Instructional Design Tips

In many ways, good instructional design is just common sense, combined with decades of observation about what works and what doesn't when teaching adult learners. Here are 10 basic tips to sharpen your own training programs:

1. Know your audience. Understand what they bring to the table, and what they need from each course. Determine your audience's education level, entry knowledge, and their goals in taking the course. This will help you identify their performancegap-between what they already know and can do, and what they need to know and be able to do.
   
2. Use learning (or performance) objectives to nail down what your learners are supposed to know and be able to do, once they have completed the course. Your learning objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (or Results-oriented), and Targeted to the audience. These learning objectives will help to guide your development of course content and provide a yardstick for measuring how well learners have mastered it.
   
3. Using these learning objectives as a guide, keep your course content pertinent to the task at hand. Keep the information in your course focused and relevant, with a minimum of extraneous detail. And “chunk” course content into small, digestible bites of information.
   
4. Use the variety of media available in e-Learning to serve different learning styles, such as auditory and visual learners. Use narration, graphics, and text, but not necessarily all at the same time.
   
5. Spell out the “WIFM” (What’s in it for me?) for your learners. Adult learners want to know why they are learning something, and how it will help them on the job. This might easily be the most important tip!
   
6. Adult learners generally prefer to have some-or even a lot-of control over the learning process. They want to take responsibility for their own learning. This favors using self-paced instruction, providing tools for assessing one’s own progress, and implementing the freedom to choose among different learning activities (where possible).
   
7. Provide a “gate” that learners must pass before they advance to more difficult content. This may be a test, a demonstration, or a role-play activity.
   
8. Related to the above, if your students possess different backgrounds and levels of experience, consider using a pre-test to “sort them out,” and even allowing the more advanced learners to “opt out” of content that is too elementary for them.
   
9. Once you have constructed a course, have actual learners, not just other developers, test it. They can provide real-world insight and feedback that you can use to improve the course.
   
10. Consider developing “job aids,” “cheat sheets,” “quick reference cards,” or other reminders based on your course content, which learners can easily access while they are on the job.

In short, understanding your learners’ needs, and applying common sense to meet them, will dramatically improve your training programs.

SCORM - Lesson 7 - The IMSMANIFEST.XML File

The IMSMANIFEST.XML File

writeName(" the", "The", baseURL); the imsmanifest.xml file is an xml file containing the essential packaging information for a course: course description, sequencing and the names of course files. This file must be located in the top level directory for a course. It can be read and edited using any text editor. Below is a simple imsmanifest file for a course containing two web pages, start.html and end.html. The fields listed in gray are unique for each course. The colored fields are the xml tags required by SCORM 1.2.

There are four major sections to this file:

       The manifest preamble

       The section,

       The section, and

       The section.

The preamble section shown in green. Other than changing the name associated with the identifier attribute in the second line (MANIFEST), this file is essentially the same for every course conformant with SCORM 1.2. This section contains the information used by the LMS and XML parsers to validate this file. Notice that it lists the principle schemas (the .xsd files). This information is used by XML parsers (like an LMS) to validate the syntax in the manifest file.

The section, shown in orange, describes the course. Allowed course metadata is described in the IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model, version 1.2 (see sidebar). This is not the only place in which course metadata appears. Course metadata can, and should, be included in the and sections. There is an entirely different procedure for maintaining learner (user) metadata, which is described in the run-time lessons of this course. Notice that for this course, the metadata is minimal. In fact, this section can be empty, and replaced with the tag. However, although the SCORM specifications do not require this section, without this metadata, the course would be difficult to find and extract from a SCORM repository. Hence it should be included if the course is to be accessible.

The section, shown in red, describes the sequencing of SCOs within a course. This section can also be empty for content resources that are not currently organized into a course.

In this example there is only one SCO, labeled "SCO1." The "identifierref" attribute in the element of this section points to the internal name for this SCO. This name is not displayed to the student.

The section, shown in blue, contains a list of all files used by each SCO. Notice that the label "SCO1" that appeared in the section appears in the "identifier" attribute of the element. This ties the SCO name found in the organizations section to course files.

