0.2 How good visual design helps learning

There are some elements of design that can be incorporated into any course that will help ensure learning success.

Simplicity

Distance Education course creators sometimes become victims of the "more is better" concept. This is not the best case when developing a course site. Including everything you have or can find on a topic can overwhelm and confuse students. Improper use of fonts, colors, and graphics can also serve as a distraction and hamper the effectiveness of your course. Another common problem in Blackboard courses is the use of too many buttons or links on the course menu. Keeping the content, menu, color and font variations to a minimum can help keep your site design simple.

Consistency

Consistency can greatly reduce the time initially required to navigate your course site. Consistency across pages can reduce the load on cognitive processing and prevent cognitive overload . If learning to use a course is a quick and painless process, learners are motivated to continue. Consistencies should include: colors, backgrounds, fonts, headings, text layout, folder management, and placement of course materials.

Some inconsistencies, if used correctly and infrequently, such as changing text formats can quickly grab a learner's attention. These might include a highlighted line of text, or an altered color scheme to indicate a change of topic. More on fonts and colors can be found in Module 3 and Module 4.

Personalizing Your Course

Personalizing your course site is also important in order to establish instructor presence, which has been shown to increase student engagement. Some ideas to accomplish this

Add a course banner

Add a personal picture within "Staff (Faculty) Information"

Add personal audio clips conveying reinforcement .

Also remember to set proper "availabilities" within your Blackboard's control panel. These course options allow you to customize your course by making only the features you will use "available" to students.

Improvements can be made to enhance the "user friendliness" of your course by creating and managing folders. It's best if folders are arranged and labeled in a logical and consistent sequence. Some common "labels" used for folders - Module - Unit - Week (and number) - Topic - Lesson. Consistency in folder management, labeling and corresponding discussion forums will help students easily navigate throughout your course without aggravation.

Design Goals

Remember to keep the following goals in as you create course content.

Design your content:

to focus attention

to avoid visual fatigue and cognitive overload

for scanning (more on this in Module 4)

to educate and not to impress

for various learning styles

for consistency

You might be interested in reading Items and Folders for information on creating and managing content and setting availability found on TWU ID, a set of resources for TWU distance educators.