Category: elearning

Weekly Reflection: Getting Farther Away From the Campfire

256px-Campfire_Pinecone(Photo by Emeldil at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

In chapter 3 of Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community, author Joe Lambert discusses a live stage project of one of his collaborators, Dana Atchley.  In 1990, Atchley began performing a one-person show in his San Fransisco studio called Next Exit,  a guided tour of his life traveling across the United States.  Part of his performance involved a campfire, or more specifically, the image of a campfire on a video monitor.  Atchley would tell stories about meeting “offbeat Americans” and interact with video segments projected on a backdrop.   This metaphor made me think of the times I would be with fellow campers, camp councilors or friends and there would be an exchange of stories near the fire.

In recent years, however, I feel that I am getting farther and farther away from that friendly circle of warmth.  I’ve worked a variety of temporary, seasonal, and part-time jobs since getting laid off from my full-time employer in 2010.  What’s worse, that was the third layoff from a full-time job I’ve had to endure since 2003.  During this time of economic uncertainly, my relationships with work colleagues and friends have weakened.  The shame of not having a steady job makes a person withdraw.  I have two part-time jobs now, but there are semester-dependent positions through higher education institutions.  Come mid-May, I may have to find some other steady work as a source of income.  This employment instability, constant job-searching and feeling of embarrassment has kept me from coming closer to the campfire.

To a certain extent, being enrolled in graduate school has improved my self-esteem and given me a better idea of a possible career track.  The total online nature (and dramatic lack interpersonal engagement) of the Information and Learning Technologies program, however, is giving me some off-campus blues.  WordPress blogging, Twitter exchanges and Zoom meetings are useful, but there’s still a great distance between the “camper” and the “campfire”.  Plus, it seems I am not the only person in my INTE5340 class that has succumbed to disengagement.

Truly, I do want to get closer to the campfire and engage again with my friends, former coworkers and current students.  My fear is that even if I talk, will anyone really listen?  I hope so.

 

 

CARP or CRAP? Either Way, It’s Important To Graphic Design

Principles-of-Design-White-2560px

 

 

 

After three semesters into the Information and Learning Technologies graduate program at UC-Denver, I’ve come to realize that a field such as this requires a person to think like a project manager, an instructional designer, and a graphic artist.  Of these different occupations, I always presumed I knew most on how to be a graphic designer due to my creative background in television production.  Alas, I didn’t know crap.  Or more specifically, I did not know CARP!

Regardless of the order of the words, I’ve come to realize the importance of the principles of contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity.  In my previous Creative Design for Instructional Materials class (INTE6710), we discussed many key design principles, including CARP.  Now, in my Webinars and Synchronous Learning class (INTE5670), I’m starting to get a better picture (pun intended!) on the importance of CARP in a live online presentation.  It’s important for an audience to get a clear idea on learning objectives and relevant examples to use skills in the real world.  If the learner becomes distracted by elements such as too many colors, inconsistent text alignment or sporadic content placement, that educational opportunity will be lost.  This is something I may have overlooked when I developed an eLearning module in Adobe Captivate last semester.  Hopefully, I can learn from my mistakes and build a better webinar that engages my learning audience.

Webinar Critique: “10 Powerful Principles for Creating Impactful e-Learning”

For my Webinars & Synchronous Learning (INTE 5670) class, I choose to review a webinar that took place on Wednesday, February 3rd starting at 11AM Mountain Time.  It was entitled “10 Powerful Principles for Creating Impactful e-Learning.”   The speaker was Ethan Edwards, Chief Instructional Strategist at Allen Interactions, the sponsor of the webinar.   The website where I found this webinar is called Training Magazine Network.   The Adobe Connect recording can be accessed at the hyperlinked webinar title through a membership login.

The webinar lasted roughly one hour, which was the advertised duration.   In that 60-minute session, Ethan Edwards gave the registered 2000 participants, including myself, 10 tips on effective e-learning practices.   One of the principles I found interesting was number 4: Talk less.  Do more.   Often, it’s easy for an online tutorial to become text or voice-over narration heavy.   It’s better to get the learner engaged in an activity, which tied into principle number 2: Let the learner take control.   The other principles he emphasized were:

  • Don’t list formal objectives.
  • Design the end of the lesson first.
  • Create real-life experiences.
  • Design specific gestures
  • Avoid adversarial tone.
  • Use context to create meaning.
  • Stop judging and scoring everything.
  • Hold the learner accountable.

Overall, I found the content of the webinar very insightful, but the context was a different matter.  With 2000 registered users, there were limited opportunities for active, or for that matter, interactive learning strategies.  Both the audio mic or video camera options were not available for the participants.  There was a chat option in the Abode Connect platform, but with the large number of participants, there was a flood of responses.   I posed a question about the mobile flexibility of a tutorial Ethan’s company created for Dairy Queen, but the question disappeared as more people chimed in with their chat replies.

On the other hand, the presentation by the speaker was impressive.  Ethan spoke with clarity and high energy.  I could tell he really enjoyed his work.  The host, Gary Vanantwerp, did a great job of not only moderating the session, but also of checking Ethan’s microphone levels prior to the start.  The slides were simple, easy-to-read, and incorporated many aspects of CARP (repetition of simple fonts, text alignment, etc).   For the most part, there was a simple analogous color pattern of blue and green with a mix of white and black.   This presentation would have been easy to read if it had been projected on a large screen in a lecture hall somewhere.   Also, the absence of a video recording of Ethan drew my eyes to the Power Point slides while he narrated.   It felt like a valuable Khan Academy presentation, where the vanity of the instructor is secondary to the instruction.

Ultimately, this was a very professional session, but it came off more as a webcast rather than a webinar.   It would have been nice if there where more active and interactive learning opportunities, but with 2000 registered participants listening to a 60 minute session, I imagine that’s not a possibility.  Still, this session gave me some good ideas on the style and substance of an effective webinar, particularly with the CARP slide characteristics.  Plus, Ethan sparked my interest in creating a better e-learning module, which will come in handy as I build my ILT portfolio.