Group C! We thought your Interactive Learning Resource was very well thought out, engaging, intuitive, and user-friendly. We loved going through your resource and we could tell that you guys put a lot of effort into your project and wanted to make it clear that it was evident when we engaged in your ILR draft. The relevance and universality of your topic really adds an amazing foundation to your learning resource as it’s relevant to anyone and everyone. Below is a more detailed bullet point form of our feedback organized by theme, and hopefully the information below is helpful for your final draft.
General
- The site is well laid out and easy to follow. Menus are very clear.
- We like that the Course Outline lists descriptive titles of “modules” to be covered
- The graphic on landing page is attractive and welcoming
- We couldn’t find the information in your learning context section: Who is the target audience for this course?
- The “Effects of Technology on Sleep” content seems to be missing.
- We like how you guys gave a guide on how to get started cutting out any confusion in taking the course!
- Your topic is very well thought of – we like how it’s something that affects everyone and because of that is pretty universal! We would think almost anyone would benefit from reading and participating.
Lesson Clarity
- On the landing page, should the subtopics be indented?
- In the “Sleep Hygiene” learning activity, the task asks students to reflect on patterns and make changes to improve sleep. This makes us think we should make those changes during the week of tracking. Would it be more clear to make that second sentence a “look ahead”? For example, “After tracking, you will reflect on…”
- Are the pre-assessments and learning activities meant to be submitted for feedback? If so, how should they be submitted?
- For the REM Cycles subtopic, a graphic or video might be useful to help with clarity.
Alignment
- Your explanation of how your course design aligns with cognitivism is clear and easy to understand, as is the rationale behind this approach for this course.
- Pre-assessments and clear strategies to apply align well with cognitivism.
- We’re confused about your explanation of rationale behind your Formative Assessment structure. Shouldn’t assessment be in relation to the intended learning outcomes rather than an additional learning activity?
- We’re curious what big ideas and essential questions are part of your design. We didn’t find them in your overview.
- We don’t quite understand how the submission of the PowerPoint assignment for the REM subtopic is done. Are students supposed to post to the course website?
- There are quite a number of learning activities that include tracking sleep. You could consider increasing support for executive function by making these assignments more consistent in structure.
Interactivity
- Pre-assessment on “Improving Sleep Hygiene” page adds to the interactivity. Should these question responses be submitted for feedback? How should work be submitted?
- Having students use their own sleep data is very engaging and helps students make connections to their own lives.
- Reflection tasks encourage students to think deeply about the content and make connections to their own sleep.
- Requiring students to contribute meaningfully to one another’s learning is very interactive and is an engaging way to promote co-construction of knowledge.
Inclusivity
- Key terms sections are helpful for those who are not familiar with the language.
- Simple “main ideas” list at the end is an effective way to review the content. This is helpful for everyone, but particularly for those who may have difficulty with language.
- To support executive function, you could consider adding a template for tracking sleep habits.
- Grading rubrics are clear and easy to follow. For small assignments, a percentage breakdown could look a little daunting. Consider marks out of 10?
- Are there any choices in means of expression for the summative assessment?
- Generally, the website is simple to navigate and easy to read. This is helpful for technological accessibility as well as accessibility for language disabilities.
- Alt text on pictures would help increase accessibility for those with visual exceptionalities.
- Additional resources like the “Read more about it here” section in “Sleep and Mental Health” increases engagement for students who are interested in digging deeper into the topic.
- The transparent learning outcome on the “REM Cycles” section is helpful for supporting engagement.
Technology Use
- AI images are attractive and make the site more engaging.
- But you may want to consider that they should be carefully used when it’s for educational use, ensuring that any integration of AI tools aligns with educational goals and maintains the integrity of the learning experience.
- Should AI graphics attributions include the prompt used, in addition to the generative tool, which you have included?
- The overview on the front page containing a friendly course outline is a good idea to help with navigation of the course design.
- However, the link to “First, read this page…” is missing
- The first three subtopics are closed to public view (using the link that is in that overview. From the drop down menu, the content links are fine.)
- Discussion forum is a useful tool to encourage collaborative learning construction. You could consider using specific prompts to scaffold interaction.
