Designing Your Website

Designing your website Introduction The design of a website for learning requires a carefully considered process and should be part of a process called instructional design. What is Instructional Design? Experts claim that a process of ‘instructional design’ can be followed to develop a wide variety of learning materials, such as printed materials, computer-assisted instruction, and even televised instruction. A formal definition of instructional design is: “A systematic process for designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating instruction." Therefore, Instructional design refers to the systematic process of transplanting principles of learning and instruction into plans for instructional materials and activities. The Association for Educational Communication and Technology labelled the process as "an organised procedure for developing instructional materials or programs which include the steps of Analysis (defining what is to be learned), Designing (specifying how the learning should occur), Developing (authoring or producing the material), Implementing (using the materials for strategies in context), and Evaluating (determining the adequacy of instruction)." This definition is often referred to as the ADDIE-model.

The Analysis phase The ‘analysis’ phase is the first phase in the ADDIE-process and consists of several actions. It is basically the collection of data related to the requirements of the learning (the outcomes), the learners themselves, and the context in which the learning is going to take place. o Learning about learners. The more is known about learners, the better learning activities can be designed for them. What can they do, and what do they know already? An age-old principle of teaching is: start at the known and work towards the unknown. It is critical to know what the skills/competencies and knowledge of learners are before learning materials can be designed. Knowing the learners’ current level of knowledge and expertise is therefore critical to a successful design. If your interactive multimedia begins below the current knowledge-level of learners, they may feel that it is boring, a waste of time, or patronising—and they may stop learning. If the material begins above their level, they may become frustrated and discouraged. If learners have various levels of expertise, interactive multimedia must be designed so that learners at each level can start at a different point or skip over unnecessary material. One aspect to consider is their language skills. How good are their typing skills? What technology can learners use? Can they use a mouse efficiently? Can they use CD-

ROM’s or printers? How proficient are they with the Windows interface? If the potential learners have never used a Web browser and they are required to find information on the Internet, they will not have a meaningful learning experience. What are the learner’s levels of motivation? Are they self-motivated enough to learn on their own? Or do they require the authority of an educator, the social pressure of peers, or rigorous schedules in order to learn? o Learning about the curriculum and content requirements. This is an important part of the analysis phase. Not all content is the same. The nature of content of a subject field like History is vastly different to for example Mathematics, and content is often presented differently and different learning activities are associated with these two subject fields. It is therefore important that the designer has an understanding of the nature of the content. In addition, in the South African context, legislation may prescribe learning outcomes, for example the Critical cross-field outcomes, learning area outcomes etc. Any type of learning materials that are designed must account for the requirements of these outcomes. In addition, the specific lesson outcomes for the content may require different types of learner activities. Learners may be required to solve a problem, analyse a complex phenomenon, compare two ideas, find mistakes, etc. In summary, the curriculum and specific content may require that certain critical and learning area outcomes are met, the content is presented in a certain way, and certain types of learning activities are used. In addition to knowing about learners and the content, the designer must take cognisance of the context in which website will be used. For example, if the website will make use of sound or video, the computers must be able to play these types of files back. Computers will also have to be equipped with speakers or headphones. The physical setup of the room, the arrangements of computers in the room, and the number of computers in the room are all factors that could play a role. In terms of software, specialised types of software may have to be installed on the computers, for example a Flash ™ plugin, or other multimedia players. Once the instructional designer has completed the analysis phase, the design phase can be initiated. THE DESIGN PHASE

The design phase follows the analysis phase, and it is here that the instructional designer translates the outcomes, context and learner profile into a specific plan, based on the data collected during the analysis phase. The designer must use knowledge of learning theories and the capabilities of computers (affordances) to design learning activities in such a way that that learning takes place in an efficient and effective manner.

