the course was based on an interactive infographic. The base infographic had been created in Illustrator from a Lynda.com tutorial, and what we created in the course were the pop-up panels. I think that it would have been a nice finishing touch to have shown the students how to put those panels to use by teaching a beginners’ lesson on interactivity in InDesign.

Screen capture of the front page of my LMS

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10.4.1 Discussion

​​​​​​​1) Should instructional designers be required to be industry certified to practice in the profession? Why or why not?

In our text, Dempsey and Van Eck (2012) say that, “Organizations will be forced by accreditation and certification standards to demonstrate that instructors and course developers have been certified as competent” (p. 286). In short, certification in Instructional Design says that there would be a standard to which everyone who lays claim to that title would have to reach. While I believe that this sounds like a good idea on paper, I am not sure if it will work. The first question that I would have to ask is, “How will such an idea be enforced?” 

Will the certification be enforced by voluntary compliance? If so, that is little better than the system we have now. On the other hand, if the answer that enforcement will come from the government, I can tell you from experience that this also might be a bad idea.

I work for a government contractor, and everyone who is an instructional designer for this agency has to complete and pass a series of qualification courses. Personally, I have taken the Basic Instructor Training for this agency, so I am qualified to be an instructor. But here is the catch: All that Basic Instructor Training consists of is about 30 hours in a classroom, talking about learning styles, the difference between objectives and outcomes, etc. — basically a severely truncated version of what we have studied for the last 10 months. However, the examination is nothing more than each student being given a presentation and then having to present it to the rest of the class.

I spent something like 10 or 12 hours preparing that presentation so that it would flow smoothly and that it would be interesting and engaging. I passed the class. But then, so did the person who just stood up there and did nothing more than read, word for word, what was on the slide.

Consequently, in my opinion, I think that certification is a great idea, but it is only as valuable as the worth an organization assigns to it. I know for a fact that this same government agency is in the process of actually LOWERING the standards for its trainers, so that all they are required to have is a high school diploma. That is frequently what government certification does: works toward the lowest common denominator. While government certification upholds high standards for the things that the government believes to be valuable, it is evident that qualifications for Instructional Designers (and trainers) are not seen as such (at least, in this particular agency).

2) Explain why continuing education in instructional design and technology is important, and how you plan to continue to develop your technical skills to remain competitive in the field.

I am a firm advocate of continuing education, even if it is not formal education. Let me give an example. In 2007, I obtained an Associate’s degree in multimedia. Now, ten years later, a great deal of what I learned in that program is obsolete. Design applications have changed. In fact, most of the Adobe applications have changed to the degree that, in some cases, if I simply relied on what I learned more than a decade ago, I would be able to do very little in the programs.

A good example is Adobe InDesign. If I simply used InDesign for the purpose of basic layout, then there is no problem. However, InDesign has grown so much over the past ten years that to use it just for layout purposes is to waste a great deal of its power. That is the reason that I have maintained a personal Lynda.com account for the past ten years. If I am going to remain relevant as a multimedia designer, I have to stay current on what is happening in the multimedia world.

I believe that the same thing applies to the instructional design industry. As Kulhmann (2013) reminds us, we don’t actually need a degree in instructional design to get a job, but it certainly helps; a degree provides a pathway toward success that self-education cannot. However, if I take that attitude that, since I have my degree, there’s not much more that I need to learn, I have sentenced myself to irrelevance in the very near future.

During this course, I have written quite a bit about the need to engage the emerging workforce. The simple fact is that kids who are entering the workforce today are used to learning in a completely different manner than I did when I entered the workforce in the 1980s (Levonius, 2015). Consequently, I need to stay abreast of current technology, as well as the myriad ways in which it is being used. Then, I need to be willing and able to put this knowledge to use in an engaging and effective way.

3) Considering how quickly eLearning theories and practices have evolved, and in anticipating more changes in the future, how will you ensure that you as an instructional design professional will keep abreast of future changes?

In some ways, I began answering this in the last question’s response.

Dempsey and Van Eck (2012) write that “Because technology is so much more powerful easy to use, and prevalent, we have been able to mix and match content, media, instructional methods, and modalities in the same way we had hoped to combined learning objects” (p. 282). That is why we are seeing how rapidly the number of online K–12 students who are learning online is growing:

Students taking online or blended learning courses increased 80% from 2010 to 2014;

In that same period, school districts offering online or blended learning increased by 50%;

There was also a 58% increase of full-time online public schools during that time (Infographic: Growth of K-12 digital learning, n.d.).

