A Potential Trap

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that is transforming various industries, including education. It has the potential to revolutionize the way students learn and teachers teach. However, the use of AI in education is not without its dangers. In this article, we will explore the potential risks associated with using AI in education.

Firstly, one of the main dangers of using AI in education is that it could lead to a lack of personalization in the learning process. While AI can provide personalized learning experiences for students, it may not take into account their individual learning styles and preferences. This could lead to students feeling disengaged from the learning process, which could have a negative impact on their academic performance.

Secondly, the use of AI in education could also exacerbate existing inequalities in education. AI is only as good as the data it is trained on, and if the data is biased or incomplete, then the AI will produce biased results. This could mean that certain groups of students, such as those from low-income or minority backgrounds, may be at a disadvantage when using AI-powered educational tools.

Thirdly, AI in education could also lead to a loss of jobs for teachers. While AI can automate certain aspects of teaching, such as grading papers or creating lesson plans, it cannot replace the human element of teaching. Teachers bring a unique set of skills and experiences to the classroom, and their absence could lead to a loss of mentorship and guidance for students.

Fourthly, the use of AI in education raises serious privacy concerns. The data collected by AI-powered educational tools could be used for nefarious purposes, such as profiling students or tracking their behavior. This could lead to a violation of students’ privacy rights, and their personal data could be misused or stolen.

Fifthly, AI in education could lead to a overreliance on technology, which could hinder students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students may become too reliant on AI-powered tools to provide answers and solutions, instead of developing their own problem-solving skills.

Finally, the use of AI in education could also lead to a loss of creativity and innovation in the classroom. AI-powered educational tools may limit students’ ability to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to problems.

In conclusion, while AI has the potential to revolutionize education, there are also many potential dangers associated with its use. It is important for educators and policymakers to carefully consider the risks associated with AI in education and to take steps to mitigate them. Ultimately, the goal of education is to prepare students for the challenges of the future, and AI should be seen as a tool to aid in that preparation, rather than a replacement for human teachers and creativity.

Image by Freepik

Creating Modules in Canvas

Canvas LMS is a popular learning management system used by many educational institutions to facilitate online learning. Designing modules in Canvas LMS is an important aspect of creating an effective and engaging online learning experience for students. In this article, we will discuss some best practices for designing modules in Canvas LMS.

1. Organize content logically

When designing modules in Canvas LMS, it is important to organize content in a logical and coherent manner. You should break down the course content into smaller modules and organize them based on the learning objectives. This will help students understand the structure of the course and navigate through the content easily.

2. Use consistent design elements

Using consistent design elements throughout the course can help create a cohesive and visually appealing learning experience. You should choose a color scheme and font style that aligns with the branding of your institution or course. Use images and multimedia to enhance the visual appeal of the course, but be sure to use them sparingly and purposefully.

3. Include interactive elements

Incorporating interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and discussion forums can help engage students and promote active learning. These elements can also provide valuable feedback to instructors on how well students are understanding the material.

4. Provide clear instructions

When designing modules in Canvas LMS, it is important to provide clear instructions for each module. This includes instructions on how to complete assignments, participate in discussions, and navigate through the content. Providing clear instructions can help reduce confusion and ensure that students are able to complete the course successfully.

5. Incorporate accessibility features

When designing modules in Canvas LMS, it is important to consider the needs of students with disabilities. This includes incorporating accessibility features such as closed captions for videos, alt text for images, and ensuring that the course is compatible with assistive technologies.

6. Make it mobile-friendly

With the increasing use of mobile devices, it is important to design modules that are mobile-friendly. This includes using responsive design to ensure that the course content is optimized for different screen sizes and providing easy navigation on mobile devices.

7. Test and iterate

Finally, it is important to test and iterate on the design of the modules. Solicit feedback from students and instructors to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments accordingly. Regularly testing and iterating on the design can help ensure that the course is effective and engaging for students.

In conclusion, designing modules in Canvas LMS requires careful planning and attention to detail. By organizing content logically, using consistent design elements, incorporating interactive elements, providing clear instructions, incorporating accessibility features, making it mobile-friendly, and testing and iterating, you can create an effective and engaging online learning experience for your students.

