Welcome to our DIY Learning OER!
https://sites.google.com/view/etec523-howdoyoudoityourself/home
This project has a bit of a DIY flavour in how you may experience it. Check the homepage for the process and know that at the end we ask everyone to post a response to one or more of the following discussion questions (don’t worry, we’ll remind you of them again at the end).
Discussion Questions
- How has your definition of DIY Learning changed from the start of this process until now?
- How might you apply these learnings in your personal or professional life?
- What have you noticed makes an effective DIY resource?
- What limitations does DIY Learning have? What are the opportunities it presents?
Sincerely,
Team DIY Learning
hi Mitchell
sorry for the delay. The irritating aspects of DIY blogs are perhaps that sourced via Web and are not well produced. Either the camera work is poor, not focused or too many objects distracting from the main source under discussion. poor verbal instructions and misleading timing/ presentation not in synch. Cannot express my frustration when I am aiming to DIY or DIM ( myself) and the omission of a core portion is either ignored or omitted. GRRR.
Hi all,
Apologies for being late to this. Thank you for your DIY learning OER – this was great. Often I think of DIY as being focused around crafts or refurbishing dates pieces, and this project reminded me of the vast scope DIY can cover – such as the DIY Money Skills section. I find this DIY resource is extremely effective in that the platform is engaging and learners can find what they are searching for easily and what interest them.
As with many other learner or user-directed platforms, the limitation may be how the user or learners uses the information: do they fully understand the content? Will they use it? If they do use it, will they be successful? If they require help, where will they source it from?
Regardless, DIY learning affords so many people with new skills that they may not have been able to acquire elsewhere. Thank you again for your project – this was great to interact with!
My apologies about arriving late to the party. Having said that, I am very glad I did swing by as I thoroughly enjoyed your OER. Despite being an DIYer myself (so already being a fan of the topic), I enjoyed your OER for the storytelling and humour that you incorporated. It was really refreshing. Thank you.
Finding it interesting in reflecting on your questions, as the reality for me is that my DIY learning lead me to speaking internationally and develop and teach post-secondary courses on what I learned through DIY. Essentially my post-secondary courses are one big, guided maker space project. Given that I think I will tackle ‘What have you noticed makes an effective DIY resource?’ For me this is often having the knowledge shared with me in a way that I can listen (or watch) and then is accompanied by the step-by-step instructions in written form with diagrams. This is very time consuming to create, but is highly useful for the end user (at least in the case of this end user).
Thanks for the feedback Erica.
I found that my favorite DIY resources do have a good storytelling background. Just like good teaching you need to have a “turn” in your story or resource to really grab an audience.
As you’ve said, a well designed experience is very time consuming to create and I’m glad you enjoyed ours.
Great job, DIY team! I found the OER very easy to follow and filled with lots of informative and entertaining reads. Hands-on approaches to learning have been proven time and time again to be one of the most effective in transferring information from short-term to long-term memory. Initially, I was under the impression that DIY mostly had to do with fun arts and crafts projects, but now I see it’s something that can be implemented almost daily. Mobile technology has caused a huge shift in the concept of DIY; a couple years ago, if you wanted to learn how to develop a skill like, say, sewing, you would have to purchase a physical book or DVD that covered the basic knowledge, and maybe later purchase a more intermediate version once you’ve mastered those things. Now, you would be able to find a tutorial for virtually any sewing technique, down to the exact model of your sewing machine. Reflecting now, many of the skills I developed over time have been a result of DIY learning; many of my skills using Adobe programs have been a result of searching YouTube videos on how to perform something, then practicing that until it’s mastered.
The amount of accessible and quality information at our fingertips pushes DIY learning forward light years. As we went through this project, I had the same realization – I am engaging in small forms of DIY learning almost every day. I came to the full realization the power today’s generation has over their learning and how the skills and mindsets involved in engaging in DIY learning are becoming more important then the information acquired.
Great job DIY team! I found your website easy to follow and all the ideas and resources are presented clearly. Before exploring your OER, my impression about DIY is solely limited to fixing or building a piece of furniture by yourself. I like the “K-12 DIY Learning” section since it helped me connect the dots between DIY learning and instructional strategies used in a formal learning setting, such as flipped classroom and inquiry-based learning. To me, the value of DIY learning is that students can customize their own learning experience to accommodate their unique learning styles and needs. It is the essential lifelong skill that everyone needs to acquire knowledge and skills they need in any field, and the development of mobile technology opens up more possibilities for DIY learning. I believe that equipping students with DIY learning skills is one of the ultimate goals for education, and that is why we need educators to provide guidance alongside the whole process.
Thanks so much Trista! We wholeheartedly agreed with your evaluation of DIY Learning as a lifelong skill! Glad you found the OER useful.
I feel like there is a difference between DIY and simply following a set of directions. When I put together an Ikea dresser, I don’t feel like I am taking part in a DIY but when I followed a youtube video to fix my oven it was still a set of video directions yet I would consider that a DIY. In your OER bios, you definitely questioned the definition as well. DIY needs to have something learned, something provided from the user (Time, tools, sourcing information, ingenuity) and something created or fixed. My Ikea example doesn’t provide much for the first two and that for me is what separates it from DIY. One of the most important parts about DIY is the confidence being built throughout the process. DIY creates independence and puts some power back in the consumers hands, something that has slowly eroded over time. I liked your examples from both success as well as the moderate failures. Often, these moderate failures leave us not much further behind than if we had gone another route, so long as everyone stays safe. Access to any of these resources though mobile technologies has been key to DIY success. When I’m in the garage tinkering, it’s not desirable or often feasible to constantly be running back to the source for more directions. My A1 project was on VR for creating things. VR hasn’t quite met the full threshold for mobile yet but AR and MR will. DIY will find a whole new market and set of applications when consumer level support and overlays can be delivered through these mobile technologies.
Thanks for rhe response Ryan.
I disagree with your IKEA assessment I think that is DIY in the same way that an EdX course is; yes it is terribly structured and that experience has been highly curated for you, but that fits the description of formal DIY. The oven fixing video follows the same theoretical idea of providing you with information but in a different medium and from an author that is (likely) not the manufacturer. I also want to ask if you consider making something new as more or less DIY than fixing something broken. Societal we find repair to be a much more esoteric experience because of the critical thinking involved even thigh those two experiences are really similar in almost all other way. Lastly, I totally agree with your Ar/VR ad the garage tinkerer’s dream. Youtube is a key tool in my garage personally and I wouldn’t blink if someone suggested AR glasses would deepen the experience. Again, thanks for the thorough response.
