26 How to Create an Interactive Learning Module Based on a Video, Website, or Text using NOLEJ AI

Persephone Keeping

Image created with Canva AI image generator.

Prompt: Comic style art of a student working on an interactive quiz on a school computer.

 

Introduction

NOLEJ AI is an AI tool that allows anyone to upload a text, upload a video or video link, or upload a website link to generate an interactive learning module based on the uploaded content. This ability is ideal for teachers as it takes informational but otherwise static learning material and turns it into interactive games and quizzes for the student to complete alongside their engagement with the content itself. NOLEJ AI makes it easier for educators to engage students with their learning material.

 

Connection to Curriculum

While NOLEJ AI’s features are valuable to several specific curricula, specifically those in Saskatchewan, they are especially useful in helping teachers and students fulfill the Saskatchewan K-12 Goals for Developing Thinking and for Developing Literacies. Saskatchewan’s curriculum includes Cross-Curricular Competencies which are applicable to every subject area taught in Saskatchewan. These competencies can be considered as overarching skills to be built upon in every K-12 class a Saskatchewan student will take. Students’ use of multimedia and interactive materials in their learning directly contributes to the students’ development of thinking and literacy skills. The Saskatchewan K-12 Goals for Developing Literacies consist of “constructing knowledge related to various literacies”; “exploring and interpreting the world through various literacies”; and “expressing understanding and communicating meaning using various literacies” (Ministry of Education, 2011, p. 4). By learning through the use of interactive and dynamic materials, students not only acquire knowledge through varying literacies, but also develop their ability to express knowledge and explore further using these literacies. Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan K-12 Goals for Developing Thinking consist of “thinking and learning contextually”; “thinking and learning creatively”; and “thinking and learning critically” (Ministry of Education, 2011, p. 3). By learning through interactive materials with varied types and levels of questions, students will have experience applying their learning in varied contexts and at a higher order, more critical level of thinking.

 

Affordances and Constraints

As described, NOLEJ AI allows one to generate interactive learning tasks from static source material. The tool is capable of generating the following at the user’s preference:

  • Interactive checkpoint questions throughout students’ viewing of the source text
  • Quizzes consisting of various types and levels of questioning (multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank, open answer, and high-order thinking) based on the content of the source material
  • Interactive question games (such as click-and-drag answer games and flashcards) based on the content of the source material
  • A transcript of any audio in uploaded video content
  • A summary of the source material, including bullet notes of the material’s main points
  • A glossary containing additional summaries of the main topics within the source material

That being said, NOLEJ AI has some notable limitations, especially for teachers’ use:

  • No ability to ask the AI to make adjustments (adjustments must be made by yourself)
  • Does not take into account visual or graphic elements from uploaded content as it relies on text and speech (or transcription text of speech)
  • The games generated are not very distinct from the quiz questions
  • No visual elements are generated for the learning module
  • Not every source is able to be uploaded for use

 

The Process

Creating an interactive learning module out of a video, text, or website with NOLEJ AI takes very little effort or prompting on the teacher’s part. The AI does the bulk of the work and the teacher can confirm and adjust the generated product as needed to suit their needs.

  1. The first step is to create an account with NOLEJ AI using the following URL: https://nolej.io/. All you need is an email address to make an account when you click “Try It Free Today”. The free trial comes with limited credits, meaning limited generations, and the credits will expire once the trial period is over.
  2. After your account is created and verified, following the prompts provided on the NOLEJ AI to guide you, NOLEJ AI will offer a tour, showing you how to start your first “Microlearning Package”. The steps below detail the same process.
  3. In your account library, you can press the “Create” button in the top right corner to begin, where you will be asked to select a language (only English is available at the present date) and choose a title for your “Microlearning Package”.
  4. After naming your “Microlearning Package”, you will have the option to toggle “Manual Mode” on or off. If you leave it off, you can skip to steps 7-12, though teachers will find more value in turning it on as it allows for opportunities to review the generated work step by step and to adjust or customize any of the generated work to specific classroom needs.
  5. Next, you will upload the text, video, or website on which you wish for the AI to make a learning package or module. This may be uploaded through a file upload, a link to a URL, or typed text. Follow the prompts on the screen for each option and note the data size guidelines for each option.
  6. Once the file, URL, or text is uploaded, you can click “Create Package” and leave the AI to do the work for a few minutes. Note: If a learning package cannot be processed on the upload, this is likely due to a conflict in the size of the material uploaded. For example, if the text (or audio transcript) is less than 500 words, a learning package will not be able to be generated.
  7. After the AI has finished its first step, you can review the work thus far by clicking “Edit” next to its title in your library.
  8. Here, you can review the information generated thus far. For videos with audio, this will consist of editing the transcript to confirm its accuracy (or add additional notes, such as important visual details like text on the screen that the AI cannot incorporate itself).
  9. When you are done reviewing the first step of generation, select “Save” then “Continue” to allow the AI to move onto the second step of generation. Once the AI is generating the next step, allow a few minutes for it to complete this process.
  10. After the AI has finished the second step, you can review the work again by clicking “Review” next to its title in your library.
  11. Here, you can review the content of the learning module. Following the prompts on screen to guide you through the content, you will notice the major concepts, the questions generated, and a summary of the source material and key points. There are toggle options to determine the amount and types of the questions generated. Each item can be adjusted or entirely changed in terms of the text that was generated. Certain questions can be left out of the final module. Keep an eye out for any inaccurate information or repeated questions and adjust anything to fit your specific needs.
  12. When you are done reviewing the second step of generation, select “Generate Package” to allow the AI to complete the third and final step of generating your learning module. Allow a few minutes for the AI to complete this process.
  13. You can review the final work by clicking “Export” next to its title in your library.
  14. Here, you can view the learning module as it will be viewed by your students. You may still customize which questions and how many are displayed, though you will not be able to edit the content of each question or add new ones.
  15. To export your package or module and upload to your desired location, click “Export Package” in the top right corner. You can connect your module with Google Classroom, Canvas, or Blackboard, copy the embed code into another desired location to embed, or share as a link.
  16. After sharing with your students with the above step, students will be able to work through the learning module as many times as they wish.

