A screenshot of the final product. Click on this picture to visit the website
A Quick Overview
This section describes my processes for building and designing a learning product. The product is an informative website to introduce the uses of virtual reality in education. The material was designed using the ADDIE model (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate), a systematic way of delivering learning content. The UX aspect is crucial when it comes to a successful digital learning experience, as this approach is not as interactive as on-site learning. The product development process included analyzing users, defining the website goal, testing with actual users, and evaluating the product’s impact. The evaluation was done in two ways: formative (observing user performance and receiving comments) and summative (receiving feedback from users about the effectiveness of the website).
Before We Start, let me tell you about My passion for VR...
Whenever I hear about new technology, I keep thinking about its potential uses in education. After my first VR experience, I was curious to see case studies about using VR to improve learning. I decided to search for educators who are already using VR, but I only found few. This surprised me because I know a lot of modern educators are afraid of passive learning and they are always looking for ways to make learning more interactive. The characteristics of immersive virtual reality create a high level of engagement in learners. Advantages that have been associated with virtual reality in education include the ability to view objects as they appear in real life and interact with them beyond what was previously possible in the classroom. While VR nowadays has an endless number of exciting uses, educators seemed to be curious about it but intimidated to embrace it. Therefore, the idea of creating a self-learning website about VR in education was born.
Phase 1: Analysis (needs, goals, and users)
The Need:
Having chatted with some educators about their opinions on VR, they seemed excited about the concept. However, given the early stage of virtual reality adoption in learning and the lack of resources on the subject, few educators were willing to utilize VR in their own teaching.
The Goal:
The end goal of this project was to guide educators to recognize the benefits of VR, and to employ it effectively in their teaching. The self-learning website would contain information, strategies, examples and resources to create a thorough learning experience. To achieve this goal, I broke down the content into multiple tasks, each of which consists of learning objectives, instructional content, and activities. The four main instructional tasks described in the following sections are:
1. Defining VR, its types, and its features.
2. Analyzing how VR enhances learning outcomes.
3. Using VR for different types of knowledge and skills.
4. Using VR headsets and applications to view content.
A Task Analysis for the first goal of the website
The Users:
Characteristics
The target user is someone who works in an educational environment and is open to using new technologies in a learning context. The user is also likely an adult, so the project focuses on adult learning.
Entry skills
Learners should have two foundational skills before they start using this website. First, they should have basic technical skills. Learners are expected to be familiar with smartphones, browsing the internet, and downloading apps. Secondly, learners should be able to recognize basic concepts and terms of virtual and immersive technologies.
Phase 2: Design and development
Designing and Sequencing Content:
During the instruction design and development phase, I asked a few questions to help me arrange the content and materials in a logical consequence based on learning principles.
- What are the main objectives of this website?
- What are some challenges in achieving these objectives?
- What is the best way to deliver the content to learners based on their backgrounds, needs, and ages?
Briefly, there are three methods that guided me to design and arrange the content to be comprehensive and coherent:
- Designing content based on course objectives
- Designing content based on learners’ backgrounds and attitudes
- Designing content based on learners’ needs and ages
The diagram below is a flowchart of the entire website.
A Task Analysis for the first goal of the website
Product Design and Interface
Using diverse types of multimedia to deliver information plays an important role in making instruction more engaging and learnable. However, it is also important to follow multimedia learning principles to ensure that they are designed to help users learn, but not to distract them. Here are some of my main considerations when designing an interface to be well-balanced in both visuals and effectiveness.
Accessibility and Minimalism:
In order to reduce the cognitive load, I had to make sure that the website is simple, accessible and fast. I tried to avoid making pages overdesigned, overwhelming, or confusing by using drop-downs and collapsible panels, which reveal additional content only if the user wants to know more. These features help users avoid scrolling and give them a choice to skip what they are not interested in.
Site Navigability:
Because the website contains more than one section, it was necessary to focus on the design of the navigation. In the navigation tab, I only put the most important pages of the website that users are most likely going to need. To make the navigation tab intuitive, I put it on the top of each page, on the right side, with universal labels such as, “Home”, “About”, “Resources”, and “Contact”.
Aesthetic Design
- Using white-space
I used white-space as the main background for the website to make the content more readable and scannable.
- Using clear formatting and simple layouts
Since the website has a lot of text, I avoided using too many visuals or complicated formatting that will distract users from focusing on learning. I personally like to use the “read mode” option in web-browsers which removes unnecessary items from the page, so I keep this in mind when I design for learning.
-Making it lively by using animations
Animated UI components to give the website a sense of interactivity and make it more dynamic. See an example below:
Phase 3: Prototyping and evaluation
I continuously evaluated the product throughout the design and development processes. Since this is a learning product, my approach focused on evaluating three main areas: clarity of instruction, the impact of instruction on learners and their performance, and the feasibility of instruction and resources. The expert evaluation was conducted in an interview format, which allowed open ended interactions and a wide variety of reactions. The one-on-one was conducted with a participant who is representative of the target users. All evaluation sessions were recorded and analyzed to identify potential areas for improvement to the instructional website. Other tools were also used during the evaluation, such as screen casting software and sticky notes. Here are some pictures of a few changes I made.
. A picture shows the expert’s recommendation for adding a new feature to navigation tab (highlighting the selected page that that users on)
In “the history of VR” selection, the expert suggested that I add hyperlinks to Wikipedia from the text, since the content is explaining the history of a new technology and readers might want to read more historical details
In “the history of VR” selection, the expert suggested that I add hyperlinks to Wikipedia from the text, since the content is explaining the history of a new technology and readers might want to read more historical details
Final Thoughts:
All the prototyping and evaluation sessions were highly useful and informative. The whole experience made me realize what it takes to build a successful learning product. On the other hand, the one-on-one session gave me insight into learners’ needs and preferences. Other positive comments I received from individuals - on how they became aware of VR uses and advantages in education after they visited the website - made me see the potential of this website evolving into a big project. At the present time, I will keep implementing new features based on the survey results, and make any modifications necessary to improve the website for future learners. As a VR enthusiast, my ultimate goal for this project is to see educators in the future embracing this new technology and to keep exploring other strategies to make our education deeply immersive, entertaining, and effective.