Wow! DIY team, you provided a nice overview of DIY learning and plenty of content to review and engage with. I particularly liked Larry Smith’s talk “Why you will fail to have a great career” – it really resonated with me as I left my “career/job” after 18 years to follow my passion and get away from a soul-sucking environment even though I generally enjoyed what I did. In moving through your OER, my idea of DIY learning has not differed but has validated the fact that people with a passion or interest that can learn something at their own pace will feel a sense of satisfaction upon acquiring a new skill. That said, the journey to acquiring that skill can be a curvy road if I use my experience of learning to crochet or watching my husband attempt to use YouTube to fix something at home. I loved the definition of “version failure” which involves little failures that lead to gradual but significant improvements over time. From a corporate training perspective, we often set unrealistic expectations on employees based on our ability to pick up content or an understanding of their job. Many companies promote people who excel quickly and are high achievers. Putting unrealistic expectations on others will lead to reduced engagement but when employees feel safe trying new things, talking about their mistakes or key learnings and having a support group to collaborate with they will likely exceed our expectations. This leads me to what I think makes a good DIY resource – when the expert shares the mistakes they made along their way of becoming an expert. Being humble and setting the stage that you may fail the first time or not get the exact outcome you hoped the first time. As an educator regardless of the method of providing information to an audience to learn from the ability to be compassionate, show empathy and express self-depreciation and openness to share your faults goes a long way in helping to build the confidence of others and set them on a successful path of independent learning.
My question to you is should I frog (rip out the rows) back to where I made a mistake in the dog sweater I am making following a YouTube video or keep going and hope for the best?
Hi Nicole, I agree that a great DIY resource should include humility and an acknowledgment of the full process. Acknowledging the full process will always include mention of mistakes and fallbacks as they are a huge part of any DIY learning (and life itself). I know first hand that going into something with little experience, skill, or knowledge, and watching an expert be a perfect expert, can be quite disheartening and may lead to quitting. We mentioned in our K-12 DIY learning the importance of educators modeling DIY learning skills and perseverance after failure is a big part of this. To your final question, I think you are going to have to be the judge of that one… although, I guarantee your dog will love you unconditionally regardless of the faults in the sweater 😉
Hi Nicole, thank you so much for your thoughtful points! I especially love your contemplation on the place of failure in learning, and most importantly the skill of being compassionate to yourself as a learner in these cases. Then, as instructors, the necessity of guiding students towards that kind of “compassionate DIY failure” so to speak. These are the skills that we all take into life and into the workplace as productive, happy members of society. To answer your question (which I love by the way!): I think only YOU can make that decision. As a diy learner in dog sweater knitting, you are the captain of your own journey. The beauty of it is that no matter what you chose, your dog will be cozy, and you will have improved your skill. 🙂
Thanks for a very engaging OER, you provided us with a lot of content, resources, and an engaging platform. DIY from an educational perspective provides learners with the opportunities to represent their own learning through their medium of choice, with an evolution of the role of the teacher, from transferring knowledge to being a promoter of the learning process. On the other hand, there can be some difficulties associated with DIY cultures, such as learners feeling insecure about where the processes shared during an activity would lead them. For example, when educators teach with a test or essay, the product is known, and students are often comfortable with this straightforward approach. In cases where learners are given more freedom and independence with research-based projects, confusion and anxiety can arise due to the lack of structure, guidelines, or knowing what the end result should be. When learners are used to completing tasks and meeting expectations, they can find it challenging when they must become more active in the learning process and make decisions.
What types of learning environments or activities can help scaffold learners to become more accepting, and even proficient at DIY Learning?
Two terms come to mind when reading this Analesa: Entrepreneurial Spirit and “Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable” The first is actually one of the main directions my school board is trying to push up. Unfortunately it is the antithesis to transitional models of teaching. How do you let a student be an entrepreneur, which involves risk and divergent thinking skills, if you expect to chart their course from start to finish? This leads to the second phrase which we as teachers at my school repeat like a cultist’s chant “be comfortable being uncomfortable”. This is the idea that when planning professional learning that same problem exists in that we may not be able to have someone who know the whole path. We may be charting that learning together.
Hi Analesa,
To continue Mitchell’s point, I think that there is also an assumption made that students prefer learning with a “known product” through a test or essay, and are more uncomfortable with the unknown. There are plenty of students that feel creatively stifled and held back when they have to restrict themselves to a concrete curriculum or test. Like Mitchell said, being comfortable with discomfort is a great skill for students to acquire, and it only becomes a problem in my experience when not scaffolded properly. The inquiry project examples in the presentation were from former students of mine, and they had free reign to present how they wanted and about any subject they wanted. This is overwhelming and confusing at first, but all it can take is a few examples of past projects, as well as a long and clear rubric, and students can trust that they truly can branch off into their own interests. The “own interest” piece is significant as well in the whole process, because if a student has no personal connection or interest, then it’ll become way harder to get them to buy-in to the process and work independently.
Time is key in these new situations. In education, we often stop the activity at the low point if it’s not working and then revert back to the “known.” Often to safe face or to move through the different learning goals. This unfortunately becomes a lesson in learned helplessness. Follow through in these situations needs to happen, even if everyone becomes uncomfortable for a day. I’ll tentatively agree with Liam that clear expectations are helpful but I will add that not everything needs to be assessed. There is a time and a place for assessment but it doesn’t need to happen, at least in a summative or consequential manner, during the scaffolding process. Praising failures, highlighting successes and nudging the student’s process toward what will be deemed acceptable for the summative assignment will build confidence and engagement in future activities.
I agree that not everything needs to be assessed, as formative assessment is important in the scaffolding process. Formative feedback is especially important when the summative project is more open-ended, as students will need some guidance on how to navigate through their own interests and acquire the necessary skills for something like an inquiry project. I’m also a believer that formative assessment is far more consequential than summative assessment, and if it weren’t for institutional expectations of grades that students could have more meaningful and fun learning experiences at school.
Great job, DIY Team! I was very interested in this presentation as I tend to do a lot of DIY myself. Much like Liam’s description, I tend to use Youtube a lot for various DIY projects (for better or for worse sometimes though. I once bricked my laptop attempting to do my own BIOS update. Had to call in the experts to fix it. Ouch.) I would tend to agree that unfortunately DIY falls into the category of informal learning and thus makes prospective employers value this education less than a more formal education. I do wish we could change this narrative however. I feel DIY has become more and more prevalent with the improved accessibility to different knowledge sources and as a result of the growing cost of formal education. I would love a low-cost platform where individuals could demonstrate the knowledge gained through a DIY project in order to have their gained knowledge or skills “validated” in a way that shows employers that this is a skill they possess despite lacking the formal certification from an educational institution. For example, one of my side projects that I have been casually dipping into is game development for educational purposes. I have purchased books, followed Youtube tutorials, and had open forum discussions about the Unity3D platform. Through all of this effort, I have gained a decent understanding of the program and have been able to develop a functional, although very rough, educational game. Despite the fact that I feel comfortable with the program, I have no formal certification to show that knowledge because it was all DIY. When applying for development related positions, I will be immediately overlooked because of my lack of formal education. It does seem counter-intuitive right now as there is a push towards improving accessibility to education globally yet the most accessible form, DIY, is seldom regarded as “legitimate” knowledge or experience. Here’s hoping your project sheds some light on the legitimacy of DIY learning and begins the movement towards accepting it as a relevant form of education. Really excellent job team!
Hi Benjamin, I totally agree with you. It would be so great if and when we move to a time where DIY learning is more recognized. I really like your idea about having a low-cost platform where people can prove that they are capable in a specific area. I think in some industries like IT, this is more possible but when you look at job postings these days, employers are still demanding formal education certificates and a bachelor certificate is not enough anymore (hence why I am getting my Masters like everyone else these days). I think employers are missing out on a lot of good talent by vetting candidates this way. In your situation, you could provide your project as proof of ability but with the automation of application processes you will likely be overlooked, unfortunately. I wish you luck in your future application and hope you can connect with a more forward-thinking employer. Cheers!
Hi Benjamin and Olivia,
Good points. In my experience, some of the best people to work with are not necessarily those with the most formal education (though, I assume this varies by profession somewhat), but instead have qualities that align with the kind of work and work-culture they will be entering into. I wish there were more avenues to gain work experience for those with a curious mind and willingness to learn on the job. Unfortunately, I think a significant number of employers still seek candidates who’ve taken a more traditional learning pathway because they are part of a professional, economic and social system that has been around for a long time, and change influences big systems slowly. If we look at the example of the shift from cable tv to streaming culture, it’s amazing to me that somehow, among the Youtubers, Netflix-ers, and ever expending opportunities in those markets, somehow, more traditional network tv stations are clinging to some customer base! But, despite that, streaming culture continues to expand, and I think DIY-learning and employers willing to recognize the value of individual’s who pursue alternative learning pathways and experiences is likely to expand too.
Hello DIY Learning Team,
Thank you for the great resource. I appreciate that you offered many different explorations of DIY learning and I particularly found the Maker Movement section interesting.
I have noticed the most effective DIY resources offer clear step-by-step instructions annotated with diagrams and labelling using a variety of images presented from different angles. Using a range of shots such as close-ups helps visualize and complements the spoken and/or written instructions meaningfully. I have found that video tutorials are the most effective as their multimodal nature allows for multiple ways of understanding and the student can pause and replay as needed to gain further clarity. Years ago I built a ring flash adaptor for my external flash using parts purchased from a hardware store. Being able to hear the instructions while I worked and seeing the process unfold on screen with the ability to pause and replay was essential. I think the limitations and opportunities of DIY learning depend partly on the learner. Without motivation there is limitation and with motivation, there is endless opportunity. Each individual student is going to be more motivated by their own unique interests and the potential of DIY learning lies with the individual learner. For educators, DIY learning offers a great opportunity to facilitate differentiation motivated by the individual learner’s interests.
Hi Chowey,
I agree with you wholeheartedly that with motivation, there is endless opportunity for learners. I also think however that even though the nature of DIY is “to do it yourself,” the DIY platform can also have a hand in fostering continued motivation. If the learning design is complicated and drawn out, the learner is in danger of losing motivation and giving up completely. I think we’ve all had that one skill or learning nugget that we’ve tried to learn but just gave up on halfway through. For me it was Spanish in high school because the online program we were using just bored me to death. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your DIY Learning Project! Prior to your project I associated the DIY with crafting, small fixes, and all things ‘weekend warrior’. Through your project, I am now aware of existing parallels between what I value in my teaching practice and DIY learning. As someone whose role it is to support ADST for my district, I find myself teaching through the lens of constructivist theory, and design thinking principles. My guiding essential question is: How might we foster critical and creative thinking in our learners? Through your presentation, I am more acutely aware of how DIY learning opportunities align with, inquiry, design thinking, reflective practises, and student autonomy. In a nutshell, all of these fall under the highlighted heutagogical learning. I took great value from your embedded videos. In particular, I enjoyed Astro Tellers, Ted Talk, The Benefit of Failure: The unexpected benefits of celebrating failure. Additionally, I was fascinated in learning about the design principles in flags.
A few books that I have found helpful in my own teaching practice are:
Educated by Design: Designing the Space to Experiment, Explore and Extract Your Creative Potential – Michael Cohen
Vintage Innovation: Leveraging Retro Tools and Classic Ideas to Design Deeper Learning Experiences – John Spencer
Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning: A. J. Juliani and John Spencer
Thank you for your engaging presentation and the opportunity to reimagine DIY learning.
Whoops my books didn’t post as I intended.
A few books that I have found helpful in my own teaching practice are:
Educated by Design: Designing the Space to Experiment, Explore and Extract Your Creative Potential – Michael Cohen
Vintage Innovation: Leveraging Retro Tools and Classic Ideas to Design Deeper Learning Experiences – John Spencer
Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning: A. J. Juliani and John Spencer
Educated by Design: Designing the Space to Experiment, Explore and Extract Your Creative Potential – Michael Cohen.
Vintage Innovation: Leveraging Retro Tools and Classic Ideas to Design Deeper Learning Experiences.
John Spencer Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning: A. J. Juliani and John Spencer
Thanks so much, Grace, for the book suggestions!
Great work, DIY Team! I enjoyed perusing your beautifully assembled website. What hosting site did you use? I also appreciated the opportunity to read your team member’s unique perspectives on DIY learning and then develop my definition, which was challenged and changed as I watched your sample videos and read through your site. As it stands, DIY learning is just-in-time learning that follows your learning need, consuming content from a variety of available professional or non-professional resources.
As you highlighted in your opening section of the DIY Money Skills section, there can be a risk to choosing your content, particularly when you’re navigating endless resources on the internet. Content creators can be biased, inaccurate, or they can hide their intent.
Intuit Mint was a curious DIY learning resource choice. I see how this tool can help users organize and categorize their finances; however, how does it contribute to DIY learning? I attempted to download the app but stopped when it prompted me for my financial information. The Intuit Mint app could be a good example of a vendor with alternative intentions. Unlike resource providers such as FCAC, or edX, Intuit Mint is owned by a publicly-traded company, Intuit, which also owns other software products such as TurboTax and Quickbooks. Speaking from a no-marketing background, I suspect the free Intuit Mint app is a tactic to draw business to other banners of its parent company. As the proverb goes, Buyer Beware or DIY learner beware. Perhaps be careful to share any personal info with a third party and do a little research before you commit to a resource:)
I thoroughly enjoyed the ted talk by Roman Mars that highlights the five design principles of flags, which apply to all designs. It is such an entertaining and informative resource that I will share it with my peers at work. However, I am confused why the Ted video falls under Failing at DIY? Is it the flag mishaps that are assumed to be a result of failed DIY learning?
Overall, excellent presentation. It is polished and easy to navigate. I loved the use of the Mentimeter. I’ve not used that tool before, and I thought you used it effectively to capture our initial thoughts on what DIY means to us!
Excellent work!
Hi Elizabeth, Thanks for your feedback and insights. We used Google Sites for the platform. It is pretty easy to use but it is more limited in features than say Wix or Weebly. I led the DIY money section. I put the Mint app up there because it is a mobile app that people can use to monitor their finances, create a budget, and track spending. This kind of tool can help someone to get a better understanding of where their money is going which is an integral part of teaching oneself money management skills. There are many budgeting apps out there and Mint is a very popular one. And of course, you could do this the old fashion way with receipts and an Excel spreadsheet or notebook but many people are looking for tools to automate this process. You are right about buyer beware and I personally wouldn’t recommend connecting one’s banking info to an app. However, you can still use these kinds of apps though by manually inputting income and expenses. Cheers!
I can speak to the Roman Mars Ted Talk. It is a strange combination of success and failure in that one as well as a mixture of amateur and professional design. You are likely correct in that it could have been included somewhere else on the site. That being said, there is a lot of failing at doing design well in that video.
Hi Team! Your webpage was really easy to navigate! I love DIY learning because I can learn at any time and it is easily accessible. I was given a project at work and it was to create a file and document inventory on Excel. I originally thought this was going to be a ton of work because I have to go into every single file and wrote down names of files into the Excel sheet. Then I YouTubed how I can do this more efficiently. Turns out with just 5 clicks, I can complete the folder and document inventory! I might still have an old-school type of mindset, where I felt guilt watching a YouTube video at work, but without this video, I would not have gotten my work done! Normally work would pay for courses for employees to take and Excel is a popular one. With these DIY videos, it saves the employees’ time and organizations’ money. A draw back is the people who want to learn have to know what they are looking for. There are SO MANY DIY learning videos out there that it is really trying to find that needle in a haystack.
Personally, I love DIY learning videos because without it, I would not have learned how to crochet this quickly. The quality of some videos are not that great, such as bad camera angles, lighting, hands moving too quickly, or even instructions are not clear.
However, when I am DIY-ing at home, I don’t have anyone giving me live feedback. My end product may look the same as the video, but perhaps I missed a crucial step, or I am holding my needle wrong, or I understood the instructions wrong. Many people watch cooking or baking videos and they are fun to watch. However, there are times where the cookies, cakes, or noodles don’t turn out like the video because of the climate around us. The video may provide an amazing recipe, but because of temperature, weather, and humidity, the amount of ingredients needs to be adjusted. This piece of information is hard to find in a video. It could feel really defeating when the our product does not turn out like the videos did.
I agree with the YouTube guilt. I’m curios as to where that comes from ad I’ve experienced the same crisis of confidence in DIY resources in the past.
I guess it just comes down to the same reliability struggles we all have with the internet as a whole. A resource is only as good as your trust for it.
I’m glad you enjoyed the OER Sarah.
I think it was the way that I grew up.. Where we were taught that the way we show that we are focused on our task is to do our task and with no distractions beside us. Often times, teachers said youtube is a distraction because we are just there to watch videos. But as I grew up, I learned that there are so many things that I could learn from videos. I actually learned Mandarin from watching TV shows! I can comprehend better than I can speak, of course.
Hi DIY team! I truly enjoyed your OER. The format was easy to follow and you had the perfect amount of information to deliver the content without overwhelming the experience. Well done.
My husband has become the DIY master and (while I had initial reservations… particularly pertaining to vehicle mechanics) I have nothing but admiration and awe for the approach. I was a big fan of the “… for dummies” books growing up, still vetting some on the bookshelf. But the availability that tech has provided, namely the video/audio combined with the pause/rewind feature has made DIY a more accessible, affordable and empowering way to learn. I found the history of DIY as well as your “what does the research, say” sections very interesting – both aspects I would not have thought to look into on my own time yet have now happily shared with my students.
I appreciated the choices you gave in the exploration of DIYs (Money Skills, Maker Movement, K-12 Learning, and Higher Education)… explorations three through four seemed intuitive given the program, but I was interested as to why you chose “money skills” over other DIY explorations? I for one was greatly appreciative on both the personal and academic level (I shared on your pogil that I borrowed from your resources for Finance Literacy with my Workplace 10 Math students)…. but curious about the selection nonetheless.
Oh gosh! Forgot to mention one of my favourite aspects of your OER. I enjoyed the “choose your own adventure” aspect for the “exploration of DIY” section; not only because learners could access their interests but mostly because of the linked padlet** [I called it pogil above because of the inquiry pogil assignments I use in science… appologies] so that all learners are stil sharing their experience despite the exploration avenue… it’s all DIY so it is beneficial that we are all able to share experiences in one place instead of navigating multiple discussion forums. Well done.
Hi Tegan,
Thank you for your response and comments. I’m so glad to hear that you shared some of the information from the money skills section with your students. I was the one who developed this section. I used to facilitate financial literacy (FL) workshops and provide one-on-one financial coaching to adults living on low incomes in Calgary for 5 years. Knowing how to manage your money is an important lifelong skill that many adults simply don’t have. You would be surprised at how many credit card holders do not understand how interest is calculated, how a billing cycle works, or how payments affect credit scores. FL is now being added to curricula across Canada but I remember in the ’90s it was only taught for one day during C.A.L.M. class. Even today, people mostly have to develop their money management skills on their own. DIY learning often stems from situations where there is a gap or limited access in mainstream institutions like formal education. Money management skills are an example of this. I hope this answers your question. Also, the place I used to work at in Calgary is called Momentum. They have free online money management courses that anyone can take (https://courses.momentum.org/). Cheers!
Sorry, this is a more direct link: https://momentum.org/programs-services/manage-your-money/on-demand-money-management-workshops/
Hi Olivia, Thank you for your response. Yes.. you answered my question and then some. As I said, I am teaching Workplace 10 [the non “mainstream” course for BC math 10], typically students take pre-calc 10 and move forward to pre-calc 11/12 for university admission requirements. I consistently inform my students in workplace 10 how lucky they are to be enrolled in this mathematics course. Not only do I find it more challenging than the precalc 10 curriculum, but it is applicable to each student. Whether it be financial literacy, measurement literacy, unit conversions, or data analysis, each of these is widely more transferable from K-12 education than the pre-calc curriculum. In keeping with that, thank you for the “Momentum” online money management courses… I will share them with my class next week. The DIY learning of FL is not only an asset for my students but something they can share with their parents as most adults ]muself included] could brush up/benefit from education in money management and best practices.
