-Woohoo…. Designing a course module is not as easy as it looks. But anyways, I am grateful for this class and the additional learning experience I have gathered. When we were asked to design a course profile, my mind wandered away a bit on what I could possibly design to fit the present context I find myself in. After much deliberation, I decided to choose something I realized might be adaptable to health education.

I created a course in Medical Terminology and subsequently designed two modules. Medical Terminology is the basis for efficient communication in the healthcare sector. Understanding medical terminology is particularly crucial for anyone interested in the medical field, either as a medical professional, administrative staff, or other health-related careers. In designing my course prototype and profile as required in this class (EC&I 834), I decided to create an online medical terminology course with the aim of providing an interesting, accessible, and flexible learning approach to diverse learners who might be interested in the course. A summary of my course prototype is presented in this blog post, highlighting important design decisions, difficulties, and potential future directions. Nevertheless, I have included my course profile, as it provides a clearer picture of the course format, target population, and every other piece of information needed.

Course Design and Rationale

When designing the course prototype, a lot of things had to be considered so as to enhance the teaching and learning process. Based on the discussion we had in class, I understood the fact that our prototype should contain a look and feel of how we want the course to be. I thought in my mind at first that I wasn’t ready for this…you know, thinking of interactivity, assessment, and compatibility of whatever you are using or doing with the LMS you intend using. Alas!!! I managed, even though the prototype wasn’t perfect.

Elearning development/prototypes in elearning course development (Bacha Chatia)

The course follows a fully online, asynchronous format, allowing students to learn at their own pace. This decision was driven by the need to accommodate students from different time zones, work schedules, and life commitments. The course is hosted on a Google Classroom and incorporates interactive multimedia resources such as video lectures, self-paced quizzes, and discussion forums. To ensure accessibility, I integrated visual aids and animations to illustrate complex terms as well as flashcards and interactive games to reinforce learning in an engaging way. I feel this approach will enhance students motivation and also foster a sense of accomplishment as students master key concepts as documented in my course overview.

Developing the course prototype presented some challenges. The first one was ensuring accessibility for learners with low bandwidth or limited access to devices, which requires optimizing resources for mobile compatibility and providing downloadable materials. I think I was finally able to address this by providing presentation slides that students can easily download for offline use. Another challenge I think I encountered was supporting EAL students, which required the inclusion of more visual and auditory learning aids, as well as ensuring complex medical terms were broken down into digestible explanations. I really can not tell if I have done justice to this. However, I believe turning the subtitle button and captions of the video on, as well as reducing the speed of the video as students listen or watch, will go a long way in helping EAL students. Based on the feedback from the initial review of my prototype, I have tried to balance students’ self-paced learning with engagement. I have tried to integrate peer discussion prompts as a way to keep students accountable for their learning outside the scheduled live sessions. Here is a link to the course LMS, and below is a walkthrough on what it looks like.

As mentioned earlier, the development of this course prototype might not be perfect. However, I am glad with the process and lessons learned as I look forward to exploring more ways of designing courses with particular features that support equity and inclusivity in the learning process.

We live in a world where media have become highly significant, and its importance in education cannot be overstated. As teachers, it becomes very important for us to maximize all forms of technology to make learning interesting, fun, and active. According to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children (American SPCC), digital media not only encourages creative expression but also plays a vital role in building children’s social competencies. Through online platforms, they learn to collaborate, share perspectives, and offer helpful critiques, which promotes empathy and teamwork. Over the past few years, I’ve explored tools like Animoto, Clipchamp, Canva, and Screencastify, among others, for documenting/delivering educational content.

In this post, I will be exploring another commonly used tool by students, which is the CapCut media. CapCut is a video editing tool that can be used on desktops (Windows), mobile, or online browsers. While primarily known for film editing, CapCut offers a user-friendly platform for creating digital animations suitable for online education. This app appears to be commonly used by younger people, and it simplifies video editing with its intuitive features, making it accessible to new app users without prior experience.

