Here are two tools that can help you visualize your learners’ experience as they go through your materials, plus some ideas for other visualization techniques.
Three-dimensional graph
You can use a simple spreadsheet in Excel or Open Office to produce a graph like this:
The above example tracks interactivity, challenge, and the use of story through an online course, but you can measure any factors. A graph like this can help you identify potential problem spots or highlight a lack of variation in your materials.
Two-dimensional chart
The above spreadsheet was inspired by a tool by Patrick Dunn that maps similar factors in a color-coded chart. You can sketch Patrick’s tool on a sheet of paper–no spreadsheet required.
Are there other ways to visualize learner engagement?
Patrick recently wrote,
So much e-learning that I review is one-paced. It moves along without any great forethought about how quickly a learner will move through it, whether they’re interacting or not, how deeply (or not) they need to be engaged, and above all, how this changes over time, in relation to the general flow of events.
Patrick is looking for other ways to visualize the pace of learning materials.
Track your “plot”
One approach could be to identify the plot that underlies the elearning material. You don’t need to use a story to have a plot. Your materials can identify a problem, increase the urgency and complexity of the problem, and then resolve it–a classic storytelling approach.
It’s the urgency that’s often missing in elearning, because our materials often present the solution immediately. This is one reason Michael Allen’s “test, then tell” approach can make materials more compelling.
Add learner control for another dimension
If you present problems and let your learners decide how to solve them, a learner’s path through your materials could look like this map by Peter Hoffmann of the University of Luebeck:
For example, as a learner makes choices in a branching scenario, they veer back and forth a bit, but the overall design propels them upward, into more suspense. For more ideas on visualizing simple and learner-influenced plots, see Expanding the Story Line by Peter Hoffmann.
Use scaffolding to increase challenge
The above image could also represent the path of a learner who accumulates the skills and knowledge to solve increasingly complex problems with increasing autonomy. For example, the course might:
- Show simple examples that are already complete
- Have the learner complete part of some examples
- Increase the complexity of the examples
- Have the learner complete more of each example
- Finally, have the learner solve complex problems independently
For more on this, see chapter 8 of Efficiency in Learning by Ruth Clark, Frank Nguyen, and John Sweller.
hey cathy – I really like this; let’s keep building on these ideas…