The Intersection of Content Strategy and Instructional Design

Editor's Notes

• #2: who Annette is   Hi, I’m Annette and I am an instructional designer with Academic Technology Support Services at the University of Minnesota. who Ann is  Hi, I’m Ann and I do instructional design for the College of Liberal Arts at the U of M.
• #3: Enjoyable, laid back experience Take notes if you want, but we have a handout and some templates available Ambitious amount of material but plan 10 min for discussion toward the end Visually ignore the symbols in the bottom right corner – secret code that reminds Annette and me which one of us is talking on each of these slides
• #4: Excited to present this topic which shows areas that the fields of CS, ID overlap which is traditionally concerned with managing the content of public-facing websites, can inform the work of instructional design, which also is largely concerned with web experiences Goal of both fields is a good user experience For IDs, refine a little further: good LEARNER experience This morning we’re going to tell you how to use techniques from the field of content strategy to help create a good learner experience on the web
• #5: What do we mean by “good” learner experience? Answer is similar for course websites as for other websites we visit. Relevant Flexible Forgiving of user errors Up to date Free of distractions, to the extent possible, And predictable These are more specific words people are thinking about when they describe a website or software as “intuitive”
• #6: Will be using the word content a lot today - Wanted to define CS: anything that conveys meaningful information to humans ID: any asset that comprises or affects the course website CLICK _____ multimedia AS WELL AS THINGS YOU DON’T SHOW TO STUDENTS: teaching goals, other planning documents, and metadata
• #7: Both content strategy and ID strive for the same outcomes.
• #8: We think this mantra applies to ID as well!
• #9: CS process:   evaluating the needs of the business or organization they’re working with designing a plan based on those needs, then executing the plan and arranging for some sort of governance that carries on after the project is over with ID process: 1. identifying desired results, 2. determining acceptable evidence of the desired results, and 3. planning learning experiences and instruction to support those results. Both of these processes are considered backward design processes because both start with the end and use the end in order to design the product.
• #10: So, what is the intersection between CONTENT STRATEGY and INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN?   Focus = content that lives on web; any artifacts/assets in electronic formats. 2. Conducted by people NOT SMEs, but who facilitate and collaborate with SME. 3. Focus = user / student interaction with material, hope for behavior change as result. 4. Goal = Solve a design problem. CS to build or redesign a website and IDs to build or redesign a course site 5. Define problem by what needs to happen at the end; design and implement from Point A to Point B. 6. Both are -- Erin Kissane: “backstage disciplines”. Support the backstage work so the star of the show—in our case, the content and our learners’ interactions with it—is successful.
• #11: Of all the books and articles we reviewed for this presentation, Erin Kissane stood out for the fact that her work was insightful, succinct, and applicable across fields and disciplines. In fact, Kissane is where we got the idea for this presentation. If you read one content strategy resource after seeing this presentation today, we recommend Kissane unilaterally.
• #12: And as ERIN KISSANE says, content should never distract, obstruct or annoy the user.
• #13: CS = Making design decisions that - focus the viewer’s attention, - assist the viewer in achieving their goals, and - satisfy their need for organized, useful, efficient content. ==== predictability!!!!   ID = Sound familiar? Applies to learning environment design as well!!
• #14: “predictable” can be negative in learning environment boredom some pedagogies rely on cognitive DISSONANCE or NOVELTY in order to be effective.   predictable = reliability = some standardized design STOP SIGN GREEN LIGHT STANDARDIZE EXPERIENCES TO REDUCE COGNITIVE LOAD.   EX: Assignment due dates -- bold text on the front page of the LMS. EX: download icon next to downloadable materials.
• #15: According to a content strategist, USER EXPERIENCE describes how well a website satisfies, focuses and assists a user in meeting their needs. In instructional design, we know more to success then arranging and deploying content. No matter how good the content is, it is dead unless someone is using it.   In 1989, Michael G. Moore described in his theory of transactional distance, 3 interactions that must be present for successful distance education student - student student - instructor student - content And in 2011, a fourth interaction was described! student - technology, including interface and how the student interacts with the interface. Instructional designers must consider all 4 of these types of interactions when we are working with content.
