Curating Personalised Learning Paths with Online Platforms
Roger Hubmann, founder of Happy Students, talks about the evolving role of online learning platforms in language education and how modern platforms can create dynamic, engaging, and personalised learning paths for students.
Key talking points
Evolution of Online Learning
Roger explains how platforms have evolved from static libraries to tools that support personalised and interactive learning paths. Online learning platforms can act as a digital frame that fosters communication and collaboration between learners and teachers.
A Practical Case Study
Medicus Linguae is a great example of how mobile technology and learning platforms can interlink. In the case of Happy Students, the smartphone-compatible platform enables students to upload audio and video assignments, thus increasing their opportunities to develop their skills outside the live class hours.
A Time-Saving Solution
Online or blended learning experiences can save time so that teachers and learners can focus more on meaningful live interactions. Roger also points out how AI tools can assist in creating teaching materials to support teachers in moving to an online or blended teaching model.
About Roger
Roger Hubmann, Founder of Happy Students, is passionate about creating engaging digital learning interactions and developing digital ecosystems with experts and their knowledge.
With a background in economics, he has extensive experience in digital engagement, product development, and startup developments in virtual worlds and eCommerce. He’s Zurich-based and has lived over a decade in Spain, Berlin, and the UK.
Roger believes that the education sector is undergoing similar digital transformations as banking and commerce, where innovation through digital means is key to differentiation.
References & Resources
Links will direct you to resources Roger mentions in this episode and more.
Happy Students. State-of-the-art learning software
Medicus Linguae. German language training for nursing and health professionals.
OpenAI. For the latest updates about ChatGPT, DALL-E and more.
All hyperlinks listed were accessed on 10/09/2024.
Watch the video with closed captions or refer to the transcript below.
Transcript
00:00:00:01 - 00:00:25:11
Laura
TESOL pop season ten, episode one. What can online learning platforms do today? And how can we leverage them to create engaging, personalised learning paths for our students? These are big questions that my guest, founder of Happy Students, Roger Hubmann discusses in this episode. Let's join the conversation where I asked Roger what trends is he seeing in how online learning platforms are being used today?
00:00:25:13 - 00:00:53:08
Roger
You know, in the past, learning platforms were amazing, designed to shuffle around PDFs. And this role certainly has changed because today the learning platforms they form like a pre and after the classroom session that many determines to help students to better prepare for the classroom sessions and then especially after classroom sessions, to help them individually dive deeper into certain subjects so they create that digital frame around teacher today.
00:00:53:10 - 00:01:06:07
Laura
What you just described prior, the PDF library kind of moving around, that is my experience I had as a student with learning platforms, and what you're describing now seems a lot more integrated with the student's experience.
00:01:06:09 - 00:01:37:15
Roger
Absolutely this, because we live in a different world today. You know, everything is very digitalised. And I see learning platforms also as a way how to create more engagement, engagement outside of the two hours where there is this classroom session. Because and modern learning, progressive learning platforms are also a means of communication, collaboration. So it's absolutely fine for teachers to talk to, but to call it the standards as students before they come to classroom to give them some extra information.
00:01:37:20 - 00:01:50:17
Roger
That is not so static because in the end, May sounds like marketing, but you also want to engage your students and good professors too. And these are a learning platform is just a digital frame that enables you to do that.
00:01:50:19 - 00:02:03:13
Laura
So with our listeners who are tuning in today, they'll probably be thinking, oh, well, how could this work for a language learner and a language teacher? Could you share an insight to what this would look like in practice for that context?
00:02:03:15 - 00:02:32:14
Roger
Absolutely. We do have an interesting client. And this client, it's called Medicus Lingua. And the teaching German to nursing staff in German speaking Europe, which comes from other countries. And of course, they do need to learn the terminology in that profession. But the nice thing is we use that learning platform because they're dispersed away way from each other for many kilometres, something used to learning platform and online teaching to get together.
00:02:32:16 - 00:03:00:18
Roger
But what's really nice is we're using a smartphone compatible learning platform. So then suddenly if you have, do you have students with access to microphones to videos and so on. And this, inspired us a lot when we when we developed that course. Because in that course, people are logging in and they do the preparation before the online session, they have a lot of exercises in there where they are asked to present themselves via video.
00:03:00:20 - 00:03:16:09
Roger
When the audio or audio recordings that then are sent to the class, then they talk about. So it's a nice way, I believe, especially as this as it works in smartphones, to interact even more because, well, it's about language and that works best on phones.
