Website: Professor Messor
At my former job at Hewlett-Packard, I
taught a training class for the CompTIA A+ exam, and one of my main
resources was Professor Messor's training website for CompTIA
certifications. The website mainly uses video lectures to teach the lessons. Each
course for each certification is categorized into it own categories,
and under those certifications the lessons are biased on different
subjects covered in each test. Besides videos, the website also
offers pop quizzes, study guides, mock tests, and forums for students
to ask each other questions. Most of the content is available free of
charge, except for the study guides, mock tests, and some of the more
in depth videos for the more advanced certifications.
What
to Evaluate
|
High
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Med
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Low
|
Score
|
||||
Instructional
Aspects:
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||||||||
Objectives
clearly stated
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
||
Objectives
appropriately sequenced
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
||
Instructional
strategies appropriate for the objectives
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Instructional
activities/process clearly described
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
Tasks
adequate/significant for achieving objectives
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
Resources
adequate/significant for achieving objectives
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Learning
achievement adequately evaluated
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
||
Evaluation
criteria clearly expressed
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
||
Motivational Aspects:
|
||||||||
Gaining
and maintaining learners’ attention
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Relating
to learners’ interest and goals
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Building
on learners’ prior knowledge & foreshadowing what the lesson
is about.
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
||
Providing
positive feedback and feeling of accomplishment
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
Motivational
strategies serve for objectives
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
Web Design Aspects:
|
||||||||
Navigation
is clear and easy to access
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
Authorship
and date is clearly stated
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Text
follows the rules of grammar, spelling and literary composition
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Use
of multimedia (Text, graphic, audio, video, animation, etc.) is
visually appeal
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Mechanical
aspects (No broken links, misplaced or missing images, etc.)
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
||
Web
design appropriate for objectives
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
Web
design appropriate for learner characteristics
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
||
TOTAL
|
75
|
|||||||
Overall Score: 75/100
Review & Reflection
The video lectures from this website
are a great resource for anyone studying for CompTIA certifications.
However, the rest of the website is lacking in its content. On of the
things that frustrated me about this site is the inconsistency of the
evaluations. Some of the videos offer a post test, but not all of
them. The videos cover highly technical information that can be hard
to understand, and offering a way for students to gauge their
understanding on all of the subjects presented would greatly benefit
the learners. When I used the videos for my own training class, I
ended having to make my own post test for most of the lectures.
As far as design goes, the videos
themselves are very well done. Professor Messor has a clear speaking
voice and he explains things in ways that make them easy to
understand. The text and graphics that he uses in the videos are
simple yet provide a great deal of information without being
daunting. However, the design of the website itself is a different
story. When you open the front page, you are bombarded with
information. If you were a new learner opening up this website, it
would be very hard for you to know where to begin. There is also a
pop-up for that appears on the bottom right hand corner that for a
long time myself and others who used this site mistook for an
advertisement, but in reality is it an option for students to chat
with each for help. The poor design of the website actually caused
me, as a teacher, to miss resources that could have been useful for
my learners.
There are two majors things I've
learned from reviewing Professor Messor's site that I will remember
for my own project. The first is that it is important to make sure
the quality of every resource you use is consistent. Even though the
videos lectures are an excellent resource, the other materials are
not, which lowers the overall quality of the site. The second thing
is to make sure the website is easy to navigate and that the goals
are clearly stated on the website so that the learner does not
experience “cognitive overload”.
In conclusion, I would definitely
recommend using the video lectures from this website, but the rest of
the website leaves much to be desired.
I had no idea what CompTIA A+ was before I clicked on this website. I felt extremely overloaded by information. I'm sure with the help of an instructor, this would be a very useful training website. Looking at it on my own is intimidating though.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely misses the boat when it comes to effective design and effective use of educational materials. It is cool that most material is free, this can be very expensive curriculum and training materials.
ReplyDeletePersonally I do not like that most of the instruction was video lectures. Blah! Adult learners today find it difficult to be passive and just absorb the knowledge. It is important to seek our knowledge then be given opportunity to apply it. I found this website frustrating because when I did get interested and further sought additional information it was no longer free.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very comprehensive website with lots of good information, which I am sure is valuable for someone seeking this kind of certification. However, I must agree with you that there is so much information, that a new person would not know where to start. This is exactly how I felt when I accessed the home site. The material is obviously good, and the professor knows it inside and out, but for a new visitor to the site, it can seem very overwhelming. I think one thing that might be useful, is some clear direction for the new learner. Maybe some links that are readily identifiable on the homepage, directing new learners to the best place to start. Other than that, it is a great website with incredible materials.
