Educational Post - 10

 

Educational Post - 9

 

Educational Post - 8

 

Educational Post - 7

 

Educational Post - 6

 

Educational Post - 5

 

Educational Post - 4

 

Educational Post-3

 

Educational Post - 2

 

Educational Post -1

 

Blog 10 - Gamification & Gamified Tools

   Gamification is the process of applying game dynamics, mechanisms, and frameworks to non-game environments. Lee Sheldon, an assistant professor at Indiana University at Bloomington reports that in 2010, he gamified his multiplayer game design class at Indiana University at Bloomington, and the average grade increased by a full letter grade from the prior year. (Stott &  Neustaedter)  We can come across game dynamics, mechanisms, and elements in non-game environements that is called gamification. Even schools are kinds of gamification. At school we have grades (levels), badges (school reports)... Therefore, it is inevatibly true to say that gamification is everywhere even at schools. There are some skills which are strengten by gamification. Gamificaiton helps learners to be in progress, motivated, successful, improve different skills, plan. It also allows competition, personal development, learning by doing, positive psychology, motivation by rewards. Moreover, it allows learners to have the feeling of achievement, having a goal, organization, challenge, fresh idea and team spirit.

  An educator must evaluate the context in which they are teaching, as with any educational framework: who their pupils are and what the class's common goals are. When these factors are taken into account, as well as the educator's willingness to fail, gamification of the classroom can result in enhanced student engagement and achievement. (Stott &  Neustaedter) 

Reference

Stott, Andrew & Neustaedter, Carman. Analysis of Gamification in Education. School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University. Canada.

Blog 9 - Game-based learning

Games and Learning 

Because game elements may be developed to motivate players, facilitate a wide range of activities at various levels of difficulty, and record the player's behavior in a log file for future analysis, games have been deemed a potentially valuable and effective medium for learning and cognitive growth (Mayer, 2014; Plass, Homer, & Kinzer, 2015). Learning, according to most academics, is a multifaceted construct that includes learning skills, cognitive learning outcomes such as procedural, declarative, and strategic knowledge, and attitudes. The game-based learning approach is widely employed in formal education, particularly in military, medical, and physical training. (Pivec et al., 2003)

Between the game cycle and the achievement of the learning outcomes, there is a debriefing phase. Debriefing establishes a connection between simulation and reality, establishes a link between game events and real-world occurrences, and connects gaming experience and learning. This component of the paradigm relates to the “doing, reflecting, comprehending, and applying” process of study in a game, as [Kolb et al., 71] have noted.

The game should be engaging enough for the learner to repeat cycles within the context of the game. The learner is supposed to elicit desirable behaviors based on emotional or cognitive reactions that arise from contact with and feedback from gameplay while repeating a task, such as playing a game. (Pivec et al., 2003)

Reference

Pivec, Maja, Dziabenko, Olga, Schinnerl, Irmgard. (2003). Aspects of Game-Based Learning. Graz, Austria, July 2-4, 2003.

Blog 8 - M-learning

   M-learning is commonly associated with videos, digital resources, and high-tech. However, it does not provide a complete picture of this new educational trend. Mobile gadgets with multiple functionalities can be useful learning aid. Furthermore, students born after the 4.0 revolution are more familiar with mobile devices than notebooks. They spend a lot of time on their phones, chatting with others on social media and playing games. As a result, if educators can include those interests into standard lesson plans, learners' academic performance and autonomy will improve.  (Pham et al., 2021)

  M-learning has its advantages such as optimizing multiple devices. M learning is flexible and accessible. Learners can complete their materials and complete lessons anytime and anywhere. It provides social collaboration and allows teachers to create communicative lessons. It allows microlearning and sends reminders to students. Instant is another important factor in mobile learning. Learners are able to get instant feedback while they are directly interacting with their material during their mobile learning process.

EdX

EdX is a famous, wide free massive online open courses. It provides its users free online courses from top institutions which they can complete the lessons anytime and anywhere so that it can be considered is an important example of mobile learning. 

Reference

Pham, Linh Le Nhat,  Nguyen, Hoang Tan, Le, Van Thi Kieu. (2021). Triggering students' learning autonomy using the combination of m-learning and gamification: A case study at Nguyen Tat Thanh University. Teaching English with Technology, 21(2), 66-91.

Blog 7 - Collaborative Learning & Related Tools Google Classroom & Itslearning (LMS)

   The value placed on collaborative learning as a teaching approach reflects the value placed on forms of cooperation in society as a whole. However, if this is the case, we would want to issue a cautionary notice. We believe that what is considered relevant for society only partially legitimizes the choice for collaborative learning. The choice of a particular teaching style should never be solely based on current philosophy. This takes us to the second major reason for collaborative learning's popularity as a teaching method. Collaborative learning is a natural fit for evolving perspectives on learning and the nature of knowledge. Giving the learner a more active and productive role than in the past is now deemed wise. Furthermore, this knowledge-building process is seen as a process of interaction and negotiation with other actors in the learning environment, such as the teacher, fellow students, and teaching materials, rather than as a solitary endeavor. Knowledge is no longer to be regarded as absolute and bound to a single person, but rather as relative to a community and susceptible to change, according to this viewpoint. (Linden et al., 2000)

Learning Management Systems

Google Classroom 

The use of google classroom motivated my students. They can upload and share their homework.

They can send messages, they can add notes when they upload their homework and they get feedback. 

It is a great tool that allows collaboration between learners-learners and learners-teachers.

Reference 

Linden, Jos Van Der, Erkens, Gijsbert, Schmidt, Henk, Renshaw, Peter. (2000). Collaborative Learning. R. J. Simons et al. (eds.), New Learning. 37-54. 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Blog 6 - Effects of animated and interactive videos and related tools "Animaker" & "Edpuzzle".

