This assignment focused on creating a project proposal, a storyboard and a sample digital learning resource for the Irish Leaving Certificate History curriculum. Developing this learning resource was an interesting instructional and technical design challenge.

 

The project comprised of a number of phases:

• a project proposal including audience

and design research

• a storyboard of a sample lesson

• a sample set of HTML webpages of the

proposed design

• a sample learning resource built in

Adobe Animate and delivered as an swf file.

 

The storyboard, proposal and learning resource files are available on Google Drive.

The Flash learning resource is also embedded below.

 

Research and Writing Skills

The Irish Leaving Certificate History curriculum features 'Key Personalities' to be studied from each time period.  These were selected as a suitable topic for this resource and drew on my experience with Irish educational publishing. Mary Robinson was selected as the key personality from the curriculum for the sample resource.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Note: This Flash file may not appear if you are using a device or browser that is not Flash compatible, or if you need to update your Flash player.

​

The project proposal required applying research and writing skills to investigate and describe the target audience characteristics for this product.  It then assessed how this might affect the writing style and design of the overall resource. This meant writing in an approachable but concise form to provide practical benefits to students dealing with high-pressure Leaving Certificate studies. It also meant being cognizant of possible biases being read into the text, especially regarding Northern Ireland,

 

Web Design and UX Skills

The proposal also outlines user interface design decisions with respect to usability principles; outlining how the split between the HTML interface and the Flash learning resource would integrate and how the site would be built to aid navigation and address user characteristics.  As described by Johnson in GUI Bloopers 2.0 (2007), the interface navigation must remain in the background and not the foreground of the user's consciousness to allow them to concentrate on the learning materials.

​

The overall site structure was built in Adobe Dreamweaver, creating an intuitive user path and acting as a hub for navigating to the proposed learning resources. While this did not involve overly complex web development skills, it shows a grasp of fundamental HTML, CSS and UX principles to ensure that the site layout was intuitive and functional.

​

Media Production Skills

The development of the Flash learning resource demonstrates technical skills and an ability to adapt to new development tools. Adobe Animate was used to create this resource including some basic coding in ActionScript.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

The learning resource required designing interface elements and other visuals in Adobe Photoshop, developing assessment exercises such as 'drag and drops' using ActionScript, and animating buttons and images to promote interactivity and user engagement.

 

Summary

The final Adobe Animate learning resource demonstrates an ability to write, design and deliver content to an agreed specification and to adapt to new development tools and independently resolve technical problems. This project also highlighted the value of careful planning, avoiding feature creep and diligent file management.

​

References

Johnson, J., 2007. GUI bloopers 2.0: common user interface design don'ts and dos. Morgan Kaufmann.