Media Mastery

Looking over the past year, it seems like a long time sinceI began this mastery journey. Ironically, the time also seems to have flown by.

Now I stand at the end of one path and the beginning of another.The adventure brought new experiences and new people into my life. It created new demands, as well. As I said in my mastery blog: “this is my first attempt to document something as extended or significant as a journey to mastery in a new field.”

I wrote of my desire to move from understanding the basics into the Creative-Active phase, as described in “Mastery” (Greene, 2012). The exercise of self-examination and finding my true calling led me to this definition of goals:

Advance my Apprenticeship – not through impatience, but progressive growth.

Continue the journey through the Creative-Active phase, applying concepts from inside and outside the program.

Begin creative exploration of Mastery, in selected areas. Use these as a springboard to renew my work and shake up the status quo.

I would say now that I achieved the first two goals, which set the stage for achieving the third. As Greene defines mastery, it is not the end of the journey but an opportunity to “be constantly refreshed, as you keep forcing your mind back to a state of openness” (Greene, 2012). This is where I have arrived as I close the book on this chapter of the story.

I wrote about expanding my Personal Learning Network using tools – such as Diigo and Feedly – and with personal connections. These tools have been a constant source of stimulation and inspiration. Items I found prompted blog posts, follow-up reading, and exploration.

Personal connections have been more rewarding than I could have imagined. Reaching out to my peers in the program exposed me to new ways of thinking and new creative possibilities. Other students supplied energy and encouragement throughout the journey. I can’t thank them enough.

Finally, investigation of industry leaders caused me to register as a member of organizations for instructional designers. Learning about varied business categories and career paths that make use of instructional design (ID) was both reassuring and liberating. Seeing the behavior of successful people in the field formed a model for what I aspired to be.

It was through one professional organization that I learned of an ID conference within driving distance. I decided that the registration fee would be an investment in my future. Attending this event took my interest and appreciation for ID to new levels.

In closing, this program made me push myself further than ever before. I have been challenged intellectually and organizationally. Working on these assignments while teaching full time and growing a small consulting business put my time management to the test. Fortunately, I had the support and backup of my fellow students.

By the time we reached Month 12, the group formed a tight, compassionate community of practice. Not only did the members help each other solve problems and make discoveries; we looked out for each other, too.

References

Just in time for the 40th anniversary blowout for NBC's Saturday Night Live, this interview with one of the head writers illuminates what it takes to be creative every week:

Behind The Collaborative, Competitive Process Of Being A Head Writer For "Saturday Night Live"

As Bryan Tucker explains, the greatest inspriation comes from his fellow writers. They compete but also help each other achieve more than they could on their own.

This reminded me of the Community of Practice spirit that has become a part of our shared mastery journey. The point about writers getting "tons of praise one week only to be slammed with criticism the next" also resonated.

As we know, the audience is the true test of our value as designers. That's true on SNL, as well:

"When he does want to gauge whether something clicked with the audience, Tucker finds it more helpful to go to Hulu or YouTube to simply see what sketches people are watching."

If your instructional module were a movie, what would the trailer look like? Something like this, I would think.

This month’s theme was media asset creation, and this video is just one of the varied assets created. Thinking about myself as a marketable brand was a new experience. Instead of fitting into someone else’s job description, I found myself selecting examples of work that showcase my talents and abilities.

Developing a personal portfolio site was another new experience. Mine is definitely a work in progress – and I hope it will be for some time to come!

Check out the site: http://lorenomoto.com/

I welcome your feedback and critique of all aspects – design, layout, content, etc.

The final challenge of the month was developing a professional article that leads to publishing an eBook next month. Thanks to helpful input from my colleagues, I feel better equipped to do that now.

View image | gettyimages.com

Does failure make it easier to succeed?

I came across an interesting article. about "productive failure." The article dealt with research into ways that failure could set the stage for later academic success.

Pretests were used to assess students' knowledge BEFORE instruction. Results were predictably dismal. Some students then received traditional instruction while others were left to "sink or swim."

It turns out that students with a tougher path tend to do better, in the final analysis. As the article states: "The experience of failure and struggle gave students something valuable."

