School-university partnership is an important concept driving TELI’s work in reaching out to the younger generation. On March 19, we co-organized the “STEM Learning Fair 2016” with Pak Kau College in Tin Shui Wai to showcase our work in MOOCs, flipped classroom, and engineering education. About 100 secondary school teachers and over 260 students joined the event, where we exchanged ideas and experiences on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

At a time when discussions on innovation, entrepreneurship and information literacy are rekindling in the education sector, it is important that we communicate with young people and their teachers the opportunities afforded by STEM education in meaningful and appealing ways. For students, learning in these subjects is a first step to become good problem solvers. “They define objectives more clearly, think more logically, and are better at coming up with step-by-step solutions,” said Professor Ricky Kwok, Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), who gave a keynote speech at the half-day event.

Using a simple learning kit consisted of a battery, a wire and a magnet, TELI challenged a group of primary students to figure out theories behind maglev trains.

For teachers, STEM activities often help them understand better the curiosity and educational needs of their students. “The question is, how to make the most of face-to-face class time to take that interest further,” asked Dr. Leon Lei, E-learning Technologist of TELI, who gave a talk on the challenges of STEM education at the parallel session. Based on his experience in teaching first-year engineering students, he reminded teachers that bringing more hands-on components and group-work experience to class is key to achieving learning objectives of STEM subjects. You may view Dr. Lei’s powerpoint here.

Ricky made special mention that in late April, HKU will be launching an open online course on the basics of flipped classroom and blended learning. Both primary and secondary school teachers are more than welcome to make use of resources in the course to enhance their classes.

Partnering with secondary schools is a rewarding experience for TELI. We will continue to collaborate with different organisations in technology education to further our impact in the community.

Further reading

1. Promotion of STEM Education – Unleashing Potential in Innovation (Curriculum Development Council, 2015)
   http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/renewal/index.html
2. The Ecosystem of Innovation and Technology in Hong Kong (Our Hong Kong Foundation, 2015)
   http://ourhkfoundation.org.hk/index.php/2015-09-23-05-07-31/2015-12-16-09-14-10

Here is a chance for you to explore the endless possibilities of e-learning with us. HKU will be launching an open online course on the basics of e-learning for teachers of all sectors on Apr 14. This course will teach you how to create educational videos, flip your classroom and improve your teaching through analyzing students’ online behaviour. You will also gain exposure to the latest EdTech used in both on-campus teaching and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). You will have a chance to create your own videos with our e-learning technologists at HKU. This course, entitled “Scale Out Teaching; Scale Up Learning”, includes both interactive online lectures and face-to-face video-making workshops. The course schedule is as follows:

Date	Session	Topics
14 Apr	Online Session 0 Online Session 1	E-learning Ecosystem: Setting the Scene Interactive Online Learning: Getting Started
22 Apr	Face-to-Face Session A	Creating Your Online Video
28 Apr	Online Session 2	Blended Learning: Teaching On-Campus
5 May	Online Session 3	MOOC: Teaching The World
12 May	Online Session 4	Learning Analytics: Using Learner’s Data To Improve Teaching
20 May	Face-to-Face Session B	Show and Tell

The course is part of the Blended & Online Learning & Teaching (BOLT) Project, which aims at supporting professional development of teachers’ skills in online and blended teaching. The project is a collaborative effort of five institutions – PolyU, HKIEd, HKBU, HKU and HKUST. All teachers are welcome to join this vibrant learning community. Embark your e-learning journey with us now!

Jointly Organised by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), E-learning Pedagogical Support Unit (EPSU) and Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI)

About the Joint Event

Like many other leading universities, HKU is seeking to enhance the internationalisation of its curricula and its teaching. But what can be done in a course or a programme to bring the international learning experiences to students without the need to travel? A recent policy paper (2015) by European Parliament advocates that digital and virtual learning offers a promising way to realise international collaborative experiences and achieve ‘internationalisation at home’.

