More about design

I have re-thought the design of this course and will use screen recordings and PowerPoint to deliver the informtion. I can make the course more interesting but maybe not as elaborate as I had originally hoped due to lack of resources (mainly money) so will have to use exisiting resources and initiative to make this course intersting and motivating.

I have talked about the current course and how it is do this exercise and save it, and there is no varitey! The book does not flow and students get confused and don't know what they are supposed to be doing. At present this course is all face-to-face, I would like to make it more interactive so students don't have to ask for help all the time, as some students don't like to ask for help.

By using screen recordings and links to exercises in PowerPoint the students will learn not only word processing but also navigation around the computer which is important: you have to know where you are saving documents etc. At present it takes students a long time to learn to navigate. I have made some short recordings on how to save files to a floppy disk and how to find files in " My Documents". The students thought these were useful as they could just go back and play them again if they couldn't remember what to do.

I will make a series of screen recordings dealing with each topic: Saving, copying and pasting, editing, making new paragraphs, inserting pictures etc. After the student has viewed the video there will be a link (or the next slide) with the information they require for the exercise: eg go to My Documents and open the file called "What's for dinner tonight?" This file is poorly organsied with words in the wrong place and the punctuation is terrible. See if you can rearrange the words and put the correct puntuation in. Also make the file look more attractive by adding different fonts, colour and perhaps put a few pictures in. You could get the spellchecker to help you? If you are using the spellchecker remember you still have to proof-read your documents.
Then can you please save the file on your floppy disk?

This makes the student think and have some original input. Here we are giving them ideas and suggestions of tools they could use but not giving them instructions.

I would like to add a self-assessment at the end, something like: if you feel confident about cutting and pasting you can carry on to your next exciting assignment. If you would like more practise go to My Documents and open the file called " Who is watering the garden today?"

I think it is a good idea to use exercises which deal with everyday things, people know exactly what is going on & will feel comfortable about using their own ideas to change documents etc.

Comments are welcome.
Cheers,
Vida

How to make a computing course interesting

Was thinking of designing a computer game (not sure about the technology) sort of like Snakes & Ladders without the snakes and ladders. This would be a game where only 1 person plays. It would be set up like a board & the student would have a real dice to throw. Each block on the board would give the student a task to do: like open a file in a certain location, or bold a word or cut and paste etc. When they have completed this task they will get a message: animation or noise or something saying well done or great now you can move on. Then they throw the dice again & continue around the board. They would have to keep playing until all the tasks on the board were completed. There will then be more exercises for them to do, I'm not sure how to make them interesting yet. Maybe a rally (without the car) where you have to go to different locations eg My Documents to get files which contain part of a message, then you have to put the message together in the correct order. That would be easier to do. Then maybe after all that we could have a driver's licence test where if they can do all the tasks in the test they get a chocolate fish ( not sure whether it will be virtual or real) & maybe a certificate.

Design Overview

Hi All,
I want to design a word processing course which has options for all learner styles, & can be used in Microsoft Word or Open Office Writer.
I think to get people started I will do a series of short screen recordings showing people how to save, open files, copy and paste, and basic editing techniques.
There would also need to be some background material: maybe a video.
For the actual exercises I would like to make some quizzes and games about topics which are relevant to most people. Perhaps identifying faults in a paragraph, or moving and resizing pictures to match up with a statement, or correcting jumbled sentences ( good for cutting and pasting).
Our current Word Processing booklet has exercises listed in it but no interesting pictures or quizzes. I think we should be able to make our exercises more computer-orientated and interesting
Not sure how I am going to do this but I will think about it a bit more & make a list of puzzles or games and how I can apply tehm.
Any suggestions or comments would be welcome.