For the purpose of this article electronic delivery encompasses digital delivery technologies such as the Internet, Intranet, WAN, LAN, VPN, CD-ROM, DVD, Satellite and Wireless Technologies. Within the context of this article e-curriculum will refer to creating curriculum content for electronic delivery.
No matter which electronic delivery medium, the basic processes of creating e-curriculum remain the same. It is not simply a matter of typing out lecture/tutorial notes or converting existing content for placement into the delivery medium, and then expecting a successful outcome, the result is it simply will not work. The reality is that it takes time to gain the experience necessary to develop e-curriculum that will deliver a pedagogical outcome. The aim of this article is to provide information that may act as a starting point to assist practitioners in understanding the basic processes behind the development of e-curriculum.
The E-Curriculum Developmental Process
Creating e-curriculum involves more than simply transferring existing curriculum to a particular medium of electronic delivery. If practitioners are to utilise these types of technologies to deliver e-curriculum it is important to note that like all curriculum development, it necessitates being clear about pedagogical goals, and the learning needs of the target audience; knowing the strengths and limitations of the resources at hand; and deciding how those resources can most effectively be deployed. Good pedagogical practices should be the driving principles behind e-curriculum, not the technology. Delivering e-curriculum via digital technologies simply offers a new set of resources and therefore a new set of possibilities and restrictions.
When developing any type of curriculum there are a number of variables to consider, for e-curriculum in particular an important one is the human dimension:
- the student/learner; and
- the teacher/facilitator.
Simply put, with any type of curriculum development there has to be someone to teach it and someone to undertake the learning experience. The reality of developing e-curriculum is that the student-teacher interaction of the classroom is very different from that of the facilitator-learner interaction in the electronic environment. This difference must be taken into account whether creating new content or simply converting existing content for electronic delivery.
There are many differences between classroom-based curriculum and e-curriculum, too many to discuss in this article. However one example is that all natural occurring interactions that take place in classroom-based curriculum (such as body language, tone of voice and physical environment for example) are, at this time, almost impossible to reproduce in the electronic realm. There have been attempts to use video conferencing and satellite technology but this has proved to be inefficient and very expensive. Strategies designed to overcome the many differences will need to be investigated, this will form part of the developmental processes of the proposed e-curriculum.
For practitioners who are considering developing e-curriculum content there are four fundamental questions to be considered:
- Who is the curriculum content for?
- What type of e-curriculum content will be delivered via digital technologies?
- What curriculum design objectives are needed to effectively deliver e-curriculum via digital technologies?
- What instructional design objectives are needed to effectively deliver e-curriculum via digital technologies?
A four step process
Within the process of creating e-curriculum there are a number of distinct steps that need to take place, four steps proposed here are a needs analysis, instructional design, interface design and evaluation phase.
1) Needs Analysis
The needs analysis phase helps to establish whether there is a real need for the e-curriculum. The need could be as simple as to have content available electronically, therefore available to the end user anytime, anywhere or as complex as the need to incorporate a variety of technologies such as user interactions or multimedia to deliver a particular concept.
Whether the e-curriculum is simple or complex, it will still require a thorough analysis of what it is expected to achieve. These objectives will be the roadmap to guide the rest of the process. Don't shortcut this step in the e-curriculum development process; otherwise the end result is fraught with failure.
2) Instructional Design
Perhaps the single most important event when developing instructional materials for deployment electronically is to clearly define the instructional objective. Often this objective will arise from a particular instructional problem or challenge that electronic delivery may be able to address. For example, a course in Frontline Management might use digital technology to distribute audio clips from respected members of the business community talking about leadership. This could solve a number of instructional problems; one might be to make the audio available to participants anywhere anytime. The point of this example is not that electronic delivery is inherently a good thing to do, but rather that there is a clear instructional problem to overcome and a clear objective to deliver.
Another example may be an instructor making some topical content available to participants electronically. This use, while important and worthwhile, does not fit into the instructional realm. If however, the instructor used the content as a top-level organisation tool with links from the content to a synopsis or discussion regarding the content, then the technology is being used as a delivery mechanism for instructional content rather than just information.
