by Matt Lee
Quick Summary
Panelists at this session took turns discussing elements of instructional design in online or distance learning environments.
Amanda Clossen, Penn State University, “The Elephant in the Room: How Do I Make My Content Accessible?”
Panelists at this session took turns discussing elements of instructional design in online or distance learning environments.
Amanda Clossen, Penn State University, “The Elephant in the Room: How Do I Make My Content Accessible?”
As Clossen stated, making content accessible to all is a worthy pursuit because it is the law and because it can lead to better overall design. She shared some elements of online instructional content that can lead to accessibility problems:
- Web page headings: used by visually impaired to navigate pages. Use them to chunk content, not apply font styles.
- Fonts/colors: should be controlled by CSS. Non-CSS fonts/colors will not respond appropriately to most screen readers.
- Images: alt-text describing images should be simple and short.
- Mouse-overs: can be problematic – make all content on page accessible via keystroke.
- Content: chunk content as much as possible for those with cognitive disabilities.
- Videos: use captions to mirror narration. YouTube offers this functionality.
- Script: narration should always match action on the screen.
Joelle Pitts, Kansas State University, “Get R Done!: Using a rapid prototyping instructional design model to build better learning objects fast.”
Pitts focused on the rapid prototyping instructional design model. Rapid prototyping involves a continual design-evaluate-design-evaluate cycle. Learning objects are presented to users to test very early in the design project. Risk is reduced because user feedback is incorporated early and the learning object can be refined. Good practices offered by Pitts for using rapid prototyping in designing library instruction include: don’t invest heavily in early content, record user feedback, and accept imperfection (“Get R Done!”).
Kimberly Mullins, Long Island University, “A Great IDEA for Integrating Information Literacy in Online Academic Courses.”
Mullins designed the IDEA model to provide step-by-step guidance for integrating information literacy instruction into online courses. At its core, it provides a framework to help librarians work with faculty to embed info lit instruction appropriately.
- (I)nterview: Work with faculty to gather information on the course and their research needs. Mullins has a detailed form that provides structure to these interviews.
- (D)esign: Build goals, objectives, and instructional materials.
- (E)mbed: Integrate content into the course.
- (A)ssess: Assess student achievement (Mullins didn’t go into detail about this stage).
For more on the presenters, visit the ALA session site: “Intentional Teaching Online: Using Instructional Design to Enhance Distance Library Instruction.”