- Consider using key words to link to rather than showing the actual website address. We think this would improve readability.
- Crafting an effective blog title is crucial for capturing readers’ attention and conveying the main idea succinctly. It would be great if you could make more effective blog name to show your main idea at one glance
References
- There are a good number of references.
- There is a link to information about Inquiry-Based Learning on the Learning Theories and Learning page. It looks like the description of Inquiry-Based Learning in the text might be a statement that might need a citation to that reference?
Overall, this course site is looking good. We appreciate the work you’ve put into it, and we learned some things about the importance of having a good sleep reviewing this!
Hi Percy. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about UDL and accessibility. I enjoyed reading about your personal experiences, and agree that the UDL approach benefits everyone by giving multiple choices. As you imply, even though we may generally be able, none of us is at our best all of the time. Having flexible options for engaging with content allows us to access it even when we are tired, busy, or needing a different medium of communication.
I also appreciated your thoughts about being a good digital citizen. You have a good point about choosing our words carefully when posting text on the Internet. We have to work extra hard to ensure readers know we are actively reading to understand their perspective since they can’t see all the non-verbal communication we express without thinking. Just like young children who nod at a phone, we’re now the children who have to use more words and ensure inclusive language.
My interest was captured right away by the brightly coloured AI-generated image of the brain in sleep. What a great way to get a reader’s attention!
I see your point about the way learners will interact with the content by making connections with their own sleep patterns. This would then prime them to engage with more detailed information about sleep stages and functions. Your post-video activity is a good way to encourage students to make even more connections as they reflect upon their own habits. This is a well-thought-out set of activities which are clearly designed to be inclusive of many varying needs. I could see learners benefitting from this set of activities and achieving the goals you have set out for them!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the video, “The Crucial Role of Digital Health Literacy in Enhancing Patient Access.” I think you have a good point about the different ways in which viewers could access learning, processing it shallowly by taking notes, or more deeply by making connections, analyzing, or applying their understanding. I like the idea of students working together to participate in a case study analysis. Learners would go far beyond the importance of health literacy to work on real solutions for authentic problems. Having peer reviews would really reduce instructor workload while still being very useful feedback. In this way also, larger numbers of students would be able to access and benefit from the leanring activity.
Definitions
| Open Pedagogy – An approach to education which focuses on free access and learner participation in shaping educational structures and processes. (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.) |
| Open Educational Resources – educational materials that are freely available and allowed to be reused, revised, redistributed, remixed, and retained (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.). Open Textbooks and Open Courseware are Open Educational Resources. |
| Constructivism – A learning theory in which learners make their own meaning through personal experience and reasoning. (Bandura, 1971) |
| Creative Commons – A non-profit organization that develops and releases licenses for free and open materials (Bliss & Smith, 2017) |
Open Pedagogy
Recall that in Blog Post 2 we discussed Pedagogy, the art of teaching and the science behind its methods (Hotchin, 2025). Open Pedgagogy places students firmly in the centre of the learning process, in charge of what and how they learn, and assuming the responsibilities of being empowered participants in a community of creators and sharers of knowledge. Foundational to Open Pedagogy are the values of autonomy & interdependence, freedom & responsibility, and democracy & participation. (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.) This approach expects students to contribute to a communal pool of knowledge, thoughtfully adding to it, asking questions, reflecting and creating from it, and offering respectful critique.
What, then, are teachers in this way of learning? Traditionally, educators take on the role of the experts, imparting knowledge and attempting to have learners retain it. Students might be expected to receive this knowledge without question. They are dependent upon teachers to tell them what to know or where to find information, what to think, and how to apply it. In traditional teaching, lectures, memorization, and skill drills are key methods.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com.
In contrast, teachers who use an Open Pedagogical approach might create spaces such as wikis for students to collaborate. A key role for teachers might be to guide students to hone questions, learn to assess their own work, and gain skills in order to increase their ability to learn independently. Part of a teacher’s job might be to help students develop their empathy, see their impact on peers, and understand their power to co-create knowledge within a community. Structures such as learning outcomes, grading rubrics, and course policies can be co-created with a classroom community.