• #16: CONTENT STRATEGISTS advocate for the needs of users to make sure that each project achieves its goals to meet user’s needs. INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS advocate for both the learner and for the instructor. (the content and technology as well) EX: 1. Remind instructors what it was like to be a novice with content - - - scaffold content. 2. Advocate for the instructor by designing so they know where their content is how to find the content how to use it, and how to share it 3. Advocate for students by making sure the learning environment is welcoming, clear, consistent and supports their learning needs.
• #17: while CS AND ID are backstage or supporting disciplines, there are some differences: SPACES CS = create environments to build relationships between a user and a company IDs = design learning environments to enable instructors to teach and students to learn GOALS CS = attempt to satisfy a company’s business goals toward a behavior that leads to some profit end, IDs = achieving learning objectives toward some academic end.   TARGET AUDIENCES CS = user research and create personas because they cannot possibly meet all their client. IDs = a targeted audience with a targeted need, e.g., UG course in major or medical student in elective. NOT EXACT MATCH; SYNERGISTIC FIT; STEAL THEIR STUFF AND USE IT.
• #18: SO LET’S GET STARTED. 8 techniques and methods, borrowed from content strategy = stronger design of learning environments. 1.what you have 2.how you present what you have 3.how you update what you have 4.how you evaluate what you have
• #19: OK—let’s talk about our first quadrant, the content that you have.
• #20: Let’s start with what you have. Content strategists use CONTENT INVENTORY to take stock of all the resources for their client’s websites. “resources” = “assets.” INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS use a content inventory in a similar way. Our assets might be things like documents, videos, websites, or readings (among other things). FIND THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU HAD. . . .basement or attic. EX SPREADSHEET – GO OVER COLUMNS START SMALL AND ADD INFORMATION THAT IS USEFUL TO YOU. DON’T WORRY ABOUT OLD / DEAD ASSETS.
• #21: Metadata = “data about data”, unhelpful. Doesn’t have to be intimidating It is the information that describes the file or document that is contained in the document’s properties CS are concerned with metadata because keywords are how search engines find info about public facing websites, leading visitors to the site, helping the user reach their information goal and the organization reach its business goal In academia we’re sort of going the other way – we’re working with content creators whose intellectual works are going up to the cloud, want to retain some data with those files Not only for attribution, but also for helping share materials and helping others utilize our intellectual products in their own work Metadata also can help you find and organize your own files, because placing additional information into your files’ properties can help your computer help YOU find and organize files
• #22: Some metadata is added to files for us, such as your camera phone or DSLR camera. EXAMPLE Incidentally, metadata that’s added by a device or application is called objective metadata
• #23: Subjective metadata is info added manually by the content creator. We can add metadata to any document we have created by opening the Properties panel in the file’s native program This is a great place to put a a creative commons license and your email address for people to contact you if they have questions learning objectives   For your own personal organization, you might also consider adding keywords to include: course number semester and year topic or category
• #24: I don’t think Dr. Green mentioned this yesterday during the keynote, but the Creative Commons website has a little wizard that generates a license for you, and you can easily cut and paste this info into your documents. Annette and I think that In an ideal world, this would be a common practice for any document you have that you have rights to, that you put in the cloud.
• #25: We’ve talked about what you have and how you can share that, now let’s talk about content strategies that can help inform HOW you present your content
• #26: Information architecture When a CONTENT STRATEGIST talks about INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE, they refer to website navigation How do website links and labels help users find information and accomplish their goals.   Research = 1 in 10 of all web search tasks fail due to issues with navigation—users can’t find what they’re looking for. In eLearning environment, one study = requiring students to access material more than 1 click away was too many clicks, that students were not willing to put in this effort to. Make sure online learning environment is optimally organized for your audience. 1. Tools to plan site navigation: sitemap, wireframe, site index tools 2. Techniques for links and labels.
