Category: edci337-blog

What assessment ideas have peeked your interest?

Topic 6, ‘Assessment of Active and Passive Learning and Using Multimedia Tools in Game-Based Learning’ has two main assessment ideas that are interesting. These assessment ideas are:

• Design with the End in mind: The main focus is the Understanding by Design (UdD) and the Backward Design process.
• Formative and Summative Assessments

My interest was peeked by the Formative and Summative Assessments.

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments are necessary in capturing the learning process. This assessment is used in identifying learning gaps, inducing better understanding, and testing whether the learning outcome has been achieved. The formative assessment is mainly used to prepare students to tackle the summative assessment. It may be inform of practice questions, in-class quizzes, and practice papers.

Summative Assessments

Most students are familiar with this form of learning. It involves the use of final exams. It has been traditionally used because it cost efficient and conforms to the learning experiences given in most schools. It is usually used in creating a grade by testing learning outcomes within a short time. It is mainly disadvantaged because it is summative and does not provide feedback to allow the learner to improve. Nevertheless, it is still used in most flipped learning classes because of its ability in assessing the final learning outcomes.

References

Edmentum. (2019, September 6). Formative and summative assessments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjcI9y_qH9o

Madland, C. (n.d.). 6. Topic – Assessment of active and passive learning and using multimedia tools in game-based learning. EDCI 337. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci337/2021/06/12/6-topic-assessment-of-active-and-passive-learning-and-using-multimedia-tools-in-game-based-learning/

Describe differences between SAMR and SECTIONS

With the availability of several multimedia tools and applications, it has become necessary to gauge which method to use for purposes of learning. In choosing any multimedia technology, it is vital to remember that the main purpose is the success of students in learning the concepts being taught. Therefore, teachers often wonder on how to choose from the different multimedia tools that are available. Two theories have come up that are used in the evaluation of the most appropriate tools at any particular time, SAMR and SECTIONS model.

SAMR

It stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.

It should be noted that SAMR could be viewed as a ladder. A beginner starts at the Substitution to augmentation stage where they only replace the old way of doing things with the new technology. After this, they go to the transformation stage where they start from modification and go to redefinition.

SECTIONS Model

The word SECTIONS is an acronym of several words as shown in figure 2. In selecting a multimedia, it is important to work with SECTIONS.

Make sure that the multimedia covers the Students needs and Easy to Use. The media should be Cost effective while have all Teaching functions. In addition, it should allow for Interaction, Organizational compatibility, and Networking with outside experts. It should also be Secure.

References

Bates, T. (2019). Teaching in a digital Age – Models for media selection. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/9-1-models-for-media-selection/

H. L. (2017). SAMR model: A practical guide for EdTech integration. Schoology Exchange. https://www.schoology.com/blog/samr-model-practical-guide-edtech-integration

What Multimedia Principles do Infographics use?

McCue (2021) in his video on infographics, Introduction to infographics with Canva & related multimedia learning principles, highlights several multimedia principles that are used to create effective infographics.

McCue (2020) says that multimedia principles are used to make infographics into learning objects and learning activities. The main idea of using multimedia principles in creating infographics is that people learn from words and pictures rather than from words alone. These multimedia principles are signaling principle, spatial and temporal contiguity principle, coherence principle, and self-explanation principle.

• Signaling principle

When cues are added to the infographic, it becomes easier to understand. It is a method of reducing cognitive load by highlighting the most important information.

• Spatial and temporal contiguity principle

It is easier to learn when the student can easily match the words with the corresponding pictures.

• Coherence principle

The principle states that it is easier to learn when extraneous material is excluded from the infographic.

• Self-explanation principle

An effective approach is that people will learn more effectively when they generate their own self explanation during learning. An infographic helps learners to seek self-explanations by allowing them to select information, make logical connections, and find graphical representation of the information.

In conclusion, infographics elucidate complex information in a clear and concise manner. They are multimedia tools used in the learning process. Being multimedia tools, infographics use several multimedia principles to enable the learning process to take place.

References

DeBell, A. (2020). How to use Mayer’s 12 principles of multimedia [Examples Included]. Water bear learning. https://waterbearlearning.com/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning/

McCue, R. (2021, February 20). Introduction to infographics with Canva & related multimedia learning principles [MP4]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1k3deWbw2c

Which multimedia learning (MML) principles did Dr. Ray Pastore now follow in his video about MML principles?

Dr, Ray Pastore says that the multimedia learning principle is ‘a combination of words and pictures is better for learning than from words alone.’ To learn this principle, it is necessary to have a starting step.

It is necessary to note that there are three types of memories.

• Sensory memory
• Working memory
• Long term memory

The sensory memory picks up what has been seen (visual) and heard (audio). In the case of multimedia, it picks up visuals from illustrations. The narrations/words are either text/written or sounds from the presenter. Texts would go to the visual part of the sensory while sounds go to the ear.

At this juncture, it is necessary to note that a mixture of both illustration and text could overload the visual sensory memory because the learner has to split between looking at the picture/illustration and reading. It is, therefore, necessary to combine an illustration with narration (sound). This idea supports Dr. Ray Pastore multimedia principle. If the text has to be there, it should be short and precise.

The visual and audio from the sensory memory go to the working memory and are rearranged to make meaning to the user. Additionally, the information that is stored in the long-term memory is retrieved and integrated with the current information in the working memory.

In conclusion, going back at Pastore’s multimedia principle, it is vital to combine words and pictures. Words and pictures do not overload the memory, but increase cognitive processing.

Bibliography

Pastore, R. (2018, August 16). What is multimedia learning? What is multimedia?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-sknUVq1mk

Can you relate to the PowerPoint examples? Describe some of your experiences. What where they missing?

It is quite astounding how David Phillips, in the video How to avoid death by PowerPoint, makes the process of making attractive and effective PowerPoints very simple. Phillips is quite articulate and describes five concepts that should be used in creating PowerPoints. These five concepts are:

• One idea per slide
• Working memory – use points rather than sentences for easy memorization.
• Size – the main point should be the largest.
• Contrast – to guide the reader to the important section in a slide.
  • Dark – the background of the presentations should be dark to give clarity to the writing and to keep the focus on the presenter.
• Objects in a slide – avoid placing many points/objects in a slide. Six points are ideal.

Personally, I can relate to Phillips’ example because I have also had ‘near death experiences’ due to poor PowerPoints. I usually find many PowerPoints by my colleagues at work jammed up with content. These presentations are less effective in transmitting their message. One of the main ideas of learning theories, such as cognitive theories, is ensuring that the learner retains what they have learnt (Mayer, 2014). However, with a poor presentation this cannot be achieved. I believe that what these poor PowerPoint presenters are missing is the video by Phillips. Phillips points out that it is better to have one idea in each slide and create more slides, than to have many ideas in two or three slides.

Bibliography

Mayer, R. E. (2014). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia (2nd Ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Phillips, D. J. How to avoid death by PowerPoint. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo