Click on the image above to see the project.
Patti's Testimony
At the conclusion of her project, I asked Patti if she would be willing to share her testimony on her experience using Storyline 2 in an effort to help other professors who may need a little inspiration. Here are her responses to the questions I provided:
1) Talk about your experience using Storyline 2 to help develop lessons for your online course.
I found the software confusing at first, but I dedicated an uninterrupted four hours with it one morning and after a while, everything clicked together and I understood how the system worked on the most basic level. Storyline has opened a world of opportunities for creating dynamic, interactive lessons for students.
2) What advice would you give other professors who are hesitant to use Storyline 2, or any other authoring tool, to develop material for their courses?
I would encourage other professors who are hesitant to use Storyline 2 to view the time needed to master this tool as an investment in their students. The days of lecturing to an auditorium of students hand-writing notes are long gone. Digital natives need digital solutions. If we want students to see the value of our course content, we must deliver it in ways that engage them.
3) Now that you have made it through your first project, what are the biggest lessons you have learned about the possibilities of teaching online?
Online learning must be intuitive and interactive. Opportunities for students to engage with the content and with each other do not have to be complicated or time-consuming. The simple interactions of clicking a trigger and taking a one-question content understanding quiz is far more engaging to students than silent reading.
4) What’s next? Now that you have begun to develop your skills with this tool, how do you see this changing the way you prepare lessons for your classes, both face-to-face and online?
I will break up lessons into smaller chunks and ask understanding questions after each lesson. Another technique I will use is to include more visuals to break up content presented on the same page, much like an infographic.
5) What else would you like to share, add, or comment on about this experience that you think is important and others need to know or consider?
The initial training was essential to me getting started with Storyline 2 and excited about its applications. Niki Bray was both patient and encouraging throughout the process. She demonstrated what could be done with the tool without overwhelming us with technical details and instructions.
Here's What I Did To Help Patti:
1) I provided training in April to the 9 professors who were awarded the Storyline grant. The training was only 3 hours long so I had to be very organized and also very succinct in what I chose to share with the group. I made sure to provide them with a notebook and a jump drive that had all of the training materials used along with some additional resources I thought would help them once they sat down on their own and began to work with this new tool.
2) I started a Google+ community in an effort to connect the group so they could collaborate, share their experiences, and learn from one another.
3) I have also worked one-on-one with professors as requested and loved every minute of it.
4) I will provide another Storyline workshop to introduce them to the basics of using variables and conditions in the fall of 2015.
5) Hopefully, I will be able to begin sharing some really advanced skills with the group in the spring of 2016 and also start another cohort.
At the conclusion of her project, I asked Patti if she would be willing to share her testimony on her experience using Storyline 2 in an effort to help other professors who may need a little inspiration. Here are her responses to the questions I provided:
1) Talk about your experience using Storyline 2 to help develop lessons for your online course.
I found the software confusing at first, but I dedicated an uninterrupted four hours with it one morning and after a while, everything clicked together and I understood how the system worked on the most basic level. Storyline has opened a world of opportunities for creating dynamic, interactive lessons for students.
2) What advice would you give other professors who are hesitant to use Storyline 2, or any other authoring tool, to develop material for their courses?
I would encourage other professors who are hesitant to use Storyline 2 to view the time needed to master this tool as an investment in their students. The days of lecturing to an auditorium of students hand-writing notes are long gone. Digital natives need digital solutions. If we want students to see the value of our course content, we must deliver it in ways that engage them.
3) Now that you have made it through your first project, what are the biggest lessons you have learned about the possibilities of teaching online?
Online learning must be intuitive and interactive. Opportunities for students to engage with the content and with each other do not have to be complicated or time-consuming. The simple interactions of clicking a trigger and taking a one-question content understanding quiz is far more engaging to students than silent reading.
4) What’s next? Now that you have begun to develop your skills with this tool, how do you see this changing the way you prepare lessons for your classes, both face-to-face and online?
I will break up lessons into smaller chunks and ask understanding questions after each lesson. Another technique I will use is to include more visuals to break up content presented on the same page, much like an infographic.
5) What else would you like to share, add, or comment on about this experience that you think is important and others need to know or consider?
The initial training was essential to me getting started with Storyline 2 and excited about its applications. Niki Bray was both patient and encouraging throughout the process. She demonstrated what could be done with the tool without overwhelming us with technical details and instructions.
Here's What I Did To Help Patti:
1) I provided training in April to the 9 professors who were awarded the Storyline grant. The training was only 3 hours long so I had to be very organized and also very succinct in what I chose to share with the group. I made sure to provide them with a notebook and a jump drive that had all of the training materials used along with some additional resources I thought would help them once they sat down on their own and began to work with this new tool.
2) I started a Google+ community in an effort to connect the group so they could collaborate, share their experiences, and learn from one another.
3) I have also worked one-on-one with professors as requested and loved every minute of it.
4) I will provide another Storyline workshop to introduce them to the basics of using variables and conditions in the fall of 2015.
5) Hopefully, I will be able to begin sharing some really advanced skills with the group in the spring of 2016 and also start another cohort.
