Catching up with Ed Tech developments

 When I was browsing my previous teaching notes, I couldn't believe that back in 2017, I was still teaching my MA students how to use the desktop app called Hot Potatoes to create interactive tasks (e.g.,matching, grouping, sequencing)! Today, we have all these web-based, user-friendly, apps for creating interactive tasks, such as Wordwall, LearningApps.org, Bookwidgets, Educaplay, Bitsboard, GoConqr, Classtools.net ...., not to mention those apps for creating learning paths that can contain built-in interactive tasks, such as Nearpod, Pear Deck, Quizizz Lesson, and Kahoot Lesson. 

Ed tech is developing at such a phenomenal speed!

Good news: Teaching gets more and more interesting and engaging. 

Bad news: There is no way I can catch up with all the latest developments. 

Iorad for creating e-learning demonstration tutorials

 I came across the app called Iorad about two years ago, but was then too busy to follow up on it. Iorad is for creating e-learning demonstration tutorials, and at that time, I thought it would take quite some time to learn. 

Yesterday, I stumbled on an Iorad tutorial which demonstrated how to create an iorad tutorial. I was totally awed by how easy it was to use Iorad. I quickly had a go, and here is my first Iorad tutorial which demonstrated how to create a quiz using a Google Form (which many of you will know already). It was created in less than 5 minutes. 

https://ior.ad/81cn

Although such demonstrations can be created in the form of explainer videos, using screen-recording apps such as Loom and Screencastify, Iorad requires hands-on response from the viewer, who actually has to follow the steps indicated on the screen. This should increase the learning effectiveness. 

Another feature of Iorad is its text-to-speech option. Each step shown on the screen will be accompanied with voiceover explanation. 

This Chrome extension will come in handy for my course on Technology Enhanced Language Learning, which often requires me to explain how to use different e-learning tools. 

My quick review of 5 mindmapping apps

 Below is a quick review of the latest versions of 5 popular mindmapping apps that I have done. (If you know of other mindmapping tools which are worth including in this review, please let me know.)

#elearningPS

WAKELET.COM

Quick Review of 5 Mindmapping Apps

by Paul Sze (Jan 24, 2022)

1Kai Chung Lee

Starting another round of Zoom classes

 Here is my curtain-raiser remark this evening when I start Zooming my ICT in ELT class:

"……Yes, it's less fuss attending a class online; at least it saves you commuting time. However, let's not cheat ourselves into thinking that online learning is as good as F2F classes. If it was, all university teaching would be distance-based already. But since we cannot change the pandemic situation, let's make the best of our Zoom session now. As the English proverb goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

AI for proofreading compositions

 I hadn't visited Grammarly for a while, so I had a go with it just now, to find out how much it had benefitted from recent developments in AI in education. I made up a problem paragraph for it to proofread, and below is its performance.

Bad news: Teachers of English still have to toil with endless composition marking for some more years to come.

Good news: AI will not be able to replace teachers in the forseeable future.

https://prnt.sc/26hyvx6

2 new functions of Quizlet

 Just noticed 2 new functions of Quizlet:

1. CHECKPOINT: Turn a deck into a live Kahoot-like game.

2. LEARN: A new option which turns a deck into a 'Study Path'. This is like an adaptive learning system, the aim of which is for a learner to reach full mastery of a deck.

I.IMGUR.COM

i.imgur.com

'The sentence below' vs 'the below sentence'

How should ‘below’ be used and classified?

Do you accept using ‘below’ as in ‘the below information’, ‘the below list’, ‘the below section’, etc.”?

An admin document from The Harvard Teaching Certificate Course contains the following sentence:

“Make sure your address below is correct. You can search again or edit the below address manually.”

What is interesting is that ‘below’ is used twice in the same sentence, but in different ways.

If my impression is correct, until 10 years ago, people would only say ‘the information below’, with ‘below’ classified as an adverb! (This is different from ‘below’ as a preposition, as in ‘below the table’, ‘below the surface’, etc.). Today, to me, the fight against phrases like ‘the below information’ and ‘the below list’ is over. (The word ‘above’ went through a similar process. Now, it’s “below”‘s turn.)

