Interactive Module Storyboard Draft

Reflection

The module I sketched out in my storyboard is the first module of the course, Mathematics at Work. This module helps learners work through a series of problems to make sense of the math while using pattern blocks to represent their thinking. This module lays the foundations for understanding the properties of fractions operations so that educators can use other, more versatile models later on. I wanted a blend of media including interactions, videos, and assessments to keep learners engaged and interested. Part of the assessments also includes discussion boards so that learners have a chance to ask questions and engage in discussions with each other. 

To me, the storyboarding process is a critical part of the instructional design. A few years ago, I was working on a team that was designing math videos with interactives for 4th grade students. The process was not going well and the team had a hard time finding a common understanding. I had taught video making to students many many years ago and remembered that storyboarding was a key part of that process. I suggested to the team that we storyboard the video and we were able to successfully build out the project with everyone on the same page. Storyboarding is not just for the instructional designer, it also helps a team ensure that there is a shared vision. I am also a very visual thinker. Storyboarding helps me create a big picture view of the course.  I only storyboarded the first module for now but I have plenty of content to populate the rest of the storyboard later on and will absolutely do so before building the course. 

I chose to use Miro for this storyboard. I am familiar with Miro from other projects within my company so this was a fairly easy tool to use. However, in the past, we have used Miro to create a general workflow and house research and ideas for courses then completed the storyboard within PowerPoint. I decided to try out a template provided by Miro for storyboarding and I think this template worked really well to organize my thoughts and ideas instead of using Miro as a "dumping ground." I like that I can zoom out to see everything whereas in PowerPoint it's not easy to get an overall visual of the course content. Miro is a powerful tool with a lot of functionality. I chose to use very simple features for this storyboard. Instead of trying a different software next time, I think I would want to experiment with Miro to see if there are features that might make storyboarding more effective or efficient. I also have not incorporated any branching of content into my course and wonder what features of Miro I might use to indicate branching. I will need to think more about where branching opportunities will be appropriate too.