Module Design in Canvas: Some Ideas

I am taking a break for the mechanics and technology of content creation in order to present some ideas on one of the more controversial aspects of online education. Nearly every authority in the field agrees that classes should be broken up into units based on content and, to a lesser degree, time. For simplicity sake we will call these units Modules, although the name matters little. However, no one can seem to agree on an exact structure or design method or template. What makes up a good module? How can we tell a good design from a bad? What are some things that must be included and what things are optional? Today’s post will attempt to answer some of these questions, specifically for the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), however the design principles should be applicable to any online system of similar type.

When designing anything it is best to use a consistent and reproducible approach. The general work flow involves four stages: Planning, Producing, Presenting, and Evaluating. This workflow applies to any design project and should be intuitive, however, often times we ignore one or more steps in our rush to get content up and online. Another very useful technique for module and lesson design in general is Backwards Design; starting from the results and working back to the content creation. This process is not so intuitive and requires a bit of explanation.

In their book Understanding by Design, originally published in 1998, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe introduced the concept of Backward Design. In a nutshell, the process involves determining the expected and desired student outcomes, developing an assessment tool to measure the success of achieving those goals, and then creating content to prepare the student for the assessment. By following this model, only the material that the students need to reach their learning goals will be presented because the pattern for creating the learning content is the exam that will measure those goals.

The Backwards Design Principle depends on the presence of specific learning goals or outcomes. These outcomes are dependent on concrete standards provided to the instructor. In the State of Texas, standards for K-12 learning are provided by a list of requirements created for each grade and subject called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Given this list of standards, it is easy to develop assessment tools to measure a student’s success in reaching the goals. Knowing the standards is vital to successful education. Then the Backwards Design principle makes creating content easy.

It is very easy to spend valuable class time on material that is not, in any way, tied to the standards. This is the flaw in designing curriculum forward. Often instructors begin to build lessons without a clear picture of what they need to teach. They begin building lesson content. Once they have created the content, they build an assessment to measure the student’s level of success. Without actively consulting the end results first, all too often the curriculum they build has only a cursory relationship to the goals they are trying to reach.

It is often helpful to build a rubric to contain the standards. Once this is accomplished, creating an assessment is easy. At this point, the only remaining concern is the gathering of content to support the student’s investigation of the subject.

So, tools we can use to effectively design curriculum: the four phases of the design model, the Principle of Backward Design, and the use of Rubrics to organize our standards. These are some of the best tools an instructor can use to design effective and successful modules.

We didn’t get to far into Canvas on this post. However, next time we will look at how the Canvas LMS makes the entire design process easier to accomplish.

In-line Styles in Canvas

HTML is very good at putting text in a web document. It is also effective for creating links from one document to another. However, HTML is not the best tool for formatting text or creating a look or style in a document. Currently we use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in order to style our documents and facilitate their ease of reading. CSS is a markup language that allows us to modify the look of various HTML tags as well as creating our own tags, classes, and other style elements.

As we know, HTML tags are in the form of a word or phrase surrounded by angle brackets. The following, for example, is an example of the paragraph tag.

<p>

This tag, and its corresponding closing tag allow us to separate text into paragraphs surrounded by blank lines.

</p>

This tag formats text into paragraphs but does not control the appearance of the text itself. If we simply use the paragraph tags and a line of text, for example, we get the sentence in whatever default font our browser has been assigned.

<p>This is a paragraph. It is separated from the preceding and following text by blank space. The font used is whatever default the browser chooses.</p>

If we want to designate a font style, color, size, or face we need a new technique to modify the paragraph. It is good to be able to apply the formatting to individual paragraphs rather than a blanket style to the entire page. If we chose, for example, to change the color of the text to red we could modify the paragraph tag with the following information.

<p style="color: RED;">This is a paragraph. It is separated from the preceding and following text by blank space. The font used in whatever default the browser chooses. </p>

The effect of adding the style element to the paragraph tag would result in the entire text of the paragraph being red.

This is a paragraph. It is separated from the preceding and following text by blank space. The font used is whatever default the browser chooses.

