Gao, Xiaowen ORCID: 0000-0002-6682-6193 (2017) WeChat, TED Talks and Financial Education. In: SHIFT 2017: Annual Learning, Teaching and Assessment Conference, Greenwich.

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Abstract

Recent research in higher education suggests that along with flipped classrooms, blended learning is another promising pedagogy to stimulate students’ active learning experience (Oxford University Report, 2015). Compared with the courses which are taught wholly online, blended learning combines face-to-face communication and online learning, which allows students to interact with each other and with the instructor (Matukhin and Zhitkova, 2015). Although blended learning has been applied by a rapidly growing number of educators in higher education (Tomlinson, 2013; Bersin, 2004), most of the online video clips produced by the instructor or from YouTube are simply an audio version of textbooks.

We use selected videos from TED Talks as one tutorial activity in addition to traditional tutorial exercises/activities because TED talks usually reflect the latest research outcomes in relevant fields (Raffo, 2014) and TED talks delivered by ‘thought leaders’ can also generate positive impact on students’ critical thinking and help students to become an independent learner (Giffiths and Smith, 1989; Hughes, 1999; Leathwood, 2006). In addition, we use WeChat-an app, which is used by more than 760 million people worldwide (Bloomberg, 2016) to facilitate various tutorial activities by creating a VLE to amplify the interactions in classroom learning.

Although there is a consensus in research that group work has the potential to improve student engagement, performance, marks and retention (Lejk & Wyvill, 1997; Houldsworth & Matthews, 2000), not many blended learning courses offer the opportunity of cooperative learning. In our course design, we also explore the application of WeChat to fully engage with learners at individual and group level.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Poster)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	WeChat, TED Talks, Financial education, Active learning, Cooperative learning
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business Faculty of Business > Department of Accounting & Finance
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2020 23:31
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/16883

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