E-Learning Instructional Design Model - Report Example

E-LEARNING INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL FOR PHYSICS LABORATORIES IN SAUDI ARABIA Student’s Name Subject Professor University/Institution Location Date E-learning Instructional Design Model Introduction Many institutions spend a great deal of money in the creation and operation of online programs. E-learning has thus become a practical and effective method in the delivery of instruction and teaching. E-learning just like any other knowledge-based programme has its own challenges and stakeholders of any online learning channel face these challenges on a daily basis (Malachowski 2002). Many of these challenges are usually faced through evaluation processes of what worked before and what did not work and the room to improve is always in existence. In order to understand and offer proper guidance on online settings, instructors must understand the online learning environment and have an all-inclusive and understandable picture of people, processes and products involved in it. Instructors must also seek to learn about the significant issues that cover the various dimensions of the online environment. Khan (2005) created a “people-process-product continuum” also known as the P3 model which is very suitable as a mapping tool for an all-inclusive representation of e-learning. A developed structure for E-learning is also carried in Khan (2007) which incorporates the instructional structural plan and instructive matters in the perspective of lying down of factors that incorporate the breakdown of an organizational e-learning setting which is wider and more multipartite. E-learning has become so wide spread across the world that one can hardly be online without noticing it, as more and more institutions and organizations engage in it and continue to re-evaluate their various programs from varied and different perspectives making us even more knowledgeable about it. Written materials about e-learning are scarce though and as Frydenberg (2002) wrote, there are not many wholly built up programs that have reached the stage where they can be said to allow for cumulative assessment. This paper will form the foundation for a suitable e-learning instructions design involving people, process and product. The people in this paper are the supervisor of Physics teachers in the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Physics instructors and learners, in the context of physics laboratories. It will largely borrow from the four door models as the e-learning structure which will form the basis of what E-learning structures are all about. Discussion This paper is concerned with coming up with an appropriate e-learning model for physics labs in Saudi Arabia in consideration of the needs of students among other factors such as what would constitute the goals or objectives of an elearning design model for physics laboratory needs. The paper will also select some of the methods that would be appropriate for use in a physics laboratory as well as media and tools and it will seek to involve the learners in the design as weell as evaluation and improvements. The real power of e-learning in the modern world lies in exploiting the wide range of abilities that lie in multimedia and sophisticated web based technologies (Peak & Berge 2006) . One of the most palpable is the provision of an instructional content learning model that can suit the wishes and aspirations of learners (Wang 2007). A proper physics lab elearning model would therefore consist of materials that are in line with the provision of exemplary instruction which includes; providing the right content to the right people at the right tim ein the best way possible. This paper will present an elearning model that is adaptive and which will enable the physics instructors and learners in Saudi Arabia get the best possible support in physics laboratories. Apart from providing the best education to the right person at the right time, being adaptive in an online based course model means the course is uited for use for many different users because if it is designed for a particular class of individuals it may not be suited for others (Brandon 2004). This paper suggest a selection of tasks and examinations that are most relevant as well as problem solving support and intelligent solution analysis. Below are some basic learners needs that this model will put into consideration: Acclimatized education and surroundings There are four areas which deal with acclimatized learning or adaptive learning and surroundings namely; interaction, delivery, discovery of content and mutual support. Interaction is about the learners’ contact with the inteface of the system without at any time or in any way changing the content of the model. Some of the factors that can be used to enhance interaction are; the use of graphics, color designs and font sizes. This should be intended at obliging the requirements and preferences of the learners as well as disabilities when it comes to physical interaction, organization and streamlining of tasks that require interaction. For a physics laboratory, ,these would include the simulation of experiments that would allow students to feel like they are in a real lab instead of building large labs that would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. Below are some demonstrations for a physics laboratory. Delivery is about techniques and the use of the most wide spread techniques in the elearning environments of today. The delivery of courses specifically shouldinclude to both custom-made courses for specific individuals or groups as well as for the general learner. This is intended at achieving a match between the the content of the course and the characterisctics of the user for purposes of attaining maximum results and also to minimize time and the interactions that take place between the learner and the instructor as well as give back what the learners might lack due to lack of a physical instructor. Support or collaborative support has to do with communication support when it comes to interaction between many people. It is aimed at bringing together the common interests of everyone involved in the interaction. This type of support encourages working together, cooperation and negotiation among other factors in the elearning environment and it also makes certain that there exists a good match between the people who are interacting. The site should therefore be a meeting point for both instructors and learners just like a classroom. For purpose of a physics lab, experiments could be presented in various forms that could be suited for different learners. This paper suggests the use of the four doors models as below; The Four Doors Model of E-learning The four doors model helps both instructors and learners to come up with interrelated e-learning prgrams that are capable of addressing various types of needs of learners and also enables them to learn faster an din a manner that is relatively affordable. This part will discuss the four doors