Analysing the outcomes As the outcomes for the planned learning are deconstructed, the following question can be asked about each outcome: In order to meet this outcome, what must done by a learner? The different outcomes can relate to: Skills. What skills must learners have after the learning? What new procedures can they perform if required to? Knowledge. What understanding will they possess? What decisions can they make based on their current knowledge? Attitudes and beliefs. What beliefs do they hold to be true? Do they need to be convinced of some principle or fact? Are there biases that need to be erased or instilled?

Once an understanding of the outcomes and the types of activities that they will require has been determined, the next step in the design phase can commence. Developing initial content ideas Now that a clear understanding exists about the envisaged outcomes has been gained, initial ideas for the content need to be developed. Two techniques may be used for this: Brainstorming (initial content and learning approaches). Brainstorming can be used to develop specific ideas for content and approach. In other words: what needs to be learned (guided by the outcomes), and how learning will/can be facilitated. Brainstorming will generate many ideas, but, because by nature brainstorming is non-evaluative, many ideas will have to be eliminated. Elimination of some initial ideas. Some of the ideas generated during the brainstorming session will need to be eliminated, and this can be done based on the following: The characteristics of the learner population. Learners’ age, preknowledge and skills, reading ability, aptitudes, computer skills, etc., may necessitate the elimination of certain ideas. Relationship of ideas to subject matter and outcomes. Ideas generated during the brainstorming may only remotely relate to the subject matter or goals. Even though these ideas may be good ideas, they will have to be discarded. Amount of time needed to learn the content. Some of the ideas generated will take up too much time in relation to the overall available

time for the project, or the amount of time required does not match the importance of the topic or idea. Restrictions of the delivery system. Depending on the delivery system, some ideas may have to be eliminated. The limitations relating to the delivery system may relate to the capabilities of the computer system itself, bandwidth, multimedia capabilities of the computers, etc. Ability of the developer (which may also be the educator). The skills of the developers need to be considered. Simulations, games, and highly interactive systems are considerably more difficult to create than simple drill or tutorial systems, and the developer may simply not have the necessary skills. Having eliminated many ideas, only a few ideas may remain, and it is these ideas that need to be developed into usable ideas. Preliminary programme description The previous activities help to analyse content and instructional ideas into manageable pieces. For these pieces to come together into a whole, they must be integrated, keeping in mind what is known about the way that people learn. The process by which this integration can be established is often referred to as instructional analysis. These considerations are now described. o Identifying types of learning The designer will have to decide what the nature of the intended outcomes is. Will learners have to discuss, write up, explain, solve problems, generate solutions, do things, demonstrate skills, collaborate with other learners, construct or build and electronic task, etc. An understanding of the nature of the type of learning that is envisaged helps to gain insight into what cognitive levels learners should operate, which in turn will impact on the methodology and strategies that will be employed. o Choosing a methodology The process of generating ideas during the brainstorming may already have hinted at the methodology that could be used to create learning experiences. The following examples are only a fraction of possible learning experiences that learners can be exposed to: Examining good and bad examples Performing a procedure or playing a role Planning and conducting experiments Listening to someone tell a story Answering questions on a subject Searching for relevant resources

Participating in a discussion Gathering and analysing data Repeatedly recalling and applying knowledge Creating work and having it critiqued by others Critiquing the work of others Watching a video or animation sequence Comparing, contrasting, and summarizing information Building a web site Making a game If a decision on the methodology has not yet occurred at this point, it should now be finalised. The decision will be a function of: The ideas previously generated The capabilities (or limitations) of the delivery system Consideration of the learner level (cognitive/motor) and motivational levels The types of learning involved

Important: When designing a web site, it is important to consider some of the design principles appropriate for the medium. Some of these principles relate to aspect of learning, while some relate to aspects of screen design. These concepts are discussed in later in this text. o Factor decisions Having decided on a methodology or combination of methodologies (tutorial, drill, simulation, etc), it is now time to consider the factors that are associated with these methodologies. Some of the more important factors are: Feedback: when, how much, way of feedback, etc. Question types: Multiple choice, True-or-False, one-word, etc. Learner control: how much control should the learner have? Motivation: What can be done to improve motivational levels? Judging: will answers by learners be judges and tracked? There are many more factors to consider. These factors need to be considered carefully as to how they will be treated in the programme. o Sequence description The last activity in the preliminary programme description is to produce a preliminary description of the sequence of the programme. This preliminary description will include information about the general order by which information will be presented, the opening scene, directions, interaction, remediation, the closing, method of item selection, etc. To this aim, it may be helpful to draw a simple flowchart, which will also help to sequence and organise the programme.

