Teaching 8000 Professionals through a Chatting App

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The Faculty of Dentistry recently launched a MOOC which targets pre-professionals and dentists in the world – particularly those in China where formal programmes in this area are rare. The question for the course team is: how to reach this group of audience? The answer: one powerful friend, and your smartphone.

In order to reach out to the dental community and create bigger impact for the MOOC, the course team established a partnership with an online dental training platform, Myake. Founded by a few experienced dentists, the platform’s vision is to provide free quality education and knowledge sharing. With more than 10,000 registered users, it has established an active and mature learning community among practising dentists.

The featuring promotional event was for the MOOC instructor, Dr. Nikos Mattheos, to give a live webinar through the platform. Dr. Mattheos addressed a key topic under implant dentistry, and took the chance to invite learners to join our MOOC.

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What came as a surprise to the course team, was that the tool being used to deliver the webinar, was a simple chatting app, which is so popular that almost everyone in Mainland China is using. Without a webcam, a laptop, or any other sophisticated gadgets, the only device needed for delivering and participating in the webinar, was a smartphone. The instructor simply presented screenshots of lecture slides, and supplemented them with voice messages. Throughout the 90-minute webinar, the number of live learners kept growing, eventually reached over 8000.

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How do we make high education more accessible? Clearly one efficient way is to adopt tools that is available and familiar to our target audience. Making use of this day-to-day communication app, the implant dentistry course team was able to bring the knowledge straight to the front-line practising dentists.

Planetary Urbanisation: A course on facing global challenges to a changing world

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Today we are told that more than 50% of the global population live in urban areas. If we keep on with this growth rate, by 2050, 70% of the world’s population will be urbanized. Sure enough, urban development presents numerous challenges to society. Yet at the same time, this gives rise to opportunities for people to reflect on effective natural resource management (land, water and air resources) that can sustain the growth of future cities.

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As one of the top 10 densely populated cities on the globe, Hong Kong comes under the spotlight when we discuss key challenges of urbanization. Mr. Matthew Pryor (Head of the Division of Landscape Architecture) from HKU was invited to contribute a set of online learning resources to Universitas 21 (U21)’s Shared Online Course titled “Planetary Urbanization: Global Challenges in a Changing World.” Primarily led by University College Dublin, this 5-week course focuses on identifying challenges that planetary urbanisation presents for the growing number of cities around the world.

banner List of Countries by Population Density, Statistics Times

In collaboration with TELI, Mr. Pryor delivered insightful topics that cover the past and present form of Hong Kong’s built environment and its relation to public health issues for Module 4. With his deep reservoir of knowledge on the history and society of Hong Kong, Mr. Pryor articulates how this highly dense city still achieved a healthy city status. Combining his narration with images and footages that show the community’s ‘real side,’ the videos are eloquent of the impact that urban living has on our well-being.

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*Registration for this course is open to U21 students only. As HKU is a partner institution of the U21 Network, HKU students may register at http://bit.ly/U21PlanetaryUrbanisation for the next run of the course (early 2017).

Are you considering a (Micro)Master?

Technology is bringing about a gradual but significant transformation in education. With the growing popularity of online learning, phenomena termed as nanodegree and MicroMaster have emerged over the years to provide a more focused and flexible alternative to regular institutional degrees. It may sound like these new form of credentials are posting a threat to the regular degree providers, yet in fact, prestigious universities around the world are leading this parade.

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For universities:
MicroMaster programs serve as a convenient sneak peek to regular master’s degrees provided by universities. With essentially no registration fee and pre-requisite, MicroMaster programs can attract a pool of applicants who are potentially interested in universities’ regular master’s programs. The universities can also identify high-flyers from the MicroMaster programs for admission to their regular program to ensure intake quality.

For learners:
MicroMasters programs offer a focused and affordable “teaser” before they make full commitment to the regular master’s degree. They also have a choice of applying for a Verified Certificate costing US$150 per course, either to enhance their competitiveness in the job market or gain a better chance of getting admitted into the regular master’s program. MicroMaster programs are also credit-eligible – it can substitute part of the on-campus coursework.

