Category: Assignment 3 – Final Review – Module 3-5 Blog Posts and Comments

This module was a lot of fun! Playing around with branched storytelling and video creation was challenging, but was very creatively stimulating. I enjoyed learning about the different techniques for video creation, such as the use of active learning and visual elements for emphasis.

Branched Story – Twine

Creating a (short) branched story on Twine was a lot of fun. It was interesting to use the site, which had a lot of built-in features for simplicity (such as HTML rendering support). This type of interactive, non-linear story was reminiscent of certain online, role-playing video games I used to play a long time ago. It really aims to challenge the creator creatively – while there are technically a finite number of paths the player can go down, there are plenty of ways to maintain engagement.

One such idea I can think of is the notion of having ‘main areas’ and ‘sub areas’. Main areas could act as the familiar zone or main branching point where the player often returns to. This could create a sense of continuity and discovery as new areas or paths are unlocked and reachable from this area. On the other hand, allowing for discovery down new, branching paths keeps the player engaged (and there can be as many branches as the creator wants to add!).

For the purposes of this module, I made a very simple game which meant to test this concept. There were two initial options: the yellow door, or the blue door. Choosing the yellow door presented a new area, but also gave the option to ‘return’ to the starting point. This allowed for more flexibility (if properly fleshed out) and non-linearity.

Video Creation – Pizza Tutorial

One of the challenges I found when creating the video was finding a good balance in terms of video length – it was difficult for me to keep the video short, given the assumption that viewers / learners would need some time to visually digest the information.

I took a different approach with the video, choosing to re-create a common style of cooking video that is popular on platforms such as YouTube.

For the purposes of engagement, I chose not to narrate the instructions. Rather, I decided to use simple subtitles / captions and an upbeat background music selection (royalty free) similar to other cooking videos.

I also attempted to use text and visual aids together where possible, in order to maintain consistency and accessibility.

Wave Accessibility Check

Running the Wave Accessibility Check on my Module 1 blog post revealed mostly Contrast Errors – looking further, it was apparent that changing the font color for some of the sidebar links would have improved visual accessibility.

This wasn’t a huge surprise to me – this was one of the default site template settings that I hadn’t changed, and it’s clear at first glance that the color choices could be more optimal. Moving forward, I’ll plan to change these colors to be more visually accessible.

Infographic

I decided to use Canva to create an infographic based on an NBA team called the Boston Celtics, which was a team that won last season’s NBA Championship. I attempted to apply as many relevant design principles as possible – notably, I made an effort in using proper alignment between different sections, as well as using contrast in different areas to highlight statistics and key points.

I also attempted to use repetition and negative space – specifically, I tried to keep the infographic colours consistent and thematic. The team colours of the Boston Celtics are green and black, so I utilized black, white, and different shades of green in different areas.

Overall, I really enjoyed this module and the challenge of creating an infographic that adheres to good visual design principles. I referenced an existing infographic design when creating mine, which I believe has benefits and drawbacks. The obvious benefit is having a starting point as to the layout and structure of the content. However, not all templates necessarily follow good design principles, and restricting yourself to a certain template might limit your overall design unless you’re comfortable with making adjustments along the way.

For this module, I chose to re-visit the screen-captured lesson I created back in Module 1 regarding Flexbox in CSS, and make it interactive. I did so by introducing some interactive text elements, as well as a multiple-choice quiz which serves to reinforce and check the viewers’ learning.

Lesson Planning Template

This lesson template is applied to the above video regarding Flexbox, and acts as a way to provide an overview of the key concepts and learning outcomes I intended to share in that lesson.

Reflection

• What was your experience of trying out H5P? Which of the activities do you think you would make most use of in your teaching context and what would you use them to do? Which ones do you think require the most resources to create?
  
  I found that H5P made it very easy to add interactivity to a lesson I had previously created. While I only tackled it at a relatively surface level, for the purpose of teaching I would definitely continue to apply knowledge checking interactivity such as occasional multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank testing, which I believe reinforces learning outcomes and helps learners remember concepts in the long-term.

• In the reading, Students Need to DO Something, do any of the author’s experiences with passive learning in K-12 classrooms resonate with your own? Why do you think active learning is not more prevalent in K-12? Have you tried using any of these activities in a classroom? Which one looks most appealing to you?
  
  Jennifer Gonzalez highlights a few suggestions regarding the incorporation of active learning in the classroom, along with identifying some issues with the generally prevalent passive learning structure. I agree with some of her ideas, particularly how she highlights that students often don’t have a means to meaningfully apply the learned information. This is true even in higher education – the information flows seems to cycle between instruction, independent study / practice, assessment. However, depending on the subject, it might be difficult to integrate every lesson with some interactivity / active learning, which is why passive learning is the ‘default’ structure. Of all the solutions Jennifer highlighted, I personally resonate most with mini-projects, discussion, and collaboration, as I believe these activities can be implemented at every level of instruction and are very useful for learning.