My group (Learning Pod 10) and I had the privilege of giving feedback to Pod 8’s learning resource. Below you will read the feedback given by myself and each one of my group mates.
Hi Amanda, Moe, Eliza, and Maddy,
Clearly your group has put an immense amount of time and effort into your resource and it is already looking complete! I am intrigued in the topic of understanding finances as I believe this is something that many people do not fully understand. I like the asynchronous approach as learners are able to complete your resource at their own speed and work through the units at their own pace. I also like the incorporation of assignments to test the learners and their understanding throughout the units.
Taking advantage of websites such as WordPress are also great ideas for your topic and allow learners to have a central spot to read units, submit assignments, and reach out for instructor feedback. I think that starting off each unit with essential questions for the learners also internally tests them to understand not only their current understanding of the topic but also what is to come in the following material. I have a couple questions you may want to consider moving forward.
- Will learners need to follow the order of the units? They do not seem like they necessarily develop on each other. For example if i am most interested in credit cards i may want to start with unit 3 and then continue onto unit 2 about taxes associated with these credit cards.
- There is also mention of using google sheets as a technology resource, is this resource purely access to the sheets or will templates such as budgeting guidelines be provided?
All in all your learning resource is a great framework to advance the understanding of finances in a learner friendly way! I would certainly be interested in following these units and completing your learning resource once it is complete. Great job guys.
-Colby Holt
Hi Amanda, Moe, Eliza, and Maddy,
Great work on your interactive learning resource – it looks very complete and it is very easy to follow! The topic you chose is probably one that is popular among many demographics, as it is something that is not taught in school.
I really like how the resource is split up into 5 units – I think it makes it easy to evaluate how much of the course is complete, and how much is left to do. The plethora of resources (youtube videos, articles, websites) within each unit is awesome as well, it gives the students a wide variety of options for whatever suits their learning style. The assignments seem very relevant and interactive with the students’ own lives, likely meaning that they will be more keen to engage and complete the course material and assignments. Lastly, the WordPress website is very straightforward, well-organized, and simplistic – this will allow people of all ages and abilities to access the valuable material you have put together!
I just have a couple questions:
- Could the general concept of loans (student loans, mortgages, lines of credit) be integrated into one of the units to give a general overview and to convey their importance?
- Perhaps there could be a discussion/collaboration component that could be added to the resource, such as group assignments, peer-to-peer discussions, etc.
Overall great learning resource – congratulations!
-Halla Kim
Dear Amanda, Moe, Eliza, and Maddy (Learning Pod 8):
I am truly impressed with the amount of effort and time that your learning pod has invested in teaching others on the basics of finances. I believe this is a very important subject, as it plays a major role in our everyday lives, yet our society is not very familiar with the basics of many finance essentials as it is not taught in high school. Having made the course semi-asynchronous allows for learners to engage themselves with the subject at their convenience which introduces a more diverse audience.
Your essential questions for each of your 5 units really personally targets the audience through relatable scenarios, drawing in their utmost attention. Having follow up assignments for each of your units allows the student(s) to really absorb the subject matter from each topic and apply this knowledge to their own financials. Your assignments seem to allow students to relate to their personal financial situation, which certainly increases their total focus and want to fully follow along on their Journey to Understanding Finances.
Feedback:
- I have nothing negative to say about any of your groups’ learning resource at all.
- For Unit 4: Saving and Investing, it could maybe be beneficial to introduce some saving and investing strategies? Potentially such as the stock market and the real estate market? Even just providing a brief introduction on these investment strategies will lead students who are truly interested and motivationally self-driven to learn more by themself and actually start to invest and save. (I only say this as some of your students may already be familiar with many of these subjects, so it could be helpful to include more advanced topics to allow for an even more diverse audience).
Thank you learning pod 8 for such a great interactive learning resource on helping students understand finances. Even just reviewing your draft gave me an excellent understanding on the basics of finances, and I’m excited to see the final course outline and complete your learning resource!
-Stefan Pienaar
Hi Amanda, Moe, Eliza and Maddy,
I really enjoyed the opportunity to review your interactive learning resource on understanding financials. I think that the target audience you suggested of high-school students in grades 11 and 12 is a really smart and interesting group to choose. As they are just about to enter adulthood, the topics you introduce to them are very important and will hopefully help set them up for financial success for the future.
After reviewing each unit, I think there is a high level of interactivity in each unit. Throughout your course, students are given the opportunity to reflect on their current situation and plan out their future in important topics, such as taxes, budgeting, credit cards and savings accounts. The activities that you provide at the end of each unit align well with the content of the units. I like the usage of tools that were used in this course, such as WordPress. In an asynchronous learning environment, this provides students with the opportunity to connect with each other.
Some feedback on areas of the interactive learning resource that could be improved upon are the following:
- On the “Units” tab of your resource, I would recommend briefly introducing each unit, so that the learners get a preview on what they are about to learn. This also provides students with the opportunity to plan out their coursework by planning which units to do first.
- I was reflecting on the “Understanding Taxes” unit of your learning resource. I think that this section could be improved upon if it was tailored to be applicable to a wider variety of users. Taxes are a complicated topic, and filing them is often a unique task for each individual. I think including a section in this unit that addresses the uniqueness of taxes, and how it can be unique to each person would be beneficial. This guarantees that the topic is more inclusive to represent the different ways that individuals need to file their taxes.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review your interactive learning resource. I think it is great, and that it has the potential to be a very important learning resource for young adults to learn more about finances.
-Ben Croyle
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