Peer review for Learning Pod 3

Group members: Chantale, Conrad, Claire, Anna

Topic: Learning Language through Music https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LiKuEt-ZfW3FgDv7xFGKph3EegRkudqNDgS4VWG4kk0/edit?usp=sharing

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.).

Within the description and rationale section of your document, I noted some potential citation errors.

  • For example, with the first citation (Good, 2011) the connection between the first portion of the sentence and the connection to the direct quote at the end of the sentence seems to be missing a word or two to join these thoughts and make them cohesive.
  • Regarding the second citation, (Gkonous et al.) it seems to be that the year is missing here. To fit your current sentence it would look likely look like “Gknonous et al. (2018)”. I did also notice that there may be an inconsistency with the spelling of this reference as the in-text citation includes “Gkonous” but in the references section it is put down as “Gkonou”.
  • To touch on the 3rd citation in this section, it seems that the source MIT is missing a date and is also not included in the final reference section.

Within both the Canva presentation and document, I noted some potential spelling errors/ sections that would excel with more clarity.

  • For example, on the Canva slide titled “singing activity” it is stated: “have as conversation in breakout rooms…”. I believe this is a typo and “as” should be replaced with “a”.
  • I also noted that the Canva slide titled “official knowledge about language acquisition” did not have a citation. I am wondering if a citation is missing here.
  • Additionally, I loved the use of the introduction questions within the Canva presentation but I was not able to locate those questions in the document. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong areas, but I would recommend adding them to the document if they are not already.
  • Finally, on the document under “singing activity” the sentence reads “We will listen to the song a 2-3 and then sing along….”. I am wondering if “a” should be removed in this sentence and “times” should be added so the sentence reads instead as, “We will listen to the song 2-3 times and then sing along…”.

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

  • I love how engaging your Canva presentation looks! The use of colour and creative design on each slide was aesthetically pleasing to view and really grabbed my attention and engagement.
  • A lot of creativity is evident within this learning design. I really enjoyed that one of your main activities was to have the students sing! I think this is a great way to engage students and strongly relates to your learning topic.
  • It is clear that you thought critically about what the students will need to engage with your topic. I specifically like the education on the “2 G’s and the 3 C’s” prior to having the students engage with the French song. This addition demonstrates that you have anticipated and identified a potential barrier within the students, for example, not being in the right mindset before learning, and sought to be proactive and address it.

Weaknesses

  • I think a stronger emphasis could potentially be given to the inclusion of diverse learners within your learning resource. While you did mention the technology adaptations such as that Zoom and Canva are both free and accessible through wifi and data, I would have loved to see a deeper analysis of the specific UDL accommodations that you are implementing within each of your activities. Additionally, you mention that you are addressing a single parent that has 2 children, but that your target audience is an elementary curriculum. I am wondering if it is realistic that an adult would find the same benefit of the lesson if it is anchored towards an elementary education or if this should perhaps be modified.
  • While I appreciate that a discussion of the learning resource is included in the Canva presentation, I feel that it may be too long as it covered over 2 slides. Given your elementary audience, I think a brief and concise discussion that can be expressed through a single slide may be more suitable.

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

Learning pod 3 has put forward a great amount of effort and detail within their Interactive Learning Resources. Some specific recommendations would be:

  • To reduce the use of direct quotations. To ensure that the resource highlights your voice and your insights, I would advise to paraphrase when possible and if you do decide to use a direct quotation to keep them very brief and as a rarity within your resource. Additionally, ensure that if you do use a direct quotation that it fits cohesively within your sentence and does not stand completely on its own.
  • To go through the presentation and document and read it out loud to yourself. Often times spelling or grammar mistakes are super easy to miss when we are the ones that wrote it! Using the strategy of reading each section to yourself should help with catching any minor errors.
  • To ensure that everything is consistent within the document. I would recommend that you double check all your references and verify that they are used correctly (ex. inclusion of dates) and spelled correctly in all areas. Further, to aid with consistency I would recommend verifying that every aspect within the Canva presentation is included in the document and vice versa (ex. introduction questions on the presentation).
  • To ensure all references are cited in APA. I noted that the references section on the document was titled as “Bibliography”. To remain consistent with APA I would recommend that you change the title to “References” in bold. Additionally, a double check on your references may be helpful to ensure there are no extra periods placed in there by accident. For example, instead of “… Daubney, M.. (2018).”, there needs to be only one period after “M” instead of two.