Session 1

Task A

Write a short reflection about why learning theories are important for educational designers?

Learning theories provide educators with information that is fundamental in developing successful learning designs, as the ultimate aim of an educator is to ensure effective learning and retention of information. The learning theories provide educators with a framework to evaluate: learners’ capacity to learn, the teaching approach to be adapted, and circumstantial influences within the learning environment. This information provides a deep insight into the learner’s mindset and can then be incorporated to create an extremely effective learning design.

For example, age is an important factor – it is a basic indicator of maturity and intelligence. This also enables a designer to create a curriculum in which the general responses, interactions, and behavior patterns can be anticipated to a certain degree. Moreover, a designer can select or combine elements from the theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism after factoring in the age of the learner.

Therefore, learning theories are important for educational designers as they help maximize student learning rather than fishing in the dark.

Task B

Look at Dale’s cone of experience. For each kind of experience, starting from “Reading” to “Doing a real thing,” describe what you see as effective use of digital videos and/or storytelling.

Read	Ineffective – Simply reading text in a digital video can be boring and, in many situations, requires further understanding of a subject.
Hear Words	Ineffective – Simply hearing words in a storytelling while interesting, can confuse and retention level is low, especially if the language is technical.
Watch Pictures	Ineffective - Has a high retention level amongst visual learners, but not all students are visual learners. Also, everyone can come to their own conclusion/understanding after looking at a picture.
Watch Movie	Effective – Caters to auditory and visual learners which comprises a large number. It also engages learners through visual effects, explanations and themes. Students can understand a subject and its uses. Examples include digital videos such as documentaries of historical events or even movies based on such events.
Watch Exhibit	Ineffective – Looking at an exhibit can be boring, or some students may not be able to comprehend all the aspects of the item being exhibited. Even in a storytelling scenario, a student can point at a dinosaur skeleton in a museum, but that does not imply that others understand everything about it.
Watch Demonstration	Effective – Through a digital video, one can provide step-by-step guidance to actually create another video or perform a particular task. A great example would be using tutorials on YouTube to learn how to create paper planes or even edit a clip.
Seeing it Done at Location	Effective – While it is similar in nature to demonstration, now the demonstration is being conducted at a relevant location, which adds more clarity and gives a deeper insight into performance of a task. Example: Watching or creating a digital video on YouTube video of a drone being assembled, but in a factory and not on a demonstrator’s desk.
Discussing and Giving a Talk	Ineffective – Most students today do not look forward to listening to a talk, even if it involves sharing different perspectives in the videos, as it is a one-way communication involving verbal receiving. Although talks and discussion seem beneficial, most students are not fully engaged in such digital videos.
Doing a Dramatic Presentation	Effective – Such videos are highly engaging and keep most students hooked therefore, are effective in learning. Students participating in creating such a video also learn a lot as them embody the character and learn more about the topic.
Simulating the Real Experience	Effective – It is most effective when teaching about situations that cannot be performed in real-time such as prehistoric times or the life of great personality in a world war battle.
Doing the Real Thing	Effective – Whether watching or creating a video of a person performing a task, it is highly effective as you see the real environment, real human reactions, and have complete engagement of the mind.

Task C

Specify what else can be understood about videos in higher education, and relevant opportunities and challenges.

From this paper, it can be understood that the future is digital and that there is a surge in demand of audio-video consumption in the higher education market, which is underserved. Besides, education is diverging from book literacy to screen literacy, hence there needs to be a systematic incorporation of video assets into pedagogy. This should be in sync with students’ usage, creation and distribution of digital media outside the educational milieu. Moreover, as this demand continues to accelerate, faculties expect to have more on-demand videos available for themselves and students to stream and download at their discretion. At present, consumption patterns display that there is a limited supply of high quality material for higher education institutes whereas the demand is sky-rocketing.

Opportunities and Challenges

Faculties lack awareness of the new technologies and the ability to harness their power to create content. This is due to a lack of time and knowledge in the use of software applications. Creating training guides and organizing workshops for faculty on how to find resources quickly, and use certain video software will be a solution to this challenge.

At present there are multiple sources and resource providers, making it difficult to keep track of which supplier provides what content. Therefore, this is an opportunity to create an online repository which is regularly updated with the links to the latest videos – it will be indexed and will be a one-stop-shop for faculty. 

The major concerns of the faculty related to the functionality of video software, pertaining to developing and editing video clips, streaming and making copies of video clips. The opportunity here is to develop software that is very simple to use, visually appealing, and clips that can be broadcasted easily while also incorporating controls to protect IP rights. A provision can also be added to saving video clips in multiple file formats which can then be distributed in different video formats – therefore accessible through platforms. This can also address the students’ needs for on-demand content.

An important challenge is infrastructure. At present a majority of the viewing is in the classroom as there aren’t enough viewing rooms / equipment. Therefore, through the opportunity mentioned above, material can be made available on-demand to mobile platforms, thus, eliminating the need for a specific classroom or type of viewing equipment.

As mentioned in the article, majority of the material today is in the VHS format, and the challenge is to identify articles relevant in present times and convert these into digital format.

Task D

Brainstorm how digital storytelling (having students produce their own video) can help the development of media literacy by addressing some of these concepts. List down your ideas.

In today’s globally connected world social media has taken to the forefront in communications and news distribution. With the surging popularity of social media, the spread of misinformation has gained traction. Politicians, corporates, activists, and others have used it for their benefit. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that students developing digital stories are aware of this and implement strategies in the videos to ensure their videos are not identified as fake and actually contribute to the spread of genuine information.

Certain aspects that are important in developing a sense of media literacy are:

1. Check the source – ensure the source that is being cited has a real author and relevant citations. In producing a video, it is important to provide all the details in the credits so that the audience establishes the video as genuine. It is also important to cite credible sources and not vague blogs.
2. Objectivity of Content – the content must be plausible. There should be no hidden agenda or subtext in the content beyond the main aim of the video. In case an individual is being interviewed, ensure that the individual is qualified / accredited in the relevant field. The tone being used should be neutral and not sensational or persuasive, to allow the viewer to come to a conclusion based on facts rather than opinions. It is also important to ensure that the title is not outlandish. Rhetorical questions should be avoided unless being asked in the correct context such as environmentalism.
3. Appearance – there should not be any grammatical errors or amateur designed props that can raise suspicion. It is important to ensure that participants in a video carry themselves professionally from the dressing to body language – as this can be a red flag to a viewer. It is important to use a character that is somebody who is part of the target audience, so that the audience can associate with such a person. Another factor that is important is the use of simple language rather than technical jargon, to ensure complete comprehension on the viewers’ part without creating a sense of confusion or partial understanding.
4. Ownership – Making students realize that they are accountable and responsible for the content in their digital video. A sense of ownership motivates students to double check their sources, content, and development of videos.

It is important for students developing digital stories to factor the points mentioned above through the course of the development of the video, and these aspects can be taught to them in class. This ensures that they create unbiased content and are further able to spread media literacy through their content.