So today I'm supposed to evaluate the idea of games and simulations in my storyboard. Where might they be appropriate? This is really difficult for me, because I am unsure about the appropriateness of games and simulations for a lesson on the MLA format for paper writing. The idea becomes even more difficult for me to think about when I have never come across games and situations in any of the e-learning situations in which I have found myself. Because I only know the theoretical aspects and not the practical ones, I am uncertain as to how they are to work in the e-learning field.
To be perfectly honest, I have been anticipating this post, and I have been thinking about this for the past week. I am going to be honest. I just can't see where a game or simulation might be appropriate for my particular lesson. As far as I can tell, there is not an appropriate placement for games or simulations within my lesson, considering the nature and topic of the lesson.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Research Based Guidelines
The principles discussed in my last post are from research-based guidelines, of which there are more than fifty. That is too many to discuss at once, so right now I'm just going to talk about the ones relevant to my storyboard that I had to create. Table 17.2, on page 404 of E-Learning and the Science of Instruction, divides them like this:
1-23 apply to all forms of e-learning.
24-34 apply to e-learning designed to teach job tasks.
35-40 apply to e-learning with collaborative facilities.
41-44 apply to design of asynchronous e-learning navigation.
45-56 apply to e-learning to build problem-solving skills and simulations and games.
Since the storyboard I created was not meant teach job tasks, this eliminated guidelines 23-34. Guidelines 45-56 can also be eliminated because I did not create it to build problem-solving skills with simulations and games. This leaves me with a little over 30 guidelines.
Guidelines 1-23 are guided into two sections. The first is for those who are using only visual aspects, just text and graphics. They don't apply to my storyboard because I also use audio. The first of these is using relevant graphics with the audio narration, which is part of the multimedia and modality principles. The next guideline that applies is an exception to the modality princple: maintain information that the learner needs time to process as text on the screen, which is something else that I've done with my storyboard.
My visuals and audio are always linked, as are my visuals and text. That's number 16. Number 17 is also followed because I don't present words as both text and narration As per guideline 18, everything is relevant, and as per 19, I keep a conversational tone using first and second person for my audio.
I skipped 20 and went to 21, which is all about the segmentation principle, ensuring that the learner can use a continue or next button and that the lesson is in manageable chunks. Also, as per guideline 22, my one animation does have a replay button. It's a movie, so the learner can stop, restart, and replay all he or she wishes. Finally, I adhere to guideline 23 by using the pretraining principle.
My storyboard includes a collaborative project as a part of the lesson. It definitely requires asynchronous communication, with synchronous communication optional. Because it is a collaborative assignment, it is a group assignment by definition, and I have ensured social interdependence by making it clear that this is a group grade, thus covering guidelines 35-38 and 40.
I've skipped guideline 41 and gone straight to 42, having limited learner choices on topics as the lesson is designed for learners who are novice to the content. I've skipped 43, but I've utilized 44, allowing them to work at their own pace in a reasonable manner.
The guidelines are redundant, I know, but these are what the principles are based off of, and it's important to understand the base before reaching for the top.
1-23 apply to all forms of e-learning.
24-34 apply to e-learning designed to teach job tasks.
35-40 apply to e-learning with collaborative facilities.
41-44 apply to design of asynchronous e-learning navigation.
45-56 apply to e-learning to build problem-solving skills and simulations and games.
Since the storyboard I created was not meant teach job tasks, this eliminated guidelines 23-34. Guidelines 45-56 can also be eliminated because I did not create it to build problem-solving skills with simulations and games. This leaves me with a little over 30 guidelines.
Guidelines 1-23 are guided into two sections. The first is for those who are using only visual aspects, just text and graphics. They don't apply to my storyboard because I also use audio. The first of these is using relevant graphics with the audio narration, which is part of the multimedia and modality principles. The next guideline that applies is an exception to the modality princple: maintain information that the learner needs time to process as text on the screen, which is something else that I've done with my storyboard.
My visuals and audio are always linked, as are my visuals and text. That's number 16. Number 17 is also followed because I don't present words as both text and narration As per guideline 18, everything is relevant, and as per 19, I keep a conversational tone using first and second person for my audio.
I skipped 20 and went to 21, which is all about the segmentation principle, ensuring that the learner can use a continue or next button and that the lesson is in manageable chunks. Also, as per guideline 22, my one animation does have a replay button. It's a movie, so the learner can stop, restart, and replay all he or she wishes. Finally, I adhere to guideline 23 by using the pretraining principle.
My storyboard includes a collaborative project as a part of the lesson. It definitely requires asynchronous communication, with synchronous communication optional. Because it is a collaborative assignment, it is a group assignment by definition, and I have ensured social interdependence by making it clear that this is a group grade, thus covering guidelines 35-38 and 40.
I've skipped guideline 41 and gone straight to 42, having limited learner choices on topics as the lesson is designed for learners who are novice to the content. I've skipped 43, but I've utilized 44, allowing them to work at their own pace in a reasonable manner.
