Yao Hu, Qun Hao, Ya Zhou, Yifan Huang
Classroom is the basic and critical environment for higher education in common cases. However, this traditional face-to-face teaching and learning environment can hardly draw the attention of the students if the lecturer is not talkative. Some theoretical courses are complained to be boring and some other practical courses are not easy to understand if no demonstration experiments are involved. On the other hand, students in/from East Asia are often too shy to address their opinions and questions. Due to the low lecturer/student ratio, typically less than 1:100 in some engineering courses in Universities and Colleges, most of the students gave up the chance of one-to-one communication with the lecturers even when they were confused. An effective and better convenient tool is expected to enhance the in-class and after-class communications between teachers and learners, and help creating a pleasant learning environment.
Smart phones and multi-functional Apps have changed peoples’ lives worldwide for more than ten years. Instant message Apps make social interactions easier and faster. An online learning environment could be an effective supplementary to traditional classroom environment. Smart phone App Rain Classroom associated with messaging App Wechat is developed to be offered freely for better education environment in the New Media Era. It enables the lecturers to receive instant feedback from students through bullet screen, push preview and review materials and post in-class quiz. Two years of introduction of Rain Classroom to an engineering compulsory course for senior students have been done. Investigation showed that 76% of the students enjoyed the new interactive tool, acknowledging its help in understanding the topic better, improving in-class interaction, and after class communications. Meanwhile, higher requirements for the preparation of the class are suggested. In this proposal, we will share the experiences and bring forward the problems related to higher education in the New Media Era.
