Nick Jackson

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Report

Assignment 2

User-centred design, semiotics, and

epistemology: A Moodle VLE learning
resource evaluated

DMZ2430 Theory and evaluation of e-learning

Nick Jackson

U0870621

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Introduction

The aim of this report is to look theoretically in terms of user-centred design,

semiotics and epistemology at a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) learning
resource created to teach a specific unit on an ICT Level 2, Key Stage 4 course.
The unit-Creating Sound Using ICT (Unit 22)- covers skills relating to the creation of
sound using computers. The target learners for these materials are students in Year
9 and Year 10. The resource intends to incorporate a variety of multimedia focusing
on having students engaged in the topic they are learning while covering all
assessment objectives of the unit being studied.

The design ethos of the resource follows OFSTED’s praise for effective schools
focussing on an ICT curriculum with “interesting activities”. (OFSTED 2009, p22).
Hence there is a focus on students being stimulated by the content. This is not the
only design consideration though. The VLE that houses the learning resource is
accessible both in school and at home. This enables students to work independently
and to catch up in cases of absence or late arrival on to the course. Yet, there is also
the intention that teachers of the subject can use the VLE resource to deliver “well
structured lessons” (OFSTED 2009, p3) The resource has been created with both
these factors in mind. In other words, they can be used lesson-by-lesson to teach the
syllabus including starters, plenaries, extension tasks and homework.
Fundamentally, however, are the intentions to have variable and entertaining
resources sit alongside the ‘drier’ tasks with the focus being on stimulating students.

To judge the effectiveness of this resource with regard to engagement and

stimulation would support the framework outlined in research on the effectiveness of
technology in education by Jones et al (1994). Evaluation of the resource would be
for formative purposes as the rationale for undertaking formative evaluation is that it
can “inform the ongoing design and development process” Conole (2004, p16). The
VLE resource is being developed as the course is studied so modifications and
additions can be made to materials in response to evaluation. Further, evaluation of
the resource could be classified at the design evaluation phase according to the

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model outlined by Inglis et al (2003, p180), especially given that there have been
previous materials in use for this unit of study.

User-centred design

The first point worth discussing, in my opinion, is that from a holistic point of view the
unit covered by this learning resource seems to sit easily in a formal hierarchical
structure as defined by Boyle’s approaches to structuring content (Boyle 1997,
p106). The unit is part of a series that are studied on the ICT course to achieve
certificate(s). Within each unit there are then assessment objectives that have to be
passed in order to complete the unit. Unit 22 being analysed here, has four
assessment objectives that must all be passed to complete the unit overall. Yet,
although neither specifically stated nor required, these assessment objectives tend
to be completed in the order prescribed. This is arguably down to the objectives not
merely representing a simple “sequence” as defined by Boyle though. Rather, it
lends itself to a spiral structure represented graphically (Boyle 1997, p105) detailed
by Rosson et al (1990). Relating to research into a curriculum designed to teach
programming techniques in a particular language, Rosson et al, extended the notion
of a sequence to the concept of including prior learning and the necessity for
incorporating the connections between different skills that learners needed to build
on. This seems to reflect the learning that is required of unit 22. By following the
assessment objectives in the sequence they are given, reviews of existing sound
clips are carried out providing students with an insight into characteristics and uses
of different computer-created sound. With this knowledge, students can then make
design decisions on the sound clip they intend to create and formulate an outline of
the composition and the tasks involved in completing the work. With completed
designs, students can begin to create their audio clips using tools and techniques
some of which they will have encountered during research in both the review and
design stages. Finally, students will test their sound clips with criteria based on their
original designs.

The Unit 22 learning resource has been created to cater for teaching in the order
prescribed but as mentioned earlier access to resources are both intended to be

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within a traditional classroom and at home, hence the direction given in relation to
sequence is really through teacher direction and not by instructions on the VLE.
Students can, in theory, complete work from the resources given in any order they
choose but this would be difficult in many and arguably impossible in some respects
given the nature of the unit. In addition, the presentation of the VLE is such that there
is a numbered, linear structure that follows how the assessment objectives should be
attempted. This further steers learners to approach the tasks in that order.

