Category: edci335

Post #5: Peer Review (Group 8)

June 19, 2021 / dotlc / 0 Comments

My first thought after looking at Pod 8’s Interactive learning resource is how wonderful and professional it appeared! Everything is very well presented, cohesive and aesthetically pleasing without the graphics or visuals overwhelming the viewer too much. The table of contents is a nice touch many often forget, and is incredibly useful especially when working with as many slides as in this particular resource. I cannot begin to imagine the care and consideration that went into just this aspect alone, it is clear Pod 8 put significant thought into all aspects of their learning resource.

I am normally against having a significant amount of text on a slide show like this resource displays, primarily because there are several studies that suggest that the human brain doesn’t do a very good job of absorbing information in that way. However, this is greatly mitigated by their decision to include audio recordings of all the text. This choice was made in order to aid ELL and dyslexic students to fully participate in the course. The touch was nice, as well as the other considerations such as speaker notes underneath each slide.

There was an element of this that confused me a bit, the audio recordings on each slide in addition to some other aspects made it difficult for me to discern which parts of the resource were meant for the educator and which for the student. I understand this is partly because of the requirements for this particular assignment, as there is some information you might not normally include in a resource such as this outside of the course. None the less it seemed to me to switch very quickly from one to the other leaving me occasionally feeling a bit lost about the actual target audience. It could perhaps be made a bit clearer with colours differentiating for teacher vs for student, or possibly slightly different organization?

Overall, however, the ideas on mindfulness and brain breaks are well organized and presented. I can see this being an incredible resource not only for teachers but also anyone who finds themselves working with groups of children. The additional outside resources such as videos and colouring sheets were a nice addition, and make this a very comprehensive tool for anyone who might have had the good fortune of coming across it. Great job Pod 8!!

Resource: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12DPkkY5v8EpEdW8iixby0AH5whE48rVKBIewVZyTVQA/edit#slide=id.gbb3ccd7b2a_0_0

Post #4- Interaction

June 15, 2021 / dotlc / 0 Comments

Source – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1gMUbEAUFw

This video is one in which the students follow along as the video demonstrates by music and visuals how to do this specific dance. In this case, the dance is the cha-cha slide accompanied as it always is by the song cha-cha slide. However, the video itself doesn’t prompt this interaction directly except perhaps a few subtle visual cues that may indicate that the purpose is to follow around. However, I think unless it was presented as something to follow along too many children would not pick on a cue such as pointing to his feet when he stomps as an instructional demonstration of sorts.

I think the ways students might respond is extremely dependant on the situation and location they find themselves in, even unprompted in a gym class or open space where they are standing some may dance along. However, in a seated classroom it seems more likely that many students would likely simply watch the video and make no move to copy what they are observing. In order to truly get all the students involved, I believe some introduction or prefacing would be necessary.

If used in a learning environment, I would encourage the students to follow along. Depending on the age group and their skill level, possibly do it several times to allow everyone to begin to feel more comfortable. Besides a video screen, everyone would only need themselves and some physical space to effectively participate. It could be an excellent transition activity, allowing students to warm up and gain a greater sense of physical literacy before breaking into groups to create their own dance.

If I was to recommend some changes to the video itself, I believe some more direct prompting to follow along would be a positive addition. Perhaps a visual or audio prompt at the beginning to “get up and try it for yourself” could be a good addition. While many of the visual effects make the video more fun and engaging and even more accessible, they at times go a bit overboard and distract from the actual dancing. Some simplification or removal of some of these effects would be helpful, and still maintain the enjoyable and dynamic style of the video!

Post #3 – Inclusive Design

June 7, 2021 / dotlc / 0 Comments

The beauty of dance is that it is universal. While there are many dances’ individuals may choose to learn, the actual base experience of dance is not really something that can be taught in a classroom. The experience of moving to music is almost instinctive, and it is partly because of this that many individuals consider dance to be a universal language. There is no such thing as someone who cannot dance, and therefore a well-designed dance unit in instructional settings is one that can be adapted for all dancers no matter their skill level, age or physical abilities.

Our interactive learning resource explores a bit of this topic, discussing how a dance unit may be designed and adapted to accommodate ELL students. Dance instruction doesn’t necessarily require spoken words, making it an excellent choice for students still in the process of grasping a new language. Additionally, our first lesson contains an option for students to share their favourite music which could allow ELL students to share music in their native language and share it with their peers. Similarly, this unit could be adapted to suite hearing impaired students by adapting some of our lessons to rely on visual cues as opposed to verbal. If possible, music with enough base can provide deaf students with a similar connection to music as their hearing counterparts.

Students with physical disabilities can be adapted for as well, whether that is teaching dances using more isolated areas of movements (such as many popular TikTok dances that use primarily arm movements) or adjusting further to allow for more rhythm-based participation. A great deal of our interactive learning resource is dependent on what the students choose to do with themselves, such as creating their own dances. This allows all students to adjust to their comfort and abilities while still having a fun and impactful learning experience, no matter their knowledge, ability or experience.