CapCut has the option of opening a previous project or starting a new project. The web version has several features, including magic tools like text-to-speech, a voice changer, video aspect ratio for resizing, AI video maker, script to video, clips to video, smart vlog, custom voice, video translator, teleprompter, voice recording option, background removal, text to image, avatars, and one-click video creation.

• It has a term of policy that users need to consent to before using the app.
• The user interface is friendly and accessible with intuitive designs that allow users to navigate the app easily. The app also has several templates that can be modified for personal use.
• One can drag and drop videos and images concurrently and even set timelines to control the duration of how the logo or video appears.You can also create watermarks using the CapCut app.
• The app also has several video, body, and photo effects that can be applied, ranging from transitions, adjustments, animations, and filters to help enhance the visual quality of the video.
• In terms of the aspect ratio, one can crop and resize videos or images to fit YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. One also has the option to create with a custom canvas size depending on the device used.
• In the adjustment, one can control the resolution, brightness, contrast, saturation, or even playback speed of the video. It also has the preview and export button
• It also has auto-captioning, which automatically generates subtitles either from video, spoken language, or using AI.
• Another feature that caught my attention is the audio integration, which allows users to add music and sound effects either by recording, AI-generated music, text-to-audio, or even extracting music from another platform to enhance the storytelling aspect of videos.

In the post How to Use CapCut in the Classroom, the author asserts that the utilization of CapCut as a tool to engage students within the educational setting can significantly enhance creativity and collaboration while simultaneously advancing digital literacy. Furthermore, the implementation of CapCut also renders the learning experience more captivating, thereby facilitating the effective comprehension of the instructional materials presented by educators. While CapCut is a free access tool, it is important to note that some advance features on the app might require a subscription. 

“Feedback is the compass for greatness; it tells you what to avoid, what to learn, and where to excel.”  – Henrik Ceder, Netigate

Creating my first module using the Google platform was a good experience for me. Even though I am familiar with Google Classroom, I have never used it as an LMS where I need to inculcate a lot of materials and design. The feedback received really showed that I did put a lot of effort into what I’ve done, and I still need to improve on my module design. Based on the feedback, I will be modifying my prototype and course shell in the following areas.

1. User Experience and Enhancement

One of the feedbacks received is the need to provide direct links to specific sections of textbooks and activities to streamline content access. This idea is actually welcomed; however, my intention for integrating the whole textbook was because learners will be using the same textbook as their reading source for the whole course. Nevertheless, I recognize the importance of making content navigation as seamless as possible. I will update the course materials by embedding direct links to specific textbook sections and relevant activities, ensuring that students can access the required content without unnecessary searching. This will enhance efficiency and minimize potential learning barriers.

During the review process, I revisited the course shell and realized a problem with the Padlet I integrated. Even though this was later identified by the reviewers, I already corrected the settings to enhance user experience in posting responses.

Another concern raised was the issue of the navigation challenge and pinning the initial course message in the Google Classroom “Stream” page to ensure easy access. One major problem is that “pinning is not a feature in Google Classroom. However, one thing I think I will try doing is to ensure that important messages or posts are moved to the top of the “stream page.” This will give access to visitors to easily read instructions that would help them navigate to the “classwork” tab.

There was also an issue around the lack of clear labeling for accessing and timing of synchronous sessions that need to be addressed. I acknowledge that this was an oversight because instructions and information regarding this were given in the video presentation before integrating it under the welcome section. However, I will create a separate label to indicate clear information about the synchronous session. This section will also include explicit information on the modality state and estimated weekly time commitment (as indicated in the profile and course shell)

2. Content Organization

The feedback also focused on resource clarity and learning outcomes. Though I had indicated the learning outcomes in the beginning of the presentation slide. Based on the feedback received, I guess the learning outcomes should have a visible section in the course shell so that it can be easily seen by everybody and provide clearer expectations for students. A big misunderstanding was also the fact that the module is covered within a week, and all subtopics addressed in the module were already integrated into the presentation “Notes and resources” section. Even though this appeared as a mismatched title to the reviews, I will have to include a clear instruction on what has been embedded in this section so as not to create confusion for students.

