Research project demonstrates the benefits of integrating the multimedia presentations for improving students' learning autonomy, as well as language, collaborative and digital literacy skills.
As technologies continue to evolve, language teachers and instructors are also expected to adapt and align their teaching practices with the most effective resources available. It is important to investigate how educators could follow new trends by altering the modes of students' assignments. This project was conducted as a part of English language course for undergraduate students majoring English in one higher education institution of Hong Kong. The main purpose of this work was to explore students' experiences regarding the integration of videos as a means of students' presentations. The data were obtained through students' self-generated videos, surveys and face-to-face interviews from a sample of undergraduate students at one English-medium higher education institution in Hong Kong. The findings demonstrated that students' engagement in production of multimedia presentation could not only replace conventional in-class presentations, but help in improving students' learning autonomy, and language, collaborative and digital literacy skills. The analysis of videos created by the Video Production (VPR) group of students showed how students utilised multimodal semiotic resources to design their relationships with viewers while adapting their discoursal identities. Supplementary comparison between VPR and non-VPR group presentations depict the advantages of designing tasks that imply construction of audio-visual resources in a collaborative environment. The conclusions are aligned with pedagogical implications for foreign language curriculum and instructional design.
