For my fourth peer comment, I decided to take a look at Cassis’s blog post #4 “Blog Post 4: Designing for Interaction.” This post is well put together and was nice to read through.
Here’s my comment:
Hi Cassis, this is fantastic! The layout of this post is helpful. I like how you labelled each question in bold, it made the post smoother and easy to follow. I’m also thankful that you added a link to the video your speaking about. One sugestion would be to embed the video rather than having a link as it give a more multimedia feel. It also helps to break up the text and makes it more engaging.
I absolutly love your wellness check-in toolkit idea! This sounds like a fun yet useful resource that students would create for themsleves. I also like the idea of having students share their kits with a peer. This could help spark ideas of what else they could add to their kits. I would suggest if you were to do this to have the students pick who they will share their kits with. This is because it can be a vulnerable task and it would most likely make students more comfortable to talk to someone they ar eclose with. It would also show their friends how they are there for them!
There are tons of wellness check-in worksheets students could fill out. It could be a part of their morning routine at school! Here’s an example although there are hundreds of options:
Another option a teacher could do is have students create their own wellness daily check-in sheet. Then they could uses their personalized ones each morning!
I thouroughly enjoyed reading your blog and thinking about what activities could be done. Amazing job Cassis!
This weeks reflection was extremally interesting for me to work through. I thoroughly enjoyed the prompt we were given. First I read chapter 9.6 from the book “Teaching in the Digital age: Second Edition” by Anthony William (Tony) Bates. Then in the search bar of YouTube I looked up “Personification explained for grade 4 students.” My groups Interactive Resource topic is on poetic devises. We choose four devises to focus on in our lesson as it would theoretically be one lesson out of a unit. I decided to look for a video on personification as I find that one can be more complicated to explain.
Here is the video I chose to watch:
My Answers to My Chosen Prompts:
In what way are they likely to respond to the video on their own, e.g., make notes, do an activity, or think about the topic (learner-generated)?
If students were watching this video individually, they would most likely have some sort of activity to go along with it. Because my lessons are aimed towards grade 4 students, I can’t imagine them taking notes. I think they are most likely to have post video comprehension questions or a task to evaluate their learning. An activity my group came up with was having students highlight the device in a poem. This formative assesment would help teachers know how well a student understood the video.
What activity could you suggest that they do after they have watched the video (designed)? What type of knowledge or skill would that activity help develop? What medium or technology would students use to do the activity?
If I had to design an activity for students to complete related to this video I would have two separate ones. The first would be having an interactive part in the video where it pauses for the students to answer a question. In one of my past courses I learner of a technology called HP5 which allows you to take any video and add in this feature. It is easy and free to make! This would help develope student understandment as It forces them to actively think and repeat information hands on directly after learning the material. This also keeps students engeged as they know there will be questions they have to answer. The other activity I would suggest would be the one my group chose. I love the idea of having students work with poetry and identify the devices they are learning. I would have a couple poems ready for the student to highlight after watching the video. This will help the teacher see how well they understand the concept and if they need to re-explain anything. For these activities, students would need access to a technological devices to be able to watch the video and interact with it. This could be a computer, tablet, phone, etc.
How much work for you would that activity cause? Would the work be both manageable and worthwhile? Could the activity be scaled for larger numbers of students?
This activity would be very manageable for me as the teacher. Adding in HP5 interactive elements takes only a few minutes, is free, and only needs to be done once. It would also be worthwhile as it would benefit the students. These activities could be done individualy or as a class. This means it can be done for any amount of students.
How will you address any potential barriers for your learners in the use of this video to ensure an inclusive design?
I personally love videos as they tend to be inclusive. Students can pause, re-watch, slow down, fast forward, and have closed captions on. Students can also turn the volume up or down depending on their needs. These features help make this lesson more accessable. As someone who has educational barriers, I understand how important and helpful inclusive design is. I hope to assist my students however I can to help them reach their full potential. If anyone has anymore suggestions of inclusive design related specifically to these activities please share!
