Development of an Online Orientation for an Instructional Technology ...

Development of an Online Orientation for an Instructional Technology Masters Program By Michael Dixon, Pamela Beveridge, Charlotte Farrior, Beth Ann Williams, William Sugar and Abbie Brown, East Carolina University

Abstract Four graduate students were tasked with creating a real-world solution to a problem faced by the instructional technology masters program in which they were participating. While taking an online course in multimedia instructional product development, part of East Carolina University’s Masters of Science in Instructional Technology degree program, a team of students faced the challenges of being physically separated, lacking some software and hardware tools, and the relatively brief development period of a semester’s time, to produce supplemental instructional content for students new to the masters program. Working from locations scattered throughout North Carolina, the production team found the time and resources, and relied on the strengths of individual team members, to produce an online orientation for students new to the instructional technology masters program. Keywords: Instructional technology, instructional technology orientation, studentdeveloped orientation, instructional technology graduate program, online graduate student orientation, online instructional technology program, student audio testimonials, web-based graduate student orientation.

The Need

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he Masters of Science in Instructional Technology (MS-IT) program faculty at East Carolina University (ECU) sought to provide incoming students with an opportunity to gain a better understanding of program ex-

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TechTrends • November/December 2012

pectations through an orientation to the graduate program. The overall purpose of this online orientation was to effectively introduce and share information about the MS-IT graduate online program so that all students would demonstrate success by being prepared to graduate on time. The purpose of the MS-IT online orientation was to decrease students’ difficulty in locating program and course information while increasing students’ understanding of how best to meet the program’s course objectives and portfolio requirements. This orientation needed to be online, be self-contained and self-sufficient, and it needed no staff or faculty interaction in order for students to complete the content. Specific topic areas required for this online orientation included course expectations, time management best practices, a review of technologies often used in MS-IT courses, a review of ECU’s academic integrity policy and plagiarism, the process for creating and updating online portfolios, and details on ECU’s distance education student services. The MS-IT students assigned to this project sought feedback from 55 existing graduate students and former MS-IT graduates. It was determined that an orientation developed from the student’s point-of-view would be most effective, rather than coming from a department or instructor perspective. Within each module, it was hoped that having actual students speak in their own words on the various subject matter via “testimonials” would retain new student attention, and thus provide a useful resource.

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Review of Existing Online Orientation Modules A review of other comparable university websites targeted at incoming graduate students revealed a mix of admissions information, frequently asked questions, and information technology services information. Indiana University and University of Oklahoma offered simple checklist websites for incoming graduate students, but no comprehensive orientation materials. Stanford University offered a digital handbook for graduate students. University of Tennessee (Knoxville) and Florida State University both offered graduate student orientation websites that offered an abundance of external links to services and basic PowerPointstyle navigation, but lacked any student insight or testimonials. Purdue University offered “live” virtual open house sessions to incoming graduate students majoring in one of its instructional technology programs where they could “meet the faculty”, but there was no involvement of current students. Viewing Purdue University’s archived tours was limited to computers running the Windows operating system only. Checking other high-profile university websites resulted in identifying no online orientations for these respective instructional technology programs and graduate students. Beyond this review of specific Instructional Technology graduate programs, there are other areas that have developed online orientations for their students and employees. West and Barnard (2010) reported on the development of an eLearning orientation program for new employees in a regional hotel chain. Both Carruth, Broussard, Waldmeier, Gauthier, and Mixon (2010) and Hansen, Clark, McCleish, and Hogan (2009) described how their respective face-to-face new orientations for nursing students were redesigned for an online platform within a course management system. Farrell, Driver and Weathers (2011) also provided ample details on the redesign of an online orientation for library instruction students.

The Orientation’s Features The orientation created for ECU’s Master of Science graduate program in Instructional Technology was organized in a hierarchical sequence starting with a basic overview, and working down into more specific coverage of unique instructional technology topics, all written from a student’s perspective.

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Figure 1. Orientation Main Page

The students developing the orientation created a high-end production video to welcome first-time visitors to the orientation site, as seen in Figure 1. Campus footage was recorded using a high definition video camera, animations were screen captures of a pre-programmed Google Earth animation, as well as screen captures of Google Maps showing the ECU campus, ECU’s virtual campus in Second Life, and clips from several learning unit screen captures. The video’s introduction used a portion of Apple Inc.’s iMovie “movie trailer” feature and exported in high definition for further editing in Final Cut Pro. To ensure copyright compliance, one of the project’s students with a masters degree in music wrote and recorded original music heard throughout the video. The video was used to provide a brief “tour” of ECU from the online student’s perspective, as well as introductions of the primary professors in the MS-IT program. All video content was “wrapped” in a Flash container, using YouTube for easy embedding and viewing. A special MSIT channel on youtube.com was developed to hold current and future videos related to the orientation site. Providing a video “tour” of campus for students who likely would never be on campus, except during graduation weekend, was an attempt by the student developers to make online students feel like they are part of the university community. Each unit contained basic information related to the topic and options for access to more details. The wording used was based on a stu-


