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.

Review of Kevin Siegel’s Adobe Captivate 8 The Essentials "Skills and Drills" Learning

For the IDT 505 course, Foundations of Instructional Design and Web Authoring Environments, the last of the three required texts was Adobe Captivate 8 The Essentials “Skills and Drills” Learning by Kevin A. Siegel.
Adobe’s Captivate 8 was the primary authoring software used for the first three semesters of the CSUF MSIDT program. On the surface it appears to have many of the same features of Microsoft’s PowerPoint, but it has a lot more functionality, and the ability to publish in web-ready formats. Adobe software has completely different interfaces than what you are used to with Microsoft products, and even if you have used their other products, there is a really steep learning curve for Captivate. This is where Siegel’s book comes in handy.
This 2014 text is will do a good job of getting you started with the program. It is not a manual, but rather sets of self-paced drills that walk the user through commonly used functions of the program. It might seem repetitive at times, but it is really a good way to learn the program. Using different set-up screens and changing attributes of text or objects quickly becomes second nature. The author even walks goes through the cumbersome process of preparing the project for publishing into a SWF, HTML5, or clickable .pdf formats.
Siegel’s writing style is clear and easy to follow, and it is obvious that he knows what he is talking about. There are many great shortcuts provided, as well as hints for setting up templates so the same actions do not have to be repeated endlessly during production. Though it is not a manual, I find myself going back and using it as a reference when I cannot figure something out (or if I have forgotten what to do next). It is spiral bound, so it lays flat when opened and it should hold up for a while. It has been rattling around in my car for a year and it has not fallen apart yet!
This book was worth every penny I paid for it, with the Amazon Prime cost coming in at just $35, and I plan to keep it around as long as I am using Captivate 8. If you are new to the program you definitely need to pick up a copy.
Siegel, K. (2014). Adobe captivate 8 the essentials “skills and drills” learning. Riva, MD: IconLogic, Inc.

MSIDT 505: Foundations of Instructional Design and Web Authoring Environments

Hello!
The first semester of my CSUF MSIDT program (Fall 2014) included MSIDT 505, Foundations of Instructional Design and Web Authoring Environments. The course objectives were (from the university website): “The ability to describe and manipulate the basic levels of an authoring environment. The use hardware and software to apply basic animation, sound, and other multimedia properties to an authoring environment. The analysis and assessment of basic media and authoring programming elements as they apply to hardware/networking environments.”
I feel that the course met these objectives. Students in Cohort 13 were expected to produce two original multimedia learning objects using Captivate 8, complete weekly assignments on the web forum (including peer reviews of others’ learning objects), and write a final research paper. There were also a few quizzes thrown in for good measure.
There is no mention of instructional design theory in the main course objectives, but there were readings and assignments on the subject, and there was enough information provided to give an overview of the instructional design process. There was also good information provided on the design process as it relates to human behavioral characteristics. The instructor for the course was a working instructional design professional, and he gave good insight and feedback throughout the course.
Supporting the course were three main texts (reviews of these will be provided at a later date):
-- Instructional Design: A Primer, by Bruce Ledford and Phillip Sleeman
-- Designing Interfaces, by Jennifer Tidwell
-- Adobe Captivate 8 The Essentials “Skills and Drills" Learning, by Kevin Siegel
The coursework was not terribly onerous, but it was hard to readjust to the world of academia, which I probably did not do right the first time around. Learning Moodle, the learning management system, took a few weeks but soon became second nature. And publishing Captivate projects was exceedingly exasperating at times, and the Cohort could have benefitted from some instruction and guidance in this area.
If I had this course to do over again, I would have only changed one thing in the way that I approached it. I already had my final project for the program picked out at the time, and now I wish that I had tailored my learning objects and final paper to be work that I could integrate into that project, so there will be a little les research and work to be done at the end.
Thanks for checking out the blog, and next we will take a look at the texts we used for this course.
Mahalo!