Category: Assignment 1 – Blog Posts

In recent years, artificial intelligence has gradually come into the public eye. The first time I had a deep impression of AI was in the romantic movie Her. In the movie, a man falls in love with his AI assistant, which raises the question: are we close to having a supercomputer that can recreate functions of the human brain?

The video below shows the scene of the hero first meeting OS1 (the AI system).

When you used the AI games this week, such as Magic Sketch or AI Duet, how did you find the process of having your work completed by an algorithm? Did it feel true to your intention? Were you happy with the results?

I think their algorithms are excellent when I use Magic Sketch and AI Duet. They can provide excellent responses with a bit of input from the user. While these AI games may have needed improvement along the way and may have been a little slow to respond, the results exceeded my expectations.

Have you used Duolingo? Do you think that their approach to AI will ultimately lead to better learning? What do you think of the author’s use of the word ‘humanize’ to describe the application of AI to their software? Do you think the fact that the training data used is largely from English language learners will impact the user experience for other languages?

I have tried using Duolingo to learn different languages. During the pandemic, the Duolingo English Test even began to be accepted by some colleges and universities, with the same recognition as the IELTS or TOEFL test. I think AI will give Duolingo users a better experience. Duolingo constructively built a half-life regression model with a large amount of data. In addition, they use AI to design the appropriate curriculum. In this way, personalized learning experiences can be brought to different users based on different situations. AI, like a real teacher, teaches students according to their aptitude. Besides, my experience in learning other languages besides English, such as French, German and Korean, is constantly improving. I think transfer learning has played a good role.

Dr. Burr Settles is the Research Director at Duolingo.  He studies machine learning, natural language processing, and human-computer interaction. In this video, he introduces the use of AI in Duolingo.

What other AI tools have you used? Did you find them effective for learning? If not, what did you think was missing? If it was effective, what was the do you think was key element that led to that experience?

One of my most frequently used and favourite AI programs is Quillbot. QuillBot is an AI text rewriting website. It makes suggestions for writing within seconds and adjusts them for different writing styles, such as standard, fluency, and creativity.

A revised example is shown above. In addition to replacing certain words with synonyms, the text has been rephrased to make the sentences shorter than the original text and to preserve the meaning of the text without introducing any grammatical errors.

Nowadays, more and more teaching and learning activities are accessible via the internet, students are more readily distracted by their surroundings. For example, when I search for related videos for weekly posts on YouTube, I will watch the videos of the bloggers I follow. Because of this distraction, learning efficiency declines. As a result, it is critical that we enjoy studying and improve our learning efficiency.

Passive learning includes traditional lectures, reading, watching videos, and listening to podcasts. Active Learning, on the other hand, is a technique of teaching that involves actively engaging students with course material through discussions, reflective blogging, group projects, and other ways.

How have you found the balance of passive and active learning in this course for your learning?

Active learning enhances learning outcomes and provides a more enjoyable learning environment for teachers and students. In this course, I generally use the active learning method.

Passive learning:

• Review weekly posts by the instructor
• Read articles and watch videos

Active learning:

• Weekly assignments including blog posts and comments
• Work in small groups and collaborate with others
• Structure assessment and other activities
• Quick feedback to make improvements

How does it compare to your experience in other courses?

It is an online course and compared to other traditional courses delivered face-to-face, EDCI 337 is more active learning required. We learn multimedia learning principles and related learning theories mostly through readings and videos on the website.

Indiana University’s Mosaic Initiative provides an example of an active and collaborative learning classroom.

In Rich McCue’s example of storytelling, what senses does he appeal to in his story?

Rich McCue, UVic Librarian, talks a story about how and why we should back up our personal digital files in both audio and video formats. He introduces a topic that is closely related to our study and life in a friendly, enthusiastic, conversational tone. His video has a clear structure, with an anecdote (introduction), a solution, and a conclusion.

Which of the guidelines does he follow?

