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Usually, most of the reading I do is over subject matters about which I have a small bit of background. And usually, I might have to look up an occasional word or two online, but there is not a concerted need to redefine basic terms. However, when I dip into very new information, I am finding myself actually having to taken a more systematic approach to the learning. I have to actually take notes. I have to actually write up ...
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Whenever I advise on a new project, I let the principals know that it’s smarter to get all rights releases up front and right away rather than get inspiration for some new work and then have to chase new rights. After all, the individuals in a project have their own lives and interests. They will not be statically waiting and available to give their assent. The legwork put into chasing down individuals may be generally simple with the affordances ...
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From firsthand experience, after many years of creating diagrams using 2D drawing tools, I find that my initial temptations in building digital visualizations is to noodle with the data to try to get a certain visual output. I was chastened to realize that one tool would allow the download of the original data set, which would confuse any users and would show that the data had been massaged for a certain output. (I was trying to get the system to ...
Continue reading Building in One’s Mental Models into a Data Visualization
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Sometimes, at a local conference, there will be other conference organizers who will approach with invitations. These may be invitations to collaborate. They may be invitations to present at their respective conferences. Oftentimes, a few months afterwards, nothing is remembered about the conversations. There are the occasional cards that are exchanged. And that’s that.
However, every so often, the original invitee remembers, and the invitation is reiterated closer to when the actual conference is being held.
The first hurdle ...
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To be a basically effective instructional designer, there is maybe a listing of a dozen and a half software programs that are useful to know in-depth (or at least to be on one’s way of knowing in-depth). There are many opportunities to learn new apps and new devices (all with simple interfaces). Where things get interesting is when one pursues new software technologies to add to the skill set. The challenge here starts not in the long lag times ...
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Writing a prospectus can be quite arduous. Many in academia have been through this process. It’s not one that most make a regular part of their lives. I know of many who have burned out at the first attempt because it’s tough to put together, and it’s tough to get rejections from publishers. Others have gotten initial okays on projects only to have them pulled by publishers. Still, the act of putting together a book prospectus enables ...
Continue reading Flying a Prospectus by Listing Competitive Texts
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The expectations for responding to critiques of chapter drafts are high. A respondent is supposed to address all critiques point-by-point in order to show their sincerity and professionalism in revising a work. The quality of their revision and the sincerity and thoroughness of their responses will inform whether their work finds a place in the ultimate publication.
Even if there is something as generous as a contingent acceptance, this is a conditional, and that means that the editor(s) or ...
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The rule of the Oxford comma applies to many aspects of instructional design. The Oxford comma is the comma that comes before the end in a list of multiple objects. The rule is that if it is used once in a work, it always has to be used. If it is left out, it should not be used once. The basic concept is uniformity in the document. Those who work in document design are aware of these rules as well ...
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With how many open-source resources I use on various instruction design and development projects, it is now almost second nature to me to go through the motions of citing every resource and giving credit where it’s due. It feels right to give others their due even if that little note in the alt-text of an image and in the notes of a slideshow will never have any effect on the contributor’s work life. It’s all part of ...
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by Eruditio Loginquitas
29 April 2012
There are plenty of endeavors to try to assess the quality of an online course. One method involves looking at the quality of the interactivity in the course.
Interactivity, of late, has been defined by the Feds as regular and substantive interactions between online instructors and their students. Having regular interactivity and other aspects of online learning quality will head off the labeling of a course as a mere correspondence one (e.g. the exchanges of learning materials by electronic ...
Continue reading Gauging the Quality Online Course Interactivity and Learner Feedback
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At a conference I attended last year, a panel of presenters addressed different sorts of learning analytics tied to learning / course management systems and learning sites to help enhance the power of learning. This is very much the new thing—well, a revisioning of an old phenomenon—the idea of collecting behavioral data to profile learners in order to better serve their learning needs. This is yet another endeavor to tap into the “black box” of learning and to try ...
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There’s a lot to be said for intense work projects. They challenge one’s skills. They humble one in terms of what one knows. They offer opportunities for learning. They offer chances to work on teams. They really help bring one out of boring routines even as the learning curve provides all sorts of demands. They challenge one’s skill sets, and they tend to condense the work in time, which means an extra layer of pressure (generally positive ...
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So shortly after a presentation to a small group of academics at a local conference, my supervisor swung by and asked if I would present the same work again in the main conference. I politely declined—for a number of reasons—but the main one was that it was the same hosting organization that would be engaging us. While the audience members would be possibly different and more plentiful in the main conference, I felt that repeating the topic would ...
Continue reading Avoiding the Repetition of Public Presentations
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This link is from a recent presentation the C2C Spring Symposium at Hutchinson Community College
Using Tableau Public for Spatial and Trendline Data Visualization: An Early Exploration
Continue reading Using Tableau Public...for Data Visualization
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After a project is completed and delivered successfully, there is a slight bounce in both attitude and in time because all the weight and demands of the prior project have essentially disappeared (at least until the next round of work). At those times, one is able to consider possibly taking on something new and interesting. I really like these junctures because the world of possibilities seems to open up—even though whatever one proposes really has to be built on ...
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Much as I don’t want to admit this, there is a degree of tit-for-tat in professional work. More specifically, people generally will not ask for more than they give—with a few exceptions. And in general, if one gives others a lot of work on a project, they will often strive to return the favor. Those were the general assumptions that I was working with in relation to a colleague of mine who was writing a critical chapter for ...
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There has been much talk about information workers and how we are working in an information economy. This is a valid description for the work of instructional design as well. Plenty of our time is spent learning and packaging that learning in creative ways for various learners.
I suppose every person’s computer work space has its own peculiarities. People have certain organizational structures for where they like to have their information and software placed. When one of my supervisors ...
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Those who engage in semi-creative work know what this phenomenon is—this issue of chasing a muse. While I was aware of this in relation to creative writing, I am realizing that this actually does occur, too, with getting into the right mindset to conduct targeted research, create a diagram, write slideshows, analyzing data, draft out articles, design an animation, or to do other work that requires a high level of concentration.
Sometimes if I have more difficult work, I ...
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While slideshows are much-maligned in the boutique-y parts of academia, they are still very much a staple of presentations—both face-to-face and online. And indeed, slideshows have evolved with the times. They not only offer some sequencing and visuals, but there are many ways to present data in tables and columns and informational graphics. There’s live linking. There are notes that may be integrated. Those who prefer voice and interactivity may add those elements as well. This entry, though ...
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Years ago, at a conference on the East Coast, I attended a session by a man working in instructional design who created an automated training (a slideshow) to fulfill compliance requirements for his private company. He had trainees from all over the world who had to go through the compliance trainings annually on a variety of topics, to fulfill a legal requirement, and his job was to make the training as direct and simple and effective as possible. Back then ...