Proceedings of The 8th International Conference on New Approaches in Education
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Nano Learning: Combating the Post- COVID Learning Fatigue in the Classroom
Chan Woon Ki
ABSTRACT:
This presentation analyzes a case study that aimed to explore the effectiveness of implementing a nano-learning approach in a university English academic writing course. The course has been offered in-person since the university resumed face-to-face classes after COVID-19. The strategies used in this experiment were focused on increasing engagement, interactivity, and combating the shrinking attention spans and learning fatigue due to the pandemic. Focusing on specific learning objectives of the training course, micro-content that could be delivered between one to five minutes was embedded in the context of a broader learning strategy in the form of TikTok videos, short creative activities, multimedia texts, as well as brief production tasks using digital platforms. The study involved forty year-one students who were enrolled in a universitylevel English academic writing course. Half of the students were in the experimental group that received nano-learning strategies, while the other half were in the control group that focused entirely on the traditional training modules. Questionnaires were administered to the students at the end of the semester to determine the effectiveness of these bite-sized lessons, which revealed that the experimental group had better learning effectiveness compared to the control group. The presentation also investigates the limitations of nano-learning as an innovative pedagogy, and discusses the possibility of applying it in different academic contexts in the future.
keywords: academic writing, innovative pedagogy, micro-content, multimedia texts, shrinking attention spans