June 21, 2009

Class Discussion "Defining Usability and Models of Usability" Leventhal & Barnes

1. (Jennifer Hogle) According to Smith and Ragan (2005), the goal of instructional design is to create instruction that is "effective", "efficient", and "appealing". On page 27 of the Leventhal & Barnes chapter, usability is defined as, "the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use." What comparisons can be made between the usability and instructional design? How can understanding the process of instructional design help us in understanding usability?

o Usability can be incorporated with the ID process; they go hand in hand. You can design with usability in mind

o If you do bad instructional design, it’s not usable. If you do bad usability, you won’t have a good ID. If you create a ‘good’ ID, or a ‘good’ usability, then they will work hand in hand.

o Instructional Design is the umbrella for usability.

o Cognitive Load: germain (the difficulty that is related to the content); extraneous (stuff that isn’t related to the actual task or learning, but is required to get through to get to the task).

o Instructional design can help you think through what types of usability you will use and which onces you want to violate.

o Sometimes in Ed Tech you violate usability principles for good reasons.

2. (Joanna Gibb) Nielsen & Shackrel are similiar in that their definition of 'usability' is a sytem; is valid or usable if it is found useful. How many systems are usable, easy to learn, but have no use once they have been learned? How useful will the final project be once it's completed? Easy to access only, or worthwhile and applied once it's been presented?

o What is the purpose? It doesn’t matter how fabulous the program is, if there isn’t a purpose, it will remain to be unused

o Example of Portal: there is no user need, so no task match, which is violation of usability principles

o Participatory design – recruit a representative sample, design and prototype. This is done from the ground up. The person is participating in the design process.

o Ethnographic design – analyze what user would do and then create it. Designer will go observe social interaction amongst users, contexts of use, typical problems, what really goes on when this is used? Use gathered data to extract a design. It’s like studying users in their natural environment.

o Avoid situations in which a program lacks purpose. Do research prior to creating to ensure the need.

o Apple products and Google applications are example of features demonstrating having researched usability.

Toward a Multidisciplinary Science of Human-Computer Interaction - John M. Carroll

1. (Camille Cole) The very last sentence in this chapter says, "No single design can possible fit every situation." So why is it important to follow a model of usability?

o They are useful as a guideline; if questions are asked to begin with, it would save a lot of time in revamping.

THE GOLDEN RULE FOR HCI:
You are NOT your user! The more you learn, the more you know. Once you know something, you are no longer your user so it's very important to involve your users.


Usability for Ed Tech

• Not just whether system is used (cf., Eason)
• System Functions should include
• Outcome of use(!)
  
• are you getting something out of the use

• Task Characteristics should include
• Desirable difficulty

• Task match will need to include relevance to mental models/cognitive processes

Usability Engineering

• Works best early in design/development
• Before developing you HAVE to know what the task and process is!
  
• Good interface won’t solve all your problems
• better menus and cool graphics won't solve task matching
  
• HCI Usability Engineering builds on foundation of:
• Task
• User
• Context of use
  

Developing Useful Systems

• Slightly more than 30% of the code developed in application software development ever gets used as intended. 70% if it is used is icing on the cake (or if it's used as it's intended)
  
• Likely because developers do not understand what users need
  

–Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt, "Contextual Design: A Customer-Centric Approach to Systems Design," ACM Interactions, Sep+Oct, 1997, iv.5, p. 62.

Useful Systems Support Tasks

• Task ≠ User can use the system
• something the user can do that is specific
  
• Tasks:
• Specific
• Observable
• Will you know if you’ve successfully accomplished it? How will the user know it was successful?
  

• Reflects end-goal of a user session
• Relate to key aspects of system components
• What do you think are the key parts of the system?
• for email: who are you sending it to? What are you doing with the messages? the folders?
  
• What will be frequently used?
• for email: what is the most typical thing? send messages, manage messages
  

Airline Reservation via Web

www.southwest.com

Task:
Find a roundtrip flight for one person, from Salt Lake City, UT to Tampa Bay, FL, leaving Feb. 12 or 13 and returning Feb. 15 or 16, for under $300 (including tax).

• very specific, certain person is in mind, reflects an end goal, realistic task
  

Educational Digital Library

www.dlese.org

Task:
Find a QuickTime video animation appropriate for a middle school classroom that focuses on either the theory or mechanisms of plate tectonics.

• specific task, it's observable, reflects the goal of going to this website a lot, a pretty good task for either a test or a task analysis
  

What is a Task Analysis?

• Analysis of how a task is performed
• Detailed description of behaviors in interface

• Highly detailed
• Step-by-Step
• Procedural (ignore mental processes for now) step by step (what are the observable behavioral steps)

How is Task Analysis Useful?

