Category: Uncategorised

My AI Exploration

For my AI exploration I had never used AI image generation so I tried that on stable diffusion! I honestly loved that you could make so many different styles of drawings and pictures to fit the needs of the image! I do not know enough about AI but would love to send in a photo of my actual cat to mess around with and make drawings of! Speaking of the cat theme here are my results:

SECTIONS Analysis: Making a Video for Learning

Students: The students for this are academic university environment young adults that can access the technology and tools to create a video relatively easily and without cost. Being that this course is online we can assume that all the students attempting the video making have access to a camera of sorts, good wifi, and the different websites that can be used to edit and create the video. This kind of project could create barriers for students that do not have access to these things but for this class there should not be barriers due to it being an online class. Barriers could come from different accessibility needs if they were possibly deaf, blind, or mute and this would make it more difficult to create a video without extra assistance or tools.

Ease of Use: As we all have some sort of familiarity with making videos whether it be on our phones or with a camera it made this assignment easy for students to do and the teacher to access and grade! It is a reliable way to do an assignment especially because we could choose the easiest method we had available and we did not require any special abilities.

Cost: This project had no costs associated because of the online class we all had a way to film it whether laptop, camera, or phone and giving us different websites to edit and create on most were free or had a free trail available.

Teaching: Making videos can be a great medium for teaching for online classes especially because it makes it more personable and engaging by watching it rather than just reading. Having both visual and audio at once it is easy to do step by step learning of concepts so that the students or audience can follow the teacher either live time or with pausing. It is fairly easy to be well versed and equipped to make a good educating video so I think its a great way to teach simple or complex things in a personable, fun, and creative way.

Interaction: Though this medium is more personable it’s not very interactive between students and students and teacher but there is strong interaction between student and content having the videos be very follow along style. The most student to student and student to teacher interaction through making a video is through commenting and feedback after watching the video. Though there is not too much person to person interaction it almost fosters a type of interaction because the videos are so personable and you can have visual and audio.

Organization: Organization and accessibility to the technology and media platforms necessary are very good in this style of course because it is online it is almost built in that we have what we need. For some of the accounts necessary to complete some aspects of the project we can sometimes get institution partnered logins to make the platforms free to use. Having access to our schools library also gives us the ability to use the computers, VPNs, and different databases if necessary.

Networking: By making a video it is very easy to widen the network by putting it to a platform like YouTube for example that can reach a lot more people especially if it’s an open access video. The topics for most of the videos I saw were not super crazy serious so it would not necessarily be helpful to an academic crowd but would be beneficial to share with other students for fun and for feedback for video making in the future. As far as privacy goes this would be a more risky type of project to share because you show your face and expose your name so if I was to work on managing privacy it would be narrated only and show the activity but not my face.

Security: This medium of a video can be secure depending on how you use it for example I made my video then saved it to my computer but proceeded to delete to from the web page after. I kept it secure by only sharing it to my blog that is only accessible to the students and teachers involved in this course. By doing the sharing for this course the way we do it does protect privacy but if shared in a not school controlled page it could ruin the privacy and security aspect. As far as institution privacy we can choose the settings on our different assignments to be private or not so our privacy that we would like is up to us and our comfortability.

What might you use AI tools for moving forward? What would you not use them for?

Moving forward now that I am more familiar with the different types of AI tools I think I will use the image and video features more often for my online project especially. I also have quite a few friends who are interested in different types of music making so I would love to play around with those different AI tools as well. Regarding using the typical chat GPT type of platforms of AI I have not and moving forward will not be using it for any type or research or assignments. Not only because it is against school policy to use AI for assignments but because of the possible inaccuracy in both data and citing the information that they give you.

What guidelines do you think should be in place to guide the use of Generative AI in an educational institution? What factors should be considered?

