Group items tagged

It's important to think like the end user. It might be a good idea to enlist the help of a second set of eyes. Like proofreading an article, having someone "test drive" your website might be a good idea before actually sharing it with the intended audience. 

Again, it's so important to keep the end user in mind. Consistency helps the end user know how to use and navigate your site. In web design, and also in Soft Chalk created lessons, users really don't like to be surprised. They want to know what to expect. 

What is your message or goal?  After determining that, you can plan how to prominently place the most important items on your web page. Size and color are two ways of creating hierarchy. I guess I had never really given much serious consideration to this. 

Does Fitt's law have something to do with the number of clicks it takes to get to information from the homepage? Is there a rule of thumb that says no more than 3 clicks? 

I don't know much about photography, but I have heard about the rule of thirds. Again, something I didn't really think this when I considered adding photos to a web site or to a Soft Chalk page. Not all photos automatically ascribe to the rule of thirds, so it might be helpful to know a little bit about photo editing as well. Just one more thing to consider! 

Sorry, I don't see the dog. :-)

In the center below the large dark section. His head is down like he is smelling the ground sniffing toward the upper left.

This is essential to remember. What we are trying to say is so much more important than making something "pretty." We always need to start with the message or content. 

Not much more to say about this. It's all about the content!!

Collaboration is so important. Ask for another pair of eyes to help you. Make sure as well, that your colleague will be willing to critique your work. Sometimes that's difficult to do, but it key to the success of your design and usability. 

No matter what is done, the message still needs be visible. Enhancement helps to engage viewers.

This is something that I have never considered. Surface feel is an interesting concept.

The designer is in control of what the viewer sees. This reminds me that I need to look at my work from the eyes of those viewing content and what the take aways should be. 

I have found this to be true for all viewers. It used to be just kids but now adults as well. Once additional component to remember is the load speed. Resize your images before they are uploaded.

I would also suggest consistency so they don't need to relearn the site with each page.

It's important for me to remember all of these tools...moving from a face to face environment to an online setting is vastly different, and these tools are what I as a student need, so I need to be incorporating them as well. Without a good position, color that catches my eye and various design elements I've lost interest. If I've lost interest with the lack of tools, then so will my students.

I find this very frustrating as well. I took an online class a few years ago, (not an AEA class:)), and the various links were not embedded. So, when I would click on those links, I'd be taken completely out of the course and would have to constantly log back in.  

This is such an interesting statement - as I parent I know and agree with this statement, but it seems we're often encouraged to give students as many choices as possible for assessment and/or project purposes.

This is so interesting and I've noticed the importance of this "white space" as I've been looking at Softchalk lessons. It also reminds me how we've learned that when designing our lessons, using shorter paragraphs (separated by white space) is better than traditional paragraphs given on a handout in a face to face classroom. 

This is so true as well and it's important for me to remember as I move forward with my Softchalk lesson - if they can't figure out how to move around, they will become frustrated and give up. It's not that we should not teach them to problem solve, but the training in how to move around the lesson will be important.

White space on a page can make the really important content stand out. My issue is that sometimes, I have a difficult time finding images that allow me to hit the "right" amount of white space and the text I want/need to have on the page.

When I'm looking for something, the logo or branding is so important to me. I want to know immediately if I'm in the right spot. Logos help me do this. When I see the logo I'm looking for or that I expect to see, it puts me at ease, because I know I'm in the "right" spot.

Buttons or menus across the top of a webpage are very helpful when it comes to navigating a website. One issue I've had is that sometimes my buttons make sense to me, but to the new visitor the language I use to explain where it is taking the visitor doesn't make sense. Take for example, on our website we have something called "Instructor Center". This is the place our instructors who teach PD for us go to get information. To me this makes complete sense. That being said, I know that we consistently get questions about where to find instructor information. The label, "instructor center" doesn't resonate with the visitor. I have seen websites where there is a brief description appears on the screen when you roll over the button, but before you click. I'm not sure if these things help or if they add clutter.

A rule never rang more true, but at the same time it is so hard to follow. So often I find myself getting lost in the complexity of what I'm trying to do. Add this to my love of "little bells and whistles" and I find myself creating things that lack real substance.

This makes me think of what I call the "learning curve". If the learning curve is to long, people just move on to find something different that doesn't have this learning curve. Take for example graphic design tools. Over the years, I've downloaded gimp and seashore, but for some reason I've never quite gotten the hang of them. Instead I use a web-based tool called pixlr. It is easy and I've met with some success. That being said, would Gimp or Seashore provide me with more options and features, probably, but the learning curve is steeper so I've chosen to use pixlr. When I think of learners, I wonder how we can scaffold things so that the learning curve isn't so steep.

There are lots of ways to achieve unity: theme, banners, fonts colors, and object placement all contribute to a unified feel.

Also consider the space between chunks of information. Sometimes changing the size of a "blank" line greatly affects the overall design.

This final polish is an attention to detail that really makes a difference in professional looking design and audience appeal. It is worth the time and effort!

For educators, this would translate to "educational objective." Is the truly important educational information given prominence?

