3. Learning Activity

For a learning activity, I would suggest that students make observable interaction with the video in the form of personal notes and to take the practice quiz on Khan Academy’s website which fits section 9.6.1.1 in “Teaching in a Digital Age” (Bates, 2019) which would help comprehension and be useful for studying.

As in our Interactive Learning Resource, I would also assign a writing assignment asking learners to use parallel structures in blog post format, encouraging students to use parallelism in a way that develops their writing style. If students interacted with each other’s posts, a higher level of interaction would be facilitated and could lead to better learning. For this particular assignment, a student-student interactive activity is harder to design for like in section 9.6.1.3 of “Teaching in a Digital Age” (Bates, 2019) , but simply reading and responding to classmate’s posts could expose learners to different applications of parallelism and different writing styles.

For these activities learners would need a laptop or smart mobile device (ie. phone, tablet, etc) and wifi/data connection, and a blog.

4. Feedback

Automatic grading is provided for the Khan Academy quiz, giving immediate feedback in a behavioural style. This helps for review and studying, but does not help students learn how to incorporate parallelism into repertoire of literary devices. Feedback from student-student interaction through commenting on each other’s posts would be more constructive, exposing them to different writing styles.

To work towards more student-teacher dialogue like in section 9.6.1.2 of “Teaching in a Digital Age” (Bates, 2019), the teacher could also give feedback by grading and commenting on the blog post assignment. A pass/fail grade along with comments from the teacher would be most helpful for this assignment because the only requirement is that parallelism is used correctly. Commenting on the student’s writing and suggesting ways to better use parallelism stylistically would be the valuable portion of feedback resulting in more student-teacher interaction.

The only additional technology requirements would be email to provide private feedback.

5. Worthwhile?

Since grading and commenting on the blog posts are the only portions that need grading, it would not be too much work and would be worthwhile. However if the lesson in parallelism was part of a larger English course, the value of this specific lesson would be lower. In that case, I think that encouraging more student-student interaction and only grading the short blog post as pass/fail would be more suitable. Then, more time and energy could be put towards valuable feedback and student-teacher interaction on a larger assignment, also making it easier to scale for a larger class.

7. Inclusive Design

To make this video accessible I would notify students that Khan Academy has a transcript available on their website, and point out that subtitles are available. I would also also write a short lesson/description about parallelism in simple language. This would be helpful for learners who may find an exclusively audio-based means of representation inaccessible such as Deaf learners, English Language Learners, learners with devices that have poor audio quality, and colourblind learners (since colour coding is used to organize writing in the video).

Another barrier is the web-based platform. Since the video and blog platforms are all online, students need a laptop or smart mobile device and WiFi/data connection. If students do not have these resources, they could use computers at a public library or their University which are usually free to access.

– SC

References

Bates, A.W. (2019). 9.6 Interaction. Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. B.C. Faculty Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

We designed our Interactive Learning Resource (ILR) with a Universal Design Learning (UDL) to remove as many learning barriers as possible, making it as accessible as we could. We focused on multiple means of representation by incorporating both texts and videos into our lesson plan. Since designing for English Language Learners (ELL) was one of our learning contexts, we chose to use simple and clear language in the lesson plan, aiming to make it accessible and applicable to students of all English levels. As well, all of the video resources we used have closed captioning and/or transcripts available making them more accessible to not only ELL, but also to Deaf/hard of hearing learners and learners with devices that have poor audio quality, who may find an exclusively audio-based means of representation inaccessible.

Our second learning context was learners who are colourblind. To design an accessible ILR for them, we did not utilize colour-coding methods and chose a website design that is not colour-dependent for navigation. For example, our menu bar highlights with a block shape to indicate clickable links rather than just colour, and we made links in the post text identifiable by putting square brackets around them so that there is no reliance on colour difference to notice links (except in reference lists which present links with “Accessible at” before the link.)

