Category: Assignment 1 – Blog Posts

The main practices for creating a meaningful story based on the article by Nayomi Chibana are and EDCI 337 Week 9 notes:

1. Adding engaging visuals for the audience 
2. Telling a personal or powerful story to captivate the audience, bring characters to life 
3. Creating suspense through tone
4. Pose questions to incorporate active learning
5. Show the audience about an event in the story by transporting them to a scene through speech
6. Build to a STAR (something they’ll always remember) moment 
7. End with a positive takeaway or learning outcome 

Reflecting back on my learning experiences, a learning situation where the use of video would be most effective I think would be chemistry labs. Looking back at my first year experience in chemistry, all the materials were still super new as well as the names of different tools in the lab. Even though we were all given a lab manual, I found that there were no pictures. I think if a video of how to do the lab/ steps was showed at the beginning of the lab, and it showed what the tools/ materials looked like as well, the lab would have been a less stressful experience LOL. The addition of some sort of cheat-sheet as well with images next to the steps in the lab would have also been more helpful for us visual learners. Overall, visuals/ images and better, simpler, descriptions would have benefited many students in these labs and in the lab manuals.  

For this week, I have chosen to attach a short storyboard script on the steps to helping a camper at summer camp who might be feeling homesick. I thought of doing this learning experience as a short story as I have personally had to help many young campers work through homesickness and any upset feelings that they may have when at summer camp. In my assignment I aimed to bring personalization to the story, transport the audience to the setting using visuals and descriptions of the scene. 

Please enjoy my first attempt at a storyboard attached below!

Storyboard Assignment:

Responding to the discussion questions:

In Rich McCue’s example of storytelling, what senses does he appeal to in his story? Which of the guidelines does he follow? Are there any that he doesn’t follow?

Reviewing the example of story telling by Riche McCue, the first thing he mentions in his video is the feel and smell of a new computer out of the case. He uses the visual and auditory elements to bring the audience into the setting of the story. This makes the story more personable and realistic as we have all experienced that feeling. The video continues to use visuals to tell the story and uses the personal experience of a student to make the overall goal/ learning outcome of the video more impactful. Using good tone, visuals with auditory text, and keeping the video short, Rich was able to make an effective video using a personal story of why you should back-up your laptop. The one thing I did notice that was missing was subtitles/ captions to make it more accessible. Although those can also be turned if you wish through YouTube.

Describe a meaningful learning experience that started with a story. What made it impactful for you? Did you recognize any of the storytelling techniques reviewed this week?

In past biology classes I have had profs start lessons or introduce topics with a personal story from their own learning experiences. These stories included the profs doing field work and collecting biological samples along with images of them doing this field work! This personalization aspect to the lesson also showed us the possible job opportunities we as biology students have! Some of the main storytelling techniques used include adding visuals elements and focusing on learning outcomes. The profs sharing their own experiences in the biology field helped us students better understand why we might be learning a particular topic/ method in class!

In the reading this week, 7 Storytelling Techniques Used by the Most Inspiring TED Presenters, which of the presenters did you find most compelling? What technique(s) did you recognize in their talk?

After going through this reading, I thought the second TED talk about domestic violence was very impactful. I found her tone of voice and experience on the matter powerful. The use of some props made the story real and had a powerful impact on the audience as well. Using Mayers personalization principle, the talk was very well done and brought a very important topic of conversation to light. 

What storytelling techniques have you used instinctively and which ones require more work for you? Which techniques will you focus on moving forward?

When I tell stories to my friends I love to use expressive body language and different tones of voice. Although, I do find that I like to talk A LOT. So I guess moving forward, some of the storytelling techniques that I could work on are being more precise and keeping the story on-topic. These follow the overall guidelines when it comes to storytelling of “Keeping it short” and “Focus on learning outcomes” / the goal of the story.  

References: 

Chibana, Nayomi (2015). Storytelling Techniques Used by the Most Inspiring Presenters. A collection of storytelling techniques and short presentations by skilled storytellers.

Shed, Nathanial (2019). Helping the Homesick Camper. American Camp Association. https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/helping-homesick-camper  

McCue, Rich. (2021) Why you should back up your Laptop. University of Victoria Library. Digital Scholarship Commons. from EDCI 337. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NIqt5y1wgw

Merrill’s 5 principles of instruction: 

1. Learning is promoted when learners are engaged in solving real-world problems
2. Learning is promoted when existing knowledge is activated as a foundation for new knowledge 
3. Learning is promoted when new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner
4. Learning is promoted when new knowledge is applied by the learner
5. Learning is promoted when new knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world

After learning and reading over Merrill’s different principles, I now understand why university courses are structured a particular way. I also have noticed why I might have learned material better throughout online school assessments compared to in-person assessments. As a biology major, a lot of the course assessments are multiple choice. Although over online school, the questions shifted to more long-answer and real-life scenario questions. As much as students might not be a huge fan of long answer questions, sometimes it is better to be able to explain your thoughts and problem solve to get to the answer. The skills behind this decision making process are more applicable in the real-world problems. I also now understand why you might need a prerequisite class prior to taking another class, as the knowledge you will have learned in the course is the foundation to build on new knowledge in the next course! Again, another one of Merrill’s principles at play. 