Overall, I love this video and think with the two activities I listed above, it would be a great lesson. Thanks for reading my blog! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
There are a lot of visual components on each slide, which can be engaging but also distracting and pull from the focus of the lesson.
The slides are very informative and the topic is well-researched.
We were curious about any personal connections or experience with Insomnia.
Clarity of the lesson:
Teacher notes could help working through the lesson for exactly what to do on each slide, for example if the class brainstorm is a partner-paired activity or an ask-the-whole-class kind of activity.
By slide 3, we were not quite sure if there was a full explanation for what ‘Insomnia’ is defined as (maybe as a diagnosis in the DSM5?), but by slide 4 it was clarified what insomnia is and what it looks like.
The description of sleep restriction therapy is comprehensive and clear. The side effects were a good thing to include.
There are many aspects / impacts of insomnia that are described, which is really well done.
The summary at the end is very clear and effective.
The quiz is helpful when used to review the lesson, but it is quite long and requires the slides to be available to complete the quiz unless the topic has been extensively studied.
Appropriate outcomes:
During the group breakout, we were curious about how the assessment would have been outlined for expectations of engagement for the group discussions.
A section at the very beginning outlining what we, as the learner(s), will be learning by the end of the lesson could improve the outcome expectations.
The sleep journal assignment at the end of the lesson would be a great form of formative assessment and is very relevant to the content that has been taught. The form is very well laid out and easy to read and complete.
The quiz was a fair assessment of what we have learned.
Alignment:
We were curious about what age group or demographic this interactive learning resource is intended for.
Little pop-ups for definitions could be helpful, depending on age/grade intention.
On the summary slide, link slides so that learners can revisit each topic.
Alignment with Course Content:
The multimedia aspect of this presentation is very aligned with the course content as it employs videos, text, and visuals.
The free access to the journal article aligns with the Open Education Resources (OERs) that we have explored thoroughly within this course.
The quiz was made on Nextcloud, a content and file collaboration platform, and was great for sharing an extensive and accessible quiz.
The presentation was online and made the learning accessible to anyone with the link and an internet connection.
The video was open and online, so it was not behind a paywall or needed to be downloaded.
This was a very well done technology-mediated learning experience. Many learning theories were considered, and the outcomes were very much aligned with the assessments at the end.
Interactivity:
The quiz at the end is a great interactive component, and is very professional and well done. There is a great variety of question types, and the questions are fair and relevant.
Group discussions are an excellent and strong engagement activity for learners to think and share while hearing other peoples’ perspectives.
The questions that you included were of great quality and super relevant. They would make for a stimulating discussion, but perhaps some more type to discuss would be beneficial?
By slide 11, after the video, it would be good to have another activity or group discussion where we assess the information learned through verbal discussion or jotting down notes or share any questions we may have about the topic or video.
The activity form (Sleep Journal) is a perfect interactive component for this presentation/assignment.
The quiz is perfect for interactivity and can provide some anonymity for learners to just check their personal learning from the presentation/learning resource.
Inclusivity and accessibility:
The language used is inclusive in that it doesn’t penalize not knowing (ex. On the first slide: if you have no idea, give your best guess!)
(Slide 4) The child character visuals show what each symptom could look like for better understanding of the information shared. This is excellent because sometimes people can struggle with identifying the signs related to a word or vice versa.
Having a video of the presentation with areas to pause for consideration or an interactive component would increase the inclusivity and accessibility, especially if it had generating closed captioning along with it.
The visuals are very captivating! The smaller text would be a bit easier to see if it was bolded or in black.
The video on insomnia (slide 10) was very informative and allows the learner to learn in another format (yay multimedia!) and automatically had closed captioning available for the viewer.
The examples provided (slide 12) simplify and give further perspective on how insomnia actually affects people.
The ‘Improving Your Sleep’ slide (slide 16) is full of wonderful suggestions for the learner! This was a strong slide and had lots of variety for the suggestions. There is an opportunity for another reflective component or interactive component here for asking the learner, “What is one thing you already do and one new thing you can do to improve your sleep or sleeping habits?”
