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.”
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.
