THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CURRENT STATE OF TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SMART PEDAGOGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION Bui Thi Thuy Hang (School of Engineering Pedagogy Hanoi University of Science and Technology) Nguyen Hoai Nam (Faculty of Technology Education Hanoi National University of Education) Abstract In the last decade, the rapid development in educational technology has created exciting opportunities for both teachers and learners Smart pedagogy can be considered as an i[.]
Trang 1APPLICATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SMART PEDAGOGIES
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Bui Thi Thuy Hang
(School of Engineering Pedagogy - Hanoi University of Science and Technology)
Nguyen Hoai Nam
(Faculty of Technology Education - Hanoi National University of Education)
Abstract: In the last decade, the rapid development in educational technology has created exciting opportunities
for both teachers and learners Smart pedagogy can be considered as an innovative technology-based teaching and learning strategies aiming to understand learners’ characteristics and help them achieve their learning goals The purpose of this study is to understand the current state of smart university oriented technological application, to look into the smart pedagogy strategies used and their performance methods and examine the relationship between the use frequency and quality of advanced technologies and the degree of adoption of popular smart pedagogies in higher education A survey was conducted on 1157 students in engineering disciplines, inquiring about the current situation of advanced technological application and the utility of the most common smart pedagogies in university teaching The results of statistical analysis will offer an overview of the current state of smart university oriented technological application including analyses and comparisons on the relationship between smart technological application and the implementation of smart pedagogies Conclusions and discussions will provide the useful information to guide and encourage the use of smart pedagogies to cultivate human resources that would meet the requirements of modern technology society.
Keywords: technology use, smart pedagogies, smart university, advanced technology.
1 INTRODUCTION
It is the recent advance in smart technology and modern equipment as well as hardware/software system that have granted educational organizations the chance to initiate new teaching approaches, provide smart services, establish high technology amphitheaters, classrooms and laboratories like never before Across the globe, many countries have participated in smart education projects: Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Australia, America (New York) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) The goal of these projects
is to improve the education system in a way that focuses on learners using scientific and educational achievements as well as advanced technology to encourage learners develop creativity, analytical and innovative thinking Thanks to this, learners can actively participate in the learning process, foster self-oriented study skills in an interactive, advantageous and engaging learning environment
Introduced in recent years, smart university and several related concepts such as smart learning environment, smart campus, smart education, smart pedagogies, smart learners, and smart classrooms have become a widely attractive topic of discussion for world educational researchers as well as their counterpart in Vietnam (Uskov et al., 2018, 2019; Karkazis et al., 2019; Nguyen Huu Duc et al., 2020)
Trang 2On basis of research and systemizing concepts and characteristics of smart education, smart university and smart pedagogy, this research focuses on answering the following questions: (1) The current state of technology orienting the construction of smart universities, (2) smart pedagogy applied
in schools and its performance methods, (3) the correlation between using advanced technology and actualizing smart pedagogies in university teaching
2 AN OVERVIEW OF SMART UNIVERSITY
Smart education
Recently, Smart education has received considerable attention and has been addressed in many research (Uskov et al., 2018, 2019; Karkazis et al., 2019; Nguyen Huu Duc et al., 2020)… Smart education was defined by IBM as [1]: “A smart, multi-disciplinary student-centric education system – linked across schools, tertiary institutions and workforce training, using: 1) adaptive learning programs and learning portfolios for students, 2) collaborative technologies and digital learning resources for teachers and students, 3) computerized administration, monitoring and reporting to keep teachers in the classroom, 4) better information on our learners, 5) online learning resources for students everywhere” The core of Smart education is creating a smart environment by using advanced technology, allowing smart pedagogies to provide personalized learning services and task learners with the responsibility of fostering value orientation, thinking capacity and soft skills (Zhu and He, 2012)
Smart education relates directly to the innovation of teaching quality, researching and commercialization of knowledge and other university activities (Nguyen Huu Duc et al., 2020) In a model categorized by function, smart education can be described as the upper layer, displaying the results of many lower layers – IT infrastructure, transportation, data storage and distribution, knowledge sharing, energy management, social interaction, administration and courses management, well-being (safety and health) (Coccoli et al., 2014)
Smart university (SU)
Smart university, according to Tikhomirov and partners (2015), involves a thorough innovation of all educational processes A distinct trait of smart university is the significant support of smart technology and devices (especially smart phones), the Next Generation Network and high interaction application software (Coccoli et al., 2014)
On the basis of compiling and analyzing concepts of smart city, smart education, the mission and characteristics of smart university, Nguyen Huu Duc et al., (2020) offered a definition for smart universities: “Smart university is a digitalized creativity-oriented educational institution, using digital infrastructure (digital law, digital human resources, digital data, digital tools and application) to provide personalized educational services for learners across generations, internationally and globally thus fulfilling the need for life-long education and the steady growth of individuals as well as countries”
In its core, building Smart University is the process of digitalization with an aim to change traditional educational methods into educational methods based on digitalized versions of entities and their interconnection in a digital space (Ho Tu Bao, 2020), fulfilling the need of life-long education and personal goals achievement therefore adding value to the educational process
Distinctive Features of SU
According to Uskov et al., (2016), SU should display considerable maturity at many different
“smartness” levels or smart features as below:
Trang 3- Adaptation: Smart University can automatically reengineer teaching and learning strategies,
administrative, safety, physical, behavioral, etc to improve its original business functions performance (teaching, learning, safety, management, maintenance, control, etc.)