In order to add a style to a particular tag we place the style statement inside the angle brackets but after the text tag itself. Notice in the example above we follow the “p” in the paragraph tag with the word style and then the styling information surrounded by double quotes. We begin the style phrase with the property that we want to modify, in this case, color, followed by the modification we wish to make, in this case, changing the font color to red. The various properties and possibilities for any tag can be found at the W3 Schools web site. We do not have to modify the closing tag in any way.

Lets create another example. Suppose we wish to present the preceding paragraph above with the Times New Roman font face. We would modify our code fragment to the following:

<p style="color: RED; font-face: Times New Roman;">This is a paragraph. It is separated from the preceding and following text by blank space. The font used in whatever default the browser chooses. </p>

We would see the following results in a browser:

This is a paragraph. It is separated from the preceding and following text by blank space. The font used in whatever default the browser chooses.

Notice that block above is displayed in red font color and also is in Times New Roman font.

We can modify any existing HTML tag. It is often easier to use class and ID designators in CSS but, when in Canvas, we are limited to inline styles. Even with inline styles we can control the look of our page down the the single letter.

This is a paragraph.

Notice how we can change a single letter to a different color as well as a different size. We have the ability to control our page’s look to a very granular level. It is not usually necessary to modify to this level, however, it is nice to know we can.

So to summarize, we can use inline styles in order to modify the look of our page. We can change the size, face, weight, or color of the font. We can modify the alignment of the text or the way the text flows around an image. There is little we can not do with inline styles.

iFrames in Canvas. Embedding outside Content

In this edition of Technology in Education we will look at one of the more complex tags commonly used in Canvas, the In-Line Frame (iframe). The iframe tag allows us to embed content from other webpages into our own page. This is particularly useful when adding video content to Canvas pages. We can find a video on YouTube, or some other host that allows embedded sharing, and then display that content on our own page as though it were ours. Most hosting pages that allow cross linking like this will also create the iframe embed code for you. Look around and you will likely find a link called “sharing” and then an option called “embed”.

The iframe has several properties that we can set to modify the look of the content we are embedding. We can set the height and width of the frame to accommodate the content area that we want to display. We can tell the frame to have a border, we can control the appearance of the videos we embed (i.e. we can add or remove controls, modify the size of the video, or set other special features like captions or transcripts). We will look at a sample of the iframe tag and examine the various properties and what they control.

sample iframe

In the image above, notice that we first place the iframe into paragraph tags. This separates the video from content preceding and following the video. Also notice that like all HTML tags, we need an opening and closing tag. We have <iframe> and </iframe> There is no content between the tags but both need to be there to evaluate as proper HTML.

Following the iframe tag itself, we have a style property. We can add almost any inline CSS style to the iframe. In this case we have style=”border: none;” This means that we don’t want any border surrounding the video we are embedding. If we chose to have a border we could modify the style like this: style=”5px solid red;” Code like this will result in a solid red border 5 pixels wide surrounding the video.

red border style iframe

Notice the presence of the red border surrounding the video. We can add various other style properties to modify the video’s appearance on the page and to control how it interacts with other elements in the page.

Next we have the source property; src=”https://web.microsoftstream.com/…&#8221; This is simply the location or URL on the Internet that marks the location of the video we are embedding. It is important that the domain we are embedding from, allows this type of linking or the iframe will not work.

The showinfo=”true” property allows us to display likes, views, titles, and other information in the video. This information would ordinarily be viewable only on the video’s Stream page itself. The width and height properties are self-explanatory. They control the height and width of the iframe in pixels.

Finally, the allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen” property will allow the viewer to set the video to full screen within the page. There are many other properties that can be added. The CSS tutorial on W3 Schools list most of these properties.

As you begin to use the iframe tag you will find other uses for it beside embedding video. I frequently use it to embed Quizlets into my Canvas pages. Also there are many other content pages and practice pages that will allow iframes. Hope this is a helpful tag and that you can use it in your own lesson design.