In this case this SCO consists of only two files "start.html" and "end.html," which are listed in the elements within this section. Also note that the first page of this SCO is listed in the "href" attribute of the element. Every element is required to use the "href" attribute to point to the first resource in the SCO, even if the resource is an asset.

 

SCORM - Lesson 6

XML - An Introduction

Rama as you discovered in the previous page, XML is required for packaging SCORM-conformant courses, and for content developers, you will need to prepare this file to describe your course. The good news is that this is not difficult. The expert level packaging lesson will give you several examples to work from. However, you will still need to create your own file, and you will from time to time encounter problems with this file. Here are some essential for XML.

Tags, Elements & Attributes in XML

Lets examine a small part of an imsmanifest.xml file.



    

The tag:


    


Some XML elements convey attributes and not data. In this case, there is no need for a separate closing tag. The following statement is an example of such an element.



Although this statement is not closed by a
tag, it is a valid XML statement that might be found in a SCORM manifest file. Since this statement only has an attribute associated with it (href=filename), there is no need for a separate closing tag. These types of XML elements still require closing to be considered well formed. The closing is done by including the forward slash character "/" just before the final ">." This is required. Leaving off that forward slash is not well formed XML since the tag is not closed, and forgetting to include the forward slash will result in a XML parsing error.
Well formed XML must also have non-overlapping tags. A tag introduced after another tag must be closed before the first tag. In the following example, the

Overlapping tags are not allowed in XML and, in general, will cause an exception from the LMS or SCORM repository. The correct, non-overlapping XML for the above example places the closing tag for

SCORM - Lesson 5 - XML

XML - eXtensible Markup Language

Rama possibly you are already familiar with XML. If so, you might be tempted to skip this section and go directly to the assessment for this lesson. However, please do not skip the last few pages on the structure and role of the manifest file. First a brief introduction to XML.

XML - What is this?

XML looks similar to HTML. First they are both W3C Standards. If you have ever looked at the source text file for a web pages, you are familiar with HTML. For example the HTML statement creates a new paragraph in your web page, the statement signals your browser to display the font following this statement in red. HTML is a script language that tells your browser how to display text, graphics, etc., on your monitor. Without HTML, the web would be a pretty boring place.

XML uses a similar format because like HTML, it is a special implementation of a more complex scripting language called SGML. That is, HTML and XML share the same roots. An example XML statement would be:

Notice that this looks like HTML. It's no wonder that some people think of XML and HTML as doing the same thing. However, they have very different functions.

XML versus HTML - how are they different?

XML and HTML have very different functions. HTML is used to communicate to your browser how to display information on your monitor. XML, on the other hand, is used on the web to communicate data, which usually is not for display purposes.

XML and HTML are also different in one other respect. If you have every written HTML, you know that your browser is very forgiving of typing errors, or even syntax errors in your HTML. For example, if you type instead of , your browser does not mind. HTML is not case sensitive.

XML on the other hand is not so kind. XML, for example, is case sensitive. Small typing errors can create problems in XML.

How does SCORM use XML?

Recall that one of the three components of SCORM is content packaging. Packaging content requires the course developer to not only package the course resources into a single directory, it also requires that the following information be described in a special XML file:

       Course description,

       Course sequencing (navigation), and

       Course resources (files).

The IMS Content Packaging Specification, and hence SCORM ver 1.2, requires this information to be placed in one XML file with the name imsmanifest.xml . Every SCORM-conformant course must include this file in top level of the course directory. This is an XML file, a file with a particular format. If you are a course developer, you will need to build this file, which means you will be creating a particular xml file for your course.

However, don't worry. XML is not very complicated and this course will give you several examples to work from. You don't need a special application to build an XML file. You can create this file with any text editor.

SCORM - Lesson 4 - Content Packaging

   Content Packaging

1.     This lesson covers the beginner-level content packaging requirements for SCORM-conformant courses. Rama understanding the content in this lesson is essential to covering the advanced content packaging lesson. It is also useful, by itself, for content authors and others needing a basic understanding of the SCORM requirements.

This lesson assumes that you already covered the beginner-level concepts lesson, and that you are able to:

       identify and state the many SCORM acronyms, and

       describe the history and organization of ADL.

