Novice teachers usually graduate from their teaching credentials program with only a few months of teaching experience under their belt. Once they get hired and receive their class rosters, the juggling begins. Novice teachers have to learn the curriculum, prepare lesson plans to complete learning objectives, grade work, assess their learners, attend meetings, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, classroom management falls through the cracks, even though, it should be a teacher's utmost priority. Classroom management is an essential skill because it directly affects students' ability to learn and a teacher's ability to teach effectively.

I identified this need after being in the classroom for 8 years and constantly struggling with classroom management. I spoke with many teachers, with various years of experience and they all echoed the same concerns. Classroom management is difficult, no matter how many years you teach.

Many schools onboarding new teachers into their team require them to complete online training modules, so this could help in that process. Teachers who take this training can walk away with a few strategies that can be easily implemented into their daily lesson plans. I designed and developed this scenario-based eLearning experience that would allow for new teachers to make real-world decisions across the course of a typical day in the classroom and see the consequences of their decisions in a low-risk environment.

ACTION MAPPING

I spoke to SME's about the pain points of the teaching profession in regards to classroom management and chose to focus on three main ones. We identified the key actions that teachers needed to perform in order to handle these successfully. Once I mapped the actions into an action map, we began to imagine the realistic scenarios that would serve as the foundation of the entire learning experience.

TEXT-BASED STORYBOARD

Using my action map to guide the development of the text-based storyboard, I utilized storytelling techniques, personal experiences and SMEs to design each scenario. Although novice teachers gradually became the focus of the training, creating a realistic learning experience that expert teachers of 20 years would be able to relate to grounded the entire process.

The learner experiences the simulation from a novice teacher's perspective. The learner must make decisions that can either have positive or negative consequences in their classroom, but in a low-stake environment. When the learner makes the wrong decision, the next scene presents realistic consequences and a chance to try again. When the learner makes the right decision, the next scene presents additional resources about that classroom management strategy. As the learner navigates through the learning experience, they have optional assistance along the way from an "expert" teacher, who provides additional resources to the user. The resources incorporated in the experience provide the user with additional information on the strategies presented.

VISUAL MOCKUPS

Once the storyboard was complete, I used Adobe XD to create visual mockups of key slides. I did this to get a better sense of what the project would look like, and be able to quickly iterate the slides before developing it on Adobe XD. I collected and incorporated feedback from various SMEs throughout this process to streamline the visual designs and and ensure they were user-friendly.

VISUAL STORYBOARD

Next, I developed the storyboard to include the designs of the slides, any animations, audio, and graphics. I used this to help me understand and visualize the flow of the story along with the elements for a realistic learning experience.

INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE

After the visual storyboard was completed, I began creating an interactive prototype in Articulate Storyline 360. I focused on designing the first few slides and began learning and incorporating the Storyline features like the triggers, states, and layers that would allow for an interactive experience. I wanted the user to feel immersed in a school setting, so I made sure to add sound effects that were realistic. I played with the visual transparency of the graphics, the sound effects playing with the music, and the way I would increase the users motivation. I asked for feedback from SME's, which allowed me to implement additional features like explanation to strategies on specific slides to further enhance the users learning experience.

FULL DEVELOPMENT

The full development of this project was now underway. It was a challenge in some aspects like using JavaScript to play the music using a trigger. There was glitch that would not work unless I changed the trigger, so I added the "Sound on" animated icon to execute the JavaScript to play the background music throughout the entire experience. The iterations I did on Storyline were time-consuming, but rewarding. I was able to learn more about creating variables and states, adjusting variables based on the choices the user selected, and adding layers to all slides. I sent out a draft of the final product to a few SMEs, learning design experts, visual designers, and other professionals. I incorporated their feedback and used learning theories and principles to refine the final product.

RESULTS AND TAKEAWAYS

Once I finalized the project, I shared the final version with the people who gave feedback throughout it. I was even able to send it to many professionals who had no teaching experience and asked for feedback on their learning experience. The final product was well received, and many commented on the creativity and the overall immersive experience. The scenario based eLearning experience was definitely a winner, in my book and in theirs.

Overall, I was able to use programs and authoring tools that opened my eyes to the possibilities of creating instructional design. Although I did not use Vyond in this project, I learned how to use Vyond and how to integrate it into Storyline 360. I look forward to starting this process all over again, on new projects that will sharpen my skills and knowledge in all the programs I used. I am also excited to add new skills to my tool set, as I flourish in the instructional design space.