Kickstart 2025 with Creative Classroom Innovations
2025 brings new opportunities for educators to explore more unique ways to appeal to our students by bringing in new innovations and technology in the class. In line with Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) tagline, “Technology for Society”, this initiative is sure to resonate with our students, who are often regarded as digital natives. Here are some cutting-edge innovations for you to try in your classroom this year.
1. Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the promising technologies to explore this year as it offers immersive experiential learning to all. Studies shown that utilisation of VR in the classroom has greatly increased students’ motivation in learning.
In our English for Professional Communication class, Centre for Modern Languages collaborated with the Computing Faculty to develop a VR application called /spiːx/ (pronounced as ‘speak’) aiming at helping students to reduce anxiety during interviews. Our analysis on students who used the VR application shows a 12% reduction of interview anxiety compared to their peers who did not use the technology. This highlights the immense potential of this technology in language classrooms.
2. Chatbot Technology
Another technology that educators can explore in 2025 is the chatbot technology. Many are familiar with ChatGPT as one of the prominent chatbot models, readily available in the market. Interestingly, the AI chatbot can easily be developed on our own.
Educators often encounter situations where they must answer students’ questions at inconvenient times or repeatedly respond to the same queries from different students. To address this, you can use a generative embedded AI chatbot to handle course-related inquiries. Some platforms you can explore include Poe, Dante, and Dify.
An information-related course in Hiroshima University developed a chatbot called ClassMate to assist the students with course-related questions. The study found that the students have positive outlooks when using the chatbot and able to get the answers even after the office hours.
3. Gamification & Interactive Learning
Last but not least, to make your lessons more interactive, games are always a great choice!
If Kahoot has been used very commonly in your classrooms, let’s explore some other viable options that won’t break the bank. Blooket is a gamified platform similar to Kahoot, designed to reinforce learning through engaging and interactive games. This platform has gained immense popularity due to its highly engaging and competitive features. Quizizz is another alternative to Kahoot, but it offers better animations and design. You can customise your own quizzes or use existing ones. However, the full version can be a bit pricey. Overall, both platforms share similar features, allowing you to create quizzes based on your course syllabus or utilise existing ones. These tools can help facilitate more interactive lessons and promote active learning among students.
We also have many interactive learning plug-ins in our own Learning Management System (LMS)- KALAM and TINTA, including H5P and Lesson. H5P is a plug-in that allows interactive learning. By using H5P, you can have interactive content and presentations. What’s wonderful about this feature is you can use existing H5P content, or you can create your own. So, you can share your files with your colleagues, and it can become a wonderful resource bank for everyone to enjoy. Like H5P, another plug-in that can help your KALAM or TINTA to be more interactive is Lesson. Lesson is a versatile online activity that allows you to create interactive, branching lessons where learners can navigate through different content depending on their choices. It is designed to provide a personalised learning experience by offering different pathways based on the learner's responses or decisions. Lesson is a lesser-known twin that is worth exploring if you’re looking for an opportunity to ameliorate your online presence through KALAM or TINTA.
In conclusion, let this new year bring more innovations and creative approaches for educators to create better learning opportunities in the classroom. As educators navigate a rapidly changing landscape, innovations in educational tools and platforms continue to revolutionise how knowledge is imparted and acquired. Let’s start the year with a bang. Happy innovating, UMPSA!
English Language Instructor
Centre for Modern Languages, UMPSA
E-mail: wanoorfarah@umpsa.edu.my
Head of Department (English Language Unit)
Centre for Modern Languages, UMPSA
E-mail: umikalsom@umpsa.edu.my
Dean
Centre for Modern Languages, UMPSA
aloesnita@umpsa.edu.my
Faculty of Computing, UMPSA
E-mail: saradatulakmar@umpsa.edu.my
Information Media Centre,
Hiroshima University, Japan
adilina@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
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