Hello Team,
From a personal viewpoint, a DIY Learning limitation is the reluctance to read the instructions or watch the tutorials unless I am stuck trying to fix the problem or learn a new application. Admittedly, reluctance is not always the best course of action to take. However, DIY Learning provides the opportunity for exploration and hands-on learning. In teaching environments, students learn how to problem solve, work collaboratively, and become comfortable using technology. DIY Learning fosters a student-centred environment that prepares them for their future endeavours. I view DIY Learning as an opportunity to overcome challenges and feel a sense of achievement. However, the limitation is not recognizing when additional help is needed, for example, YouTube or consulting an expert. The DIY is no longer learning but a missed chance to gain knowledge.
Thank you for your presentation. I enjoyed and resonated with the different perspectives on DIY Learning.
You’ve picked up upon a two very important limitation of DIY Learning here, Anna – thanks for your response! Indeed, one of the major issues is this self-directed learning and the motivation it requires to accomplish a learning task. When that motivation is present though, the benefits are many, but without it, the learner will not take as much away from the learning task. Your second point is also very pertinent – sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. This is where teachers/instructors and facilitators are essential. As such, I am sure none of us will be out of a job any time soon.
Great job DIY team! I found this OER very easy to navigate and informative and as someone who has not used a lot of DIY, it was a great way to introduce the topic and get a good understanding of the different ways DIY has evolved. I thought this topic was especially relevant within our mobile learning course as DIY is truly mobile as you are often accessing it while on the go. I think my understanding of both DIY and how it applies to mobile education has evolved and I found that the examples you provided were very helpful and I had not considered flipped learning of online banking as topics that I would associate with DIY prior to the OER. When we talk to students about having a growth mindset I think DIY is a great way to model this for students and have see that they can attempt anything especially when the world is at your fingertips through the internet and DIY. I think there are numerous ways I can apply my learnings in my personal and professional life in further exploring how DIY can be used effectively, currently we are trying to help teachers navigate online parent/teacher nights and a DIY would have been extremely helpful is assisting parents and teachers in creating the links and accessing the platforms for this as it has largely left to everyone to figure it out as they go. I think the video aspect of DIY is what makes it so effective and that it’s kept simple and concise so that it’s easy for anyone to navigate. I think the limitations may be the users experience and comfort level and also the issue of equity when looking at DIY in terms of what different groups have access to, reliable internet, a device that functions well, access to materials or is it modified for students with disabilities, I think there is still work that can be done around that.
Thanks so much Asha for your response! Its interesting that you mention mobile learning as that is quickly becoming the largest learning tool we have! If you think about it, we have many opportunities everyday for a “micro learning lesson” (e.g. looking a concept up on wikipedia). As instructors, I think placing importance on that aspect of DIY Learning (i.e. the everyday elements), I think that will do a lot to boost this growth mindset you mention. Secondly, the professional example you give is extremely useful because it reminds us that actually there are so many resources already available online that can be harvested in these scenarios. We don’t always have to reinvent the DIY wheel!
How might you apply these learnings in your personal or professional life?
I can very much empathize with Mitchell’s experience here: I am trained as a Biology teacher, and yet without some DIY learning I’m not sure how I would have ever gotten my first classroom gig!
When I completed my B.Ed., I moved to Calgary to be near Banff where I’d fallen in love with the mountains, and I started working as a substitute teacher or Teacher-On-Call. I had already resigned myself to doing this for several years, as I grew up in Ontario where teachers still spend years on a sub-list before ever having the opportunity to have a classroom of their own. One of the days I subbed at Louis Riel School, I was combining my class with another for a “probability fair”, and the other teacher was impressed enough with my class management that she asked if I would consider covering her for the week. This one week gig soon became 6 months, but there was one problem: she was teaching humanities!
I had to madly scramble to find the curriculum and whatever resource sites or old textbook pdf files were available so that I could literally stay one day/week ahead of the kids, but over time I grew in confidence and began to love my newfound practice in English and Social Studies; the discussions were profound and meaningful, and I got to put my style into the humanities classroom (lots of silly skits, songs and design projects) to make it what I felt humanities lacked for me personally as a student. This gig led to contract after contract, and I now have a permanent position I love in Kelowna!
I have also transitioned into Maker, Robotics and programming after a few years of slow but self-directed learning via online platforms such as Futurelearn; now I teach kids to make their own videogames, and if my teen self could see me, he’d be so proud! What I have learned through DIY learning spans everything from replacing a light switch up to teaching a class, so there has been no limit to what I’ve been able to accomplish both personally and professionally!
Hi Brendan, thank you for sharing your teaching journey. It’s very cool to read about how you were able to broaden your teaching repertoire over the years. I think your story really highlights how DIY learning is often driven by a need that cannot be filled by formal learning settings. In your story of transitioning from a biology teacher to a humanities teacher, there simply wasn’t time to take courses on how to be a humanities teacher. You had to take control of the situation and figure it on your own. Your story also highlights a big benefit of DIY learning and that is the sense of accomplishment and pride when we accomplish something on our own.
I really enjoyed this topic. DIY learning has in fact come a long way in terms of legitimized learning. The internet has definitely opened the world of informal learning with fast and easy to access to information. Accessing this technology on our phones and devices also allow the user to take this informal learning anywhere we may choose. This has allowed learning to be not only accessible but useful in real time. DIY learning is also a helpful tool to consolidate learning and understand things in a different way. As mentioned in your website, there is a very valuable intrinsic aspect to learning which is self driven, and purposeful; because of this there is a desire to learn and fail through trial and error a bit more I find. This definitely relates to what was said about failing in DIY. I really enjoyed this topic and your website was well done. I definitely have a better understanding of how DIY learning developed.
Hi Miguel, Thanks so much for your feedback. I absolutely agree that DIY Learning is helpful as a method of consolidating an individuals learning, as the individual is strategizing their own learning in a. way that best suits themselves and their learning style. The only caveat is that the individual may have to make mistakes as you mention, because they are not told exactly what to do. But Like you say, some of the best learning happens through mistakes!
I agree Miguel. The affordances of DIY are such that learners are required to be owners of their learning and no longer passive consumers of content. I find in my role supporting teachers, many people ask questions that are easily found on Google (this would be much faster than writing and email, having me search, and then waiting for a responds. I find this ownership and ability to tackle finding answers is becoming a well flexed muscle for our learners.
Hi DIY Learning team!