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Figure 2: Learning Unit with YouTube

dent’s actual experiences. Each learning unit was a self-contained segment that could be reviewed at the learner’s own pace. Navigation guides were clearly visible and accessible on the main page and throughout the individual learning units. Each learning unit utilized the same sequence, which included Introduction, Screencast, Student Testimonials, Conclusion, and Additional Resources as needed. When viewing Welcome - Main a video using YouTube’s Learning Units >>> embedded player, as seen Managing Expectations in Figure 2, the interface Time management provided playback con Technologies to Know >>> trols and the table of con World Wide Web tents remained visible in ECU E-mail order to exit at any time. Blackboard Basics The orientation’s design Microsoft Word allowed for easy access Microsoft Powerpoint to any area or learning Microsoft Excel unit without the need for Adobe Photoshop shortcut links. Adobe Dreamweaver The interface con Adobe Flash tained an expandable left The Portfolio menu, as seen in Figure 3, Plagiarism & Integrity with learning unit topics DE Library Services that the users could naviGetting Help gate as desired. The right Additional Resources side of the screen displayed learning content as selected by the learner from the left Figure 3: Learning Units menu navigation menu. When viewing an actual learning 46


unit, the learner was introduced to the content with an opening paragraph. The embedded YouTube video followed the introduction, showing screencasts and videos demonstrating the unit’s concept(s). Following the embedded video were two MS-IT student audio testimonials providing further insight on real world use of the subject matter within the learning unit. This design provided a consistent layout throughout all learning units and also allowed for content to be viewed on multiple types of devices and screen sizes. In addition to video, the use of royalty-free images and user screenshots were included to help illustrate certain technologies within learning units. These graphics were embedded in the learning unit as necessary and accompanied descriptive text. In addition, audio, video, animation, and still graphics were used to support learning objectives in certain units as well. Screencasts and videos designed for the various learning units were embedded into the HTML-based orientation site using YouTube’s embed code. This offered a seamless and consistent way to deliver video content to viewers without sending them away to another site. As seen in Figure 4, student audio testimonials were also created, based on documented interest of the need for a student perspective as indicated in the project’s needs analysis. It was assumed that honest and direct comments made by students in these reflections provided a clear picture of how to be successful in the MS-IT program. For example, audio testimonials from current MS-IT students reflecting on time management indicated tips such as, “Use your waiting time wisely. When at a doctor’s office, use the waiting time to read a chapter or two,” followed by, “Organize and prioritize the things you do each day and learn to say ‘no’ in order to achieve your goals,” and “celebrate your achievements, no matter how small.” When listening to reflections given on “The Portfolio”, a student recommends, “…don’t wait to build your online portfolio website when nearing the completion of your degree’s required classes.”

Successes and Pitfalls During the development phase of the learning units, it was imperative that the multimedia components created be playable on multiple platforms, such as the Mac OS, Windows, and mobile operating systems, using standard media formats like MP3 and MP4 for ease of viewing. Incorporating YouTube as the delivery method for screencast content provided a more polished look, as the video embed code from YouTube

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seamlessly fit into the HTML-based orientation. Although Flash content is not compatible on many popular portable devices, YouTube videos sense mobile devices and switch video playback to HTML 5 for its video content, offering mobile video support without programming or modifying the orientation specifically for mobile viewing. Unfortunately, audio clips of student perspectives were delivered via a Flash-based interface, which reduced access to these recordings on mobile devices. The students developing the orientation had no programming knowledge that would deliver audio clips for all devices and thus used an open source Flash audio player that could be embedded within the HTML. It was determined the orientation’s audio delivery methods would be adjusted when easier tools were made available to design a mobilefriendly audio player. Due to a semester’s 15-week term, the scattered location of the student developers, and the students’ limited toolsets for creating the multimedia content, certain elements lacked polish and consistency throughout the orientation. Each student developer on the development team was assigned various topics and the development of the content therein. Some student developers had significant graphic design and audio/video editing skills, whereas others had similar skills but lacked access to software or hardware solutions to provide professional results. Had the team been centrally located, the same equipment and software could have been used to make a more consistent product.