As a web-based platform we also chose to exclusively use learning tools and learning resources that are free and publicly available, consistent with an open learning pedagogy approach. Using free resources, as well as making the lesson free to access and use, removes financial barriers that may restrict learners for participating.

All these design choices were made to remove as many barriers as possible in order to create an accessible ILR! We also outlined out choices for accessible design for our specific contexts here.

– SC

Overview

Pod 9 did a very good job making their ILR relevant to current issues concerning COVID-19, which helped frame the content in an easily understandable and practical/applicable way. I liked how they gave a clear explanation for how a healthy diet helps: “we can lower our risks of infection and kill the novel virus that causes COVID-19 by designing a healthy diet with balanced nutrients in order to enhance our immunity and following safe food handling and cooking practices.”

I like that there is no previous experience necessary to use this ILR – it feels very accessible and could be used by anyone, as they intended.

One thing that may be helpful for both the learner and teacher is to phrase the learning outcomes in a way that is measurable, in particular for the outcomes that begin with comprehend, recognize, analyze, understand, etc. (for the learning outcomes in the modules as well). This would make it easier for students to predict what the expectations are, and it would help the teacher be able to assess their learning. A more measurable outcome could look like describing how the outcome will be fulfilled (ie. by writing a blog post, by demonstration, by a quiz, etc) and/or listing what skills or specific topics (as opposed to broader categories) students will need to know to meet the learning outcome.

Rationales

I found all the rationales very well written and cohesive. In particular, I liked their explanation for open pedagogy as the learning design and its interactive, accessible nature. The use of graphics was very helpful in making open pedagogy easy to understand. The technology choices made sense for an open pedagogy design and vice versa.

Learning Modules

All the lesson modules are very well organized – the progression of topics (within the modules as well) divides the information into easy-to-absorb chunks and gives the lesson flow. The use of graphics and bullet-point lists make the lesson more engaging and easier to read and understand so that the learner doesn’t feel overloaded with new information.

The research put into the lessons is very thorough and gives an in-depth introduction to the topic.

I noticed that all of the videos used in your modules have subtitles/closed captioning! This was a good design to remove barriers and make the lessons accessible. Nice job!

I also like how the learning activities connect to current events, making the lesson more applicable to everyday life and also encourage students to reflect on their own experiences and expand their learning past the ILR. This also fits well with their open pedagogy design!

Strategies: Inclusion of Diverse Learners

I believe Pod 9 met the goals they outlined for inclusion of diverse learners! I agree with their description for how they made the website accessible to people who can only use the site on a mobile phone. As well, the website is very well written in clear, easy to understand language that I think would be appropriate for English Language Learners. Their use of images and diagrams also help to convey the information in an alternate method that does not rely so heavily on reading English.

Final Thoughts

This ILR is very easy to use, easy to understand, and is very comprehensive. 

• It is well cited and very well written as well. 
• The use of images and diagrams is very engaging, and the multimedia design of this website makes it accessible for English Language Learners. 
• As an added bonus, the videos also are subtitled which could potentially help Deaf/hard of hearing learners as well as English Language Learners. 
• The design of the website makes it very easy to navigate.
• The interactive modules and learning activities work well with the constructivist theory, building of of basic knowledge and connecting it to current events and learner’s own reflections and experiences
• The free-to-access resources (the ILR website itself, youtube videos, etc.) work well with the open pedagogy design.

My only suggestion would be to develop the phrasing of the learning outcomes to be more concrete and measurable.

Good job Pod 9!!