That is what brings us back to the response I gave to the last question. We now have four separate generations in the workforce (Levonius, 2015). While there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how we are going to engage all four simultaneously, we must use sound instructional practices, an assortment of delivery methods, and good facilitation processes to overcome all of these generational disparities and provide education that benefits all of our students (Levonius, 2015).

In short, I cannot afford to ignore the changes that are taking place in the education and e-learning field. If I do, there is no faster path to needing to find an alternate means of employment. Consequently, my plan is to continue learning about current educational trends, stay up-to-date on the latest technology, and apply that knowledge to the different generations that are part of the workforce.

References

Dempsey, J., & Van Eck, R. (2012). E-learning and instructional design. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed., pp. 281-287). Boston: Pearson

Infographic: Growth of K-12 digital learning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2017, from http://www.connectionsacademy.com/news/growth-of-k-12-online-education-infographic

Kulmann, T. (2013, September 17). Do you really need an instructional design degree? Retrieved July 28, 2017, from http://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/do-you-really-need-an-instructional-design-degree/

Levonius, D. (2015, February 3). Generational differences in the classroom. Retrieved July 28, 2017, from https://www.td.org/Publications/Newsletters/Links/2015/02/Generational-Differences-in-the-Classroom

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9.3.4 Mastery Project Reflection

Reflect

I really enjoyed this class. My background is in multimedia with a heavy dose of basic videography and editing thrown in, so this class was nothing new for me. However, at the same time, as I have said so many other times before, regardless of how much experience as I have had with a particular discipline, there is always more to learn, and this class was no exception. I was a pleasure to listen to someone who has had a great deal of experience in the video field give advice on how to make what I was doing better.

For example, Dr. Wyly suggested that I rewrite my script in my instructional video so that I was not spending as much time on camera. Her point was that I was working with a three-minute instructional video, and I was on camera for almost a third of the time.

After reworking the script, reshooting and re-editing the video, I turned in the final product. My final score for it was a 100.

Inquire

My instructional video was on drawing and painting an apple using watercolor pencils. What I learned about myself in the process was a renewed interest in producing traditional (non-digital) artwork. I haven’t created any non-digital art in almost 20 years. However, in the process of creating this video, I rediscovered a love for traditional art. Where this has the potential to help me in the future is that this will allow me to create more of my own art, where I can make exactly what I want, instead of trying to just find something that is close at a stock photography/illustration site.

Suggest

The advice I would give to future students is to take storyboarding seriously. I have used storyboards in the past when I was working on big projects, but rarely when I was working on a small one. However, I was amazed at how much easier it was to cut everything together, when everything was shot with the storyboards in mind.

Elevate

As I have suggested in an earlier paragraph, in the future, I will make much better use of storyboards. I will also remember that, especially when working on an instructional video, people are watching to find out more about the subject at hand, not to hear me talk. While storytelling is an excellent way to illustrate points, it is better to incorporate it into the instructional part itself, and not in the intro.

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Mastery Journal Reflection, 8.3.1

Reflect

I went into the Music and Audio for Instructional Design class with many years of experience in that discipline. Consequently, I did not find that class to be that difficult at all. However, I did learn some very valuable lessons in that class. One such lesson was that, if I am to be an Instructional Designer, I need to be able to talk to people who are not familiar with the concepts I am teaching in such a way that what I am saying is clear. On multiple occasions, I would be working with one of my classmates, and I had to stop and think of how I could convey what needed to be done without just spewing a load of technical jargon that they would have found meaningless. The thought occurs to me that this is something that most Instructional Designers should experience and consider.

Dr. Deason’s feedback on all of my assignments basically boiled down to the fact that my skill level exceeds expectations in comparison to professional standards.  However, another thing of which I was reminded was that it does not matter how familiar a person is with a certain discipline, there are always new things to learn. Dr. Deason showed us an equalization technique for how to find which frequencies need correcting, and it is a technique that has come in handy on several occasions (outside of class). Again, I repeat the mantra that I have quoted to myself multiple times: If I come to a point where I think that there is nothing left to teach me, then my days as an effective designer are numbered.

This particular project piece (Seminole music) required that I use some serious equalization, because the recording was almost 80 years old.

Inquire

Consequently, I am regularly watching tutorials on Lynda.com, YouTube,  Train Simple, etc., just to try to learn more about the concepts on which sound design is based. This is especially true of equalization and audio compression. While I have a decent knowledge of these concepts, I think that I still have a long way to go before I can safely consider myself a master of them.

Compression is a subject on which I have learned a great deal, but there always seem that there is more to learn.

Suggest

One thing I would like to do is take some of these GarageBand projects that we worked on last month, and rework them in Adobe Audition. I believe that GarageBand is a wonderful introductory sound design program. However, the capabilities of Audition are so much more robust that you have a lot more options available to you. Here is a good example: On the first project we worked on, where we had to make corrections to a couple of audio tracks, there were a great number of things that simply had to go uncorrected (such as mouth pops and clicks) because GarageBand does not have the capability to make such intricate corrections. On the other hand, when you are faced with such a problem in Audition, all you have to do is switch to the Spectral Frequency display, which makes it easier to see the problems, and then use the Auto-Heal brush to remove it.

A project where I am editing and fixing the audio.

Another project where I am editing and fixing the audio.

In fact, one could make the argument that it might be better to teach Audition instead of GarageBand, because Audition works across platforms, and GB only works on Macs.

This project was a promotional piece for Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek, where I was given video with no audio, and I had to create voiceover, music, and sound effects for the video, and then mix everything together.

Elevate

The thought that occurs to me is that the Little Red Riding Hood assignment would make for a great animated piece. I am not an artist, but I do quite a bit of animation, and I have actually started looking for assets that I could use to bring this project to such a point. I am thinking that such a project would take around 40 to 50 hours to complete, so this will probably have to wait until I am finished with the program.

This was my favorite project during the entire program, adapting, performing, and mixing Little Red Riding Hood as an audio story.

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Mastery Journal Reflection, 7.3.2

Reflect

Last month seemed to follow a different format, in that, in the past, the first week was spent getting acclimated to the class, and then we went full speed the last three weeks. Last month, the first week was the most work-intensive, because we had the first draft of a research paper and the first section of an interactive quiz due. For that reason, I spent more time working on the first week’s assignments than I had to for the rest of the month.

Having said that, I found last month’s class to be an incredibly informative one, as we learned more about the strengths and weaknesses of traditional and authentic assessments. I found that Bloom’s Taxonomy chart came in very handy when determining the best way to formulate assessments. I will post a link to a helpful chart later in this post.

Inquire

When it came right down to it, we only did one design project in last month’s class, the interactive quiz based on the NASA ScienceCast video. 

Question 1 of the quiz.

While every project has the potential for improvement, I am not sure what I would do to make it better. Dr. Reo gave me some pointers on way to improve the feedback section of the quiz — ideas that I implemented — and I received a 100 on the assignment. I am sure that it could be better; I just don’t know what to do to make it better.

Answer and additional feedback to question 1

Suggest

This one isn’t so much an “if I had time” reflection as much as it is an “I wish I could do this with Behance” thought. When we are creating Web-based interactive quizzes, it loses quite a bit by just posting screen shots of what we did. We are unable to really demonstrate the interactivity with screen shots. I would love for Behance to provide a way that we could actually post our Web work, without having to post it to an external site and then just putting a link to it.

Final screen of the quiz

Elevate

In the future, I would like to delve deeper into Bloom’s Taxonomy. Cornell University has an excellent chart of action verbs to which I referred constantly:

https://www.cte.cornell.edu/documents/Assessment%20-%20Blooms%20Taxonomy%20Action%20Verbs.pdf

I have downloaded this chart, and it is one that I use on a regular basis. My goal is to know it inside and out by the time I am finished with this course of study.

In the meantime, I have already found occasion to make use of this quiz at work. One of my jobs is to create safety meeting presentations for the workers at my company. I am alway searching for ways to make them more interactive. This quiz has provided yet another excellent way for me to get across the points we are trying to make.

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Project 6.3.1 Mastery: Instructional Design and Evaluation

Reflect 

Last month’s course was one that I anticipated to be one of the most difficult ones, simply because I come from a design background, not a pedagogical one, and its subject matter dealt more with teaching and learning models than previous ones had. At the same time, I did get to use my design skills throughout the course. We designed four posters, and two interactive infographics. Finally, we designed a plan for educating the students of Hoover High School in Canton, Ohio on how to safely and effectively use the new lighting system that they had acquired for their theater program. So, ultimately, it was a very challenging class.

