Comments for the Inclusive Design Prompt
I really liked Amy’s idea in their inclusive design prompt about making a learning app that can tailor to people’s specific learning styles. I specifically was interested in their concept of notification silencing. As a person that uses my phone and computer to work, people seeing my online presence is enough to trigger them to reach out to me for tasks. I then get a lot of notifications while I am trying to study, or even when I’m in a zoom call. Furthermore trying to tell people not to message you during a certain time period really doesn’t work well, as people will either forget or discredit it quickly. Having an app that allows you to block out external stimulus while you are trying to study, while still allowing access to what you need to learn properly would be amazing. I feel like it would help a lot of people, as one of the biggest hurdles with online learning is the fact it is online in the first place and those who are not technologically savvy struggle just to get started. Introducing too many tools and online platforms can be stressful to students, more than introducing them to a single all-inclusive platform. There is then the added struggle that every teacher may use different platforms, so students need to constantly relearn all these platforms for every course. So I believe that while this app is a really good idea, the following would need to happen for it to be effective:
-It has access or the potential to access all the needed course information and tools within a self-contained and easily accessible unit. As non-disruptively as possible, so that the student focus is not on having to manage multiple sources of information.
-Teachers in the school all agreed unanimously to use this app, so that students do not need to learn new platforms every course. Just like student does not need to relearn how to walk into a classroom and pick a seat. The expectations on how to use and work the tool is established only once and is carried throughout the school. This way, the focus is on learning the material and not “an-app-a-class” as I notice it currently is in schools.
Overall these are only minor issues and I think with school cooperation something like this would be extremely beneficial to online learning. It’s a really good idea!
I think Yirun’s idea to mix interactive design with inclusive design is an interesting idea. We live in an era where chats and social media are a click away and people are more accessible than ever before. Thus you would think this would mean that students would engage more with the addition of technology enabling them. In many regards I find the statements in Yirun’s post about the benefits of inclusive learning to be true, when everyone participates and communicates and gives feedback it certainly improves learning. However in my experience, I find that the inclusion of online platforms seems to enable students to hide rather than to participate. Rather than them coming in at a specific time, and being told they have to interact for an hour, and having no other choice but to do so, students in online courses seem to simply chose not to participate with their peers at all. I see this in a lot of online courses, people won’t talk or engage regularly like they would in a physical class. It seems almost as if, because interaction is so open, it is never prioritized and is taken for granted instead. I think there’s ways around this dilemma however, by mandating a specific time online where students are kept track of and held liable for participating we can bring back “class time” even online, and re-enable participation and communication through online student chat. After all, who says attendance can’t be taken online?
Comments: Inclusive Design
Comments for the Inclusive Design Prompt
#1: Inclusive Design Prompt by Zihan (Amy) Bai
I really liked Amy’s idea in their inclusive design prompt about making a learning app that can tailor to people’s specific learning styles. I specifically was interested in their concept of notification silencing. As a person that uses my phone and computer to work, people seeing my online presence is enough to trigger them to reach out to me for tasks. I then get a lot of notifications while I am trying to study, or even when I’m in a zoom call. Furthermore trying to tell people not to message you during a certain time period really doesn’t work well, as people will either forget or discredit it quickly. Having an app that allows you to block out external stimulus while you are trying to study, while still allowing access to what you need to learn properly would be amazing. I feel like it would help a lot of people, as one of the biggest hurdles with online learning is the fact it is online in the first place and those who are not technologically savvy struggle just to get started. Introducing too many tools and online platforms can be stressful to students, more than introducing them to a single all-inclusive platform. There is then the added struggle that every teacher may use different platforms, so students need to constantly relearn all these platforms for every course. So I believe that while this app is a really good idea, the following would need to happen for it to be effective:
-It has access or the potential to access all the needed course information and tools within a self-contained and easily accessible unit. As non-disruptively as possible, so that the student focus is not on having to manage multiple sources of information.
-Teachers in the school all agreed unanimously to use this app, so that students do not need to learn new platforms every course. Just like student does not need to relearn how to walk into a classroom and pick a seat. The expectations on how to use and work the tool is established only once and is carried throughout the school. This way, the focus is on learning the material and not “an-app-a-class” as I notice it currently is in schools.
Overall these are only minor issues and I think with school cooperation something like this would be extremely beneficial to online learning. It’s a really good idea!
#2: (Prompt) Inclusive Design by Yirun Jin
I think Yirun’s idea to mix interactive design with inclusive design is an interesting idea. We live in an era where chats and social media are a click away and people are more accessible than ever before. Thus you would think this would mean that students would engage more with the addition of technology enabling them. In many regards I find the statements in Yirun’s post about the benefits of inclusive learning to be true, when everyone participates and communicates and gives feedback it certainly improves learning. However in my experience, I find that the inclusion of online platforms seems to enable students to hide rather than to participate. Rather than them coming in at a specific time, and being told they have to interact for an hour, and having no other choice but to do so, students in online courses seem to simply chose not to participate with their peers at all. I see this in a lot of online courses, people won’t talk or engage regularly like they would in a physical class. It seems almost as if, because interaction is so open, it is never prioritized and is taken for granted instead. I think there’s ways around this dilemma however, by mandating a specific time online where students are kept track of and held liable for participating we can bring back “class time” even online, and re-enable participation and communication through online student chat. After all, who says attendance can’t be taken online?
soals
October 17, 2020
edci335
comments, design, inclusive, peer, soals