Friday, February 22, 2013

Week VII: Storytelling and Job Aid

In this class, we have been introduced to two new concepts "storytelling" and "Job Aid".Both of the concepts have clear literal meaning, but how about their implication in instructional design?
First, story telling contains some major elements,"what is the story"and"the way of telling".However, it cares more about the latter, which means the way of telling can change more of the effect of the story telling. Usually, a less formal, humorous way of story telling is generally welcomed and for different age group, different way should be used accordingly. For example, a Shakespeare story can be displayed with animated figure for the characters in the story and they might look smaller and cuter while the narration and lines can be more spoken.
We received a on class task to use ipad to "sell" our project with proper storytelling.Since not all of us had much trust to use some fancy video, BGM to design the performance in such short 30 minutes,we used the ipad in the least modern way, a writing pad for the narrator but the rest part was performed by body language. The truth was, the decision was wise because the technology was really time consuming and less reliable. Though you have a good story, fanciness still can not assure you a good performance.A good story telling still needs a suitable way of telling rather than a fancy way.

The second part of the class, we were introduced to "Job Aid".Actually, from my perspective, "job aid" is a broad category.Anything can be a job aid, depending on how would you use of it.But usually, for the sake of convenience,one piece of the mixture of graphic and text is the major type of job aid we are talking about.Then, we can't avoid the discussion of its overlapping with "infographic" As far as I know, infographic is a way of display, but job aid is kind of function-oriented calling. So I believe a job aid can be an infographic, and something else while infographic can be used as a job aid or for other purpose.
Hopefully I can find my interested job aid as soon as possible.

1 comment:

  1. Hello, Mintian! I really enjoyed reading your perspective on storytelling. I especially like the way you address the use of technology. There are certain key elements to storytelling that remain constant regardless of the medium selected to convey the message. As you allude, the use of technology alone does not make for a good story.

    This reminds me of the Clark and Kozma “media debate” we discussed in R511 last semester. Can technology make the story better? Does the use of technology represent the most cost-effective solution? These are just some of the questions the storyteller might want to consider. I would have to agree with you that sometimes technology represents more of a hindrance than a benefit. By the way, I think your team presented an excellent story in class this week without employing technology!

    I had a similar thought to yours in regards to the relationship between the infographic and the job aid. Some of the elements that make each effective are similar, but the purpose is slightly different. Job aids certainly lend themselves to being more procedural rather than purely informational.

    I look forward to learning about the topic you select for your job aid. I am still narrowing topics down as well!

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights, Mintian. Have a great week!

    Respectfully,
    Kipp

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