HOW BLACKBOARD E-LEARNING TOOL AFFECTS INTERMEDIATE
available through the web. E-learning is an outcome of an information revolution across all disciplines, including foreign language learning and teaching (Al-Dosari 2011).
Within the Web of Learning metaphor, educational professionals can begin to design models and frameworks that can clarify and simplify online educational possibilities. Our hope is that more innovative, engaging and exciting pedagogy will ensue. The Web of Learning contains a plethora of educationally relevant and continually evolving resources, tools and learning materials, many of which are increasingly open and free to the world (Bonk and Zhang 2008).
It is clear that e-learning tools and learning approaches within the Web of Learning hold exciting possibilities for personalizing the learning experience of young and old, visual as well as verbal learners, and digitally inexperienced as well as digitally savvy online learners (Bonk and Zhang 2008).
Commonly cited reasons for enrolling in Web-based learning include the flexibility of learning across the time, distance, and space. Another factor typically mentioned is an opportunity for empowerment and autonomy with the wide array of learning options and choices at one’s fingertips. With online learning, students enjoy enhanced personalization and a sense of control or ability to take charge of what they need to learn. Other reasons include a personal desire to explore knowledge and ideas, the ability to network globally with peers and exchange ideas with like-minded others, and a chance to satisfy one’s curiosity (Bonk and Khoo 2014).
The advantages of developing an online listening instructional model for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners have been proved by Tian and Suppasetseree (2013). Their findings revealed that the online task-based interactive listening model was suitable to teach English listening online with task-based approach, emphasizing interaction, activity and flexibility. This Model brings broad changes to the traditional way of teaching listening skills in English and the students could learn English listening anytime and anywhere through this method. Mullamaa’s experience of using e-learning as a support to their eye-to-eye classes has proved to be positive and stimulating both for the students and the teacher. At the same time, there has been a strong incentive from their university to encourage teachers to explore the possibilities of on-line learning. In language teaching, the educational and tutoring support available can be used in creating the e-learning environments for teaching general language courses in different languages at different levels, at the same time, information communications technologies (ICT) can foster student-based learning, individualisation and support building up a sense of belonging to a community (Mullamaa 2010)
E-learning also has its limitations. Some educationalists reserve the option of having the electronic environment “overtake the classroom”. Zumor (2013) examines students’ suggestions for improving the quality of Blended Learning course which is merging the features of face-to-face language instruction and online language learning via the Blackboard learning management system in a new pedagogical approach. The limitations and problems rated and identified by students can be controlled by the institution. Some of these limitations and problems are technical, others are related to students’
readiness, and some maybe caused by how the online activities are handled by instructors. Both students and instructors require appropriate orientation and training. The limitations and problems mentioned by students indicate a general feeling of dissatisfaction. These limitations and problems caused more than half of the students to believe that Blended Learning is less effective than face-to-face learning (Zumor 2013).
3. The Curriculum and Objectives of the Intermediate Chinese Speaking and Listening Course
This ICSLC opens for foreign students at CLC CUHK after foreign students finish 270 to 325 hours of Chinese courses or pass the placement test, achieving the same level. The teaching methodology of this course includes four aspects: first, improving students’ pronunciations; second, reinforcing and reviewing grammar; third, focusing on practicing daily use expressions slangs and idioms; fourth, improving students’ presentation skills especially usage of conjunctions. At the end of the course, students should have stronger communicative skills in Chinese.
The content of this textbook is divided into five chapters, with traveling, job interviews, discussing the advantages and detriments of changing careers, introducing life styles in foreign countries, working environments in companies, introducing a city and with reading comprehensions of introducing travel experiences, comparing the good points and bad points of two different kinds of travel styles, preparing for job interviews, complaining about real estate and introducing Macau for students learning different stylistic articles. The objectives are to review and consolidate those grammar points and vocabularies which they have learned before, improving students’ speaking skills in daily life and the work environment.
This course uses a step-by-step format to assess students’ listening and speaking abilities. It contains five listening quizzes, and five speaking exercises, one speech for mid-term oral exam, and a final oral exam on one-to-one basis.
