Media Literacy is the ability to recognise varied types of media and to recognize the message they are trying to communicate. We have a variety of media such as TV, radio, social media, advertising and so on. One of the things that they have in common is that someone created it for a reason and as receivers of these information, we need to try to understand their reason. In our digital age, anyone is free to create anything. We need to understand who and why they created this piece of media. Can we trust this source? Media literacy helps us to think critically, to become informed consumers of information, recognize different points of views and understand authors’ aim. It is advisable to be open to varied views in your PLN as it allows you to see things from different angles to develop a better knowledge; to see strengths and weaknesses on different things. However, one has to be careful and be sure whether the information that has been shared is factual or is it merely based on opinions. It is important to analyze any information critically; asking yourself whether the claims are being supported by evidence? Media literacy open discussions can create conflicts are they may cause debates as to which information is factual and what is not factual and how can this be determined. The initial source of certain information may have been changed completely in the process of sharing on multiple occasions. It is beneficial to have a PLN that values media literacy because you want to be sure about information that are being shared by individuals in your PLN.

(487) Social Media And Self-Image – YouTube

https://youtube.com/watch?v=C9N6k3nfwao%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Interactive learning is becoming very common in modern education. It has several benefits; for example, learning is more engaging, collaborative, hands-on, flexible and it can offer different learning styles to the learners.

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

For this task, I will use the behaviourist approach; it is “inherently interactive, as it forces learners to respond” (Bates, 2019).

I will use H5P.com to include certain activities such as comprehension questions; learner to materials interaction. The video will be paused at several points and students will need to answer certain questions in order to be able to watch the rest of 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?

For the designed interaction, students will have to complete certain tasks after watching the video, therefore they will use their own initiative to make notes and actively watch the video knowing that they will have follow up activities to complete based on the video.

Firstly, students summarize the keys points of the video and talk about a similar experience that they have heard or find another resource that relates to this topic. They will be able to choose their own learning style; they can present their work through a short paragraph or a video.

Secondly, students will write a blog following some prompts that will be provided to them. They will need to comment on two other classmates’ posts and add a link in their post. During this learner-to-learner interactive activity, students develop their communication skills and work collaboratively with other classmates.

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?

For the H5P comprehension questions, students will receive instant feedback. They will have the opportunity to attempt the questions several times.

Students will create their blog on WordPress. They will receive comments from the instructor and as well as theirs peers on WordPress itself.  

How could the video have been designed to generate more or better activity from viewers or students?

Perhaps, at the beginning of the video, the creator of the video could have included a reflection question that will prompt viewers to start thinking about the content of the video before watching it. Furthermore, there could have been a little pose before the interlocutor’s answers or responses. Thus, prompting the viewers to think about the question as if they were asked to them.

I think that my peer wrote an interesting sentence in her blog https://esltechnician.opened.ca/.

“The purpose of this discussion would be have learners look within, introspect and evaluate their present day beliefs and ideas”. The discussion would provide learners with the opportunity to do some self-reflection. This is a great way to make learning more meaningful to the learners as they are able to connect with what they are learning.

Peer review for Blog 4

Bates, A.W (Tony). Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. Pressbooks, 2018.

“Social Media And Self-Image.” YouTube, uploaded by Amaze Org, 11 Nov. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9N6k3nfwao.

I find the image where three young people are attempting to watch a ball game very powerful, it is a great example to demonstrate equality and equity. It highlights the idea that we should identify the barriers and overcome those so that all learners are able get the most out of their learning experience.

In my lesson, students will be offered the choice of how they can access the content, information will be represented in a variety of ways, for example, I will provide reading materials, videos for visual and auditory learners. I will also use the interactive resource on H5P to create some formative questions that students can answer while they are watching a video; this will help them check their understanding, if they grasped the key points.

I will offer students different options through which they can express themselves and demonstrate their learning; they can write an essay or present their work in a video or infographics.

I will provide various means of engagement. Learners will be able to collaborate with other learners through discussion sessions and this will allow them to feel part of the learning community. They will also have the opportunity to reflect on their learning, completing self-assessments; for example, they can have a better insight on how they learn best.

In my lesson, there will be mixed abilities discussion groups. I believe that it is a great way to help learners without special needs to develop the “cognitive effort required to explain themselves and [to benefit] from the contributions of peers with SEN from which they can learn”. (Roldán, Marauri, Aubert and Flecha, 2021).

If ever there is a pandemic, I will adjust my lessons to ensure that all my students are able to access the learning. I will implement blended learning, synchronous and asynchronous. Sometimes, not all the students are able to access their lessons if it they are being taught synchronously. Perhaps, there is only one computer in a household and if more than one learner has to use it to attend their classes, then some of the learners are bound to miss the synchronous learning. Therefore, by including asynchronous content in my lesson, my learner can access the learning content in his or her own time.