model in the context of instructional design and relate it to the e-learning structure given above. The four-doors in this model are representative of four singular parts or mechanisms when it comes to the e-learning setting namely: The Library, the Playground, the Café and the Evaliation Center, which will be discussed below; Library The library area should carry the course content or course module or in other words, the information that is needed when it comes to understanding the goals of the final test. The library for a Saudi Arabia should basically contain; written material, slide shows, pictures, animations, videos of a vibrant nature and auditory files. These should be able to make leardning eay and exciting for the learners (Malamed 2012). Below are pictorial examples of library windows in a physics e-learning model. ­ The Playground This part for a physics elearning site should carry fast-rate border-games that enable learners to give typed answers or playground to choose from a variety of short answers (Malamed 2012). Accordign to Malamed (2012), oone of the easiest and elegantways of enabling student to learn is by making them thinkg that they are playing. This makes learning challenging as we all find games challenging. The games can have as many levels as the institutions wishes them to have and learners are able to play them as many times as they would love to for purposes of enhancing efficiency. Below is a picture of an example of a playground window; The Café; The Café part carries social learning activities. One of the most common activities is the open-question game that employs an open ended question technique in order to encourage learners to reflect on the content that is contained in the library. The learners are expected to give answers to the questions by typing their answers in an area that is set aside for that task. After answering all the question, the learners can thereafter evaluate the answers given by other colleagues or by the instructors (Malamed 2012). The café might also carry other socially structured module such as a blog, measure panel, wikis or any other that an institution might want to include. Below is picture example of how the Café might look like; Exams Exams do not have to be done on paper and corrections are not needed anymore because with the four door model, learners can do all their exams online on the basis of multiple choices where they can be in a position to fill their answers in spaces provided as well as connect with other learners. When it comes to scores, tracking should be easy because it is done on the spot and this can be done in an accurate manner that eliminates errors. Below is an example of a window for exams in physics Evaluation Center When it comes to evaluation in a physics laboratory, it becomes easy to pass on information regarding performance, behaviour, participation in school activities and attendance to the necessary parties such as parents via the inetrnet. Instructors also get to do their correction work without much hassle related to paper work. Other factors Compliance with “Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)” Compliance with SCORM basically means making the system integrated with “learning management systems (LMS)” which carry the following features: - They are podium autonomous which means that they can be used with any operating system - They offer a tracking system through which all the activities of the learners can be tracked using the system. These activities include the lessons that the learners visoit and their scores as each student has his/ her own profile (Pappas 2007). -They offer live interaction for learners and instructors - They also offer what is known as “authoring systems” or an arrangement through which the instructors can change or edit the course guideline (Brandon 2004). - They offer statistics related to the progress of learners in terms of rtheir rate of studying and scores as well. They also offer “sequencing” which is a means of ensuring that the parties involved are able to access all the preconditions of the courses by going through what had been previously taught in the course in relatio to what they are supposed to learn (Kanuka 2006). Conclusion Innovative ways of doing things when it comes to learning sciences as well as other technologies are a good source of materials when it comes to creating appealing, learner centered, well planned, inexpensive, interrelational, well-organized, successful, easily available, consequential and easily reached e-learning settings (Khan 2007). The four doors model particularly provides all these and more. Institutions that are using e-learning means should be interested in knowing if they are getting the worth of their investment back and devise means of ensuring that they get the real picture of what works, what does not work as well as what needs to be improved. List of References Bell, M, and Bell, W, 2005, It’s installed…now get on with it! Looking beyond the software to the cultural change. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(4): 643-656. Brandon, B, 2004, Storyboards tailored to you: Do-it-yourself magic arrows, The eLearning Developers’ Journal , 1-8. Frydenberg, J, 200, Quality Standards in e-Learning: A matrix of analysis, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Vol 3 Issue 2 . Kanuka, H, 2006, Instructional design and eLearning: A discussion of pedagogical content knowledge as a missing construct, The e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology, 9(2), Available: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/e-jist/docs/vol9_no2/papers/full_papers/kanuka.pdf [Accessed 27 July 2011]­ Khan, B, 2005, Managing e-learning: Design, delivery, implementation and evaluation, Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing. Khan, B, 2007, Flexible learning in an information society, Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing. Malachowski, J, 2002, ADDIE Based Five-Step Method towards Instructional Design, Source: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~mmalacho/OnLine/ADDIE.html, Accessed Feb 2011. (Also includes Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction and Keller’s ARCs model). Malamed, C, 2012, The Four-door Model: Rapid eLearning Design, Retrieved September 03, 2012, from The eLeraning coach: http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/the-four-door-model-rapid-elearning-design/ Pappas C, 2007, The ADDIE Instructional Design Model, Source: http://www.slideshare.net/CPappasOnline/the-addie-instructional-design-model?src=related_normal&rel=398877. Accessed Feb 2011. Peak, D & Berge, Z, 2006, Evaluation and ELearning. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2006 Volume: 7 Number: 1 Article: 11. Available: http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde21/articles/zane.htm [accessed: 6 August 2010]. Wang, M, 2007, Designing online courses that effectively engage learners from diverse cultural backgrounds, British Journal of Educational Technology, 38(2): 294-311. Read More

