AET/545 as outlined in the course overview was geared to providing me an opportunity to design a Web-based e-learning tutorial. The focus of the course was on the importance of planning, principles of good Web page design, storyboarding, and elements of multimedia. Web-based design standards, as well as appropriate use of Web pages and multimedia, are analyzed. Another aspect of the course covered was e-learning software, computer-mediated delivery platforms, and learning management systems. From the first week, knew that I was going to enjoy the course immensely and it did not fail to deliver.
The highlight of the course was building a web-based tutorial from scratch. For my tutorial, I chose to focus on the basics of effective communication. The basis for my choice, stemmed from a passion of mine volunteering. I have a fictitious organization called “Hispanic Women’s Center”, which specialize in counselling women in making the transition from battered woman to independence. Although I chose a fictitious name, the problems that exist, do exist in a real center I volunteer with. One of the greatest concerns at the center is that the staff which consists mainly of volunteers lacks the experience, confidence, and ability to communicate effectively using a variety of methods (verbal and written). This has been identified as a hindrance to the volunteers being able to provide advice and help to the women who use the help line or attend counselling sessions at the center.
The director and the other board members decided that the most effective means to overcome this problem is to ensure that all volunteers get the training on effective communication before they start volunteering; and thus, the web tutorial was born. The first step was a needs analysis which clearly indicated that a gap existed between what the volunteers know and what they should know. Out of the twenty volunteers, 30% or 6 were meeting the standards for verbal and written communication and 70% or 14 needed to meet the standard communication skills. The desired outcome is to have 100% of the volunteers meeting the standard. Based on the need analysis, I propose to the board that the most cost effective means for providing the volunteer training is a web-based tutorial utilizing the elements of multimedia (text, graphics, video, animation, and audio).
The tutorial’s main focus was effective versus non effective communication; identifying the differences between verbal and non-verbal communication; and writing formal letters. The design part of the project involved a storyboard which was the blueprint for the tutorial, it outlined how the multimedia elements would be utilized, it gave a synopsis of the instructional goals and objectives, a brief overview of the instructional content, as well as the type of assessment that will be used in the tutorial. The tutorial was developed with a few additions and deletions based on input from the stakeholders and peers who did an informal evaluation of the tutorial.
AET/545 helped me discover the joys of designing for online learning; I was able to see a creative side of myself I never knew existed. Now that I have seen the importance of ADDIE in the process, I plan on creating many more web-based tutorials to enhance the learning experience of my students.
The highlight of the course was building a web-based tutorial from scratch. For my tutorial, I chose to focus on the basics of effective communication. The basis for my choice, stemmed from a passion of mine volunteering. I have a fictitious organization called “Hispanic Women’s Center”, which specialize in counselling women in making the transition from battered woman to independence. Although I chose a fictitious name, the problems that exist, do exist in a real center I volunteer with. One of the greatest concerns at the center is that the staff which consists mainly of volunteers lacks the experience, confidence, and ability to communicate effectively using a variety of methods (verbal and written). This has been identified as a hindrance to the volunteers being able to provide advice and help to the women who use the help line or attend counselling sessions at the center.
The director and the other board members decided that the most effective means to overcome this problem is to ensure that all volunteers get the training on effective communication before they start volunteering; and thus, the web tutorial was born. The first step was a needs analysis which clearly indicated that a gap existed between what the volunteers know and what they should know. Out of the twenty volunteers, 30% or 6 were meeting the standards for verbal and written communication and 70% or 14 needed to meet the standard communication skills. The desired outcome is to have 100% of the volunteers meeting the standard. Based on the need analysis, I propose to the board that the most cost effective means for providing the volunteer training is a web-based tutorial utilizing the elements of multimedia (text, graphics, video, animation, and audio).
The tutorial’s main focus was effective versus non effective communication; identifying the differences between verbal and non-verbal communication; and writing formal letters. The design part of the project involved a storyboard which was the blueprint for the tutorial, it outlined how the multimedia elements would be utilized, it gave a synopsis of the instructional goals and objectives, a brief overview of the instructional content, as well as the type of assessment that will be used in the tutorial. The tutorial was developed with a few additions and deletions based on input from the stakeholders and peers who did an informal evaluation of the tutorial.
AET/545 helped me discover the joys of designing for online learning; I was able to see a creative side of myself I never knew existed. Now that I have seen the importance of ADDIE in the process, I plan on creating many more web-based tutorials to enhance the learning experience of my students.
Have a look and enjoy my web-based tutorial here: