Met with Candace to talk about my Master’s project. Amazing feedback.

What I’m trying to build seems more like a performance tool than a learning tool – which I already knew but phrased this way makes it more precise. Have to think about what am I trying to teach the user; what will they be able to do after they interact with the learning experience that I create?

Another important point she made was that the interaction I was designing where you iterate through speaking and editing the transcription, involves several cognitive tasks and domain shifts that may not be advantageous for learning or for the purpose of the project. Preferably, the cognitive load has to be small and the domain shifts kept to a minimum.

Finally, she suggested that I focus on a specific task of the Understanding by Design framework, such as “creating learning objectives”, or creating assessment strategies for a specific learning goal. This was I’d be able to focus on the learning rather than the entire system of creating a smart-feedback/advice system.

Zoom out… rethink… zoom in again… test… talk to more people

Have been trying to focus on putting together an initial prototype for LXD.

Since the idea was to have a talking virtual character, I decided that it would be interesting for the instructor to talk back as well.

This sparked the notion that speach is a very effective way of ‘tangibilizing’ your thoughts in a spontaneous and maybe more authentic manner than writting down. Speaking is a way of exposing your internal schema, your knowledge, and your skillset. Hearing someone speak, instead of reading, adds nuances of tone, importance, cadence, and vigor that are challenging to replicate in writting.

With that I started looking at this particular interaction’s core loop:

Which evolved to this:

And this prototype – much work needed – first step towards tangibilizing the interface and focusing on the relevant functionality.

Thinking how might I construct a framework to help create blended courses… looking at the core loop of this solution: