the powerful webcomic approach â€“ learning from the smithsonian

The Powerful Webcomic Approach – Learning from the Smithsonian

Daniel Bliton, Booz Allen Hamilton and Robert Costello, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

Produced by

July 16 & 17, 2009

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Not Just a Pretty Interface: Visuals and Graphics that Enhance Learning


July 16 & 17, 2009

Page 1Session 302 – The Powerful Webcomic Approach – Learning from the Smithsonian - Daniel Bliton, Booz Allen Hamilton and Robert Costello, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

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The Powerful Webcomic Approach –Learning from the Smithsonian

Robert Costello, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryDan Bliton, Booz Allen Hamilton

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Hi. I am Robert.Hi. I am Robert.

[email protected][email protected] at: http://del.icio.us/Learning2007

[email protected][email protected] at: http://del.icio.us/Learning2007

Hey. I am Dan.

Hey. I am Dan.

Go on. Tell them.

Go on. Tell them.


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Agenda

I. StoriesCompare a typical case study approach and more sticky story-based approach (see your hand out for Case Study One)The sticky story checklist

II. Visual Storytelling at the Smithsonian Why use visual storytelling, like Webcomics?Example design from the Smithsonian’s Webcomic –The Secret in the CellarResults and Lesson Learned

Stories are experience simulators. They provide the information, the context, and the models that people need to make decisions.


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How familiar are you with Storytelling and Visual Storytelling approaches?

Why did you choose this session?

Please type your replies into the chat window.



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Approaches for Making Your Learning Stick!

Visual StorytellingStorytelling

Impacts affective domain

Facilitates action-based stories with limited text

Offers knowledge instead of data

Taps into existing visual acuity skillsEnables emotional connections and advocacy

Improves recallYields deeper, more accurate learning

Increases the number of concepts learned

Engages learners

Makes oral and written text more concrete

Improves retention

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How do you turn a boring story about a machine into a sticky story that will produce

action?

An example from Sources of Power, by Gary Klein

http://www.decisionmaking.com

Using a Stephen Denning storytelling approach

www.stevedenning.com


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We are going to present the same basic information it two waysFirst - A typical case study Second – A more sticky story-based

approach

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Malfunctioning Heart Monitor - a case-study story


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Read the case study below targeting new neonatal nurses and offer suggestions for improving the instructional intervention.

Case Study: Malfunctioning Heart MonitorTeaching Point: When a patient is suffering a pneumopericardium, the heart rate monitor does not reflect the real heart beat. Definition: pneumopericardium (new – mO – perI – cardium) - A condition of new-born babies: Air fills the sac that surrounds the heart and turns it into a balloon. The heart is essentially paralyzed.Scenario: A nurse in a neonatal unit notices a baby having subtle color changes over a period of several hours. Then in a matter of seconds, the baby turns blue-black… The Goldway 4000F Vital Sign Monitor shows that his heart rate drops but then holds steady at eighty beats per minute. The nurse assumes it’s a collapsed lung. He calls for X-ray, and a doctor to come and puncture the baby’s chest wall to relieve the lung. Because neither the doctor nor the nurse recognizes that a pneumopericardium is present in time, the baby dies.

How would you improve? Please type your replies into the chat window.

How would you improve? Please type your replies into the chat window.

Source: adapted from Klein, Gary (1998) Sources of Power : How People Make Decisions. MIT Press

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Action story


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The boring story of a malfunctioning machine The courageous story

of Karen

A case study is made interesting

The story now provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).

The story now provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).


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Answer the ABCs to turn a case study into a story

Action - What is the starting event?Background - What is the situation?Conflict - What needs to specifically happen?Development - What happens and who is involved?End - Why is this valuable?

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Sticky Story SUCCESS Checklist

SimpleUnexpectedConcreteCredibleEmotionalSparks Action (or provides Solution)

Source: Adapted from Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die www.madetostick.com


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Can you predict the most effective communication method for an organization?

Which was the most effective method?

A. A story alone B. Statistical data aloneC. A combination of

statistics and storyD. A policy statement

by senior company executive

Source: Martin, J. and Powers, M. "Organizational Stories: More Vivid and Persuasive than Quantitative Data."