Your OER certainly broadened my initial understanding of what counted as DIY learning. Before exploring the resources within your website, when I thought of DIY, I pretty much exclusively thought of WikiHow pages, YouTube videos and the old “For Dummies” books. Your OER had me reflecting on which DIY resources I actually find helpful and effective. I realized that I personally need a multimodal resource if I’m going to stick with a DIY project and see it through. YouTube videos tend to be my first stop: I find it incredibly helpful to have voice/audio guidance while I am trying to work on the project on my own end. The video, which ideally models the step by step instruction is also key for me. I think the most important feature, however, is the ability to pause, re-watch/re-listen to a particular step or the entire video as needed.
Thanks for the response Alexis.
I see your post in the “How Will You DIY this Week” Padlet about your student set on making a remote controlled hovercraft. Contact me if you think that they will actually get that one off the ground. (pun intended) I can help with some control system things!
Alexis, my DIY was more exclusive… mostly the “…For Dummies” books… but my husband has been making grrrrreat use of the YouTube videos (I still don’t trust myself with “practical” (for lack of a better word) projects… but have taken part in some Pinterest crafts). I agree with your “most important feature” comment: the ability to pause, re-watch/re-listen… something that I actually commented on my post before seeing this. “60 seconds of sciences” sounds fantastic! I shall borrow it in the future! 🙂
Hi DIY team! Thank you very much for the highly-informative OER or a timely phenomenon in the age of mobility and open sources. I enjoyed reading your personal thoughts on the definition of DIY, which was an interesting way to form a collective view on the subject matter. To that end, I guess one of the team members mentioned that DIY learning equals self-guided learning in the sense that students choose their own way and pace. The way I see it is that DIY is an approach to gaining knowledge without the need for an instructor in a formal setting while SDL is basically giving the learner the power to make essential choices about the content, pace, and style. I think that the DIY movement in its modern form is at the core of education, and it works in tandem with the other emerging educational technologies to shape the future of education. In other words, DIY content goes well with mobility, microlearning, open-source, web 2.0, and what is called “progressive learning”, especially that we have more access to free knowledge at high-speed connection. The world is moving faster towards customized educations and personalized learning, which is exactly what DIY offers. You mentioned that in the 2000s, DIY enhanced the learning process, which acknowledges Bloom’s taxonomy that creation is at the top of the learning skills pyramid. Now we heard Elon Musk saying that one’s does not need college anymore (formal education) because “everything is basically available online for free.” My question is: can DIY eliminate the role of instructors in formal education? Will we see a day where all lessons and lectures are recorded with practically no synchronous sessions? We know for sure that the pandemic has pushed us harder towards that point, and every day we see more and more free courses available on the internet. That being said, your mentioning of “heutagogy” as an alternative to pedagogy strikes home because all the indicators show that we are going in that direction. What are the implications of this trend?
I believe that your presentation covered many significant aspects of DIY, but I could not get your message in the “Failing at DIY” part. I also think it would have been great to link your topic to mobile learning more closely.
For me, the value of DIY is not only that it is inexpensive, fast, and effective, but it rather teaches students autonomy and synthesis as they may check different sources for the same purpose. However, I always tell my students that they are better off watching ESL videos than being with me in class if they only benefit from listening to me. I want them to understand that formal educational settings have affordances that DIY may fail to render, such as social interaction, giving and receiving feedback, and peer learning. How can the DIY community provide such participatory opportunities?
Hi Feras, thank you for your significant feedback. There’s a lot to unpack in your post so I will just address a few of your questions and hopefully our classmates will also chime in as your points are thought provoking. I do not foresee DIY eliminating the need for instructors or formal learning settings. Children will always need teachers to guide and mentor them. Adults who are working toward a certain profession need certifications that are only available through formal institutions. This of course is not true for all professions, but it is true for most professions. Also, sometimes learners just want to be taught by an expert in-person who has in-depth knowledge and skills in a certain domain. This is especially true if you are not a highly motivated, independent learner. The “Failing at DIY” section was added as an optional section to add some levity to the OER. Also, DIY learning involves lots of failure and failure is a big part of learning that is often overlooked. The first step at being good at something is to be really bad it! DIY communities can absolutely provide participatory spaces. Maker spaces are a good example of this. These spaces are a place for all kinds of learners to meet, discuss their projects, and learn from each other. I would say that DIY learning can be as social as you make it. Although you are in charge of your own learning in DIY learning, you hardly ever have to do it on your own.
Thank you for your response, Olivia. I agree with you that children need guidance and mentoring via a formal education setting, and that’s why I feel that DIY videos and other media are more content-based than an interaction space among the learners themselves or with the instructor. For me, it is safe to say that DIY approaches are good for the short run where the learner needs to get something done discarding other factors that give the experience its true value. Of course, we hear about many self-taught learners who master certain skills through YouTube videos and LMS, but are they missing the experience? If we take ESL learners embarking on General English courses through DIY channels, for example, there would be very limited opportunities for learner-learner interaction, natural exposure, or other group activities done in class. This concerns me because immersion is a key element in learning English as a second language. Can DIY provide such an experience? I wonder.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Hi Feras, I agree with you that learning a language DIY style would be difficult and I think you can only get so far without being immersed in the language. I think you would have to be very disciplined and would need to set up your own learning plan to learn another language successfully outside the classroom. You would definitely have to put yourself out there and find someone or a group of people to practice with which I think would be tricky. However, if a student is struggling with a grammar concept, it may be useful for them to watch some videos and read some articles online to supplement what they are learning in class. I think this kind of DIY learning is very common with all kinds of learners. Cheers!
Great question! “Can DIY eliminate the role of instructors in formal education? Will we see a day where all lessons and lectures are recorded with practically no synchronous sessions? I think DIY allows us to work on the attributes of learning with students. This is an important shift from content-specific learning to skill development learning. Teachers respond to this by becoming the designers of learning opportunity. We can now focus on, how one might analyze, reflect, make connections, build on prior knowledge, consolidate, research, build a common understanding with peers and ask the right questions. DIY and self-directed instruction is powerful in that it allows an educator to pivot from strictly content to the processes, habits and mindsets of learning. However, this requires educators to reimagine how they assess, structure space and plan for learning.
Hi Grace. Interesting response! So, the role of the teacher will change, but he/she will still be present. I have noticed that as long as new technologies are emerging, more roles are given to the teacher and more roles go marginalized. Perhaps it is true that the teacher is not the only source of knowledge now (maybe not even a main one), but an orchestra leader. The teacher is the person with the tricks, ways, and signs rather than the books and answers. This stresses the fact that “knowledge” is no longer “power”, but it is potential power. In fact, knowledge is abundant and available for free through internet access, but what we do with it and how to make the best of it is the question. I think this is where teachers are and will always be needed: to show the way. Therefore, DIY channels work and might replace teachers in certain situations, but there is much more that teachers can provide, such as inspiration, ambition, love, discipline, and passion. Those values make the greatest impact on the learner, in my opinion.