   In the traditional education system, teachers have tried to teach their students through textbooks and verbal instructions. However, the teaching and learning methods could be changed for the development of information and Communication Technology. It is time to adapt students to an interactive learning system so that they can improve their learning, assimilation, and memorization skills. It is essential to create a quality and realistic learning environment for students. (Islam et al., 2014)

Animaker 

  

  Animaker is a user-friendly, easily accessible animation tool that instructors can use to create videos for lessons. It provides different backgrounds, tools, and characters even in the free version. A study was conducted in Dhaka city to investigate the effects of using visuals on primary school learners. Islam et al. found that eleven students gave 6-10 correct answers by learning traditionally by their teacher. On the other hand, 14 students gave more than 5 correct answers by seeing interactive learning materials once only. However, the important result was that when students taught using a blending system, maximum students gave 11-15 correct answers that are really high compared to other teaching methods. 

Edpuzzle 

   Providing lots of videos and the feature of editing them, adding questions in between the videos, Edpuzzle is another effective web tool. It's easy to use and freely accessible. Instructors can edit existing videos and add related questions in the video. This idea is really effective, especially in online lessons. Interactive videos are significant to follow Mayer's Segmenting Principle. Moreover, interaction with the material directly in the middle of the learning process is important for especially young learners.

Reference

 Islam, Baharul, Ahmed, Arif, Islam, Kabirul, and Shamsuddin, Abu Kalam. (2014). Child Education Through Animation: An Experimental Study. International Journal of Computer Graphics & Animation (IJCGA) Vol.4, No.4, October 2014

Blog 5 - Message design concepts and related tool "Adobe Spark"

    Message design is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge. It encompasses influences and facts from more than fifty established disciplines and research areas. The main research areas can be divided into six groups with "basic disciplines" such as language, art and aesthetics, information, communication, behavior and cognition, business and law, and media production technologies. The main components in message design are words, images, and forms. These main components can be used in a variety of ways to produce, convey and interpret messages of different types in different communication situations. Depending on the different objectives of the messages, there are different "message design genres". These groups are graphic design, information design, instructional design, mass design, and persuasive design. Principles of message design contribute to the design of effective and efficient messages. (Petterson, 2012).

  As message design has its main components such as words, images, and components, using them correctly and effectively can be considered as important as the message itself. There are several examples of correctly created and effective design as well as incorrect examples.

Infographics

According to the Oxford Dictionary, an infographic or information graphic is "a visual representation of information or data." An infographic is a compilation of images, charts, and minimal text that presents a topic in an easy-to-understand manner.

  

  Infographics give basic information and key factors in a simple easy text with pictures as can be seen in the example. The WordStream Company believes that bloggers and journalists can use infographics to make context in news stories easily accessible and shareable. (Siricharoen, 2013)

Adobe Spark 

As an infographic design web tool, Adobe Spark allows its user to create graphics, flyers, videos, posts, and animations. It can be said that it is a user-friendly tool that is easy to use and easily accessible. 

Adobe Spark offers a huge variety of backgrounds and templates for any design. It is easily used to choose any kind of image according to the related topic. Using the right techniques of message design, Adobe Spark is a great tool to create any kind of media for any purpose.

References 

Siricharoen, Waralak Vongdoiwang. Infographics the new communication tools in the digital age. 2013. Silpakorn University.

Blog 4 - Mayer's Segmenting Principle & FLL Tools "Duolingo & Voscreen"

 

       

        According to Mayer, people learn better when a multimedia message is presented in user-paced segments rather than as a continuous unit. "For example, a continuous version consists of a narrated animation on the lightning formation that lasts about two and a half minutes and describes sixteen steps. A segmented version consists of the same lesson, broken into sixteen segments –each containing one or two sentences and eight to ten seconds of the corresponding animation – with a continue button in the lower-right corner. The next segment begins as soon as the learner clicks on continue." (Mayer, 2001, p. 175) It has always been better for students to follow the lesson self-paced. Because each person has their own pace and their own learning speed. That's why following segmenting principle in lessons and while creating multimedia has a huge significance in terms of usability and effectiveness. Some important language learning tools follow the segmenting principle. The reason for their effectiveness is coming from the segmenting principle. Moreover, those kinds of tools allow learners to interact with the material directly because they manage their learning themselves. 

Duolingo

       Duolingo provides different world languages and it allows learners to manage their own learning process.  Basic skills are separated into different steps and all the process is following those steps at their own pace. This also allows learners to study flexibly. They can stop and start anytime and anywhere they can do. "A current study investigates the semester-long learning experiences and results of nine participants learning Turkish on Duolingo. The participants showed improvement on L2 measures at the end of the study, and results indicate a positive, moderate correlation between the amount of time spent on Duolingo and learning gains. In terms of perceptions of their experiences, the participants generally viewed Duolingo’s flexibility and gamification aspects positively; however, variability in motivation to study and frustration with instructional materials were also expressed."()According to the current study, Duolingo has positive effects on 9 learners of Turkish language learning. Their improvement was observed. Furthermore, the learners indicated the effectiveness of flexibility and gamification. The segmenting principle also provides gamification elements, which can be considered the other attractive feature of this tool.

Voscreen 

        Voscreen is another web tool that is used in language learning. In terms of providing interactive videos through which learners can actively use self-paced. It includes lots of different short videos from movies, cartoons, etc. for both adults and children. After 20 to 30 seconds of video, learners are asked a question and they are supposed to choose the correct paraphrased option according to the video. As of my experiences as a teacher, this tool activated my students' motivation level especially in the online education period because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

References 

Mayer, R. (2001). Multimedia Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.