My East-West Adventures in Education

Message from Working Group on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

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Abstract
In this discussion, Mariel will offer reflections and lessons about the things she cares about most: the development of people and the US-China relationship. She will share how these themes have shaped her experiences as an educator, community-builder, and start-up employee across Washington, D.C. to Xinjiang, China, to Beijing, China, and finally to Silicon Valley.

Speaker: Ms. Mariel Reed
Coursera Partnership Manager and Co-Founder of Lean In Beijing
Time: 5 Dec 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Venue: G.02, Ground Floor, Central Podium
All students are welcome

About the speaker

Poster Download
Poster Download
Mariel Reed manages Coursera’s university partnerships with schools in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. She has many aliases; she’s known as “Mari” in English, 李曼玉 in Mandarin, and “Mad Dog” from her pirating days on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She was raised by the sea but after studying International Politics at Georgetown University, she headed to teach and trace the Silk Road in Xinjiang, China, through Princeton in Asia. From there, she navigated the international philanthropy and health education landscapes from Beijing and cut her teeth as a community builder. A co-founder of Lean In Beijing, she’s passionate about women’s empowerment. She has deep faith in the power of education and the development of people, and is excited to be at Coursera helping to push the boundaries of what is possible in education around the world.

MOOCs and University Education: Experience, Lessons and Predictions

In a highly-engaging seminar organised by Information Technology Services, Professor Jeff Haywood (VP, CIO & Librarian, University of Edinburgh) shared his experiences, lessons learnt and predictions relating to MOOCs and university education.

Professor Haywood began his talk by outlining where digital education was at ten years ago: mainstreaming virtual learning environments (VLEs); employing learning activity management systems (LAMS) as a main model for course design; integrating e-portfolios into teaching and learning; and underpinning reflections of the use of technology with the ‘digital native’ and ‘digital immigrant’ rhetoric. Since then, there has been a substantial explosion in online applications and identities, evidenced by the open educational resource (OER) movement and the leaps in interconnectivity of people and information. No wonder then that MOOCs have entered the educational arena alongside a range of other innovations and paradigms such as gamification, virtual worlds, e-textbooks and adaptive learning.

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Professor Haywood explained that these technologies and approaches are likely to move through a ‘hype cycle’, and that perceptions and actualisations of MOOCs, like other innovations, are likely to shift over time. It was therefore incredibly interesting to hear about how MOOCs are being leveraged at the University of Edinburgh to, amongst other things, build institutional reputation as an early adopter, explore new pedagogical ‘spaces’, share development experiences, and increase the university’s reach. With 16 MOOCs built and 19 MOOCs under construction, the University of Edinburgh has drawn on a huge amount of data to reflect on ways in which learners are engaging with this online environment and forecast probable MOOC developmental pathways. A few of these pathways could include: MOOCs being integrated into the university curriculum; MOOCs as an auto-cohorted group study; or MOOC content and curriculum taught by another college, university or tutor as a small private online course (SPOC).

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Professor Haywood closed the seminar by taking a step back and proposing the question of what the ‘traditional’ university will look like in the coming years. The growth of technology-rich teaching and elearning environments which include on- and off-campus components for a broad range of learner types appeared to be a key theme in this discussion. Many thanks to Professor Haywood for sharing his valuable insights and we look forward to future collaborations!

A post from the e-learning Pedagogical Support Unit (EPSU)

ITS Project Update Briefings

Message from Information Technology Services

Dear Colleagues,

Invitation to the 2014 ITS Project Update Briefings

I have much pleasure to invite you to one of the following two repeated ITS Project Update Briefings for 2014 –

Session 1: 1 December (Monday) 14:30 (registration starts at 14:15)
Session 2: 4 December (Thursday) 09:30 (registration starts at 09:15)
Venue: 2nd Floor, KK Leung Building.

