Designing Computer-Based Learning Materials

Alan Clarke

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9780367000745
• eBook ISBN:
  9780429815720
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

First published in 2001, this volume demonstrates how computer-based learning has the potential to provide a highly motivating learning experience, that it also has the potential to achieve exactly the opposite, and that the difference between these two extremes is the quality of the learning design.

The challenge for the learning designer isn't a simple one. You are being asked to prepare interactive learning for someone you can't see and with whom the only interaction you are likely to have is via limited written communication. Fortunately help is at hand in Alan Clarke's Designing Computer-Based Learning Materials.

Dr. Clarke offers a definitive guide to each of the many elements involved in good design. This book explores the principles of adult learning, and relates to the potential, features and impact of computer-based learning.

This is not a 'how to…' book, but rather one seeking to help you understand the different elements which go into computer-based learning. If you are commissioning material, it will help you to understand the contractors' constraints. If you are designing materials yourself, it will allow you to avoid many of the errors it is all too easy to make when developing them.

Computer-based learning materials are not all the same: their range reflects the variety of learners that use them and purposes they are used for; the different learning environments that are available to people; the different subjects that they wish to learn and the level to which they wish to take them.

In the face of such a complex task, involving so many factors and variables, it is essential that the learning designer understands what is involved and uses a rigorous process for envisioning, planning, designing, implementing and testing their solution. This is a book about learning design and not about software production and, as such, it provides any aspiring designers with the fundamentals of producing the highly motivating learning experience, which should be their objective.

Chapter 1
Interaction and learning

By the end of this chapter you will have been introduced to:

1. ● the features of computer-based learning
2. ● characteristics of the learners
3. ● the relationship between interaction and learning
4. ● the different degrees of interaction
5. ● the role that questions and feedback can play in interaction
6. ● how navigation can enhance interaction
7. ● human-to-human interaction.

Computer-based learning

Computer-based learning has the potential to provide a highly motivating learning experience through the use of engaging and adaptable material. However, to fulfil this potential requires the exploitation of those features which it offers for the delivery and support of learning.

The main features are:

• presentation and combination of multiple media (for example, graphics/still images, sound, animation, video, colour and text)
• adaptability (for example, able to change to suit the learners' needs, style and pace)
• dynamic display (for example, windows, scrolling and hypertext links)
• memory (for example, record learners' reactions, test results and pattern of learning)
• patience (for example, computers make no judgement if learners need many attempts to understand the content)
• tirelessness (for example, never need to take a break or go on holiday)
• interactivity (for example, able to respond to the learners' reactions, behaviour and choices).

The critical feature of computer-based learning which makes it different from other media is interactivity – that is, the power of the computer to engage, communicate and adapt to the learner. Learning is an active process, so simply presenting information on a screen is unlikely to be successful. Learners must be able to interact with the content by making choices and receiving feedback. If learners get a question wrong the computer-based learning package can offer feedback to help them to understand why their answer was incorrect. The material can be designed to test their preferred learning style and then alter the presentation and sequence to best meet the learners' preference. In a similar way they can be tested for their knowledge of the subject so that they are not asked to study material they already understand. In addition many choices can be offered to the learners so that they can personally customize the learning experience.

Characteristics of the learners

Interaction depends on the stimuli that the computer-based learning material can present to the learners. Different learners will respond to stimuli in a range of ways so it is important to be aware of the characteristics of the group you are designing for. The factors which may influence the learners' response include:

• age
• computer literacy
• previous experience of computer-based learning
• educational experience
• learning skills
• gender
• physical characteristics
• reading age
• knowledge of the subject
• first language.

These factors will be considered in more detail in later chapters but the design of computer-based learning should always commence with a consideration of the learners' needs and characteristics. For example:

1. Learners who have never used a computer could find interacting with a display by pointing and clicking with a mouse so distracting that they ignore the learning material in favour of the challenge the mouse presents.
2. Men are more likely to be colour blind than women so material which relies solely on an object changing colour to provide feedback may not be perceived by a proportion of male users.
3. Older learners may not have the manual dexterity to operate input devices with the degree of accuracy required.

In addition to looking at learner needs and characteristics, the designer should consider what are the features of successful learning and how computer-based learning can provide them.

