From Surviving to Thriving:
Well-being for Educators
This scenario-based eLearning prepares K-12 educators to navigate the daily demands of teaching by developing decision-making skills that promote well-being and prevent burnout.
Audience: K-12 Educators
Responsibilities: Instructional Design (action mapping, storyboarding, prototyping, authoring), Visual Design, eLearning Development
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, Vyond, Adobe Premiere Rush, Miro
Responsibilities: Instructional Design (action mapping, storyboarding, prototyping, authoring), Visual Design, eLearning Development
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, Vyond, Adobe Premiere Rush, Miro
The Problem
Educator burnout has been a longtime concern in the field of education. It can lead to decreased educator performance, high teacher turnover rates, and lower student outcomes. Despite these issues, there has been little progress towards enhancing teacher well-being.
The Solution
While discussing work related demands with several teachers, it became clear that educators struggle with prioritizing their mental well-being. This insight inspired me to create a scenario-based eLearning that would allow educators to practice decision-making in a risk-free environment.
My Process
To bring this project to life, I leaned on the structure of the systemic design of instruction, following the Dick and Carey Model. My goal for this scenario-based project was to immerse learners in the training, so they could experience the consequences of their choices in a risk-free environment.
I created storyboards, visual mockups, and an interactive prototype, which were each reviewed and refined before using feedback to complete the final project.
Design Document
For this project, I acted as the SME, drawing from my experience in education and social work. I began by conducting learner and context analyses to understand my audience, as well as their work and learning environments. Using this information, I created goals and performance objectives and focused on identifying the actions the learner would need to perform. Then, I developed the instructional strategy, using insights from Keller’s ARCS model and Gagne’s nine events. Through each step of the instructional design process, I compiled information in a design document, which served as the blueprint for this project.
Instructional Design Document
Story Map
Once I had an idea of my instructional strategy, I used Miro to create a story map of the scenarios. The questions were created as real-world examples that teachers may face and were based on a decision-making model. Each of the five scenarios contained one correct answer choice, and another two choices with notable consequences.
Story Map of Scenarios
Text-Based Storyboard
After completing the story map, I developed a text-based storyboard. This included each part of the training, with the introduction, a section on burnout, a section on effective decision-making, and the five scenarios. To set up the story, I included a worst-case example and used it to introduce learners to the main character, Ms. Flores, who is struggling with burnout. I also included a mentor character to guide learners throughout the training.
Text-Based Storyboard
Visual Mockup
I then began bringing the content to life with mockups. Using a mood board to showcase the overall style, I selected fonts that were easy to read, and calming colors that reflected the topic of well-being and burnout prevention.
Mood Board
Additionally, I completed a simple mockup in PowerPoint that was used for testing the content of the training. I received valuable feedback in this stage that helped me as I designed my prototype.
Basic Question Mockup
High-Fidelity Mockup
Interactive Prototype
Once the mockups were complete, I created an interactive prototype of the scenarios in Articulate Storyline. Using Vyond, I carefully crafted animations, characters, and backgrounds that I used to immerse learners into the story. I used the animations to show the emotions of the characters and mirror a real-world school environment.
Interactive Prototype
Full Development
Throughout the design process, I gathered feedback from instructional designers, a mental health specialist, and my target learners to ensure an interactive and engaging eLearning experience. After receiving and applying feedback, I developed the full project in Articulate Storyline. The programming includes states, layers, triggers, variables, and conditions.
One feature that I am very proud of is the well-being meter. Using a slider with a trigger to adjust the value of the variable, I programmed the meter to change, depending on the choices the learner makes. This helps learners to directly see the consequences of their choices and track the well-being of the main character, Ms. Flores.
The self-assessment is another component that I’m proud of. I custom-created the red circle and used variables and conditions to program the questionnaire so the learner can select only one yes/no answer per question. I also used states, so the “submit” button would only appear after each question was answered. Combining all questions on one slide gives the self-assessment a realistic feel.
