CS5_ADDIE Research

After looking through a few sources to get a feel for the ADDIE concept, I have to say it seems like a very logical and beneficial set of guidelines.  One source stressed the importance of the Analysis and Design phases citing the old expression "measure twice, cut once."  I completely agree and believe proper planning is the key to an efficient and effective project.

I was happy to learn that the standards that my company practices very closely follow the ADDIE process. Whenever we begin a new course we always begin by creating a document called a Task and Skills Analysis to figure out the exact needs of student.  We also create a Training Development Plan where we strategize the best way to deliver the training.  These two documents would fall into the Analysis phase.  For the Design phase we always create a formal Course Design Guide to plan out content and how it traces back to objectives established in the Analysis phase.

I don't believe it's always necessary to create such rigidly standardized documents, but I do believe that an Instructional Designer must absolutely complete those phases in some manner before beginning any development.  The ADDIE process is cumulative and you must complete each phase consecutively to maximize the success of your training endeavor.

Included in my research were the following sites:

• http://www.learning-theories.com/addie-model.html
• http://www.intulogy.com/addie/
• http://www.tzanis.org/Courses/ADDIE/

BP9_RILS Links

You can follow this link to view my comment on Emily's RILS video.

You can also follow this link to view my comment on David's RILS.

BP8_RILS Publication

Brief Overview

In this scenario, the instructor will introduce adult learners to uses of Diigo and get them interacting with each other’s shared research.

1. Target Audience

Adult learners.

2. Materials

Both instructor and learners must have a computer and access to the Internet.

3. Objectives

At the end of this scenario, the learner will be able to:

• analyze the different ways they can use Diigo. 
• utilize Diigo to bookmark and comment on the appropriate web sites. 
• create a shared collection of websites and comments within a Diigo group.
• reflect on the process.

4. Procedure

• Prepare instructions on how to use Diigo for your learners.
• Create a Diigo group and invite your learners to join.
• Create an assignment that will motivate your learners to bookmark and comment on particular websites (for example, I asked my learners to solve a mystery based on clues I created and certain websites I posted to the Diigo group).
• Ask the learners to comment on each other’s contributions to the Diigo group.
• Collect the learners’ reflection on the process.

5. Web 2.0 Tool

Diigo (http://www.diigo.com/) is a tool that allows you to bookmark, highlight, and comment upon websites and, in so doing, add them to your personal library.  Diigo also supports the creation of groups for sharing each other’s bookmarks and commenting on them.

6. Social Participation/Social Learning

The learners will be commenting on each other’s contributions within the Diigo group.

7. Making Connections

The learners will use previous online research skills to find appropriate websites and bookmark them.  The learners will discover how they can use Diigo to help them in their own environments.  Diigo will connect the learners with each other and with a global community of Diigo users.

8. Create/Produce

The learners will be creating a shared database of website links and providing feedback to each other.

9.  Assessment

In the scenario instructions I asked my learners to post a bookmark or topic to the group at least twice and to respond to another learner’s contribution at least once.  As the group administrator, I am able to monitor the Diigo group activity to ensure these requirements are met.

10. Reflection

The learners will email me their reflections on the scenario.  I will evaluate the entire process and the learner’s reflections and provide my own reflection in the RILS video. 

PE_9 Udutu

As promised, I've begun using myUdutu to design my instructions for my RILS.  So far things seem easy enough, the tutorials do a good job of preparing you for creating your own course.

I had mentioned I wanted my Diigo-based RILS to be motivated by a puzzle of some sorts.  Well I think I found the perfect puzzle.  A Carmen Sandiego style mystery that the learners must collaborate on Diigo to solve.  In other words, Carmen SanDIIGO!  Here I am creating the beginning of my course:

When go to add the text, a separate editor opens allowing you the tools you might need:

However... while I can admit there are merits to using myUdutu, I am person that is much too focused on creative design aesthetics to handle the limitations of designing within this tool.  I will be designing my instructions in PowerPoint first and then uploading them to myUdutu.  I love the fact that Udutu hosts your published course on their servers and provides easy access via a hyperlink.  So I will be using myUdutu's distribution features, just not its design features.

PE_8 Udutu

I love how myUdutu is an online platform!  You can set up accounts to have multiple authors working on or reviewing the same course.  What a fantastic feature!

Another cool facet is how when you upload any media to your project, it automatically re-sizes and optimizes the media for bandwidth efficiency on the web.

This tool also has the capability to recognize if a screen is 508 Compliant.  As a government contractor, this is something that I definitely need to worry about and I appreciate this feature.

My overall analysis of this tool is that it is severely limited in terms of creative design, but at the same time expands the functionality of the course by offering so many pre-programmed interactions and features.  You may not have very much flexibility in editing these features, but at least they are there and easy to use. 

PE_7 Udutu

Gone through a bit of the tutorials, and I'm ready to do some analyzing.  So far no complaints.  They've got great onscreen navigation, a narrator, graphic animations, and (my favorite so far) a mouse-over simulation screen:

As you run your mouse over the simulated myUdutu screen, different messages will pop up to explain the feature you are hovering over.  This is a fantastic feature and I bet it will be easy to implement.  As someone who creates mostly software training, screens like this can be invaluable.  Trying to do something like this within Captivate is clumsy, limited, and frustrating.  I'm interested to see how myUdutu tackles this feature.

I've also discovered some other features including interactive screens, branching scenarios, and being able to import presentations from PowerPoint.  All of these features are key when designing good online training.  I also appreciate that myUdutu has a built in tracking feature that makes it very easy for both me to design completion requirements and the learner to track their progress.

PE_6 Udutu

For my next set of practical experience blogs I'm going to be learning how to use myUdutu, an online course authoring tool.  I am learning  how to use this tool in preparation for my RILS.  I am going to deliver the instructions for my RILS to my students via a "course" built using myUdutu. 

You can create a myUdutu account here: http://www.myudutu.com/myudutu/login.aspx

Once you log in, you are greeted with a very user-friendly interface and many resources to help you get started:

In the "getting started" box, you can see they offer a PDF guide called Getting Started, as well as two myUdutu built courses on how to use the tool and how to build effective courses.  I am going to go through these resources and see what I can learn!