To further analyse the structure of the VLE resource and how it is presented on
screen to the student, it is worthwhile pointing out that the overall administration is
dictated by the school. This means that there are certain design considerations
which must be complied with. These include the layout of the various sections shown
in Figure 1 where the main content is in a relatively thin area down the middle and
‘other elements’ can be added to the sides.

Figure 1 A screenshot of the Unit 22 VLE learning resource

A conscious effort has been made however, to try and optimise use of the side
panels, the ‘other elements’ (see Figure 1). Elsom-Cook believes decisions
regarding layout to be, “the constant issue is one of screen ‘real estate’” (Elsom-
Cook 2001, p153) and trying to fit all relevant content on screen at one time, one of
the biggest challenges in e-learning design. With this in mind, the main content of
what the student has to learn and tasks that have to be completed are all placed in
the middle section of the VLE. The sections on the sides provide reminders of the

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assessment objectives, aid with navigation within the learning resource, house
learning support exercises (see Figure 1).

Having assessment objective reminders and learning support exercises featured on

the VLE are indications of the audience that this learning resource is geared toward.
The presence of the objectives in a key position at the top left of the screen arguably
supports strong focus on the aims of the resource. Yet, the right side of the screen is
used for exercises that are an attempt to enhance student engagement with relevant
puzzles, games and quizzes. There is support for use of such tools in secondary
education as an aid “to co-construct knowledge” (Sutherland et al 2004, p416).
These are provided to further the learning around the tasks that have to be
completed to take account of the preferred learning styles that such activities assist.
Thus, on balance, the layout of the VLE provides for prominent content to sit in the
largest section, in the centre of the screen while support is provided around the
edges.

School administration dictates that the colour scheme of the title bar, background
and section dividers are also not really editable. This in some ways links to decisions
made as to the colours the resource uses for text. As blue is used in the school
name, orange as the contrasting colour of the logo and work ‘VLE’ then this theme
continues. This is very much in accordance with Wright PG et al, to produce “efficient
mental models if these guidelines are followed: simplicity, consistency, clarity, and
language of colour” (Wright PG et al 2010) although it could be argued that the
orange colour used in hyperlinks on this VLE is not the best colour contrast nor is a
variable use of blue a strong design choice (Murch, 1984), they have been used to
further the consistency of the overall VLE colour scheme.

Further consideration of the colour scheme in use and arguably just as significant to
the quality of the VLE as a learning resource, is the audience to which it is aimed at.
The colours are meant to be quite fresh and lively. They are intended to be quite
vibrant to reflect the thirteen and fourteen year olds that will use the VLE. The font-
Arial, is also chosen with a balance of the research into what is typically used on the

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internet (Ling and van Schaik 2006) and with the audience in mind. It is the
designer’s opinion that Arial font offers a sense of professionalism not really seen
when fonts such as Comic sans are used but offers a more modern alternative to
such as Times new roman which has its roots in a pre-computer era more
associated with typewriters. Further, Arial is a common font found on websites and,
as such, gives credence to the VLE as an accessible online resource.

As regards the content of the learning resource, the design is aimed at being a “rich
learning activity” (Brown and Voltz, 2005). Their research suggests this is an
essential element of e-learning design. In this sense, such resources need to
facilitate active learning (Muirhead and Haughey, 2003, cited by Brown and Voltz,
2005). To follow Brown and Voltz arguments where they are applicable to this
project, the resource intends to engage students through an interesting, relevant
scenario, varied examples related to use of audio in real world context and links to
tools/resources are provided to give multifarious in-roads into creation of audio. Yet,
here is also the essence of fun in both the inclusion of games but also in the links
provided under the heading ‘Online music tools to play with’. There is a deliberate
attempt to include elements of fun as this is seen as a positive influence on the value
of the learning resource (Monk et al 2002). Further, at various stages in the tasks
and explanations on the VLE, there is provision for students to reflect on their
progress throughout the year and that of their peers. In essence, the opportunities
for reflection are intended to provide a balance between the enjoyable aspects in
creating sound with the seriousness of some of the learning and objectives that
learners are intended to achieve.

At the core of design in this learning resource is multimedia content. The intention is
to achieve something that students will want to use because it is attractive to look at
as well as use:

“In short, the promise of multimedia learning is that teachers can tap the
power of visual and verbal forms of expression in the service of promoting
student understanding”
(Mayer 2003, p128)

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There is a considerable amount of fairly complex narrative and the interface offered
attempts to provide a slightly broader interpretation of simple interaction by reading
and doing (Elsom-Cook M 2001). The design attempts to promote Mayer’s theory
that multimedia “prime all the cognitive processes for active learning” (Mayer 2003,
p132). As the essence of unit 22 is about investigating and producing audio, it is an
active area of work that students are involved. Hence, there is heavy reliance on
multimedia.

One of the focal visual elements on the VLE is the use of icons. These are all shown
in the table in Figure 2 below:

AO1 - Review AO2 - Design AO3 - Create AO4 - Testing Unit 22 Homework
Figure 2 Icons used on the Unit 22 learning resource

To look at these with reference to semiotics, the unit as a whole has been given a
sign, a symbolic indicator of the content that is to be covered. This cartoon-like
version of a loud hailer could be interpreted in a number of ways but alluding to
interpretation factors of culture, context and time outlined by Elsom-Cook (2001,
p167), it arguably has socially agreed cultural and contextual connotations of
creating noise albeit in a very basic manner. Yet, in terms of the intended audience
here, it could be questioned as whether such a symbol produces those associations
quite as obviously as one would expect with an older audience.

The style of the icon used to represent the whole unit is in evidence in all the icons
on the learning resource. In other words, there has been a deliberate attempt to
create a recognisable theme that users can easily attribute to unit 22. An icon, a sign
has been given to each assessment objective. This is intended to re-enforce the
significance of these objectives and provide easily recognisable symbols that could
be used throughout the VLE for the user to more easily be able to understand how a
particular instruction, task or explanation fits in with the various parts of the unit as a
whole. Each of these icons is intended to show a largely symbolic relationship to the

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content they signify. Again, this a continuation of the theme started by the use of the
loud hailer.

Yet, there is a substantial amount of text on the VLE that has also be considered in
terms of semiotics and the quality of the user interface that has been designed. De
Souza advocated the use of both text and graphics in creating interfaces claiming
that one is exclusively, no more important than the other (De Souza 1993). The need
to include description and instructions is quite clearly a necessity in this assessed
unit as in the vast majority of academic work. An alternative mode of delivery could
be through audio, to replace some or all of the written content. Some research has
found that using audio in this way does not improve retention of the information or
the subsequent performance of the learner (Beccue et al 2001). This view should be
counterbalanced with a need to “vary one’s approaches” in e-learning design (Keller
and Suzuki 2004, p231). On reflection, ‘variety’ in this context could have been
achieved by having some of the text in audio format

The prominence of the icons shown in Figure 2, alongside use of hyperlinks and
symbolic elements- the presentation and the timeline, on the VLE can be linked right
back to Pierce’s three kinds of sign division (Weiss et al 1945). The three types of
sign are arguably, symbolic: the inclusion of symbolism as has already been
discussed with the role intended through having icons; indexical: the role played by
the embedded presentation; iconic: the embedded timeline presenting a diagram of
significant events in the unit’s time span. This coupled with the assertion that “The
Internet is a giant semiotic system” (Sowa 2000, page 55) and given that this VLE
sits on the internet, viewed by web browsers in much the same way as the majority
of web content is, shows the relevance of design choices with reference to semiotic
research.

