Media & Materials
You may be wondering… It’s module 7 and we are finally talking about media and materials? There is a method to our madness, and yes, Media and Materials are an important aspect of your teaching practice.
First… let’s go over a few things: There are two goals for this module. The first goal is to understand the importance of learning materials and media in your teaching practice and student learning. The second goal is to identify media and materials you may want to use in your teaching, and/or that students can use to demonstrate their learning.
When you are creating material to use with your students, you should checkout the Copyright LibGuide (Library Guide) created by our Library staff. If you have any questions about copyright please reach out to the library!
Why do media and materials matter to learning?
Media and materials
-
align to learning outcomes and goals;
-
provide multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement;
-
support the learning process;
-
increase accessibility; and
-
support various teaching methods, including
-
cooperative learning;
-
hands-on learning;
-
activity-based learning; and
-
independent options.
-
Okay, let’s think about what we have learned in this course that will help us identify materials to use, how to create materials, and how to incorporate digital tools into teaching and learning (both instructor-led and student-created). We have worked on our course outline, and we know how we will be assessing student understanding, but have we thought about what might be the best way to engage students in their learning?
The University of British Columbia has curated and created this really good resource, Nifty Teaching Tools (the name says it all)! Take a look through the resource, check out some of the digital tools, and make note of the ones you are already familiar with as well as the ones that you’d like to learn more about. In the Nifty Tool list, there are applications for Peer Evaluation and Review, Mapping, Presentations, and Polling!
On our LDS Website, we created a resource, Engagement Technology. We compiled a list of technology options for review to help you when you are in class or online with your students. Have a look at the list of options and let us know if you want to test it out with us before you use it in your course.
Our Information Technology Department has acquired Slido polling application that can be used in Webex (virtual classroom and online meeting application) or in Powerpoint.
You can use a polling application to introduce a new topic, help get your learners ready for an assessment, or review content from the previous week before you move on to new content.
Finally, we want to leave you with an example of a course assignment that encourages students to make use of technology to meet a course outcome.
The students in the Faculty of Education program at the University of Waterloo create video reviews of educational technology on their Open Page. These video reviews are creative demonstrations of new tech tools, student data, and differentiated learning possibilities. After you watch one (or two, or all), think about the learning that must have occurred to complete the task of creating the video… amazing! The students were collaborative, creative, and they used cooperative learning strategies.
One thing that you need to be very aware of when creating or choosing your media and materials, is accessibility. To ensure that you know how to make your materials and media accessible, we’d like you to visit the AODA Library Guide. The library guide provides a link to the Accessible Campus site, which is an incredible resource centered around accessibility and supporting all learners in post-secondary institutions (including faculty and staff). The Accessible Campus site is easy to navigate and you will want to check out their ‘Understanding Accessibility’ page and the Tools and Resources page.
Try this Activity
Take a few minutes and review one of the links we have just talked about: Nifty Teaching Tools, Engagement Technology, Accessible Campus or the OpenPage. Is there something you’d like to try from these examples? Think about how you would implement your idea and make use of your new knowledge.
Wrap Up
Media and Materials are very important components of your teaching practice. You have reviewed some resources and had a look at a great example of creating assignments that make use of learning strategies and technologies. When you are ready to put some of this into action in your own course(s), be sure to reach out to us: ldsteam@flemingcollege.ca
Resources
- What is Cooperative Learning
- Collaborative Learning in Higher Education: Evoking Positive Interdependence
Module 7 Reflection
Please rate your current confidence level on the following items using the following 5-point scale in which 5 = Very confident and 1 = Not at all confident.
