Self-Directed Learning Assignment
| My first artifact is the self-directed learning assignment from MDDE 610. This was an individual assignment that was very open ended, in that we were able to choose any focus in any discipline. The assignment involved dedicating some time to learn something of interest to us and then making a presentation of our learning journey. I chose this assignment because it was my most enjoyable assignment in the MDDE program, and I found it to be of value lasting beyond the confines of the class and the program. Through the experience I gained self-confidence in my abilities as an instructional designer, and self-realization of my bias towards using new technology and how that might affect my students. For my assignment I chose to learn how to use Rise 360, as I had recently lost a student work opportunity because I didn’t have technical skills relating to that program, and upon searching instructional designer job listings it seemed to be a popular choice for corporate instructional designer jobs. After learning how to use the program I presented my learning journey as a module or mini-course in Rise 360 and felt quite accomplished when my instructor asked if they could use it in a work presentation for some clients that were considering using the software. |
Screenshot from Mini Course
Video review of Rise 360
My Learning Process
One of the major drawbacks to using Rise 360 is its cost. The software is subscription based and is quite expensive, even for an individual learner such as me. The cheapest subscription is over $500 USD, and most are even more. This huge hurdle made me consider the resources that individuals have and need for academic work and for employment (1.1, 1.3, 1.5). To get experience using Rise 360, without paying for the expensive subscription you would need to already have employment with a company that uses the software or attend a school that has an academic subscription for their students. Many schools are experiencing a tightening of budgets and funding, and certainly one specific program such as Rise 360 is too expensive for the purposes of teaching one or two instructional design courses. At least this is the case for Athabasca University! When I consider the ever-widening array of technology and subscription-based services that are available it concerns me that it has become near impossible for learners and potential employees like myself to keep up with the trends in educational technology (1.9).
To my benefit, there is a free one-month trial membership that I was able to make use of. This gave me a short window of time to complete the assignment and save it offline for future use. In a sense I was problem solving from the start (1.1, 1.4). To overcome the problem of paying for an expensive software to gain first-hand experience with it, I found a workable solution in the free trial. Once I gained access to the Rise 360 software, I started out by watching some instructional videos. Rise 360 has a huge library of information on how to get the most out of the product. I found this part of the process to be somewhat slow-moving as I consider myself to be technically adept and watching the very basic videos that were hours long was too tedious for me. This made me consider the importance of scaffolding, because students come into every course with such a variety of skills and experience. If I was teaching this program to my own students, I would need to allow students time to get to know the software, even though some of them might breeze through it like myself, others would need much more instructional time based on their prior use of web design software. Once I had watched a few of the introductory lessons, I decided the best way to learn was to get my feet wet and just jump into using the software (5.4). I find learning new programs and technology a fun and worthwhile activity and so this part of the assignment was interesting and exciting for me!
I discovered immediately that the program was relatively easy to use. I had used software such as Wordpress and Canvas before, and Rise 360 has a similar drag and drop layout to these other technologies. This was a relief because I had anticipated that with such a high price tag that there would be some difficult features to wrap my head around. I created a mini course showing my learning journey of the experience of creating the course itself (2.5). I tried to include a variety of appropriate media types and follow instructional design principles in the course, without it becoming overwhelming for the viewer (2.8, 3.2). Some of the tools I opted to include in my course were interactive checklists that students can use to monitor their progress through a list of required activities, flashcards for review activities, and a sorting activity that shows the benefits of interactive components of lessons. I made each type of activity explanatory as to why it was helpful for students, for example the sorting activity gives examples of types of lesson elements that the reader must sort into either interactive or static (1.11, 2.4). One of the defining features of Rise 360 is that it automatically animates features of the pages as the user scrolls through, making it visually appealing without much effort on the designing side of things. I enjoyed using the program, and its aesthetically pleasing elements were simple and automatic. I understood immediately why it’s a popular choice for businesses selling online courses!
While I saw the benefits and simplicity of the program immediately, I also came to recognize that this is very much a trendy way to provide distance and online education. Specific programs come and go, and as each new program is developed, education providers should make sure their courses are not only flashy and beautiful but will stand the test of time. It would be quite costly to update all the courses to a new program in a few years when something flashier is available (6.1). I realized that while new technology can always do amazing things, it’s also important to look past the hype, consider future costs involved in technology use, and recognize that each technology has its place based on limited resources and funding (3.2. 3.4)
I am also aware that the sort of course that Rise 360 creates is also not always accessible for all users. While flashy graphics and clean animations are visually appealing and engaging, they are not always the best way to offer educational information (3.3). While Rise 360 would make beautiful training videos for corporate use, the lack of ability to completely control the coding of each aspect and potentially make a low bandwidth version of each course would make it less desirable for public educational use. Certainly, the cost associated with the software puts a huge barrier to widespread use in public education.
