Guidance on Flexible Learning during Campus Closures:

Ensuring course quality of higher education in COVID-19 outbreak

© Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University (SLIBNU), 2020

Rights and Permissions

This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/).

Please cite the work as follows:

Huang, R.H., Liu, D.J., Guo, J., Yang, J.F., Zhao, J.H., Wei, X.F., Knyazeva, S., Li, M., Zhuang, R.X., Looi, C.K.,
& Chang, T.W. (2020). Guidance on Flexible Learning during Campus Closures: Ensuring course quality of
higher education in COVID-19 outbreak. Beijing: Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University.
 Guidance on Flexible Learning during Campus Closures:
Ensuring course quality of higher education in COVID-19 outbreak

April 17th, 2020

International Research and Training Center for Rural Education, UNESCO
Institute for Information Technologies in Education, UNESCO
Smart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal University, China
 Preface

UNESCO stated that, as of 16 April, school closures in many countries worldwide during the spread of COVID-19
have led to 1,575,270,054 learners being excluded from the normal learning process. Lots of countries have initiated
several strategies to contain this virus, including school closures.

In order to promote undisrupted learning at this critical moment, SLIBNU, in association with UNESCO IITE, has
initiated a project on compiling a series of handbooks on flexible teaching and learning. On 13th March, SLIBNU has
announced the first “Handbook on Facilitating Flexible Learning During Educational Disruption: The Chinese Ex-
perience in Maintaining Undisrupted Learning in COVID-19 Outbreak” for organizations. This handbook describes
seven flexible online learning strategies in COVID-19 outbreak intended for adoption at the country, region, or
school level. On 27th March, SLIBNU announced the second handbook of “Guidance on Active Learning at Home in
Educational Disruption: Promoting student’s self-regulation skills in COVID-19 outbreak” for students. This second
handbook presents a SCIENCE model for children learning actively at home during school closures.

According to UNESCO, many countries have announced various measures for preventing the expansion of
COVID-19 in university campuses. These include plans that enable the continuity of the curricula through virtual
campuses, the media, or other digital environments, as well as the rescheduling of academic calendars. On 10th April,
the Higher Education Sector of the Ministry of Education of China, held a meeting to summarize the experiences of
online teaching during the period of COVID-19. According to the data from MOE of China, 1454 universities adopt-
ed online platforms to deliver undisrupted instruction, with the deployment of 7133 thousand online courses accessed
by 1.18 billion university students. According to Yan Wu, the director of the Higher Education Sector of Ministry of
Education of China, an international online learning platform will be built to serve as a resource to help support the
world’s higher education needs, and to help global learners with China’s high-quality curriculum resources.

For university teachers, how to face the challenges of migrating offline instruction to online learning, and what kind
of instructional strategies, learning resources, digital tools, and assessment methods could be used for flexible online
learning, should be considered in this period of campus closures. Therefore, the third handbook of “Guidance on
Flexible learning during Campus Closures: ensuring Course Quality of Higher Education during COVID-19 out-
break” is compiled as a resource to help university teachers in facilitating flexible learning.

With campus closures, teachers in university should adopt multiple online learning platforms and tools to deliver ed-
ucation. In order to ensure the quality of education, this guidance provides suggestions from the perspective of lesson
plans, delivery methods, learning materials, and tools preparation, learning activity design, and learning outcome
evaluation. This guidance also seeks to leverage technology to deliver flexible learning to transform higher education
for ensuring the quality of learning in this critical moment.
On behalf of UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED) and
UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (UNESCO ICHEI), we would like to thank our part-
ners from China and abroad. Our special thanks go to the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China
for UNESCO for their incredible support during the realization of this publication. We also acknowledge with grati-
tude contributions for this publication from our partner organizations, including UNESCO IITE, the Smart Learning
Institute of Beijing Normal University (SLIBNU), Centre for Research and Development in Learning at Nanyang
Technological University (CRADLE@NTU), the Arab League’s Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization
(ALECSO), the International Association of Smart Learning Environment (IASLE), and Edmodo.

Dr. Ronghuai Huang Dr. Ming Li

Director, UNESCO International Research Director, UNESCO International Centre for Higher
and Training Centre for Rural Education Education Innovation
Acknowledgement

Many people have helped us in the preparation and writing of this guidance. They deserve our great
appreciation for the long hours and hard work they have devoted to conducting the associated re-
search and developing the contents herein. Without their incredible assistance, this book would not
have been realized.

We would like to acknowledge the help of several researchers who also contributed content as well
as to the organization of the webinar in which this handbook was first announced, namely Galina
Konyaeva, Ahmed Tlili, Zhiying Nian, Bojun Gao, Zhisheng Li, and Qian Cheng. We would also like to
acknowledge the contribution of multiple international partners, researchers, and staff who provided
new ideas for this handbook during the organized webinar.

Thanks also go to experts from the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University (SLIBNU),
UNESCO International Research and Training Center for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED), UNESCO
Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), International Centre for Higher
Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO ICHEI), Centre for Research and Devel-
opment in Learning at Nanyang Technological University (CRADLE@NTU), International Association
of Smart Learning Environments (IASLE), Arab League’s Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organiza-
tion (ALECSO) and Edmodo for their professional feedback and comments during the preparation of
this guidance.
Contents

Executive Summary 1

1 Lessons Planning of Flexible Learning during Campus Closure 2

1.1 Leveraging digital technology to enhance learning 3

1.2 Employing strategies of blended learning 7

1.3 Designing learning activities for flexible learning 9

2 Choosing Appropriate Delivery Methods for Flexible Instruction 12

2.1 Webcasts in education 12

2.2 Learning with MOOCs 20

2.3 Flipped instruction with video clips 25

2.4 Group learning 32

2.5 Joint online course 38

3 Preparing Materials and Tools for Learning and Teaching 40

3.1 Using digital resources as learning materials 40

3.2 Adopting digital tools for learning and teaching 44

4 Facilitating Flexible Learning with Diverse Activities 50

4.1 Promoting interaction and communication 50

4.2 Deepening meaningful learning 66

4.3 Motivating learner and scaffolding learning 70

5 Checking Learning Outcomes and Evaluating Accordingly 79

5.1 Categories of learning outcomes 79

5.2 Utilizing appropriate instruments for assessment 85

Conclusion 97

References 100

Participant list 110

Executive Summary

UNESCO stated that, as of 16 April, school closures in many countries worldwide during the spread of
COVID-19 have resulted in 1,575,270,054 learners being excluded from the normal learning process. Lots of
countries have initiated several strategies to contain this virus, including school closures. Measures for pre-
venting the expansion of COVID-19 in university campuses are adopted, and curricula are delivered through
virtual campuses, the media or other digital environments.

For university teachers, they have to stay at home and deliver lectures via the Internet, which may cause
some challenges for some teachers, especially for those who are not familiar with the needs of modern edu-
cation and the methods of integrating technology into education. In fact, in some places, many universities
are still adopting the old-fashioned model of delivering lectures for passive audiences, thus failing to harness
to the educational possibilities affordances afforded by emerging technologies. At this critical moment, it is
an excellent opportunity for rethinking teaching and learning, and for leveraging technology to transform the
old-fashioned models for preparing students for the future.

To facilitate university teachers for conducting flexible instruction to ensure the quality of learning at this
critical moment, the guidance has identified some academic terms, guidelines, tips, and stories for teachers,
namely: (a) Making flexible lesson plans and learning activities. It is crucial to utilize multiple strategies to
design learning activities and implement the design by considering the characteristics of online or blended
learning environments. (b) Delivering instruction in diverse technology-enhanced ways. Webcasts in edu-
cation, learning with MOOCs, flipped instruction, group learning, and joint online course will be elaborated
in some detail. (c) Adopting abundant digital resources and appropriate tools for learning. The choice of the
most suitable digital learning tools should be based on considerations of licensing, accuracy, interactivity,
ease of adaptability, and cultural relevance and sensibility. (d) Designing learning activities to promote inter-
action, enhance engagement and improve motivation. How webinar, online discussion, project-based learn-
ing, online debate, brainstorming, experiential learning with virtual space, and gamifying of learning, can
be used and designed for promoting interaction, will be discussed. (e) Evaluating the learning process and
outcome in appropriate ways. We will discuss the possibilities of online examination, rubrics, self-checklist,
learning contract, e-portfolio, learning analytics, and AI-assisted assessment, for enabling or supporting as-
sessment.

Finally, five implications are discussed for promoting higher education in a sustainable way for a long term. (a)
Rethinking higher education. (b) Changing the roles of educators. (c) Integrating formal and informal learn-
ing. (d) Bridging the achievement gap of students. (e) Transforming pedagogy through new technology.

1 April, 2020. Version 1.2

1 Lessons Planning of Flexible
Learning during Campus Closure

Lesson plan is the basis of effective teaching, which is generally a teacher’s description of
the instruction of a course for an individual lesson. Planning Lesson is one of the most im-
portant skills for every teacher, also for university teachers. There are many ways to plan a
lesson, however, each lesson plan should include some or all of the elements listed as fol-
lows.

• Construct the specific contents for the lesson and scheduling each lesson.

• Collect the learning materials, which includes student handouts, textbooks, visual aids,
grading rubrics, activity packets, etc.

• List the learning objectives/outcomes, which should be specific, measurable, attainable,

and relevant.

• Design the lead-in to the lesson, which aims to focus learners on concepts or skills to be
learned.

• Describe the instructional component, which elaborates on the instructional behaviors

and steps as the lesson is delivered.

• Plan the independent practice or group work, which allows learners to practice what
they have learned or extend knowledge.

• Sketch the summary, for teachers to wrap up the lesson and students to raise unan-
swered questions.

• Outline the assessment, to measure whether students learned the knowledge or skills in
the lesson and met the lesson objectives.

However, in the period of campus closure, students are mainly learning online and teachers
have to do the lesson plan according to the characteristics of online learning and teaching.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 2

In online learning, students can use the online learning content
that they find in multiple formats (e.g., video, audio, document, Term 1. Online learning
etc.) for learning in different ways with different objectives. Ad-
ditionally, they can also choose the learning pace according to O n l i n e l ea r n i n g i s d e f i n e d a s l ea r n i n g

their own need, by directing and evaluating with the assistance experiences in synchronous or asynchronous

of a teacher. This interaction can take place within a communi- environments using different devices (e.g.,

ty of inquiry, using a variety of internet-based synchronous and mobile phones, laptops, etc.) with internet

asynchronous activities (video, audio, computer conferencing, access. In these environments, students can

chats, or virtual world interaction). These asynchronous and syn- be anywhere (independent) to learn and

chronous online environments could promote the development interact with instructors and other students

of social and collaborative skills, as well as personal relationships (Singh & Thurman, 2019).

among participants.

Understanding the features of online teaching and utilizing

multiple appropriate technologies and tools to produce lesson
plans accordingly is becoming a challenge for university
teachers all over the world. It is especially obvious in this period
of university closure. The following sections will introduce how
to leverage digital technology to produce technology-enhanced
lesson plans.

1.1 Leveraging digital technology to enhance learning

During university closure, instructors are teaching online, and

learners are studying online. Effective teaching methods are more
critical in such situations when the teacher and students are sepa-
rated in physical distance, and video/audio conferencing systems
are used to deliver the instruction.

According to Borich (2014), five key behaviors contributing to ef-

fective teaching are lesson clarity, instructional variety, task orien-
tation, student engagement, and opportunities for success, which
should be revisited when teaching online.

Five direct behaviors for effective teaching and the indicators per-
taining to them are listed as the following for reference:

3 April, 2020. Version 1.2

• Delivering the lesson in a clear way: logical, step-by-step
order; clear and audible delivery free of distracting manner-
isms.

• Making instruction variety: variability in instructional mate-

rials, questioning, types of feedback, and teaching strategies.

• Orientating with learning tasks: achievement (content) ori-

entation as opposed to process orientation, maximum con-
tent coverage, and time devoted to instruction.

• Engaging Student in learning: limiting opportunities for dis-

traction and getting students to work on, think through, and
inquire about the content.

• Providing opportunities for students’ success: ensure that

students’ 60% to 70% of time spent on tasks could provide
them with moderate-to-high levels of success, especially
during expository or didactic instruction.

The following are five helping behaviors for effective teaching and
some indicators pertaining to them:

• Using learners contributions and ideas: Using learners’

responses to promote the goals of the lesson and letting stu-
dents elaborate on and extend the learned content by using
their own experiences, ideas, and thought patterns.

• Structuring the content: Providing advance organizers and

cognitive or mental strategies at the beginning of a lesson
and creating activity structures with varied demands.
Term 2. Instructional design
• Questioning: Using both content (direct) and process (indi-
rect) questions to convey facts and to encourage inquiry and Instructional design (ID), also known
problem solving. as instructional systems design (ISD), is
the practice of systematically designing,
• Probing: Eliciting clarification, soliciting additional informa-
developing and delivering instructional
tion, and redirecting when needed.
products and experiences, both digital and
physical, in a consistent and reliable fashion
• Teacher affect: Exhibiting vigor, involvement, excitement,
toward an efficient, effective, appealing,
and interest during classroom presentations through vocal
engaging and inspiring acquisition of
inflection, gesturing, eye contact, and animation, communi-
knowledge (Merrill et al., 1996).
cating a warm and nurturing relationship to the learner.

The quality of teaching and learning depends on the instructor’s

ability to utilize multiple technologies and tools to reorganize
the teaching and learning process.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 4

Teachers should help learners to understand the nature, regularity, and the inner connec-
tions among things. From a constructivist perspective, learning is the process of construct-
ing an internal psychological representation of the world in the process of interaction with
the environment. The basic elements of constructivism include context, conversation, col-
laboration, and meaning-making.

From the perspective of constructivism, learning could be understood in the following ways
(Huang, Spector, & Yang, 2019).

• Learning is or should be learner-centered.

• Learning is the process by which students construct their internal psychological repre-
sentation actively.

• The learning process consists of two facets: the reorganization and reconstruction of old
knowledge and the meaningful construction of new knowledge.

• Not only is learning an individualized behavior, but also a social and language-centered
behavior; learning requires communication and cooperation.

• Learning includes emphasizing the situation of learning and attributing importance to

the creation of meaningful situations to support learning.

• Effective learning asks for appropriate resources to support meaning construction.

According to constructivism, teachers could not teach in the traditional ways, but
should encourage students to cooperate or interact with peers. Students should process
information and construct the meaning of knowledge actively on their own, rather than
listen to teachers passively. The impact of constructivism on teaching is listed as follows:

• Pay attention to the design of the learning scenario. The teacher could design
multi-dimensional learning scenarios, so that learners could understand the concept
and principles from various aspects, and therefore develop problem-solving, decision-
making, and innovation capabilities.

• Emphasize the learner’s active role. Focus on promoting students’ self-management

skills to stimulate the necessary psychological state and prior knowledge for learning.

• Pay attention the contribution of the erroneous concepts in the overall process of
learning. Situated cognition theory treats the aim and process as a unity. Therefore,
while the erroneous understanding of concepts may emerge in the process of learning,
it can be channeled as a positive contribution to the construction of the whole
knowledge understanding.

5 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Traditional instructional design methods could be incorporated with digital technology to
maximize learning within a digital environment of sound lesson plans that could offer stu-
dents flexible options of learning in this critical moment. For technology-enhanced instruc-
tion, it is important to ensure the effective use of media in instruction. In selecting teaching
strategies and media, first, you should figure out which delivery method is best for your
instruction, instructor-centered or student-centered, or teacher-led and student-centered?
After selecting the teaching strategy, it’s time to figure out which technology, media, and
materials could best support the method of teaching that you have chosen. After you choose
the technology, it is good to do a test of the technology before the class, and make sure that
the whole lesson will go smoothly and seamlessly.

For online learning, it is conducted in either synchronous or asynchronous ways.

Synchronous learning happens with teachers and learners interacting at the same time,
while asynchronous learning allows student’s self-paced schedule with participants
interacting at different time. Instructors could decide the form of online learning
according to their needs. Generally, the following laws could be considered for planning a
technology-enhanced lesson (Huang, Liu, Tlili, Yang, & Wang, 2020 ).

• On Access to Digital Learning Resources (related to learning resources).

The resources should satisfy the following basic conditions: (a) The contents are of
learners’ interests or necessary for them to solve problems; (b) The contents are of
moderate difficulty and in an appropriate scale, so that cognitive “overload” will
not occur; (c) The structure of the contents is simple and clear, which will reduce the
cognitive load of learners; (d) The content is well designed to avoid visual strain;

• On Virtual Learning Communities (related to learning environments).

The following three basic conditions are required for building the virtual learning
environment (VLE): (a) Build a trustful learning environment, via providing
continuous encouragements, so learners feel a sense of “belonging to the group and
environment”; (b) Provide timely feedback to learners, so they can find the answers
and acquire a sense of achievement in the VLE; and, (c) Allow learners to gain a sense
of emotional identification and release their desire of“competition”or“performance.”

• On Learners Asking for Help (Related to users).

In order to make learners more motivated to ask their teachers for help when
encountering difficulties, there are three necessary conditions: (a) Appropriate
external encouragements (from the teachers, administration, etc.); (b) The intimacy
between teachers and students; and, (c) Timely and effective feedback.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 6

1.2 Employing strategies of blended learning

In the period of campus closure, online learning, either synchro-

nous or asynchronous, is adopted by lots of universities. But, we
should notice that students will go back to campus after the peri-
od. Therefore, the blended way of learning that incorporated both
face-to-face and online learning could be utilized, and the charac-
teristics of blended learning should be recognized.
Term 3. Blended leaning

In online learning, students work independently on online les-

Blended learning is defined as a formal
sons, projects, and assignments at home or elsewhere, with on-
education program in which a student learns
line/offline face-to-face meetings with teachers to review their
at least in part through online delivery
learning progress, discuss their work, ask questions, or receive as-
of content and instruction with some
sistance with difficult concepts. We should keep in mind that stu-
element of student control over time, place,
dents may encounter lots of problems when learning online, and
path, and/or pace and at least in part at a
they are more familiar with the traditional face to face instruction.
supervised brick-and-mortar location away
In this sense, teachers could consider the traditional learning
from home (Staker & Horn, 2012).
methods and transfer to online in a students’ familiar way of
learning. Then the blended learning method could be utilized.

Blended learning is also known as hybrid learning or mixed-mode

learning . Blended-learning experiences may vary widely in design
and execution from university to university. “Face-to-face” in-
struction includes those courses with 0 to 29% of the content de-
livered online, which includes both traditional and web facilitated
courses. The remaining alternative, online courses, are defined as
having at least 80% of the course content delivered online, while
blended learning is defined as having between 30% to 79% of the
course content delivered online.

During the educational disruption, live video, video-recorded

lectures, text chats, and other digitally enabled learning activities
may be a student’s primary interactions with content and teacher,
and the flexibility of blended learning is reflected in the following
several aspects.

● Time and location of learning

It means that the time of participating in a course (Collis,

Vingerhoets & Moonen, 1997), starting and finishing a
course (McMeekin, 1998), and participating in learning
activities (Collis et al, 1997; Collis & Moonen, 2004; Casey &
Wilson, 2005) can be flexible. And the pace of study (Collis
& Moonen, 2004; Casey & Wilson, 2005) also can be flexible.

7 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Learners can be offered choices based on their needs (e.g., study during evenings or
on weekends). They can also specify the time they want to interact with others and
the time they want to study on their own. The location of learners to carry out learning
activities and access learning materials can also be flexible anywhere at any time via
digital devices (Collis et al, 1997; McMeekin, 1998; Gordon, 2014).

● Learning content

It allows students to determine the sections and the sequence of content according
to their desire, pathways of learning, forms of course orientation, size and scope of
the course through modularization of the content (Collis et al., 1997; Collis & Moonen,
2004; Casey & Wilson, 2005; Gordon, 2014).

● Delivery mechanism

Flexible delivery offers a suitable range of how and where students can access learning
materials (Collis et al., 1997; Lundin, 1999; McMeekin, 1998). Students may experience
the course in web-based learning via different technologies, such as synchronous live
broadcasting, asynchronous lectures, virtual experiments, and augmented reality.

● Instructional approaches

The learner’s choices can be offered using several instructional approaches, such
as lectures with tutorials, independent study, discussion, seminar groups, debates,
student-led discovery approaches, and educational gamification (Gordon, 2014).

● Assessment methods

The assessment and evaluation of learning quality, as well as teaching and academic
programs (Collis et al., 1997; Casey& Wilson, 2005), can be flexible. The flexibility can
be indicated by the methods of assessments, such as presentation, a short-filmed
presentation, a research paper, team projects, peer assessments, and standardized
tests (e.g., multiple choices). E-portfolio is one method that can offer more flexibility
for students to update the evidence of their development and achievement (Gordon,
2014). The timing and delivery channel of assessment can also be flexible. Flexible
learning can be provided by applying learning analytics approaches, which will
collect the students’ learning traces (within the learning system) to provide real-time
assessment and visualize the results in the form of reports or dashboards.

The flexibility of blended learning could be considered when planning the lessons. At
the same time, the general principles of blended learning could also be reviewed. First,
according to Sands (2002), the first principle for developing a blended learning course
is to “work backward from the final course goal...to avoid a counterproductive focus on
technology”. Second, we should focus on interaction (student to student and student to
teacher) rather than the delivery model of the lesson. Third, it is important to redesign the
learning activities that carry over to the classroom and back online. Forth, consider the
problems you encounter in the traditional classroom, then integrate technology to solve
the problem online. Fifth, remember to start with simple techniques and tools.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 8

 Tip 1. Strategies for conducting effective blended learning

There are some strategies to help you merge synchronous and asynchronous learning
strategies, and develop effective blended learning environments.

◉ Clearly identifying the objectives of the blended learning course.

◉ Creating a blended learning course outline and syllabus to keep learners motivated and on-
track.

◉ Determining the level of interactivity for the blended learning course.

◉ Integrating group collaboration activities in learning tasks.

◉ Developing communication and feedback guidelines.

◉ Compiling a list of resources and references.

◉ Creating effective assessment plans.

Source: https://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-create-effective-blended-elearning-strategy

1.3 Designing learning activities for flexible learning

In order to ensure the quality of flexible learning, the following

model that depicts the design procedures could be followed.
The ultimate goal of this model is for instructional implementa-
Term 4. Flexible learning
tion. The procedures are made up of three main components: (a)
pre-analysis; (b) activity and resource design; and (c) instructional From the above description, flexible learning
assessment. is a learner-centered educational strategy,
which provides choices from the main
Pre-analysis. These analysis are composed of three factors: (a) dimensions of study, such as times and
analysis of learner characteristics, in terms of regular assessment location of learning, resources for teaching
of learners’ prior knowledge, learning styles, learning preferenc- and learning, instructional approaches,
es, etc.; (b) analysis of learning objects (knowledge taxonomy), learning activities, supports for teachers and
in terms of defining what should be taught based on knowledge learners. In this way, teaching and learning
taxonomy; and (c) analysis of blended learning environments, in can be flexible rather than fixed, to promote
terms of finding out the environmental features. easy, engaged and effective learning (Huang,
et al., 2020b).

9 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Design of Activities and Resources. This component consists of three sub-components,
which are the overall design of blended learning, unit (activity) design, as well as resource
design and development.

Instructional Assessment Design. The assessment design depends on the activity objec-
tives, performance definition, and the general environment of blended learning.

Tip 2. The design procedure for flexible learning

The design procedure for flexible learning

◉ Design of unit: divide the course into several teaching units by “knowledge modules”, each
of which can be completed by one or more classes.

◉ Design of strategies: analyze the goals, types of knowledge, and student status of
each module, and determine teaching strategies such as “teaching,” “self-study,”
“exploring,”“experience,” “problem solving,” and so on.

◉ Design of activities: learning activities are designed explicitly for each teaching unit to form
a sequence of learning activities in course.

◉ Collecting resources: find suitable digital learning resources and prepare appropriate
learning materials.

◉ Design of assessment: include learning process assessment and learning achievement

assessment, like assignments, e-portfolios, final exams, and the final score components.

