E-learning Instructional Design Guidelines - Human Factors ...

HFIDTC/WP2.1.5/2
Version 2/ 30 April 2006
6.5.4 Subject Matter Expertise and Digital Media Design
The shared concerns of subject matter expertise and subject matter content and digital
media design are mainly connected with issues of moving from one form of media type to
another. Moving from print to screen does far more than change the viewable aspect ratio
of an image.
Challenges of converting a high resolution static image on paper to an image on screen
(which is much lower resolution), may need digital media designers to make
modifications and be selective with what is represented. An interactive environment also
makes it possible to conceal labels on diagrams, or pull up close-ups – which otherwise
couldn’t be accommodated on screen all at the same time.
Subject matter experts must be aware of media conversion issues and be prepared to take
best advantage of the new medium, while minimising the disadvantages - just as media
designers must engage with subject matter experts and information in a way that best
captures the essence of the message.
6.5.5 Digital Media Design and Programming/Technical Expertise
Digital media design and programming and technical expertise meet in a number of ways
– the technical environment (screen resolution, colour depth, playback hardware,
bandwidth etc.) will all act as constraints to what can be done with digital media design.
Digital media design may be delivered through Flash (which may require a plug-in), or
streaming media such as ‘Real Player’ or ‘Windows Media Player’, so an awareness of
what the technical environment can support is essential. Bandwidth has a large impact on
how animations play back and how quickly pages load, in this respect programming and
technical expertise considerations may (for example) specify an upper size limit for files,
which may impact on how long an animation is, or how compressed a specific image
must be. It is essential that such issues are understood at the outset to avoid costly
rework.
Navigation and other technical functions that are linked to digital media design are shared
areas of interest for both disciplines – usually digital media design specialists will do
basic programming tasks to ensure pages link, and design/develop the interactions within
the page/screen. The technical lead may construct the overall course and ensure that data
is passed between the learning application and the Learning Management System (the
DLP in this situation) correctly.
6.5.6 Subject Matter Content and Programming/Technical Expertise
This is the least significant overlap as Subject Matter Content issues are largely mediated
through instructional design and digital media design, and their interactions with the
technical sphere. As an example if we have 3 hours of source video (content) to place on
a CD-ROM, we will make some decisions regarding digital file compression/encoding
(programming and technical expertise), frame-rate or window size (instructional
design/digital media design) and which sequences are selected (instructional design).
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