ELearning/Course building/Programmed interactions

Syllabus and module guides | Video production | Storyboarding and scripting | Animated lectures and presentations | Programmed interactions

This general term, programmed interaction, refers to any combination of user-program interaction based on user input and programmed responses. For our purpose here, we exclude games, discussed in Learning activities Part 3. Aldrich (2004) distinguishes games and interactions, with the former focused on scoring points or advancing through a series of challenges and the later more about improving levels of performance. By this definition programmed interaction can be as simple as branching navigation based on user selection and as sophisticated as simulations of complex phenomena that morph with changes in variable values. The former can be accomplished by linking web pages or using authoring tools, requiring little if any actual coding (i.e., using a programming language). The latter can be accomplished only through sophisticated coding and a lot of mathematics.

Computer programming is certainly beyond the scope of this article, but we do describe the logic of programmed interactions that you can use to build branching scenarios and to work with actual programmers.

Interaction basics

Beyond a clear understanding of our learning objectives, there are some basic concepts useful in the design of interactive learning activities. Keep in mind that limited objectives generally make for less complicated design.

Interaction components

Designing programmed interactions needs to take into account three or four components (Kiili, 2005):

Person: What instructions, feedback, pacing, sense of progress do they need? Where along the continuum between novice and expert do learners lie?

Task: Is it authentic to the occupation, profession, etc., or is it simplified or chunked for novices? Is there sufficient challenge without being overwhelming? Is the problem presented in full up-front or on a transaction-by-transaction basis? Does the task involve behavioral as well as cognitive elements?

Artifact: Is it user-friendly, authentic, easy to understand? Are resources available to assist?

Other learners (we added this): adds interactivity, the kinds of applicable learning and, of course, higher design complexity.

Types of interactivity

Moreno and Mayer (2007) describe five basic types of interactivity between learner and system.

Dialogging - Learner receives questions and answers or feedback to his or her input - ex. Using context-sensitive help, clicking on a hyperlink to access additional information, interacting with an onscreen pedagogical agent who guides the learner through the activity, and making a selection and viewing the consequence.

Controlling - Learner determines pace and/or order of presentation - Using the pause or forward buttons on a player; selecting from a set of options.

Manipulating - Learner sets parameters for a simulation, zooms in and out, or moves objects around the screen - Set parameters in a simulation and run the simulation to see what happens.

Searching - Learner finds new content material by entering a query, receiving options, and selecting an option - Using the Help function or searching the Internet.

Navigating - Learner moves to different content areas by selecting from available options. Clicking an option and moving to the corresponding page.

Bridging to external activities

The number or scope of learning objectives can be increased by linking programmed interactions with other learning activities. In this way, the learning object is integrated with the larger learning enterprise, and more likely to achieve its objectives. Moreno and Mayer (2007) cite an example where students failed to improve their comprehension when asked to order the steps corresponding to a natural causal event (e.g., rain, drainage, flooding). When the interaction was modified to prompt students to reflect on the results of their activity, they scored better on comprehension tests and were better able to transfer their learning to other natural processes. Some ideas:

Provide pre-activity content that learners will apply during the activity.
Students share individual results and conduct an analysis of differences, using provided tools or not.
Students externally create materials or artifacts to fulfill a purpose within the activity.
Combine programmed interaction with real-life activities such as creating artifacts, making group decisions, or completing an assignment.
Program the interaction to prompt learners to write in their learning journals, using starter prompts or not.

Communicating with programmers

When we communicate with programmers, they are thinking in terms of data and data storage containers, the building blocks of programs, and commands, functions, and operators to manipulate them. Not that we need to remember this when communicating with programmers, but these concepts communicate their responsibility for converting your specifications into useful code.

With this basic understanding in mind, we asked Shannon Peevy, an interactions programmer at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, a few questions about communicating with programmers. An important distinction Shannon and other programmers make is between the customer and intermediaries like business consultants and instructional designers.

Q: What are your most commonly encountered issues working with your customers?

A: Surprisingly, one expected factor seems to have diminished with the world becoming more tech-savvy: unrealistic expectations. People in general have learned there are limitations to what software can accomplish. More common issues these days:

Timidity in defining the vision. Too many times, customers approach the project with low expectations, saying they want something like a drag-and-drop activity when they really don't. "Better to give me the organic, pie-in-the-sky vision of what you want to do, then we can talk about specifics and limitations."

Undefined requirements. Having only a vague sense of what we need with the expectation that the programmer can fill in the blanks. "Be sure you know what you want before asking someone to code it." Specify every item that should be available to the end user and what it's supposed to do. Most importantly, what are the rules, the logic, of the activity; what is to be accomplished and how? "This is where the intermediaries come in - helping the customer define requirements." Think in terms of components, interactions, and bridging with other learning activities.

