It isn’t easy to run a race when you are also learning how to use your legs. I’m trying very hard to make every moment of my time count by producing something of value for the department, but it’s been a bit of a spit and a start to get rolling along.
I’ve had a chance to experience a little of each of the projects I’ll be working on and I’ve had a chance to meet with a number of professors and instructional designers, both in-person and in online video chats. I’m starting to feel a bit more comfortable in the environment and that is mostly due to how Joni introduces me and guides me along. When you are an intern, it’s easy to feel like a 5th wheel because you aren’t an employee and you aren’t a student. The mentor is key to overcoming this discomfort in short order.
The branching logic project is where I’ve been putting most of my time. I was given access to the videos and then we met with the professor to gather a better understanding of the project goals. When we met I wasn’t sure what my role was to be during the meeting so I tried to follow Joni’s lead to some extent. I understood enough to ask a number of clarifying questions. We left the meeting with some action items, and I always like that! But it wasn’t until Joni and I debriefed the meeting together that we formulated a plan.
- create a mindmap that showed how we can display the logic we want to use
- research tools that we can use to build the branching logic course that integrates video clip scenarios and allows us to track student responses while allowing for students to have multiple “trys” and giving feedback for every “try”
Initially, we thought Storyline would be the tool of choice but there were other products on the market too. I posted some questions with various groups and with an expert I know. And, I wanted to do some more research to understand the types of branching logic used in instructional design because, as I thought, there is more than one.
Somewhere in the mix, Joni let me know that perhaps we should also look at the capabilities of using a WordPress (WP) with an add-on, Formidable Forms, as a possible solution because it allows for conditional responses. There was very little online to help me learn about how to use the add-on and I am new to WordPress, so it felt like the learning curve was pretty steep. But, since I’m sort of a techie, it wasn’t overwhelming. Using this set of tools, which is already available with no additional costs, seemed to offer what we needed. It might just do the trick.
Based on one of the example questions that the professor gave us at the meeting, I was able to create a simple mindmap, using MindMeister, which I shared with her and Joni. And, I included a couple of examples of different types of branching which I hope she will find helpful as she builds out the other problems in the project.
I built a prototype on WP using Formidable that was based on that question too. It included a video and conditional questions.
I asked Joni for a bit of time to review this information prior to the next meeting the professor. I prepared some talking points to be sure our discussion was on point and fruitful. Joni was able to help me with a few WP functionality questions and we worked through the mindmap and prototype together for awhile. I felt good about our discussion and spent the rest of the day tweaking with the prototype to make it operate more smoothly.
I’m enjoying learning more about these tools and the process of ID here. I’m glad that maybe I have made a valuable contribution to the project already. I can’t wait to see what my next day holds!