Hi Yashvi, thank you so much for your Blog Post 4 – Instructional Design, Cognitive Load Theory, and Poster. I liked how your blog post covered three different topics efficiently and effectively. I also enjoyed how you were able to make combine your passion for art and health information science into making a cool poster on telemedicine. I thought your poster covered the topic well and made great use of fonts, colors, and space. With topics as complex as telemedicine, it can sometimes be hard to deliver a clear and concise message regarding the topic. However, I think you did a very good job at this – kudos.
As you are someone who has used Canva in the past, I would love it if you added to your blog with tips and tricks for navigating the application or even how you find the application overall. I have also used Canva in the past and found it to be relatively user-friendly. However, every time I talk to another Canva user, I always learn something new that I can do with the application. Because of this, I think your insight and opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a virtual presentation software designed for the business environment (Britannica, n.d.). Using slides containing images and text, organizations can deliver meaningful presentations using PowerPoint as a visual aid. However, end-users typically struggle to use the application effectively. Commonly, PowerPoint presentations contain too much text and not enough images. Consequently, those viewing the presentation face mind-numbing boredom and little to no educational benefits. Luckily one can follow a series of steps to prevent this and create presentations that will inform and benefit its viewers – as it intended to.
Online there are many websites that contain various information about “what not to do” when creating PowerPoint presentations. However, these sites have one thing in common: they do not inform the reader what to do. Because of this, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the abundance of information and go back to creating the same painful presentation as before.
Figure 1. Bored at Meeting (Folk, 2011).
Tips and Tricks to PowerPoint Success
Most believe that creating a successful PowerPoint presentation is time-consuming and difficult. Instead, one can design an impactful presentation by following these six simple rules.
Rule #1 One Idea per Slide
Only put one idea per slide. Putting more than one idea on a slide increases the cognitive load of the viewer, therefore decreasing the viewer’s ability to learn or comprehend what is being presented. As such, limit the number of ideas on a slide to one and increase the number of slides within the presentation.
Rule #2 No more than six objects per slide
Do not put more than six objects on a slide. Objects include a text idea, image, and graphs or charts. Similar to rule #1, applying more than six objects to a single slide increases the cognitive load of the audience. If one has more than six objects per slide, either separate these objects amongst multiple slides or pick the six most important objects to use.
Rule #3 Don’t read the text off of your slide
Do not directly read the text off of the slides. Not only does reading the text directly off the slides interfere with learning (i.e. the redundancy principle), but it is also boring and does not excite the audience. Because of this, only highlight the key “takeaways” on each of the slides and post narration in the presenter box.
Rule #4 Use illustrative images and short text on your slides
Use illustrative images and short text on slides to deliver your message. Like rule #3, presenters should only highlight key ideas on the slides. Further, using a combination of multimedia to deliver a presentation, promotes learning and applies the modality principles.
Rule #5 Make the most important than the most prominent
Always make the most important message of the slide the most prominent. By making the most important message the most prominent, the presenter can signal to its audience what to focus on. Presenters can apply the signaling principle through the use of an increase in font size, use of color, or other font changes.
Rule #6 Use contrast to move your audience around the slide
Use contrast to move the audience’s attention around the slide. Through the application of contrast, the presenter can apply signaling and coherence principles to facilitate learning by not overwhelming its viewers with information. Rather, the audience is able to effectively move their attention from various information presented on the slide.
To see how these rules can promote learning, please watch the video by David Phillips, who communicates these six rules through his own PowerPoint.
(Tedx Talks, 2014).
References
Britannica. (n.d.). Microsoft PowerPoint. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/Microsoft-PowerPoint
Folk, Sandra. (2011). 6 Quick Tips on How Not To Be Boring: Improve Your Presentation Delivery Skills. Retrieved from https://www.thelanguagelab.ca/posts/6-quick-tips-on-how-not-to-be-boring-improve-your-presentation-delivery-skills/
Tedx Talks. (2014, April 14). How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo
Hi Grace, thank you so much for your Blog Post 3 – What game tools or ideas have peeked your interest?. I enjoyed how you used the post to focus on one of the many multimedia learning tools – Kahoot. At the start of your post, I appreciated how you began by describing the tool and its purpose. As a reader, it made it much easier to understand the use of the tool and its benefits to learning. I also appreciated how you made connections between the tool and the learning theories (e.x., constructivism learning theory) that we are learning about in class.