For employers:
MicroMaster credentials are still new to the employers but Ryan Craig, author of “College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education,” predicted that human resource platforms such as LinkedIn will develop new functions catered to this new form of qualification in terms of certificates/skills listing and credentials verifications. MicroMaster programs are focused, efficient and mostly concentrated in skills that are in high demand in the current job market. It is a great way to address the discrepancy between traditional institutional degrees and expectation from students and their future employers.

MicroMaster is indeed a leap forward in achieving internationalization. By extending our high quality teaching and learning contents to a greater audience, we can create a greater ripple of impact in the Asian region and the world. Want to give it a go? Contact us at enquiry@teli.hku.hk and let’s make it happen!

Fast facts:
– 20 MicroMasters programs offered by 14 universities are currently available on edX edX as of February 2017.
– Most of the programs focus in the field of business, management, computer science and education.
– The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is offering a MicroMaster on International Hospitality Management.

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Reference
Craig, R. (2015). College disrupted: The great unbundling of higher education.

Macao Delegation Visits HKU

Knowledge exchange with fellow academics through collaboration and outreach is always an important part of TELI. On 12 October 2016, we were honored to welcome a Macao education delegation to HKU.

Initiated by the Macao Tertiary Education office, the purpose of the half-day visit was to share and exchange HKU’s experience in e-learning, MOOCs and language teaching with the delegation.

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We welcomed a total of 23 delegates from 8 Macao higher education institutions, which included Vice Presidents, Faculty Deans, Language professors and Admin personnel. It was led by Prof. SUN Jian Rong (Macau University of Science and Technology) and Prof. JIN Hong Gan (University of Macau).

The day opened with an introduction of HKU’s e-learning landscape and visions for online learning by TELI.

After introducing the wider picture, Prof. Gina Marchetti from the Department of Comparative Literature then introduced and shared her hands-on experiences on creating an upcoming MOOC called Hong Kong Cinema through a Global Lens. To produce a rewarding MOOC, Prof. Marchetti stressed the importance of identifying your academic strengths, using existing content alongside supporting research, and working with a team throughout development progress.

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As HKU has been pioneering language teaching through technology, Dr. Ka-Yee Loh’s team from the Faculty of Education next introduced mLang, a mobile language app (IOS, Android) developed for non-native students to learn Chinese. Dr. Ki Wing Wah provided background to the app which revolves around DIY flashcard production by students. Ms. Florence Chu and Principal Tracy Cheung from HKMA Lee Kwok Po Secondary School (one of the partner schools) shared first-hand experiences and showcased videos demonstrating usage of mLang in class. Dr. Vincent Lau concluded with technology’s important role in mLang.

banner Ms. Florence Chu showcasing how mLang is applied in the classroom

Subsequent tours to the Centre for the Promotion of Language Learning, Digital Literacies Lab and TELI’s multimedia office enriched the visit, allowing delegates to learn more about the infrastructure supporting online learning in HKU.

banner A visit to the Centre for the Promotion of Language Learning, guided by Mr. Kevin Chan

banner Mr. Patrick Desloge guiding delegates through the Digital Literacies Lab inside the Chi Wah Learning Commons

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We look forward to future collaborations with Macao’s tertiary institutions. Contact us to learn more.

Implant Dentistry: The Massive Open Online Course! (MOOC)

Click here if you cannot access Youtube

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Implant Dentistry is one of the most dynamic and rapidly developing areas within oral health care. In spite of increasing popularity of implantology, it is a relatively new discipline within dental education and remains limited to post-graduate courses offered by dental schools in many parts of the world today.

With the vision to help dental practitioners gain clinical understanding of implantology and an opportunity to provide implant treatments to their patients, the Faculty of Dentistry of HKU (ranked No. 1 dental school in the World in 2016) developed this MOOC to provide a world-class quality, unbiased, evidence-based and clinically-oriented course in this discipline.