I think that the current guidelines of UVIC are good for the use of AI because it still makes sure that students are doing the assignments and having the original ideas. I do think it is a little hard to understand because for courses like these we are encouraged to explore different AI tools and the policy UVIC has out makes it sound like never use it ever. I would also like to mention that I didn’t know what was out there in the world of different media and AI so I think it is an awesome tool for different online schooling and interactive projects. Factors to be considered are if the students are learning and using the AI as a secondary tool, if the ideas are still original despite the use of AI, and that the AI should be like the purse to the outfit and just be there to enhance it and not to be the entire project.

Module 5: Generative AI and Evaluating Content and Tools for Learning

My Lesson Plan

For my lesson plan I tried to keep it classic to one of the similar lessons I did in elementary school which was learning the provinces and territories of Canada. I honestly to this day would still be excited to do a colouring geography assignment because I remember it being so fun!

My HP5 Learning Activities Attempts

When I was trying to learn the ins and outs of HP5 I had one successful attempt at making the simple addition game but my drag and drop map activity like in my lesson plan did not work properly. I did include it to show my attempt but could not figure out why it was not working after looking at how I built it. These activities were not too bad to create and would definitely be easier to do with more practice on this specific interface. Making the learning activities into a more fun and colourful game format could increase the amount that kids use it. Having multiple options for how to do the learning activities also allows different choices for different accessibility features that are necessary.

How have you found the balance of passive and active learning in this course for your learning? How does it compare to your experience in other courses?

The balance of passive and active learning in this class has been excellent and is especially crucial in a course like this where most of the learning is done through practice. Though we do get to learn about many cool different theories and aspects of what online leaning is and how it applies the active learning gives us the ability to actually make these lessons and apply it. In most courses that I have taken it has been much more passive learning but I think thats because we have so much content and theory to go over being in psychology. I think that there should be a better balance in all courses in the active and passive learning but I understand that it is more work for professors to come up with different activities of active learning and I think that is why there is less.

Where do you see constructive alignment and backward design used in this course or another course you are taking/have taken? Is there anywhere where it seems to be missing?

In this course we often see backward design in play because we start with goals of an overall media concept then proceed to learn the theories behind it and then eventually try out the talked about programs and receive feedback on it. I think this is beneficial because it allows us to see the goals and then apply our learning once we are working to achieve them such as reflecting on concepts while trying to use new multimedia programs and concepts. In most of my other courses we just skip from a learning outcome to an assessment and those are the only steps used for example, we do our learning in lecture do an exam and then do not go further with it.

Module 4: Principles of Learning Design and Active Learning

https://www.veed.io/view/31cae417-449c-4ef4-be43-8c237c1a12c0?panel=share: Assignment #2: Video for a Learning Purpose

What is the learning purpose of your video?

The leaning purpose of my video was to teach my fellow classmates how to play solitaire. I personally love playing cards but my roommate is often not home so it is the best solution for fellow single card lovers. This video is a quick how to on the way to deal the game and the mechanics behind playing it. I also chose to transcribe it for accessibility purposes.

Why is video a good medium for this learning purpose?

Playing cards is often easier to learn when you play and or watch someone play rather than just hearing the instructions so video is great for that! Using video for this also allows people who are interested in learning the ease of pausing if they need to or rewatching if they did not understand the first time. Video also allows for people to be more engaged with the learning and me as the speaker in the video.

Which of the principles we’ve covered this term (e.g., Mayer/Universal Design for Learning/Cognitive Load Theory) did you incorporate into your design and why?

I incorporated universal design for learning in my video by having the transcript beside the video and on the video to make it accessible to those with hearing impairments. I used cognitive load theory by keeping my environment quiet and having nothing in the background to keep from overloading the learners. I also referenced Mayer’s theories by keeping any irrelevant info off camera like me finishing the game so that I did not lose the attention of by keeping my video too long and segmented out unnecessary. Applying all this learning and adding the personal element of showing my face and using my own voice I think I was successful in keeping the audiences attention, making my video accessible, and keeping it form creating cognitive overload.

What was challenging about capturing your own video?

It was hard to try and work to keep people engaged during the parts where I was just filming my hands. It was also hard to position the tripod on the table far enough away that I had table space and it also would not hold my phone sideways so I was unable to show all seven columns at once.

What did you find easiest?