4. How Blackboard coordinates with the teaching of Intermediate Chinese Speaking and Listening Course
Blackboard plays an important supportive role in teaching and accessing students’ listening and speaking abilities. Four types of exercises are uploaded for ICSLC: 1) vocabulary exercises, 2) text listening exercises, 3) the listening version of reading comprehensions, and 4) post-text listening assessment.
The learning process reflects the coordination between Blackboard and classroom teaching:
teachers open online text listening exercises to students, and set deadlines for students to finish it before they start to learn another chapter. Teachers may use ‘full grade centre’ to check students’ learning progress. If students cooperate with teachers by doing the exercises through Blackboard, by the time they meet in class, teachers need not spend too much time to drill vocabularies and correct mistakes. Teachers may discuss and interact with students directly when students who finished the text listening exercises have better understandings of the whole text and therefore may enter into an active interaction in class, and the self-learning ability of students improves.
Regarding giving speeches, students may seek inspiration for speech topics from the post-text listening assessments through opened Blackboard exercises. Teachers may open the listening version of reading comprehension exercises if the students have reached a higher level. Students may learn in different ways, with intensive trainings, which can improve their presentation skills of complicated topics.
Traditionally teachers spent lots of time and energy in class to help students practice speaking and listening. The learning was not efficient as students often have not practiced well in advance.
Nowadays students use Blackboard to prepare, review, drill, imitate, and experience a variety of language learning styles, and put all the things they learn into their language frameworks.
In summary, the Blackboard e-learning tool is playing an important role in language teaching. It is not only an e-learning platform, but also a bridge for achieving the same teaching and learning goals between teachers and students. With Blackboard’s help, teachers can supervise, and manage students’
learning process anytime. If teachers want to conduct an academic research about this e-learning issue, they may easily get statistical data regarding duration, quantum and quality of students’ input from Blackboard.
Blackboard can provide teachers with every student’s learning process and individual learning behavior: for example, when to login, when to finish the exercises, the time used, marks and grades of every exercise, the best result, etc. Teachers may monitor progress and remind students to finish exercises if they have not done so. This shows that Blackboard, as a communication bridge for teachers and students, can help improving teaching effectiveness.
5. Students’ feedback on computer technology in teaching Chinese as a second language In order to know more about the situation of students using Blackboard, we sent a questionnaire about multi-media technology and language teaching to the students, and asked them about the advantages and detriments of Blackboard, as well as other related questions. We sent 24 questionnaires in total, and got 17 with valid feedback.
The advantages of using Blackboard in this course include: 1) a network that can help students study anytime anywhere – students like to use mobile phones to login, and they discovered that the ability to practice Chinese 24 hours a day is very convenient, 2) Blackboard ’s effective management (it is even better to ask students to finish the exercise within a limited time, letting students re-do the exercises later on), 3) diversified exercises within Blackboard (students can listen to the text, practice pinyin, review what they have learned in class, self-test on still not mastered content, and do self-learning), 4) convenience for students to finish multiple choice questions through Blackboard , which is better than finishing them on paper.
On the other hand, students encountered many difficulties when using Blackboard , such as: 1) technical problems (files can’t be opened, files have errors, browsers have problems, students can’t use Blackboard with their own computers), 2) students are not familiar with the management system of Blackboard, missing the submission time, and are not able to finish the assignment, 3) students’ personal problems, such as being too busy or procrastination.
Although most of these groups of Y-Generation students grew up with the fast development of computer technology, there are still seven students have never used any web-based teaching software.
The other ten students used: WebCT (3); Moodle (3); Cyber Campus (3); and unknown software (1).
From the students’ point of view, they tended to use only one type of software for all universities and all courses so that adaptation would be easier. According to the questionnaire, 79% of students agreed to use the web teaching mode, and they believe that certain aspects could use more applications including listening, listening to Chinese songs, make-up lectures, chatting, learning more vocabularies, using the iPad to learn, doing extra exercises after class, etc. There are two students who disagreed with the web teaching method, and they believed that it is more effective to use textbooks, and that submitting homework by paper is better than by the Web.