A study analyzed the effectiveness of four different methods of persuasion - when given the task of communicating that an organization really practiced a policy of avoiding layoffs.


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Trouble at Checkpoint 4 was used to kick off discussions in online Army forums

Stories provide the context for learners to make decisions. Within 48 hours, Trouble at Checkpoint 4 was the highest ranked contribution of the 5705 knowledge objects posted in the discussionforum.

Stories provide the context for learners to make decisions. Within 48 hours, Trouble at Checkpoint 4 was the highest ranked contribution of the 5705 knowledge objects posted in the discussionforum.

Source: Command Performance Research, Inc.

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Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

We inspire curiosity, discovery, and learning about nature and culture . . . 6 – 7 million onsite visitors and 30 million online visitors in 2008


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The Museum needed to expand reach and teach scientific learning objectives

• Increase public understanding of the process of science

• Increase public awareness of NMNH research

• Increase understanding of forensic science

STUDENT RESPONSES

Percent of students that selected “Very – Extremely Well” on the question - How well did the Webcomic inform you on:

The scientific process 67%

The practice of archaeology 57%

The practice of forensic 85%Anthropology

Colonial Chesapeake 52%history

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Audience characteristics – middle and high school students• Very computer savvy and connected• The members of the EYE generation are visually acute. They play

video games, watch movies, and read comic books.


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Design idea: Webcomic with a main storyline and links to additional information and other activities from the main storyline

•Lessons•Definitions•Predictive activities•Branching story

Image Source: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Scene 1 – Introduce hero Scene 2 – The hook

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Why do a Webcomic?




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Visuals can help stories be more understandable – Example: Macbeth | Act I, Scene 2 MALCOLM.This is the sergeantWho, like a good and hardy soldier, fought'Gainst my captivity.--Hail, brave friend!Say to the king the knowledge of the broilAs thou didst leave it.

SOLDIER.Doubtful it stood;As two spent swimmers that do cling togetherAnd choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald,--Worthy to be a rebel,--for to thatThe multiplying villainies of natureDo swarm upon him,--from the Western islesOf kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,

Source: http://www.classicalcomics.com

Want more? See What is “Visual Language"?: What comics can tell us about the Mind by Neil Cohn.

Want more? See What is “Visual Language"?: What comics can tell us about the Mind by Neil Cohn.

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Have you seen the Manga section at your local bookstore and library?

“It's old news that shojo is hot. And the corollary, that girls are pushing graphic novel sales, is well known. What's less well known is that young female creators are among the hottest new comics artists.”


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Visual storytelling is sticky and an effective instructional approach

Visual storytelling:• Makes oral and written

text more concrete –more understandable

• Increases the number of concepts learned

• Improves recall• Taps into existing visual

acuity skills• Facilitates action-based

stories with limited text

Source: Stephen CaryImage Source: World Bank Comic: 1 World Manga Passage 2: HIV/AIDS - First Love

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Source: L10 http://l10.biz/ Click the image above and then use the arrow buttons to advance through the 9 pages.

Click the image above and then use the arrow buttons to advance through the 9 pages.


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What other options did we consider?

Decided not to do a game nor add audio.Do you think we were right?Decided not to do a game nor add audio.Do you think we were right?

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Webcomic Storyline Development Process

1. Pencils in PPT 1. Pencils in PPT

4. Limited animation and

text added

4. Limited animation and

text added

2. Inked in vector format

2. Inked in vector format

3. Colored in and put in Flash

3. Colored in and put in Flash


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Smart thing – Held focus group with middle and high school studentsWhen: After the pencils were doneHow: Each character role assigned to a student; read story aloud (no activities)

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Great feedback from the focus groups confirmed approach was on target

At first I didn’t think I would like it. I am not the type of person who likes comic book-type stories, like this one. Luckily, I enjoyed it greatly. I think most of the panels were excellent.

I thought it was good I liked it. It was a good story. If they made it a website it would be awesome.

I thought the overall impression of the story was nice because I understood what the story was saying. It’s also interesting because the story is about someone our age. The presentation was nice, a little boring but maybe it’s because there was no color


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Activities allow the learners to view new information in an article format and then apply it

After the learners were introduced to a need for knowledge and information within the story, they were provided the opportunity to dig deeper, make their own judgment calls, and compare their answers against other viewers. Sometimes, photos from the actual case were compared against examples.

