Dr Wong Lung Hsiang Critiques the Purposes and the Processes of Educational Technology Research and Practice
Dr Wong Lung Hsiang, Senior Research Scientist at the Office of Education Research, was the first Singapore-based researcher to win the prestigious Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE) Distinguished Researcher Award in 2015. As an entitlement of this award, Dr Wong was invited to be a keynote speaker at the 28th International Conference on Computers in Education, organised by APSCE, held virtually from 23-27 November 2020.
On 26 November 2020, Dr Wong presented his keynote titled “Towards cross-fertilisation between diversified research orientations in technology-enhanced learning: Case studies of mobile learning”. He questioned if, with the advent of technology-enhanced learning and an emphasis on state-of-the-art smart learning technologies (including artificial intelligence), we are causing an overreliance on technology. Dr Wong argued that smart technologies may facilitate personalised learning, but that does not necessarily lead to autonomous learning—whereby learners are adept in making decisions on learning goals, pathways, and strategies by and for themselves.
He brought up the software engineering distinction between adaptivity (technology being self-adaptive) and adaptability (allowing users to configure the system) and proposed a learning theory-informed balance between the two features in designing smart learning environments. Dr Wong advocated for letting adaptivity help learners develop autonomous learning skills, so that they can gradually take over the decision making with the aid of adaptability features.
He then reflected upon the processes of three of his previous projects and discussed how each showed the need for “cross-fertilisation” between diversified research orientations. Collaboration between people in different capacities (researchers, teachers, policy makers, technical developers, students, etc.) or scholars of varied research orientations and expertise (technology-centric, content expertise, learning sciences-oriented, etc.) might result in various tensions yet eventually reconcile and achieve the synergy of Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK).
Indeed, for each of the cited projects, Dr Wong has published a paper in an SSCI-indexed journal that focuses on unpacking and analysing its research and technological development process. The projects and their respective process-focused publications are:
1. Collaborative Inquiry on Improving Primary School Students' Attitudes and Competencies in ICT-mediated Chinese Writing
Relevant publication: Wong, L.-H., Gao, P., Chai, C.-S., & Chin, C.-K. (2011). Where research, practice and authority meet: A collaborative inquiry for development of technology-enhanced Chinese language curricula. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 10(1), 232-243.
2. A Mobile-Assisted Game-Based Learning Environment to Improve Pupils' Chinese Character and Phrase Learning
Relevant publication: Wong, L.-H., Boticki, I., Sun, J., & Looi, C.-K. (2011). Improving the scaffolds of a mobile-assisted Chinese character forming game via a design-based research cycle. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1783-1793.
3. Towards a Seamless Language Learning Framework: Enculturating Learners to Practices of Bridging Language Learning Spaces Mediated by an Integrated Technology-transformed Learning Environment
Relevant publication: Wong, L.-H., Chai, C. S., Zhang, X., & King, R. B. (2015). Employing the TPACK framework for researcher-teacher co-design of a mobile-assisted seamless language learning environment. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 8(1), 31-42.
The video recording of the speech is available here:
