Branching Logic in the Design of Online Learning

Author(s):  
Shalin Hai-Jew

Online learning requires a clear structure to enhance learning, particularly for those with little background in the subject. Structurally, the design of online learning may involve branching and merging, forking and joining of multiple branches, and other combinations of branching, for a learner or learners. Instructional branching is a tool that enables the achievement of multiple objectives. These include the following: (1) An Adaptive Curriculum: Adapting a richer curriculum to reflect the complex realities of a field and the real world; (2) Learner Support: Accommodating learners, who often have diverse needs based on their capabilities, ambitions, areas of study, and needs; (3) Learner Collaboration Support: Promoting the building of learning teams for the acquisition of collaboration, co-learning, and co-design skills; (4) Respect for Learner Decision-Making: Respecting the decision-making of learners, particularly in scenarios of simulations, games, problem solving, case studies and analysis, microsite presentations, slideshows and lecture captures, design, and innovation; (5) Maximizing In-World Opportunities: Taking advantage of opportunities in the environment such as the availability of a guest speaker, the co-funding of a shared learning endeavor, a partnership with a business entity, fieldtrip options, and/or other created opportunities. This chapter addresses various known branching designs on two levels: (1) course curriculums and (2) Digital Learning Objects (DLOs). It offers a typology of branching at the course curriculum level. Further, it covers branching in the DLO level based on specific cases. It analyzes the various points at which a curriculum converges and when it diverges (branches). Finally, the chapter includes a section on the mindful design of branching: design of the branching, the transitions, and proper learning assessments.

10.28945/4190 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 001-028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire McGuinness ◽  
Crystal Fulton

Aim/Purpose: This paper reports on a case study project which had three goals; to develop a suite of original interactive digital skills e-tutorials to be embedded in undergraduate and postgraduate courses; to evaluate the students’ experience and engagement with the e-tutorials over one semester; and to explore their general attitudes towards online and blended learning. Background: Online and blended learning modes continue to grow in popularity in higher education, with the aim of streamlining and enhancing student learning, supporting collaboration and creativity, and equipping students with the skills they will require to work and live in an increasingly digitized world. This practice-based case study highlights factors which positively and negatively affect user engagement with digital learning objects and explores students’ perceptions of the role of online learning within their academic programs. Methodology: A suite of nine interactive e-tutorials, addressing essential digital literacy skills for university students, was developed through instructor and student peer collaboration using Articulate software, informed by best practice. The e-tutorials were embedded in the institutional Learning Management System for three undergraduate and postgraduate courses, in which digital literacy formed the core learning content, to complement classroom-based learning. Students in these courses were surveyed via SurveyMonkey about their specific experience of using the e-tutorials, as well as their general perceptions of digital literacy and online learning. Eighty-six students in total completed the questionnaire, which consisted of twenty-three closed- and open-ended questions. Contribution: Through highlighting both the positive and the challenging aspects of the students’ reported experience of online learning, this case study contributes useful insights to the body of literature on user engagement with digital learning objects in higher education, as well as students’ perceptions and experience of blended learning. Findings: The e-tutorials were perceived as valuable in reinforcing classroom learning, allowing respondents to revise concepts and materials covered in face-to-face classes, at their own pace and in their own time. Survey responses showed that the accessibility, ease-of-use, design and duration of the e-tutorials were deemed effective in terms of user engagement; however, several technological challenges were identified, such as browser incompatibility, uneven sound quality and general Internet connection issues, which disrupted their learning. Overall, students expressed enjoyment of the learning facilitated by the e-tutorials; however, rather than favoring online learning alone, they expressed a preference for a blended learning environment, with a combination of complementary learning approaches; survey respondents did not generally wish to forego face-to-face classes entirely. Recommendations for Practitioners: Instructors should seek to strategically embed interactive digital learning objects in their courses at defined points of need in a logical structure, e.g., to reinforce classroom-based learning, or to support specific skill development. Potential disruption to learning should be minimized by following best practice guidelines to ensure ease of access, a seamless user experience, and timely feedback, as well as providing adequate support for rapid resolution of technical glitches. Recommendation for Researchers: E-tutorials offer a useful means of exploring ways in which students acquire learning in the digital environment. A wider, collaborative exploration is needed to provide comparative studies which move beyond case studies. Impact on Society: Online learning mechanisms, such as e-tutorials, offer students different means of acquiring essential literacy skills and different ways to interact with content. E-tutorials constitute reusable learning objects, which can be accessed as just-in-time delivery modes, when students perceive they need to review particular skills or reinforce learning material. Future Research: This research is now expanding into different types of reusable learning objects. E-tutorials may be developed in multiple ways, and comparative research around e-tutorial models will deepen our understanding of how students interact with content in formal learning contexts. As the digital educational landscape continues to expand alongside traditional face-to-face and analogue learning modes, a key research focus will be student and instructor perceptions and experience of blended learning in different contexts.