This lesson covers the fundamental ideas for packaging SCORM-conformant courses. Content packaging consists of organizing the content into a single directory, possibly with sub-directories, and preparing a manifest file that describes the following three key components of the course:

       the resources used in the course, i.e., the files,

       the navigation, or sequencing, structure of the course,

       a basic description of the course, i.e., the course metadata.

Content packaging does not address issues related to the communication of information, such as student scores, to and from the Learning Management System (LMS). These issues are addressed in the run-time lessons. Although basic course metadata are discussed in this lesson, the details of how to package course metadata in a course manifest file are described in the metadata lessons.

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

       recognize the purpose of each of the three major content packaging components,

       identify when a simple XML file is "well-formed,"

       distinguish between an XML file that is "well-formed" and one that is "valid,"

       list the basic elements of an imsmanifest file, and

       given a set of plausible manifest files, identify the correct file for SCORM version 1.2.

2.     content packaging is one of the three major components of SCORM. Content packaging is used to document three essential course characteristics:

       Course Description (course metadata),

       Course Sequencing (navigation), and

       Course Resources (SCOs and Assets).

This information is placed into a single file with the label imsmanifest.xml. As you can see, this is an XML file, which means that it is a simple text file containing XML syntax. In this course we use the term manifest file to refer to this file.

Content packaging in SCORM is derived from the IMS Content Packaging specification, version 1.1.2. SCORM places a few simple restrictions on the packaging metadata and adds an ADL attribute to the file descriptions. Other than that, the syntax described in the IMS packaging specification is identical to that used in SCORM 1.2.

In this lesson, you will learn how to read the information contained in a SCORM manifest file. However, to do that, you need to know a little about the syntax for that file, which is based upon the XML.

SCORM - Lesson 3

What is SCORM?

The acronym SCORM refers to the Sharable Content Object Reference Model. In its simplest terms, SCORM is a packaging and communication standard for web deployed content. SCORM uses reference tags to add keywords to content for searching. This enable SCORM to be used across different web servers. For the current version, SCORM 1.2.7, ADL has published the following four (4) documents:

• The SCORM Overview v1.2, 
• The SCORM Addendums v2.0 , 
• The SCORM Content Aggregation Model v1.2, and 
• The SCORM Run-Time Environment v1.2.

SCORM can be described in many ways. In this course, the Sharable Content Object Reference Model is described in terms of the following three components:

• content packaging,
• run-time communications, and
• course, SCO, and asset metadata.

In the previous version of SCORM, ver 1.1, the content packaging files was referred to as the CSF, or Content Structure Format. The CSF specification was actually an AICC (Aviation Industry CBT Committee) standard. SCORM 1.2 replaced CSF with the newer manifest file taken from IMS Global Learning Consortium specification for content packaging, version 1.1.2 (zip file). This specification is described in more detail later in this course. For now, it is sufficient to know that the content packaging specification describes the course:

• navigation structure,
• materials used in the course (files), and
• metadata (course description).

This information is contained in a special file referred to as the manifest file. This file is in a special XML format, described later in this course, and must be placed in the top-level directory of a course and labeled "imsmanifest.xml."

SCORM also describes methods for conducting communications between the course and the learning management system (LMS). This is referred to as the SCORM run-time environment. It includes both communications about the state of the course, i.e., which materials are being presented to the student, and information about how a student is progressing through a course. The SCORM run-time environment is derived from the AICC run-time model described in the AICC Guidelines for Interoperability, version 3.4.

Standardizing these communications minimizes issues associated with moving courses between learning management systems, since traditionally each LMS uses its own unique way of tracking and recording student progress through a course. Essentially the current SCORM run-time environment is implemented through the availability of 8 special methods, which are normally communicated to the LMS using JavaScript embedded within course web pages.

Lastly, the SCORM specification details the course, SCO, and asset metadata.

SCORM metadata

metadata Category	Description	SCORM Specification Parent
Content Aggregation metadata	Describes the contents of the SCORM course package.	IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model, ver. 1.2.1 (zip file)
SCO metadata	Describes the contents of the Sharable Content Objects (SCO) which make up the course or content aggregation.	IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model, ver. 1.2.1 (zip file)
Asset metadata	Describes each individual media file, HTML file and JavaScript file used to create the Sharable Content Objects (SCO).	IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Model, ver. 1.2.1 (zip file)

 

The first category of metadata, course metadata, is described in the SCORM 1.2 Content Aggregation Model specification, and they are the focus of the beginner and advanced metadata lessons in this course. Course metadata provide a means of providing course descriptive data within the course manifest file. This is key for courses archived within SCORM repositories. Course metadata provide a means for searching and extracting sharable content objects from these repositories.