There are four procedures for the implementation of flexible learning: (a) lead-in; (b) lec-
turing; (c) self-directed learning activities; and (d) assessment. In the process of “lead-in”,
you should explain the objectives and teaching arrangements, present learning activities,
and learning materials, and emphasize learning tasks and ways to interact. In the process of
lecturing, you should teach the content that is difficult for learners to understand by them-
selves, and organize discussions, group reports, or other learning activities in the online/of-
fline classroom. In the process of self-directed learning activities, learners will complete the
tasks in small groups or individually. As the difficulty of the tasks of the department grad-
ually increases, the complete cycle of the task, if needed for a successor task, can also be
gradually lengthened. In the process of assessment, the student or students’ group reports
the results and evaluates the learning experience, shares learning methods and learning ex-
perience, takes part in exams, and proposes improvement suggestions.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 10

 Tip 3. Lead-in a course at the first lesson

It is the starting point of the activity. The main objective is to demonstrate the task to learners.

◉ Describe the aims of the task, to inform students what they are expected to achieve after
completion of the task.

◉ Show the task by examples, to give students a better understanding of the task.

◉ Provide resources, so that students can use them to complete the task.

◉ Make instructional arrangements, to familiarize students with the general planning for how
this course/unit/class will be carried out.

For student’s group learning, it is important to first define the task by learners themselves
through using their knowledge. You could guide students to define the tasks by following
the steps: (a) brainstorm if in groups; (b) define the problem; (c) identify the factors or as-
pects for the problem ; (d) define the steps; (e) collect more information if needed; (f) solve
the problem; and (g) write reports.

Finally, assessment should aim to transfer student’s newly constructed knowledge to learn-
ers’ future learning through sharing their work with their peers and the instructor. Lots of
methods will be introduced in the following part.

Quality assurance is “the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product,

especially through attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production.” In the
period of campus closures, to ensure the quality of higher education, strategies should be
considered in choosing teaching methods, utilizing teaching and learning tools, designing
learning activities, and using appropriate assessment methods, which will be elaborated in
the following sections.

11 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2 Choosing Appropriate Delivery
Methods for Flexible Instruction

If we trace back the history of distance education, from correspondence education to elec-
tronic education and distance universities, it is clear that the two-way telecommunication
systems are used to connect learners, teachers, and resources, since the essence of distance
education is the separation of teaching and learning activities. Now that the teacher and
learner are separated in this period, the suitable telecommunication tools, delivery methods
and instructional strategies should be utilized to connect students, resources and teachers,
which are elaborated in the following.

2.1 Webcasts in Education

With the development of the Internet, online learning such as live Term 5. Online live
webcasts and MOOCs have begun to emerge and flourish, allow- synchronous instruction
ing students to learn by watching online courses, forming a situa-
tion where online learning and offline learning co-exist. Online live synchronous instruction refers
to the teaching and learning activities of
Webcasting is defined as “sending digital information over the In- instructors and students in different spaces,
ternet for reception, viewing and listening by the public, possibly using the Internet and other information
involving some interaction between the sender and recipients”, technologies to carr y out simultaneous,
it is to distribute information from one person to many other per- simultaneous adjustment and the
sons, by some technologies such as the published, subscribed or same progress. Generally speaking, the
broadcast methodologies (Miles, 1998). There are three modes of implementation of online live synchronous
using webcasting technology to deliver lectures to students, live teaching requires instructors and students
streaming/live broadcasting, pre-recorded, and video-on-de- to use live broadcast tools or video
mand. conferencing tools to carry out audio and
video communication, presentations, real-time
Instructional interaction, as the key in distance learning, deter- text seminars, and other teaching activities.
mines whether and how distance learning occurs. Although online It has the characteristics of immediacy, low
learning enriches students’ learning resources and expands stu- implementation difficulty and low cost of
dents’ learning space and the range of active learning choices, the technical learning for instructors and students.
visual learning of the screen may suffer due to the lack of interac- (Xie et al., 2020)

April, 2020. Version 1.2 12

tivity, leaving students with a sense of exasperation. It may be difficult for learners to adapt
to this kind of informal cooperation, or to achieve self-regulated learning, and it is easy to
fall into shallow learning, which affects the distance learning. Therefore, how to break the
dilemma of insufficient interactivity of online learning has become the key to the further
development of online education. With the rapid development of mobile technology, live
broadcast technology has been introduced into the field of education, and a new“Internet +”
learning form of “live broadcast/live streaming+ education” was born, which makes up for
the lack of interaction in online learning. (Liu, 2017)

2.1.1 Benefits of webcasts in education

There are some main features of webcasts in education.

• From the perspective of teaching organization, webcasting can still maintain large-
scale online teaching, under the condition of separation of time and space for teaching
and learning. Instructors become evaluators of learning activities. Especially when
webcasting with the live broadcast platform, students can propose their needs, and
instructors can modify the teaching process accordingly.

• From the perspective of interaction, webcasting can enhance the interaction between
teachers and students with the help of the platform function, and students can post
questions or answer questions at the same time, all of which can be seen by others.

• From the perspective of students’ learning, some webcasting platforms can record
the video/audio for students to play back after the classes, which is convenient for
students’ review. The flexibility and interactivity of the entire learning process have
been greatly enhanced, making it a veritable online interactive learning.

There are some functions that webcasting/video conference platforms can offer. (Rainbow,
2020)

• An online meeting place, where people can talk to each other with web cams and micro-
phones.

• An online meeting place, where people can share (almost) everything that can be
shared in offline places, such as texts, pdf files, video or audio, images, and slides.

• Recording the meeting: students can review the lectures again after the live session, or
sharing with those absent students.

13 April, 2020. Version 1.2

• Discussion forums: where teachers and students can post questions or answer ques-
tions, or possibly polls.

• Group/room divided: students can be divided into different groups or meeting rooms,
working on some assignments or discussions together, away from other groups.

There are several benefits of webcasts that extend beyond being able to offer online
learning during the COVID-19 outbreak. (Strain,2020)

● Overcome physical boundaries for broader reach

Webcasting can allow teachers to access students in different areas, or even across
different countries. Without the boundaries of the physical classroom, teachers can
still deliver the lectures and reach the students globally.

By opening a webcast, universities/colleges not only have a broader reach, but also
can involve more students in the online classroom at one time, since there are not
any physical constraints of the traditional classroom or lecture hall. With the webcast
platform, teachers can broadcast high-quality lectures to hundreds or even thousands
of students anywhere, anytime, on any device. Faculty or school can host larger
webcasts to involve more students at one time, like some scheduling issues.

● Use interactive features such as polls

Webcasts can provide an interactive learning environment that can engage students in
the online classroom. For example, teachers encourage interaction, taking advantage
of the functions, like polling to keep students engaged. Polling during lectures and
sharing the results in real time is a great way to engage students, and to provide an
overall understanding of the content or subjects.

● Record classes and review on-demand

Besides, teachers can upload additional materials, such as worksheets, slides, and
articles to the webcast platform for students to refer to during the class. Moreover, the
recording is another function, which can be provided to students immediately after
the webcast is finished. Students could play back and review the lecture on demand if
they missed some notes, which can improve their engagement during class and also
improve their performance.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 14

● Introduce guest lecturers

Teachers or professors can invite other famous professors or experts in the industry
to join their webcast as a guest presenter, which can help expand the knowledge and
resources between the industries and different universities.

Webcast provides more opportunities to guest lectures due to the flexible time and
space, because there are significantly fewer scheduling conflicts for an online lecture
as opposed to an on-premise presentation. Some famous experts and professors can
join in the online lectures without leaving their homes or workplaces, which allows
them to think outside the tradition, when it comes to the curriculum and learning
strategies.

Besides, for the students, it is a great way for them to enhance their educational
experience, and get maximum exposure to the guest lecturer globally, as they talk
about their real life experiences, instead of repeating the content from textbooks.

● Conduct exams online

Webcasts can also be used to organize online quizzes or assessments. Teachers can
integrate some video clips and questions to make an interactive learning experience,
or create a quiz or an exam after webcast is done. Teachers can access all the answers
in the presenter portal, and students can get real-time results on their scores.

● Webcasting for campus tours

During the COVID-19 outbreak, most universities are closed or postponed to the new
semester. However, universities and colleges would be busy with high school juniors
and seniors touring the facilities and making their college choices. Now, universities
consider hosting virtual tours via a webcast for campus recruiting. High school
students can still share the best of what their university or college has to offer in a safe
way with everyone involved.

15 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2.1.2 Using webcasts in education

Preparation before the live broadcast and feedback after the live broadcast is also crucial
for the whole teaching process. We list some suggestions for three stages (before the live
broadcast, in the live broadcast, after the live broadcast) for you to follow:

• The first stage is before the live broadcast. This process mainly occurs offline.
Instructors conduct instructional design and assign related tasks to students before
the live broadcast lesson through multiple channels, such as posting questionnaires
or preview materials in the form of URL or QR codes. The instructor should collect and
analyze the student's feedback before the class;

• The second stage is the live broadcast. This process mainly occurs online. Instructors
give live lectures in live classrooms, and students also listen to lectures online via the
Internet. In this process, instructors can show them in a live lecture according to the
data/feedback collected before the live broadcast. If necessary, you can also interact
with online students through the platform function;

• The third stage is after the live broadcast. This process mainly occurs offline. In the
past, the live webcast teaching was done after the live broadcast, but the O2O live
teaching needs to post a second task to the students after the live broadcast. The
students will answer online or give offline feedback to the live broadcast classroom, so
that instructors can improve instructional design and provide differentiated guidance
to students.(Ni & Ding, 2017)

In order to use webcasts in education, the following guidelines can be used for video
conferencing from various institutions.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 16

 Table 1. Video conferencing guidelines from various institutions

Video
Institution Rationale Example Guidelines
Conferencing Uses
“Increased availability of
technology has expanded •Run a test
Faculty use video opportunities for presentations •Send written material
Pennsylvania State conferencing as a method and meetings via video •ahead of time
University (PSU, of extending their conferencing, which is an •Ensure proper lighting
2006) (USA) classrooms to students at enhancement over earlier •Distribute etiquette
different locations. conferencing due to its visual •Have backup plan if
and audio connections.” (PSU, •technology fails
2006, p. 1)

“Video conferencing uses audio

and video to bring people at
•Ensure adequate lighting
different sites together for a
•Properly position
Create virtual meeting meeting. The meeting can be
University of •microphones
environments that allow as simple as a conversation
Pittsburgh •Eliminate background noise
participants at different between two people in private
(2008) •Label site
locations to see and offices (point-to-point) or
(USA) •Provide copies of handouts
interact with one another. can involve several sites
used during
(multipoint) with many people
•Session
in large rooms.” (University of
Pittsburgh, 2008, para. 1)

Stanford “offers three video

•Copyright concerns
conferencing options ... that
•Professional standards for
Distance learning, donor [can be used] to meet and
classrooms
Stanford outreach, group meetings, collaborate with colleagues
•No third-party content
University interviews; lectures, office across campus or around the
without permission
(2012) hours; peer reviews, world, reducing travel time
•Do not use cumulative
(USA) study groups, virtual and expense while increasing
material
classrooms. communication and sharing.”
•Do not include private
(Stanford University, 2012,
(patient) information
“Overview,” para. 1)

“DVC [desktop
videoconferencing] at
CSU provides the ability
to connect to traditional
•Security concerns
Charles Sturt scheduled room based video
•Etiquette
University Teaching, research, conferencing meetings as well
•Encourage all to participate
(CSU, 2012) administrative needs. as conduct ad hoc desktop
•Eliminate "back chatting"
(Australia) video conferencing meetings
Introduce all participants
with other desktop video
conferencing participants.”
(CSU, 2012, “Introduction,”
para. 1)

(Source: Gautreau, C. et al.(2012). Video Conferencing Guidelines for Faculty and Students in Graduate Online Courses, (2012),
Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 8(4):277:287. Retrieved from https://jolt.merlot.org/vol8no4/gautreau_1212.pdf)

17 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Tip 4. Preparing for using a video conference/webcasting platform for
teaching online:

◉ Audio and video testing: Before the session, please make both sound and camera tested.

◉ Carrying out a quick test about the activities: Try to practice what you want your students to
do with your family, colleague or friend.

◉ Making your teaching accessible by any device: Because some students may enter the room
on their phones or tablets.

◉ Using the full name in the online class: Nicknames are not useful when trying to record who
was present.

◉ Be prepared for something to go wrong: Making a Facebook group, WeChat group or email
group to send an instant message to students if there is something wrong.

◉ Staying calm and keeping a smile when something goes wrong: asking the students if
anyone has any ideas and their suggestions will give you a little thinking space!

◉ Most of all, enjoy it!

Source: https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2020/03/16/using-video-conference-platform-teaching-online/
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2019/10/how-videoconferencing-platforms-help-connect-campus-
communities

Story 1. Video conferencing tools fill a desire to feel connected——

University of Maine System (UMS)

Students at the University of Maine System (UMS) use Zoom to collaborate with coursemates and meet
with lecturers and supervisors at home. Instructors also use Zoom to invite guest speakers in—whether
from Maine or another part of the world.

The Zoom licensing agreement allows all the members in the UMS community to use the tool on any
device, says Angela Cook, director of classroom technology, but they also have access to Zoom-enabled
rooms featuring high-end technologies enhancing the conferencing experience.

Lecture halls and other large rooms have Vaddio and Huddle videoconferencing cameras and either
(hardwired) Biamp or (wireless) Revolabs microphones, while meeting rooms and seminar-style spaces
have Polycom Studio cameras with built-in microphones and speakers.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 18

USM started these installations after completing an exhaustive assessment of all classrooms systemwide
and then surveying the community about technology wants and needs.

The assessment made it clear that the majority of teaching spaces were long overdue for technology
upgrades, Cook recalls, while the surveys led to similar revelations around faculty and student
expectations.

“What we learned was that technology like Zoom could help our students feel more connected to their
courses and to the university itself,” she says. “It doesn’t resolve all of the issues we’re facing related to
student and faculty engagement in a university system of this size, but we like to think it’s a really good
start.”

Source: https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2019/10/how-videoconferencing-platforms-help-connect-campus-
communities

Story 2. Peking University actively carried out online teaching

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Peking University launched “5 + N” online teaching methods for students to
choose. There are five online teaching modes, including live broadcasting lessons, recorded broadcasting
lessons, MOOCs, seminars and classroom lessons, and several business online platforms such as Peking
University teaching network, online classroom, Classin, canvas, etc. Participants included more than 2,000
teachers, covering more than 20,000 students. The total online time of teachers and students exceeds
410,000 hours, and more than 1500 courses are opened online every week. Teachers broadcast more than
15,000 hours of live broadcasts, and more than 12,000 students participated in the live broadcast courses
every day.

Source:Wu,Y. (2020) Respond to crises, turn crises into opportunities, take the initiative to change, and build an
international online teaching platform and curriculum resources[Powerpoint slides].Video Conference on the Construction
of Online Teaching International Platform Courses in Universities.[2020-04-10]

19 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2.2 Learning with MOOCs
Online learning materials (such as applications and tools, documents, pictures, and videos)
are the carrier for online learners to acquire knowledge and the essential learning materi-
als for learners. They can improve the quality of the learning content provided, as well as
capacity-building and knowledge sharing. They are usually published in online reposito-
ries, which in turn are defined as digital databases containing learning resources (McGreal,
2011). In these repositories, learners can search for learning materials, view and download
learning materials and their metadata. The idea behind Open Educational Resources (OER)
is just those online learning materials. MOOC is a kind of particular OER. During the campus
closures, instructors and learners can use MOOCs independently or integrate MOOC content
into other online learning and teaching.

2.2.1 OER and the National Quality Open Courses in China

The term Open Educational Resources was first coined at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on Open
Courseware, and it was defined as “teaching, learning and research materials in any medi-
um – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an
open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with
no or limited restrictions.” China was one of the first Asian countries to adopt open educa-
tion and its related strategies following the MIT OpenCourseWare Conference in Beijing in
2003 (Tlili, Huang, Chang, Nascimbeni, & Burgos, 2019). In order to promote the sharing of
high-quality teaching resources and improve the quality of education and teaching, several
initiatives have been launched in China to support the adoption and creation of OER. MOE
of China initiated the National Quality Course in 2003 and National Quality Open Courses in
2011. (Huang, Liu, Tlili, Gao, & Koper, 2020).

● National Quality Course

In 2003 the MOE of China initiated the National Quality Course (NQC) to reform
teaching content and enhance courses. Approximately 750 universities participated
in the development of NQCs from 2003 to 2010, resulting in the development of 3,790
NQCs, of which 2,525 were general undergraduate courses, and 1,265 were vocational
college and online education courses. While this initiative is noted as an OER, it is also
noted that the NQCs adopted China’s Copyright Law (all rights reserved).

● Construction of National Quality Open Courses (NQOC) (2011)

This initiative focuses on sharing quality educational resources, showcasing best

practices in teaching, encouraging independent learning, and supporting open
learning using online platforms. It also involves the building of 1,000 quality open
video courses (QOVC) and 5,000 quality open resource course (QORC). The Ministry of
Education provides subsidies for NQOCs, and local universities/colleges also provide

April, 2020. Version 1.2 20

 funds for the development of quality open courses.

There are several initiatives that have been launched in China to support the adoption and
creation of OER, which are listed below.

Table 2. Different OER Initiatives launched in China

Name of OER Participating

Brief Description of Initiative
Initiative Organizations
Construction of
Focuses on sharing of quality educational resources, showcasing
National Quality
best practices in teaching, encouraging independent learning,
Open Courses Ministry of Education
and supporting open learning using online platform. Including
(NQOC) (2011) Universities & colleges
the building of 1000 quality open video courses (QOVC) and
http://www.
5000 quality open resource course (QORC).
icourses.cn/home/

XuetangX aims to provide advanced systematic education to

Tsinghua the public and offer the opportunity for every single Chinese
XuetangX (2013)
MOOC-CN Information to enjoy the best education that is available around the world,
http://www.
Technology(Beijing) and now over 1000 free courses from Tsinghua, Fudan, MITx,
xuetangx.com
CO,Ltd HarvardX and many other universities can be taken here for
free.

In november, 2010, NetEase launched “Open Course Project”,

NetEase open with the first batch of 1200 courses put on-line, including more
courses (2010) than 200 videos with Chinese subtitles. People could freely
NetEase
https://open.163. access open courses from world-class overseas and domestic
com/cuvocw/ universities such as Harvard University. “This project is
completely public welfare”.

NetEase Cloud Classroom is an online platform for practical

NetEase cloud
skills learning created by NetEase company, which is officially
classroom (2012)
NetEase launched at the end of December 2012, which provides a large
https://study.163.
quantity of courses for learners, and the users can arrange their
com
own study progress according to their own learning level.

CNMOOC(2015) CNMOOC platform independently developed by Shanghai

https://www. Shanghai Jiaotong Jiaotong University 2014, was officially launched, providing
cnmooc.org/home/ University large-scale Chinese online courses to the world. Now there are
index.mooc over 1000 free courses that are available around world.

MOOC China is a Chinese MOOC network that collects the

MOOC China 37s universities and open world’s outstanding open online courses. Coursera, udemy, etc.,
https://www.mooc. distance education public as well as other MOOCS platforms from China, such as MOOC of
cn/ service system in China China University, have collected 1696 online courses from the
best universities in the world.

21 April, 2020. Version 1.2

The OER paradigm was officially adopted during the 2012 World
OER Congress (Paris Declaration), demonstrating the increasing
worldwide interest towards open education movements emphat-
ically. The OER vision was to provide educational resources that,
unlike in traditional learning in universities/schools, would be
free and open for everyone. Since then, several institutions have
started providing open courses to learners, mostly in the form of
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

2.2.2 Integrate MOOC content into online learning

The first MOOCs emerged from the OER movement, which was
sparked by MIT OpenCourseWare project. The term MOOC was
coined in 2008 by Dave Cormier of the University of Prince Edward
Island in response to a course called Connectivism and Connec- Term 6. MOOC
tive Knowledge (also known as CCK08). CCK08, which was led by
George Siemens of Athabasca University and Stephen Downes of A m a s s i ve o p e n o n l i n e co u rs e ( M O O C )

the National Research Council, consisted of 25 tuition-paying stu- is an online course aimed at unlimited

dents in Extended Education at the University of Manitoba, as well participation and open access via the web

as over 2200 online students from the general public who paid (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2016). In addition to

nothing. All course content was available through RSS feeds, and traditional course materials, such as filmed

online students could participate through collaborative tools, in- lectures, readings, and problem sets, many

cluding blog posts, threaded discussions in Moodle, and Second MOOCs provide interactive courses with user

Life meetings. (Wiki, n.d.b) forums or social media discussions to support

community interactions among students,

Compared with the traditional courses, MOOCs have some intrin- professors, and teaching assistants (TAs), as

sic characteristics: large scale, openness, personalized learning well as immediate feedback to quick quizzes

formats for students, and instant record of learning behaviors and assignments. MOOCs are a recent and

and process. These features have significantly impact higher ed- widely researched development in distance

ucation during the campus closures period caused by COVID-19. education. (Masson, 2014) MOOCs provide an

Students’ learning experiences and results are well enhanced by affordable and flexible way to learn new skills

getting free access to over 41,000 courses on the MOOCs of Chi- and deliver quality educational experiences at

nese Universities. scale.

MOOCs have some components, e.g., videos, assignments, dis-

cussion forums, interactive sessions, additional resources, and
others. MOOCs can be used as additional resources for the flipped
classroom and blended learning, based on the analysis of learner
characteristics, contents, and resources required in the learning.
For example, a teacher can create a hybrid course that incorpo-
rates the MOOCs of other teachers. Hybrid course teachers can
select and fix online components of the hybrid course from the

April, 2020. Version 1.2 22

MOOCs and others, and develop in-class components. This method can simplify the hybrid
course design in some aspects. However, it may be a challenge to integrate the in-class com-
ponents into the existing MOOC in a way that optimizes student participation, satisfaction,
and final learning. (Bruff, Fisher, McEwen ＆ Smith, 2013)

According to the online platform used by instructors, MOOC-based online learning is catego-
rized into MOOC platform-led type and universities’ own LMS-led. In the MOOC platform-led
type, the task of instructors may be simply giving a link to MOOCs and reviewing the evi-
dence for course completion on the platform. In the other case, instructors transfer useful
materials that will be integrated into their learning activities design, from MOOCs platform
to Universities’ own LMS (such as Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard).

To integrate MOOC content or other high-quality online resources into one’s teaching effec-
tively, the instructor can follow some tips. (de Jong et al., 2019)

• Clearly define what content you want to include in your course.

• Determine the way you like to use online materials.

• Search for MOOCs on the selected topic.

• Determine the availability of the specific MOOC and its contents.

• Gauge the credibility of the MOOC before deciding to integrate.

• Ensure the MOOC content is freely available to your students.

• Determine if the MOOC contains the desired teaching modes.

• Determine the social-epistemological dimensions of the course.

• Make sure you align the goals, the teaching and learning activities, and the assess-
ments.

• Provide clear instructions to students on how to enroll in the MOOC or access the
MOOC content.

• Provide clear instructions to students on how to utilize the MOOC and its resources.

• Determine the success of MOOC integration.

23 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Story 3. Self-directed learning supported by Coursera

In the online course “Powerful Teaching Tools: Web2.0 Tools” set up by Professor Bernard of the University
of Houston, the Coursera platform is used to provide a large number of videos and reading materials.
Students complete self-directed learning based on learning tasks and pass the weekly test and feedback in
the form of submitting self-reports.

Figure 1. Online course “Powerful Teaching Tools: Web2.0 Tools”

Delivered via Coursera, the American online learning platform facilitates online learning of the course
“Powerful tools for teaching and learning: Web 2.0 Tools”. This course lasts five weeks, with approximately
half an hour of video lectures a week. It provides quizzes, weekly exercises, readings and discussion forums
for students to conduct self-learning and self-assessment. The course is also provided on-demand, in which
case learners can take their time in completing the course with all of the material available at once.

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/teaching-learning-tools

April, 2020. Version 1.2 24

2.3 Flipped instruction with video clips

Flipped instruction has other similar terms, such as flipped learn-

ing, flipped classroom, and flipped classroom instruction.

