What emerges from the interface ?

Before I tried to conduct the quizzes and class work online, I have always given my students the
hand- outs as either study materials or paper work for them to submit on the due day.

What is the point of asking students to produce an online worksheet or complete an online reading comprehension?

What is the purpose of asking the students to find relevant information on Internet instead of giving out the well-prepared hand-outs?

Are there some extra learning happening in the process?

I am glad to offer my positive findings here.

• To submit Online work by typing Chinese characters in PinYin has significant impact on the students' realisation of how importance of studying PinYin. When students are asked to produce an online worksheet, they also need to use the Chinese dictionary to find the new words and phrases, which also requires the application of the knowledge in Pin Yin to their performance task. This is more than 100 times of reminders to the students of the importance of Pinyin. And they all take PinYin very seriously.
  
• In order to understand the Chinese idiom very well, the students can go to Internet searching the relevant information on it, either watching the cartoon video story from YouTube, or googling the content of the story in different language, by the end they come to the clear understanding of the particular idiom. They can compare different versions of the story, and eventually form their own understanding. " All individuals acquire the thinking skills that enable them to learn on their own." In the process of finding the meaning behind the Chinese idiom, students are able to " Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying the misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, point of view or bias. " (AASL)

Chinese idiom story in different types.

盲人摸象1

盲人摸象2

盲人摸象3

• Above all, throughout this process, we are fostering our students to be an independent learner.

General Schedule on Digital-age learning assessment project

This project was actually planed in first semester in 2009. See the post Digital-age assessment project. In the middle of March 2010, my two Mandarin level 3 classes finished the chapter on Chinese Idioms, and it is time now for us to practise this project.

The Ultimate Performance task for this project:
Each group of students is to produce a Video Story on the assigned Chinese idiom.

The general schedule on this project:

1. First Stage: Pre-video story ( 15th-24th March)

A. Study of the reading material on the relevant Chinese idiom:

1) Each group focus on the study of its own idiom. It is accessible on Panthernet.
( 15th-17th March)

2) Each group works on its own worksheet, which highlight the new vocabulary, the new sentence drills and give examples on how to use those words and sentence drills. ( 15th-17th March)

B. To conduct online tests to ensure the understanding of the reading of the Chinese idiom.

3) Each group takes the online test activity by uploading its worksheet to panthernet as the group work during class time. ( 18th-19th March)

4) Each group tells their own idiom story orally in front of the class by showing the worksheet in smartboard, explaning the new words and expressions and so on. ( 19th-22nd March)

5) Each group takes online reading comprehension test on its Chinese idiom story.
( 23rd-24th March).

2, Second stage: The process of making video story
( 29th March-9th April)

C, To create a new story based on the understanding of the assigned idiom.

6) Students work with their group to draft the outline of their story. ( 29th-31st March)

7) A role-figure in the story is distributed to each individual and afterwards students rehearse the play. ( 1st-2nd April)

D, To apply the media tools into their story.

8) Students do the recording, videoing or picturing, editing the story by choosing one of the following media tools: ( 5th-9th April)

• Audacity
• Voice thread
• photo story 3
• window movie maker

3, The third stage: Post-video story

Each group uploads their video story into panthernet and display their performance task. By doing so, students exchange their knowledge on the Chinese idioms and create the new understanding of the taught subject.