JHMI Internship: Looking Forward (to Phase 2)

     As of now, I am on track with my proposed schedule. For Phase 2 (10/17 - 10/28), now that I have my design document complete, I will work on populating my slides in Articulate with the relevant information.  I will also review them with my onsite adviser and update them accordingly.  Additionally, I need to verify whether the SME will be involved in this review process; however, I don’t think so as my onsite adviser seems be my main point of contact. 

     Depending on how quickly I can complete a functioning prototype for my course, I may be able to get ahead of schedule for publishing the course online via the LMS.  This is especially true if indeed the SME will not be part of the review process.  In addition, I have learned that I will not be responsible for generating the formal evaluation survey as planned earlier; however, I may still try and generate a short in-house survey for my own benefit.  Removing these two components, although not really characteristic of the typical ISD process, will help me save time.  On the other hand, it could come back to haunt me if problems with the course are discovered down the road which could have easily been addressed having them; something else to keep in mind for future ISD projects as well.

JHMI Internship: Phase 1 - Week 3 (starting 10/10/11)

     I continued to work on my design document and completed a first draft of the learning objectives.  Although the training materials provided include learning objectives, I found that most of them are not really measurable (e.g. use words like know, understand, etc.).  Therefore, I had to re-write most of them to use action verbs instead (e.g. describe, demonstrate, etc.). 

     To help me in this effort, I used Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning.  Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification for learning objectives and is divided into three domains: cognitive (dealing with mental processes), affective (dealing with attitudes) and psychomotor (dealing with motor skills).  As my focus deals primarily with the cognitive domain, there are six associated steps: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.  In order to maximize learning, it is suggested that one progress through the steps sequentially, as each increases in mental challenge than the one before.

     As the only proposed form of assessment at this point is basic multiple-choice quizzes provided in the training materials, I decided to not include objectives further than the application step. I also discussed this issue further with my onsite adviser and I was informed that the majority of online courses developed within Interactive Learning generally don't reach far into the later steps.  In the end, I decided to include one objective for each of the first three steps in my course.  It should also be noted that since course participants aren’t receiving credit for completing the course, there is no formal assessment requirement (i.e. it’s optional).
 
     Upon completion of my course learning objectives, I reviewed them with my onsite adviser.  She approved of them, so I continued to work on completing the remainder of the design document.  Once I completed it, I met with my onsite adviser once again to get her feedback.  I took note of the changes she requested and updated my document accordingly. 

     Another important point that was discussed in the last meeting with my onsite adviser, despite being a bit late, was the need for the LoC training program in the first place.  I learned that each department within Johns Hopkins has a set of surveys completed by various entities (e.g. patients, auditors, etc.) and that the results of these surveys have direct implications on certain types of funding received.  Therefore, to help ensure results are at the highest level, Service Excellence initiatives such as the LoC program are put into place.  Again, it would have been ideal to have this information earlier in the project but, because a formal needs analysis was not required, it slipped my radar.  However, it is an opportunity for me to learn from and pay special attention to for future ISD projects.

JHMI Internship: Phase 1 - Week 2 (starting 10/03/11)

     I began to draft a storyboard for my course interaction, based on the information I acquired during the meeting with the SME.  This being the first time I designed a storyboard, I consulted with my onsite adviser regarding my options.  I was assuming that the storyboard should be more graphical in nature, but she showed me some examples using both Word and PowerPoint.  In the end, I decided to use Microsoft Visio which is a great tool for creating flowcharts.  I thought this would be more intuitive to add later on to my design document.

     As I am not developing a full-fledged course (i.e. my course will supplement the face-to-face training workshops), the interaction in my course is fairly basic.  It will consist of the following components, arranged sequentially: Title, Objectives, Video, Review, Supporting documents and Point of contact (POC) / Survey link.  I reviewed this with my onsite adviser and received her approval.

     Once I had I my storyboard complete, I then proceeded to work on the design document.  I was given a previous in-house document to use as an example.  This document includes the following major components: Training Requirements, Overall Goal & Purpose and Learning Objectives.  Several sub-components are also included such as Audience, Assessment and Seat Time.  Going through the process of drafting a design document has helped me even further to give clarity and definition for my project.

     In addition to the sample design document, I was also provided with an in-house template I will be using for my course.  I began to put together a prototype in Articulate based on the storyboard I drafted.  Once I complete the design the document and have it reviewed, I will begin to populate my course slides with relevant information (e.g. objectives, videos, etc.).       

     Last but not least, I was given the opportunity to attend two m-learning vendor presentations.  During the presentations, each vendor proposed their m-learning solution in an effort to convince JHMI to contract with them.  As mentioned earlier, JHMI is seeking an m-learning solution in an effort to improve their engagement with their international patients.  Some components of the solution sought include appointment reminders, guest services information, policies/procedures and most importantly, performance surveys.  In general, I found the presentations to be very informative as they helped provide me with some useful insight into the JHMI m-learning strategy.

