Tag: instructional design

On picking colours

I was about to write a detailed post on picking colours for web design, but I am not sure that I have things under control yet in that department. The several dozens of tabs open in my browser mirror the state of my brain – chaos reigns. I miss the days when the only answer expected of me to the question “Why did you pick these colours?” was “Because they look nice.”

This week, I am drafting the proposal for a digital learning resource – a small website showing users of all ages and backgrounds how to spot fake profiles and contents on social media. This is a multi-layered challenge and one of these layers is picking colours while ensuring accessibility.

Of course, we have studied colour theory and accessibility issues in the programme, but putting it all into practice is another matter. Having trouble putting theory into practice might become a recurring theme on this blog. Unlocking my inner designer is taking more time, dedication, and support than any of my previous endeavours. This is why I am glad I enrolled in this MA instead of trying to self-teach. I got detailed feedback on my summer project two days ago. Being able to discuss with my supervisor some design details that have been bothering me has been a great help.

But back to the colours. Even though the same colour and accessibility theories apply to my summer project and this week’s proposal, I have had to change my colour-picking strategy.

For my summer project, I chose a colour palette that is linked to my topic and to a geographical area and its traditions, in order to convince the most reluctant members of my audience, who are likely to be attached to that area. This sentimental colour palette seemed the obvious choice.

The current proposal is different. The objective of this small website is purely factual and instructional. It needs to be as objective and neutral as possible in order not to alienate part of the audience. I want to use three distinct colours to differentiate my three main topics/cards. But I want to avoid matching the colours of the three social networks I am fact-checking (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). And I need to ensure accessibility. For now, I am set on dark blue, green and dark yellow. The colours passed the contrast checks, but I am still testing other colours. I can’t help but think that something is missing. I am playing around with greys and muted colours for the navigation bar and background. I already have three very different colours for the cards, so my choices are limited. Uncoloured black-and-white cards would give me more freedom, but the colours are useful for the user to locate information instantly. Also, older children and teenagers are part of the audience, so a colourful user experience could help reach my instructional objective.

“Remember, sometimes the colors you like best are not necessarily the colors you need the most!” While looking for colour inspiration, I came across this quote after I took Lori Weitzner’s Ode to Color Analysis quiz. Though Weitzner’s focus is on interior design, her quote certainly applies to web design as well!

Surface learning vs Deep learning

This week’s lecture on the depth education model resonated with some worries I have been experiencing lately.

Since I started the MA, I have had more difficulty to make the instructional design aspect of the programme my own. I have been able to relate the “technical communication” part to my background, my expectations and my research into the industry so far. On the other hand, instructional design has required a shift in mindset. After all, my teaching experience is limited to tutoring other students in college and training new translation project managers.

I paid attention during lectures, I read the recommended contents as well as other resources, I found links and common patterns with technical communication practices. But I struggled to project myself in the role of instructional designer and to apply instructional design theories outside the framework of our assignments. I understood the theories, but I felt like I couldn’t go past the surface of these theories. And so, I felt unprepared to apply them.

The depth education model

With their brief comparison of deep, surface and achievement approaches to learning, Garrison and Cleveland-Innes (2005, p.137) provide a concise definition of the depth education model:

“Students employ varying degrees of three different approaches to learning: deep, surface, and achievement approaches. In a deep approach to learning, material is embraced and digested in the search for meaning. Surface learning employs the least amount of effort toward realizing the minimum required outcomes. Surface learners are motivated to complete the task rather than assimilate the learning. Achievement approaches to learning are reflected by an orientation to the external reward for demonstrating learning. Strategies for the achievement orientation focus on the activities that will result in the highest marks.”

In the blog post Why Deep Learning (2018), Elliot Seif argues that a deep approach to learning is more likely help students to develop the skills and attitudes required in the modern economy, like problem-solving, communication, thoughtfulness, leadership, etc. Both the teacher and the student are involved in enabling deep learning, but in my case, there was no doubt that I was responsible for my predicament.

During this week’s lecture, as we discussed a few of the attributes of surface learners and deep learners, and how assignments in our programme are designed to encourage deep learning, I thought about my proposal for our summer development project and how it was an obvious medium for deep learning. More importantly, I realised that I had already found a strategy to solve my problem while writing my proposal.

It’s all connected

See, I had to change course three times in the last three weeks of drafting my proposal. Long story short: my learning resource went from being a website to an e-learning course and back to a website, and I had to tweak my topic a couple of times. Flexibility and anxiety were certainly the keywords during those three weeks as I had to analyse and structure always-evolving contents in different ways: for an educational website and for an e-learning course. It wasn’t easy, but it was a great exercise in adaptation.

What is the link with the depth education model? Well, I felt like a surface learner of instructional design despite my best efforts to be a deep learner. In the last few weeks, however, with the proposal and thinking about what to include in my e-portfolio, I started imagining ways to present the same content on different platforms and for different audiences (e.g., how to get from a memo or a report to an e-learning course or a micro-learning video on the same topic).

I think this is the way for me to develop my instructional design abilities. I was just too caught up in everyday work and worries to be aware that I had already found a solution to this issue. Now, I need to learn how to apply this newly-found awareness to the design of deep learning activities for others.

References

Garrison, D.R. & Cleveland-Innes, M.(2005) “Facilitating Cognitive Presence in Online Learning: Interaction Is Not Enough”, American Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 133-148 available: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15389286ajde1903_2.

Seif, E. (2018) ‘Why Deep Learning?’, ASCD In Service, 24 September, available: http://inservice.ascd.org/why-deep-learning/ [last access 23 February 2019].