Sharing Learning Material from MERLOT

MERLOT URL:
http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm;jsessionid=B92C51F5D54920AFD42EB716FE3C26C5?id=508084

Material URL:
https://www.msu.edu/user/rothfel2/Artifacts/LiatRothfeldSTAIR.ppsx

Quality of Content:

I love this STAIR resource as it is totally significant for students using computers on a daily basis. To give the students the skills to grab the concept of error and dialog boxes is another hurdle overcome in the problems of usability. Removing the unnecessary distractions will obtain the learning objectives more effectively and efficiently.


Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool


This STAIR could be used in a lot of different ways. At the start of a unit of work it could be explained to students what dialog boxes may occur during the activity. In demonstrating the range of dialog boxes to the students, students can become comfortable with new software quicker and get on with the learning! The STAIR could be easily changed for different activities.

Students should be able to (circum)-navigate dialog boxes in the software they are using to minimize disruption and effectively achieve the learning objectives of the activity without wasting time on obstacles of usability.

The target learner is a student who may not be used to the dialog boxes they will encounter while using particular software in a class actvity

The very visual approach of the STAIR will be very useful to preparing the students for the appropriate dialog boxes


The STAIR can be easily edited for different software packages students will use throughout the school year.
Any teacher could adapt the STAIR for their class and minimal instruction would need to be passed on to other teachers leading the STAIR to be a highly useful activity for teachers in class.


Ease of Use:


Everything is designed very visually and towards a younger student base. There are great big arrows and buttons for the student to press. Audio and visual cues are given for instant feedback to the user. The student will not get lost easily as the STAIR is made in a logical true/false pathway. There would be minimal instruction and documentation needed for students and in so doing the activity would be popular and attractive for students to undertake.