It was also indicated that the course profile does not explicitly detail policies or strategies for addressing attendance concerns. Even though the importance of attendance in the module was implied in the scheduled Zoom meetings and live quizzes. Hence, I will outline attendance policies and also provide options for students who may miss synchronous sessions, such as recorded lectures or alternative assignments in the course profile.

3. Engagement and Interaction

I integrated a discussion board into my course module. However, it is suggested that an introductory post from me (the instructor) could help initiate discussions and promote engagement. This will be taken into consideration in my next module, since it is considered a way of modeling interactive behavior to encourage student engagement in forums.

In the quiz design, one of the reviewers suggested the use of the H5P module for fill-in-the-blank exercises to enhance interactivity and engagement. I used H5P in some aspects of the quiz, and I also used a feedback mechanism through the Google quiz. I also thought to include a traditional set of questions in the module so that students could reflect and provide answers. This was done intentionally so that in case students had to do the quiz in the live class, it would give me the opportunity to discuss the answers with them. The suggestions will be considered when designing my second module. I will also be including feedback for wrong and correct answers with explanations in the Google quiz as suggested by one of the reviewers. This would help students understand their mistakes and learn from them.

4. Inclusivity and accessibility

Concerns around providing additional language support for EAL students, as well as low bandwidth and student access to devices, were raised. To address these concerns, I already included links to free open resources that are downloadable for students’ use. I also included presentation slides and videos that students can download with limited internet resources and use offline. I will also be providing additional language support resources to enhance understanding of the course, particularly for EAL learners.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization describes “Open Educational Resources (OER) as “learning, teaching, and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under the copyright that has been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation, and redistribution by others” (UNESCO, 2019:5).

Image copied from https://libguides.federation.edu.au/oer

The OER movement seeks to enhance educational quality and democratize knowledge, to make resources accessible to all learners, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4). OER are not limited to learning content but also include digital tools and other intellectual property that can be used in any context. One key feature of OER is the flexible nature of the materials created, which makes them adaptable to specific needs or contexts.

Image copied from https://libguides.federation.edu.au/oer

As an educator and emerging researcher, I have been privileged to utilize several OERs for my personal development. These resources basically help to increase access to learning and are sometimes used to address issues of cost of textbooks, quality/up-to-date information, and equity, especially for people living in economically disadvantaged communities or those with lower socioeconomic status. A typical example of an OER that I have always used is the PhET interactive simulations, which are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution (CCA). The PhET simulations can be used for teaching science and mathematics across all age groups. One of the reasons I love using PhET interactive simulations is that it bridges issues around lack of laboratory equipment, which tend to hinder students from engaging in experimental activities. More importantly is the fact that the PhET platform is easily accessible online at no cost. It also helps to promote student engagement and enhance teacher’s pedagogy.

The use of open educational resources where teachers are able to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute materials has opened up more possibilities for teachers’ collaboration on innovative educational practices, resulting in what is referred to as OER-enabled pedagogy (OEP). OEP has been shown to increase how teachers network and collaborate and stimulate reflection on their teaching practices while also creating opportunities to access high-quality, digital teaching materials (Arispe et al., 2023; Wiley & Hilton, 2018). Using OERs becomes valuable, particularly in contexts where resources are lacking or outdated and curricula/course materials are dependent upon decisions imposed by school districts or states. The value of OERs for students with access to them lies in their ability to help students prepare for a topic or lesson in advance, thereby facilitating the learning process, saving instructional time, promoting personalized learning, and potentially improving grades.

