Month: November 2021

This blog post is in response to https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/prompt-interaction/ and is about this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhpslN-OD_o

In what way are they likely to respond to the video on their own, e.g. make notes, do an activity, think about the topic (learner-generated)?

The video does quite a good job  tying different programming languages to pop-culture references or other topics that a learner unfamiliar with programming languages would understand. For example, in the video he states that COBOL is the language used for the Terminator’s UI display in the Terminator movies. The video also talks about what influences these older programming languages have had on the more modern languages, which “foreshadows” the strengths and weaknesses of those languages. Thus, I believe that the video successfully causes the learner to think about the topic in more depth than simply memorizing the different programming languages by using other topics that the learner would be familiar with, and thus giving them a more comprehensive understanding of how programming languages have changed over time.

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?

I think the activity that would generate the best feedback for the learner would be a questionnaire of short-answer questions, all about the general themes of the video rather than specific programming languages. For example, “What trends did you notice in the very early days of programming?” rather than “What does the L stand for in LISP?”. This way, learners are encouraged to think more critically about the information presented to them and engage with it more than simple memorization. It also would combine nicely with the topic of our interactive learning resource, which has to do completely with how programming languages have changed over time rather than any specific programming language. Since the questionnaire is simply short answer questions, it could be done online or simply written down on a piece of paper.

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?

Unfortunately, the best way to provide feedback is for someone to manually add qualitative comments on each learner’s answers. This way, the students can receive  more valuable feedback than simply correct/incorrect. For topics such as “which programming languages are easier to use?” and “how have programming languages changed?”, which is dependent on personal preference as well as a variety of other factors, it would be best to provide as qualitative feedback as possible.

How much work for you would that activity cause? Would the work be both manageable and worthwhile? Could the activity be scaled for larger numbers of students?

While this could be feasible for a single classroom of students, for a learning resource online it is not really possible. So, an alternative method would be to provide either several different possible answers or an example answer that touches on all the possible answers itself. For example, the answer to the question “What trends did you notice in the very early days of programming?” could be “I noticed that a lot of the earlier programming languages had to do with solving mathematical problems rather than programming things for everyday people. The earlier programming languages also seemed much more difficult to work with, and while each one was an improvement on the last, they all stayed very simple and basic compared to the ones showcased in the later part of the video”. Thus, the learner can still receive some qualitative feedback without the required man hours.

Disclaimer: I have not received the actual learning resource, so this review is based on the blueprint.

General Feedback

While Quizlet is a great resource for learners, I am not sure that it alone works as a Learning Resource. Rather, it is a tool you could use to great effect as part of a large resource. What is the information you are hoping to impart to the learner, and what experiences are you hoping they gain from having gone through the experience? All of the Quizlet sections mentioned in the Learning Resource are used after the user has some knowledge of the material in order to test them on it. What material are you planning on providing that will let the learner have enough knowledge on the topic that the Quizlet tools are useful to them?

Specific Feedback

• When listing the different sections of Quizlet, I would recommend bolding the names since (because the names are just words) that part of the draft is a bit confusing. For example, “These sections are Flashcards that offer a quick means of reviewing terms and definitions, Learn is a personalized study mode …”.
• A list of links is left in the resource. I believe it was the work in progress bibliography, but a complete bibliography is included at the end.
• Perhaps add some screenshots showing how Quizlet accommodates colourblind learners. I think that would be very helpful in showing the high-contrast options.
• I could not find a few parts of the Learning Resource in the outline. These are (as copied from the criteria):
  • A description and rationale for the learning design you chose (inquiry, project-based, direct instruction, etc)
  • A description of your learning context (K-12, higher ed, corporate, individual, etc)
  • Brief commentary about each topic and activity
  • One interactive activity for each learning outcome/topic based on a resource aligned with that topic (blog post, video, article, etc)
  • An overview of your assessment plan.
• Your sources and bibliography are quite good! Good job!
• I get the feeling that you are really passionate about providing education to families going through economic hardship, which is great!