Course wrap-up

Well, this is it. And what a ride!

What did I learn about being an instructional designer? 

First, is the role of creativity. In the creative problem-solving process, of the three stages -- problem preparation, idea generation, and idea evaluation -- the most difficult will present itself in the idea generation stage (Herring et al, 2009). No wonder here. Generating creativity calls to mind a blank slate that must be filled, which produces all sorts of anxiety for me because I don't feel like I'm all that creative. 

That's why "sketching" my design project was so helpful for me. I took to drawing out as much detail as I could -- slides, pop-up questions, and ideas for interactivity. The "thinking sketch" (van der Lugt, 2005) helped me see my ideas in the big story and places for improvement. I didn't, unfortunately, stick to the design I'd put on paper. Once I started building, I'd get a new idea or see a neat interactivity function that I'd want to try. 

My random designing and creation enthusiasm is understandable, though. Meyer (2015) mentions in Design Thinking that designers acquire mastery through practice; not study. I watched several Storyline tutorials, but I realized watching was moot unless I tried myself. Actually doing the doing in the module helped me learn faster and feel more confident. Had I experimented earlier and more often, the small mistakes I made at first would've been far easier to adjust. This conundrum reminded me of the advice from the Norman (2013) reading to focus on the problem. How many times do we jump into problem-solving without first addressing the problem?

As I took some time to slow down and remember what I'd learned in the tutorials and from my own activities, I began to see the problem wasn't my creativity at all. It's that I wanted to do everything I saw. I'd see a learning journal and want to add that. Next, it was this "cool feature" I thought would work great, so it just had to go in there. So my next lesson was that one course doesn't have to include every feature. Granted, I did more experimenting with features to test how they worked, but I never went back to modify the module if the feature would best work somewhere else. I didn't want to undo my work.

This was a major drawback for me. But by the end of the course, time and circumstance got in the way. I decided to delete slides I couldn't flesh out and remove "advanced" features so that at least the simple interactivity would work. "The client doesn't know the intention here," I'd go. So, although I did, if something was confusing it needs to go, despite my effort and good intentions.

I did way too much. Comparing other folks' projects to mine was both good and bad. Good because I got ideas about ways to improve mine, but also bad because it tanked my confidence. I am not a visual creator. Much of ID is visual though. If the aesthetic is a flop, it doesn't matter what the material says. The learner will either get frustrated or confused. Design with the learner in mind -- empathic design (Kouprie and Visser, 2009).

Peer review

Diane Yang: 101 About Mints

• *ID note: Use "exit" button to return home / "play," pause," "stop" on video with icon
• I chose to review this project because the topic is simple and common. This made me curious how she developed the course.
• For one thing, the aesthetic looks clean and user-friendly. The interactivity uses common icons that a user would have used on other platforms, so there isn't much need for direction. The layout is easy to view and the flow is structured well.
• The slides also aren't too busy. The learner is encouraged to learn without being bombarded by too many graphics or confusing instructions.
• Including recipes as PDFs is a great way to include content without crowding up the course, so it's great that she shared ways to infuse mint discussion into the learner taking action. 

Closing note

I'm appreciative of this introduction to instructional design. It took some effort to get to this point, but it helped me realize a great deal in the process. 

For one, I don't have the mental capacity at the moment to think of fresh design, so perhaps graduate school should go on hold. Being a single mother with domestic issues, the more I played with the course the more I felt like a hypocrite. Here I am showing mindfulness, meanwhile, in real life I'm stressed and exhausted. 
I don't feel like my final projects in either of my courses show the effort, time, and energy I put in. That might be the part that's the most frustrating. I know I worked hours and hours on something that looks basic and shows several errors I either tried to fix or I know I fixed.

That brings me to Storyline. I don't know why it's glitchy. Sometimes the very issue I corrected would not show in Review. Maybe I published too many times? Hoepfully that's why we had to also provide the .story link because Review didn't seem to always review what I'd tested (and seen) in the preview.

Thank you for this opportunity.