I found it easy to talk about the card game because I really do like playing it and it was easy to set up a nice table space and use the living room as a good filming environment with minimal distractions in the background. I also found it easy to clip all the videos together and add a transcript using the services on the website.

How would you approach capturing video differently next time?

Next time I would get more tools to help me film my video in a better way by maybe trying to get a better tripod or another tool. I would also try to make the lighting better next time because it was hard to capture properly in our living room due to the mixture of natural and overhead light. I would also write less of a specific script so that I could add more personal stories and free style the script a bit.

My Twine Story

During my Twine story creation I struggled a lot and watched many YouTube videos so that is why it is so simple. Once I got a bit of a hang of it it was a bit easier to use and I definitely think it could be a very cool program to explore once I knew more about how to use all the features it has available. I was not able to link the HTML after struggling with Github for a while but if you would like to explore the story I could share the HTML file with you directly!

What storytelling techniques have you used instinctively and which ones require more work for you? Which techniques will you focus on moving forward?

This was a great unit for me to reflect on right now as i’m currently also in a public speaking course where we touch on many techniques of story telling as well! After reading over the seven storytelling techniques I tend to almost always tell personal stories and relate them to my actual point or just genuinely am trying to tell personal stories which often keeps people engaged. During these story sessions I find I also do a good job of immersing people in my stories as mentioned as a strength in Richard’s Ted Talk by using images from my story so that there is not only a mental but a literal picture as well. The third technique that I think I do instinctively is bring the characters to life, I do this by giving thorough physical and personal descriptions of them and locate where they fit in my life so that it adds context and depth to the story. The other techniques require more work for me I would say especially creating suspense and a S.T.A.R moment because I think I get too excited while telling it and end up jumping to the point a bit prematurely. Moving forward telling stories I think I will focus more on creating suspense and showing and not telling. It is hard in conversational storytelling to insert more imagery to transport the audience there but I think it adds a more memorable quality to the story. Adding more build up and suspense to the story also could make it more surprising and memorable so I will attempt to contain my excitement and point till the end of the story.

Out of the Ted Talk presenters in the reading which of the presenters did you find most compelling? What technique(s) did you recognize in their talk?

Out of the readings Ted Talk presenters I found the most intriguing and compelling speaker Leslie Morgan Steiner. I found this speaker and topic the most compelling because first of all it is a big topic that is more hushed in the media because it is sensitive. The second reason is because I found it so relatable due to the addition of a personal story and it felt very real and raw and kept me engaged through the whole speech. It being under the category of the personal story technique that was the main technique used but multiple of the seven techniques were present. Leslie used immersing the audience in the story ands showing and not telling by using very vivid descriptors of both the violence and the setting. Leslie also spent a portion describing Connor the abuser in the Ted Talk which brought the character to life so he was added to the images of the story she had already made in our heads. The last technique she used was ending the story on a positive noted which I think was so crucial when talking about such a heavy topic to provide hope and solutions at the end made it even more memorable.

https://dv337blog.opened.ca/2024/03/02/module-3-storytelling-creating-video/#comment-5

My Wave Accessibility Report:

When I ran my WAVE accessibility report for my WordPress site as shown in the figure it came up with contrast errors, alerts, features, structural elements, and ARIA. I was surprised to find that when I explored the contrast errors they were to do with aspects that the site already had including the bar under headings that has my username, the date, and comment count and also the links which are automatically in a teal colour were also considered contrast errors. After observing this I am going to try to make it so those parts of the blog have a darker colour so that all of my viewers and classmates who read my blog can see all the information included. The alerts were all to do with the links in my website the first was for my pod reflection being a PDF and they wanted to make sure it was easily accessible, the second was to do with my screencast link the alert was because I did not add a transcript to my video making it inaccessible to those with hearing impairments. The last three alerts were because of redundant links which were from clicking on my username “ELLAGILBERT5” and it being under every heading and bringing them back to the website they are already on. After seeing these alerts I will definitely be adding transcripts to any video or audio clips I add to my blog to make sure it is accessible to everyone. Another thing observed in my WAVE report is a large number of structural elements which helps the viewers navigate the website with ease. Keeping all these elements in mind moving forward I will continue adding subheadings for navigation ease, attempt to change the lighter fonts to darker colours to decrease the contrast errors, and attempt to add transcripts over any video clips worth audio to make it accessible to all viewers.