What are the contents covered in the course?
The MOOC includes 5 modules and runs over a period of 5 weeks. We will begin the journey of Implant Dentistry by exploring how discoveries in biology and technological developments lead to the current practice of dental implants. Then, we will examine clinical cases, diagnose our patients’ needs and expectations and learn the principles of treatment planning. We will learn step-by-step surgical procedures for placing implants and various restorative techniques, directed by current evidence and best practices. Finally, we will investigate major threats and complications of implant procedures and ways to ensure successful treatments and long serving implants.

Registration

Listen to our students and find out how they like our course!

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The Logo
The Logo of Implant Dentistry MOOC features the joining of an implant screw and a scholar hat, signifying the importance of a good education in oral implantology. The four colours of the logo are based on the four colours of blue, green, gold and red of HKU’s coat of arm, following the university’s spirit to manifest virtue and to investigate things.

Sneak Previews

More sneak previews here.

Sneak Preview 1

How to become an Implant dentist

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Sneak Preview 2

Minimally Invasive Surgery

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Sneak Preview 3

Micro Surgery Instruments

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Sneak Preview 4

The 3 main pathways

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Sneak Preview 5

Suture Techniques

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Sneak Preview 6

Implant Supported Provisional Restorations

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More than Just YouTube Plus a Quiz: HKU03x Humanity and Nature in Chinese Thought

We believe that online courses are more than just YouTube videos plus a quiz. In building courses online, we endeavour to create the most integrated and personal learning experience for our learners.

In this age of information explosion, with numerous education resources available already, why would somebody care to be involved in a MASSIVE open online course (MOOC) through participation in the discussion forum? Ms. Karen Carlson, an enthusiastic MOOCer and a star learner in the course HKU03x Humanity and Nature in Chinese Thought, is kind enough to share with us her thoughts. To Karen, one of the best things about HKU03x is having an instructor who is “extraordinarily involved” in the course from the start. Discussion with the teaching assistant, Catherine, also prompts her to think further and ask questions on issues such as whether it is possible to have a morality that is not imposed from the outside.

The course instructor Professor Hansen’s ownership, together with the active involvement of teaching assistants and fellow learners, are great motivations. Without instructor ownership, a course tends to turn into just “YouTube plus a quiz”, which is hardly a good class. “A class is far more of an overall experience where everything is integrated,” said Karen, and this is exactly what we believe.

While we are flattered to receive Karen’s positive comments, it is also our pleasure to meet and greet our MOOC learners. To us, producing a MOOC is not just about uploading videos and quizzes, but is also about connecting with learners from all around the world and building an online learning community. We don’t just teach. We care. Contact us if you have anything to share about your learning experience in HKU MOOCs.

Further reading
Take a look at Karen’s blog for her deep reflections on our course and other MOOCs.

A Head Start: Videos on Academic Honesty and CRE & BLT Module

The following news might be quite useful for our freshmen and graduating class.

TELI x The Libraries: A project on Information Literacy and Academic Honesty

As a university student, you might be turning in 20-30 pieces of academic writing in a year from short reports to term papers. That could be quite daunting, especially for freshmen. TELI has teamed up with The Libraries to bring our students some tips and resources on improving your writing on these aspects:

  • Avoiding plagiarism
  • Doing citations properly with time-saving tools
  • Checking for originality with Turnitin


Please visit the playlist here to find out more. Our librarians will also conduct several face-to-face sessions with students in selected Common Core courses to dig deeper on information literacy skills. Get ready with your questions, and let’s be stronger writers together!

Information Literacy

TELI x CEDARS: CRE & BLT online module
For those who are making plans for life after HKU, and have applied for the HKSAR Government Common Recruitment Examination and Basic Law Test in October, you may now join our online module developed in collaboration with CEDARS to get familiarized with the various types of tests. Overview of the test structure, useful tips on preparation and sample questions with adaptive hints are provided.

