Accessibility
Okay, so I know this posting is a little late (more on that later) and technically I am in Week 7, but I had to share this free new tool that I found while researching accessibility issues related to the training development tools for the Immersion T/TAC project. It is called SpokenText. It is a free online text to audio converter. I thought I would try it by converting a discussion posting that I typed up for my Educational Research class. I added their widget to the right sidebar with the text from the discussion posted converted to audio. Feel free to listen .... SpokenText also offers it as a stand alone MP3, MPEG4 so you can make it a podcast in iTunes, or lets you use their site to host and play your recordings. Pretty neat!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Immersion, Spring Semester -- Week 5
There is no "I" in team
So after our meeting with the client a few weeks ago, the iTeam decided to split up to work on the three main tasks that need to be completed by the end of the semester. While it seemed to be a good idea at the time, some weird team dynamics have cropped up that did not exist before. Splitting up the tasks among small groups or individuals to help us work more efficiently made sense. But as we are working to combine our research plans to evaluate product design and development, it has become evident to me that our processes for working through tasks worked well before -- it wasn't broke, so we shouldn't have fixed it. Now we have difficulties trying to figure out how to put a simple PowerPoint together. The idea to break up the tasks in this manner came out of our Myers Briggs results. It is almost as if consideration of this information has made things more difficult for us. I feel that we are not working as a team, but as a group of individuals. How much information is too much information in this instance???
So after our meeting with the client a few weeks ago, the iTeam decided to split up to work on the three main tasks that need to be completed by the end of the semester. While it seemed to be a good idea at the time, some weird team dynamics have cropped up that did not exist before. Splitting up the tasks among small groups or individuals to help us work more efficiently made sense. But as we are working to combine our research plans to evaluate product design and development, it has become evident to me that our processes for working through tasks worked well before -- it wasn't broke, so we shouldn't have fixed it. Now we have difficulties trying to figure out how to put a simple PowerPoint together. The idea to break up the tasks in this manner came out of our Myers Briggs results. It is almost as if consideration of this information has made things more difficult for us. I feel that we are not working as a team, but as a group of individuals. How much information is too much information in this instance???
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Immersion, Spring Semester -- Week 4
Usability testing in an online synchronous environment
We had our first round of usability testing to help the team identify support for the usage of Adobe Connect with our target audience. One team member facilitated the tasks the participants had to run through in the synchronous online environment, while the rest of us sat and observed the participants as they tried to navigate the system. I was assigned as an observer. From the observer viewpoint, it was hard for me not to jump in and help when my participant got stuck on a task. But it was very interesting to see how the participants worked together as a group in their “natural environment” to solve problems. Our instructor seems to think our process of testing Adobe Connect would be good for an article. A cursory look at the literature doesn’t reveal much in terms of usability testing in synchronous online environments, so this may be a useful topic for the team to explore.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Immersion, Spring Semester -- Week 3
Agendas, agendas … too many agendas!
So this week we met with our client as a follow-up to the Needs Analysis conducted in the Fall. We discussed our results and suggestions for next steps. We weren’t exactly on the same page. For what the team would like to get out of the Immersion program (our agenda), we were focusing on a bottom up approach by looking at specific collaborative and development tools that we now know will work for our target audience. By the end of the Spring semester we will determine how to allow access to those tools as a one-stop shop, and we will build supports around those tools. Our client is looking for a top down approach and wants us to focus on designing an interface taking into consideration all of the potentials that could be offered in the Virtual Collaboration Center, and not focusing solely on what we know will work for the audience now. Then the client revealed that he needs this information as ammunition to present to his funders so he can get more money for tech support. Ah, ha … agenda revealed! Maybe we should have started our first conversation with – what do you want and what is the agenda behind it? I guess it is no surprise that it is money and probably flat out asking for his agenda would be too brazen, but at least it would have eliminated all the wheel spinning the team has endured trying to reconcile what we want to achieve in our graduate experience and what the client’s motivation is with this project.
In the meantime, we did have a great session looking at our Myers Briggs scores. As usual, I am an INFJ. But it was interesting to see how the rest of our team falls within the MB and it was good to listen to the suggestions for team interaction and problem solving.
So this week we met with our client as a follow-up to the Needs Analysis conducted in the Fall. We discussed our results and suggestions for next steps. We weren’t exactly on the same page. For what the team would like to get out of the Immersion program (our agenda), we were focusing on a bottom up approach by looking at specific collaborative and development tools that we now know will work for our target audience. By the end of the Spring semester we will determine how to allow access to those tools as a one-stop shop, and we will build supports around those tools. Our client is looking for a top down approach and wants us to focus on designing an interface taking into consideration all of the potentials that could be offered in the Virtual Collaboration Center, and not focusing solely on what we know will work for the audience now. Then the client revealed that he needs this information as ammunition to present to his funders so he can get more money for tech support. Ah, ha … agenda revealed! Maybe we should have started our first conversation with – what do you want and what is the agenda behind it? I guess it is no surprise that it is money and probably flat out asking for his agenda would be too brazen, but at least it would have eliminated all the wheel spinning the team has endured trying to reconcile what we want to achieve in our graduate experience and what the client’s motivation is with this project.
