1. Minimalist Educational Materials for Distance Delivery
Minimalist Educational Materials - Ken McKee
3/22/2017
Minimalist Educational Materials for Distance Delivery
Ken McKee - BEd, BSc, PTC
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
3/22/2017

2. Minimalism / Education
I hear, I forget
I see, I remember
I do, I understand
~Confuscious
Education should be useful.
If it is not, what is it?
~Whitehead
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3. Overview Traditional delivery problems Distance delivery problems
How does Learning occur?
What is Education?
What is Minimalism?
Minimalist Solutions
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4. Traditional Delivery Problems
Books
Too thick
Not directly applicable
Students
Very busy with time restraints
Don’t, won’t, can’t read
Technology
More time requirements
Different platforms
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5. Problems with Traditional Delivery
Teachers
Lecture
Control concerns
Class size, ability levels, interest
Content applicability
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6. Distant Delivery Problems
Materials make or break technology solutions
No teacher in sight
Technology to overcome
Texts too thick, where do I look?
Questions via can be numerous
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7. What is Education?
“Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilization of knowledge” ~Whitehead
"Develop the best pedagogy you can. See how well you can do. Then analyze the nature of what you did that worked."   ~ Jerome Bruner
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8. Who decides what is usable?
Students should experience the joy of discovery and understand the application here and now in the circumstances of his/her life ~Whitehead
Appreciation by use
The external connections of the subject drag thought outwards
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9. Ideas, which are not utilized, are positively harmful (inert)
Ideas, which are not utilized, are positively harmful (inert) ~Whitehead
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10. The problem of keeping knowledge alive, of preventing it from becoming inert, is the central problem of all education ~Whitehead
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11. Education is the evocation of curiosity, of judgment, of the power of mastering a complicated tangle of circumstances, the use of theory in giving foresight in special cases
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12. Romance Stage of Education
First stage of apprehension
Appreciation of connections
Education must essentially be a setting in order of a ferment already stirring in the mind
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13. Precision Stage of Education
Represents an addition to knowledge
Analyzing the facts, bit by bit
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14. Generalization Stage of Education
Return to romanticism with the added advantage of classified ideas and relevant technique
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15. What is Minimalism? Brevity of materials www.GetToThePoint.ca
Materials that work and work well
Self paced
Applicable
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16. Minimalist Solutions Create the best applied materials you can
Work as if you were a student
Test the materials with students
Questions indicate areas to adjust
Rework, test materials again
Could students write an introduction at end of chapter?
Rework, test, rework, test
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17. Minimalist Strategies
All learning tasks should be meaningful and self contained
Learners should be given realistic projects ASAP
Instructions permit self-directed reasoning and improvising
Increase the number of active learning activities
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18. Minimalist Strategies
Training materials and activities should provide for error recognition and recovery
Close linkage between the training and the actual system (job)
Minimize instructional materials which obstruct learning
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19. Applying Minimalist Principals
Action centered tasks
Focus on what user needs
Omit long introductions
Omit repetition and verbiage
Exploit what user already knows
Rely on users to think and improvise
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20. References Carroll, J.M. 1990. The Nurnberg Funnel
Carroll, J.M Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel
Eiler, M.A Minimalism and Documentation Downsizing
Reddish, J A Practical Guide to Useability Testing
Reddish, J Building usability into your documentation, Interfaces and websites
Whitehead, A.N The Aims of Education

21. Minimalist Websites and Links
Minimalism (J. Carroll):   
Minimalism and Documentation:  
Cognitive Approaches to Instructional Design:  
Achieving Minimalism Through Interactive Multimedia:  
Technical Writers of India (TWIN):
Usability Testing:
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