Post 4: Interaction

In this week’s blog post I explored the extent to which a medium enables interaction. In fact, there are three different ways learners can interact (William, 2019):

1. Interaction with learning materials: when students work with a medium independently and without direct intervention from a teacher or other students (ex. multiple-choice tests, textbooks, podcasts)
2. Interaction between students and teacher: when students are directed by their teacher to develop higher-order learning outcomes such as critical thinking (ex. online discussion forms, face-to-face lectures, e-portfolios)
3. Student-Student interaction: when students engage with one another to facilitate learning. The quality of this interaction will depend on a well-thought-out design from the instructor (ex. group work, self-directed discussions)

Technology can be a great tool for enabling all 3 of these learning interactions! Below I will discuss various prompts that pertain to my technology medium of choice which is a video on growth mindset.

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

This video will likely require interaction with learning materials from my students. However, the video itself does not force students to respond in some way such as through a built-in checkpoint activity.

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

Learners are likely to respond to this video through self-reflection. The video takes a scientific approach and educates students about their brain neurons and what happens to them when they face challenges. Thus, students are likely to covertly compare their new learning and understanding of their brain to their current views and ideas. Through reflection, learners will likely have a greater understanding of how understanding how their brain operates can better equip them to accept challenges through a growth mindset.

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?

After watching the video, students will engage in a written self-reflection where they will reflect on 1) one thing they found the most interesting, 2) one question they have or their biggest takeaway from the video, and 3) why understanding their brain could be beneficial for overcoming challenges. This activity will develop evaluation skills (deciding which concept they found the most interesting), analysis skills (questioning or forming a takeaway message), and critical thinking skills (thinking about how their new knowledge has an effect on their life). Students will post their responses on Padlet so all learners can benefit from each other’s answers.

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?

This activity is likely not to add much extra work for the teacher rather only extra time will be necessary to provide students with a chance to respond. The work will be manageable and worthwhile as it will provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their learning from a video (not passively absorb it) as well as demonstrate the learner’s understanding of the content to the teacher. This activity could absolutely be scaled for a larger number of students, in fact, having more students would likely create an even greater discussion allowing more students to collaborate.

References

William, A. (2019). 9.6 interaction. Teaching in a Digital Age Second Edition. Bates. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/