Review of Alessi & Trollip’s Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development (3rd Ed.)

For the IDT 520 course, , Instructional Design Level 1: Issues in E-learning and the Design Process, one of the three required texts was the third edition of Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development by Stephen Alessi and Stanley Trollip. This book is also required for future classes in the MSIDT program.
This 580-page text is fourteen years old, and many of the examples are dated when it comes to technology, but it still has a wealth of knowledge for non-technological curriculum design elements. What is particularly impressive is how well the authors managed to avoid specific platforms or programs throughout much of the book. Unfortunately, this is the last update that Alessi and Trollip are planning to do, so another source of knowledge will have to be found in the future as the content of this text ages even more.
Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development contains a good general overview of learning principles and methodologies from both constructivist and instructivist perspectives. Definitions of tutorials, simulations, and games are provided, as well as solid examples and comparisons of each, and reasons why each may be good or inappropriate for various learning situations. The authors provide good basic rundowns of testing and assessment methodologies, and relevant guidelines for when they should be applied. There are also good discussions of the administration of testing in online environments. Also included are solid job descriptions for every team member of an e-learning project, even though some of the jobs may no longer exist in today’s educational and business worlds. Lastly, there is a complete description of how to plan a learning project from beginning to end, with checklists and tables that include every imaginable course element, so that nothing gets forgotten.
Despite a great deal of dated content (computers and business world have changed a lot the book in the past 14 years), this book is an excellent as it covers the complete instruction design process, including critical issues such as the needs analysis, planning, storyboarding, design, budgeting, programming, project management, testing, and relationships with the client. Alessi & Trollip’s Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development is a comprehensive guide, and there is probably not a better alternative out there for the instructional design professional. It is priced accordingly, too, with new ones selling for around $132 on Amazon. This might be a good one to pick up secondhand!
Alessi, S.M., & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: Methods and development (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

MSIDT 520: Instructional Design Level 1: Issues in E-learning and the Design Process

Hello!
The second semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Spring 2015) included MSIDT 520, Instructional Design Level 1: Issues in E-learning and the Design Process. The course objectives were (from the university website):
- The ability to recognize and evaluate applications appropriate for designated learners
- The identification of appropriate applications for interactive courseware
- The specification and evaluation of appropriate use of media in interactive courseware
- The development of storyboards and flowcharts for an interactive lesson
- The design and development of a prototype
We did all of these things in this class! Students in Cohort 13 were expected to participate in group discussions, complete software evaluations, complete a prototype project, and write a final research paper. There was also a midterm examination.
Most of these activities were fairly straightforward, but the production f the prototype project had a cool twist. We were asked to prepare all of the documentation for the prototype project, so I prepared objectives, a content outline, a flowchart and complete storyboards for the project. Then all of this documentation was anonymously given to another student to build in Captivate 8, and I reccived another student’s work to program. All of this was anonymous, so there was not chance to ask the developer questions about what their intentions were for the project, so the documentation was crucial. I thought this was a great activity, and I think everybody learned a lot about how important proper preparation is before the actual production of a learning object starts.
Supporting the course were three main texts:
-- Alessi, S.M., & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
-- Reiser, R. and Dempsey, J. (2011). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd edition). New Jersey: AB Longman.
-- Williams, R.. 4th Edition. (2014). The Non-Designer's Design Book. San Francisco, CA.: Peachpit Press.
I have already reviewed the Reiser & Dempsey book as it was used in a previous course, and you can find a review of it on this blog. A review the Alessi & Trollip and the Williams books will be provided at a later date.
The coursework was not difficult, but it required a lot of time to do everything right. The instructor was actively involved, and the syllabus provided an accurate roadmap for how the course actually progressed. Also, it was good to get more experience with creating a learning object in Captivate. This was probably the most “fun” class of the program, at least so far…
Thanks for checking out the blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for this course.

CSUF MSIDT Spring Semester of 2015

My second semester in the MSIDT program was Winter/Spring of 2015, and like the other four semesters, it lasted for 16 weeks. Six units are taken at a time, so there were two courses: IDT 520: Instructional Design Level 1: Issues in E-learning and the Design Process and IDT 525, Learning and Cognition Theories for Post Secondary and Adult Instructional Settings.
The second semester was much easier for me than the first semester, and it might end up being the easiest one of the whole program. I got into a good groove, and the study habits I developed over the first semester really started to pay off. Most notably, I got a good system down for taking text notes on the computer, so they were more legible and could be readily searched.
There was a lot more writing in the second semester, so I got a lot of practice with APA formatting (which has come in handy now that my son is in high school). There were also fun projects to be done in Captivate, with emphasis placed on the planning and design stages.
How did it all turn out? Pretty darned well! I put in a lot of hours (almost 35 per week), but I learned a lot and got grades I was happy with.
Stay tuned to the blog –- I will be writing in more detail about both of the Spring semester classes as well as the texts we used in them.
Mahalo!
Rex

