E-Learning: getting started with online learning

Great North Museum Hancock21 March 2013

Martin Bazley

Overview

Looking at some websitesWhy do we need to learn to write for the web? Introducing Wordpress.comDigital video - why do it?Digital video -how do it?Other useful stuff, cheap or free and easy to do

Header inc banner – establishes visual identityHeader inc banner – establishes visual identity

Main navigation – contents summary, links to sectionsMain navigation – contents summary, links to sections

Section (context-sensitive)

navigation – contents summary

and links

Section (context-sensitive)

navigation – contents summary

and links

Right hand column – links to relevant

items within site, sometimes outside it

Right hand column – links to relevant

items within site, sometimes outside itMain content areaMain content area

Website examples

http://eastanglianlife.org.uk/discover/ http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/London-Wall/Visiting-us/ http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/booking/index.htmlhttp://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/educators/plan_and_book_a_visit/book_a_visit.aspxhttp://www.vam.ac.uk/http://www.amazon.co.uk/http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/

People use the web differently…

… from the way they use books, object labels, magazines, newspapers,

information screens, etc

For most people the web is a

predominantly visual

medium

We are all different and some people like to read

all the text on a web page before deciding

what to do next, even though a lot of it might

be pretty redundant but most people – or at least most regular users

of the web – rather than reading through them

in detail just scan the web pages they are using, or at least the

ones where they are still trying to work out

where to go next

• Users won't read your text thoroughly word-by-word.

Exhaustive reading is rare, especially when browsing. Yes, some people will read more, but most won't.

• The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. There's some hope that users will actually read this material – though they'll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second.

• Start subheadings, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice when scanning down the left side of your content in the final stem of their F-behaviour.

They'll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words.

If they have to work at it for example if they

cannot see what they are looking for, or if it doesn’t make sense to

them at first glance then most people – or at least many

people who do a lot of searching or browsing on the web just

decide that this particular site is not for them, and anyway they

have a long list of other search results or ideas to try and so they go elsewhere

Exercise: Make this web page Exercise: Make this web page betterbetter

http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/index.cfm

About website structure, About website structure, ways people use the web and ways people use the web and implications for writing for the implications for writing for the

webweb

Certain types of websites impose linear user journeys:

TheTrainline.comCinema ticket bookings

Self assessment tax return online

In most websites, although there are some linear elements …

… people like to have other pathways available to them…

… and most journeys are very non-linear

Also, most people reach your website via Google

Only 20% arrive at your website on the home page

Most may not have had your site in mind when searching

30% of them go to home page to ‘try and work out what this site is about’

So each page on the site must quickly: (a)engage users and (b)give sense of what site is about –

otherwise most will leave

‘Writing for the web’ is not just about text…

… but also choosing the right images… layouts

… graphical look and feel…website structure

etc etc

Key point of paragraph/

section

Image clearly related to text

Broken into short paras

Short video guides

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoU2yANNxRs&eurl=http://inside.123-reg.co.uk/archives/video-writing-your-web-copy

• Writing web headlines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBg7dJIfHM0

Home page: key functions

• Offer overview: – Show user what the site can do for them– Show user what is in the site:

• The structure at a glance• Content highlights or samples

• Engagement:– make user want to continue browsing

– www.manchestergalleries.org/

Article page: key functions

• Engage the user – make them want to consume the article

• Signposting: – Show user what else is nearby in the site

• The structure at a glance

– Show user what else the site offers them

– www.mylearning.org/overview.asp?journeyid=73

– www.manchestergalleries.org/

Short writing exercisesShort writing exercises

Short writing exercisesShort writing exercises

Short writing exercisesShort writing exercises

Home page: key functions

• Offer overview: – Show user what the site can do for them– Show user what is in the site:

• The structure at a glance• Content highlights or samples

• Engagement:– make user want to continue browsing

Article page: key functions

• Engage the user – make them want to consume the article

• Signposting: – Show user what else is nearby in the site

• The structure at a glance

– Show user what else the site offers them

– www.mylearning.org/overview.asp?journeyid=73

– www.manchestergalleries.org/

Website usersWebsite users

Website users• Who uses your website?

• Why would they want to use it?

• How would they find it?

• What do they get out of it?

• What do they dislike about it?

How do you get it right for everyone?

• Answer:

• You can’t get it right for everyone.

• You have to make choices, and stick to them:

• Who is it for?

• What..

• How…

Who for…?Who for…?What for?What for?

How will they use it?How will they use it?

Learning resource: iterative planning

content curriculum (find a match)

Learning activities Learning outcomes (find a match)

Filtered by your specific audience needs

Who for…?Who for…?What for?What for?

How will they use it?How will they use it?

Who for what for ...• Who for? (audience)

Need to be clear from start• mum + 2 children looking for something to do this

weekend• teachers of yr5/6 in local area with whiteboards• men interested in gadgets

Who for what for ...• What ‘real-world’ outcomes?

What will they do as a result of using the site? • make a donation• plan a visit to a museum• buy a train ticket• think differently about learning disability

Who for what for ...• How will they use it? (user experience)

What do they actually do on the site? • browse and read articles

• working alone or in pairs? (learning resources)• lean forward or sit back?• Browsing, following, searching…

• Also Where, When and Why?

