Dashboards and Mashups

Dashboard Definition:

According to SproutLabs.com, learning dashboards can be defined as: “a rapid way to see and understand what your learning metrics are. A learning dashboard is normally a central place where someone goes to see a visualization of your learning data. A dashboard gives you and your stakeholders a map of the progress of your goals.”

Dashboard Example:

Dribbble.com provides many different LMS dashboards designed by different freelance contractors. There are also a wide range of LMS software that come with their own dashboard. A well organized and designed dashboard should provide the learner and stakeholders important updated information at a glance. The look should be simple and easy to read and provide relevant summaries on progress. Another important aspect includes notifications about updates and important events.

Mashup Definition:

“Mashups are a combination of two or more data sources that have been integrated into one source. They typically consist of graphics, texts, audio clips, and video that have been sourced from various media such as blogs, wikis, YouTube, Google Maps, etc., into a new product.” (Wikipedia)

Mashup Example:

When designing online learning content, most instructors and content designers integrate multiple media into their learning course. Just as teachers use many different tools in their classroom, the same should apply to online learning as well. For example, if I were creating an online class about customer service, graphics and text would help show information at a quick glance. I may want to include two different videos of an employee handling a situation in two different ways. From here, the learner would choose the best way to handle the situation and write their answer in a text box to explain their thinking. Then I could include an audio clip giving feedback to their answer. Including all of these elements into one learning experience helps keep the course engaging, but still informative.

References:

Sprout Lab. http://www.sproutlabs.com.au/blog/the-power-of-learning-dashboards/

https://dribbble.com/tags/elearning_dashboard