Allowable HTML Tags in the Canvas LMS

Canvas will allow most common HTML tags to be used in the raw HTML editor. However, because some tags will cause the page to behave in an unexpected manner, a few tags are deprecated or filtered out. I have received a PDF file of the allowed HTML tags as well as what properties and styles can be added or modified, from the Canvas Support Community. I am posting a link here in case someone is having difficulty getting a tag to work. Most often, if the tag you are attempting to use is not allowed, Canvas will simply filter it out when you save the page. You will notice when you return to normal view that the tag did not take effect. If you go back into the HTML view, you will see that the tag you entered is gone. This indicates that either the tag is not allowed or that you made an error in configuring the tag.

Allowed HTML Tags

Click the link above and you should be able to view or download the PDF file containing the list of allowable tags. I make no guarantees about the link’s validity after the day it was posted. It is stored on the Canvas Support Server and I can not control their activities. If the link does not work, comment or contact me and I will see if I can find an updated link.

The one element I wish that Canvas would allow is the use of external style sheets for CSS. I understand that it might cause problems with the theme or template for the particular institution’s site but it would be lots easier to control the look of pages if more involved and in-depth CSS were allowed. Oh well. That’s it for this week. I have been really busy getting ready for the end of the semester here at Grayson. Hope your terms are all ending well this year. Have a great day.

Canvas Tips and Tricks Continued

The next tag we will investigate is the <img> or image tag. This tag allows us to insert pictures into an HTML document. We will look at the basic parts of the tag, the properties that control what image we are inserting, and some style considerations that we can apply. With this tag it is easier to use the Page View editor to add the image and then use the HTML View to edit the styles. Lets add an image to a page.

We can browse to the image of our choice and then insert it into a page.

Lets add the logo for the Python programming language. Once we browse to the image we can select it and embed it into the page.

Now that the image is inserted into the page we can use the HTML View editor to inspect the link and examine the various parts of the link.

Click the HTML View editor button and look at the link code. The main part of the link is the “src” property. This section of code provides the URL for the picture wherever it is located on the Internet. It is also possible to link pictures from other sites without downloading them. However, the other site must be configured to permit hot links. Otherwise the link will not work and the picture will not be visible.

Now we are going to modify the code to resize the picture. This only changes the view of the picture on the page. It does not modify the picture file in any way. If the picture is a large file, the load time of the page will be affected if the client’s Internet speed is slow. We are going to change the height of the file to 300px or 300 pixels. The height and width of the image are linked so if we change one the other will change automatically to maintain the proper ratio.

When we return to Page View to inspect our work we find that the picture appears to have been resized. Remember, however, that the actual file has not been modified, only the view of the image.

We are going to add some text next to the picture in order to demonstrate how we might use styles to make our page look better. When we simply begin typing next to the image, the text is actually in line with the image. It results in a large gap between the first and second line of the text we added.

We need to modify the code and add a style element to allow the text to wrap properly around the image. We want the image to float to the left side of the screen and the text to float to the right. We will add the “float” element to the <img> tag. We will also add a bit of space between the image and the text.

When we go back into Page View and look at our results we see that the text position has been adjusted. It wraps and floats next to the image on the right side. The image floats left. There is also a 15 pixel buffer between the image and the text.

Using this style property will allow you to create a page that looks much more professional and easy to read. Various other styles and parameters are available at the World-wide Web Consortium (W3C) web site. Canvas requires the use of “in-line” styles. Further information about what we are doing is available there.

I hope that this simple tutorial will give you some ideas about how you can use in-line styles to make your Canvas and other HTML pages look more professional and easier to read. Stay tuned for the next update when we will look at another common HTML tag that is frequently used in Canvas.

Canvas Tips and Tricks: The HTML Editor and the Most Common HTML Tags

The recent upsurge in online and blended learning in both K-12 and secondary education stemming from the current COVID crisis has brought about a surge in the numbers of teachers and educators who are being exposed to online Learning Management Systems (LMS). One of the fastest growing LMS providers is Instructure.com, makers of the Canvas LMS. While this tutorial will focus on Canvas, most of the tips and tricks listed will be applicable to any LMS that uses and allows HTML editing.

