Your goal for this challenge is to, in a group, create an open educational resource that allows a reader to learn about some idea or concept. The subject can be about anything you want so long as it is educational. Utilize the template here to document all your work
As you complete this project, you will be able to:
- Integrate multimedia and interactive elements to enhance learning opportunities
- Apply theories and frameworks (multimedia learning theories, interactive theories, universal design for learning) to support learning and accessibility
- Evaluate open educational resources for their learning quality and accessibility and provide theory-informed recommendations for improvement
- Iterate on your project with peer feedback to refine and improve your work
- Engage in design thinking to create multimedia learning projects
Important Dates
| Fri, Oct 31 | Substantive Contribution #1 (Individually) |
| Wed, Nov 5 | Share your prototype (As a Group) |
| Sun, Nov 9 | Provide peer feedback (Individually) |
| Fri, Nov 14 | Substantive Contribution #2 (Individually) |
| Thurs, Nov 20 | Project submission (As a Group) |
Open Educational Resources
“Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are either
- in the public domain or
- licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities (retain, reuse, revise, remix, redistribute).”
By being freely available and accessible to learners, they act as valuable tools for democratizing education. They reduce financial and accessibility barriers, making learning opportunities available to a global audience. Although much of the internet seems free to use, most websites don’t offer the same rights as OERs, restricting how their content can be legally reused or shared. OERs are an important step in making education more open and equitable. This is exciting as right now, you could go online and learn just about anything!
Creative Commons licenses make it easy to legally share your work and see how others have licensed theirs. For your own OERs, I recommend using the most permissive license, CC-BY, which you can apply by including a clear statement on your website. Learn more on the Creative Commons website here.
When you explore OERs on your own, I want you to first consider your personal thoughts and experiences:
- Can you trust this resource?
- Are you able to obtain the information you want?
- Are your learning goals supported?
- Do you have agency?
- How are you motivated?
- How does the interaction with the OER make you feel?
Through this personal lens, you can then consider how some of the theories and frameworks apply to OERs. Consider:
- Theories of cognitive load
- Dual-coding theory
- Interactive theories
- Universal design for learning
Spend some time searching the internet for educational resources based on your interests and hobbies and explore some OERs. Below are some OER examples to explore. Maintain your critical eye, as these examples may not employ the best possible learning experience!
- Wikipedia: Open Educational Resource
- Creative Commons: 5.2 OER, Open Textbooks, and Open Courses
- H5P: The Basics
What you have to do
In a group, create an open educational resource (a website or series of webpages) that allow a reader to learn about some idea or concept. This can be a brand new website (other than your blog) on any platform so that each member can have login access. Your resource should integrate multimedia and interactive elements in order provide rich and diverse learning opportunities. Ensure that your resource is accessible! Utilize theories and frameworks to support your design decisions such as theories of multimedia learning, models of active learning, and universal design for learning. The subject of the webpage can be about anything you want so long as it is educational. Utilize the template here to document all your work.
Throughout the Challenge project, you will engage with the following phases:
- Phase 0: Sharing and Helping Discussion
- Phase 1: Understand (Discover, Interpret, Specify)
- Phase 2: Plan (Ideate, Sketch, Elaborate)
- Phase 3: Prototype
- Phase 4: Peer Feedback Discussion
- Phase 5: Reflect and Refine
Sharing and helping discussion (5%) – Individual component
As you work through your project and engage with resources, you will learn a lot that is worth sharing with others.
Individually, you are to create 2 substantive contributions (~250 words each).
- In the first substantive post, you are to share an open educational resource that you find impactful and comment on the educational merit and accessibility. Reference theories from class in your commentary.
- The second post examines accessibility through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) perspective. I’d like you to engage deeply with the theory: What does accessibility mean within learning, inclusion, and design? How does accessibility shape multimedia and interactive learning environments? Focus on a more sophisticated, conceptual understanding of accessibility rather than technical considerations such as Web Content Accessibility Standards.
Please format your contribution as a blog post or document and share it in our Mattermost Sharing and Helping channel.
Participation beyond your substantive post is important, so please engage with others by asking questions, offering help, and responding to posts.
Sharing your prototype
Your prototype is the first draft of your final project. You can share it as a web page, a document with clear project documentation, or a blog post.
The Project write-up is done as a group, you can use the same template here. If you are choosing to do a drastically different topic for each video, then there may be aspects of the understand/plan that are unique to each topic that the video will look into.
The prototype is what you intend to test; in order to test your ideas, you need to communicate it with others. Do you want to test the content matter (hint: for learning this is important!)? then a storyboard will work. If you want to test the video style, then a short video clip is needed. Outline the purpose of your prototype. So, the prototype can be a rough outline of your videos utilizing words and/or images, it can be a larger storyboard, it can be a short video clip, or anything else you find helpful. In addition to gaining feedback, the development of the prototype should also be a beneficial step in creating your final video. It doesn’t have to be perfect, the key is to clearly get your point across.
The videos can include real people or be animated, it can narrated or text on screen, it can be explanatory, a scenario, or a how-to. Have fun!