Formative Evaluation A fully functioning prototype of the orientation was made available online and an online survey was used to facilitate and collect evaluation data. Feedback from the evaluators, which consisted of both volunteers from the learner analysis and needs analysis phases as well as current MS-IT students (n = 23), offered many positive responses on the prototype’s content. All learning units evaluated received high marks on the survey, indicating they agreed or strongly agreed with the fact that these units were relevant and useful to incoming MS-IT students. Similar positive responses were received when asked about the prototype’s ease of navigation and the site’s organization. Finally, respondents to the survey also gave the “testimonial” idea very high marks as an effective method of reaching out to new students. Some examples of this feedback included, “I think the topics you selected are ones that

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Figure 4: Student audio testimonials

incorporate what we as graduate students ask. ..oh to have known this stuff two years ago!” and “I love the fact that you don’t just give a step-by-step of ‘how to use Excel’ for example, but instead, you give a practical tutorial that is relevant to the student who would be visiting the MS-IT site.” Post survey data, along with comments from the course’s professor, offered useful recommendations and suggested revisions on how to enhance or improve certain areas or units within the prototype. Specifically, the following revisions were suggested: • Create a new unit that focused on how a new MS-IT student would choose the proper course sequence to ensure he or she graduates on time. Additionally, that unit would provide details on the various certificates available and how one might complete the MS-IT degree and also meet the requirements for one or more certificates. • Provide a disclaimer near each embedded YouTube video that indicates some of YouTube.com’s “video recommendations” that appear after the video completes may be irrelevant or inappropriate for some viewers. • Adapt the prototype’s color scheme to ECU official colors based on ECU’s style manual. • Consider a way to make all video content more consistent in quality and look and feel. This may require re-recording some screen casts. • Provide clarity in the “technologies to know” section that learning units were not designed to teach students how to use these technologies, but to introduce them to these tools as they will likely be required to use them at some point during their career as a MS-IT student. In addition, the clarification would also indicate that the units would provide real-world examples on how these tools would be used in MS-IT courses.


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Recommendations and Conclusion For those considering designing a similar online orientation for a degree program, the formative evaluation in this particular project identified several primary improvements and suggestions that would result in a higher quality product. In a future redesign, it was suggested that a new learning unit entitled “MS-IT Program Planning” be added to focus on course availability, suggested sequences, and certificate options. From a production standpoint, the screencasts would be produced with the same software and hardware to insure a higher level of consistency. Student involvement in the orientation design and content development would still provide the most useful orientation, providing real-world feedback to help new students avoid common pitfalls during the degree program, answer common questions, and ensure students graduate on time. Michael Dixon, MS, MM ([email protected]) is an instructional technology consultant and coordinator of technology and distance education services within the College of Fine Arts and Communication at East Carolina University. He also teaches online courses for the School of Music at ECU and is a BMI recording artist and composer. Mr. Dixon’s research interests include best practices in large-enrollment online courses and emerging media. Pamela Beveridge, MS-Instructional Technology ([email protected] and LinkedIn.com) teaches in the North Carolina Community College System, specializing in Microsoft Office and Computer Literacy. Ms. Beveridge has earned the graduate Certificate in Distance Learning and Administration and ComputerBased Instruction and is completing the Certificate for Computer-Based Instruction. Her research interests include use of the Internet and social media in the classroom, faculty training, and online class design using Blackboard and Moodle. As a Rotary International Fellow, she attended the University of Dundee, Scotland. She is a freelance author, contributing to Excel 2010: Comprehensive. Labyrinth Learning, Inc. (Rittman, 2010) and has developed instructional material for instructors using different media.

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Charlotte Farrior ([email protected]) is an independent instructional designer and consultant with over 10 years experience designing customized learning solutions for corporate, academic, health care and government organizations. Beth Ann Williams ([email protected]) is currently pursuing her Masters of Science, Instructional Technology at East Carolina University. She is currently employed with North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Her interests include working with non-profit community-based organizations in developing online instruction in order to enhance and support organizations’ needs. William Sugar is an associate professor and associate chair in the department of Mathematics, Science, and Instructional Technology Education at East Carolina University. His current research interests are developing effective and alternative technology integration strategies for teachers, as well as examining the interrelationship between multimedia production skills and instructional design skills. Abbie Brown is an associate professor in the department of Mathematics, Science, and Instructional Technology Education at East Carolina University. He is co-author of numerous books including, The Essentials of Instructional Design, 2nd Edition (Allyn & Bacon). He is also editor-in-chief of, TechTrends.

References Carruth, A. K., Broussard, P. C., Waldmeier, V. P., Gauthier, D. M., & Mixon, G. (2010). Graduate nursing online orientation course: Transitioning for success. Journal of Nursing Education, 49(12), 687-690. Farrell, S. L., Driver, C., & Weathers, A. (2011). Now’s the time: Online library orientations. Community & Junior College Libraries, 17(1), 7-14. Hansen, E., Clark, C., McCleish, J. M., & Hogan, J. R. (2009). Getting to know you: Development of an RNto-BSN online orientation. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(11), 638-641. West, J. A., & Barnard, M. (2010). Increasing employee knowledge through online orientation. International Journal of Learning, 17(7), 347-358.

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