The target content for the audio is a new module on variables in Java programming. The target audience includes college freshmen computer science and information systems students. Also included are college junior and senior level math majors. The students would access this object as a brief introduction to a new module on variables. It we be the first in the series of audio and other resources, to give students an idea of what to expect in the module. Music credit: J. Lang - Drops of H20 (The Filtered Water Treatment) featuring Airtone (via: http://dig.ccmixter.org)
This was a bit frustrating since the interface was different in the resource videos and apparently zoom/pan works a bit different than in the video. I am also not sure if I chose the correct settings for the project since there were many to choose from. With said, the target audience are freshmen and sophomore college students and senior college math majors. The content of the video is the creation of a Java project in Eclipse, which is a software tool for develop of Java software projects.
Creating a Java project in Eclipse without also creating a class file for the code, does not make a lot of sense; however, the smallest video with both steps is 6 minutes, so this video only contains the first step. I tried to follow the split-attention, multimedia, cueing, and personalization principles. Also, the segmenting principle applies since this is a smaller than the student would normally have exposure to and they are able to self-pace. During the lesson, it would have been easy to click on other links related to creating the project, but that would have been a distraction for the student. I believe the video could have used one more "cue" for the opening screen, but more than the few used would have also been a distraction.
A long way to go... Music credit: 700P3D - Fallwind (via: http://dig.ccmixter.org)
Animated Learning Objects
The content of this animated learning object is based on an advanced topic in Java programming called Arrays. Specifically, correctly swapping data content in the array. This topic tends to be a little hard for some beginning Java students to grasp, so breaking the swap into steps (or small segments) should help students understand the swapping process better.
In addition to segmenting (grouping a smaller number of steps into each ALO), I use cueing more heavily than movement. Many programming students that I encounter are more distracted by objects sliding around the screen, rather than just showing where the object originates and then its destination. I also opted for step numbers with words, rather than narration and gave the student more time to read the screen and process what just happened. I think I used more personal language since this ALO is not a place for teaching the terms related to Arrays. I also avoided extra "bouncing" or moving animation during each slide (coherence). The slides with the steps are red, while the intro and outro are blue. I had to draw the array grid, so that gave me opportunity to show how the array "comes together" in the beginning, but all parts are shown at once after the initial step.
Video Learning Object
This video learning object is the second in a series that helps Java programming students learn how to create a project in Eclipse and then create a class file for which they can enter Java code. The first video was a screencast that simply got the students started with just the project. This video is a talking head video that reminds students of some of the technical aspects of creating a class file for Java, entering code, and compiling the code.
For C.R.A.P. and multimedia principles, my talking head was very limited in time and remained in the upper-right corner of the screen, rather than appearing in various spots on the screen. The primary space for the Eclipse project is on the left half of the screen, so any annotations were added in the white-space to the right half of the window. I used animated boxes and arrows in red, consistently. For titles, I used a consistent color. Also, I did not overload the student with text and narration. Any text on the screen was limited.