Then ‘below’ has to be classified as an adjective. I’ve looked up a few online dictionaries. Almost all of them still classify ‘below’ as a preposition (‘below the table’) and an adverb (the information below). Only one dictionary has classified ‘below’ also as an adjective: Merriam-Webster.

What is even more interesting is that in the Harvard sentence, the first occurrence of ‘below’ is ‘Your address below’, i.e., the ‘traditional’ word order. If I change it to ‘Your below address’, it doesn’t sound quite right to my ear (though I have no problem accepting ‘the below information’). I can’t think of a reason yet, but this might suggest that there’s still a place for ‘below’ to function as an adverb (though I personally prefer calling it a postmodifying adjective).

the digital divide between teachers

 十年人事幾番新。我說的是我教的Master' course “ICT in English Language Teaching“，早陣子把今年和10年前的course outline 對比一下，發覺今年的內容和10年前的比較，已經面目全非，可見ed tech發展的快，10年前，誰會想到今天探究的是AI in Education 。

這亦是令人憂慮的地方，年青的老師肯學敢試，運用e-learning於教學的水平便一日千里;而veteran teachers如果不敢或不願涉足ICT,便停留在PPT的階段，於是前者和後者的e-learning 專業水平，便愈來愈相差得遠，出現一個鴻溝。

Beware of pedestrians

 I always find this sign amusing. In HK, any sign in Chinese that starts with "小心……“ becomes "Beware of ……" in English. That's why life in HK is so tense and hectic, because there are so many things we have to beware of: pickpockets, vehicles, drunk drivers, objects falling from above, wild boars...., as well as  pedestrians, hot food, the staircase ……..

I looked up the issue in some online discussion forums. Some native speakers do frown on this usage, preferring "Watch out for pedestrians" to "Beware of pedestrians", as "Beware of" should be followed by something or somebody which may potentially cause danger. 

But language is changing all the time. Has "Beware of" also come to mean "Watch out for"? And, do people also say "Beware of pedestrians" in Singapore?

Meanwhile, I will take the advice of this sign, which appeared inside Alexander Grantham, a retired fireboat berthed in Quarry Bay Park: "Beware of your head." This makes sense, because the brain inside one's head is potentially the source of all evils. 

"Reading Progress" in Microsoft Teams

 Thanks to the generous help of Kelvin Kan Ka Hei, I had the chance to test-drive the new AI-assisted Pronunciation Assessment function within Microsoft Teams, called Reading Progress. 

Under Reading Progress, the teacher uploads a reading passage to Teams, and assigns it as a Reading-Aloud assignment. Afterwards, the programme will (a) return a percentage grade for each submitted assignment, and (b) provide a diagnostic report on the performance (i.e.., words highlighted showing mispronunciations, omissions, insertions, etc.). The teacher does not have to listen to each recording, as the assessment is all done by the AI programme. 

My own test-drive shows that the AI programme is quite reliable in terms of assessing the pronunication of individual words, but still has to do further 'learning' in terms of listening for features of connection speech, such as weak forms, linking, elision, and assimilation. 

From 'teacher-student' to 'peer'

 今天下午到這學校和老師就著一個 P2 RaC Unit進行co~planning。其中三位是我的舊Education student，這是令我最有滿足感的活動。當年我是她們的師訓「班主任」，然後她們畢業後成為前線教師，積聚經驗，今天充滿創意和教學熱誠，然後我們由「師徒」變為教學的peer,一同備課。有我這樣經歷的同工應該不會很多哩。

International Outstanding e-Learning Awards

 擔任了這比賽英文組評判幾年，親眼看到參賽水平一年高過一年，像今年中學金獎已經把CoSpaces Edu融入中一的教學設計，小學金獎在小二已經用Flipgrid組織學生分享經驗。

這就是e-learning 吸引人之處，工具在那裏，但怎樣運用於教學上，這當中有無限的空間。有創意的教師可以不斷鑽研，專業水平便不斷提高，學與教都變得更有效，更有趣。

Classroom Dynamics

 Yesterday morning, I observed an excellent S3 flipped lesson at this school (Ho Lap College). The lesson demonstrated all the most important principles of flipped learning design. The pre-class work prepared students with the key concepts for the upcoming lesson. The in-class lesson concentrated on active learning and higher-order thinking activities. 

