Should We really be using Course Genie for This?

So I was asked to come up with some new training ideas for faculty about six months ago, and I suggested that we teach faculty a course that assists them with learning principles of good webpage design that they can apply to Microsoft Word, as we all know that Microsoft Word is a swiss army knife, and that is what faculty know, and what they want to use.

We recently got a Course Genie License, I played around with the software. I love what it does, it creates beautiful webpages, with pristine code, BUT...for a group of faculty who mostly want to use word, is it realistic to ask them to add another layer, asking IT to install course genie, learning how to format the pages with the proper coruse Genie Tags, etc, rather than teachign them how to create nice webpages templates using the skills that they know?

We have a great group here, and some of them are very techically advanced. For those people, I think we should offer a Course Genie workshop. However, we have a group of people who are not very tech savy, know enough to get by, and may be inspired to sign up for a workshop if it doesn't require them to "do too much".

So I guess the question is, why not two different tracks that target our different faculty members, rather than the one size fits all approach that will leave some faculty stepping into giant shoes they do not wish to fill, and not signing up for future workshops, where they can learn more effective ways to teach their courses.

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.