• #27: CONTENT STRATEGISTS use SITEMAPS to visually organize the structure of the site as a whole. ID can do the same with a course site.   SEE EXAMPLE. DO Use syllabus to define and organize content. DO All content reachable within 1 click of home page. DO organize information, e.g., all the content for unit into unit description page. DO Paper and pencil = fast.
• #28: CONTENT STRATEGISTS use wireframes to design a coursesite’s home screen and subpages. A wireframe is essentially a visual map of what users will see on their screen.   DESIGNERS AND INSTRUCTORS = design site pages to organize content in a way that addresses the audience, learning goals, and methodologies.   EXAMPLE
• #29: A site index is used to show the organization of the site from a different perspective.   IN A COURSE WEBSITE = comprehensive, all-in-one place to see all the assets within the course, Provides flexibility for students who might prefer to navigate from the site index   EXAMPLE – Uses unit menus, bonus material, assessments, lecture categories
• #30: Two skills or techniques of information architecture: Links and Labels. We look at hundreds of these every day, think of these 2 items as one and the same Links are paths to direct students to resources located on a website, and LABELS are the text that describes what they are DIRECT RELATIONSHIP a. whether users click on them, b. whether they notice they should click on them, and c. whether they are able to find what they’re looking for on the next page following the click, based on their ideas and expectations of what they will find there (again, heavily influenced by how the links are labeled.) Never want to use a link as a label – looks cluttered, and doesn’t give students any idea WHY they should click, or what they will find on clicking. This hyperlink example doesn’t prime for learning because they have no idea what they’ll find wherever this leads. Frustrating. No longer need to add instruction “click here” because our students are all savvy enough to know that an underlined label is an embedded hyperlink
• #31: Another practical instructional tip we’d like mention is making sure that the labels on the course website match the way things are mentioned in the syllabus. Third, make sure that your navigational labels make sense from the student point of view, and a large piece of this is making sure that how you have everything labeled in your syllabus translates exactly to the way you have it labeled in the online environment. For example, if you have written your syllabus week-by-week with explicit dates but use a numbered unit structure for the online version. These are easy things to overlook, or to change in one spot and overlooking updating the rest of our course sites to match. And of course, WE know what we’re thinking, but we can’t expect our students to read our organizational minds, especially when there is a transactional distance between us and them.   There are lots of decisions to be made here, and we want to encourage you to think carefully about the impact and power of hyperlinks and labels at moving your students through your site. I personally tend to think that if a student can’t find something, the fault is more likely with the information architecture, and not with the student.
• #32: Content templates are used in web design to stick with consistent format for core content.   Instructional designers / faculty -- use them for the same purpose.   EX assignment template: each / every assignment will be presented with consistent complete information to guide learning learning guide template: each / every module will begin with consistent complete information to guide learning   1. learners become familiar with the way you do things. 2. save time for instructor 3. save time for ID - have templates they use across courses.
• #33: CS – think in terms of communicating info to learners in the most effective way possible to meet a business goal and basically ask the question of what communication channel is best to deliver each message. For example, send out a strategic tweet and follow up with a longer blog post, or send an electronic newsletter to a targeted group of email addresses. Corollary for ID is making sure the format of the instructional message is the best one to optimize learning – Part of this is simple logistics. What type of doc, native Word doc or PowerPoint file versus a PDF? In most cases we would recommend PDF for consistency, but other questions to consider with that: do users need to download special software just to be able to view the doc? If so…is the software viewer free and easy to install? - do you want learners to collaborate within the doc? If so… Google docs. Some fields, part of the pedagogy involves skill in specific software such as performing statistical calculations in SPSS Logitical concerns aside, written explanations versus multimedia. The multimedia principles of instruction is a whole nother talk in itself  e.g., listen to this description of a flying buttress from wikipedia: The defining characteristic of a flying buttress is that the buttress is not in contact with the wall like a traditional buttress; lateral forces are transmitted across an intervening space between the wall and the buttress. In a survey architecture course, students may not have a mental model of what this is, but show them a picture and they’ll have an easier time.
