Designing and Developing Interactive Multimedia

EDCI 663

Educational Technology

Purdue University

Systems Approach

Preliminary Planning

Initial Steps

A n a lyzeIn s tru c tion a l Task

A n a lyzeL earn ers

C on s id e r S u itab ilityo f M ed iu m

A ssess N eed s an dId en tify

In s tru c tion a l G oa ls

Assess Needs

Begin by determining an instructional need that you plan to address. Is there a gap between what learners

should be able to do and what they can do?

How can you assess the need for instruction?

Identify Goals

Educational goals are broad, overall purposes or plans for instruction.Example: “Students should understand the

process by which new cells are duplicated from older cells.”

Identify the general goals you have for your instructional unit.

Analyze Audience

Audience analysisWho will your learners be?

What are their characteristics? Be as specific as you can be in identifying as many relevant characteristics as you can.

How can you analyze your audience?

Task Analysis

Instructional task analysisWhat content will you need to present?

What content already exists? Can you modify it? What must be created?

Is certain content prerequisite to other content? How will you sequence or otherwise organize your content?

Multimedia Suitability

Is multimedia appropriate?Does your instructional goal warrant the

use of multimedia?

What will multimedia contribute?

Is the contribution of the multimedia worth the extra time and expense required to create it?

Beginning Design

Early Design Steps

D eve lopA ssessm en t

M easu res

W riteP erfo rm an ce

O b jec tives

G ath erR esou rces

Gather Resources

Resource acquisition is one of the most important processes in multimedia development. Assemble your:Text

Still Images

Video

Audio

Organize Resources

In addition to acquiring the resources, it can be equally important to properly organize and label them.

Use a consistent naming scheme and store like items in folders for easy access.

Objectives

Educational objectives are specific statements of what students will be able to do upon completion of the instruction.Example: “The student will be able to name

four stages of mitosis and describe the processes that occur at each stage.”

Writing Objectives

Well-written objectives specify three component parts, although some parts may be assumed:PerformanceConditionsCriteria

Objective Example

Given a diagram of a plant or animal cell, the student will be able to correctly label at least seven major cell organelles or structures.

Write objectives for your own content that include performance, conditions, and criteria.

Develop Assessments

As you create your objectives, also develop means of assessing them, e.g., write quiz or review questions.

Developing assessments at the outset will help you to see where your objectives may need to be adjusted and insure that you provide appropriate instruction.

Design

Design Steps

S e lec t A u th orin gE n viron m en t

D eve lop F low ch artsan d S to ryb oard s

P lan U ser In te rfacean d

In s tru c tion a l S tra teg ies

Plan User Interface

Consistency

Mimic real-world functionality

Flexibility - provide multiple ways of doing things

Provide status cues

Aesthetics – use clean design and nice colors

Help – provide help for users

Instructional Strategies

Identify key mechanisms for promoting learning, e.g., Embedded questions with informative

feedbackUse of structured content presentation,

such as simple to complex build-upUse of metaphorsElaborative construction activities

Flowcharts and Storyboards

Flowcharts are used to identify logical program flow.

Storyboards are used to depict what program frames will look like.

Correct?

Yes

No

Authoring Environment

For practical reasons, this step often occurs earlier but, when possible, it is best to match the authoring environment to specific project needs.

Options: Programming languages

Multimedia/hypermedia development tools

Authoring systems

Development

Development Steps

W riteS u p p ortin g

M ateria l

F orm ativeE va lu a tion

C rea teM u ltim ed ia

P rog ram

Create Program

Interactivity

Learner control

Clear organization

Sequencing and branching

High-quality media

Personality

Makes use of medium

Rapid pacing / information dense

Clear and simple frames

Team approach

Formative Evaluation

Throughout the process, evaluate each step, and use that information make revisions.

Formative evaluators should include:Yourself

SMEs and peers

Example users

Support Material

As the final program is taking shape, prepare documentation to support the program.Printed matter

Online documentation and help

Implement and Evaluate

Implement Program

The final step is to actually implement the program with the intended users. In the real world, this can involve significant logistical, maintenance, and support issues.

Summative Evaluation

As a final step, you should evaluate the performance of the finished product with the actual target users. This evaluation is meant to confirm that the product does what it is supposed to do.

The End