I was reading a peer’s blog ESL Technician (opened.ca) and I found that it was very interesting that they have modified their plan, changing in from a debate to a role-play in order to ensure that all the learners could benefit from the learning.

Peer review for Blog 3

Roldan, Silvia Molina, et al. “How Inclusive Interactive Learning Environments Benefit Students Without Special Needs.” Frontiers in Psychology, 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8116690/. Accessed 1 Jul. 2023.

Instructional approach: Inquiry-based learning

According to Queen’s university, inquiry-based learning harness the curiosity of learners. The responsibility for learning is often placed on the students, encouraging them to arrive at an understanding of concepts by themselves. (Queen’s University, 2023).

This learning approach makes learners more inquisitive and prompts them to find the answers to their questions, hence increasing their knowledge and competencies. Learners are active and they discover information individually, in pairs or groups. As an instructor, it is a good idea to choose topics that are of interest to the students, hence they will be more motivated to find out more about the subjects and learning becomes more meaningful. It is a also great opportunity for learners to share their knowledge and skills in the learning environment. Another Important element of inquiry-based learning is reflection and feedback from peers and instructors as it is a way to check learning. Inquiry-based approach encourages students to become self-directed learners and they learn to work collaboratively.

Inquiry-based learning aligns well with one of the blue print task on “Influence of social media users on us and our self-esteem”. Students will conduct research to answer a couple of guiding questions, which will be provided by the instructor. They will also analyse those guiding questions and create some sub questions that would be relevant to the guiding questions. Then, they will devise their own questions to find out about things that are of interest to them but making sure it is relevant to the topic. Coffman encourages instructors to “facilitate inquiry throughout the learning process to guide students in higher order thinking by having students question and reflect on their findings” *(Coffman, 2017, p.18); I will implement this in the research task because it is always good to evaluate information that we receive. Finally, students will communicate their findings in a blog post on Word Press.

For the blueprint, another member of the group is implementing the open pedagogy approach and I find that this is another interesting approach. Instead of being consumers of information, students become creators of information.

Inquiry-based approach is becoming more and more popular in the world of education; for example, International Baccalaureate schools find great value in this method.

Peer review for Blog 2

Coffman, Teresa . Inquiry-based Learning. 3rd ed., Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.

Queen’s University . “Inquiry-based Learning.” Centre for Teaching and Learning, www.queensu.ca/ctl/resources/instructional-strategies/inquiry-based-learning#:~:text=What%20is%20Inquiry%2DBased%20Learning,by%20themselves.%20Lee%20et%20al. Accessed 23 Jun. 2023.

Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?

During a previous course that I completed, I had the opportunity to be exposed to the cognitivism method. As a result, I learnt so much during that course, I was so impressed with the progress that I made in my learning journey.

Learning was more relatable because I was reflecting on what I already knew and then I was able to link those to the new learning situation. This gave me a lot of confidence because it reminded me of the things that I already knew and then I was able to use my existing knowledge as building blocks to learn something new. This did not only enhanced my knowledge but gave me a better understanding of my capacity to reflect deeply on knowledge and skills that I had previously acquired.

As mentioned by Ertmer and Newby in their article, I also believe that “instruction must be based on a student’s existing mental structures, or schema, to be effective” (Ertmer and Newby; 7).

I recall the use of analogies in the lessons, it was very helpful to use comparison between things to help with explanation and this is stated by Ertmer and and Newby “designers use techniques such as advance organizers, analogies, hierarchical relationships, and matrices to help learners relate new information to prior knowledge”(Ertmer and Newby; 8).

Regarding motivation, I believe some learners are motivated to learn when they receive rewards, it could be tangible by receiving good grades or prizes or intangible; when they know they understood what they were trying to learn, the light bulb moment! I agree with the second video “The Backwards Brain Bicycle” which states that knowledge is not equal to understanding. I find the BC concept-based curriculum and instruction and its effects on learning very impactful; the link between Know, Understand and Do.

I believe that in teaching, a cognitivism approach gets students more engaged and it is a great skill that we develop in students to better equip them not only in their future studies but in their life experiences too.

Peer review on Blog 1:

Ertmer, Peggy A., and Timothy Newby. “Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism.” Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology, 2018, https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism. Accessed 2 Jun. 2023.

BC Curriculum . “Curriculum Redesign.”, 1 Jan. 2023, curriculum.gov.bc.ca/rethinking-curriculum. Accessed 2 Jun. 2023.

Learning Pod: 4
Peers’ Names: Li, Summer, Zhao, Ziyi, Dean, Zili
Interactive Learning Resource Topic: Artificial Intelligence
https://classroom.google.com/c/NjE2MDUwMDU5Njkz?cjc=64mf4np

Identify components of the Interactive Learning Resource that might be missing (e.g., appropriate outcomes, alignment, interactivity, inclusivity, technology use and rationale, presentation, grammar, spelling, citations, etc.).

