Articulate: A dynamic e-learning tool for instruction
I. Project Overview
There are an increased number of programs that are providing hybrid and remote options, especially within the School of Health Sciences. Given the various formats that faculty members teach, I wanted to have the ability to provide content in creative ways that can promote interaction, engagement, and responsiveness. Typical presentation of content is through PowerPoint, which has its own features that benefit the student. However, during attempts to reach students in an asynchronous method and continue to provide for different learning styles, I have found Articulate Rise 360 to be a unique way to develop sustainable educational modules. Through work with a capstone student on a pilot HSC course at Chatham, Articulate Rise was used to create three modules to present content, while also providing content in traditional methods. Students using both platforms were asked a qualitative question on preference. Additionally, students involved in a SEEKS Social/Emotional Supports were educated on how to use Articulate to create modules as a means of providing community member sustainable resources for education on content developed specifically for those community programs. A Qualtrics survey with both quantitative and qualitative data is discussed on Articulate user ability with use of the platform.
II. Project Planning
In planning this project, multiple aspects and requirements for meeting student accreditation standards were considered for implementing Articulate Rise 360 into the new curriculum. As the courses are updated, my goal was to create educational modules that include Universal Design and engagement for students outside of typical PowerPoints, discussion posts, and assignments. Articulate Rise 360 could be a useful asset for academia in multiple formats (in-person, hybrid, virtual), and functions with multiple devices including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Articulate provides an easy method to add content and can be integrated into Brightspace as well. The tool allows for aesthetic, creative, and interactive components to keep the student engaged and promote learning through review questions, quizzes, and videos built into the module.
Two of the many important skills as an occupational therapist is the use of critical thinking and clinical reasoning in various situations. Using the technology promote application of skills through interactive elements to create a unique learning experience. Articulate Rise 360 allows you to create step by step scenarios, drop down and expandable features to allow students to work at a pace that promotes understanding of knowledge. Students have the ability to complete quizzes multiple times to ensure learning has occurred and can be built in multiples places throughout module sections to use as knowledge checks on specific content. Following the use of the modules, faculty can provide case studies and scenarios to assess the application of knowledge and integrate ideas as evident through competency-based activities and clinical fieldwork.
Goals of my project are:
Create a consistent learning experience regardless of the device students use, promoting accessibility and engagement.
Streamline content development, allowing educators to focus more on instructional design and less on technical complexities.
Create a dynamic learner-centered content that encourages active participation and knowledge retention.
III. Project Implementation
The project had three components for implementation. The first occurred in Spring 2024 while working with a capstone student on her The project had three components for implementation. The first occurred in Spring 2024 while working with a capstone student on her development and implementation of an HSC Introduction to Occupational Therapy course. The course utilized three Articulate modules, as well as two traditional recorded (asynchronous) PowerPoint modules for learning. The second Articulate implementation was implemented through a SEEKS and LAST grant in the spring of 2024 with occupational therapy students; students were provided education on using Articulate to build modules for community partners. Third, an Articulate module was created for a summer course, OTH 624 Biomechanics and Occupational Performance. Creation of an Articulate module was provided to the students to review as a means of a flipped classroom process for week one on content around biomechanical principles for assessment and intervention. While it is the intent that the PowerPoint modules will all be transitioned to Articulate as a means to provide online learning for a new occupational therapy program starting in fall of 2024, any modules that are not created in Articulate Rise 360 will continue to be presented using PowerPoint, Ed Puzzles, videos, etc. and additional media content in Brightspace to provide a learning experience for different learning styles.
IV. Project Assessment
The capstone student serving as creator and instructor for the HSC course provided students with a Google Forms survey regarding preference of PowerPoint presentations or Articulate lectures. The question provided was: “Did you prefer asynchronous PowerPoint presentations or Articulate lectures? Please explain your answer.” These were qualitative open-ended responses, to which students provided the feedback. Themes derived from this question indicated the following: 1) students liked the ability to have knowledge checks after each section to ensure understanding of content, 2) increased attention to the content, 3) felt more engaged with content, and 4) felt they thrived better with the interactive experience for learning new content.
Articulate Rise 360 was also implemented through a SEEKS and LAST grant in the spring/summer of 2024 with occupational therapy students. After completing my own module within Articulate for the summer course, I educated student grant recipients on the use of Articulate Rise 360 for development of their own modules that are shared as a link for community partners as an educational series. To assess the ability to use Articulate and its ability to create a new technology learning experience, I asked the students to complete a formative assessment on the use of Articulate Rise 360. I created a Qualtrics survey based on six self-created questions, containing both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative questions and themes derived from the survey were as follows:
Question
Themes/Comments
“On average, how long did it take to create an Articulate module?”
3-4 hours
5 hours
6 days
“What are some of the components that you find useful using Articulate Rise 360?”
- Interactive Learning – use of flashcards, clickable images, and restricting movement through module until questions are answered.
Multimedia Content – ability to embed videos and photos.
Engagement Techniques – use of quizzes and knowledge checks.
Diverse Presentation Styles – ability to present material in various ways to cater to different learning styles and preferences.
Active Participation – emphasizes learner’s active involvement in the learning process using interactive components and engagement techniques.
“What did you find difficult with using Articulate Rise 360 or cons of using this platform?”
Cons:
- Self-Learning to navigate all the different tools within Articulate
- Some pictures in Articulate stock were hard to find or unable to find
- Difficulty knowing where to add rhin the module
- Time consuming at first, but then gets easier with more usage.
One participant: Ease of use – found no cons with using Articulate.
Based on the quantitative responses for using the Articulate platform, 50% of users found Articulate Rise modules very useful for online educational modules, and 50% found the platform to be extremely useful. Usability data of the Articulate platform for first time users indicated 75% found the platform somewhat easy, while 25% found it extremely easy to use. Data was also collected to see how well the instructor (this author) was able to teach others to use the Articulate platform, as some of the future content development for an online program would require new users to transition PowerPoints into Articulate modules. Based on the data, participants of the survey found the instructor to be very effective (50%) or extremely effective (50%) in educating other first-time users on developing modules using the Articulate Rise platform. This data provides helpful information on the ability to educate other faculty members in the future on using the Articulate platform to create course content.
Usefulness of online education module. All responses were split evenly between very useful or extremely useful.
A chart showing the useability of Articulate to create education modules. Three people responded it was "somewhat easy" and one person responded that is was "extremely easy".
A graph describing the instructor’s ability to provide education on using the Articulate platform. n = 4.Two responded "very effective" and two responded "extremely effective".
Further data will be collected from entry level occupational therapy students following the summer 2024 Biomechanics course to review effectiveness of learning, engagement with the content, and knowledge retention from use of the Articulate modules.
V. Project Reflections and Next Steps
I feel the use of the Articulate modules were a valuable learning tool for students of all learning styles. I was pleased with the results of the pilot course use of the modules, as well as the feedback from students using Articulate to create their own modules for the grant. It provided feedback that Articulate is both user-friendly for those creating Articulate modules, as well as an effective way to provide content using different media sources within the module.
Next steps with the Articulate platform: A new program, OTA to OTD Occupational Therapy Program, will be introduced within the occupational therapy department this year as part of the revised curriculum; one of the intentions within this online program is to integrate Articulate Rise 360 as a supplemental resource to promote student success. Working with Articulate Rise and the occupational therapy faculty is a goal within the next two years for transitioning traditional PowerPoint content into Articulate Rise modules with interactive components.