Shuhao's Blog

Hi Sifan, Ruilin and Tingyang,

After reading through your interactive learning resource — Essential Nutrients, I have learned a lot about Human essential nutrients. I like how you have separated the different rationales and your strategies in the menu for learners to review. Also, it is great to see you have linked different modules at the very beginning of each module so learners can review. You have split your nutrition topics in 3 modules and introduce the basic information about nutrients and the healthy guidance for Dietary Choices. These 3 modules have covered all your learning content and learning outcomes.

For module 1-3, you have included different YouTube videos to help your learners to get engaged with your learning content, additional reading content are also included in each module for your learners to extend their readings. There is also an assignment included in each module for learners to answer a question in the Padlet link. However, my question is: are those reading materials required for learners? If the learner is a person who doesn’t have a lot of time to read throughout the day, how can we make sure they have access to the right information? If not, it would be great if you can indicate it somewhere for learners to read by their interests.

Another note is learners can only access to the Padlet discussion through each module. Is there a place in this education blog that has all 3 Padlet links so they can go review the Padlet post without looking through all Module posts to find the right one they want to review on?

It is great to see that you have included constructivism learning theory in your resource design to ask students to participate in discussion through Padlet based on their own experience. I’ve also seen that you guys were trying to implement experiential learning in our interactive learning resource. The discussion on Padlet is referring to the Reflective Observation phase of Experiential learning. I wonder are there any plans to include other phases such as “Active Experimentation” where you ask your learner to build and try a Dietary plan based on the information they learned from this education blog? This is just trying to provide some different views for creating activities. You do not have to follow on what I suggested here. 

For inclusion of Diverse Learners, I think your team did a great job on helping English language learners (ELL) with simple YouTube videos to attract them and using sample languages to engage them to learn more. And I also think your detailed module design has fully considered the learner with hearing difficulties. I think I would be able to understand all learning content and meet the learning outcome without watching all the videos attached in modules.

All in all, I think your team has done a great job on creating this interactive learning resource. Thanks for sharing this interesting topic with us.

Response to Victoria’s INTERACTION PROMPT

Hi Victoria, Thank you for your detailed informative posts about the interaction learning using in your interactive learning resource. I strongly agree with you that forcing students to do things usually won’t give useful feedback. I like the idea about open learning content specific to students and try to monitor the visitors. However, my question would be, if everything’s based on voluntary, how to engage students to participate in the class content and how can you ensure the student learned about information you provide? Overall, your post structure is very clear to read and I really enjoy reading your post.

Response to Rosemary’s Inclusive Learning Design

Hi Rosemary, Feel great to know better about your team’s plan in the development of AI. AI has been a hot topic lately that every hi-tech company is looking to implement in many different fields. It is great to know that your team is considering a different age group’s need to understand AI development. Short animation videos are easy for people to understand and also can attract younger learners. As you provide different versions of the content: Text and Video. This would help users who have limited access to videos to read. Simple language would also help users to easily understand what they learned. I wonder if you have more detail to share with the video you design? Looking forward to discuss with you further.

Two response for Blog prompt 2 that were post in my previous blog  post:

I really enjoy SAKURA Wu’s post about Experiential learning. From my perspective learning by practice can give students a much deeper impression on what they learn and will be helpful for them to memorize the key information we want the learner to learn. In her post, she included a diagram which visually helped me understand how “experiential learning cycle’’ looks like. As we are working in the same team. The topic she researched can easily reflect our learning. Because sleep is a daily activity that everyone will be doing. They easily reflect what they have learned in their daily life.

I also learned something different then what I had researched about open pedagogy in Vince Yue’s post this week. In this post, Vince mentioned that OEP is about openness and unlimited possibilities. Where they give learners more than they can do in their learning experience. I have not thought about that in my research. The way Vince’s team’s blueprint to engage students is to ask student participants in some activities that can encourage students to look and share their learning results. I am curious to see their project at the end about how advertisements influence consumer purchase behavior as this is closely related to our daily life.

Response to Ruilin’s blog 1

After reading through Ruilin’s blog 1, it has discribed 3 different learning theory based on different examples. As an international student from China, I agree that most of our learning has followed “CONSTRUCTIVISM” theory where students will follow what to learn based on what the instructor provided. When I started to study EDCI courses, I found most of the courses use the CONSTRUCTIVISM method where students will learn through their experience and learn by building projects by themsleves. I found each learning method has their own strength, I wonder if you have thoughts around how we can implement difference learning theory in class design?

I chose the video: “How Coronavirus is Killing You in Your Sleep” from YouTube as a starting video for our interactive resource project.