Most LMS have an editing interface based on a “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG or Wizzy Wig) model. Canvas is no exception. Course designers are able to drag and drop various elements into pages, assignments, and quizzes, and can then format and place them to create lessons and modules. For the most part, this is an acceptable way to build pages and place content. However, sometimes it becomes necessary to integrate find adjustments that can only be done via the HTML editing interface.

In order to edit HTML in Canvas you will need to access the HTML page code. this can be done by clicking the </> icon below the content block of the lesson or page you are editing.

Click the </> icon to edit the page HTML

Once the HTML Editor is open you will see the code from the page. It may not appear to make sense at first but once you become familiar with some common HTML tags, editing should be simple.

Once you are familiar with a few tags, editing HTML is not so difficult.

The first tag we will look at is the paragraph tag. It is a simple division container for text and other elements. The basic structure of HTML is to surround content with various tags that tell the content how to behave. The paragraph tags are <p> and </p>. These are the opening and closing tags of a paragraph. Any text surrounded by these tags will behave essentially like a paragraph. There will be a space between any previous elements and also any following elements. The pictures below show both the code view as well as the page view.

The <p> and </p> tags open and close the paragraph.

HTML Tags are invisible in the page view.

As is demonstrated in the picture above, HTML tags are invisible in the page view. Their effect, on the other hand, is very visible. Notice in the picture above, there are two lines of text with a space between. We have two paragraphs on this page.

It is possible to use the paragraph tags to surround things like pictures, videos, lists, or other elements. The only rule that is absolute is that you must have a closing tag for every opening tag. Paragraph tags can be nested. You can paragraphs inside of paragraphs. You just need to keep up with your closing tags.

Another commonly used tag, often found in lessons or projects, is the UnOrdered List tag, <ul> and </ul>. This tag allows the creation of bulleted lists using icons as bullet comments. Closely related is the Ordered List tag (<ol> and </ol>) that allows the use of numbers or letters to designate each item. The following is an example of an unordered list both in code view as well as page view.

<li> and </li> are also required to designate each bullet point in the list.

We can apply a style to the unordered list tag in order to change the icons. In this case, we add a square style so that the icons change to small squares.

The following is another style that can be used with the unordered list.

These are two of the most common tags used in educational HTML design. They are necessary for the creation of content pages and while they can be created with the Page view editor, it is necessary to edit the HTML of the page to add styles to the tags. In the next post we will look at some other common tags and the styles we can use with them.

Digital Video Maker Space

I have just completed filming some interviews at the college over the success of transitioning some classes from 16 weeks to an 8 week format. As usual, part of setting up the shoot was finding studio space that was available and suitable for filming. Studios need to be fairly large and, for the most part, empty rooms, particularly when shooting on a greenscreen because space is needed between the camera and the talent but also between the talent and the screen. Studios also need to be dark when the lights are turned off. That seems facetious but many rooms that I have filmed in allow so much ambient light that getting an even greenscreen was impossible. I want the room dark so I control what light shines where. Studios also need to be fairly quiet. Nothing is more annoying than to pull footage from a camera, upload it to your editing suite and discover that the air conditioner was running the entire time and that you couldn’t hear it but your microphone could. I can remove background noise as well as anyone with the correct tools (think Adobe Audition, shameless plug) but it is better if that is not necessary.

Finding suitable studio space has been a struggle for me for the entire time that I have been a content creator. Given the tightness of budgeting in public schools and the need to have students squeezed into every possible space to drive up the seat count and the money that comes with it. I can see how space is at a premium in most educational settings. This blog entry is different in that I would really like some input from other creators, particularly in the education world about where you find space to work. If you are a teacher, do you film in your room? Are you able to use the stage in your auditorium or cafeteria? Is there a designated space for video creation? If anyone happens to read this and feels so inclined, I would value any feedback or suggestions. I have recently been allowed to use a large study room in the library and it is perfect. I am going to do my best to convince someone that this room would be better utilized as a video maker space or something similar. Wish me luck.