Usually, if I am expecting an extremely difficult course, then I am ready for it, and I am prepared to buckle down and do what it takes to make a good grade. This one was no different. I knew from the beginning that I would have to put an extra measure of effort into this course, so I was prepared to do what I had to do. And, yes, it paid off. I made a good grade in the class, and I found myself to be more interested in the psychological foundations and models of learning than I had expected to be.

Inquire 

As stated earlier, the longer I was in the class, the more interesting I became in the psychological foundations of learning, particularly Robert Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction, as well as the Situated Learning Theory, particularly since that theory fits within the community of practice paradigm. Given that we have been encouraged from the beginning to form a community of practice within our classes, I have become a serious proponent of that style of learning.

I would also like to further explore the different evaluation models of instruction. We used Stufflebeam’s CIPP model for our project (Context, Input, Process, Product), mainly because it was the most straightforward of the evaluation models. When you have only one month to complete a class, and just two weeks for the main project, it helps to use the least complicated model. However, I can see how some of the others could contain elements that could also prove to be helpful in the future.

Visual design of February 2017′s final project was by Heather Delagardelle

Suggest 

With more time, I think that it would have been interesting to have seen how the project plan we devised would have looked if we had been able to carry it to completion. In fact, I could see how it might be beneficial if, from the beginning of the course of study, we had one basic project on which to concentrate; we still would do the same types of assignments throughout the course of study, but, at the end of the program, we would have a completed instructional design project. Of course, I am sure that such an idea has been discussed before, so I will not question the wisdom of why we do things the way we do them now.

The advice I would give to future students is to start questioning your instructor early in the course about the project. In my opinion, it is difficult to turn out a quality product in just two weeks. I am not saying it is impossible, but it is very difficult. I would imagine, though, that the assignment being difficult is part of the learning process.

Elevate 

In his weekly feedback e-mails, Dr. Deason would ask questions about the assignment, often asking me to relate what I had just done to yet another learning/instruction model, and what the differences or similarities might be. Of course, at the time it drove me crazy, because here I was trying to work on the next week’s assignments, and I was having to answer questions about last week’s work. However, at the same time, it was a way of introducing me to other models that were less familiar, and that we simply did not have time to study.

I liked the way that Dr. Deason would go over each person’s work in the weekly feedback video, pointing out what he did or did not like about each one. Yes, sometimes it can be a blow to one’s ego to have his or her shortcomings pointed out for everyone to see, but it does have the effect of helping everyone to learn from each other’s mistakes. Those feedback videos were not really fun, but they were instructive.

I think, more than anything, those weekly feedback sessions that we all hated so much were helpful toward future work. In the corporate world, you rarely have the luxury of private critiques when you are trying to design something – anything – for somebody. In many, if not most cases, the critique will take place in a conference room, with each person giving feedback. As a designer, I know firsthand what it is like to have put a tremendous amount of heart, soul, and effort into a project, just to be sent back to the drawing board because what they had in their minds was different than what I had in mine. Those video feedback sessions of Dr. Deason’s go a long way toward helping one get used to public feedback.

Finally, I can say with confidence that the last class reminded me of what a pleasure it is to work on a team where everyone pulled his or her own weight. I have worked on group projects before, and in too many cases, 80 percent of the work was done by 20 percent of the people. That was not the case on last month’s project. We had a team of four people, each of whom had a specific job for which they were well suited. Consequently, everyone pitched in and did what was necessary to make the project a success. The result was a 100 on the final project.

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Month 5 Mastery Update

What did you learn from the reading assignment about the field of instructional design that you were not previously aware of? Why is this important to your goal of achieving mastery and your future as an instructional designer?

One thing that struck me was how important it is to consider other cultures when designing your training. My undergraduate degree is in communications, and we spent a great deal of time discussing the need for sensitivity when working with those of another cultures. For example, we in the Western Hemisphere have an attitude of getting down to business immediately. However, there are other cultures that consider such an attitude as insulting; their mode of communicating is to spend time asking about one’s health, family, etc., before addressing the business at hand.

Consequently, this we need to apply these principles to training as well. Even though “designing instruction for different cultures is not a new issue for the instructional design field” (Tracey and Morrison, as cited by Reiser and Dempsey, 2012, p. 182), with today’s proliferation of multi-national corporations, the training we produce must take individual cultures into account.

