因著一個PD project,在三天內在一所中學內觀了15堂英文課和進行每一節課的課後debriefing, 不算輕鬆,但我可能是最大的受益人，除了在老師身上獲得教學靈感，看到他們的課室技巧外，最大的收獲是深深被整個英文科團隊的專業精神和水平所感染，他們有這麼多繁重工作，仍然可以有這樣的專業表現，教學設計這麼有創意，我還可以鬆懈嗎?
況且他們把英文教學和social and global issues 甚至學科知識結合起來，而不是為教英文而教英文，這正是我最喜歡的approach!
有時我也懷疑以香港教育界的生態，是否真的可以達至優質的教學，謝謝這團隊再次reinforce我對優質學與教的信念。
第一次接觸chatbot, 是2003年，是我的computer assisted language learning 師傅David Coniam 介紹我玩。這第一代的chatbot, ,名字是Alicebot, 以女兒身出現。但你不能問她一個factual question, 只能和她閒談，而且只要你較認真問她一個問題，她便會反問你怎麼想，或覺得怎樣，所以很快我便對「她」失去興趣。
當時怎會想到有一天，可以問chatbot那麼實在的問題，而它又可以给你很實在的答案!
復常後的第一次PGDE畢業禮，氣氛很好。第一次這麼多畢業同學帶同爹地媽咪，男朋友女朋友出席，令我這個英文組「班主任」開心不已。其中一位嗎咪，還是我教中學時教過的呢!現在她的女兒也成為英文教師了。
1993 年美國學者Alison King 以From Sage on the stage to Guide on the side為題的學術文章，探索高等教育教師的角色。
這標題後來成為著名的quote, 亦是我對自己的提示。
這幾年我已愈來愈少用PPT去說課，除非必要。今年出現ChatGPT, 我便更加經常在課堂中提出問題，然後請學員用ChatGPT即時找出答案。
於是我備課時，大部分時間花在設計各式學習活動，上課時，我便由sage on the stage, 變成guide on the side。這樣的approach, 備課更花時間，對教與學要更加認識，在學室中的技巧要求更高。但今天的教學，還可以像以前製作一個兩小時的PPT, 以後拿它重覆講十年嗎？
有趣的是，有時候反而是有些學生不習慣這樣的學習模式，尤其是大班，他們寧願坐在lecture theater 最後的位置，靜靜的一動也不動坐足全堂。課堂後他們學了甚麼，便天曉得了。
Nov 24, 2023: HKU Award Presentation Ceremony of Outstanding eLearning Awards
A most fruitful afternoon meeting eLearning-fanatic friends, being fired up by teachers' passion for eLearning and teaching, catching up with the latest developments in eLearning, picking up ideas for my own teaching, being inspired by teachers' creativity....
When I spotted the MS-Powerpoint function withn Poe.com, a ChatGPT platform, I decided to give it a try.
I asked this question: What is self-directed learning?
It quickly generated a 7-slide essay for me, with each slide numbered. But the product is not really in powerpoint format. You need to copy the content of each slide and paste it into a real PPT.
But what is more discouraging is the fact that the content of each slide is a long paragraph, one that would make up an AI-generated essay. Not bullet points for a speaker's presentation. No presenters would be happy with such a PPT!
In my last post, I mentioned the open source app, Anki, for creating flashcard decks. My conclusion is that as an open source app, it will always be free to users, but overall, Quizlet is still more user-friendly, and more fun to use, although it is not meant for Spaced Repetition.
Quizlet functionality:
Flash Cards Creation
- You can start with WORDS, or a DIAGRAM. The latter is a function I like. Upload a picture, and insert a few hotspots. Give each spot the term that students are to learn. The resulting task requires students to learn the names of different parts of diagram (e.g., The Water Cycle)
- You can also create decks with a picture on the Front side of each card (e.g., Names of animals in French). When studying the cards, students look at the picture on the Front (the default side), and recall the term in French. And so on.
To create a deck like that:
a. In the Terms column, enter the terms to learn as usual.
b. In the Definition column, leave the text box blank. Click on the Image icon on the far right, and either choose from one of the popped-up images, or upload your own.
c. Create.
d. Go to the Settings menu, and choose 'Show Picture first'.
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For me, the first mode 'Flash cards', is for learning. Students click through the whole deck, and look at both sides of a card to learn the content.
But Quizlet uses the term 'Learn' for Self-testing. Students look at each question (derived from the deck) that pops up and tries to answer it. When finished, students are prompted to re-try the cards which they got wrong. (But of course this is not Spaced Repetition.)
'Test' differs from 'Learn' in that:
- in addition to MC questions for 'Learn', there are also other question types which students can select to challenge themselves (e.g., T/F; Write).
- After students have submitted their answers, they will be shown their score.
This works like a game. On the screen are a number of small rectangles; half of them are the terms; and the other half are the definitions. Students click them in pairs.
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So, overall, I think Quizlet provides some fun ways of self-regulated learning for students to learn some terms and their meanings.
I learnt about Anki from a Google search. It is highly rated by some writers, who contend that it is better than Quizlet.
Anki has a desktop version, and a web-based version (antiweb). I had a quick try with both versions. Honestly, I'm not that impressed. Yes, it is an open-source app, so it's always free. Nevertheless, the interface design is difficult to decipher. The functions are not particularly impressive either.
Anki is praised for its Spaced Repetition function. But it's no different from similar apps, such as Brainscape, in terms of design.
這一年很多老牌的eLearning app都加入了AI元素，例如Quizizz。以前要create一個Quizizz game, 需要自己逐題製作，現在它的AI 為你代勞，你可以用topic 或prompt去generate quiz, 但我試過效果不太好。我更喜歡的是upload 自己的document, 由它去generate 一個Quizizz game(Formative也可以這樣做，但產出的是digital worksheet,和Quizizz 的Quiz game不同)，這對教reading comprehension 很有用，在一課的結尾，用同一passage產出的Quizziz game完結，使一課在輕鬆的氣氛下完結。
但我更喜歡的是Quizizz LESSON (不是Quizizz quiz)內的AI功能。你只要把自己現成的PPT 輸入，讓它的AI為了generate一個Quizizz Lesson,結果是你原來的Presentation在關鍵位置出現MC question slide, 然後你再在其他地方加入有趣的Activity slide,便很容易製作出一個interactive的presentation,或interactive的self-paced microlearning unit.
當然今天無論是那個app, AI都只是擅長generate factual 的objective-type questions ，但我相信假以時日， AI也可以產出更higher-order thinking 的問題和actiivty type 。
