Information from EDCI 336 – November 9th

We covered a lot of information in class today, this is a summary of what was covered. I also created some individual posts for the areas where I had more information to share.

Virtual Reality

I had a turn in the UVic VR room today, this was my first time using the VR set up. Overall, it was an interesting experience and it allowed me to understand how this type of technology is used. I’m wondering what application virtual reality would have in an elementary school, I wonder if the students would ever be exposed to something more than just a field trip and brief introduction to the technology.

Multimedia Learning (MTL) & Dual Coding Theory

The Multimedia Learning Theory seems to align well with concepts we have learned in other classes around multimodal learning. The main idea is to use multiple forms/modes of instruction or presentation to increase the retention of information. Another key component of these theories is to integrate prior knowledge into the learning so that students are able to connect more to the information. This will result in a higher likelihood of the information making into the long-term memory.

Augmented Reality

We briefly spoke about augmented reality and an example of this that was shared is the app/game Pokemon Go!

QR Codes:

QR codes are the scannable barcodes that we frequently see on our phones. I have used them for certain social media apps, like Snapchat, to share your contact information with others. I believe these are also what are used for some boarding passes that are uploaded to your Apple Wallet on the iPhone.

These can also be used to help people get information about physical artifacts, libraries will typically use QR codes for this purpose.

Other notes:

I have been tracking the competencies used in my blogposts with Trello. I’ve found that Trello is a simple way to keep track of a project that has multiple tasks, and I like how I can quickly use the app to see how far along I am for the competencies of this course. I have had some experiences using Trello in the past but I was never really taught how it can be used (just that is was a good tool). It would be interesting to create a class Trello board to manage group tasks that need to be completed.

http://www.trello.com

 

-Hilary

 

Visit to PSII

Last week our EDCI 336 class took a trip downtown to visit PSII (Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry). My initial thought when walking into the school was how unstructured it appeared. Students were at random tables, working on their computer, talking to classmates, and some were even playing video games. It definitely took some time to adjust. When I took the time to look closer you could see teachers moving around and interacting with students individually. Jeff Hopkins let us know that assessment of student progress on their inquiries is mostly done in that manner; informal but frequent interactions.

It was interesting to gain more understanding of the inquiry process by seeing it in action. Although some students appeared to be playing video games, this may just be a more informal part of the inquiry, or it could be research. This type of learning may be foreign to the average person but it is important to recognize that it is a legitimate way to learn.

During this visit I was able to visit the school’s virtual reality room, we went up with a number of students and were able to watch as someone was using the equipment. The fact that students have access to this technology is great as it allows them to gain exposure to something that may play an important role in society in the future.

I hope other teachers have the opportunity to visit PSII as it allows for further insight into inquiry.

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Hilary