This video is closely related to our resource topic: Sleep Guide During COVID-19. In this video the author uses vivid automated design to tell the story where currently a lot of people are having nightmares during COVID-19 pandemic time. As the introduction video they will see in our project, the purpose of using this video is to help learners understand the topic. Also help learners start thinking about what information they might want to get from reading our interactive learning resource. Based on the reading “Interaction” from this week, here is the analyst about this youtube video:

• What kind of interaction would the video require from your students? Does it force them to respond in some way (inherent)?

Based on the reading, video as a Learner-generated Learner to material interaction multimedia usually doesn’t require the learner to have immediate response. However, the automation video using story telling method tells stories where people having difficult time sleep during COVID-19 time. Learners can easily tie their experience to the video. Therefore, when they are watching the video, the user would want to learn more about what’s going on next.

• 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?

After learners watch the video, we will suggest learners write some reflection related to their thoughts about how bad sleep experience influenced them during this special time and encourage them to respond to other learner’s posts in forums. Multiple reflection perspectives will be provided to learners if they don’t want to share their personal experience.For example, posting a similar resource that related to bad sleep influences human life when under stress. We will also encourage learners to share their positive experience about some good lifestyle they keep during this time and how that can be related to this video they just saw.

• How would students get feedback on the activity that you set? What medium or technology would they and/or you use for getting and giving feedback on their activity?

As the course designer, we will be reading over all learner’s posts and provide our review under their post to increase the Learner-teacher interaction. This action will also allow more learners to participate in discussion online. We will use the forum function within the blog platform we choose so users won’t be introduced to too much place to tools during their learning process.

• 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 work will fit for a regular class size where there are 30-40 students. We will read through student’s posts.It is manageable and is a great way for teachers to learn and understand their learners. If we increase the learning group numbers over a hundred, new methods need to be considered.

• How will you address any potential barriers for your learners in the use of this video to ensure an inclusive design?

Video is a great way to include students who might have reading disorders or who have ESL(English as Second Language) students who might be afraid to read long wordings. Besides reading, we will also include a similar working introduction in our blog post to ensure people won’t have much access to wifi(e.g. Using data to view resources on the phone) or other people who might have hearing problems.

Photo by Logan Nolin on Unsplash

Reference

Teaching in a Digital Age. Interaction. Retrieved from: https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

In this week’s reading, we have been introduced by concept “Inclusive Education”. According to Inclusive Education Canada, it is about design our educational resources that all students can learn and participate together. It is aim to create an open and inclusive learning environment for students that have different learning style/needs to access to quality educations in a “responsive, accepting, respectful and supportive way”. One topic I want to address on this blog post is: “How will your interactive learning resource specifically ensure that the needs of all learners can be met?”

Image from blog post: Inclusion: A Belief in What is Possible for EVERY Student

From my point of view, it is always hard to met everyone’s needs at one time. However, there are always more things as a course designer can do: provide more options for learners and give learner opportunity to choose. Initially when I think about inclusive learning, I only consider those students have the “Special Needs”. For example, students with disabilities. However, when you consider each student as an individual, you will realize, everyone is special and have their needs in learning. One learning method will not necessarily fit to all people. In the interactive learning resource that our team going to build for our final project. We are providing student with a blog link that they can access at anytime any place as they like if they have the internet access. We also will also provide downloadable learning package on our blog for student to access information offline.

During this special COVID-19-time, user can access and communicate with other learns through this website. In each blog post, we will provide texts, video, and images to help us explain the learning content in many ways. In this way, student will have selection of how they access to the learning resource. Some student like to learn from reading, some student like me likes to watch videos to learn. We will also be careful to choose the wording on our blog post to keep it simple and easy to understand. In this way, learner from different learning age group can easily absorb the knowledge they like.

References

What is Inclusive Education. Retrieved from: https://inclusiveeducation.ca/about/what-is-ie/

With our group, I choose the learning method: open pedagogies. Unlike the traditional learning method where the instructor is the key person leading on learning. Open pedagogy is more of a learner-driven learning method with the support of open learning resources (OER). According to BCcampus OpenEd, there are 2 components included in this method:

• Open: this refers to OER where learning resources can be easily reached in the public domain with an open license.
• Pedagogy: refers to the method of teaching, focusing on how people teach instead of what we teach.

Using OER to support learning increases student’s access to the learning material they need and will help improve the learning outcomes. Implement the OER in teaching increases student’s opportunity to higher education material. One key point that havens been mentioned in various search is by using open learning resources it reduces the chance where student working on some disposable assignments where student finished it and then they never touch those work again. in the open pedagogy class, students will be asked to “revise” and “remix” the core OER learning materials that instructors provide and create their own work/project that can be a benefit to other students in the future. When students making the learning/teaching material, it requires them to dig into the detail of the learning topic to find the most useful core information that can present to another student.

