Speech Title: Enabling Eyes-free Access, Creation and Interaction with Digital STEMA Media Content Using speech - Some Results

Abstract: Modern digital media succeeded in coding STEMA content through text-based XML dialects, such as HTML, MATHML, SVG and others. Most of these representations are model-based and composed by objects and dynamics of quite varied nature, such as text boxes, mathematical expressions, geometric shapes, electric circuits, molecular diagrams and many others. Being primarily available in visual form, rendering of STEMA content in an eyes-free way when subjects are visually impaired persons (VIPs) is to my experience an on-going challenge. It raises several difficulties due to the medium conversion operations and their characteristics, affecting the representations’ quality and cognitive process. One such medium conversion is the graphical to tactile one, as the latter is a geometrical low-resolution representation. Another conversion example is the mathematical expression into speech one. In this case, speech time-linearity most probably causes a mental overload, in case memory management and cognitive aspects are not well considered. Speech as a general-purpose medium may also be used to describe graphical contents. In this communication, I will present some medium conversion projects developed in my laboratory in the past 20 years aiming to enable a better access of VIPs to mathematics, technical drawings and museum objects.

Speech Title: Analysis of the Communication Mode of Chinese Culture and International Communication in the South Pacific Region Based on Internet Media

Abstract: In a report in 2016, the United Nations Development Programme identified four key main fields of collaboration between China and the South Pacific region under the South-South Cooperation framework: infrastructure construction, public health, climate change, and new energy. Taking a positive discourse analysis perspective, this paper reports a series of studies exploring the discourse ecological civilization in the cultural exchanges between China and the South Pacific based on the WeChat accounts of South Pacific research. A combination of software was used for data collection and analysis including web crawler tools, ELAN and MAXQDA. The study will provide useful reference for investigation into positive discourse analysis, international communication, and ecological civilization.

Speech Title: Embracing Open Badge Learning in Education Setting

Abstract: Open Badge Learning (OBL) has emerged as a powerful tool in education, revolutionising how learning is recognized and valued. It explores the potential of OBL in transforming traditional education systems, fostering a culture of lifelong learning, and enhancing skill recognition in diverse educational environments. It also provides a flexible and adaptable framework for individuals to showcase essential skills and lifelong learning, The sharing session begins by elucidating the concept of OBL and its fundamental principles, highlighting its capacity to validate and showcase an individual's knowledge and skills beyond formal academic qualifications and challenges of OBL in the education setting. Through OBL, learners are empowered to accumulate and display their skills and competencies aligning with the dynamic demands of the modern job market.

Speech Title: Challenges of Developing and Assessing 21st-Century Skills of High School Students: Using Critical Thinking as An Example

Abstract: Critical thinking generally refers to the competence of making purposeful and self-regulatory judgments. It is an important learning objective in education worldwide (e.g. one of the 21st-century skills in OECD's framework of lifelong learning). Regardless of its importance and the existence of a wide variety of learning and teaching approaches to develop critical thinking, learning designs and assessment tasks which effectively and systematically develop and assess critical thinking are generally limited in high schools. This invited speech discusses various challenges of developing and assessing the critical thinking of high students and suggests possible ways of addressing these challenges in order to facilitate educators, researchers, instructional designers and school leaders to develop and assess the critical thinking of high school students more effectively and systematically.

Speech Title: To Explore the Effects of Virtual Reality in Vocational Education and Training

Abstract: The features of Virtual Reality (VR) present a learner-centric platform, make leaning more vivid, and solve the problems that cannot complete in physical classes. It can encourage the students’ motivation and improve the learning experience. However, results pertaining to the effects of VR in vocational education and training (VET) have not been explored deeply. As for the design skills, whether VR can improve the design outcomes, it is still a big question. In this paper, we chose the VR to support interior designers for designing the office space. After analyzing this instructional experiment, we investigate the effects of VR in designing office space compared with the traditional method on proportion, composition, and innovation from design outcomes. The results show that VR can enhance the design outcomes compare with paper sketching except innovation. On the other hand, the design outcomes can be impacted by different orders between paper sketch first after VR or VR first after paper sketch. As for quantitative analysis, we find the first combination is better than the second one.

Speech Title: Attention Cues on Multimedia Learning

Abstract: Due to the transience of animations, while animations are displayed, several components move simultaneously and compete for learners’ limit attention. The purpose of highlighting each component in a mechanical system progressively and cumulatively throughout the animation is to reduce competition between cues and animated component for learners’ attention. In this way, the learners’ attention can be more equally distributed among each component rather than be unevenly distributed to the more visually salient components. The transience of animations can be solved by making animations interactive and by presenting snowball-like cues along with the progress of the animations. Interactive animations also help alleviate perceptual difficulties by allowing learners to manipulate the presentation mode and display speed that appropriately matched the learners’ capability to process the information.

Speech Title: Investigating Teachers' Online CPD And Its Impact On their Teaching Profession

Abstract: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for school teachers has witnessed significant changes. Post-Covid, hybrid CPD has emerged as a prominent format, holding immense potential in both attracting and retaining teachers in the education sector (ISC Research, 2023). This study aims to investigate the impact of provided online training on enhancing teachers’ competence and supporting their growth and proficiency. Using a qualitative research approach, the author conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 school-teachers who participated in online and hybrid CPD sessions. The study examined the design and delivery of the online CPD provided, exploring challenges and merits associated with this mode of training. Teachers' perceptions of the online training were also assessed, along with their recommendations for improvement and how teachers vision the learning mode for their future CPD.

Speech Title: TBA

Abstract: TBA