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Education

HK PolyU enhances learning with Web 2.0 tools

By Kelly Ng | 29 December 2009

Many educators today still see online learning as merely putting up content on the web for students to download, failing to take advantage of the potential of transforming teaching and learning. Professor Eric Tsui, Faculty of Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University told FutureGov how he leveraged web 2.0 tools to enhance the learning experience.

While the internet gives students access to immeasurable amount information and knowledge, it created the problem of information overload. Using a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed, Tsui subscribes to industry updates, tags and recommends quality content for his students to read and comment. Besides reading articles selected by Tsui, they in turn tag and share new resources they found on the web.

“Together, the filtering, rating and sharing of RSS articles not only help to combat the information overload problem faced by knowledge workers, it fosters a collaborative learning environment,” he explained.

Social bookmarking is another web 2.0 tool which enhanced knowledge navigation and search by consolidating effort of the learning community. ‘TaxoFolk’, a tool developed by Tsui, can analyse a set of web pages which students have tagged. It then produces a hybrid site map (pictured) for enhanced navigation. This tool harnesses students’ collective input, allowing them to experience the power of social bookmarking.

Tsui detailed a standard online learning experience: “After reading the learning outcomes and theory, the learner is directed to go through an animated demonstration or role play exercise illustrating the concept. The learner has to research on the topic, with suggested links from the online library databases, RSS materials, pre-composed Google search cues and so on. The last step is for the learner to express what he or she has learnt by posting comments on an online discussion board.”

The current version of the course delivery platform which the university operated did not support many interactive features. So far, it has always been used mainly to share lecture materials such as lesson slides, documents and files with students.

Tsui therefore created various types of interactive learning objects, in the form of role play, games, animations, mix and match, drag and drop, and embedded them into the online module. He recorded case studies and interviews with academic and industry leaders into web seminars and podcasts so students can see how taught concepts relate to real-world examples. “These visually attractive activities reduced the amount of text the learner has to read, making learning more fun and engaging,” he said.

The interactive blended learning approach has attracted many overseas-based students from Australia, USA, Canada, Thailand and China. “We even have a US marine corp in the program and the fact that he can pursue his study from Iraq and Afghanistan brilliantly demonstrates the effectiveness of our learning approach, regardless of location and time constraints,” concluded Tsui.

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