Epistemology has arguably, two angles regarding the intended use of this learning
resource: the designer and the user, i.e. the teacher and the student. If one
considers that epistemology is “the study of knowledge and justified belief” (Step
2005) then there are two sets of ‘knowledge’ and ‘beliefs’ in question here.

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As the designer of the learning resource, my intentions for learning in the study if
Unit 22 is using a real world scenario as a vehicle, a theme but one that is not likely
to be familiar to the students. The scenario topic in itself is planned to spark debate,
research and consideration of one’s stance in technological development. This, in
itself, is arguably a very strong foundation to ‘scaffolding’ the learning and follows
some of the principles of constructivist instructional design outlined by Jonassen
(1994). Further ‘scaffolding’ in terms of skills is intended very much in lieu of
Vygotsky’s categories for problem solving skills (Vygotsky 1978). Resources are
given for students to experiment with and consider. Student choices are encouraged
and consideration of approaches to solving tasks very much promoted, design
features supported by Honebein (1996). All of these factors point to my epistemology
of being deep rooted in constructivism and as a result the learning resource is
intended to be used in that way.

By having the VLE structured and geared towards a constructivist learning style, the
students are in some ways having my, as the designer, beliefs on epistemology
thrust upon them. By having the learning based around a scenario, a theme that
requires research and beyond the expected knowledge of most of the students in
question. Students are expected to look into the issues related to the scenario and in
delivery of the materials, teachers are expected to start to question whether such
‘invisible phone’ technology exists or will exist. In other words, through the design of
the learning resource and the subsequent interjection by teachers (some of which is
directed by the notes that appear only to the teacher on the VLE), the knowledge as
regards “viability” is intended to come through the context of the work (Von
Glaserfield 1995). Thus, the notion is that by studying Unit 22 using the learning
resource, students will:
 research technology related to future communication devices
 acquire some knowledge of possible technological advancement (new
‘invisible phone’ devices
 question the plausibility of such technology and indeed of the sources of the
information
 acquire knowledge of the processes of review, design, creation and testing of
sound

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 investigate tools for creating computer generated audio and develop skills in
creating audio
 use all the knowledge acquired and the skills developed in investigating tools
to create audio for a given scenario that can be critiqued in terms of its
audience, purpose and quality

From the list above there is a profound reliance on active learning. My intentions in
the design approach to this learning resource, delivery using the VLE and the
subsequent work that students are asked to do, it is intended that constructivist
learning takes place. With elements of problem-solving and active learning being at
the heart of the tasks that students have to effectuate, knowledge should be
permuted. Decisions have to be made and there is arguably, a process of cognitive
structuring and re-structuring with students having to go beyond merely following
instructions/information given (Bruner 1973). Applying constructivist learning to
problem solving tasks and support for the concept of this theory of learning being an
active process was considered highly beneficial by Tam (2000). Thus, the
environment, in this case the VLE, is key to allowing active learning to occur.

In conclusion, it is hoped that the resource has gone some way to fulfilling the
intentions- to incorporate a variety of multimedia focusing on having students
engaged in the topic they are learning while covering all assessment objectives of
the unit being studied. There are many elements that show how user-centred the
design is, attempts have been made to incorporate interface design considerations
of semiotics and the learning process has a clear focus, constructivist. As with all
learning resources, criticisms could be made on a variety of levels of the learning
resource. One noticeable point is that, in my opinion, there is little opportunity for
students to personalize the resources in respect of being able to organise the
content. There is an attempt to use conversational style language wherever possible
as this form of personalization can be attributed to greater engagement (Mayer
2003). Yet, in respect of the flexibility shown in current e-learning design, the lack of
ability to alter content in this manner hampers the personalization process. The issue
of personalisation would very much be a design consideration for development of
this resource.

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