In Project 4, we took a portion of the proposed solution and worked through the final three phases of the LDT process. We began with the prototype and developed a learning map detailing the content, activities, assessment, and navigation scheme. Calibrate was the fifth learning design thinking phase, in which we performed usability testing to uncover areas that could be enhanced. Finally, the team produced an online course and examined the last phase of learning design thinking to conclude the project with an implementation plan.
LDT process
Frame > Focus > Identify Solutions > Prototype > Calibrate > Implement
Learning goals and objectives
Please see the syllabus below.
Challenge question: How do institutions create a strategic plan to begin institutionalizing their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion journey?
Client: Leaders at a fictional higher education institution, the College of Oster in Ohio.
A four-module online course
The team agreed to build a course structure with Canvas LMS. Creating a prototype posed less pressure on the quality of the outcome. Building a bare-bone structure that holds the essential function of the solution is liberating.
Usability Testing
Refinement is only possible when there is a prototype to test, evaluate, revise, and improve. A prototype allowed the team to listen to test users’ voices and improve the solution on them. Keeping an open mind while receiving invaluable feedback from the test users was a critical skill for learning designers.
I structured the online course platform with Canvas LMS and transferred the content, quizzes, assessments, and rubrics from the learning map, which other team members compiled. I also added a syllabus, a front, and a congratulations page with smooth navigation and visual cues using icons throughout the modules.
Calibrated Course on Canvas LMS
To review the course in Canvas LMS, (1) use a guest student account or (2) enroll yourself by creating a Canvas Student account.
(1) Go to https://canvas.instructure.com/login/canvas
To log in as a guest user, please use the email and password provided.
Email: wagarden6@gmail.com
Password: LDTrytestuser
When you log in, you will see published courses in the dashboard.
Find the course title “DEI Strategy Planning Toolkit v3”.
After checking our course, please log out from the mock student account. This allows another reviewer to log in after you.
(2) This course has enabled open enrollment. You can sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: DN34J7
Opening Introduction
Upon receiving usability test results and feedback about meaningful interaction with learners, I turned the text-based welcome statement into a short opening video, answering learners' questions, "Why is this important to me, and why should I care to change." This task demanded visual thinking skills that transfer the messages from texts into appropriate images. I also minimized the appearance of the text onscreen.
Accessibility: WCAG A - Closed caption and basic transcript
Tools: PowerPoint, Audacity, Canva, Camtasia, YouTube
Alternative format: Captions.sbv
Summary of Usability Test Outcome
The summary and the detailed usability test results are linked here.
Implementation Plan
This implementation plan helps optimize the course rollout based on Kotter's Eight-Step Model, largely contributed by a team member. While I was busy with the other deliverables, he interviewed an SME and collected all the information needed to develop this plan. All credits go to them.
Quality Assurance
From the beginning of course design and development, the team was well aware of the criteria that warrant a high-quality course. We reformatted the Online Learning Consortium's Quality Course Teaching and Instructional Practice Scorecard (QCTIP) into a modified spreadsheet and measured course components against the criteria as we built the course.