In these briefings, we are going to present a number of major projects to you, some of which will have a University-wide impact. The rundown of the two briefings are shown below –

1 Dec 4 Dec AGENDA
14:15 – 14:30 09:15 – 09:30 Registration
14:30 – 14:35 09:30 – 09:35 Opening Remark
Dr. Danny Tang
14:35 – 14:45 09:35 – 09:45 University Information Security Policy and Data Policy
Dr. Danny Tang
14:45 – 15:05 09:45 – 10:05 Enhancement of Information Security
Dr. P T Ho
15:05 – 15:25 10:05 – 10:25 Consolidation of eMail Systems
Mr. Peter Li
15:25 – 15:40 10:25 – 10:40 Tea break
Breakout A
(for Academic & Research staff)		 Breakout B
(for Administrators)
15:40 – 16:00 10:40 – 11:00 Upgrade of Virtual (Digital) Learning Environment
Dr. M C Pong		 Upgrade of University Smartcard Systems
Ms. Margaret Chung
16:00 – 16:20 11:00 – 11:20 Upgrade of Physical Learning Environment
Mrs. Toni Kelly		 Document Management System
Mr. Peter Li
16:20 – 16:40 11:20 – 11:40 HPC/HTC Facilities & Support for Scientific Computation
Dr. P T Ho		 Upgrade of Oracle Financials
Mr. Antony Hui/
Ms. Margaret Chung
16:40 – 17:00 11:40 – 12:00 HKU Mobile Services
Ms. Margaret Chung

In each briefing, we will start off by presenting several projects to all attendees followed by a tea break and then two parallel, breakout sessions with different focuses. Breakout A covers projects, which are relevant to academic and research staff; and Breakout B covers projects of concern primarily to Faculty and Departmental administrators.

The outlines of the presentations are at the end of this email.

We hope to solicit your initial views on each of the projects during the two briefings. Depending on your interests and feedback, we may arrange separate discussion sessions on specific projects afterwards.

Please register attendance through the following links:

Session 1 (1 December 2014, Monday, 14:30):
https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?&UEID=33781

Session 2 (4 December 2014, Thursday, 09:30):
https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?&UEID=33783

I look forward to discussing the projects with you and your staff.

Danny Tang
Director

Project Outlines

University Information Security Policy and Data Policy

The University is in the process of engaging a consultant to establish an Information Security Policy and a Data Policy. In this session, the scope of work of this exercise will be presented.

Enhancement of Information Security

This session will give a summary on the new information security (IS) protection measures being implemented and planned, including (a) the Web Application Firewall and the Database Firewall that will soon be put into service for protecting the central web and database application systems against cyber-attacks from the Internet, (b) the enhancement plan for the central identity authentication and management system to mitigate the growing IS threats due to leaking of users’ HKU Portal UID/PIN, and (c) a pilot device profile register to safeguard against potential IS threats from unrecognized devices on the campus network.

Consolidation of eMail Systems

Over the years, multiple email systems of different generations have been implemented at different times to serve the University community. There are systems based on legacy Linux, Microsoft Exchange and cloud-based Google Apps for Education, which poses challenges to us in system administration and user support. Moreover, quite a few departments have their own departmental email servers, the functions of which could be better and more securely provided by the central email system. A project to consolidate the eMail systems is now underway to address the above issues. Details of the consolidation strategy will be elaborated in this session.

Breakout A

Upgrade of Virtual (Digital) Learning Environment

This session will report on the enhancement of the University’s virtual learning environment, covering the lecture capture service based on the Panopto system, which is well integrated with the Moodle learning management system, mobile access to Moodle, the Moodle courses archive system, and one-stop e-learning hub. These facilities and services help to enhance the student learning experience and support teachers’ teaching activities.

Upgrade of Physical Learning Environment

This session will report upon the findings of the recent staff and student learning space experience surveys and the response to that feedback by the Learning Environment Services Team. The presentation will include details about the development of Learning Space Design Guidelines, lecture theatre refurbishments, classroom upgrades and support Staff Training, all of which contribute to the enhancement of both the student learning experience and support for our teachers’ classroom activities.

