Designing Learning Experiences Online Part 3

Designing Learning Experiences Online Part 3

Date: 14th Sep 2020/Monday

This is my 3rd blog post in a series of posts about designing learning experiences online inspired from my course "Designing learning experiences online" with #ISTE. This post will put together all the content in the 3 blogs. We will summarize in the end the steps needed for designing effective and meaningful learning experiences online. 

So we will look into designing content online that reduces cognitive load, and explore ways in which we could leverage text and multimedia in meaningful ways. We have already discussed in detail Meyers 12 Multimedia design principles. So what is cognitive load? cognitive load is the effort being used by the working memory. Working memory is the short term memory and long term memory is the place where data is permanently stored for infinite time period. Graphic design is the visual content to communicate messages. We know from research that our working memory can only handle 3 pieces of

of information at a time, if this information is increased it will be lost. Think of trying to note down a friends number, suddenly a door bell rings, you run towards the door and you completely lost track of the numbers. You would remember odd and even numbers, because you know about them, but if you are asked to separate them in a mixed bag, it will take time. So, if we have prior information about a topic stored in the long term memory, its easy to retrieve it and build new information into it, updating your schema.

Now lets imagine about a website we might have recently visited, what about the website made us frustrated or made us lose interest. What could you think can be the characteristics of a good digital lesson or website design? for example it has to be to the point, specific, relevant, in context, user friendly, uses game based learning experiences, age appropriate, has different paths defined to reach a goal , has an organized layout, navigation between the content is easy, limited text and graphics on the page, is interactive and engaging and so on. 

My course instructor Michele Eaton says that we need to eliminate unnecessary cognitive load by removing additional and unnecessary information. This is important because information has to move from the working memory to the long term memory. So that it is permanently stored there and can be retrieved when needed with little effort. You can do this by designing online lessons that are easy to follow, by being consistent, select a consistent theme for all slides, not more than 1 or 2 font sizes, not more than 2 or 3 colors, information is easy to find,  so that students don't need to spend time roaming around looking for information on the page. Also its important to chunk information and present it on different pages instead of cramming all of it together on a single page. For example explaining different concepts with different examples on different pages. Think about the empty spaces on the screen, how could you use those better. You can have the content covered in 20 short lessons than 5 or 7 long lessons. 

Cammy Bean has used the term "clicky clicky bling bling" to refer to all the useless and superfluous multimedia we see on screen at times, that just causes distraction and no learning. We know that Meyers multimedia principle states that images and text used together are more effective that used separately. You can also add a bitmoji, create an avatar, show emotions (to tell participants that the course in not boring and dull).

Create opportunity for reflection, may be you could ask students to write a one min summary, or write complete a KWL chart at the end of the activity, or share 3 key learning experiences, 2 questions they want to ask and one suggestion they want to make at the end of the class and so on. 

Include opportunity for students to connect with the text, it should not be just limited to skim and scan only. Students could listen to an audio (a podcast) may be followed by an interactive activity that builds the learned concept further. You learn more when you see the images and can listen to the audio narration too, instead of looking at the text, images, narration on screen at the same time. So basically all multimedia should support and compliment the text. If you include videos in your presentations, keep it short and below 5 minutes, because the attention span is usually short. You could also add your own voice and video in the presentation that makes it more interactive and engaging. It shows course instructors effort too, in connecting with the class.

We know the multimedia principle, when you have text and images  come together its more effective, instead of using just text alone. But you need to make sure that the multimedia is not distracting but supporting the learning. Most of us tend to design multimedia by adding lots of text, followed by visuals, this results in lots of redundancy, repetitive text. So the text  and multimedia do not compliment each other. It seems we are breaking the page visually but not instructional. So we should start with visuals first, be intentional about every visual. The Contiguity principle could be effective here too, using words and images next to each other and not far away. If the image is present on one slide and the explanation or labels are on the other slide, it would lead to increased cognitive load. Students would be looking for words to describe images all over the place, thus wasting precious time and energy.

You must include intentionally opportunity for student to student interaction (group work, peer feedback etc) use discussion boards, jam boards for collaborative work, google docs, slides etc), student teacher interaction (through formative and assumptive assessments, introduce games and simulations), and st13dent content interaction (by designing interactive engaging activities. You could use padlet and ed-puzzle to create more interactive content online. 

The last thing that I would like to add to this blog, is the SIFT model for evaluating information online. So whats the SIFT model? SIFT stands for Stop, Investigate, Find and Trace. So stop and look for information about the website, author names, revision dates, organization details, background, contact information etc), then investigate the site (when was it last updated? is it updated regularly?then find trusted coverage (is this the best source available, can you find references to this source? do other experts refer to this source?) and finally trace claims, media and quotes to the source (are their any endorsements, evidences of the tool bring used and its effects?). So, once you have evaluated it, you could use it in your presentations, digital lessons etc You don't need to overload your slides with content that is least effective in enhancing learning.

Hope the three blogs add some clarity on how to design learning experiences online, its not easy and takes a lot of intentional effort! what things to consider and what things to ignore, how to minimize unnecessary cognitive load, how to add student agency (by providing voice and choice), using playlists, choice board, checklists etc

Summarizing the steps:

• Set goals for online learning and identify strategies to teach effectively online. What functions do you want the digital tools to accomplish?
• Think of ways to reduce cognitive overload? how could you utilize Meyers 12 multimedia principles to design effective digital content online?
• Think of qualities of a good digital design.
  
• List down challenges that you face during online learning.
• Intentionally create opportunities for interaction (student-student/student- teacher/student-content)
• Build opportunities for formative assessment.
• Provide opportunities for student agency (incorporate student choice and voice.
• Explore criteria (SECTIONS model) and checklist(performance, usability, differentiation, curriculum connection, feedback, thinking skills, engagement) to choose the best tools online, create your digital tool kit.
• Introduce tools that could bring in student agency like play lists, check lists, choice boards etc
  
• Explore issues of data privacy and share them with your students.
• Create a digital lesson, teach online, evaluate and review again.
  

Hope you enjoyed reading, take care till my next blog soon exploring game based learning.

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal

References:

1. Shum, A., M., H., & Zinn, F. (2020). Finding Digital Tools and Apps. In T. Trust (Ed.), Teaching with Digital Tools and Apps. EdTech Books. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/digitaltoolsapps/findingtoolsandapps

2. Designing Learning Experiences Online, Michele Eaton, ISTE, https://www.iste.org/learn/iste-u, accessed online 13th Sep 2020.