Representatives from nine institutions gathered at the fifth annual Asian e-Table to share their plans of commoditization of e-learning. We are glad to hear that our e-learning partners are scaling up e-learning not just on the teaching level, but also on the institutional level, i.e. credit recognition and regulations.

This year, we welcomed our new e-learning partner, SURFnet, a collaborative ICT organization for education and research in the Netherlands, to join our existing Asian consortium (in alphabetical order):

• Kyoto University
• National Taiwan University
• National University of Singapore
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• University of Macau
• Yonsei University

Accrediting with Open Badges

Sharing from Ms Christien Bok (Middle), Team Lead of Educational Service of SURFnet.

Lack of formal recognition for online learning undermines its values in students’ minds. One solution that many institutions have adopted is to award certificates for recognizing students’ skills and experience. In the Netherlands, SURFnet has developed an Open Badges system eduBadges, which is under pilot testing by 10+ Dutch higher education institutions. Unlike a traditional paper certificate, each Open Badge allows the badge community to link back to the information about who, why, and for what this badge was issued, displaying a more cooperative and complete picture of students’ achievements. The badges, being the digital indicator which includes the issuer and value of the badge, contain unalterable digital information circulating among the badge issuers (e.g. educational institutions), badge earners (e.g. students) and badge consumers (e.g. employers).

The badge awarding system itself serves as a means to enhance the flexibility in education and helps make students’ profile to be more visible on various online platforms. All in all, this “e-portfolio” helps students become more career-ready and, at the same time, makes them more aware of which skill sets they can improve, and motivates them to earn more “badges” in the future.

Harnessing the Power of Educational Data

Student data collection is under close watch, ever since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) became effective. The educational research field is scrambling for ways to comply with the tougher regulatory environment. In Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has built an encrypted data storage system ALSET Educational Data Lake, securely housing the learning data of 120,000+ NUS students and alumni, including registrar data, job placement and salary data, module bidding, etc. From infrastructure (e.g. the data lake itself), staff training (e.g. how to access raw data) to data management policy (e.g. governed by the Learning Analytics and Data Advisory Board and the Learning and Analytics Committee on Ethics), NUS has produced very detailed codes of practice for ensuring data is ethically used and protected. Professor Ricky Kwok, Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) of HKU, saw this data infrastructure as “the key towards institutional intelligence”, guiding universities to actualize the commoditization of e-learning.

Structure of The ALSET Educational Data Lake of the National University of Singapore. [Image credit: National University of Singapore.)

Looking Forward

The one-and-a-half-day event was a valuable opportunity for institutions to exchange experiences and generate synergy in transforming learning and skills in the information age. Professor Toru Iiyoshi, Deputy Vice President for Education of Kyoto University, pointed out in his keynote speech that the “e” in “e-learning” stands not only for “electronic”, but also “effective”, “efficient”, “engaging”, “evidence-based”, “empowered”, “experimental”, etc. In order to enhance the scalability and sustainability of institutional e-learning adoption, collective intelligence and efforts from within and across institutions are necessary to realize the commoditization of e-learning.

Contact us if you are interested in digitizing your classroom teaching.

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About this course
This course is about architecture. But it’s not about grand structures such as monuments or royal palaces. Rather, it is about the built environment that the ordinary people live in. Instead of the architectural techniques, we use stories to understand the processes through which people make their building decisions.

We use Asia as the backdrop for the discussion of these topics. Partly because of Asia’s rich heritage and diversity, but also due to the unique complexity that the people in the region face as they go through rapid economic, social, and cultural changes.

In this examination of the connection between vernacular buildings and peoples’ cultural identities, we will review real-world examples and talk to experts in the field. At the end of this course, you will gain a unique perspective about the everyday environment that you live in – one perhaps that you’ve never had before. You will begin to understand and appreciate the value of the ordinary built environment around you.

Whether you are an avid architect or you simply just care about the built environment you live in, this course is for you.

What you’ll learn
Throughout the course, we will examine a wide range of topics, such as:

• what is vernacular architecture
• how climate and the availability of building materials influence building decisions
• vernacular architecture in rural and urban settings
• cultural sustainability and the conservation of the vernacular built environment.

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When was the last time you enjoyed learning so much that you couldn’t stop doing practice questions and reviewing your lecture notes? If it’s hard to recall, that’s because for most of us, moments like these are rare and sparse. However, let’s be honest – it’s probably not difficult for us to identify the last time we couldn’t stop ourselves from watching YouTube videos or going through our Instagram feed. Why is it that our experience in consuming learning content is so drastically different form our experience in consuming social content? On the flip side, if there were elements of social content in our learning, would it make our learning more enjoyable?
With the rise of online learning platforms and accessibility to connectivity and on-demand content, our society’s repertoire in online education content has also expanded rapidly. Though the contents are more accessible, without the appropriate tools and activities, sometimes it’s easier to disengage in online education due to the lack of student interaction. In fact, the typical low completion and engagement rates of MOOCs are a telling indicators of the lack of intentionality in online education.

So why does this gap exist? When we take a step back to look at traditional face-to-face learning, we also observe this trend, where there is an observable lack of student engagement in the common lecture-centered model. This goes to show that the root problem is not so much the delivery (online versus face-to-face), but rather the design and intentionality of incorporating right tools and learning activities on the educators’ part.

In a learning context, there are two dimensions of interaction – one is social interaction with the instructor. This facilitates the learning process on the communication level. Studies have shown that having a socially engaging context to learn enhances the learners’ experience and their development in transferrable skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Think about it – we probably learn much more from a debate with our friends about whether Apple or Android is better than from looking up a bunch of specs online. Why? Because social interaction enhances our ability to respond to stimuli, thus facilitating learning. In an online learning context, incorporating components of social interactions can also enhance students’ learning, such as discussion forums, peer assessment and feedback processes.