Adult learning

Materials and activities which support successful adult learning must:

• be relevant and meaningful to the learners
• allow for the extensive life experience of adults
• allow for the different motives of the learners
• engage all the learners' senses
• allow for the different learning styles of the learners.

Interactive computer-based learning materials have the potential to provide these features since they:

• use a range of media to engage all the senses and motivate the learners
• can be designed to provide individualized experiences
• can be designed to adapt to the different learning styles of the learners
• provide learning in meaningful chunks
• can allow material and media to be selected to meet learners' needs and characteristics
• maximize learners' choices to enable them to select what is appropriate to meet their own needs
• provide opportunities for self-assessment.

However, in all cases to realize the potential of computer-based learning requires effective interactive design.

What is interaction?

Good tutors will adapt their methods to the learners' needs and behaviour. They will observe the learners and change their approach according to the reaction of the students. If they are finding a subject difficult the tutors should present it in a different way (for example, by using more examples). Equally, they can speed up their delivery if the group are finding it too easy. The tutor and student are communicating with each other and both will make changes to suit the other. In a similar way, computer-based learning material and the learner must take part in a two-way dialogue. Each must change and adapt to the other.

Figure 1.1 shows the process between the material and the learners that takes place through the computer interface. The interface is important in that it presents the stimuli to which the learners react as well as providing feedback to them about their response to the stimuli.

Figure 1.1 Simple interaction

Successful learning depends on a high degree of interaction between the learners and the material. Interaction is not simply about making the learners touch the keys or click on icons. It is about engaging their minds. Learners must be motivated, engaged and excited by computer-based learning. They must be able to:

• consider options
• sort information
• draw conclusions
• answer questions
• take notes
• reach decisions
• take action
• reflect on what they are experiencing
• make inferences.

Computer-based learning has the potential to provide extensive interaction and therefore be a powerful means of delivering learning experiences. Nevertheless it is perfectly possible to produce some computer-based learning which is almost free of interaction. Described as electronic page turning, it is little more than a book presented on the screen. The degree of interaction and engagement in simply clicking on a button to turn the page is likely to be minimal. The learners' choice is limited to moving forward and back. Yet this is preferable to forcing the learner to watch passively a sequence of displays without any option to interrupt their flow or stop the action. Short sequences of page turning can be acceptable.

Interactivity implies making purposeful links and not random selections. The learners make deliberate selections about where to go next and what to do. They are engaged in learning about the subject, not wandering aimlessly from screen to screen (for example, like flicking through television channels with a remote control). The learners have a purpose which they are trying to achieve through interacting with the contents of the computer-based learning.

Many people would consider that a learner reading a book is a passive process. However, if you observe readers with an objective they are very active, They do not simply read from the first to the last page. They make conscious decisions about what to read. They browse the contents, read selected items, consider the index and table of contents, place bookmarks at locations that they identify as important and make notes. This is an active process in which the reader is interacting with the book. The book's content is motivating the reader. In a similar way computer-based learning needs to stimulate the learners to pursue their aims. The computer provides far more potential for interaction and presentation of content than a book.

Interaction is about:

• active participation and engagement
• learning by doing
• making decisions
• selecting between options
• providing individualized feedback
• alternative choices
• motivation.

Interaction is not about:

• passive viewing of material
• absorbing information like a sponge
• allowing the system to make your decisions
• single routes through the material.

Degrees of interaction

The degree of interaction depends on:

• presenting the contents in a motivating and engaging way
• providing effective feedback on the learners' performance
• maximizing the choices available to the learners
• providing activities to enhance learning, such as tests and questions.

This chapter will introduce you to all four of these elements in order to build on their roles later in the book.

The degree of interaction in computer-based learning material will vary considerably between and within packages. The levels of interaction below place an emphasis on learners' choice and navigation. This ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Introduction
• 1 Interaction and learning
• 2 Communication styles
• 3 Types of computer-based learning material
• 4 Assessment methods
• 5 Use of text
• 6 Use of colour
• 7 Use of graphics
• 8 Multimedia
• 9 Online learning design
• 10 Screen layout
• 11 Content
• 12 Evaluation
• Index