By: Virgil E. Varvel Jr.

Introduction

Everyone has their own “style” for collecting and organizing information into useful knowledge, and the online environment can be particularly well suited to some learning styles and personality needs. For example, introverted students often find it easier to communicate via computer-mediated communication than in face-to-face situations. In addition, the online environment lends itself to a less hierarchical approach to instruction, which meets the leaning needs of people who do not approach new information in a systematic or linear fashion.

Objectives describe what learners will be able to do at the end of instruction, and they provide clear reasons for teaching. When writing objectives be sure to describe the intended result of instruction rather than the process of instruction itself.

Clearly defined learning objectives are useful for instructors, instructional designers and students:

Before designing a lesson for the Internet or for the face-to-face classroom it is vital to have developed objectives. We must know what it is we want the students to do before we can write a lesson to help them achieve those objectives.

Consider the following objectives

Understand the concept of gas pressure.
Know how to solve stoichiometry problems.

In addition to personal experience, the following resources were referred to in the development of my methods and other information in this article.

Allessi, S.M. & Trollip, S.R. (1985). Computer-Based instruction: Methods and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Chapman, B. (1995). Creating script-storyboards for interactive multimedia. Retrieved June 1, 2004 from http://www.ops.ltd.uk/download/white_papers/storyb.doc

Below I have included two storyboard examples to help demonstrate the uses described in this article. I usually create my storyboards on paper for projects that I complete on my own, so I have had to convert these for Web purposes. I have added comments not present in the storyboard as brackets.

Sample 1

The first example is from a tutorial presented within an HTML5 document.

Once storyboards have been developed, they can then be put into use to create your course. By creating a complete overview of a course, one can better place content, multimedia, and interactivity in a pedagogically effective and visually appealing manner. Certain pitfalls of course development such as missing information, redundant information, poor transitions, etc. can be avoided. There are also fewer questions among a group of developers. The storyboard can serve as a constant reference point on which the design process can be centered.

• Consider objectives
  The rest of the design stage should be centered around how best to meet the objectives for the audience and its needs.
• Organize all information and media elements that have already been developed.

Reasons for Storyboards

Visually Displaying an Overview of Information

Storyboards are graphical by nature and can give one a simple means of seeing how the information on their Web pages will appear prior to going into the Web development phase. Problems such as oversized information chunks, image placement, presentation organization, and others can be avoided.

Online education continues to grow around the world. As technology continues to improve, so too does the level of interaction, complexity, and diversity of multimedia elements involved in online course design. It is now time for course developers to look towards methods of enhancing their instructional design in order to take into account these changes. Simple notes on paper no longer capture the needed elements of the online course development process.