Category: Uncategorised

Beautiful shot taken in Mount Waddington. Photo taken by Thomas Lipke

For this week’s class we looked into accessibility in technology. Accessibility is often a topic spoken about when addressing public places, and how accessible they are for all of the population. Although the topic of technology and accessibility has been brought up for potential use in the classroom, I do not think I have ever touched on it while considering it for everyday use. Why is this? I am not entirely sure. It seems to me that because websites, browsers, and videos mirror social media, everything has to be aesthetically pleasing. As a result of this, the pure functionality loses its effects, and leaves the accessibility of the site to be limited. The digital appeal overrules the function.

I am fortunate enough to only need the adjustment of a brightness level and or turning on and off “night mode” on my devices for me to be comfortable. For others, the interaction of colours, tones, size of font, and the way websites are laid out are all factors into understanding if it is sufficient for all.

It was really interesting to input our websites into the Wave Report, along with a website of our choosing. Doing so showcased the flaws in the colours, the text, and the efficiency of hyperlinks. We then adjusted our websites in order to be more accessible for viewers.

The second part of class was taking a video and making it more accessible. I chose a video from the YouTube channel Daily Dose of Internet. The videos are created to brighten people’s moods and provide a good chuckle. I edited the video within wordpress using H5P.

The use of Gen AI in the classroom is controversial. Gen AI is a powerful tool that can be easily abused by students and teachers. Understanding the proper way to use Gen AI comes from the teacher not being afraid to learn more about the technology, along with the ability to teach students that it can be a helpful tool. Students also need to understand the consequences that come up if the technology is used in a manner that does not help them long term. In my opinion, generative AI can be softly introduced in grade 4 or grade 5- purely in a technology introduction form. By this, I mean that Gen AI would not be introduced as a tool for school, but a tool for extra curriculars; such as assistance in VR or other video games. In grade 6 or grade 7, Gen AI could potentially be introduced as a tool for helping narrow down a project topic or inquiry.  

For myself, I have found Gen AI to be useful in helping simplify sentences. I have a tendency to overcomplicate sentences, and that does not serve me well when writing long papers. Gen AI has also helped me narrow down my thesis, when my topic has been too broad.  

Copilot

In this video I used screencastify to document a question I asked Copilot, a LLM (Large Language Model). I asked how to obtain a certain mod in a VR game that my housemates were playing. This is an example of how younger students could potentially use it in a non-educational form.

Including H5P tools is a great way to interact with students when providing a video within their learning. As the teacher, it can be used as a studying tool, but also as an interactive, fun way to spark learning in the classroom. It is a check in that students are paying attention to the video as they go and not only listening to it as background noise. 

Although I have a lot of difficulty with technology, I think creating a video that includes visual and auditory editing is a great way for students to display their learning in project form. Having an interactive tool to show the concept taught in class such as a video the students filmed and edited can be used by all grades above grade 4 or 5; however, this really depends on the capability of the class.

Multimedia theory is great for creating future instructional videos because it pairs verbal and non-verbal learning. This means that pairing an eye catching visual with dialogue, or keywords on an image can have the ability to move through one’s initial memory, past their short-term memory (their working memory), all the way to their long-term memory. In doing this, retention-based learning transforms into the ability of transferring knowledge.