Text to Speech Tools Exploration

I before this course have only really used text to speech tools if they were offered as a feature on my online textbooks because I find it easier to take notes while listening rather than reading and trying to multitask both. I find it useful in academic environments when the information they are reading does not necessarily require different tone to help with context but find when it is something more conversational like our blog posts it loses some meaning being read so monotone. After trying some of the different voices out I found it sort of distracting to use some of the ones with accents, being from a small town in Canada I did not have a lot of exposure to different accents so I found it harder to understand which took my focus away from the material. I would say overall as mentioned in my module one blog post the principles of voice and personalization have a large effect on my ability to keep interested and focused so I do not find text to speech to be that useful of a tool for myself.

Inclusive Design: What Does it Mean to Me?

As my WAVE report laid out for me one feature of inclusive design is accessibility for those with different impairments. The contrast errors make my blog less accessible to those with visual impairment and my screencast being without transcripts makes it less accessible to those with hearing impairments. Inclusive design to me does not only include accessibility for everyone no matter their abilities but it also means representation in design. For example, if you are doing a project on Indigenous material for school I believe there should be an element or two of Indigenous language or art to be inclusive and representative of the culture you are talking about. Inclusivity to me is a balance of accessibility, representation, and having ways to accommodate all different people.

My Infographic and Design Principles Used

When creating my infographic after reading over the design principles I focused on alignment, I used contrasting colours, and left lots of negative space so it was easy to see from near or far. As far as relating my elements back to the video on making a good infographic I kept my infographic very practical, well structured to each point, and I kept it very straight to the point “short and sweet” as said in the video. Keeping my infographic extremely simply helped add to the cohesive look of it and helped keep the information organized. Along with that I also kept in mind the idea of cognitive overload which was easier to decrease with a simple design and using lots of negative space. I personally am not the most creative person so the templates definitely help with the visual appeal and they can help inspire me for different designs but I can make them and add my own spin. Though they do help with creativity templates can also be a disadvantage in that you might not get to see your exact vision come to life and it may not fit the topic as much as if you personally designed it.

Module 2 – Blog Comment

For my screencast which I did struggle to do with some the suggested tools though I did try to explore them I used the QuickTime feature on my Mac and added an audio clip over top after. I decided to do my screencast on a quick intro of one of my favourite tools to use for organizing my classes Notion. I thought it was applicable for this class in that online classes can be tough to organize and easy to forget about assignment wise so I find this helps keep me on track and they have great templates for professors to use it as a resource as well.

Target Audience

Due to the nature of this being a university assignment I assumed this to be shown to an academic audience of both professors, teaching assistants, and students. This influenced me to make it a simple and straight forward “exploring the page” type screencast rather than adding in extra information about it. Making it a very simplified video that gives them enough information to get started but leaves room for them to make it their own allows it to reach more audience in both academic and professional environments.

Principles in Mind While Creating

The first principles that I had in mind when creating my screencast were those to do with social cues including the personalization and voice principle. Keeping the screencast more causal and like the viewers were just looking through notion with me as I would with a friend helps promote learning. Not only that but by using first person language and having it be searching through actual notion pages I have created added to personalization as well. The second social cue involved is the voice principle which stated that more learning takes place when things are presented with a human voice rather than a machine voice. These will be principles I will keep in mind going into the projects when using AI is welcome so I will still be open to doing my own narration rather than AI made.

The second principle I kept in mind was the coherence principle so for my screen cast I kept only the notion page option and had nothing in the background to try and block distractions. I also did my audio for it in a quiet space so the only thing the viewers are hearing while watching it is my descriptions. I feel that by having a narration with no distractions over the walk through of the app the viewers have the best chance if understanding how to set up and use the notion pages if they liked it!

Module 1 Blog Comment