Watch the video below to explore David Gaertner’s thoughts on how to engage students with Open Dialogues.
Open Educational Resources
The Open Pedagogy values of collaboration, connections, diversity, and democracy (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.) are well supported by Open Educational Resources (OER). With anyone being allowed to reuse, revise, and remix content, learners can freely share materials, add their own experiences, and bring different content together in original or targeted ways. Not only does this allow students to select information that is relevant to their immediate needs, but in my experience, the act of choosing material and creating with it helps students to understand information more deeply. Perhaps of greater impact, freely accessible Open textbooks reduces the cost of education and Open Courseware reduces the cost further (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.). Hewlett, an early supporter and advocate for Open Educational Resources (OER), seeks to achieve OER which are openly licensed, editable, and accessible technologically and by diverse populations (Bliss & Smith, 2017).
Such freely accessible resources would mean a greater ability to bring into class materials that are up-to-date and relevant. Imagine, for example, being able to use a graphing unit built around data from the Covid-19 pandemic while the event was still fresh in students’ minds. Teachers would be able to use what was locally relevant, remix it with their own course content, adapt and refine assignments, and share it back into the educational community.
Access to free resources also means a greater ability to adapt to the needs of students with divergent needs. I know of many schools around the Metro Vancouver area, for example, that use IXL to support students who need additional practice in Math skills and Khan Academy to enable students to explore topics beyond the scope of their courses. I have had experience with elementary school students who have been able to access advanced topics through Coursera.
One of the results I have witnessed of students sharing and creating with OER is the development of skills around digital literacy. They learn to critically evaluate the information they encounter and find multiple sources to back up claims. Students learn relatively early (middle and high school) how to cite sources and they come to respect the work of others.
Another change I have seen as the educational landscape in BC has embraced more constructivist approaches is the increase in the openness of students’ minds to learning from people of all abilities. This welcoming of participation increases engagement and supports a wider variety of communication formats, increasing accessibility for learners. OERs are one more way for students to construct knowledge within a learning community.
Global Trends in OER
In “A Brief History of Open Educational Resources,” Bliss and Smith (2017) describe how countries and institutions around the world are embracing Open Educational Resources. Key events include
- 1993 – Open Access is founded
- 1997 – California State University creates MERLOT to curate mostly free online curriculum materials for higher education
- 1998 – David Wiley from Utah State University proposes a license for free and open content
- early 2000s – OpenStax (a.k.a. Connecxions) develops over 20 open college-level textbooks. MIT opens OpenCourseWare
- 2001 – Creative Commons is founded
- late 2002 – the Hewlett Foundation focuses its efforts on providing Open content
- 2006 – a review of the OER program by Atkins, Brown, and Hammond recommend that the Hewlett Foundation “shape a new culture of learning.”
- 2004 – 2010 Many Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are produced.
- 2014 – Twenty-five countries have clear policy support for OER development and use
- 2016 – the Hewlett Foundation’s strategy is focused on strengthening infrastructure, such as Creative Commons and research, and solving socio-economic problems, such as equitable access to education
Since 2016, the OER movement has continued to grow, allowing access to education for children and youth in prison or foster care, from low-income families, or in government schools in the United States and creating educational opportunities for developing countries Bliss and Smith (2017). A vision that stands out to me is the use of OERs in training professionals, particularly in the developing world. In countries where access to technology, equipment, and specialized environments are limited, virtual laboratories, diagnostic rooms, and operating rooms could allow for medical training that might otherwise be impossible. Additionally, local training supported by local mentors ensures that medical professionals learn in the context of their communities and home cultures. This application of OERs would increase equity in education and healthcare.
A challenge to use of OERs in this way might be access to computer and electronic technology. One way to address this difficulty might include material support from developed countries. Another could be ways to access educational content offline and without electricity, as developed by the Foundation for Learning Equality (Bliss & Smith, 2017).