- Sensing: SU can use a plethora of sensors to identify, recognize, comprehend and/or register
events, phenomena, etc that can impact SU’s operation, infrastructure, or the well-being of its components (students, faculty, resources, properties, etc.)
- Inferring (the ability to convert information into digital data bases): SU can automatically
form conclusions from raw data, processed information, observations, evidence, hypotheticals and logical reasoning
- Self-learning: SU can automatically absorb, invent or transform knowledge, experience or
present behaviors to improve its efficiency
- Anticipation: SU can automatically deduce or reason to predict future events, phenomena and
possible solutions
- Self-optimization or re-structuring: SU can automatically revamp its internal structure,
deliberately reinvent and maintain itself in appropriate conditions without external influences These characteristics are also the six levels of smartness ranked from lowest to highest of Smart University (Nguyen Huu Duc et al., 2020)
Main components of smart university
Aside from inheriting elements of traditional universities, Smart University includes additional elements to carry out and maintain the aforementioned 6 functions Based on opinions and distinct characteristics of SU, Uskov et al., (2016) identified the fundamental elements of next generation university – Smart University, as software systems, hardware/devices, smart educational programs, smart teachers and learners, smart pedagogy and smart classrooms
Evidently, equipment, technology, hardware/software and Smart Pedagogy are the basic components
of smart schools
The Smart University V-SMARTH model
Based on Korean’s Smart University K-SMART model, Nguyen Huu Duc et al., (2020) built Vietnam’s version of Smart University model – V-SMARTH, including 6 components: (1) S – digital resources, (2) M – open access learning materials, (3) A – virtual learning environment, (4) R – personalized learning needs, (5) T – interactive teaching methods and (6) H – digital infrastructure These 6 components can be categorized into 2 groups based on their characteristics which are: new technology (S – digital resources, M – open access learning material, H – digital infrastructure) and teaching methods (A – virtual education applied in all teaching and evaluation processes including online and blended teaching models, R – personalized learning needs and T – interactive teaching method)
On basis of the analysis on characteristics and components of Smart University in Uskov et al.,’s perspective (2016) and components in the Vietnam’s Smart University model- V-SMARTH (Nguyen Huu Duc et al., 2020), it can be observed that between them exists a dialectic relationship New technology
is regarded as a premise on which smart learning environment is created Smart pedagogy, however, relates to teaching and learning methods and assessment forms which educate people into smart learners
Trang 4– the master of knowledge and skills of the 21st century, with the ability adapt to the constantly changing nature of the digital era The relationship between the components of Smart University can be modelized
as below (Zhu et al., 2016):
Figure 1: Relationship between the components of Smart University
3 SMART PEDAGOGY WITH THE SUPPORT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
Smart pedagogy is defined as a collection of teaching strategies that instructors use to recognize learner profiles and set up favorable learning environment to assist students in reaching their goal
(Uskov et al., 2019) This subject of pedagogy is found on the active use of “smartness” features of
Smart Education (SmE) consisting of (1) suitability, (2) sensing, (3) deducing, (4) self-learning, (5) anticipation and (6) self-organization (Uskov et al., 2019)
To provide a list of the most popular teaching strategies and learning styles that are focused on an active use of advanced technology, Uskov et al., (2018) analyzed more than 40 innovative recent strategies during the period of 2010-2017 The obtained student feedback indicated the 6 smart pedagogies being interesting for students that will be presented in following section
Flipped classroom
FC is a concept regularly used to describe teaching methods combining traditional face-to-face learning activities with online learning experiences (Garrison & Heather, 2004) Eventually, different terms such as “hybrid” and “blended” are employed to indicate the same concept FC teaching and learning consists of two phases: (1) direct instruction is taken out of the school and put online, and (2) interactive face-to-face discussion is organized in the classroom In the first phase, students learn at home through shorts videos, textbooks, software or other resources In the second phase, some teachers adopt peer teaching approach in which students teach each other, others use group projects to apply the concepts learned at home and engage creatively in the subject matter As a result, FC-based learning approach assists students in their evolution of: (1) creativity; (2) communication; (3) teamwork; (4) leadership; (5) collaboration; (6) initiatives; and (7) problem solving (Uskov et al., 2018)
Trang 5Collaborative Learning
