Instructional Technology and Media

Thomas Edison State University

5 Instructional Technology and Media

When watching a movie, it can be easy to forget all of the behind-the-scenes people who made your entertainment possible. But if you’ve stuck around to watch the closing credits, you soon realize how many people it took to produce that movie. Gaffers, grips, wranglers, best boys/girls, set designers, location scouts—all were integral in the creation of the final product you’ve just seen. In many ways, this is the space our instructional technology and media creation teams occupy in the Center for Learning and Technology (CLT) production universe.

Whichever hat the team members are wearing at a given point in time, their goal is the same: to provide a superior and engaging user experience.

Connecting to the active design as well as the preparation for and delivery of the final product, these teams are present for and involved in all phases of the course development process. In reality, this group is one set of individuals engaged in two distinct parts of the CLT’s work. Whichever hat the team members are wearing at a given point in time, their goal is the same: to provide a superior and engaging user experience that supports the broader instructional goals and outcomes orientation of Thomas Edison State University. Along the way they also provide technical and process support for staff, students, and mentors.

Pre- and Post-Production: Our Instructional Technology Team

The instructional technology team oversees pre-production and post-production activities in addition to the team’s more routine involvement in the development process. On the pre production side, the team implements and maintains all of the academic technology that surrounds and infuses the courses. This includes managing everything from the learning management system (LMS) to audio and video creation tools, third-party technologies, simulations, and connecting to external academic platforms.

One of the most important endeavors engaged in by this team is their work in ensuring that the learning technologies meet the needs of our students and expectations of our learning environment. This means they are constantly scouting for new cutting-edge tools and testing potential upgrades for existing technology.

One of the most important endeavors engaged in by this team is their work in ensuring that the learning technologies meet the needs of our students and the expectations of our learning environment. This means they are constantly scouting for new cutting-edge tools and testing potential upgrades for the existing technology.

Post-production is a highly coordinated effort between all areas of the CLT that allows the courses to come to life. During this process, course materials that have been created by the design and assessment teams go through an extensive quality assurance process, including professional review by academic and ADA (American with Disabilities Act) specialists prior to being implemented into the LMS. During LMS implementation, additional quality checks take place as technology tools are activated and interactive course activities are installed. The end result is a fully-developed course experience true to the intended design.

And…Roll: Our Media Creation Team

The media creation team is responsible for the in-house creation of videos, audio material, and simulations. This includes operation of our video recording studio, post-production editing suite, podcast studio, and one-button studio. In addition, members of the media creation team serve as resources to identify and evaluate existing media for potential use in courses. The team is called into specific projects when there is an identified need for multimedia elements. Once involved, the team advises on the appropriate use of media, guides design and implementation, and creates custom media. In instances where custom videos are desired to be part of the course, a member of the media creation team works with the rest of the design team to determine alignment with course outcomes and assessments. To aid in that process, we use a guided video request process. This is intended to focus on the optimal way to use media in the course and to help the media creation team best understand what is needed.

Getting the Job Done

Primary areas of focus for the instructional technology and media creation teams include:

Learning Environment. Facilitation of all learning technology and media platforms in a manner that supports optimal user experience and seamlessly incorporates primary and third-party technologies

Media Studio. Oversight of the CLT’s media production facilities, including the video studio, post-production suite, podcast studio, and one-button studio

Success for Adult Learners. Search for and deployment of technologies and interactive media in a manner that encourages and supports the academic and career success of our students

Next Generation Technology. A commitment to continuously advance effectiveness and relevance by actively seeking out and testing potential new technologies that are consistent with University and CLT goals

Academic Development Services. Active membership in the course development team to provide guidance and direction on the use of learning technologies that engage learners and encourage learning outcomes success; implementation of all courses into the LMS at the conclusion of course development process

Outreach and Education. Advancement of CLT and University goals related to online learning through coordinated education campaigns, webinars, direct engagement, course trailers, tutorials, and a variety of learning media with internal groups and external partnerships

Experiential Learning Program. Development of the Experiential Learning Program (ELP), designed to connect the CLT with up and coming talent

The ELP connects with college and high school students with an interest in media and learning technologies. The instructional technology and media (ITM) team serves in a mentoring capacity to offer industry exposure for talented and motivated students and to provide a space for expression of their creative talents in support of the CLT mission.

