Author: learningjourney (Page 2 of 2)

This week we looked at assistive technology and how to make learning more accessible for all learners. We learnt about what accessibility is for different learners and their needs. In one of the videos we watched, there were many different needs that each learner had that they described and their reasons for needing it. This ranged from needing larger text displayed to needing information presented in different manners either auditorily or visually. We also discussed what digital accessibility is and how different websites are either more or less accessible for different learners. How things like contrast, links, screen readers and other factors either increase or limit the accessibility of a website or other digital sources.

We also discussed how making technology more accessible to those who need it also creates a better experience for all learners using these sources.

After having these discussions we each altered the videos that we created in our first in-person class and added captions to them to make them more accessible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQNLyGqhcqE

Another element of technology that we looked at that can make things more accessible is adding alternative text to images that are on our blogs and doing this moving forward so that we can continue to improve our blogs and make them more accessible moving forward.

This week in class we had the opportunity to visit the Digital Scholarship Commons where we had a 3-D Design and Printing workshop. During this workshop, we learnt about the uses of 3-D Design and printing in K-12 classrooms. I had never had hands-on experience with anything to do with 3-D design or printing but I have heard a lot about it so having the opportunity to try it for myself was a great experience.

We had the opportunity to design and submit our creations for printing, there were so many different ideas and everyone had the chance to be creative and express their interests. I chose to make a fish key chain, I had to find an image of a fish that I liked and then import it into TinkerCad. TinkerCad is the program that we used to design the object or item to be printed, using this platform was a bit of a learning curve. Trying to figure out how to manipulate the objects, how to create certain shapes and how to adjust the perspective were a few things that took me a second to understand. But once I did, I had such a feeling of accomplishment and success, I was very proud of myself in that moment.

One way that I think this technology can be used as a cross-curricular learning opportunity is when connecting it with history. Specifically, by re-creating historical landmarks or historical artifacts, by doing this you can bring the structures and the artifacts into the classroom without having to get the actual object or go to the space. Let’s think about Stonehenge, a very famous monument. This monument is in a completely different country and on a different continent so; by creating the structure by using 3-D printing, you can bring a piece of history into the classroom to touch and see not just as an image.

I am hoping to teach in the 2-4 grade level and a pro of using 3D design and print in these grades is the amount of creativity and freedom that this technology provides. You can create anything you can think of and that is such a valuable lesson for learners, that there are no bounds to creativity and that if you can think it there is a way to create it. A con that I can think of, however, is the fact that there is a bit of a learning curve that may deter some students. The program that we used, TinkerCad, was a little challenging for some of my classmates to understand so it may be even more challenging for those who are younger. Also, the fact that it is on a screen and not a tactile project may not be the best for some students. Overall I think it is valuable to think of ways that you could use 3D design and print in the classroom and modify it for the age you are teaching.

This is the fish keychain I designed

Some of the major limitations of generative AI mainly revolve around the information that the AI is being given. If the information is biased then the AI will also be biased, this can result in biased results that may discriminate or marginalize underrepresented and minority groups solely based on the information provided. Another limitation of generative AI is the fact that it will try and help to the point of going too far and just creating or citing information that does not exist or has not happened. So you must always double-check the work and information that is given to you by generative AI because it may not always be correct. Generative AI is also completely reliant on the information that it is given and there is not always a way to check the information that it is being given and who is giving the information to the generator. When using a generative AI resource you also have to be very particular with the words that you use and the requests that you make so that you are given exactly what you asked for.

Check out this video on human bias in AI and how we can keep it separate.

Some ways that I have found GenAI useful for educational purposes have been around citations and citation generators. Having to cite papers and articles in writing was new in university and not something I am very good at, so using generative AI to create the citations has been very helpful. Another way that I have found generative AI useful is through Grammarly, which is an app that you can install and looks over any writing for grammar mistakes and gives suggestions on how to structure sentences and spelling corrections.

You can take a look at Grammarly here: https://www.grammarly.com/.

EDCI 336 – Weekly Reflection

This week we took a look at educational resources and the tools that are available for teachers and students. We created an interactive video on a website of our choice, my choice was The Spinnacle Yarns website a local yarn shop. Creating the interactive video allowed me to look at video creation differently. Having to create an interactive element of the video made me look deeper into how videos can help teach learners difficult information while continuing to have confirmations throughout that make sure learners are paying attention and engaging with the information. Including different confirmations such as questions or polls can also gauge how many students are interacting and how well the information is being retained.

My video

The multi-media learning theory describes how the use of multimedia is beneficial for learners if used in the right way. Multimedia is a combination of media, this could be text and image, image and sound, or text and sound. It has been found that the combination of text and sound, such as someone reading the text, is the least impactful combination of media. The combination of image and sound is the more impactful combination, where there is an image related to the topic on the screen as someone speaks in greater detail about the topic. For example, if the topic is goats, having an image of a goat on the screen with very little text while the speaker goes into greater detail about the information. This combination allows for learners to be engaged in the subject matter and learn from the speaker while simultaneously having external stimulation that can continue to engage them. By using this knowledge of multimedia learning theory, instructional videos and tutorials can be improved to limit the amount of text on the screen and increase the amount of information that will be retained.

In video image citation: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/step-by-step-sweater