At the end of the post, I see that you mention your use of Kahoot to promote learning. I was curious if you have used it in the traditional classroom setting or more for personal learning? Personally, I have never used Kahoot in class and wish I had! As a student, would you recommend this learning tool to others? Did you use it often?
Exams and other standardized testing are the cause of anxiety for many students. During their time at university, students may become overwhelmed by the amount of material to learn or struggle to engage with educational materials in a meaningful way that will result in good test outcomes. Fortunately for some students, they can overcome learning barriers and determine the best way to study, while others are not as lucky. By being aware of the Principles of Learning and the myths about learning, all students can begin to better promote better learning and successfully prepare for standardized tests.
Figure 1. Studying for an Exam (John Hopkins Medicine 2017).
Personally, learning to effectively engage with educational material was difficult. In my first year, I only began preparing for tests days before and typically only read course-related slide decks once. Not understanding the importance of studying habits or techniques, I was always surprised by my below-average scores. However, as I progressed throughout my time at university I recognized that my approach to learning needed to change.
First, I started studying much earlier (at least one week before the test date) and engaging in a combination of passive and active learning styles. I would begin by reading the course’s textbook(s), slide decks, and supplementary materials. During this time, I would write notes, highlighting key elements and how they related to each other. Once I had completed the readings and initial note-taking, I broke down the material into learning segments to be digested over a series of days. By doing this, I was never overwhelmed by the amount of material and would have the opportunity to review and engage with the material multiple times. When reviewing the material/study package, I would do this both privately as well as in discussion groups to talk about the material and promote learning. For material that remained unclear, I would watch videos and reach out to the course professor to continue the discussion and solidify my understanding.
(MooMooMath and Science, 2017).
By the end of my time studying, I felt confident in my material comprehension and ability to write a good exam. Fortunately, the combination of these methods has always been very successful for me and has resulted in high scores. Although this method approach to studying is much more time-consuming than my previous approach, I have become much more successful and have been able to better learn course materials.
Figure 2. Active Exam Studying and Learning (Lane, 2022).
Lane, Chloe. (2022). How can Universities Create a Diverse Environment for Students? Retrieved from https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/studying-abroad-articles/how-can-universities-create-diverse-environment-students
MooMooMath and Science. (2017, February 2017). Difference Active and Passive Studying. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ5vchaVghE
Marianne. (2018). 10 Common Learning Myths That Might Be Holding You Back. Retrieved from opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/10-common-learning-myths-might-holding-back/
The Top 300 Tools for Learning 2021 is an online table compiled by Jane Hart that ranks the best 300 learning tools of the past year. This table consists of 3 sub-lists (Top 150 Tools for Personal Learning, Top 150 Tools for Workplace Learning, and Top 150 Tools for Education) to better rank what type of learning the tool promotes (Top Tools for Learning 2021). Further, the table provides information such as a brief description of the tool, its’ standing compared to years past, and a short analysis.
For this current list, the top ten tools are typical applications that are commonly used such as YouTube, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Individually, I interact almost daily with these tools for both personal and work matters. Because of this, it is no surprise to see these learning applications ranked at the top.
Beyond these top ten rated applications, there are other tools that I am unfamiliar with like Kahoot and Mentimeter. Both Kahoot and Mentimeter are live engagement tools that have become more popular within the last year (resulting in higher overall rankings) (Top Tools for Learning 2021). These applications are being used both for their interactive functionality and meeting tools (Top Tools for Learning 2021). To become more familiar with the two systems I watched the following videos:
Kahoot
(Kahoot, 2021)
Mentimeter
(Catlin Tucker, 2020)
Both videos provided a good foundation for understanding the capabilities of the tools. Even from these short introductory videos, it is clear as to why these two tools have become so successful.
References:
Catlin Tucker. (2020, April 14). Quick Introduction to Menitmeter. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXENGE7-ehM
Kahoot. (2021, March 3). Intro to the Kahoot! App for IOS and Android. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JC8h4Id_5k
Top Tools for Learning 2021. Retrieved from https://www.toptools4learning.com/
Photo by Flickr user jfchenier under CC license: BY-NC 2.0
Hello Everyone! My name is Katie and I am a fourth-year Health Information Science Student. I have been attending the University of Victoria for the past four years and have loved every moment of it. I enjoy walking in Mystic Vale with friends or hanging out at the beach! UVic and the city of Victoria is a beautiful place that I have been so fortunate to experience.
This is my first EDCI course and the last course of my degree! It is very bittersweet but I am excited to move on to new opportunities. In this course, I am looking to learn a little bit about the world of EDCI and how I can apply it to my everyday life.
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