HPC/HTC Facilities and Support for Scientific Computation

This session will discuss the work in progress for supporting cutting-edge research, including (a) the salient features and launching plan of the new High-Performance Computing (HPC) system of the latest technologies that will boost the processing power for supporting research by 10 times, (b) the experience with the recently deployed High Throughput Computing (HTC) facility and the improvement plan to provide better support for researchers, and (c) the strategy of developing future support for compute-intensive research projects.

Breakout B

Upgrade of University Smartcard Systems

In last year’s ITS Project Update briefing in November 2013, we presented the “University-wide smart card systems upgrade project” initiative. The upgrade of the University Smart Card, including the Staff Card, the Student Card and the Facilities Access Card, will have a great impact on the Smart Card Access Control and Identification Systems in existence across the University. This year, you will learn about the progress of this important upgrade project.

Document Management System

To cope with the increasing volume of hard copy documents handled by departments and the need of office space for document storage, ITS is setting up a Central Document Management System. Documents will be turned into searchable digital form and stored in an electronic file repository supporting full-text search, workflow and archive. The system aims to serve as a platform for document management, electronic form and workflow with roadmaps to integrate with other business processes in the University. An overview of the project will be presented in this session.

Upgrade of Oracle Financials

Oracle Financials (or “E-Business Suite” under its new name) is the main administrative application in support of the financial services in HKU. As an administrator in your faculty/department, come to hear about the coming upgrade; its main objectives and some of the key changes expected of the upgrade. You are also welcome to share your experiences of the financial services in the University.

HKU Mobile Services

To promote the branding of the University of Hong Kong and taking advantage of the proliferation of mobile devices, ITS has, together with a number of University administrative/professional departments, launched a University mobile services hub in 2012. The mobile services have grown and matured, and the “private” Staff Corner and Student Corner were introduced in 2013. To keep up with the pace of the global trend, especially amongst academic institutions, ITS would explore with you further development opportunities of the HKU Mobile Services.

Reminder to an online e-Learning survey at HKU

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Message from Professor George Tham, Associate Vice-President (Teaching & Learning)

Dear Colleagues,

The University of Hong Kong is committed to providing an education of the highest quality. Your valuable input on the e-Learning survey will help us to understand how we can provide a better physical and virtual learning environment as well as to enhance the teaching and learning experiences.

A little while ago we asked you to provide feedback on your e-Learning experience. Could you please take some time to complete the questionnaire which can be viewed by clicking on the URL below.

https://onlinesurvey.cetl.hku.hk/elearn.htm

Your answers will remain anonymous and your survey responses will be kept strictly confidential.

Best regards,

Professor George Tham
Associate Vice-President (Teaching & Learning)
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Faculty of Engineering
The University of Hong Kong

MOOCs and the Internationalization of Higher Education

Message from Working Group on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Keynote Summary

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You are cordially invited to join the following keynote talk delivered by Professor Richard C. Levin, Coursera CEO and President Emeritus of Yale University:

MOOCs and the Internationalization of Higher Education

Speaker: Professor Richard C. Levin
Date: 5th December, 2014 (Friday)
Time: 12:30pm – 2:00pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre P2, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, HKU
All are welcome

Abstract
In this keynote talk, Professor Rick Levin will reflect on a career of over two decades of leadership in higher education. He will discuss common challenges and lessons from his experiences at Yale, his views on the state of higher education in Asia, and his recent decision to join Coursera.

About the Speaker

Poster Download
Poster Download
Richard C. Levin is the Chief Executive Officer of Coursera. He is the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics and Director of the Project on U.S.-China Relations at Yale University. He recently completed a twenty-year term as Yale’s President, during which time the University invested over $5 billion in the renovation and construction of its facilities, advanced economic development and home ownership in New Haven, purchased and began to develop a 136-acre campus in nearby West Haven, strengthened its programs in science, engineering, and medicine, established a goal of reducing campus greenhouse gas emissions by 43%, and undertook a major set of initiatives to internationalize the University – extending need-based financial aid to international students in Yale College, making international experiences the norm for all undergraduates, and planning and opening Yale-NUS College in Singapore as a model of liberal arts education for Asia.

