SALT CONFERENCE - 2009
A Task Oriented Methodology for Designing
Effective Web 2.0 Online Courses
Maricel Medina Mora, M.Ed
Lance Sherry, PhD
Center for Air Transportation Systems Research

Chinese proverb
Tell me, I will forget
Show me, I may remember
Involve me, and I will understand.

Introduction
Online learning environment versus traditional learning
environments

Online Learning Traditional Learning
Environments Environments
Web-based learning Traditional distance
(A) Synchronous education (paper based,
interaction no interaction, self-paced)
Dynamic searchability Control on the learning
Real-time information process
Combination of multiple Mostly objectivist learning
online tools to deliver approach
instruction

Web 2.0
Communication, socialization, and collaboration through the World
Wide Web
Image from http://widgets-gadgets.com/2006/10/what-is-web-20.html

Online Learning
Blogs
Wikis
Social
Networking Web 2.0
Multimedia
Sharing
Audio
Blogging and Podcasting

Blackboard Moodle

The role of learners and instructors in the
online environment
Understanding the environment to deliver effective learning

Instructors Learners Environment
Resource Problem Exploration/
Co-participant solver Direct
Co-learner Explorer experiences
Moderator Researcher
Facilitator Collaborator Learning by
Coach Goal setter doing
Monitor Moderator activities
Adviser Participant
Role playing

Overview of Usability
Measuring easy of use in online learning

How easy to use are user interfaces?
Nielsen’s quality components of usability
Learnability Efficiency Memorability Errors Satisfaction
A system is usable when users spend most of the time achieving
their task and the least understanding the system itself

How to measure online
course usability?
Heuristic Checklist
• Visibility
• Interactivity
• Accessibility
• …
Task Oriented Analysis
• Learner Tasks
• Visual cues

A task oriented methodology to design usable
online courses
Measuring ease of use in online learning

Task Analysis Design Phases
Student
• Needs analysis Tasks • Visibility
• Learner analysis • Navigation
• Learning tasks
• Learning • Just in time
objectives • Tool tasks training
Instructional Visual Cue
Activities assessment
Probability of completing
User-centered design task in first attempt for
unskilled users

When the learner is provided
with an instructional activity, is
Probability of completing
there a visual cueattempt for
task in first
(semantically correct) that
unskilled users
tells the learner what to do and
how to do it?
Visibility Is the learner provided with a
NO direct access to the
YES tool/section where the task
needs to be performed?
LOW
Navigation
NO
YES the learner provided
Is
with guidance on how
LOW to perform the task,
Just-in-time including subtasks
NO Training information? YES
MEDIUM HIGH

An Example…
Student
Tasks
• Visibility ?
• Participation in • Locate the discussion forum • Navigation ?
a specific online • Post comment on discussion • Just in time
discussion forum
training ?
• Search a particular comment
on the discussion forum
Instructional • Reply to a comment Visual Cue
Activities assessment

CASE STUDIES: ONLINE COURSE DESIGN AND
ANALYSIS
Maximizing learners performance through an easy-to-use Web 2.0
interface design

COURSE DESIGN
•Four weeks online course
(Summer 2009)
• Course design/development:
2 weeks/4 weeks
• Web 2.0 tools:
•Wiki (www.Pbworks.Com)
•Google docs
•Zotero
•You tube videos
•Other tools:
•Wordle
•Google calendar
•Video conferencing (Adobe
Connect)
•SurveyMonkey.com
FUNDAMENTALS OF ECOLOGY
•Wink.org

Learning Objective:
Encourage students to create and maintain an online
database of relevant papers for further research
Instructional Reference Bank and Glossary
STEP 1
Activity
Upload documents to the online
Student’s task
reference management system
• Installing the local application
STEP 2 • Creating an account on the online
server
Tool Tasks
• Configuring the synchronization
process
• Selecting the reference to upload
Upload references to our Zotero
STEP 3 Visual Cue
Group

Probability of completing
task in first attempt for
unskilled users
Sub-Task Probability of Comments
success on first
attempt
Install Zotero Zotero download page is a
hyperlink on the visual
cue.
Create account in A help icon provides
Zotero access to the just-in-time
Configuring the HIGH training.
synchronization There is a hyperlink to the
process video tutorial.
Selecting reference
A video tutorial is provided
to upload
right to the visual cue

Probability of completing
task in first attempt for
unskilled users
2
Upload reference to our Zotero Group
Visibility
Navigation
1
3
Just-in-time training

COURSE ANALYSIS
•16 weeks online course
(Spring 2009)
• Course design/development:
?
• Web 2.0 tools:
•Wiki (www.Pbworks.Com)
•Google docs
•Wordpress
Design and Production of
Multimedia/Hypermedia Learning
Environments

Interface Analysis
Instructional Inform students about course content,
STEP 1 requirements, expectations
Activity
Student’s task Read syllabus
STEP 2 • Access Google Docs
Tool Tasks
• Create Google Account
EDIT 752 Syllabus (Google docs - you
STEP 3 Visual Cue
may need to create an account to view)

Probability of completing
task in first attempt for
unskilled users
Sub-Task Probability of Comments
success on first
attempt
Access Google There is no hyperlink
Docs reference to Google Docs
LOW (What is Google Docs URL?)
Create account in There is no indication on how
Google Docs to create an account
Solution: Provide “just-in-time” training in
different modalities such as video or text descriptions.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
Learners should spend less time as users and focus more on the
learning tasks

A design that does not meet users' needs
will often fail in the workplace resulting in
high costs, frustration, and errors that
affect learners
Any system design should start by listing
the tasks the users need to do with the
system
Visual cues should have a semantic
relationship with the task

Future Work:
Development of an online tool that supports
instructional designers during the
design/development/analysis of online
courses
Develop more online courses, gather data
and validate methodology
Develop mechanism to automatically analyze
online courses and generate quantitative
metrics for usability

QUESTIONS
mmedinam@gmu.edu
Office Phone: +1 (703) 9931663
http://catsr.ite.gmu.edu
http://mason.gmu.edu/~mmedinam
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