Remote learning heralds in a brand-new way to study Chinese

Date:May 08,2020

Author:包玉刚实验学校

In recent months, Pao School has strictly implemented the government's strategy of "Closing campus without stopping classes". Online learning has been central to ensuring student continue learning, in order to do this successfully Pao School has developed a method of instruction based on government requirements, the school's unique teaching approach and the learning needs of the students.

“

We are immensely grateful to every single one of you and extremely proud of the way that the Primary team has pulled together to get remote learning off the ground. You have all been working hard on the most visible aspects of this challenge, getting quality remote learning to our students and have been doing an impressive job. Behind the scenes, as I am sure you can imagine, there is a great deal going on as well. The excellent attitude and spirit of you all have been a constant theme at the leadership meetings as we try to navigate our way through this trying time.

——Siobhain Allum,

Primary School Principal

and Head of Wuding Campus

Compared to students in the Middle School and High School, students in the Primary School (particularly the youngest of them) require more attention and guidance during remote learning. Throughout this process, Michelle Ip, Director of Primary Academics, played a key role in ensuring the learning needs of primary students were met. She communicated closely with all of the primary teachers, being sure to address any problems that arose during online learning and to resolve them. From the time that online teaching began, Michelle worked closely with both the school's leadership and IT department. She provided important advice on how to develop the most effective online teaching methods, covering everything from technical support to curriculum development.

At the same time, all of our teachers at the Primary School are exploring creative and engaging teaching methods to ensure that students get the most out of their learning experience at this challenging time. Lily Jin, the Chinese Additional Language Coordinator, hosts two live sessions every week to provide additional language support for those students who are not native Chinese speakers or those who need a stronger foundation in the Chinese language. However, one specific challenge she faces is ensuring students understand the various texts used for class, which can be difficult in a remote learning environment without face-to-face interaction. With this situation in mind, she developed a method of instruction using a preview video combined with a live virtual classroom.

Lily Jin

Chinese Additional Language Coordinator

For example, there is a lesson in the Year 2 textbook provided by the Ministry of Education which describes the ups and downs of life from the perspective of a little bug ("I Am a Little Bug"). It is intended to make learning science interesting for a young child.

Lily first puts it into a PowerPoint presentation, then records herself explaining it to the students using

the screen recording feature, and sends the video to the students before the weekly live session.

Being an online anchor and technical expert

Lily explained how she designed the course to meet the learning needs of Year 2 students. She focused on two key concepts: Being an online anchor and a technical expert. In her class, she, the teacher, served as the "anchor" for the "broadcast," (the live-streaming class), and – as a techie – she employed her technical expertise to plan the course material and stream the classes online in a manner best suited for her students' learning needs.

Lily not only did live sessions: She also recorded preview videos of certain material for her students to help them prepare for class. Compared to texts alone, this was much more engaging for the students and helped them to be better prepared for class. At the same time, the preview video also provided some explanations to the students about the course content - which allowed Lily to use her live session time more efficiently.

In particular, it allowed her more time to ensure students understood the material, giving them more time to practice certain vocabulary words and sentence patterns in oral exercises.

Incorporating vocabulary recognition and understanding into the text

New vocabulary is best learned in the proper context. If the words are learned in isolation, then the students' understanding of them will be limited. At the same time, understanding the context of word use is also a skill that needs to be mastered in language learning. Some words with certain common elements can be used together to explain a key concept. In this manner, it is easier for students to learn the words and related concepts.

Enriching classroom texts with context improves students' understanding of the material

In order to inspire a student’s intellectual curiosity, learning should be lively and relevant to their lives. Otherwise, if the material is delivered in a way that is too dull and plodding, students' knowledge will be limited to what is contained in textbooks. Hoping to spark her students' passion for learning, Lily included a video in the "I Am a Little Bug" lesson that describes the everyday life of a bug. Students watched the video with great interest and while watching it, discussed questions such as: What is the life of a bug like? How do they live their lives? How do they hear? How do they sing songs?

Supplementing reading comprehension skills

Unlike face-to-face classroom instruction, video instruction does not facilitate students' independent learning. For this reason, Lily asks students to think of questions while watching the video, to independently try to figure out the answers to their questions, and also jot down notes. In this manner, students develop the habit of taking notes to support learning on their own. For instance, the students discovered "the pain and joy of being a little bug" through the video and described it in their own words. At the same time, students considered, do you want to be a little bug? Why? Later in the live virtual classroom, Lily asked questions about the reflections the students have prepared, to better evaluate their understanding of the material and how well they can apply what they have learned.

Lily commented: "In fact, the starting point of all curriculum design is the students' real understanding of the text. Curriculum design should allow students to experience the vividness of the Chinese language so that they can truly appreciate it. Many Chinese learning texts at the primary and secondary levels are very interesting - as reflected in the content and how the language is expressed. The teacher ’s teaching style is the best example of language expression. Regardless of the content of the text, it is up to the teacher to explain the material in a vivid manner that both sparks students' intellectual curiosity and allows them to quickly grasp the key concepts."

“

We are very pleased to see the strategic changes and improvements that online teaching has brought to our teaching methods. It has shown the tremendous creativity and potential hidden in the faculty and staff of the school. Despite the challenges associated with online teaching, this time has provided us with the opportunity to learn how to deal with emergencies, learn new things, learn new skills, and also exemplifies the impressive flexibility, patience and attitude of our community. Teaching throughout the COVID-19 epidemic has shown that we are not just able to overcome difficulties but are also able to seek opportunities during challenging times.

——Crick Chen,

Primary Deputy Principal

Y2B Felix comes from a bilingual family - with most of his family able to communicate in English. However, the family can also communicate in fluent Mandarin, which is the hope of every "Chinese" mother. Therefore, Felix's mother said that one of the reasons they chose Pao School is its strong bilingual education programme.

Felix's mother said that Lily's preview video is very helpful for non-native Chinese speakers because it combines language learning with material that is of interest to students, making it quite accessible and interesting. The video lists English notes for individual Chinese words that are not easy to understand. For example, the Chinese character means "bubbles" when pronounced pào and can be a quantifier (a measure word) when pronounced pāo. She notes that it is very helpful to list the links of polyphonic words together and read the new words together in this lesson. In addition, the lesson is supplemented by the instructional video in which the teacher clarifies some of the hidden meanings of these words to help non-native speakers of Chinese better understand the overall text.

“

For Jasmine, the uninterrupted preview videos are a highlight of her week. They have greatly increased her interest in the Chinese language and motivation to study it. As parents, it is very gratifying to see my child masters the key learning points in such a short period!

——Y2B Jasmine's mother

“

In the live sessions, Lily packs a lot of content into just a half-hour of instruction time. She uses humorous language to help children learn the rich Chinese language and culture from different perspectives. During the live session class, the atmosphere is good. There's plenty of laughter, and you can see that everyone is enthusiastic about learning. From this online learning experience, we could feel the care and warmth of the Pao School community.

——Y2E Teddy's mother