Segmenting Content and Integrating Rich-Media

Let’s Talk About Your Content You probably have something that would be considered Primary Content for your course: ◦ The primary flow of information in Modules or content areas. ◦ May include:  Text (one or more documents).  Assigned readings (books, articles).  PowerPoint slides.  Audio or video of you presenting material (e.g., portions of lectures).  Web resources (such as audio, video, articles, posts on the web).

If you use PowerPoints… When do PowerPoints work as Primary Content? ◦ They are detailed enough to be understood on their own, or ◦ You included notes for any slides that required more explanation, or ◦ You recorded audio or video to accompany them.

One or More Content Types You may have one type of content that represents the primary flow of information. Better yet, you may have two, three, or more primary content types. ◦ If so, you’re probably already providing some segmenting and self-pacing. ◦ Students are getting it in pieces, and they actively navigate to find more. Either way, segmenting involves: ◦ Looking at your content, ◦ Finding any natural breaking points within it, and ◦ Dividing it into those pieces.

Segmenting Principle Which is better? ◦ Giving your students everything in one chunk. ◦ Asking your students to focus for limited periods and then having them click somewhere to initiate another learning segment. The second one: ◦ You allow them to pace their own learning. ◦ It gives the experience an active feel (student is searching and digging for more information). Three studies on the impact of segmenting showed: ◦ Large increases in information retention and transfer of skills to novel situations. Source: Mayer, Richard E., “Applying the Science of Learning: Evidence-Based Principles for the Design of Multimedia Instruction,” American Psychologist, November 2008, pp

Example Dr. Bruce Keillor’s course on Strategic Marketing Management: ◦ He used PowerPoints for his in-class lectures. ◦ They were full lecture-length. ◦ The bullet-points were concise, and there was no annotation.

Concise is Good, but … Concise is good in PowerPoints – fewer words is better. But it means these PowerPoints can’t be Primary Content by themselves. You can’t follow them without more help.

The Recording Option To add that information, Dr. Keillor decided to record his lectures using Adobe Presenter. He began by identifying natural breaking points in the lecture. He then recorded several videos per lecture.

A Peek at One Week One of Dr. Keillor’s lectures was called Understanding Markets & Competition.

It then became … Four videos:

It then became … Four videos:

It then became … Four videos:

It then became … Four videos:

One PowerPoint = Many Videos We kept it all in one PowerPoint and added title slides at each of the breaking points. He then recorded one … saved his video … and started a new video with each new title slide. Thus, he created a Primary Content flow and started to provide segmenting through the recording process.

What Next? Is that segmenting? It’s some segmenting. Take it one more step, and you can give a real sense of: ◦ Student pacing their own learning ◦ Digging for more information Consider adding materials or learning activities between your series of Primary items. If Primary Content is videos from a lecture, think about other kinds of media or learner activities to put in-between.

Possible “In-Betweeners” Questions: ◦ Blackboard can add assessment items between content items. ◦ You can do these as non-credit:  For this place in your course – between content – easy questions tend to be effective.  According to Thorndike (early behaviorist), one of the best reinforcers for adults is telling them “right” when they answer a question correctly.  “Friendly” (easy) questions in the content area may:  Increase the sense of interaction.  Lower the initial intimidation factor of engaging with your materials.

Possible “In-Betweeners” Questions Discussion: ◦ Send them to the Discussion Board to post their thoughts. ◦ Better yet, pose a question they can address based on the material in the segment.

Possible “In-Betweeners” Questions Discussion YouTube mashup: ◦ Maybe there’s video or a Flash animation out on the web that adds a visual dimension to what they’re learning.

Possible “In-Betweeners” Questions Discussion YouTube mashup Article Blog post or other web content Audio podcast Slide presentation out on the web (check SlideShare.net)

How Many “In-Betweeners”? You don’t need to throw several between each content item. You don’t even need to have one between every content item. Look for: ◦ Good, quality content. ◦ Effective enhancements to the learning experience. ◦ Maybe something that lends a little humor. Pepper those through your Primary Content. So look for quality items conveyed through a variety of media.

Our Example What does Dr. Keillor’s module look like with “in-betweeners”?