This is a great concept for designers -- we're reminded every day that our failures help us improve -- but it's tough to implement as an instructor, especially an online instructor.

TIme and again, I have seen students disengage and become discouraged when struggling to understand an assignment. We do everything we can to make sure all the questions are answered and the path to success is clear.

View image | gettyimages.com

Reflection Post

As our cohort completes Month 10 of the mastery journey, overarching themes are becoming clearer. Reflecting on my experiences in this month’s course and in the program to date, it is apparent that instructional design is more than a process to be followed, like a recipe in a cookbook. It closely resembles “scaffolding” we discussed during our examinations of learning theories.

Design tasks and the courses in the program are like interlocking components that can be connected in a variety of ways to achieve a desired outcome. Through modeling, critiques, and coaching, our group has developed cognitive and social knowledge to carry us further along the road to mastery.

How did ADDIE help you to create the LMS environment?

For me, ADDIE appeared as a way to name and organize the process that I had been following for some time. The analytical approach to learning – including focus on the target audience – is familiar to anyone who has constructed training programs in technology or media.

One especially important aspect of ADDIE was emphasis on distinguishing outcomes from objectives. Until this program, I had been confused on this point.

As we began to develop our design briefs, I had to express objectives in SWBAT form. This was a new experience for me, but not for the more experienced teachers in the cohort. I received keen insights from them into the practice of identifying objectives and describing outcomes.

Assessment in its many forms was intensely engaging for me. Researching the underpinnings of assessment opened up new possibilities for design. The more I understood about how assessment worked, the more I was able to conceive of creative ways to do it.

This quote in particular stood out: “Learning takes place in students’ heads where it is invisible to others. This means that learning must be assessed through performance: what students can do with their learning” (“How to Assess Students’ Learning and Performance,” n.d.).

As we moved into the development phase of ADDIE, analytical thinking again came into play. Considering how to help learners led me to make more changes in the developing project.

Using instructional design to connect with multiple intelligences and accommodate different learning styles was a challenge during the development phase. I was forced to conceive of the project not as a single, linear lesson but as a mixture of components leading to an instructional goal in multiple ways.

Implementation began with the first iteration of our Captivate modules. The cycle of publishing, critique, and improvement was difficult at first, given the steep learning curve for some of the tools.

On the other hand, repeating and refining the approach meant developing my own proficiency with unfamiliar software and platforms. As this occurred, I once again was able to focus on improving the learner experience.

This month’s exercise of evaluating my instructional environment in a holistic way – again, with the assistance of peers – provided valuable data on what worked and what needed improvement. In fact, the experience prompted me to include a more substantive evaluation form for learners as part of the course.

Overall, ADDIE has helped me view instructional design not as a single task or a series of connected projects but as an organic process. Acknowledging imperfections in each iteration and getting input from the audience over time allows me to improve. The goal is not to get closer to some mythical goal of perfection, but to adapt and evolve the course to reflect changing needs and to maintain relevance and engagement for my students.

Now that you have completed the ADDIE process, what stood out the most?

For me, the most significant piece of the process was adopting a framework for effective instruction. I found that my design was driven by a basic question: “What skills and knowledge do you wish students to obtain?” (Martin, n.d.).

Until ADDIE, I had not considered instructional objectives in a precise way. Creating specific, measurable standards and defining the outcome in terms of behavior, condition, and degree was essential. From this, I was able to create a course from which learners would benefit and I would learn to be a better teacher.

In addition, using clear, properly formatted objectives gave me a distinct target. Instead of creating content that I hoped would succeed, I was able to align the instruction around specific objectives, tailoring material as needed to meet the overall goals.

What would you do differently next time?

Having discussed this question with my peers, I would choose a better topic. By that I mean a topic with more instructional depth and wider focus.

Instructional materials require Analysis, Design, and Development phases of ADDIE, regardless of scale. Implementation and, especially, Evaluation are better suited to topics with some level of variability and nuance.