The SCORM course metadata specification is derived from the IMS Learning Resource metadata Information Mode, ver 1.2, which themselves are derived from the IEEE LTSC Learning Object metadata (LOM) draft standard ver. 6.1, (2001-4-18).

 SCORM Help & Resources

The most complete collection of SCORM resources and help is found at the ADL web site. The ADL web site contains:

• SCORM specifications organized into three manuals (books),
• active discussion groups for SCORM developers, and
• a list of future SCORM-related conferences and meetings.

The four (4) SCORM 1.2.7 specifications can be downloaded from the ADL web site. They are also available for download in this course (zip file containing all three SCORM, ver 1.2, manuals in PDF format). The discussion groups at the ADL web site are very active. The discussions are a great source of SCORM development information. Several SCORM-related meetings are held during the year. One of these, Plugfest, is specifically open to SCORM developers.

SCORM - Lesson 2

Why SCORM?

It's not unusual for people involved in authoring and developing online courses to question the need and rationale for building SCORM-conformant courses. The rationale for SCORM is summarized in the "RAID" acronym. That is, the intent is that SCORM-conformant courses be:

• Reusable - objects from course A can be used again in course B ,
• Accessible - can be searched and made available as needed by both learners and content developers,
• Interoperable - operates across a wide variety of hardware, operating systems and web browsers, and
• Durable - does not require significant modifications with new versions of system software.

Currently there is a large selection of learning management systems (LMS) vendors. In academia, the most popular are WebCT, Blackboard and TopClass. However, there are many other LMS vendors. Edutools.info maintains a web site devoted to reviewing and comparing popular learning management systems.

Although choice and competition in the marketplace are generally a good thing, the rapid growth of LMS vendors has created a significant problem for content authors. Without a common specification for packaging online courses, LMS vendors organize their content databases in any fashion they choose. As a result, every vendor is using a different format for packaging their courses.

Although they are all delivered by http, or some other standard protocol, if an author tries to move a course from one LMS to another, they find that this task is very time-consuming. In many cases, moving from one LMS vendor to another requires complete reconstruction of the course materials.

ADL is evolving a set of specifications for packaging online courses that will not only make it easier to transport a course from one LMS to another, it will also achieve other desirable goals as well. A course packaged following the SCORM specifications can be transported from one LMS to another with minimum modifications.

 Why SCORM Accessibility?

A major goal of SCORM is to provide learning materials anytime-anyplace and to create customized learning geared to the learners individualized needs. Since the Content Aggregation Model within the SCORM specifications describes a standard way for packaging course materials, SCORM facilitates this goal. However, more is needed. Towards this goal, the ADL has developed learning repositories, or a network of databases for learning materials, under the CORDRA initiative that can be searched and accessed for course materials.

Today, Internet users quickly learn to use the popular search engines for finding information on the web, such as yahoo.com and google.com. The popularity and usefulness of the web would be much less if this ability to search for information was unavailable. The W3C html standard makes this possible by providing a common standard, or language, for presenting web pages. Without a common html standard, searching the web would be difficult and impractical.

SCORM repository technology will facilitate the development of new search engines designed to find and make available learning content. Content developers will relate to learning repositories in the way that today's commercial artists use libraries of high-quality photographs and drawings. Developers can take their content and aggregate it with repository learning content. In some cases, this might even be done real-time, at the point of use. That is, learners will be able to create their own, possibly unique, combination of learning content selected to meet their particular needs, just when they need it.

ADL foresees the day when this will form the basis for an instructional economy with incentives for content creators to develop high-quality materials, encouraging the development of whole new classes of products and services that provide accessible, sharable and adaptive learning experiences.

The development of repositories and an instructional economy does raise interesting copyright questions, and questions of compensation for producers and distributors of this content. In some ways, these issues will be similar to those being explored today with the online distribution of recorded music.