Month: July 2023

Learning Activity 4

I joined the MOOC titled “Crypto and Cryptocurrencies” offered by Princeton University on Coursera. This topic is organized into 11 weeks with lecture videos, quiz questions and assignments. This is a familiar structure that I have seen in other in-person and online classes that I have taken. The lecture videos contain various professors talking beside PowerPoint presentations, making its approach similar to those of ‘traditional’ courses. Each video is between 5-30 min long and is followed by a one-question quiz which I had the option to skip. All quizzes and assignments are participatory because this is a free course that does not offer a certificate per Princeton University policy. There are 3 major programming assignments each weighing 33.33% of your course grade. You must receive a minimum of 60% in order to pass the assignments. Assignments are deemed mandatory but can be treated as participatory because again, there is no certificate. The major difference in this course in comparison to other courses that I have done is the lack of peer connection. This course is entirely asynchronous and self-directed, which means that it would best suit individuals with self-discipline and perseverance. The information shared throughout the course is highly valuable. Furthermore, this MOOC would be considered an xMOOC because all of the course materials are posted online in a structured setting. The course’s pedagogy followed a cognitive-behaviourist approach, with the belief that students would learn directly from their instructors.

Through this assignment, I achieved my learning goals, as it introduced me to the world of MOOCs and their accessibility. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of registration and navigation, and the vast array of free courses available to anyone with internet access. Discovering MOOCs has opened up a wealth of opportunities for me to expand my knowledge and skills in diverse areas.

Learning Activity 3

An Evaluation of the EdTech Tool Grammarly

Grammarly is a tool owned by Grammarly Incorporated and founded in 2009 by Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lide. As of March 2023, Grammarly announced its new CEO, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury.  Rahul Roy-Chowdhury previous spent a little over 14 years working with Google and a brief tenure with Amazon. He is not recognized for having any particular political affiliations or beliefs. Grammarly’s mission is “to improve lives by improving communication”. The tool says that it uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to check users’ grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, and tone errors. Ultimately, Grammarly suggests corrections to enhance the user’s writing. In actuality, Grammarly provides real-time writing assistance by analyzing the text that users input. However, Grammarly may not always be accurate and it is necessary that users exercise their judgment considering context when accepting or rejecting its suggestions.

When signing up for an account, the users may sign in with Google, Facebook, Apple or email. If signing up through a third party, Grammarly can access the information that you have authorized for that site. The personal data requested includes providing an email, name, password, preferred language, and reason for writing (work/school). However, only the user’s email address is required for email verification and the other information could be replaced with a pseudonym. All of the data saved on your Grammarly account is housed in San Francisco, California. Once a user deletes the documents from their account, Grammarly will remove them from their servers. The user is the owner of their writing and no one at Grammarly can edit or copy their work. Grammarly does use cookies which the company claims help provide their users with personal experiences.

I believe that Grammarly is an exceptional tool that aids in our pedagogies. Grammarly can serve as an aid in teaching writing skills by highlighting common mistakes, prompting students to revise and improve their work. As we are progressing through the digital age and more advanced technologies are being introduced, Grammarly simply acts as a proofreading device rather than one that creates content (such as ChatGPT). Therefore, users must engage in critical thinking, making the program an acceptable resource in schools. Its design is pedagogical as it offers suggestions for users to edit their writing. Grammarly does not automatically change the user’s writing, this allows the user to critically evaluate the program’s suggestions and their writing.

I am pleased to discover that the company values privacy as it does not sell their user’s data. Rather, Grammarly Incorporated successfully operates through its paid subscriptions. I have never deeply analyzed a programs privacy policy before as I always thought that it would be difficult to do and overwhelming—my experience was far from that! I guess it depends on the company as to how easily accessible and understandable their policies are but Grammarly’s were very easy to navigate. I choose this activity as it aligns with my learning goal of exploring online platforms. I know that when I become a teacher, I will need to look into privacy policies when choosing programs for my students.

 

References

Grammarly Inc. (2023). About Us. Grammarly. https://www.grammarly.com/about

Grammarly. (2023). Cookie policy. Grammarly. https://www.grammarly.com/cookie-policy

Hoover, B. (2023, March 21). Grammarly’s next chapter: Welcoming Rahul Roy-Chowdhury as Grammarly’s new CEO on May 1 and Noam                          Lovinsky as chief product officer. Grammarly Blog. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/rahul-roy-chowdhury-grammarly-ceo/

Learning Activity 2

Mapping Your Learning Network

I was pleasantly surprised by the large number of nodes that I have in my learning network. Just when I thought I had named them all, I was able to think of more. Currently, all of my connections are digital as I am exclusively taking online classes.

This assignment perfectly aligns with my personal goals as I was able to reflect on the platforms I use for school and the connections that I make on each one. One of my objectives is to learn new platforms and through this class, and a few others I have been exploring Mattermost. Another goal that I have, is to learn how I can promote socialization through online tasks. This assignment directly correlates to my socialization goal as I can see that there is little two-way connection between the student and the professors in my online classes. The majority of the connections are one-sided where the professor puts out announcements and assigns work for the students to hand in. This class is the only class where my professor is actively engaging with the students through discussion threads and posts, creating two-way discussions. All of my group work assignments are two-way connections where my peers and I must connect through messages and Zoom calls to discuss articles, make blog posts, and complete larger assignments. From this information, I now know that the best way to promote socialization in online school is through group work and by posting discussion threads for students to contribute to.

 

Learning Activity 1

The Importance of Metaphors

“The Brain is a Muscle”

One of my favourite metaphors in the world of education is “the brain is a muscle”. I love this phrase because it promotes a growth mindset: the idea that one’s skills and knowledge can be developed through effort and continuous learning. Individuals value the process of learning and embrace challenges. I preach a growth mindset as I try to learn from everything that I do. However, what makes this metaphor even better than the idea of a “growth mindset” is that like a muscle, if the brain is not being challenged then it will get weaker. After time, if the brain is not used then it will start forgetting things and losing its learning pathways. Now, is the brain actually a muscle?? No, it is an organ. That difference is what makes this statement a metaphor. As long as students understand that the brain is not actually a muscle but rather an organ and they understand the meaning of the metaphor then I think that this metaphor is extremely appropriate and beneficial. Additionally, it is easy for students to make the connection in their heads. I believe that when students hear this metaphor they want to challenge their brains and feed it knowledge to make their brain “bigger”. Having a growth mindset is important because it enables individuals to unlock their full potential and pursue continuous growth. This aligns with my learning philosophy as I believe that learning takes time and is a journey. Through this activity, I was able to practice my critical thinking skills and I developed a greater appreciation for metaphors.

A cartoon brain holding up a weight with two books on each end of the stick.