By narrowing the focus of my lesson, I limited possibilities for students to demonstrate and apply their learning. Feedback on instructional design, while helpful, could not embrace many creative paths, as with a more general subject.

At the time the topic was chosen, I was aware that it would need to support elements of instruction, media, and assessment. What I did not realize was the number of iterations or the layers of critical assessment we would apply.

As it turns out, I have been challenged in different ways to break through the limitations of my subject and create engaging instruction, regardless. It has worked out for me as an effective rehearsal space. But had I realized how much time and refinement would be needed, I might have chosen a bigger stage.

Was any one-step of the process more difficult than another step?

Some parts of the program lay firmly outside my comfort zone. One example was Game Strategies and Motivation. This course greatly affected formation of my assessment and, in turn, the Evaluate phase of ADDIE.

As with my chosen topic, it all worked out in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the taxonomy of player types and gamification. I was challenged to apply these concepts within my design. I was forced to expand my own idea of what a game could be and how it was created from scratch.

Without this challenge I probably would not have created as many different types of questions for the material or thought as expansively about assessment as a tool for learning, not just measurement. This was a valuable takeaway from the course.

What worked well with regard to your activities and user interactions within your learning environment?

In general, I have tried to adhere to best practices we have learned, especially the six principles of effective e-learning (Clark, 2002). I have relied on principles of coherence, multimedia, and contiguity to enhance my learning environment. Modality also played a role in the music and filmmaking classes.

Bringing these concepts to bear during creation of the LMS-based environment allowed me to maximize interactivity and engagement for learners. Feedback from peers helped me see where those efforts succeeded and where I went too far – such as nesting folders within navigation.

On the whole, I felt that the use of folders and color was a success. I also received positive feedback on the clustering of like activities (written resources for writing, visual resources for visuals, etc.). I would not have done this without the grounding from previous classwork.

Based on peer feedback, what changes will you be making between now and the next review?

As mentioned above, some changes to navigation are in order. Other suggestions I will pursue include aligning the color scheme, clarifying instructions, and dialing up the game element.

Depending on time available, I also would like to expand and refine the evaluation component even more. This has the potential to inform all my designs in the future, so I want the channel for feedback to be as open as possible.

References

Clark, R. (2002, September 10). Six principles of effective e-learning: what works and why. In The eLearning Developers’ Journal. Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/farkas/HCDE510-Fall2012/ClarkMultimediaPrinciples(Mayer).pdf

How to assess students’ learning and performance. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/assesslearning/

JISC. (2010). Effective assessment in a digital age. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearning/digiassass_eada.pdf

This is my reflection post for Game Strategies and Motivation. As required, it is in the form of a video.

Translating my topic into learning games was rewarding -- even though it was intimidating at the beginning. Finding a "low-tech/no-tech" method for instructional gaming was especially challenging.

Photo Credit: Daquella manera via Compfight cc

    As I neared the end of the two-week workshop and embedded the results into my module, I was amazed by the changes I saw in my videos and in the project as a whole. As always, the comments and insights of my classmates and instructor helped me learn where my work could be improved.

Improvements included making scenes and shots work together more effectively, and serving the overall instructional goals and objectives of the project. Until now, I was used to dealing with video as a standalone element. Producing video for an interactive module imposed a new level of discipline and self-examination: At the end of the day, an attractive, well-produced video is of no value unless it supports the instructional mission of my module.

How did your video skills evolve this month?

For me, the discipline of getting all shots I needed for the instructional module was a challenge. I customarily have a rough script written and some visuals in mind when I go into the field, but this month I had to capture many different sequences in different locations on a tight deadline. Having a comprehensive shot list was a necessity.

My shot list came directly out of the design brief – the first time I have used such a detailed plan for advance planning. It was invaluable to see media requirements listed alongside overall goals for the module. This juxtaposition helped me envision the final production while shooting, and guided me in overshooting, a habit I developed during years of work on nonfiction video stories.

Because the “extra” footage was pertinent to the topic, it allowed me to illustrate the module with animated GIFs, like these:

While not strictly a video skill, the practice of creating and importing these GIFs into Adobe Captivate was entirely new to me. I discovered a number of quirks in the process and in Captivate’s compatibility with other media (or lack thereof). You could say that my skills advanced through this process, as I got plenty of practice making and re-making GIFs to create multiple slides in the module.

