Blog Post 4- Engagement

     The PDF reading and the lecture video addressed engaged learning and the relevance of information or tasks.  Engaged learning involves information and tasks that are relevant to the learner, and it involves student-lead and teacher-facilitated environments.  Relevant information and tasks should be the only tasks incorporated into a course.  Relevant material can relate to the past, present, or future.  The material that incorporates future relevance has shown to be the material that is retained the longest.  In another note, student-led and teacher-facilitated environments are imperative to a successful and interactive course.  In engaged learning, teachers incorporate activities and information that relate to the students' interests, and they allow the students to have a choice in their education.  My interests in this module is the use of a PowerPoint as the course icebreaker and the way I can incorporate the students' interests and needs into the course.  Also, I think I mentioned this in my last blog, but I am also interested in letting the students use discussions and a partnered project in my course.  However, to add to that, I am also thinking about letting the students have a choice in the subject of the project.  For example, I am doing a project associated with the cardiovascular module, and I think I am going to allow the students to pick which substance (tobacco) or health condition (high blood pressure) they want to research.  The concerns I have at this point, is the concern of adding too many or not enough activities in the course, and the concern of making sure the activities are relevant to the students' needs and the learning objectives.