During the first join-the-conversation in January, we identified digital and virtual learning as one of the eight learning challenges and opportunities associated with the internationalisation of teaching and learning in HKU. In this joint event, we will further look at the ways that recent advances in information and communication technologies open up new possibilities to enrich international experiences in courses and programmes. Participants will be able to review a range of approaches and techniques whereby digital learning may facilitate international learning experiences for students, evaluate the value and feasibility of these approaches in HKU’s context, and discuss the possible applications of some of the approaches in their courses or programmes.

Registration

For information on registration, please contact:
Ms. Noranda Zhang , CETL
Phone: 3917 4729; Email: noranda@hku.hk​

We all know that nuclear accident is a dreadful disaster. But do you know what actions should be taken if such a disaster strikes today? Learn how to respond to nuclear emergencies in our new online course, Radiation Emergencies. This online course will take you on a journey to explore the fundamentals of radiation and Chemical Biological Radiation Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies. You will learn the proper ways to detect radiation and develop an in-depth understanding of the effects caused by acute exposure to radiation. Enriched by a wide range of learning resources, including videos of clinical demonstration on how to don and remove protective equipment, as well as survey and decontaminate nuclear victims, this course will teach you how to protect yourself from radiation and help nuclear victims. Clinical demonstration on radioactive measurement and decontamination.

This self-paced free online course is suitable for first responders to radiation emergencies and members of the general public interested in the topic. Jointly developed by the Emergency Care Unit of HKU and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute, it is the first in our series of e-learning modules on CBRN emergencies. Join us now and earn a certificate!

Flipping the classroom allows teachers to present instructional materials before class mostly via short videos, freeing class time for interactive activities in the face-to-face sessions. But, what is the definition of quality in-class activities? Dr. Lily Zeng and Professor Ricky Kwok shared their insights in a workshop on 8 March 2016.

The 4Cs

Ricky’s formula of engaging class activities comprises 4Cs:

Collaborative
Collaborative work promotes mutual scaffolding and peer-to-peer learning. For example, in Professor Rick Glofcheski’s Tort Law class, students had to analyze legal cases together.

Competitive
It is also a good idea to balance collaboration with healthy competition in the classroom. We should provide students with a platform to race with each other and achieve a given goal within limited time. For example, In CCST9003 Everyday Computing and the Internet, students are challenged to solve a Rubik’s cube in the shortest time possible.

Co-creation
By giving students a chance to co-create content, we are prompting them to learn from each other. For example, Professor Benson Yeh asked students to design their own questions for the class.

Credits
Students should be given credits for their effort; where possible, their participation should be appropriately assessed. This will incentivize students to constantly improve their performance. For example, participation in the Interprofessional Team-based Learning (IPTBL) for health professional students would contribute to the grade of some students.

Gamification

The 4Cs can take many different forms. One possibility is to engage your students with learning games during the lesson.

As Ricky pointed out in the workshop, “Gamification is all about how to engage students; how we can incentivize them to take desirable actions. And desirable actions in our context today, is to make learning happen; it’s to achieve the learning outcomes.” “With a good design, you can … engage your students [to] learn the things that you want them to learn. And if you can structure that learning activity as a game, then it will be even better.”

Developing a learning game may seem an impossible challenge to some. But don’t worry. TELI is here to work with you. You can always bring your rough ideas to us and we can brainstorm together. The following questions may help you get started:

1. Which topic do you want to work on?
2. Do you want students to play the game as pre-class or in-class activity?

It is possible to begin with a rough idea and develop it into something big. In fact, it is okay even if you don’t have any idea about gamification at all. Come to us. We will show you game prototypes we are currently developing and offer you suggestions.

Further reading

1. Sharing by Rick Glofcheski on Flipped Learning
2. The Successful Story of Professor Benson Yeh, a Teacher-turned-Entrepreneur
3. Not just for fun: Gamify your class