What was your impression of the changes made from a rough-cut video to a final video?

The biggest changes came in refining the storytelling before my final cut. I had expected to tweak edits, transitions and audio – those are refinements that a rough cut lacks – but I had not expected to spend as much time cutting away unnecessary and distracting footage.

Thanks to feedback from my reviewers (“fresh eyes” that see all), I was able to identify where framing, exposure and camerawork were getting in the way of the story. One sequence that improved dramatically was the opening of the initial video in the module:

This sequence went from shaky handheld camerawork, uneven lighting, and fluctuating audio levels to a smooth, polished introduction that pulls in learners who want to know more about what’s happening…at least, that’s my hope.

The review process also helped me recognize gems within my footage – such as scenes of a woman painting a canvas:

Although I wound up cutting the finished video that included this scene, the sequence lives on. It appears as a series of animated GIFs that illustrate the benefits of shooting with the five-shot sequence in mind. The visual strength of the example (pointed out to me during the rough cut review process) makes the instructional point better than posed stills I had planned to use.

What impact did your final video have to your instructional module?

As mentioned earlier, the introductory video is an ideal way to show and tell what the learner is getting into. Even before addressing the vocabulary and practice of the five-shot sequence, this video offers clear, non-verbal explanations of why and how the sequence is used.

Originally, I conceived this opening video as a piece-to-camera with a few illustrations. But as a result of this month’s explorations and feedback, it now consists primarily of visual examples with supportive commentary and an invitation to delve further into the topic.

The result is more engaging, in my opinion, and better shows what the module is about. Taking a long view of the project goals, learning objectives, and filmmaking principles exposed this month helped me create more compelling visual assets, optimize learning content, and deliver a better module for testing.

As we prepare to enter our ninth month with Adobe Captivate, I've been wondering about how it's used in the real world. One answer to that question has arrived in the form of a promotional blog post from Adobe.

The post concerns a company using Captivate to demonstrate mind-mapping software. The module is embedded on the company website, where it functions like any other interactive.

Seeing this integrated use of Captivate has me thinking about online uses of modules for learning -- or interactive marketing. Another blog post I saw this week shows a method of doing this, even without dedicated server space.

Photo Credit: flyzipper via Compfight cc

Reflection

It would be hard to overstate the effect that focusing on music and audio has had on my instructional design. Before this month, I viewed use of media in my learning module primarily as narrative and explanatory. The result was less engaging than I had hoped, and conceptually at odds with the dynamic subject.

How has focusing on mood and its appropriateness for the target audience influenced your music selections and compositions?

The exercise of creating four different versions of a 30-second promo for my module allowed experimentation with various feelings and moods. Feedback from my peers was helpful in deciding which direction to go, although I got a “split decision.”

Peer/instructor recommendations favored one of two themes:

Straight-ahead jazz

Tech/synth

In the end, the latter style won out. The deciding factor, for me, was considering which mood would resonate with my target audience. The sound of ambient/tech music is more familiar and, likely, more comfortable for the age range I am teaching.

One peer comment also mentioned the importance of keeping the mood upbeat, and that also was a consideration. Being conscious of the emotional effect of music – not just its length – was critical in selecting the right path from a handful of options.

In what ways has the understanding of audio editing made you more aware of how technical imperfections in media, such as clicks and pops, impact the learner’s experience?

Coming from a work environment where technical precision was essential to the bottom line, I am used to listening critically for production values. The live session where we auditioned various film soundtracks reinforced this concept for me.

I came away from that session even more acutely aware of how effectiveness is tied to production quality. In fact, the best audio (as in movies) is perfectly chosen and produced so that it blends seamlessly into the experience.

For instructional modules, choice of music and cleanliness of production are more than cosmetic: They are crucial factors in the intelligibility and impact of content. Indeed, poorly produced audio with clicks, pops, and other extraneous noises is not merely a distraction – it can derail the learner. After this month, I have a renewed desire to make my sound as close to perfection as I can.

