Posted on

Compressed Delivery in Higher Education – Scholarly Essay

This paper would go onto form a position statement I wrote for Extended Education at the University of Manitoba on compressed delivery of continuing adult education programs. This position statement is part of a living document that the instructional designers refer to guide new development and revisions.

The research I reviewed was in line with what designers I worked with intuitively knew. Compression of a course can be done using a number of strategies but this may require making some compromises. With a clever and agile design these compromises can be minimized.

You can read my essay here

Posted on

Playing With Design – Instructional Video

I chose a video format made popular by the cooking website Tasty.co by Buzzfeed. On various social media platforms Tasty.co videos autoplay and their simple and colourful videos grab attention and hold it. The videos rely on visuals and short captions because viewers may not reliably have their sound on. Whenever the videos start I find myself watching them to completion and because of the fast pace of the videos I don’t feel the need to skip through them. I think this a powerful and engaging format and although I made a cooking related video I believe this format could be applied to other subject matters. 

Another benefit of the format is how accessible it is to educators. I created a professional looking video with a low-budget setup. I used a camera mount for my phone and edited the video on a Chromebook using the PowerDirect app. The background music was royalty free music from within the app. I used lamps from my house for the lighting. The format is very forgiving during the editing process. I could increase the video speed and not have to worry about distorted audio. Unlike other videos I’ve made where I’ve narrated or spoken on camera I didn’t have to worry about flubbing lines and needing to shoot retakes. 

My Video Production Setup
My video production setup in my kitchen.

Overall I am very pleased with final result of the project. I would like to explore this format again in the future. I’ve made many videos for my MET and this was the easiest to film and edit and produced the best looking results.

Posted on

Artificial Intelligence in Education Market Analysis

I created this resource as part of a group project in ETEC 521 Ventures in Educational Technology. For this project I investigated the future role of artificial intelligence may play in education. I then designed a week long lesson plan for my peers in the course.

The applications of AI ranged from administrative streamlining to personalized smart instruction. My individual role in the project included the design of the website, the Introduction, Startups in AI, and the AI in Higher Education sections of the website. Links can be found below.

Introduction
Startups and AI
AI in Higher Education

This project was an excellent opportunity to research the upcoming technological innovations on the horizon. I discovered that the affordances of AI in education must be balanced with ethical concerns. I also found that many of the companies working with AI in the field of education lack a solid understanding of pedagogy to back the lofty promises they make regarding their products.