Abstract
Online Blackboard Spanish quizzes have been introduced for supplementing classroom teaching in some CU Spanish courses, and students’ feedbacks regarding these resources have been positive. Nevertheless, our current CU Blackboard version does not allow to incorporate some learning interactive multimedia tasks and attractive items found in present-day language learning apps and online foreign language learning platforms, for instance, flashcards with audio, rearranging jumble sentences, colourful design features, and game based learning mechanics involving problem solving and sequential learning tasks. In order to make learning more engaging for our CU Spanish students, the objective of this project is to initially build one micro-module courseware for Introductory Spanish courses, which aims to be one upgraded complementary learning tool for Spanish beginner students for amplifying target language exposure. Gamified components will be integrated to assist learners in acquiring and consolidating target language knowledge and reviewing the course contents by progressing through different levels, for improving learner target language vocabulary, listening, reading, writing, and pronunciation skills, as well as enlarging the variety of language didactic tasks in particular. Gamification (Kapp, 2012) as an innovative instructional approach will be applied in order to enhance language learning strategies and keep up learners’ motivation. In this way, we aim at adjusting at our students’ digital literacies and their specific learners’ needs, vis-à-vis our CU Spanish programme. Specifically, this platform will include multimedia activities and progression charts for practising the Spanish five skills. If successful, this tool may include at a later stage the CU intermediate and advanced Spanish course levels contents. The ultimate objective is building a more appealing tool to our current enrolled CU students of Spanish, and a rewarding language learning progress for promoting learner engagement, autonomy, language knowledge and mnemonic.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
The present project aimed to:
• build one courseware for Spanish beginner students.
• revamp Blackboard Spanish materials by complementing learning tools with rich media.
• integrate more gamified components for assisting learners in acquiring, consolidating and reviewing the course contents.
• enhance the language teaching and learning.
• amplify target language exposure for learners.
Activities, process and outcomes
• Surveying and identifying the students’ needs.
• Adopting an “agile design process”.
• Developing jointly learning micro modules with the ITSC unit including rich media.
• Integrating the supporting material learning modules in Blackboard with review and practice online activities.
• Designing video tasks, audio-visual speech integration, and animations.
• Piloting the courseware with students and teachers.
• Redeveloping the courseware after usability testing.
• Micro modules enhancing and updating supplementary practice and review online tasks.
• Overall positive feedback (99.75%) in learner surveys.
Deliverables and evaluation
• 75 online tasks designed with interactive components embedded in Blackboard (e.g.,
multiple choice, fill in the blank, jumbled sentence, audio tasks and video animations).
• 3 main practice and review modules of the SPAN 1000 course contents.
• Continuous ongoing evaluations of the developed contents by adopting one Agile Design Process.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
• Progress reports at a department level and the Spanish Section.
• Two online international talks and one local presentation at CUHK.
Impact on teaching and learning
• Project deliverables tested with SPAN 1000 courses.
• Learners found the modules useful for reviewing contents and improving their listening comprehension skills.
• Teachers’ reflections about the potential of developing richer multimedia tasks for learners.
