What was the most surprising thing that you learned by participating in the design thinking process, and designing and developing your DLR?
I realized that although I tried to think comprehensively, there were a few details that I omitted from my design process such as forgetting to mention that my DLR would be hosted on the college’s learning management system (LMS), Blackboard.
When you proceed through the different phases (empathy, define, ideate, prototype and test) as outlined by Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school), brainstorm ideas and receive feedback, I found that developing a DLR can take time, but is a lot easier than expected especially if you have the right tools and foundational learning.
What suggestions and improvements did you receive?
My peers and instructor throughout this process suggested a lot of ideas and gave actionable and constructive feedback. This clearly shows that collaborating with others from various backgrounds and perspectives “enable breakthrough insights and solutions” (Stanford University Institute of Design, 2016, p. 2).
Some of the suggestions/feedback were the following:
- On the main page of the DLR, have an introductory or welcome video (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019).
- When explaining the use of Flipgrid in regards to the privacy and security of our students, add a cautionary note on the use of the “remember me” feature. This should only be indicated if the students are using their own personal device (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019).
- Instead of having the Flipgrid tutorial at the beginning, it should be incorporated into the discussion section as there can be a “disconnect or break in concentration where students have to go back to the initial page” (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019, p. 3).
- The Flipgrid discussion section would be “a great opportunity to have students interact with each other on their thoughts on the module” (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019, p. 4).
Did you get any feedback that you did not expect and needs further investigation?
Due to not having the background and previous experience of working with our Dental Hygiene students and guest speakers, my peers gave some feedback that were not expected, but would need further investigation.
Rephrasing the statement “mandatory feedback” to “feedback is welcomed and appreciated” (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019, p. 5). In previous experiences with students using Socrative Survey, I have used positive language such as “feedback is welcomed and appreciated”; however, only received a 35% response rate (Wimmer, 2019).
Having “a link to contact the specific guest speaker for further clarification, if that is appropriate” (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019, p. 6). This may not be appropriate/convenient for all of our guest speakers due to their work schedules. Thus, it may be easier that the students contact the instructor for more information or clarification. If there are questions that the instructor cannot answer, then she would be able to compile a list of those questions and contact the guest speaker if needed.
“Perhaps offering a question and answer section after each subject (i.e. radiography prescription) may provide an opportunity to ask specific questions about the topic” (Stokes-Beare & Wilkes, 2019, p. 6). Because the students already know how to use the various forms, they would not need more clarification on the use of them. This section is meant to demonstrate the difference in process in treating the Veterans from the Leave the Streets Behind Program.
It was asked if I saw any challenges in obtaining guest speaker videos to add to the DLR (Christie, 2019). I thought that I could perhaps obtain consent from the guest speakers if we could videotape them during their live presentation with our students. This video would then be posted to the module.
What are the next steps you would like to take to build upon your DLR?
I definitely would like to work on incorporating some of the feedback such as creating a welcome video, moving the Flipgrid tutorial to the discussion section, and asking a question that would begin class discussion on Flipgrid. After the modification, I would then like to test it with a few of my colleagues especially the professor of the Community Health course. If they feel that it works well, then I would like to implement the module in October 2019.
Consider how you might utilize the design thinking process for the design and creation of DLR in the future, or for other tasks that you may encounter within your instructional context.
Prior to starting the MALAT program, I have had limited experience in creating a DLR. Thus, having these experiences of doing things step-by-step, obtaining feedback and collaborating with others, has assisted me in building confidence and knowledge in instructional design.
Furthermore, I found that going through the various phases made me think of how our students would feel and think in the online learning environment. I found myself asking a lot of questions like “is this clear enough?”, “how might they interpret this?”, “would this cause discomfort if I used this technology and how can I make them feel more comfortable?” As Mohsin Hamid stated. “Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself” (Matthews, Williams, Yanchar & McDonald, 2017, p. 486).
From the experiences so far in our program, I feel that the design thinking process will assist me in the future creation of DLR in my instructional context.
References
Christie, J. (2019, August 11). Assignment 2 – Design and Creation of Digital Learning Resource Feedback. Unpublished manuscript. Royal Roads University.
Matthews, M., Williams, G., Yanchar, S., & McDonald, J. (2017). Empathy in distance learning design practice. Tech Trends, 61(5), 486-493.
Stokes-Beare, D., & Wilkes, P. (2019, August 14). Critical Analysis and Feedback. Unpublished manuscript. Royal Roads University.
Stanford University Institute of Design. (2016). bootcamp bootleg. Retrieved from http://dschool-old.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/METHODCARDS-v3-slim.pdf
Wimmer, J. (2019, July 11). WEOHC – Socrative Survey Results. Unpublished manuscript. George Brown College.