Instructional Technology Conference
Middle Tennessee State University
Building Communities of Learners
April 3-5, 2005
Balancing audience needs: Project MORE and the engagement of teacher-users
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Qun Su Dr. Boyd H. Davis Dr. John A. Gretes Poster Session |
Abstract
This paper discusses theory and application of a process model which is used to create a website with multiple audiences targeted. The author works as a designer of instructional technology for Project MORE, which is a federally-funded Training All Teachers initiative at UNC Charlotte. The audiences of this web-based learning approach can be categorized into different groups. Theory and approaches to balance different needs of audiences are presented. Also included in this paper are screenshots of the web pages to demonstrate how the system works.
Description
In my role as a designer of instructional technology, supporting web-based projects for faculty, I find that sometimes the learners I must engage come in two cohorts: the immediate users, who are the faculty member and the project team, and the end users. The same old questions must be addressed with both groups: identifying user needs, user processes, and user-based outcomes. When a website has multiple audiences targeted, the job gets harder. Satisfying everybody is impossible; but we do not want a situation where nobody is satisfied. Instead, we can work to create a design consensus through a process of reflection on design-as-teaching. Miller and Miller (1999) remind us that °∞Teaching involves presenting knowledge and modeling its structure in such a way that it can be accurately acquired and reproduced.°± This paper will discuss a process model based on Dick and Carey Model, used to create a multiple-audience website for a multidisciplinary team. Project MORE is a federally-funded Training All Teachers initiative at UNCC; its website presents access to materials keyed to authentic oral narratives. Site resources are designed for both K12 content area and ESL teachers, and linked to narratives which also serve the general public as well as those interested in local history, politics, or languages. The goal is to engage the content-area teacher. Browsing the site gives K12 content-area teachers a lesson in multiculturalism in one section, a set of resources in another.