I am an Experimenter

A response to the I’m an Experimenter! Activity
created by Dorina Grossu (@dgrossu)

Number of views: 1030

I am an Experimenter

 

The quality of our lives has been improving since the technologies have been introduced in the education system. Our evolving concepts about tools and development methodologies led to implementations of real-life experiences which became easier for students to learn. There has been a constant change for the last 20 years. According to an article, visual aids improved learning by 400%. The human brain processes visual content 60,000 times fast than text.

Students must learn how to create their own scientific research assignments as part of the course that I teach in the Process Quality Engineering program, therefore, the activities further described have been completed to support the students’ work in active learning. The activities will also provide students with future work skills in organizations where technologies are used for presenting work in a scientific research environment.

My choice was Canva with Screencast-o-matic software and created the Research Poster by using Piktochart software. I also created a comic video using the smartphone that would encourage the students to be creative when choosing the platform technologies as laptops and smart devices to learn.

The main learning experience using this software combination was that it is easy to use when one needs to create an emotional engagement within a manageable time frame.

This combination of software has great value for students since they can learn faster and easier by using the tools that are available. For professors, it becomes easier to explain the concepts by using a modern approach.  Art addresses the student’s conation since it is part of the logical and emotional state.

Canva is very easy to be used by students. This software will encourage them to explore new ways to present their technical concepts. I will use it in my course presentations because I can create excellent pictorials by having a large picture and music collection to choose from to complete the project. It has a professional presentation while the graphic interfaces offer different transitions. It can be used on smart devices and shared among the different teams. This example was created by using Canva:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAEIWbhbTMg/FvrtKN0lneSwvw3zNdxguQ/watch?utm_content=DAEIWbhbTMg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Students also have the option to use Piktochart to create the Research Poster, just as I used it in my video presentation. The template that I created is for students to follow and perform their Scientific Research assignments. In this video, I introduce them to how to create a poster. It is an easy to use tool that is engaging and capable, such that students can personalize their presentations. 65% of B2B marketers use this type of infographics for content marketing, but it is also used extensively by researchers when they present their work results.

Picktochart is a cloud and browser-based platform and we can create visual aids from scratch as it has a wide collection of templates for infographics, posters, and flyers. It also has charts, maps, and visual lists.

https://create.piktochart.com/output/49055925-my-visual

It is versatile as it creates videos, images that can be shared on a variety of social media platforms with HTML publishing capability. It can be easily edited, when compared to other software that is used for recording voice, screen (such as Photoshop CC, Photoshop Illustrator).

Both Canva and Piktochart have template designs that are fresh and professional-looking, easy to use by performing word searches, pricing is acceptable as they both offer also free plans. Infographic templates are easy to find and specific for different areas of interest.

Students can record their screen and voice by using Screencast-o-matic. Screencast-o-matic is also free software, although it has some restrictions. Its cost is manageable, and it is a useful tool used in all activities. I think that students would be happy to use it when they want to present new slides, pictures, or demonstrations with video recordings. It can also be shared across different social media platforms. Another great option to Screecast-o-matic would be Filmora software.

As I was enthusiastic about using the smartphone to create something new, I discovered the Renderforest (https://www.renderforest.com/templates) that creates a large variety of videos. To create a comic video was easy and the video is uploaded under Comics. The advantage of using a smartphone to create something unique in a short time can be used as an online engaging activity. Students use the smartphone to learn and use this software, they can get to know each other, collaborate while using it as an icebreaker activity.

I have created another video by using Canva, Piktochart, and Screencast-o-matic. The video was uploaded on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G52BwPbuHFo

In conclusion, the use of technologies to create lessons and courses that would engage students furthermore on the learning paths is beneficial as there is an increased level of quality that is based on collaboration and openness across the different working environments.

Best regards,

Dorina Grossu

Professor

Conestoga College

dgrossu@conestogac.on.ca