I reviewed the Introduction
to Graphic Design course which was taught by the students of Canva Design
School. Canva is a design service that takes the friction out of designing. All
you have to do is choose one of 11 available templates or start from a
custom-sized blank canvas. You then use the Layouts and Background tabs to get
a rough idea of what you want to design. These tabs are chock-full of options
to choose from, whether you want a complete template or just a nice background
to build on. (Lancet, Y. & Zuckerman, E., 2014)
This open learning
course was very easy to login in. Once logged in you gained access immediately
and you were ready to create a design. On the home page there was an
introduction to the course and the objective of the course was stated. The directions
on navigating through the course information were also documented on the same
page. They utilized an open forum with discussions and chats where all could
see and review work, activities or projects that others had performed. The
discussion worked as a chat room as well so communication was also easy to
accomplish. The learners are able to share ideas, collaborate and get positive
feedback from others on the activities that were completed.
On the video and
activities tab the information was broken into workable modules. Learners could
set up a profile and complete basic skills sessions which included tutorial
videos on how to perform steps to successfully completing the requirements. At
the end of learning the information the applications were named the beginner’s
challenge. The beginner’s challenge was to perform the graphic design process
that was previously learned.
What I did like
about the video clips was there was an icon that you could activate to indicate
whether the learner had viewed the video which informed the learner where they
had left off. If you had viewed the video, a green checkmark would be seen on
the video as soon as it was activated. The videos were sequenced as stated in
the introduction and the videos and activities kept the learners engaged. The
learners also enjoyed the feedback from others after sharing their projects.
The content of the
course needs to reflect where this content relates to the rest of the curriculum.
It is essential to examine the nature of the content, as well as the sequence
of the information. Generally speaking, the scope of the content for a course
needs to be sufficient to ensure the learning experience will lead to the
desired outcomes (Dick et al., 2011). Supporting information or knowledge is
important to the scope of the content analysis. Follow up and applications of the
content should be considered (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S.,
2015)
In closing, I
think the students did a great job in designing this course. The videos were
very professional and the activities and projects were planned and well thought
out. There was a need for this type of training and it showed in the number of
learners who previously had taken the course. So yes, it was planned very well.
Great job Canva Design Class!
References
Dick, W., Carey,
L., & Carey, J.O. (2011) The
systematic design of instruction. (8th ed.) New York, NY:
Longman.
Lancet, Y. &
Zuckerman, E. (2014) http://www.pcworld.com/article/2079100/canva-review-free-tool-brings-much-needed-simplicity-to-design-process.html
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