The point to keep in mind is that, although electronic delivery may be considered ‘the way to go’ and the default inclination is to ‘deliver it electronically,’ it is important to match the solution with the problem. If the instructional goal is to increase discussion among participants about a particular topic or concept then an email or a discussion group might be a more appropriate option.
3) Interface Design
Another part of the development process is the interface design; this stage may also be considered part of the instructional design process. The approach to the interface design phase will be governed, to a certain extent, by the approach used for the instructional design.
An interface design process involves the design of the ‘electronic’ environment and may include graphics, layout and navigation systems. Due to the current nature of the delivery mediums all graphics should to be optimised for low bandwidth applications (generally 56K and above); otherwise end users may have to wait a long time for images to download. Nothing will frustrate the end user more than waiting long periods of time for information to download.
Although there are many interesting features that can be put into e-curriculum, it is important to consider the instructional needs before beginning to plan how to meet them. Do not succumb to the temptation of adding every technological feature just because it’s available. Using this type of approach is a sure way to lose sight of the real reason behind developing the e-curriculum in the first place. Many popular technological features may actually obscure the information because they add cognitive overhead without adding content value. Keep this is mind when designing the environment, navigation scheme and the graphical appearance of the e-curriculum.
4) Evaluation
Once a working prototype of the e-curriculum is ready to be placed into a delivery medium, the evaluation phase commences. This phase should be undertaken by both experienced and inexperienced technology users as this will provide feedback from both ends of the user continuum.
The evaluation phase usually contains two aspects, usability testing and quality assurance.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is generally undertaken with regard to navigation systems and the e-curriculum environment and is the measure of the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a product or system, in this case the e-curriculum. The goal of this type of testing is to uncover any problems the user may encounter so they can be rectified before the e-curriculum is released for its intended use.
Usability is a combination of factors that may affect the user’s experience and during this phase a number of systems undergo testing. Navigation systems, technical aspects such as multimedia and the actual e-curriculum environment may be explored for their intuitiveness and performance, any frustration or problems should be noted and action taken accordingly. Another example may be where a user expected something else when they clicked on an option; other comments might include the e-curriculum layout and design elements such as images. The testing procedure is an iterative one and as detailed information about user success or failure is gathered the prototype e-curriculum can be modified to reflect the test data.
Quality Assurance
The other aspect of the evaluation phase is quality assurance. This aspect generally focuses on the e-curriculum content, does it make sense, is it confusing, patronising or is it dull? Checks for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, typographical errors and the general ‘look and feel’ are also undertaken. Targeted end users are invaluable with this evaluation; it is also suggested to include Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with this type of evaluation.
The quality assurance procedure runs in parallel with the usability testing, generally all comments and feedback are entered into the same evaluation proforma used with the usability testing.
In conclusion, there are some major challenges for practitioners to consider when creating e-curriculum, one is ensuring that the technology is well integrated into the curriculum (it has to appear seamless), and the other is keeping up to date as digital technologies continue to evolve. Due to the nature of these technologies those who create e-curriculum must continue to revise and refine the learning materials and not be caught up in the fascination of new and emerging technologies. It is the pedagogical goal which should be the driving force not the technology.
This article covers only a very small proportion of methodologies that may be used to create e-curriculum; however this is a starting point for practitioners who are interested in developing further interest and experience in this area. Included below are a number of Internet-based resources which may help with further exploration of this exciting area.
Resources:
Macromedia
Resources for all types of educators, from using technology to enhance teaching and learning, through to a resource area offering product training and articles related to using Macromedia suite of tools for curriculum development.
Tips for online learning
A site containing a number of tips for online learning, each section takes the form of a series of ‘tip sheets’, a list of observations or ideas distilled from implementing online courses.
Web-Based Training Information Centre
The Web-Based Training Information Centre (WBTIC) is a free information resource for anyone interested in developing and delivering online learning.
The Web as an Effective Tool for Adult Learners:
An article written by Moira McIntyre which discusses different aspects of interactive courseware, including learning, media selection and access.
e-LearningGuru.com
This site contains a large variety of information which is focused on all aspects of elearning.