JHMI Internship: Phase 1 - Week 1 (starting 09/26/11)

     Upon completion of all administrative tasks, I was finally presented with the content for my assignment: a training program entitled The Language of Caring (LoC).  The purpose of the training is to enhance communication skills of hospital employees with customers (i.e. patients, families and staff) in order to make their interactions have a sense of compassion, rather than solely based on business.  

     It consists of 9 "skill-builders" that focus on individual communication skills.  Each skill-builder is designed to be a separate face-to-face workshop, to be administered by respective managers.  Each workshop is setup in the following format:
     1) Introduction: Welcome, presentation of objectives
     2) Warm-up: Short introductory activity and discussion
     3) Video: Further explanation and sample skits
     4) Apply It! Activity: Learners try to use new skill
     5) Hard-wiring Activity (optional): Follow-up activities to be completed outside of workshop
     6) Conclusion: Short review and closing remarks

     As the included materials in the program are plentiful, I had to work with a subject matter expert (SME) to find out exactly what should be included.  The SME for my project is a supervisor who works within the Service Excellence group for the Nursing department.  Service Excellence is an initiative within all of Johns Hopkins to improve upon customer relations.

     In our meeting, the SME explained what he envisioned for the online portion of the training.  It should basically act as a supplement for the face-to-face workshops, consisting of all videos for the nine-skill builders, as well as all accompanying documentation for managers and course participants to have access to.  He also said it should incorporate a link to a follow-up evaluation survey, to be completed by course participants.  He also noted that it should be available on the company Learning Management System (LMS) by the end of the year as formal training is scheduled to start soon after. 

     In addition, based on the suggestion of my onsite adviser, the SME also liked the idea of including a mobile learning (m-learning) function such that course participants could receive reminders and/or tips regarding course sessions via SMS text messaging.  This would be something voluntary that participants could opt into by supplying their mobile number (perhaps during the survey).  This is something I hope to look into as Interactive Learning (and JHMI in general) is interested in possibly adding an m-learning solution to their portfolio.  All in all, this meeting was extremely beneficial as it helped me get a better grasp for what the project really entailed.

     Following this meeting, I installed the software I would be using to help me build my course, Articulate Studio.  Articulate is a course authoring tool for designing engaging e-learning courses.  Rather than existing as a separate entity, it is a plug-in for Microsoft PowerPoint which shows up an additional tab.  The Studio consists of the following components: 
     Presenter - core tool used to create flash-based courses
     Quiz Maker - tool to create flash-based quizzes
     Engage - tool to add interactions for courses (e.g. timelines, situations)

     Besides familiarizing myself with the different tools offered in Articulate, I also continued to review the various LoC training materials, and tried to organize all the electronic training materials (e.g. documentation, video, etc.) accordingly on my computer.

JHMI Internship: Introduction

     This blog post commences the independent study / internship I will be embarking upon this semester as part of my Master's degree in Instructional Technology - Instructional Design & Development.  I will be working for Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHMI), within the Interactive Learning department.  Interactive Learning is responsible for all web-based and instructor-led training courses for JHM.  
     
     As an intern, I will be responsible for designing, developing and delivering on online supplement for a face-to-face training program entitled The Language of Caring (to be described in the next post).  By completing bi-weekly blog posts such as this, I will be able to reflect on my experiences throughout the course of the project.

Final Project

Well, here it is - my final project.

The following is description of what was expected in our written paper and technology product:

Written Paper
You will create a unit of instruction on the topic of your choice within which a technology that you have “mastered” is integrated to improve student learning. The instructional unit, which acts as the setting within which this technology is integrated, should be described with a focus on the design process. This written portion of the project should set the stage for how the technology is used. This paper should show an understanding and ability to implement the design process and include topics such as: audience, definition of the problem, goals and objectives, learning and teaching styles, implementation, assessment, etc. As with all projects completed in this course, you are asked to use correct spelling and grammar, write in a scholarly manner, and use references where necessary to strengthen and support your ideas. All references should follow APA guidelines. This paper should be no longer than ten pages in length.

Technology Products
Depending on your project choice, your technology products should include 1) all technology-related instructional products you create for use in your unit and, when appropriate 2) a model of a student project resulting from your lesson.

As mentioned previously in Week 13, my unit of instruction was a teacher training course covering the use of social bookmarking for sharing resources online. As also previously mentioned, my social bookmarking tool of choice was Diigo, primarily because of its popularity, great mix of features and ease of use. I also developed my course using a free online course authoring called Udutu. I decided to go with Udutu rather one of the mainstream course authoring tools (e.g. Adobe Captivate, Articulate Studio, etc.) for a few reasons: 1) Cost (Udutu is free), 2) Ease of use (Udutu is fairly intuitive), 3) Accessibility (Udutu courses can be accessed from any computer). Although use of Udutu isn’t so widespread, I still feel like it afforded me a valuable first experience in eLearning course development.

Aside from the tools, working on the paper was also highly beneficial. Reflecting back on all the theories we covered over the term and actually applying them in a lesson was priceless. It felt like everything we learned about finally paid off.

All in all, no doubt it was a lot of work, but an experience I will value for some time to come. I honestly never expected to learn so much in just this one introductory course. I am really excited about what other opportunities future classes in the Masters program will present.

