This is the final EDTC post for the semester.
Here is my summary of learning
It has been a blast to be in this class.
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn!
Josh
Month: December 2023
This is the second to last post of EDTC 300.
I don’t read blogs all that much, so i’ll admit it was difficult to add comments to other blogs some days. The slideshow below shows some of the contributions I have made to other classmates learning posts.
I didn’t utilize Discord all that much, but this is one moment where I was able to help out
I believe I made good contributions to the learning project posts, ones that hopefully encouraged my classmates to keep pursuing their goal.
It was always fun to share my thoughts with my classmates whenever we were in the breakout rooms during class. Listening to other people’s perspectives was very insightful. I shared a resource or two during class, but unfortunately I can’t find them in the zoom recordings, as there was not an option to see the chat box.
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the final stretch of this journey.
When I started this learning project at the beginning of September, I didn’t know where it would exactly lead me. I wanted to learn German so I could one day travel to Germany. From reading facts in museums to ordering a drink at a local brewery. I remember writing that first post with that ambitious goal in mind. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how much I would learn, given that I have a busy life both in school and outside. But throughout the semester, I endured and kept my committment to learning German to the best of my abilities or what time would allow me.
And let me tell you, it was worth it. Let’s take a look back….
Week 1 : Romancing the Germanic
I found my most consistent tool for learning/practicing German throughout the semester, Duolingo. Although I have my gripes with Duolingo, it kept me engaged and allowed me to practice the format of the language.
My progress as of Dec 12th
Week 2 : Grasping German Grammar (feat. Laura)
When it comes to German language, noun genders can be really confusing. There are no set rules, so most sites tell you to learn the gender with the noun as you go. And while that is mostly true, Laura’s German Grammar helped organize the noun genders into different topics, which was super helpful for me going forward.
Week 3 : The Conjugation Champ (ft. Decent quality video editing)
Conjuu was a helpful app that helped me practice german verbs. I also learned some video editing skills, which was not as daunting as I once thought it was.
Week 4 : Vocabulary List? Answer:Mango
Who doesn’t love free things from the library? I certainly do! I quickly learned the days and months of the year.
Week 5: Is Drops a [ka]hoot!? Tune in
As much as I found the app a bit disappointing, I realized that my learning system can’t heavily rely on visuals, or else I focus on learning the visuals themselves and not the words/phrases. It was fun learning about different hair styles though, haha
Week 6 : Domo arigato Mr. Roboto!
I never would have thought of the day of using AI to explore a language, but it was a unique experience. While I wouldn’t rely on it teaching me the language, it did provide some good resources and alternate ways of learning, such as songs and rhyme (something I didn’t even think of).
Week 7 : Memorize? How about Memrise?
I love this app. Listening to native speakers was such a refresher, especially since Drops and Duolingo both gave monotone robot voices. Learning vocabulary from short form video content was a cool way to keep people engaged whilst also learning! I learned enough vocabulary to get a beer! Haha
Week 8 : A Whole New World
I found a site that has a library filled with German content. I doubt I would have found this amount of content at the local Regina library. I can’t wait to come back to this site later when I have enough vocabulary to read a novel made for kids.
Week 9 : The Last Tool
Just recently, I found a Youtube channel that explains the language in a similar tone to Laura’s German Grammar from Week 2. The channel also has an app and website that helps new learners navigate through the german language.
Now, more than ever, I’m excited to continue studying the German language and improving that knowledge. Although I’m still a beginner and still have a lot more to learn, this project has really invigorated my love for languages again. Even though this learning project journey has come to a close, my eagerness to learn German will continue to thrive in the upcoming year.
Thanks to all for being with me throughout this journey.
Prost und Auf wiedersehn!
Josh
Welcome back! This is gonna be the last tool I share with you before the learning summary. And boy, it’s a good one.
Today I finally scoured the Youtube space. I was a bit daunted going into the Youtube space because it’s a very accessible tool that has an overwhelming amount of content. You could scroll through the various “learning german” youtube channels all day and not reach the end. It can be very time consuming to find a content creator that fits the need you are looking for.
By happenstance, one of the first videos I clicked was from the Youtube channel : Learn German with GermanPod101.com
I was intrigued with how they were doing the breakdown of each section, so I continued on. At 12:08, the section covered making apologies. The teacher explained the differences and contexts between entschuldige, entschuldigen sie and entschuldigung. I was immediately hooked after that, as some of the other resources I have used in the past did not explain it.
