Short Descriptions

The TLIP gamification grant team will review the pilot of the Course 3 electives (LANG 1003, Spring 2022) and start revising the electives for Spring 2023 (CORE 1403).

Possible Benefits

A key objective for this project is to create new and innovative materials that make the best use of technological and pedagogical practices for the blended learning format in Course 3. The project will explore how gamification provides intrinsic motivation to complete online tasks and activities as well as to introduce and synthesize core competencies and learning areas in the course.

Deliverables

A report reviewing LANG 1003 Spring 2022 electives; a plan (with CEI) for Fall 2022 revisions of Articulate files; some revisions of Articulate files.

Are your students using PowerPoint effectively? Stimulate an challenge classes with a presentation assignment that combines PowerPoint with good organisation, timing, and creativity. The presenter introduces the presentation format called Pecha Kucha and describes successful assignments in reading and writing classes at a tertiary institution.

In this Show and Tell session, the presenter will introduce a news website and app called Newslea and will share experiences using the resource in a general academic English course for lower-intermediate students at a Hong Kong tertiary institution. This US-based resource (with Common Core references for grades K-12) comes in a free and a paid version. Students can use the resource freely, but teachers must pay a subscription to take advantage of the options to assign and track class groups and individual students –in texts folders, writing tasks, and quiz scores. Using the Common Core standards, readings focus on “central ideas,” “word meanings and choice,” “text structure,” “arguments and claims,” and other reading tasks. An interesting feature for students is the option to easily adjust the reading level: Max, 960L, 840L, 690L, and 580L. While Newslea’s intended audience is mainly native English speakers, the reading level options can be quite useful for English as a second or foreign language learners. The presenter will sum up by sharing some of the benefits and challenges of using Newslea, especially as it compares to other free reading websites and apps.

Play is a powerful tool for children and community college students to explore, experiment, experience and understand the world around them. In this session, the presenters will share their experiences with play in their content areas. First, an Early Childhood Education lecturer will give a brief overview of a Hong Kong community college program preparing future kindergarten teachers and a short summary of how children actively learn through play as noted through centuries by theorists such as Locke, Piaget, and Vygotsky. Next, an English lecturer will give examples of how the concept of "play" was adapted to language learning activities using drama (e.g., Readers Theatre), open-ended materials (e.g, Kahoot!, Socrative). The session will conclude with reflections on the success of adapting Early Childhood Education principles of play to English classes in which teachers - as observers, facilitators, and players - plan and set up physical environments for students to engage in exploring, experimenting, and experiencing with adequate, age-appropriate, and open materials.

The growing use of mobile technology on college campuses suggests the future of the classroom, including learning activities, research, and even studentfaculty communications, will rely heavily on mobile technology. Since Fall 2010, an interdisciplinary team of faculty from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has experimented with the use of iPads in the classroom. This paper includes the preliminary results of a study on student impressions of mobile technology in the classroom. The paper will report both opportunities and limitations for incorporating mobile technologies in learning environments.