Reimagining subjects for the digital world: experiences from a Hong Kong tertiary language centre

This presentation examines the transformation of two subjects with traditional writing and speaking assessments. The subjects, one at foundation level and covering EAP, are both taken in the first year of university by higher diploma students. Current assessments include essay writing, discussions, and presentations. While covid19 has necessitated that the assessments were put online, their overall character has still remained traditional. Given that student needs both during and after university, are vastly different from the previous century when these assessments were first designed, it was decided to update the assessments by incorporating multimodal elements. The updated assessments are all online and include photo essays, poster presentations, academic articles and presentations and it is planned that they will be hosted on various Microsoft 365 platforms. The results from this project will be used to inform changes to assessments in other subjects that the language center offers. Teachers were consulted and interviewed about the changes, and students will be given surveys to test the effectiveness of the newly designed assessments. The presentation will consider the effectiveness of the updated assessments and offer recommendations regarding the updating of traditional assessments in proficiency and EAP courses to meet the challenges of today’s digital world.