I’ll keep this short as the video explains most of you. Any new educational technology can be complicated to dig into from scratch as you attempt to align it to learning outcomes. Well, a new feature that Pear Deck has introduced has taken a giant leap forward to help educators do just that. Before we jump into the new features, if you are unfamiliar with Pear Deck and why my students and I consider it the #1 EdTech tool that helps their learning, check out the video in the previous blog post. But if you are more concerned with why you should even dive into Pear Deck or learn about this new AI generation of Pear Deck sessions to a learning target, check out the video below. Like I said, I’m keeping it short so you have time to watch the video. If you have questions, please contact me at mohammam@elmbrookschools.org or the Pear Deck Learning team at support@deck.peardeck.com . Also, check out the amazing Stacey Roshan's video on this update.
I am starting a new graduate course this week on multimedia in the classroom. Our first unit is dealing with design principles for multimedia.
As students are allowed to express their understanding in new ways, multimedia products have increased exponentially. As a teacher of content, it's easy to overlook the importance of implementing design principles. But, this is just another form of literacy. In fact, multimedia literacy is becoming more relevant as access to multimedia tools increases. In this first unit, I was able to familiarize myself with the following design principles:
As students, we were given a wide variety of ways to access this information, including videos. This meant that I could choose the method that was easiest for me to comprehend. And, I could compare information for multiple sources to get a different explanations of the same information. I need to start doing more of this. Just because a source explains "A" best for me doesn't mean it's explanation of "B" is just as good.
What was so refreshing was that the way we were asked to demonstrate mastery of the design principles was left wide open. This meant that I was able to create a product that was important to me and one that I could use in my own classroom. Something that was authentic to me.
For my product, I was allowed to create a tutorial video for my students explaining how they can implement many of these design principles when using one of the most popular apps for creation in my classroom, Explain Everything. In order to complete the product, I needed more than a surface level of knowledge. I needed to be able to give concrete examples of what these principles looked like when applied to a presentation. This helped make concrete what I had been reading this summer in The Innovator's Mindset and LAUNCH. We learn best when we are allowed to create using new knowledge. It forces us to make deeper and more personal understandings.
I was thrilled that I was able to create a product for my classroom. In other graduate courses, my "authentic products" have included documents like annotated bibliographies of at least 20 sources on a topic or rigidly detailed lesson plans. These were products I knew I would never use and they felt like jumping through hoops.
For this assignment, I was able to see the importance of what I was learning and convey it to my students in a product I had intended to create anyway. But, with my additional knowledge acquisition, it has become a more powerful and meaningful teaching tool.
The takeaway?
Just because a product may seem authentic to you the teacher, doesn't mean it's authentic to the student's life. Find ways to incorporate more voice and choice in expression of understanding.
If you're interested, here's my product.
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