Abstract
“Online learning contents” for online learning tend towards complexity (and multi-messaging) and may instantiate in different modalities (a variety of analog and digital). “Digital leave behinds” are learning contents that are hosted on websites or repositories or other spaces and are used as part of a post-learning or post-event sequence to help learners refresh on their main ideas, make informed decisions, and advance their knowledge, skills, and abilities/attitudes (KSAs). These digital leave behinds may also be used as stand-alone learning contents usable by the general public, even if the users were not part of the original formal learning or event. These objects must be as comprehensive as possible and practical in application. This work describes the uses of visual instructional design for the creation of multi-messaged and multi-modal (1) learning contents and (2) digital leave behinds.
TopIntroduction
This chapter will explore the following questions:
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What are some effective ways to build online learning contents in multimodal ways, based on research into human perception, cognition, and learning with multimedia?
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In terms of digital leave behinds to combat skills decay and forgetting among learners, what are ways to build these contents as references and as decision support tools? How can these be as comprehensive and stand-alone as possible (to broaden the population of potential users)?
Figure 1. A Word Cloud of Chapter 5
In the design of online learning, “online learning contents/resources” are very commonly created. These include the following: digital learning objects, slideshows, videos, games, simulations, and other artifacts. They also include sets of case studies, videos, imagery, articles, simulations, and other information-based resources. “Digital leave behinds” are a special type of online learning contents, which are residua or byproducts from formal, nonformal, and informal learning sequences (like short- and long- courses, learning experiences) and events, among others. These leave behinds are for people to refresh their memory (as various aide de memoire), review concepts and practices and attitudes from prior learning, assist in decision-making, assist in work-based processes, and other related follow-on work. These may be used in a follow-on additive way to extended learning, or in a stand-alone way as new learning. In most cases, these leave behinds can be separated from the hosting platform and downloaded on its own and even printable in hard copy format in many cases (like posters, like pages for a binder, like electronic books and manuals, and others). Some digital leave behinds ay be extended “assignments,” such as ideas for follow-on work, partial notes for completion, and other ways to “operationalize” the learning from the prior learning sequence or event. (Figure 2) These leave behinds may be used to continue the social network ties from the prior experiences and may reaffirm relationships through social media platforms. Perhaps there may even be continuing messaging in order to maintain the ties. Digital leave behinds have value as stand-alone learning resources, too, for those who may not have been part of the original learning but can use the information or the knowledge or the addressed skill.
Figure 2. Topic Sequence in Visual Approaches to Instructional Design, Development, and Deployment
This chapter will address the following questions:
- •
What are some effective ways to build online learning contents in multimodal ways, based on research into human perception, cognition, and learning with multimedia?
- •
In terms of digital leave behinds to combat skills decay and forgetting among learners, what are ways to build these contents as references and as decision support tools? How can these be as comprehensive and stand-alone as possible (to broaden the population of potential users)?
Key Terms in this Chapter
Processed Electronic Files: Refined digital files with a range of dimensions addressed in the work.
Integration: The bringing together of various separate parts into a coherent or cohesive whole.
Raw Electronic Files: Undeveloped or unrefined digital files.
Refinement: The act of removing impurities, the introduction of nuance.
Digital Leave Behind: A type of online learning contents, which are residua from learning sequence and events in order to benefit learners (including the general public).
Online Learning Contents: Digital learning resources hosted on the web and internet.