Examples of teacher feedback• Vimeo videos

• http://vimeo.com/18888798 Key ideas

• http://vimeo.com/18892401 Lesson starter

• http://vimeo.com/18867252 Timesaver

Who for what for ...• Website appraisal

– For each example note first impressions

• Who is it for?

• What does it offer them?

• How will they use it?

Elements of online learning resourcesImage(s) + caption(s)

Key question(s) / short activities

Background teacher notes / pupil activity sheets

Zoomable images 

Video

Interactive

More complex functionality

Increasing cost and complexity

Increasing cost and complexity M

ost u

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teac

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Mos

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These are the first things to provide, and do not require high levels of IT expertise or investment

First two can be done quite easilyThe others will mean investment of money and /or expert timeTwo case studies: 1. with interactive2. with video

How can we get a sense of who our online visitors are and what they do with our online content?  

How do we gather data to help us improve what we do?

How do we measure success from the user's point of view, and / or against our own objectives and constraints?

For example, how justify investment (or lack of it) in social networks etc?

Reasons for doing audience research:

Evaluation

• Did your project/product/service do what you wanted it to do?

• Provide information for stakeholders

• Gauge audience satisfaction

Reasons for doing audience research:

Promotion

• Improve your offer for your target audiences

• Increase usage

• Widen access

Reasons for doing audience research:

Planning

• Inform development of a new product/service

• Inform business planning

• Prove interest in a related activity

Data gathering tools

• Qualitative: focus groups, “free text” questions in surveys, interviews

• Quantitative: web statistics, “multiple choice” questions in surveys, visitor tracking

• Observational: user testing, ethnographic

Define audience research goal

Analyse data

Collect data Use results to guide changes

Plan methodology

Define audience research goal

Analyse data

Collect data Use results to guide changes

Plan methodology

Define audience research goal

Analyse data

Collect data Use results to guide changes

Plan methodology

Define audience research goal

Analyse data

Collect data Use results to guide changes

Plan methodology

Define audience research goal

Analyse data

Collect data Use results to guide changes

Plan methodology

Define audience research goal

Analyse data

Collect data Use results to guide changes

Plan methodology

Strengths and weaknesses of different data gathering techniques

Data gathering techniquesUser testing

- early in development and again near endOnline questionnaires

– emailed to people or linked from websiteFocus groups

- best near beginning of project, or at redevelopment stage

Visitor surveys - link online and real visits

Web stats- useful for long term trends /events etc

Need to distinguish between:

Diagnostics – making a project or service better

Reporting – to funders, or for advocacy

Online questionnaires(+) once set up they gather numerical and

qualitative data with no further effort – given time can build up large datasets

(+) the datasets can be easily exported and manipulated, can be sampled at various times, and structured queries can yield useful results

(–) respondents are self-selected and this will skew results – best to compare with similar data from other sources, like visitor surveys

(–) the number and nature of responses may depend on how the online questionnaire is displayed and promoted on the website

Focus groups

(+) can explore specific issues in more depth, yielding rich feedback

(+) possible to control participant composition to ensure representative

(–) comparatively time-consuming (expensive) to organise and analyse

(–) yield qualitative data only - small numbers mean numerical comparisons are unreliable

Visitor surveys

(+) possible to control participant composition to ensure representative

(–) comparatively time-consuming (expensive) to organise and analyse

(–) responses can be affected by various factors including interviewer, weather on the day, day of the week, etc, reducing validity of numerical comparisons between museums

Web stats(+) Easy to gather data – can decide

what to do with it later(+) Person-independent data

generated - it is the interpretation, rather than the data themselves, which is subjective. This means others can review the same data and verify or amend initial conclusions reached

Web stats(–) Different systems generate

different data for the same web activity – for example no of unique visits measured via Google Analytics is generally lower than that derived via server log files

(–) Metrics are complicated and require specialist knowledge to appreciate them fully

Web stats(–) As the amount of off-website web

activity increases (e.g. Web 2.0 style interactions) the validity of website stats decreases, especially for reporting purposes, but also for diagnostics

(–) Agreeing a common format for presentation of data and analysis requires collaborative working to be meaningful

Online surveys

SurveyMonkey

www.surveymonkey.com

Web statsGoogle Analytics

Learn GA: short intro videos etc

https://www.google.com/analytics/iq.html

The best way to learn GA is to use it:

www.google.com/analytics/

Web stats: Focus on trends rather than absolute values

An example of a power law graph showing popularity ranking. To the right is the long tail; to the left are the few that dominate. Notice that the areas of both regions match. [Wikipedia: Long Tail]

The ‘long tail’

The tail becomes bigger and longer in new markets (depicted in red). In other words, whereas traditional retailers have focused on the area to the left of the chart, online bookstores derive more sales from the area to the right.[Wikipedia: Long Tail]

The ‘long tail’

SCA guidancehttp://sca.jiscinvolve.org/wp/audience-publications/

Good overview

Step by step approach

Culture 24 Let’s Get Realhttp://weareculture24.org.uk/projects/action-research/

Using New Media to engage with audiences - handbook

Quick overview of techniques

More information / advice / ideas

Martin Bazley0780 3580 737

www.martinbazley.com