Instructional Design Gal, back again. I'm currently working on a project which will bring the base level of WebCT training online, in a multimedia format that faculty can use. I'm using a variety of adult learning theories to develop the course, including behaviorist theories, where I try to get the faculty to ascertain the important objectives for each learning unit that is presented in the online course, and cognitive learning theories, where I relate these concepts to things they already know, reading a book, finding your way in a new city, relating things to stories and themes that make sense in their world.

I'm using a variety of tools to create this eleven module course in the Basics of using WebCT to supplement a course online:

• Hand coded HTML pages with Javascript includes, that present key information not otherwise highlighted in the PDF manual
• Adobe Captivate movies that illustrate key tasks
• WebCT's testing function.

I am finding it helpful to work on the project using the following processes

1. Script what I normally say in the face to face workshop in Microsoft Word
2. Create rough storyboards for various chunks of text using Microsoft PowerPoint
3. Go into the lab and record the voice overs
4. Edit and Animate in Captivate
5. Tweak in flash

I really hope this tool assists the faculty, so that they will not have to wait for the next face-to-face workshop offering if they wish to develop a course, or if the WebCT basics class that they wish to take is full. Further the movies will be there for their review, long after the online workshop is over, and because of the chunking of the content, these movies can be re-purposed for other uses.

Microsoft Word: A Swiss Army Knife for Professors

Microsoft Word is a Swift Army knife for professors. They use it to compose tests. They use it to grade e-papers, marking them up with track changes. They use it to compose textbooks, and draft email to colleagues.

Thus, it is little wonder that word becomes a tool that faculty are most comfortable with. This comfort level is so great, that when they are challenged with developing pages for a Course Management System, like Blackboard or WebCT, it is the software application that they gravitate to.

Nevermind that word produces dirty code that is not congruent with usability, or good mark up standards. Never you mind that a WebPage created in Word will take the first few sentences of the document which are normally rambling introductory statements, and make them the "title" of the page unless a user explicitly defines a title.

Word is what they know.

And since Word is what they know, it only makes sense to give them some tips to make working with Word, and a popular Course Management System like WebCT, or Blackboard a little "easier", or "better", and make that swiss army knife a little more efficient.

In the next few days, I will post a few tips to make your life developing e-learning content in Microsoft Word less of a hassle.