51乱伦

51乱伦 alumnae Lu Cao and Olena Zastezhko reunited to give OHIO faculty a hands-on webinar on using 鈥淜ahoot!,鈥� a game-based tool to boost teaching.

The two were classmates 10 years ago in the M.A. in Applied Linguistics program and recently found themselves reunited in a graduate education class. Soon, the idea to collaborate on the 鈥淜ahoot!鈥� webinar emerged.

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Cao earned a master鈥檚 degree in applied linguistics from the College of Arts and Sciences at 51乱伦 in 2012, after she completed her undergraduate study in teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language at Beijing Language and Culture University. She started teaching Mandarin Chinese as a teaching assistant when she was a graduate student at OHIO. Now, she is an assistant professor of instruction in the Chinese program in the Linguistics Department. She is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology in the Patton College of Education.

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Zastezhko also earned a master鈥檚 degree in applied linguistics from the College of Arts and Sciences at 51乱伦 in 2012. She later became an instructor in the Intensive English Program at the University of Dayton. In 2020, she came back to 51乱伦 to pursue a master鈥檚 program in computer education and technology in the Patton College of Education.

The idea of a webinar was inspired by their collaboration on a class project in EDCT6042 Leadership and Professional Development in Technology. Cao and Zastezhko surprisingly found they were classmates again and quickly decided to work as a team for a class project about digital learning experiences.

It was just like 10 years ago when they worked as a team teaching in English For All, a program offered by the Linguistics Department to second language learners in the community that also serves as a practicum for student teachers in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate program.

鈥淚t brought us back to the old times when we prepared lesson plans and designed class activities for the practicum. The opportunity to work together on this webinar was like a reunion of old friends. We are glad that we could use our linguistics background and experience in language teaching to brainstorm ideas and make plans,鈥� Cao said.

鈥淏oth of us have used 'Kahoot!' in our own teaching as an effective way to enhance students鈥� engagement and to bring fun to the class,鈥� Cao explained. 鈥淭herefore, we thought, why not do a webinar and share our experiences with interested OHIO faculty and show them how to use this tool to boost their teaching both online and in person.鈥� 鈥淜ahoot!鈥� is an online game-based learning platform, on which users can create games and quizzes to enhance students' engagement. Users can access 鈥淜ahoot!鈥� games either on a web browser or the 鈥淜ahoot!鈥� app on their smart device.

In order to evaluate audience鈥檚 needs and interests, Cao and Zastezhko designed a registration survey, responses to which helped them structure the webinar in the most useful and relevant way. 鈥淒uring the webinar, after explaining what 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� is,鈥� Cao said, 鈥淲e invited participants to play a trivia game on 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� so that they could experience the 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� game as players. Then we brainstormed and summarized how we can use 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� in our teaching. And finally, we walked participants through the process of creating a simple 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� game.鈥�

The webinar, offered on March 1, was a success, and they received positive feedback from the participants.

鈥淲e are very happy that we had an opportunity to share our experiences with other faculty and give them ideas about using 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� in their teaching. 鈥楰ahoot!鈥� is a powerful student engagement tool, and it has a lot of potential in education,鈥� Zastezhko said. Almost all webinar participants considered the webinar to be very helpful and said they were confident in their ability to create their own "Kahoot!" games after this webinar. Moreover, they also expressed that they are very likely to use "Kahoot!" in their teaching.