After the learners were introduced to a need for knowledge and information within the story, they were provided the opportunity to dig deeper, make their own judgment calls, and compare their answers against other viewers. Sometimes, photos from the actual case were compared against examples.


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Used polling questions instead of standard static multiple-choice questions to make the activities more of a connected experience

Our audience is used to collaborating as part of an online community. Plus, we thought that they would pay more attention once they saw they were one of the few people to choose a certain answer.

Our audience is used to collaborating as part of an online community. Plus, we thought that they would pay more attention once they saw they were one of the few people to choose a certain answer.

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Design idea: Make activities modular for flexible use by teachers and incorporate Facebook fan site

The audience uses Facebook and hopefully will viral-market the site through their social networking.<link to Ana’s page>

The audience uses Facebook and hopefully will viral-market the site through their social networking.<link to Ana’s page>


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Would the Webcomic be more instructionally effective with audio?

You can also submit responses about the use of audio in e-Learning in a more complete survey.You can also submit responses about the use of audio in e-Learning in a more complete survey.

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Google Analytics for Tracking With low numbers at the start of a rollout it is risky to say there are any trends at all, but …

• Bounce Rate is low -good

• Time on Site is high -good

• Behind the Scenes is highest page and exit page - good

• Print – Help is third highest exit page

• Top content roughly follows the sequence it is offered

• Highest traffic areas are VA and MD

Google Analytics generates multiple reports based on a small piece of script that was included on all pages, but …Google Analytics generates multiple reports based on a small piece of script that was included on all pages, but …

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Sample Survey responses

Who is using The Secret in the Cellar Webcomic?

• I am 72 years old and fascinated by the scientific study of the world around us.

• Parent, History Buff, Homeschool Mom, Forensic Anthropologist—really!

• Retired Diplomat, Museum Curator, Museum Educator, Budget Analyst age 55

• Retired Military, Retired Teacher, Genealogist 50 year-old


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Would you recommend the Webcomic to a friend by sharing the Web address?

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• Sharing the information with my grandchildren and building theirinterest prior to visiting the exhibit

• That you could click on extra links to learn more . . . the process they go through . . . that really captured my 9 year old interest

• My kids all liked the comic aspect of it and the “mystery” aspect of the story

• Visuals, pictures are good for my memory and my type of learning• “Vote” is a seamless test your knowledge approach• I found myself interested in a topic that wouldn’t ordinarily interest

me• At first, I thought sound might help. However, on second thought,

it would prohibit the student from focusing on the PROCESS of learning, which I believe is the goal of Education.

Sample Survey responses to the question -What aspects of the Webcomic did you like best?


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Section 508 Compliance Approach

• Long Description link (only seen by a screen reader) to text-only version

• Webcomic is readable by a screen reader – provided alternate text and revised text in a separate script for each page

• Printable and screen readable PDF versions available for the Webcomic and Activities

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The ABC Guidelines for Visual Storytelling

• Action – Show the story, don’t just talk about it • Balloons – No more than 3 to 4 balloons per cell• Cells – No more than 6 cells/panels per page• Dialogue – No more than 12 to 15 word per

balloon or 30 words per cell


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Lessons Learned

• Instructional Designers should sometimes think about themselves as knowledge marketers and writers

• Sustaining an interesting story is a deliberate process (and you still have to work with SMEs)

• Apply multiple Section 508 (Flash, HTML, and PDF) approaches

• Surveys can be branched to capture the interests of different audiences

Write short simple surveys and then make them shorter

• Use social networking for marketing and feedback (Facebook)

• Adobe Flex is different from Flash

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What was Tom Hanks character’s big idea in the 1988 movie BIG?

Source: 20th Century Fox




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The Secret in the Cellar Webcomic: http://writteninbone.si.edu/comic

Links to additional references and examples at:http://del.icio.us/Learning2007

Please complete the survey about the use of audio with static images in e-Learning at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Dpvvrq9312f5qcre97wy4w_3d_3d

Robert Costello ([email protected]) Dan Bliton ([email protected])

the powerful webcomic approach â€“ learning from the smithsonian

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