You’ve Gotta Stand for Something: The Principles Our Teams Stand By

We are fully intentional in our approach to technology and media—while adhering to the broader CLT principles.

Now that you’ve had a chance to meet these behind-the-scenes teams and learn a bit about what they do, let’s take some time for a deeper dive into what it is that guides the work that they do. We have learned that managing things like technology and media is a pretty fast-paced space to live in—so much so that you can find yourself running from fire to fire without time for calibrating direction or intent if you aren’t careful. In order to prevent such a circumstance, we are fully intentional in our approach to technology and media—while adhering to the broader CLT principles.

Best Practices

Our goal is not to provide technology for the sake of having technology. Neither is it simply to make technology available if it is otherwise disconnected from broader University goals. When we identify and deploy technologies, we do so with the intent that they aid in the provision of a rigorous, learner-centric academic experience. We work closely with the other parts of the CLT and University to make sure that this happens.

Our teams are committed to guiding students and empowering mentors. Our goal is for both groups to be able to properly utilize learning technologies as they engage with course materials and produce artifacts that support learning and demonstrate mastery. We seek to deploy technology and strategically utilize media tools that create a dynamic and flexible environment for our students, one that takes full advantage of the flexibility that is made available to students through a holistic and well-planned approach to the learning environment geared toward adult learners.

Building Community Through Engagement and Cooperative Learning

Learning in an online environment provides many distinct advantages over traditional on-ground learning, including convenience, removal of restrictive location requirements, and the asynchronous nature of the experience. But there is also the potential for the online learner to feel isolated and disconnected. By employing technologies that support and promote active engagement between and among learners, our teams seek to remove that potential barrier.

Tools like Edison Live! and Edison Create allow for real-time communication within courses and an interactive platform for creating original, interactive videos. Social media tools provide the opportunity for students to explore learning in new ways through the use of blogs, vlogs, and wikis. Providing and implementing these interactive tools moves online learning away from a solo act and into a real and vibrant learning community. These same tools promote cooperative learning by using technology to harness the power of diversity and collaboration.

Exceptional User Experience

Our goal is to provide an exceptional user experience for students, mentors, and staff interacting with our technology and media. As a result, we employ a variety of proactive approaches to designing that experience with an overall emphasis on quality and accessibility.

Our in-house, interdisciplinary UX (user experience) design workgroup reviews high-level design and implementation of technology and media.
We create and deploy tutorial documents and videos that communicate use of technology and media and aid in its use in support of learning.
The technology we employ is designed and deployed in a manner that puts the focus on the learning outcomes and is accessible through easily obtained technologies.
We provide second-tier support for our help desk.
We promote internal communication and education for all ITM issues through ongoing work with and education of all areas of the University that connect with students and mentors.
We engage in continuous review and improvement of our LMS to deploy new tools and LMS themes that have been vetted for functionality and alignment with the CLT’s and the University’s academic philosophy.

Quality Assurance and Accessibility

In order to ensure a cohesive experience for all users, we strive to meet high standards of quality and accessibility. Our team oversees several important functions that allow us to meet this standard:

Universal design to promote accessibility
Review of third-party technologies to ensure accessibility
Academic editing of all CLT-created documents
ADA checks during document preparation for screen reader compliance
Professional copy editing of all CLT created documents
Human captioning of all CLT-generated video content, as well as a process to provide captioning for user-generated video content as needed

Keeping It Social: Communication, Education, and Social Media Outreach

Our goal is to provide an exceptional user experience for students, mentors, and staff interacting with our technology and media.

In order to ensure that users have the best possible experience with our technology and media, we work closely with our colleagues throughout the University to promote technology and media best practices and to learn about potential issues as they occur. This involves regular meetings and trainings with Admissions and Enrollment Services and the Office of Academic Advising to ensure that they are kept up-to-date on our most recent initiatives and to learn how we might better support our students. Our media creation team produces video tutorials and other media to aid students and mentors in utilizing the tools we make available in the courses. We work with our Communications Office to create and distribute content on social media outlets like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.