Based on the internationally agreed documents led by multilateral organizations like UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), many countries now support the development of OER as a way to provide high-quality learning materials to students and provide primary and secondary education for all while making higher education more affordable (Kanwar, 2015). One particular thing I have noticed is that most of the available OERs seem to be generated more from industrialized/developed countries as compared to developing countries. However, there are claims that a lack of funding opportunities, understanding of copyright, and open licensing could be a potential roadblock to OER development. Another challenge to the adoption of OER could be associated with the fact that many teachers don’t know how to find, use, or create OER effectively, which limits their ability to integrate these resources into their teaching practices. There are schools that lack access to technological resources like internet facilities and IT experts, which can discourage teachers from adopting  OER in their classrooms. I could remember visiting a school that had projectors and computers in the science laboratory but did not have access to the internet or data connectivity. Unfortunately, the school management indicated insufficient funding as a hinderance to teachers use of those resources. Inasmuch as OERs are beneficial, I know that not all students can access these resources, and this can further widen the issue of the digital divide causing educational inequalities. During the class discussion, colleagues mentioned how some teachers are always hesitant to share their materials, and this can also frustrate teachers from adopting OERs.

Reflecting on how OERs can be improved, I think this could include promoting teachers and students to work together in creating OERs, as well as encouraging a collaborative practice among teachers where they are able to share their resources with one another. I also think creating awareness on the benefits of sharing resources within a community of practice could be instrumental in how the use of OERs can be improved.

• I remember colleagues talking about teachers making money by selling their resources online. How do you think this can be used in improving the development and adoption of OERs?
• I would also love to know how you are using OER in your classroom as an educator.
• What role do you think educational stakeholders play in the development and adoption of open educational resources?

References

Arispe, K., Hoye, A., & Palmer, K. (2023). The impact of open educational resource professional development for teachers in secondary education. Open Praxis, 15(4), 303-313.

Kanwar, A. (2015). Open Education Resources: What, why, how? Available at Commonwealth of Learning Newsletter

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2019). Recommendation on Open Educational Resources. Available at Legal Affairs/OER

Wiley, D., & Hilton Iii, J. L. (2018). Defining OER-enabled pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(4).

These past few weeks have been an amazing one as we all explored how to create H5P content. Reflecting on the various types of H5P content I came across, I can say that H5P content offers numerous benefits in educational settings, enhancing both teaching and learning experiences. As an interactive content creation tool, H5P facilitates the development of engaging materials that promote active learning, improve student engagement, and support diverse learning styles. While developing my H5P content, I realized that they can help students to self-assess their understanding through interactive features, which help clarify concepts and reinforce learning, and the feedback mechanisms within H5P activities allow students to track their progress and identify areas for improvement (Rahmi et al., 2024; Sharmin et al., 2023).

However, I struggled a bit before I could merge different types of H5P activities into my video. I think teachers need to be adequately trained on how to develop H5P contents for effective implementation in their teaching practice.

Integrating H5P interactive videos, quizzes, and drag-and-drop activities into lesson content can help improve student motivation and participation. Here is a link to my Interactive video and below is a sample of what my interaction module looks like .

The interactive module and other learning resources have also been integrated into the LMS I am using for teaching this course. Here is the link to my course shell: Basicshell: Google Classroom. Here is what my Google Classroom looks like.

You can check under the classwork section for the course introduction, course overview, and all other resources (power point slide, interactive videos, assessments) that students will use in the first module. I am still busy developing the second module,

References

Rahmi, U., Fajri, B. R., & Azrul, A. (2024). Effectiveness of interactive content with H5P for Moodle-learning management system in blended learning. Journal of Learning for Development, 11(1), 66-81.

Sharmin, N., Pandya, J., Stevenson, T. R., & Chow, A. K. (2023). Interactive learning content to supplement didactic lectures in dental education. Journal of Dental Education, 88(Suppl 3), 1758.

‘Remixing is tasty’ (Gideon Burton, https://www.flickr.com/ photos/ wakingtiger/ 3156791341, CC BY SA 2.0)

Remixing is the art of copying, adapting, transforming, reorganizing, and/or remaking existing materials to produce something new (Katz, 2024). The process of remixing empowers one to be creative and enhance how they reuse existing materials.

In education, teachers and students depend on several instructional materials to help improve the teaching and learning process. The principle of remixing in education emphasizes the adaptation and integration of existing ideas to enhance curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment. This allows teachers to modify existing curriculum by engaging in borrowing, adapting, and merging concepts and /or ideas from various sources, including technology, to meet diverse student needs, create innovative learning experiences, and enhance learning outcomes (Meidi Meidi, 2011).  This implies that teachers gather information from multiple resources and adopt or adapt it to their classroom context.