However, it is a mistake to assume that just because a company is not multi-national that we have no need for cultural sensitivity. Tracey and Morrison (as cited by Reiser and Dempsey, 2012) remind us that “the population is becoming more ethnically and culturally diverse… in the United States” (p. 182). Therefore, it is now more important than ever to understand who your audience will be, and design the training accordingly.

At the same time, that is not to say that our own culture has absolutely no role in how we design our training. Tracey and Morrison (as cited by Reiser and Dempsey, 2012) very frankly tell us that we not only have to try to view the training through other cultural lenses, but we also have to understand how our own cultural biases color the training we design. “The value and worldview of the instructional designer determine the structure of the instructional materials and the context that the designer creates” (p. 183). Our text advises us to create culturally-neutral training, and then tailor it to the individual needs of each culture as much as possible (Tracey and Morrison, as cited by Reiser and Dempsey, 2012, p. 183).

If creativity in instructional design refers to the use of special human talents and imagination in generating original ideas, how did you use your creativity to expand your work beyond the limitations imposed in this month’s design projects?

The one thing that I did this month that I really was proud of at the end was how I depicted the ADDIE process. I wanted to go beyond just showing how everything went in a circle, the way it is typically portrayed. I wanted it to consist of individual steps that were still interconnected. However, I was unable to do what I was envisioning using Piktochart (the platform that was originally suggested), so I decided to use my Illustrator skills, and came up with this:

On another assignment, we were told to make a poster interactive. As I saw it, the poster would have to be completely redesigned anyway to make it interactive, so I decided to make it into a web-based interactive page. It required that I use an entirely different thought process for the layout and interactivity to be successful. I used Adobe Muse to create this page:

The Final Project for this class was a group effort. My contribution was to take the presentation that one of my classmates had constructed and make it interactive. It is always a challenge to make presentation interactivity and navigation so very transparent that there is no confusion at all about how it should work.

List at least 3 main takeaways from this course and how they may apply to your monthly milestone and long-term goals. How will you use what you have learned in this course to continue to learn and improve your work as an instructional designer?

1.    One of the things that Dr. Deason reminded us of repeatedly is that, ultimately, it is not file formats and platforms that matter; those are just the tools we use to do what is important, which is to effectively convey the needed information to the learners in such a way that they are able to understand and retain it. It is not uncommon for a client to come to you with an idea already in their head about how the training should be designed. While it is always a good idea to accommodate them as much as possible, it is also imperative to show them that because you have their best interests at heart, it might be a good idea to go in a different direction than they had originally envisioned.

2.    I found the discussion and work with the needs analysis to be particularly fascinating. As I stated earlier, sometimes there is a difference between what the client wants and what they need. Many times, they don’t know exactly what the problem is, but they understand that something isn’t working and something has to be done to fix it. If the designer does an effective needs analysis, they should be able to come to a greater understanding of the problem and advise the client what type of training will come closest to fixing it.

3.    My final takeaway mainly is concerned with being reminded of what a pleasure it is to work with a good team. I have worked with teams on many occasions, and in too many situations, it seemed that a small minority did most of the work. Conversely, I have also worked by myself for far too long (at work, I am a department of one), and I know very well how hard it can be to come up with one creative idea after another, when you have no one else with which to collaborate. However, when you have a team of four people, all of whom understand what needs to be done, exchanges ideas freely, and is more than willing to pitch in and do whatever needs to be done for the project to be a success, then working under those conditions is a pleasure.

 References

Tracey, M.W. and Morrison, G.R.  (2012). Instructional design in business and industry. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 178–184). Boston, MA: Pearson

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My Mastery Journey, Month 4

1) What does Kolovou discuss and/or demonstrate that you could have applied to improve your presentations during this course? List 3–5 specific areas that apply to your projects, including the smart use of space, gestures that engage, strategic eye contact, and opening and closing strongly.

Kolovou (2014) pointed out something that had never occurred to me: she said that too often, our presentations are really good at the beginning, and they get worse as they go along. The reason may be because we practice until we mess up and then start over from the top. The result is that we get a load of practice at the beginning, but not as much for the later portions. Her antidote for this is to practice your presentation in threes (Practice makes perfect, 3:03). If we break the presentation up into thirds, and then practice each third until we get it the way we want it, then we can break the cycles of starting strong and finishing weak.

By the way, just one more thing that I have experienced over the years: often we hear that “practice makes perfect.” However, too many people practice until they have it the way they want it, and then think that they can stop there. However, my experience has been that not only do we need to practice until we “have it,” but then practice “having it.” Let me say it another way: Practicing until we get it right one time will not ensure that we do a good job on the actual presentation; however, if we practice until we get it right, and then practice doing it correctly, then we can be assured of a successful presentation.

Another new thing that I found interesting about Kolovou’s (2014) tutorial was the concept of the speaker’s triangle, “a movement space that allows them to walk and plant while making important points” (Smart use of space, 2:45). I find this idea intriguing, because it allows the speaker to move from side to side, but then step forward when he or she has a particularly relevant point to make. While this was not something that would have applied to the video we did this month, I think that it is an extremely good technique to use when speaking before a live audience.

Finally, I noticed that one thing I did in this project is one of the motions that Kolovou (2014) does not like: “The good old fig leaf” (Gestures that engage, 2:02). What she is referring to is keeping my hands folded in front of me all of the time. Now, let me be clear here: I did that on purpose, because that makes editing much easier when you always go back to a neutral position. I could not tell you how many times I have had takes that were unusable, simply because the gesture or hand position was different from the take before. I also believe that keeping my hands folded looks more natural than it would if I had just kept them at my sides the way she suggested, especially since I am sitting on a stool. I think that it is more important to use a hand position with which you are comfortable, than to use one that is technically correct, but with which you are uncomfortable; in my experience, if you are uncomfortable with something, it will show through in your presentation. However, she is the experts; so, perhaps I need to work on finding a different neutral position with which I am comfortable.

2) Referring to the readings from your books, what key factors would the graphics in your presentations address in communicating the data/information effectively? Elaborate on the learning styles and the effects of using the visuals to improve learning.

Our text tells us that, “Lessons with words and visuals offer the brain two opportunities to build meaning — one from the words and the second from corresponding images — and encourage learners to make connections between them” (Reiser and Dempsey, 2012). At the same time, we need to remember that our graphics have to be relevant if Mayer’s Multimedia Principle is going to apply. That means we must move away from our default method of just using stock images that may or may not work; in other words, we have to make sure the graphics are relevant, not just interesting (Peters, 2013, Stick to relevant graphics, para. 1–2).

Clark and Mayer (as cited by Reiser & Dempsey, 2012) tell us that the way in which our students learn from the use of graphics “have little to do with ‘learning styles’”(p. 314). Instead, we are told that it has more to do with the learners’ prior knowledge of the subject; if they are complete novices, then visuals may help more than they would an experienced learner (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012, p. 315). Consequently, instead of trying to design lessons for “learning styles,” maybe we should take our learners’ experience into account, and use that as our standard.

In fact, Clark and Mayer (as cited by Reiser & Dempsey, 2012) tell us “that there is no compelling evidence for designing lessons to match learners’ learning styles” (p. 315). This flies in the face of prevailing teaching theories. In December of 2016, I attended a 40-hour class at work dealing how to effectively train new hires, and at least half of one day was spent talking about the three major learning styles, and how to accommodate them. It was presented as accepted theory, with no question as to its veracity. I have a feeling that if I had raised my hand and started quoting Reiser and Dempsey to them, I would have been told that they did not know what they were talking about. That indicates that we have a long way to go toward dispelling myths about teaching and learning styles.

3) List at least 3 main takeaways from this course and how they may apply to your long-term goals. How will you use what you have learned in this course in your work as an instructional designer? What will you focus on to continually improve your presentations? Include relevant screenshots from this month’s projects that support your statements and illustrate your experiences and your status (emotional/intellectual/social/career) at this point in the program.

The importance of planning: While I did a lot of planning that made my video easier to shoot and edit, clearly, there were still some areas in which I could have improved. A great example is where I was pointing to graphics on my left; because I had not planned that far ahead, I was pointing higher than I should have, so I was actually pointing to the top portion of the graphics instead of closer to the middle.

The importance of a script that leaves “wiggle room:” Kolovou (2014) tells us that, “Going too long and not allowing the audience to participate will not reflect positively on your presentation” (Practice makes perfect, 3:41). Of course, since this was a video, audience participation was not a factor. However, the principle is the same. I would have produced a much better video had I written a shorter script. I like to write scripts where everything ties in together. When that technique works, it works well. However, it can also backfire, because it can then function the way a puzzle does: Remove one piece, and it is evident that a piece is missing. So, in many cases, you have to start over. As it is, I made the script as short as I possibly could and edited out as many pauses as I could, and that gave me just enough time to get all of the elements necessary in the video and keep it at the three minute mark.

