Instructional Software Design

Instructional progressions

2011-09-18T10:30:00.001-07:00

A progression implies a series of interactions. Instructional software should provide an opportunity for multiple transactions on any topic. These interactions should be brief to reduce the time the learner has to wait for feedback. A progression implies an increasingly challenging set of interactions. Too often, instruction is designed as a discrete event. A lecture is a good example of this phenomena. A lecture is delivered to a group of learners without regard to their individual levels of prior knowledge, rate of assimilation or attention. Obviously, there is no way to verify that each learner is ready to proceed to new topics and material. Instructional software can break away from this group instruction model. By designing a progressive series of interactions that require the learner to demonstrate their competence before moving forward the designer can create a system which leads to individual mastery.

Millions of student exams, tests and data exposed

2011-09-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/272215,millions-of-student-exams-tests-and-data-exposed.aspx"But sources told SC Magazine that during tests of the Blackboard software, security professionals had gained administrative access to databases in which student exams, assignments and grades were stored. Personal information stored on students was also accessible."Security problems like these might undermine the potential of instructional software. Ideally, you want to be able to track user data but to use that data you need to be able to trust it.

New Class of Educational Software for Kids and Adults Delivers Endless Education

2011-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

New Class of Educational Software for Kids and Adults Delivers Endless Education"Displaying educational information throughout the day is 4-5 times more effective than traditional learning methods at ensuring people remember. It´s what we call incidental learning and our educational software is all about it. Replacing your screensaver, it regularly shows some principle scientific and cultural information in geography, biology, astronomy in a casual way. If the person is constantly exposed to this information, there is no other chance but to absorb it!"Well, the principle of continuous, brief, practice is sound, however, this title doesn't seem to provide practice just exposure. After a couple days learner's will assuredly ignore the information.

Instructional Software as a diagnosis tool

2011-09-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

One of the big advantages of instructional software over other methods such direct, face-to-face instruction is the ability to diagnose each individual student and tailor an instructional intervention appropriate for that learner. Figure 1 demonstrates how this process works. Notice the different starting points for classroom group instruction and a diagnosed instructional intervention. In group instruction it is unavoidable to treat each student the same as to their current state of knowledge. Unfortunately, the requires beginning at a lowest common denominator in the class. In other words, the slowest least experienced student sets the initial starting point for all of the student. The ability to treat students differentially is one of the primary advantages of a software system. Learners begin the learning process exactly where they are. This one capability is one of the most robust in terms of increasing efficiency. Efficiency savings are apparent in a single lesson and are substantial when you consider 100 or 1000’s of individual lessons.Figure 1

Quarter Mile Demo

2011-09-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.thequartermile.com/demo/index.shtmlThis application is fairly a typical example of instructional software. It provides basic testing in a modified flash-card format. Essentially the flash-card experience is placed in a competitive race motif. Unfortunately, it is the same drill and practice structure that most instructional software follows. There is not a presentation of the concept, there are not examples, they problems are uniformly decontextualized. If instructional software is going to have a significant impact it must move beyond the flash-card level transaction.

2011-09-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904537404576554444276847196.html?mod=googlenews_wsj"In one of the industry-funded studies, the Rock Island-Milan school district in Illinois exposed two groups of sixth-grade students to a ninth-grade-level earth-science lesson. One used 2-D projection, while the other used 3-D. The students were tested before and after the lesson. Test scores for the 2-D group increased 9.7%, on average, while the scores of the students who saw the lesson in 3-D increased an average of 35%."One would think that the thousands of media-comparison studies with non-significant results would keep people from perpetuating studies like this. But, of course, with every new technology they keep re-occurring and the expense of truly interesting questions. It's embarrasing.

Subversive Use

2011-09-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

http://issuu.com/gfbertini/docs/educational_software_and_learning_-_subversive_use?mode=a_p&wmode=0Good to remember the teacher's role in using Instructional Software. Teacher's can use a good program poorly or a bad program well.

Virtual and Artificial, but 58,000 Want Course

2011-09-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/science/16stanford.html?_r=1A nice example of scale. With the online lecture and instructional software they would have a complete course for thousands not dozens."The Stanford scientists said they were focused on going beyond early Internet education efforts, which frequently involved uploading online videos of lectures given by professors and did little to motivate students to do the coursework required to master subjects.The three online courses, which will employ both streaming Internet video and interactive technologies for quizzes and grading, have in the past been taught to smaller groups of Stanford students in campus lecture halls. Last year, for example, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence drew 177 students."

Computer-based instruction gaining momentum

2009-12-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

If the digital center is new, McGraw-Hill has had a presence in Bothell since 2000. While he said the company intends for the center to grow, Reina didn’t offer any details. Still, Stansell also spoke of growth, adding that growth is a sign of McGraw-Hill’s commitment to nonprint educational tools.

