Martha's Digital Musings

U1: Assignment - WOL: The Monster Behind the Screen Two weeks ago I completed and turned in my first eLearning module. It felt like a monstrous task. It was rough and choppy, and if I’d had a little extra time, I would’ve loved to spend a couple weeks refining it. I created it by first using Twine to create a wireframe, then building out the perceived design in Articulate Storyline 360. I’d never heard of either of those technologies before joining the LDT tribe, and I learned so much about them and about myself through those intense weeks. Because I was one hundred percent unfamiliar with either of those technologies, I had to contend with the monster behind the screen. The monster represented my fears of learning a new technology, and the anxiety I felt anytime I sat down to design my module. In reference to emerging technology, Udell and Woodill note that, “The reaction to the new will be different for each individual, depending on the impact of the change on one’s life, one’s tol...

  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 c...

  Martha Pilling LDT 504 8/24/24 My Perspectives on Digital Learning Loosely defined, digitally-mediated learning can include any learning which utilizes an online technology to mediate its students. Under that definition, distance learning, learning management systems, micro-learning through YouTube or LinkedIn, and so forth are all variables of digitally-mediated learning.  Years ago I chose to take a distance learning theater appreciation class through the University of Utah. It was terrible. I was a traditional, on-campus student, so acquiring learning resources at the university was simple. I was required to get a VHS copy of the lecture each week, watch it, converse with my classmates through email, and complete quizzes and tests on the material I “learned” through the VHS tapes. This was at the inception of email, when very few students were familiar with how to use it. I swore email would never catch on, and that it was a completely ineffective way to communicate. How ...

  Martha Pilling LDT 508 6/26/24 WOL Blog Post: Inclusive Learning Design Reflection Upon reflection of the things I have learned over the last several weeks, I can honestly say that I am sad this class has to end. I have enjoyed learning about accessibility, but especially gaining valuable insight through the empathy challenges. Through these exercises, my understanding has been enlightened, and I have learned so many new things. I now understand the need for instructional designers to understand the challenges behind accessibility- Challenges such as visual or hearing impairment, mobility impairment, and sometimes a lack of cultural responsiveness in learning experiences.  The empathy challenges enabled me to put myself in the shoes of those who may experience one or all of these challenges, and how I might navigate my design with those things in mind. For example, it is not difficult to create a website with greater readability, or ensure it has transcripts and closed c...

  WOL: Self-Assessment and Reflection Based on the results from my evaluator self-assessment, I would rate myself as a 3. Though I have gained many skills I did not have before taking this class, I still have so much to learn, and many more skills to polish and refine. Therefore, I think 3 is an accurate and honest description of my growth. This is still a vast improvement over where I started, and I am not disappointed in this level of growth. A 3 is much better than a 0 or 1, and shows development. I am not an expert, but I am also not the novice I was at the beginning. Through some tough growing pains, I have changed for the better as a team member, an evaluator, and as a student. I have discovered how to be a better team member. I have realized that I have to become more detail-oriented, because I made mistakes in my final evaluation presentation when I was discussing our data sources. I have also discovered that I need to be willing to do just about anything for the success ...

Based on what I have learned this week through the readings and the live Zoom session, and on a scale of 1 to 6, I would rate myself a 1 as an evaluator. The reasoning behind this rating is my extremely limited experience with evaluations, but especially my lack of knowledge pertaining to evaluations in relation to LIDT. Nearly all of Stevahn's competencies were new to me, though many of them made logical sense. In accordance with Stevahn’s competencies, I am strong in “Professional Practice, Remain open to the input from others, Interpersonal Competence, Use written communication skills, Use verbal/listening communication skills, Facilitate constructive interpersonal interaction, Demonstrate cross-cultural competence.” I have gained these skills through my current position as a library aide, but also through my Bachelor’s degree in English literature and my extensive background in reading and writing. Working in a school has given me a wealth of opportunities to practice communica...