EduTech gEEks…We’re a new brEEd

Writing technologies, writing for technology, writing about and with technology…all of these have become such a huge part of my work. What happened to eLearning? Am I in transition?

Transitioning…you know that moment in your career where your professional interests are changing and the type of designer you once thought you’d be is so far from the type of designer you are becoming?

There…that place right there…I find myself.

For educational technology, I always seen myself more into eLearning and multimedia. Although I am still “here” officially, my interest in professional writing and document design is taking off. Just look at the last several posts on my blog…

Anywho, perhaps this is something all people go through. To be or not to be an eLearning professional? To choose writing technologies and doc design over hardcore eLearning? Blasphemous!!!

Truthfully, I am uncertain.

I guess writing is a huge part of eLearning and so is document design. So I am not straying too far. Maybe it is my expanding knowledge of eduTech…naturally, the boundaries on my instructional design perspective are beginning to stretch into other areas. Perhaps :-/

~EduTech gEEk…I am a new brEEd of gEEkdom.

Quick Post: Wanting to learn more about storyboarding for eLearning?

As if Parts 1-3 weren’t enough, right?

Attached to this post is an MS Power Point Presentation that discusses eLearning storyboards:

• the Process of Creating them, and
• the 8 Essential Storyboard Elements.

Download Here: eLearning Storyboards Power Point Presentation

…Enjoy!

How detailed does a storyboard need to be so it is considered “sufficient”?

For any large-scale eLearning project there could easily be several instructional designers in addition to programmers, graphic artists, photographers, animators, videographers and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) (Leonard, 2004; Alessi & Trollip, 2001). Both Kruse (n.d.) and Alessi and Trollip (2001) believe that in order for a storyboard to effectively guide the members of a team, it must (at a minimum) include the following:

• project information (i.e. title, unit #, section #, etc.),
• screen labels,
• audio and narration information,
• video clip descriptions,
• graphic descriptions,
• the content to be included in the on-screen text,
• navigation and interaction descriptions, and
• any notes that may pertain to design choices (i.e. text style and size).

At what point in the design and development process do you think content, graphics & assessments should be developed?

Assessment items help to narrow content, therefore I believe assessments should be developed after objectives have been defined and an instructional strategy has been planned. The research conducted in both of these phases can assist the designer in developing the most efficient assessment materials to help students master the learning objectives, while keeping them focused on the planned content (Dick, Carey, & Carey, 2005).

Content should be developed after assessments. I believe after one has decided the learning objectives and developed assessment material based off of those objectives, then writing and revising the content can begin. Assessments help a designer determine what primary and secondary textual content is best for the instructional phase (Alessi & Trollip, 2001).

Graphic artists (or whoever in charge of the graphics on your team) should develop graphics after the storyboard has been reviewed and understood. Since the storyboard is used by the instructional designer in communicating the appearance of the instruction, then those in charge of developing graphics need to know this document (storyboard) inside out before any creation begins. To save on time and money the graphic artist may want to take a further step and have a sit down with the lead instructional designer and/or project manager to affirm the details of the storyboard.

***Additional Storyboard Resources

Alessi, S.M. & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: methods and development (3^rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey, J.O. (2005). The systematic design of instruction (6^th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Kruse, K. (n.d.). Creating scripts and storyboards for e-learning. Retrieved on May 19, 2007, from http://www.e-Learningguru.com/articles/art2_5.htm

Leonard, T. (2004, November 15). Creating and using storyboards. Retrieved on May 19, 2007, from http://www.devshed.com/c/a/Practices/Creating-and-Using-Storyboards/1/

Lately, I have been using Adobe Captivate 3 for some of everything: presentations, interactive lecture content, practice activities, quizzes, etc.

This video is just a beginner demo introducing the software; I will continue to post some of the more eLearning relevant ones as I find them. Special thanks to YouTuber: rzanotti….Enjoy!

Quick Post: Typically, I use MS PowerPoint for creating my eLearning Storyboards. Here are a few examples of Storyboard Frame Templates in PowerPoint: storyboard_frame_template_examples

…Enjoy!

What are eLearning Storyboards?

Storyboarding is a common technique used by instructional designers to visually represent each screen of an eLearning product, such as courseware or web instruction. According to Kruse (n.d.), it is a screen-by-screen example of what the learners will see, hear and do during their interaction with computer-mediated instruction. The creator uses the storyboard to facilitate communication between team members of an instructional design project (Leonard, 2004; Alessi & Trollip, 2001).

Why should a storyboard not include transitions, hyperlinks or animations?

A storyboard should not include these elements for two main reasons:

1. Including these elements can lead to unnecessary crowding, and
2. Some of these elements are created by those team members (i.e. graphic artists, programmers, etc.) who need to have viewed the storyboard before any multimedia elements can be developed.

