FROM RECOMMENDATIONS TO REALITY:
DESIGNING EFFECTIVE ONLINE TUTORIALS
LOEX 2014 | May 8 – May 10 | Grand Rapids, MI
Lindsey McLean
Instructional Design Librarian
Loyola Marymount University
lindsey.mclean2@lmu.edu
Twiter: @lmclean001
DESIGN & TEACHING
RECOMMENDATIONS
A framework for effective tutorial design
TUTORIAL DESIGN & TEACHING RECOMMENDATIONS
INSTRUCTIONAL
VISUAL / TECHNICAL
• Plan
• Visual Clarity
• Incorporate Active Learning
• Information Clarity
• Embed Communication
• Clear Navigation
• Pedagogy
• User Control
• Testing / Assessment
• Technical Considerations
• Accessibility
PART I:
INSTRUCTIONAL
Applying the instructional recommendations
PLANNING
Advance planning is essential
when developing online
tutorials. Tutorials are difficult
to overhaul once they are
finished so planning will help
to you understand your
audience and their IL needs.
Knowing this will shape the
content of the tutorial and
help you deliver meaningful
instruction.
PEDAGOGY
The basic principles of good
library instruction in face-toface environments are
transferrable to online
tutorials. Utilize these
principles to help guide the
content and maintain best
practices in your online
tutorial.
ACTIVE
LEARNING
According to the ACRL
Instructional Technologies
Committee (2008), “Web
tutorials should include
interactive exercises such as
simulations or quizzes.”
Interactivity, multimedia, and
game-like quality are
identified as essential
components in an effective
online tutorial.
Passive and Active Learning
Passive
RECEIVING
INFORMATION AND
IDEAS
Active
EXPERIENCES:
• Doing
• Observing
REFLECTION
• On what one is
learning and how one
is learning
• Alone & with others
Diagram reproduced from : Fink, L. Dee. Creating Significant Learning Experiences. 2003.
ACTIVE
LEARNING
According to the ACRL
Instructional Technologies
Committee (2008), “Web
tutorials should include
interactive exercises such as
simulations or quizzes.”
Interactivity, multimedia, and
game-like quality are
identified as essential
components in an effective
online tutorial.
EMBED
COMMUNICATION
Embed multiple forms of
communication within the
tutorial. This communication
can range from emailing with
a librarian with a question,
providing feedback on the
tutorial’s usefulness, or
commenting for the benefit
of other students.
TESTING /
ASSESSMENT
Including tests in an online
tutorial both promote
interactivity and active
learning and assess the user’s
performance. Make sure that
you follow best practices for
constructing test questions
for the greatest impact on
learning.
PART II:
VISUAL & TECHNICAL
Applying the visual & technical recommendations
VISUAL CLARITY
The design of the tutorial
should be minimal, clear,
and visually consistent
throughout. The goal is to
enable the user to focus on
learning the content of the
tutorial instead of
becoming distracted or
confused by complicated
design elements.
INFORMATION
CLARITY
Users of the tutorial should
be presented with clear
and concise information
throughout the tutorial. It
is recommended that
information within the
tutorial should be divided
into multiple modules with
each module covering one
distinct topic.
INFORMATION
CLARITY
Users of the tutorial should
be presented with clear
and concise information
throughout the tutorial. It
is recommended that
information within the
tutorial should be divided
into multiple modules with
each module covering one
distinct topic.
CLEAR
NAVIGATION
Consistent, clear, and
highly visible navigation is
essential to an effective
online tutorial. Users
should be able to move
through the tutorial both
linearly and non-linearly
without becoming
confused about their place
within the tutorial or the
tutorials content.
before…
USER CONTROL
The users of your tutorial
should have some control
over how they use it. By
designing the tutorial to
embed user control, the
users can decide what they
learn based on their own
needs as well as how they
learn it based on their
learning style.
after…
TECHNICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
The tutorial should
function properly in as
many technological
environments as possible
because users will be
utilizing various devices
and browsers and have
varying access to
bandwidth and software.
The back-end of the
tutorial has to take as
many of these variables
into consideration as
possible.
Image via Brad Frost: http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/post/this-is-the-web/
TECHNICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
The tutorial should function
properly in as many
technological environments
as possible because users will
be utilizing various devices
and browsers and have
varying access to bandwidth
and software. The back-end
of the tutorial has to take as
many of these variables into
consideration as possible.
ACCESSIBILITY
The tutorial should be
accessible to all of the
potential users of that
tutorial.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
What I have learned from planning, building, and
implementing an online information literacy tutorial.
THE DESIGN & TEACHING
RECOMMENDATIONS
None of these design and
teaching recommendations
for online tutorial design
are mutually exclusive.
Some of them are even
contradictory. As the
designer it is up to you to
apply them in a way that
best suits the project goal.
FACULTY ARE YOUR
USERS TOO
If you are building a
tutorial for use in a course
that is not your own, you
have to balance the needs
of the students as well as
the needs of the faculty.
THERE WILL BE
PROBLEMS
Do user testing before
implementation, but plan
on doing revisions
Be prepared for technology
failure (Browsers, LMS,
etc.)
Create a plan for dealing
with problems.
Provide fast and
comprehensive “customer
service”
LINKS
DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS
http://tinyurl.com/kscc2ea
LION”S GUIDE TO RESEARCH & THE LIBRARY TUTORIAL
http://library.lmu.edu/research/researchtutorials/
ACTIVE LEARNING EXERCISE LIBGUIDE
http://libguides.lmu.edu/onlinetutorialactivities
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