• Keep it short (Mayer’s Segmenting Principle) — The length of both sources is less than five minutes.
• Focus on Learning Outcomes (Mayer’s Coherence Principle) — Both sources focus on the topic, which is why we should back up our laptops.
• Use a Conversational Tone (Mayer’s Personalization Principle) — McCue uses a friendly, enthusiastic, conversational tone.   
• Add Visual Elements (Mayer’s Signalling principle) — Rather than just talking in the audio, McCue adds some images to Illustrate his example vividly.
• Keep Text and Images Together (Mayer’s Spatial and Temporal Contiguity principles) — McCue’s talk and related images are presented simultaneously.
• Build in Accessibility (UDL Guidelines) — Auto-generated captions are included in the video.

Are there any that he doesn’t follow?

I think McCue does not Include active learning (Merrill’s First Principles). He could post questions and ask the students to solve problems or consider alternatives. For example, after discussing Jen’s experience, he can ask if any of the audience have had similar struggles in order to engage the learner in active learning.

Where do you see constructive alignment and backward design used in this course or another course you are taking/have taken?

I believe that the majority of the courses I am taking or have taken meet the requirement of constructive alignment and backward design. The outline is the first thing we see from Brightspace in most courses. An outline contains the following basic information: introduction, learning objectives, assessment, and schedule. In this course, we begin to learn about the learning objectives at the beginning of each week. The objectives are what teachers expect students to know, know, and be able to do. Next, we know what the assessments are: weekly posts and feedback, an assignment involving core multimedia skills, and a multimedia design group project. Finally, we study from the lectures and materials. By doing this, instructors could make sure that the assessments accurately, purposefully, and effectively reflect the intended learning outcomes.

Is there anywhere where it seems to be missing?

In comparison to traditional teaching, I believe the backward design and constructive alignment are strongly correlated to student achievement. In order to better target student success, instructors could modify courses and programs based on the results (e.g., assignments, discussions, and exams) by the end of the semester.

I believe everyone has used PowerPoint for a presentation, this week I decided to make an infographic using Canva instead. In the infographic I created, I tried to update both the design and the content while also incorporating more multimedia ideas.

Which design principles did you use to create your infographic in Canva?

I choose a basic timeline template because it is clear to read and very simplistic. This infographic sticks to a colour scheme of three colours which are blue, light blue, and beige (background colour) throughout. By doing this, cognitive overload is prevented.

I start by using the Pre-Training Principle when I speak about the content. To give students a basic overview of Victoria University, I included a title description. In order to reduce the workload on working memory, I then employ the redundancy principle by eliminating all redundant information. Instead of the lengthy sentences in Wikipedia, I have transferred the words to brief segments after the subheading, which also complies with the segmenting and coherence principles (point of time).

Which elements of a ‘good infographic’ were you able to incorporate?

1. Focus on alignment
2. Use hierarchy
3. Leverage contrast to accentuate important design elements
4. Use repetition
5. Have balance
6. Optimize colour
7. Leave lots of negative space

The video provides visual examples of 14 infographic dos and don’ts to help designers create better infographics.

What other principles did you consider?

Because the UVic infographic is a timeline of the university’s history, I did not include any graphics other than the university logo. If I chose to include images in the infographic, I will use the temporal contiguity principle to display corresponding words and images at the same time.

References

The Canadian Encyclopedia. (n.d.). University of Victoria. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/university-of-victoria

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, September 27). University of Victoria. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Victoria

What did you find when you ran the WAVE accessibility report on your blog post(s)? What did you expect and what was surprising? Is there anything you will do differently going forward?

Surprisingly, there were 6 contrast errors and 17 alerts when I ran the WAVE accessibility report on my blog post from last week. On the web, the layout may appear to be acceptable in some cases, but the WAVE Accessibility report will highlight any issues. I will always run a blog post through WAVE in the future.

Have you used Text to Speech tools before? Did you find it useful? Did you try out some of the different voices? What impact did the different voices have on your ability to absorb information?

As a non-native English speaker, the pronunciation function in the dictionary app is my first impression of Text to Speech tools. I have not tried the specific Text to Speech tools, but I have listened to the audio while reading some online research papers. For instance, GALE OneFile uses a female voice and speaks at a moderate pace, which I think makes it easier for me to understand what is being said.