Collaborative Learning (CL) is simply formulated as a teaching and learning strategy in which teams of two or more student work together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product (Gradel & Edson, 2010) Practically, the term CL involves learning activities that the instructor designs especially for small groups Therefore, these activities must be designed to promote interaction within the group and make learners become active member in accomplishing the task (Karkazis et al., 2019) Nowadays, with the increasing use of innovative technologies in higher education, teachers commonly integrate online tools to help students to collaborate with teachers and other students to solve learning problem while maintaining individual accountability This educational approach aims to improve student’s social and communication skills through discussions and debates, better their critical thinking
to attain a deeper learning This social interaction is important because it`s a basic skill for all types of collaboration
Game-based Learning
In most situations, the integration of technology in the learning process is not necessary to increase student’s motivation and engagement, especially the younger ones today are mostly digital natives who have been immersed in the world of smart mobile devices and digital resources for communication, learning and entertainment in daily life (Bennett et al.2008) The introduction of computer games in education is one tactic to engage students in learning activities By creating a familiar virtual environment, a game-based learning strategy allows learners to make mistakes without any risk, experiment on things and acquire new skills properly (Karkazis et al., 2019)
Learning Analytics
The Society for Learning Analytics Research introduces a definition of learning analytics as: “… the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs” (Arroway et al., 2016) Analytics enable visualization and recommendations designed to influence student behavior while a course is in progress LA can be used to identify students who are disconnected and are, therefore, at risk This provides the chance to pick out key information brokers within a class and to find potentially high- and low-performing students so teachers can better plan interventions
Adaptive learning
Adaptive learning, also known as adaptive teaching, is a teaching method that uses computers and corresponding software tools to help instructors adapt classroom activities to student’s specific learning performance and requirements This teaching method is created based on the concept that an individualized method can facilitate comprehension and retention of the learner (Karkazis et al., 2019) Nowadays, with the rapid evolution of innovative computer technology, adaptive learning platforms use data mining, artificial intelligence to provide customized resources and learning activities for each student The platform can describe the profile of each learner by observing his/her behaviors, following his involvement and detecting his preferences, needs and background to adjust the learning paths to deliver appropriate content that this learner requires (Paramythis & Loidl-Reisinger, 2004) A modern adaptive learning platform allows teachers not only to recognize the current comprehension level of each learner but also outline the tasks, the process and the method necessary to maximize student`s learning outcome
Trang 6Learning by doing
Learning by doing can be understood as learning from the direct consequences of one’s actions rather than learning from watching other people’s performance or reading and listening to other people’s directions or descriptions Bates (2015) regards experiential learning as an umbrella term covering many different instances of learning by doing which includes: laboratory experimentation, workshop
or studio work; case-based learning; project-based learning; problem-based learning According to the Experiential Learning theory, learning is “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb, 1984) In the experiential learning model, Kolb illustrates two dialectically related modes of obtaining experience - Concrete Experience and Abstract Conceptualization, and two dialectically related modes of transforming experience - Reflective Observation and Active Experimentation (Kolb & Kolb, 2005) With special regards to the use of technology, the model focuses on some methods whereby experiential learning can be designed and taught to accommodate the development of the knowledge and skills required in a digital era Many universities are adopting experiential learning as a mainstream teaching method
A common characteristic of these smart pedagogical models is that they are learner-centric approaches aiming to help improve student`s skills such as communication and collaboration skills, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, creativity, self-evaluation, and problem-solving capabilities (Uskov et al., 2018; Pesare et al., 2016) Moreover, smart learning models integrate online tools and platforms to reinforce students-students and students-teachers interactions to increase student’s motivation and engagement
4 METHODOLOGY
