Week 6: Iteration of course development

 Hello, my peers!

It is the final reflection for the R547 class. In my last blog, I would like to look back on my journey over the past 6 weeks.

Trying new things always gives me stress and stimulation. Designing web-based instruction has been one of them for me. Lack of time, self-designing instruction, studying basic knowledge related to web development, and coding made it difficult to proceed with the project. Fortunately, thanks to Dr. Scott’s detailed explanations, feedback, and good learning materials, the project seems to have progressed without big issues. Luckily, I've been thinking about the content of this instruction for a long time. So, I think I was able to devote that time to the detailed instruction content and website design instead of spending time deciding on the content. I've never done web development, but I am currently working as a mobile app developer, so writing codes were relatively easy to understand and use. Of course, the basic rules and interfaces are totally different from what I am using, so I couldn't get the most out of them, but I was able to properly express what I wanted to implement. 

There were more things to consider when designing a web-based instruction than I thought. I took into consideration the features of the web that can be used for making users actively interact with the learning content. This was difficult because I lacked experience in instructional design and had never done web development. My original plan for this instruction had to be changed because of a short learning time. Also, the majority of learning content I planned initially had to be removed or changed to focus on one important learning point: designing a mobile app. I guess I was trying to design the class from the developer's point of view, not the learner's point of view. The presented prototype learning content is too much and difficult to learn in one hour. Without user testing, I would not have received this important feedback. A one-hour class should give the learner one point of knowledge or skill. I learned how important designing a proper length of learning content is when designing instruction. Too much learning can be a factor that stresses learners and ultimately reduces their interest. Therefore, deciding the appropriate content scope is essential. The good thing about being web-based is that it can be continuously modified or updated. This is similar to the development process in app development. In mobile app development, test-problem discovery-problem correction-testing process is repeated until no more bugs or issues with UI/UX and functions. I am also doing this process right now. I am working on iteration on the instruction whenever getting feedback from Dr. Scott or users. I still can't implement the desired function precisely due to a lack of web development knowledge, but I want to study more in the near future and implement and connect the evaluation activity class on the web. Next, I want to implement mobile-based learning content. It would be good to design learning content using features such as portable, offline working, and phone functions that only mobile has. What is needed as an education practitioner is to use the available new technologies as educational materials by making good use of their characteristics in the educational environment. In order to do that, it seems that we should not be afraid of new changes and try to challenge with an open mind.