As defined by Shelly Moore in her video, backwards design is the process of identifying the goal and making a plan to meet that goal. It starts with the goal that the educator wants the students to meet, and then creating assessments based on that goal. Then once the goal and assessment is clear, you then create the lesson plan to reach that goal. Below I have attached an example lesson plan that teaches youth about the parts of the cell cycle. As I have never been in the position to have to create a lesson plan for learners, I did find this task challenging and appreciate any feedback in the comments!

LESSON PLAN ASSIGNMENT:

What authentic problem would you use to design a lesson using Merrill’s principles? What media or multimedia (interactive or not) would you create to support it?

Looking at Merrill’s principles, the main points that jump out to me are “solving real-world problems” and “new knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world”. Looking back at my courses taken during online school/ COVID, I felt that for some of my classes profs took more time in creating assessments and incorporated more real-world examples into tests. Majority of the online assessments were also open book, which helped us as students, expand and improve our note-taking skills and research skills. It is also always helpful at the beginning of the semester for all my courses that we reflect back on what we had learned the previous years. This allows us to think back to past knowledge learned and for us to be “activated as a foundation for new knowledge”. 

If I were to create a lesson using Merrill’s principles and involve a piece of multimedia, I would create an interactive lesson which includes hands-on activities and online videos with a reflection piece for assessment at the end. I am not quite sure yet what the lesson would be about, although I would take from my experiences as a learner and apply it to my lesson assessment. Using interactive media where the learner can get more hands-on experience I believe will provide a better and more inspiring learning experience, as well as be inclusive to those that are visual, auditory, and tactile learners. I also really found assessments that were open-book more helpful for my learning and understanding of the topic than closed book multiple choice tests. So as an assessment for my lesson, the learner would have to do research and a presentation to show their learning or create multimedia to express their learning. 

Where do you see constructive alignment and backward design used in this course or another course you are taking/have taken? Is there anywhere where it seems to be missing?

Constructive alignment refers to the alignment of our learning outcomes, assessments, and activities and is also a central to the concept of backward design! Defined earlier, backwards design is the process of identifying the goal and making a plan to meet that goal. 

I think the process of backwards design is missing within the sciences. From my learning experiences, there needs to be more of an activity based approach or different way of assessment to make the learning environment more encouraging for students. I think that this course (EDCI 337) is a good representation of backwards design and constructive alignment as we are given the task at hand (blog posts) and the tools on how to constructively answer the questions for the blog posts. 

After reviewing the material for week 8, I am actually surprised how far AI technology has actually come. Yes, I knew somewhat about the AI creating art-work through what I saw on TikTok, although I didn’t know that this technology was having such an impact on young artists. Generative Artificial Intelligence is the process of AI generating art and text, based on previous information. Looking at the Large Language models (LLMs), based on the article by Rushton it is said that LLMs have just become “really good at paraphrasing”. As noted in the example in the article, the system lacks the understanding of the text being written. 

Looking over the various AI tools for the week to explore, of course I wanted to try out ChatGTP as it has been all over the news. I also noticed that Quillbot was also listed as an AI tool. I have actually been using Quillbot for quite some time and never thought of it as a form of AI. I have always struggled with writing words down on a page in a way for the sentence to make sense and get the point across. So I have turned to Quillbot in the past to help me with grammar in my writing, putting things in chronological order, and organizing my thoughts. Overall, it has been a very helpful tool when I don’t have a roommate around to read over my writing for past tense vs present tense.

Having never tried using the ChatGTP program before, I started by asking a funny question of  “how long can I keep lunch meat in the fridge”, just to see what it would say. Not completely sure why I chose that question to test the program. Of course my next question was “summarize the first harry potter movie”……Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised when it responded with a very detailed instructive answer. Now, if I have a question about how to cook food, I no longer need to text my mother (LOL)! 

Using ChatGTP, I attempted promoting the program with the questions for the blog post to see what the result would be. I have attached the following responses the program gave me: 

What guidelines do you think should be in place to guide their use in an educational institution? What factors should be considered?

Guidelines for the use of AI in educational institutions should be established to ensure that the technology is used ethically and effectively. The factors to be considered include privacy, security, accessibility, and fairness. Educators should be trained to use the technology effectively and to address any potential biases in the data used to train the algorithms.

