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After going to my old high school, I think I have decided on a client for my project. I plan to work with Samantha Purcell, a Spanish teacher at Monroe Area Comprehensive High School. She taught me Spanish I when I was a freshman in high school, and I took her again my senior year for Spanish III. I think she is going to be an awesome client to work with because she is extremely creative and enthusiastic about teaching Spanish. Plus, I love Spanish! She is very interested in writing Spanish stories to help students with vocabulary enrichment, verb conjugation, adjectives, etc., while using cool characters to make it entertaining for the students. For my project, I thought it would be fun to turn one of her stories into some type of educational interactive media, like an interactive book with possibly utilizing a tutorial and game aspect. We agreed that it would probably be best to create a story for her Spanish I classes since she normally teaches two sections of it every semester. Right now, we think introducing the verb “gustar,” which means “to like” and introducing new vocabulary would be fantastic for interactive book, and it also lends itself to have a game component. Also, I have secured a consultant position with the NextGeneration 6210 team through the project manager Will Dang.
I had an extensive meeting with my client for the planning stages. We defined the scope—for Spanish I students (9-12 graders) to identify and use likes and dislikes of food in Spanish I learning module. We identified learner characteristics and developed a chart based on weak, average, strong learners. In addition, we established hardware and software constraints by checking the specs and parameters on the mobile laptops the students will be using with the CD-ROM I provide the client. She also provided me with the food vocabulary, six sketches of characters with their names, the verb conjugation, and some phrases to use in the module. In addition, she gave me a Spanish I textbook to use a reference. We also discussed the introduction of the program, learner control, and methods of control. We created storyboards for the introduction of the program and decided that it would be good to include user identification. The client wants the learner to have control of the program and not be forced into a set path, and the methods of control will primarily be the mouse with the use of the keyboard. She also liked the idea of a full screen menu. In addition to meeting with the client, I finished all the readings except for the two chapters of my choice. I plan to read the chapter on tutorials and games. Tasks to do
This week I read the chapter on tutorials which was extremely helpful and beneficial to me. I thought having questions at the end of presenting the information was more of a game component. When in fact, the question sections are just part of a well-designed tutorial. I have decided against having a complete game at the end of the tutorial and using the four-part cycle (presenting information, questions and response, judge response, feedback or remediation). Part of this change is due to lack of programming skills with Flash ActionScript and the time constraint (30 mins of instruction). I feel much more comfortable about my project now. I have already drawn all six characters that will be used throughout the learning module. In addition, I created the user name identification in flash functionality wise. It is not aesthetically pleasing yet, but it works. I’m still playing around with the hot potatoes software to where/if I can use it in the tutorial. I plan on sharing the software with my client, so she can play around with it and see if she likes it or not. If we don’t use for this tutorial, maybe she can use it in the future for something else. Tasks to do
I met with the client this past Friday. I prepared and emailed a client agenda ahead of time to alert her of the topics we would discuss. In the agenda, I provided her with the URL for my project management website. I think we had a very productive meeting. I showed her the six characters based off the sketches she created. She was ecstatic and absolutely impressed with how the characters looked. She said they were just what she wanted. During this meeting, we also established the purpose statement, goals, objectives, content analysis. In addition, we discussed the interface, sequencing, and stimulating prior knowledge. I started working on the interface design and hope to have it hammered at soon. Tasks to do
I’m wrapping up design, and I’ve started development. Development is my favorite part of this process because I really like graphic design and learning more about Flash ActionScript. I created the initial splash page and one section’s interface design. I’m not quite sure if I should start with the section interface directly after the splash page or after the overview. I will be discussing this with my client in our meeting on Friday. In addition, I have also created the user identification and overview pages. So basically, I have the introduction of the program complete. I will be moving onto the four main sections in the upcoming weeks, starting with the character section next. I have posted a detailed flowchart of the learning module, a couple of screenshots, and the introduction of the module. Tasks to do
I had an excellent meeting with my client on Friday. I showed her the introduction of the program and received feedback from her. Then, we went over the prototype together. It was great to sit with her and go through page by page so we are both on the same page. We discussed the navigation of the program along with the buttons and scene changes for each main section. In addition, we discussed how to transition from main section to main section and how the content should be introduced. We both have a clear outline of how the character and vocabulary sections should look and the level of interactivity involved with them. Based on the meeting, I was able to finish the introduction of the program and the main menu. I also started working on the character section. Tasks to do
I’ve mostly been working on the character section. My client supplied me with the sentences that accompany each character. At first, I had all six characters present so the users could choose which character he/she wanted to learn about. However, using this navigation method I ran into a few problems. How would I know when the user has viewed all the characters? Where would the buttons go? After consulting with a peer, I decided that the characters should be introduced in a linear manner and I would provide the users with the option to go back and visit a character if he/she wishes to do so. In addition, I wasn’t quite sure where my buttons should go or how they should look. I’m still juggling around with some ideas. I want the buttons to be located in a place that is stationary to each of the four sections. I don’t want the user to have to hunt for the buttons each time. Tasks to do
