Peer Review of Interactive Learning Resource

Pod #1

Nicole B, Anna P, Hanne D, Mady C, and Finlay J

Reviewing Pod #3 – Insomnia Presentation

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqR_Hvgys/HGWUgZGngbJbJ-aePvSMqg/edit

First Impressions: 

• 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