E-learning & Usability:
This article from eLearn Magazine makes some good points about the work on usability that needs to be done in e-learning, but I think it misses the boat in some ways.
The article quotes Jay Cross of Internet Time: “Established sets of principles of what “works” for online learning, based on research findings or industry best practices, do not yet exist. ‘There are very few tests that show e-learning is doing anything,’ says Jay Cross, founder of the Internet Time Group, a consulting firm. ‘There’s no way for most buyers to make any evaluation except to say it looks pretty.’ “
Cross falls into a classic e-learning trap: confusing usability of an application with educational effectiveness. Assessing the effectiveness of e-learning is difficult because it’s hard to separate the “e” from the “learning.” It’s hard to prove the outcome (whether success or failure) is a result of the technology or the teaching or both (or neither, I suppose). A great essay on this is Steve Ehrmann’s “Spotting an Elephant in the Dark.” Ehrmann, part of the TLT Group, leads the Flashlight Project which is focused on assessing effectiveness of technology in education.
I’m reminded of a story Ehrmann told at a conference once. Testing the effectiveness of the use of technology in a writing curriculum, the researchers tracked the progress of a group of writing students using collaboration technology and a group in a “traditional” classroom. At the end of the study, the researchers had bad news and worse news. The bad news was that the writing students in the class using collaboration technology showed no significant progress in their writing ability. The worse news was that the writing students in the traditional classroom showed no significant progress in their writing ability. The point: assessing the effectiveness of education is far from a perfected science, never mind tossing technology into the mix.
Don Norman, Jakob Nielsen’s partner is quoted in the same article as saying, “the very same practices followed by the User Interface (UI) community can be used to ensure learnability: learner-centered, iterative design, and frequent tests.” I’m sure usability testing will improve e-learning apps, but it’s far from being a gaurantee of effective learning. I’ve worked with hundreds (probably thousands) of teachers using technology. Some of those who’ve had the greatest success are using the crudest, and often least usable, tools. I’ve always maintained the teacher (and/or instructional designer) is more relevant to the success of e-learning than the technology. Let’s not equate usable e-learning applications with effective education.