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/north_king/bkn/business/79274927.html

MORE ON THE CENTRALITY OF CLASSIFICATIONS

2009-08-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Classifications are not capricious. They are dependent upon the phenomena they group. Although we can classify any phenomena in anyway we like, classifications that are useful must attend to the similarities and differences that actually exist among and between different entities. For example, it was once thought that we could classify individuals by the bumps on their skulls (phrenology). However, after carefully analysis it became evident that no correlation between bumps and skull shape to anything of intellectual importance. The phrenology classifications are not useful and as such it makes no sense to use that system as a basis for classification.

Compare such an arbitrary classification as phrenology with our example of fire. Fire has stable characteristics that can be consistently applied to a classification and, more importantly, the resulting classification of fire is extremely important. In other words, a person needs to acquire this classification for survival and success. The fire classification allows us to repeatedly apply the lessons we have learned about fire. This is an enormous cognitive time saver. Apply the strength of a classification to every entity and we dramatically increase not only what we think about but how we in fact think.

Definitions are critical to mastering classifications. A definition is a concise explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase or symbol. The definition describes the important characteristics of a classification while omitting attributes that don't separate the classification from others. Too often definitions are only learned at the gist level. We often speak of classifications as "I know it when I see it." We often can identify a classification without being able to provide a definition. There are many dangers of holding such imprecise definitions. In particular, the result of imprecision is that our cognitive structures may have weaknesses. The stronger our cognitive structures are the more stable is our knowledge base and the more easily we can learn new material. Further, definitions are often merely memorized by rote; there isn't a great deal of thinking as to what the definition means, only in repeating the words. Both rote memorization and imprecise make it difficult for meaningful learning to occur.

While definitions are necessary for learning a classification they are not sufficient. The limitations of language require examples for consistent and useful application of a classification. The more examples one encounters the more the classification can be used with precision. For example, if you were studying trees and only were exposed to oaks and maples you would have a limited range of application. However, if you were also exposed to ash and hickory trees then your range of application would have increased. Often it is advisable to begin with a prototypical example when first acquiring a classification. For example, a robin is a prototypical bird. When one thinks of a bird one often pictures a bird like a robin; robins have characteristics of average birds (size, shape, type of feathers, calls, etc). Eventually you will want to expand your set of examples to include divergent cases that stretch the range of the classification to its limit. For example, penguins and ostriches are divergent cases; although they are birds they have unusual implementations of characteristics.

It is important to note that classifications have sub classifications. For example trees are a sub classification of plants. While "ash tree" is a sub classification of trees. Further, "ash tree" can be sub-classified into further divisions. The "autumn purple ash" and the "white ash" are examples of ash sub-classifications. Classifications have hierarchical structures. For example, the cimarron ash tree has all of the characteristics of an ash tree and an ash tree has all of the characteristics of a tree (a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crow) , and, of course, a tree has all of the characteristics of a plant (propagates via seeds, roots, rhizomes, cuttings and manufactures food for itself via photosynthesis). In this way, we have a logical check on the accuracy of our classifications. If we cannot see how something fits into a hierarchical structure we either have an incomplete understanding of the phenomena or we have it misclassified.

Centrality of classification

2009-08-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Classifications are central to overcoming the limitations of working memory capacity. As mentioned in a previous posting, working memory is extremely limited in capacity. If we were not able to generate and apply classifications we would be incapable of any complex thought process; we simply don't have enough cognitive capacity. However, the ability to classify gives us a thinking system that is far more powerful than the most powerful computers. Through classification we are able perform a mental integration of separate entities to create new abstract units. The range of these abstract units is determined by a definition that describes the characteristics that each entity must have to be a part of the new classification.

It is easy to get lost in the language of describing this type of phenomena. It may be easier to understand classification through an example. Consider a tree, A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance (Huxley, 1992). The classification "tree" is constituted by this definition. Entities that match the definition include, "the tree in your yard," the "tree in my yard" the "tree's in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special." All of these entities can now be considered to be part of the classification labeled "tree."

Classifications have the advantage of pointing beyond themselves. Classifications are unique in that they can be applied not only to entities that are present but to any entity that meets the requirements of the definition even if those entities are imaginary or don't exist. Using classifications we can proceed to categorized the phenomena we encounter. And that is exactly what we do. We classify everything. In fact every word or term is a label for a classification.

What is the point to all of this classification behavior? The big advantage one gains by classifying entities is that we can apply successful approaches and strategies to separate phenomena. For example, think back to early hominids, they come across a tree that is smoldering with fire (likely caused by a lightning strike). A hand is stretched out to touch the fire and a great many associations are learned. One is that the fire causes pain with direct contact and another is that the fire can provide warmth at a certain distance. The lessons learned clearly indicate how fire can be useful under certain conditions and harmful under others.

The ability to form classifications allows these hominids to apply these lessons the next time the come across fire. If people did not have the capability to classify these separate entities as fire they would have to relearn painful lessons each time they had contact with those entities. In other words, Fire A and Fire B are seen as equivalent; they are the same thing even though they are encountered at different locations and at different times. It is easy to overlook this skill because it is completely ubiquitous to our experience. However, without this skill cognition itself would be impossible.

