Dinosaurs are a popular theme for Hollywood movies and museum exhibitions, but how do we extend that facsination when it becomes a topic to teach? Our new MOOC Introduction to Dinosaur Ecosystems has taken on this challenge to bring you right to a place where dinosaurs once roamed.

Course Instructor Dr. Michael Pittman and Professor Xu Xing of the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology completed an expedition to the Chinese Gobi desert this summer to collect new fossils and rock samples from the Upper Cretaceous dinosaur-dominated ecosystem of Erlian, Inner Mongolia. Against this backdrop Dr. Pittman, Prof. Xu and several guest experts recorded many of the MOOC’s lectures giving viewers a glimpse into what expeditions are like and what palaeontologists see in the burning desert landscape.

On 13 August, Dr. Pittman and videographer Cameron Dueck (first and second from the right) had a meeting with the Technology-Enriched Learning Initative (TELI) team to review the footage taken in the Gobi.

Here are some still shots for your previewing:

Dr. Pittman talking to the local wildlife

Prof Xu Xing excavating a dinosaur fossil (Dr. Pei Rui [HKU] in the distance)

Dinosaur bones on the desert floor!

Dr. Pittman sorting through previous Erlian dinosaur finds with Drs. Corwin Sullivan (IVPP) and Pei Rui

HKU undergraduate Fion Ma helping Dr. Pittman sort through past Erlian fossil finds.

A mounted skeleton of a therizinosauroid theropod. Theropod dinosaurs like T. rex are known for their carnivory, but this animal was a herbivore!

Click to see the interactive map
Dr. Pittman, Prof. Xu and their colleagues investigated Upper Cretaceous rocks in the desert northeast of Erlian (Erenhot), Inner Mongolia.

Want to join us on an adventurous ride back to the dinosaur-era? Stay tuned.

A renewed E-learning Strategy is now available to guide Faculties and Departments in judiciously setting priorities, experimenting with ideas, and formulating action plans for e-learning.

In response to the 2011 Senate recommendation that an institutional review be conducted on our E-learning Strategy at a three-yearly interval, as well as to acknowledge the rapid changes in the landscape of higher education within and beyond the University, an E-learning Review Group was constituted in January 2015 to put forward an enhanced strategy with the input from Faculties, The Hong Kong University Students’ Union and the Postgraduate Student Association. The Senate endorsed the Review Group’s submission in July.

With the support from Senate, we are now ready to go ahead with the implementation. Please check back this blog often to learn more about projects that we are doing, as well as the types of support that are made available to you.

As HKU03x Humanity and Nature in Chinese Thought is drawing to a close, we are going to round up the journey with an exciting online debate! You can join us in the audience simply by clicking on YouTube.

As remarked by course instructor Professor Chad Hansen, ‘For a teacher, it is a big change getting to know most of you by “handles” on your posts and [be] awed by the global reach and diversity of our online community.’ This debate goes in line with our dedication to achieving extensive global reach, while keeping the high-touch personalized interaction that you would expect in traditional classroom teaching.

Debaters from around the world will present their arguments on the topic
“We should follow the social conventions of our society”, followed by comments and summary by Professor Chad Hansen.

Don’t miss out on the grand finale of our first MOOC in Philosophy!

South China Morning Post recently interviewed our teachers on how e-learning has taken off at HKU and will bring unprecedented learning experience to learners both on and off campus. The first MOOC, an introductory public health course entitled Epidemics, showcased the University’s strength in the global context, and was “hugely successful”.

The initiative turned out to be headlights into how online learning can be widely and effectively incorporated into on-campus education. The article highlighted the valuable statistics collected from MOOCs. Leveraging a treasure of both quantitative and qualitative data collected from an impressive number of MOOC learners, teachers were able to evaluate and refine course materials and assessments, which can then be repurposed for their on-campus counterparts, laying the groundwork for “flipped classroom” teaching.

The data also provided insights into how some e-learning tools for on-campus students can be improved. For example, compared to the underused Moodle online forum, the MOOC discussion forums encouraged students to ask questions in a comfortable way since they allowed a certain level of anonymity.

New and exciting online courses are on the way to provide e-learners an ever better expereience. Read the article to find out more.

Here’s your chance to question and get challenged by ideas and beliefs of your fellow learners!

HKU03x Humanity and Nature in Chinese Thought is holding an online debate activity to be broadcast live on YouTube. You can join in the audience anywhere at a click.

Drawing on the Chinese philosophical concepts developed in the course, six debaters coming from around the world will discuss the topic “We should follow the social conventions of our society” from the affirmative and negative perspectives. Course instructor Professor Chad Hansen will adjudicate the debate and summarize the ideas presented.

Details of the debate:

It is a valuable opportunity for you to learn “face-to-face” with Professor Hansen and fellow MOOC takers. Join us!