Technology-assisted Instruction & Presentation: A Course to Look Into
- Vivian Lin
In the English Language and Literature Department in FJU, there is such a course in which students could learn to create their own website using various online tools and improve English at the same time.
Well, for students majoring in the Department of English Language and Literature, there is such a course. Professor Bi-Chu Chen teaches a course called Technology-assisted Instruction & Presentation, in which students essentially learn how to use different multimedia tools to create their own videos, mind maps, and websites.
The course is taught in English, and students are divided into groups to present their projects such as website building and tools tutorials in English.
Professor Chen, the instructor of the course, said in an interview with us. Professor Chen added that in an age with advanced technology, learning how to use different online tools and websites is also critical. “For students in the English Department, learning to work with technology is especially important since only learning and knowing English is not enough.”
In Professor Chen’s course, she uses diversified tools and websites as her teaching materials, but also her students’ learning materials. After teaching one or two important functions of a tool, she would then ask students to try the functions themselves so that they can learn to actually “use” it.
The tools taught in the course range from screen recording and mind-mapping tools to website-building tools. One student who has been in the course, Sylvia Tu, mentioned in an interview with us that she liked the website-building tools and the online meeting tools the most. “The former tools allow creators to present content in a more interactive and eye-catching way,” she said, “while the latter tools make distant-teaching more convenient and allow users to use the online space creatively and flexibly."
“I like the mind-mapping and website-building tools the most,” another student who has been in the course, Yvonne Tseng, said in an interview with us. She explained that they are all useful in this generation because technology is a significant component of our lives.
Provided by Professor B.C. Chen
When asked about her favourite tools taught in the course, Professor Chen stated that she doesn’t have a favourite one and that each tool is useful in its own way. “With the final project, in which students have to create a website using Google Sites, students can explore the different tools taught in class and decide which ones they will use to create content for their websites,” she said.
Professor Chen also brought up how she intended to encourage students’ self-learning through the projects she designed for the course. For example, group tutorials can help students know how to truly use an online tool instead of vaguely knowing how the tool can be used. “Only passive listening is not enough,” she said, “ and teaching as well as learning a tool can help students master the tool instead of knowing the tool on a superficial level.”
Both Sylvia Tu and Yvonne Tseng expressed their support for technology-assisted teaching and learning. “The way we absorb information has changed rapidly over the past years,” Sylvia told us. “Technology-assisted teaching is inevitable nowadays. Students will have to rely even more on websites, videos, and interactive media to learn as time goes by," she added.
Yvonne agreed, saying that she personally lacks the skills of using online tools. She added, “If I can combine knowledge and technological techniques together, it will be even better than just acquiring knowledge.”
As students who have participated in the course, Sylvia and Yvonne have both benefited from the course. For Sylvia, the course provided her “an opportunity to step out of her comfort zone” since she had to learn to use tools that she had been unfamiliar with. As for Yvonne, she found learning about the SDGs in the process of creating her group website the most rewarding as they are an important topic internationally.
Interestingly, Professor Chen mentioned that the course has always been subject to change and modification. “It has never been exactly the same. I change the topics students work on, the timeline for their projects, and the tools I teach every year.” She said that only a few tools, such as Google Sites and mind-mapping websites, are tools she always teaches because they help students improve their organizing skills.
That being said, different tools and projects may await students who take this course in the future.