Dr Wong Lung Hsiang Shares on Blended Learning and Technology-Enhanced Language Learning
Dr Wong Lung Hsiang, Senior Research Scientist at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, Office of Education Research, shared his expertise and experience on various topics at seven virtual academic and professional development (PD) events held between May and July 2021.
On 29 May 2021, Dr Wong delivered a keynote entitled “Language Learning with no Barrier of Time and Space: A Recount of Decade-Long Research on Seamless Language Learning” at the Second Cloud Symposium on International Chinese Language Teaching, a Mandarin-speaking international conference. In his speech, he expounded the theoretical grounding, design principles, and research outcomes of the series of studies on seamless Chinese learning that he spearheaded over the last decade, including “Move, Idioms!”, “MyCLOUD”, and “LI-nterChange”.
On 19 June 2021, Dr Wong addressed the participants of the fourth International Conference on Education and Social Sciences, organised by the Community of ASEAN Researchers and Educators (CARE). Entitled “Is the Pandemic Accelerating a Techno-Pedagogical Reform in the Classrooms and Beyond?: Singapore’s Experience”, he shared national educational technology-related initiatives in Singapore, launched before and during the pandemic—including the learning platform Student Learning Space (SLS), home-based learning, blended learning, and the Personal Digital Learning Programme (PDLP, i.e., one-device-per-student)—and the educational rationales behind these initiatives, framed by the development of 21st century competencies.
Yet another keynote address on a similar topic was given on 13 July 2021 at the International Joint Conference on Intelligent Education 2021. The speech again centred on the aforementioned educational technology initiatives in Singapore which were triggered by the pandemic, and Dr Wong connected these initiatives to seamless learning—his decade-long research focus—by explicating how the emerging learning notion may inform PDLP-supported blended learning design in Singapore schools.
Dr Wong was also invited by the West Zone Centre of Excellence for Chinese Language to give a plenary talk at their annual Technology-supported Chinese Language Teaching Symposium on 8 July 2021. At the talk, he contextualised his understanding of blended lesson planning with seamless learning principles in local primary schools’ Chinese Language classes. The talk was attended by more than 200 local schoolteachers virtually.
Furthermore, on 6 July 2021, he joined an online panel session helmed by the Curriculum Planning and Development Division Specialist Development Committee, Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore. Entitled “Blended Learning Spaces, Designing Seamless Learning Experiences”, he spoke alongside Mr Joo Jin Sim and Mdm Charlene Seah, two MOE Senior Specialists with vast experience in national curriculum design, to explore in-depth how the marriage of the two learning notions would level up students’ learning outcomes.
Beyond giving the talks, Dr Wong also conducted two PD workshops on the topic of transforming blended learning through a seamless learning experience in June. The first workshop was organised by the Singapore Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, and attracted the participation of 64 local K-12 teachers and Master Teachers. The second workshop was carried out as an internal PD event of Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) and was attended by more than 30 attendees from school management and subject leaders.
