Month: March 2023

What kind of interaction would the video require from your students? Does it force them to respond in some way?

I think that this video is a great example of user-generated interaction, where the students are encouraged to independently reflect on the material that is being delivered (Bates, 2019). A main goal of teaching race to young students is to allow for personal interpretation and encourage them to think about their family and their own characteristics, in comparison to those around them. Although this video is not inherently interactive, because it does not force learners to complete stages of learning before allowing them access to further information, I think that using a Sesame Street video encourages interaction from students because it adds an aspect of fun and familiarity. Most students grades K-3 have likely watched Sesame Street or seen Elmo before, allowing them to feel interested and comfortable with the delivery of the information.

In what way are they likely to respond to the video on their own (learner-generated)?

I think the learner generated response that this will promote is students beginning to consciously acknowledge their own, and others’ features, and what looking different actually means. Although it is known that children become aware at a young age that people look different from each other, the conversation where Wes’s dad Elijah explains melanin to Elmo, will allow students to think “this is the color of my skin, eyes and hair and this is the color of my parents my parents”. This will promote many questions, and the acknowledgement of why their classmates may look different than them.

How could the video have been designed to generate more or better activity from viewers or students?

To generate more activity and measurable interaction from students, I think this video could have added the Sesame Street characters talking to the students, where the video would ask a question to the viewers, such as “Elmo’s fur is red and Wes’s skin is brown. What color is your skin?” This could be helpful in guiding students’ thinking, while still allowing user-generated interaction and use of their own experiences. Some technology also requires the intervention of the teacher to assess learning and promote interaction (Bates, 2019), so the teacher could also make pauses throughout this video and ask the class questions, since the video does not explicitly do it.

How will you address any potential barriers for your learners in the use of this video to ensure an inclusive design?

In order to address learning barriers, I think that it is important to first understand what students already know about the topic, and what they struggle with, and then to build off of that. A potential barrier is that since the interaction is learner generated, it is difficult to assess the level of interaction from students, and the struggles some students may experience in understanding the material. I think that adding the aspect of pausing the video and the teacher asking the class questions, or doing exercises will ensure an inclusive design. This allows for the teacher to assess the students’ understanding, address their struggles and then provide guidance and feedback, while including the possible barriers of all students.

References

Bates, A. W. (T. (2019, October 10). 9.6 interaction. Teaching in a Digital Age Second Edition. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

Explaining Race. (2021). Sesame Street In Communities. YouTube. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk_HYAiS26I.

This weeks content discusses the importance of designing for inclusion, where it is stated that “human rights law requires education providers to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities” (Right to Education, 2020). Many students, including those without disabilities, experience daily struggles that prevent them from making optimal learning progress, which is why instructors are shifting away from teaching for the “average learner”, and working to make education more inclusive. Using interactive learning, specifically through technology allows for students to engage in the learning process. I think that my group’s interactive learning resource will be successful in engaging all learners, as students will have some choice in the information delivered, and therefore will be the facilitators of their learning. This aims to eliminate personal barriers that some learners may have.

Our interactive learning resource is a digital storybook teaching children grades K-3 about race, which will be presented in class via a smartboard, so that students are able to come up and engage with the material in a hands-on form. Our primary goal for our interactive digital storybook is for each student to gain insight and understanding on their race and other races, through their own and their classmates’ experience with the material. To ensure that all learners’ needs are met, various forms of delivery will be used, such as activities, group discussions, games, videos, all of which will be both visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and some incorporation of reading/writing.

Bates (2019) discusses how high quality learning and interaction can be provided equally well in an online learning context. I think that our interactive learning resource would translate well into online learning if an unexpected event such as a pandemic were to arise. Parents could be sent this digital book, where they would guide their children through the activities. Parents would also benefit in being able to choose subtopics that are specifically relevant in their families culture and values.

It is clear that online learning can feel very lonely, and after reading the material on the need that we all have to interact, I think that to accommodate online learning with our digital story book, the teacher could add a section where students would be able to view their peers’ activity. For example, if each student were to create a family tree, these could then be visible to all students so that they can learn about and interact with other students in the class’s experiences as well. Some possible barriers however could be that because families do not have smart boards at home, they would be doing the digital book learning and activities through a computer, so students would not be able to come up and use the smartboard and navigate through the material through touch. Also, families with low SES may not have access to a computer, or only have one computer for multiple siblings needing to complete schoolwork.

Overall, online learning involves trial and error but with a well designed interactive learning resource, room for feedback, and access to help, interactive learning can be promoted for all types of learners and is a successful way to facilitate an inclusive learning design.

References

https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/category/designing-for-inclusion/

Bates, A. W. (T. (2019, October 10). 9.6 interaction. Teaching in a Digital Age Second Edition. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

Inclusive Education Canada. (2020). Right to education. Retrieved March 4, 2023, from https://inclusiveeducation.ca/learn/right-to-education/

Students participating in a smartboard activity. (n.d.). ViewSonic. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.viewsonic.com/library/education/benefits-of-interactive-learning/.