What role do you think media and multimedia can play in a learning environment designed with UDL guidelines in mind? Which of the promising practices for text, images and video are in alignment with these guidelines?

In the video, Shelley Moore describes the four evolution processes of inclusion:

1. Exclusion
2. Segregation
3. Integration
4. Inclusion

The practice of teaching students from various backgrounds and abilities in the same classroom is known as inclusion. Every person has a different capacity for learning, so it is crucial to choose multimedia resources that will best meet the needs of each individual student. Giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through text, images, or video can result in imaginative and motivating results.

What does inclusive design mean to you?

Inclusive design means diversity to me, taking into account various nationalities, races, languages, cultures, gender identities, and even mental health conditions. UVic is trying to provide an accessible, inclusive environment. Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) supports students with disabilities and health issues, learning strategists, tutors, and full service notetakers. After joining, instructors and others will create learning environments that are inclusive and usable, which could help students with disabilities to have the same access to education as everyone else.

This video explains the three types of loads in Cognitive Load Theory – Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane. This week, we will focus on the intrinsic cognitive load.

Intrinsic Cognitive Load

Some tasks are more challenging to master than others, which may result in an intrinsic cognitive load. Working memory ability in students is put under stress by intrinsic cognitive load (Mayer, 2009). There are a lot of examples in our day-to-day studies. For instance, as a student majoring in economics, Econ 313 (Intermediate Microeconomics II) is much more difficult than Econ 103 (Principles of Microeconomics). This kind of cognitive load cannot be reduced without also reducing learning because it depends on the material to be learned. According to John Sweller (Sweller et al., 2011), the intrinsic cognitive load “can only be altered by changing the nature of what is learned or by the act of learning itself”.

There are three principles related to the Intrinsic Cognitive Load. By understanding and applying these principles of multimedia teaching and learning, new knowledge can be absorbed more effectively and less easily forgotten over time.

Segmenting Principle

When a multimedia message is delivered in user-paced segments as opposed to one continuous piece, people learn more effectively. The example that comes to my mind the clearest is how to write a research paper. Students usually find it challenging to meet the word requirements while maintaining a high standard of writing when writing an academic paper. The process can be divided into different steps, each of which makes the process easier.

1. Choosing the subject
2. Collecting information
3. Evaluating materials
4. Organizing ideas
5. Writing the paper

Pretraining Principle

When the foundational ideas for a multimedia message have been established, people learn more deeply from it. In the Econ 313 course I mentioned before, it is much simpler for students to put concepts together and learn more complex topics, once they have a foundational understanding of microeconomics from an earlier course.

Modality Principle

Compared to pictures and printed words, people learn more deeply from images and spoken words. I use the photo below to explain.

References

Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive Load Theory. Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8126-4

Why am I taking this course?

This is my first EDCI class, as well as my first time using WordPress. I am taking this course to learn more about multimedia learning and interactivity. I expect to learn through multimedia and to use multimedia to demonstrate my understanding. Furthermore, we are more accustomed to using social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to post a few sentences or photos. I believe WordPress is a good platform for us to post blogs and hear other people’s perspectives, which reflects the variety of multimedia and interactive learning.

What is Multimedia Learning?

Building mental representations from words and images is a goal of multimedia learning (Ayres, 2015). Richard Mayer presents a “cognitive theory of multimedia learning” in his extensive study on how to organize multimedia content to improve learning. There are three assumptions made by Richard Mayer based on cognitive load theory:

1. The Dual-Channel Assumption
2. The Limited-Capacity Assumption
3. The Active-Processing Assumption

Mayer distilled his findings into 12 principles based on a huge number of experiments. Moreover, he believes learning knowledge should be an active process, not a passive form like knowledge transmission (Mayer, 2009).

Reference

Ayres, Paul. (2015). State-of-the-Art Research into Multimedia Learning: A Commentary on Mayer’s Handbook of Multimedia Learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29(4), 631–636. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3142 COPY CITATION TO CLIPBOARD

Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.