Wang Tianchong, Towey Dave, Ng Ricky Yuk-Kwan, Gill Amarpreet Singh
Faculty of Education and Human Development, The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Zhejiang, 315100 People's Republic of China.
SN Comput Sci. 2021;2(4):271. doi: 10.1007/s42979-021-00663-z. Epub 2021 May 10.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges to post-secondary education, including that campuses have been closed, removing face-to-face instruction options. Meanwhile, this crisis has also presented unique opportunities to create a "tipping point" or conditions that foster innovative teaching practices. In light of such a "danger-opportunity," the feasibility of introducing microlearning (ML), a technology-mediated teaching and learning (T&L) strategy, has recently been revisited by some institutions. ML offers learning opportunities through small bursts of training materials that learners can comprehend in a short time, according to their preferred schedule and location. Initially considered as "add-on" complementary online learning resources to provide learners with an active and more engaging learning experience through flexible learning modes, the possibility of an institution-wide implementation of ML has been further explored during the COVID-19 lockdown. This paper presents an exploratory case study examining two post-secondary education institutions' ML introductions. Using the SAMR model as the lens, their approaches to adopting ML are examined through analysis of quantitative questionnaires and qualitative teacher reflections. Overall, ML appears to be a promising direction that may not only be able to help institutions survive, but possibly offer an enhanced teaching and learning experience, post-pandemic. However, its current implementations face many challenges, both practical and pedagogical, and their impacts have yet to achieve transformation. With the insights gained, some possible strategies for moving the adoption of ML to the next level are offered.
近期的新冠疫情给高等教育带来了挑战，包括校园关闭，取消了面对面教学选项。与此同时，这场危机也带来了独特机遇，以创造一个“临界点”或营造有利于创新教学实践的条件。鉴于这种“危险-机遇”，一些机构最近重新审视了引入微学习（ML）这种技术介导的教学与学习（T&L）策略的可行性。微学习通过短小的训练材料提供学习机会，学习者可以根据自己喜欢的时间表和地点在短时间内理解这些材料。微学习最初被视为“附加”的补充性在线学习资源，通过灵活的学习模式为学习者提供积极且更具吸引力的学习体验，在新冠疫情封锁期间，各机构进一步探索了在全校范围内实施微学习的可能性。本文呈现了一项探索性案例研究，考察了两所高等教育机构引入微学习的情况。以SAMR模型为视角，通过对定量问卷和教师定性反思的分析，研究了它们采用微学习的方法。总体而言，微学习似乎是一个有前景的方向，不仅可能帮助各机构挺过难关，而且在疫情后可能提供增强的教学与学习体验。然而，其当前的实施面临许多实际和教学方面的挑战，其影响尚未实现变革。基于所获得的见解，本文提供了一些可能的策略，以推动微学习的采用迈向新高度。