The Sleep Journal has multiple components and the sleep quality rating using little faces is an excellent, inclusive touch as it can be more accessible to varied English language learners or people with learning or reading disabilities or struggles.
The quiz at the end has a couple words that may be above the learner’s ability (depending on age group) if they don’t have access to a physical or online dictionary or if not discussed by the teacher, but overall the quiz was accessible with differing components as to a single-click anwer and a short-form answer area.
Technology use and rationale:
Canva is a great tool for a presentation / project such as this. The slides were clear, though busy, and the flow was good. It kept the audiences’ attention well
The video allowed for a change in the flow of the presentation so the slides wouldn’t feel stagnant or too much of the same thing.
The quiz at the end was a great addition, and very well put together.
Presentation:
Slides are well prepared and clearly have had a lot of thought put into them.
The slides are attention-grabbing with colour, animations, and text.
Some of the text on-screen could be increased in size, as some sections can be hard to see.
Citations:
References might be beneficial, but the article provided at the end is a great resource.
The studies included in the slides is perfect for reinforcing the claims and supporting the presentation with scientific backing.
Final Thoughts + suggestions:
A video presentation would have been beneficial for this lesson. There is a lot going on in the slides themselves that could distract the learners. Having an audio or video portion for this lesson would also add to the inclusivity/ accessibility of other learners. The video on slide 10 is a great addition.
A suggestion we want to make is adding in a KWL component (What I know, what I wonder and what I learned) this would be a great way for students to take notes and write their thoughts/ideas especially for those students who would prefer to write over sharing through oral discussion.
Overall, the presentation is well-researched and the slides are very stimulating and attention-grabbing. Reducing the amount of visuals might be helpful in limiting distractions on the slide. With some very light editing, this presentation is absolutely classroom-ready and has some very strong interactivity
For my third peer comment, I decided to check out a peers blog whom I don’t personally know. My last two comments were on my pod members who I was in a co-hort with this past year. Ellas third weekly post “what’s next for Ed-Tech?” was an enjoyable read.
Here’s my comment:
Hi Ella, your post is amazing! I like how you’ve laid out your blog. Starting with a short summary of the article and then adding your own thinking and concerns makes it easy to follow. I also LOVE how you added in a video! This video shows the secret carbon footprint that digital data has. It was a nice break in the text and made reading it feel more interactive and less boaring. I also really appreciate the carbon footprint visual. It was very intresting to look at and was an eye opener for me. I didn’t realize how much CO2 TV sets produce! You make some great points about the need for inovation. I agree that we have to find more sustainable technologies.
To make this blog or future ones even better, I would suggest utilizing headings. Having headers for each section would make this flow nicer and make it easier for readers to understand.
Well done Ella! I hope to read more of your posts in the near future 🙂
This week I decided to focus on formative and summative assessment. As a future teacher this is a vital topic for me. Knowing the difference between these two types of assessment is essential. During my past couple years in the BEd program, they have thrown these words around without much explanation. I hope this blog helps you know the difference!
Formative: This type of assessment is conducted throughout a learners journey or unit. These assessments give time and opportunities for feedback and revisions. This process can be formal or informal documentation, but either way it allows students to grow. Think of it as a check-in while learning. An example of formative assessment could be an English class where you submit a draft of your work to receive feedback for your good copy.
Summative: This type of assessment is usually taken at the end of a unit. It is more of a final grade where students show what they can do at the end of a unit. There is no opportunity for revision or growth as the mark you get is what you receive. Think of it as a final check after learning. An example of summative assessment is a final exam.
Here is an excellent video that explains these assessment types:
My Thinking and Experience
To be honest with you, I didn’t know the difference between these two assessment types till this class. My program would mention these words during class but I was never given a definition or example. It felt as though I was suppose to already know this information. Now I feel confident in the difference!
This coming school year I will be taking a course on assessment and evaluation for teachers. I’ve been super excited for this course as it is extremely important and relevant to me.
