IL Tutorial Design & Development – Part 1Michael BairdThe Art Institute of [email protected]
Cooperative Library Instruction Project (CLIP)
• Create open IL tutorials to be used by higher edstatewide
• Partnership between public university, research I, private university, community college
• Address state-mandated IL competencies
• Flexible, adaptable
CLIP: What went wrong
• Planning tutorials before researching
• Production before setting style and technology standards
• Well-defined methods for continued cooperative participation
• Introducing unnecessary complexity
CLIP: What worked well
• Keeping the project open and portable, not tied to any particular institution
• Hiring staff with extensive multimedia experience
• Crowdsourcing for content ideas
• Statewide promotion and outreach
• Removing complexity from curation
Tutorial Creation
Getting Started
Define the Project
• Refer to COIL project proposal form
• What IL skill/concept will this address? (are these formally articulated?)
• Learning outcomes?
• Design and development?
Not Enough Information?
Filling in the Blanks
Meet Your Stakeholders
• Interviews and meetings across disciplines
• Ask what they wish librarians could teach?
• What IL skills are their students lacking?
• Do they need to integrate IL into curriculum? What are they struggling with?
• Ask to observe a class session
Research
Filling in the Blanks
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
• Search the web, filter to .edu websites
• Search YouTube, SchoolTube, Vimeo
• Use, borrow, and attribute
Review the Topic
• Search the open web
• Search library literature
• Search education literature
Choose Your Learners
Filling in the Blanks
User Personas
• Create a short character sketch, or more if the tutorial concept has potential for wide use
• Who will use the tutorial?
• What are their learning styles?
• Pre-existing skills?
• Cultural awareness?
• Have fun with it!
First Year / First Generation StudentName: JamesMajor: Music
Research experience: Using GoogleAdvanced web searching: none
Uses library resources: Pleasure reading only
Computer skills: Basic web browsing, e-mail, Facebook, chatting
Reading comprehension: high
Preferred learning style: Visual with supporting audio
Likes: Short films, bright colors
Dislikes: Anything boring or slow
Goals
Filling in the Blanks
Goal Statement
• What can the student do that they couldn’t before? Self-check throughout the entire process to be sure you stick to this
• Stay on track when distracted by shiny graphics, clever interactive elements, or fine details that do not matter
Tools to Use
Filling in the Blanks
Considerations
• Do you need built-in assessment?
• Will there be video clips?
• Will there be video recordings of your screen?
• Is accessibility a priority?
• Where will the output go?
Software
• Adobe Captivate
• TechSmith Camtasia
• TechSmith Jing
• Articulate Storyline
Outlining
Building
Outline
• Organize the tutorial topic into major areas
• Break down those areas to granular concepts appropriate for audience
• This is just a draft, the point is getting all ideas committed to paper
Write a Script
Building
Script Writing
• This will eventually be your voiceover
• Use your outline to write a narrative
• Keep your word choice, syntax, and tone appropriate to the audience
• Refer to your prepared personas!
Storyboard
Building
What Goes Where
• Storyboards are a draft visual layout of the tutorial
• PowerPoint is a great tool to organize this, even if the tutorial is entirely a video
• Also fine to use tutorial authoring software
• Gather images, decide where they go
– Track attribution for images, ideas, etc.
• Choose text wisely, less is more
Choosing Software
Building
Full-Featured Comparison
Captivate
• Uses slides in a familiar way, like PowerPoint
• Detail and customization have high potential, with high learning curve
• Poor quality screen recording function
• Output can be Flash or YouTube-ready video
Camtasia
• The entire project belongs to a single timeline, similar to audio editing
• Excellent quality screen capture function with many features
• Lower learning curve
• Output can be Flash or YouTube-ready video
Lite Software
Jing
• It’s free
• Learning curve is nearly flat
• Files are hosted with TechSmith, or you can download and host on your own server
• No editing available, all-or-nothing, 5 minute limit
• Best use: single-purpose, tool-based, how-to screen capture videos.
Audio Software
Audacity
• Excellent free audio editing tool
• Moderate learning curve
• Lots of advanced options after you get your feet wet
LameDrop
(new version is LameDropXpd, I have not used it yet)
• Free one-step audio compression tool with high quality results
• Drag and drop functionality
• Reduces large, high-quality audio uncompressed files to small, high-quality compressed files
Image Editing Software
Paint.NET
• http://www.getpaint.net
• Free, very high quality image editor
• All functionality you need for cropping, resizing, changing resolution
• Low learning curve
Questions
IL Tutorial Design & Development – Part 2Michael BairdThe Art Institute of [email protected]
Tutorial Software Build
Building
Keep it Simple
• Combine in authoring software:
– Storyboard layout
– Text
– Images
• Don’t worry about fine-tuning and details, think big picture
Record Voiceover
Building
Keep Your First Voice Simple
• This is just a draft, mistakes are fine
• This is to evaluate timing, get a sense of flow, transition, and pace
• Use authoring software recording tool, quality is unimportant
Rearrange
Building
Line ‘Em Up
• Adjust your visual and audio objects to roughly line up
• Again, keep it simple, it’s just a draft
• Edit as you go, eliminating and adding as it makes sense
– Think about flow
– Think about pace
– Think about timing
Working Prototype
Building
You Did It!
Prototype is complete
Show and Tell
Editing
Find an Editor or Seven
• COIL will have a peer-review process in place
• Additionally,
– Track down the faculty you interviewed at the beginning, non-librarians are essential
– Track down students in classes you initially observed
– Use bribes for students
Usability
Editing
Usability – Another Dirty Word
• Keep it simple
• Steve Krug – “Rocket Surgery Made Easy”
– http://www.sensible.com/rsme.html
• Even 1-2 participants are very valuable
Usability – Sample Test• Have student perform a simple activity based
on tutorial learning goal
• Have student view the draft tutorial
• Ask questions– Was the tutorial easy to understand?
– Did the images make sense? Distract?
– Did you feel you learned something?
• Have student perform the same activity
• Compare results
Now or Never
Editing
Final Edits
• Honest evaluation comparing with project outcomes/goal statement, does it work?
• Last edits for text choice, transitions, imagery, etc.
Ins and Outs of Voice Recording
Production
Voice Recording
• Make the best audio possible
• Invest in a good microphone
– Blue Snowball works great, around $100
• Likely need to record audio in separate software
Practical Tips
• Use a quiet room• Reduce echo with at-hand items• Quiet computer reduces background noise• Fluorescent lights can “hum”• Do all recording in one session• Use a pop shield• Keep beverages handy• Make each slide/section a single uninterrupted
clip• Captivate, specifically, has poor quality
Audio Quality Comparison
Less desirable
https://www.wou.edu/provost/library/clip/tutorials/internet_tips.htm
More desirable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psaOdZFPTEM
Polish
Production
Final Tweaks
• Fine-tune text and images to properly align with audio recordings
• Only do this as the final step, it is incredibly time-intensive
• Fully export the tutorial to its final format for previewing
Output
Distribution
Make it Public
• YouTube works very well
– Can be embedded just about anywhere
– Does not use your system (storage and bandwidth) resources
– Solid closed captioning features for accessibility
• Flash has its plusses too
– Extensive options for interactivity
– SCORM-compliant quiz functionality
Packaging
Distribution
Collect All Assets
• Zip files work great to keep everything together
• What you will need to include:– Primary source file(s) (Camtasia, Captivate, etc.)
– Original audio clips
– Images (everything, including template images)
– Outline
– Script
– Text file with attribution information
Questions