Interactive Lecture at ISTE Conference 2017 in San Antonio, Texas
June 27, 2017
The session seeks to equip participants with an appreciation of the complexity of designing technology-enabled learning tasks and the ability to apply a simple design process to developing such tasks that allow them to dive into addressing fundamental learning challenges e.g. student confusion. The premise of this session is students’ need for guidance, even when they are engaged in self-directed learning. It looks into how to direct students’ attention when they are engaging with media content and the use of questions to direct students’ thinking during meaning making, as they reflect on the content they have interacted with.
Breathing New Life Into Old Approaches: Rethinking Video Use for Language Learning
Parallel Presentation at RELC International Conference 2017 in Singapore
This presentation articulates a systematic approach to the use of videos for language learning, situating educational use of videos in a media-saturated environment, demonstrating how stable technologies such as videos are used alongside emerging technologies such as mobile apps. It demonstrates how teachers can go beyond the usual conception of pre-viewing, viewing and post-viewing activities with tested examples featuring the use of videos to teach comprehension and writing skills, in both formal and informal learning contexts.
Paper Presentation at International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology 2016 in Singapore
March 28, 2016
This presentation shares findings, challenges and learning points from eduLab projects on the use of design principles to support teachers’ endeavours in harnessing technology for learning and teaching. During our 2-year collaboration with project teachers and research consultant Prof Manu Kapur, we explored the use of design principles to inform and shape the direction of the ICT-enriched pedagogical practices being developed as well as their implementation and testing in different classroom settings. These design principles explicate the “characteristics of a planned learning design (what it should look like), or its procedure (how it should be developed)” (Herrington, Herrington & Mantei, 2009). They also serve to document our design knowledge (Kali, Levin-Peled & Dori, 2009) in terms of our successes and failures in adopting these ICT-enriched pedagogical practices.
Paper Presentation at Teachers' Conference 2012 in Singapore
October 05, 2012
This paper presents a design process toolkit aimed at helping teachers design lessons to develop self-directed learning competencies in students. It applies the design thinking process – comprising empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test –to learning design. The toolkit is created in response to teachers’ desire for more support and scaffolding to help them realize self-directed learning in their respective classrooms, moving SDL from a theoretical concept to an actionable target. This toolkit thus features concrete steps and strategies that teachers can try out during lesson planning, offering them a set of lenses through which they can approach SDL. It can be used by all teachers across subjects and grade levels. Not intended to be prescriptive, the toolkit serves as a springboard for teachers to experiment and innovate in the context of SDL.
Paper Presentation at International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology 2012 in Singapore
March 28, 2012
This report outlines an approach that addresses the challenge of engaging learners in language learning, honing their language skills and deepening their interest in language, beyond the confines of the classroom. Working in the casual learning space through mobile technologies, the authors recognize the media-richness that learners are attuned to and respect the complexities these individuals are dealing with as they negotiate various identities in multiple, real and virtual, worlds. Applying the principle of simplicity “less is more” and guided by the design-thinking framework, the authors designed an iPad application where learners can engage with creative writing. Results from learner assessment studies reveal improved self-efficacy in creative writing and a willingness to deepen their engagement with the subject.
Paper Presentation at the ICT for Language Learning International Conference in Florence, Italy
October 20, 2011
This paper posits the centrality of developing storytelling skills among our young through formal K-12 education, in particular through the Language Arts classroom. It also discusses how information and communication technology (ICT), in particular mobile technologies can be tapped to tap the inherent potential within each child for storytelling. With specific references to iPad and iPhone applications such as Read-Me-Stories and Toontastic etc. and their use in home and school settings, the author hopes to demonstrate how mobile technologies empower individuals in storytelling by imbuing in them a deeper understanding of the story arc, appreciation for naturalistic dialogue and by providing them with a protected space for exploration and confidence building. The discussion will include a brief exposition on the game-ification of learning and how ‘game mechanics’ in these mobile apps are not only educationally sound but are also examples of learning theories well articulated.
Accepted for Paper Presentation at Canada International Conference on Education 2012 in Ontario, Canada
June 20, 2011
This paper discusses learning interactions in the context of digital games, drawing specific examples from Restaurant City and Maple Story. It advocates the need to rethink the design of learning interactions by illustrating the complexity of the learning process and how educational practitioners can actively mediate the learning experience through redesign of learning environment, teacher and student roles. It also touches on the ‘game-ification’ of learning and implications of this phenomenon on formal education.
Paper Presentation at APEC-RELC International Language Seminar 2010 in Singapore
April 20, 2010
Contextualized in the evolving global landscape, this reflection paper explores briefly what the educational landscape in the future could possibly be and ponders on potential implications for Singapore secondary education. Two implications, namely shifting from imparting knowledge to developing literacies and focus on the individual resulting in student-directed learning processes, will be discussed in this paper. Using River Valley High School as a case study, this paper presents pre-emptive efforts implemented by the school such as building a learning organization and emphasizing holistic development of students. Specific challenges and obstacles will also be shared as learning points.
Poster Presentation at EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology in Vancouver, Canada
June 24, 2007
This poster presentation discusses the rationale of why Singapore went from the broadcasting of educational videos to the production of Video CDs and later to broadband streaming. Digitised videos on Video CDs not only solved the problems of broadcasting but it also brought about greater conveniences in the integration of videos into teachers’ lessons. Streaming educational videos online further enhanced the use of the videos. Features of the streaming website are reported in relation to their enhancements to the use of educational videos such as greater access and control of educational videos. We believe that our experiences may be relevant to small countries like Singapore which are exploring ways to better disseminate educational videos to schools.
MA Dissertation Accepted for Paper Presentation at International Research Meeting for Junior Applied Linguists 20017 in Netherlands
June 26, 2005
This study seeks to clarify the attitudes amongst Chinese youth in Singapore towards Mandarin. For this purpose, responses of 90 junior college students aged between 17 and 18 years are analysed. A questionnaire was administered to collect data on (1) pre-university students’ perceptions towards Mandarin in general, (2) the status of Mandarin in Singapore, and (3) motivations behind the learning and use of Mandarin. The results reveal that to these youth, Mandarin is both a tool and tie, and further analysis shows that there are indicators to reflect the blurring distinction of Mandarin as tool and Mandarin as tie. In addition, the results also reflect the potential of Mandarin functioning as a class marker in Singapore due to a combination of internal and external factors.