eLearning as digital transformation at SAIT

Goal: Students needed repetitive content to operate small equipment

Project: implementation of mobile learning in 2007 for the School of Aviation, SAIT
Role: Product Designer (2007-2013)
*This material is confidential and owned by SAIT

Problem - hard to follow from a distance

  • The year was 2007. The instructor taught complex technical usage for small equipment.

  • Students were far away and couldn’t see the detail of the small equipment they had to learn how to operate

  • Students who couldn’t process information fast enough fell behind.

Solution - first mobile learning at SAIT

  • Mobile learning was not the norm.
Along with staff the idea of making portable videos was surfaced.


  • The process involved writing storyboards with specific close up and super close ups for details

  • I had to manually deploy videos in the iPods. 


Results: innovation through digital transformation with iPods

  • It was presented at SAIT as revolutionary learning innovation. 


  • The students’ learning improved dramatically.

  • They took the iPods near the engines of helicopters and planes to have better context, and when they did that, the instructors knew which videos they were watching.

  • Other instructors at the School of Aviation requested their own videos to deploy on iPods

Process

Design thinking from planning, production to post-production

  • The instructor needed portable videos for the students and the sponsor wanted to see how feasible it was

  • Along with the videographer, we interviewed the instructor about the issues she noticed in class

  • Instructor relayed challenges mentioned by students who had to learn how to operate small equipment from afar

  • We made a prototype of the instructor demonstrating usage of equipment and tested it on my iPod

  • We iterated on the type of shots and other technical specifications needed

Goal: from print to digital - save time, effort and cost

Project: digital transformation for the School of Health & Public Safety, SAIT
Role: Product Designer (2007-2013)
*This material is confidential and owned by SAIT

Problem - marking took time

  • The Subject Matter Expert was used to mark printed tests which took considerable time to interpret student’s calligraphy

  • They needed updated graphics in colour for those tests

  • They also wanted a way for students to learn the content in a digital way

Solution - first mobile learning at SAIT

  • Once I had the illustrations ready for the print version, I paired with a developer

  • We added a minimum score in a digital exercise they could print when completed.

  • I added a ‘check answers’ control to build feedback and learn the correct spelling

Results: dynamic learning made a difference in time and effort

  • When students reached 80% they were able to print the exercise, this to minimize printing and increase accuracy as a reward

  • Months later the instructor and the instructional designer built tests using the graphics in the Learning Management System

  • It substituted the printed versions and it became a digital first approach. 


Process

Innovation through iteration and testing

  • The first goal was to recreate the illustrations for print

  • I reused the vector assets while working with a developer for the dynamic activity

  • I tested the answers with a few students who found it hard without a way to check answers

  • We added the ability to print the activity once 80% had been reached, they could check the answers and practice short term memory

Goal: Improve learning of a hard concept to save time, cost and effort

Project: digital transformation for the School of Construction, SAIT
Role: Product Designer (2007-2013)
*This material is confidential and owned by SAIT

Problem - hard to teach and learn

  • This concept required logic, physics and math in one learning activity.

  • It was hard to explain with manuals and hard to learn.

Solution - design thinking in eLearning

  • I designed the storyboards, prototypes and involved the developer from day one.

  • I involved the instructors throughout the process since we needed to check accuracy of math and physics

  • I tested the activity with a few students to measure its usability, having a success rate of 85%.

Results: experts said it was the best way to learn that topic

  • This piece was hailed by an audience of expert electricians as the best way to explain motor controls when it was shown to them.

  • The instructors spent less time repeating themselves as the dynamic activity provided real time feedback on the process, math and physics required to operate

Process

Innovation through iteration and testing

  • The instructors provided sketches of the activity

  • I made a user story map with the developer to understand the steps needed and the feedback throughout each step

  • I digitized the assets and built a prototype with the developer

  • I focused on the motion of the piece to make it as realistic as possible with easing

  • We tested the prototype with instructors and students