 

Prompt Engineering

To maximize NOLEJ AI’s potential in the classroom, teachers should ensure to toggle “Manual Mode” on as this will allow for full customization of the learning module produced. While the AI is capable of producing a comprehensive learning module on its own, teachers should make adjustments according to the outcomes they intend their students to complete, the difficulty level according to the students’ abilities and needs, and the specific focus areas reflected in the questions throughout the module.

As NOLEJ AI does not take into account visual or graphic elements from the source text, teachers should also consider adding any details revealed in visual form throughout the source text into the transcription or notes produced in the first step of generation. In doing so, the AI will be able to include this information in the final learning module.

Lastly, as not every source is able to be uploaded for use, mostly due to the length restrictions, some sources could be broken into smaller portions (for example, textbook/novel chapters instead of a full textbook/novel). In doing so, the AI can produce learning modules on all of the content desired without being limited by length.

Recommendations

Share recommendations or additional resources that can further enhance the user’s understanding or experience with the tool. This could include suggested readings, related tools, or online communities.

NOLEJ AI has some limitations for classroom use, some of which can be combatted through teachers’ adjustments, customizations, and additions (see Prompt Engineering for suggestions). Some limitations, however, require additional work from teachers outside of NOLEJ AI itself to combat. Moreover, there are other ways to utilize NOLEJ AI in the classroom apart from teachers’ creation of the learning module for students to complete.

As no visual elements are included or created as information for students to practice questions from and be quizzed on, teachers may need to supply any necessary or additionally useful visual materials separately for student use. Visual elements can be useful learning tools that should not be sacrificed due to NOLEJ’s limitations. Learn more about the value of visual elements to students’ learning here (Schraw & Richmond, 2022).

NOLEJ AI is great for creating interactive learning material based off a source text for student use. Therefore, it may be especially beneficial in subject areas which are traditionally less interactive and less varied in media type, such as mathematics. For example, uploading a video, website, or text that introduces the math concepts students will be utilizing and generating a learning module with NOLEJ AI can allow students to learn unfamiliar mathematical concepts in an engaging and interactive setting before applying their knowledge in a unit of study. Learn more about the benefit of interactivity in the classroom here (Knapp, 2022).

To better enhance NOLEJ AI’s effectiveness for students, teachers can consider teaching students how to generate their own learning module as a personal study resource, using the free trial. Students can make the most of NOLEJ AI themselves in their at-home studies and in their other classes and ultimately take ownership of their learning and studying. Learn more about the importance of helping students to take ownership of their learning here (Johnson, 2023).

Informative presentation

Learn more about How to Use NOLEJ AI by clicking the image above.

References

Johnson, P. (2023). Developing Student Ownership of Learning – 5 Key Steps. PuzzleShiftCreate.com. https://www.puzzleshiftcreate.com/teacher-resources/student-ownership-of-learning/.

Knapp, A. (2022). Interactive Instruction & Learning. Study.com. https://study.com/learn/lesson/interactive-instruction-learning-style-benefits-examples.html.

Ministry of Education. (2011). Saskatchewan Curriculum: English Language Arts 10. Government of Saskatchewan. https://curriculum.gov.sk.ca/CurriculumHome?id=37.

Schraw, G., & Richmond, A. (2022). Using visual displays to improve classroom thinking. Educational Research: Theory and Practice, 33(2), 80-102. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1352339.pdf.

 

Acknowledgement of AI Use

While this chapter discusses the benefits of AI, specifically NOLEJ, for teachers and students alike, AI was only used in the generation of the photo using Canva’s AI Image Generator and to visually demonstrate the steps to using NOLEJ AI to create an interactive learning module. All text within this chapter was written free of any AI help by the author, Persephone Keeping, unless citing another author or source.

License

Teaching and Creating with Generative AI Copyright © by Dr. Paula MacDowell; Kristin Moskalyk; and Katrina Korchinski. All Rights Reserved.

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