Group 6 Meeting Report #2

Attendants: Michael and Amanda

Google Classroom link: https://classroom.google.com/c/MzcwNzQ5NjAyMTU1?cjc=mqbcvb3

Google Classroom code: mqbcvb3

a. the instructional, visual and technical design, delivery, and human computer
interaction for your online learning environment such as the strategies to implement different
types of media such as Audio, Video, and Graphics, etc. The advantages and disadvantages of
teacher-made resources, such as a/v files, and web-based resources.
Cite literature to support your argument.
Each of our minilessons includes an introduction video that provides students with a
game plan of how the weeklong lesson will pan out and what is expected of them. We also use
Edpuzzle, teacher-made, and YouTube videos for instructional purposes. During our lessons, we
will hold office hours every day to provide students with the opportunity of working on the
material with us, asking questions, and possibly interacting with other students.
An advantage of teacher-made resources includes the teacher understanding their
students’ needs and being able to address them in their own ways (Richards, n.d.). It is also
beneficial for students to see their teacher’s face and hear their voice, which makes the lessons
feel more personal and important. Web-based resources are also beneficial because 1) there are
so many resources to choose from that can enhance the content in many different ways, and 2)
many online resources provide high-levels of differentiation for students. One disadvantage can
include the time spent by the teacher on developing their own proficiency with creating their
own lessons and the potential cost of utilizing online resources.
b. emerging technology, online communication, and collaboration tools you use, the
available resources at your disposal for completing the lesson? Given the wide variety of
student preferences and learning styles, discuss the strategies that help you design class
activities with the tools to appeal to diverse learning styles and interests of students.
Citations to support your decisions.
We decided to implement a lot of digital learning tools. Edpuzzle and YouTube as
previously mentioned, Desmos, Kahoot, GoFormative, Quizizz, DeltaMath, and Khan Academy
are all online learning platforms we have utilized in our lessons. Edpuzzle and YouTube are
useful tools for direct instruction because they provide detailed visuals for students and also
provide forms of differentiation such as closed captions, translations, etc. Screencastify enables
us to quickly and easily create our own videos for students. We can share anything on our screen,
draw directly over it, and show our face while our students can hear what we are describing.
Michael used Desmos for one of his activities due to the fun interaction it creates for the
students. Similarly, Amanda used Kahoot to “gamify” her content for the students and make
math more fun and interesting to them (Emerging and Future Trends in K-12 Education, 2014).
GoFormative and Quizizz also provide multiple ways the content can be provided and
differentiated for the students. We each used Khan Academy or other resources as extra credit
opportunities for our students since the Khan Academy content can be more rigorous and
challenging for students. DeltaMath provides a variety of practice problems to students with
plenty of examples to show correct solutions when students need guidance. Google Meet
additionally provides us with a way to virtually work with our students in real time and provide
them with support as well as virtually working with colleagues. We additionally used Google
Drive applications to collaborate and share resources that we’ve used in the past (Walsh, 2018).
c. the effective communication techniques you use in your face-to-face teaching
environment that you integrate to interact with your students online. What strategies you use
to get students' feedback on the material learned?
Citations to support your argument.
Prior to distance learning, each of us highly focused on building relationships with our
students. Although it was much more challenging to do so in a virtual environment, we
connected and built trust among our students the best we could this past school year and plan to
do the same with these students during our lessons. Moreover, communication is key to any
school whether in-person or remote. We always made sure to post announcements or send emails
to students to make sure they were aware of schedule changes, missing work, etc. (“4 eLearning
Communication Strategies for Instructional Designers, 2021). We each used Google Forms for
our students to provide feedback on our lessons.
For our mini-lesson, our main source of communication with students is in writing. We
strived to ensure our written instructions are clear and concise, and where applicable, we posted
videos with further audio and visual explanations to ensure students understand directions and
the content that they are working on. In order to receive feedback on student learning progress,
we incorporated a variety of software tools that allow us to see students' answers as they work on
the content. Edpuzzle was the first look at the content, but students followed this learning by
posting their thoughts on discussion boards, answering questions in Kahoot, Delta Math, or Khan
Academy, furthering their understanding on Desmos, and finally completing the week with an
online assessment.
d. What delivery options and media type you use to engage students with special needs?
Citations to support your decision.
The support and connections we intend to make with our students that we mentioned in
the previous paragraph will additionally be helpful to engage our students with special needs.
The videos we use through Edpuzzle and YouTube also enable our students to watch the videos
at the speed they want (Nelson, 2020). The fact that we created some of the videos ourselves can
make it easier for them to understand since they are familiar with us and our teaching styles.
Many of the online practices that students will be working on provide their own method for
guiding student learning. Khan Academy prompts students to rewatch videos for help if they are
stuck, while Delta Math has an option to look at a fully worked example problem to see the
method and answer type that is needed. We also utilized a variety of software tools to ensure we
are reaching different types of instruction: audio, visuals, written examples, games, interactive
simulations, and graphs. Office hours are another opportunity for students to seek support from
us. Students are always welcome to email any questions they may have, however email seems to
be viewed as either too formal or too outdated for students to utilize effectively. It may be helpful
in future classes to set up a platform where students can post short video or audio questions to
communicate faster and easier with their teachers.
 Works Cited

Emerging and Future Trends in K-12 Education. (2014). Hanover Research.

Nelson, H. (2020). Special Education Resources for Teachers to Use During Distance Learning.

Azusa Pacific University.

Richards, J. C. (n.d.). Advantages and disadvantages of using instructional materials in teaching

ESL.

Walsh, K. (2018). 20 Fun Free Tools for Interactive Classroom Collaboration. Emerging

Education Technologies.

4 eLearning Communication Strategies for Instructional Designers. (2021). eTeach Online.