Content Analysis

Content Analysis: 12 hours

This week, I worked on the content analysis. I designed the curriculum map, drafted the performance objectives plus the assessment items, and created the task analysis table. Our elearning unit is a refresher based on a workshop that has already been delivered. Therefore, the content is already available through the trainer’s manual and the DVDs used in the workshop. I consider us lucky as a team to have been provided with the content, especially when it is very specific to the organization we are working for. So what I did was review the DVDs one more time and break down the trainer’s manual into the principles and concepts that needed to be included in the unit. Once this was done, I designed the curriculum map. I started by using the chart-generating tool called Lovely Charts. I really like this tool except for one thing. The free version of it will allow me to export my charts as images but will not allow me to save them. So, for every editing, I would have to recreate the chart over and over again. Even with knowing that, I still tried to create my curriculum map in Lovely Charts, just because I like the ease of creating the boxes and the arrows that connects them together. However, after realizing the nightmare of editing a complicated chart such as the curriculum map, I switched to Fireworks. That was the wise the decision I should have made from the beginning. Editing in Fireworks is so easy. The image can be moved and edited within Dreamweaver with no problem and I discovered the connector tool that lets me connect the boxes, like in Lovely Charts (but not as pretty). As for the content of the curriculum map, I feel that I need to revisit it again and again and be careful about clarifying what the unit is going to accomplish versus what the transfer is expected to be. The transfer is the acquisition of the Leadership Skills but the unit can only accomplish the acquisition of intellectual and cognitive skills. The same applies to writing down the performance objectives. I think, I got more clarity once I started working on the task analysis and the assessment items and I concluded that my performance items needed revision. In order to create the assessment items, I downloaded the free trial version of Articulate, since this is the tool that our client wants us to use. I built the assessment items in Quizmaker. I can honestly say that I love Articulate, although I was apprehensive at first about learning a new tool while developing the elearning unit for our client. By giving several choices of formatting a question, Quizmaker inspires the designer in building the assessment items. For example, a multiple choice question would serve one purpose and a drag and drop another. The assessment questions I wrote were all close-ended responses. Not always my favorite form of evaluation, but we need to make the unit easy and quick to navigate for the learner who will be going though chunks of 5-7 minutes of elearning while on the job. At this point my work is not complete. I’m planning on going over it with my teammates, during our meeting in class tonight.
Reflections: Drafting the curriculum map, the performance objectives and the assessment items is no simple task. They lay the foundation for the development of the unit; therefore they must be strongly built. Careful consideration should be given to what the elearning unit is achieving. Transfer is desired but cannot be tested after the completion of the unit. So, the unit can go as a far as testing the acquisition of intellectual and cognitive skills. Moreover, the choice of selected responses used for ease of the implementation of the unit will not allow for the evaluation of higher order thinking skills in comparison to using essay questions that requires synthesis and evaluation.
As for choices of tools, the temptation of using appealing tools is big. I fall for that. However, with rapid prototyping, one should consider efficiency. Experimenting with a tool to end up redoing the work using another practical tool is not the smartest idea.