Mapping the Ocean Floor Project

This mobile multimedia microlearning experience enables college students to learn about a science topic, 'Mapping the Ocean Floor', within a short amount of time. At the end of this learning session, students can describe the benefits of mapping the ocean floor and be able to create 2D and 3D models.

Audience: College students 

Responsibilities: Mobile e-Learning, Instructional Design, Visual Design

Learning Theory: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Connectivism

ID Model: ADDIE

Tools: Articulate Rise, Open Education Resource Commons

Teachers in a college were looking for ways to improve student engagement while conducting science lab activities. Currently, information was shared in the form of printed handouts during class. This resulted in disengaged students, misplaced papers, prep work not getting done on time and poor learning outcomes.   

To improve this situation, I suggested shifting to mobile e-learning by incorporating microlearning techniques and multimedia. Under this approach, I included learning objects such as an overview of the goals of the learning session, important concepts, useful flashcards, notes for prep work to be done at home, instructions for hands-on activities, a knowledge check to recall important information and further resources for reading. 

This approach turned out to be a highly appealing learning resource for college students. It became an easily accessible resource anytime-anywhere, improved student engagement and ensured better learning outcomes. 

Define Learning Objectives

At the outset, I clearly defined the goal of the microlearning. I determined, explicitly stated and described three important learning outcomes. This laid a foundation for designing the rest of the content in the learning experience. This also helped learners understand the goals they were working towards.

Collect relevant content from OER Commons

I used the Open Education Resources Commons to glean relevant content to build the module. In this case, I used content that was available under a Public Domain Dedication License (Attribution below). I extracted useful portions of the lesson plan and incorporated it into the microlearning module. 

Content Attribution: 'Mapping The Ocean Floor' By Catherine Tripp. The activity/lab is licensed as Public Domain Dedication under CC0.  

Development

I used Articulate Rise for quick project development. Using this tool, I was able to click together various components and pages to create a seamless mobile learning experience. 

In order to effectively offer information in easy to digest bite-sized pieces, I chunked the content obtained from OER . On each page, I offered minimal text and highlighted important terminology in Bold. 

To improve memory retention, I added fun to use digital flash cards.

I incorporated images from the content library to create an immersive experience. For the pre-work page which included labelling maps, I used a map image background to set context, while ensuring readability.  

I used a slideshow feature to highlight the multistep process so the entire activity stayed contained in one context while still highlighting the individual steps.

To ensure color contrast that meets AA standards, I used a white text (#ffffff) foreground and a simple teal shade background color (#3d8080) with a contrast ratio of 4.56:1.  

Towards the end of the learning module, I included knowledge checks like multiple choice questions.

Finally, I provided additional resources for further learning. 

Articulate Rise also allows for development of e-learning modules that are responsive to different screen sizes and form factors. The module I created automatically re-sizes to fit tablet or mobile screens as shown below. 

When teachers need to share learning resources with students, it is important to consider latest technological advancements and harness their power. Mobile phones have become ubiquitous and can be tapped as a source for learning, especially amongst the younger generation of learners. In this project, a science lesson plan was been shared with students via a microlearning module. This helped positively improve learner experience, engagement and learning outcomes.

I learnt to use OER and Articulate Rise to efficiently develop mobile e-learning experiences.