ReplyDeleteThis site reminded me of Lynda.com in a way. Just a ton of instructional videos on how to do certain things on computers. Used sites like this a lot back up in my computer classes in Montana.
ReplyDeleteOverall I liked what you researched. Good Job!
Wow! One really what to know what they are looking for on this site. It was overwhelming at first until I chose to just focus on the layout and navigation of the site first. Then I saw things more clearly. While it is definitely a specialized site for a particular audience, I you know what everything is, I imagine it isn't quite so overwhelming. Secondly, there is so much information that it is a good thing that the colors and fonts are simple. I would like a course where everything was delivered through video instruction, since that is not the way I learn best, but combined with other items it could be very effective. I agree with you Tyler, that it does remind me of the Lynda site. I have used that site before, but I am always looking for something specific when I go there, so I have an easier time.
ReplyDeleteYou did a very good job evaluating this site, and I appreciate that you introduced a site that was something that everyone doesn't encounter every day.
WHOAH- Just like everyone else, I had no idea what to click on, so I went with what you were discussing "Comp training", and then I still didn't know that I needed to do. After tooling around the site even more, it became very evident to me...I don't think an ID edited this at all. I thoroughly believe this is a direct product of IT personnel who are SME's, but not necessarily Instructional Designers. This did not appeal to me at all, and I completely shut down once I spent just 15 seconds trying to search for what I needed to click on to move forward with. Great job with your eval, and this has a LOT of great technical content, if you know what you're looking for.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this would be a good tool to use if you were having to train someone on a particular aspect like backing up Windows 7, but I found the videos to be too lengthy. It is a bit overwhelming when you go to the site just to view it rather than having a specific topic you are wanting to learn about. I did think the videos would do a good job of walking someone through each topic. Lauren I agree with several comments you made and I too feel it would have been improved if more direction and other forms of content were presented.
ReplyDeleteI am sure this site is a great resource if you know what you are looking for. I found that the site was information overload. There are many sections of the site and it can be overwhelming. The pop quizzes do not allow for you to answer and see if the answer is correct. It does give related posts, however, I feel it would be more effective if you are allowed to answer and receive the appropriate response.
ReplyDeleteCool, I could have used this website not too long ago. Awesome training videos! I can see where this website would come in handy. I agree though, it is a lot of information.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Titus. The amount of information on this website was overwhelming. I wasn't sure where and what I should do. The design organization is lacking in this area. I am glad you shared this resource though. This curriculum can be overwhelming to teach students as well and does not provide many resources for additional instruction. I will share this site with my computer engineering teacher.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone about this website. There is an overload of information. I had trouble focusing on a single section/area.
ReplyDeleteGood post! My sister used to work for Hewlett Packard as well, but she was a sales rep. Seems like a very useful training website.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lauren, for a nice review of the site! Do you feel that you are looking at the site you used to use with a different pair of "eyes" now?
ReplyDeleteYes, this site is not attractive to a lay person with the visual design or to an instructional designer because some of the instructional materials are not accessible for free. However, it is already pretty well-organized as a technical training site. The author used tables, and graphic icons to organize the content, and they are offering some of the video clips for free... :)
One thing I found from the "About" page, wanted to call your attention to:
"We built every module from scratch, so this process was incredibly time consuming. By the time we took pictures, built the presentation, recorded the video presentation, edited the video, and rendered the final video version, each 20-minute module underwent about six to eight hours of development."
Do you see how time-consuming and labor-intensive it is to create instructional videos? So, please get started with your video project asap, and also this always remind me to appreciate other people's creation of instructional materials more... :)
Information overload to the nth degree on this site. I don't know if I knew enough to get where I needed to go. I did notice a lynda.com link in the right corner, which I use all the time for Adobe products, so I am thinking the design of this site is purely utilitarian. It isn't meant to be pleasing to the eyes. I am sure it is a good organized resource to someone in the computer field needing that specific information, but this site is not for a beginner.
ReplyDelete