Friday, April 21, 2017

Unit 2 - Step 2 - Understand Your users (Discovery)

Goal: Learn more about your users so your learning experience will be engaging.

  • What does your user value as a learner? Examples: Your student might value incorporating art into projects, or they might value using technology. What are some complaints that they currently have about their classroom experience? 
  • Does your user have any ideas or preconceptions about the content you've chosen? Examples: You might find out that your student feels intimidated when asked to generate several ideas in response to a assignment prompt. 
  • What about opportunities and constraints? Examples: What is your student's reading level? Does the classroom have lab equipment? Is it a small class of students or a large one? Does every student have a laptop or tablet device?
Conducted 2 group interviews with students
  • four females (one class)
  • three males (other class)
BRAINSTORMING - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Learning English
  • What makes learning English in the classroom most difficult?
  • What do you constantly struggle with when learning English?
  • What mode of english is most difficult - reading, writing, listening, speaking
  • What do you do to study outside of class
  • What do you wish you had more of / less of to help you study and improve your English

The lesson plan concept  
  • What was your reaction the first time you saw the digital lesson plan
  • How often do you use it
  • When do you use it outside of class
  • Where do you use it outside of class - on phone .. on computer .. with friends .. with family?
  • Why do you use it .. most of the time
  • What is most useful about it
  • What do you wish could be there but isn’t

The design format
  • Is it clear
  • What do you like or appreciate about it
  • What could be done to make it clearer to you
  • How could it be improved to help you with your studies
  • Links to other resources

The content
Links to attendance, assessment sheets, listening resources
  • How often do you use them
  • How useful are they
  • What.. do you wish could be there but isn’t


INTERVIEW PROCESS - RESPONSES
  • Focus group with 4 female students in one of my classes - 19 April 2017
  • What do you wish you had more of / less of to help you study and improve your English
  • Practice with Vocabulary word forms - these are difficult to learn / know
  • Writing - so many elements to do at the same time
  • Read and speak more
  • Review the grammar more often
  • Include exercises .. and then links to answers (self directed studies)

  • What was your reaction the first time you saw the digital lesson plan
    • At first we did not understand what it means or what it was used for
    • Completely new to them
    • Good idea
    • Helps remind us of what we do or did in class
  • When do you use it outside of class
    • Yes
    • How? To refer to it for (Study Skills / Research) Project
      • reminds us of what we need to do (many details) & how
      • practice new vocabulary
    • Using it mostly on the phone (during and outside of class)
      • Sometimes on computer
      • Can be used on the phone (no hesitation in response)
      • Often copying the link(s) and sending / sharing them with friends in other classes (unsolicited response)
  • Which parts of the digital lesson plan do you use the most?
    • Announcements (immediate response, without hesitation)
      • What do we need to do today
      • What might we forget to do .. and it reminds us
    • Writing class
      • References to grammar
      • Request for more
        • Examples
        • Rules
  • Is there anything else that you would like to see there but is not there now?
    • links to practice exercises
    • Video
      • Could be used to introduce a reading / writing topic
    • Games between boys and girls
      • Competition (yet cultural issues here; needs clarification)
        • With technology “we” can work in groups (needs to be clarified - examples .. past experience of the girls? But I sense it refers to them being divided into groups based on gender (permissable)  

Overall tone of students?
  • Very positive, very supportive
  • Realized once again of the importance of creating a supportive, non threatening environment, that encourages students to open up. Quality of feedback reflects this.


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