– SC

Interactive Learning Resource (Pod 2)

Learning Design Blueprint (Pod 2)

– sc28

Hegarty cites Conole in outlining five principles necessary for openness, and therefore necessary for OEP:

1. Collaboration and sharing of information
2. Connected communication about learning and teaching
3. Collectivity to grow knowledge and resources
4. Critique for the promotion of scholarship
5. Serendipitous innovation (2015, p. 3)

The openness required for OEP largely leads to self-driven learning in an experiential and constructivist design, scaffolded by teachers who help guide and consult with learners along the way. These principles of openness create a foundation for the eight attributes of OEP:

1. Participatory technologies
2. People, openness, and trust
3. Innovation and creativity
4. Sharing ideas and resources
5. Connected community
6. Learner-generated
7. Reflective practice
8. Peer review (Hegarty, 2015)

Each of these attributes can occur separately but are holistically interconnected when employed for OEP. OEP reaches beyond simply using OER – learners construct their knowledge and contribute to each other’s development. 

In our Interactive Learning Resource (ILR), my pod designed our lesson utilizing OER, but not entirely aligned with an OEP design. 

All of our learning resources are free to access online, as is our ILR itself. Participatory technologies, one of the eight attributes of OEP, are a large part of our ILR as it is web- and blog-based, including the practice quizzes and the student-student interactive writing assignment. 

As our ILR is designed more with a direct instruction approach, the remaining attributes of OEP are not incorporated into it as strongly. I think that if we were to expand our ILR to be a part of a bigger lesson plan, building upon the other OEP attributes would be beneficial to the learning process. Because our ILR teaches parallelism in English writing, an OEP design could help teach learners how to incorporate literary devices, such as parallelism, into their writing to develop style rather than simply teaching learners how to identify parallelism.

– SC

References

Hegarty, B. (2015). Attributes of open pedagogy: A model for using open educational resources. Educational Technology, 55(4), 3-13. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/44430383?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

I like how direct instruction makes it easy to plot out a clear lesson plan across a full curriculum/longer duration of time. It seems very methodical and systematic. The categorization of skill rather than age seems like it would be a very strategic way to organize instruction for different individuals to ensure a full understanding of curriculum materials and so that there are no gaps in their knowledge.

Two aspects of direct instruction that I think could be developed are “(3): lower achieving students must perform at a faster rate in order to keep up with higher achieving students, (4): all teachers can succeed with this model if provided proper training and materials.”

I think that it would be beneficial to find alternative ways of filling knowledge gaps and assessing understanding in “lower achieving students”. This could build towards a more equitable instruction design rather than having those students scramble to keep up with “higher achieving students”.

I also think that a good development to direct instruction design would be to guide designs towards methods that do not rely on specific training opportunities and materials that may not be available to all teachers, or that may not be suitable/accommodating for learners with diverse learning and accessibility needs.

I wonder how modifications/alternative methods and supports could be incorporated into direct instruction styles for students who may be struggling with the curriculum?

– SC

First and foremost, this post was incredibly easy to read! It was clear and concise.

I really like that inquiry-based learning provides a framework to prioritize the student’s path in learning, rather than having an instruction/instructor-centered lesson. It reflects Julie’s previous post where she wrote: “instructional design is flexible and dynamic; it is changeable throughout the learner’s study path according to each situation, topic, or previous learning experiences.” (Very wise words.)

The teacher-student relationship Julie describes also seems closer to a mentor-mentee relationship that lends well to constructivist learning theory (my preferred learning theory from the first blog prompt). The role of an instructor as a facilitator for self-learning and self-discovery leaves a supported but expansive and unlimited opportunity for the learner to direct their studies to a place that personally interests them and holds meaning. This learner-centred approach could also be structured to loosely align with Merrill’s outline for motivation as an outcome, if motivation wasn’t already found through individual interest in the inquiry-based learning environment.

Just as Julie described, I agree that inquiry-based learning environments will be beneficial English as a Foreign Language learners with little-to-no limitations!

– SC

This was my response:

Hi Larissa!

I really connected to your story of excelling in math as a child, then feeling like math was too hard in high school.

I find it interesting how the negative reinforcement and negative association from the math classes did not come from the math lessons specifically, but from external sources that were comparisons to other learners and not fitting the prescribed curriculum of your new school (despite excelling in math in a different context) that heavily impacted your learning. I think this demonstrates how much a healthy and supportive learning environment can affect a student’s learning no matter what the actual lesson is. 

