Session 8 – Beta Testers Wanted!

If you’re looking to Beta Test Project Zomboid, then…

you came to the wrong place! (For more information on that check out: http://gamingbetas.com/about for this project and more!)

If you’d like information on media testing for instructional design, then read on!

1.    List the two levels of testing as outlined in the presentation and discuss each one in turn. Then describe the types of testing activities for each level of testing.

The 2 levels of testing for online materials are:

1)   Testing done to ensure the fidelity of the media used to present the material

2)   Testing done to ensure that the material presented leads to the desired student outcomes.

The easier of the 2 types of testing is the testing done to ensure the fidelity of the media being used to present material. You can do this testing in 2 ways.

First and foremost you can do your testing when the media is being created. When I do the work to create my Algebra 2 Honors class, it is most likely that this work will be done by me, the creator of the media, as is typically the case with other media creators.

The other type of testing to ensure fidelity of media presentation is different from the first in that it is important that it is done with media that is as close as possible to what will actually be used when the media goes live. This work is typically done by someone who will interact with the materials in a manner as close as possible to the environment that will exist for the actual media consumer.  For example, consumers of an Internet based item may use Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Torch, Maxthon, RockMelt, SeaMonkey, etc… These same users will have a wide variety of available bandwidth and network performance and will likely be interfacing with the Internet through a wide variety of machines, both new and old. The validation of the coding and verification that the media performs the same for all is critical, but becomes even more important as the a) funding level of the project increases and b) ability to adjust the media to account for glitches is taken away from the developer.

The testing done to ensure the desired student outcomes is far more complicated than that done to ensure the fidelity of the media presentation.  First, the desired student outcomes must be clear. Moreover, as the materials are being designed and then tested, it is vital that specific objectives be assigned to either specific materials or specific sections or elements of the materials. It is this specific assignment that allows you to test the materials for their success in helping students reach objectives. This testing is usually first done even before the media is created. For example, I would like to consider the creation of my Algebra 2 Honors program. As it is highly unlikely that this will be a well-funded enterprise, this first review would likely consist of me assigning topics to be covered with an outline of what would be covered in each topic for the course. Then, after reviewing this portion for myself, I’d make my husband (also a high school math teacher), my mother (a retired high school math teacher), and my co-lead at my site review what I’ve done to make sure that it is up to snuff.

After this initial reviewing is complete(a phase in which it was important for me to get as much review as possible; it’s MUCH easier to change at this stage before I’ve done all the development work!), I’d work to develop the materials objective by objective and topic by topic. As I am a high school math teacher, I expect that I would also shamelessly trade on my good connection with my students to get them to help me test each of the media as they “come online” both for our first type of fidelity (quality of presentation) and to ensure that they are meeting my stated learning outcomes.

2. What is ADA and how does it apply to the design and development of eLearning materials?

ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. ADA, “gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities that are like those provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex, national origin, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications.”

(http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq9805.html)

It’s application to the development of eLearning materials means that instructional materials developed for consumption via the Internet or computer need to be accessible to all students. This means that accommodations need to be made for people with disabilities ranging from repetitive stress injury (Mr. Jones Example), being hard of hearing (Ms. Martinez example), having Down Syndrome (Mr. Sands example) or even being both deaf and blind(Ms. Kaseem example)!

FYI: the Web Accessibility Initiative has a wealth of information about how to ensure equitable web access; they have both general guidelines and example upon example for specific cases of access.

3. What is your institutions (You may use CSUSB's) policy towards ADA and eLearning? Explain what this means in practical terms and what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the policy.

First and foremost I’d like to say that while it was not the most difficult thing I’ve ever found after an Internet search, these policies were not as easily located as I expected when I first started looking.

I decided not to use Cal State’s policy because I wanted to bring in something different.

I first went looking to see if the university where I completed my undergraduate work had a policy. However, after a fruitless search, it seems that Creighton University, unsurprisingly, does not fall under the category of “University large enough to have a policy.”

So next, I started searching for UCR’s policy (my sister went there for her undergrad work) and found some kind of information, but nothing that I found to be of high enough quality for this review.

Finally, I searched to see what UC Berkeley’s (that’s where my sister went for her master’s) policy was. After some additional searching (I first turned up this settlement between UC Berkeley and the Disability Rights Advocates. This made me determined to find UC Berekeley’s policy to see why they needed this settlement.) Apparently, UC Berkeley uses this UC system-wide policy. After reading all 7 pages, I can state that the seeming strengths are that they define all the important terms and want to, “deploy information technology that has been designed, developed, or procured to be accessible to people with disabilities, including those who use assistive technologies.”  With these lofty goals I was looking forward to reading the remainder of their policy, but soon found their weakness: everything is stated very generally. The policy, while promoting awareness, does little to suggest possible courses of action or even a checklist for a professor who would like check if their materials are ADA W3C compliant.

4. Revisit the 11 instructional design steps presented in chapter 1 of the text (Design Quickly and Reliably).* Revise this 11 step system using what you now know about development and testing. Try to create your own instructional design process/template that you might actually use. Briefly explain your modifications.

 In considering my revision of the 11-step process, I considered how I would expect to work to design my online Algebra 2 Honors course and the result follows.

0) Underlying goal was pre-established in the moment the concept of the course was conceived.

1) Identify what to teach – I) the course material is pre-determined by the standards the state of CA requires in K – 12 instruction II) the (greater scale) learning objectives are pre-determined by the district’s interpretation of the CA adopted standards III) the pre-requisites of the course will be pre-determined by a) the district and b) the site administration IV) the teaching sequence within larger topics can generally be determined by the teacher, but for designing an eLearning course (something so GREATLY outside of the norm for our district) adhering to the pre-determined teaching sequence would alleviate concerns of administration so I would include it here.

2) Analyze learner’s needs and abilities for this course.

3) Pick the approach to meet each objective

4) Create objects to accomplish objectives

5) Create tests

The choice of media would need to be considered simultaneously throughout steps 2, 3, and 4 as the choice of media would be influenced by learner’s needs and abilities (both mathematically AND probably more importantly here technologically as this will be a brand new experience for most of these students), the approach the instructor would prefer to follow and the created or selected objects that enables learner’s to meet objectives.

Even with purported teacher freedom of selection much of the style and delivery of instruction cannot depart too radically from the perceived successful traditional norm for this course or the district would never offer the course. More drastic changes can be effected over time as the instructor a) successfully launches the course and b) students who have successfully completed the course demonstrate success in follow up math courses.