What particularly impressed me was the superb classroom dynamics. The teacher, Ms Li, connected with the students seamlessly throughout the lesson. Every student was focussed and on task, and took part in every activity with utmost enthusiasm. They supported and collaborated with each other, rather than trying to one-up their classmates. I could feel the very strong bonding between the teacher and the students, and between the students themselves. Every person in the classroom was engrossed in the same teaching and learning journey. On two occasions, the teacher, Ms Li, proudly proclaimed to the whole class: “I love you all!” And the whole class reciprocated, spontaneously, with “We love you, too!”

Such classroom dynamics don’t just happen by chance. The teacher must have spent a lot of time at the beginning of the school year building up this class cohesion and ethos!

Fake news

 昨天 Kelvin Cheung 在分享中談到要訓練學生判斷在網上找到的資訊的質素和真偽，當時他的其中一個例子就是下圖。記得當年一位舊學生知道我喜歡蒐集這類例子，於是立刻傳給我，我當時也很懷疑它的真偽，因為錯得太離譜，不合常理。

Padlet's Map Template for Creating a Multimodal Text

 Last Tuesday, I finally had the chance to have my Master's students create a multimodal text using the Map template in Padlet, to introduce some places worth visiting in HK. Here is my design for the group activity: 

1. Discuss with group members to decide on a theme for the collection of your recommended places to visit. 

2. Identify the exact places under this theme that your group has decided on. 

3. Divide up the work: Decide who will be responsible for which place.

4. Find out more about the place that you're responsible for. 

5. One person in your group will create a Padlet wall, and share the link with the other group members. This Padlet wall should be using the Map template. 

6. Collaboratively build up your group's Padlet map. Your place, in the form of a card, should consist of (a) name of the place, (b) a short introduction to the place, (c) a photo, and (d) a link to either a webpage or a Youtube video where viewers can find more information about the place. Your group members can either do this together, or 'separately together'. 

7. Upload your group's completed map to the Class Padlet. 

I have curated the 6 completed mpas and put them in the interactive image below. Click on the top left of each card to see the group's work. Note, though, that the students had only about 15 minutes, and it was their first attempt at the task. 

https://view.genial.ly/61a201b8f812630d8ffabd83?fbclid=IwAR3PmhlnSqzVZvNmka86qnYsSB0YAKoNp8RjI0E-K09puJjwmx0PsI5BFcs

Thinglink integrates with Canva

 如果要製作interactive image,我第一個推薦的app是Thinglink,因易學而效果已不錯；最近發覺Thinglink把另一個app Canva integrate在內，Thinglink便如虎添翼了，因可在Thinglink內選取Canva的template, edit後隨即加入Thinglink的interactive element, 乾手淨腳。

The power of flipped learning for teaching Speaking

 This morning, I observed an excellent lesson under the Jockey Club Flipped Learning Pilot Project. The teacher, a NET named Mr Gareth Roberts, had superb lesson management skills, and succeeded in getting this S2 class to do lots of meaningful speaking activities even though the lesson was only 30 minutes in duration.

This lesson also showed the strength of the flipped learning model. If it hadn't been because of flipped learning, the teacher would not have accomplished so much in a 30-minute speaking lesson.

Just awarded the Harvard Higher Education Teaching Certificate

 

The 7 Myths about Technology-Enhanced Language Learning

 Thanks to the invitation from OUP, I had the opportunity to give a presentation on technology-enhanced language learning at the Education Leadership Forum which commemorates OUP China's 60th anniversary. Over 500 people registered for the presentation, including people from Singapore, UK, Ukraine, Philippines, ...!

Wakelet's new layout

 Wakelet 新加column的layout後，用法更像Padlet了，雖然functionality 仍不及Padlet,但勝在免費。我是Padlet的early adopter,他們給了我58個免費的wall, 但仍不夠用，以後可以多用Wakelet作為替代。