Project Proposal for GED 20/20 Online Preparation Program
When is a person ready for college? When is he or she prepared to enter the workforce? What skills are needed in growth occupations? As Canada has reconsidered its national standards for high school education, these questions are at the forefront. If standards for secondary completion must be more rigorous to ensure students are fully prepared for higher education and high skilled occupations, then the General Education Development (GED) Tests (the alternate means for individuals to acquire a high school credential in both Canada and the United States) must become more rigorous as well. With this in mind, the GED Testing Service has been developing the next generation of the GED examination, called GED 20/20. The GED 20/20 exam will soon replace the current GED 2002 Test Series. Therefore, GED exam preparation services must soon evolve to meet the needs of this coming generation of GED test takers.
In the United States, the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education (ACE) has partnered with Pearson to develop a national GED 20/20 preparation service (ACE, 2011). This service would usher students through test preparation, test taking, and college or career placement. The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has been given the responsibility to create the same type of full service system for the entire Canadian nation. A major component of the service will be test preparation. Without highly effective test preparation, students will struggle with this more difficult examination. For this reason, we are proposing to develop a bilingual, multimedia training program for prospective GED 20/20 test takers that would be included in the national GED 20/20 preparation service. The design parameters and implementation details for this training program follow.
Instructional Design Model
With many instructional design models to choose from, we first pared our choices down to those capable of producing a highly complex system of learning materials that would encompass the 50 plus hours of instruction that students would take over a period of weeks. We reviewed several robust instructional design models, most notably the Unites States Air Force (USAF) model, the Instructional Development Institute (IDI) model, the Smith and Ragan model, the Dick and Carey model, and the Gagne and Briggs System model.
While all of the instructional design models we reviewed had positive characteristics, our reviewers found several aspects of the Gagne and Briggs (1979) system model for instructional design that made it the most appealing for this project. First, we knew a large team of subject matter experts (SMEs) and designers would be needed from the start, which this model accommodates. In addition, the model allows for an intensive review of the “big picture”, which in this case would be the GED 20/20 exam itself. This long exam, made up of five tests covering standard high school curriculum, must be thoroughly analyzed with the help of the SMEs. Successfully completing the system phase of the model, in particular the step in which scope of the program is defined, will be crucial to ensuring that designers are working in tandem during the subsequent course, lesson, and final system phases. Another desirable aspect of the Gagne and Briggs System model is the emphasis on field testing and revision, as it is imperative that the development not end until real-world students have taken not only the preparation course but the GED 20/20 exam as well. If field test students are not passing the GED 20/20 exam itself, then development must continue to refine the product until we have obtained a satisfactory level of GED 20/20 completions.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Multimedia Learning
Since GED preparation has traditionally been conducted in a traditional classroom mode, we first had to decide if this should be the predominant method of learning, or if another mode were more worthwhile. The biggest complaint that GED preparation students had was that it was either difficult to get to a classroom or that the commute was too long. As many Canadians live in remote areas, we felt that an online learning method would reach the most students. In order to achieve a compelling online learning experience, it was decided that the product should use a wide variety of media types, including animations, audio, and video, as well as print and images.
Unfortunately, many online, multimedia e-learning programs we reviewed were either very slow to load into the browser, or employed techniques of interaction and navigation that required their own set of training in order to make use of them. For these reasons, we have chosen an Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Flash platform to ensure that text and multimedia elements load quickly within the browser, and we have created a set of guidelines to ensure that multimedia elements are easy to use for low level learners and those with limited computer experience.
Multimedia Learning Environment
The environment that will be used for this product must be capable of using the same cognitive approach as the GED 20/20 exam itself uses. Since the exam endeavors to have test takers utilize higher order thinking skills, such as evaluation and analysis, the multimedia learning environment must allow for content capable of instructing users in this way. We feel if the end-product is a custom-built e-learning program, this allows instructional designers to create interactive exercises, practice questions, and practice tests that will help those preparing for the GED to see how prepared they become to take the GED 20/20.
The courses themselves must be Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant so that they may be deployed in our learning management system (LMS). We propose that GED Tutors and other students shall be able to interact with students within the LMS. It would also be useful for tutors to be able to conduct online chat with a student while they are in the midst of a lesson – so students could discuss specific screens with their tutor.