While I went into this assignment feeling somewhat apprehensive of learning a new technology, especially having a strict timeframe due to the one-month subscription, I found it very enjoyable, engaging, and worthwhile (6.6). Having a document to showcase afterwards that is relevant and shows my skills was rewarding, and this was undoubtedly one of my favourite assignments in the entire MDDE program. Not only would I feel comfortable using and recommending the program in the right context (6.4), but I also experienced first-hand the benefits of offering choice and individualization to students in their assignments (2.3). Being able to choose to learn about something that I felt was beneficial increased my own engagement and motivation to do the work.
Competencies Identified
1. Problem-Solving, Analysis, & Reflective Decision Making
1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.9, 1.11, 1.13
2. Instructional Design & Development for Equity
2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.8
3. Communication Technologies and Networking
3.2, 3.3, 3.4
5. Research
5.4
6. Management, Organization and Leadership
6.1, 6.4, 6.6
Lifelong Learning
|
Choosing Rise 360 for my self-directed assignment in MDDE 610 was an engaging and fulfilling experience. My takeaways include the reassurance that I needn’t be concerned about learning new technology as it is in fact one of my strengths! I hope that my skills with Rise 360 will help me find my next job, and if not, that I can advise others on the strengths and weaknesses of the technology for corporate or personal use. However, I know that not everyone loves the process of learning to use new technology. I considered the necessity of allowing students instructional time for learning new technology. As a secondary teacher I often noticed students coming in without basic word processing skills, or who were typing up their science lab experiments in their email. While shocked at first, because this is the generation that is growing up with this technology all around them, that was also a wake-up call that we must assess our students’ skills before we assign them work requiring any technology. In addition, the cost of the software for this assignment made me think about how cost of resources can affect our students. Some students only have access to a computer or the internet during school hours. In this case, we must give them ample time to access these resources should they need them for their assignments. Lastly, I considered the importance and the impact of contextualizing assignments for students and allowing them choice and variety as much as possible to make the learning experience meaningful and engaging for each of them. I was much more motivated and driven to do this assignment because it was something that I felt had meaning for me beyond the confines of the course or the program itself. Ultimately, especially now as adult learners we understand that we are going to have to learn about a variety of things in our academic lives, including some things that are less than interesting, as they might be a requirement of a course or program. After getting the feedback from my interviewer, that a lot of students from Athabasca are at a disadvantage in the instructional design world because of a lack of hands-on tech skills, I saw this assignment as an opportunity to bridge that gap for myself and transfer my investment from my learning program into employable skills (1.13). |
Comments
Meghan Hann
20 September 2023, 4:47 PM
Kim- I am not familiar with Rise 360, but I will check it out. Having tech-savvy is so important, not just in education. I like that you link our learning with MDDE to other career avenues. The Learning process shares your steps well and how you applied them. I think adding more of the emotions that you experienced might help add to your personal journey. The text under the screenshot is very small and light- can that be made clearer or removed?
Your finished video is fab and so nice when teachers praise and ask to borrow to showcase the skills.
Tamara O'Brien
21 September 2023, 10:45 AM
Kim,
I agree with what Meghan has written here as I had similar thoughts while reading your post. I can clearly see how you have connected the competencies to your learning experience as well. One thing that I considered as well is that as secondary school teachers, we ask students to undergo similar experiences all of the time. Teaching digital literacy skills has become an essential part of teaching at the level that we do. I love that you note the importance of contextualizing assignments for students as well. You have written about such a relevant topic. There are many avenues for reflection and understanding here!
Regarding this artefact, my main suggestion at this time is to add "more" - You have written about 500 words in this post and when I checked the requirements it says we need about 1500-2000 words. This is something I will need to double-check on my own as well.
Tamara
K Hansen
25 September 2023, 10:22 AM
Thanks Tamara, I hadn't noticed the word count, and will adjust to go deeper and include more reflection.
BonnieM
25 September 2023, 3:06 PM
You have made a good start on artifact one. You used nice images, and the use of the video makes your page interesting.
Introduction
The introduction should not have sub-competencies as you are introducing your artifact, which is not critically reflective.
Consider reframing any statements that are vague. Example
In this way, I was able to recognize the wider implications of specific knowledge (1.9), namely that knowledge of instructional design technologies are important for employment in many regards.
In what way? Which instructional design technology? How is this technology important?
Mock-up example: During the development of my learning object (What you did), I recognized the pros and cons of Rise 360 (what you used and learned) and came to recognize my strengths as an instructional designer (reflection and personal growth).
In the learning Process.
In this part of the artifact, it is important to try and create flow by connecting it to your introduction by briefly - by introducing your topic again. This will create a narrative flow.