Thank you very much for sharing your Interactive Learning resource. It is a very interesting topic and I like your subtopics too. I think they align quite well together as you explore different fields with regards to artificial intelligence. I might have missed it but I do not seem to find the rationale for the technology use and a description and rationale for the learning design that you chose.

Provide a summary of The Interactive Learning Resource’s strengths and weaknesses. Draw out specific examples from your peers’ work to justify your feedback.

What is AI?

It is great that you have provided the students written information about “What is AI?” as well as a whiteboard animation to support visual learners. I really like the fact that you have included a survey to receive feedback from students about the course. However, I am not sure if you intended to repeat the video twice, you might want to check this.

AI within mobile

You have provided an engaging video to help students understand the concept. However, regarding the optional question, I cannot seem to find the submission box where students can submit their answer.

AI within inclusive learning

You have provided the learners with different options of questions to choose from, that is great! For the first reading activity, unfortunately I cannot seem to find the article to read.

AI within Economy

I like how you have provided some questions for your learners to consider while watching the video. It is a great way to get students to actively watch the content and it also helps them to identify key information from the video. In addition, it is a great way to differentiate for your learners who require extra support.

However, you may wish to include an introduction to your topic; you can include the learning objectives.

AL within Health Care

I think it is great that you have provided a rubric for your final assignment; it is a great way to inform students about your expectations and it helps them to better succeed. However, I would suggest having a little introduction to your topic so that the students have an idea about what they are going to learn and they will be aware of the learning objectives.

Art

I like how you have provided options to your learners for the final assignment. In addition, you have offered optional videos for your students to watch should they wish to. Just a suggestion, perhaps you would like to include a little quiz about the first video that they will be watching, just as a warm up activity.

Provide general, specific, and practical recommendations to your peers on how to improve their Interactive Learning Resource.

I think this interactive learning resource has a great variety of learning resources and activities; for example, there are essay questions, quizzes, Zoom meetings and videos. What is also great is that in many activities, students are given the options to choose which questions they would like to answer.
I think it might be something that was missed; perhaps you might want to adapt the title of the last subtopic so that it matches the other subtopics. Secondly, in order to improve your presentation, you may want to consider reviewing the indentation of the question and answers for the very first question “When the introduction of AI leads to the emergence…”.

Well done for creating this resource, it was very interesting and I have learnt a lot about artificial intelligence! 🙂

It can be quite challenging to build a reputation and trust in a connected culture but it is definitely achievable if you follow the right path. With regards to dynamism, you need to know if the individuals in the network that you want to follow are full of energy, vitality, and enthusiasm. Are they constantly seeking new opportunities, experiences, and challenges? Are they willing to take risks in order to achieve their goals?

Concerning reliability, you want to be sure that you are aware of the organizations that the individuals that you follow work in and the type of network that they follow.

In terms of participatory, you would want to follow individuals who are actively posting and engaged in what they do. In addition, you should consider whether they follow useful and relevant network and if they contribute to other peoples posts.

I believe that it is great to help one another. I leverage healthy relationships from my PLN by proactively participating in discussions with my seniors or mentors. I share relevant and helpful thoughts even if the discussion is not necessarily directly related to a topic of my interest.

Prior to engaging in a social media campaign, you should consider connecting with individuals are interested in the same topic of interests as your campaign. You should communicate your concerns and try to find out whether they have similar  opinions as you on the topic.   

Personal Learning Network can be very helpful in connecting people because you are able to share your ideas, resources and offer your assistance to your social network and in turn you can benefit from what others have to offer. However, it can also be problematic because if you tend to follow networks that have the same opinions, values and vision as yours, you may limit yourselves to what you only know or interested in. Thus, if you as an educator are familiarising yourself only with certain network you may be biased and less open to new ideas in your pedagogy. Hence, this can have a negative impact when you are teaching your students.

Social media in education has many benefits. It can help enhancing communication, information sharing, educational opportunities, and networking opportunities.

YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook can be helpful social platforms that students use for learning, especially in the form of video format. Facebook and Instagram even help students share and exchange knowledge through live sessions, messages, and interactive communities.

However, some of the issues that we can face when using social media in educational settings is that it can create addiction, cyberbullying, distraction, and provide false information.

The use of social media in the vulnerable sector can be challenging for various reasons, for example, a vulnerable person may not be fully capable of using social media without the assistance of someone else. They may need to rely on others to assist them and they have to be sure that they can trust this individual. Some vulnerable people may not have a full understanding of how social media operates. In addition, their information may be misused and they may not be able to safeguard themselves.