Storyboards Storyboards are a visual way of representing the design that has been decided upon. Once the preliminary programme description has been done, the “plan” for the interactive multimedia learning programme can be transferred to a storyboard. Storyboards are a series of pages or cards that can be stuck to a board which indicates the sequence and flow of the programme. A storyboard therefore provides an “at-aglance” view of the entire programme and can become the basis from which the developers, the programmers, graphic artists, etc. work. Storyboards may differ in complexity or detailed, which is often determined by the needs of the instructional designer or personal preferences. Below is an example of how one page of a storyboard may look like. Each page in the storyboard represents one screen. Number

Q14

Programme Name: Baking a cake Author: Tom Harris Date: 13 June 2001

Comments

 Display text in

Complete the statement Oranges are

Press A or B on the keyboard

A. Sweet B. Bitter

 

18 point, font Tahoma Exit to screen E1 Help to screen H7

 Back to Q13  Next to Q15 Exit

Help





In the storyboard page above, Q14 would refer to question 14. The name of the programme, the author, and the date also appears. Text on this screen will appear in Tahoma, size 18. Should the learner click on ‘Exit’, screen ‘E1’ will be activated. Clicking on ‘Help’ will take the user to screen ‘H7’. The left arrow will take the user to Q13 (question 13). Storyboards are often handwritten scribbles, and as said before, the details included on it may vary. The example above gives a pretty adequate layout of the screen, but does not specify text colour. No indication of the use of graphics, backgrounds, etc is made. In a subsequent paragraph, the layout and composition

Ongoing evaluation Suffice here to say that it is imperative that each step in the design process MUST be accompanied by evaluation and revision. Evaluation should not be done at the end of the entire design process (summatively), but as the design process develops, step by step (formatively). Some aspects of design (like look and feel) should be evaluated early on, as it may impact on other design aspects.

Once the design phase of the ADDIE-process has been completed, the next phase can be entered, namely the “Development’ phase.

THE DEVELOPMENT PHASE Once the design phase is complete, the interactive multimedia programme can be constructed. Development refers to the entire process of producing, refining and validating the programme. A whole host of software could be used during this phase. Material created for web delivery can be developed in pure HTML, or by using web authoring software like Microsoft FrontPage, Coldfusion, or Macromedia Dreamweaver, or online designing tools like Yola, Homestead, BlueVoda, etc. In addition, image-editing software such as CorelDraw, Adobe Photoshop or Gimp will have to be used to develop the necessary graphics. If the programme will utilise sound, graphics or animations, software to develop and edit those elements will have to be obtained. To reduce development effort and ensure consistently high quality, page templates and other reusable elements for common pages and interaction types may be first created. Such page templates are partially completed components with editable areas where courseware developers can pour their content. A page template might include a course emblem and navigation buttons already in place while leaving placeholders for the page title and other text, graphics, or video content. Typically, the following steps will have to be followed: o The development of a project management plan. It is important that the development of multimedia software be managed in terms of time and budget. Students in this course should not spend money on their assignments, but the development of commercial software will definitely cost money. It is further important to set a realistic time frame. Using Gantt-charts is an effective way to manage the timeframe of a project. o Preparation of the text components. Most educational multimedia will have some text in the software. The developer may use a word processing tool like Microsoft Word to develop text and simply import the text into the authoring tool. o Authoring of the separate pages or screens. Every single “screen” that is to be used in the multimedia programme will have to be developed. These screens may contain text, graphics, video, sound or animations. In addition, interactive components like questions, hyperlinks, and navigation buttons have to be developed. o Creation of graphics, sound and video. Web pages would be very boring if it only consisted of text. However, graphics, sound and video may require significant skill and additional software tools. For professional multimedia, it is best to have these aspects developed by professionals. Keep in mind that this could be very expensive!

