My allocated artefact for review: Deborah Welsh

Deborah demonstrates effective use of digital tools for creative knowledge construction. She has chosen Powtoon as her platform and incorporated a range of their animations and images as well as photographs. Her artefact opens with this:

The image is immediately identifiable as a teacher – hence the apple; and the voice over makes clear that some pertinent advice is about to follow.

There is a further appeal to teachers raised by the link to coffee houses being places where ideas have been exchanged sine the C17th – an empathetic touch.

The transitions from screen to screen are smooth and the voice over clear and without error. The written and spoken words are appropriate for the images.

 

The various aspects that Powtoon offers have been effectively applied and the animated segments keep the viewer involved. A range of concepts is clearly presented using words and supportive voiceover reflective of the intention to educate adults rather than children.

A degree of lightheartedness adds an aspect of playfulness:

The combination of photographs, animations, thought/speech bubbles and typed words is effective:

Consistent understanding of the features and tools of the host service enables the presentation a range of learning activities, not multiple opportunities to learn how to use them. This is where assessing the artefact in isolation from its learning intention adds a layer of difficulty divorcing comments from overall purpose.

This artefact demonstrates a strong understanding of constructional design and the application of Knowledge Networking theory to the creation of a Knowledge Networking artefact. It demonstrates Deborah’s very effective use of the selected digital tools for creative knowledge construction.

A second critique: Heather Baillie:

From the opening screen of the artefact there is a professional polish to Heather’s work: a title slide with author acknowledgement. There is some information presented, followed by a clear statement of intention for the learning that will be addressed by the artefact delivered as part of the voiceover.

Heather demonstrates a highly effective and seamlessly integrated use of digital tools for creative knowledge construction displaying a comprehensive understanding of the features of her selected platforms.

The screencast middle of the artefact shows good integration with the animated beginning and end, but it is hard to see what is being shared clearly, and for novices this could be an issue. Again, the artefact may still achieve its learning intention despite this issue. This image is perhaps more difficult to interpet without a dgree of familiarity with the concept being modelled.

A possible issue might arise for slower readers. Heather has a number of slides where two animated people are “talking” in speech bubbles at the same time – but this is a minor issue that does not detract from the overall excellence of the end product.

The transitions from screen to screen are smooth and the voiceover clear and without error. The written words are appropriate for the images. The various aspects that Powtoon offers have been effectively applied and the animated “bookend” segments keep the viewer involved

Quality learning activities are provided by the artefact. Heather demonstrates an understanding of constructional design and the application of KN theory to the creation of a KN artefact.

A range of concepts is clearly presented using words and supportive voice-over. The tone of the voice-over is encouraging. In terms of andragogy, this artefact offers a choice of tools to utilise, with specific instruction in Google +.

The final segments present information about those who have contributed:

and the final slide completes the polished approach to the artefact design which is visible from the start to the end:

 

Heather has produced an effective and thorough artefact with flair and a strong attention to detail.

Here is Greg Miller’s evaluation of my digital artefact.