According to the online Flipped Learning Network (https://

flippedlearning.org/), flipped learning means using lecture vid-
eos as homework and using class time for more in-depth learning,
such as discussions, projects, experiments, and providing individ-
Term 7. Flipped instruction
ualized guidance for individual students. The basis for the model
is that, the next day’s lectures or lessons are recorded videos and
Flipped instruction is a pedagogical strategy
presented to the students as homework on the night before. Stu-
primarily to deliver lectures in the form of pre-
dents watch videos the night before class to prepare for the next
recorded video clips before class and spend
class day’s activities, which are directed by the instructor. (Sauer,
students’ engagement in collaboration and
2016)
interaction for in-depth learning

The “flipped classroom,” which means inverted classroom or re-

verse classroom, refers to an instructional approach that employs
“interactive group learning activities inside the classroom, and
direct computer-based individual instruction outside the class-
room”. (Bishop & Verleger, 2013).

Flipped classroom instruction is a pedagogical strategy primar-

ily used in higher education settings, which is becoming more
and more dominant in high schools and middle schools (Tucker,
2012). Flip classrooms are also known as mixed models (Garrison
& Kanuka, 2004) or mixed learning (Tucker, 2012), and flipped
classrooms convert what would be considered didactical lectures
or textbook instruction into how-to instructional tutorials via vid-
eo or podcast.

In the beginning, the need for the flipped classroom was

derived from the demands of students who were absent from
the classes. In 2007, two chemistry instructors, Jonathan
Bergmann and Aaron Sams, posted their own courseware and
video lessons online for absent students who hope to make up
for the missing courses, and the first prototype of the flipped
classroom had arrived (Liu, Zhang & Fan, 2013). Since that time,
they have completed research on this model as a way to deliver
instruction all of the time, written books, and created an online
learning network for teachers who need resources to flip their
own classroom instruction.

As the demands on faculty time increase and the volume of

25 April, 2020. Version 1.2

information for which students are responsible mounts up, the use of formal lecture-
based content delivery may increase (Goldberg, Haase, Shoukas, & Schramm, 2006). This
reduces the in-class opportunities for teachers to create a student-centered environment
in their classrooms. In a flipped or inverted classroom, the teacher will “lecture” in the
form of a pre-recorded video before the lesson and spend the classroom time to engage
students in learning activities related to cooperation and interaction (Mok, 2014).

Through the increase of online instructional videos via YouTube, Curious, Khan Academy,
Vimeo or even self-created instruction, educators are transitioning their instructional
strategies to include flipped classroom methodologies. By doing so, instruction is
provided outside the traditional four-wall classroom while application of material and
assessments are conducted within the classroom in a more kinesthetic and interactive
learning approach. (Mattis, 2015)

2.3.1 Benefits of flipped instruction

Comparing with traditional lectures which are associated with passive learning, flipped
instruction is one way of active learning, which engage students in this process and draw
them into the material by stimulating excitement and motivation. Research on the flipped
classroom used by the University of Florida shows that 85% of students strongly agree that
this is a good method. (Kim, Patrick, Srivastava, & Law, 2014)

The recent movement to integrate the flipped classroom model into higher education has
led to major changes that have affected teaching practices in different ways. In 2019, the
Association for Educational Communications and Technology published a review of 85 stud-
ies on flipping classrooms. The result from reviewing these studies showed how the flipped
classroom model could be used in teaching and learning across university disciplines (Al-Sa-
marraie, Shamsuddin, & Alzahrani, 2019). The distribution of these 85 studies is mainly in
the following seven subjects: medicine and health sciences (23.5%), natural sciences (20%),
social sciences and humanities (20%), engineering and technology (16.2%), mathematics
(9.4%) education level (8.2%), and art (3.5%).

Flipped instruction is strongly popular among the students, mainly because the learning
process stimulates self-engagement and interaction. As a good and effective approach, flip-
ping teaching can reduce mental effort and cognitive input, to obtain better learning results,
and better achieve teaching goals and/or speed up learning. Another advantage of flipped
teaching includes the promotion of distance learning to ease the traditional classroom en-
vironment in the economic constraints, which leads to a reduction in class size and a low
teacher-student ratio (Berrett 2012).

Flipped instruction can provide teachers and students with many advantages. For example,
the use of active learning strategies in the class time can enable teachers to understand stu-
dents’ learning styles and difficulties better, use class time more effectively and creatively,
and customize courses and provide personalized teacher-student guidance and peer collab-

April, 2020. Version 1.2 26

oration meeting the learning needs of different student groups (Roehl, Reddy and Shannon,
2013). Moreover, students also responded positively to flipped instruction. Studies have
shown that this method is more attractive to students than traditional university lectures
(Nouri, 2016). And it can stimulate students’ more positive attitudes towards learning (Jeong,
González-Gómez, & Cañada- Cañada, 2016).

Flipped instruction has changed traditional classroom dynamics. To support students to the
greatest extent, effective way is to let students watch instructional videos for homework,
and use class time to solve their problems and have a real and lively discussion.

2.3.2 Designing the flipped instruction

Confronted with the accidental COVID-19 outbreak, most of the teachers and administrators
have no preparation for online learning, especially the teachers giving practice-oriented
courses.

Flipping instruction refers to making full use of the model stage, as shown in Figure 1, to
provide students with video/digital media courses before the class to expose them to learn-
ing materials for the first time. Besides, students who participate in the flipped instruction
must have the opportunity to complete assignments/quizzes before or at the beginning
of the class. Finally, teachers must provide answers to students’ questions through class
time teaching, and allow them to practice collaboratively and apply the learning materials
received before the class to practice (Al-Samarraie et al., 2019). In the period of campus clo-
sure, the in-class interaction and discussion can be conducted online with some interactive
software or webcasts.

Figure 2. A comparison between the traditional and flipped classrooms

27 April, 2020. Version 1.2

The University of Florida (UF) Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s degree curriculum (spring
2013 course) was taught in “Flipped Classroom”. Students need to watch the lecture online
in advance and prepare to solve problems in the group. These lectures are the same as those
used in the Fall 2012 course, which have been recorded and posted online. Unlike large
lectures, nine groups discuss three times a week. The group can recruit up to 20 students.
These students were expected to solve the example problem together. These are similar to
the problems assigned to homework last semester. The homework questions for the fall of
2012 and the class questions for the spring of 2013 are similar to each other and similar to
the exam. The laboratory in the spring of 2013 was consistent with the laboratory in the au-
tumn of 2012 to focus more time on solving the guiding problem, which the author believes
is crucial to the success of the students. (Kim, Patrick, Srivastava, & Law, 2014)

2.3.3 Organizing the flipped instruction

Based on the class design, there are a lot of things needed for organizing the flipped instruc-
tion.

In the University of Florida (UF) Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s degree curriculum (the
Spring 2013 course), the flipped instruction was shown as follows. ( Kim et al., 2014)

• The lectures had been recorded and posted online.

• Students were expected to watch the lectures online in advance and come to class pre-
pared to work problems in small groups.

• Instead of one large lecture section, nine thrice-weekly recitation sections were offered,
with a maximum enrollment of 20 students, who were broken into groups of four and
expected to work together on sample problems.

• These were similar problems assigned as homework and exam problems as in the tradi-
tional lectures.

• The in-class time could focus more time on guided problem solving, because anecdotal-
ly the authors had come to believe that this was critical to students’ success.

• This course also had weekly quizzes, three exams, and a final, with a similar schedule to
the traditional lectures.

• To encourage students to watch the lectures, each lesson begins with 5-minute con-
cept-oriented quizzes, which are relatively simple.

• The assessment methodology was different from the traditional lectures, in which the
results observed from the small group problem sessions.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 28

• Course sizes were similar to traditional lectures.

• The effectiveness of these methods was assessed and evaluated in terms of student at-
titude, retention, and performance (Kim, Patrick, Srivastava, & Law, 2014).

• For millennial learners, engagement (Roehl, Reddy, and Shannon, 2013) is more import-
ant than ever. They believe that millennials are more intolerant of traditional lecture
-tyle teaching methods than other generations (Vaughan, 2014).

In the flipped classroom, various pedagogical tools and methods have been developed and
adopted.

Tip 5. What are the pedagogical tools and methods used in the flipped
instruction?

Here are the pedagogical tools and methods:

◉ Provide interactive software or Web-based materials in class.

◉ Complete online delivery of content.

◉ Employ problem-based learning.

◉ Social interaction occurring between students and their teachers are the key ingredient to
the program’s success.

Source:
① Kim, G.J., Patrick, E.E., Srivastava, R., Law,M.E. (2014) Perspective on Flipping Circuits, IEEE
Transactions on education, vol 57 (3): 188-192.
② Beichner, R., Resnick, M., Young, J., & Paine, S.(2011). Technology and the Human Connection. New York,
NY, USA: McGraw-Hill.

29 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Flipped teaching is a response to the idea that classroom time can be used to enable stu-
dents to participate in learning through active learning techniques rather than through in-
dividual lectures. This more student-centered learning strategy has replaced traditional lec-
tures. This learning strategy includes active learning, discussion, problem-based learning,
and other forms of group work and peer guidance. The distribution of the learning content
was moved out of the classroom and changed to video or reading before class.

There is no fixed formula for flipping a class, because the amount of flipping varies by course
and class. Here is the case recently-used with flipped instruction in Shanghai.

Story 4. Confronted with COVID-19 outbreak, “Flipped Classroom” meeting

online teaching is the way-out for teachers and students in Shanghai

PS: the flipped classroom, in this case, refers to the flipped instruction discussed in this section.

The School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University carried out “Flipped
Classroom”

On March 2, 2020, the School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University offered 25
undergraduate courses and 20 graduate courses using the Flipped Classroom model. It combines offline
course recording with real-time online interaction. The courses adopt the teaching modes, which include
self-study before class, question and answer in class, and simulation training after class. Through this novel
teaching mode, students are stimulated to learn independently and think deeply, and this mode cultivates
their innovative and diversified ways of thinking and learning habits to further achieve a more in-depth and
true learning outcome.

“Flipped Classroom” is an education model that many universities are practicing. Students watch teaching
videos and read teaching materials before class to complete the “big class,” which is theoretical knowledge
learning. In “small class,” teachers help students digest and understand the theoretical knowledge
by organizing a large number of classroom activities, achieving the goal of guiding practice by theory.
Therefore, this is a student-led-classroom class, and the class is full of teacher-student interaction.

The course “Instant Location and Map Construction” introduces the technologies and algorithms required
to enable smart mobile devices to track their own location in a given environment. Professor Laurent
Knip said that this sudden change in online teaching had brought new challenges and pressures to both
teachers and students, but we must also see the advantages of online teaching. Laurent Knip believes that
“students can adjust the teaching rhythm by replaying and pausing. And I also have the opportunity to
stop to listen to the video I recorded, and make further adjustments according to the video effect, and work
hard to make students have a better listening experience.”

April, 2020. Version 1.2 30

 Figure 3. Online Teaching of “Instant Location and Map Construction”

2017 graduate student Huang Shuai learned the content of the course in advance through the video
recorded by the teacher; in the online course, he followed the professor to solve the key and difficult parts.
“When Professor Laurent draws on a shared screen, I feel like sitting in front of a blackboard. The recorded
videos, online courses, and notes greatly facilitate our review process after class.” Huang Shuai said,
“Learning in the classroom, it is difficult for shy students to ask questions out loud, especially when sitting
behind the classroom. Now, we can easily communicate online, it feels like having a private tutor. ”

In order to better assist and cooperate with teachers to carry out teaching activities, the School of
Information Science and Technology also added teaching counselors during this special period. The
teaching counselor will assist the professors to record the course in advance, record the attendance rate
of the students and the student's interaction with the class. After the class, the teaching counselor and the
instructor hold a meeting to discuss the development and recording of the follow-up courses. The recorded
online explanations and Q&A were also shared with the students so that they could watch it repeatedly.

The School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University has carried out “Flipped
Classroom” for more than a month. Teachers continue to polish the course before the class in order to find
problems early, and then improve and ensure that the formal online teaching goes smoothly. Through
continuous communication and adjustment in the early stage, students have gradually adapted to the new
teaching model, which is “self-study—reflection—interaction—feedback.”

Source: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1663094982017853063&wfr=spider&for=pc

31 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2.4 Group learning

Group learning has many different names (for example, group

work, cooperative learning, group learning, peer coaching, etc.)
(Faculty Innovation Center of the University of Texas at Austin,
2019). It has different forms at different levels, from two students
solving a simple problem to a team completing a comprehensive
Term 8. Cooperative learning
project. According to the different types of questions or prob-
lems, group learning can be related to project-based learning,
Cooperative learning is the instructional use of
inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, and so on. To
small groups so that students work together to
make group learning more effective, students need to practice
maximize their own and each other’s learning.
team-building skills and learn to be responsible for themselves
In cooperative learning situations, there is a
and the group.
positive interdependence among students’
goal attainments; students perceive that they
can reach their learning goals if and only if
the other students in the learning group also

2.4.1 Encouraging cooperative learning reach their goals. Cooperative efforts result in
participants striving for mutual benefit so that
all group members benefit from each other’s
Cooperative learning includes a wide range of strategies to pro-
efforts, recognizing that all group members
mote academic learning through peer cooperation and commu-
share a common fate, realizing that one’s
nication. Students should help each other learn, share ideas and
performance is mutually caused by oneself
resources, and jointly plan learning content and methods. Teach-
and one’s colleagues, and feeling proud and
ers allow students to choose the content and objectives of learn-
jointly celebrating when a group member
ing activities while not giving specific instructions, to activate
is recognized for achievement. (Johnson, &
students to participate actively in the process of acquiring knowl-
Johnson, 2017)
edge. (Davidson & Major, 2014, as cited in Huang et al., 2020a )

There are five essential elements to mediate the effectiveness of

cooperative learning, and they are known as PIGS Face: positive
interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual and group
accountability, social skills, and group processing(wiki, n.d.a)

Before building a group, how a group develops should

be understood. A structured process of effective group
development is essential for constructing a group. Tuckman
(1965, as cited in Huang et al., 2019), Tuckman and Jensen
(1977, as cited in Huang et al., 2019) summarized that group
development process regards five stages: forming, storming,
norming, performing, and adjourning( Huang et al., 2019)

• Forming: Students come together for the same learning

goals, and they need to know about the characteristics and
differences of each other. At this stage, they should become

April, 2020. Version 1.2 32

 Tip 6. Skills for an effective group process

For students, they need to know how to manage the process so that they can effectively
accomplish their tasks. Students can perform more productively and effectively if they acquire
these skills.

◉ Individual responsibility and accountability: Everyone in the group should agree on what
needs to be done and who should be responsible for a particular part. Then each group
member is clear about what his/her specific job is and takes responsibility to accomplish the
task.

◉ Constructive Feedback: Group members should give and receive feedback about group
ideas. Constructive feedback requires students to focus on group thoughts and behaviours
positively and offering his/her own recommendations for better improvement. Giving
feedback requires group members to listen carefully, ask questions, and be open to change
others’ ideas.

◉ Problem solving: Group members help each other to utilize strategies to approach their
goals, so that they can facilitate group decision making effectively and avoid conflict.
Besides, they know when to ask the professor for advice and help.

◉ Management and organization: Group members should know the strategies to make plans,
to manage their time and activity, and to hold discussions. For example, they make sure
that the group schedule is created and followed, and that everyone has an opportunity to
participate and give their voice.

◉ Knowledge of roles: There are different roles in a group (e.g., facilitator, idea-generator,
summarizer, evaluator, mediator, encourager, recorder). Group members should also be
aware of which one they are suitable for. They are also willing to exchange their roles to
maximize the learning experiences of the group members.

Source: Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo, https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-

excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/tips-students/being-part-team/teamwork-skills-being-effective-
group-member

familiar with each other and their tasks. Besides, discussing the content of the task,
formulating the methods to deal with the problem, and establishing the rules of
participation are also important.

• Storming: When the group attempts to accomplish a task or to achieve a goal,

conflicts about responsibility, division, or disagreement on the rules may appear. So
at this stage, they should be open to others, giving explanations, testing ideas, and so
on to find the solutions.

33 April, 2020. Version 1.2

• Norming: When the group settles a conflict and gains harmony, the members become
more positively engaged. They are more willing to share information, communicating,
and solving new problems. So clarification of interaction processes and taking actions
to address issues are essential at this stage.

• Performing: Reaching this stage, members are genuinely interdependent, and the
group has developed a real unity. They collaborate smoothly and play their own roles
according to the group’s actual needs. The main thing at this stage is solving problems
in the best way to approach the improvement of the group.

• Adjourning: At last, a group can be terminated when the task is over or for other
reasons. The important thing at this stage is the conclusion, recognizing member’s
achievements and contributions.

Group development is not always linear. The group process can loop back to the former
stage when there are unsolved conflicts, new members’ joining, or other difficulties in
understanding. Rules of engagement established in the early stages will help later stages
when they meet new problems.

Cooperative learning groups are classified into different types according to their purposes.
Within formal cooperative learning, students work together from one class to several
weeks to achieve common goals and complete particular learning tasks, while students
at informal cooperative learning work together in temporary groups lasting within one
class period. Cooperative base groups have a long term learning collaboration with
responsibilities to provide support, assistance, and encouragement for each other to
develop. (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 2008, as cited in Johnson, & Johnson, 2013)

There are four components in cooperative learning activity: teacher-student interaction,

student-student interaction, task specialization and materials, and role expectations and
responsibilities. We can implement five steps to establish a task structure for a cooperative
learning activity (Borich, 2014).

• Specify the goal. Your job is to identify the outcome of the activity for students and
check for their understanding of the activity.

• Structure the task. Cooperative learning activity allows the division of labor, role
responsibilities, collaborative efforts, and end products that promote students’
critical thinking. Four characteristics may help positive interdependence, individual
accountability, equal participation, and simultaneous interaction.

• Instruct and evaluate the process. Teachers ought to identify collaborative

behaviours to instruct students in the process. Students need to exchange thoughts,
ideas, and feelings with each other comfortably and efficiently.

• Monitor group performance. You can take several actions to facilitate students

April, 2020. Version 1.2 34

 during the process, such as guiding the access to information, repeating the timeline,
exhibiting the product model, etc. The purpose of your monitoring activity is to extract
a group from a blind alley and to provide emotional support and encouragement to
get the final success.

• Debrief. Group members could rate each other’s collaborative performance and
obtain their group averages during debriefing to identify their strengths and
deficiencies.

Social interaction is important to an effective learning process. Online group learning can
provide an ideal environment in which interactions among students play a central role in
the learning process. But when teachers try to introduce online group learning into their
courses, they may face some problems. There are seven of the most common problems
and the appropriate solutions for each. (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007)

Table 3. Seven of the most common problems and some appropriate solutions for online group learning

Problems Appropriate solutions

• Tell the students the benefits!

Student antipathy towards group work
• Make the assessment criteria explicit.

• Select at random.
The selection of the groups
• Deliberately select heterogeneous groups.

• Introduce new courses.

A lack of essential group-work skills
• Cover the skills required at the beginning of the course.

• Use pressure from the instructor.

The free-rider • Use peer pressure openly and unashamedly.
• Employ a marking scheme that penalizes free-riders
• Identify potential “suckers” in advance.
Possible inequalities of student abilities • Employ an appropriate reward scheme.
• Use subgroups within groups where feasible

• Take no action.
The withdrawal of group members, and • Use a multiplier on the group work.
• Use a multiplier on the remaining course work.

• Use individual assessment.

The assessment of individuals within the
• Assess individual contributions.
groups
• Use self, peer, and group assessment techniques.

35 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2.4.2 Promoting project-based learning

Like Cooperative learning, project-based learning is also a form

of group learning. Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching
method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world
Term 9. Project-based
and personally meaningful projects. Students will design, devel-
learning
op, and construct real solutions to a problem, which can be seen
as learning by doing. The focus of project-based learning is on Project-based learning takes place in the

promoting students’ ability to develop creative, realistic, tangible context of authentic problems, continues over

solutions to sometimes difficult problems through teamwork time, and brings in knowledge from many

(Project-Based Learning, 2020). It will facilitate students to trans- subjects. Project-based learning, if properly

fer their knowledge and skills to a real-world situation. implemented and supported, helps students
develop 21st century skills including creativity,

Within the framework of project-based learning, students collaboration, and leadership and engages

seek solutions to problems by asking and refining questions, them in complex, real-world challenges that

debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans and/ help them meet expectations for critical

or experiments, collecting and analysing data, drawing thinking. (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,

conclusions, communicating their ideas and discoveries to 2017)

others, raising new questions, and creating artifacts (Blumenfeld

et al., 1991). They are guided by what they think the result of
their project should be. The teacher coaches the team to keep
students on task and keep their work productive while students
develop self-management and collaboration skills. By providing
peer feedback on the content and demonstrating respect for
their own findings, more substantive content is learned. The
end product of each team is often presented to the whole class,
demonstrating their understanding of what they learned. (Huang
et al., 2019)

Depending on the goals of the instructor, structured or

unstructured projects can be chosen, the period and size of the
project can vary greatly. The implementation of project-based
learning belongs to a constructive approach, which involves four
key phrases: (Project-Based Learning: Teaching Guide, 2020)

• Defining the problem. Firstly, students should ask

questions about the problem. They need to define the
problem in terms of given contexts and identify the nature
and scope of the problem.

• Generating ideas. To solve the given problem, students

should generate multiple ideas by brainstorms and
discussions. One or more solutions should be proposed.

• Prototyping solutions. Once potential solutions to the

April, 2020. Version 1.2 36

 problem are decided, students need to design and prototype solutions with products
or services. Students should design, construct, and deliver the prototype in a rapid
iteration.

• Testing. When the prototype is completed, the students should present it to the
audience to show how well their products or services will work in a “live” or authentic
setting. Feedback would be given to the students, and they will generate new
questions to answer.

To help teachers do PBL well, PBLWorks (https://www.pblworks.org/) promotes a

research-based model for “Gold Standard PBL,” it has three parts: (a) Student Learning
Goals, (b) Essential Project Design Elements, and (c) Project Based Teaching Practices.
(Larmer, 2015)

Story 5. “Sample Project” from Yale University

At Yale, “Sample Project” is offered every year, Projects will differ year to year, class to class, and professor
to professor; they are also attempting to implement more STEM related projects in following years. For
example, Professor. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins launched “An Evaluation of Liberty Community Services
Eviction Prevention Program.” For Intersectionality and Women’s Health, in the spring of 2012, Professor.
Drew Marconi and Marlene Tempchin launched “Achieving Accurate Representation of English Language
Learners in Magnet Schools: Feasibility and Recommendations.” For Public Schools and Policy at the same
time.

Source: https://cbl.sites.yale.edu/about-us/sample-projects

37 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2.5 Joint online course

Teachers in different universities may have different advantag-

es and disadvantages about some courses, and the joint online
courses could be planned to meet the demands of each univer-
sity, normally through collaboratively teaching by teachers from
different universities and students attending the lectures online Term 10. Co-teaching
with supervising by local teachers.
Co-teaching is two or more people sharing
The form of two or more teachers lecturing together, which is responsibility for teaching some or all of
called co-teaching, could be traced back to the 1960s in US. the students assigned to a classroom. It
involves the distribution of responsibility
In co-teaching, the collaborative teachers must establish trust among people for planning, instruction, and
for each other, form periodically communication channels, share evaluation for a classroom of students (Villa,
the chores, celebrate, work together creatively to overcome the Thousand, & Nevin, 2013).
inevitable challenges and problems, and anticipate conflict and
handle it constructively. In the university closure, technology is
utilized to enhance co-teaching, and the joint online course could
be implemented by integrating two-way telecommunication tools
into the theory of co-teaching. The following principles from the
book of A guide to co-teaching: New Lessons and Strategies to
Facilitate Student Learning , could be considered when university
teachers open a joint online course. (Villa et al., 2013)

• Coordinating teacher’s work to fulfil at least one common,

publicly agreed-on goal.

• Sharing a belief system that each of the team members for

the joint course has the unique and needed expertise.

• Demonstrating parity through playing the dual roles of

expert and novice, teacher and learner, giver and recipient
of knowledge or skills alternatively.

• Using the distributed functions theory of leadership,

remembering that the task and relationship functions of the
traditional lone teacher will be distributed among all co-
teaching group members in a joint course.

• Utilizing a cooperative process that includes positive

interdependence, face-to-face interaction, performance, as
well as monitoring and processing of interpersonal skills,
and individual accountability.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 38

Some functions or responsibilities occur before, during, and after each lesson;
collaborative teachers should decide how they will divide up these jobs from one lesson
to the other. Some responsibilities will occur daily; others may take weekly or periodically;
and still others may take once or twice a year. Teachers should decide how the content will
be presented—for example, one person may give lectures, and the other(s) facilitate the
follow-up activities.