Lack of involvement. Typical of most technology projects, the customer submits the request then expects a fully developed solution at deadline. "Few understand the time required to work through the stages of development with the programmer, essentially consisting of testing and feedback on the customer's part." Again, intermediaries can help tremendously with this necessity.

Feature creep. Largely a function of undefined or poorly defined requirements, customers frequently want to add features and functions midway through the development process. "Because changes are so labor intensive, programmers resist these requests as much as possible, in favor of offering new functions in the next product version."

Q: What is the ideal development process from a programmer's perspective?

A: "Especially with interactives, AGILE is the way to go. Each step is a loop where the programmer creates, the customer provides feedback, and these two activities iterate until the customer approves, and then move to the next stage."

The initial vision and rules are worked out. As stated above, the clearer the customer's requirements, the quicker the project can proceed.
Initial interface mockup of the top level and one or two second level interactions. "More and more, initial mockups are created using graphics before actual coding begins." Customer feedback/approval.
Coding for the top level and one or two second level interactions. Customer feedback/approval.
Programmer completes the build with small feedback loops as necessary.
Complete user testing with feedback.
Fixes as necessary.
Final testing and approval.

Q: As an interactive programmer, what are some limitations you've encountered while trying to meet customer requirements?

A: Three things come to mind:

"Because programming is so rules driven, it's often not possible to build for Bloom's higher levels like analyzing, evaluating, and creating. For these levels, we can build pieces of the larger goal that can be integrated into a whole activity or process." For example, using interactives as the basis for discussion and problem-solving.

"LMS integration is another concern. While SCORM is simple in concept, we have experienced multiple obstacles to making it work reliably. Many of us think TinCan will provide better results."

Time is probably the most limiting factor. "Even simple interactives take two to three weeks of a programmer's time - which is someone's money. It quickly becomes a matter of return on investment. Of course, we like to repurpose and standardize some components, but that has its limitations too."

Conclusion

Whether working with coders, html pages, or authoring tools, it helps tremendously to structure your interactives into components and their interactions with the end-user. This is the realm of the instructional designer or business consultant working with the customer. The construction, the coding and linking, follow.

An example: Employee performance problem

We are going to create an interactive module with a supervisor dealing with an employee performance problem. There are twenty screens, each containing a header, a short video and a set of options for the user to select from after viewing the video. Each selection will take the user to a new screen. The components of the project include the screens, the videos with dialog or monologue, and the navigation is based on user selection.

Headers

The text below will appear at the top of each screen, above the video. User must click the play button to begin the video. User options appear after the video has played. User has the unlimited option to play the video again.

Screen	Header Text
000	Susan, a customer service supervisor at a large auto dealership, has just observed an employee, John, in a confrontation with a customer at the service counter.
001	You chose to discuss the incident with John and make a record of the discussion. It is now two weeks later and you have a customer complaint regarding John in your hand.
002	You chose to create an action plan for John, including sending him to customer service training. John has stopped by to let you know he completed the course.
003	You chose to discuss the training program with John before he returned to his station. It is now two weeks later and you have a customer complaint regarding John in your hand.
004	You chose to continue with the action plan, which included weekly meetings. It is now two weeks later and you have a customer complaint regarding John in your hand.
005	You chose to take no further action after John returned from the customer service program. It is now two weeks later and you have a customer complaint regarding John in your hand.
006	You chose to issue John a written warning, which you placed in your file for John. It is now two weeks later and you have a customer complaint regarding John in your hand.
007	You chose to discuss this second incident and make a record of it. Ron, Susan's boss, is on the telephone.
008	You chose to create a new action plan for this second incident. Ron, Susan's boss, is on the telephone.
009	You chose to issue a written warning for this second incident. Ron, Susan's boss, is on the telephone.
010	You chose to issue a written reprimand for this second incident. A human resources representative is now on the telephone.
011	You chose to suspend John for 3 days for this second incident. A human resources representative is now on the telephone.
012	You chose to terminate John based on this second incident. A human resources representative is now on the telephone.
013	You chose to issue John a written reprimand for the offense, which was sent to be placed in his official file. A human resources representative is now on the telephone.
014	You chose to suspend John for three days based on this incident. A human resources representative is now on the telephone.
015	You chose to terminate John for this incident. A human resources representative is now on the telephone.
016	You chose to go ahead with the written reprimand.
017	You chose to suspend John for 3 days. The HR representative informs you that you don't have the authority for this action. You must pass this recommendation up the chain of command.
018	You chose to terminate John. The HR representative informs you that you don't have the authority for this action. You must pass this recommendation up the chain of command.
019	You've reached the end of this sample scenario. Would you like to repeat the scenario and try a different decision? (Yes = return to Screen 000; No = Close Window)

Videos

Unlike screen headers, there is not a different video for each screen. Rather, individual videos are used for multiple screens as illustrated in the navigation map below.