• #34: Multimedia decisions are especially tricky because there are a number of ways to produce the same content, for example, a lecture could be recorded into an elearning module w/ interactivity Or a narrated PowerPoints, screencasts or just a recorded podcast of the audio As long as the format makes pedagogical sense and is appropriate formatted for accessibility concerns, how do you decide what the best delivery channel is? We recommend just to poll your learner group and see how they like to consume content. For example, you may find that they prefer podcast or vodcast versions of your lectures that they can just download and listen to, rather than fully produced slides+audio narration versions. If your group of learners is not mobile-device dependent, then downloadable podcast versions of these course assets might not be as useful or necessary.
• #35: style guide (how you present what you have)   Style guides are used by CONTENT STRATEGISTS all the time to help make sure that materials produced by a group of people can have some sort of consistency. TEAMS, TEMPORAL When content strategists talk about style guides, they’re talking about a document that does more than just agree upon spellings. The style guide also can contain:   strategies for cross-linking content throughout the course site plans for metadata and versioning, what colors, fonts, and font weights will be used to emphasize important material, and plans for consistently labeling of information.   The bigger the team and the bigger the project, the longer and more detailed the style guide. However, there is excellent utility in getting into the habit of suggesting that your subject matter expert take the time to define styles even for smaller projects. Exponentially decreases in amount of hassle the longer you use it and add to it and maintain it, the more useful it becomes and the more decisions you’re able to offload to the document and it ends up a big time saver
• #36: Section 3 – how you maintain your content
• #37: Publish no content without a support plan! (ek)   An EDITORIAL CALENDAR is used by content strategists to create a systematic plan for updating the website and content.
• #38: EX Column with due dates. Add dates to your Google calendar. - encourage regular strategy discussions between content creators/faculty, content strategists / IDs, and anyone else who might be on the development team. Into editorial calendar: - course maintenance dates - check links (e.g., 4 weeks prior to start of course) - assignment and discussion forum settings - file versioning, label files explicitly with the date of last update, and update your metadata (e.g. FINAL, FINAL-FINAL, ETC)   becomes a pre- course launch checklist
• #39: Section 4: how you evaluate what you have
• #40: Content strategists will use a metrics plan to evaluate and plan for continuous improvement.   Our favorite content strategist, Erin Kissane suggests that for every project “victory conditions” are identified-- what will success look like and how will it be measured.   For academic content, these will likely be measurable learning goals, which typically are measured via course assessments like quizzes and activities, formative and summative, and traditional victory conditions would include a high rate of passing grades for the course.
• #41: IDs = supply additional data to our faculty with LMS metrics EX - how many times an asset is accessed - how long students are spending on certain activities.   IMPLICATIONS OF DATA - if a critical asset is not being used, figure out why. . . .can’t find it? poorly organized? - what needs to change to create an optimal user experience?
• #42: So, let’s review what we’ve talked about so far:   content inventory (what you have) Metadata   information architecture (how you present) Templates Delivery channels Style guide   Editorial calendar (how you maintain)   Metrics plan (how you evaluate and make plans to improve what you have) We hope we’ve shown a convincing number of ways that there is close application to ID --- so that you now think of yourselves as instructional content strategists
• #43: What happens when people don’t do these things? You get course sites that contain unstructured, long lists of resources with no guide as to how to use them a jumble of activities, resources, required and supplemental materials that are confusing to students, to the point they’re not focusing on the content of the course because they’re distracted by the disorganization.   You get documents that are old, outdated, or refer to old due dates from last semester.   You get people who find your content online and would like to attribute you as the creator but can’t. They’re so impressed with your content that they want to follow you on twitter but they don’t even know your name so can’t do that either. You are missing the opportunity to influence!
• #44: 1. start now 2. start small 3. use a pencil
• #45: special thanks to Erin Kissane, 90 pages that are: Useful Usable Effective Engaging and INSPIRATIONAL. Her work inspired this presentation.
• #46: questions + wikispaces link to handout + reminder to please evaluate the session
• #47: Thanks and goodbye.