How has focusing on the use of words in the projects influenced you to write more memorable, concise, and onomatopoetically interesting content in the future?

My personal music making became more enjoyable this month, with acquisition of a MIDI controller as a companion to GarageBand. Connecting it to my computer’s USB port opened up a world of possibilities I had not explored since the days of analog synthesizers.

Until now, virtually all my composition has been instrumental in nature. The requirement to make memorable, lyrically interesting content pushed me into a new realm:

It’s not Eminem (especially not MY performance), but this exercise helped me find a way to combine principles of the five-shot sequence with stimuli appropriate for auditory learners. Another example of freestyle creativity with MIDI was this closing theme I recorded last week:

The rhythmic pulse was designed to send learners out with positive energy. The fact that the music runs without narration gave me more freedom to experiment with high harmonics, organ, brass and more “foreground” sounds. From these humble beginnings, I’m excited about doing more keyboard/computer experiments in the future.

How has your development of music and audio with multipart form influenced how you might develop multi-sectional media or presentations in the future?

Conceptually, the course caused me to focus on aural themes and moods, and consider how they affect learning. This led to adoption of sounds that would be heard as closely related to a common subject. An example of this was adding “stinger” elements to the beginning of each learning path.

Looking into the future, I would like to use more of these small, musical punctuation marks to establish the beginning and end of sections within the module. They deliver variety for the learner, and also create a sense of achievement and reward for success.

Thanks to repeated critiques and iterations over the past four weeks, the module at last is starting to convey some of the excitement and energy I feel for this topic. For that, I am grateful to everyone in the class and Dr. Deason. Your continued feedback has helped me see (and hear) this material in new ways.

What can we learn from social media?

When I first came across this blog post, it sounded like great advice for instructional designers. It wasn't until I got to the end that I realized it had come from one of my social media feeds, instead.

When creating instructional materials, our goal is the same as great social media creators: engagement. This post spells out strategies for achieving that goal, starting with the fundamental point of "sounding human."

I try to do all of these things to some extent, but I'm more inhibited when working on instructional designs. That's probably a mistake.

Hemingway's advice about writing drunk, as well as other pithy quotes (cited here) are good reminders that it's best to let go and write anything instead of sweating out the details, at least the first time through.

Paper cut-out map by Cea., on Flickr

Reflection on IDT574 Digital Media and Learning Applications

Looking back over the past month, it’s hard to believe how far my instructional module has come. The iterative process of design, feedback, and redesign has resulted in change to nearly every aspect of the project.

Some of the biggest changes came this week, as I focused on how the module’s content corresponded to Miller’s Information Processing Theory and Sweller’s theory of Cognitive Load. I realized I was spending as much time telling learners what not to do as explaining best practices.

My attempt to create a comprehensive lesson had the effect of generating more information “chunks” than necessary, which led to a violation of the “seven plus or minus two” guideline (Miller, 1956). By focusing strictly on “how to” information and eliminating “shalt nots,” I was able to streamline the volume and the flow of instruction.

My re-examination also led to clarification about what I was teaching. Five-shot sequences, I realized, are schemas made up of several different elements.

Sweller found that technical or complex material was likely to overload learners’ working memory unless cognitive load is kept low during instruction (Sweller, 1988). For that reason, I reorganized the module to introduce elementary concepts (such as individual shots) first, and then related those concepts to shooting practices and production techniques.

The structure of my module is dramatically different today than four weeks ago. Fundamental educational goals remain the same. I retained options for multiple learning paths, but the overall shape is simpler, more linear, and includes more instructional scaffolding. What learners see is necessary and consistent in tone and purpose.

As you’ve seen, my module’s design has undergone significant change, as well. From interactive wireframe to this week’s third draft, the differences are striking. Not only is there more style and color, but it also is applied in a meaningful thematic way. The practice of creating swipe files and color palettes opened my eyes to subtle ways that design can support or undermine education.

One principle I embraced from the beginning was contiguity (Clark, 2002). With mostly visual content in my module, I nonetheless found it important to teach students proper terminology to discuss it. This meant introducing verbal terms alongside visual examples.

As I revised my module during the month, I gained a better understanding of modality – explaining visual concepts with audio (Clark, 2002). In the latest rewrite of the script this week, I eliminated redundancies in narration and enhanced visuals with complementary audio, instead of redundant explanation.

Finally, feedback from Dr. Siegel and my classmates led to a late realization that I believe will strengthen engagement. By pressing me to consider how to make my assessments more interactive – even prescribing time with an online game – Dr. Siegel helped me see that I could use interactions to replace many text-driven test questions in earlier iterations.

The result isn’t perfect: I conceived and created these interactions in just the past 24 hours. But now I see how assessments will help students think and apply knowledge to new challenges, instead of just remembering facts. This was the goal all along.

Clark writes: “As the technology behind a given medium matures, we get better at exploiting the features unique to that medium for learning” (Clark, 2002). The genesis of this concept was her goal to “accommodate human learning processes regardless of the media involved.”

Between my own conceptual miscues, graphical dead-ends, and Captivate’s learning curve, it’s been a winding, bumpy road to the conclusion of this class. But it has been worth it. The module is further along than I could have imagined at the beginning of the month, and I now look forward to turning the page in the road atlas on the path to mastery.

Thank you to Dr. Siegel and to all the classmates who took time to offer constructive criticism in the discussion boards and in the live sessions. I appreciate your feedback and I have learned from it. See you next month!

References

Clark, R. (2002, September 10). Six principles of effective e-learning: What works and why. In Learning Solutions. Retrieved from https://assethub.fso.fullsail.edu/assethub/6Principles_58442a8a-23c0-47c2-99eb-65f9b563a0d4.pdf

Miller, G.A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81-97. Retrieved from http://www.musanim.com/miller1956/

Unclear on the concept?

Yes, it's a Mastery blog. All about preparing for life's work.

Maybe that's why it's a little jarring to see this character in his sweater, sleeves, and tie staring back from the Evernote login page.

Don't get me wrong: Evernote is a terrific service, getting better every day. But equating a web-based clipping and storage app with my life's work -- the goal of mastery -- does a disservice to the vocabulary and cheapens the nobility and profundity of the concept.

Life's work should be about dedication, grit, drive, and passion. Not about shortcuts to save links to web stories you may or may not look at again.

#129202541 / gettyimages.com

This piece from the New York Times has some amazing insights into Apple's use of instructional design principles to educate its employees.

As the article states, Apple University is "a way to inculcate employees into Apple’s business culture and educate them about its history." As I read about the methods, I kept thinking of Ruth Clark's principles for eLearning.

In fact, Apple U is an eLearning program on steroids. Every bit of the program is designed to support the goal. (It helps if you are the most valuable company in the world, too.)

Looking at the details -- or as many as the Times was able to learn -- I kept hearing echoes of other courses we've had during this journey.

Hey, fellow aspiring designers: Do you find yourself seeing inspiration everywhere these days?

I came across this blog post right after creating my "Swipe Book," and just had to reblog it. Not only is it visually simple (minimal cognitive load!), but it's incredibly functional.

Check out the link for multiple photos of people using the design exactly as intended.

The blogger's description is a good idea for instructional materials, too: "the kind of playful design that encourages people to relax and interact."

There are some pretty funny examples in this blog post, mostly from the media world. Behind it all, the author makes a serious point:

Consequences of thinking about content after the design process is completed can be pretty embarrassing. Content-first design is where it’s at.

For all of us aspiring to careers in instructional design, the task of creating a color palette, layout, interactivity, multimedia, etc., can seem to be the most important thing, at times. Even overwhelming. But it shouldn't be our top priority.

Photo Credit: MSVG via Compfight cc

Reflection

It’s hard to summarize all that I’ve learned over the past month in just a few paragraphs. Direct application of learning theory, design models and production techniques are three highlights that led me to a wider appreciation of all that goes into successful instructional design as well as a deeper understanding of what it takes to build a project from start to finish.