6. Teachers’ reflections on e-learning platform Blackboard
With the rapid development of computer technology, teachers should follow the trend and learn the techniques of different kinds of web teaching software’s. With the help of all the teachers using Blackboard, lots of suggestions and feedbacks were collected so that we can analyse and observe this issue from different angles.
Most of our language teachers believe that using Blackboard has lots of advantages: 1) it is easier to communicate, and teachers can communicate and interact with students in real time, answer students’ questions, and give feedback right away, 2) Blackboard can remedy the defects of teaching in class by helping teachers to teach in line with student’s ability, 3) strengthening learning after class, Blackboard can transmit diversified information, including giving homework, etc. Teachers can design and compile exercises in advance, and don’t have to restrain teaching to only within the classroom. This will extend classroom teaching after class, 4) Blackboard can help teachers save time in correcting students’ answers. When students finish their exercises, they can get the results immediately after they submit their work.
Teachers also find that using Blackboard has some limitations and disadvantages: 1) If the web learning software is not popular, they will be eliminated and replaced anytime, 2) The demand for teachers’ computer ability level is improving. If teachers don’t have a technical supporting team, it is difficult to design the perfect Blackboard exercises by themselves, 3) Moodle exercises require students not only to have independent learning skills, but also to have good computer skills. For both teachers and students, improving computer skills is necessary to use Blackboard more smoothly and efficiently.
Teachers are playing as a course’s supervisors, monitors, assessors, and managers when using Blackboard; Blackboard plays the teaching aid role. Experienced teachers may summarize the key points when teaching according to their treasured experiences, and put those key points and difficulties on Blackboard, using those key points to make new exercises so that students may do the exercises based on their individual needs.
The school technicians should provide more support for teachers in the teaching process by collecting and doing statistics, on-line Q/A sessions during the day, helping teachers do the more repeated steps, and holding training workshops regularly for teachers. If teachers cooperate with technicians, and they change the listening and speaking exercises to the video playing format, this will make students more accepting towards these kinds of exercises, and the learning effectiveness will be more obvious.
7. Conclusions
Learning should be available to access anywhere, anytime, and offer learners to best possible experience. Right now technology can enable that across universities, school classrooms and professional training. Blackboard’s innovative technologies have been improving quality outcomes. It manages and monitors students’ learning process easily and effectively. It helps teachers to improve the effectiveness, breadth, and depth of classroom teaching by giving students more exercises on preparation, revision, intensive drilling, and assessment of these aspects.
Students are giving positive and optimistic feedback about using computer technology in Chinese Language learning. The e-learning platform, Blackboard, matches well with students’ learning habits and methods. By using Blackboard, we make the language learning experience more engaging, more collaborative, and more effective for everyone.
Most of our language teachers agree that Blackboard can help to improve teaching quality more effectively. With the tool to engage, collaborate, grade, track assignments, teachers can reach students effectively to ensure they are interacting with the content and curriculum in the most effective way.
In future, we hope developers can design more user friendly Chinese learning software’s which would be easier to learn and use, so that even users with less computer knowledge may handle situations
with ease and benefit from using them, and teachers with the support of computer software’s may create many more efficient web exercises to improve students’ Chinese abilities.
References
Al-Dosari Hamad (2011). Faculty Members and Students Perceptions of E-Learning in the English Department: A Project Evaluation, Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 7, No.3; 2011, p391-407.
Bonk Curtis J. & Zhang Ke (2008). Empowering Online Learning 100+ Activities For Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, & Doing, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bonk Curtis J. & Khoo Elaine (2014). Adding Some Tec-Variety 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online, Indiana: Open World Books.
Mullamaa Kristina (2010). ICT in Language Learning – Benefits and Methodological Implications, International Education Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 February 2010, p38-44.
Tian Xingbin & Suppasetseree Suksan (2013). Development of an Instructional Model for Online Task-Based Interactive Listening for EFL Learners. English Language Teaching Vol. 6, No. 3; 2013, p30-41.
Zumor Abdul Wahed Q. & Refaai Ismail K. Al (2013). EFL Students’ Perceptions of a Blended Learning Environment: Advantages, Limitations and Suggestions for Improvement, English Language Teaching, Vol. 6, No. 10; 2013, p95-110.