Innovations in Teaching Seminar IITS 2017

This presentation will focus on learning and teaching in a connected world within the Higher Education context. Knowledge is now co-created, disseminated via networks, and personalised. It has moved from being described as “explaining some part of the world” and “used in some type of action” to involving ecologies and networks (Siemens, 2006, p. vi). The presentation will focus on:

• How learning and teaching has changed in a connected world
  • Active learning
  • Learning spaces
  • Central role of technology
• Innovative teaching in a connected world
  • Blended learning
  • Authentic assessment
  • Professional development
• The knowledge, skills and attitudes teachers need to thrive in a connected world
  • Digital fluency
  • Seamless teaching
  • Assuring best practice in technology-enhanced environments
  • Technology affordances
  • Scholarship
  • Learning analytics
• The knowledge, skills and attitudes learners need to thrive in a connected world
  • Learners will need a toolkit encompassing digital literacies, seamless learning, self-regulated learning, learning-oriented assessment, lifelong learning, and flexible learning pathways. This toolkit will enable the learner to tackle the complexities of the learning landscape that is becoming increasingly digital, connected, and ambiguous.

My work as an artist and performer has focused on the integration of live interactive media and the network. I consider the Internet a medium for expanding the idea of a 'community of theater,' a social space for cultural enactments and critical dialogue. With the Adobe Connect web-conferencing software, there is the potential for building on the dynamics of theater in the creation of a Virtual Classroom, an 'active social space,' where lecture, learning, discussion, and the sharing of ideas and dialogue can actively, playfully, and intellectually take place in distributed online spaces. In the Virtual Classroom, it is possible to provide an environment that effectively incorporates students' digitally native skills, students who are fluent and often immersed in the use of the online medium for social interaction. Web-conferencing is not a replacement for the classroom, but rather its extension, dissolving the walls of the physical classroom and enabling remote guest lecturers and even faculty to participate from anywhere in the world. This talk explores the key pedagogical strategies that can activate the Virtual Classroom to encourage more dynamic learning experiences in 'third space' environments that join the local and the remote.

I will share some developments in technology that can help greatly enhance student in-class engagement. Firstly, the 'third generation' of student in-class response system, Pearson's Learning Catalytics (LC) that allows students to key in equations, type sentences, sketch graphs etc. It has been successfully implemented in lectures with more than 800 students and it facilitates the lecturer to provide instant feedback for students' responses. I will also discuss some of useful practices for the implementation of LC in a large class. Secondly, I will discuss about the use of 3D-related technology that allows us to fabricate demonstration and visualization tools. One notable tool is a student-built LED cube from the SPMS Making and Tinkering course that allows the instructor to plot planes in 3D space, 3D graphs and 3D scalar fields. I will discuss plans of how it will be used in an upcoming mathematical Physics course.

Technology enhanced learning (TEL) is rapidly coming to us in NTU. This talk will focus on the virtual & augmented reality technology enhanced learning (VARTEL). Firstly, I will introduce the fundamentals of virtual & augmented reality technology. I will then discuss the challenges in developing virtual & augmented reality technology for learning applications and share examples of some of our courses currently undergoing VARTEL in the engineering, sciences and humanity schools. Last but not least, I will invite fellow colleagues to hands-on one or two VARTEL demo

The use of games and game interaction platforms can capture student's attention and concentration, as well as increase active participation during class. Student were excited to not only play the games, but their main aim was to outdo their classmates in each game. This led to the students being totally focused on the lesson as well as the game and its results. In addition, all games were played interactively between students using their personal mobile devices (smart phones, tablets etc), so students were emboldened to give responses during class behind this 'protective screen'. In this presentation, the speaker will present 2 examples of games and platforms that were adapted for use in the a Design Innovation lecture of the course in MSE (MS3015 Materials Aspect in Design).

Traditional teaching sometimes lack effective communication between the learner and the teacher, often revolving around the teacher explaining key theories and techniques. Due to time and space restrictions of a traditional class environment, classes can be monotonous, resulting in a disconnection between learning in and out of the classroom, affecting the quality of learning outcomes. With the advancement of information technology, multimedia tools have been introduced into teaching, taking the form of videos, images, audio recordings etc., which results in more engaging and lively lessons. Creating a new teaching environment with the application of information technology propels students to be active in learning, boosting their ability to gather and utilize knowledge obtained for problem solving. For example, lessons can tap on online learning platforms or social media such as Wechat, Whatsapp, Facebook and Recap to delve deeper into problems or simulate real scenarios, invoking the student's desire to take initiative in learning. Examples from a translation course will be used as a point of discussion in the presentation.

In a hyper connected world, students are often on multiple screens in and outside of the classroom, making it more difficult to engage them. In this session, Miss Wong will share how she adapts classroom learning to new technologies and platforms and develop skills students can use in the real-world.