o

Assembling the pieces. Once all the different components have been developed (like text, sound, graphics, etc.), they need to be included in web pages in the sequence that was decided on during the design phase.

o Preparation of support materials. Good educational websites may be accompanied by support materials. Support materials may include use guides, help pages, additional content, exercises and contact details for the developers.

IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION The final phases of the project in the context of the ADDIE model are the ‘Implementation’ and ‘Evaluation’ phases. These two phases are narrowly related and inter-dependent and interact so closely that it is virtually impossible to separate them as distinct phases. Hence, they are discussed together here. No web site is perfect and can always be improved. As soon as the web site is developed, it should be evaluated for its effectiveness. Such an evaluation will serve as a guide during the efforts to continually improve the course. There are several ways in which implementation and evaluation can take place. The first step in evaluating multimedia is to conduct a pilot offering of the web site. Plan a pilot offering early enough so that enough time is had to correct any mistakes that may be discovered and any misunderstandings brought to light by the initial learners. Recruit learners with the same needs, motivations, and background as those who will eventually take your course. The group should be large enough so that results will be meaningful but small enough for the group to be manageable. The pilot should be as realistic as possible. The results of the pilot offering should be compared with the goals for the educational multimedia. Questions to ask are: o Did learners learn what they were intended to learn? o Which outcomes were fully met and which only partially? o For outcomes that were not fully met, try to identify what went wrong. o Were there confusing aspects? o Did learners lose motivation? o Did technical glitches interfere with learning? Once the pilot offering is complete, it will be necessary to revise the web site, based on the lessons learnt. Good instructional design is never a linear, one-time process but an ongoing cycle of development. By continually analysing, designing, building, evaluating, and redesigning, perfection - or at least effectiveness – may be approached. In general, the more design cycles are employed, the better the final design will be.

Once the cycle of pilot implementation and evaluating is complete, the educational multimedia is ready for use.

PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE DESIGN In the previous paragraph, the design phase of the ADDIE process was discussed. In this paragraph, a closer look is taken at some of the issues to consider when educational multimedia is designed. These aspects could be considered principles for the design of educational multimedia. THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION Probably the most critical factor in learning is the motivation of the learner. The designer must ensure that learners are properly motivated. With proper motivation, learners surmount difficulties and overcome problems that would stymie their lessmotivated counterparts. Motivation can be either internal (intrinsic) or external (extrinsic). Internal motivation works from within the individual. The internally motivated learner learns in order to satisfy curiosity or purely for self-fulfilment. Externally motivated learners act to satisfy outside needs, such as to achieve a required certification, to please the boss, or to avoid embarrassing mistakes, for more money, a promotion etc. Classroom education provides ample doses of external motivation such as the encouragement of the educator and fear of embarrassment in front of fellow learners. Multimedia however, must rely more on internal motivation and, in fact, may be better suited for learners with already high levels of internal motivation or else with a direct external motivation, such as passing a course. How can motivation levels be improved? Motivation can be improved by: o Clearly stating the benefits of learning. Learners need to know what they will accomplish through learning. They need to know “What’s in it for me?” How will learning make them healthier, wealthier, or happier? However, a statement listing the educational objectives of the course is seldom sufficient to motivate learners today. o Invoking curiosity. Curiosity is one of the most powerful motivators. It can be used in multimedia to plant questions in the minds of learners that they can best answer by completing the multimedia learning. Here are some ways to use curiosity to motivate learners: o Start with a pre-test that leaves learners wanting to learn why their answers were right or wrong. State a problem that the multimedia will teach how to solve and make it a problem experienced by most learners. Show desirable results that learners can accomplish by completing the multimedia. Include evolving content, such as new material, news events, and links to ongoing problems.

o Challenge learners. Overcoming challenges is inherently motivating. This is why people spend time solving puzzles, playing games, and exploring interesting places. Use the following techniques to make the multimedia effectively challenging: o Increase the difficulty gradually. Make sure that all learners can get started but none run out of challenges. Include a few easy questions on tests and a few very difficult questions. Acknowledge progress by providing encouraging feedback to learners as they move through the multimedia. Promote learners through a series of levels, as in video games. Layer materials by providing deep reserves of optional material so that learners who are interested in a particular part of the course can find out more on their own. KEEP THE DIFFERENCES IN THE LEARNERS IN MIND Designers often fall into the trap of referring to “the learner” as if there is only one learner or that all learners are clones of the same learner. Such thinking can lead to an oversimplification of the approach by assuming that all learners are alike. Not only are learners rarely the same, they vary in their attitudes and abilities from hour to hour or even minute to minute. Learners vary in the ways they attempt to learn material and in the ways they are most effective when interacting with learning material. Some learners are primarily verbal while others are highly visual. In his book Frames of Mind, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner identifies seven “intelligences” through which people learn and think. These include linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodilykinaesthetic, interpersonal, intra-personal, and musical. Learners also vary in how they assemble new knowledge. Some benefit from a bottomup approach, learning small pieces and then assembling them into larger and larger units of knowledge. Others absolutely insist on a top-down approach, starting with a big-picture preview of the whole before considering any of the details. Some learners prefer to begin with abstractions and then view examples of how they apply to specific cases. Others prefer the opposite approach, starting with concrete examples and discovering the general principles for themselves. In addition, differences in language skills, visual and hearing impairments, and varying levels of computer skills profoundly affect how well people can learn from a particular medium or technology. It is best to design for the mainstream preferences and common abilities of heterogeneous groups. Designers may suggest a specified path through the material, but should not restrict learners to this path. Through menus, course maps, hypertext links, and an alphabetical index, learners can locate and learn exactly they way they want to learn. Often the best approach is to let learners choose how to learn. Provide the same material in different forms and let learners select the form that best meets their needs. By providing a rich navigation model learners are enabled to work through the material in a sequential, top-down, bottom-up, or exploratory order. Provide tools for learners to measure their progress against their own goals.

Simplify learning activities to match learners’ computer skills. Do not overwhelm learners with new technology. As a rule, do not require learners to master more than one new technology at a time. If learners’ skills are limited to surfing the Web and sending e-mail, you probably do not want to require them to download and install three player programs, hook up a microphone and video camera, and engage in videoconferences all during the first module of the course. EMPHASISE IMPORTANT CONTENT It is important to focus the attention of the learners on important material. A multimedia learning environment may contain many, many pieces of information, and it is important to make sure that the focus is on the most important parts. Explicitly tell learners what is important and why. Use motion, bright colours, loud sounds, stark contrast, larger size, arrows, and other emphasis mechanisms to focus the learner’s attention on the material you are teaching. Conversely, use static shapes, cooler colours, low contrast, and small size for secondary or purely decorative items. Attention is like a torch in a dark room. People observe the details of objects in the bright beam but notice less about objects in the dim shadows. The more time people spend considering an object the more likely they are to learn about it. It is important to realise that distractions may hinder learning. Noise, interruptions, and distractions can interfere with learning, as anyone knows who has tried to study with unwanted loud music playing. Anything that disrupts thought processes or draws attention away from the material being taught can hinder learning. Therefore, in multimedia learning environments it is important not to use too many flashy, attention-grabbing elements, unless the focus is meant to be on that part of the screen. INCLUDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRACTICING When it comes to learning, practice makes perfect—or, at least, it perfects and deepens prior learning. Repeated practice improves recall. Repeated practice is a useful way to make the recall of facts faster and more reliable. Practice also helps to consolidate complex activities so that they can be performed smoothly and spontaneously. Only by repeatedly speaking in a foreign language people progress from hesitantly uttering individual words to fluently discussing complex issues. Only by practicing the individual steps of a dance movement do people begin to integrate them into smooth, graceful movements. Therefore it is important to let learners practice newly learned material as soon as practical. Immediate practice helps to reinforce learning. It also rewards learners with a sense of accomplishment and lets them monitor their own progress. Provide lots of opportunities for practice and let learners decide how much enough is. Some learners may master a skill or concept immediately. Others may need more practice. Some may want only a cursory ability while others may want to perfect their abilities before moving on. Rather than specify how much to practice, specify the level of performance to achieve. For example, “Repeat the game until you achieve a score of 60 points or higher.”

