The rapid evolution of technology has increased the demand for universities to provide easily accessible information to students, alumni, faculty, and staff through various means of communication. One such mean is university websites that serve as the virtual face of institutions as well as an important resource for all users. At the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, current and previous students heavily rely on the Office of the Registrar’s website to obtain accessible information regarding important documents such as transcripts, diplomas, graduation requirements, personal information changes, and more. Anecdotal feedback gained from frustrated customers included lack of information, difficulty navigating the website, outdated aesthetic features, and more. As such, the purpose of this usability study was to analyze the navigational efficiency, organizational content, and user satisfaction for UH Manoa’s Office of the Registrar website. Based on feedback it appeared users favored aesthetically appealing webpages that incorporated eye-appealing pictures and graphics, simplified information, menu bars, easily accessible links, and downloadable forms. Changes were made to a beta website to address these preferences and additional feedback sought. The presentation will review the website’s features before and after the modifications, discuss design implications and the rationale for changes, and make recommendations for additional alterations in the future.

Original Module Website for 1st Round
http://justinla.wix.com/records

Adjusted Module URL for 2nd Round
http://justinla.wix.com/registrars-office

There are many hardships that an educator faces day in and day out when trying to incorporate as many standards into one activity. By compiling numerous standards into one activity, it enables educators to get through all of them from Language Arts to Performing Arts throughout the academic year. Aurasma is an augmented reality platform that uses the real-world environment to blend rich interactive content such as videos and animations together. By utilizing Aurasma, it is one way to address the development of both technology and literacy skills needed to incorporate into any classroom curriculum. A web instructional module was designed to assist upper elementary educators to develop their proficiency in implementing Aurasma in the writing curriculum. The purpose of this instructional design study was to investigate the impact of the module website for upper elementary educators to designing and evaluating an opinion-writing lesson.

Throughout the instructional module, educators learned the process of Aurasma to build their confidence. It was designed according to Keller’s motivational model (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) for educators to navigate with ease, and the appearance of the website to be aesthetically appealing with images, videos, and text. The website was embedded with videos that explained the content thoroughly and to build proficiency by having educators create an interactive book review. Furthermore, the instructional module instilled testimonials such as educational blogs and reviews for educators to see the relevance of Aurasma for their classroom and to implement it into their curriculum to motivate students.

This project explored the use of a web-based training module for volunteers at the Judiciary History Center (JHC) in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The current training program lacked coherence, organization, and failed to acknowledge the different learning styles of the target population. By developing a web-based training module, I hoped to address the weaknesses of our current training method while increasing accessibility. The website was created using Wix, an online web development platform. Its design was further guided by the constructivist theory. This allowed me to organize information in a logical and meaningful manner while taking into account various types of learners.

Data were collected from a pre survey, a pretest, a post survey, and a posttest, administered prior and subsequent to the training module. Based on the data aggregated during this project, test scores improved between the pre and posttest. Overall attitudes toward the use of a web-based training module were positive. These results suggest that a web-based training module has the potential to serve as a viable avenue through which JHC docents may be trained conveniently, efficiently, and effectively. The presentation will include showing key aspects of the module and discussing the evaluation findings.

Module URL: http://www.dcyprian7.wix.com/volunteermodule

As college costs continue to rise, financial aid has increased in importance in helping students pursue higher education. Financial aid is also a significant predictive variable for Native Hawaiian student persistence in college. Without it, many students would not be able to complete their degree. However, many learners lack accurate information about financial aid and resources.
To address this need, the purpose of this usability study was to develop and evaluate the ease of use and effectiveness of a website designed to inform Native Hawaiian College students about financial aid and scholarship basics and resources (www.finaidresources.weebly.com). The researcher designed the website prototype, incorporating the principles of instructional design and multimedia learning. Two rounds of usability testing were conducted. Feedback indicated that visually appealing graphics, clear and concise labels and a simple clean layout was preferred by users. Revisions were made to the prototype based on user feedback to contribute to an improved user experience.

This session will discuss study results including methods, participant data, design implications and website modifications. Data support how usability studies can contribute to an improvement in user satisfaction resulting in a website that is easier to use and more effective in sharing information with the target population. The study was able to help provide a user-friendly online financial aid and scholarship resource to give students anytime, anywhere access to facilitate student awareness, guide them through the financial aid process, and ultimately, lead to increased funding for their education.