I soon looked at their other videos and playlists. They had vocabulary, listening comprehension and reading practice videos, for all different levels of learners. I also noticed they had a website and app. Of course, it was a free trial, but I wanted to check out what they had. It not only included videos that were not on the channel, but also lesson notes/transcripts and language tips. They had a flashcard system and a way to track your progress. You can also access assessments and a 1-on-1 teacher in the premium plus version, which I thought was pretty neat. It’s organized to really help a learner progress from a beginner stage to an advanced stage.
Overall, this is a good resource to use not only for memorization, but to understand the language itself. Also fairly accessible and can easily be put in the background while doing chores. 9.5/10
What kind of Youtube tutorials do you watch? Let me know!
Hey folks, long time no see! These past few weeks have been a gong show, but here I am again.
Have you ever found a resource and go – wow, where do I even start?
That is the question I faced this week as I looked into the other ChatGPT recommendation. Today, we’re looking at the Goethe Institut. When I first reached this website, it was all in German. One of my first thoughts was “Oh no, what am I getting into?”. Once google translated the page and I created an account, I realized what this was. It is an organization that is dedicated to providing resources and courses about the German language and culture.
I then discovered their library system, Onleihe. And wow, where do I begin? It essentially is like a library in almost every way, except it is mostly German content, ranging from books, to audio, to videos to music. There was so much to go through, but I thought I could try to read an easy kid level book. I chose “Zippel macht Zirkus”, which translates to “Zippel makes a circus”. I tried to read this:
I was able to identify some words, but I clearly knew that I needed time to learn more vocabulary as a whole.
I then moved on to the video section. I found a movie called “Welcome to Siegheilkirchen”. It was a German film with English subtitles. It was really cool to not only watch a German-based animation film (which is a completely different experience from North American animation story-wise) but also being able to learn certain words and phrases from it.
As much as this resource is leagues above me in terms of language sophistication, I know that I will come back to it over time as my learning progresses. I might not be able to read a children’s story right now, but I hope I can get to that point in the next year.
Have you tried to read a book or watch a movie in a different language?
The AI tool I chose to experiment with was Consensus. This AI tool helps users find papers related to the user question and gives a detailed summary of them. It lays out important elements like where it ranks in the hierarchy of evidence, methodology of the paper and how many times the paper was cited. It also provides a link to the actual paper if you wish to explore the paper further. Consensus can also analyze the papers and show a poll as to what the likely answer to your question will be. You can then see and read the different papers that show the different views.
This tool is fantastic because it drastically cuts the amount of time one has to read to find whether a paper is relevant to use in a scientific report. It enhances teaching in that students can be more engaged with the material to what they want to learn about rather than trying to read a lot of papers only to find no relevance to the material. The tool also easily demonstrates the idea that a given question doesn’t always have a clear-cut answer in science. There are different perspectives to take into account, which may affect our understanding of the subject.
Of course, this is not to say that Consensus should be heavily relied on. During this point in time, the developers acknowledge that Consensus is a generative AI and may provide incorrect results. They also confirm the AI is only 90% accurate with its results and may exclude vital context. While I would introduce this AI to the classroom to get them engaged with the material, I would want to teach them how to read a scientific article properly.
I am uncertain how I feel about integrating AI into the education system. On one hand, there are plenty of AI tools that can certainly help students with their learning. They are tools that teachers can use to fulfill the Saskatchewan Adaptive and Inclusion documents. One example is the speech to text AI tools. There are also tools that can assist students in how they tackle a given subject. If a student does not have a creative mind, Dall-E and Midjourney can help shape their thoughts into a visual picture which the student can then use to express themselves or use on a given assignment, On the other hand, there are AI tools that could help students find an easy way getting something done without necessarily having to learn it. Students could use ChatGPT to insert a prompt for an English assignment, then hand it in to the teacher without doing the work or understanding the learning behind the assignment.
In the end, I suspect AI will play a role quite similar to the introduction of the internet back in the early 2000s. It will become a medium that will be used both for good and bad. My hope is that it will become a tool students can use to aid in their learning, rather than become a distraction and detriment.