My written paper can be found here: Final Project - Paper (http://bit.ly/iS6Bol)
My technology product can be viewed here: Final Project - Technology Product (http://bit.ly/iHoCFb)
The accompanying storyboard for my technology product can be found here: Final Project - Storyboard (http://bit.ly/jDbD6M)

My presentation is here (as posted in Week 14): Final Project - Presentation (http://bit.ly/iiJjmk)

Any comments and feedback and greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Week 15 (May 10 - 16, 2011)

Well, after a short 15 weeks, the class has finally come to a close. In general, I really enjoyed it. Not only did the class incorporate a nice mix of theoretical as well as applied aspects, but the instructor was also very knowledgeable and easy to work with.

For the final class, we had an open forum where everyone got to mention what they benefited most from the class, and what they hope to improve on for the future. It was really interesting to hear what everyone had to say. We were also asked to make one final post on our blog space discussing resource challenges and personal/internal stressors over the course of the term. My post can be read below.

As for my final project details, I will be posting them later this week.

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Resource Challenges
I think one project that was a (beneficial) challenge for me was the digital storytelling project. I’ve watched so many digital stories before, but never gone through the actual process of compiling one.

At the start, it seemed like it would be easy to complete but once I started going through it, I quickly found out I really did not know what I was getting myself into. I guess it depends on the effort one wants to put into their project, but between trying to write an entertaining story, recording yourself telling it, trying to mix in background music, finding good pictures to match, incorporating transitions between pictures, dealing with the mishaps of Windows Movie Maker (or whatever software used), etc., etc.

Basically, it took me a lot of time to get my project where I wanted, and I now have a much greater appreciation for digital stories and the effort people put into creating them.


Personal/Internal Stressors
I don’t know if I really had any stressors to deal with over the semester, but one thing that was new to me which I greatly valued was the material on learning/teaching theories. I’ve been exposed to technology for awhile now and have used it before in lessons, but I’ve never been able to give an educated explanation as to why it should be used other than something like “it’s cool.”

I also appreciate doing the final paper as it gave me the chance to finally put this knowledge to use and make a case for my technology integration proposal, supported with proofs. One small suggestion I have though for the future is to possibly make these topics worth more in the grading. I know the focus was meant to be on the design process, but I feel these are also very important prerequisites to the design process.

Week 14 (May 3 - 9, 2011)

We are in the final stretch as our final projects are due next week so, as you can probably imagine, no readings again this week.

Over the past week, I mostly concentrated on completing the storyboard and developing my course. So far, I have a pretty good portion completed. This week however, I need to focus more on the paper.

In addition, we also had to make a presentation in class discussing what are project is about. The following is a brief description of what was required:

Presentation
During the final days of class you will be asked to present your project to your peers for the purposes of sharing, feedback, and evaluation. This presentation should be no more than ten minutes and describe the design processes used and how the technology was integrated. This presentation should be viewed as an informal time for you to share your ideas and views on the design process and technology integration.

My presentation can be viewed below.

Week 13 (April 26 - May 2, 2011)

No readings again this week as the term is winding down now and everyone is hard at work preparing their final projects.

I will use this post to briefly talk about the final project. The following is a summary of what is expected from us:

In the final cumulative project, you will create a unit of instruction on the topic of your choice within which a technology that you have “mastered” is integrated to improve student learning. You are encouraged to take advantage of the time spent on this project to create something that would be appropriate for a current or future teaching situation (if applicable). The project contains three parts: a written paper, technology products, and a brief presentation.

This project is designed to allow you to express your understanding and experience applying the theories, concepts, and technologies taught within this course. This project should show a strong understanding of all concepts covered throughout the semester, including but not limited to proficiency with computer technologies, design techniques, and theories of learning and teaching. When designing this project, view this as your opportunity to experiment with the theories and technologies you have learned over the past semester.

For my project, I am planning to design a teacher training course on the use of Diigo (http://www.diigo.com), a popular social bookmarking tool, as a means of sharing resources online. The technology tool I have decided to use in order to deliver the lesson is Udutu (http://www.udutu.com), a free online course authoring tool. I am very familiar with Diigo but Udutu, and course authoring in general, is still new to me. Although, the assignment calls for us to use a technology we’ve “mastered” I discussed with my instructor my desire to get some exposure to course authoring tools, so I got the “OK”. Although I know this project will definitely be a challenge, I am highly motivated so am confident everything will work out.

Photoshop Essentials Workshop #1 (April 30, 2011)

They’re offering a 3-week Photoshop workshop on campus so, being I have limited knowledge in using the software, I thought it would be beneficial to attend.

The first session was a basic introduction to the various functions found in the software. We actually created three different pieces which you can find below.

The first piece (the blue and white ship) uses a technique known as contrasting.
The second piece (London text over photo) was done using a layer masking technique. This technique is commonly used in postcard printing.
The third piece (4 London photos) uses a colorization technique. Andy Warhol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol) was especially known for using this style.

At the moment, I am fairly confident as all three were pretty easy to make. However, what the instructor has planned for the future sessions may not be so simple so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.