What authentic problem would you use to design a lesson using Merrill’s principles?

One thing that sticks out is teaching Indigenous languages, specifically geared towards kids and new learners. There are so many Indigenous languages across Turtle Island that are currently being revitalized and finding innovative ways to help teach them is always something to be explored.

When designing using Merrill’s Principles, I wanted to include activation. Finding English words that are familiar and frequently used will allow users to connect with the learning in a way that feels relevant. 

With that, I also want to utilize Integration. There is a level of incentive to actually use the language if you can integrate little words into your daily vocabulary. Language is a form of an everyday act of resurgence, and so being able to speak it on the daily, even if it’s just a couple words is very powerful.

My Experience with H5P

There’s a lot of opportunity with H5P and I had a lot of fun making this. An interactive experience like this is an underrated avenue for learning something new, and especially great for language learning.  I made a matching game to connect the English phrases to the matching Anishinaabemowin phrases.

How I found the balance of passive and active learning in this course. And, how it compares to my experience in other courses?

I found it super helpful to have that balance. My schedule gets super busy at times and being able to listen to videos about the different principles while doing other things like laundry or cooking was really beneficial for me.

Personally, I prefer passive learning for online classes and active learning for in-person classes. One thing I appreciate about my major (Indigenous Studies), is that most of my classes in-person have all of the students sitting in a circle and the learning feels more community-based than simply being talked at for an hour(s), which I struggled with in my science classes in the past. 

For this class, I appreciated the passive learning as I was able to work on the course on my own time.