No Readings?! What's a girl to do??

So I figured, "hey, no reading? why not post?," so here I am, watching American Idol (shh, don't tell) thinking about webdesign and hoping beyond hope that tomorrow in class everything will click. See, because up until now, I go to class, understand what Jim and Slava are saying and doing, go home feeling all confident that I can master .html and open dreamweaver to find that I really have no clue what I'm doing. Actually, let me amend that statement: I think I know what I'm doing, I try to do it, and I just flop. CSS Style Sheet? It's saved .css, doesn't that mean it's right? Apparently, no. So, here's where I'm saying, if anyone has any tips, hints, suggestions, and/or cheat sheets (for the most mundane and basic of things) I would just love it.

Thanks for listening, now back to Simon.

Cognitive Overload & How to Avoid It

Mayer and Moreno's article, "Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning" was particularly interesting to me because of how it succinctly and effectively broke down several situations in which multimedia learning can be improved so as not to overwhelm the viewers cognitive load. Much of what was said in the article reinforced Slava's most recent lecture and I found that the information put forth in the article complimented what I took away from Slava's explanation. It seems to me that, if one is able to apply these scenarios to their design when creating their instructional materials, they'll be able to anticipate the needs of their viewers and put forth a design that is accessible, informative, and engaging.

While I appreciate the article and the insight that it provides, I can't help but wonder how a new web designer (like myself, for instance) learns to tweak their design so that it includes/avoids all of the pitfalls of cognitive load. I understand the importance of knowing your viewers and creating your design to support their background knowledge, viewing experience, and learning goals, but it seems overwhelming to know how to anticipate these design objectives from the beginning. Are there any hints as to what works best most generally? Is it fair to say that, so long as you don't cover up your image with text and aren't offering background music + voiceover + animations + text you are off to a good start? What makes instructional design, instructional design? These are some of the questions that I'm left wondering about after reading this article. Any suggestions, thoughts, or feedback would be greatly appreciated : )

(*Note: It is entirely possible that the questions that I'm not considering are only tangentially related--at best--to the cognitive considerations that Mayer and Moreno point out...I think I'm just beginning to figure out what I intend to do with my site and I'm anxious to apply what we're reading and discovering to my actual work*)

Knowledge-Centered Environments: My Very Own Personal Bias

In reading "The Design of Learning Environments" article, I couldn't help but recognize how much my personal preference and bias aligns with the Knowledge-Centered environments over the others. As a student in higher education, I understand that this bias could be a negative influence in my work, but I maintain the importance of establishing a learning environment that enables students to learn new material in a context that will enable them to later transfer the knowledge in other situations. It is important that we, as educators, work to create and promote learning communities that foster effective and productive citizens (for lack of a better word), and it seems sensible to me to expect that this can be best accomplished when the students understand how what they've learned in the classroom applies to what they accomplish outside of the classroom.

It's All About the Tradeoff

Reading Collins' article, "Design Issues for Learning Environments" I couldn't help but think about how teaching, design, and time management were related. Collins argues the importance of understanding the costs and benefits associated with design and with instruction. He believes that in order for something to be effectively instructive it needs to present information in a way that balances the pros and cons for all involved. Imagine this: you're working with a group of students who are trying to grasp a new concept for the first time. Five of the students are visual learners, two rely on memorization, and the other three appreciate practical application. If you need to teach them all the same topic at the same time, how do you go about presenting it? According to Collins, you need to figure out the method that best covers the needs of all 10 students. This method likely won't be ideal for anyone in the group, but it will be effective because it will combine the necessary ingredients for overall satisfaction. You know what I mean? We're balancing what we've got to create something that will work for the majority.

This example applies to design, too. When you're creating a new template for something, you need to be familiar with the purpose behind the creation (is it intended to be instructive? to sell something?) as well as with the backgrounds of the people you're creating it for. Once you familiarize yourself with this information, you need to identify the middle ground (the area/method that will appease the masses) and go for it. Do what you can with what you have so that the end result is beneficial for the majority.

In thinking about this tradeoff scenario, I can't help but think about time management as well. (If you don't see where I'm going with this, bear with me...I promise I'll try to explain). Since I haven't spent much time formally teaching anyone anything, and I'm new to this whole design concept, I tend to apply what I learn to what I know. As a graduate student in higher education, and as a compulsive organizer and volunteer, I know time management. So here's what I see: the tradeoffs Collins discusses in his article are like the tradeoffs you make when you realize that you've overcommitted on any given day or in any certain situation. What's important is that you assess what's necessary, you adjust for what you're actually able to do, and you work to accommodate yourself and your audience (or in my daily life, my students, my supervisors, and my peers) to the best of your ability. In learning about design and instruction (and in reviewing my day planner) I realize that this balance is invaluable.