Meta Reflection on Instructional Design and eAuthoring Module

Eva Kilar Magdziarz

Introduction - Group Formation
Throughout the whole module we learnt how to develop a learning object !e have been introduced
to different macro and micro design models and as a part of our final assessment we were as"ed to
produce a learning object in groups
M# group consisted of four members$ all from different wal"s of life Apart from m#self$ wor"ing in
E%T$ there was &ugh Mc%ain wor"ing in the Irish Department of Agriculture$ Thomas 'mith$ an
owner of an elearning compan# and Rob %owne# wor"ing for (IMA in Ireland
In our groups we started with the decision about the design model and the allocation of tas"s I was
made responsible for developing the content for the website ) including assessment*$ Rob for audio
and visuals$ &ugh for setting up the website and Thomas for interactive part of it )Articulate* Even
though all of us had a different area to wor" on$ we all aimed at the same final outcome ie production
of a high +ualit# learning object and too" an active part in anal#sis and design stages
During the first meeting we established that we will be using !ordpress for the development of the
website and we decided on the theme &aving though about topics that none of us were e,perts in$ we
decided to wor" on pupp# toilet training which evolved into dog training !e aimed at learners of
different ages as our audience
Group Communication
!e established that we will use mainl# emails for group communication Apart from emails we have
also used Drop-o, and Evernote for sharing files and lin"s !e were tr#ing to circulate emails with
to.do tas" lists ever# wee" to motivate each other and ma"e the project wor" smoothl#
!e used to meet also wee"l# not onl# in the classes but also for an e,tra hour to brainstorm$ anal#se
and evaluate the progress of the project wor" These meetings were valued the most as then we could
discuss all the issues and address them without e,changing too man# emails The communication
flow was undisturbed and most of the decisions were ta"en without too much hesitation and
unanimousl#
Macro Model of Instructional Design . ADDIE
Another decision made was about the macro model we would use for designing our learning object
!e agreed on using ADDIE model as it is fle,ible and transparent enough ) /agne$ 0112*
Anal#sis
&aving decided on the target group$ our team focused on learning outcomes All of them were based
on -loom3s Ta,onom# 4or me this stage was highl# beneficial as I managed to see how learning
outcomes influence the whole project After the initial draft of learning outcomes$ we used (ourse
4acilitation (ards for brainstorming before designing 4inall#$ our learning object was to be a simple
information based website with short tests to motivate students$ but with limited interaction patterns
Design
The process itself started with drafting the site map and deciding on the stor#board !e started with a
pen and paper but moved to digital representations of our learning object After the anal#sis we "new
how we would present the content$ considering visuals$ audio and te,t &ugh was responsible for
setting a blog at !ordpress and arranging all widgets and toolbars at the website Even though all of
us had the full access to our website$ I personall# felt not confident enough to ma"e an# changes to
the template provided This is the area I would li"e to improve and tr# to use some of the blogs and
wi"is available in the future
Development
At this stage I started wor"ing on the content I too" into the account (ognitive %oad theor# )(lar"
and Ma#er$ 0115* and focused at the most relevant pieces of information Even though we wanted to
teach students how to train a dog$ we had to provide also the most basic information about dogs 'o
we went bac" to the initial stages of ADDIE and modified a bit the theme It was +uite difficult to
decide on the relevance of the material that needed to be left aside especiall# since none of us was a
matter e,pert in the field of dog training Therefore I suggested the changes which were ta"en on
board b# all group members !hile developing the content Rob was wor"ing on audio to
accommodate students with disabilities$ as well as downloadable materials to help those with different
learning st#les !e were aiming at a full# accessible learning object
Implementation
6nce we had all the content )written and audio* we have started to organise ever#thing at the website
Also Thomas used Articulate to show how each module would loo" li"e after the completion !e
considered 7ielsen3s suggestion about 4.shaped reading pattern and arranged the website so that it
wor"s well for all online users
Evaluation
8nfortunatel#$ we did not have the lu,ur# of as"ing real students to evaluate our website so I decided
to use %6RI guidelines and !A9E website to chec" the site3s accessibilit# In m# opinion the website
produced was ver# well designed$ with clear learning outcomes and well presented material
Micro Planning
As a group we did a short e,ercise on using /agne3s :rinciples of Instruction to teach someone the
techni+ues for dog training &ugh provided a template which I used with some adaptation I have to
admit that /agne3s theor# perfectl# fits with an# training and as I have also anal#sed it can be used in
m# professional conte,t
Group work
As I have not been wor"ing in a group for a +uite long time I was reall# afraid of the final outcome of
our project &aving different perspectives on design and anal#sis stage helped me a lot and I
thoroughl# enjo#ed the project wor" In the end I felt that our group d#namics wor"ed well and we
managed to create successfull# a great learning object
Conclusions
The most beneficial for me was to use the theor# behind instructional design in practice and see how
complicated the process of creating a learning object is I did not "now that stating the objectives at
the ver# beginning and stic"ing to them is so crucial Also for me ADDIE model proved to be the best
one as it does not impose on us a linear design process It is fle,ible enough to go bac" and forth I
reall# enjo#ed the whole module$ great and enthusiastic lecturers and the design process
Bibliograp!
/agne$ R )0112* :rinciples of Instructional Design -elmont (A; Thomson< !adsworth
-ranch$ RM )011=* Instructional Design; The ADDIE Approach 7ew >or"$ 8'A ; 'pringer
(lar"$ Ruth (olvin ? Ma#er$ Richard E )0115* E.%earning and the 'cience of Instruction;
:roven /uidelines for (onsumers and Designers of Multimedia %earning 'an 4rancisco;
:feiffer