Impact of mobile and other new technologies on Chinese language teaching and learning · PDF...

Impact of mobile and other new technologies

on Chinese language teaching and learning

KAN Qian 阚茜

Department of Languages, The Open University

Janet Williams 张玉云

Kings’ School, Winchester and Department of

Languages, The Open University

SSAT Chinese Conference,

18-19 May 2012

Content • Major forces of change in the world of education

Brain storm – formal, non-formal and informal learning

• Mobile learning and mobility of learners

Brain storm – characteristics of new learning

• How Open University’s Beginners’ Chinese course

meets such challenges

• Results of a survey at Kings’ School

• Impact on teaching

Discussion: suitable languages activities

SSAT Chinese Conference, 18-19 May 2012

1. Major forces of change

• Puts learners at the centre

• Leverages technologies and human capital in new ways

• Supports anytime, anywhere learning

• Includes a diverse range of institutions and

organizations, not just schools.

• This world of learning will make it possible for all

learners to develop deep knowledge and abilities in

order to thrive throughout their lifetimes.

(The World of Learning: http://futureofed.org/)

http://futureofed.org/

Brain storm: differences

between formal and informal

learning

• Physical setting

• Motivation

• Assessment

• Social context

• Interest Maars-Chalk, 1988, in Tamir 1990


Formal learning

• Usually at school

• May be repressive

• Structured

• Usually prearranged

• Motivation is typically more

extrinsic

• Compulsory

• Teacher-led

• Learning is evaluated

• Sequential

Informal learning

• Everywhere

• Supportive

• Unstructured

• Spontaneous

• Motivation is mainly intrinsic

• Voluntary

• Usually learner-led

• Learning is not evaluated

• Non-sequential

SSAT Chinese Conference, 18-19 May 2012 Eshach, 2007: 174

2. Mobile learning: mobile

technology, mobility of learners

and content


Definition • To do with mobile technology ‘learning with mobile

devices’, exploring how mobility and device portability

leads us to re-think some aspects of teaching and

learning (Learning and Teaching Guide, OU, 2009)

• Learner mobility (spatial movement and time-shifting

and boundary-crossing, Traxler, 2009)

• Mobility of learning content (Kukulska-Hulme, 2009)

• Key words: personal, spontaneous, opportunistic,

informal, pervasive, situated, private and context-aware

(Zeng & Luyegu, 2012)

Mobility of learners and content

• Learning in various locations, e.g. at home, at work,

outdoors, in cafes, in libraries, in the car, on public

transport

• On the move, e.g. regular commuting, walking, running,

waiting, travel

• Location related interest, i.e. motivations for learning

that may arise from interest aroused by a location

• Ready access to learning materials, resources and

other learners, as and when needed.

New learning New technology Personal

Learner-centred

Situated (location)

Collaborative

Learner-generated

Ubiquitous

Personal

User-centred

Mobile

Networked

Networked

Ubiquitous

Sharples, M. et al (2007) SSAT Chinese Conference, 18-19 May 2012

Brain storm: characteristics of new

learning

Example – using public flashcard maker to

one’s own need


3. How Open University’s Beginners’

Chinese course meets such

challenges

• Blended learning and virtual learning environment

• Learning materials in different formats and in small bites

• Chinese Characters First Steps App – engaging and

make use of the dead time


L197 Students’ profile – Age

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Under 25 25 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60 - 64 Over 65

Under 25

25 - 29

30 - 39

40 - 49

50 - 59

60 - 64

Over 65

Figure 1 Age Profile of L197 Students


L197 Students’ profile – Educational

qualifications

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

No F

orm

al Q

ualifica

tions

Less

Tha

n 2 A

-Lev

els

2+ A

-Lev

els o

r Equ

ivale

nt

HE Q

ualificat

ion

Pos

tgra

duate

Qual

ifica

tion

Not K

nown

No Formal Qualifications

Less Than 2 A-Levels

2+ A-Levels or Equivalent

HE Qualification

Postgraduate Qualification

Not Known

Figure 2 Educational qualifications Profile of L197

Students SSAT Chinese Conference, 18-19 May 2012

L197 Students’ profile – Gender

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Male Female

Male

Female

Figure 3 Gender Profile of L197 Students – 45% male;

55% female


Motivation - the most important reason for studying Chinese

Figure 4 Most Important Reason for Studying Chinese

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

For pleasure or

interest

To assist me in

my present or

future work

Communicate

with Chinese-

speaking

friends/family

Communicate

when visiting a

Chinese-

speaking

country

As an

intellectual

challenge

As part of a

wider

programme (for

instance, to

obtain a

degree)

Chinese Characters First

Steps App • High level of interactivity - audio, visual, writing, pinyin,

English in one interactive medium (CD player, textbook,

notebook, dictionary in one)

• User can set the level of difficulty

• Entertaining with game-like features

Features of OU App - 20 lessons and each

lesson with 4 sections: writing, listening test,

reading test and word search

eLC Event 25 April 2012

Why stroke order is important?

eLC Event 25 April 2012

Digital generation – Routes into

Languages Day (2 May Cambridge)


Tone practice - NewPepper (AI Speech)

customised to OU course materials


4. Survey at King’s School

• 51 students surveyed (17 female and 34 male)

• 6 languages in total


French 16

Spanish 19

Italian 13

German 16

Latin 2

Chinese 10

Which of the following devices have you got?