From what I currently know, I plan to use formative assessment more often then summative assessment in my classroom. I may be a little bias, but I hate tests. I have dyslexia, which wasn’t diagnosed till after my high school graduation. I knew for a long time that I had a learning disability, but it was expensive to be officially tested and diagnosed. Tests are nearly imposable for me as I take much longer than the average person to complete a task. I also struggle with spelling and numbers which made math or spelling tests a challenge. Then adding the time pressure onto of that with my anxiety would cause my brain to blank or shut down. Tests have never shown what I actually am capable of or what I know. Tests show what a person can memorize and students often forget the information after the test is complete. However, projects, assignments, and putting the concepts into practice are where I learn best and can show my growth. This is why I would love to have more formative assessments with my students. I believe that students being able to put learnings into practice is more important than if they can ace a timed test. Just because you can memorize information doesn’t mean you really understand it and could implement it in the real-world. As a future teacher, I hope to alleviate stress in my students by allowing them opportunities to improve once given feedback. The growth I see in a student is more vital then their test mark.
Conclusion and Questions
Thanks for reading my blog on assessments! I hope you now understand the difference between formative and summative. What kind of assessment do you prefer and if you were a teacher which kind do you see yourself using?
For my second peer comment, I decided to look at my pod members blog, Hanne. Her second post “Design Thinking” thouroughly impressed me.
Here’s my comment:
Wow! Hanne, this is amazing and exceeds expectation. I like how you utilized headings and hyperlinks, which made this blog easy to follow and engaging. I also love the muiltimedia elements.They are clearly cited and help break up the writting making it seem less wordy and more interactive.
You made a great link between Disign Thinking and Growth Mindsets. This shows your attention to detail and depth. As I know we are both becoming teachers, I have a great book on growth mindset if your intrested! The book is titled “Bubble Gum Brain: Ready, Get Mindset…GROW!” written by Julia Cook, iliustrated by Allison Valentine.
This book is great for elementary studnets!
Overall, this was an insightful, well thought out, and engaging blog post. Well done Hanne!!!
For my first peer comment I decided to look at my pod members blog, Anna. Her first post “Learning, Motivation, and Theory” was an enjoyable read.
Here’s my comment:
Anna, this is amazing! I like the set up of your blog and how it has clear sections. This made it easy to follow. The three examples you used to show how you have experince in the three different types of learning were clear and concise. They were intresting and deponstrated the learning types well. Although I read the article, if I didn’t it would have been clear to what the three types are.
To make this blog even better and take it to the next level I would suggest adding in some multimedia element. This could be a photo of the capstone project you mentioned or a video explaining the three teaching methods.
Overall, this was a fantastic blog! I can’t wait to read more of your blogs as you learn more and develope blog post skills.
Project Based Learning, or PBL, is defined by PBLWORKS as “a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.” With this kind of project, students work with real-world and meanigful topics. Students can work individually but the BC Ministry of Education‟s Early Learning Branch suggests teachers have students work collabortivly. This type of learning promotes critical thinking, creativity, communication, and team work skills. The end goal of the project is to have a product or presentation depending on the topic complete for an audience. The projects can take up to a full term/semester!
Project Example:
Example of a PBL done on “Tiny Houses” with grade 3 studnets.
Final Interactive Learning Design Project:
PBL both does and doesn’t align with my chossen topic for our final Interactive Learning Design Project. This poroject was set up in a PBL design. We have the freedom of choosing our groups, a topic of intrest or meaning, and designing and creating a usable resourse. This promotes critical thinking, creativity, communication, and team work skills, which are all features of PBL. However, the resource we are designing is not PBL. Our theoretical students will be working thorough the resourse individualy and completeing tasks. They will not be collaborating, communicating, or creating a final product or presentation. That being said, we could adapt our blueprint to incorperate PBL if my group so disiers. I love PBL and will for sure mention it to my group.
