Working Out Loud Blog #2: Learning Module Project Reflection

When Dr. Salik first told us that we were going to be building an entire learning module in LDT 502, I won’t lie … I panicked a little bit. 

I’m not sure I can do that, I thought. Especially not over the next six weeks! I’ve never built a learning module before! However, I quickly found that my fears were unfounded — not because the task before me was easy, oh no, but because Dr. Salik and Co. broke down the enormous task into manageable chunks. 

Each week, we neophyte learning designers tackled a new piece of the process, starting with content and task analyses. With that under my belt, I started to feel a little more comfortable and confident; and despite the fact that I’m not coming from an academic or educational background, the course content made sense to me. I’ve been a professional writer for almost fifteen years, and the process I go through to create, say, a novel isn't much different than the iterative processes of instructional design. The core concept is the same: Communicate knowledge and ideas in a clear, concise, and well-organized way. Limit information to what your audience needs to know; depending on the context, you may also include what’s nice to know. Make it interesting. Revise as necessary.

In short, I felt right at home by the end of week two. The writing skills I’ve mastered over the years will be indispensable to me as a learning designer — not only do I know how to deliver information clearly, but I can do it with style, too.

The instructional materials my team created aren’t perfect, but I’m proud of the work we’ve done. In particular, I loved creating screencasts. I bought myself a copy of Camtasia during the first week of class, which turned out to be a great idea. I created 10-12 screencasts for the learning module, and also re-recorded mine because I learned new tricks while recording my teammates’ screencasts. (Region highlighting! Cursor path editing! Better transitions!) I still have a lot to learn about the program, but I’ve gotten pretty quick at creating screencast content.

Recording the screencasts was also very instructive. While recording mt teammates’ screencasts, I occasionally had to pause and look up additional resources to understand what they meant. It generally happened when a step wasn’t laid out in explicit detail. For example, in one case, the voice over recording said to “go to the Fusion tab” to turn my toolbar on, but once I went to the tab, there was no instruction as to how to turn the toolbar on. I flailed for a few minutes before I finally just Googled the answer.

The process of creating the screencasts taught me, in no uncertain terms, how easy it is to miscommunicate with and/or frustrate a learner.

I also really enjoyed creating the task analysis, thinking through all the steps, then determining how to present the information to learners. I spent four years writing scripts for app tutorials for learners with low computer literacy, so this came naturally to me.

As for what we could have done better … well, I would have loved to have seen more thought put into our activities and assessments. While our instruction was detailed and generally provided in two different mediums — text and video — I wish we’d been able to give learners more hands-on experience with the material. If I’ve personally learned one thing from this course, it’s the power of hands-on, authentic activities. The way LDT 502 has scaffolded us and given us experiential learning opportunities in each unit has been great.

I learned so much from the process of creating a content and task analysis, detailed design document, and mock-up module. I had to remind myself many times that I wasn't creating a module for real learners, and it was still okay to make mistakes! But I was shocked by how seriously I took the work, and how doing the tasks with my own hands made classroom concepts come together to form real understandings. That's constructivism at its core, isn’t it? I was able to construct a lot of my learning by applying the concepts from the readings and live sessions to actual, meaningful work. I loved it!

Secondly, I wish I’d had the time to closed caption our module’s screencasts. Not only would it have made our module more accessible to diverse learners, but I also would’ve liked to have learned how to do that effectively in Camtasia. In this case, I ran out of time … but I’ll make it a point to work on closed captioning on future assignments and projects. 

Finally, we did not include Mac-specific instruction for DaVinci Resolve, which was a big failing of our learning module. We should have included sections for the differences between the Windows and Mac UIs, as well as any significant differences in the workflows. As of 2023, Mac accounts for more than 30% of the desktop market share (Evans, 2023), which means that roughly one in three learners will be on Mac. We absolutely should have included additional instruction for Mac users. 

Despite these failings, I do think — or perhaps I hope — that my team created a module that would teach a tech-savvy learner to use DaVinci Resolve in 90 minutes or less. It’s learner-centered, focuses on what they need to know, and provides key instruction in two mediums. We worked hard on the module, and I’m pleased with the results. 

For the instructors reading this blog: thank you for a fantastic course! I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve learned a lot over the last few weeks, and I’m excited to see where this program will take me over the next year or so!

References

Evans, J. (2023, May 4). StatCounter data confirms Apple's Mac renaissance. Retrieved October 5, 2023, from https://www.computerworld.com/article/3695172/statcounter-data-confirms-apples-mac-renaissance.html