POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION

PGDE Assignment Cover Sheet

Programme: * PGDE (Full-time) / PGDE (Part-time)

Year of Study: *1 / 2

Major: English Primary

Course: * Major Methods / ES Strand 1 / ES Strand 2 (ES Sub-class )

Educational Inquiry

Course Code: EDUC6760 Student Name: Chung Man Fong Flora

Course Teacher: Dr. Simon Mak Student No: 2001821504

Mr. Ka Lok Wong

Due Date: 19 July, 2021 Student Email: [email protected]

*please delete as appropriate

Assignment Topic:

Student Declaration:
This assignment is entirely my own work except where I have duly acknowledged other sources in the text and listed those
sources at the end of the assignment; I have not previously submitted this work to this University or any other institution for a
degree, diploma or other qualification; I understand that I may be orally examined on my submission.

I have read the booklet “What is Plagiarism” (available at http://www.hku.hk/plagiarism/page2s.htm) which gives details of
plagiarism, and I have observed all the requirements set out in the booklet.

Signed: Flora Chung Date: ______19 July, 2021______

Task 4C --- Understanding and Fostering Student Learning

Option 1: Learning Experiences: Theory-practice integration and learning to
learn

1. Introduction – Context and Focus

The pandemic has been impacting the education system throughout these two years
and education has changed dramatically since then. With the rise of e-learning,
teaching is launched on digital platforms and in a mixed-mode way. This has led
me to reflect on how to motivate students to learn and how to use e- assessment
technologies to encourage student learning and ensure that quality learning is
maintained.

In this reflection, I would like to focus on the topic of ‘How do students get
motivated and how to motivate them to learn’ from cycle 3, ‘How to use
assessment to examine and promote student learning’ from cycle 5 and ‘How to
learn as an inquiring teacher’ from cycle 15.

I believe that the above areas are important as the pandemic has changed education
completely. Education innovation is ongoing and integration of information
technology in education will be further extended. This serves as a reminder to me
to continue researching effective educational technology solutions for assisting
students in achieving the desired learning objectives and increasing their drive to
learn.

2. Description and analysis of experiences

I have been teaching in my present school for more than 15 years. It is a traditional
subsidized girl school. The academic standard of the students is above average but
they are given limited e-learning exposure in school.

Prior to the epidemic, my school had a more "traditional" approach to teaching,

with limited use of technology. E-books, video clips, and PowerPoint slides were
the most commonly used educational tools. We had role-playing, student
pair/group activities, public speaking, group competition, written work, and other
activities. In such supportive classrooms, learners are active in various activities.
The students who are isolated can find places and become socially accepted by
their peers (Pagliaro, 2014). Students' minds are driven when activities or
assignments are presented in the classroom. This allows them to remain physically
engaged while yet achieving academic success. (Williams, 2009).

During the first period of the school suspension, from March – April, 2020, we
teachers were completely unfamiliar with online instruction. We videotaped the
lectures and distributed them to other students in the same level. Clearly, the
lectures were a one-way conversation. Only one direction of information flowed:
from the teacher to the students.

The students had little opportunity to provide feedback or connect with one
another. Students could not physically connect with their peers in online
classrooms, and procrastination was inevitable because students were asked to
watch recorded video lectures only when they became accessible, and students felt
complacent with the flexibility of deadlines. (Lathrop, 2011). I could tell there was
a considerable decline in students' learning motivation when I graded their
assignments and talked with them via e-mails or phone calls. As a result, I assigned
certain game-based learning platforms, such as ‘Kahoot,' as homework to
encourage kids to study. When they first played it, the students were ecstatic.
When I saw that several students had attempted the game multiple times, I realized
that their level of learning motivation had increased.

It is theoretically linked to the pedagogical ideas discussed in my EI sessions.

Motivation is a scenario in which people are encouraged or discouraged to do
something by internal or external causes. External motivation defines the situation
in which the person obtains separable results. Internal motivation defines the
situation which results in inherent satisfaction of the person (Cullen & Greene,
2011; Ryan & Deci, 2000). I feel that both internal and external factors contribute
to pupils' increased learning motivation.
3. From experience to broader and design issues

With such joy, I set out to create some more engaging and demanding questions for
students to answer. On Staff Development Day, we proposed arranging teacher
training workshops on 'Integrating e-learning platforms and e-assignments in
online classes' with the help of other colleagues. I feel that providing teachers with
appropriate technology training is critical. Teachers must understand how to use
technological tools to promote learning when using technology in the classroom.
Teachers must adjust to the changes that digital technology have brought to the
classroom. Students will be able to understand when technology tools are applied
effectively in this manner. Teachers should make every effort to identify methods
to incorporate technological tools into the classroom (Hamilton, 2015).

However, the apps used during online classes, like those used by several other
lessons were not always reliable. I also experienced an unexpected system issue,
such as the application crashing, being abruptly removed from an ongoing class,
the application's incompatibility with specific devices, and so on. Our school
therefore required us to take online classes at school in order for the I.T. team to be
able to prevent disasters.

At a later point, I gradually incorporated small group online tuition and e-

assignments. I could measure my students' learning needs in small group tutoring,
design a lesson plan for them, and allow them to raise questions in a non-
judgmental setting. We used a software called ‘LoiLoNote' for e-assignments.
Since students had already mastered the fundamentals of 'LoiLoNote,' such as
sketching, typing, and recording, I decided to broaden their horizons by teaching
them how to make digital art. I was delighted to observe that students' interest in
learning was increasing. It once again demonstrates how appropriate technical
tools used in educational contexts can be the most effective components in driving
students' internal or external motivation, allowing them to achieve academic
motivation.