The importance of keeping graphics relevant: As I said earlier in this course, one of my weaknesses as a designer is that I want everything to have a sharp, polished look to it. I need to remember that, when I have a choice between an interesting graphic and a relevant graphic, I have to choose the relevant one. Ultimately, what determines whether a course is good or not is whether the viewer learns the material well, and research has shown that when graphics are relevant, there is a better chance of that happening (Peters, 2013, Stick to relevant graphics, para. 1–2). Of course, in a perfect world, the graphics will be both relevant and interesting.

 References

Clark, R.C., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Using rich media wisely. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 309-320). Boston, MA: Pearson

Kolovou, T. (2014, May 12). Presentation fundamentals [Lynda.com online course]. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Welcome/151544/172760-4.html

Peters, D. (2013, December 16). Interface design for learning: Design strategies for learning experiences. San Francisco, CA: New Riders. Retrieved from http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/web-design-and-development/9780133365481

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As someone who has to do a lot of video work, I frequently see people who are intimidated by the camera; this article will go a long way toward dispelling those fears.

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What projected events on your timeline did you achieve this month? What have you learned that you did not anticipate as you created your timeline? How did your attitude, logic and behaviors influence your performance or contribution? What worked? What didn’t?

I had three goals for this class:

Improve course writing abilities. We touched on this in weeks three and four, when we took an infographic and turned it into an e-learning module. Our readings in week three were especially helpful to that end.

Gain a better understanding of visual design concepts. By this, I mean understanding visual design in the context of e-learning. Reiser and Dempsey (2012) warn us against beginning with the “capabilities of technology (such as the availability of rich media) and design[ing] instruction to accommodate these capabilities” (p. 311). As someone who is a designer by trade, that is my first consideration. I need to adjust my thinking so that I am learner-centered rather than technology-centered (Reiser and Dempsey, 2012, pp. 311-312).

Demonstrate better presentation skills. In this case, when I speak of presentation skills, I do not mean the ability to stand in front of people and talk; I am referring to having a better understanding of how to use presentation software as a visual aid to what the speaker is saying. In fact, you could see this goal as a way of “narrowing” the goal of better understanding of visual design concepts.

Some of what I am learning, particularly as it has to do with Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia, tends to be counter-intuitive. A good example is what our text says about seductive details; it defines seductive details as information (or, in this case, graphics) that have been “inserted into instructive materials that [are] designed to arouse interest” ((Reiser & Dempsey, 2012). Based on that definition, the many of the graphics we used in the infographic, such as the wind-turbine graph, would probably have to be classified as “seductive details.” I raise this question because I think this needs to be addressed in terms of “How far is too far?”

Example:

Going forward with this yearlong journey, what adjustments could you make to ensure your future success in achieving mastery? What concepts/techniques do you still need to learn about to gain mastery of the material? How do you know? What resources are available to you? What could you have done differently to improve your performance or contribution? How will you approach similar situations in the future? How does this experience inform your professional objectives?

As I read the Peters (2013) material, I was struck by the first couple of sentences of the chapter: “The visual isn’t just a veneer; it’s the single most important source of information for most people. Because the visual is so important, every element added to a design should have a reason to be there” (Why aesthetics matter, para. 1-2). I think that is a beautiful summation of why we are putting so much effort into what we are doing in this course of study. Peters (2012) reminds us that research has shown that there is a direct correlation between good design and believability (Aesthetics and credibility, para. 1).

I have encountered this first-hand in my current profession; too many times I have seen engineers who are incredibly intelligent and talented, and yet they find themselves not being taken seriously because they have little to no presentation skills. In short, their credibility suffers because of a lack of design.

There are many resources on which I can draw in order to sharpen my visual design skills; the most obvious ones are Lynda.com, the Tuts Network, and web site like Canva. All these resources offer a wealth of knowledge to those who are wanting to be better designers.

At the same time, I need a more solid understanding of how people learn. Dempsey and Reiser (2012) strongly recommend that we adopt a learner-centered viewpoint that makes accommodation for how the human memory works, and that we do not allow ourselves to be swept away by the latest technological crazes, because doing so can actually impede learning (p. 318).

