Ed Tec 6452: Educational Multimedia Design

Mondays 5:30-8:10pm, SCB102 

(with selected meetings in the E. Desmond Lee Technology & Learning Center)

Instructor: Joe Polman, Ph.D.

Office: E. Desmond Lee Technology & Learning Center, Suite 100 Marillac Hall

Office Hours: Thursdays 3-5pm or by appointment

Phone: 516-4804, Email: polman@umsl.edu

Web: http://www.umsl.edu/~edujpolm

 

Dreamweaver Skills Handout | PhotoShop Skills Handout

 

 

NOTE: This syllabus is subject to change. Assignments will not be added; changes will be to your benefit.

 

Course Purpose

Students will learn principles and techniques for the design of functionally and visually effective multimedia educational resources. Emphasis will be placed on techniques for the computer-based production of materials incorporating text, graphics, and video. Rapid prototyping and evaluation techniques will be incorporated.

 

 

Required Activities

There are four main activities associated with the course:

1) Attending class weekly and actively participating. These sessions will be devoted to development work and activities, as well as presentation and discussion of readings and other assignments, led by the professor and students. You should notify me before class if you know you will not be able to attend, and as soon as possible if something unexpected arises. Missing more than two class meetings will require makeup work.

 

2) Occasional short papers

 

3) An in-class skills exam on web page development and site management.

 

3) Completion of a multi-part design and development project that will span most of the semester. This will include numerous graded interim versions of design sketches and plans followed by a prototype and 2 revisions of a multimedia educational web resource. Students may work alone or in pairs on the project.

 

Grading

Grades for the course will be based on work in class and out as follows:

¥     Class participation (20%)

¥     Short reflection papers (10%)

¥     Web development skills exam (10%)

¥     Design and development project, part 1 Ð Class/School Information Pages (25%) The overall breakdown is as follows:
-     Specification and Flow Diagram (5%)

-       Working Prototype Version (5%)

-       Small user test, conducted in-class (5%)

-       Working Version 2 (10%)

¥     Design and development project, part 2 Ð Learner Activity (40%) The overall breakdown is as follows:
-     Specification and Flow Diagram (5%)

-       Working Prototype Version (5%)

-       Small user test, conducted in-class (5%)

-       Working Version 2 (10%)

 

Books

Norman, D. A. (1988). The design of everyday things. New York: Doubleday. (Referred to as ÒNormanÓ below)

 

Other readings

Doolittle, P. E. (2005). Multimedia Learning: Empirical Results and Practical Applications. Available: http://edpsychserver.ed.vt.edu/workshops/edtech/pdf/multimedia.pdf

Soloway, E., Guzdial, M., & Hay, K. (1994). Learner-centered design: The challenge for HCI in the 21st century. Interactions, 1(2), 36-48.

Schank, R. C., & Jona, M. Y. (1991). Empowering the student: New perspectives on the design of teaching systems. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 1(1), 7-35.

 

Note: These other readings will be available on the course MyGateway site.

 

Class schedule

Week 1. Introductory Class: Designing for Learning

Class Activity on Jan 10

á       Intros & Goals

á       Syllabus review

á       MyGateway review and completion of "info page"

á       Overview of web architecture and design process

 

Jan 17 is Martin Luther King DayÑNo class meeting

 

Week 2. Becoming design critics

Assignments to be completed before class this week

 

Class Activity on Jan 24

á       Discuss readings

á       Discussion of poor design in everyday life and educational technology

á       Overview of HTML and beginning of Dreamweaver MX instruction

 

Week 3. Designing for every day and doing iterative design work

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Find at least two educational web resources you like (at least one that is like a "class or school page" and one that is a learner activity) and describe why you like them and think they are effective (1-2 pages, turned in to Digital Drop Box)

á       Read Norman chapter 2 (The psychology of everyday actions), Norman 3 (Knowledge in the head and in the world).

 

Class Activity on Jan 31

á       Discuss readings

á       Comparison and evaluation of the design of educational and possibly some other web resources, including the ones you have collected.

á       Continue hands-on Dreamweaver instruction

á       Introduction to Inspiration for flow diagrams

 

Week 4.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Generate a list of ideas that you think could become part of a learner activity utilizing multimedia web resources you design and create.

á       Read Norman chapters 4 (Knowing what to do) & 5 (To err is human)

á       Write out specifications and complete flow diagram of class or school website (turn in to Digital Drop Box)

 

Class Activity on Feb 7

á       Discuss readings

á       Complete hands-on Dreamweaver instruction

á       In-class "poster session" on specifications

 

Week 5.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Read Norman chapters 6 (The design challenge) & 7 (User-centered design)

á       Gather or begin to prepare school/class site materials

 

Class Activity on Feb 14

á       PhotoShop/ImageReady basics instruction

á       Presentation on copyright and fair use for education

á       Work on school/class website working prototype

 

Week 6.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Continue to gather, prepare, or refine school/class site materials

 

Class Activity on Feb 21

á       Work on school/class website working prototype

 

Week 7.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Finalize school/class website working prototype

 

Class Activity on Feb 28

á       In-class web development skills exam

á       Conduct in-class small user test on working prototype

 

Week 8.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Write up results of user-test and implications for redesign (turn in Digital Drop Box)

 

Class Activity on Mar 7

á       Revise class/school website

 

Week 9. Multimedia learning

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Read Doolittle, P. E. (2005). Multimedia Learning: Empirical Results and Practical Applications.

á       Generate ideas for animations and videos that could contribute to learner activity

 

Class Activity on Mar 14

á       Discuss readings and implications of multimedia learning principles

á       I will summarize some articles [JLP1] on learning from hypertext

á       Hands-on iMovie instruction

 

Spring Break is Mar 21-26; no class meeting

 

Week 10. Thinking about interaction: From content-centered to learner-centered

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Read Soloway, Guzdial & Hay (1994) and Schank & Jona (1991).

á       Begin drafting initial spec and flow diagram plans for learner activity

 

Class Activity on Mar 28

á       Hands-on animation instruction (using Adobe ImageReady)

á       Discuss models of interactivity for learner activity

á       Continue development of learner activity resources

 

Week 11.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Complete initial spec and flow diagram plans for learner activity (turn in to the Digital Drop Box)

á       Continue development of learner activity resources

 

Class Activity on Apr 4

á       Discuss interactivity models in in-class "poster session"

á       Continue development of learner activity resources

 

There will be no class meeting on Apr 11. I will be at a professional conference. You may use class time to work on and/or complete the working prototype of the learner activity.

 

Week 13.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Complete working prototype of learner activity

á       Prepare for small user test

 

Class Activity on Apr 18

á       Conduct in-class small user test

 

Week 14.

Assignments to be completed before class this week

á       Write up results of user-test and implications for redesign

 

Class Activity on Apr 25

á       Continue development and refinement of learner activity resources

 

Week 15. Final Class Meeting

Class Activity on May 2

á       Evaluations and Interactive Symposium in the TLC.

 

Version 2 and reflection paper on process are due by the assigned time of the final exam, Monday, May X, at 5:30pm.


 [JLP1]Shapiro, A. M. (1999). The relevance of hierarchies to learning biology from hypertext. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 8(2), 215-243.

Jacobson, M. J., & Archodidou, A. (2000). The design of hypermedia tools for learning: Fostering conceptual change and transfer of complex scientific knowledge. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 9(2), 145-199.