Highlight: Learning theory

Earlier in the program, we researched learning theories. We identified a handful that seemed meaningful, relevant and congruent with our approaches. This month, we tested these hypotheses by returning to our choices and attempting to apply them to our projects.

In the process, I found that my original choice (Humanism) was reinforced: This theory helped me shape the content of my module and focus clearly on the needs of my learners. At the same time, I felt that I learned a lot from the approach of classmates who applied different theories.

This month was an opportunity to “get down to cases.” Instead of talking about theories in the abstract, we are creating our own case studies on how they can be applied in the real world.

Highlight: Design models

Learning and applying instructional design models may have been the most significant takeaway of the month, for me. Although I had used other versions of project planning in the past, the specificity and relevance of models such as ADDIE (Martin, n.d.) and ARCS (Keller, n.d.) brought new clarity to my work.

I began the project awash in detail, but the processes we used – especially the checklist (Legault, 2012) and Q&A examples (Guyan, 2014) – quickly helped me make sense of what I was trying to do, and why. Thinking about my target audience, goals, and objectives helped me limit the scope of my project and structure my module for interactivity and engagement. For the first time, I thought seriously about assessment (Clark, n.d.) – both for my learners and for myself.

For me, another highlight within this area was the live online discussion of which models applied to our projects. Having only a vague plan and being forced to talk through my goals with the group was a faster route to development than I would have followed on my own. I emerged from that session with a well-defined picture of what I wanted to do.

Highlight: Production techniques

Hand in hand with developing knowledge of instructional design has come an increase in my competency and comfort with design tools (including pencil and paper). The flow charting applications we explored were all new to me, but I found that I was able to create a plan I could use and amend as my project took shape.

While building the interactive wireframe of my flowchart in Week 4, I realized just how limited my knowledge of Captivate still was, even after using it in several previous classes. I also saw that my approach to the program had been, as Dr. Deason said, more as a presentation tool than an interactive environment. Again, feedback and discussion from our live sessions proved valuable in showing me where I needed to learn more.

After receiving Dr. Deason’s video feedback from Week 3, I further educated myself about Smart Interactions, Advanced Actions, and creating multiple learning paths (Link, 2009). In the process of exploring these techniques in Captivate, I discovered new resources and revisited previous favorites (McCune, 2013). My solutions may not be the most elegant, but they serve the needs of my audience and help me achieve my vision.

As a result, I feel I am on my way to using the tool as it was intended: a means to create interactivity that provides superior experiences for students and supports the goals and outcomes of instruction. This is a huge step toward seeing technology and platforms such as Captivate not as challenges or obstacles, but as assets.

Conclusion

It’s clear that I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Captivate can do. I will continue looking for different ways to enhance my lesson with interactions and present material to connect with multiple intelligences of my learners.

An immediate goal in the coming months is to produce visual assets that demonstrate and assess the concepts in my module. I look forward to learning more about uses of video and sound in the service of instruction, as well as expanding my suite of tools.

Finally it seems that every month’s reflection ends with an acknowledgement of my debt to everyone in the class for the helpful, positive feedback you offer through discussion boards and online sessions. I feel that way again this month.

Your talents and energy inspire me. The outpouring of thoughtful assistance and insightful criticism each week motivates me to do better.

So, thank you again – it’s all fuel in the tank on the continuing road to Mastery.

Interactive Storyboard

My interactive wireframe is available for download: The Five-Shot Sequence for Video Storytelling

As always, the interactive PDF will not play in Preview, but it works fine in Acrobat or Safari with the Reader plugin.

References

Clark, D. (n.d.). Types of evaluations in instructional design. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/isd/types_of_evaluations.html

Guyan, M. (2014, January 29). 12 questions elearning developers should answer. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/12-questions-elearning-developers-should-answer

Keller, J. (n.d.). What are the arcs categories? Retrieved from http://www.arcsmodel.com/#!arcs-categories/c1zqp

Legault, N. (2012, March 18). The ultimate elearning design and development checklist. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://flirtingwelearning.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/the-ultimate-e-learning-design-and-development-checklist/

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