Of course, the big question is how I am going to incorporate this into my education. Actually, what I am counting on is for my future classes to address this problem. Based on my experience so far, I believe that as I progress through this year-long journey I will gain a better perspective on integrating effective learning styles with good visual design.

References

Clark, R.C., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Using rich media wisely. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 309-320). Boston, MA: Pearson

Peters, D. (2013, December 16). Interface design for learning: Design strategies for learning experiences. San Francisco, CA: New Riders. Retrieved from http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/web-design-and-development/9780133365481

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If you are interested in graphic design, this is a 45-part series from a designer in the UK that has a lot of good material

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As I progress through this course of study, I find myself needing to understand as much as I possibly can about creating infographics. This is a wonderful resource for accomplishing that goal.

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Strategies for Learner Engagement

Reflections on the Course

What projected events on your Mastery timeline did you achieve? 

My two main goals for this class were as follows:

Understand how to create an appealing course of study that encompasses an assortment of learning styles.

Explore design approaches that will facilitate creative curriculum creation.

Looking at the first goal, I am not sure that we interacted with learning styles as much as we did learning theories, such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. However, I would submit that the theory of connectivism is the one that best explains what we are doing in this program. Dorian Peters (2013, Chapter 2) defines connectivism as:

“…the idea that knowledge is shifting and growing at an unprecedented rate, and that much of our own knowledge is being off-loaded to technologies so that the information that was once mostly inside our heads is now distributed onto devices and across the internet. As such, it focuses on the meta-skills that help learners evaluate, distinguish, and select valuable information from a sea of data. Connectivism also describes learning as a nonlinear process that includes using technology, forming networks, and recognizing patterns across fields.”

It is my opinion that this perspective is the driver for the second goal, exploring design approaches that will facilitate creative curriculum creation. In this world of technology, cognitive overload is a very real problem. Consequently, using schemas to deliver knowledge tends to alleviate cognitive overload. Much of the class was focused on finding creative ways to collaborate and share knowledge, without “drowning” the listeners or viewers.

 What have you learned from this course that you did not anticipate as you created your timeline?

For someone who has spent almost ten years doing multimedia, I have never been exposed to Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia before. The principle that really took me by surprise was the Redundancy Principle, which says that people learn better when you utilize just animation and graphics, as opposed to animation, graphics, and on-screen text (Mayer, 2014). In my mind, that is so counter-intuitive. Of course, once I began to look at most eLearning projects (including ones on which I have worked), I saw that the Redundancy Principle is violated all over the place. It requires an entire adjustment in one’s way of thinking and method of design.

 What did you experience in working in a collaborative learning environment?

I enjoyed working in a collaborative environment immensely. In my current job, I am a department of one. While that has some advantages (no personality drama, for example), it can kill a person creatively. The simple fact is that it is hard to come up with one good idea after another all by yourself. My best work has always taken place when I was part of a larger group, and we regularly had brainstorming sessions.

 After studying professional examples and some of the theories behind them, and having the opportunity to create an example using some of the technology available to the instructional designer, what adjustments could you make to ensure your future success?

As I said earlier, it takes an entirely new way of thinking and designing to properly use Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia. Therefore, it would behoove me to put a lot more time and energy into studying those principles, finding good examples where they have been put to use, and then comparing my work to those principles to see how well it was done.

As someone who, by necessity, works alone most of the time, I need to find a way to have peers critique my work. While I am a member of several communities of practice in other disciplines, I need to find one that concentrates on multimedia from an eLearning standpoint. That will go a long way toward ensuring future success.

Finally, I think that greater study into the principles of interactivity will also help immensely. I am more convinced than ever that interactivity is one of the keys to any successful eLearning project, because if it is done well, it keeps the viewer engaged, interested, and provides the best possible learning outcome.

Here is the graphic that I believe best describes my journey:

References

Mayer, R. E. (2014, May 5). Research-based principles for multimedia learning. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/AJ3wSf-ccXo?t=2146

Peters, D. (2013, December 16). Interface design for learning: Design strategies for learning experiences. Retrieved from http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/web-design-and-development/9780133365481

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If you have to do presentations on a regular basis, and you are so tired of the “Death by PowerPoint” paradigm, this is an incredibly valuable resource. Everything on this blog is designed to help you reduce clutter in your presentation slides, and present information in the most effective way possible.