In the meantime, we did have a great session looking at our Myers Briggs scores. As usual, I am an INFJ. But it was interesting to see how the rest of our team falls within the MB and it was good to listen to the suggestions for team interaction and problem solving.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Immersion, Spring Semester -- Week 2
Struggling to Comprehend Design-Based Research
As I mentioned in last week’s post, the iTeam is responsible for writing a collaborative paper on design-based research (DBR). I am still struggling to understand what DBR is all about within an educational context. I found this post on Learning-Theories.com, hoping to generate a better understanding of the concept. After reading it three times, I understand that DBR considers context as well as the intervention itself. But, the quote that jumps out at me is this:
The intention of design-based research…is to inquire more broadly into the nature of learning in a complex system and to refine generative or predictive theories of learning.
Since context can be such a fluid aspect within the design process and can change on a dime, how can “predictive theories of learning” be generated?
And my first week as Scribe has been … interesting. While I was rather happy to stop facilitating the team work, I am finding it difficult to focus on the task at hand in team meetings since I have to concentrate on note taking. In addition, I feel like I do not have a grasp on where we are in the design process since I am not facilitating the agenda. As facilitator, I prepped for meetings by reviewing references and notes to make sure that we were on track. It enabled me to create a more thorough understanding of where we were, what we were trying to get to, and what we needed to do. There were also a few times when I had a very strong urge to jump up during the meetings and start writing on the board to clarify ideas and help with the focus of the meeting. I’m finding it harder to “take a back seat” and sit on my hands (where appropriate) then actually facilitating the group.
On a lighter note, I thought I would share this amusing video on Second Life:
As I mentioned in last week’s post, the iTeam is responsible for writing a collaborative paper on design-based research (DBR). I am still struggling to understand what DBR is all about within an educational context. I found this post on Learning-Theories.com, hoping to generate a better understanding of the concept. After reading it three times, I understand that DBR considers context as well as the intervention itself. But, the quote that jumps out at me is this:
The intention of design-based research…is to inquire more broadly into the nature of learning in a complex system and to refine generative or predictive theories of learning.
Since context can be such a fluid aspect within the design process and can change on a dime, how can “predictive theories of learning” be generated?
And my first week as Scribe has been … interesting. While I was rather happy to stop facilitating the team work, I am finding it difficult to focus on the task at hand in team meetings since I have to concentrate on note taking. In addition, I feel like I do not have a grasp on where we are in the design process since I am not facilitating the agenda. As facilitator, I prepped for meetings by reviewing references and notes to make sure that we were on track. It enabled me to create a more thorough understanding of where we were, what we were trying to get to, and what we needed to do. There were also a few times when I had a very strong urge to jump up during the meetings and start writing on the board to clarify ideas and help with the focus of the meeting. I’m finding it harder to “take a back seat” and sit on my hands (where appropriate) then actually facilitating the group.
On a lighter note, I thought I would share this amusing video on Second Life:
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Immersion, Spring Semester -- Week 1
... And we're off?
So the new semester began on Tuesday. The iTeam met and we processed the results of our Fall Semester work. We identified our new team roles (which will actually rotate this semester) and refined the responsibilities of each. As of this week, I will not be the Project Coordinator. Yippee! My assigned role is Scribe. While Scribe is not the most exciting role to undertake in this process, I welcome the change with open arms.
After meeting with our Immersion advisor, it appears that our client not only did not participate in our end of semester presentation, he probably didn't even view the presentation since then. So at this point, who knows what his feedback will be. We did make our intentions clear to our advisor -- we actually want to do some instructional design this semester, and not get bogged down in crafting some scheduling form for the video conferencing resources available to the T/TAC audience.
Our advisor also reviewed the syllabus for this semester. Included in our deliverables is a collaborative paper that focuses on design research. Considering that we didn't discuss design research very much last semester, this task seems a bit daunting to say the least. What is design research? Good question. That is something our team is asking as well -- but I did find a resource that was a little helpful to provide some sort of a context as we ponder this question.
So the new semester began on Tuesday. The iTeam met and we processed the results of our Fall Semester work. We identified our new team roles (which will actually rotate this semester) and refined the responsibilities of each. As of this week, I will not be the Project Coordinator. Yippee! My assigned role is Scribe. While Scribe is not the most exciting role to undertake in this process, I welcome the change with open arms.
After meeting with our Immersion advisor, it appears that our client not only did not participate in our end of semester presentation, he probably didn't even view the presentation since then. So at this point, who knows what his feedback will be. We did make our intentions clear to our advisor -- we actually want to do some instructional design this semester, and not get bogged down in crafting some scheduling form for the video conferencing resources available to the T/TAC audience.
Our advisor also reviewed the syllabus for this semester. Included in our deliverables is a collaborative paper that focuses on design research. Considering that we didn't discuss design research very much last semester, this task seems a bit daunting to say the least. What is design research? Good question. That is something our team is asking as well -- but I did find a resource that was a little helpful to provide some sort of a context as we ponder this question.
Monday, January 21, 2008
We're Off to See the Wizard ...
So school starts back up tomorrow. The iTeam will be "immersing" ourselves once more with the task at hand. My big question is, will we succeed? Succeed at what, you may ask? Succeed at delivering the product the client wants? Succeed at delivering the product the client needs? Succeed by feeling that this was a productive learning experience for everyone involved? Perhaps only the Wizard can tell us for sure ...
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