Video in the Classroom: Suggestions and Best Practices

Video in the Classroom

With the advent of the Covid19 crisis and the tendency for remote learning, a teacher’s ability to create useful and compelling video for the classroom is becoming a highly sought after skill. While there is a great deal of quality video material to be had on the Internet, specific instructional topics call for specific video created by the instructor and presented in a timely and effective manner. The following are some suggestions for teachers who find they need to create individual video content for their classrooms. These are simple things and this list is by no means exhaustive.

Type of Camera

While it is not necessary to spend the entire classroom budget on video equipment, it is advantageous to use gear good enough to produce a decent quality product. Nothing is more frustrating to a student than to be assigned a video to watch and to be unable to see or to hear what is going on. A typical video camera should be able to capture HD quality video, it should be able to take close-up as well as wide angle footage, and should have the capability to capture a good quality audio track. Sound is often more important to the project than video. While the latest smart phones are usually more than sufficient to fill these requirements, a designated video camera may make the process a bit simpler and more efficient. Particularly when trying to capture quality audio, it is nice to be able to connect a lapel or other type microphone to make capturing audio easier and more clean. A lapel mic or directional mic will help eliminate background noise which can be distracting to the potential viewer. If you are using a condenser mic, be sure that the camera can supply 48v phantom power. There should be a switch somewhere near where the mic attaches to the camera. Otherwise the microphone will not work and no sound will be recorded.

Tripod or other Support

A tripod or other support device is an absolute necessity when creating educational video. Most often the camera shots will be static and they will often be extended. Trying to hand-hold a camera or even a phone still for any length of time can be quite the strain. Also, camera shake is magnified in video. What may seem like tiny motions to the camera person can be huge distracting and nausea inducing swoops and dives to the viewer. A tripod or clamp provides a stable and steady support from which to film. It is also a good idea to insure that the support can be posed or arranged in various angles to facilitate filming on desktops or angles other than straight forward.

Graphics and Notations

While extensive graphics and special effects are not necessary, it is important to have the ability to add explanation text or simple graphics to the video. This will allow the instructor to more fully explain what is happening in the action and can be used to emphasize the most important points that the student should pay attention to. Be careful, however, not to overdo these additions. They can also become a distraction and may cover up elements of the footage that the instructor wishes to be viewed.

General Shooting Tips and Tricks

If there is one suggestion I could make to anyone filming for the classroom it would be this. If there are students present while you are filming (i.e.. you are filming a class with students present to use as material for online students), be sure that your camera is located in front of the students, between them and you.

Firstly, filming students is fraught with legal ramifications. Unless proper permission is received from a parent or guardian it is illegal to film and publish footage of underage students. They can not give that permission themselves. You must have a signed release in order to film minors and it must be from a parent or legal guardian. Filming from the front of the class negates this problem as no students will be in view of the camera. Any accidental filming can also be blurred with most editing applications. Also, filming from the front will eliminate much of the background noise from students. Camera mics and even phones tend to be directional and as long as it is pointing at you and not the students, much of the distracting background coughs and other sounds can be avoided.

In addition, keep the camera as still as possible during filming. See the above suggestion on tripods for reasons why. If it becomes necessary to pan or tilt, a fluid damped video tripod head can be purchased from amazon for under $50. An ordinary still camera tripod will not do because the movements will not be smooth and the jerking and shaking during a camera move may cause the student to miss something important.

Finally, be absolutely sure that you have enough light on the scene. Video cameras do not see like the human eye. What may seem well lit and bright to you will seem dim and dark to the camera. Bring lamps, work lights or any source you can think of to add more light to the scene. In this case, more is better. You can also employ a student to hold a white poster board and act as a reflector. This often provides enough light of a diffused nature and is very effective for getting rid of shadows. Take some time to study the “three point” lighting set up used most often in industrial and interview videos. It provides for a very professional look without requiring a great deal of gear. Very effective LED lighting sets can be purchased on Amazon for $75 or less. They are a worthwhile investment. Remember, when in doubt, you need more.

There are countless other tips and tricks. Most are available on YouTube and via Google search. The important thing is to remember that you are creating something to express information with someone else who may not be as familiar with the topic as you are. Clear and thorough are the goals. Clear audio and video and a thorough explanation of the topic are paramount to helping your students be successful in decentralized learning.