Month: August 2024

The draft that we have reviewed:

Interactive Learning Resource (Draft) ASSIGNMENT 2

Description of Topic and Learning Content

Strengths:

• Clearly explained why the topic is important and relevant; used sources to support ideas
• Clearly outlined how the needs of learners may be different depending on age and level of digital literacy
• An overview of all the Learning Activities helps the Learner understand the progression of the resource

Considerations:

• For the learning goals, we are wondering what specific skills learners will be able to use after completing the resource. For example, when learners can control their personal information, what will it look like? 

Learning Activity 1

Strengths:

• Accounted for different levels of digital literacy by including links to step-by-step tutorials for each step
• Took privacy concerns into account by outlining steps for changing settings

Considerations:

• How would you adapt this activity for somebody who wants to understand how Instagram works but does not want to make their account, even a private one?
• Is there a way to make the videos more interactive than just watching tutorials?

Learning Activity 2

Strengths: Encourages a comprehensive exploration of Instagram’s privacy settings, which helps learners understand the various aspects of content visibility, tagged content, and interaction controls.

Considerations:

• Some spelling errors
• Would all those steps be the same on any kind of device such as iPhone, Samsung, iPad, laptop, etc? If not, how would you include that in your learning resources?

Learning Activity 3

Strengths:

• Gave learners options for how they wanted to show their learning- the option to do a creative project

Considerations:

• How will you adapt this activity for Learners who are not comfortable making a public account?

Assessment Plan

Strengths:

• Quizzes give instant feedback and help learners determine their understanding of the content 
• The report will encourage learners to apply what they’ve learned in a real-world context.

Considerations:

• Should the privacy impact report be treated as an individual assessment? If it’s switched into a group assessment, we believe that it will provide learners with greater chances to exchange ideas and discuss their experiences with one another. 

General

Strengths:

• Your activities are very interactive as they require the learners to create posts using Instagram. 

Considerations:

• As you edit your draft, you may want to consider ways to divide your resource into clear sections, eg. using bigger headings, separate blog pages, spacing between sections, etc- it was a little bit challenging at times to go back and forth between different sections (hard to find where one section ended and another began)
• As said above ensure that you are using the bold font to clearly outline the bigger topics. Feels congested with all the bold text of the same size.

I recently discovered a video on YouTube titled “Learn to Speak English by Yourself: Imitation Technique” that offers a compelling approach for language learners. This technique revolves around learning to speak English through imitation, and it promises to improve various aspects of spoken English, including sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary.

Interactive Engagement and Learner Response

The video encourages an active learning approach, where students must engage with the content by practicing speaking. This inherent interaction requires students to listen to conversations, stories, or speeches, and then attempt to deliver the same content in their own words. Such a technique forces them to process and produce language actively, enhancing their speaking skills without the need for a conversation partner.

Students will likely respond to this video by taking notes on key phrases and sentences and practicing them aloud. The method of imitation naturally leads to repeated practice, where learners try to match their speech to that of native speakers. This learner-generated response can significantly boost their confidence and fluency over time.

Suggested Post-Viewing Activity

After watching the video, I would suggest an activity called “Progressive Speech Imitation.” Here’s how it works:

1. Start Small: Begin by imitating short phrases and sentences from the video.
2. Build Up: Gradually move to longer sentences and groups of sentences.
3. Full Speech: Finally, attempt to deliver an entire speech or story in your own words.

This activity helps develop listening skills, pronunciation, and the ability to form coherent sentences. Students can use recording devices or language learning apps to record their attempts and track their progress over time.

Feedback and Technology

To provide feedback, students can share their recordings with peers or instructors via platforms like Google Classroom or dedicated language learning apps. Instructors can use these platforms to give constructive feedback on pronunciation, fluency, and accuracy. Peer reviews can also be facilitated, encouraging collaborative learning and further practice.

Manageability and Scalability

This activity is highly manageable for both instructors and students. The use of technology for recording and sharing allows for efficient feedback mechanisms. Group activities can be organized for larger classes where students practice and review each other’s recordings. This peer-to-peer interaction can scale effectively, ensuring that each student gets ample practice and feedback.

Enhancing the Video’s Design for Better Engagement

The video could be enhanced by incorporating interactive elements, such as embedded quizzes or prompts that pause the video and ask learners to practice specific sentences before proceeding. This would ensure active engagement throughout the viewing experience.

Addressing Potential Barriers

To ensure inclusivity, it’s important to provide subtitles and transcripts for the video. This aids learners who might have difficulty following spoken language alone. Additionally, offering downloadable resources or links to further tutorials can help students who may need extra practice or different forms of content delivery.

By integrating the imitation technique from this video into our language learning curriculum, we can create an engaging, effective, and scalable method for students to improve their speaking skills. The combination of active practice, progressive difficulty, and constructive feedback will foster a more interactive and successful learning environment.

Comment:

Blog Post 4