Along with your prototype, please include your “Understand” and “Plan” phases. These don’t need to be perfect or complete; you’ll have a chance to refine them later. Please utilize this template.
Once you have everything ready, share your prototype with your peers in the Mattermost chat.
Providing Peer Review (5%) – Individual component
Project submission (20%)
This is the final project submission that includes your entire design process from understanding the challenge through planning, peer feedback, and revision. Please share your final project
The components of the final project submission include:
- Understand (Discover, Interpret, Specify) (5%)
- Define the challenge, context, audience, and learning outcomes
- Plan (Ideate, Sketch, Elaborate) (5%)
- Develop a solution plan, including a hand-drawn storyboard, script and connections to multimedia theory
- Reflect and Refine from Prototype Feedback (5%)
- Critical reflection on the peer feedback and the design process as a whole
- Project Artifact (5%)
- Create a multimedia artifact prototype based on the plan
The process you follow to create your project is where most of your learning occurs, and as a result, the vast majority of your grade will be based on that process. So it is crucial that you record all of your design decisions. The key to success is to work through a clear design process and to justify your choices by referencing class readings and other literature.
Here is a template for you to document your work. This template is designed to guide your team through the design and creation of your project and includes the expected phases listed above.
Resources
You can use any tool or method to create your website. You can use WordPress (such as your current blog or a new instance of WordPress), or any of the other available web design tools. Be sure to explore the design of your website including the theme and menus. Another alternative is to explore course authoring software – these are often more like an electronic textbook (you can think of it as a more structured website).
Web Platforms:
Course authoring
Assessment Rubric
| 0 – 2 (Needs Additional Work) | 3 (Marginally Meets Expectations) | 4 (Fully Meets Expectations) | 5 (Exceeds Expectations) | |
| Sharing and helping (5%) | Substantive contribution is missing or lacks substance. There’s little if any engagement in the discussion. | Contributions are brief and/or inadequately supported by literature or other sources Participation is inconsistent. | The contribution is substantive and relevant to the project. Is an active, consistent contributor to the conversation. | Exceptional substantive contribution that demonstrates sound theory and shows external research. Is an active contributor in the discussion that elevates the conversation. |
| Peer Review (5%) | Feedback is minimal, generic, or unhelpful. Lack of understanding of the project’s goals. It is delivered in an emotionally harmful manner. | Feedback lacks depth, is brief, and/or is unactionable. There is insufficient understanding of the project. | Feedback is thoughtful, specific, and actionable. The tone is positive, constructive, and respectful. | Feedback is exceptionally insightful, comprehensive, and emotionally intelligent. There is a deep analysis of the project and connection to theory. |
| Understand (5%) | Poorly defined challenge Insufficient audience description Off-target POV statement Learning outcomes inadequately described Lack of effort is apparent | Challenge is overly simple, unmanageable, or partially defined Audience description is limited POV statement is marginally effective Learning outcomes need refinement | Clear, manageable learning challenge with well-elaborated context. Audience and needs are effectively described. POV statement is clear and effective. Learning objectives and sub-objectives are well-defined. Thoughtful effort evident. | Exceptional focus and context, with an outstanding description of audience needs, goals, skills, and resources. POV statement is highly insightful. Learning outcomes are professional and comprehensive. Clear, thoughtful communication and exceptional effort. |
| Plan (5%) | Inadequate storyboard/script Few or no connections to multimedia principles Effort is insufficient | Adequate but unrefined storyboard/script Storyboard seems to have been created to match the prototype (instead of the other way) Limited connections to multimedia principles Plan lacks clarity or originality | Relevant and focused topic with a good solution plan. Storyboard/script is functional and clear, with authentic hand-drawn graphics and text. Effectively connects to multimedia principles. | Exceptionally focused and relevant topic with a clear, detailed plan. Outstanding storyboard/script with strong hand-drawn graphics and text, and notes for implementation. Extensive application of multimedia, design, and user-experience principles. |
| Reflect and Refine (5%) | Minimal or defensive response to feedback. Few substantive revisions. Limited individual reflections. | Limited reflection on feedback or incomplete revisions. Individual reflections are brief or lack depth. | Thoughtful and complete reflection on feedback. Effective revisions descriptions addressing major concerns. Individual reflections are clear and collaborative. | Exceptional reflection on feedback and thoughtful explanations of revisions to the prototype. Insights into strengths, limitations, and potential improvements are outstanding. Individual reflections are constructive and thorough. |
| Project Artifact (5%) | Significant deviations from the plan Poor application of multimedia principles Limited tool mastery or poor user experience | Limited use of multimedia principles Marginal evidence of effort, tool mastery, or user experience Weak initial prototype or late submission Limited refinement after feedback | Faithful to the plan and effectively addresses the challenge. Good application of multimedia principles. Competent tool mastery and positive user experience. Some refinement made after feedback. | Excellent alignment with the plan, fully addressing the challenge. Exceptional application of multimedia, design, and user-experience principles. Mastery of the chosen tool and an outstanding user experience. Solid revisions made after feedback on initial prototype. |