How Instructional Media Will Change the Way We Learn

Hi there! Today I am taking a break from discussing the CSUF MSIDT program to talk a bit about how I see the future of learning in my industry.
In the 12 years I have been writing curriculum, instructional media has already changed the way that education takes place in all phases of education: primary, secondary, and post-secondary, as well as in industry and the military.
Learning will have to become much more student-centered than in the past. Traditional lectures with the instructor telling everybody what they are supposed to know (with the student involvement through note-taking or asking questions) are gradually being replaced with activities that the students will complete at their own pace on mobile devices, and in many cases, remotely. In our company, paper books went away years ago to be replaced by CDs (and now flash drives, and the cloud in the future) as the students indicated that they rarely used the books after the class was over. Tablets will probably eventually replace paper worksheets, as that is what many of them are now using in their workplaces and at home.
As I see it, the interactive media to support technical training will mostly consist of:
- Tutorials to present the subject and help guide the learner
- Drills to practice basic skills and to provide competency in basic essential tasks, such as searching online databases
- Simulations to practice more complex processes (such as diagnostics) and to verify that learning has taken place
For this future instructional media to be successful, there are at least a few crucial components that must be addressed:
1. For any given institution there has to be an IT infrastructure and networking to support all of these mobile devices, as well as to give the instructor an overview of what the students are doing at any given period of time (especially important when conducting labs).
2. Students, teachers, and the administration (if possible) will have to receive training on how to use these technologies, as well as on how to successfully participate in a distance learning program.
3. Without an instructor’s physical presence the students will have to be motivated to participate in the process. This means that there will have to be some manner of accessibility to the instructor, possibly through some type of chat arrangement. And the learning itself will have to be attractive and engaging, as if it is miserable to access and complete the students will find some way to complete it in the easiest / quickest manner possible, which will reduce the effectiveness of learning.
4. With the increased share of learning that will be accomplished online, the evaluation phase will be even more important as the instructor will not be personally present to verify that the learning took place and that the student was able to actually accomplish the objectives of the course. Tests and quizzes will be a part of this, but realistic simulations (where possible) would be the best indication that the learning was successful.
Thank you for checking out my blog today!
Image courtesy of sheelamohan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Review of Reiser and Dempsey’s Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (3rd Edition)

For the Fall of 2014 IDT 510 course, Research Practices in Instructional Design and Technology, the final of the four required texts was Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (3rd Edition) by Robert A. Reiser and John V. Dempsey. I also used this text in the IDT 520 Course in the Spring of 2015.
This text is a little different than the others used in the course, as very little of it was actually written by Reiser and Dempsey. It is divided into chapters that are actually essays by some of the more highly regarded individuals in the instructional design field. It is actually one of the books that I have fond more valuable, and I have used it as a reference many times already, both professionally and academically.
The text is more up-to-date than many I have seen and it covers an incredible array of topics, including: whole task approaches, motivational design, models of evaluation, performance support, informal learning, ethics, social networking, game-based learning, virtual worlds, online learning, the design process, and what IDT professionals actually do.
This book is a must have for instructional designers, and it would also be a valuable resource for instructors that have any involvement in the development or revision of training materials. As it is a specialized textbook, it is not cheap ($90 from Amazon), but it is worth every penny. Trust me!
Thanks for checking in, and next time we will start getting into the courses and books from my second semester in the MSIDT program.
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2012). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Review of Fred Pyrczak’s Making Sense of Statistics: A Conceptual Overview (5th Edition)

For the IDT 510 course, Research Practices in Instructional Design and Technology, one of the four required texts was Making Sense of Statistics: A Conceptual Overview by Fred Pyrczak.
I was nonplussed when an assignment was posted from this book, as there was no advance notice that we needed it, and it was not in the syllabus. So, I got on Amazon and had it shipped to the hotel I was in that week so I could get started on the assignments. There was no way to get around having the book, as there was a problem set quiz for each chapter that needed to be completed on a weekly basis.
On the plus side of this equation, it is a really easy to read book, and I had three semesters of statistics and an undergrad, so I got through everything ok. Also, there was almost no math involved, as it was more about statistical vocabulary, concepts, and relationships. The chapters were short, and the associated quizzes were pretty easy. I ended up speeding a few hours to go through the whole book (about 178 pages), and marked the answers on all of the quizzes so I would be able to better concentrate on other assignments that were coming up.
This book will not get the reader through a full-on statistics course, but it turned out to be perfect for giving students a general idea of statistics and terms as they are used in scientific research, so it served its purpose. I went ahead and held on to my copy, as I think it might come in handy if I need to brush up on statistics or if I need to explain some of these concepts to my kid as he goes through school.
Lastly, it was relatively cheap -- I think I paid $35 for a used copy of the 5th Edition, but there is now a 6th edition that include a basic math review booklet.
Pyrczak, F. (2010 or 2014). Making sense of statistics: A conceptual overview (5th edition). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing