Creating Digital Course Content
Do you want to create engaging electronic course content? Watch this video by Mariah Coz for some practical tips (Coz, 2019)!
I recently used Articulate Rise 360 to develop a short lesson introducing myself. The tool has many benefits as well as limitations. According to Giacumo et al. (2018), most novice developers of e-learning prefer to use rapid e-learning tools that are developed by professionals. This takes the guesswork out of the design process, assists with more professional development, and provides management support. One focus of online education is the integration of interactive content (Herman & Mustea, 2016). It is most important to design the online experience to encourage interaction between the student and the content. Interaction between the teacher and the student is another priority, followed by interaction between students. Accordingly, designers and educators should consider the constraints of the software and learning management system, the demands of media-rich content, and the level of interactivity required by the course. Hosman and Armey (2017) pointed out how communications technologies often fall short of their potential because developers get engulfed in their social, cultural, political, and economic implications. They do not pay enough attention to how the actual hardware and software impact success. The findings suggest there is a high value in gaining data from end-users and practitioners about the variables that matter most. For example, while designers may not think of it, end-users indicated how the need for access to electrical power, cost, and maintenance issues impacted the use of certain e-learning tools. In discussing the interplay between architecture software and architectural design, Hennessy and Patterson (2019) asserted the impact technology can have on practice. This means that technological inventions can influence the innovative mindset and inspire the user. In relation to education, advancing technology can push teachers and instructional designers to think creatively and more abstractly about how to engage learners through e-learning activities and content.
Benefits of Articulate Rise 360
- Provides an automatic layout to design a lesson. One can choose from a variety of layouts with which to organize content
- Integrates media. A developer can include images, audio, and videos. It was easy to narrate the content of my lesson.
- Is easily accessible. Once published, anyone with the link can access the lesson. It can be viewed on a computer, a cell phone, or a tablet.
- Money. It is expensive and may be cost-prohibitive for many educators. T
- There is little option to customize the design of lessons. I wish there more options to customize elements like text.
- Options to assess learners seem limited. Multiple choice or matching assessments are an option, but I would like to see more capability for assessing students at the end of a lesson.
- There is no “undo” function.
- Media files are limited. I cannot easily share photos from the camera role on my phone without converting them to a jpeg format first.
What about you? Have you used any rapid-authoring tools in your teaching? If so, did it enrich the learning experience or cause too many problems?
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