My main objective for the design and development stage was to create a prototype that demonstrated three key elements of the course: 1) the main content and activities, such as on-screen text, audio narration, and interactive exercises; 2) the overall visual design; and 3) navigation and ease of use.
I chose to design and develop a prototype resource based on Module 5: Fact-Checking Strategies. This module not only focuses on practical, real-world skills but also required the least background research. Initially, I considered developing a prototype based on Module 1: The Who, What, and Why of Disinformation. However, I realized that even developing a limited number of content slides would require more extensive background research than I could manage given my time and resource constraints. I reached out to several subject matter experts in the journalism and political science departments at my alma mater, Arizona State University, hoping to consult them on project-related questions. Unfortunately, I never received a response.
Visual design has been one of my weaknesses as a novice learning designer. At first, I struggled to envision the flow of my prototype resource. Fortunately, I found a simple solution: sketching a flowchart on a large whiteboard.
This approach proved to be a practical way to create a wireframe. Using Miro, I developed a color-coded, flowchart-like wireframe document that closely matched my brainstorming sketch. I believe this method has practical benefits for future digital learning design work. While some clients might be content with a table-like, text-based format, I find this visual approach more appealing and clear. It eases the burden on clients, potentially reducing misinterpretation or second-guessing of the intended learning flow.
I developed these resources almost simultaneously. As a detail-oriented thinker, I found that writing the content and activities for each slide helped me grasp the big picture. I used a text-based storyboard template from Tim Slade's eLearning Designer Academy, which allowed me to focus on the proposed course content—especially important since the planned resource would include audio narration on nearly every slide. This approach also gave me the opportunity to practice writing audio scripts, a skill I had previously only applied to coursebook materials for young English language learners.
Tim Slade (2022) notes that while a text-based storyboard's strict focus on content is advantageous, it makes visualizing the course's look and feel more challenging. In the future, I aim to work with visual storyboards, as they're more relevant to my current instructional design role. Considering page layouts and suitable interactivities for different content types will help enhance my visual design skills.
By far the biggest challenge I faced while developing the prototype was learning how to use the eLearning author tool Articulate Storyline. In part, I chose it due to the fact that its Powerpoint-esque interface seemed relatively easy to learn. What I didn’t realize at the time was that some of its most useful features were deceptively difficult to master, such as slide layers and triggers.
Since I only had a 30-day free trial at my disposal, I had to hit the ground running as quickly as possible. I referred to a few of Tim Slade’s tutorials to learn how to use Storyline’s basic features and then started developing the resource almost straight away, working out how to implement the main features using trial and error.
While I’m mostly satisfied with the final result in terms of functionalities, I feel that visually it doesn’t completely reflect how I envisioned the course. Upon reflection, I realized it might have been overambitious on my part to use Storyline having only 30 days to learn it proficiently enough to develop the resource. I also felt the pressure to do this well because I was eager to demonstrate to potential future clients or employersthat I could use this industry-standard software. However, to ensure a streamlined development process, it might have been wiser to use a tool I was already familiar with, like Powerpoint or Genially. This is definitely a lesson to consider for future ID projects: given a choice, I should always priortize the needs of the course design and choose the tool that works best based on those needs.
In terms of visual design, I used Mayer’s multimedia principles as a guide. I feel that I adhered to these principles for the most part. However, I feel the Redundancy principle wasn’t fully respected since I often presented the on-screen text and audio narration in the same slide layer; if I had had more time to develop the resource, I would have figured out a way to present these separately. I also feel that the Modality principle wasn’t fully respected either; if given the chance to revise this resource, I would want to develop at least one content slide featuring only images and narration, or even infographics and narration, especially when presenting content that was heavy on statistics or looking at particular trends.