Bringing Content Strategy and User Experience practices to online course design Brian Worden @BrianWorden Pete Boulger @PeteRex
Capella University Accredited, online university for working adults Nearly 38,000 students from all 50 states & 59 countries 50,272 alumni Over 150 bachelor s, master s & doctoral specializations & 45 certificate programs Nursing Health care Business management Counseling Higher education Human capital management Information technology P 12 education Psychology Public administration Public safety Social work Headquarters: Minneapolis, MN Founded: 1993 First online degree institution FlexPath 2013 First direct assessment program
Our Teams User Experience and Content Strategy Team Student services/ campus Marketing (capella.edu) Course Development Team Course and Curriculum Development
User Experience and Content Strategy Team What we do: What students do: Student services/ campus Marketing (capella.edu) Courses
Capella Course Development Online Course Content Practices at Capella [needs treatment] full screen stock photo of collaboration? PROCESS!!! Collage of different elements of the course design process (Editing, planning, curriculm, CMS?
What We Do Halvorson, K. (2008, December 16). The Discipline of Content Strategy. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
Capella Course Content Online Courses Need: Consistency Governance CMS/Publishing Standards Written for the medium We can totally help!
Why Not?
Academic Ownership
The Wall Content Strategy UX Web Design Instructional Design Faculty
We re not that different! UX Method: User research User stories/use cases Wireframes/Prototypes Create/Launch Follow-up user tests/ surveys/studies ID Method (ADDIE): Analyze Design Develop Implement Evaluate Rinse. Repeat. We re both iterative.
How can we work together? [Image of catalyst beakers being poured together?]
Change is Coming
Competency-based and Direct Assessment Learning CBE Direct Assessment
New Challenges
Different Type of Learner Ideal Candidate Working adult with previous online education experience, is highly motivated and self-directed, is technologically savvy, has a solid support structure at home and work, and is a bit of a risk taker (educational pioneer) Rational Benefits Reduced cost Flexibility/ability to work at one s own pace Authentic assessments Learn skills that employers expect Faculty are professionals in the field Selective admissions process Emotional / Motivational Benefits These are working professionals who have years of experience, talent, & skills. Because they are working adults, they want to feel like someone respects what they already know.
Disaggregated Faculty Role Traditional Faculty Role Competency evaluation Academic support Relationship and progress FlexPath Faculty Competency evaluation FlexPath Tutors Academic Support FlexPath Coaches Relationship and Progress @ BrianWorden@PeteRex @CapellaU
No Grades as We Know Them Overall assignment comments Criteria specific comments
Direct Assessment of Competency Course-level progress Competency status and progress
Self-pace and Academic Engagement Tracking
New Course Format
We re In!
UX Research Methods Heuristic review by SMEs
UX Research Methods Diary Study
UX Research Methods Learner and Stakeholder Interviews
UX Research Methods Wireframes and Prototypes
UX Research Methods User-Testing
Research Findings: UX UX Design needs for FlexPath Courses: Navigation Progress Indicators Time Management Multiple Assessment Attempts Academic Support Team
Research Findings: Content Content issues in FlexPath Courses: Too much text Hierarchy and Guidance Not learner-centered Too much text!!!
UX Design Solutions
Content Solutions
Content Solutions: Content Strategy Workshop for Instructional Designers How we are alike: UX and ADDIE Understand your audience empathy! Research and collaborative results thus far Tips on how to write for the web Understand how people read on the web Practice using real examples
Results Show before and after again
Did all this work? What we expected
Did all this work? What we got
Did all this work? Learner Survey Results The Timeline The Assessments Dashboard Course Navigation The Assessments Pages Tabs Overall Average 91% 96% 93% 88% 91% Positive Responses Neutral Responses Negative Responses 0 20 40 60 80 100 *Academic Team feature launched one quarter later
What did we learn? HOPE!
Questions? @PeteRex pete.boulger@ capella.edu