The guidelines are redundant, I know, but these are what the principles are based off of, and it's important to understand the base before reaching for the top.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
E-Learning Principles and Storyboarding
As I work on my Master's Degree, one of the courses I am taking is on e-learning, something that has become more and more popular as technology continues to improve.
Our big project for the class has been a storyboard, which is basically the laying out and planning of a presentation. The big thing that we have been discussing is the principles of e-learning, principles that we have been encouraged to apply to our storyboard. These principles come from a book called E-Learning and the Science of Instruction, 3rd Edition, by Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard E. Mayer. It is a book that I strongly recommend for anyone designing an e-learning course.
Since I am an English teacher, and MLA is the format for the English field, this is what I chose to do my storyboard on. I've integrated several of the e-learning principles into it. The first is the segmentation principle. This is seen throughout the storyboard, and it breaks the lesson into smaller chunks, making it easier for the learner to understand.
On the first slide, I have integrated the pretraining principle. This means giving the learner an overview of the topic before entering the subject itself, kind of like testing the water with your feet before immersing yourself completely when you're getting ready to take a bath or go swimming. This slide gives a brief overview of the MLA format. Many teachers might also recognize the pretraining principle as frontloading.
Throughout the storyboard, I use both words and graphics, utilizing the multimedia principle. Most of the graphics are static, but the second slide is meant to have a movie on it. I also use the modality principle on several slides, using a combination of images and spoken text rather than written text. I also use the redundancy principle because most of my slides do not use both audio narration and on-screen text.
I have completely eliminated unnecessary text, speech, and graphics, thus integrating the coherence principle. I have also utilized the personalization principle because I have used less formal language, allowing the learner to better connect with the lesson.
Overall, working on the storyboard has definitely been interesting. I am a little unsure as to my exact feelings about the storyboard. I probably wouldn't do it if I were going to create the PowerPoint myself, but if I need someone else to do the PowerPoint for me, it is definitely something that will come in handy.
Our big project for the class has been a storyboard, which is basically the laying out and planning of a presentation. The big thing that we have been discussing is the principles of e-learning, principles that we have been encouraged to apply to our storyboard. These principles come from a book called E-Learning and the Science of Instruction, 3rd Edition, by Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard E. Mayer. It is a book that I strongly recommend for anyone designing an e-learning course.
Since I am an English teacher, and MLA is the format for the English field, this is what I chose to do my storyboard on. I've integrated several of the e-learning principles into it. The first is the segmentation principle. This is seen throughout the storyboard, and it breaks the lesson into smaller chunks, making it easier for the learner to understand.
On the first slide, I have integrated the pretraining principle. This means giving the learner an overview of the topic before entering the subject itself, kind of like testing the water with your feet before immersing yourself completely when you're getting ready to take a bath or go swimming. This slide gives a brief overview of the MLA format. Many teachers might also recognize the pretraining principle as frontloading.
Throughout the storyboard, I use both words and graphics, utilizing the multimedia principle. Most of the graphics are static, but the second slide is meant to have a movie on it. I also use the modality principle on several slides, using a combination of images and spoken text rather than written text. I also use the redundancy principle because most of my slides do not use both audio narration and on-screen text.
I have completely eliminated unnecessary text, speech, and graphics, thus integrating the coherence principle. I have also utilized the personalization principle because I have used less formal language, allowing the learner to better connect with the lesson.
Overall, working on the storyboard has definitely been interesting. I am a little unsure as to my exact feelings about the storyboard. I probably wouldn't do it if I were going to create the PowerPoint myself, but if I need someone else to do the PowerPoint for me, it is definitely something that will come in handy.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Wordle Fun
I love Wordle. It's a great graphic organizer to show the important concepts in a text. Here are some I made for Romeo and Juliet, based on some of the most famous speeches in the play. The first one, made from Romeo's "brawling love, loving hate" speech, is especially aprapos.
title="Wordle: Brawling Love">
alt="Wordle: Brawling Love"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
The one I made from Juliet's "What's in a name?" speech also turned out really well.
title="Wordle: Whats In a Name?">
alt="Wordle: Whats In a Name?"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
I'm very fond of Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech, but this one might be better for Midsummer Night's Dream...
title="Wordle: Queen Mab">
alt="Wordle: Queen Mab"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
The one from the Prince came out a bit better.
title="Wordle: All Are Punished">
alt="Wordle: All Are Punished"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
title="Wordle: Brawling Love">
alt="Wordle: Brawling Love"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
The one I made from Juliet's "What's in a name?" speech also turned out really well.
title="Wordle: Whats In a Name?">
alt="Wordle: Whats In a Name?"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
I'm very fond of Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech, but this one might be better for Midsummer Night's Dream...
title="Wordle: Queen Mab">
alt="Wordle: Queen Mab"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
The one from the Prince came out a bit better.
title="Wordle: All Are Punished">
alt="Wordle: All Are Punished"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
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