APPLICATION AND FEASIBILITY OF VARIOUS TEACHING TOOLS USED IN ONLINE CLASSES DURING COVID-19 IN TERTIARY EDUCATION

The study compares the effectiveness, popularity, and ease of applicability of different learning tools in virtual classrooms among university teachers and students concerning the users' technological literacy and training, as well as equipment support offered by the universities during the pandemic. Comparisons between face-to-face teaching in classrooms and online virtual classrooms will be drawn concerning limitations, incentives, motivation, and effectiveness toward learning. This study also leads to the question of future course development by exploring the possibility of course design and assessment restructuring with a switch to online education with the new mode of technology as the trend.

Teachers’ and Students’ Perception of Gamification in Online Tertiary Education Classrooms During the Pandemic

The research aims at investigating the popularity and ease of different gaming-based platforms in relation to multi-disciplines and contexts of English Language learning and teaching, with reference to perceptions, attitudes, motivation, interests, preferences, feelings of ease and other psychological responses among university learners and educators towards the application of different gaming tools in physical and virtual classrooms in Hong Kong before and during the pandemic period. The study then examines to what extent is game-based learning effective in motivating students and teachers to learn and teach better, with a close analysis on the direct and indirect correlations between game-based learning and the level of participation and engagement in face-to-face classrooms and remote learning. The research finally explores learners’ and educators’ technological literacy and training received, with reference to the availability of institutional support towards game-based learning in university English classes in Hong Kong. The study implies the possibility in accelerating future course redesign and assessment restructuring as a result of a switch to the new learning and teaching mode. The research also provides a framework to further study the feasibility in applying gamification in other subjects in the new technological era.