Target Users
Millions have earned their high school credential by passing the GED. Future test takers are the target users for this product. In Canada, there are both English and French speaking test takers that come from all walks of life. The exam may be taken by those over 18 who have not received a diploma.
Test takers come from both rural and urban areas. Due to the geographically disperse nature of the Canadian population, a product easily available to remote users is preferable. Many prospective test takers are at a reading level well below high school level. This product will be targeted to those with a 7th grade or above reading level. If a person reads below the 7th grade level, they will be referred to an appropriate adult basic education provider.
Presentation Modes
All media will be presented within the custom “player”, which shall be developed using Adobe Flash. This will allow the product to be viewable on standard browsers of both Windows and Mac computer users. The player and its content must be small in file size to accommodate those with low Internet bandwidth, as well as mobile users.
Due to the need to update text content rapidly, as field testing and content changes dictate, the product will store text within XML files. This allows for easy modification of text both during product development and ongoing operation and maintenance. Static and animated images will be put into Flash format, as will video. Audio files will be in mp3 format. These multimedia elements will be combined for viewing within the custom player. Along with standard navigation features, the custom player will control audio and video with play, pause, and stop controls. There must also be a means to replay animations and a control that allows the user to toggle between English and French audio narration and text.
Media Selection Criteria
At its simplest level, the product must be able to show detailed images and text, as that is what the GED 20/20 will use, just like the current generation of the GED Tests. Text and graphics will be the default media for instruction, exercises, and practice. Text must be easy to read and be in the same fonts used in the GED exam. Pictures and graphics relating to questions must be of similar style and colors as those produced for the GED exam, but other pictures and animations used to represent the complex ideas and skills being taught may be in conventional, full-color styles, found typically on the Internet.
Videos and animations must be clear and concise. Complex concepts that are easier to show in motion, such as principles of physics, are those which should use video or animation. If the concept can be well taught using text and graphics, then that should be used to lessen downloading time.
All text must be narrated. This not only aids those who are lower level readers, but it also produces a human quality that e-learning programs without narration typically lack. This human quality is especially important to our target audience, since we cannot assume that they are accustomed to taking e-learning or even using computers. It is often that the fear of using an unfamiliar technology can be assuaged by simply having a human voice guide the user.
Course Content
Since the exam is broken into Mathematics, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Social Studies, and Science, these will be the major courses of the product. Within each course will be a series of lessons that cover the various math, reading, writing, and thinking skills that must be acquired to pass the exam. Within each lesson will be a series of screens which will include introduction, objectives, skill development, skill practice, and then a quiz. There will also be a pre-test in each course which will allow a student to see which topics they have adequate perquisite knowledge, and which topics they need skill development. Once a student completes the necessary lessons in a course, they may take a post-test, which will assess their ability in each skill area. At the conclusion of the post-test, the student will see a list of lessons that they may wish to take or retake to further improve their GED skills. Once all courses have been successfully completed, the student may then take either a timed or untimed GED practice exam. These exams will allow the student to assess his or her readiness to take the actual GED exam. All student activity will be recorded in the LMS database and viewable to the student and the student’s tutor via the LMS reporting system.
Project Team Roles and Responsibilities
The project team will be made up of the following:
Development Schedule
The project schedule is aligned with the Gagne and Briggs System model:
Primary System Level Phase
References
American Council on Education. (2011). ACE and Pearson collaborate to transform GED test, aligned with common core state standards, based on GED 21st Century Initiative [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=40286&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
Gagne, R. M. & Briggs, L. J. (1979). Principles of instructional design. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
In the United States, the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education (ACE) has partnered with Pearson to develop a national GED 20/20 preparation service (ACE, 2011). This service would usher students through test preparation, test taking, and college or career placement. The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has been given the responsibility to create the same type of full service system for the entire Canadian nation. A major component of the service will be test preparation. Without highly effective test preparation, students will struggle with this more difficult examination. For this reason, we are proposing to develop a bilingual, multimedia training program for prospective GED 20/20 test takers that would be included in the national GED 20/20 preparation service. The design parameters and implementation details for this training program follow.