Yes, choice within limits so as not to overwhelm to the point of inaction...

Limiting the number of words per line is a design strategy that I hadn't considered before. 

"Typography" -https://diigo.com/08f26r I'm curious about different typography.  I was always told to use very readable font and avoid anything fancy. 

Students are even less patient than adults, so it becomes imperative that overall flow and navigation makes sense. 

This is important to remember.  I don't have to pack every slide/page on Soft Chalk full of stuff.  It was really overwhelming to create a power point presentation and stick an image on every slide - I thought it was too repetitive, esp. based on all the examples we've seen.  

This idea came up last week - and even in video examples that white space is ok, it is also ok to only have an idea, or a few key words on a slide/page, etc.

I'm not sure if the Fibonacci sequence is the same as the golden ratio, but it reminds of the rule of thirds in photography. 

Great!  Less pressure to feel like we have to cram a page full of content. 

Here's one element that we can control and that we should control; however, it is also an element that I sometimes have trouble with. Sometimes it takes me awhile to find my style.

What font should we be using? My journalism minor is quite dusty, but I was taught that body copy should be a serif typeface (e.g. Times New Roman, Georgia) and headlines should be a sans-serif typeface (e.g. Arial, Helvetica). Your choice of type might also give you a better grade: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/19604/does-size-12-times-new-roman-font-receive-better-grades-in-school S

This is a potent quotable.

This is off topic, but I can't let it go. This is an image of the Parthenon. The Pantheon is in Rome.

I'm going to give this some thought because this suggestion is opposite of what I generally try to do. I've always thought it was better for readers to close the new linked area. 

My too. I like new windows for new material. This seems contrary to my preferences. 

It is not the way I think either. I tend to want to separate things so I am not distracted. New windows keep me focused.

Same here. Especially with Moodle, I try to have it open in a different window so that they don't lose the original course.

I saw a Tweet recently suggesting to do something similar: Turn on speech to see if you can navigate on your site without vision. Is the site usable for all?

All of this is what is missing from the powerpoint I created for Mollie 3 in the week 2 lab section. 

This could/should be my checklist for design!

To be clear, these elements are always present, even in their absence. That is, even when one has the ugliest colors imagineable, they still are using a color palette. If you are Picasso, you get paid a lot of money for having the absence of these basic elements.

Oh no, so what I'm learning now will be different in 6 months or one year. I need a suggestion of a good blog or online resource I can use to keep up-do-date with all of the online design developments.

These make perfect sense to me. I'm thinking that if I can remember and use these 5 chunks of precedence I would be taken a giant step toward fine-tuning the online lessons I create. 

One slight difference between the online lesson and the "webpage" this designer is talking about is that there is going to be more stuff on the webpage. An online lesson doesn't have as many elements vying for attention.

The DE website is a "pretty bad example" if you ask me. (Although there have been improvements made over time.)  There is just SO much there that is difficult for me to find what I want and need. I guess I could use that website as a non-example of effective navigation. 

True. Of course, Heartland's old website was bad too. That is one of the occupational hazards of people like us who have our fingers in everything.

So what are some other things people expect? Where might we learn more about these ideas? The one example here is a good one, but now I'm curious about other expectations that I should be aware of. 

Hmm. . . .what is a CSS style sheet?  So much unfamiliar content specific vocabulary in this article makes me wonder if I'm actually understanding what is being said. 

A CSS style sheet is a set of rules (in the shape of a bunch of code) that govern a website. It would look like this: All headlines are in Maroon, 24 point, centered All sidebars have a box that is 100 pixels by 80 pixels. Except... in a language we can't understand.

But, didn't we read somewhere earlier in the class to place pictures/photos on the left-hand side of  slide? Do these 2 ideas contradict each other? Someone please clarify for me. 

Well... in our lessons, we advocated for putting them on the right side, as it helps with wrapping of text. Though putting them on the left is not a design faux pas. The "golden ratio" layout is more beneficial for designing a website, where you have grids to place content.

OK, i can see how too many choices is confusing in web design. But as an educator, I want to assure that my students have the freedom to make some choices regarding assignments and activities I ask them to complete in order to show their understanding. How will I balance these 2 ideas when creating online lessons/courses? 

I think you already answered your question. Design is different than learning choice. It's like the new textbooks that have so much sidebar information that students aren't reading the main text. Too much design choice. In a lesson, you can present students with different learning options (enrichment, accomodated assignments, etc), but keep the webpage consistent.

I don't think the image on the right is more interesting? What am I missing? 

"Interesting" is of course subjective. Typically, the rule of thirds means if you move the subject over to the 3rd-line of the picture, the picture shows more dynamics. Instead of "here's this rock formation", it's "Here's the rock formation, in its habitat, and now your eyes are moving over to this side of the photo to examine what is around it"

I so agree. If I'm asked for email or other info to enter a site, I just close out. I want some hint of what the site has to offer me before I give them all my info.  Great tip!

I steer away if I am asked for identifying information before I can explore the site's information.

I hate it too. I have an email site dedicated to these throwaway signups that I never check (unless I need to confirm an account). I grumble every time.

