Instructional Design Resources
Exploring MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
For this module I chose to explore the courses by www.edx.org. I selected a HarvardX course ER22x on the topic of justice. I watched the 40 minute lecture, which was a fascinating philosophical discussion on the topic of "What's the Right Thing to Do" in various moral dilemmas, by professor Michael J. Sandel. The lecture was being recorded by several cameras, and the audio was very good. It felt very much like being in the classroom. After the video there was a poll, asking a question about the moral issue at hand, using a radial button with yes or no, and then it shows the percentages of the answers. The next step was a self-test with three multiple choice questions, and they showed a red x when the answer is wrong and a green check mark when the answer is right. The next step is a forum where everyone shares their opinion on the moral issue, and people can reply to the comments. There is also a link to the professor's book on the subject, and an excerpt reading for free.
Overall, I really enjoyed taking this course. The video quality was very good, I thought the moral dilemma was extremely relevant and intelligently presented, I enjoyed feeling like a participant of the class, I also enjoyed the ability to rewind and fast forward, as opposed to live streaming. Below is my comparative analysis between this course and our current MIST course.
SWOT Analysis
HarvardX ER22x Justice
MIST Learning Management System
For additional Instructional Design Resources I found the following website, it provides several links to various Instructional Design topics and resources.
For this module I chose to explore the courses by www.edx.org. I selected a HarvardX course ER22x on the topic of justice. I watched the 40 minute lecture, which was a fascinating philosophical discussion on the topic of "What's the Right Thing to Do" in various moral dilemmas, by professor Michael J. Sandel. The lecture was being recorded by several cameras, and the audio was very good. It felt very much like being in the classroom. After the video there was a poll, asking a question about the moral issue at hand, using a radial button with yes or no, and then it shows the percentages of the answers. The next step was a self-test with three multiple choice questions, and they showed a red x when the answer is wrong and a green check mark when the answer is right. The next step is a forum where everyone shares their opinion on the moral issue, and people can reply to the comments. There is also a link to the professor's book on the subject, and an excerpt reading for free.
Overall, I really enjoyed taking this course. The video quality was very good, I thought the moral dilemma was extremely relevant and intelligently presented, I enjoyed feeling like a participant of the class, I also enjoyed the ability to rewind and fast forward, as opposed to live streaming. Below is my comparative analysis between this course and our current MIST course.
SWOT Analysis
HarvardX ER22x Justice
- Strengths - The website has an excellent design. It features large buttons with pleasant and non competing graphics. I am usually not too fond of white backgrounds, but sometimes they do look really nice and clean. Its minimalist visual design makes it easy to explore their various courses, and sort by categories and schools, as well as availability schedules. Each course has an introductory video which makes it very easy to get a general idea of the content and decide to take it. The course is well organized and engaging with real life relevant topics and the polls and quizzes are done in an effective sequence. Breaking down the courses to small modules with a lecture first, and then quizzes and forum discussion are very helpful in feeling like we have a grasp of what was being taught. Courses are free!
- Weaknesses - Limited number of classes, some classes are no longer available
- Opportunities - I see this website increasing its courses exponentially.
- Threats - Limited number of participating universities, it's a "select" group, which limits the variety of points of view presented to students. It could become a pay-only website.
MIST Learning Management System
- Strengths - All information is efficiently organized in a sequential order and provides a good overview of the entire semester. It offers various media platforms to present instructional content, such as videos, audio files, .pdf files, links to websites, quizzes, and forums. It also offers ways to share files, deposit files, and send emails. It is a very robust program and in one screen the student can also view her grades.
- Weaknesses - Choice of colors is not soothing to the eyes. Grey is usually dull and unmotivating, and red is too serious and looks like the website of a bank. There are too many links across the top and on the side of the page. It can be overwhelming visually, it would be helpful to design each link with an image, place them and color code them differently. In the Instructional Technology course, there are reading materials in both the link under the week number, and under the Lecture link. This makes it confusing and more cumbersome to follow in a sequential manner and increases the risk that the student may miss something or approach information in the wrong order.
- Opportunities - It is a very robust program that, with a more organized, inviting and visually stimulating design, it can really function as a home for all student related activities. It can evolve into having its own email capabilities instead of using Gmail. I am not a Gmail fan.
- Threats - Students may not do as well as they could with more visual guidance.
For additional Instructional Design Resources I found the following website, it provides several links to various Instructional Design topics and resources.