An additional challenge to the general use of OERs in education, as Bliss and Smith (2017) point out, is the lack of knowledge about OERs by many teachers and professors. However, this knowledge is increasing as social media has aided the sharing of OERs within the education community. Platforms such as Desmos Classroom allow teachers to build original content or modify existing activities and are more and more frequently being used.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) licensing enables teachers to responsibly use images, music, video, and other educational resources responsibly. Understanding the different types of CC licenses ensures that we abide by any restrictions put on the use of the content. Below are six license types, listed from most to least permissive:
- CC BY – Users may reuse, redistribute, remix, adapt, and add to the material, as long as attribution is given to the creator.
- CC BY-SA – Users can reuse, remix, adapt, and build upon the material, with attribution, but any modifications must be licensed under identical terms.
- CC BY-NC – Reusing, remixing, adaptations, and building upon the material is allowed, with attribution, as long as it is for non-commercial purposes.
- CC BY-NC-SA – Reusing, remixing, adaptations, and building upon the material is allowed, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes, as long as modified material is licensed under identical terms.
- CC BY-ND – Copying and distribution of material is allowed without adaptations, as long as attribution to the creator is given. Commercial use is allowed.
- CC BY-NC-ND – Same as CC BY-ND, except that commercial use is not allowed.
(About Creative Commons, 2023)
Creators may also choose to give up their copyright and allow reusers to use and adapt their works with no restrictions. To do this, they apply a Public Domain Dedication, CC0. (About Creative Commons, 2023)
Applying Open Pedagogy
Use of Open Educational Resources and understanding Creative Commons and Open licensing are helpful to teachers who seek to apply Open Pedagogy to their own practices.
To guide us as we evolve our teaching approaches, we can consider attributes key to Open Pedagogy: participatory technology, innovation and creativity, sharing of ideas and resources, reflective practice, openness of and trust between people, a connected community, learner generated content, and peer review (Hegarty, 2015). For my own classroom, it is useful to recognize the attributes that are also important in the Building Thinking Classrooms approach and the First People’s Principles of Learning.
To create an environment in which students are willing to openly share ideas and resources when problem solving and studying, I need to build a connected community, where students get to know people beyond their personal friends. I am transparent with this intention and ask the classroom community to participate in co-creating behavioural expectations, including suggestions for ways to show support, respond to mistakes, add to ideas, and include others. We get to know one another through structured and informal activity, and practice respect for differences in thinking, history, and identity. The collaboration with others in randomly formed groups to work on sometimes ill-defined problems gives students opportunities to share ideas. The practice of generating class notes using learner generated work encourages a student-centred mindset, as does directing groups who feel stuck to confer with other groups who have found successful pathways. Working with learning outcomes that are openly shared, students reflect upon their learning, classroom experiences, and ways in which their education supports themselves and their personal communities.
Online, I am interested in the practice of using technology such as Google applications to create collaborative notes and share resources. Perhaps this works best in small groups to reduce clutter and allow more opportunities for each student to contribute. Whiteboard applications or online journals could be platforms for collaborative problem solving, while student-created websites could be ways to organize ideas and resources.
In these ways, students are more active participants in their own learning. They are also more aware of others in the learning environment. Providing different ways to collaborate increases accessibility to participation and engagement. As a result, the learning environment is more inclusive.
References
About CC licenses. Creative Commons. (2023, September 28). https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/
Bandura, A. (1971). Social Learning Theory. https://www.asecib.ase.ro/mps/Bandura_SocialLearningTheory.pdf
Bliss T. & Smith M. 2017. A Brief History of Open Educational Resources. In: Jhangiani R. & Biswas-Diener R (eds.), Open. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc.b
Building Thinking Classrooms: Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning Mathematics. BTC Site. (n.d.). https://www.buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/
CAST. (n.d.). Universal Design for learning｜Cast. Universal Design for Learning. https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/
Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, University of British Columbia. (2018, January 29). Open Dialogues: How to engage and support students in open pedagogies. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PGVzKqvKhQw?si=rU7dxCUmAyESB3Um
FNESC. (n.d.). First People’s Principles of Learning. First Nations Education Steering Committee. FNESC. Retrieved March 11, 2025, from https://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/.
Hegarty, B. (2015). Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources. Educational Technology, 55(4), 3–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44430383
Hotchin, J. (2025, January 5). Edci 339 (A01) module 1 – University of Victoria – EdTech. University of Victoria – EdTech. https://connectedlearningpathways.ca/category/edci-339-a01-module-1/
What is open pedagogy?. Open Pedagogy Notebook. (n.d.). https://openpedagogy.org/open-pedagogy/
Hi Chase, I really enjoyed reading your post about UDL and accessibility. The ideas you shared in lists and tables are really practical and useful. I like that you have included reflection in your list of ways to offer feedback. In my experience as well, reflection is such a powerful learning tool for students to assess themselves and set their own goals.
It sounds like the English course that shifted to online during the Covid-19 pandemic really did not offer sufficient support. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for those students who faced additional barriers to learning. Your use of this context to illustrate applications of UDL was very effective. I agree that online and asynchronous courses rely a great deal on the clarity and structure of course materials, and transparency in grading and schedule help students to direct work appropriately and to manage anxiety and time.
Hello Rondean. I enjoyed reading your post on UDL, particularly the explicit applications you outlined for digital and physical classrooms. I agree that manipulation of video captions and speed is a strong benefit of the medium. It’s too bad that synchronous sign language is currently so difficult to ensure for all videos. Perhaps as AI technology develops, video platforms will be able to offer sign language in the same way they have caption capabilities now. Having reliable (a key word!) Internet and devices are also another challenge, which seems to be a difficulty in many schools.
Thank you for sharing ways that teachers can protect students from some of the dangers of EdTech. I like your idea of having a technical team investigate apps for educators. This leaves teachers time to do what they know how to do best, which is teach students. As well, it makes much more sense for a central body to investigate apps for many people than for many individual teachers to do the same work just for their own classrooms.
https://katenelsonstudies.opened.ca/blog-post-3-2/
Hi Kate!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on reducing barriers to learning success while learning about common species of trees in British Columbia. I can imagine how engaging a nature walk would be to many young learners. At the same time, you are right that some learners might not be able to do a walk due to access or mobility challenges. I also wonder if these same trees would be in all areas of B.C. The alternative accesses to information you describe seem like good options. I particularly like the virtual walk, which would allow students to still observe leaves and cones in the context of a larger environment and give students some control over their point of view, allowing them to turn leaves over, etc.
Along with providing options for access to content, you have created choices for building and demonstrating knowledge. Thank you for sharing your thoughtful design. I enjoyed reading about it.
In this video, students are not forced to respond in any way. However, they are likely to do the things suggested by the video. For example, the video advises viewers to understand and look at nutrition labels. Learners who didn’t understand these lables would then be likely to feel a lack of knowledge and, when presented with an opportunity to learn more about nutrition labels, want to do so. Learners who do understand nutrition labels would be likely to pay more attention to them in the future.
After watching this video, we as instructors could give a small amount of explanation about the meanings of nutrition labels and how to read them. We could then ask students to look at food labels on several products from their homes to compare a variety of specific nutrients. For example, students could find three items that have relatively high amounts of calcium compared ot the daily recommended intake, and three items that have relatively low amounts of calcium. This would help students to develop their ability to understand and apply their understanding of nutrition labels. In an online course, they could submit images of labels with written or video documentation of their findings.
Each student could get feedback by comparing their findings with two others and selecting 2 – 3 foods within the group as generally the most nutritious. They would, as a group, write a few sentences to defend their choices, using information from the nutrition labels. Both the written justification and relevant food labels would be submitted. Online, they could use meeting technology such as Zoom to discuss as a group; they could use Google Docs to collaborate on the written justification; everything could be submitted on a Learning Management System such as Brightspace.
This activity would be manageable in terms of work for us, the instructors. We could check to see that nutrition labels had been understood correctly by the group and the written justification demonstrates that the students have thought about the information. Depending on the level, depth, and length of the course, the work would be manageable and worthwhile for students as well. A shorter course might call for briefer and less time-consuming activities, while something longer would allow enough time to look more closely at nutrition labels. For larger numbers of students, perhaps pre-selected nutrition labels would make less work for the instructor since there could be less variation in information for students to work with.
Recent Comments