2022 ◽  
pp. 337-353

To enable more efficient work, educational templates have been created for various contexts: online learning, assessments, video creation, document creation, and others. This work involves the exploration of 191 template-related digital learning objects shared on a learning object repository/referatory, an LMS-related object-sharing site, social slideshow sharing site, and social video sharing site, as an environmental scan. This work culminates in a definition of a “tactical and substantive educational template” (TASET) as a collaborative object and various requisite features for quality and heritability.


Author(s):  
Shalin Hai-Jew

Those who work in instructional technologies and design have long been turning to the usages of open-source resources (learning / course management systems, software tools and apps, authoring tools, digital learning objects, simulations, games, and virtual spaces) for online learning—for many reasons—their easy availability (through download), the often-free price-tag, the popularity of open-source resources among learners, and the savings in terms of development (not maintenance) costs. This chapter examines the selective adoption of open-source resources for online learning and the practical considerations that inform this decision.


Author(s):  
Jolita Horbacauskiene ◽  
Brigita Janiunaite

Recent and ongoing technological advancement has resulted in omnipresence of technology everywhere. More importantly, the use of technology has become characteristic of today's education. Pedagogy as it is traditionally understood is now changing more swiftly than ever before. Scholars suggest that such shift is natural and needed because Industry 4.0 requires the type of education that anticipates and meets its demands or helps to solve its challenges. Even though technology-enhanced learning (TEL) promises positive changes, the lifetime of the smaller TEL units, namely digital learning objects (DLOs), is not necessarily a long one. In scientific discourse, there is considerable criticism towards unsustainable use of technology and innovative teachers' practices. The main research question focuses on what peculiarities and, especially barriers, occur when teachers implement DLOs and what aspects should be highlighted in teacher training programs for the adaptation to be implemented successfully.


Author(s):  
Shalin Hai-Jew

The influence of immersive gaming and simulations on e-learning cannot be understated. While there has been some successful harnessing of interactivity and immersive spaces for e-learning, more awareness of related fundamentals may enhance e-learning. This chapter discusses the role of graphics in interactivity (live and automated) and immersion and strategies for creating effective interfaces, virtual spaces, contexts, agents, and 3D digital learning objects.


2022 ◽  
pp. 194-228

In the open-shared teaching and learning space, the complexity of the shared learning contents vary. These range from stand-alone items and digital learning objects to full learning sequences and sets of resources. One humble object is the animated GIF, lightweight motion images used in graphical user interfaces (GUIs), expressive memes and commentary, emoticons, and other applications. Animated GIFs are fairly easy to create; they may be integrated into learning documents (handouts, slideshows, articles) and other objects, and it plays offline (and without the need for any downloadable player). This work involves an analysis of some available animated GIFs for education in social imagery collections. Based on findings, this work explores the viability of animated GIFs for various open-shared learning applications globally and some potential strategies and tactics, given real-world limits.


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