Post #2- Learning Design II

June 3, 2021 / dotlc / 0 Comments

The way we teach and learn has evolved significantly over the last century, and will likely continue to evolve as technology and other advancements make their impact on learning environments. Much of the general population is unaware of how recent many teaching methods are compared to others, and many are misunderstood. Cooperative learning is frequently misinterpreted, despite it being one of the most common teaching methods to have surfaced in recent years (Johnson & Johnson, p. 365.) Cooperative learning is an educational method that emphasizes cooperation as a method of learning, and while groups are an important aspect of it, they are only one part of the approach. There are five primary principles in cooperative learning, the first being positive interdependence, then face-to-face interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal small group skills and finally group processing (Zach & Cohen, p 91.)

A fundamental aspect of Cooperative learning is the goal of creating “structured positive independence” (Gillies, p. 41). An ideal cooperative learning environment gives students the opportunity to learn as a group, as well as the knowledge and constraints that this learning is only possible using their whole group. When utilized properly, it has been shown to be hugely beneficial “cooperation was more effective than interpersonal competition and individualistic efforts; cooperation with intergroup competition was also superior to interpersonal competition and individualistic efforts” (Gillies, p. 39) Additional to these academic benefits, there is frequently a social benefit especially with younger students for whom socialization and peer interaction is arguably just as important a lesson as the classroom content itself. While groups are the base of cooperative learning, many approaches exist that work off this base.

A popular approach to cooperative learning is the “think, pair and share”, in which students consider a question or problem on their own and then when prompted turn to another and work on it with each other, finally, pairs share their conclusions with the larger group. Another common system is the Jigsaw approach, which has several different subsets but relies on groups being deemed “experts” in one area or subject. Students move to other groups to learn about something their group is not the “expert” on before returning to their original group, or sometimes the class, to share their new knowledge.

At its very core, cooperative learning is essential to dance. There is virtually no dance that does not require at least some aspect of group work, whether that be with a partner or simply being aware of those around you during line dancing for example. In some ways, the more common methods of executing cooperative learning do not work as well in the context of dance physical education as others. “Think, pair and share” and “jigsaw” are excellent in some cases, but may be more difficult to execute in this setting. However, cooperative learning should still be worked in a physical education setting. In a dance unit, for example, groups can choreograph their own dances and present them. Alternatively, they could create or learn new dance steps/moves and similar to a Jigsaw approach share them with other groups or the class. Zach & Cohen suggest another method, working more off a “micro-teaching” approach but doing so in smaller groups in order to encourage learning of core skills as well as social interaction on that smaller scale (Zach & Cohen, p.95)

Bibliography

Gillies, Robyn M. “Cooperative Learning: Review of Research and Practice .” Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 41, no. 3, 2016.

Johnson, David W., and Roger T. Johnson. “An Educational Psychology Success Story: Social Interdependence Theory and Cooperative Learning.” Educational Researcher, vol. 38, no. 5, 2009, pp. 365–379. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20532563. Accessed 4 June 2021

Zach, Sima, and Rona Cohen. “Using the Cooperative Learning Model in Physical Education Teacher Education: From Theory to Practice.” Cooperative Learning in Physical Education, 2012, pp. 88–99.

Post #1- Learning, Motivation, and Theory

May 22, 2021 / dotlc / 0 Comments

While I’ve had the privilege of many positive learning experiences, I frequently look back at one in particular as the best, despite it being over seven years since it happened. When I was seventeen, I took part in a Standard First Aid & CPR level C course run at the summer camp where I was working. While there are very set learning expectations and content for a course such as this, I felt I had a better learning experience than with any subsequent first aid courses I’ve taken since.

There are many reasons why this course was such a positive experience, beginning with its location. Having the course take place where we worked was ideal, though it may not have been had my workplace been different. As a residential summer camp, all the staff who were taking the course ate and slept on property during the two days in which it took place. This allowed for a lot more flexibility in scheduling, as travel time wasn’t really a concern at any point there was more time for hands on practice. Additionally, in this situation we had a huge amount of outdoor space so the instructor was able to vary our learning environments to better represent real world scenarios.

These scenarios were integral to my learning experience. First Aid is a hands-on skill, and the number of opportunities I had to practice it were so essential to my comfort in my abilities. It was also in part the people that I took this course with that made it a positive experience. Fist aid frequently requires you to get very close to the people you are doing it with. Many of my coworkers were people I knew well, I found that I was better able to focus on my skills as opposed to any awkwardness of getting into a stranger’s personal space. The instructor worked with our experiences and practices as a staff, and adjusted the course to best fit the environment in which we would be using our skills.

Similar to a constructivist method, she approached our learning in a way that acknowledged what we already did and knew as well as creating situations and learning experiences that pushed us to practice what we’ve learned. While she adjusted her expectations to include that a first aid emergency in the camp environment would be responded to by calling our medic, and the fire department would arrive within 5 minutes she worked to create (sometimes ridiculous) scenarios in which those supports wouldn’t be immediately available. Finally, it was fun. Sling tying relay races, ridiculously unfeasible emergencies and a generally positive supportive learning environment. I hope I can have another experience as memorable and impactful as this once in the future!

Introduction

May 18, 2021 / dotlc / 0 Comments

Hi everyone!

My name is Lia, and this will be my second to last semester of my undergraduate degree. I’m a French major, and will hopefully be returning to UVic in the fall of 2022 for the post-degree practicum program offered by the education department. I’d like to pursue a career as an immersion teacher, preferably with elementary-aged children as I already work with them daily.

I like hiking, yoga and participating in community theatre (when they’re open again!) Looking forward to a busy semester with you all!