Professor Levin serves on President Obama’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. He is a director of American Express and C3 Energy. He previously served on a bipartisan commission to recommend improvements in the nation’s intelligence capabilities, and he co-chaired a review of the nation’s patent system for the National Academy of Sciences that led to the passage of the America Invents Act of 2011. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Professor Levin and his wife Jane have four children and seven grandchildren.

Methodological Tips and Challenges in Multinational Research: Lessons Learned from a 3 Year Multinational Research Programme

Message from Centre for Information Technology in Education within the Faculty of Education

CITE Seminar Series 2014/2015

CITE Seminar – Methodological Tips and Challenges in Multinational Research: Lessons Learned from a 3 Year Multinational Research Programme

Date: 17 November 2014 (Monday)
Time: 12:45 pm to 2:00 pm
Venue: Room 101, 1/F., Runme Shaw Building, The University of Hong Kong
Speaker: Linda Shear, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International
Chair: Professor Nancy Law, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong

About the Seminar
This paper describes methodological lessons in multinational research. Content is primarily drawn from the Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research project, a 3-year study that examined innovative teaching practices that support the development of students’ 21st century skills in 7 countries. We discuss what it takes to engage effectively in research that is both comparative and international, when ‘comparative’ is defined as methodological congruence across settings. ITL Research was unique in its wide assortment of quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys, interviews, observations, and the analysis of classroom lessons and student work products, and the diversity of its participating countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Russia, Finland, Senegal, England, and Mexico. This paper describes theoretical and methodological issues associated with the goal of consistent application of the same research methods in different countries and locally-sensitive interpretation of results. The experience of the project illustrates the importance of local pilots of instruments and methods, reciprocal partnerships with local research teams, carefully-chosen communication methods, and rich qualitative data collection to inform interpretation (and guard against mis-interpretation) of quantitative results, among other essential design principles. The discussion will highlight the challenges of identifying comparable ways of viewing educational innovation and developing a shared vocabulary for discussing it among an international community of researchers and educators, and offers recommendations to guide future multinational research designs. This session will also introduce the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International in California, USA, whose work has a great deal in common with CITE and may offer opportunities for collaboration.

About the Speaker
Linda Shear is the Director of International Studies in SRI International’s Center for Technology and Learning, a group that conducts research based in the learning sciences to help educators make the best use of IT to create new opportunities for teaching and learning. Recently Linda directed research and professional development for ITL Research, a multinational research collaboration to investigate and promote innovative teaching and learning, and continues to bring related professional development programs to countries around the world. She has directed numerous other studies of school/system reform, online learning, knowledge management, and educational technology evaluation, both in the US and internationally, and has supported foundations, nonprofits and corporations in strategic planning and theory of change development. Linda was an undergraduate at Princeton University, and did her graduate training at the University of California, Berkeley.

Please register at
http://www.cite.hku.hk/news.php?id=533&category=seminar

MOOCs, SPOCs and BOOCs: Improving the learner experience in and beyond campus

On 28 October, HKU welcomed Professor Armando Fox (the Director of MOOCLab, EECS, UC Berkeley), Professor T.C. Pong (Senior Advisor to Executive Vice-President and Provost, HKUST), and Professor Bob Fox (Deputy Director, Learning and Teaching Unit, School of Education, UNSW) to share their insights on a range of topical MOOC- and SPOC-related issues from their own contexts. From HKU, Professor Nancy Law (Deputy Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Education, HKU) and Professor David Lung (Lady Edith Kotewall Professor in the Built Environment, HKU) shared their in-house perspectives and experiences. The key themes discussed included the potential benefits of auto-grading; the interplay between SPOC (Small Private Online Courses) and MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) development; leveraging big data to enhance learning; enabling a positive washback from online to on-campus learning; and forecasting possible future directions of the ‘MOOC movement’.