To the extent possible, make the practice required in activities similar to applying the skill in the real world. It’s important that the practice exercises the same mental processes as the real-world application. A highly realistic visual simulation of real-world situations helps, but is not the most important factor and not absolutely necessary.

STIMULATE THINKING, NOT MERE CLICKING Much “hands-on” learning is unfortunately “brains-off” learning. Many activities require little more than a modicum of eye-hand coordination. For effective learning, design activities that require learners to think about the material. Require analytical thinking to complete activities and pass tests. Rewrite questions that can be answered by process of elimination or by parroting back words read earlier. In multiple-choice questions, provide at least four plausible answers. Require learners to apply knowledge. Present realistic situations in which learners must specify how they would apply what they learned. Require combining separately taught ideas. Require learners to compare, contrast, and integrate separate ideas.

HELP LEARNERS SEE ASSOCIATIONS Help learners to connect ideas so they are easier to recall and their context is clear. Relate new ideas to old when introducing new ideas. Remind learners of related ideas they learned earlier and show how the new ideas extend or contrast with the older ones. Present multiple examples and show more than one version of an idea. Try to include enough examples and non-examples so that learners recognize the essence and limits of the idea and see how many ways it can be applied. Encourage learners to explore an idea from different perspectives. Let learners examine a single idea, then in context with related ideas, and as a part of a larger whole. Help learners understand the idea in the abstract as well as embodied in concrete examples. CONSIDER THE LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN PERCEPTION AND MEMORY The limitations of human perception, memory and attention are well documented. Visual perception for humans is limited to six or seven items. People can take in only about a half dozen objects at a glance. More than that and they have to laboriously examine them one at a time or in small groups. Working memory is also limited to about seven items. Try remembering a list of more than a few items and you quickly run into the limits of human working memory. Working memory is short term. Try recalling a new phone number for more than about 20 seconds, without continually repeating the number to refresh our memory. Therefore, keep content simple, short, and to the point. It is relatively easy to overload learners. Too many facts and images may dazzle the learner without teaching anything. Rather than long lessons, teach in a series of micro-lessons, each conveying a single concept, skill, or fact. After presenting a concept, immediately let learners practice applying the concept and verify that they understand it. (An increasingly common term for such small, complete units is learning objects.)

The more complex the content is, the more the need to simplify the presentation. Eliminate unnecessary material. Move secondary information, needed by only a small fraction of the learners to a deeper layer or subsequent page. Limit the number of items the learner must contend with. Keep lists short. Divide the display into only a few main areas, each with only a few objects. Simplify text and graphics. When possible, use shorter paragraphs and lists. Employ only as many colours, shapes, and other objects as necessary.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCREEN AND TEXT DESIGN On a web site, learners can jump around, taking topics in the sequence that best suits their needs and preferences. Therefore, designers must ensure that when learners arrive at a page they clearly see how it fits into the overall learning program. Here are some suggestions for keeping context clear: o Title pages clearly. Ensure that the title (and main heading) makes sense by itself. Avoid titles that assume learners have read some “previous” topic. Also avoid cute titles that are explained only by reading the text of the page. o Introduce the subject. Include a brief introduction, just a sentence or two to explain why the subject of the page is important and how it relates to other subjects. o Include where-am-I cues. Large Web sites frequently show the path from the top menu to the current topic, something like this: “Overview > Getting started > Step 1.” Consider the following websites to learn more about navigation design: http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/effectivewebsites/a/web_navigation.htm http://www.smartwebby.com/web_site_design/website_navigation_tips.asp http://www.build-your-website.co.uk/website-layout.htm http://www.efuse.com/Design/navigation.html