After the preparation, the instruction delivery method should be decided, like live video,
learning by MOOCs, flipped learning, etc. Also, grouping students should be decided,
students from different universities could form new groups according to the principle
of homogeneity between groups and heterogeneous in the group, or grouping by
universities.

Story 6. “Database System and Application” online collaborative teaching

during COIVD-19 outbreak--Northwest Normal University

A group of teachers, in the course of the “Database System and Application”, the School of Computer
Science and Engineering of Northwest Normal University, launched online collaborative teaching in the
face of the new model, new subject, and new challenge of online teaching in the current epidemic. The
group of teachers conducted many in-depth discussions and practical explorations on teaching team
organization, teaching content arrangement, teaching activity organization, teaching method selection,
online tool selection, and teaching concept transformation.

This group of teachers divided the teaching according to their own specialties and carried out comments
and supervision within the group to ensure the
quality of the courses. They also formed a working
mechanism for weekly discussion, class analysis,
chapter summary, and regular weekly meeting. It
breaks the teaching mode of full teaching, divides
the teaching process into knowledge guidance,
assignment, self-study, homework completion,
cross-talk summary, and difficulty analysis. They
constructed a multi-agent comprehensive learning
seminar hall of N (teacher) + M (student) under the
network environment, forming a teaching mode
of many-to-many classes, one-to-many small
class discussions, and one-to-one online question
answering. The practice transforms the teaching
concept, cultivates students’ independent Figure 4. Northwest Normal University "Database System and Application" online
learning ability, integrates new teaching tools in
collaborative teaching

the teaching process, such as Yangtze River and

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/BKKGjixEPZM-4HY6T0Mzkw

classroom, WeChat conference, Moodle platform,

MOOC resources, etc., to optimize the online
teaching process.

39 April, 2020. Version 1.2

3 Preparing Materials and Tools for
Learning and Teaching

Learning materials and tools are the two basic elements for an instructional system, except
for teachers and learners. Lots of free digital learning resources and tools are available for
use, and it is important to select the appropriate ones for our lesson. The criteria for select-
ing digital learning resources are elaborated, and different kinds of digital tools for teaching
and knowledge construction are discussed in the following part.

3.1 Using digital resources as learning materials

With the development of ICT in education, digital learning re-

sources (DLR) within higher education include not only various Term 11. Digital Learning
types of multimedia materials but also well-designed course Resource
activities such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Small Digital Learning Resource refers to materials
Private Online Courses (SPOCs), or online video micro-courses. included in the context of a course that
These DLR are making learning more accessible, engaging, and supports the learner's achievement of the
contextualized. However, we have to consider how to choose suit- described learning goals. These materials
able digital learning resources for learners while they are doing consist of a wide variety of digitally formatted
online learning activities. resources, including graphic images or photos,
audio, and video, simulations, animations,
prepared or programmed learning modules.
(Epigeum, 2019).

April, 2020. Version 1.2 40

3.1.1 The availability of Digital Learning Resources for Higher Education

Over the years, many digital learning resources have been created, including courses, pol-
icies, toolkits, as well as guidelines on online learning. During the campus closures, these
resources could assist with student learning. Table 4 presents a comprehensive review of
available digital learning resources that both teachers and learners can refer to in their con-
text.

Table 4. Classification of Digital Learning Resources

Objects
Higher education Adult education
Resources

National public platform for iCourse, FUN, IGNOU, Open

Xuexi.cn
educational resources Educational Resources

University Open Online Courses

Public platforms for educational (UOOC), Zhejiang Institutions of The Civil Learning Space in Capital Library
resources of regions Higher Learning Online Open Course of China
Sharing Platform

XuetangX, CHINESE MOOCS,

School-based resources at all The Open University of China, “SOU
Blackboard, JMOOC, Ewant,
levels Course” FM in Shanghai Open University
Commonwealth of Learning (COL)

All types of resources by

Zhihuishu, ulearning, NetEase
online educational enterprises Udacity, NetEase Cloud Classroom,
Online Open Courses, erya.mooc.
or school-enterprises Zhengbao Cloud Classroom
chaoxing.com
collaboration

International high-quality
ALISON, iversity, Open2Study, openupEd,
open educational resources Coursera, edX, Canvas, FutureLearn
CodeCademy
(OER)

41 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly
licensed text, media, and other digital resources that are useful Term 12. Open Educational
for teaching, learning, evaluation, and research (Open educa- Resources (OER)
tional resources, 2020). In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Open Educational Resources (OER) are
value and necessity of Open Solutions are crucial. Open Access to learning, teaching and research materials in
scientific information and open data facilitates better and faster any format and medium that reside in the
research towards a vaccine and inform public health measures public domain or are under copyright that
essential to contain the spread of the virus. OER keep citizens have been released under an open license,
updated and educated about the virus, helping to ensure their that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose,
compliance with public health advisories and allow learning to adaptation and redistribution by others.
continue at a distance. (UNESCO, 2019)

OER is expanding in scope and availability. One current problem

with this growth is that there is no complete list of all OER (nor
is there likely to be one, given the rapid expansion of online
content). To find appropriate OER, searchers will need to adopt
several search strategies.

Tip 7. Some search strategies to find appropriate OERs (Huang et al., 2020c)

◉ Use operators, such as “OER +” and “OER &” to include two or more terms: For instance,
if teachers or learners want to search for technologies used with OER, it is possible to
explore in this way: OER + technology.

◉ Use the minus sign to eliminate results containing certain words, such as “OER -”: If the
teacher wants to exclude results that contain specific terms, he/she can use the minus sign,
for instance: OER – open data.

◉ Use an asterisk within quotes to specify unknown or variable words, such as “OER is *”:
This is helpful if the teachers or learners are searching, for instance, for a specific definition,
but they could not make out the entire phrase (e.g., “OER is a public resource that *”).

◉ Use quotes to search for an exact phrase, such as “OER is defined”: Searching a phrase
in quotes will provide only pages with the same words in the same order as the way it is
written in the quotes. This trick is important especially if they trying to find relevant results
containing a specific phrase.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 42

3.1.2 The criteria for selecting digital learning resources

Ozdemir and Bonk (2017) have pointed out that searching and locating specifically
high-quality educational resources, among the thousands that are published, is a difficult
task. Therefore, teachers should carefully choose the quality of educational resources to use
by referring to well-known national and international repositories. Additionally, assessing
and selecting good quality DLR is one of the challenging tasks. Especially, DLR can be cho-
sen on several criteria, as follows: (Huang et al., 2020b)

• Licensing: Educators should choose the learning resources with open license or the
approved agreement from the creators/publishers, as this will allow them to reuse
and remix these DLR in their teaching context legally.

• Accuracy/quality of content: several DLR are published online without knowing

the reliability of the contents or the publishers. Therefore, educators should refer to
reliable DLR and platforms (please see the next section for further information).

• Interactivity: Educators should choose DLR with more interactive elements, which
can help increase the learning engagement and motivation of students. For instance,
using interactive open textbooks, instead of simple document files (i.e., PDF), will
make students more active and interested in learning.

• Adaptability: Educators should choose the DLR, which are easy to adapt in their
context, i.e., resources which can be easily mixed or modified to fit a specific learning
context. For example, PPT presentations can be excellent resources as they can be
easily readapted.

• Cultural relevance & sensitivity: Educators should choose the DLR that do not
convey any offensive information for any given race or culture.

• Suitable learning resources also include the following five criteria: (a) Suitability
of content: the DLR should be closely related to learning objectives and contents, as
well as be interesting or necessary to solve problems for students; (b) Suitability of
difficulty: the contents should be moderate in difficulty and scale, so that students
will avoid cognitive overload; (c) Suitability of structure: the structure of learning
contents is concise and rational, which will not make students “confused”; (d)
Suitability of the media: the media should be presented acceptably, so as not to
cause visual fatigue, especially for younger students; and, (e) Suitability of resource
organization: different types of learning resources can be organized, such as text,
video, animation, virtual experiments, etc., in order to make the layout clear and the
content suitable, and students will not be confused.

43 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Although the teachers or the universities have chosen quality
digital learning resources, the learners shall have the capacity for Term 13. Agency in learning
their own learning on the campus. The learners should have the
Learners with agency can “intentionally make
opportunity to develop a sense of agency in their learning and
things happen by their actions,” and “agency
believe that they have the ability to succeed in the face of campus
enables people to play a part in their self-
challenges through their own efforts and abilities. For example,
development, adaptation, and self-renewal
they shall be able to find the available digital learning resources
with changing times.” (Bandura, 2001) To
or use the appropriate tools for their learning.
build this capacity, learners should have the
opportunity to make meaningful choices
about their learning, and they need practice at
doing so effectively. Learners who successfully
develop this ability lay the foundation for
lifelong, self-directed learning (US Department
of Education, 2017).

3.2 Adopting digital tools for learning and teaching

Effectively selecting and using learning tools is beneficial for

learners to find and process information, construct knowledge,
collaborate with peers, express understanding, and evaluate
learning effects in specific ways.

The convenience of tools should be taken into consideration

when choosing learning scenarios. Specifically, tools should be
convenient and quick to (a) help teachers effectively produce
and manage resources, release notices and manage students; (b)
help students obtain resources, participate in learning activities;
(c) help teachers and students interact in real time; and, (d) help
teachers, parents and schools understand students’ learning per-
formance and make timely school-home interaction. (Huang et
al., 2020b)

In the following sections, we will introduce the teachers and stu-

dents with four common uses of digital tools for their teaching
and learning: live class tools, instant messaging tools, and social
networking, concept-mapping and mind-mapping tools, and col-
laborative authoring tools. Although there may be more digital
tools, we hope these sections could provide some useful sug-
gestions for teachers and students to create good materials or to
make online teaching and learning effectively.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 44

3.2.1 Live Classes Tools

According to the size of students, the current mainstream tools or platforms with complete
teaching attributes can be roughly divided into two categories. One type is the platforms for
large-scale live classes, which are suitable for large numbers of students. During the past
two months of campus closures in China, the popular tools or platforms used are Tencent
meetings (free support for epidemic situations, up to 300 people), Ali Nailing Future Campus
(supports 102 people for free during the epidemic period, and can apply for a maximum
of 302 people), Rain Class, etc. The other types refer to tools suitable for live lessons for
smaller groups, mainly including ClassIn, Zoom, etc. Of course, the first type of tools can
also do small class discussions, and the second type of tools can broadcast live on a large
scale. Most of the tools or platforms provided in China are free to use. These tools are also
currently supplying or working hard to add interactive teaching tools such as interactive
whiteboards, clickers, and rush-responders. For the other tools or platforms from the world,
many of them are suitable for hosting and streaming online lectures, such as Dacast (https://
www.dacast.com/), IBM Cloud Video (https://video.ibm.com/), Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/
vimeolivestream), and Panoto (https://www.panopto.com/). However, the use of these tools
requires the purchase of a license to use them according to the number of users online.

For this type of live classes, teachers and students can carry out real-time teaching and
learning at the same time and in different places through live education steaming platforms
or popular social tools.

Story 7. Tsinghua University in China broadcast live through TikTok

th th
From February 5 to February 12 2020, Tsinghua University in China broadcasted live through TikTok
ten public courses covering international relations, public expression, traditional culture, and other fields.
As key speakers, Xuetong Yan, director, professor and doctoral tutor of the Department of International
Relations of Tsinghua University, Liu Dan, clinical supervisor of the Psychological Counseling Center of
Tsinghua University, Gaoxi Xing, teacher of the Art Education Center of Tsinghua University, and Huining
Liu, teacher of Tsinghua University gave lectures. When this series of courses had just run only three
days, the total number of viewers reached 12.21 million, which is equivalent to 581 Tsinghua University
classrooms full of students.

Source： https://www.sohu.com/a/373211898_120154665

45 April, 2020. Version 1.2

3.2.2 Instant messaging tools and social networking

Instant messaging tools have the potential not only to attract learners, but also to provide
motivation and support for online teaching and learning. Students must be more involved in
the learning process. Connecting and communicating with their peers and teachers through
communication technology is essential to support the learning process, knowledge acquisi-
tion and skills taught online. Students are accustomed to using technology to communicate,
so they may be able to participate in a technology-driven environment more likely and more
comfortably. Both synchronous and asynchronous communication can help to increase stu-
dents’ active participation in online courses.

Educators need to identify and understand how to use these communication tools to sup-
port online learning for students. Some commonly used communication tools include
Blackboard Collaborate, Skype, Google Hangout, Today’s Meet, Join.Me, WeChat, QQ, and
DingTalk. These tools can promote communication and collaboration in online learning en-
vironments. (Communication Technologies: Promoting Active Online Learners, 2020)

Social networking has become a popular living way in our daily lives. It brings changes in
the way we communicate with each other. Social networking refers to the use of social me-
dia websites and apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to connect with family,
friends, and people with common interests. By teaching through social networks, we can
not only help students collaborate, but also teach them how to research.

3.2.3 Concept-Mapping and Mind-Mapping tools

Concept-mapping and Mind-Mapping

tools are used to create diagrams of re-
lationships between concepts, ideas, or
other pieces of information.

Concept maps are graphical tools for

organizing and representing knowledge
in an organized way (Learn About Con-
cept Maps, 2020). They include concepts
that are usually encapsulated in some
type of circle or box, and the relation-
ship between concepts or propositions
between two concepts (represented by
joining lines and linking words). Link-
ing words represent the relationship Figure 5. A concept map about concept mapping
between the two concepts. Words in the Source: https://msu.edu/~luckie/ctools/

April, 2020. Version 1.2 46

circle or box are used as labels for most concepts. (“Concept Maps: What the heck is this?”
2020). There are some most commonly used concept-mapping tools: Cmap, Visual Under-
standing Environment, CompendiumLD, BrainSharper, and so on. Figure 2 shows an ex-
ample of a concept map, which describes the structure of concept maps and illustrates the
above features.

Mind mapping is an efficient way to transfer information into and out of the brain. Mind
maps have a natural organizational structure. The structure radiates from the center of the
map, uses simple and brain-friendly concepts, and uses lines, symbols, keywords, colors,
and images. Mind maps can convert information into colorful, memorable, and well-orga-
nized charts. Mind mapping can be used as a creative and logical means of taking notes.

Here are some popular mind-mapping tools, such as Mindmeister (https://www.mindmeis-

ter.com), XMind(https://www.xmind.net), Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/),
MindApp(https://www.mindapp.com), MindManager(https://www.mindjet.com/mindman-
ager/) .

Figure 3 shows a mid mapping of a survey plan about online teaching in universities during
educational closures.

Figure 6. An example of mind map which represents a survey of online teaching in universities during
educational disruption

Thinking maps can help us better organize our ideas. There are eight types of Thinking
Maps: (Schwab et al. 2016)

• Circle Map: the purpose of the circle map is to use the information we already know
to brainstorm.

• Tree Map: the tree map can be useful when information needs to be classified and
organized. In appearance, a tree map resembles a real tree.

47 April, 2020. Version 1.2

• Bubble Map: the purpose of a bubble map is to use specific adjectives and phrases to
define the main theme.

• Double Bubble Map: a double bubble map is a combination of two bubble maps,
often called a Venn diagram. It is used to compare the similarities and differences
between the two topics.

• Flow Map: a flow map is similar to a flowchart. A flow map is an intuitive

representation of a process, progress, or set of instructions.

• Multi-flow Map: the multi-flow map can help identify the causes and effects of certain
events. The map will start with the main event.

• Brace Map: a brace map helps analyze the various parts of the whole and their
relationships. Visually, the supporting diagram looks like a side tree.

• Bridge Map: this is a map for finding similarities between things and creating
analogies.

3.2.4 Collaborative Authoring Tools

Collaborative authoring enables multiple people to contribute to the same document syn-
chronously or asynchronously. Collaborative authoring tools can be used throughout the
entire writing process: planning, drafting, revision, and final product delivery. Users of the
collaborative authoring tools can access and track course progress, communicate, provide
feedback, making revisions, and seamlessly review peers’ contributions, course progress,
and evolution from a central point. Team members can work together as a team or work re-
motely. (Kaur, 2017).

The advances of this type of tool are flexible for the needs and mostly cloud-based, which is
easier to access, safer storage, and cost-effective. Here are also listing some popular collab-
orative authoring tools: Office 365 (https://www.office.com), Google Docs (https://docs.goo-
gle.com), Elucidat (https://www.elucidat.com/), Composica (https://composica.com/), Easy-
Generator (https://www.easygenerator.com/), Gomo Learning (https://www.gomolearning.
com/), Articulate 360 (https://360.articulate.com/), and Adobe Captivate Draft (https://www.
adobe.com/). Each tool has different features, a suitable number of persons, and the cost.
You may accord the needs of your course to choose the appropriate collaborative authoring
tool.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 48

 Story 8. Collaborative Authoring Tools used in the course

In China, Collaborative Authoring

Tools are used in the course "Reading
and Writing of Academic Papers"
taught by Professor Yanyan Li of
Beijing Normal University. The course
u s e s t h e co l l a b o rat i v e p l at fo r m
developed by Beijing Normal
University. In the course, the teachers
posted one task online, and students
would submit their final work through
group learning. Ever y member of
the group could choose one color
unique for each of them. Through this
color, the percentage of students’
engagement would be shown on the
platform. In the course of teaching the Figure 7. Operation Interface of Beijing Normal University Collaboration Platform
research method of English papers, Source:http://cscl.ironpy.cn/web/cl/bnucscl/login
the method of group collaboration is
adopted, with each group comprising
4-6 students. The teacher first sends an academic paper on “Gamified learning” to each group, asking
students to write a 200-250 word research process in English according to the flowchart, and then discusses
the necessary information to be included in the writing of the research method, and difficulties in writing.
Then the teacher organizes the groups to cooperate freely and complete tasks in a collaborative manner.
Students can write directly or modify based on each other's writing. The total time is 60 minutes.

49 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4 Facilitating Flexible Learning
with Diverse Activities

Online learning should consist of various forms of learning activities through which students
can achieve their learning outcomes and satisfy their personal requirements. Learners can
acquire further information on the Internet and online libraries. Appropriate practice exer-
cises should be embedded in the online lesson to establish the relevance of the materials.
With feedback being provided, students can monitor how they are performing and adjust
their learning methods if necessary accordingly.

4.1 Promoting interaction and communication

Interaction between students and teachers is the most important aspect for ensuring the
quality of distance learning. Multiple methods could be used to reduce the interaction
distance and to promote student interaction. Lecture via webinar, online discussion, proj-
ect-based learning, online debate, brainstorming, experiential learning, and gamifying
learning are discussed in the following.

4.1.1 Lecture via Webinar

In lectures via webinar, the instructor and students are simultaneously in virtual classes,
and the instructor can host online lectures covering the same material they would use in a
face-to-face classroom. There are many ways that an online lecture session can be utilized
to give students the learning opportunities they would have in a face-to-face setting (“7.
Professional Online Lectures”, 2020).

Tip 8. Hosting online lectures

◉ Check for Attention: Usually, every class is one to two hours, which makes it easy for you to
lose students without knowing. You can keep their attention by stopping the lecture every
twenty to thirty minutes and arrange something to increase their involvement, such as
complete a poll, ask a question as a refreshment and type some short answers in the chat
box.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 50

 ◉ Check for Understanding: When finishing one section, you can ask students, “do you have
any questions?”. Instead of shaking their heads, they need to show understandings so far by
either clicking on the green checkmark (as found in some online webinar and lecture tools)
or putting a smiley face in the chat box.

◉ Group Work: When you notice that your students are moving their attention away from
the lecture, the best practice can be having students take on presenting and discussion
management roles. Many webinars and online lecture tools have what is called “breakout
rooms.” These are subrooms in the online lecture room to funnel students into smaller
group work (“7. Professional Online Lectures”, 2020). Instructors can lecture for 15 minutes,
then ask the students to have a group discussion, and then they go back to the class to show
their ideas to all.

◉ Encourage Interactivity: The interactive platforms, hypervideos, and bullet subtitles can be

used to overcome the lack of interaction. These functions can keep students engaged.

◉ Outlining Visuals: Annotation tools can be used to point out key contents on slides, make
marks, circle an area on a graph. It can ensure students know what is proceeding.

Source: Sugar, W., Brown, A. & Luterbach, K. (2010). Examining the anatomy of a screencast: Uncovering
common elements and instructional strategies. International Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, 11(3), 1-20. Athabasca University Press

Story 9. An online lecture via Zoom

T h i s s e m e ste r, M att S a u n d e r s
launched the biggest studio art class
at Harvard. The class of 72 students
in “Painting’s Doubt” met weekly to
learn figure drawing and paint from
still life. The coronavirus outbreak
forced Saunders to move the class
online. On campus, students used to
meet for a 75-minute weekly lecture
and a four-hour weekly studio
section. When transitioning to
teaching online, Professor Saunders
established a Zoom lecture
(pictured) and formed smaller
groups with six new discussion
sessions led by teaching assistants, Figure 8. An online lecture via Zoom
during which students share and discuss their work, Source: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/03/
which is now done independently. professors-learn-to-adapt-and-innovate-with-online-classes/

51 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.1.2 Online discussion

The online discussion takes two forms: synchronous and

asynchronous discussion.

(a) Synchronous online discussion

Term 14. Cognitive presence
Synchronous online discussion, commonly supported by
media such as videoconferencing and chat, has the potential to Cognitive presence is the extent to which the
support students in the development of learning communities. participants in any particular configuration of
Learners and teachers experience synchronous discussion as a community of inquiry are able to construct
more social and avoid frustration by asking and answering meaning through sustained reflection and
questions in real time (Hrastinski, 2008). Synchronous sessions discourse (Garrison, Anderson & Archer,
help e-learners feel like participants rather than isolates: 2001). From the perspective of cognitive
Isolation can be overcome by more continued contact, presence, teachers can design strategies
particularly synchronously, and by becoming aware of and organize activities such as experience
themselves as members of a community rather than as isolated sharing, discussion and debate to be
individuals communicating with the computer (Haythornthwaite aware of students’ ideas and their level of
& Kazmer, 2002). understanding of learning content.

Tip 9. The guide to enhancing students engagement in synchronous online

discussions

◉ Choose a topic worth discussing. The topic should be open-ended and have a certain value
and difficulty. For example, facing the COVID-19, a lecture in Economics class can choose a
topic stating “What government can do to prevent the recession?”

◉ Recommend relevant learning materials to students. Divergent arguments will provide

students an insight into the topic.

◉ Write comments and questions in advance. Before teaching an online course, you should
prepare for discussions, especially “live” chat room discussions, ahead of time, using your
word processing program. By entering a question or comment beforehand, you can simply
cut and paste it into the chat room discussion at the appropriate time without delaying the
conversation.

◉ Provide etiquette guidelines and chat rules. Guidelines and rules for how the chat will
be facilitated are a required component of the most successful chat room discussions.
Your etiquette guide should include such topics as the order of questions, how to address

April, 2020. Version 1.2 52

 questions or comments, raising your hand or gaining attention, private discussions, as well
as an agenda for the discussion.

◉ Avoid sarcasm, idioms, slang, and jokes. Do not use those cultural or regional
communication techniques that can easily result in miscommunication.

◉ Motivate, question, and praise the participants. You can point out contradictory views in
the discussion, encourage learners to think deeply, ensure the correctness of direction and
increase the depth of the discussion.

◉ Don’t respond to every message. Respond only to those that address you specifically or to
which your response will make a valuable contribution to the discussion.

◉ Don’t try to multi-task. Just as a loud radio or television would divert your attention while
you are facilitating a classroom activity, so can other online technologies distract you from
online engagement. Thus it is best to avoid multitasking while participating in online chat.

◉ Keep a record or transcript. Often the transcripts or records of what was discussed and
decided during a synchronous chat will be of value later in the online course; keeping a
record of the conversation can be critical. (Brown, Schroeder & Eaton, 2016)

Story 10. Online seminar via Zoom

1. Preparation

1）The seminar assignment and required readings were distributed before the online webinar.