Another dimension of interaction is the interaction with the content and application of the knowledge being taught. “Learning by doing” is crucial in the learning process. Imagine a child learning the concept of addition theoretically without being given a scenario to count. The theories and concepts will get lost in a bunch of numbers rather than being retained. Thus, opportunities to engage and apply the content knowledge is crucial in learners retention and understanding of the subject, especially in fields such as mathematics and sciences where conceptual theories must be made applicable in real-life contexts.

In face-to-face learning environments and online contexts alike, it is critical to incorporate components of both levels of interaction. For online learning, when technological tools are applied effectively, even the most difficult mathematics and science fields can be conquered by learners. The new TELI course “Engineering Calculus and Differential Equations” uses the interactive tool Geogebra to help learners practice mapping their solutions to complex equations and receive feedback on the spot to learn dynamically.

Have you ever found yourself struggling to stay awake in a lecture despite having a full night’s rest? Or have you ever found yourself sitting in class spending more time looking at the clock counting down the minutes until the end of class than looking at the slides that are being taught? Before you feel ashamed, rest assured that we all have such dreadful experiences at some point in our lives, too. The inevitable reality is that even the highest performing students have experienced moments when learning becomes lifeless and draining. Sometimes, even the instructors need some inspiration to re-ignite their passion for teaching their classes!

Learning across different levels of education, especially in Hong Kong, has become suffocating to a certain degree. There is an observed lack of enthusiasm and energy on both sides of the equation—for both the teachers and the students. Public examinations, such as the DSE exams, are considered by many people as main stressors to our K12 pupils, allegedly leading to some traumatic outcomes. In Hong Kong, as early as primary schools, it is not uncommon to find students having an aversion to learning because it is mainly associated with homework and tests.

But learning doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, it shouldn’t. Learning should be life-changing and life-giving. Imagine that instead of being overwhelmed with memorizing formulas, you are excited about learning new knowledge. Or, rather than being afraid to make mistakes in projects, you are free to fail in the trial and error process knowing that it is an adventurous journey that would lead to new innovations. Or, instead of having a fleeting moment of gratification seeing an A on your report card, perhaps you can find greater joy in adopting what you have learned in supporting your community and witnessing the social impact you have created.

At TELI, we believe that what we have described above is possible – that learning is a lifelong journey of passionate and exciting growth. In order to see this to become a reality, the TELI team tries to contribute a tiny bit by producing quality content (videos, visuals, games, applications) and working with teaching staff to design and implement innovative learning activities for different contexts of learning at HKU, such as our online courses, face-to-face sessions, and blended learning activities.

Our brand new course “Engineering Calculus and Differential Equations” aims to bring this revitalized spirit of learning to life by incorporating interactive tools, real-world examples, and dynamic content. Don’t miss out!

Multiple experts from across faculties at The University of Hong Kong and professionals engaged in gender-related developments in Asia will address the ways in which gender is understood, constructed and performed. Drawing from a variety of perspectives – cultural studies, economics, education, law, linguistics, psychology, public health, politics, social policy, and sociology – we begin by questioning meanings of gender in different cultural settings and historical moments. What do the representations of our currently used categories such as man, woman, transgender, queer, cisgender, bisexual, or intersex mean in different contexts? How are conversations about gender taking place in Asia and how do they converge or diverge from those happening elsewhere?

Taught by over 20 HKU and industry instructors.

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The course is a comparative, interdisciplinary and cross-sector conversation which encourages reflective thinking about practices of gender. It courts and questions the fixity of language, traditions, laws, and practices as well as the resilience of stereotypes, biases, and structures which perpetuate myths, hierarchies and discrimination.

Unravelling the interlinkages between these conversations and categories equips you with the skills needed to identify, recognize and reject outmoded or biased constructions of gender as well as the power hierarchies these embed within social relations. We will examine why gender equity is so important and yet hard to achieve. We scrutinize social and legal constructions of gender which continue to operate as though gender is binary and explore a more inclusive approach which reflects the gender continuum within the context of entrenched power structures. Through understanding gender and its relations with society, we look for solutions to eradicate gender discrimination and gender-based violence.

Additionally, as digital technology plays an ever-increasing role in contemporary construction of social realities of people, the course looks into how, if at all, these networked communities offer new expressions of gender as performativity and the ways in which these replicate, reproduce or refashion traditional gender categories and roles.

Then we turn to challenge our everyday practices of gender and how they colour our approaches, assumptions, and biases (conscious and unconscious) about the ‘other’? The course invites scrutiny of the practice and performance of gendering self and others. At the same time, it is a reminder that gender is not just about identity but also about power. The course examines manifestations and causes of gender inequality and its inextricable link to structural and institutional forces of discrimination. To better understand the interaction between identity and power, we look at gender-based violence. The #metoo movement has exposed not only the depth and scale of violence but also unmasked the asymmetries of power. Power and privilege are enjoyed by a select group while the voices of others remain invisible and ignored.

We conclude by looking at local, national and global efforts to address gender disparities in society in various domains. We invite you to reflect on the course materials and to connect them to your daily life. How can your new understandings about gender generate a ripple of change around you?

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What you’ll learn

• How to explain and apply key theories and concepts relating to historical and contemporary definitions of and perspectives on gender.
• How to examine the immediate and long-term implications of gender inequality in different sectors drawing on contemporary challenges around gender.
• How to take actions to enhance your literacy around gender issues.
• How to cultivate a broadened perspective on gender, identity, and power in the daily lives of all global citizens.

The course is OPEN and FREE for everyone, and will commence on July 9th 2019.

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