00:03:16:11 - 00:03:36:09
Laura
Yeah. And exactly for that key part, which is usually speaking and listening, that's usually what a lot of my students, when I was teaching languages, would used to say, oh, I need more practice. My speaking, listening. If they have access to a mobile device where they can upload some segments of their speaking, they are to listen back to it, get feedback from their teacher, not having to do that always in the class
00:03:36:11 - 00:03:48:15
Laura
face to face time can really help to widen an increase. I should say, the amount of practice time that students really seek to improve their, speaking confidence and and skill.
00:03:48:17 - 00:04:07:24
Roger
Absolutely you are totally right here. it is nothing else in professional. And this just when you do training presentations you all you were told that when you were to record yourself. And the nice thing is it comes quite natural to these people because they're using the smartphones to communicate with the people at home. They're used to social media.
00:04:08:01 - 00:04:12:04
Roger
So I think it's a very good combination.
00:04:12:06 - 00:04:37:24
Laura
So in today's episode, I wanted to share a few challenges, or should I say misconceptions that I often hear associated with online learning. And it perhaps goes back to previous experiences that teachers may have had as students themselves with what learning platforms used to be compared to where they are now. So I thought it'd be fun to share some these misconceptions or challenges with you to debunk.
00:04:38:03 - 00:04:40:04
Laura
Are you ready to do the first one? Roger.
00:04:40:06 - 00:04:43:15
Roger
Absolute ready to take charge.
00:04:43:17 - 00:04:52:00
Laura
All right, so here's the first challenge one. Online courses take a huge amount of time to build. I don't have time to create one as a teacher.
00:04:52:02 - 00:05:15:00
Roger
While it was to until very recently, you were right. But let me dive in on that first. Basically, yes, it takes more time because there's more you need to invest time in these content previously, and it's even more time consuming when teachers drop an analogue version of the course, and then they move it to online by through the preparatory work.
00:05:15:06 - 00:05:52:00
Roger
It's more than like in a classical in a classical teaching setting. But that's very good news. And we're in the age of, generative AI. And there are artificial intelligences, popping up that help us to create these learning content. And they are huge time saver already, and they will continue to be a huge time saver. Then on a third point, I think teachers should share more because really good digital learning contents are usually home-grown or self-made.
00:05:52:02 - 00:06:24:08
Roger
And these should be shared more. But it seems that teachers rather keep that to themselves, it's stead of sharing that. And probably they could feel like you do that for me, and I do that for you because there's some great things around. And if they would be shared, more people could profit because, I have to say that publishing houses are hesitant to offer engage in digital learning journeys and that there's a reason for that because they're protecting their base businesses.
00:06:24:09 - 00:06:32:10
Roger
But that's why I do, I enforced it to share their good learning and to become ever easier to produce.
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:38:23
Laura
Number two, it's difficult to individualise learning when it comes to online platforms.
00:06:39:00 - 00:07:02:02
Roger
Well, I have a question for you. We've talked about two ways of learning in the digital world. We have the PDF shuffle station. And then we had this, nursing language model. And the nursing language model consists of very little, little, learning items that are tied together when you work with little learning items that are tied together and that can be untied.
00:07:02:04 - 00:07:39:06
Roger
Individualisation becomes quite easy because then you tell the platform, I know this pupil has a need, some more vocabulary work, and that all needs to work on his pronunciation. And then magically the platform goes and plays out more vocabulary classes too. You build a and then more of these pronunciation assignments with his smartphone for pupil B. So I would say the organisation of the learning items in module, in little modules and at the strong technology learning platform is key to that.
00:07:39:06 - 00:07:41:14
Roger
Individualisation.
00:07:41:16 - 00:07:47:24
Laura
That's lovely. So it can literally be like little bundles, learning bundles that you plug together for particular students.
00:07:48:01 - 00:07:52:22
Roger
Exactly, exactly. Little things that are individually blocks together.
00:07:52:24 - 00:08:15:22
Laura
That well, that's completely debunk that first challenge, isn't it? In fact, that's really difficult sometimes to do in a live classroom setting. You know, when you have 230 students in front of you and you're having to juggle all the different tasks and all the different paper to give to them? Actually, I would argue it could be far easier to do this in an online space, and it is in the physical classroom.
00:08:15:24 - 00:08:17:04
Laura
From my own experience.
00:08:17:10 - 00:08:40:18
Roger
You know the best examples of applications of digital learning techniques and platforms we see in countries or areas, where there's a schooling system is is cash strapped because and they do exactly what you just said, the, the organise their digital, learning items in a way that some of that part of the class can work on themselves.
00:08:40:19 - 00:09:00:12
Roger
They go through a list of learning items, and then teachers can I can give attention to other groups, to other parts of that class, because they freed up time by the help of the learning platform. I mean, that's that's a dialectical model that comes with digital learning platforms.
