This week I focused more on multimedia learning through different tools and platforms on the internet, specifically H5P, Sketchnoting, and WordPress. I have used Sketchnoting before in a couple lessons, to help students get excited about the learning ahead. Sylvia Duckworth has some great youtube videos that use Sketchnoting in a way for primary students to even use! WordPress is a resource that is more applicable to middle years students and up, but since it involves many different parts, and would be difficult to take on with younger students. I could see Wrodpress being a helpful resources used alongside google classroom, or a tool like H5P to blog and reflect on their learning. This brings me to my main focus this week, H5P.  

Working with H5P

Prior to this lab, I was not aware of H5P as an online resource to create different videos, games, presentations, and formative assessment tools for students that were catered for a certain topic or student(s). This tool excites me, and pushes me to discover more about what it has to offer as a multimedia tool to enhance student learning. A pedagogy that supports the HP5 tool would be an inquiry-based approach. This is because it helps students formulate questions, which they will continue to investigate through games, and resources that were created by the teacher, using HP5, to build understanding on a certain topic of interest. I can see myself using H5P in practice to curate resources and interactive activities for my students to promote student engagement. I am interested in teaching primary students, and at first thought it might be challenging to work with younger students and technology. I think there are meaningful ways to incorporate technology into a primary classroom, but choosing the correct resources and building off of them. Creating simple games, and videos to help students explore different topics would be beneficial to student choice and voice. With choice accompanied by having scaffolding in place so that students can be successful in their learning. Using a tool like H5P, would support inquiry-based learning and help students discover new topics in a safe manor while using the internet.

There are many learning principles that an interactive H5P video would have if done thoughtfully. One would include the multimedia principle so that students would be able to learn from both words and pictures, instead of just words. Another principle in a well thought out H5P video would be the modality principle, because people learn better from graphics and narration, rather than graphics and printed text. Within the video one would also include the signalling principle, which focuses on cueing the learner in on key points that should be highlighted. Lastly, the spatial contiguity principle helps the learner comprehend more information on a topic when words and pictures correspond on the screen together at the same time. These principles are explained more in depth from the article “The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning.”

References:

sduckworth100. “Sylvia Duckworth.” YouTube, YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/sduckworth100/videos.

Mayer, R. E. (n.d.). Introduction to Multimedia Learning. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 1–24. doi: 10.1017/cbo9781139547369.002

Expectations & Background — EDCI 337

During this course, I am excited at the opportunity to expand my previous knowledge with platforms like WordPress, and learn more about how to navigate Microsoft teams to further advance my learning. The heavy technology factor does scare me just a little. I wouldn’t consider myself the most tech-savvy person, but I am ready to dive in and give it my best shot! I hope by the end of this course I become more comfortable with multiple platforms, so that one day I can use the platforms and share my knowledge with my future students to help enhance their own learning. I cannot wait to learn and grow with my fellow peers, and work with/alongside my learning pod throughout this course!

Last year I took my first technology focused course at the University of Victoria, Technology Innovation in Education (EDCI 336.) That course really opened my eyes to the possibilities of multimedia education, not just for university students, but different ways to bring it into a primary setting as well. During the course, we had weeks focused on specific platforms and/or themes for us to work through as a class. I loved learning with all my peers, and being able to share our experiences through our WordPress blogs that we created. Prior to taking that course, it was challenging and a bit overwhelming to see how one could bring technology into a primary classroom effectively. That course was so impactful for me, because it pushed me out of my comfort zone with technology, while also giving me resources and a wealth of knowledge and information to take forward with me in my future teaching career. 

The Difference Between Technology-Centered & Learner-Centered Approaches

When it comes to multimedia learning, there are two general approaches one would take, either Technology-Centered, or Learner-Centered. Technology-Centered approach focuses more on the use of technology in terms of accessing information, while a Learner-Centered approach is using multimedia as more of an aid to learning, not the focal point. Both of these approaches are focusing on how the learner can take in information and do it in the best way possible, a multimedia way of learning. Below is a graph that helps breakdown and depicts the different approaches.

Thoughts & Facts — Multimedia Learning

The basic principle of multimedia learning is the idea that students are more engaged in their learning when it includes multiple means of getting that information. The theory itself isn’t as recent as one would think with technology taking off in the last 50 years. It actually dates back to the early 1600s. I believe that with technology being so prevalent in everyones day to day life, there is no fighting a multimedia way of teaching. This is due to the fact that learning happens constantly when one interacts with the world around them. I can’t wait to experience more multimedia learning myself throughout this course!

References:

5 Examples of Interactive Teaching Styles: Resilient Educator. (2018, April 6). Retrieved from https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/5-interactive-teaching-styles-2/

Mayer, R. E. (n.d.). Introduction to Multimedia Learning. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 1–24. doi: 10.1017/cbo9781139547369.002

The Hidden Importance of Teaching With Stories. (2016, March 21). Retrieved from http://ajjuliani.com/hidden-importance-teaching-stories/