Feras, what an insightful response. I agree with you about the positive aspects of DIY providing an opportunity for autonomy and for some learners this may be their first time having that freedom which could provide an opportunity to engage with them and develop their love for lifelong learning.
Totally.
Hi Team DIY Learning! Enjoyed your OER – it was well-designed, and easy to navigate.
How has your definition of DIY Learning changed from the start of this process until now?
As you describe throughout your OER, DIY can literally be anything that is learner-driven. The learner’s desire to achieve a goal is the impetus to its overall success. Even a poorly designed lesson or LMS won’t dramatically alter the knowledge transfer if the learner is truly inspired to learn.
How might you apply these learnings in your personal or professional life?
Your chronology of DYI illustrates how “do it yourself” is increasing in momentum through our society. Understanding one’s motivation for learning is perhaps my biggest talk-away from DYI Learning. I think everyone loves to learn and accomplish things (often on their own), so DYI culture provides an outlet for achieving those goals. A lot of us referenced the importance of YouTube in DIY, and I definitely use that platform for to seek out DYI solutions, but equally as important is mobile technologies for being DYI to any activity (in the garage, kitchen, forest, etc).
What have you noticed makes an effective DIY resource?
Accessibility and ease of navigation/search functionality are keys for an effective DYI resource. Good aesthetics don’t hurt ether.
What limitations does DIY Learning have? What are the opportunities it presents?
Just like many things, DIY doesn’t always have oversight to guarantee success. One solution might work well for the “instructor” and some learners, but not everyone. Alternative options and suggestions (platforms like YouTube often share similar videos to help guide learners) are one avenue for opportunity in this regard.
Thanks for your response, Sam. You raise good points regarding learner motivation. I fully agree with your point about poorly designed DIY lessons still transfering knowledge if the learner is motivated. I find it to be equally true that an engaging and well-designed lesson can fall unheard if the motivation piece is not there. That is the true power of DIY; it is self-directed and pursued out of desire and interest to learn the topic.
Hi DIY Team,
This resource was so fun, easy to navigate and well designed. Great job!
QUESTION: What have you noticed makes an effective DIY resource?
ANSWER: Video! Video is SO important for DIY learning. From the informal (Dad-How do I channel) to formal EdEx courses, video becomes an important bridge between people and space, both for connection (and mentorship, perhaps) and to visually understand how to do something. The video playback controls are important too. As I navigated your OER, I leveraged changing the video speeds, full-screen, closed-captioning and the video bookmarks on youtube. The video length, and jumping right into the topic is important too. All the resources you curated for us were excellent, but I’ve definitely viewed MANY-a-video where the it takes far too long for the person to get to the topic. Being succinct, and keeping videos to just as long as they have to be is critical. Like with flags, less is more. (That flag video was fantastic!!)
Roman Mars and the badly designed city flags is one of my favorite Ted talks of all time. Unsolicited podcast recommendation if you liked that: 99% Invisible – The Dolphin that Roared (https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-dolphin-that-roared/)
Full disclosure, many of our conversations around this OER were about how to curate an effective experience in terms of video length to balance with the amount of time we wanted you to spend on each page, and the overall conciseness of them. I’m glad it worked out for you to take something from it.
Hi Sally, I wholeheartedly agree in regards to keeping a video succinct featuring only the “must-have” information and leaving out the “nice to know”;) I have come across a few professional video sites that have provided a short pdf summary (e.g., of the steps) with the video so that the user doesn’t have to play the video back – it’s brilliant!
Hi Sally. I completely agree with you, and I believe that the power of DIY videos overshadows other multimodal forms. My friend renovated his basement single-handedly by watching DIY videos on YouTube, starting from scratch. He had almost zero experience with renovation methods and tools, but the entire experience made him an expert. Honestly, what caught my attention the most is the remarkable knowledge retention he showed when I asked him about the process. I realized that DIY is a powerful approach to empower our acquisition of knowledge and experience as it promotes progressive learning. No unnecessary information is needed nor pointless assignments. You take what you need and compare different sources to fill the knowledge gaps. That’s what is so powerful about DIY. This guy was practically educated on a subject matter possibly more effectively than college students would be, taking the timeframe into consideration. I ask myself now if I want to learn how to cook past, would I watch a video or read about it? Videos would always be my choice.
Hi Team,
To answer your questions first. 1) I actually did not know the difference between informal learning and non-formal learning (I actually didn’t know this term existed) until now. So I learned something need. Before, I had always thought DIY belongs to informal learning. So that is something new for me. 2) After viewing your project, I have of course acquired new strategies, tools and resources for my future design of DIV types of learning in my classroom. 3). What have you noticed makes an effective DIY resource? I personally find that science journals for kids and crash course to be very effective tools (at least for me). The two reasons are: as a starter, I am not a very hands-on learner myself, I find no joy in it, I am also quite clumsy with hands. I am a conceptional and visual learner, I prefer to learn through reading, looking at images, or watching others. Unfortunately, science is a subject that requires a lot of hands-on work to be interesting and knowledgable (ie. experiments). The second reason is that I am also not knowledgable in the area because unlike literacy and math, science was more or less of a “side-subject” through most of my educational experience. Therefore, lack of knowledge and disinterest in hands-on work makes teaching science difficult to me. Thus, I find scientific journal for kids to be a really useful tool for me because it provides resources and activities for science which allows both me and students to learn together. What limitations does of DIY Learning are that one: like any other skill, DIY learning needs assistance and intervention and sometimes instructions from the instructors. Contrary to what the name suggests, not every aspect of DIY can be done by the learner themselves. The limitations could include but not exhaustive of materials, tools, and equipments that are required? Also, DIY learning requires a certain amount of discipline from the learners. For learners who struggle with self-regulation, a more formal and routine type of learning is more effective than DIV learning. 4) Despite my own disinterest, DIV learning is stilling appealing to many people, especially students who are in K-12 range and is a great engagement factors. Also, DIY learning allows students to expand beyond the scope of what the instructors could offer and learning many things that may or may not have intended as a part of the learning objective which result in extra-ordinary products.
Thanks so much for your inputs, Wenshang! You highlight some really important challenges of facilitating DIY Learning in a formal setting. You make a very good point about the resources for DIY work. Teachers, as facilitators of DIY Learning, definitely have to consider both the learners (for instance those learners who prefer visual learning vs hands on learning) as well as the content that is being taught and what resources are most applicable. This is always a delicate balance when it comes to providing resources for students to direct their own learning. In these cases, I believe the solution can be providing many different types of resources for students to chose from. Nevertheless, facilitating DIY Learning definitely produces these kinds of challenges you mention. Notably, you are absolutely right about the importance of self-regulation on the students part. Again, teachers will be forced to adapt by creating a structure for the DIY projects. Thanks again for the great notes!
