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Development of an Instructional (ID) Problem

Tracy Medrano

ETEC 644 Design and Development of Instructional Materials II

Professor Eun-Ok Baek, Ph.D.

May 23, 2017

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Technical aspects of the development.

The development of the instructional design project, Getting Started with Zoom, The

Basics, incorporated a variety of technical aspects. I began by using Articulate Storyline, a

content authoring tool to create the project. I also used Photoshop to create graphical elements,

Youtube to embed video, and Blackboard as the content management system.

Articulate has various content development features within the tool. I used many of the

features within the tool to develop the course design project. Within Articulate, I used features to

add text, shapes, font styles, color schemes, embedded videos, assessments, hyperlinks, and

interactive icons. In addition, I used Adobe Photoshop to create graphical images to enhance the

visual appeal of the Zoom course. The graphical images were created in Photoshop and imported

to Articulate. I also curated content that was used as resources within Articulate and Blackboard,

using YouTube videos and Zooms video library of self-help tutorials. Finally, I published the

Articulate project to SCORM and uploaded all elements of the project (Articulate SCORM file

and curated contents) to Blackboard, content management system. At times, the various technical

aspect of the development present some challenges; how to get certain components to work

properly or how to create a feature within the course wasnt always easy. To acquire the tech

skills necessary to complete the project, I search the internet for self-help resources and accessed

YouTube videos, websites, step-by-step guides, and blogs. In addition, while not preferred when

working within a short timeline, I learned through trial and error.

Structure of navigation.

Within the Articulate SCORM file, the course was developed using a hierarchical

structure with branching. The course begins with a master page with the title, description, and

start button that link to subordinate pages. In addition, an assessment page creates branching of
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content so that learners receive content that better fits their needs. Each branch has a main page

the links to related pages and concludes with an interactive assessment. In addition, at the

beginning of the training instructions on how to navigate through the course are provided along

with the duration. Finally, the course includes navigation controls to the bottom right side of

each page. Within Blackboard, a Welcome Start Here section was added to direct learners to

the appropriate section when deciding where to begin. Further, a Next Steps section was added

to provided learners with clear direction on what they can do following the completion of the

self-direct course file.

Instructional Design theories used.

While I used various models and theories throughout the early stages of the course

design, such as the ADDIE model and Blooms Taxonomy, when developing the project I used

additional theories to help guide the effectiveness and usability of the Zoom course. Incorporated

in the development is Kellers ARCS Model of Student Motivation; to gain attention I

incorporated a brief course introduction and a question, relevance by incorporating a video of a

faculty describing how they use Zoom in their course, confidence by incorporating content into

small bite-size pieces and including assessment after each section with immediate feedback to

demonstrate the learner can achieve the learning, and satisfaction by incorporating a survey to

ensure the learner is content with the learning outcome. In addition, I incorporated ABCCRUS

Visual Design; alignment by arranging elements horizontally, balance by adding equal weight

of visual elements (font size, spacing, color scheme, image size, border spacing), contrast by

adding differences in color, size, and style to draw attention to visual elements and to increase

legibility, chunking by placing similar elements into a visual zone (navigation controls and

repetition of fonts, sizes, styles, and colors), utility by adding elements where students can
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interact with the course elements (navigation and self-assessment), simplicity by ensuring that I

only incorporated key features that were needed. Simplicity will help ensure the learner is not

overwhelmed and narrowing the focus will help learners process the information quicker and

transfer the learning from short-term to long-term memory (Walter, Carey, & Carey, 2015). In

addition cognitive load theory was considered in developemt. The course was developed with a

balance between low and high elements of interactivity, directing cognitive resources towards

activities that are most relevant to learning rather than preliminaries of learning (Sweller &

Chandler, Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction, 1991).

Zoom can be access via Blackboard: Tracys Sanbox

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References

Sweller, J., & Chandler, P. (1991). Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction.
Cognition and Instruction, 4(8), 293-332. Retrieved from
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1133&context=edupapers

Walter, D., Carey, L., & Carey, J. O. (2015). Systematic Design of Instruction (8th ed.). Boston:
Pearson. Retrieved from https://shelf.brytewave.com/#/books/9780133599473/