Kruse and Keil (2000:107) explain that the design of the web site must be such that it is simple and apparent for the user to interact with it. Users will often ask: o o o o o

What must I do now? Where was I before this? How do I get back there? Did I finish everything? How do I get out? What is it doing? Why is it doing this?

It is also important that the user is put in control of the lesson. Perception of control can be improved by providing status messages, making actions reversible, allowing for mouse or keyboard control, access to help, menus and exit functions.

The creation of consistent and logical designs is important for good interface design. This can be achieved by: o The use of clear and logical screen layouts (see below) o Be consistent in visual cues o Use clear messages and be consistent in media choices o Have menus behave predictably It is also important to provide informative guidance and feedback. This aspect can be improved by including page counters, making help and instructions easily accessible, writing clear error messages, giving appropriate warnings and making messages polite! Good screen design deals with visual elements like layout, text legibility, the use of colour and graphics and the use of multimedia components like audio, video, and interactive elements. Some important principles are: o Avoid visual fatigue. Learners may have to look at hundreds of pages. Choose designs that are simple and do not easily tire the eyes and mind. o Design for scanning. Learners skim, scan, and skip before settling down to read. Design so that learners can find an individual item of interest quickly and reliably. o Design to educate or train, not to impress. Learners who have seen the latest Hollywood special effects and played the latest video games may not be impressed by a simple multimedia course. But they can learn a great deal if you design it correctly. o Be consistent in design. This is a very important aspect for any instructional software. The simplest way to achieve consistency is to divide the screen area into functional areas. Divide the page into a large primary content area in the centre and a few secondary areas around the edge for banners, navigation buttons, and secondary content. Distinguish areas with different colour backgrounds or borders, or just by the alignment of objects within the areas. The area at the bottom could be reserved for the main navigation and course services (Exit, Help, Menu, Back and Next) buttons. The large area in the middle could be the main presentation area. The most prominent heading is the banner heading, with the course title or topic. Once these zones have been established, use them consistently. Standardise the location of banners, titles, location indicators, navigation buttons, and any other items common to many pages. o Text layout and format need to be considered carefully. Adequate type size is important. In general, use a10-point font. Make sure that the text stands out from the background. Normally dark backgrounds work well with lighter text, and the other way around. Avoid fussy backgrounds and backgrounds that are similar in colour and brightness to the text. Minimal emphasis mechanisms. Within a paragraph, use only a few variations of font, style, or colour. It is OK to emphasize a word or two, but not every third word and not the whole paragraph. Make sure that text if left-aligned text. Avoid centred or right aligned text except for short passages and then only for a special effect. Keep short line