00:09:00:14 - 00:09:14:20
Laura
Yeah. There's so much return on investment in terms of time and that learning that creates as a result to give that differentiated, specialised instruction for those students. I think that's brilliant. We've got one more challenge to take on. Are you ready for the final challenge?
00:09:14:22 - 00:09:16:01
Roger
Absolutely.
00:09:16:03 - 00:09:28:20
Laura
Okay. So for number three, I often hear that digitalisation means less human interaction. And it's removing the teacher and the student relationship, weakening it in some way.
00:09:28:22 - 00:09:55:15
Roger
I think it is important here to first look at the different types of digitalised learning offer. There is the complete digital self-learning. This is the app that someone might download on the App Store to learn a language. It's of course there's no more human interaction. It hasn't ever been. And there's the classical classroom, teaching of language. But people come to some place at a certain time.
00:09:55:17 - 00:10:24:01
Roger
But there's the blended learning in between or the flipped classroom that we just talked about. And this is what I mean by creating a digital frame around your teaching. Because if you do that digital frame, in a way it will first enable individualisation. And therefore the more effectiveness of the learning journey, and especially it will take the class to the same level with more or less in in the knowledge, which then frees up time.
00:10:24:03 - 00:10:43:14
Roger
We all know I mean, I am a teacher myself and we know, we have a huge interest that people do the rather simple things on their own outside the classroom, because then we know it frees time up for us in the classroom to do that. Really interesting things that cannot be delivered by a computer, by the way.
00:10:43:16 - 00:10:53:08
Roger
So I not and in line with this well, Beldum, it actually increases the time and opportunity for human interaction.
00:10:53:10 - 00:11:03:02
Laura
The focus being on quality interaction time that when you are in that face to face environment, that the online learning platform therefore enables.
00:11:03:04 - 00:11:26:12
Roger
Absolutely, absolutely. And I mean, it's like I like to compare it to the time when Xerox copying machines came up. Nobody today is interested to, to to type the same form again and again. The people then found ways how to invest the time that this saved in much better ways. See happens with teaching.
00:11:26:14 - 00:11:52:00
Laura
Exactly. Looking for that efficiency. Roger, you've done really well in tackling all these challenges. And I did give you lots of different ones. To wrap up today's episode, could you share what's something that's impressed you recently because you're very much part of the edtech sphere. You're watching new technologies as they come in. I wonder what's something you've seen recently that you think, oh, now that's an exciting thing to watch.
00:11:52:02 - 00:12:27:10
Roger
But what impressed me a lot was the demonstration of the new Chat GPT Omnia version. And there are different videos around on that website. And one of them, one of the videos was a lady from Asia, and she asked the chat agent to, taught, to teach Chinese words to her colleague. And then the colleague would talking to his smartphone to the chat GPT and then that scene would correct him the way how pronounces.
00:12:27:12 - 00:12:41:08
Roger
But I think this is just beautiful. Making back to the point, what he said before. I mean, then people can, in total isolation whenever they're comfortable, can really work in that pronunciation, which is such a painful thing in front of a class.
00:12:41:10 - 00:12:57:22
Laura
Yeah. Like you say, it enables him to kind of have that additional support and then be able to, you know, continue working on it in the face to face classroom. I agree with you that latest demos, I know the one you're referring to, and I can put links in the show notes. So there are listeners who are thinking, oh, I want to see this.
00:12:57:22 - 00:13:04:17
Laura
You can watch too. And it really is quite impressive how quickly ChatGPT and OpenAI is advancing.
00:13:04:19 - 00:13:18:19
Roger
Absolutely. And it's about sharing again, because that part of sharing, especially among Stem teachers, is also to inspire each other how to use these tools in a creative and efficient way. I believe.
00:13:18:21 - 00:13:31:22
Laura
Roger, it's been lovely talking to you today. Thank you so much for your time and talking about online learning platforms. In dispelling some of these common misconceptions so listeners can find out more about your work, where can they contact you?
00:13:31:24 - 00:13:52:18
Roger
Well, there's a link to my website happystudents.eu you can you can book an online meeting there. I'm have a quick coffee with me. Also, please do get in touch on LinkedIn and I’d love to hear from you. So if anything I can help please feel free to get in touch through this chance.
00:13:52:20 - 00:14:15:05
Laura
That's lovely. And as always, those links are in the show notes so you can find them easily. Now, if you have a question or an idea that you'd like to pitch to the podcast, you can go to the website tesolpop.com.
Finally, you can support the work we do by leaving a rating, a review wherever you listen to the podcast, by sharing today's episode with your teaching community, or by even buying as a coffee, by going to ko-fi.com/tesolpop
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Roger Hubmann, founder of Happy Students, talks about the evolving role of online learning platforms in language education and how modern platforms can create dynamic, engaging, and personalised learning paths for students.