Virginia STARTALK Chinese Teacher/Student Academy

Making a Miracle Happen Online

Why, What, & How

Dr. Miao-fen TsengHenny Chen

October 14, 2016STARTALK Post-program conference

What is the miracle?

2016 UVa STARTALK Teacher/Student Program

• marks a historical juncture to transition from blended classroom learning to online learning.

• led a strong forward-thinking team to create an online teaching model that was devised with the versatility of technology and innovative pedagogy.

UVa STARTALK on UVa Today

UVa STARATLK Program Website

http://www.startalkuva.com/

2016 UVa STARTALK Teacher Participants

Calendar for teachers’ 5 weeks

Week I : Dr. Tseng

Week II : Henny

Onsite prep week

The 10-day online teaching began

2016 UVa STARTALK Student Participants

Calendar for students’ 2 weeks

Pre-program student activities

Twitter and tech camp started

Testing and orientation

The 10-day learning started

Oh, Beijing, My Dream City

•FIVE SUBTHEMES

•Subtheme 1: Arrival at the airport (Day 1)

•Subtheme 2: Visiting Chinese host family (Days 2-3)

•Subtheme 3: Visiting a Chinese school (Days 4-6)

•Subtheme 4: Exploring Beijing (Days 7-9)

•Subtheme 5: Farewell to Beijing (Day 10)

Curricular design and Program strategies

• Backward design • Two birds in one stone

https://theridgeathleticclub.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/backwards-arrow.jpg http://image.lang-8.com/w0_h0/bb23837cb2554b39620a2c476085c88977726288.png

Right tools for the right things

• Doodle schedule

• Zoom meeting

• Google docs and keep

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Students tech camp

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Goals for the Tech camp

• 06/27 Tech camp (0500-0530, 0530-0600EST)

https://d2mllj54g854r4.cloudfront.net/images/type_chinese/mac/example.pnghttp://www.davidpetersson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/pinyin.png

Practice during the Tech camp

Twitter community

Before the program starts

• #UVaStartalk16

• 06/27 Twitter fun

Students’ tweets

Tech testing

• Host 4 half-hour testing sessions

• Two meeting platform

• Canvas ( LMS )

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Canvas (asynchronous LMS)

Pre-class flipped learning

Study guide Conversation recording

Quizlet

Zaption

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After-class integrated tasks

• Oral assignment • Written assignment

Group Boards : teachers

Group Boards : students

Online Orientation

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Open ceremony ( part 1)

Open ceremony ( part 2)

Closed ceremony

Class started

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Student-center activities

Day 1 – Activity 1

Day 2 – Activity 3 – b

Day 3 – Activity 6 – a

Tutorial session

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Linguofolio workshop

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Support for students’ learning

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Support for students’ learning

UVa STARTALK: a research-based program

Topic 1: Three types of interaction Topic 2: Online teaching and teacher training

Topic 3: Curriculum design, pedagogical effectiveness,

advanced technology, language gains, learners’

feedback on course design & learning outcomes

Online Questionnaire68 Items with the 7-point Likert Scale

Session 1: Background informationSession 2: InteractionSession 3: Learning experiences during the 1-hour synchronous session (Use of target language, engagement, & enhanced Learning, anxiety level)

Session 4: Before-class flipped Learning componentsSession 5: After-class homework componentsSession 6: Overall evaluation of the online course (satisfaction & growth)

Session 3: Learning experiences during the 1-hour synchronous sessionUse of Target Language

28. Frequent interactions with the instructor. 6.74

29. Frequent interactions with my peer(s). 6.03

30. Made efforts to use the target language. 6.74

31. Frequent use of online interactive tools. 6.26

32. Active participation in interactive activities. 6.55

Engagement & Enhanced Learning

33. Frequent interactions with the instructor. 6.77

34. Frequent interactions with my peer(s). 6.29

35. Making efforts to use the target language. 6.71

36. Using online interactive tools. 6.35

37. Participation in interactive activities. 6.68

Anxiety Level

38. Making mistakes. 4.00

39. The instructor’s call to answer questions. 3.26

40. More anxiety than F2F. 2.29

Score Range Pre-program Post-program

0-5 0 0

6-10 6 1

11-15 19 8

16-20 6 22

MEAN 12.61 16.45

Test scores

t (31) = 6.69, p < .001

Session 6: Overall evaluation of the online courseSatisfaction & Growth

59. Pre-class flipped learning is helpful 5.84

60. 1-hour synchronous learning is helpful 6.77

61. After-class learning is helpful 5.97

62. Great improvement in listening 6.29

63. Great improvement in speaking 6.29

64. Great improvement in reading 6.16

65. Great improvement in writing 5.47

66. Satisfaction 6.84

67. Future recommendation 6.90

68. Take the course again 6.77

What kept students to continue attending UVa STARTALK till the end? • I really enjoyed the actual classes and the teachers were helpful and kind.. that motivated

me to do well.

• I already committed to the program and saw that I was learning stuff, and I was motivated to learn because if I had conflicts they were very lenient and willing to work with me.

• Going to classes was fun, and it was easy to be motivated to do the pre-assignments because if I didn't, I wouldn't know what teachers would be talking about the next day.

• I looked forward to seeing my teachers and I liked getting stars.

• I wanted to learn Chinese and it was a comfortable and helpful environment. Although there was a lot of work I wasn't very discouraged because I knew others were doing it too and my teachers were very helpful.

• It looks good on a college application or resume. It was fun and I liked the teachers. • I had motivation for myself to get better at mandarin. Friends in the program also

helped motivate me. I enjoyed the assignments.• I was honored to be a part of the program, and I was also rewarded for it. It was a

learning experience and I enjoyed meeting other people.

A summary of learning experiences

• For me, the best thing about the StarTalk program was the homework assignment setup. I really liked the written/speaking platforms (especially speaking) and also think that the pre-class work was very beneficial. I wish that we used Zaption in my class at school!

• I thoroughly enjoyed STARTALK because I was able to learn more about my heritage. After the program, I also noticed that my Chinese (tones and pronunciation) improved a lot! I really enjoyed the oral assignments because I personally think that speaking is the most difficult part when learning a new language. My teachers were awesome, patient, and I could tell that they had a genuine interest in teaching my class. STARTALK has definitely made me more confident in speaking Chinese, I just wish the program lasted longer! :)

• I enjoyed being part of a fully immersed Chinese classroom which I felt helped me learn the most. I also feel that the lessons that teach practical things that you would do in and say in China was really well done. I also liked the video responses that allowed for everyone to see their classmates.

• I loved the program! I was able to meet and interact with so many new people from across the country. Through Twitter I learned about the similarities and differences between my life and those in different states. The social media platforms helped me know my classmates better outside of learning material while still using Chinese, however the Twitter questions were sometimes too advanced for me to understand and respond. Overall, it was a fun program that I looked forward to attending online every morning because my teachers were so sweet and helpful!

Conclusion: What we have learned1. Highly-motivated students ensure success halfway.

2. Organization, organization, and organization (materials & instruction).

3. Testing, testing, and testing (technology platform and tools).

4. Details, details, and details (LMS & Powerpoint).

5. Individualized instruction becomes salient in online teaching.

6. Participation and attendance rate exceeds expectation.

7. Get real with technology stability.

8. Synchronous learning is crucial.

Virginia STARTALK Chinese Teacher/Student Academy

Making a Miracle Happen Online

Why, What, & How

Dr. Miao-fen TsengHenn Chen

October 14, 2016STARTALK Post-program conference