Analyze Current Research Literature
Should Instructional Designers Consider
Mobile Device In Design?
Instructional designers typically design a course or training on their desktop, but as they design their instruction, they need to keep in mind how the design layout on a desktop adapts to a mobile device. Mobile devices are smartphones, iPads, tablets, and laptops, and these devices need to be considered in online course design because there is an increase in mobile learning (mLearning) (Eoghan, 2017). MLearning is simply “learning that takes place with the help of mobile devices” or learning on the go (Eoghan, 2017; Jacob & Issac, 2008). The video below provides some additional explanation of mLearning.
Why consider mobile devices in instructional design?
Ninety-five percent of Americans own a cell phone, with 77 percent of them owning a smartphone. The table below outlines the demographic breakdown of cell phone and smartphone owners in the United States of America (Pew Research Center, n.d.).
The table clearly outlines that a majority of today's learners, whatever their age, own a smartphone. These statistics, alone, support the growing need to examine mLearning in designing online courses. Also, learners are multi-device consumers, and they constantly have access to their mobile devices.
Along with the everyday use of mobile devices, research studies have shown that mobile devices are a necessary component in learning (Foti & Mendez, 2014; Shin & Kang, 2015). Learners have reported that mLearning allows them to: retrieve content in a quicker fashion, promote learning without geographical limitations, iCloud availability, and access to multiple resources quickly (Jacob & Issac, 2008; Kukulska‐Hulme, Lee, & Norris, 2017; Toktarova, Blagova, A, Filatova, & Kuzmin, 2015). Learners also use their mobile devices to download mobile applications or “apps” as a learning tool or to access their university's learning management system (LMS) (Foti & Mendez, 2014).
Retrieved from Foti & Mendez, 2014
It may seem like mobile device inclusion in online instructional design would be an easy and straightforward design component. However, studies have shown that there are challenges to mlearning which directly effect online courses. Learners have stated that the small screens limits visual capabilities, lower network traffic, have decreased memory capacities, function slower with data transmission, limited technology unification, and questionable data safety (Abolfazli, Sanaei, Ahmed, Gani, & Buyya, 2014; Jacob & Issac, 2008). There are also challenges in viewing long complicated modules through an LMS apps, navigating complex interactions, and viewing systems that are not mobile-compatible (Eoghan, 2017).
mLearning Design Strategies
Responsive or Adaptive Design is one suggested design strategy that creates effective mLearning. Responsive Design requires designers to adapt their design to the screen it is or will be viewed on (Eogohan, 2017; Penfold, 2017 ). Designers have to think about how the content (images, text, videos, etc...) will looked resized on a mobile device to make sure it retains the value (Eoghan, 2017) as well as being user friendly. Responsive Design was initially created for web-designers, but it is also useful for course design because both websites and courses are often designed on desktops, but content is often viewed and used through mobile devices.
5 Responsive Design Layout Tips
1. Design Choices: When designing a course/training or module, instructional designers need to consider the content they intend to use as well as how the learners interaction with that content. Designers need to first think about what tasks they generally do on their mobile device verses their desktop (Eoghan, 2017). The table below provides a visual of the different ways learners interact with different devices, which is important to keep in mind when designing content layout.
2. Breakpoints: Content on different devices sometimes alters, so designers need to make sure they have breakpoints which “allow the layout to change at predefined points” (Ruluks, 2014). For example, the different places a sentence breaks or a column looks on a desktop versus a mobile device. Designers need to be sure to view the breakpoints on numerous devices to validate that the layout is correct.
3. Simplicity: Learning modules need to be “compelling and consumable” (Eoghan, 2017). Designers want to make sure the modules have simple interactions and clear choices. The inclusion of choices is also supported by Universal Design of Learning. Here’s a list of simple content inclusions and interactions that works great on mobile devices (Penfold, 2017):
- Quick glance microlearning (short, 2-3 minute modules)
- Video content
- Simple interactions, such as polls
- Short quizzes
4. Navigation: Designers need to make sure to have clear and simple navigation for learners. Learners need to see simple buttons or gestures, so they can clearly see if they need to swipe, scroll, pinch or zoom to the next section of the course (Eohghan, 2017).
5. Text Size and Font: Instructional designers need to also consider the typographic scale, readability in font type, and text formatting. These components are also supported by ADA compliant inclusive design.
6. Keeps Graphic Simple: Images are important in providing a user-friendly learning experience, but instructional designers must make strategic decisions when including graphics. Designers need to make sure that they don’t use images with a lot of detail because the images could get lost on small screens (Penfold, 2017).
References
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