In this week's ICT class, I learned some information about blended learning. Blended Learning is an educational approach that combines traditional face-to-face classroom teaching with online learning elements. It aims to fully utilize digital technology and internet resources to provide students with a richer and more flexible learning experience.
Our group task was to use tools to design interactive materials based on the topic "one day in London" to enhance students' online learning experience. Our basic lesson plan was to provide students with design ideas for a day trip to London using the materials provided by the teacher, and then offer different travel themes such as culinary tour, nature tour, and film-themed tour, allowing students to design their travel plans based on different themes.
Firstly, we used the tool simpleshow. Simpleshow is an online video creation tool that helps users easily create concise and clear explanatory animated videos. For the animation content, you can choose AI writing or write it yourself, and you can even upload a PowerPoint presentation. It can extract text from the PowerPoint for content organization.
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| screenshot from simpleshow |
We chose to use AI for text creation. The first step is to choose the format of content presentation, such as term definition or Q&A format. Then, according to the prompts, you input the topic/content or keywords you want to present, select the video voice, target audience, video length, etc. The AI will then generate the text, which you can modify. After that, click the visualize button, and the video will be generated. For the images or icons generated in the video, we can also upload our own and adjust and modify them. In this way, a simple and interesting video is generated, which guides students through the task in a more visual and attention-grabbing manner, and stimulates their learning motivation.
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| screenshot from simpleshow |
Here is the link to the small video we made using simpleshow: https://videos.simpleshow.com/WVQ5X1aRuf
We also chose to use Genially to create a small interactive activity, which is to allow students to click on the travel plan theme they want to design, and then jump to the Padlet page to share content. This also helps to collect students' task results. Of course, Genially's functionality is much more powerful than what we used. For example, Genially offers a wealth of multimedia resources and design elements, such as images, animations, videos, audios, charts, etc., allowing users to easily create visually appealing content. In terms of interactivity, users can create interactive elements such as buttons, links, embedded content, etc., making the content more attractive and interactive. Of course, some advanced features may require a paid subscription to unlock, but the basic features can also meet our daily teaching needs.
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| screenshot from Genially |
Click to view our interactive page: https://view.genial.ly/65d8b022015ce10014588375/interactive-content-a-day-trip-in-london
I also find a short video about how to use Genially, cause I really love the platform and am amazed by how it works for us, especially for designing blended learning material. I strongly recommend you to give it a try!