• Specify problems/gaps in process
• Highlight unnecessary or inconsistent steps
• Specifies procedural aspects of key tasks
• Requires concrete analysis of user actions

Example:
Brushing Teeth: Task Analysis

•Pick up the tooth brush
•Wet the brush
•Take the cap off the toothpaste tube
•Put toothpaste on the brush
•Replace the toothpaste cap
•Put toothpaste back in drawer/cupboard
•Brush the outside of the bottom row of teeth (3 sec per tooth?)
•Brush the outside of the top row of teeth
•Brush the chewing surface of the top row of teeth
•Brush the chewing surface of the bottom row of teeth
•Brush the inside surface of the bottom row of teeth
•Brush the inside surface of the top row of teeth
•Brush tongue
•Spit
•Rinse the brush
•Replace the brush in the holder
•Locate drinking cup
•Grasp cup
•Fill cup with water
•Take a sip of water
•Swish water in mouth, rinsing teeth
•Spit
•Replace cup on counter
•Wipe mouth on sleeve or towel

A very detailed analysis, broken down to the absurd (think of when I wrote down the changing the tire scenario)

For next week:
•DUE:

• HCI Exercise: Task & Task Analysis Exercise
• choose an educational technolgy
• choose a task for it (the technology is up to me: a software or a website)
• It can be found under Assignments on WebCT
• write a task and then do a task analysis
• think about where it's difficult to not let the mental processes take over, just have it be procedural. Where do the mental processes need to take over, but it has to be procedural.
• should have educational relevance.
• such as a power point presentation?
  

Read:

• 2 articles on personas

Post:

• 2 questions per article on WebCT discussion area

Due by 12 noon on day of class

Capstone Class 1.15.09

Tonight is the first class for the Capstone project (Thursday). Possible book to purchase: Cognitive Effects of Multimedia Learning

Important things to remember and to know:

ARCS - Motivation Theory - John Keller

Attention

• Perceptual Arousal
• Inquiry Arousal
• Variability

Relevance

• Familiarity
• Goal Orientation
• Motive Matching

Confidence

• Expectancy for Success
• Challenge Setting
• Attribution Molding

Satisfaction

• Natural Consequences
• Positive Consequences
• Equity

The Nine Events of Instruction - Robert Gagne

1. Gain the attention of the learner/audience
2. Inform the learner of the objectives
3. Stimulate the learner's recall of prior learning
4. Present stimulus material
5. Provide guidance for the learner
6. Elicit performance by the learner with the material
7. Provide feedback to the learner on their performance
8. Assess the performance of the learner
9. Enhance learner's ability to retain their learning and to transfer it to other situations

Visual Design - C.R.A.P - Robin Williams

Contrast - The concept of keeping elements of a page which look visually similar apart. Likewise, keeping elements that appear different together. This is mainly to make it easy to view and to to help the visual attraction of the page.

Repetition - The idea of continuing and repeating certain visual elements of a page. The goal is add to the organizational strength and sense of unity in a site as a whole, as well as separate pages.

Alignment - "Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily". Every element needs to be aligned on a page for a reason, whether it is to guide the eyes in a certain direction, or give a good sophisticated look.

Proximity - The concept of keeping elements which relate to each other close to each other. This helps the organizational feel of a page and makes it easier to browse.

Notes (from Funaki):

Human Computer Interaction EdPs6440

Very First Class of Spring Semester (last semester of the program!)

This class the focus for the Capstone is: what type of methods used to develop the design, how the project is evaluated and what will I do with the feedback-it's the PROCESS of the design.
Objectives for class:

• Define human-computer interaction
• Define usability and its relation to HCI
• Identify important considerations for educational technology

I will become well-versed in HCI methods. There are several ways to apply this class to my capstone project.
-Will build a design and revise the interface designs
-Will know the stages for the various types of techniques.

Class will start with discussion from readings from the previous week. Will need to post two thoughtful discussions online for class before noon the day of class.


Course Work:
expected to be prepared, have read the assigned materials, and be ready to participate in classroom discussion, “hands-on” experiences, and peer collaboration to help you develop a deep understanding of human-computer interaction principles and methods. For assigned readings, you’ll be asked to post discussion questions on the class wiki. You must submit at least 2 good questions on each assigned reading for credit. You will practice HCI techniques in a series of exercises assigned in class, to be started in class and completed outside of class. These assigned exercises must be handed in at the beginning of the class in which they are due. As noted below, you may redo any assignment up to one week after it has been returned to you. You also will be allowed to drop one HCI exercise (e.g., 5 of the 6 exercises will count toward your grade).

