Week 4 Reflection

More Than Words

This week I got the chance to design an instructional piece using only a single media- in this case graphics- to teach.  I used Photoshop to gather images and put them together into a step-by-step recipe, all without a single word of text.  I've got to admit, it was much more challenging than I expected!  With a recipe, you've got to communicate important things like the temperature of the oven and the amount of time the meal needs to cook.  I had to get creative, and used a picture of an oven dial with an arrow pointing to the correct temperature, and I used two pictures of a clock showing the start and end times for the cooking.  It was challenging, but I loved working in Photoshop for the first time!

I learned a lot from this lesson... first, designing from a single media perspective forces you to make the lesson as easy to understand as possible.  The absence of text in this lesson ensured that I couldn't rely on writing to get my message across, and that forced me to simplify the instruction.  Using only graphics for a lesson does have the limitation of decreased clarification in some areas- while text can potentially confuse a reader, so can graphics.  A combination of the two, even if the text is used sparingly, might be best.  A graphics-only design would be beneficial if you're teaching someone who has difficulties reading or speaking the English language.  The lesson I designed could potentially be used by anyone speaking any language.  In the future, I can definitely see myself creating more step-by-step guides using only graphics.  Besides the fact that it simplifies the instruction, it's also novel and fun.  And when you're training bored employees in a financial services setting, sometimes using something a little different can help grab their attention for a bit!

The main limit I see to using media in general for learning and teaching is to not rely too much on only one type of media.  We need to change it up- one, to keep the material from getting predictable and boring, and two, to engage our learners in every way possible.  In our reading this week by Richard Clark, he argued that the underlying learning theory is what produces learning, not the media itself.  I agree with that to a certain degree, but not completely.  I know that certain media makes it easier for learners to absorb information.  I, for example, learn much better by watching a video than I would by reading a book.  That's just the way my brain works.  Others might learn differently.  But Clark is right regarding the need for incorporating that underlying learning theory.  When I design training for work, do I start at the virtual class or eLearning module and work my way backward?  Of course not!  I start with the problem, see if it even needs to be addressed with training, and if so, I look at the competency level of the learners and the tasks that need to be learned, and I work up from there.  The media is a tool, not the end goal.