Way to go, Team DIY Learning! I SO enjoyed this learning project!
I prefer DIY resources that include tips and tricks and things to watch out for while completing projects. I also do much better on projects where I’m learning from a video, such as YouTube or on Pinterest. The visual cues along with the verbal instructions really help me wrap my head about tackling a lot of DIY learning projects.
My understanding of DIY learning evolved as I was reading through your site because you included a broad list of examples of different DIY learning, some that I had never considered before, such as flipped learning and online banking/investing.
I feel like one limitation of DIY learning may be not having the proper tools for a project to complete it properly. There are many opportunities that DIY learning affords, such as learning new skills and saving money by doing things yourself. I never thought that I would be able to repair my dishwasher or my washing machine or tile my shower, but I did. Having an open mindset and/or access to good resources can open up a lot of doors for people who are willing and able to try!
I particularly liked the DIY fashion video as this reminded me so much of how my own grandmother and mother sewed or patched up clothes for themselves and us when we were young. In fact, watching them inspired me to start sewing at a young age, and a LOT of the clothes in my closet are ones that I have made myself in my own informal settings, which actually makes me feel very proud and able.
The fact that you included an entire section on DIY failures was so great! Even though it can be extremely frustrating, the knowledge gained (if one reflects upon and analyzes why their project didn’t work out) is so powerful and creates a deeper understanding as well than having immediate success.
KJ
Hi Kendell, Thank you for all of your thoughtful feedback. I also love the feeling of completing a task I never thought I could or would do through DIY learning. Sometimes it is hard to find the right resources to complete a project but I would say this is usually an exception, not the rule when it comes to DIY projects. And yes, sometimes we don’t have the specialized tools we need to complete a project. If you live in a larger city, you may be able to address this issue by going to a “Tool Library” or a maker space. In my opinion, money is definitely a large and important DIY learning area. We rarely learn about money in formal settings and yet it is such an important part of our daily lives. If you enjoyed that video on fashion, here is another one about fashion and alternative spaces (https://youtu.be/O4nNUeeLVzI). It is a bit longer so it got cut from our OER. I found the video quite fascinating as the speaker talks about how DIY fashion oscillates between alternative and mainstream spaces. And yes, failure is a big art of learning, no matter where we are doing the learning. I think it is a part of learning that we need to discuss more with our learners.
Olivia,
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed that video you suggested! She was so passionate about DIY alternative fashion, she brought up some really great points, and she really made me reconsider some things. For example, the fact many popular fashion trends originally began as DIY movements, but because these trends became “consumerzied” there was less need for DIYing because those pieces could then be bought in stores. I could also connect with some of the comments from other viewers; I remember when I was young I was borderline embarrassed to wear “sustainable” and DIY clothes my mom bought from the thrift store or made for me. Now it’s become much more mainstream. The last comment I want to make was when she said, “Once I started to get really creative, it was hard to stop!” I loved this because it’s so true! Thank you again for your presentation and response!!!
KJ
That’s great to hear Kendell! That last quote you shared expresses to me what peak learning looks like; being in a flow state where you are totally engrossed in your project. I think that happens a lot in DIY learning because of the autonomy learners have over their own work and learning.
Hi DIY team! I really enjoyed the layout of your design, simple and easy to navigate. Your website contained various resources that were interesting to explore. My definition of DIY learning has changed after exploring your OER. I always thought of DIY as a video on Youtube or a pin on Pinterest you search for to fix or create something yourself. However, I have come to realize there is definitely more to it. DIY learning can be utilized in a much more formal context, a classroom for instance. I believe I can introduce this type of learning to my high school students for certain types of lessons. I think they would appreciate the autonomy!
Thanks for the response Joëlle.
It really hit me a few years ago when I started teaching high school just how many students were supplementing their learning in Science classes with Crash Course videos and Math classes with Khan Academy. This was not a required part of class and for all I know the teachers didn’t even know this was happening. DIY Learning like that grows out of a need (much like the Matrix helicopter analogy on the first page). I’m sure your iGen students will love that style of learning; I know mine do.
Hi Joelle and Mitchell. I would like to jump in and comment on using DIY in a more formal context. Asking my students to do their research on a certain topic to be prepared for an upcoming debate is actually flipped classroom and DIY. The more I did it, the more I realized that students do not need teachers for knowledge but rather for facilitation and feedback. I believe that effective practice of blended learning can significantly improve autonomy, and at some point, minimum interference from the teacher in the class would be required to have a progressive interaction among the learners.
Hi DIY Team,
Well done, I truly enjoyed reading this. The website was easy to navigate and quite clear. The chronological timeline was very effective in understanding the DIY journey. Please see my four (4) responses below.
1) I found the activity that asked where “DIY” would fall quite interesting. I got the answer right the first time, but it took me a couple minutes before I could differentiate how “informal” and “non-formal” are different. Your content made me realize what sort of activities are considered DIY, which I never thought they would fit that category (e.g. looking up a new science concept)
2) The biggest takeaway for me was understanding why its okay to fail when it comes to DIY. Embrace failure folks !
3) For me, effective DIY should be concise, bite-sized, perfect for mobile consumption, and have a grassroot feel.
4) Not sure if this would answer the fourth question, but the limitation of DIY creation has always been “time” for me. I tried DIY content creation a couple times, and I found that it took way more time to create a good DIY content than I had originally planned. For creating a couple minute DIY video, I would spent a good few hours.
Embracing failure is a key of DIY and quite frankly of the innovation process.
Saeid, I appreciate the observations. If you like that idea of frequent failure as an innovation strategy, check out The Imagineers on Disney+. It chronicles the history of Disney’s creative engineering department. At one point in that show they point out the idea in their R+D department that if they aren’t failing at half of what they are doing, then they probably aren’t doing difficult enough things.
DIY is a mindset and I’m glad you took a piece of that from our work.
DIY Learning as via computer based blogs really depends on the design and information.
1. Is information well rounded and organised into clear sequential steps?
2. Is the information delivered clearly and contains objectives where necessary
3. Limitations- when the video is poor and instructions if verbal, unclear.
Sheena, thank you for taking the time to respond, but I am a bit confused.
I agree with your points when talking about some of the more formal DIY educational platforms we explore such as EdX and even to a degree Khan Academy. But when it comes to informal DIY learning the organization tends to be very non-sequential, but effective nonetheless.
Where on the formal-nonformal-informal continuum are you speaking about specifically?
I’m also confused about your limitations comment. Any EdTech system when produced poorly can be unclear. Is DIY Learning a unique case or do you perceive it to have specific limitations that other open learning mediums don’t have?