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Professor Armando Fox kick-started the discussions by recounting how he and his team redesigned a software engineering course in light of workplace demands identified by software companies, such as dealing with legacy code and working with non-technical customers. Innovations to the course included the integration of auto-grading strategies which encouraged learners to iteratively improve their code based on computer-generated feedback. The MOOC was also run as a SPOC for on-campus students, enabling a four-fold increase in student intake, providing more learner practice, redirecting teaching assistants’ attention from grading to higher-value forms of feedback, and ultimately increasing course ratings.

This potential of MOOC development to positively impact on on-campus learning was a theme which emerged at several points, notably in Professor T.C. Pong’s presentation on “BOOCs: Blending Online and On-Campus Courses”. He drew on the example of his MOOC “Introduction to Computing with Java”, which was initially offered to on-campus students in a ‘flipped classroom’ mode, to explain the positive correlation between students’ performance and the amount of time they spend viewing the lecture videos. For the flipped classroom, it was seen that smaller class sizes performed better for in-class activities but no difference in performance was seen for online activities. This interesting finding hints at the potential of MOOC resources to enhance out-of-class learning materials for on-campus learners in order to create high-value interactions in in-class settings.

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In addition to the idea of MOOCs serving as a catalyst for developing blended or ‘flipped’ courses, Professor Pong spoke about tools being developed by HKUST to enable learning analytics. This resonated with Professor Nancy Law’s presentation, which explored the challenges associated with leveraging the unprecedented scale of online data to improve learning and teaching. She proposed activating a pedagogical design cycle to position education as a design science which generates theory from practice. The importance of appropriate assessment models, the integration of interdisciplinary expertise, and the need for policy and governance on data privacy and data sharing were also discussed. Preliminary explorations on analysing large amounts of data have been undertaken in HKU’s Common Core Curriculum, generally characterized by large class size and diverse student background. Lessons learnt from this context aim to inform discussions on how to scale up analyses against the backdrop of the challenges she mentioned earlier.

Participants had the opportunity to hear Professor David Lung’s experience of developing the MOOC, “The Search for Vernacular Architecture of Asia”. He highlighted the need to begin planning and preparation with a substantial lead time in order to assemble and work across teams to adapt subject matter for a MOOC audience, develop media content, deal with copyright issues, and design a pedagogically-sound learning experience. The potential benefits of this process on existing university courses were reiterated by Professor Lung. In the context of a MOOC on Architecture, he noted that he had developed a data bank of media artefacts for future use and further developed professional and student networks, amongst other benefits.

The event ended with an engaging round-table discussion which expanded on the core issues by drawing on expertise of participants from a range of contexts. Professor Bob Fox shared the institutional workflows associated with MOOC development at UNSW and summarised several of the recurring themes when he emphasised the importance of using MOOCs to incubate innovation and generate data analytics to support the student learning experience.

A post from the e-learning Pedagogical Support Unit (EPSU)

Lecture Capture Service Maintenance on 11 Nov 2014 Tue (8am-8:15am)

Dear Colleagues and Students,

The Lecture Capture Services (LCS) supported by ITS is powered by the Panopto lecture capture system. It is integrated with the Moodle learning management system. The LCS supports our teachers and students to do video recording and viewing conveniently via links in Moodle courses. Students can directly reach and watch a Powerpoint slide in an LCS video by searching for a slide title.

Please be informed that the Panopto system will undergo maintenance. All access to the LCS for recording or viewing will be suspended during the following period:

Date: Nov 11, 2014 (Tuesday)
Time: 8:00 AM to 8:15 AM

For any enquiries, please send email to e-learningTeam@hku.hk.

Thank you for your attention and we are sorry for any inconvenience that may cause you.

Regards,
Ada Yau
e-learning Team

Moodle and Panopto hands-on workshops for teachers

Message from Information Technology Services

Dear Teachers,

We are pleased to organize Learning Management System (LMS) – Moodle and Lecture Capture Services (LCS) – Panopto training courses for you to familiar with our e-learning services available at HKU.