Summary:
Although our 335 project fits under the PBL category, the resource my group is creating doesn’t. PBL is a fantastic way to get kids engaged and excited about learning. It supports vital skills such as team work, imagination, and critical thinking. I had the oppertunity to watch this style of learning in action during my recent practicum at St. Micheal’s University School Jounior Campus. The students seemed to LOVE it and each had a topic they were passionite about. The topics ranged from a dog walking buisness to making coolant in cars safer for animals. It was super intresting to see this process!
Thanks for reading my blog! What you think about PBL? Have you ever done PBL and would you consider adding into your classroom?
This weeks reading was chapter 11, “Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism Comparing Critical Features From an Instructional Design Perspective” by Ertmer, P. A. & Newby, T. This chapter was very intresting and got me thinking about what type of instruction style I use. These theories are new to me, are they new to you?
Here is a summery of the three styles:
Behaviorism – Students learn through stimuli and are reinforced through positive feedback or rewards. Teacher uses rewards, practice, and repitition.
Cognitivism – Teachers help students understand and organize information. They use strategies like outlines or diagrams.
Constructivism – Studnets learn by doing, exploring, and building understanding based on experiences. Teachers use real-world problems/senerios and encourage collaboration to solve the situation.
As I was trying to find a visual for the three styles, I stumbled upon a past students blog post from 2020 for a EDCI 339 class. The topic was similar to mine and had this great image which is easy to follow and understand. I thought this was pretty cool and I’m interested in exploring his website.
My Instruction Style:
I consider my current instruction style to be more constructivist. One of my top teaching values is a focus on setting students up for future sucsess in their adult lives. This includes life, coping, and problemsolving skills/knowledge. In order to do this I tend to add in real-world situations and problems. I love collaboration and include it in most of my lessons. I beleave everyone needs to learn how to work with various types of people and that collaboration is a nessesary life skill which magority of people use daily in their adult lives. I also prefer to act as a guild raher than a lecturer. When students ask me a question, I don’t blankly tell them the answe. I make them think about it and I ask guilded questions to push them towards the answer and let them problem solve. I think this fits the constructivism category well. I do use the other two styles as well, but I think I use this one the most.
My Examples:
I have many examples of me using the constructivism style in my instruction. However, I’ll limit it to two quick examples from different learning environments.
Example 1 – I teach a lot of dance classes, and the start of each season looks very similar. I always start out with team building activities as a way to break the ice, get to know eachother, and build a strong welcoming team. The closer a dance group is with eachother, the better they will preform. My favourite activity to play is called “The Human Knot”. If you haven’t heard of this before I highly recomend checking it out.
Heres a video tutorial if your curious!
This game is not only fun, but it gets students to collaborate, commuicate, critically think, and problem solve. I never let them give up as every knot can come undone. This can be frustrating for some students who want to start from the beginning. However, that teaches them to control their emotions and persevere. These are vital life skills that they will most likely need in their future careers.
Example 2 – Another dance related example is about when I teach a hip-hop move. I love to use real-world analogies when describing a move. For instence, when we are ducking low in a circle I say “Pretend your ducking under a fence”. Another one is when we do the party groove “Fila”, I always explain how you lead with your shoulder as if your holding heavy buckets of water which makes your hands come last. Relating dance moves to common real-world things helps kids understand and replicate.
Note – I haven’t had much opportunity to instruct in a classroom using these styles but I have created mock lesson plans that do. During my recent practicum, I included self discovery activities and links to outdoor education. We taught a unit on poetry which included poetic devices. My student and I made a real-world link between poetic devices and song writing. He had found that many songs include various poetic devices. This was a really cool moment for me as a teach because he self discovered that, although it was in the back of my mind.
Conclusion:
I think I use a mix of all three styles with an emphasis on constructivism. Being well rounded is a great quality in a teacher and I hope to learn more on how to incorperate all three instruction types.
Thanks for reading my blog!
References:
CBC Kids News. (2023, December 13). What is AI and how does it work? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/MVAAoRqXHZo
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. (2018). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features From an Instructional Design Perspective. Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology: Historical Roots and Current Trends. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism
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