ThingLink Spotlight! Lighting Up Immersive Learning with Claudia Chang
ThingLink Luminaries is a series of guest blog posts highlighting certified trainers who are creating interactive and immersive experiences to make learning more engaging, accessible, and meaningful. Our educators and learning designers bring a thoughtful approach to immersive learning, and their work reflects a deep commitment to creativity, pedagogy, and innovation.
In each profile post, we’ll explore their background, teaching philosophy, and favorite ThingLink projects—offering insight into how they’re making a lasting impact in their classrooms, organizations and communities! Enjoy!
Would you like to become a ThingLink Certified Trainer?
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of being part of our global ThingLink Certified Trainer community, check our page!
Introducing Claudia Chang
With over twenty years of experience teaching English at the same vocational high school in Taiwan, I’ve also served as a homeroom teacher, assistant administrator, and administrator. I’ve actively participated in various school programs, including international education, technology-integrated initiatives, bilingual instruction, and self-directed learning. I’m passionate about leveraging technology, such as educational apps, to enhance teaching and learning. I’m committed to continuous professional development in this area and aim to empower fellow educators to effectively integrate these tools into their practice.
Claudia’s ThingLink Project
Drawing on valuable materials compiled by our dedicated group of teachers from various interdisciplinary subjects, I developed a comprehensive virtual tour of our school campus, designed to be highly interactive and immersive. This project goes beyond a simple slideshow, allowing users to actively explore our facilities at their own pace.
The tour is specifically tailored to enhance our school’s international appeal and serve as an effective orientation tool. It aims to provide prospective students, parents, and international partners with a detailed and engaging digital experience. My primary objective is to vividly showcase the unique features and environment of our campus, fostering a strong connection and generating excitement among potential visitors before they even set foot on our grounds.
What inspired you to create this project?
Being impressed by the features of ThingLink, I created this virtual tour to showcase our school’s beautiful and expansive campus. I wanted to provide a way for people to explore the campus virtually, even before they visit in person.
The creation experience involves leveraging ThingLink’s “tags” with various media like text, images, links, audio, and quizzes, as well as “transit” arrows to guide viewers. The goal is to make the tour highly interactive and immersive, allowing viewers to actively explore, uncover information, and feel like they are actually on campus. The project aims to cater to diverse learning styles and create a deeper connection with the campus, all made possible by the capabilities of the app.
How was the project delivered?
This virtual tour has been used extensively in several ways. Firstly, it has become an integral part of our presentations during online meetings and tours for international partners, allowing us to showcase our campus effectively from a distance. Secondly, the tour inspires students to experience the school environment and get excited about their potential future here, which has been particularly helpful for student recruitment and orientation.
Furthermore, students have been actively engaging with ThingLink themselves, creating their own projects and presentations, which has deepened their understanding of digital tools and creative expression. Lastly, we’ve used the virtual tour in teacher workshops to inspire people, demonstrating the potential of interactive technology in education and encouraging other teachers to explore more in their own teaching practices.
Do you have any other projects you’d like to share?
I’m excited to share another ThingLink project focused on a significant local attraction: the Taoyuan Confucius Temple. This project aims to provide an immersive virtual experience of this cultural landmark, allowing viewers to explore its history, architecture, and significance. Using 360-degree imagery, embedded text, video guides, and interactive elements, I’ve created a guided tour that highlights the unique features and stories of the site.
The Taoyuan Confucius Temple section delves into the traditions and philosophy associated with Confucianism. This project serves as both an educational tool and a virtual gateway, encouraging deeper appreciation and understanding of Taoyuan’s rich cultural and religious heritage.” Based on my passion for ThingLink and creating immersive experiences, I plan to create future projects that expand upon the virtual tour concept. Specifically, I envision incorporating ThingLink app use into student collaboration work or individual student projects. I’m also deeply interested in exploring the use of AI scene creation tools to develop even more engaging and dynamic virtual tour environments, which will truly unleash student creativity in incorporating ThingLink.
By combining AI-generated scenes with ThingLink’s interactive features, students can design unique narratives, build intricate learning scenarios, and showcase their understanding in innovative ways. The possibilities for storytelling, problem-solving, and artistic expression within these AI-enhanced ThingLink projects are truly exciting. I also plan to create projects featuring 360-degree scenes captured during our educational trips overseas, allowing others to learn from and experience those locations virtually. I also dream of creating an escape room experience for local students to explore local attractions. This suggests a desire to further leverage ThingLink’s interactive features for educational purposes and community engagement.
What do you love about ThingLink?
I love that ThingLink allows viewers to actively explore the campus environment and build their own understanding of the space. I appreciate that it caters to diverse learning styles through multimedia features. I also enjoy the guided tour aspect with clear routes and points of interest that allow viewers to uncover information sequentially. Finally, I love the immersive experience created by panoramic images, sounds, and recordings, which makes viewers feel like they are actually exploring the campus and connecting with it on a deeper level.
Connect with Claudia and Fun Fact!
I hold a special place in my heart for the simple pleasure of reading a real, physical book. There’s something about the feel of the pages, the smell of the paper, and the act of turning each page that technology can’t quite replicate.
🔗 Connect with Claudia via LinkedIn
