How about some interaction with that?
In 2016, Yeslam Al-Saggaf developed an interactive video to help students practice and see the consequences of ethical decision-making using authentic scenarios from the information technology profession…and he’s experiencing some fantastic responses from students and peers alike.
What were you trying to achieve?
Yeslam wanted to actively engage students in making decisions that involved an ethical dilemma, predicting (and then viewing) the consequences of those decisions, and reflecting on future courses of action. Interactive video is perfect for ethical scenarios, as students are able to ‘see’ how those choices might play out; in many ways, this can offer a more humanising experience to regular branching scenarios, helping students to relate to the dilemmas in which IT professionals can often find themselves, and the difficulties in ‘speaking up’ when there is a lot of pressure to deliver fast results. For many, it’s a chance to step outside of a situation and see it from other points of view.
What did it look like?
Below is one of the scenarios in the series. Students watch the initial ethical problem play out, and have a chance to decide how they would respond. They select a course of action by clicking on an interactive ‘hotspot’ in the video, which takes them to a further video showing ‘what happened next’ as a result of their decision. They are then able to finish the video, or make a further choice to see the potential consequences of alternative ways of approaching the situation.
Of course, students are able to work through the video independently, but the richness of such a resource comes from the discussions that it then opens up between staff and students, and between the students themselves. Yeslam has had very positive feedback from other teaching staff and students, including a prominent international ethicist from Finland who is now using it in his teaching material.
How can I make this happen?
Your best starting point for creating an interactive video is a discussion with an Educational Designer and staff from the Learning Resources Unit. Book a time through the DSL Service Request System. They’ll help you decide if this is the right approach, and talk through the many alternatives for ensuring you have the right match between your desired learning outcomes and strategy / technology choices, so that students will be actively engaged in, and learning from, the decision-making process.
This was originally presented by Yeslam as part of a Pecha Kucha presentation in the FoBJBS Learning and Teaching Symposium, 2017. The concept and original work was funded by the Faculty of Business AIF project in 2016, supported by Kath Herbert, with further funding from an ARC linkage grant to refine the video quality and extend the scenarios.