Legal dispute

2009-07-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/577662

"In a ruling issued earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a lower-court verdict from a Texas jury that Kitchener-based Desire2Learn violated three patent claims held by Blackboard Inc., of Washington D.C.

In a second ruling, the Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by the same Texas court that 35 other patent claims made by Blackboard were invalid.

The two companies both make educational software that allows teachers to create websites and run classes over the internet. They have been embroiled in a legal dispute since 2006 when Blackboard first filed suit against Desire2Learn, alleging patent infringement.

John Baker, president and chief executive officer of Desire2Learn, was ecstatic about this week's court rulings.

“We're thrilled with the outcome. For us it was a decisive victory that's been three years in the making,” he said Wednesday in an interview."

The bigger question for me is what constitutes educational software. Neither Blackboard or Desire2Learn offer much on the instructional side.

HUMAN MEMORY PROCESSING SYSTEM

2009-07-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

The memory processing system can be divided into three integrated systems: perceptual memory, working memory and long-term memory. The reason I bring it up is that for educational software to be effective it must take into account the capacity and limitations of these systems. Regardless of the type of rules used to describe a learning objective, the prescription must address how people process information.

Each of the three types of memory have their own capacities and characteristics.

Perceptual memory is essentially unlimited, however, it is of very short duration retaining information for only a few seconds. Perceptual memory includes all sights, sounds and other sensations that reach the reach a person's senses.

Working memory pulls information from the senses, as well as from long-term memory. Working memory can only holds 7+ or - 2 units. In fact, evidence is accumulating that for most people the size of working memory is generally on the lower end. As will be pursued in latter postings what constitutes a unit and how units can be organized is of primary importance to thinking and learning. Developing a deep understanding of this process is central to designing effective instructional software.

Lastly, long-term memory is what is stored by the memory processing system. The capacity of long-term memory is essentially unlimited. From an instructional point of view the important challenge is to make information placed in long-term memory accessible by integrating it with memories already present.

instructional design and knowledge rules

2009-07-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

These educational software examples (to be posted) provide specific demonstrations of how to create sound interactive applications. The design of these applications is based on the Gagne principle. Merrill describes this principle as, "Gagné's principal assumption is that

there are different kinds of learned outcomes, and that different internal and

external conditions are necessary to promote each type" (Merrill, http://id2.usu.edu/Papers/ID1&ID2.PDF). Each application has been tailor designed to provide the interactions that enhance a particular type of learning outcome. There are many types of classification of learning outcomes.

The classification system I have adopted for these tutorials in rule based. A rule describes a functional relationship between two or more entities. I will discuss three types of rules.

First order rule: Association

An associative rule identifies a relationship that doesn't have meaning beyond itself. For example, the association Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, connects a string of entities together (person, action, place, time). However, this association doesn't point beyond itself.

Second order rule: Integration

An integration rule categorizes and classifies phenomena. These categorizations require a label to provide unity. Any word or term other than names (San Fransisco, John, NFL) are classification labels. A classification rule describes why entities are categorized in a particular fashion.

Third order rule: Relation

A relation rule describes the relationship between two or more categorizations. This relationship can be causal, co-relational or sequential. For example, the equation for the area of a rectangle is length (a category) X width (a category). Thus the equation is a rule that describes the relation between the two categories.

With this set of rules each objective can be analyzed and a set of interactions be developed to support them. The educational software examples provided on this pages will follow this

model.

Cognitive Load

2009-07-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

There is more to an instructional presentation than providing a demonstration and and a description. You must design your presentation to reduce cognitive load. Cognitive load is the degree to which the mind is capable of working with information. Cognitive science suggest that there the brain's architecture handles information in three stages, 1) short-term memory, 2) working memory, and 3) long-term memory. From an cognitive load perspective the interesting element is one's working memory because it is limited in capacity.

The nature of short and long-term memory have interesting characteristics for instruction and those will be addressed elsewhere. However, they are largely irrelevant to discussions of managing cognitive load. It is commonly known that working memory is extremely limited. Miller's (1956) experiments revealed that working memory can handle,approximately , 7 units. Compare this number to a modern multiprocessor,which can handle millions of simultaneous transactions. And yet, even with this small number we have evolved powerful methods for getting the most out of our limited capacity. In particular, our ability to conceptualize, which is essentially the ability to classify a group of entities as being equivalent instead of merely separate instances, allows one to subsume entities into categories to be manipulated in working memory.

Spring Break Conference

2009-07-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Nice turn out at this one. Lots of interest in computer-based instruction.

http://2009.sbconference.com/

Designing Online Learning with Flash

2009-07-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.elearningguild.com/content.cfm?selection=doc.1304

Just finished this webinar on designing instructional software.

Establising the site

2009-07-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

This site will discuss Educational Software