“Building a comprehensive and effective learning environment is an important condition for implementing teaching and learning for the digital age” (Bates, 2019).
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Reflect on who you were able to have conducted the usability testing? Were you able to get the right people? Why or why not? I had my students conduct the usability test, and I felt that this was very insightful, since they are considered the primary users of the platform, and the learners that will be navigating the course structure. Their feedback helped me see the areas that were clear, and the sections that still needed change or improvement. I liked seeing how easily they were able to access Schoology and be familiar with the layout of the Modules, and breakdown of the weekly folders. They were able to be engaged with the math activities, which gave me real, or authentic feedback that I can use for refinement.
What can you do to better improve this in the future? In the future, I can get my parents, and colleagues to conduct the usability test so that I can get a different perspective on the navigation system. However, I do believe that getting feedback from my students was the right way to go since they are the ones that will be using this first hand. If I conduct the usability test again, then including all of these different groups would ensure that the course is accessible and user-friendly to all. In essence, “We do not have a full understanding of things before we act, but, hopefully, we can avoid major problems while ‘testing the water” (Smith, 2001). Basically, I learn by doing, and I won’t always have all the answers beforehand, but through testing, experimenting, reflection, and adjustments I can navigate these changes in a more effective way.
What impact did your platform (LMS, Google Docs, or other digital sharing) have on the testing and results? My students were able to conduct the usability test in Schoology, and I found this to be beneficial because it was a realistic experience of how they would be independently navigating the math course. This test allowed me to see if they could find the Modules, weekly folders, learning resources, and activities on the Schoology platform. The links and built in tools helped make their experience easy to use this learning management system. However, the usability test also allowed me to see the instructions that needed to be clearer, and presented in a more friendly language for my students to follow. Overall, testing in Schoology gave me the insights that I needed to confirm that this is a solid software application for my math course. For future references, I will modify the course setup based on the learners feedback to make changes so that the content is even more user friendly, and students will be able to go through the course with ease.
What were the lessons you learned from the usability testing feedback? From the usability testing feedback that my students provided, I was able to see that clear instructions were needed, and easy navigation was key. I learned that if I wanted to create a significant learning environment where they can become self-directed learners then they would need an environment that was set up properly to support them. Also, I made sure to publish a Module, as they finished testing the first, so that they would not see all of the modules all at once and feel overwhelmed with the math course in Schoology.
What have you done to your design to address the usability issues revealed in the testing? What have you added or taken away? In order to address the usability testing issues that were revealed by my students, I gave them a quick tutorial on how to click on the assignment, complete it, then turn it in. Additionally, I covered the options that they could use to reply to Let’s Discuss or Exit Tickets. I explained how they could not only type in, but they could speak into it with their response, or even record a quick video of themselves responding to the question. I noticed that they really enjoyed this part of it, and felt that it was more interactive for them. Overall, their feedback helped me see the course in Schoology through their eyes, which allowed me a chance to make meaningful improvements to my instructional design.
How has this process improved your course and the learner’s experience?By organizing the materials used, and removing any extra steps that caused confusion, I improved the process of the math course with the ability for simple navigation through the platform. This made the course engaging, accessible, and user-friendly for my students to use. Now they can navigate through the platform more easily, understand instructions clearly, and interact with content smoothly. I feel like this has made the learning experience better for them, and allows me to have more effective teaching.
How has the testing impacted your alignment of outcomes, activities, and assessment? The testing helped me see where my outcomes, activities, and assessments needed more refinement and better alignment. It turns out that some of the instructions for activities were not as clear as I thought, and I needed to make those changes to better support the learning goals and objectives. I also refined some of the assignments and assessments to better measure student understanding based on the feedback that my testers provided. This ensures that my course flows better, and supports student success.
How will you address the infrastructure, system, and support needs and issues the learner may face? To help my students navigate through Schoology smoothly, I have set clear guidelines, helpful tutorials, and some troubleshooting tips. I also included a way to get quick check-ins from them per Module, so that I know where they are in the process. If technical issues arise along the way, I plan to be flexible with deadlines, and perhaps offer an alternative solution as the need comes up.
In summary, I have made some changes to my course since my students were able to supply me with valuable feedback from this usability test to make improvements to the overall design. I made sure the directions for the assignments, discussions, and activities were clearer, and added visuals, or examples when they were needed. I also ensured that the resources were available and loaded properly. I wanted the readability to be a good font size, and text colors were clear. It was important to have the work in a logical order and that learners could complete work without feeling rushed. I double checked to make sure the assignments, discussions, and quizzes aligned with the learning outcomes. In the end, I added more opportunities for collaboration, discussion, and feedback to keep learners engaged.
“Faculty and instructors need a strong framework for assessing the value of different technologies, new or existing, and for deciding how or when these technologies make sense for them (and/or their students) to use” (Bates, 2019).
References
Bates, A.W. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/
Smith, M. K. (2001, 2011). ‘Donald Schön: learning, reflection and change’, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. https://infed.org/mobi/donald-schon-learning-reflection-change/
Jackie Bittner M.Ed. 