How might the use of these tools create a more inclusive learning experience? Who might be excluded?

The use of AI in education can provide personalized learning experiences that can benefit learners with different learning styles and abilities. However, AI tools may exclude learners who do not have access to technology or who are not familiar with its use. It is important to ensure that access to technology is not a barrier to learning.

What ethical concerns do you have (or not have) about the use of some of these tools?

Some ethical concerns about the use of AI in education include the potential for bias and discrimination in the data used to train the algorithms, the privacy and security of student data, and the potential for the technology to replace human teachers.

What might you use AI tools for moving forward? What would you not use them for?

AI tools can be used in various educational settings, such as adaptive learning, intelligent tutoring systems, and language learning. However, it is important to consider the ethical implications of their use and to ensure that they are used in an inclusive and effective manner.

Where do you think these tools will be in their evolution in 2-3 years’ time?

AI technology is rapidly evolving, and it is difficult to predict exactly where it will be in 2-3 years’ time. However, it is likely that AI will continue to be integrated into education, and new tools and applications will be developed to enhance teaching and learning. The development of more advanced natural language processing and machine learning algorithms is likely to further improve the effectiveness of AI in education.

It was wild for me to see just how easy it was for the program to generate the answers to these questions. I now understand why some profs/ schools are skeptical of the technology. 

I also choose to tryout some of the other AI tools including “Tome”. Below is attached a presentation that AI has put together about how to be a great Summer Camp Leader. The one thing I first noticed about the presentation is the very interesting artwork displayed in the slides. I also noticed that the slides had a lot of paragraphs, and the one thing when giving presentations is to have slides with short bullet points. What interesting features did you notice about the AI generated presentation? Link HERE.

References 

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. ETR&D, 50, 3. pp. 43-59. https://www.james-greenwood.com/instructional-design/toolkit/merrill/#:~:text=The%20premise%20of%20Merrill%E2%80%99s%20first%20principles%20of%20instruction,principles%20are%20necessary%20for%20effective%20and%20efficient%20instruction.%E2%80%9D%28p44%29

Carolina Knowledge Centre Team, “Teaching the Cell Cycle and Mitosis.” Carolina Knowledge Center.https://knowledge.carolina.com/discipline/life-science/teaching-the-cell-cycle-and-mitosis/

Moore, Shelly (2019). Backwards Design: A great way to move forward. YouTube Video. Backward Design

Stable Diffusion (All images in blog were created using this tool)

Rushton, Edward (2023), The Great LLM Debate: Does ChatGPT Really Understand?.LinkedIN.

ChatGTP

Tome

I chose to take this course to become more familiar with multimedia learning theory! As a Biology student, I have never been introduced to this type of material before and am not familiar with these different practices. I am currently on a co-op term working with ONC’s (Ocean Networks Canada) Learning and Engagement team. Some of my roles for my term include engaging young audiences through presentations and online platforms! After looking over the course outline and description, I think this course will perfectly align with different tasks within my job, and help me find other ways to engage youth using media/ online platforms to help effectively educate others on ocean literacy. Overall, my goal this term is to learn new ways to engage and educate others using online media tools.  

For my blog post I decided to add an examples of: 

1. Interactive media: “…the transformative ways that people share information and ideas through creative uses of technology” (Elon University). Text, graphic, and audio media that is integrated into digital environments. Examples of interactive media include social media apps such as Facebook and video games. 

2. Multimedia: “… To communicate the message in the form of picture, sound, video, animation.” (B.C.A Study). Combines the elements and text and graphics to make information more interesting to the audience. 

3. Interactive multimedia: “… dynamic technology that requires certain input from the user in order to deliver a set of information through words, graphics, images, or videos” (Angela Farrer, 2023). An example of this includes moving pictures, animation, and video. 

All of these examples are great ways to engage your audience! Other then using text to present material, adding audio and pictures help those who might be visual or auditory learners gain a better understanding of the topic. I think interactive multimedia is the most engaging tool as it combines both the interactive element and use of online tools for learning! 

Sources (APA format): 

Dhir, R. (2022, October 13). Interactive media: Definition, types, and examples. Investopedia. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/interactive-media.asp  

Elon University. (n.d.). About the program. Elon University. Interactive Media. Overview. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.elon.edu/u/academics/communications/interactive-media/overview/about/  

B.C.A study. Unit- 5: Introductory concept of multimedia. B.C.A study. (2020, April 29). Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://bcastudyguide.com/unit-5-multimedia/  

Farrer, A. (2023, January 13). What is interactive multimedia? EasyTechJunkie. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-interactive-multimedia.htm