(Please select all that apply)


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

MP3 Player iPod iPod Touch Mobile Phone Blackberry Smartphone Other

Series2

Series1

Have you got an account with any of the

following? (Please select all that apply)


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Email Facebook Skype Twitter iTunes YouTube Other

Series2

Series1

Have you used any of the

following for language

learning?

Which of the following do you

use most frequently for

language learning?


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Series2

Series10

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Series2

Series1

When do you normally use these tools for language

learning? (Please select all that apply)


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

On the way toSchool

in between classes Waiting forpeople/transport

Whilst doing anothertask

Going out for a walk When I do myhomework

When I have thetime

Series2

Series1

How long do you usually spend for language

learning using each of the above tools?


Homework via email – an

experiment

Students’ perspective

• Enthusiastic and keen

• Cool

• Write longer sentences

• Get parents involved (to install

Chinese fonts, use parents’

email address, etc)

Teachers’ perspective

• easier to communicate the

results to their tutor and Head

of Year (the Head of Year get

more involved)

• Easy to mark


Email exchange example Student to student (cc to

teacher)

From: Student A

Sent: 11 March 2012 19:01

To: Janet Williams

Subject: RE: mandarin e-mails

您好！[name of Student B].

你怎么样？

你多大了？

我喜欢吃面包和米饭。

你吃什么？

[name of Student A]

Teacher to students

From: xxx@kings-

winchester.hants.sch.uk

To: Student A; student B

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 18:29:09

+0000

Subject: RE: mandarin e-mails

… Well done girls!

You'll get a credit for this next

Wed.

谢谢！很好！

张老师 (Zhang laoshi)


mailto:[email protected]



5. What does the survey tell us

and what are the impact on

teaching?

• Understanding learners’ preferences, needs and

motivations

• Personalised, situated and authentic learning


Language activities Language activities can be designed by exploiting the new

technologies

• to make use of the dead time – in small bites (using

Apps and audio tracks)

• to create opportunities for collaborative work (by emails,

using Google and online materials)

• to conduct what is perceived as authentic

communication (Skype and texting)

• to create online activities using school intranet to be

more engaging

Brain storm: what types of

language activities are suitable?

iTunes and other mp3 for

listening comprehension

Use YouTube for tones

and pronunciation

Speaking practice

using Skype chat Create online iCMA or upload

sound files to internal network Writing emails, sms


Apps to revise and to

learn characters

Using various cool looking

formats such as Word Cloud

or templates for homework

Using Flashcard maker

and online dictionaries

Texting – improves writing and

spelling Despite doom-laden prophecies, texting has not been the

disaster for language many feared, argues linguistics

professor David Crystal. On the contrary, it improves

children's writing and spelling.

David Crystal, (2009) Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, OUP

Smart phones allow you to have the Chinese handwriting

and pinyin keyboard and improves character recognision.


Food for thought

• …time and place are becoming more prominent in

shaping the landscape of language learning as learning

intertwines with other daily life activity and work…

Kukulska-Hulme (2012)


References • Eshach, H. (2007). Bridging In-school and Out-of-school Learning: Formal, Non-Formal,

and Informal Education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 16, No. 2,

April 2007, 171 – 190.

• Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes (2009). Will mobile learning change language learning?

ReCALL, 21(2), pp. 157–165.

• Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes (2012). Language learning defined by time and place: A

framework for next generation designs. In: D´ıaz-Vera, Javier E. ed. Left to My Own

Devices: Learner Autonomy and Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Innovation and

Leadership in English Language Teaching, 6. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing

Limited , pp. 1–13.

• Sharples, M., Taylor, J., Vavoula, G. (2007). A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age. In

K. Littleton P. Light (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of E-learning Research (pp. 221-247).

London: Sage.

• Sharples, M., et al. (2007) ‘Mobile Learning: Small devices, Big issues’ (in Sharples, M.,

et al. (eds.) Technology-Enhanced Learning, 2009, Part IV).

• Tamir, P. (1990). Factors associated with the relationship between formal, informal, and

nonformal science learning. Journal of Environmental Education 2(2): 34–42.

• Zeng, R and Luyegu, E. (2012) Mobile Learning in Higher Education. In A. Olofsson, &

J. Lindberg (Eds.), Informed Design of Educational Technologies in Higher Education:

Enhanced Learning and Teaching. IGI Global, 2012. 292-306. Web. 15 May. 2012.

doi:10.4018/978-1-61350-080-4.ch015



Useful links • The World of Learning: http://futureofed.org/

• Flashcard maker: http://quizlet.com/

• NewPepper: www.speachi.com

• Word Cloud: http://www.tagxedo.com/

http://futureofed.org/

http://quizlet.com/

http://www.speachi.com/

http://www.tagxedo.com/

http://www.tagxedo.com/

[email protected]; [email protected]


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