Scouting: Intelligent Technology Selection

In keeping with our desire to provide a superior user experience, we are intentional about the process we use to select and deploy technology. All technology used in support of learning must be intuitive and user-centric. This involves:

Creating innovative course delivery mechanisms that utilize conventional consumer technologies and institutionally-recommended services so that the course experience is pervasive in both portability and accessibility
Strategic shaping of the integration points between technology systems to be both seamless and robust, including the use of single sign-on processes and tools such as LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) connectors
A focus on developing a learning system that embraces relevant UX best practices in web design, accessibility, and streamlining of student workflows
Encouragement of instructional innovation in the course experience, including unique assessment methodologies, educational technologies, and transformational programs
A focus on tangible technology adoptions, allowing the CLT to retain the flexibility it needs to respond to new market conditions and technology variables
Strategic avoidance of vendor partnerships that restrict future technology opportunities and advancements

Areas that have been identified for future investigation and potential implementation include:

Pursuit and identification of technological solutions to improve the student experience in science lab courses
Investment in the CLT’s ability to create and deliver simulations within the learning experience
Exploration of the use of augmented reality and virtual reality in Thomas Edison State University courses, with attention to mobile or other applications with low cost barriers for students
Assistance in implementing a new assessment platform
Investigation of the potential for an in-house solution to provide open educational resources (OER) as part of the course development process

Continuous Improvements

We believe strongly in the concept of continuous improvement, and we routinely assess the performance of available technology, tools, and media. This includes platform management; pursuit of new technologies chosen based on need, engagement, usability, and accessibility; and our own continuous learning and development through conference, webinars, courses, and networking.

We actively seek out fresh approaches to engage adult learners through the use of newly available and properly vetted technologies and new means of mastering learning outcomes. We strongly believe in promoting a culture that is unafraid of challenging the status quo and is willing to discard approaches that do not yield desired results.

Our goal is not to provide technology for the sake of having technology. Neither is it simply to make technology available if it is otherwise disconnected from broader University goals. When we identify and deploy technologies, we do so with the intent that they aid in the provision of a rigorous, learner-centric academic experience.

Value Proposition for Learners

One of the most important roles played by advancing technology, when implemented well, is the degree to which it can act as a leveler regarding access to a high-quality education. We strive to implement our technology in a manner that achieves this goal by:

Keeping course costs and materials fees reasonable and low for students
Identifying new technologies to drive down institutional cost and overhead
Creating new efficiencies in our processes and workflows to minimize waste and redundancies
Empowering staff to seek new and alternative solutions to retire existing and aged services and technologies

Principles of Multimedia Learning for Adult Learners

Adult learners, particularly those engaged in distance learning, experience greater levels of success when their specific needs are accounted for in curriculum design and use of technology and media.

Adult learners, particularly those engaged in distance learning, experience greater levels of success when their specific needs are accounted for in curriculum design and use of technology and media. The ITM teams aspire to apply Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning (2009), as adapted for the specific needs of Thomas Edison State University. At first look, these principles may appear very specific to what we do in instructional technology and media. A closer look, however, reveals that they are descriptive of the entire cross-team development process at the CLT.

Pre-Training Principle. Learners retain more from a multimedia lesson when they already have knowledge of the main concepts.

Segmenting Principle. Learners retain more when a multimedia lesson is presented in user-paced segments rather than one lengthy lesson.

Multimedia Modality Principles.

Learners retain more from words and pictures rather than words alone.
Learners retain more from using graphics and narration or narration and on-screen text, rather than from using all three at once.
People learn better from graphics and narrations than from animation and on-screen text.

Presentation Principles.

Learners retain more when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.
Learners retain more when corresponding words and pictures are presented together rather than one-by-one.

Efficiency Principle. Learners retain more when nonessential words, pictures, and sounds are excluded.

Personalization Principle. Learners retain more from multimedia lessons when words are conversational rather than formal.

Signaling Principle. Learners retain more when important information stands out. This can be achieved by color usage, bolding, font styles, and special effects.

Voice Principle. Learners retain more when narration is spoken in a friendly human voice rather than a machine voice.