WOL eLearning Lessons Learned

 WOL eLearning Lessons Learned

The last week was excruciating. But, I always say that anything worth doing is hard work, and learning design is obviously no different. I just plugged away at the work as much as I could, didn't stress too much about "moving targets,” and managed to be quite successful, just maintaining the pace. I'm eons away from being able to call myself an authentic learning designer, but I'm also eons closer to it than I was 2 weeks ago! The growing pains were, well, painful, but boy, do I feel great about myself now! And, I'm beginning to see what I'm capable of with continued effort. I learned so much through this sticky, prickly, painful, (and exhilarating!) process. This has to be quite a bit like what the real world of learning design actually looks and feels like, and I’ve learned that if I can weather this, then I can weather that. 

  In my life, I’ve never learned much when I was comfortable and things came to me easily. Yes, this course was hard, and I really wish I could’ve had the full six weeks to build my module, rather than the two that felt like a crash course of cramming everything into my module at once, and learning (and mostly teaching myself!) on the fly. But, I learned where to look for answers (thank you Slack and YouTube!!), and I pulled out all the stops on resources. My 16-year-old reminded me to write the title of my project in the code, and saved me after more than half an hour of trying to submit my module. So, I used human, AI, video, app, professor, and assistant professor resources to the max. 

  The planning was the most challenging part of this process. At first, I thought I was doing a great job of putting together a wireframe, and planning out the project. It felt a lot like the hundreds of outlines I’ve created for essays. However, I have realized that the wireframe has to be so much more than just an outline. I think in order to be successful at developing the module, the wireframe has to be extremely detailed, like a Detailed Design Document. Once you get to the point of building the module, all the working parts must already be in place, and all the minor and major details worked out. This would make the building process so much less complicated.

The other part that was so challenging for me was figuring out all the technology. I did a great job of recording all the audio in one sitting, and I was prepared to clip it into sections for each of my slides. However, no matter how many formats I had saved the file on my computer, it wouldn’t play in the module. It was more than a little aggravating. I finally had to record my narration over again, and this in the eleventh hour, so I was feeling a massive amount of frustration by that point, and then the audio sounded terrible. So, I see the need for a well-thought-out plan of action, and the majority of labor should be spent on creating the wireframe, narration, deciding on graphics beforehand, etc. I think the process would go so much more smoothly under those circumstances.
I did have to navigate so much on my own. But, perhaps that’s the nature of this business? I am definitely one who learns best doing it myself rather than being shown how to do it. I won’t forget the lessons I had to learn by trial and error. So, if I had to do it all over again, I would. I actually feel like a designer now. I wish I’d had 14 weeks to perfect my module, because I’m still unhappy with it, but that’s also another part of the nature of design. It’ll never feel complete. But, I’m going to get better (and hopefully faster) at it the more I practice it. 

I think we’re already beginning to see what the future could look like by having the opportunity to use our AI mentors through the course. Unfortunately, I didn’t utilize that resource much- I mostly forgot about it. When I was working on my online Bachelor’s degree, AI wasn’t invented yet, so I’m still in the dark ages of pulling everything out of my own head, and consulting the Encyclopedia Britannica (which is now just Google). However, Generative AI, Augmented Reality and microlearning will all play a tremendous role in digital learning, and may even begin to replace traditional classroom learning. It’s highly possible that as we embrace these technologies, public education will be replaced with home-based online learning options.

Furthermore, according to Generative AI, Augmented Reality can currently be used by doctors to practice on virtual patients until they perfect their procedures. It can also be used as an immersive language learning tool, where students can learn alongside other virtual students who are practicing with them. Another option is the gamification of learning, which we all know makes learning so much more engaging and interesting. Lastly, it can be used to allow real time discussion and instantaneous feedback, which is critical for budding students. All of these technologies will improve the face of education, and make learning more accessible and fun. The future of learning design is exciting, as it will enable both learners and instructors to remove boundaries that currently impede learning.

Reference

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT  [How is augmented reality used in elearning]. https://chat.openai.com/chat