In MDDE 610 I decided to learn how to use Rise 360 and use my learning journey as the content for the presentation. One of the major drawbacks to using Rise 360 is its cost. How is this a hindrance in your decision-making? Give an example-such as a student or could not afford…..etc.
The software is subscription-based and is quite expensive, even for an individual learner such as me. The cheapest paid plan is over $500 USD. (How could this be a hindrance for people? For example, you need to learn it for a job promotion, but it's too expensive to buy for a long period of time.) Perhaps this might prevent other designers from learning it. Is this an issue with some software overall? What aspects of deeper learning might occur from this experience regarding software choice and perhaps budgets?
Overall you are on the right track and have focused on specific examples to reflect your learning.. Consider going deeper into your learning experience (beyond the technical) and how the problems you encounter were issues for you and could be issues for DE as a whole.
Nice start!
Bonnie
Tamara O'Brien
30 September 2023, 10:28 AM
Kim,
You have certainly added a great deal to your response - this has a lot more "meat" on its bones. When I was reading through I can see how your connected your learning to the sub-competencies. I noted that you can also potentially add sub-competency 1.2 as it would apply to your description of the various aspects related to your concerns about student technology skills in the “lifelong learning” section. One question I had when I was reading through was "what companies do use Rise 360?" if it costs so much... did this come up in your research? You mention that it was a relevant software in a job opportunity and your instructor had some clients interested, however I had never heard of it and do not know any other teachers using it. What audience is the software meant for that makes it applicable? I do not know if this information will help with your response or not, it was just something I was thinking about when I read though it a second time.
Tamara
K Hansen
02 October 2023, 9:29 AM
[Updated: 02 October 2023, 9:31 AM]
Thank you and I will look at adding a few more subcompetencies!
Generally companies that are using Rise 360 or its related programs (Storyline and Articulate are from the same suite of software only with different abilities in the design process) are private/for-profit companies that either need to create training materials for staff or are selling distance education courses in a variety of subjects, such as self-development or professional-development. I'm including a screenshot for you of a few of the positions currently posted on Indeed. The cost of the program is probably too prohibitive for public/non-profit enterprise. The benefit of the software is you don't need coding knowledge, so really anyone with some basic instructional design knowledge could design beautiful courses.
Tamara O'Brien
04 October 2023, 12:52 PM
This makes a lot more sense now. Knowing this background information also gives some clarity as to why you chose this software for your assignment and what you could potentially do with this in the field in the future.
I see you have added more specific details again in your last edit of this page. It looks good! I like that you added some of the details about the features and media application. I'm starting to think maybe I should try this software as my next "thing to learn." Interesting!
I am sort of in the same boat as you with the sub-competencies (that Bonnie notes) - I know that there are probably more to add but I'm having a hard time weaving more into my response too. I think you've done a really good job adding what you have here, and perhaps Bonnie will have more ideas on where you can add more sub competencies if she can spot places.
Tamara
BonnieM
01 October 2023, 1:16 PM
Hello Kimberly,
You have made some excellent improvements to artifact 1. Here are some further areas for improvement.
Introduction- is great. No revisions are necessary.
The learning process
Considering the ever-widening array of technology and subscription-based services that are available it has become near impossible for learners and potential employees to keep up with the trends in educational technology (1.9). Personalize and reframe this statement to represent your learning. As I consider the ……. and potential employees such as myself.
In a sense, I was problem-solving from the start (1.1, 1.4). Can you explain this concept- in regard to the choices you made… For example. To accomplish my goals of upgrading my skills, I chose a costly software such as Rise 365 rather than choosing to focus on Google, which is free and requires that I start problem-solving from the beginning of the assignment (1.9, 3.2).
Consider merging paragraphs two and 3.
P4. Give examples of one or two tools you used and what you learned from them.
Overall, excellent work, and you are almost there. When you tell me what you did and how you applied it to your students, you also need to identify what you learned. Also, there are a few more sub-competencies that might appear. Your conclusion is also nicely done.
Great job
Bonnie
K Hansen
04 October 2023, 1:19 PM
Thank you for all the great suggestions, I implemented all but one. I don't think it is relevant to mention Google software because it had nothing to do with the assignment. It was merely to learn something you had been wanting to learn, and I wanted to learn this software, Rise 360. Google never came into the equation! I hope that makes sense.
Meghan Hann
03 October 2023, 7:58 PM
Kim, You have nicely extended yourself and added many more details and processes. From an aesthetic perspective writing out the competencies helps identify and clarify what you are completing, but it does take up a large portion of the page. Wondering if you could have it be retractable. Love that you also found ways for this experience to inform your teaching practice and gain insights into student engagement.