As stated, advanced technology is a prerequisite to create smart learning environment so as to actualize smart pedagogy strategies which aim to create smart learners equipped with knowledge and skills needed to adapt to the demands of the 21st century Therefore, the first and foremost aim of this article is to look into the current state of smart university orientational technology, infrastructure equipped with technology, the equipment used in smart classrooms/function room, the digital learning material used in schools, utility frequency and quality of these technology in teaching and researching Common characteristic of smart pedagogy strategies is the learner-centric approach in teaching and learning strategy, the integration of interaction-assistive technology and the goal to identify learners’ characteristics in order to help learners achieve their study goals and perfect skills such as communication, team-work, critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving Thus, the next goal is to look into smart pedagogy used in schools and their performance methods The third aim of the article is to analyze the correlation between using advanced technology and the implementation of smart pedagogy strategies in university teaching
Participants
Respondents of the survey are 1157 students ranging from first-years to sixth-years, from various majors in Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) The student distribution according to school year status is illustrated in the table below:
Trang 7Table 1: Distribution of the survey sample by school year
Number Proportion
Survey lnstrument
The survey includes 2 parts:
A Survey on the current situation of using advanced technologies including 3 questions Question 1: Inquiring about infrastructure, smart technology equipped in schools, including 5
categories of infrastructures, 9 categories of technology infrastructure, 6 categories of equipment in smart classrooms/function rooms and 3 categories of digital learning material
Students are to select the categories equipped in the school Selected categories are encoded as 1, those not selected are 0
Question 2: Use frequency of equipment, infrastructure, technology application, study material
mentioned in question 1 during their learning experience at school
Students are to select 4 options: Never (1), Sometimes (2), Often (3), All the time (4)
Unselected categories (encoded as 0 in question 1) will remain the same (stop receiving evaluation results), therefore will still be encoded as 0 in the following questions
Question 3: service quality of aforementioned infrastructure and equipment during their learning
experience at school
Students are to select 4 options: Bad (1), Adequate (2), Good (3), Great (4)
B Survey on the use of smart pedagogy strategies – 1 question
Students are asked whether they have experienced the 6 common smart pedagogy strategies Have not been experienced is encoded as 0, have been experienced is 1
With every smart pedagogy they have experienced, students are to select the corresponding level experience Levels of experience selected by students are encoded as 1, those not selected are 0
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Status of advanced technology used in university
Trang 8Table 2: Advanced technology equipped in university
Quantity Proportion Quantity Proportion
2 Learning materials for smart learning applications development centers 388 33.5 769 66.5
3 Repositories of digital learning content and online (Web) resources, learning portals 401 34.7 756 65.3
6 Smart card readers (or biometrics) to open amphitheaters, computer rooms, smart classrooms and activate
8 Facial, speech, gestures, … recognition systems to access and process data on students, classrooms and
11 Collaborative Web-based audio/video one-to-one and many-to-many communication systems (for both local
16 Ceiling-mounted projectors (in some cases, 3D projectors) 249 21.5 908 78.5
18 System of high-resolution IP camera system for security system 870 75.2 287 24.8
19 High-resolution IP camera system recording classroom activities 951 82.2 206 17.8
20 Hardware/software systems performing web-based conferencing 748 64.6 409 35.4
21 Lessons/study materials developed by school faculty for online courses, blended learning 152 13.1 1005 86.9
22 Open educational resources, massive open online courseware from reliable sources (Coursera, MIT, edX) 753 65.1 404 34.9
23 Accessible international and global data base (books, scientific articles) 551 47.6 606 52.4
Trang 9Survey results on smart university development oriented technology shows technologies that are rarely equipped in school are VR and AR technology applications (16.4%), system of IP cameras recording in-class activities (17.8%) On the contrary, technologies that are most commonly used in school are study material development centers for advanced learning applications (online, blended learning …) including studios and professional post-production processing system (66.5%); Repositories of digital learning content and online (Web) resources, learning portals (65.3%), high technology laboratories (64.3%); cloud computing technology (Google Suite, Office 365) (64.2%); Ceiling-mounted projectors (78.5%); digital lessons/study material developed by the university for online courses/blended learning (86.9%)
Although all of the survey respondents are HUST students, their answers differ from one another regarding the infrastructure and technology used in the school Taken into context, students’ answers depend on their personal, biased knowledge and experience on aforementioned technology
If the students did not do their research or have not been introduced, have not had the chance to use certain technologies in school, they would consequently assume that technology has not been installed Furthermore, characteristics of students’ majors, which year of college they are in, teachers’ teaching styles and approaches also influence students’ chance of approaching advanced technology in school Furthermore, the survey concluded some of the technologies with the lowest use frequency are: speech-to-text and text-to-voice synthesis system; facial, speech and gestures recognition system for accessing and processing data on students and classrooms and in-class activities recording system On the other end of the scale, some of the most frequently used technologies are: Repositories of digital learning content and online (Web) resources, learning portals; Ceiling-mounted projectors and digital lessons/study material for online courses, blended learning
According to survey, digital libraries providing digital study material, open educational resources, digital data base for learning and research purposes; high technology laboratories; Ceiling-mounted projectors are rated of best service quality On the other hand, speech-to-text and text-to-voice synthesis system; in-class activities recording system; High resolution internet camera system recording classroom activities have the lowest service quality This survey result resonates with the survey results
on equipping smart university oriented technology
5.2 Use frequency of smart pedagogies
The survey result regarding the use frequency of 6 smart pedagogies is as shown in the table:
Table 3: Use frequency of smart pedagogies
Quantity Proportion Quantity Proportion
Trang 10Of the surveyed smart pedagogy teaching strategies, Flipped classroom is the most frequently used, followed by Collaborative learning, Learning by doing, Game-based learning Contrastingly, Learning analysis and Adaptive learning are the least frequently used teaching strategies
With the Flipped classroom, the 3 most common experiences described by students are: (1)
self-studying through videos and presentations provided by teachers, (2) reading materials provided by the learning management system in order to do exercises, (3) reading materials provided by the learning management system in order to do group exercises Providing short videos introducing the courses’ website is the least commonly used
With Collaborative learning, the two most common experiences are: (1) doing subject-related group
exercises, (2) doing group exercises in class On the other end, the two least experienced methods are: (1) participating in discussions/forums created by teachers and groups, (2) participating in interdisciplinary subject-related projects
Relating to Learning by doing, doing exercises in class is used most frequently, followed by doing
homework exercises and doing group exercises in class Discussing new topics are the least experienced teaching strategies
Game-based learning is the fourth most frequently used teaching strategy Students report the most
common experiences are (1) participating in discussions with various topics, (2) the fastest problem-solving exercises in class, (3) problem-solving homework exercises and submitting them to teachers Students also report updating study results 2-3 times/semester is the least experienced
Learning analysis is the least common teaching method in the school The three least common
experiences according to students are (1) receiving result of any exercises at any given time, (2) receiving overall result of any subject at any given time, (3) knowing their results and other student’s in the class anonymously Sending private warning emails when learning analysis system identify at-risk students
at the end of courses and predict final grades of all students in the class anonymously are the least frequently used
Adaptive teaching is the 5/6 strategies surveyed The two most common methods are (1) adjusting
the sequence of lessons in teaching programs and related learning experiences, (2) providing students with individual support On the other hand, the least implemented methods are engaging students in with lesson-based games and personalizing learning pace
5.3 The correlation between using advanced technology and initiating smart pedagogies in university teaching
The correlation between using advanced technology and smart pedagogies is measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient The correlation coefficients between Smart-school-oriented technology’s equipment, use frequency and service quality and Smart pedagogies is illustrated in the table below:
Table 4: Correlation between using advanced technology and smart pedagogies
Smart technology equipment Smart technology use frequency Smart technology service quality