Category: EDCI 335

Learning Pod: # 4

Peers’ Names: Qirui Du, Susie Wang, Yizhou Zhang, Ziqi Wang

Interactive Learning Resource Topic: Economics in daily life

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.).

– I think that the introduction could be a bit more concise and act more as an overview of the whole resource.  – It seems that the ‘description’ and ‘learning theory’ paragraphs are the same, which was likely a mistake. – I noticed some grammatical errors (mostly with the inclusion of quotes)

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

Strengths: – Effective use of blooms taxonomy verbs for learning outcomes – I liked the layout of each topic as it seemed very organized and was consistent for every topic – I really liked the ‘plans to design for the inclusion of diverse learners’ section and appreciated that there were examples of how it would be implemented. – The activities and assessments for each topic were all relevant and made sense in the context of the course material

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

Overall, your Interactive Learning Resource was engaging and followed a well-structured layout for the subtopics. I think that you strongly applied the material that we have learned in this class to make the resource interactive and easily understandable for learners. My main recommendation to improve your ILR would be to create an overview of the course that strongly highlights the importance of each topic and how the resource will help learners to understand economics better.

How will your interactive learning resource specifically ensure that the needs of all your learners can be met?

Reducing barriers to learning is an essential task for instructors as they are responsible for providing an inclusive platform for a variety of students. This can include ensuring that all students have the same access to resources, providing a variety of learning styles and keeping physical and mental health in mind. It is important to create accessible interactive learning resources because it allows everyone, regardless of their abilities, to access the same content. This helps to promote a more equitable and inclusive learning environment. In addition, creating accessible interactive learning resources can benefit not only those who may require extra support but can also be beneficial for all learners. By making learning resources more accessible, it can allow for more effective learning and better understanding for all students. It can also help to encourage more creative and collaborative approaches to learning.

To ensure that our interactive learning resource is inclusive and can support all learners, we will provide a special effort to make sure that all of the following points are included:

1. Ensure that all audio and video resources provide alternative text and captions to adhere to those with any form of hearing impairment.
2. Provide audio file descriptions for any text or images that are used to make sure those with visual impairments are being included
3. Utilize accessible colours that have contrast to support learners who may have colour vision deficiency.
4. Incorporate clear fonts as well as keep a clear design layout for learners to follow easily.
5. Design the resource with assistive technology in mind.

By including all of these in our interactive learning resource, we will achieve a more inclusive and equitable learning experience that provides students with the opportunity to learn more effectively and efficiently. Removing any potential barriers to learning creates an environment where everyone has the same chance to succeed in their educational journey. 

Open pedagogies is an educational approach that emphasizes student-centred and collaboration-based learning, as opposed to the traditional teacher-centred model. Below I have highlighted some key features that I believe to best characterize this approach to learning:  

1. Student-centred: Open pedagogies prioritize student engagement and direction in the learning process. Students are encouraged to take an active role in their own education and are given opportunities to design and direct their own learning experiences.

2. Collaborative: Open pedagogies foster collaboration and interaction among students, teachers, and communities. This approach values the sharing of knowledge and expertise and encourages students to work together to solve problems and achieve shared goals.

3. Open and flexible: Open pedagogies embrace the idea that learning is a continuous process that occurs in many different environments and contexts, both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. This approach values openness, adaptability, and the ability to accommodate various learning styles and needs.

4. Technology-enabled: Open pedagogies often make use of technology to facilitate learning, collaboration, and communication. This includes tools like online platforms, social media, and mobile devices.

5. Community-focused: Open pedagogies prioritize the importance of community and place a strong emphasis on building connections between students, teachers, and the broader community. This approach seeks to promote learning that is relevant and meaningful to the experiences of students and their communities.

Open pedagogies align well with the idea of lifelong learning and the belief that education should be a collaborative, student-centred, and ongoing process. This approach encourages students to take ownership of their own learning and fosters a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

In the context of my group’s chosen topic of sustainability in Victoria, I would believe that open pedagogies would be a very effective approach to support learning. Our learning resource is targeted at people who have recently moved to Victoria, therefore the open pedagogies approach would be beneficial in at least one way, as it aims to engage students by prioritizing a focus on community which would directly apply to our students’ environment. Another reason why open pedagogies would align with our topic, is through the use of technology-based learning, as the course is not only set up online but also incorporates a variety of online tools and resources to support the learning process. Most importantly, open pedagogies prioritize student-centred learning, which aligns with our learning resource because we want to cater to our students by having them learn at their own pace, take on an active role in the learning process, share and reflect on their own experiences, and encourage them to find ways to make sustainable changes in their lives that work for them as an individual. 

Resources:

Werth, E. and Williams, K. (2022) “The why of open pedagogy: A value-first conceptualization for enhancing instructor praxis,” Smart Learning Environments, 9(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00191-0.

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

Throughout my educational career, I have experienced a variety of classes and have noted many different learning styles provided by my instructors. The learning theory that I have noticed the most in classrooms seems to be behaviourism due to teacher-centred instruction and repetitive reinforcement. While this can be effective, I find that I learn best through a more constructivist approach that incorporates both aspects of behaviourism and cognitivism. One class in particular that I found fell under constructivism was my entrepreneurship class. 

At the beginning of the semester, my professor paved the way for which the course will be set up by highlighting that each student will be creating a product individually and that she would act as a guide to ensure success with a more hands-on approach. Within the first two classes, we were taught some fundamental strategies of entrepreneurship along with being encouraged to participate in our personal hobbies on our own time to spark creativity when figuring out what product idea we wanted to create. By the third class, we had to hand in a relatively large assignment with a product idea we created. I remember being quite intimidated and nervous heading into this assignment as I didn’t expect to be able to conceptualize a product so early in the course, however with the professor’s advice to engage in our personal hobbies and interests, I was able to come up with many ideas. For instance, I have prior knowledge and interest in houseplant care, so I was able to use that to create a product idea. Following this assignment, we were provided feedback from the professor along with engaging with other students to share ideas and opinions to enhance our ideas. Throughout the course, the professor instructed our lessons in a way that had us actively working on our product ideas and applying the course material to our personal projects. 

I really enjoyed this course due to the hands-on approach to learning and found that the professor made the class very learner-centred as she encouraged us to incorporate our previous knowledge and experiences. Overall I feel as though I have learned so much information from this course that will stick with me in both my educational and professional career.