Do you think that high schools should make more of an effort to build supportive environments for learners who are struggling with certain subjects? What do you think an essential support might be?

I’m so glad to hear that you were able to relearn a positive association with math! Relearning is a hurdle that I personally find very hard to accomplish but essential to move forwards.

– SC

I was also intrigued by Julie’s explanation of flexible learning as part of a lifelong learning path. I think that this lifelong learning perspective indicates a goal of learning to design instruction plans across a wide variety of learning theories to best accommodate different learners. This idea of a lifelong learning path also agrees with my own personal outlook on education, inclination towards informal learning settings, and general philosophies of knowing and learning!

I’m excited to keep reading more from Julie!

– SC

Based on my reading this week, I believe I use each of behaviouralist, cognitivist, and constructivist theories depending on the situation. I favour cognitivism and constructivism though, because I think that the most effective way for learners to absorb information is framing it in a way that is cohesive with their own understandings and worldviews, and in a way that makes the information personally significant to the individual. I probably use a cognitivist approach most frequently, because I find it easier to apply than a constructivist method, especially if I don’t the learner very well.

In my experience, the reinforcement and feedback tactics of behaviouralism can be very effective in instructional settings and in scenarios that are limited to a right/wrong dichotomy. However, behaviouralism can lack room for exploration, innovation, and development.

I used to work at a high ropes course in an adventure park. Before taking a group of participants onto the course, everyone had to do a practice run on a short demo course to ensure they could use safety equipment properly and follow safety guidelines. In the practice run, a behaviouralist approach worked very well to set an understanding with the participants that there was a proper way to use the safety equipment and participate in the course. I would reinforce their learning by congratulating them when they used the equipment properly and praising their accomplishments when they used a good strategy to finish a hard obstacle.

I used a cognitivism as my approach to teaching at the high ropes course. During the practice run, I would teach how to use the safety equipment by comparing them to everyday items or actions so that the participants were able to understand my descriptions more easily. I would also use a cognitivist approach when instructing participants on how to pass obstacles that were seemingly difficult by again referencing everyday actions, or by referencing similar previous obstacles they had already accomplished as well as obstacles they struggled with but passed nonetheless. A cognitivist method helped to build their confidence and willingness to confront new challenges. It was the best strategy to use because it didn’t reinforce with a negative tone like behaviouralism has the potential to do, and it built on their previous knowledge and success.

A constructivist approach was harder to accomplish, but I would try to incorporate it as much as possible. I think that a constructivist approach has the most potential to making a lesson stick, as a personally significant concept. Because I wouldn’t know the learner before they entered the course, it was hard to know what motivated them. I would take a constructivist approach primarily when a participant was scared of facing an obstacle by framing it as an opportunity to challenge themselves, to face a fear, and as a feat of bravery. I would highlight the good feelings of triumph that would follow accomplished something difficult.

– SC

I’m majoring in Gender Studies and minoring in Education. I’m a queer and nonbinary Cantonese settler from a middle-class family. My parents were immigrants and I am the first generation born, but the second to grow up here. I was born and raised in unceded Lekwungen-speaking territories where I still live now.

I’m looking forward to Education as a minor because I find informal learning and education to be a really important structure. Informal learning is how we are socialized and informal education settings create accessible spaces that allow people to choose what they want to learn. The Education major didn’t seem like the right program for me because it streams into teaching in institutions, but the minor suits my interests perfectly!

My knowledge construction and worldviews are largely influenced by a community of queers, BIPOC kids, activists, and anarchists. I hold a lot of value community and autonomy, and believe that learning and education should be accessible for all. I also believe that we should encourage asking questions and expanding learning beyond the prescribed curricula!

Outside of school, I like sewing, cooking, and making friends with the neighbourhood cats.

My favourite foods are noodles and milk tea.

– SC