Remixing materials can provide teachers and students with opportunities to access resources without limitations while expanding their applicability, trying to align their teaching with the needs of students and promoting inclusivity (Swancutt et al., 2020). The principles of remixing in an educational context can also help improve students’ ability to navigate, modify, and ethically use digital resources. In addition, it can challenge students to find innovative solutions by remixing and iterating on ideas. In terms of pedagogy, teachers can use their pedagogical content knowledge to critique and possibly adapt their instructional strategies to ensure that the lessons or content they intend to teach are contextually relevant for their students. When teaching, teachers can adapt various techniques and resources they came across from other sources to scaffold teaching and learning activities in their classroom context. Through the use of various scaffolding techniques, teachers can better understand how their instructional modifications and adaptations influence learning, which can, in turn, lead to a more unified approach between how the curriculum is planned and its final implementation in the classroom.

Purple Illustrative: How to Boost Engagement on Social Media Poster by ayodele emehinola

Conversely, while adaptation is essential for meeting diverse needs, it can also lead to inconsistencies in curriculum delivery if not aligned with overarching educational standards. This highlights the need for ongoing professional development and support for teachers in their adaptation efforts.

Remixing assessment practices could involve adjusting assessment policies, documents, contents, and components to align with current real-world educational tools and practices. This could include how teachers repurpose the use of technology to assess how students tell stories, carry out scientific investigations, and develop new artifacts based on existing ideas. It could also include using digital platforms to give students the same worksheets that would have been done traditionally. Doing this will not only assess the students’ subject matter knowledge but also how they navigate the online platform, share ideas or resources online, and all that. However, I believe that how teachers remix educational materials might depend on factors like educational policies, personal beliefs, and possible collaborative frameworks that support teacher adaptation.

The practice of remixing in education is increasingly relevant with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which offers tools for educators to reproduce instructional materials and content effectively. Studies have shown how the use of AI teachers can remix established curriculum by incorporating AI tools to support diverse learning needs, particularly in special education contexts (McMahon & Firestone, 2024). Using AI tools to remix learning content has actually promoted the creation of adaptive learning systems that help teachers tailor educational content to individual student needs (Sumartono et al., 2025). Using AI tools has also encouraged collaboration to refine assessment methods, contents, and learning outcomes among teachers.

Benefits of adaptive learning (Image from Anand Choudhary)

To reiterate an argument from the video “Remix is the art of copying”, however, the act of copying has always been stigmatized in education and often associated with negative connotations like plagiarism. However, the use of advanced learning technologies like AI, simulations, coding, and robotics platforms seems to promote more of the process of copying, debugging, and re-creating ideas. Thus, copying can serve as a valuable learning tool, particularly in programming and design contexts.

I think the issue of copying can be right and wrong depending on the context in which it been practiced. In a programming context, it can be used as a constructive tool to help students understand complex concepts. In design thinking, it could enhance creativity and innovation if properly modified to create something new. Nevertheless, I think there is a need for more education or guidelines on the various ways copying can be done correctly and constructively in the form of remixing and incorrectly in forms that can be connoted as wrong intent or academic dishonesty. Remixing can be seen as a legitimate form of creativity and innovation, fostering collaboration rather than discouraging it.

References

Lin, H. & Fishman, B. (2009). Scaffolding teacher adaptation by making design intent explicit. In Dimitracopoulou, A., O’Malley, C., Suthers, D., & Reimann, P. (Eds.), Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Practices: CSCL2009 Community Events Proceedings (pp. 159-161). Rhodes, Greece: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Meidl, T., & Meidl, C. (2011). Curriculum integration and adaptation: Individualizing pedagogy for linguistically and culturally diverse students. Current Issues in Education, 14(1).

Swancutt, L., Medhurst, M., Poed, S., & Walker, P. (2020). Making adjustments to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. In Inclusive education for the 21st century (pp. 208-243). Routledge.