Crowding: If the purpose of a storyboard is to give a screen-by-screen account of what the instruction will look like, then transitions, hyperlinks and animations will only crowd an already detailed presentation. Although they are to be informative, storyboards should not be over-saturated with information (Alessi & Trollip, 2001). In fact, the notes section is to be used for brief multimedia detailing.

Need for viewing the storyboard before designing: As for the second reason, an instructional designer is typically not the person who creates such interactive elements. These roles are assigned to team members such as the animator (or graphics artist) and programmer respectively. Until such members view the storyboard, interactive elements can not be created.

***Additional Storyboard Resources

• Alessi, S.M. & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: methods and development (3^rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

• Kruse, K. (n.d.). Creating scripts and storyboards for e-learning. http://www.e-Learningguru.com/articles/art2_5.htm

• Leonard, T. (2004, November 15). Creating and using storyboards. http://www.devshed.com/c/a/Practices/Creating-and-Using-Storyboards/1/

1. Adobe Captivate
   • A flash-based eLearning tool with great interactive content presentation and assessment tools; great multimedia packaging
2. Trivantis Lectora
   • Easy to use authoring tool with great assessment and multimedia capabilities
3. eXe
   • eLearning xHTML editor with such ease of use any teacher or beginning ID could use it, also integreates easily into LMSs
4. CourseLab
   • eLearning authoring to, FREE and easy to use
5. Microsoft PowerPoint (w/ Adobe Presenter aka Breeze)
   • Presentation software that is good for training and tutorial purposes when used with Adobe Present

“New York University!”

Ahhhhhh….like music to my ears. I absolutely love this institution. No, it is not Big Ten crazed like my O State (Go Bucks!), but it fulfilled my life in other ways. The very place where I began my graduate journey…

NYU always seems to find a uniquely impressive way to merge academics with the arts, not just have them co-exist on the same campus. I am talking about true collaborative effort taking place within so many of their non-traditonal academic programs. Especially the Educational Communications Technology (ECT) graduate program within the Steinhardt School of Education. The doctoral program is ideal for any educational technologist looking to bring their understanding of learning technologies to a whole new level. ECT Studies @ NYU is arguably one of the most well designed graduate programs (at both the MA and PhD level) available in our field. The curricula screams innovative leadership and training.

The most impressive part of their initiative, from my perspective of course, is the focus on video and interactive web-based learning environments as valid technologies to be used for learning. Many higher ed institutions whose curricula have a strong foundation in education, usually, lack the creative design and development training we need as educational technology designers. Believe me, I know this! I am constantly on the web searching for doctoral programs with a solid foundation in the learning process and a clear vision into the future demands of our profession; it is truly rare to find them, especially amongst the more prestigious universities…for all my Academician Snobs out there

Some of my favorite aspects of the NYU ECT Doctoral Program are:

• Major focus on the design and development of educational video & web (incl. audio/sound editing)
• Focus on cognitive learning and teaching strategies
• Student teaching opportunities throughout New York City school system, businesses, non-profits, etc.
• Multiple educational research opportunities, incl. digital research
• Top educators and educational technologist as professors and mentors
• Focus on learning technologies for areas outside of the typical K-12 sector: non-profit, training, adult education, etc.
• Home to CREATE, the Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education

…and much, much more!

Today, I came across this on going, open source eLearning xHTML editor called, eXe.

According to the CLPT website (Center for Learning & Performance Technologies), it is considered one of the Top 100 Authoring Tools amongst eLearning professionals….hmmmm? :-X

Anywho, eXe allows teachers and designers to edit HTML for online lesson authoring; it also easily integrates into many LMS (Learning Managment Systems, i.e. Blackboard & WebCt).

More of my work is demanding HTML and XML for web-based content, therefore this may be a solution to my disease, LIPLL (Low-Intermediate Programming Language Literacy, pronounced “lipple” ). So, I figured I would download eXe and give it a go!

…review to come in a later post.

“They’ve done it again!” Adobe’s Technical Communications Suite is just that, Sweeeeeeeeet!

Finally!!! I am so proud of them for actually recognizing the needs of the eLearning and Instructional Design communities. I simply think it is “hott” idea that couldn’t have come any sooner. Some of the most effective software programs I have used for instructional design and learning media are included:

• Adobe FrameMaker8: for all our technical document publishing needs (You already know how I feel about FM8.)
• Adobe Captivate 3: for creating some of the hottest & interactive (Flash-based) courses, presentations and assessments
• Adobe Acrobat 3D: Okay, Pause! I have yet to use 3D because I do not need do much collaboration on engineering and architectural type of projects (i.e. those where I have to view ‘all sides’ of an object…Urgh! Blah!). Still, it’s a niiiiiice product for those who need the whole “3D Collabo”
• Adobe RoboHelp 7: for the creation of help systems. I have used this product once before during the development of a mock Computer-Based Training (CBT) Learning Program. But, from what I recall, it is also really helpful for any designer or new media artist who has difficulty relinquishing all control over to IT.

…Applause.