Major Course Assignments:
-A workable plan about the HCI methods that you will be used in order to inform the design and the evaluation of your Capstone project

Final Project Report
This assignment will consist of a formal report about the design and the evaluation work that you completed for your Capstone project. You will be expected to demonstrate the impact of the HCI methods that you employed on the design and revision of your Capstone project. The content of this report will form the basis for your final presentation

Final Presentation
This assignment will be a 15 minute presentation (with an additional 5 minutes for questions) on the design and development of your Capstone project. Your presentation should communicate the HCI methods that you use, detailing their impact on the initial design of your project. You should also explain how you used HCI methods to evaluate your project and how your findings informed revisions to your project.

At the end of the course, you should be able to:
1. Identify cognitively-based techniques that can be used to analyze learners’ needs and processes when designing and evaluating instructional environments
2. Develop and test prototypes and mock-ups of user interface designs
3. Strategically deploy accepted methodologies in human-computer interaction to evaluate users’ experiences when interacting with educational technology

Questions for today's lecture:

What is human-computer interaction?

A discipline concerned with the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of the major phenomena surrounding them (Hewett et al., 1992) (CHI is computer human interaction, but it's now called Human Computer Intereaction)

• Interaction with the system
• Experience-how the interaction is going; frustrating?
• Figuring out what human action needs to be imposed on program to produce desired results
• Goal for using the system; what's the intenet

The idea of human-computer interaction has evolved over time and is great, yet people and systems aren't always up with the evolving.

What is usability?

Usability is typically the goal human-computer interaction methods. (e.g, Leventhal& Barnes, 2008)

•Technology is usable if:
–Appropriate for the target users
–Allows users to accomplish their goals
•Usability ≠ User Friendly - argument in the field of does it mean the same thing. Usability would be a system that you get something out of; User Friendly could just be pretty but not get anything out of it

• Part of the whole HC interaction (the 'how did I get here?')
• Does it do what you want it to do?
• the user has mental models of the world around them and what they know; if the interface /structure matches the users goals, references, it's a lot easier to use (Blackboard, a pain, vs. Agilix, which has only two clicks)
• Motivation: huge part of education, but hard to measure. Within educational tech it's more important to anticipate WHAT will motivate students.
  

HCI & Educational Technology

• Usability not necessarily end-goal
• Goals may be educator’s (not student’s-student's just want to get through it quickly)
• Learning processes? - the student has no idea about but the educator wants to scaffold them and imbed into the technology
  
• Learning outcomes? - may or may not match the students objectives or current understandings
  

• Learner Characteristics Complicate Usability
• Prior Knowledge - difference between a 2nd grader and a high schooler (users vary in their level of knowledge)
  
• Personalized technology - automatically assess and fitting needs (like primal branding)
  

Desirable Difficulty

• Learning can be triggered by impasses (VanLehn1991; 1995)
• when the learner gets to a point of not understanding, the next learning event is the most powerful of the sequence as they've gotten to a point where they have to really make sense of what they have learned so far to get past that impasse. Do you figure out the content, do you udnerstand it in order to move on.

• The “Assistance Dilemma” (Koedinger& Aleven, 2007)
• Key problem for interactive educational technology.
• When to let students struggle, when to provide support
• when do I interfere and provide help to the student
  
• How much struggle is productive may be personal
• (at what level of frustration do I step in with different levels of help; mine and the students)
• KNOW MY USER AND KNOW MY EDUCATIONAL GOALS TO HELP SOLVE THIS PROBLEM
  

Prior Knowledge

• Expertise Reversal (Kalyugaet al., 2003)

• Depending on the expertise of the learner, what types of multi-media are optimal for learning?
• Experts: Visual representations
• Novices: Need plenty of textual instruction
  

• Expert knowledge structures (e.g., Chi et al, 1981)

• Experts have conceptual knowledge organization
• when they get incoming information, they really know what it is and where it goes
• novices lack this
• Integrate incoming information
  

• Self-Regulated Learners
• Hypermedia requires self-regulation (e.g., Azevedoet al, 2004)
• Does learner know what they want to do?
• Does learner have a cognitive system in place that will allow them to meet goals independently?

Personalization

• Increases HCI & usability demands
• Problems are exacerbated by the differing levels of prior knowledge, technology present, student motivation, facilities, etc.
  
• Intelligent tutors
  
• Immediate feedback
• Custom selection of content
• Customized hints and help messages

• Automated knowledge analysis
• Recommend materials
• Provide customized prompts

HCI & Ed Tech: What Doesn't Change

• Importance of:
• Task
• Users
• Scenarios of use
• Useful methods for analysis
• Cognitive Walkthroughs
• Heuristic Analyses
• Learner interviews & tests
  

IT WOULD BE GOOD TO LEARN SOME PROGRAMMING TO HELP PROGRAMMERS WITH YOUR VISION WHEN I GET IN THE FIELD

Sept. 15

Explicit knowledge (hard data: facts, details, such as students birth date written down)
Tacit knowledge (figure out who follows directions, situation of students)

Formal planning causes restrictive, creative ability. Doesn't allow the learner to use tacit knowledge.