The following upcoming hands-on training courses in September are now open for your registration. The course details can be found at http://moodle-support.hku.hk/training/ITS-all

Please register by clicking the “Register” hyperlinks below. The number of seats is limited. After successful registration, if you cannot attend, please cancel the registration to release the reserved seat for other colleague.

Moodle Workshops

Course Code Moodle Course Title Date Time Venue Registration
MOD-002 Moodle Hands-on Workshop on Assignments, Choices and Quizzes 7 Nov, 2014 (Fri) 10:00am – 11:00am KB110 Register
MOD-005 Moodle Hands-on Workshop on Turnitin and GradeMark 7 Nov, 2014 (Fri) 11:30am – 12:30pm KB110 Register
MOD-003 Moodle Hands-on Workshop on Grades 17 Nov, 2014 (Mon) 10:00am – 11:00am KB110 Register
MOD-005 Moodle Hands-on Workshop on Turnitin and GradeMark 17 Nov, 2014 (Mon) 11:30am – 12:30pm KB110 Register

Panopto Workshops

Course Code Panopto Course Title Date Time Venue Registration
PAN-001 Introduction of Panopto Lecture Video Capturing Solution 12 Nov, 2014 (Wed) 3:00pm – 4:00pm CBC Register
PAN-002 Edit, Share and Output Panopto Video Recording 12 Nov, 2014 (Wed) 4:30pm – 5:30pm CBC Register

Note:
(1) KB-110 = Room 110, Knowles Building
CPD-2.77, Central Podium (CPD), Centennial Campus

(2) If you have taken a Moodle hands-on course offered by the ITS, we recommend you follow up with an e-learning Pedagogical Support Unit (EPSU) workshop and/or a Faculty of Education/ Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) seminar.

The EPSU of the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) offers pedagogically focused e-learning workshops, which leverage the central Moodle platform to enable good teaching practices. These workshops focus on teaching approaches and good teaching practices, complement the Moodle courses offered by the ITS and the Moodle seminars offered by the Faculty of Education/CITE, which tend to focus on innovative teaching practice using the new features available in Moodle.

e-learning workshops by EPSU/CETL
http://www.cetl.hku.hk/professional-learning/

e-learning seminars by the Faculty of Education/CITE
http://www.cite.hku.hk/news.php?category=upcoming

For more information and inquiry on Moodle and Panopto training and support, feel free to email: e-learningTeam@hku.hk

Best Regards,

Ada Yau
e-learning Team
Information Technology Services

CETL Seminar: Unprecedented Outreaching via MOOCs: Landscape, Issues, and Opportunities

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Speakers: Professor Ricky Kwok, the Chairman of the HKU MOOC Working Group
Date : 30 October 2014 (Thursday)
Time : 12:45pm – 2:00pm
Venue : Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building

Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)

Abstract:

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is touted as being able to bring seismic change to higher education. While such change still remains to be seen, MOOCs have already polarized the higher education community. Indeed, some people wholeheartedly embrace MOOCs as the ultimate form of e-learning or even the real killer-app of the Internet but many others dispose of the notion and treat MOOCs as another bubble waiting to burst. Big questions such as “What values do MOOCs bring back to campus?”, “What is the business plan to make this sustainable?”, etc. keep baffling all major stakeholders of universities.

HKU, like many other world-class universities, has joined edX to deliver MOOCs. In this talk, the speaker, currently overseeing the development of HKU MOOCs, will share his views on the MOOC phenomenon, issues (pedagogical, coordination, etc.) involved, and opportunities available.

About the Speakers:

Ricky Kwok is Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at HKU. His research and teaching interests are mainly about large scale distributed computing systems. Currently Ricky is serving as the Chairman of the HKU MOOC Working Group, which advises the Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) on pertinent issues about MOOCs, such as strategic directions, courses development, and technical matters.

For information on registration, please contact:
Ms Ivy Lai , CETL
Phone: 3917 8996; Email: laichun2@hku.hk.