Reading 4

Elizabeth Melendez Reading 4 Ch. 10-12

While I was in my interactive design degree program, we learned that so much of dynamic communication design is informed by the level of audience engagement. For interactive design, the use of dynamic design elements is enlisted with thoughtful consideration of the user experience. For instructional design, the use of dynamic content promotes the generative aspects of the learning experience, engaging the learner with any number of options such as animation or gamification. These elements can more effectively illustrate the relationships between various concepts, engaging higher levels of psychological activity.

The Engagement Grid is a good diagram of the intersections between the various levels and types of engagement. As instructional designers, it is crucial to understand what type and level of engagement works best for each part of our learning design. Prompting more productive learner inferences with the effective employment of efficient and engaging design choices can add some immediacy to the learning process. Engaging the learner in the construction of relevant visual content is also very effective as it says in our text and some in our cohort may know firsthand. Explanations of the learning, whether given in such construction or otherwise, engage learners with agency in their own learning process. This is something I use with my students and I find it very effective.

The product I created for the IRB provides some worked examples in the form of videos which are designed to familiarize the learner with the visuals and mechanics of the interface within which they would be expected to perform the task of submitting an online application for a new study. Experienced within the learner’s zone of proximal development, worked examples can provide a scaffolding experience with which a learner can align him or herself as they move through the performance of the task.