English Classroom through

Catering for Learner

Diversity in the Primary

English Classroom through Effective Use of e-Learning Resources and Developing Students’ Self-directed

Learning Capabilities

Workshop Developer and Presenter Dr Paul Sze (paulsze@cuhk.edu.hk)

Year 2021-22

• Introduction

• The concept of catering for learner diversity (CLD)

• The concept of self-directed learning (SDL)

• Relationship between CLD and SDL

• Role of e-learning in this domain

Some relevant extracts from curriculum

documents that highlight

the relationship

2017 ELE Curriculum Guide

For you to check out:

• Go to the 2017 ELE CG:

https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum- development/kla/eng-

edu/Curriculum%20Document/ELE%20KLACG_2017.pdf

• Go to Section 4.3.2 (pp. 73-74), and skim through the list of 10 CLD strategies.

• Which of them have you applied in your teaching? Which of them look interesting to you?

Some CLD and SDL

Strategies as stated in

2017 CG

• Adopting a greater variety of strategies such as a

multisensory approach to learning and teaching (p. 13)

• Selecting suitable learning materials and activities (p. 57)

• Trimming, addition, and/or adapting the teaching content (p. 72)

• Making use of graded learning tasks and exercises (p. 73)

• Varying teacher input and/or student output (p. 73)

• Varying the levels/types of support (p. 73)

• Varying the levels of task demand (e.g., open-ended vs closed-ended) (p. 73)

• Breaking down tasks into sequenced steps (p. 73)

• …

•p. 74

Information technology can

greatly enhance the effectiveness of CLD and SDL in the English

Language classroom.

Course Objectives

(to update after workshop announcement on Training Calendar, if needed)

Some references and resources for this workshop

• Fighting against COVID-19 – Learning and Teaching Resources https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum- development/kla/eng-edu/references-resources/Covid/COVID19.html

• Learning and Teaching Resources on Teaching Information Texts (Primary):

https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/references- resources/Information%20texts/Pri%20Info%20Texts.html

• Videos on “Fantastic People”

• https://emm.edcity.hk/playlist/1_hea30nj2/1_gjbkgroh

• https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/references-resources/fantastic_ppl.html

• Fairy Tales (at Primary Level)

• https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/references-resources/Lit_Classics_Pri_FT.html

• https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-

edu/Lit%20Classics_Pri/The%20Elves%20and%20the%20Shoemaker%20by%20the%20Brothers%20Grimm.html

• Learning and Teaching Materials on Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes through English Sayings of Wisdom (SOW) at Primary Level

• https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/SOW/Lesson%20Plans/SOW_LT_Pri_Full_Version.pdf

• https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/SOW/teaching_plans.html

Organisation of the

Workshop Content

“7 strategies” for

easy understanding

But NOT mutually

exclusive strategies

7 strategies to be

presented in this

workshop

Go Go for multimodal input/output Provide Provide different learning paths

Design Design choice boards Clone and

modify Clone and modify interactive tasks Vary Vary the task interaction formats Create Create tiered worksheets

Select Select diversified e-learning

resources

Some Principles embedded in the 7

Strategies

p. 33

2 essential elements:

Voice and Choice

• Students Making Choices

• Students Making

Decisions

The 4 stages of self-directed learning ^{(G. Grow)}

Source: teachthought.com

The 5 SDL Indicators

Source: jcstem.cite.hku.hk

7 strategies to be

presented in this

workshop

Go Go for multimodal input/output Provide Provide different learning paths

Design Design choice boards Clone and

modify Clone and modify interactive tasks Vary Vary the task interaction formats Create Create tiered worksheets

Select Select diversified e-learning

resources

Strategy 1

Select diversified

e-learning resources

The strategy

Select e-learning resources that cater for different learning abilities, learning

styles, etc.

Example types of diversified e-learning resources

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LANGUAGE

DIFFICULTY

FICTION VS INFORMATIONAL

MULTI-SENSORY VISUAL VS LINGUISTIC MATERIALS

DIFFERENT LANGUAGE MACROSKILLS

Example eReading Resources

for Different Learning

Needs

Reading A to Z

Actively Learn

Read Theory

Epic

Bookflix

Storyline Online

Fluency Tutor

Strategy 2:

Create tiered

worksheets

The strategy

Adapt the ‘standard’ version to cater for more able and/or less able students,

and provide additional support for students who may need it.

Interactive

Differentiated Worksheets

Include different interaction task formats in the same worksheet (matching,

drawing, labelling a diagram, open-

ended ques, etc.) on the same

learning objective;

1

allow students to choose which format(s) they want to try.

2

Provide further support materials for students who need it.

3

Strategy 3

Vary the task interaction

formats

The strategy

Present the same content in different task interact formats to cater for

different learner interests and learning styles.

Examples of

Interactive Task

Formats

• Example interaction formats

• Matching

• Sorting

• Sequencing

• Drawing

• Timeline

• Game (e.g., maze chase)

• Competition (e.g., Time to climb)

• Quiz

• …

Strategy 4

Clone and modify

interactive tasks

The strategy

With an e-learning artifact you have created for the whole class, clone (copy) it,

and then modify each copied version for more/less able students.

Examples

1. Clone a reading comprehension task in GoFormative (a) for more/less students, and/or (b) include different response formats (e.g. Open-ended vs Drawing)

2. Clone an Edpuzzle viewing task (a) for more/less students

(e.g. use viewing guidance notes), and/or (b) include different

response formats (e.g. Open-ended vs MC)

Strategy 5

Design choice boards

The strategy

Think up a number of tasks of different levels of difficulty and task nature (e.g., reading an

infographic; listening to a podcast) under a broad topic. Allow students to choose which tasks to take up. To add interest to the activity, the tasks can be presented on a choice board.

For you to check out:

Go to: Pinterest

Type ‘choice boards’

in the search box.

Examine the results (use the Grade

filters if you like): What are the boxes of

a choice board about?

To create with Thinglink

Wildlife in HK

Strategy 6

Provide different

learning paths

The strategy

Design branching learning paths under a broad topic. Students decide the specific learning path they want to follow. The different paths may be different levels of

difficulty, or of different task nature (e.g., Reading vs Viewing vs Listening)

Tools for Creating Learning Paths

Classcraft GoConqr

Loops.education

Symbaloo Learning Path

Google Forms and Google Slides

Padlet

Strategy 7

Go for multimodal

input/output

The strategy

Provide students with multimodal texts to process, and help students to

express their ideas multimodally.

Other

Strategies

ePortfolio (e.g.,

Seesaw) eRubric

Self-paced learning units (Nearpod, Pear Deck, Quizizz,

Mentimeter, etc.)

Project-based learning

Cooperative

learning Etc.

4.3: ePortolios

From 2017 ELE CG, Section 5.2.2

Some Tools for

Creating e-Rubrics

• Tip: Google-search for ‘e-rubric’

(e.g. Profweb, Teach-nology)

Tools for Creating

Self-paced interactive lessons

Mentimeter

Pear Deck

Nearpod

Quizizz

Be creative

The best CLD and SDL

strategies

come from

teachers.