Shot	Video	Audio
Scene 1: Witness
1.1	Upper torso and head shot of supervisor Susan watching something from behind a plate glass window.	Muffled interaction between employee John and a female customer; the words are indistinct.
1.2	Susan's POV looking beyond the window at retail counter, employee John (red faced and flailing his arms) talking at a female customer.	Muffled interaction between employee John and customer; the words are indistinct and the volume is above normal.
1.3	Susan speaking to John from 10 feet, motioning him to approach.	John, come to my office please.
1.4	Over John's shoulder, Susan turns and walks toward her office, John follows.
Scene 2: Face-to-face
2.1	In Susan's office, Susan and John are facing each other, profile torso and head shot.	Susan: John, I just saw you interrupting that customer and talking really loud to her. You know that's not the way we do things around here. John: Well, she was getting in my face. I had to defend myself. S: It doesn't matter what the customer does, we have to treat them with dignity. You went over the line. J: You mean I just have to take it, even when they're yelling in my face? S: That's not what I said. There are other ways of dealing with people like this. You need to try and calm them, tell them you want to solve their problem. If you can't do that, excuse yourself. Pass the person on to me. Anything but yelling back. J: A lot easier said than done. S: That's true, but we can't ignore this. It's too far out of line. Here's what I'm going to do. (present options)
Scene 3: Back from training
3.1	Susan's office, angle shot of Susan talking to John (off screen) upper torso and head.	Susan: How did the training go?
3.2	Angle shot of John talking to Susan (off screen).	John: It went fine. We talked about how to deal with angry people. I think I have it down.
3.3	Angle shot of Susan talking to John (off screen).	Susan: That's good to hear. Here's what we do from here. (present options)
Scene 4: Another problem
4.1	Retail counter, angle shot of John standing behind the counter (John to the right) and Susan approaches from the left.	Susan: John, we need to talk. John: Uh-oh. What did I do?
4.2	Susan motions for John to follow her.	Susan: Come to my office please.
4.3	Susan's office, angle shot of Susan sitting behind her desk talking to John (off screen), desk surface shown.	Susan: Look at this.
4.4	Angle shot of John talking to Susan (off screen) John picks up the card and reads it for 2 seconds.	John: Oh, a customer comment card. Susan (off screen): Read it.
4.5	In Susan's office, Susan and John are facing each other, profile torso and head shot.	J: I swear this isn't true! I bet Rhonda did that. She doesn't like me. S: Well, I've looked into it and the story seems true to me. J: Who did you talk to, Rhonda?! S: I talked to everybody. You're doing yourself no good by denying it. What happened? J: Alright, alright. It was just a small thing. I can't believe the guy made a big deal of it. I lost my cool once but then recovered and we finished our business. I thought he was happy. S: Sorry, John, that's not good enough. I'm going to have to (present options).
Scene 5: Human Resources I
5.1	Head shot of Carol (from Human Resources) talking into a phone,eyes looking beyond the camera.	Hi, this is Carol in Human Resources. You know that disciplinary action you took with John Smith? I'm sorry, but you overstepped your authority. You need to take this to your supervisor, who will then take it to HR. Thank you.
Scene 6: Human Resources II
6.1	Angled shot of Jake (from Human Resources) sitting in a chair talking into a phone.	Hi, this is Jake from Human Resources. A John Smith came in this morning concerning a disciplinary action. He explained the incident to me and, to be honest, it doesn't seem to warrant a reprimand. Are you sure you want to put this in his permanent file? You do have other options (present options).
Scene 7: Manager
7.1	Medium shot of Ron (Susan's supervisor), leaning back in his chair talking into a phone.	Hey Susan, this is Ron. I see this John Smith thing. I think you're being too easy on him. These incidents go all the way up to regional. You need to turn up the heat.

Interactive navigation map

This map provides the logic, or rules, of the interaction. Beginning at screen 000, the end-user sees header 000, clicks a play button to view the video and, after the video plays, is presented with six options. Each option takes the user to a new screen with its own header, video, and options. We see that this interactive provides a maximum of three interactions for each option: the initial choice of disciplinary measures, a second choice, and a final choice to return to screen 000 or end the interaction. A real discipline problem provides multiple opportunities for the expansion of scenarios with increasing complexity of design. Therein lies issues of time, money, reliability of the program, and cognitive load for the learner.