Figure 9. The seminar assignment and required readings

53 April, 2020. Version 1.2

2. During the Seminar

1)In the beginning, the tutor described time allocations for each
activity, what questions were expected to be answered and how to
initiate a discussion among members in a breakout room in Zoom.

2)A total of 20 students was divided into 5 subgroups. In my

group, I started presenting my views, followed by others raising
different opinions and debates. The tutor engaged in the mid of
our discussion and she encouraged us to summarize opinions in a
table or a mind map.

3)One delegate of each group presented their discussions in front Figure 10. Online webinar
of 20 students. Then the tutor concluded with bullet points on a
slide.

4)For the question that required model illustration, the tutor

directly explained with slides by screen sharing and raised
questions during her demonstration.

3. After class

1)Suggested answers will be posted on Moodle.

2)Students can ask questions regarding the content of a seminar

in a Moodle forum.

Source: https://cbl.sites.yale.edu/about-us/sample-projects Figure 11. Model illustration

(b) Asynchronous online discussion

Asynchronous online discussions involve online interaction that is delayed and does not
require simultaneous participation. Communication can occur through discussion forums
where participants post messages and upload content. (Brown, Schroeder, & Eaton, 2016)
Asynchronous online discussion is considered an extension of instructional practices that
promotes dialogue, reflection, knowledge construction, and self-assessment. (Gerosa, Filip-
po, Pimentel, Fuks, & Lucena, 2010; Kayler & Weller, 2007) It potentially allows for more in-
depth discussions and more thoughtful learning than is possible in traditional face-to-face
settings (Hawkes, 2006)), because students in face-to-face discussions may not have suffi-
cient time to think thoroughly before they respond. In online discussion forums, in contrast,
the entire discussion is available for perusal, providing learners with opportunities for iden-
tifying, examining, and reflecting upon ideas. ( Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, & Tinker, 2000)

April, 2020. Version 1.2 54

Tip 10. The guide to fostering asynchronous online discussions

1. Clarify expectations for participation. Clear guidelines for how often learners should
participate in a discussion board conversation should be communicated (for example,
once a day, twice a day, twice a week), along with information on how the quality of their
participation will be assessed.

2. Create a schedule for participation. As the lecturer, you need to maintain a “presence” in
the forum space, providing students with “interactional scaffolding” - on-going support at
the moment of need. Schedule times throughout each discussion board activity when you
will participate in the conversation, including how much time you will spend responding to
postings with your comments or questions.

3. Do not respond to everyone and all postings. Even as the facilitator of an online course,
you will want to respond only to those postings that address you individually or to which
your response will make a valuable contribution to the discussion. Find a balance of quality
and quantity with your additions to the discussion.

4. Use the subject line (and require learners to do so as well). To reduce the amount of time
and effort required for reviewing discussion board postings, it is important to include with
each of your postings a summary description of the posting in the subject line.

5. Resist over-analysis. Don’t read too much into the statements of learners or take comments
too personally. Miscommunications are common in online communications since many of
the everyday nonverbal communication cues (such as eye contact or body gestures) are not
available.

6. Take your time. Try to edit and review your additions to the discussion board, it can help
you to avoid miscommunications. It is a benefit of asynchronous discussions to have
time to revise and improve your comments or questions, and you will want to use to your
advantage.

7. Lead by example. Demonstrate high-quality responses, ask requests for learners’

arguments, give examples and explanations, and help learners improve the quality of
responses.

8. Keep a record. If discussion board postings will not remain available throughout the course,
and you would like to keep the information contained in one or more of the postings, be
sure to copy the posting to a word processing document that you can save to your personal
computer.

55 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.1.3 Project-based learning

Term 15. Guided Discovery

Project-based learning is a form of situated learning and it is
based on the constructivist finding that students gain a deeper
Guided discovery refers to a teaching and
understanding of material when they actively construct their
l ea r n i n g e n v i ro n m e n t w h e re st u d e n t s
understanding by working with and using ideas. In online
are actively participating in discovering
learning, group projects hold real-world implications, allowing
knowledge. The goal of discovery is to facilitate
students to investigate questions, propose hypotheses and
deep learning on the part of the students –
explanations, discuss their ideas, challenge the ideas of others,
learning that has its basis in fundamental
and try out new ideas via internet forums, web conferencing and
understanding and often arises from viewing
video sharing services. ( Krajcik, & Blumenfeld, 2006) It is also
a problem from multiple perspectives. The
called guided discovery.
pedagogical underpinning is that if the
students discover the knowledge, they will,
in the process, have created and added to
their own scaffolded understanding. They will
have formulated and evaluated hypotheses,
rejected those that don’t seem to explain
observations, confronted misconceptions,
encountered surprises, and finally come
to an understanding that comports with
experiment. By re-creating knowledge which
already exists but is heretofore unknown to
them. (Sachs, 2018).

Tip 11. Six techniques for implementing project-based tasks in online

learning (Capsim, 2020)

◉ Design the project around a challenging problem or question that features a real-world
context or at least to address students’ interests.

◉ Encourage students to keep sustained inquiry with the assistance of topic-related resources
such as useful websites and research samples.

◉ Give learners access to support and clearly outline the parameters, then empower them
over their learning process to make decisions on their own or by working collaboratively
with peers.

◉ Integrate interactive scenarios and simulations that require a broad range of skills. Every
choice students make in a simulation leads to a unique set of consequences, which allows
them to explore the problem without any risk.

◉ Encourage students to reflect upon their learning processes, for instance, to ask whether
there was another easier way to reach the same result, what worked, and what was hard to

April, 2020. Version 1.2 56

 get.

◉ Encourage peer-based feedback via online forums and project management platforms.
(Larmer, Mergendoller, & Boss, 2015)

Story 11. Integrate online project-based learning into the international

business course

①
The X-Culture Project , initiated by Dr. Taras of the University of North Carolina, is one of the first
attempts to enhance learning in International Business courses by allowing business students to
experience the challenges and learn best practices of international collaboration by working with their
international counterparts online. The main idea behind the X-Culture project is simple: students enrolled
in International Business courses at universities around the world work together in global virtual teams
on a project for about two months. While the participants are students, the international collaboration
challenges they encounter are similar to those experienced by employees of multinational companies.

Before the project starts, students are randomly assigned to teams of about seven, typically with each team
member being from a different country. They are instructed to develop a business plan for “the next big
idea” for a multinational company of the team’s choice with the assistance of one coach who is likely to be
an employee in a multinational company.

During the project, students are provided with rich online resources such as instructions on how to write
business proposals, how to obtain information of the target company through interviews efficiently and
other knowledge as well as skills that are required to outstand in a realistic global environment. As X-Culture
participants are located in different places worldwide, communication and coordination among them are
conducted using free online collaboration tools, such as email, Skype, Google+, Facebook, Dropbox, and
Doodle.

In the end, each team must submit a business report, providing recommendations and a rationale for
the location of the business, target market and market entry mode, staffing policies and other strategic
decisions. In addition to the report, students’ performance is also assessed by getting access to rich data,
including results of the pre-project training test, the ability of the students and teams to meet deadlines,
multi-dimensional evaluations of team reports, and intermediary and post-project peer evaluations.
Students are provided with feedback addressing their advantages and shortcomings in each step during
the process.

In this case, X-Culture project provides International Business students with an opportunity to engage in a
real-world scenario. Recent developments in communication and virtual collaboration technologies have
made it possible to incorporate web-based international projects in International Business courses.

① Source: Taras, V., Bryla, P., Gupta, S. F., Jiménez, A., Minor, M. S., Muth, T., ... & Zdravkovic, S. (2012). Changing the
face of international business education: the X-Culture project. AIB Insights, 12(4), 11-17.

57 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.1.4 Online debate

The debate is a teaching method in which learners argue around specific issues
and express their ideas. Learners are assigned to two sides (i.e., affirmative and the
opposition), debating a topic related to the course content. The analysis from multiple
perspectives can be improved through debate. For example, learners can debate the topic
that “Can free speech on the Internet extend to schools?” Online debates can be held via
video/voice conference, and asynchronous debates can be held in debate forums.

Tip 12. The procedure of organizing an online debate

◉ Select a topic that is relevant to the course content and has two contrast points of view,
expressed as an affirmative statement and a negative statement.

◉ Divide the learners into groups (2-4 students per group), select the group leader, and
organize the groups to choose positions and pair (such as which affirmative team is against
which opposition).

◉ Select hosts and referees from learners who do not participate in the debate.

◉ Use the notification on the teaching platform to publish the debate time, process
arrangement, and debate rules, etc., so that learners can clarify the debate process and
regulations. For example, limit the speaking time of each debater; make the rules of
turning on or off the microphone, camera, and interactive panel; clarify the duration of the
asynchronous debate (such as one week), the daily posting party (such as the first day of the
affirmative, the second day of the opposite, and so on, the last day the two parties submit
their closing statements), posting requirements (maximum 1,000 words, posts can only be
issued once) and so on.

◉ Provide resources related to the debate. For example, provide typical cases of debate for
reference; provide language norms for debate, avoiding learners from using satires, idioms,
jargon, slang, etc.

◉ Provide relevant guidance. For example, instruct the team leader on how to organize debate
and how the moderator and referees preside over.

◉ For asynchronous debate, create a forum in the asynchronous discussion area of the course
for each group to support the debate.

◉ At the end of the debate, the referee can announce the winner and the best debater in a
synchronous debate; the winner and the best debater can be selected through interactive
functions such as likes and voting.

◉ The teacher comments on the performance of the students during the entire debate.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 58

 Story 12. The great debate: Using the debate as a teaching tool in the
online classroom

Delivered via a Lotus Notes learning platform, the rich, collaborative learning environment facilitates
asynchronous debates that are thoughtful, reasoned, and reflective in Athabasca University’s online
Executive MBA program.

Preparation

The academic coach intentionally developed resolution topics that were current and controversial. For
example, one debate resolution was “Be it resolved that project team-related issues (such as performance
and disciplinary matters) are the sole responsibility of the functional manager to whom the team members
report, and not the project manager’s responsibility.” He also assigned two groups of five students to argue
either “for” or “against” a resolution.

Debate

There were five steps in the debate process:

(1)Develop a group code of conduct:

Each group prepared a code of conduct to guide the group work. Groups were asked to include group rules
of engagement and processes for effective decision making and conflict resolution in the code of conduct.

(2)Develop a position statement:

In a private Lotus Notes® database accessible only to group members, each group developed a formal
1,000-word position statement based on the readings and course material. Students were encouraged to
develop up to five convincing arguments for their side. Each group then posted its position in a database
accessible to both groups.

(3)Develop a rebuttal to other side’s position statement:

Each group then studied the position statement posted by the other group and developed a formal 1,000-
word rebuttal to it.

(4)General discussion:

Once the rebuttals were posted, all members of both groups engaged in a final general discussion on the
debate.

(5)Peer evaluation:

The students were asked to evaluate the participation of the members of their groups in the debate
process.

Besides the peer evaluation, the academic coach also conducted the evaluation, looking for submissions
that were clear, interesting, relevant, well organized, and engaging.

Noteworthy, the academic coach used the poll, an innovative way, to gather individual viewpoints on the
topic after the debate was over. Following the position statements and rebuttals, the coach was curious as

59 April, 2020. Version 1.2

to what students thought about the resolution, even though for the debate, they had to argue a specific
side. He asked students to anonymously answer two questions in a survey he placed at http://www.
surveymonkey.com:

1. Which side do you personally support?

2. What is your main reason for supporting this site?

This approach helped students to be aware of their own bias when analysing arguments.

This case suggests that forcing advanced students to take one side created innovative arguments and
new insights for both the students and the academic coach. Polling the students added another level of
reflective thinking to the teaching approach.

Source:Jugdev, K., Markowski, C., & Mengel, T. (2004). Using the debate as a teaching tool in the online classroom. Online
Classroom, 4-7.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 60

4.1.5 Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique  by which efforts are made to find a

conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed
by its members. People can think more freely, and they suggest as many spontaneous
new ideas as possible. All the ideas are noted down without criticism, and after the
brainstorming session, the ideas are evaluated. (Hicks, 2004)

Tip 13. How to organize brainstorming

◉ Identify the core subject or the main aim of the brainstorming. Putting together a well-
stated problem and careful planning strategies can lead to meaningful idea generation and
idea building, which can be used in solving problems or addressing specific course-related
issues.

◉ The aim should be to generate as many ideas as possible within a set time frame, such as 30
minutes. Alternatively, you can set a target number of ideas, such as 100.

◉ A brainstorming session requires a facilitator, a brainstorming space, and something on

which to write ideas, such as a software tool. The facilitator’s responsibilities include guiding
the session, encouraging participation, and writing ideas down. (Zhan, Zhang, Shi, & Liu,
2012)

◉ In computer-supported brainstorming, team members contribute their ideas through

electronic means either synchronously or asynchronously.

◉ Create a relaxed environment that is supplied with adequate workspace and materials and
free from distractions.

◉ Participants spend 10 to 15 minutes generating ideas on their own. Then put them in pairs,
have them compare ideas, and add any more that come to mind. Then combine the pairs
into bigger groups in order, again, to share ideas and add more.

◉ Throughout this process, ensure that there is no criticism and no squelching. As a facilitator,
be sure to compliment every idea equally.

◉ If it is asynchronous brainstorming, limit the number of words and time for posting and
encourage posting by likes or comments.

◉ At the end of the brainstorming session, students’ feedback can be gathered through
a formal course evaluation, regarding the pros and cons of the entire process and their
achievements.

◉ At the end of the brainstorming session, the teacher should have a range of responses to use
as a starting point for extending your students’ understanding.

61 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Story 13. Mind maps in brainstorming

Professor Peter Frumkin of the University of Pennsylvania offers a course in Coursera, “Social Impact
Strategies: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators.” The teacher asks learners to use situational diagrams
or mind maps when studying "Definition and Design" to express personal thoughts and require that mind
maps be posted to the forum so that students can watch each other and inspire thinking.

Figure 12. Carlos' mind map explores the impact of rural power in the Philippines

In this case, publishing mind maps through online forums enables learners’ thoughts to be shared publicly.
These maps help students to collide with each other, inspire each other, and learn from each other.

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/social-impact/home/info

April, 2020. Version 1.2 62

4.1.6 Experiential learning with virtual space

Experiential learning activities are carefully thought-out designs in which there are a
definite learning purpose and intended outcome. Each step-everything that participants
do during the activity-facilitates the accomplishment of the stated goal. Each experiential
learning activity includes complete instructions for facilitating the intervention and
a clear statement of goals, suggested group size and timing, materials required, an
explanation of the process, and, where appropriate, possible variations to the activity.
In order to overcome the lack of normal operation facilities and exercise environment,
virtual reality technology can be applied to set up a desktop experimental environment
or corresponding operation and exercise activities based on home conditions can be
designed. (Ferreira, Sousa, Nafalski, Machotka, & Nedic, 2009; Hergueux, & Jacquemet,
2014)

Tip 14. Design considerations for virtual laboratories

（A）Clarify the specific requirements, operation tools, operating procedures, and methods
of the operation exercises, so that students can be clear of the target requirements and
method procedures of the operation.

（B）Be very clear about the purpose of the virtual laboratory, and in what context you intend
it to be used. Consider which type of media you intend to build - simulation, laboratory,
demonstration, and so on. Indicate clearly for the user what they are interacting with.

（C）The units of operation exercises should be appropriate in size. Complex operations can be
decomposed into independent sub-tasks so that students can obtain corresponding skills
through their own practice.

（D）Strive to use the simplest possible design and technology, still meeting the demands
efficiently. In some cases, advanced technology such as virtual environments or even
virtual reality might be needed, but the most eye-catching techniques might not always
correlate with what is relevant to show.

（E）Adapt levels of realism and accuracy to the intended target group as well as to the intended
learning outcome.

（F）Continuously consider enhancements of the virtual laboratory to increase the learning

outcome. It can be profitable to provide help when needed and visualize things that are not
possible in a real laboratory. Balance this potential against possible advantages of having a
virtual laboratory that closely mimics real-life laboratory exercises.

（G）Regard a virtual laboratory as an illustrative playground that requires external support

in the form of guiding, explanatory texts, or teacher debriefing. The virtual laboratory
provides the students with experience and observations, but does not always necessarily

63 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 offer an understanding on its own. Guidance is often necessary to help the students to understand the
illustrated scientific phenomena (Wästberg et al., 2019).

（H）Various evaluations, such as self-assessment, peer assessment, and teacher evaluation, can be conducted
after the class. Teachers need to help students reflect on their operations by providing them with reflection
scaffolding along the way.

Story 14. Online experiments in VR environment

During the coronavirus pandemic, Professor of the Practice of Molecular and Cellular Biology Robert Lue in
Harvard University combines live and recorded class meetings for his course “Cell Biology in the World.” on
a virtual lab platform, LabXchange.

But how exactly can the experiment be done if virtual labs are not able to provide sufficient resources?
In the course “An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences: Genetics, Genomics, and Evolution,” one
assignment called for students to collect the biological sample from their environments, extract the
DNA, and analyze the resulting data.  Instead, Hopi Hoekstra(the professor of this course)  and her
colleagues collected samples from items including a cellphone, a boot sole, and a dog’s toy, and recorded
a teaching fellow modeling the DNA extraction process. The team sent the samples to an external lab for
sequencing and sent the resulting data to students for analysis. They were then assigned to match each
sample’s DNA profile to one in a database.

Besides exploring new approaches in

instructing experiments, professors in
Harvard university also employ Zoom for
live conversations, Canvas prompts for
class discussion, Whiteboards for pre-
lab quizzes, and post-lab assignments to
ensure an overall process of classes go
smoothly online.

In this case, the virtual lab allows students

to experience the experimental process
and repeat key operations. Meanwhile,
w i t h re m ote l a b wo r k , e ve n t h o u g h
students miss the part of doing a real
experiment, they still get to do part of the
scientific process through analyzing data,
interpreting results to find the answers to
the unknown. Jumping out of particular
patterns of doing things allows students
and teachers to reassess what is really at the core. Figure 13. Online experiments in VR environment

Sources:https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/03/professors-learn-to-adapt-and-innovate-with-online-classes/

April, 2020. Version 1.2 64

4.1.7 Gamifying learning

Harnessing this powerful medium for pedagogical purposes, teachers can integrate
games that are relevant to teaching content to the learning process. Educational games
at their best are imaginary worlds, hypothetical spaces where players can test ideas
and experience their consequences. During the exploration, students’ understanding of
subject knowledge and ability attainment can be enhanced. (Squire & Jenkins, 2003)

Tip 15. How to make your classroom truly engaging with educational games

(a) It is difficult to align learning objectives with the educational model in game dynamics. So it
must meet the objectives and achieve a proper alignment with the curriculum.

(b) A better solution than having preset difficulty levels can be to have an adaptive difficulty
ingrained in your game design.

(c) Player interaction is an often-neglected but highly important aspect of games to consider.

(d) The instructor should fill the gap between the game and the rest of the course by promoting
reflection and discussion. ( Moreno-Ger, Burgos, Martínez-Ortiz, Sierra, & Fernández-Manjón,
2008)

(e) Virtual simulation technology can be applied in online games to simulate activities that
cannot be repeated or realized in real-life situations, thereby reducing teaching costs and
expanding teaching content.

(f) Data acquisition techniques can be used to obtain students’ learning process data, and then
provide support for student evaluation and teaching adjustment.

Story 15. The application of medical simulation games

Queen’s University has partnered with virtual reality innovators Sim for Health and HTC VIVE to build
Canada’s first medical virtual reality training center. The center will allow medical students and residents
the opportunity to gain experience caring for patients in a realistic but completely safe environment.“Virtual
reality offers exciting new opportunities for us to realistically simulate a wide range of clinical situations.
We want learners to make all their beginner mistakes in the virtual environment, not on real patients.” In
the simulation case provided by SimforHealth, students will be immersed in a hospital and play the role of
a physician taking care of a patient who has been admitted to the emergency room for chest pain.

65 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Figure 14. The application of medical simulation games

In this case, through simulation of real hospital scenarios, the use of situational dialogue, principle
simulation, data visualization, and other means enables students to obtain the same experience during the
game as in the real scenario. Students conduct inquiries into the experience and acquire knowledge and
skills in the process.

Source:https://healthsci.queensu.ca/index.php/administration/announcements/queens-university-launches-canadas-first-vr-
medical-training-centre

4.2 Deepening meaningful learning

To enhance the effect of flexible learning, a series of strategies for
independent learning and collaborative learning can be applied
Term 16. Knowledge building
in online education.

Knowledge building refers to the process of

4.2.1 Self-directed Learning

creating new cognitive artifacts as a result
of common goals, group discussions, and

Self-directed learning in online education is a situation where synthesis of ideas. These pursuits should

learners take full initiative and ownership for their own learning a d va n ce t h e c u r re n t u n d e r sta n d i n g o f

journey, and complete present activities with extensive support individuals within a group, at a level beyond

from the teachers, especially in flipped learning. Teachers their initial knowledge level, and should be

need to have self-oriented, motivated and disciplined students directed towards advancing the understanding

equipped with resources that help them achieve learning of what is known about that topic or idea

objectives and carry out the process of knowledge building, (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 2003).

this being highly crucial when learning is acquired in online

April, 2020. Version 1.2 66

environments. Resources that are widely employed include MOOC, recorded lectures
and other resources relevant to the course content. Self-directed learning also takes
various forms: students work individually or collaboratively through their course content.
(Envoplan. 2020)

Tip 16. Four knacks to support self-directed learning

1. Instruct students to regulate actions towards goals of acquiring information, expanding

expertise, and managing distractions.

2. Provide clear instructions and navigation along the learning journey. Each pre-set activity
requires explicit explanations for the reference in the task completion.

3. Provide students with self-learning strategies that will enhance their learning abilities for a
lifetime.

4. Organize Q & A sessions and gather feedback from students. Course feedback can be
discussed between teacher and student, and teachers can offer help or extra assistance on
any areas of study (e.g., getting access to resources, completing tasks) that the student is not
confident with.

Story 16. Self-directed learning supported by MOOC

During the coronavirus pandemic, the online version of the course “Probability and Statistics” delivered
by Rong Tengzhong, a teacher from the School of Mathematics and Statistics of Chongqing University,
was published on MOOC platform. With video review function, quizzes and Q&A forums on the platform,
students conducted self-assessment and then adopted “just in time” learning, reviewing recorded lectures
where they are not confident with, tapping into existing answers in Q&A forums when a question arises
without having to wait until the next day.

In this case, students synchronise learning with their own schedules. With the assistance of MOOC, they can
choose how, when and where they work. Students learn in ways that best suit them as an individual, rather
than waiting for the class as a whole.

Source: A new hybrid teaching model in the online course on “Probability Theory and Mathematical
Statistics”.

67 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.2.2 Group learning

Group Learning provides a model of learning in which students are encouraged and
supported to work together to create knowledge; to collect the divergent thoughts within
a group; to compare, analyse and categorize the different ideas previously generated,
through discussion and argument; to reach a level of intellectual synthesis, understanding,
and consensus, usually through the joint construction of some artifact or piece of work,
such as an essay or assignment. The role of the teacher or instructor in this process is seen
as critical, not only in facilitating the process and providing appropriate resources and
learner activities that encourage this kind of learning, but also, as a representative of a
knowledge community or subject domain, in ensuring that the core concepts, practices,
standards, and principles of the subject domain are fully integrated into the learning cycle.
(Bates, 2018)

Tip 17. Methods of developing meaningful online collaborative learning

1. Appropriate technology (for example, software that allows for threaded discussions, for
collaborative editing, and for idea visualization during brainstorming).

2. A key design principle in group learning is discussion forums are not additional or
supplement to core teaching materials, such as textbooks, recorded lectures, and readings,
but are the core component of the teaching. Textbooks, readings and other resources are
chosen to support the discussion, not the other way around. 

3. Clear guidelines on student online behavior,  such as written codes of conduct for
participating in discussions and ensuring that they are enforced.

4. Student orientation and preparation, including technology orientation and explaining the
purpose of discussion.

5. Clear goals for the discussions that are understood by the students, such as: “to explore
gender and class issues in selected novels” or “to compare and evaluate alternative methods
of coding”.

6. Choice of appropriate topics, that complement and expand issues in the study materials,
and are relevant to answering assessment questions.

7. Set an appropriate “tone” or requirements  for discussion  (for example, respectful

disagreement, evidence-based arguments).

