SESSION 2B

Tobin Bales, CET
Integrating adaptive learning technology into the delivery of university pathway programs

Abstract
This presentation will examine the affordances and limitations of an online, interactive and adaptive learning programme called Smart Sparrow. For our purposes, it was decided to trial this programme in relation to Reading and Listening Test Preparation – an activity that typically consumes a significant chunk of class time as students individually work through a series of detail-focused comprehension questions.

The usage of adaptive learning technology allowed feedback to be tailored to the individual needs of the learner, increasing in explicitness with each unsuccessful attempt. Apart from the improvement in academic English skills, such technology contributes to the digital literacy of our learners and primes them for the adoption of new technologies at university and in their subsequent professional lives.