The *'d section on page 16 of Change Forces: The Sequel is important. Managers can mediate (play the interpreter), translate from supervisors down and totem to the top. In a school setting, the 'manager' is usually the team leader or the principal who moves from district to teachers, or teachers to district.

Page 18 has the 8 Lessons:

Lesson 4: don't micro-manage. allow others to do their job. Guide them, but allow them to work; it's the edge of chaos. Sometimes people will screw up but it will happen and it's not the end of the world.
Instinct is to try to solve the problem, but sometimes people just want to be heard. Knowing the difference is important for a manager.

9.8.08-History of Technology

Sheingold Article:

There are three simultaneous agendas of technology, school reform and teaching; they are interdependent. While we have these simultaneous agendas going on, the outside stuff is the pragmatic stuff: the greatest professional development planned, but something on the outside occurs, it can take away your focus.

Hunter Article:
-The internet, in our schools today, do we see the pattern continuing (the individualized vs. standardized)

LEADERSHIP DEFINED:
Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B. (2003)

Leadership goes two ways:
A- "Leadership is in the eye of the follower"

Characteristics people mentioned about good leaders:
1. Honesty:
a. truthful, ethical, principled, high integrity, do what say going to do
b. Single most important is leader's display of trust in others.

2. Competence:
a. depends on rank-those at top we expect strategic planning and policy making
b. technical competence expected of middle management leaders

3. Inspiration:
a. enthusiastic, energetic, positive - have a dream and communicate that dream
b. If a leader displays no passion for a cause, why should others?

4. Credibility:
a. foundation upon which inspiring leadership is built
b. people feel more secure around credible leaders
c. years to earn it, seconds to lose it.

Five fundamental practices of good leaders:
-Challenge the process
a. willing to change the status quo
-Inspire a shared vision
b. commitment through the common purpose
-Enable others to act
c. involve others with planning and discretion to make their own decisions
-Model the way
d. clear, consistent plan and able to break down projects
-Encourage the heart

Five Steps to good leadership:
- Know your followers
-Stand up for your beliefs
-Speak with passion
-Lead by example
-Conquer yourself

Online Case Studies: read powerpoint, answer one of Laura's questions and then wait a couple days and respond to someone else's comments.

Start thinking of who I will interview and get a list of questions I would ask the individual.
-Make sure I have commented on those comments!!!!!!!!

August 25th First Day of Class

1. Activities will be done to review key leadership values.
2. Review syllabus; this class will have A LOT of reading!!!! Is mainly taught in an online learning environment.
Make sure to stay on top of online reading, reading documents and assignments.

Six Types of Assignments:
****Everything is submitted through Web CT!!!!!!!!*****

1. Reading Responses (site article by using APA on citationmachine.net)
-Note taking strategy; follow the handout to do the correct Reading Response Format. Do an Initial Response and a Reflective Response.
a. Initial Response (I.R.) is what I see. Can do a character map, informal notes (numbered notes). It's like a camera, just capturing the facts.
b. Reflective Response (R.R.) - goes through the brain/makes connections to the reading (what do I tie the reading to, such as current events, events in my life). MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE PAGE #'S AND ANY OTHER HELPFUL REFERENCES FOR WHEN REFERRING BACK TO NOTES.
1. Don't paraphrase as it will be returned; share what I think about it!
2. Keep notes brief; don't have notes as long as article.
3. Need to do the reading response for six of the articles in class.
4. When I bring my article/responses need to bring six copies to share with group.
Refer to syllabus for exact details!

ex: side by side journal entry, Venn Diagram, narrative with my comments about the I.R.

2. Online Discussions

ONLINE DISCUSSIONS DUE BY MIDNIGHT EACH WEDNESDAY!!!!!

Post one original answer to Laura's question and then respond to a colleague's comment.
**Make sure doing a little bit every night as if it's done the last night, it's not going to work grade wise.
**Check the ephemera link weekly!!!!

3. Popular Leadership Book Comparison - Read a book about leadership (sports, politics, religious, etc). How does the novel compare to educational leadership principles we've been learning?
***Annotate while reading, no written book report.

4. Leader Interviews - Written (3-5 pages). Interview and write about an educational tech leader in Utah.

5. Leadership Activities - class interaction/participation.

6. Personal Leadership Plan -
Identify something in my life that requires Ed Tech leadership that I can improve. Product could be a written proposal, a power point, a budget, a staff analysis, etc.
It needs to be tied to what we've learned in class.

Integrating Technology

All post previous to this one are in regards to the Integrating Tech class taken in Spring of '08.