• Audio

Example

Audio clip

Listen again to the audio clip in section 2.1, which features a discussion of accommodation. In this part of the clip , you will hear how the accommodation needs of open learning were met at the following colleges:

• Wirral Metropolitan College (UK)

• Wakefield District College (UK)

• Barnet College(UK)

Which of the needs in the following list will you have to arrange to ensure your scheme is properly accommodated? Tick the items that apply to you and in the space on the right, suggest a location for this item given the layout of your college

Example

Before you make a draft of the job description, look at the video clip on the CD-ROM in section 4.3, which accompanies the course material. It shows several people working in different ways at a paint factory. List the jobs they are doing and include them in your job description.

Action plans

Action plans are normally used at the end of a unit as a method of assessing what has been learnt, and how the learner may move forward from this point. These activities have the role of looking both backwards and forwards.

Example

Action Plan

Here is an action plan which incorporates all the points which we have included in this unit. You may find it useful to make photocopies to use each time you have to give a presentation.

Giving a presentation

Venue:

Details of presentation:

Audio/visual media needed:

Handouts:

Equipment to be checked:

Other:

Review activities are used at the end of units to bring together all the major points and to check the learner’s understanding.

Example

Using the information you have learnt in this unit about structuring a report, write a report on staff shortages in your department.

This is not a comprehensive list of activities, but it does give examples of most major types likely to be of use in the development and assessment of both knowledge and competence.

The following types of activity/self assessment should usually be avoided, unless they have been matched very carefully to the specific needs of a target group:

• multiple choice

• true/false

• missing words

• simple ‘right/wrong’ questions.

Every activity should be followed by feedback in the form of answers or guidance. The feedback should:

• advise learners on correct, preferred responses

• enable learners to assess their own response

• provide information

• provide encouragement

• allow the identification of problems and the method of resolution

• where appropriate, help learners move on to the next topic

• provide signposts for further work or references.

There should be no fixed policy on whether feedback appears immediately after an activity or at the end of a unit. The overall policy should be to adopt an approach which reflects the needs of the learners and the nature of the topic. Placing feedback immediately after activities does help the flow and development of themes within units, but many learners find the provision of answers within vision to be a serious barrier to learning. A useful approach is to divide activities into two types: those designed to help the learner progress with quick feedback and the more substantial activities designed for development of competence or to check understanding or application of knowledge.

Examples

There are no right or wrong answers to this activity. You should discuss your answers with your supervisor before you move on to the next unit.

Turn to the end of this section for our suggestions.

If you are still uncertain about how to cash up at the end of the day, ask your supervisor to go through it with you again.

If you had any difficulty identifying or naming skills you may find the list in the next section helpful in further defining your skills and talents. Feel free to come back to this activity after you have read through the list of skills and talents.

If you wish to develop these skills further, move on to Section 6 where we look at language development in more detail.

Case studies relate to real situations and events. They can be accounts of real incidents, or may be specially constructed to illustrate particular points. They aim to provide a link with the outside world which makes the text more lively and enables the learners to apply their learning. Case studies vary from short examples to longer presentations which require the learners to undertake some form of activity. Guidelines for use are:

• style and length of examples should be appropriate to the pack

• they should appear next to the point they are illustrating

• to form useful starting points for activities (don’t over use in this way).

Example 1– Illustration of organisational practice

The company see open learning as a suitable training method to cope with the difficulty of taking key staff away from process-related jobs. Few of their establishments have large concentrations of staff, increasing the cost of conventional training and making it unviable in many locations.

Later, in the same area of the country, Dance Motors, a Kord Dealership, suffering a decline in sales decided to increase its hire rates (the summer tourist season was coming). At the same time it reduced its offered discounts and raised the price of new cars by 3-4% – this happened in the very week that the Chief Executive of Kord Corporation broadcast widely on TV, and in the trade press his belief of a need ‘to hold the line against price increase’. Dance Motors judged that the general public would not notice the statement, or the changes they had made.

• What can you say about these corrective actions? (Actions taken to improve an unfavourable trend.)

• Do you agree or disagree with them? Why?

Example 3 - Quotation

"As a large college in an urban area, we draw students from a wide geographical area. We do not serve an easily identifiable catchment area and in a number of areas we compete for students with other local colleges. We had become aware that we had insufficient information on potential students and this area restricted our scope for developing new courses. Marketing research has been one of the main ways we have identified possibilities for new courses."

Checklists are a useful tool in open learning materials to enable the learners to check their understanding, or their level of competence. They are frequently used at the end of units, possibly as part of the review activity. A checklist may require brief answers from the learner, or simply be a list of points to refer to.

Using Section 3 as your starting point, in the space below outline a structure for an open learning text for your organisation, specifying the types of activities you will use.

There are a wide range of styles and options possible to achieve effective learning materials. However, your structure and features should have included:

• a range of activities to ensure objectives are met

• feedback to assist learners in developing correct or appropriate responses

• a clear structure to help learners progress

• signposting to assist 'navigation' through the material.

Although the design of text material may involve the use of graphic designers, decisions you make in the development of the materials need to influence the final visual design. The design needs to support the learning features of the material, making it easy for individuals to work through the material. Poor design does not simply impair the visual quality, but can also interfere with the ability or willingness of the learner to use the material. There are a number of issues where material developers need to influence the visual design. These will concern:

• usability and format

• page/sreen layout

• typography

• illustrations.

Usability refers to making it ‘comfortable’ for learners to use the material. To achieve this using classical print you need e.g. to consider:

• format

• packaging

• binding

• paper choice.

Extension: Usability for print delivery

Outer packaging is frequently problematic. Packaging is important for:

• making material attractive to the user

• protecting material in use, storage and distribution

• helping sell the learning material.

Your decision on the type of packaging will seek to balance the most appropriate combination of these issues.

There are five main methods of binding used for text material. Your decision will usually be based on both usability and cost. The main choices are:

• stitching – a wire staple inserted into the spine of booklets. This is very effective for workbooks of up to 60 pages

• perfect binding – glued along the spine, this system is used for most paperback books. It is useful for materials of approximately 60pp and above but can be insufficiently robust for continuous use

• wire binding – this involves use of a wire ‘comb’ to hold material together. This has the advantage of being suitable for a wide range of page extents and enabling materials to lay flat

• comb binding – this is similar to wire binding but cheaper and not as attractive visually

• ring binding/loose leaf – the material is bound in a ring binder, enabling individual pages to be removed and additional material to be added.

Page Layout rules are given here for print text, but principles can be applied also for text layout on computer screens.

The overall aim is to achieve a page layout which will help the learner and present material clearly and informatively. The main areas to consider are:

It is preferable to use a single column. Although double columns are easy to read (e.g. as in newspapers), they tend to result in a more complex layout and can be confusing when illustrations, tables and ‘write in’ activities are used. They also affect the visual feel of the materials as setting type in two columns often involves using more hyphens because words are split at line ends. This also slows up reading.

When text is used in frames by a standard browser, two columns can easily interfer with the content of another vertical frame. This is a strong argument strictly to use a single co- lumn on computer screens.

A line length of 65-70 characters, typically 8-10 words in English or French, provides a column which is very ‘readable’ and allows a wide margin on vertical A4 and on a screen. The margin provides a spacious design and allows room for notes, calculations etc.

The page layout should enable learners to:

• identify key points

• select specific items of information

• identify activities and feedback

• enable browsing and overviewing (if appropriate).

Particular attention should be paid to the design of activities. The layout should highlight the activity and, if required, allow sufficient room for the activity to be completed in the workbook. Techniques for achieving this will include:

• use of colour

• variations in type size and font

• use of boxes and space.

The use of at least a second colour in print materials is useful, both as a way of visually enhancing the material and to highlight important features. It is very useful in diagrams and other forms of illustrations.

For screen design a limited number of colours should be defined, considering the estetics of different colour combinations. Each colour should have a consistent meaning, differentiating informally elements and functionalities (e.g. types of interactions). This is explained in much more detail in Unit 4.3: ‘Visual Style’ in the paragraph on ‘The use of colour’.

Symbols and icons can be useful ways of highlighting and signposting text material. Their use will depend on the overall visual style required. As a general rule they should be obvious in meaning, i.e. a symbol should be instantly recognisable with minimal explanation. If symbols are used, treat cautiously.

The choice of typography will be an important contributor to the overall look and usability of the material.

Serif or sans serif

Serif typefaces, those with a small cross stroke at the end of each letter, have been regarded as the most suitable for use with sizeable passages of text. Sans serif typefaces can be used successfully for shorter pieces of text, but should be used with caution for whole workbooks as they can be harder to read for long periods.

Variety

Each typeface is part of a ‘family’ which includes bold, italic and often condensed versions. These are useful methods of adding variety and emphasis within one overall style.

Type size and leading

A type ‘point’ size of 10, 11 or 12 provides a legible and attractive size for reading. Most readers will consider 12pt slightly large, but it is useful for emphasis, e.g. introductory paragraphs. 10pt is the most commonly used size, although 11pt may be more appropriate to some designs and if greater legibility is required.

‘Leading’ is the space between lines of text and this will affect the feeling of space in the text. A leading of two points greater than the typesize is the minimum acceptable for clarity, e.g. 10/12, means a 10pt typeface with 2 points of leading. (10/11 would not be acceptable in open learning materials.) For a 12pt typeface with 2 points leading you would specify 12/14 to the typesetter.

Headings

Varying the size and somehelvetica, arial the style is the main method of achieving a hierarchy of headings, i.e. a progression of heading sizes to indicate which are main headings and which are sub-headings.

Illustrations

Illustrations should be used as an integral part of the learning design and not as a form of decoration. The main types you might include are:

• diagrams – particularly important in technical training to illustrate systems, relationships and processes. These will include flowcharts and algorithms which are particularly useful to summarise or visualise processes

• pictures, photographs and drawings – can play an important part in helping learners visualise content

• ‘realia’ – for some subjects it may be possible to include material which reproduces actual examples of other printed material, e.g. letters, documents, maps etc.

• maps and plans

• graphs and tables of statistics

Illustrations are a particularly useful method of description and many studies have revealed that most adults learn better from a combination of text and visuals. There is also considerable evidence to suggest that materials using significant amounts of illustrations help motivate learners.

Text materials play a major role in many forms of open and distance learning. Their effectiveness depends on the inclusion of features to help the learner to learn.

This unit has concentrated on three main aspects:

• providing usable and relevant objectives

• designing and writing activities and explanatory text

• visual design

Successful materials will combine best practice in each of these interrelated areas.The unit has highlighted many of the main techniques and features which are needed and has given you an understanding of the issues involved in writing materials.