Design Principles - Conveying the Message

What is the principle purpose of designing instruction?  A lot of people may provide a lengthy explanation stating that it is to provide enable learning or training through learning theory, and so on.  I would say that the purpose is to convey information.  I have always been prone to being perhaps overly terse. In this case, perhaps it is caused by my relative lack of experience in the field of IST.

The who, what, where, when and why are all key components of the various steps contained in ADDIE or other IST methods widely subscribed to by IST professionals.  But my impression at this point of my degree pursuit is that the design aspect focuses on the how. How does one convey the information selected in the preferred format?  There is no single answer, in fact there are many correct approaches dictated by the experience of the designer, the context of the instruction, the content of the instruction, the learner, etc.  Many of the leading minds of the IST field have offered processes and best practices that will enable instructional designers to be successful in their approach.  In Morrison et al. (2011), I noticed a few basic terms or guidelines repeated throughout Chapter 10, which specifically focuses on “technology-based instruction”:

1. Efficient
2. Intuitive interface
3. Consistency
4. Feedback to learner
5. Consider learner characteristics
6. Minimize cognitive load

These are just a few of the terms that I noted in Chapter 10 of Morrison et al.’s text.  Further, the authors summarized Mayer’s (2008) 10 principles for multimedia design.  These steps strive to maximize the effectiveness of such instruction by providing very specific guidance on effective ways to tailor the instruction module through both practical and theoretical approaches.

Hai-Jew (2010) offered a more tactical look at the specifics for using imagery in E-Learning or technology-based instruction.  Many of the six guidelines (listed above) I garnered from Morrison are evident, if not directly mentioned at this tactical level as well.  In addition to reinforcing these guidelines, I found Hai-Jew’s article very informative, as I admittedly have little experience in the action production of E-learning or even professional photography.  Frankly, I am primarily an iPhone photographer, and if I’ve needed to make any changes to a photo, I used Powerpoint.  To that end, Hai-Jew’s article also left me thirsty for more information on the field, and I had to look up the definitions of many of the common terms used in the article (not an indictment of the article- rather of my novice).  This will be an area that I will have to apply extra effort to overcome my lack of experience, both in this class and as I begin the IST/HPT aspect of my career.  But Hai-Jew's article did offer many steps (aside from technical photography steps) that will assist in ensuring the imagery used supports the instructional module.  These include ensuring the imagery meets field-specific standards (the field which the instruction will apply), as well as IST and learning theory principles.  The chapter also included many solid management and attention-to-detail related suggestions.

While reading these articles, I kept in mind the overarching purpose of this course (development and production), as well as the focus of this week’s lesson (message design & infographics).  At a basic level, most of the guidelines I listed above also can be found in effective infographics as well.  Dr. Appelman’s lecture this week did an excellent job in capturing how ubiquitous solid message and visual design should be.  These principles can be incorporated from the most complex instructional module down to the most basic infographic.

References

Hai-Jew, S. (2010). Procedures for Creating Quality Imagery for

E-Learning. In S. Hai-Jew (Ed.), Digital Imagery and Informational Graphics in E-Learning: Maximizing Visual Technologies (pp. 142-168). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. doi:10.4018/978-1-60566-972-4.ch007

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S.M., Kemp, J.E., & Kalman, H.  (2011). Designing Effective

Instruction (6th Ed.).   John Wiley & Sons Inc.