8. Define clearly learner roles and expectations, such as “you should log in at least once a week
to each discussion topic and make at least one substantive contribution to each topic each
week”.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 68

 9. Monitor the participation of individual learners, and respond accordingly, by providing the
appropriate scaffolding or support, such as comments that help students develop their
thinking around the topics, referring them back to study materials if necessary, or explaining
issues when students seem to be confused or misinformed.

10. Regular, ongoing instructor “presence”,  such as  monitoring the discussions to prevent
them from getting off topic or too personal, and providing encouragement for those that
are making real contributions to the discussion, heading off those that are trying to hog or
dominate the discussions, and tracking those not participating to help them re-engage.

Story 17. Facilitating student engagement and collaboration in a large

postgraduate course using wiki-based activities

Dr. Julia Salaber in Richmond University designed wiki-based activities to investigate the impact of
these activities on student participation and collaborative learning in a large postgraduate international
management course.

In the wiki-based task called “Small question – Lecture 1”, different questions were provided for each
seminar group. The innovation was that students had to enter their collaborative answer, discussed in
teams of 4 or 5 students on the wiki before each seminar. Questions for seminar groups A and B were
reported.

In each group, there are six teams, and student answers can be accessed by clicking on each team’s name.
Typically, the seminar tutor would read all answers before the seminar and give feedback in-class and out-
of-class. The smiley face next to a team’s name corresponds to feedback from the seminar tutor as she
flagged the best answers for students’ future review.

In this case, the wiki effectively acted as a facilitator for student engagement and collaboration, both
in-class and out-of-class. Students recognized the positive impact of the wiki on their preparation for
seminars, their engagement in problem-solving activities and their collaborative learning. Overall, they
recognized that the wiki-activities had a positive impact on their learning over and above a more traditional
way of preparing for seminars. Ultimately, the learning of discipline-specific outcomes and transferable
skills have been achieved and the wiki-activities contributed to this outcome.

Source: Salaber, J., 2014. Facilitating student engagement and collaboration in a large postgraduate course using wiki-
based activities. The International Journal of Management Education, 12(2), pp.115-126.

69 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.3 Motivating learner and scaffolding learning
A problem of inactive engagement of students in online learning activities has come to the
surface as an increasing number of institutions familiarize themselves with online educa-
tion. Instructors must encourage students to engage in the learning and interactions posi-
tively, although the task might not be easy to complete.

4.3.1 Acting as a good listener

In online learning, the role of instructors changes from expert presenter to designer
and organizer of learning activities, the guiders and the facilitators of students learning.
Therefore, the instructors have to be a listener first, to learn students’ ideas, questions and
requirements.( Lentell,2003; Denis, Watland, Pirotte, & Verday, 2004; Garrison & Arbaugh,
2007)

Tip 18. Four essential roles of the e-tutor

Term 17. Teaching presence,
a. Be Non-authoritarian. Avoid the authority figure role in Cognitive dissonance, and
the process of learning guide. If instructors show too much Social presence
expert authority, the learner will become silent. Therefore, A worthwhile educational experience is
instructors should put down their authority and become embedded within a Community of Inquiry
learners’ “quiet learning partners”, encourage learners to that is composed of teachers and students.
communicate and share opinions freely, understand learners’ The model of this Community of Inquiry
problems, and identify learners’ needs. (Berge, 1995) assumes that learning occurs within the
Community through the interaction of three
b. Identify the needs of learners. Before helping to solve
core elements: cognitive presence, social
problems, instructors should listen carefully and analyze
presence, and teaching presence. (Garrison,
the consensus/disagreement of learners views, clarify
Anderson, & Archer, 2000)
problems, identify what help is needed, such as knowledge
understanding, the technical use, the difficulty of expression, Teaching presence is defined as the design,
etc., and help learners to establish a sense of teaching facilitation, and direction of cognitive and
presence. (Haag, 1990) social processes for the purpose of realizing
personally meaningful and educationally
c. Design and organize activities, such as learning reflections,
worthwhile learning outcomes (Anderson,
experience sharing, discussions, and debates. Then,
Rourke, Garrison & Archer, 2001).
instructors may understand learners’ ideas and thoughts,
identify learners’ cognitive degrees and whether they know Cognitive dissonance is a means to facilitate
the application methods of the knowledge they learned, the cognitive processes of accommodation
improve teaching guidance to help learners establish a sense a n d a s s i m i l at i o n , w h i c h a re ce n t ra l to
of cognitive presence finally, avoiding cognitive dissonance. knowledge development. Accommodation

April, 2020. Version 1.2 70

 d. Listen and learn carefully whether the learners feel and assimilation occur when learners are
uncomfortable, whether the learners accept support from presented with new knowledge and must
peers and teachers, whether they present themselves as real ex p e n d m e n ta l e f fo r t to i n teg rate t h i s
and functional human beings. Then, instructors could guide information into their existing schema.
them to participate in online learning effectively and help (Piaget,1975)
them establish a sense of social presence. ( Anderson, 2008)
Social presence  is defined as the ability
of learners to project themselves socially
and affectively into a community of inquiry
(Rourke, Anderson, Garrison & Archer, 2001).

Story 18. Know about students’ learning conditions through their discussion

The University of Pennsylvania opened a course- “English in Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Context” on Coursera. Teachers learned about the learners' understanding of course content
through learners’ discussions. For example, Learners are allowed to express and discuss freely, and then
teachers can know the learners’ cognitive situation, and provide teaching guidance timely.

Figure 15. Know about students’ learning conditions through their discussion

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/stem/supplement/3AmaP/unit-4-assessment-2-speaking-and-recording-instructions

71 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.3.2 Instant feedback

As a guide and facilitator of online learning, teachers need to deal with learners’ issues or
questions in a timely and constructive manner. (O’ Rourke, 2012)

Tip 19. How to give feedback to students in online learning

◉ Instructors can weave several strands of conversation into a summarization that may
prompt people to pursue the topic further.

◉ Timely feedback on assignments should be provided, and as near in time as possible within
one week upon the submission. The feedback should include a positive compliment on
learners’ work, comments on problems and deficiencies, and suggestions for improvement.

◉ Provide clear guidelines for students on how to participate in learning activities. It is difficult
for learners to focus on learning content, especially in the case of online asynchronous
learning. Therefore, instructors tell learners what to do next and how to improve
performance succinctly and clearly through timely feedback.

◉ Answer learners’ questions on time. Instructors must reply to the learners’ questions rapidly,
especially technical problems. Because learners do not have enough patience with technical
issues in online learning. It influences learners’ learning willingness. Therefore, even if the
instructors may not solve the problem right away, keep the learner informed immediately，
like that “I have asked for help from others for you” or “Please ask other students to do you a
favor” and so on, to ensure that instructors are equipped to provide feedback and supports.
( Berge, 1995)

◉ Inform learners of the learning progress of others timely. In fact, learners often feel lonely
and frustrated with online learning. By notifying other learning progress, learners may feel
that other students are learning with them. And it is important for promoting learners’
enthusiasm.

◉ Use affirmative and encouraging tones when interacting with learners. Instructors can
give positive feedback to the ideas of the learner, highlight views, and help them build
confidence.

◉ Make students feel that you are easy to approach. Teachers should use friendly language
and express their emotions appropriately, which can make learners feel that teachers are
easy going. Especially in the case of online learning in which students suffer time and spatial
separation, it can make teachers more amiable.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 72

 Story 19. The application of feedback strategy in online teaching

In the “Project Planning and Management Fundamentals” course offered by Yeal Grushka-Cockayne of the
University of Virginia, discussions were organized weekly. Tutors and teaching assistants gave learners the
personalized feedback on discussions every week.

Figure 16. The application of feedback strategy in online teaching

In this case, teachers and teaching assistants solved the problems in the learning process in time, which
inspired the motivation for further learning.

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-project-management

73 April, 2020. Version 1.2

4.3.3 Motivating your students

In online learning, the most annoying thing for instructors is that majority of learners
do not participate in online discussion and learning activities. Therefore, one of the
facilitator’s jobs is to use whatever means necessary to guide and maintain involvement in
online learning and interaction. (Berge, 1995)

Tip 20. Strategies to increase student motivation in online learning

environments

◉ Introductions. In the beginning, learners are unfamiliar with learning environments,

learning content, teachers, and classmates. The facilitator should provide an opportunity
for participants to introduce themselves through sending welcoming messages, carrying out
ice-breaking activities, building study groups, and clarifying the course evaluation criteria.
Learners can get to know each other and overcome any uncertainties or lack of confidence
by engaging with others in these non-threatening “warm-up” activities, help stimulate the
curiosity of learners, eliminate the strangeness, build a sense of community. (Anderson,
2008)

◉ Encourage Participation. With the progress of online learning, learners are very prone
to face the problems of decreasing motivation and learning burnout, which will affect the
learning effect to a certain extent. By posting praise letters, sending learning reminders,
issuing task checklists, and conducting peer evaluation, the learner can be stimulated to
explore the connection between learning content and the real world, to maintain learning
motivation.

◉ There are three types of learners in online learning: active participants, divers, and
non-participants. Generally speaking, teachers are best able to insist on viewing the online
learning data of learners every week. The three types of learners can be analyzed and
identified through the log data of the learning platform. Teachers should affirm and praise
the active participants timely, comfort and encourage the divers, pay continuous attention
to and remind non-participants promptly. (Berge, 1995)

April, 2020. Version 1.2 74

 Story 20. The application of the incentive strategy in online teaching

In the “Arts and Activities: Interactive Strategies for Art Participation” course, provided by the Museum of
Modern Art and lectured mainly by Jessica Baldenhofer, teachers designed a “Tell us about you” activity at
the beginning of the course, asking learners to self-introduce to eliminate strangeness.

Figure 17. The application of the incentive strategy in online teaching

In this case, organizing a relaxed ice-breaking activity at the beginning of the course was helpful to boost
the learning atmosphere, eliminate strangeness and create a sense of belonging, thereby laid a good
foundation for learners’ participation in the course.

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/art-activity/home/welcome

4.3.4 Scaffolding on demand

Experienced teachers are able to build appropriate learning scaffoldings for learners
to solve difficulties. The scaffolding is the support given to a student by an instructor
throughout the learning process. It provides sufficient support to promote learning when
concepts and skills are being first introduced to students. These supports may include
resource, compelling tasks, templates, and guides, which might be helpful for learners to
improve the efficiency of collecting information, transforming information, and finding
solutions to problems. Scaffoldings can prompt learners to transform what they have
learned across the “zone of proximal development.” The types of scaffolding in education
and features, applications of each are presented in the table below:

75 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Table 5. The types of scaffolding

Scaffolding Type Features Applications

Provide examples, templates, models,

etc. for learners to imitate and use them
Example Scaffolding Goal-oriented
for reference to complete tasks, especially
in the case study

Enlightening;
Able to shift learning responsibilities
Ask questions from easy to difficult to
from instructors to learners;
inspire students’ deep thinking. Let
Problem Scaffolding Able to conduct continuous
students answer independently first, and
diagnosis;
then give answers.
Have guiding effects,
Easy to operate

Temporary;
Dynamic; Provide learners with suggestions, tips,
Suggestion Scaffolding
Able to give students feedback in and methods.
time

Provide systematic guidance to

Guide Scaffolding Cognitive structured students according to their cognitive
characteristics.

Structured;
Make students easier to learn through
Chart Scaffolding Visualized;
intuitive visualization
Systematic

Diverse,
Provide students with tools to solve
Tool Scaffolding Easy to operate;
problems.
Characterized by situation

April, 2020. Version 1.2 76

Tip 21. Four main principles to construct learning scaffolds

1. Scaffolding should be temporary. Just like the scaffolding

used in the building construction, the supports are Term 18. Zone of proximal
temporary. As students master the assigned tasks, the development
supports are gradually removed.
The zone of proximal development is an
2. Scaffolding should be adjustable. The scaffolding should area of learning that occurs when a person
be adjusted accordingly to the dynamic zone of proximal is assisted by a teacher or peer with a higher
development. Improperly designed scaffolding will fail to skill set.  The person learning the skill set
play its role in the learning process and even limit learners’ cannot complete it without the assistance of
thinking. the teacher or peer. The teacher then helps
the student attain the skill the student is
3. Scaffolding should be tailored. Learners of different levels
trying to master until the teacher is no longer
need different types of scaffolding to avoid cognitive
needed for that task (Chaiklin, 2003; Burkitt,
conflict. The higher the cognitive requirements, the more
2006).
scaffolding are demanded.

4. Scaffolding can not only be provided by teachers, but

also can be given by learning partner and even learners
themselves. ( Sawyer, 2005)

Term 19. Cognitive conflict

Cognitive conflict is a psychological state

involving a discrepancy between cognitive
structures and experience, or between
various cognitive structures (i.e., mental
representations that organize knowledge,
beliefs, values, motives, and needs) (Festinger,
1 9 5 7 ) . T h i s d i s c r e p a n c y o cc u r s w h e n
simultaneously active, mutually incompatible
representations compete for a single response
(Piaget, 1975).

77 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Story 21. The application of example scaffoldings in online learning

In the online course “Learning to teach online” provided by Associate Professor Simon of the University
of New South Wales, the teacher provided a series of teaching materials, detailed and diverse cases and
learning suggestions on how to design online learning activities. These resources provided guidance and
support for learners to design teaching activities independently.

Figure 18. The application of example scaffoldings in online learning

Source: https://www.coursera.org/learn/teach-online

April, 2020. Version 1.2 78

5 Checking Learning Outcomes
and Evaluating Accordingly

Learning outcomes are an essential part of any unit outline. A

Term 20. Learning Outcomes
learning outcome is a clear statement of what a learner is expect-
ed to be able to do, know about and/or value after a unit of study,
and how well they should be expected to achieve upon comple- Learning outcomes are statements of the

tion of the course. It states both the substance of learning and knowledge, skills, and abilities individual

how its attainment is to be demonstrated. students should possess and can demonstrate
upon completion of a learning experience

The assessment process examines the extent to which students or sequence of learning experiences (Allan,

have achieved the intended outcomes of the unit. Therefore in 1996). Achieving the learning outcome results

designing an assessment program, the learning outcomes must in narrowing or closing the identified gap

form the basis of what is assessed and how it is assessed. between current state and desired state, i.e.,
the difference between what is and what

Each outcome should be assessed. If a stated outcome is not should be. The learning outcome can assess

assessed, neither you nor your students will know if it has been the overall impact of multiple objectives

realized. If the learning outcome is framed in such a way that (UCLA, 2016).

assessment is not feasible, you need to reframe it so that the

demonstration of attainment is possible.

5.1 Categories of learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are measurable, specific goals and results that

students expect to achieve after the course ends. It is from the
perspective of students, focusing on the assessable results that
students can achieve after successfully completing their studies,
including knowledge, skills, and attitudes, that is, results in terms
of cognition, behavior, and emotion. Since the learning results
must be evaluable, specific behavioral verbs are often used when
describing the learning outcomes, and thus they are specific,
measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bounded.

79 April, 2020. Version 1.2

5.1.1 The value of effective learning outcomes statements

The learning outcome helps better urge students to learn and increase motivation for
learning. It has a better guiding effect on the students’ learning process. Clearly stated
learning outcomes could enable students to clearly understand the knowledge and skills
they need to master after learning, help students concentrate on the learning process and
improve learning efficiency. Clearly stated learning outcomes are specific and evaluable,
which can encourage students to take the expected results seriously and enhance their
motivation to learn.

The learning outcome helps teachers focus on the teaching process. It has a direct
guiding effect on the teaching and learning process. It is also conducive to the consistent
integration of the entire teaching process.

The learning outcome helps teachers to evaluate the learning and give feedback. The
learning results must be evaluable, which helps teachers to immediately evaluate the
teaching effect and adjust teaching content, teaching methods based on the feedback.

Tip 22. Writing learning outcomes statements

◉ When describing learning outcomes, it is necessary to clarify what students should know
and what they can do at the end of the course.

◉ Use measurable and evaluable verbs, and do not use abstract words such as comprehension,
and know how to state learning outcomes.

◉ There may be other, more appropriate, discipline-specific action verbs as well (for example,
as components of professional competency statements).

◉ Try to keep to one discrete learning outcome per statement, unless they are closely related.

◉ Focus only on what’s important; the statement of outcomes should reflect students’
comprehensive abilities, skills, attitudes and/or values

◉ As a guide for learning and teaching, generally about 4-6 statements of learning outcomes in
a unit are sufficient.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 80

5.1.2 Identifying the range of knowledge and cognitive skills in the unit

There are different kinds of knowledge. Biggs (1999) identifies four kinds:

• Declarative knowledge: knowing what, or knowing about – the “content” of

knowledge

• Procedural knowledge: knowing how to do things

• Conditional knowledge: knowing when to do things

• Functioning knowledge: knowing how to employ the first three types of knowledge to
solve problems and function as an effective professional.

The range of cognitive skills include：

In higher education, we do not want students to recall a large amount of information as

needed simply, but to pay attention to whether they can use the knowledge they have
learned in different situations and use critical thinking to express their views. From simple
memories to critical thinking, cognitive skills are hierarchical.

It’s important that when students engage in learning, the cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor aspects of their learning are in fact inseparable.

81 April, 2020. Version 1.2

5.1.3 Multiple types of assignments as learning outcomes

Many types of assignments can be done online. Below are some examples of online
assignments, but they certainly do not represent all of the possibilities.

• Reading

• Discussions

• Case studies

• Quizzes

• Report display

• Practice exercises

• Virtual tutorials or labs

• Essays (submit online) Online literature searches

• Simulations

• Role play

• Game

• Design

You can draw the relationship between learning outcomes and assessment tasks to find
missing or underestimated content, and highlight where you over-evaluate a particular
learning outcome. For example:

Figure 19. Relationship between learning outcomes

and assessment tasks

April, 2020. Version 1.2 82

Tip 23. Creating an online assignment

1. Briefly describe the tasks that students need to complete.

2. You can ask yourself the following questions to help you describe the assignment more clearly.

Type of issue Focusing questions

What do I most want students to learn from this

Goals/objectives
assignment?

Who are my students? Do they know how to use the

Contextual technology I’ve chosen for my assignment? Do they
have access to a computer?

What about the assignment content or goal lends

Content
itself to being an online assignment?

How should I teach so my students can do this

Teaching methods
online assignment?

Why would I use an online assignment? How will I

grade this assignment? What kind of feedback do I
Assessment
need to provide to the students on their completed
work or work in progress?

3. The description of the assignment should stimulate the motivation of students to participate,
willing to complete this task.

83 April, 2020. Version 1.2

5.1.4 Linking learning outcomes to teaching and learning strategies

The verbs used in the description of learning outcomes should best represent the learning
goals the students should achieve. For example, if a learning outcome is to allow students
to explain the causes of global warming, there should be activities that require students
to analyze the influencing factors of global warming and give them the opportunity to
monitor, evaluate and receive. In the process of participating in activities, these skills can
be practiced and improved. The table links learning outcomes with assessment tasks and
teaching strategies.

Table 6. Learning outcomes and teaching strategies

Learning outcomes Teaching & learning strategies Assessment tasks

April, 2020. Version 1.2 84

5.2 Utilizing appropriate instruments for assessment
Some instruments can be used for assessment.

5.2.1 Online examination

Written Exams are a great way to assess what the students have learned with regards to
particular subjects and discrete skills students have developed.

The written examination includes the following type of tests: essay type and objective
type. Essay type test is commonly employed to measure the levels of reasoning,
interpretation, and criticism as it requires students to state their arguments in the essay
form. Objective type questions are answered by writing one or two words, or numerals,
filling in the blanks, choosing one cut of multiple responses given, etc. In objective tests,
the power of memorization and recognition can be checked. Due to the quite simple and
clear scoring criteria it follows, the objective-type test is a reliable, valid and efficient
assessment tool embedded in the online learning platforms.( Uu.edu, 2020)

Story 22. The written examination as an evaluation method of learning

processes and outcomes on Coursera

Barbara Oakley of McMaster University organized an online course “Learning How to Learn: Powerful
mental tools to help you master tough subjects”
on Coursera. This course had the learning modules
weekly, including weekly learning resources such
as videos, readings and module quizzes. These
quizzes provided a tool for students to carry out
self-assessment of the module content, and also
provided information for teachers to understand
learning conditions. Besides, at the end of the
course, the students’ overall mastery of the course
would also be tested through the quizzes.

In this case, quizzes offered a diagnosis for the

current situation and feedback for follow-up
learning. The instructor used them to evaluate the
learning effect and decided if the course certification Figure 20. The written examination as an evaluation method
would be awarded.

Source:https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

85 April, 2020. Version 1.2

5.2.2 Rubric

In education terminology, rubric refers to a scoring guide used to evaluate the quality of

students’ constructed responses. A rubric can be used in individual assessment within the
course, or a project or capstone project, which usually evaluates advanced learning skills.
(Becker, 2011)

Tip 24. The guide to designing a meaningful rubric

◉ Consider the purpose. Different rubrics serve different purposes. Task-specific rubrics are
written to help teachers assess individual assignments or genres, whereas generic rubrics
are written to help teachers assess multiple assignments.(Teachingcommons.stanford.edu,
2020b)

◉ List the important qualities that you expect to be presented in the assignment. It may
be helpful to search for several excellent assignments before you develop a rubric: what
elements do they all have in common? These may include features of the argument, such
as a main claim or thesis; use and presentation of sources, including visuals; and formatting
guidelines such as the requirement of works cited.

◉ Consider how the criteria will be weighted in grading. Perhaps all criteria are equally
important, or perhaps there are two or three that all students must achieve to earn a passing
grade. Decide what best fits the class and requirements of the assignment ( White, 1985).

Story 23. A rubric applied in evaluating critical thinking and problem-

solving skills

The Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Rubric developed by the Stanford University Learning Evaluation
Center divides critical thinking into five dimensions: defining problems, analyzing evidence, applying/
transferring knowledge, problem solving, evaluation and reflection. There are 4 grade levels: formation,
development, proficiency, and excellence. Using this rubric can provide an analytical framework for the
evaluation of critical thinking of students.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 86

In this case, the rubric is used for the evaluation of critical thinking. Given the characteristics and
manifestations of thinking itself, the rubric is designed based on the five aspects of critical thinking and four
different levels of manifestations. This rubric can provide a basis for students to carry out self-evaluation or
for teachers to carry out student evaluations.

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OKzqSMv1ztgpQaKzLDilqQ

5.2.3 Self checklist

Self checklists are a tool that states specific criteria and allows students to gather
information and identify the presence or absence of conceptual knowledge, skills, or
behaviors. Instances in which they are particularly useful in the context of self-evaluation
include the analysis of documents (for example, students’ written work) and off-class
reflection (for example, student insufficient skills). (Irish Department of Education and
Skills, 2020) Well-designed checklists assist students in evaluating learning performance
and identifying steps they can take to complete complex tasks, which scaffolds students’
metacognitive development and fosters the confidence and independence needed for
internalizing these steps for future tasks. (Rowlands, 2007)

87 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Tip 25. Best practices for developing checklists to support the student in the online learning
◉ Depending on the learning content, you can choose the presentation form of self-check list
such as rating scales and table.

◉ Ensure that the characteristics and descriptors listed are clear, specific and observable.

◉ Decide on the response simply such as “Yes” or “No”, or as descriptors indicating quality or
frequency (for example, always, usually, sometimes and never).

◉ Use templates that have tasks chunked into logical sections or flow from start to finish.

◉ Leave space to record anecdotal notes or comments.

◉ Encourage students to assist with constructing appropriate criteria. For example, what
are the descriptors that demonstrate levels of performance in problem solving? (British
Columbia Institute of Technology, 2020)

◉ Students should be guided to well use the self-checklist for course learning evaluation, self-
supervision and reflection.

5.2.4 Learning contract

The learning contract is an agreement negotiated between a learner and a supervisor to
ensure that certain activities will be undertaken to achieve an identified learning goal,
and specific evidence will be produced to demonstrate that goal has been reached. When
a student becomes a party to a learning contract, he becomes more intimately involved
in his own education; that is, the learning process becomes more self-directed.  The
responsibility granted the student by engaging in the contracting process and in making
decisions concerning their own education often increases their internal motivation. The
contract gives students an overview of learning expectations other than just working for
marks; it allows the student to gain satisfaction from meeting their goals.