To register for this online module, please log onto:
https://learning.hku.hk/courses/course-v1:HKU+CRE001+2016/about

Good Luck!

September with Technology Vibe

We are welcoming our incoming class and returning students with technology vibe!

Artificial Intelligence as a Service: Free Text Analysis Tools

By courtesy of IBM, we are making available two simple tools for text analysis:

(1) Personality Insights, which uses linguistic analytics and personality theory to infer attributes from a person’s unstructured text; and
(2) Tone Analyzer, which uses cognitive linguistic analysis methods to measure the emotional tone in text.

They are ready for your use on our platform. Please sign in with your HKU Portal ID to gain access. For students, these tools might be helpful for refining write-ups such as term papers and job application letters. Teachers might want to think about how these tools could be incorporated in their courses. Feel free to make good use of them. In fact, over 200 have already signed up.

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Moodle looks So Different

moodle2 copyAesthetics is very much on our mind when we design online learning experience. That’s why our developers and designers have been working very hard with the E-learning Team of our Information Technology Services to make changes – big and small – to improve your Moodle experience.

A lot of you might have realized that our Moodle had a facelift – everything is (slightly) cleaner and clearer now, don’t you think? Some of our students noticed the change, and sent us comments and feedback – most of them are related to how much information should be shown on a single page, and how little tricks like sorting and searching might help them to locate a particular course. We really appreciate students’ input, and will continue to improve this learning management system.

Mentimeter – a web-based polling tool
It is one of our key missions is to introduce the latest technologies for effective learning and teaching.

In the previous academic year, we have been facilitating the use of an anonymous polling tool, Mentimeter, in some courses (sample cases are here). In view of the positive comments received, we will continue to provide support for free trials this year, as well as technical advice in case Departments/Faculties want to purchase their own licenses.

You may contact us through enquiry@teli.hku.hk for arrangement. Enjoy!

Keeping up with changing needs in e-portfolios (Part 2)

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Part 1

There are various types and models of e-portfolios accommodating to a range of subjects and purposes. For instance, Danielson & Abrutyn (1997) separates e-portfolios into working, display, assessment and class. Some can be for pure showcasing of works over a period of time, while others can be for graded assessment in a course. Thus, the focus of e-portfolios can be on assessment or the learning process and student development (Buyarski & Landis, 2014). Formative or summative means of assessment would both be feasible. As another example, Buzzetto-More (2009) focuses on information literacy as pedagogical outcome, and proposes an Information Literacy E-Portfolio Model (see Fig.1). It involves different practicing stages of students – from strategizing, acquiring, processing and evaluation, synthesis, meta-cognition and self-evaluation, articulation and presentation to response to feedback.

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Fig.1 Information Literacy E-Portfolio Model from Buzzetto-More, 2009

There is also a thread of research on incorporation of e-portfolios with other learning components (blended learning). For instance, Buyarski & Landis (2014, p.59) combines e-portfolios, first-year seminars and assessments together, which saw the intersection as a ‘maximiz[ing] efficacy of high-impact practices and assessment outcome.’ Luchoomun, McLukie & Van (2010) also explores collaborating Personal Development Plans (PDPs) with e-portfolio (blending with outcome based assessment). These e-portfolios can become a catalyst for ‘conversations among faculty and other stakeholders within departments…about common learning outcomes, coherence among courses and professional development (Chen & Penny Light, 2010, p.3).

Incorporating an e-portfolio in your course might sound overwhelming – that’s why we have set up a Community of Practice on E-portfolio to share experience and learn from each other. If you’d like to join us, please send us a message via enquiry@teli.hku.hk.

