Use of new media tools to develop digital instructional media. Includes introduction and instruction on contemporary and emerging media development tools, including graphics, video editing, web design, and mobile technology.
Before entering this course, I knew some, but by no means all, tools and techniques to develop digital instruction. I walked into this class with experience in ERP recording tools such as InfoPak, uPerform, WalkMe, OnScreen, and Enable Now, as well as commercially available tools such as Captivate and Articulate. I’ve also been an instructor of graphics creation tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and CorelDRAW, in a previous position. I was not as strong in the underlying principles with the ERP tools, including HTML (I knew just enough to customize a site, but not build one from the ground up) and CSS (same as HTML—I could go into a cascading style sheet and make changes to customize the look of a site, but not build a style sheet from scratch). This course challenged me to not only expand on the very rudimentary skills I brought to the table initially, but also practice the “right-brain” side of digital design: experimenting with colors, layouts, and object placement to keep up with the modern world of digital design. It’s a work in progress, for sure, but I found this material delightful and fascinating to study.
Work Samples
Besides my e-learning pose below, here are a couple of other assignments I completed for this course. First up: a micromodule in a hypothetical e-learning course I conceived of using the desktop assistant tool WalkMe. WalkMe is planned as the context-sensitive help tool of choice at my last client, whom I hope to rejoin after I’ve completed this degree. WalkMe is a useful tool for executing the second D of the ADDIE paradigm—actually getting in there and developing instructional materials. I hope to leverage the assets I developed in this class, along with other assets I may develop in the future, for the benefit of this client.
I also created an infographic on WalkMe that could be used to market the tool to my client’s training team. As a matter of diffusion, such a piece put out to the target audience prior to implementation can assist in communicating the vision and allaying fears of change to a new system. It also assures learners that taking the risk of changing to a new system will not be unsupported: WalkMe output is a kind of safety net and coach for visible performance improvement.
Final Grade: A
Beth's Journey Through the Instructional Design Universe 