I’ve been really busy over the last two weeks. I especially got a lot of work done during spring break. I figured out how my navigation and buttons should work. The menu and help buttons will be available on all pages of the module except for the very beginning when the user types in his/her name. The back and forth buttons look like arrows, and they are in Spanish. Atr ás means back and adelante means forward. Based on a suggestion from a peer, I decided to also include what page the user is on in the module, so in between the arrows it has x of x. In the vocabulary section, I drew all the 20 vocabulary words and the background. In the first scene all the vocabulary words are shown in an island hut. When the user rolls over the word, the Spanish word shows up. Eventually, I want to audio so when the user clicks on the word they can hear their teacher pronouncing the word. Audio will be the very last thing that I worry about though. I also completed matching drag and drop with the vocabulary words. There are five per page. I didn’t want the user to feel overwhelmed with a lot of words and I also wanted to increase their chances of getting the matching correct, since I am not providing them with the correct answer if they get it wrong. I felt like this would have made it too easy. The verb section was fairly simple to develop. I only had to draw one main graphic. And the rest of the information was text-based. It begins with the introduction of the verb and the rules, then how to conjugate, followed by some examples. Then, the user completes a fill in the blank drag and drop section. Within this section, every possible singular and plural conjugation is present. Of my four sections, I have three of them completed done. I mean navigation, buttons, graphics, and all. And the three sections have been signed off by the client. So far, she hasn’t made many changes or suggestions. She seems to be impressed with the work that I am doing for her. This makes me feel really good about all the time and effort I’m spending on this project. She completed the story so I will begin on the final section next. Tasks to do
I have started working on the story section and wrote out the audio script. I met with the client last Friday to determine how the story should be displayed. She basically wants a scrolling text box with the story in it with a few animations. Initially, she had a long story about one page and half. After I spoke to her and we discussed some issues, she realized that story was too long to keep the users’ attention and still be interesting. Now, the story is only one paragraph. I figured out the scrolling text box. Now, I need to work on the background and the other animations the client requested. During our meeting, we also discussed the help, glossary, and audio script. We plan on recording the audio the day after the dress rehearsal in Aderhold. If it goes well, the learning module will have sound; however, if the recording isn’t high quality it will not be included in the learning module. Tasks to do
I completed the necessary animations for story portion of the learning module. The waves, dolphin, and fire are animated along with the scrolling textbox for the story. In addition to completing the story, I also completed the assessment part of the module. At first, the client and I discussed having each student print out their assessment. Then, she realized that would be time consuming since there was only one printer hooked up to the laptop station. It would also be a lot of paper because she has about sixty Spanish I students. So we agreed that each student should take out a sheet of paper and do the assessment and turn it in to her. There are three parts to the assessment:
During the assessment, students are not able to go back into the learning module. My client didn’t want them to go back and cheat, so before the module begins there is a warning page that tells them that they once they click forward they can’t back. At the end of the assessment section, there is a review page that summarizes what the student hopefully learned; it also lists the objectives that the student should be able to do as a result of the going through the learning module. The module ends by asking the student if he/she would like to exit or restart the module. Tasks to do
I recorded the audio for my module with my client last Friday. It was a success. We so much fun recording the audio that we also decided to create an opening soundtrack for the beginning of the module. And since I created it with Garage Band it is not copyrighted, which is something that I always worry about when adding music to multimedia. I integrated the music into the flash module. For the most part, the integration went pretty smoothly. It does seem that the song is a louder than the client actually speaking in the module, but I think it is okay. I also worked on the action script for the audio. I didn’t want the audio tracks to play over each over when going from page to page so I put so code on the buttons to stop the sound on the release of the button before going to the next page. In addition, I figured out how to make the learning module start as soon as the cd is put into the cd-rom. I think this makes my module extremely professional, and I’m glad it works that way. I also figured out how I wanted the help menu set up, and I started working on it. I have a link to a word document with the twenty vocabulary words in case the students would like to print just the vocabulary. Tasks to do
I’ve completed the glossary and help section. It took me longer than I thought to complete the help because the help needs to change based on where the users where in the module they clicked help, so I spent a lot of time on it. I’m so glad it is done now though. After I completed the help, I started my evaluation plan and gathered some potential alpha testers with some expert users who actually know Spanish. The alpha test should be complete by Wednesday, and I plan on starting my beta test on Friday with actual Spanish I students in my client’s class. So I have all day Thursday to make revisions revealed during the alpha testing. Other than that, I’m totally done with development and right on schedule too. I wanted to be done with my evaluation by the end of the week, so I could start on my evaluation report this weekend. Also, I’ve already designed the cd-labels for the cd’s that the modules will be on, but I still need to design the cd inserts. Tasks to do
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