Discussion This paper is concerned with coming up with an appropriate e-learning model for physics labs in Saudi Arabia in consideration of the needs of students among other factors such as what would constitute the goals or objectives of an elearning design model for physics laboratory needs. The paper will also select some of the methods that would be appropriate for use in a physics laboratory as well as media and tools and it will seek to involve the learners in the design as weell as evaluation and improvements.

The real power of e-learning in the modern world lies in exploiting the wide range of abilities that lie in multimedia and sophisticated web based technologies (Peak & Berge 2006) . One of the most palpable is the provision of an instructional content learning model that can suit the wishes and aspirations of learners (Wang 2007). A proper physics lab elearning model would therefore consist of materials that are in line with the provision of exemplary instruction which includes; providing the right content to the right people at the right tim ein the best way possible.

This paper will present an elearning model that is adaptive and which will enable the physics instructors and learners in Saudi Arabia get the best possible support in physics laboratories. Apart from providing the best education to the right person at the right time, being adaptive in an online based course model means the course is uited for use for many different users because if it is designed for a particular class of individuals it may not be suited for others (Brandon 2004). This paper suggest a selection of tasks and examinations that are most relevant as well as problem solving support and intelligent solution analysis.

Below are some basic learners needs that this model will put into consideration: Acclimatized education and surroundings There are four areas which deal with acclimatized learning or adaptive learning and surroundings namely; interaction, delivery, discovery of content and mutual support. Interaction is about the learners’ contact with the inteface of the system without at any time or in any way changing the content of the model. Some of the factors that can be used to enhance interaction are; the use of graphics, color designs and font sizes.

This should be intended at obliging the requirements and preferences of the learners as well as disabilities when it comes to physical interaction, organization and streamlining of tasks that require interaction. For a physics laboratory, ,these would include the simulation of experiments that would allow students to feel like they are in a real lab instead of building large labs that would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. Below are some demonstrations for a physics laboratory. Delivery is about techniques and the use of the most wide spread techniques in the elearning environments of today.

The delivery of courses specifically shouldinclude to both custom-made courses for specific individuals or groups as well as for the general learner. This is intended at achieving a match between the the content of the course and the characterisctics of the user for purposes of attaining maximum results and also to minimize time and the interactions that take place between the learner and the instructor as well as give back what the learners might lack due to lack of a physical instructor.

Support or collaborative support has to do with communication support when it comes to interaction between many people. It is aimed at bringing together the common interests of everyone involved in the interaction. This type of support encourages working together, cooperation and negotiation among other factors in the elearning environment and it also makes certain that there exists a good match between the people who are interacting. The site should therefore be a meeting point for both instructors and learners just like a classroom.

For purpose of a physics lab, experiments could be presented in various forms that could be suited for different learners.

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