Interactive Learning: Navigating a French Collège (EdPuzzle)

 

Project Overview: Designing for Active Cultural Interpretation

• Category: E-Learning & Interactive Content (Instructional Design Module)

• Tool Used: EdPuzzle (Interactive Video Quizzing)

• Target Audience: Novice-level French students (e.g., 7th–8th Grade French I).

• Need Addressed: Students need context and accountability when viewing authentic cultural videos to ensure comprehension and active vocabulary retrieval.

The Instructional Challenge

Authentic videos, such as those from TV5 Monde, provide rich cultural and linguistic input, but passive viewing results in low retention. The challenge was to transform a continuous video stream—showing students interacting in a French collège—into an active learning experience that forces the immediate processing of new vocabulary and cultural norms.

Instructional Design & Interaction Strategy

This project focuses on applying the principles of Design for Memory and Attention by strategically integrating retrieval practice directly into the viewing experience:

1. Context and Priming: A pre-video open-ended question is used to check prior knowledge and activate schema, priming the student's attention for the cultural differences they are about to see.

2. Attention-Check Pauses: Multiple-choice questions were strategically inserted at key moments immediately following the introduction of new situational language (e.g., greetings, asking a name). This instantaneous check prevents students from zoning out and reinforces new terms before they are forgotten.

3. Cultural Notes: Teacher Notes were added as pauses to provide essential cultural context, such as explaining the concept of a collège or clarifying an unfamiliar social norm, ensuring cultural competency is addressed alongside linguistic skills.

4. Reflection: The video concludes with a reflective prompt, requiring students to synthesize the experience and articulate one cultural takeaway.

This project demonstrates expertise in selecting and manipulating technology to create meaningful, interactive educational content that supports K-12 World Language acquisition.