References

  • Buyarski, C & Landis, C. (2014). Using an ePortfolio to Assess the Outcomes of a First-Year Seminar: Student Narrative and Authentic Assessment. International Journal of ePortfolio, 4(1), 49-60.
  • Buzzetto-More, N. (2010) Assessing the Efficacy and Effectiveness of an E-Portfolio used for summative assessment. Interdisciplinary journal of e-learning and learning objects, volume 6, 61-85.
  • Chen, H. L., & Penny Light, T. (2010). Electronic portfolios and student success: Effectiveness, efficiency, and learning. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
  • Danielson, C., & Abrutyn, L. (1997). An Introduction to Using Portfolios in the Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
  • Luchoomun, D., McLuckie, J., & van, W. M. (January 01, 2010). Collaborative e-Learning: e-Portfolios for Assessment, Teaching and Learning. Electronic Journal of E-Learning, 8, 1, 21-30.

The Power of Games: Gamifying Cantonese Learning for Exchange Students

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Guest blogger series: Chaak Ming LAU
Mr. Chaak Ming Lau is a Part-time Lecturer at the School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong. Lau specializes in computational linguistics and is the developer of the CantoSounds platform.

Gamification is a powerful tool to motivate students to learn. One recent successful example is the CantoSounds project 1 initiated by a team of Cantonese teachers from the School of Chinese. It is a versatile gamification platform for exchange students who often lament that Cantonese is a difficult language to learn. The CantoSounds team reached out a helping hand by providing self-learning online resources and gamifying the learning experience. The CantoSounds platform has been used in CHIN9511 Cantonese as a Foreign Language I and is now open for public access.

Creating a Versatile Gamification Platform for Self-learning

Canto1The CantoSounds platform now has over hundreds of videos and sound samples, as well as interactive learning materials, quizzes, and games, freely accessible online anytime. These materials are designed for self-practising pronunciation and romanisation outside class time, allowing teachers and students to focus on communicative language learning activities in class.

The system was rolled out in late January 2016. Through the system, students can watch videos demonstrating the explanatory of initials, finals and tones, click on images to listen to individual words, and do a simple quiz to test their understanding. All these actions give students game points. As they gain more points through progressive learning, they will be promoted to higher levels (from Newbie to Expert!). Learning is further gamified through providing different questions in every quiz quest, with instant feedback.

Creating an online gamification platform is not as difficult as one may think. The platform was built on WordPress with leveraging third-party plugins. For instance, CantoSounds used MyCred for the point system and WP-Pro Quiz for quizzes. A simple mini-game was embedded from the Quizlet flashcard platform. Less tech-savvy teachers can also update online content using WordPress’ ready-made editor backend.

Providing Extra Incentives via Gamifying the Learning Process

The team tested the platform with students in the course. In order to give extra incentives to students, 1% of the participation score of the course was allocated to the game platform. One mark will be assigned to students if they reach the highest rank (Expert, 1000 points) on the platform. Usually a mere 1% score cannot really motivate students, but the combination of course incentive plus gaming elements did a wonderful job in motivating students to hit the highest rank – Out of the 66 students who signed up, an amazing number of students (20) reached the Expert rank. This shows that students were attracted to use the system. With gamification, we can provide students with an engaging and “sticky” learning experience. This, we believe, is the power of gamification.

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Gamification is a powerful tool to reshape students’ learning experience and maximize learning outcome. It is not only useful in facilitating language teaching, but can also be used in other courses. If you are looking for ways to motivate students to learn, gamification may be one way to try out.

References

  • Barata, G., Gama, S., Jorge, J., & Gonçalves, D. (2013, October). Improving participation and learning with gamification. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on gameful design, research, and applications (pp. 10-17). ACM.
  • Conquering the 4Cs: Creating Engaging In-class Activities
    https://tl.hku.hk/2016/03/conquering-the-4cs-creating-engaging-in-class-activities/
  • DomíNguez, A., Saenz-De-Navarrete, J., De-Marcos, L., FernáNdez-Sanz, L., PagéS, C., & MartíNez-HerráIz, J. J. (2013). Gamifying learning experiences: Practical implications and outcomes. Computers & Education, 63, 380-392.
  • Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: game-based methods and strategies for training and education. John Wiley & Sons.
  • MOOC: Gamification https://www.coursera.org/learn/gamification
1 The CantoSounds project is funded by the HKU Teaching Development Grant.