I agree with this Paradox of Choice; a few good options is better than a lot of medicore ones.

I have never given this thought before, or had any idea how layout (in thirds) affects someone's perception of a page; fascinating, yet useful!!

I admit, I was visualizing the scene from Clockwork Orange when thinking about this activity.

The use of space can be often overlooked or just not something that we always pay attention to.

Lisa, I agree. In fact, my opinion is its the best place to start, since it is one of the easier elements to understand (not sure I can identify what "good Gestalt" is) and one of the easiest to actually do.

This statement seems pretty basic, but I think it is important to help reduce reader stress. If I provide instructions for the beginner, they may become engaged and explore longer than expected.

This statement spoke about providing too much choice. I think it also applies to find text about the subject, so I think providing an easy to see and use filter or search box is important. I think about my lessons and if students want to review a specific part of the lesson, I want to make it easy for them to find it.

I think it is important for me to remember that my audience may scan for reasonable options or things that will help with an assignment, rather than click on each link in order that it is listed.

I think it is important that a web page and a lesson is obvious and self-explanatory. If a student has a question, they are may not be willing to wait for an instructor's reply. The student has now lost some of their motivation and engagement in the lesson.

The in-depth definations on how lines, shapes, color palette, texture, typography and form impact what / how a viewer interpret the information along with design is a key factor for consideration.

White space is an area that I've been learning more about with other work related projects. From what I am learning "white space" provides the learner/reader a chance to break before moving forward. It also serves as a point to reflect.

I didn't realize that the focal point of a lesson was considered to be labeled as "dominant" and all information in the area would be viewed as "subordinate". Size, shape, location, etc...clearly sends a message to the viewer.

This is an important item to remember when it comes to drawing attention to "key" information. I will consider trying this in a few section of my lesson.

This is another way to reference the importance and use of "white space" to give the viewer a chance to pause or in some cases reflect upon the content just read.

This is good reminder of another way users can work their way around different areas. I didn't see this as a 'form of navigation" until reading this section.

I had know idea that font selection would send a different message. This is something to be aware of when designing a lesson.

Great point!

Utilizing the rule of thirds is a effective way to capture your audience and help guide them in a specific direction. This is something I will consider when selecting images for inclusion in lessons.

Creating the same lesson for 2 different delivery methods will be so helpful in seeing the difference between what is needed with face to face and online instruction.

While different strategies and techniques are needed for F2F settings and online design, one thing that is the same is the need to plan and develop strong lessons first. 

How do we model in a way to engage students? When they are watching a "how to" video, they are engaged, but in LA, don't have many of those types of videos...often I am modeling paragraph structure or textual citation which isn't very interesting to many.

Doing both will only make the lesson more effective and make it much easier to understand if the end goal/objective is attainable and clear. I really like this comparison model.  

I like this as well.  This will definitely help with clear goals and targets for the learners. 

I wonder if the designs features in this dated article are still relevant to instructional design in 2016. 

I think this is reassuring that we don't have to cover each method for every lesson. How can each section, when applicable, be truly engaging for the online learner?

I wonder if this goes back to Evan's post about Divergent or Convergent lessons. Depending on your general purpose you might vary which parts of the lesson you would include.

The difficulty in lesson planning for e-learners is dealing with the unknown.  What if one of the technology aspects of the lesson plan is unsuccessful, or instructions aren't clear?  

Just like when we are using technology in a F2F class, we need to make sure the technology fits the lesson and is not just used for it's wow factor. Again, always thinking about why and how the technology fits will make it much more effective. 

What happens behind the scenes is often much more important than what we actually see! No matter what format or platform we use, that will probably never change! 

How do new online instructors ensure that their lessons have clear instructions, engaging content, and meaningful learning outcomes?

Educators transitioning to creators of online content may find great value in using comparative and detailed lesson plans to ensure development of quality course content.

I think it is often difficult for instructors moving from face-to-face to online environments to accurately gauge student understanding and reactions to online instructional strategies, which makes lesson planning a challenge.

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Love using screencasts for anticipatory sets.  Give them a little snip of what you are teaching toward.

I have tried for what feels like forever to have students storyboard their work. They do not like it and some have even done the work then created the storyboard for grade. When I talk about storyboarding or graphically organizing work for adults they often don't want to spend the time doing it. I would be interested how others are getting students and adults to storyboard.

I have a hard time storyboarding, Denise!  I think it has to do with how different people process information and plan!  I like to think of myself as a backwards designer and start very big picture.

Great idea! This is very helpful online and something we forget about but fairly easy to do.

Very important. I like that addition of simulations in the example.

This is a big a-ha for me!  I think this is an interesting concept - if people struggle moving from F2F instruction this seems like a good scaffold help IDs bridge the gap between F2F and eLearning.  I occasionally offer the ISU class I teach as an online module and really struggle the weeks we are online - thinking through what it would like look F2F always helps me (even if I don't formally lesson plan them out).

As a district, we have spent a lot of time exploring two Fisher and Frey frameworks - Productive Group Work and Gradual Release of Responsibility.  I'm wondering how these frameworks would fit into an eLearning structure.