Peer Review for Learning Resource

Link to Learning Resource:

https://foodstudiesforbeginners.wordpress.com/

The website is very appealing and well designed. The links to different pages and resources all work which shows the quality of work is very good. I like how the learners are also informed what kind of instructional approach they will experience in the learning design. One thing I would recommend is to specify that target audience because I think it will make it easier for learners to gauge whether the resource is for them or not. Correct me if wrong, having a vague target makes it more difficult to prepare a resource that would be ideal to a certain learning context. The technology choices that the team chose for their learning resource fits their resources and learning theory. Going through the learning modules, I thought they were all inclusive learning materials and they provided a lot of knowledge to the learner. I thought the use of Padlet works well because learners will be able to join a community of other learners that are currently also learning the material. This ties into the instructional theory of constructivism really well. The community improves the learner’s experience. I think this structured very well because when I started to do my review, I already saw some comments that other learners have posted on the different activity boards that you have. Another thing that I really enjoyed is the use of having an assessment after every module rather than having a final exam. This improves the retention of knowledge for the learner. It seems to me that the assessment structures are all the same, they are all multiple choice which can be less interactive than a mix format assessment. It is very helpful that you guys include more resources that learners can access if they want to learn more about the subject. One thing that I would recommend increasing the interactivity and make it more constructivism is to include some activities in which the learner has to do something, for example, they can take a video of themselves practicing food safety procedures. I think this would improve the amount of knowledge and retention the learner will have. This is also a direct example of constructivism because the learner is making their own knowledge.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed using your website as a learning resource, the website is easy to navigate and well optimize. One thing you mentioned about reducing the barriers for learners who don’t have computers. I think some of the resources may be too long for learners to use with their data plans. Since data plans are so expensive in Canada, that limitation would be a barrier that is hard to eliminate. I think this you could reduce the resolution for the images when they are being viewed with a smart phone. The video resources could also be reduced to accommodate this barrier. Aside from that, I think the learning resource worked well and I was able to improve my knowledge about food safety and healthy diets. I am interested to see what the final project will look like.

Learning Resource Prompt

Learning English 101

The lesson above will encourage learners to follow along with the examples that are being presented in the video. The interaction that is encouraged in this video is user-generated interaction. The video doesn’t explicitly encourage the learner to interact with the material. Learners watching the material may voluntarily interact with the material to improve their learning experience (Bates, 2019). Learners are most likely to take notes, follow along, and role play with their peers. I would suggest to the learner to practice what they learned in a live conversation with one of their peers. This will also increase their cognitive understanding of the material and it will help store the knowledge in their long-term memory. This will also improve their pronunciation and comprehension of the English language. Learners would use traditional medium to perform the activity because it’s the easiest way to do the activity. In the current learning environment, digital medium could be used by using computers to do a voice chat to carry out the activity. Feedback for the activity would be peer review and also by instructors providing direct feedback on the quality of response learners use. Instructors would provide the feedback by using a messaging application and or directly by video call. This activity can easily be set up and would not take too much effort by the instructor. The instructor can set up teams between the learners in the beginning and assign them different units that they will need to practice after watching the video. A good program that is easily accessible is Microsoft Teams, this would be the medium that would be used by instructors to connect with the learners. This activity would be worthwhile because learners will be able to practice with their peers’ different units and be able to improve their English responses. The learners will get direct feedback from their peers and instructors on their responses that they use. This activity would be very easy for the instructor to scale up because there isn’t much management and preparation that needs to be done. It doesn’t matter how much the activity gets scaled up, it doesn’t amplify the amount of work that the instructor would need to do.

Other Resources

Follow the link below to view other learning resources

bhttps://xuejingyu.opened.ca/prompt-inclusive-design/

https://learning902740180.wordpress.com/2019/10/19/summary-of-social-learning-leaders-hashtags-communities/

References

Bates, A.W. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. Vancouver, B.C.: Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teaching-in-a-digital-age

Assessing Interaction

Blog Prompt 3

Learning Resource 4 All

The interactive learning resource that I want to develop will be made with consideration of all the potential barriers that learners may have. Similar to the scenario of fairness vs equity, the goal of my interactive learning will be to remove the barrier for all learners so that everyone is able to learn. One of the main barriers that learners suffer from is dyslexia, many students are affected by this. This will be addressed by creating audibles of the resource so that students are not just limited to reading. The entire learning process will also be recorded so that learners are able to review the lecture. The recording of the lectures will also have close caption by using a dictation tool that will be display it in various languages. Students that have difficulties with notetaking or English is their second language will be able to review the resource anytime they need. This will make it more equity for the learners no matter what their barrier is. A disability that some learners may have is being deaf. This will be solved by using a dictation tool that will translate the speech of the instructor and other learners to sign language. Many apps are now available to make it simpler for learners to learn. The learning resource will also be very visual so that it can encourage cognitive thought and help learners with their decoding of the information. Every learner is different, some are visual, hands on, or theoretical. The resource that I hope to make will provide the same learning outcomes but in different formats. This will make it more accessible for every student that have unique learning styles. There will be some limitations in removing all the barriers to learn. In some cases, inclusion of students with very unique disability will not be possible. In this case, the learning resource will be modified to fit the needs of the learner.

Blog Prompt 2

Service Learning

Service learning is a different way for students to learn while also contributing to their community or another community. In this learning environment, students learn while participating in community work. The benefit of service learning is that it provides students with some practical skills. This is similar to the term “learning on the job”. There are many subjects in which this learning environment is perfect because it provides the students and the community with some opportunity to learn and grow. Many institutions offer service-learning course structure that send students to different countries for them to learn while helping developing countries. The students benefit from this because they are able to broaden their world view and have a deeper understanding of the other cultures. Antonia McGrath, an adversary for this type learning gave a speech on Tedx Talk on why she thinks that this type of learning doesn’t provide good results because of the effects that it has on the communities that receive the students. In her speech, she explained that as a student, they are inexperience with the subject matter and because of this, they contribute subpar contributions that creates negative effects. One of the main negative drawbacks comes from westernize students bringing their ideals to the communities that they are visiting while not completely understanding the local culture (Tedx Talks, 2018).

My group has decided that we would be creating a learning blueprint for teaching the English language to K-12 students. Service Learning would only be an ideal form of a learning if the students are ESL students who are being sent to an English language community to work in. The benefits of this are that the students will be over exposed to the language that they will be able to learn new words and improve their punctuation and have a deeper understanding of conversational English. This would not be an effective way to improve their punctuation and grammar. Service Learning has its strengths and weakness and is better suited for subjects that deal with culture and history vs. language learning

Reference

Tedx Talk. (May 31, 2018). Service Learning. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5kcPvDuQpE

Self Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Xiaoqing Zhang but you can call me Rena. I am an international student from Nei Mongol, China. I have been in Canada for five years and I’m in my final year of my studies at UVIC. My major is Statistics, I used to be in the Computer Science department, however, I became interested in Statistics. I am interested in pursuing my master degree in Statistic after I receive my undergraduate degree this summer. I became interested in this class because I like learning new ways to teach knowledge. In the future, I am considering of becoming a teacher or lawyer when I return back to China. I think that this course will be very beneficial for me. My hobbies are watching Korean Drama, hanging out with friends, baking, and shopping. I am looking forward to this course and meeting new friends in my group.

Blog Prompt

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