As a non-economic major student, I am really curious about how to make a smart decision like an economist. Pod 8 did a good job on choosing this interesting topic and design of the Interactive Learning Resource. However, there are several points that I want to discuss with Pod 8. First of all, throughout the course design, there is very little interactions between the teacher and students. Although there are many interactions between students and materials, the lack of teacher-students interaction might weaken the optimal learning outcomes. At the beginning stage, I suggest that there could be more activities that both the instructor and students are involved in. For example, students could not only watch the videos, but also discuss those concepts with instructors and peers through an online discussion forum. This way could help students understand the concepts in-depth. In my opinion, the combination of interactions between instructor, students and materials is the best way to maximize the learning outcomes. Secondly, this project has a good design for inclusion of ELL students, but not for students who lose hearing. Obviously, giving the presentation is a huge challenge for students who are deafness. Although it allows these students only to submit paperwork, they are still seen as a small group (disabled students) inside the large group (whole class). In my opinion, this special help for these special students is not an absolute inclusion. Thirdly, the 2-4 learning outcomes are not indicated in this project. I suggest that the learning outcomes could be specified more clearly in the final version, it will provide students with an idea of what they could acquire from this course. Fourth, in the section of technology choices, it does not mention which software or website will be used for watching videos. Thus, the very last suggestion is that the instructor could apply more technology tools in this course in order to carry out all the activities in a better way.
Overall, this is a well-structured Interactive Learning Resource. The topic is interesting and there are many different sorts of activities involved in this design. I hope students who take this course will enjoy it and acquire more knowledge at the same time!
