Friday Feature: Visual Design

The"Eyes" Have It!

No doubt you have heard that we are now in the digital age, are constantly being bombarded by a barrage of visual images, and that the learning style of the new generation of students is more visual than many of those in previous generations. So, what does that mean when creating online content for our students?  Do we just add a bunch of images, slideshows, videos, etc., to our courses? Not quite.

Adding images to learning is vital. Allowing learners to absorb content using more than one cognitive channel, in addition to the text, is one way images can enhance the learners experience. But of course, we don't want to add images just to add images. We can utilize images to help with the navigational structure of a course. Different fonts and typeface can be used to separate elements when a lot of text is necessary. Appropriately sized graphics and color can also be used to draw the eye to a certain place.

A blog post, by Neha Goel (Nov. 14, 2014), highlights 4 questions to ask yourself before using visuals in your course:

1.     Do visuals decrease the content overload?

2.     Do visuals make the content comprehensible?

3.     Do visuals help keep learners connected to the course?

4.     Do visuals convey what you wish to tell the learner?

Read Goel’s complete blog post here:

http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/role-of-visuals-in-elearning

What kinds of projects can you do with your students to help them sort through the barrage of information? I just learned a new word—“infopics”. An infopic is a photo with text layered on top that is designed to communicate a message. To learn more about it, watch this video:

 




I hope you got some ideas from watching the video that you want to use with your students. AEA PD Online would love to hear how you incorporated infopics into your classroom. 

Please share with us!

In the Spotlight

Class Responder is a service that teachers can use to distribute quizzes to students and gather results as soon as students answer the quiz questions. ClassResponder can be used through your web browser or through their free iPad apps. There is an app for teachers and an app for students. Students don't have to create accounts to participate. Students simply enter your classroom code to join your ClassResponder activities.

It also offers pre-made quizzes. Like other student response systems, Class Responder is a way to deliver short review quizzes to your students. You can use the service to make quizzes to use at the end of a lesson to quickly check for your students' understanding of your lesson's main points. You can turn on ClassResponder's instant feedback option for your students so that they don't have to wait until everyone is done before they see their own scores.



Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

AEA PD Online Instructional Designer

www.aeapdonline.org 

Expectations

I spent some time with a group of science teachers in a local district this week. We were exploring various ways to make the online environment a natural part of their teaching. There were questions posed that may not have straightforward answers—at least not “one right way to do it” type answers.

There are so many ways to connect in an online setting, but how do you, as the teacher, make it fun and engaging while moving student learning forward? Is it “required”? Does it only get assigned as “homework”? How does the teacher get students to “want to do it”? What if the student(s) don’t do it? And, since there is so much out there on the web, how do teachers sort through it all in an efficient manner?

I don’t have any specific, “one-right answer” to these questions, but discussion among the teachers, along with district administrators may move them closer to finding some answers. I know that when teaching adults in an online environment, they, as students, have certain expectations from the course content as well as from the online instructor. Meeting those expectations can make or break an online course. So what do they expect? (Remember, this is from my personal experiences—you may have a different view based on your own experiences.)

They expect:

• Frequent communication from the instructor (known as instructor presence)

• Clear directions about assignments, grading criteria, course expectations, etc.

• Flexibility—with due dates, late assignment policies, etc.—life happens

• An instructor who shows their “human” side by letting their personality show through (which means students feel they know the instructor personally)

• Guidance: on how much time weekly readings, activities, and assignments take, the objectives of course, how and when to submit assignments, etc.

• Some technological skills—able to troubleshoot technological issues a student may have in navigating the course, submitting assignments, seeing grades, and viewing feedback from the instructor

I am sure there are other things that could go on this list. Sometimes it seems like a tall order for an online instructor. But it is what good instructors do—both in the face-to-face and the online classroom environment.

How do you, or online instructors you have had in an online course, set the tone for the course? How can you live up to the expectations of online students? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

In the Spotlight: eduCanon

“eduCanon is an online learning environment to build and share interactive video lessons. Teachers begin with any YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube video content (screencasts, Khan Academy, Minute Physics, TED, NOVA, etc.) and transform what is traditionally passive content into an active experience for students. By time-linking activities that students engage with as the video progresses the content is segmented into digestible components - increasing student engagement and, through our real-time monitoring, informing the next day’s lesson planning” (from the EduCanon website). 

And it is free. It can be embedded into an LMS, like Moodle, or in a lesson builder application like Softchalk . An eduCanon lesson can also be shared with colleagues and they don’t even have to log in to view it. It can also be made public without being attached to a course—a new feature of the software.

Watch the following video to see and hear what it is all about:

Video doesn’t have to be a “sit and get” activity. Add some interactivity to how your students watch videos. It is easy and free—try it.

Let me know how it works for you and your students.


 

 Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

AEA PD Online Instructional Designer

www.aeapdonline.org