We began blended teaching after my school reopened in April. That is, classroom
instruction in the morning and online instruction in small groups in the afternoon.
Students have additional possibilities to study and engage via blended learning.
They can learn from teachers in person, and if they need extra time to work on a
new topic or practice, they may access all relevant information online at any time.

Blended teaching, from a constructive standpoint, means that teachers should take
on the function of 'scaffolding.' According to Vygotsky, the foundation of blended
learning also emphasizes learning between teachers and students. Although
students generate knowledge on their own, teachers play an important role in
cognitive development as "scaffolding." This concept embodies the blended
learning goal of "student-centered, teacher-oriented" learning. Students could use
online information to build their own understanding, with the teacher acting as a
"scaffolding" figure to answer queries and explain the challenges in face-to-face
classroom instruction.

Nevertheless, some students face difficulties in developing learning motivation. In

an online learning environment, learning autonomy is very crucial. Primary pupils,
on the other hand, may not yet have gained adequate autonomy for self-learning
due to increased distractions at home. Teachers cannot assess students’ academic
performance in online teaching lessons. As a result, my school's evaluation system
has been adjusted to improve students' learning efficiency.

4. Learning to learn for continued professional growth

Make formative assessment a top priority. We don't expect kids to learn and
progress across the curriculum using self-study methods with little teacher
engagement. As a result, we include a formative evaluation component in online
classrooms, in which students submit work to teachers, who provide individualized
and/or group comments on learning content and student performance.

Thanks to the development of many types of online learning systems. My school

has enrolled in a few of them, and I've found that they significantly improve
student engagement and motivation. Teachers can develop quizzes using online
platforms such as ‘Kahoot quiz.' While logging in, it tracks student achievement by
looking at what the student did as well as overall achievement. Teachers can keep
track of their students' gaming performance in order to make adjustments to their
instruction or, in some cases, reteach them. The ‘Seesaw' recording and video
function assists students in capturing their learning in a portfolio and teachers in
assessing students' spoken performance. Teachers can use the ‘Loilonote' to upload
resources to the cloud for students to access at any time, as well as assign students
a task and have them complete an assignment.

This is an Assessment for Learning because it allows teachers to use information

about students' understanding and skills to inform their teaching while also
providing feedback to students about their learning and how to improve (Berry,
2008a). It also correlates with the Assessment as Learning principle, because
students use self-assessment and feedback from teachers to reflect on their
learning.

E-assessments were used to replace the written exam as a means of formally

evaluating students' standards during the mid-term. My school was faced with the
difficulty of having to match the content and layout of the print version. It entails
the utilization of technology-based methods as well as teachers' digital skills.

Students commented that because they had not received formal typing training,
they found it time consuming to type in words for spellings and answer in whole
phrases. This prompted us to change the format of our questions to account for the
students' abilities. They considered it advantageous, though, because they were
able to retake the e-assessments before submitting the final version. Assessment as
Learning is used here because it emphasizes the role of the learner and promotes
active engagement of the learner (Berry, 2011a).

We used the conventional written exam toward the end of the school year. This
summative evaluation is called Assessment of Learning because it helps teachers
measure student achievement against learning standards by allowing them to use
evidence of student learning.

The two types of assessments, formative and summative, are complementary. I

agree that e-assessment and paper assessments should be combined. Students
benefit from online formative assessment because it develops them and motivates
them to work more. Beyond the classroom, it gives a more enhanced and
participatory learning experience. Summative assessment determines the outcome,
which serves as a motivator for the students. Both of these play an important role
in motivating students to grow.
I wish to equip myself as life-long learners to prepare for education innovation in
my profession as an English language teacher. I've been trying to adjust to
technology requirements, make my online courses accessible and convenient with
innovative integration of games, video clips, and quizzes to make students fall in
love with learning.

Finally, being faithful to self-directed learning, is crucial. Students flourish in the

blended educational world only if they can take control of their learning, and it is
my job to assist them.

(1708 words)
References:

Cullen, T. A., & Greene, B. A. (2011). Preservice teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and
motivation about technology integration. Journal of Educational Computing
Research, 45(1), 29–47.

D. C. Duhaney. “Blended Learning Education, Training, and Development”.

Performance Improvement, Vol.43. Septembe 2004.
Hamilton, B. (2015). Integrating Technology in the Classroom : Tools to Meet the
Need of Every Student (Vol. First edition).

Pagliaro, M. M. (2014). Academic Success : Applying Learning Theory in the

Classroom. Lanham: R&L Education.

Williams, K. C. (2009). Elementary Classroom Management : A Student-Centered

Approach to Leading and Learning. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications,
Inc.

L. S. Vygotsky. “Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological

Processes”. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.

https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/blended-learning-strategies-for-
implementation-8e86e9349ac7#:~:text=While%20
Learning Evidence

1. Using ‘LoiLoNote’ as e-assignments

Students can insert drawings when they do writing assignments.

2. Using ‘SeeSaw’ to do oral assessments--- students can record their voice
and teachers give feedback.

3. Using ‘Book
Widget’ as an
Assessment
as Learning.
Some students attempted multiple times in order to achieve better results,
showing that they were motivated to learn.
The average score serves as a good indicator for teachers to know on which
part students are good at or weak in, thus adjusting their teaching materials.
Integrating e-learning platform ‘Kahoot’ in
face-to-face lesson

Students were engaged with such game-based e-

learning