E-Learning Principles (and how they promote critical thinking skills)

In my storyboard presentation, I incorporated several e-learning principles that were used to propose enhancement of learning online, and enhance or apply the use of critical thinking skills. Because e-learning is primarily an asynchronous element, the use of applying e-learning principles was essential in making the learning experience as synchronous as possible for the e-learner. For this assignment, I looked to incorporate several principles. They were the principles of Multimedia, Contiguity, Modality, and Personalization.

With the Multimedia Principle in mind, I relied heavily on the use of visuals to enhance the learning setting of my instructional storyboard. From clip art to a tutorial video (used as a worked example), I felt that these visual aids would help to enhance the learning experience as they could be used both as a point of reference to relate terms to, and that they were key in offering a modeling situation that would help to show in real time (or by real life examples) how the process worked for the particular set of instructions. The idea to keep in mind was to enhance the learning setting by using graphics in relation to and with text, as opposed to merely text alone.

By the use of the Contiguity Principle, I made sure to make information easily identifiable by laying corresponding visuals alongside their designated textual counterparts. When designing an e-learning lesson or set of instructions in an asynchronous setting, giving the learners the information up front, both in text and visual, is essential in the learning success, as well as relevant acquisition of new information. If I made reference to a key term, I would make sure to label the visual that I used to represent (and refer to) the item, as well as include a textual description accordingly that defined both the image and its main purpose or usage.

Based on the proposal of my storyboard presentation relying heavily on visuals, the application of the Modality Principle was considered when the use of textual descriptions was seemingly irrelevant to the learning setting. In areas where visuals specific to a grouping or categorizing of items were used, the use of the modality principle in this meant that no more than the name of the item (in text) was needed for presenting (assuming that the learner had some previous working knowledge of the subject matter). This was essential in the idea of “labeling”, or simply no more than the naming of an item for reference or for defining. The goal of this part of the presentation was to do no more than introduce learners to key terms relevant to the proposed task set out to be learned within the e-learning presentation setting.

In applying the Personalization Principle to my storyboard presentation, I implemented the use of audio instruction as well, to enhance the learning by way of a conversational tone. Because the emphasis set on this process was with the individual e-learner in mind, I wanted to keep attention directed to the learner by referring to them as in first person, such as identifying them as “you” often. With the use of human voice, this was essential in adding a human element to an otherwise autonomous or automated setting, very robotic in nature. The hopes with consideration to incorporate these principles in to the storyboarding process would essentially help to create that human element necessary to make the asynchronous setting as synchronous as possible.