Instructional Design Model
With many instructional design models to choose from, we first pared our choices down to those capable of producing a highly complex system of learning materials that would encompass the 50 plus hours of instruction that students would take over a period of weeks. We reviewed several robust instructional design models, most notably the Unites States Air Force (USAF) model, the Instructional Development Institute (IDI) model, the Smith and Ragan model, the Dick and Carey model, and the Gagne and Briggs System model.
While all of the instructional design models we reviewed had positive characteristics, our reviewers found several aspects of the Gagne and Briggs (1979) system model for instructional design that made it the most appealing for this project. First, we knew a large team of subject matter experts (SMEs) and designers would be needed from the start, which this model accommodates. In addition, the model allows for an intensive review of the “big picture”, which in this case would be the GED 20/20 exam itself. This long exam, made up of five tests covering standard high school curriculum, must be thoroughly analyzed with the help of the SMEs. Successfully completing the system phase of the model, in particular the step in which scope of the program is defined, will be crucial to ensuring that designers are working in tandem during the subsequent course, lesson, and final system phases. Another desirable aspect of the Gagne and Briggs System model is the emphasis on field testing and revision, as it is imperative that the development not end until real-world students have taken not only the preparation course but the GED 20/20 exam as well. If field test students are not passing the GED 20/20 exam itself, then development must continue to refine the product until we have obtained a satisfactory level of GED 20/20 completions.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Multimedia Learning
Since GED preparation has traditionally been conducted in a traditional classroom mode, we first had to decide if this should be the predominant method of learning, or if another mode were more worthwhile. The biggest complaint that GED preparation students had was that it was either difficult to get to a classroom or that the commute was too long. As many Canadians live in remote areas, we felt that an online learning method would reach the most students. In order to achieve a compelling online learning experience, it was decided that the product should use a wide variety of media types, including animations, audio, and video, as well as print and images.
Unfortunately, many online, multimedia e-learning programs we reviewed were either very slow to load into the browser, or employed techniques of interaction and navigation that required their own set of training in order to make use of them. For these reasons, we have chosen an Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Flash platform to ensure that text and multimedia elements load quickly within the browser, and we have created a set of guidelines to ensure that multimedia elements are easy to use for low level learners and those with limited computer experience.
Multimedia Learning Environment
The environment that will be used for this product must be capable of using the same cognitive approach as the GED 20/20 exam itself uses. Since the exam endeavors to have test takers utilize higher order thinking skills, such as evaluation and analysis, the multimedia learning environment must allow for content capable of instructing users in this way. We feel if the end-product is a custom-built e-learning program, this allows instructional designers to create interactive exercises, practice questions, and practice tests that will help those preparing for the GED to see how prepared they become to take the GED 20/20.
The courses themselves must be Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant so that they may be deployed in our learning management system (LMS). We propose that GED Tutors and other students shall be able to interact with students within the LMS. It would also be useful for tutors to be able to conduct online chat with a student while they are in the midst of a lesson – so students could discuss specific screens with their tutor.
Target Users
Millions have earned their high school credential by passing the GED. Future test takers are the target users for this product. In Canada, there are both English and French speaking test takers that come from all walks of life. The exam may be taken by those over 18 who have not received a diploma.
Test takers come from both rural and urban areas. Due to the geographically disperse nature of the Canadian population, a product easily available to remote users is preferable. Many prospective test takers are at a reading level well below high school level. This product will be targeted to those with a 7th grade or above reading level. If a person reads below the 7th grade level, they will be referred to an appropriate adult basic education provider.
Presentation Modes
All media will be presented within the custom “player”, which shall be developed using Adobe Flash. This will allow the product to be viewable on standard browsers of both Windows and Mac computer users. The player and its content must be small in file size to accommodate those with low Internet bandwidth, as well as mobile users.
Due to the need to update text content rapidly, as field testing and content changes dictate, the product will store text within XML files. This allows for easy modification of text both during product development and ongoing operation and maintenance. Static and animated images will be put into Flash format, as will video. Audio files will be in mp3 format. These multimedia elements will be combined for viewing within the custom player. Along with standard navigation features, the custom player will control audio and video with play, pause, and stop controls. There must also be a means to replay animations and a control that allows the user to toggle between English and French audio narration and text.