Tip 26. The steps in creating a learning contract

1. A learning contract usually has a written record of a series of negotiated learning goals/
objectives. These are set between the student and the tutor/expert. They include the
strategies and resources by which these goals can be met, the evidence which will be
presented to show that objectives have been achieved and how the learning outcomes will
be assessed. (Ucdoer.ie, 2020)

2. Before starting a contract，identify the student’s skill level and the gap between the current
situation and the expectation, so that the learning objectives can be clearly defined.

3. During the contract，keep checklists and anecdotal records，monitor the student’

performance and discuss his progress or problems, check the student’s work jointly, and
make shared evaluations.

4. In the process of implementing the learning contract, the instructor’s responsibility is to

monitor the student’s learning process by keeping checklists as well as anecdotal records,
discussing his progress or problems, jointly checking the student’s work and making shared
evaluations. If the student believes that there is something that needs to be modified in the
learning contract, he can discuss it with you in time to revise the content of the learning
contract.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 88

5. If a student encounters learning goals that may not be reached, you and your student should take
remedial measures in order to maximize the learning outcomes.

6. When the contract is completed, the student should hand over the learning contract and the evidence
for completing the learning objectives to the instructor, and the teacher gives grades/marks for
completion of task, and gives feedback on work habits and general behaviors.

Story 24. The use of learning contracts in mental health nursing clinical
placement
To evaluate the use of learning contracts during a mental health clinical placement with cohort nursing
students undertaking a 4-year pre-registration Bachelor of Nursing program, researchers of the Chinese
University of Hong Kong participated in developing the course content and teaching strategies, including
developing the system of contract learning.

By the second week of the clinical placement, all the students proceeded to learn through their learning
contracts by structured activities or specially arranged clinical  situations related to their learning
objectives. At the end of each clinical day, each group of students and their clinical teacher met to discuss
any difficulties encountered and reflected on specific clinical learning issues. Students were expected to
share their learning experiences. Clinical teachers also discussed the learning progress with their students
regularly in groups and individually. At the midpoint and end of the placement, the clinical teachers
assessed the students according to the criteria of accomplishment written in the contract, listened to the
students’ self-evaluation, and provided constructive feedback for future development.

In this case, students’ autonomy and motivation in clinical learning increased through the use of learning
contracts. There was more sharing between students and teachers, and the quality of teaching and learning
was improved.

Source: Chien, W. T., Chan, S. W. C., & Morrissey, J. (2002). The use of learning contracts in mental health nursing clinical
placement: an action research. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 39(7), 685-694.

89 April, 2020. Version 1.2

5.2.5 e-Portfolios

e-Portfolio(electronic portfolio) is a purposeful collection of sample student work,

demonstrations, and artifacts that showcase student’s learning progression, achievement,
and evidence of what students can do. The collection can include essays and papers (text-
based), blogs, multimedia (recordings of demonstrations, interviews, presentations, etc.),
graphics. A good e-Portfolio is both about being a product (a digital collection of artifacts)
and a process (of reflecting on those artifacts and what they represent). (Teaching.
berkeley.edu, 2020; Banta, 2003)

Tip 27. How to assist students in developing an e-portfolio

◉ Explain the benefits of e-Portfolios to students. e-Portfolios can help learners develop
new or deeper learning, which results in advanced skills attainment; help learners to be
aware of how they can learn from reflections (Paulson & Paulson, 1991).

◉ Establish a clear selection of artifacts. Determine the type of e-portfolios and the
standards for collection and selection of materials according to the needs of the teaching
objectives to avoid excessive or chaotic collection (Barrett, 2008; Basken, 2008).

◉ Walk the talk. Create an e-Portfolio for yourself and share it with your students. You’ll
better understand the challenges and benefits of maintaining an e-Portfolio, and it will also
persuade students that it is a useful endeavour (Bass & Eynon, 2009).

◉ Scaffold student learning. Students are the builders and users of e-portfolios. Guide
students to use the portfolios for self-evaluation and reflection, to stimulate students’
subjective awareness and reflection awareness, and to effectively guide students’
development (Tosh, Light, Fleming, & Haywood, 2005).

◉ Collect materials. The collection of evaluation materials in the e-portfolio must be

continuous, reflecting every change in the student’s learning process, and clearly present
the student’s learning process and efforts.

◉ Tie e-Portfolios to assessment. Maintaining an e-Portfolio demands a significant amount

of time and energy from students, and they will resent it if their time and energy are not
reflected in their final grade. If e-Portfolios are merely an optional assignment that is
encouraged but not required, most students will not undertake one. (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, &
Whitt, 2005)

◉ Make it social. Integrate viewing and commenting on other students’ e-Portfolios as part
of the assessment. You could, for example, create a discussion forum where students
make helpful and encouraging comments on one another’s e-Portfolios. The e-Portfolios,
then, become an integral part of the online community of students. (Entwistle &
Karagiannopoulou, 2014)

April, 2020. Version 1.2 90

 Story 25. The use of e-portfolios to make students showcase their learning
process

Chang, Tseng, and Yueh, et al. researched graduate students in a course on “Digital Test and Assessment”.
The three class assignments were the design of an online test system, the design of the online assessment
system, and digital concept map creation and assessment. Students were allowed to include the three
works in their e-portfolios to present their achievements and learning process.

Figure 21. The use of e-portfolios to make students showcase their learning process

In this case, e-portfolio provided favorable conditions for learning assessment. Teachers used e-portfolio
to focus on students’ learning process, provide guidance for learning, encourage learners to reflect on
themselves, and thus enhanced learners’ self-management awareness.

Source: Chang, C. C., Tseng, K. H., Yueh, H. P., & Lin, W. C. (2011). Consideration factors and adoption of type,
tabulation, and framework for creating e-portfolios. Computers & Education, 56(2), 452-465.

91 April, 2020. Version 1.2

5.2.6 Learning analytics

Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about
learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and
the environments in which it occurs. The growth of online learning in higher education has
contributed to the advancement of learning analytics as student data can be captured and
made available for analysis. When learners use an LMS (Learning Management System),
social media, or similar online tools, their clicks, navigation patterns, time on task, social
networks, information flow, and concept development through discussions can be
tracked. The rapid development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) offers additional
data for researchers to evaluate teaching and learning in online environments. Integrating
learning analytics, as an evaluation instrument, into the learning process is gradually
becoming the focus of online learning development. ( Society for Learning Analytics
Research, 2020; Siemens, Dawson, & Lynch, 2013)

The following table provides diverse learning analytics tools, such as learning network
analysis tools, learning content analysis tools, learning ability analysis tools, and learning
behavior analysis tools.

Table 7. Diverse learning analytics tools

Tools name Analysis Function license

object

SNAPP is a software tool that allows

Social network
users to visualize the network of Free&Open
SNAPP relationships in
interactions resulting from discussion source
LMS platform.
forum posts and replies.

Gephi is the leading visualization and

Free&Open
Learning network Gephi Social network exploration software for all kinds of
source
analysis graphs and networks.

NetMiner is a premium software

Social network, Commercial
NetMiner tool for Exploratory Analysis and
Data Mining software
Visualization of Network Data.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 92

 Table 7. Diverse learning analytics tools (continued)

Analysis
Tools name Function license
object

Wmatrix is a software tool for

corpus analysis and comparison.
Free to members
It provides a web interface to the
of Lancaster
English USAS and CLAWS corpus
University. Free
annotation tools, and standard corpus
Wmatrix Text one-month
linguistic methodologies such as
trial is available
frequency lists and concordances. It
for individual
also extends the keywords method to
academic users.
key grammatical categories and key
semantic domains.

learning content Catpac is a computer program that

analysis analyzes text samples to identify Commercial
CATPAC Text
key concepts contained within the software
sample.

LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word

Count) is a text analysis program, It
calculates the degree to which various
categories of words are used in a Commercial
LIWC Text
text, and can process texts ranging software
from e-mails to speeches, poems and
transcribe natural language in either
plain text or Word formats.
The ELLIMent research prototype is
The learner's
a working online tool which aims to
reflective
ELLIment support mentors and mentees with
process of
a reflection on their dispositions for
learning
lifelong learning.
EnquiryBlogger extends WordPress,
the world’s most popular open source
Learner's
content management system and
Learning ability EnquiryBlogger learning Free&Open source
blogging platform, with a set of plugins
analysis progress
that turn it into a particular flavour of a
social learning journal.

Learner's
test results Socrato brings test preparation
Commercial
Socrato and learner's materials online so they can be
software
strengths and distributed and used more effectively.
weaknesses

93 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Table 7. Diverse learning analytics tools (continued)

Tools name Analysis Function license

object

Google Analytics is a web

analytics service offered
Google Website activity by Google that tracks and reports Commercial
Analytics of users website traffic, currently as a software
platform inside the Google Marketing
learning behavior
Platform brand.
analysis

Mixpanel is a business analytics

service company. It tracks user
Website activity Commercial
Mixpanel interactions with web and mobile
of users software
applications and provides tools for
targeted communication with them.
Weka contains a collection of
visualization tools and algorithms for
Free&Open
WEKA Large-scale data data analysis and predictive modeling,
source
together with graphical user interfaces
for easy access to these functions.

Social research SPSS is a powerful statistical software Commercial

SPSS
data platform. software
Comprehensive
analysis

Analysis Services is an analytical

data engine used in decision support
and business analytics. It provides
Multi-dimension enterprise-grade semantic data Commercial
SSAS
data set models for business reports and client software
applications such as Power BI, Excel,
Reporting Services reports, and other
data visualization tools.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 94

 Tip 28. Three strategies to turn learning analytics into actionable outcomes

◉ Make data transparent and easy to analyse. Because learning analytics needs to pool and
gather the data of students' learning, teachers should use a single LMS or ensure the data on
multiple LMS can be interconnected.

◉ Close the loop. Some institutions that use learning analytics get off to a strong start with it,
but they stop there by only collecting data. Effective learning analytics is a cyclical process.
It should pay attention to the deep mining of data: through data inference and analysis,
evaluate students’ cognitive conditions, learning styles and preferences, learning process
and status. ( SEAtS Software, 2020)

◉ Exert effective intervention. Analytics can be used by lecturers and tutors to monitor
the performance of their students while the module is taking place; they can then adapt
their teaching if, for example, they identify that students are struggling. It is also important
to make the intervention personalized and timely. Much intervention can be automated
in many learning management systems, for example, by providing student dashboards
that report up-to-date performance indicators so that learners can self-regulate their own
learning experiences and make necessary adjustments on their own. (Yupangco, 2017)

5.2.7 AI assisted assessment

The use of artificial intelligence to evaluate is mainly to sort out the rules for teachers to
appraise student assignments, establish an evaluation model, and design and develop
an evaluation system, which is used to grade the students’ homework. These techniques
can be applied to the evaluation of writing assignments, mathematical problem solving,
computer programming, etc. The advantage of artificial intelligence assessment is to
reduce the teacher’s work intensity and improve work efficiency. The consistency of the
score results is high, which provides students with instant feedback. (teachingcommons.
stanford.edu, 2020a; Williamson, 2010)

Focus on inference from Artificial Intelligence Assessment. Today, AI assessment is most

useful as one part of an assessment process and for enhancing learning, rather than
making final, authoritative, high-stakes decisions about student performance. It can
furnish teaching staff with better information on the quality of the educational content
and activities they are providing, and on their teaching and assessment processes, to
enable its continual enhancement. (Zhang, 2013)

95 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Story 26. Combine the power of AI with the experience of examiners

Cambridge University provides exams and qualifications for international students of English, and it has
long recognized that integrating artificial intelligence into their exam processes. Products and services
are part of the solution to the challenges of demand and expectation, including giving detailed diagnostic
feedback to inform students’ future language progression.

Figure 22. Combine the power of AI with the experience of examiners

It created two auto-markers for writing and speaking tests—both are based on AI technologies driven by
big data, which is underpinned by the experience, expertise, and judgment of examiners. In the Linguaskill
Writing test that is supported by the auto-marker technology, candidates input answers using a computer
keyboard and their answers are automatically marked by the computer.

Source : https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/linguaskill/information-about-the-test

April, 2020. Version 1.2 96

Conclusion

UNESCO stated that, as of 16 April, school closures in many countries worldwide during
the spread of COVID-19 mean that 1,575,270,054 learners are being excluded from the
normal learning process. For university teachers, they have to stay at home and give
lectures via the Internet, which may cause some challenges for some teachers, especially
for those who are not prepared nor familiar with the methods of integrating technology
into education. Some universities are using the old-fashioned model of lectures for
passive audiences, which failed to equip students to work with emerging technologies.
At this critical moment, it is a good opportunity for rethinking teaching and learning, and
leverage technology to transform the old-fashioned models for preparing students for the
future.

In order to facilitate teachers in conducting flexible instruction to ensure the quality

of learning at this critical moment, the guidance has identified some academic terms,
guidelines, tips, and stories for teachers, summarized as:

(a) Making flexible lesson plans and learning activities. The traditional classroom
effective teaching methods and the principles of technology-enhanced learning
should be considered to deliver online instruction. The flexibility of blended learning
should be understood and the blended learning strategies should be employed. It is
important to design learning activities and implement the design by considering the
characteristics of online or blended learning environments.

(b) Delivering instruction in diverse technology-enhanced ways. You should be aware

that different technology-enhanced delivery methods may suit different learning
content and learning scenarios. Normally, the webcast in education for some
difficult content, learning with MOOCs for the student’s self-directed learning skills,
flipped instruction for enhancing the higher-order thinking skills, group learning
for students’ collaborative and communication skills, and joint online course for
meriting the advantages of different universities.

(c) Adopting abundant digital resources and appropriate tools for learning. There are
lots of exiting open educational resources for different subjects, and it is important
to choose the most suitable ones by considering licensing, accuracy, interactivity,
ease of adaptability, and cultural relevance and sensibility. Multiple tools for the live
class, instant message and social networking, concept-mapping and mind-mapping,

97 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 and collaborative authoring are available, and they should be adopted based on the
learning scenario and learning activities.

(d) Designing learning activities to promote interaction, enhance engagement and

improve motivation. Interaction is the core of remote teaching, and is the basis
for the reintegration of teaching and learning activities, which could be promoted
by lectures via webinar, online discussion, project-based learning, online debate,
brainstorming, experiential learning with virtual space, gamifying learning, etc.
Students’ motivation and engagement should be enhanced by instant feedback,
scaffolding, applying Q&A with AI, etc.

(e) Evaluating the learning process and outcome in appropriate ways. Multiple
assessment tools could be used for evaluation, such as online examination, rubrics,
self-checklist, learning contract, e-portfolio, learning analytics, and AI assisted
assessment, and it is critical to utilize these tools for the targeted learning objectives.

The above suggestions are not just for addressing the critical moment of the current
campus closures. This is a unique opportunity to consider the transformation of teaching
and learning for higher education in such a period and grasp the opportunity to infuse
technology into higher education. The following implications are provided for promoting
higher education in a sustainable way for a long term.

(a) Rethinking higher education. Higher education is one of the key drivers of growth
performance, prosperity, and competitiveness, and plays important roles in
sustainable economic and social development, including creating a quality
workforce, supporting business and industry, and carrying out research and
promoting technologies. During campus closures, the courses are provided through
live broadcasting, clip videos, and open resources, which are affordable to everyone
and cost-effective. The Internet has become a major tool for effective teaching as
well as a learning tool and has allowed students to be in constant touch with their
teachers or with other fellow classmates with the help of social media, messaging
apps, and chat forums. It is time to rethink the issues of digital campus, information
literacy, digital governance, learning experience, teaching reform, and support
services in higher education.

(b) Changing the roles of educators. Colleges and universities are creatively using new
technologies to help educators change their teaching methods in order to cope with
the great changes brought about by sudden emergencies. Teachers are increasingly
expected to employ a variety of technology-based tools and engage in online
discussions and collaborative authoring, leverage active learning methodologies like
the project and problem-based learning. With learning shifting towards being more
in the control of the students, educators are now acting as guides and facilitators.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 98

(c) Integrating formal and informal learning. Colleges and universities try to adopt
flexible teaching programs that provide credit for prior learning, multi-form courses,
and extracurricular experience. Through the identification of learning outcomes and
the value of these experiences, the school recognizes that informal learning helps to
promote students’ and faculty’s pursuit of lifelong learning and stimulates interest in
“self-directed learning” and “curious learning.”

(d) Bridging the achievement gap of students. Achievement gaps reflect differences
in enrolment and academic achievement between student groups, however from
an international perspective, they are closely related to factors such as family,
socio-economic status, race or gender of the student group. The new generation of
information technology makes it easier for students of all groups to access learning
resources and cognitive tools. In addition, the strategy of online education or hybrid
learning enhances support services for personalized and adaptive learning, changing
the “one size fits all” approach to traditional higher education paradigms.

(e) Transforming pedagogy through new technology. Although the development

and application of technology offer potential possibilities to improve the “quality
of learning” in universities, it is tricky for scholars who are “stuck in existing
organizations and immersed in the current state.” With the rapid upgrading of
technology, educational means often struggle to keep pace with the times. In the
current epidemic stage, colleges and universities are trying to optimize the digital
campus to ensure the selected technologies and tools could be used to deepen
the learning outcome in quantitative ways. With technology integrated into the
instructional design process, the practice could enhance the teaching and learning
experience, so that teachers can “efficiently and pragmatically” use information
technology to reform teaching.

99 April, 2020. Version 1.2

References

Al-Samarraie, H., Shamsuddin, A., & Alzahrani, A. I. (2019). A flipped classroom model in higher
education: a review of the evidence across disciplines. Educational Technology Research and
Development , 1-35.

Al-Zahrani, A. M. (2015). From passive to active: The impact of the flipped classroom through social
learning platforms on higher education students’ creative thinking. British Journal of Educational
Technology ,46(6), 1133–1148.

Allan, J. (1996). Learning outcomes in higher education. Studies in higher education , 21(1), 93-108.

Allen, I.E., Seaman, J., & Garrett, R. (2007). Blending In: The Extent and Promise of Blended Education
in the United States . Sloan Consortium.

Anderson, T.(2008).The Theory and Practice of Online Learning (2nd Edition). Albert: Athabasca
University Press.

Anderson, T., Rourke, L., Garrison, D. R., Archer, W. (2001). Assessing Teaching presence in a Computer
Conference Environment. Journal of asynchronous learning networks , 5(2), 1-17.

Ansari, A., Maknojia, M., & Shaikh, A. (2016, March). Intelligent question answering system based on
artificial neural network. In 2016 IEEE International Conference on Engineering and Technology
(ICETECH) (pp. 758-763). IEEE.

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology ,
52(1), 1–26.

Banta, T. W. (2003). Introduction: Why portfolios? Porfolio assessment: Uses, cases, scoring, and
impact . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Barrett, H. (2008). Balancing “eportfolio as test” with “eportfolio as story.” Presented at Making
Connections conference.

Basken, P. (2008, April). Electronic portfolios may answer calls for more accountability. Chronicle of
Higher Education , 54(32), A30-A31.

Bass, R. & Eynon, B. (2009). Capturing the visible evidence of invisible learning. The Academic
Commons.

Bates, A. W. (2018). Teaching in a digital age. Guidelines for designing teaching and learning for a digital
age . Tony Bates Associates Ltd.

Becker, A. (2011). Examining Rubrics Used to Measure Writing Performance in US Intensive English
Programs. CATESOL Journal , 22(1), 113-130.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 100

Berge, Z. L.(1995).Facilitating computer conferencing: recommendations from the field. Educational
Technology ,35(1): 22-30.

Berrett, D. (2012). How “flipping” the classroom can improve the traditional lecture. The chronicle of
higher education , 12(19), 1-3.

Biggs, J. (1999). Formulating and clarifying curriculum objectives. In J.B. Biggs, Teaching for quality
learning at university: what the student does (pp.33-53). Buckingham, UK: SRHE and Open
University Press.

Bishop, J.L., & Verleger, M.A. (2013). The flipped classroom: A survey of the reaserch. Paper presented
at the ASEE National Conference Proceedings, Atlanta, GA. p.5

Blumenfeld, P.C., Soloway, E., Marx, R.W., Krajcik, J.S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A. (1991). Motivating
project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational Psychologist ,
26(3&4), 369-398.

Borich, G. D. (2014). Effective teaching methods: research-based practice (8th edition). Pearson Schweiz
Ag.

British Columbia Institute of Technology. (2020). Developing Checklists and Rating Scales. Retrieved
from http://www.northernc.on.ca/leid/docs/ja_developchecklists.pdf

Brown, B., Schroeder, M., & Eaton, S. E. (2016). Designing Synchronous Online Interactions and
Discussions. In M. A. Takeuchi, A. P. Preciado Babb, & J. Lock (Eds.). Proceedings of the IDEAS:
Designing for Innovation (pp. 51-60). Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary.

Bruff, D.O. ,Fisher, D.H., McEwen, K.E., ＆ Smith, B.E.(2013). Wrapping a MOOC: Student perceptions
of an experiment in blended learning. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching , 9( 2) :187 -199．

Burkitt, E. (2006). Zone of proximal development. In G. Davey, Encyclopaedic dictionary of

psychology . London : Hodder Arnold.

Casey, J., & Wilson, P. (2005). A practical guide to providing flexible learning in further and higher
education . Retrieved from http://qmwww.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/publications/a-practical-
guide-to-providing-flexible-learning-in-further-and-higher-education.pdf

Capsim. (2020). Implementing project-based learning in online classrooms . Retrieved from https://
www.capsim.com/blog/implementing-project-based-learning-in-online-classrooms/.

Chaiklin, S. (2003). The zone of proximal development in Vygotsky’s theory of learning and school
instruction. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V.S. Ageyev, & S.M. Miller(Eds.), Vygotsky ’s educational theory
in cultural context (pp.39-64). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Collis, B. & Moonen, J. (2004). Flexible Learning in a Digital World (2nd edition), London: Routledge
and Falmer

Collis, B., Moonen, J., & Vingerhoets, J. (1997), Flexibility as a Key Construct in European Training:

101 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Experiences from the TeleScopia Project. British Journal of Educational Technology , 28: 199-217.
doi:10.1111/1467-8535.00026

Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning: Effective
strategies for moderators . Atwood Publishing, 2710 Atwood Ave., Madison, WI 53704.

Communication Technologies: Promoting Active Online Learners (2020). https://www.educationworld.

com/a_tech/active-online-learning-communication-tools.shtml

Concept Maps: What the heck is this? (2020). https://msu.edu/~luckie/ctools/

Corwin Press.Xie, Y.R., Qiu. Y., Huang, Y.L., &Wang, Q.L. (2020). Characteristics, Problems and
Innovations of Online Teaching of "No Suspension of Classes" during the Period of Epidemic
Prevention and Control. e-Education Research , 41(03):20-28.

Danker, B. (2015). Using flipped classroom approach to explore deep learning in large classrooms.
IAFOR Journal of Education , 3(1), 171–186.

Davidson, N., & Major, C. H. (2014). Boundary crossings: Cooperative learning, collaborative learning,
and problem-based learning. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching , 25(3&4), 7-55.

de Jong, P., Pickering, J., Hendriks, R., Swinnerton, B., Goshtasbpour, F. and Reinders, M. (2019).
Twelve tips for integrating massive open online course content into classroom teaching. Medical
Teacher , 42(4), pp.393-397.

Denis, B., Watland, P., Pirotte, S., & Verday, N. (2004, April). Roles and competencies of the e-tutor. In
Networked learning 2004: a research based conference on networked learning and lifelong learning:
proceedings of the fourth international conference, Lancaster (pp. 150-157).

Entwistle, N., & Karagiannopoulou, E. (2014). Perceptions of Assessment and their Influences on
Learning. Advances and Innovations in University Assessment and Feedback , 75-98.

Envoplan. (2020). Leading A New Generation-Self Directed Learning. Retrieved from https://envoplan.
co.uk/education-news/leading-a-new-generation-self-directed-learning.

Epigeum. (2019). What do we mean by 'digital learning resources'? Retrieved from https://
flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/learning_technologies_online/6/1/html/course_fles/1_1.html

Esson, J. M. (2016). Flipping general and analytical chemistry at a primarily undergraduate institution.
In The flipped classroom Volume 2: Results from practice (pp. 107–125). Washington, DC: ACS
Publications.

