Design guidelines for effective e-learning materials
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Books relevant to the design of e-learning materials:
‘Teaching & Learning Online – Pedagogies for New Technologies’
Teaching & Learning Online – Pedagogies for New Technologies,
Ed.Stephenson, J., 2001, Kogan Page, London.
Chapter 13 ‘On the way to online pedagogy’ by Martin Good (Cambridge
Training and Development Ltd, UK).
This chapter is written from the perspective of a commercial developer of materials, previously mainly CD-ROM based, who is alert to the changing direction and new possibilities as a result of faster and more accessible connections. The author acknowledges that historical approaches were forged by what the technology would permit as opposed to what was pedagogically sound.
Good quotes Robin Mason of the Open University to describe three models of online learning:‘E-learning has crystallised an intractable issue that affected open and distance learning for many years – the question of product versus process. Because of communications technology we now have a much higher level of process pedagogy to work alongside and provide a context for learning materials.’
[Stephenson, 2001:165]
- ‘Content + support: the traditional
approach, where course content is separate from support; it is
delivered through materials or web sites, with support provided
via email or conferencing as an add on.’
- ‘Wraparound: tailor made study guides
to existing materials supported with discussion, application
sharing, web lectures and so forth’
- ‘Integrated: here the centre of the course is a set of assignments, tasks and collaborative experiences, and students are online for most of the time.’
Overall this chapter provides a good overview of current pedagogical issues and how they relate to the design of e-learning materials. Also highlighted are some potential barriers to the ‘weaving in’ of technology in the context of the British education system because of lack of the required (relatively high) level of technology skills amongst teachers.
‘Creating online learning material – A good practice guide’
‘Creating online learning material – A good practice guide’, Becta, 2002 (2nd Edition), Becta, Coventry.
This 52 page booklet produced by the National Learning Network materials development team at Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) is an attempt to summarise all the relevant information a further education institution (Becta’s remit is limited to F.E.) would need to understand to start planning and producing quality on-line learning materials. The booklet lays out a structured, team based, model of materials development and gives guidance on project management of the production and testing processes.
The eight sections of the booklet are:- Developing online learning material—an introduction
- Managing projects successfully
- Planning your ILT material
- Designing usable and accessible material
- User trialling
- Copyright issues
- Technical specifications and standards
- Further information and resources
The booklet does an excellent job at explaining complex areas such as copyright using concise and accurate language. The section on ‘designing usable and accessible material’ provides a simple checklist that can be used by designers, who do not have a knowledge of accessibility or the jargon associated with the field, to ensure their materials reach the required standards.
Also within the section about usability and accessibility there is sub-section on navigational issues. Although for the purposes of this project the subject of navigational design is assumed to be a function of the VLE/MLE it is important to remember that the division of materials into sequences of screens (the ‘chunking’) requires a user centred approach:
‘Pages should be broken down into meaningful self-contained chunks, which do not overflow onto the next page; this will enable the learner to absorb the information contained in the chunk of learning, before progressing. Units should be structured into small elements in order that learners can easily leave and return to the current point, using a bookmarking facility or a system of menus. Buttons or keystrokes should be provided for ease of navigation to allow the learner to exit the current section, move upwards within a hierarchy of menus and, from the top level, to exit the material. It should be difficult for the learner to close the application down accidentally (by exiting a current section) - there should be a logging off procedure.’
[Becta, 2002:22]
The last point is one which is difficult for developers of VLE/MLE systems to address because if a user inadvertently closes the browser window their session within the learning environment is terminated.
‘Successful Instructional Diagrams’
Successful Instructional Diagrams, Lowe, R., 1993, Kogan Page, London.
Although this book predates the widespread use of e-learning, the systematic approach to the creation and use of diagrams proposed is as, if not more, valid to today’s technology as it was at the time it was written. Even those experienced in the production of technical and explanatory diagrams, such as this project’s author, will benefit from the questioning about visual representation that takes place in this book. The sections on the use of animated diagrams read as slightly dated in the light of technologies such as ‘Flash’ but the underlying principles identified for appropriate use of animation remain valid.Lowe proposes a concept of ‘visual literacy’ with regard to ‘reading’ diagrams:‘Literacy in visual modes of presentation can be seen in some situations as just as fundamental to learning as literacy with respect to written text. Visual literacy includes the capacity to ‘read’ visual displays effectively. However, the idea that visual literacy is necessary for reading visual materials is not as widely accepted as the self-evident fact that textual literacy is required for reading text. This is partly because visual materials in general are typically not considered to pose any reading challenges to the viewer. In contrast to text, their meaning is assumed to be ‘transparent’ (which explains why many regard visuals as solutions to instructional problems, especially for those who have difficulty in learning from text).However there is one main aspect – apart from not covering the use of the diagrams in e-learning – in which the book clearly shows its age. This is the lack of guidance or examples relating to the use of colour in diagrams. Using colour in print materials adds cost but to not use some colour in the production of electronic materials would lead to visually un-stimulating materials that learners would be less likely to engage with.
However, it is unwise to treat all visual materials as if they were equally accessible to the viewer. In particular, diagrams need to be considered as a special case because they have some characteristics that are quite unlike most other types of visual material. Diagrams are not like ‘other pictures’ and so require the reader to have specific diagram knowledge and diagram reading skills that are not required for most of the pictures we encounter. So, a person who is visually literate with respect to the usual types of visual materials we meet in our everyday lives may not be visually literate with respect to diagrams.’
[Lowe, 1993:24]