Media Selection Criteria
At its simplest level, the product must be able to show detailed images and text, as that is what the GED 20/20 will use, just like the current generation of the GED Tests. Text and graphics will be the default media for instruction, exercises, and practice. Text must be easy to read and be in the same fonts used in the GED exam. Pictures and graphics relating to questions must be of similar style and colors as those produced for the GED exam, but other pictures and animations used to represent the complex ideas and skills being taught may be in conventional, full-color styles, found typically on the Internet.
Videos and animations must be clear and concise. Complex concepts that are easier to show in motion, such as principles of physics, are those which should use video or animation. If the concept can be well taught using text and graphics, then that should be used to lessen downloading time.
All text must be narrated. This not only aids those who are lower level readers, but it also produces a human quality that e-learning programs without narration typically lack. This human quality is especially important to our target audience, since we cannot assume that they are accustomed to taking e-learning or even using computers. It is often that the fear of using an unfamiliar technology can be assuaged by simply having a human voice guide the user.
Course Content
Since the exam is broken into Mathematics, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Social Studies, and Science, these will be the major courses of the product. Within each course will be a series of lessons that cover the various math, reading, writing, and thinking skills that must be acquired to pass the exam. Within each lesson will be a series of screens which will include introduction, objectives, skill development, skill practice, and then a quiz. There will also be a pre-test in each course which will allow a student to see which topics they have adequate perquisite knowledge, and which topics they need skill development. Once a student completes the necessary lessons in a course, they may take a post-test, which will assess their ability in each skill area. At the conclusion of the post-test, the student will see a list of lessons that they may wish to take or retake to further improve their GED skills. Once all courses have been successfully completed, the student may then take either a timed or untimed GED practice exam. These exams will allow the student to assess his or her readiness to take the actual GED exam. All student activity will be recorded in the LMS database and viewable to the student and the student’s tutor via the LMS reporting system.
Project Team Roles and Responsibilities
The project team will be made up of the following:
- Project Manager – provides oversight to all project activities
- Quality Manager – conducts quality checks on all phases and deliverables
- Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) (5) – provide insight and details about GED preparation, as well as perform reviews of lesson outlines and e-learning lessons
- Instructional Systems Designers (ISDs) (8) – conduct task analyses with SMEs, create lesson outlines, design lessons and tests in storyboard format, and write video scripts
- Graphic Artists (5) – create and modify digital images
- Multimedia Developers (4) – design and create custom “player” in Flash, import lesson storyboards into XML files, import image files into Flash files, create animations, create files for SCORM connection to LMS
- Videographer (1) – storyboard video content, shoot and edit video, convert video to Flash video format
- Translation Team (4) – provided by the Translation Bureau, they will translate all English content and scripts to French
- Narrators (2) – one English and one French to narrate text and video scripts
- Testers (4) - perform quality checks as directed by Quality Manager, conduct performance and usability testing of product
Development Schedule
The project schedule is aligned with the Gagne and Briggs System model:
Primary System Level Phase
- Needs Analysis – completed
- Resource Analysis - completed
- Scope and Sequence of Curriculum – by Day 15
- Sequence and Scope of Courses – by Day 45
- Initial Task Analysis, lesson objectives – by Day 75
- Complete Task Analysis, lesson content – Day 75 to Day 250
- Media Selection and Creation – Day 90 to Day 300
- Alpha Testing (SMEs) – Day 150 to Day 330
- Alpha Revisions – Day 180 to Day 360
- Beta Testing (Customer) – Day 200 to Day 390
- Beta Revisions – Day 215 to Day 420
- Field Testing – Day 290 to Day 500
- Field Testing Revisions – Day 300 to Day 545
- Final Acceptance Review (Customer) – Day 390 to Day 575
- Final Revisions – Day 400 to Day 600
- Deployment of Version 1.0 – Day 630 (21 months from project commencement)
References
American Council on Education. (2011). ACE and Pearson collaborate to transform GED test, aligned with common core state standards, based on GED 21st Century Initiative [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=40286&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
Gagne, R. M. & Briggs, L. J. (1979). Principles of instructional design. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.