lengths. Do not use ALL UPPERCASE for entire paragraphs. Use simple character shapes (fonts) and avoid decorative and highly stylised fonts. For screen display, a simple sans serif font (like ARIAL or TAHOMA or VERDANA or CALIBRI) works well. If long passages of text are included, the learner usually will not read the entire screen. Seventy- nine percent of computer users always scan new pages and only 16 percent read them word-by-word. Learners will scan the page, looking for pertinent keywords, sentences, and paragraphs. When scanning, learners will read only the first sentence of a paragraph to see if they will read the entire paragraph. There are ways to help them decide which ones to read: Write in the inverted pyramid style, where the conclusion is the first sentence in a paragraph and the least important details are at the end of the paragraph. Put only one main idea in each paragraph. Structure the text to help learners scan. Include meaningful headings and sub-headings or use highlighting and emphasis (like bullets) to make important parts stand out. Computer users read 25 percent slower from a computer screen than from paper. This is often due to poor font quality, especially on screens with low resolution; low contrast between the background and words; light problems like being too bright or flickering; greater reading distance for the reader; and layout and formatting problems. Users will often print pages to read them better. GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION The astute use of graphics and animations may enhance learning. Unfortunately the opposite is also true – when used incorrectly, graphics and animation will in fact be detrimental to learning. The primary task of graphic design is to create a strong, consistent visual hierarchy, where important elements are emphasized, and content is organized logically and predictably. Special consideration should be given to graphics when the medium of delivery is the WWW. The WWW relies on bandwidth to deliver information. Traditionally, graphics files are large, and the more graphics a web page contains, the longer the page will take to download. Beware of graphic embellishments. Horizontal rules, graphic bullets, icons, and other visual markers have their occasional uses, but apply each sparingly (if at all) to avoid a patchy and confusing layout. The tools of graphic emphasis are powerful, and should be used only in small doses for maximum effect. Overuse of graphic emphasis leads to a "clown's pants" effect where everything is garish and nothing is really emphasised. The overuse of animated graphics may also detract from the purpose of the programme if it does not serve a specific purpose.

A TYPICAL “LESSON” As seen from the previous paragraphs, it is not simple to design an develop a multimedia lesson. It is important that the processes of instructional design are followed, and that several principles in terms of learning and screen design be followed. Keeping this in mind, a computer-based multimedia lesson will include several components, which are briefly discussed below.

The Introduction Any multimedia programme should have an introduction, which must fulfil some important functions. The introduction of any programme should contain at least: o A title page. This page should be interesting, and is often called the “splash” screen. It should have a clear title, and perhaps identify the author of the multimedia. It should also give some indication as to the target group of the lesson. o The outcomes should be clearly stated on a subsequent page. The outcomes particular to the lesson, the learning area and the relevant critical cross-field outcomes should be stated. o The directions for use should be stated. If the learner needs to know how to use the multimedia lesson, how to get back to the start, how to access help, etc., this information should be available. o It may also be important to do learner identification. The multimedia may require a learner to “logon”, so that the learner can be addressed by name and performance can be tracked and stored. It is important to have a good introduction as a poor introduction may very well impact on the perception of learners of the programme. Once the introduction is complete, the learner may be moved on to the next section. Presenting the content. Typically, content will be presented in text, graphics, sound or video format, or a combination of these. Content will be presented keeping in mind the principles of good screen and text design. The learner may encounter content, and may even be allowed to choose to read additional content on the same topic. Learners should receive feedback when they answer questions. After answering questions, the learner may proceed to the next section. The learner should be allowed to move forward or backwards, or skip sections if they so wish.

Aspects to consider

o Providing help. Users most often need two kinds of help: Help with procedures and help with information. Help can be provided either by using rollovers or by buttons or by menu selection. Programmes can also provide help by means of print-based materials. o Assessment. It is important to know that all instructional programmes MUST have some form of assessment. Sophisticated computerised assessment programmes keep track of learner performance during the tests. In general, the following types of assessments are possible in a computer-based environment: True or false Multiple-choice Text-input/ fill-in-the-blanks Matching items Click-in-picture Drag-and-drop It is relatively easy for computers to assess performance that is measured by using objective assessment items like the examples above. It is much more difficult, and probably impossible, to assess essay-type questions with a computer, although attempts at creating such software is being made. It is important that meaningful feedback should be given during assessment. Feedback like “Correct, proceed” or “Incorrect, try again” is meaningless and contribute very little to learning.

SUMMARY In this theme, the underlying principles that govern the development of software for learning were identified and described as instructional design. The concepts was first defined and described, after which a generic model for instructional design was proposed in the form of the ADDIE model. Each of the components of the ADDIE model were identified and described. Then, effective training principles were identified and describe. The design and flow of a typical multimedia lesson were proposed after which the ‘secrets’ of user interface design were discussed.