Few attributes related to open pedagogy according to Hegarty (2015) that reflect in our blueprint design:

• Participatory technologies: we will present our topic on a blog where everyone can access
• Innovation and creativity: not like traditional class, learners learn on our blog sites through readings by their own, we will also provide different open resource for them to choose what they want to read or watch;
• Sharing ideas and resources: discussion forum will be provided to learners who have access to this blog to share their ideas and thoughts;
• Connected community: this blog is a community for everyone to share and get connect with others;
• learner-generated: although there are different posts and topics they are all open to students to read based on their own choices. We don’t control where they start but suggested due days will be provided as a guide for them to keep on track of their learning.
• Reflective practice: self- assessment assignments will be provided to learners on our blog so they know how they learned.

One other example of using an open pedagogy method in our blueprint is we will ask learners to create an open learning source based on what they learned from our site and post their learning outcome on-site so the future student can also view it. Our blueprint topic is “Sleep Guide During COVID-19” where is held on a blog. We will give introductions and different sub-topics on each post and students will need to complete their learning resource at the end of learning based on the information we provide them which also includes multiple open resources they can reach easily online. Students can choose any format they want to form their learning resource, e.g. video, info graph, blog etc.

Image is from Australia’s Science Channel

Reference:

Hegarty, B. (2015) Attributes of open pedagogy: a model for using open educational resources Educational Technology, July-August

Response to other students’ topics

I really enjoy SAKURA Wu’s post about Experiential learning. From my perspective learning by practice can give student much deep impression on what they learn and will be helpful for them memorize they key information we want the learner to learn. In her post, she included a diagram which visually helped me understand how “experiential learning cycle’’ looks like. As we are working in the same team. the topic she researched on can easily reflect to our learning. Because sleep as a daily activity that everyone will be doing everyone. They easily reflect what they have learned to their daily life.

I also learned something different then what I had researched about open pedagogy in Vince Yue’s post this week. In this post, Vince mentioned that OEP is about openness and unlimited possibilities. Where give learner more then they can do in their learning experience. I have not thought about that in my researches. The way how Vince’s team’s blueprint to engage student is to ask student participant in some activities that can encourage student to look and share their learning result. I am curious to see their project at the end about the advertisements influence consumer purchase behavior as this is closely related to our daily life.

One thing that gives the most impression to me in this week’s reading is when Destin Sandlin telling about his story of learning backwards bike. In his video, he mentioned about “knowledge does not equal to understanding”. This story reminds me of learning English Grammar when I was in China. Most student start to learn English Grammar (word, phrases, clauses, and sentences) since middle school. I am definitely not a “A” student in English learning when I was in China. Grammar is confusing to me even until today. The biggest confused part is verb tenses as there is not a verb tenses in Mandarin Chinese. When I start learning English, my mind is still working as Mandarin mode. I feel it is really hard for me to understand how English sentence group together. Usually when I given my answer to questions, I was based on the existing pattern in my mind (Mandarin). Although the instructor was teaching English Grammar “Knowledge”, my mind is still in my old pattern. Also, as a person who learns better when I’m practice in real world environment, I feel it is really hard for me to switch how I react and speak English. This is a great example of behaviorism learning pattern. Although I can react to the simulate situation (English test) but not all my reaction a correct as I was translating my answer from Mandarin to English in my mind and then answer.

Photo by Clarissa Watson on Unsplash

After I move to Canada, speaking and reading English become a daily routine. I have to switch my mind from thinking as Mandarin first then translate to English, then think straight through as English mind set. And after 5 years, sometimes I still have problem with him/her when I am trying to talk to another person too quickly. In Mandarin, although we have different character for he/she/it, but they sound exactly same when we pronouns them. Usually, when I have conversation with others, I have thought about who I’m referring to first in my mind and then speak. This reflect to how I try to apply Constructivism learning in my learning process: “An emphasis on learner control and the capability of the learner to manipulate information [actively using what is learned]”(Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

A funny fact as how Destin learning backwards bike I found during my learning process is: sometimes I feel I forgot how to speak/write Mandarin if I’m trying to express something supper quick. Since I’ve been live in Canada for several years, English come my daily “first language”. When I try to response to friend quickly in Mandarin, for some words, I feel it is supper hard for me to translate the word’s meaning to Mandarin and express it quick. It feels like I suddenly forget how to speak Mandarin. But, if give me a little time (several minutes), I will be able to pick it up again.

Reference

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.

Hello everyone, my name is Shuhao Jiang and you can call me John as well. I come from Shanghai, which is a modern and populous city in the east of China. It is also one of my favorite cities. This is my last semester studying in Uvic and my major is Economics. Currently, my educational goal is to graduate successfully and learn as much as possible from other people. After I graduate, I plan to work in a bank or an investment department of a company.

I love reading, cooking, and going traveling with my friends. I am good at playing basketball as well. I had taken EDCI 337 and EDCI 339 in Uvic before. Personally, I think it is very interesting and flexible to take online courses. I really love the way that I can manage my own study time and  pace by myself. I am looking forward to learning with all of you. Thank you.