Foundations of Culturally Responsive Practices eLearning
As an intern at Eduscape, I worked as the lead instructional designer on a variety of project topics to support the professional development of adult teacher professionals. This eLearning was designed and developed using Articulate Rise to help teachers incorporate culturally responsive practices in their classrooms. Throughout the course, learners use the visual metaphor of a tree, in order to"grow" their educator's cultural awareness.
Analyze
Analyze the learner and needs
Thinking with the end in mind, I researched my target audience and determined the desired results intended for this e-learning. I drafted the course description and learning outcomes that aligned with ISTE Educator standards. I sought feedback from a subject matter before beginning to outline.
Research learners and content
Design
Design with a methodology in mind
As requested by Eduscape, the primary resource used for this course design was Hammond's (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. I decided to use a visual metaphor as an instructional design methodology because, in her book, Hammond uses a tree to represent the neurological levels of culture. I riffed off of this idea and designed three parts of an Educators Culture Tree: roots, trunk, and crown culture. The growth of an educator's culture tree is used as a road map for educators to grow their cultural responsiveness from the ground up, like a tree. I sought feedback about the course design outline and drafted a hand-drawn visual representation of the educator's culture tree.
Develop
Develop the course content and assets
I further developed the Educator's Culture Tree by defining what an educator must possess in order to grow their cultural awareness. Starting with the roots culture, an educator must possess norms and beliefs toward educational opportunities. For example, at their core, an educator must believe in leveraging the trust bond with students so they can rise to higher expectations. Then, an educator can grow their trunk culture which are the unspoken rules that guide their teaching practice. For example, a principle of social justice or change. Once an educator has established their core beliefs and guiding principles, they are prepared to grow the crown portion of their tree and show observable behaviors of cultural responsiveness. The five observable behaviors I identified (which align with my learner outcomes during the analysis phase) I called Learner Love Languages. The development of these Learner Love Languages allowed me to organize the course into five smaller segments. The instructional design of this course allows educators to learn and build a foundation of cultural awareness so they can respond appropriately in a classroom setting.
Developed visual metaphor framework as an infographic
Implement
Implement design into LMS
During the development phase, I was also simultaneously creating visual assets for the course. To manage my timeline more effectively, I would give my subject-matter expert one segment of learning at a time for quality assurance. While waiting for the next segment to finish being reviewed, I'd either be working on visual assets or implementing the segments that had been approved in Articulate Rise.
Evaluate
Agile evaluation method
During and after each phase, my course went through an evaluation phase with the subject-matter expert assigned to me. Together we troubleshoot design challenges plus checked written and visual content for quality assurance. The SME and I collaborated well together and I was able to maintain a professional working relationship throughout the entirety of the project.
Implementation of course design in Articulate Rise