Evseeva, A., & Solozhenko, A. (2015). Use of flipped classroom technology in language learning.
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 206, 205-209.

Faculty Innovation Center of The University of Texas at Austin (December 3, 2019), Group learning.
Retrieved from https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/group-learning

April, 2020. Version 1.2 102

Ferreira, J. M., Sousa, E., Nafalski, A., Machotka, J., & Nedic, Z. (2009). Collaborative learning based
on a micro-webserver remote test controller. Retrieved from https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/
bitstream/10216/84637/2/59169.pdf

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance . Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Garrison, D., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer
conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2, 87-105.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer
conferencing in distance education. American Journal of distance education , 15(1), 7-23.

Garrison. D.R.& Arbaugh , J.B.(2007).Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review，

issues，and future directions. The Internet and Higher Education ,10(3)，157-172.

Garrison, D. R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in
higher education. The Internet and Higher Education , 7, 95–105.

Gerosa, M. A., Filippo, D., Pimentel, M., Fuks, H., & Lucena, C. J. (2010). Is the unfolding of the group
discussion off-pattern? Improving coordination support in educational forums using mobile devices.
Computers & Education , 54(2), 528-544.

Goldberg, H. R., Haase, E., Shoukas, A., & Schramm, L. (2006). Redefining classroom instruction.
Advances in physiology education , 30(3), 124-127.

Gordon, N. A. (2014). Flexible Pedagogies: technology-enhanced learning. In The Higher Education

Academy. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.2052.5760

Haag, S.(1990). Teaching at a Distance, Techniques for Tutors . Waterloo: University of Waterloo.

Hawkes, M. (2006). Linguistic discourse variables as indicators of reflective online interaction. The
American Journal of Distance Education , 20(4), 231-244.

Haythornthwaite, C., & Kazmer, M.M. (2002). Bringing the Internet home. The Internet in everyday
life ,431.

Hergueux, J., & Jacquemet, N. (2015). Social preferences in the online laboratory: a randomized
experiment. Experimental Economics, 18(2), 251-283.

Hicks, M. J. (2004). Problem solving and decision making: hard, soft and creative approaches . Cengage
Learning EMEA.

Hrastinski, S. (2008). The potential of synchronous communication to enhance participation in online

discussions: A case study of two e-learning courses. Information & Management , 45(7), 499-506.

Huang, R.H., Liu, D.J., Amelina, N., Yang, J.F., Zhuang, R.X., Chang, T.W., & Cheng, W. (2020a).
Guidance on Active Learning at Home during Educational Disruption: Promoting student’ s self-
regulation skills in COVID-19 outbreak . Beijing: Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University

103 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Huang, R.H., Liu, D.J., Tlili, A., Gao, Y., & Koper, G.(ed.) (2020). Current State of Open Educational
Resources in the “Belt and Road” Countries. Springer Singapore.

Huang, R.H., Liu, D.J., Tlili, A., Yang, J.F., Wang, H.H., et al. (2020b). Handbook on Facilitating
Flexible Learning During Educational Disruption: The Chinese experience in Maintaining Undisrupted
Learning in COVID-19 outbreak . Beijing: Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University.

Huang, R.H., Liu, D.J., Zhan, T., Tlili, A., Knyazeva, S., Chang, T. W., Zhang, X.L., Burgos, D., & Zhang,
M.H. (2020c). Guidance on Open Educational Practices during School Closures: Utilizing OER in
COVID-19 Outbreak in line with UNESCO Recommendations . Beijing: Smart Learning Institute of
Beijing Normal University. (In press)

Huang, R.H., Spector, J. M., & Yang, J.F. (2019). Educational Technology:a primre for 21st century .
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Hung, H.T. (2015). Flipping the classroom for english language learners to foster active learning.
Computer Assisted Language Learning , 28(1), 81–96.

Irish Department of Education and Skills. (2020). Checklists. Retrieved from http://schoolself-evaluation.
ie/primary/resources/gathering-evidence/checklists/.

Jeong, J. S., González-Gómez, D., & Cañada-Cañada, F. (2016). Students’ perceptions and emotions
toward learning in a flipped general science classroom. Journal of Science Education and Technology ,
25(5), 747–758.

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2013). The impact of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic
learning environments on achievement. In J. Hattie & E. Anderman (Eds.), International handbook
of student achievement (pp.372-374). New York: Routledge.

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2017). Cooperative learning. Retrieved from http://ecoasturias.com/
images/PDF/ponencia_zaragoza_David_Johnson.pdf

Kaplan, A.M.,& Haenlein, M. (2016). Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs,
SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster. Business Horizons , 59 (4): 441–50.

Kaur, S.(2017). Collaborative authoring tools: All you want to know!. https://elearningindustry.com/
collaborative-authoring-tools-all-want-know

Kayler, M., & Weller, K. (2007). Pedagogy, self-assessment, and online discussion groups. Journal of
Educational Technology & Society , 10(1), 136-147.

Kim, G. J., Patrick, E. E., Srivastava, R., & Law, M. E. (2014). Perspective on flipping circuits I. IEEE
Transactions on Education , 57(3), 188-192.

Krajcik, J. S., & Blumenfeld, P. C. (2006). Project-based learning (pp. 317-34). na. In R.K. Sawyer (ed).
The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 317-334). Cambridge University Press.

Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J. (2005). Assessing conditions to enhance educational

April, 2020. Version 1.2 104

 effectiveness . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Larmer, J.( April 21, 2015). Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements. Retrieved from https://
www.pblworks.org/blog/gold-standard-pbl-essential-project-design-elements

Larmer, J., Mergendoller, J., & Boss, S. (2015). Setting the standard for project based learning . ASCD.

Learn About Concept Maps(2020). https://cmap.ihmc.us/

Lentell , H.(2003).The Importance of the Tutor in Open and Distance Learning. In A. Tait, & R. Mills.
Rethinking Learner Support In Distance Education . London: Routledge Falmer, 64-76.

Liu, G., Zhang, Y., & Fan, H. (2013). Design and development of collaborative learning platform
supporting flipped classroom. World Transactions on Engagement And Technology Education , 11(2)
82-87.

Liu, J.(2017). “Live + Education”: A New Form of “Internet Plus” Learning and Its Value Inquiry.
Journal of Distance Education ,35(01):52-59.

Lundin, R. (1999) Flexible Teaching and Learning: Perspectives and Practices, UniServe Science News
Volume 13.

Masson, M. (December 2014). Benefits of TED Talks. Canadian Family Physician , 60 (12): 1080.

Mattis, K.V.(2015). Flipped Classroom Versus Traditional Textbook Instruction: Assessing Accuracy and
Mental Effort at Different Levels of Mathematical Complexity.Tech Know Learn , 20, 231–248.

McGreal, R. (2011). Open educational resource repositories: an analysis. The 3rd Annual Forum on
e-Learning Excellence, Dubai, UAE, Dubai, [online] Retrieve from http://elexforum.hbmeu.ac.ae/
Proceeding/PDF/OpenEducationalResource.pdf

McMeekin, A. (1998) Flexible Learning and Teaching and IT, Keynote address to the 1998 Monash
University Flexible Learning and Technology Conference, 1 October 1998.

Merrill, M. D., Drake, L., Lacy, M. J., Pratt, J., & ID Research Group. (1996). Reclaiming instructional
design. Educational Technology , 36(5),5-7 .

Miles, P. (1998). Internet World Guide to Webcasting . New York: Wiley.

Mok, H. N. (2014). Teaching tip: The flipped classroom. Journal of Information Systems Education , 25
(1), 7-11

Moreno-Ger, P., Burgos, D., Martínez-Ortiz, I., Sierra, J. L., & Fernández-Manjón, B. (2008).
Educational game design for online education. Computers in Human Behavior , 24(6), 2530-2540.

Ni, J.J.,& Ding, S.L.(2017). O2O Live Classroom Teaching Model and Its Practice. China Educational
Technology , (11):114-118.

Nouri, J. (2016). The flipped classroom: For active, effective and increased learning–especially for low

105 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 achievers. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education , 13(1), 1–10.

Open educational resources(2020, March 19). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_

educational_resources

O’Rourke, J. ( 2012). Tutoring in Open and Distance Learning: A Handbook for Tutors. Retrieved
from http://www.unisa.ac.za/ contents/courses/docs/Tutoring in ODL_CoL.pdf,2012-06-13.

Ozdemir, O., Bonk, C. J.(2017). Turkish Teachers' Awareness and Perceptions of Open Educational
Resources. Journal of Learning for Development , v4 n3 p307-321

Paulson, P. R., & Paulson, F. L. (1991, March). Portfolios: Stories of knowing. Paper presented at the
54th annual meeting of the Claremont Reading Conference (No. ED377209).

Peterson, D. J. (2016). The flipped classroom improves student achievement and course satisfaction in a
statistics course: A quasi-experimental study. Teaching of Psychology , 43(1), 10–15.

Phillips, C. R., & Trainor, J. E. (2014). Millennial students and the flipped classroom. Journal of Business
and Educational Leadership , 5(1), 102.

Piaget, J. (1975). The equilibration of cognitive structure . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Project-Based Learning(2020). https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/learning/learning-

activities/project-based-learning

Project-Based Learning: Teaching Guide(2020). http://www.bu.edu/ctl/guides/project-based-learning/

Rainbow, C.(2020). Supporting every teacher: using a video conference platform for teaching online.
Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2020/03/16/using-video-conference-platform-
teaching-online/

Roberts, T. S., & McInnerney, J. M. (2007). Seven Problems of Online Group Learning (and Their
Solutions). Educational Technology & Society , 10 (4), 257-268.

Roehl, A., Reddy, S. H., & Shannon, G. J. (2013). The flipped classroom: An opportunity to engage
millennial students through active learning strategies. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences ,
105(2), 44–49.

Rourke, L., Anderson, T. Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (2001). Assessing social presence in asynchronous,
text-based computer conferencing. Journal of Distance Education , 14(3), 51-70.

Rowlands, K. D. (2007). Check it out! Using checklists to support student learning. English Journal , 61-
66.

Sachs, E. (2018). Guided Discovery as a Teaching Method. Public Lecture, MIT Campus.Sauer, A.J., "The
transition of flipped instruction: from professional development to classroom"(2016). Graduate
Research Papers. 698.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 106

Sands, P. (2002.) Inside outside, upside downside: Strategies for connecting online and face-to-face
instruction in hybrid courses. Teaching with Technology Today , 8(6).

Sankar, S. (2012).The rise of Human-Computer Cooperation. Speech, TEDGlobal.

Sawyer, R. K. (Ed.). (2005). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences . Cambridge University
Press.

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2003). Knowledge Building. In J. W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of
Education (2nd edition). New York: Macmillan Reference, USA

Schwab, M., Strobelt, H., Tompkin, J., Fredericks, C., Huff, C., Higgins, D., ... & Pfister, H. (2016). booc.
io: An education system with hierarchical concept maps and dynamic non-linear learning plans. IEEE
transactions on visualization and computer graphics , 23(1), 571-580.

SEAtS Software. (2020).  The Importance of Learning Analytics for Universities and Students.
Retrieved from https://www.seatssoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SEAtS_
ImportanceofLearningAnalytics_N.pdf

Siemens, G., Dawson, S., & Lynch, G. (2013). Improving the quality and productivity of the higher
education sector-Policy and Strategy for Systems-Level Deployment of Learning Analytics. Canberra,
Australia: Society for Learning Analytics Research for the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching.

Singh, V., & Thurman, A. (2019). How Many Ways Can We Define Online Learning? A Systematic
Literature Review of Definitions of Online Learning (1988-2018). American Journal of Distance
Education , 33(4): 289-306. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2019.1663082.

Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR). (2020). What is Learning Analytics? Retrieved from
https://www.solaresearch.org/about/what-is-learning-analytics/.

Soult, A. S. (2016). Experiences in flipping a large lecture course for general, organic, and biological
chemistry. In The flipped classroom Volume 1: Background and challenges (pp. 135-145).
Washington,DC: ACS Publications.

Staker, H., & Horn, M.B. (2012). Classifying K-12 Blended Learning . Boston: Innosight Institute.

Strain, K.(2020). Webcasting for Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.pgi.com/

blog/2020/03/webcasting-for-higher-education/

Squire, K., & Jenkins, H. (2003). Harnessing the power of games in education. Insight , 3(1), 5-33.

teachingcommons.stanford.edu (2020a). Artificial Intelligence Assessment. Retrieved from https://

teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/teaching/evaluating-students/assessing-student-learning/
artificial-intelligence-assessment.

Teachingcommons.stanford.edu. (2020b). Rubric Design. Retrieved from https://teachingcommons.

stanford.edu/teachingwriting/teaching/teaching-writing-major/writing-assessment-overview/rubric-
design.

107 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Teaching.berkeley.edu. (2020). e-Portfolio. Retrieved from https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/
assessment-and-evaluation/design-assessment/e-portfolio.

Tlili, A., Huang, R.H., Chang, T.W., Nascimbeni, F., Burgos, D.(2019). Open Educational Resources and
Practices in China: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 11, 4867; doi:10.3390/su11184867.

Tosh, D., Light, T., Fleming, K., & Haywood, J. (2005). Engagement with electronic portfolios:
Challenges from the student perspective. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La revue
canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie , 31(3).

Tucker, C. R. (2012). Blended learning in grades 4–12: Leveraging the power of technology to create
student-centered classrooms . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Tyler, R. W. (1971). Some persistent questions on the defining of objectives. In M.B. Kapfer(ed.)
Behavioral Objectives in Curriculum Development(pp. 139-147). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Educational Technology Publications.

Ucdoer.ie. (2020). Learning Contracts. Retrieved from http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Learning_

Contracts.

UCLA (2016). Learning Outcome vs. Learning Objective. Retrieved from https://www.uclahealth.
org/nursing/workfiles/Education%20Courses/ContinuingEducation/ce-LearningOutcome-v-
LearningObjective-052016.pdf.

U.S. Department of Education. (2017). Reimagining the role of technology in education: 2017 national
education technology plan update. Retrieved from http://tech.ed.gov.

UNESCO(2019). Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER). Retrieved from http://

portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=49556&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

UNESCO.(April 16th, 2020). COVID-19 Impact on Education. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/

themes/education-emergencies/coronavirus-school-closures

Uu.edu. (2020). Qualities of an Effective Examination. Retrieved from https://www.uu.edu/centers/

faculty/teaching/article.cfm?ID=135.

Vaughan, M. (2014). Flipping the learning: An investigation into the use of the flipped classroom model
inan introductory teaching course. Education Research and Perspectives (Online), 41, 25.

Villa, R. A., Thousand, J. S., & Nevin, A. I. (2013a). A guide to co-teaching: New lessons and strategies to
facilitate student learning (3rd ed.).Corwin Press.

Villa, R. A., Thousand, J. S., & Nevin, A. I. (2013b). What Is Co-Teaching? In R. A. Villa, J. S. Thousand,
& A. I. Nevin (Eds.), A guide to co-teaching: New Lessons and Strategies to Facilitate Student Learning
(3rd ed., pp. 1–6). Corwin Press.

Wästberg, B. S., Eriksson, T., Karlsson, G., Sunnerstam, M., Axelsson, M., & Billger, M. (2019). Design
considerations for virtual laboratories: A comparative study of two virtual laboratories for learning

April, 2020. Version 1.2 108

 about gas solubility and colour appearance. Education and Information Technologies , 24(3), 2059-
2080.

White, E. M. (1985). Teaching and Assessing Writing: Recent Advances in Understanding, Evaluating,
and Improving Student Performance. In The Jossey-Bass Higher Education Series. Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 433 California St., Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94104-2091.

Wiki(n.d.a). Cooperative_learning. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_learning

Wiki(n.d.b). Massive open online course. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_

online_course

Williamson, D.M., et al. (July 2010) Automated Scoring for Assessment of Common Core Standards,
Educational Testing Service.

Wu,Y.(2020) Respond to crises, turn crises into opportunities, take the initiative to change, and build
an international online teaching platform and curriculum resources[Powerpoint slides].Video
Conference on the Construction of Online Teaching International Platform Courses in Universities.
[2020-04-10]

Yestrebsky, C. L. (2016). Direct comparison of flipping in the large lecture environment. In The flipped
classroom Volume 2: Results from practice (pp. 1-18). Washington, DC: ACS Publications.

Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications: Design and methods . Sage publications.

Yupangco, J. (2017). 3 Tips to Turn Learning Analytics into Actionable Outcomes [Blog]. Retrieved from
https://elearningindustry.com/turn-learning-analytics-into-actionable-outcomes-3-tips.

Zhan, Z. H., Zhang, J., Shi, Y. H., & Liu, H. L. (2012, June). A modified brain storm optimization. In
2012 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (pp. 1-8). IEEE

Zhang, M. (March 2013) Contrasting Automated and Human Scoring of Essays. R&D Connections, n21.
Educational Testing Service

7. Professional Online Lectures (2020). Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/

virtuallearningdesigndelivery/chapter/7-professional-online-lectures/.

109 April, 2020. Version 1.2

Participant list

Project Members

Ronghuai Huang, Professor of Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, and Co-
Dean of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University

Dejian Liu, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited and Co-Dean
of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University

Tao Zhan, Director, UNESCO IITE

Ming Li, Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology, China Director,
UNESCO ICHEI

Svetlana Knyazeva, Senior National Project Officer in Education, Chief of Unit “Digital
Pedagogy and Learning Materials”, UNESCO IITE

Jianhua Zhao, Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology, China Senior
Expert, UNESCO ICHEI

Chee-Kit Looi, Professor, Centre for Research and Development in Learning, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore

Jiong Guo, Professor, College of Educational Technology, North West Normal University

Junfeng Yang, Professor, College Of Education, Hangzhou Normal University

Xuefeng Wei, Professor, College of Teacher Education, Ludong University

Rongxia Zhuang, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University

Ting-Wen Chang, Assistant to the Dean, Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal
University

Zhiying Nian, Senior Education Research Officer, Smart Learning Institute of Beijing
Normal University

Bojun Gao, Master Student, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University

Zhisheng Li, Project Assistant, Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University

Qian Cheng, Project Assistant, Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University

April, 2020. Version 1.2 110

Global Contributors ( Names are presented below in the alphabetical order)

Chris Dede, Professor, Harvard University, U.S.A.

Isak Froumin, Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia

Kampei Hayashi, Associate Professor, Shinshu University, Japan

Wayne Holmes, Assistant Professor, The Open University, U.K.

Mohamed Jemni, Director of ICT Department, ALECSO

Kinshuk, Professor, University of North Texas, U.S.A; President, IASLE

Svetlana Knyazeva, Senior National Project Officer in Education, UNESCO IITE

Diana Laurillard, Professor, UCL Institute of Education, U.K.

Cher Ping Lim, Professor, The Education University of Hong Kong, China

David McConnell, Professor, Curtin University, Australia

111 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural
Education (UNESCO INRULED)

UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO
INRULED) was jointly founded by the Chinese government and UNESCO and
located at BNU in 2008. The vision of UNESCO INRULED is to promote social-
economic development in rural areas by bringing about positive changes in the
thinking and behavior and rural people, who make the majority of the population
in developing countries and to achieve the goals of Education for All. UNESCO
INRULED has published over 40 publications, including research projects, training
modules, magazines as well as newsletters. UNESCO INRULED also has established
a wide network of cooperation with UN agencies, development agencies, non-
governmental organizations, foundations and closed links with UNESCO institutions
and centers.

International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the

auspices of UNESCO ( UNESCO ICHEI)

Located in Shenzhen, China, UNESCO-ICHEI was approved on November 13rd,

2015 by the 38th General Conference of UNESCO. It is the tenth Education Sector
UNESCO Category 2 centre in the world and also the first Category 2 centre for
higher education in China. Relying on the advantages of Shenzhen’s information
and communication technology (ICT) sector and drawing upon China’s experience
with the massification of its higher education, ICHEI aims to meet the local demand
for quality higher education resources and to support Asian and African countries to
improve the quality of higher education and promote educational equity. With the
above aims, ICHEI has been carrying out higher education cooperative projects with
countries along the Maritime Silk Road. Through various forms of knowledge sharing
and capacity building, ICHEI exports Shenzhen’s ICT products and services to the
project countries to provide with them intellectual support and human resources for
local industrialization and informatization. Meanwhile, ICHEI also conducts research
on education in the countries along the Maritime Silk Road, aiming to become an
influential educational think-tank and an international higher education platform for
information sharing and communication on innovative thoughts and practices.

UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education

(UNESCO IITE)
United Nations UNESCO Institute
Educational, Scientific and for Information Technologies
Cultural Organization in Education

UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE) was

established as an integral part of UNESCO by the General Conference of UNESCO
at its 29th session (November 1997) and is located in Moscow, Russian Federation.
IITE is the only UNESCO category 1 Institute that holds a global mandate for ICT
in education. In line with the new Education 2030 Agenda, IITE has developed its
strategic priority areas to meet new demands and tasks ahead. The mission of IITE
in the new era is promoting the innovative use of ICT and serving as facilitator and
enabler for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) through ICT-enabled
solutions and best practices.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 112

Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University (SLIBNU)

Beijing Normal University (BNU) grew out of the Education Department of

Imperial University of Peking established in 1902, which initiated teacher training
in China’s higher education. After the development for over a century, BNU
has become a comprehensive and research-intensive university with its main
characteristics of basic disciplines in sciences and humanities, teacher education
and educational science. Smart Learning Institute (SLI) is jointly established
by Beijing Normal University and a global educational technology company
NetDragon Websoft. SLI is a comprehensive experimental platform involving
scientific research, technology development, and innovative instruction. SLI
focuses on detecting learning patterns powered by ICT, creating smart learning
environments and platforms for life-long and life-wide learning, as well as
supporting diversified, personalized and differential learning needs for digital
learners.

Centre for Research and Development in Learning at Nanyang

Technological University, Singapore (CRADLE@NTU)

CRADLE aspires to be a global research hub for empowering and transforming

learners in higher education and lifelong learning. Its multi-disciplinary approach
fosters interdisciplinary research and seeks to develop a transdisciplinary
outcome for the Science of Learning. The Centre embraces interdisciplinary
research and leverages knowledge and methods from Education, Psychology,
Neuroscience and Technology to foster theories that explain learning in all of
its forms. We believe that transformative innovation can happen at the nexus
of these different fields. CRADLE serves as an activity and technology incubator
for researching and transforming learning in higher education. To achieve these
ends, CRADLE engages with learners, professionals, and the teaching community
to identify research needs, support development opportunities, and diffuse
research outcomes.

International association of smart learning environment (IASLE)

The International association of smart learning environments (IASLE) is a

cutting-edge professional forum for researchers, academics, practitioners, and
industry professionals interested and/or engaged in the reform of the ways
of teaching and learning through advancing current learning environments
towards smart learning environments. It provides opportunities for discussions
and constructive dialogue among various stakeholders on the limitations of
existing learning environments, need for reform, innovative uses of emerging
pedagogical approaches and technologies, and sharing and promotion of best
practices, leading to the evolution, design and implementation of smart learning
environments.

113 April, 2020. Version 1.2

 Arab League’s Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization
(ALECSO)

Arab League’s Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) was

founded in 1975. Its Documentation and Information Department provides
information on all aspects of education including adult education, culture and
science in and on Arab countries. Expansion of the documentation services
through use of Internet is being planned in order to deepen international
contacts and co-operation. The Department of Documentation and Information
maintains cooperation and coordination with the Arab countries in the domain of
information processing and exchange, in order to guarantee easy flow and high
efficiency. This aim also includes the Arabization of information tools consistent
with the Arab national ambitions that stress the upgrading of economic and social
plans in the Arab region; thus reaching an optimum enrichment of development.

Edmodo

Edmodo is an educational technology company offering a communication,

collaboration, and coaching platform to K-12 schools and teachers. The Edmodo
network enables teachers to share content, distribute quizzes, assignments, and
manage communication with students, colleagues, and parents. Edmodo is very
teacher-centric in their design and philosophy: students and parents can only
join Edmodo if invited to do so by a teacher. Teachers and students spend large
amounts of time on the platform, both in and out of the classroom. Edmodo is
free to use, but it also offers premium services.

April, 2020. Version 1.2 114

115 April, 2020. Version 1.2