Message from Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative
 
Part I

Part II

With the increasing digitisation of classrooms, there is constant interest to adopt emergent technologies into teaching and learning. Virtual reality (VR) is one of the new technologies that piqued the interest of educators around the world with the promise to create new learning experiences. It is seen as a valuable tool to create immersive environments and provide a student-centered learning experience through interactions.

While the benefits of AR are apparent, widespread adoption of this technology remains a work in progress. There are many practical issues and concerns yet to be addressed, such as ease of use, scalability and comparative effectiveness. As such, steps taken by pioneers in adopting VR would be insightful for mindful educators.

In this two-part webinar we have invited professional educators from different institutions to share their experience in using VR technology in their classes. In particular, our guest speakers will cover the following topics:

• Part I – 28 March 2022 (Monday) 14:30 – 15:30 (HKT, UTC+8)
  • Secondary students using VR for heritage discovery
  • Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning with VR
  • Leveraging VR creation in cultural heritage education
• Part II – 4 April 2022 (Monday) 12:30 – 13:30 (HKT, UTC+8)
  • Practical VR & AR in studio-based learning for architectural design
  • Using web-based VR for crime scene investigation studies
  • Large-scale VR adoption in medical anatomy classes

Speakers details and more information can be found on the event webpages:

https://eteaching4u.org/virtual-reality-for-teaching-learning-and-assessment-part-i/

https://eteaching4u.org/virtual-reality-for-teaching-learning-and-assessment-part-ii/ 

Acknowledgement

This webinar is supported by:

– UGC Special Grant for Strategic Development of Virtual Teaching and Learning – Inter-institutional Collaborative Activities Projects

– IEEE Education Week

– IEEE Region 10 Education Activities Committee

– IEEE Hong Kong Section Education Chapter

Registration

The use of digital tools has been a growing trend in teaching and learning activities. For example, teachers manage course schedules and content with Moodle, teach synchronously/ asynchronously with Zoom. At the same time, students create assignments via Google and Microsoft applications, submit assignments via Moodle or Turnitin, and communicate with peers and instructors through different social platforms. Have you ever thought about an all-in-one platform that helps to compile most of the work and keep the instructor and students working together in a shared space? Have you thought about a space that enables students to manage their projects, visualise learning progress and collaborate with student peers?

In this webinar, we invite guest speakers from different sections in HKU to share their experiences with Notion, an all-in-one workspace that supports note-taking, collaborative work and project management.

You are invited to join the sharing and discussion with our guest speakers on how they have compiled teaching and learning activities, facilitate students to work collaboratively and manage teamwork with Notion.

Click to view the User Guide to Notion for Education:
https://tl.hku.hk/2021/11/user-guide-to-notion-for-education/

If you would like to co-develop a Notion space for teaching and learning purposes, please contact Dr Leon Lei (culei@hku.hk) to book a consultation. Click here to know more about the IDEA scheme offered by TELI: 
https://tl.hku.hk/2021/07/instructional-design-extension-assistant-idea-scheme/

HKU Cardiac Imaging Massive Open Online Courses won the prestigious 2021 Wharton-QS Reimagine Education GOLD Award in Life Sciences and is also edX Prize 2021 Top 12 Finalist!

Course Homepages:

Advanced Cardiac Imaging: Cardiac Computed Tomography (CT): https://www.edx.org/course/advanced-cardiac-imaging-cardiac-computed-tomograp

Advanced Cardiac Imaging: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR): https://www.edx.org/course/advanced-cardiac-imaging-cardiac-magnetic-resonance-cmr

Read more: https://press.edx.org/celebrating-the-2021-edx-prize-finalists

Registration

Gamification has become increasingly popular in education as a powerful tool to boost learners’ motivation and engagement by incorporating game elements into a learning environment.

As educators nowadays seek innovation from digital technologies to help make online courses more than just streaming and recording, gamified eLearning experience has received great responses and is highlighted by scholars as part of a new paradigm shift for future education.

To promote gamification in eLearning and equip teachers and students with the most cutting-edge technologies, KEEP is organising “VISUAL Seminar: Gamification with KEEP Open edX” to showcase the new gamification features adopted by our team.

In this half-hour event, you will be invited to explore the latest functions of the KEEP Open edX and discuss the key issues concerning the application of gamification in the Learning Management System (LMS). Assistance regarding our system will also be provided in the “Questions and Answers” session.

Content:

• Introduction of the new functions on KEEP Open edX
• Discussion on the key issues of gamification in the LMS
• Q&A session

Registrations are on a first-come, first-served basis. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact KEEP at marketing@keep.edu.hk. We look forward to meeting you soon!

Now Notion provides free Personal Pro Plan to educators and students. Through this guide, you will learn about what Notion is and how this productivity application can support your personal life, work and study. 

What is Notion?

Notion is a productivity application where you can create notes, databases, wikis, calendars and reminders, etc. All these features can be used individually or in collaboration with others. It supports multiple platforms (Windows / MacOS, IOS / Android) and desktop applications. The databases in Notion will be automatically saved and synced among different platforms and devices. You can download a desktop application via https://www.notion.so/desktop.

Create an account

Before you start exploring Notion, you need to create a Notion account with several steps:

1. Click ‘Try Notion free’ on notion.so
2. Enter your HKU email address and click ‘Continue with email’ 
3. Receive a temporary Notion signup code via email
4. Enter your name and set a password
5. Select the plan for personal use 
6. Click the provided link or copy and paste the code to verify your login 
7. Click ‘Get free Personal Pro Plan’ on the bottom left corner

Then your Notion workspace is ready to use! Please click this link to watch a tutorial video if needed. You can set a permanent password in Settings & Members -> My account.

Upgrade to Personal Pro Plan

For first-time users

Different from the free Personal Plan designed for individual use, the Personal Pro Plan allows you to collaborate with more people. With the Personal Pro plan, you will have unlimited pages and blocks, guests and files uploaded. If you create the Notion account with your university email via HKU Portal, your account will be automatically upgraded to the Personal Pro Plan for free. To check if you are enjoying the Personal Pro Plan, go to the sidebar, then click on ‘Settings & Members’ and ‘Plans’. Besides, you can also manage your account information, notifications, connected apps, language & region, appearance, billing and integrations inside ‘Settings & Members’.

For those who already have a Notion account

If you already have a Notion account with your personal email, you can upgrade to the Personal Pro Plan for free by changing your login email account to the university email. To achieve this, please go to ‘Settings & Members’, ‘My account’, ‘Email’ then click on ‘Change email’.    Click this link to watch a tutorial video if needed.

Create Your First Page

After successfully logging in, you can create a new Page by clicking on the plus sign (‘+’) button on the sidebar. Click on this link to watch a tutorial video to learn some basic features, including how to add icon and cover to a Page, create Blocks, and adjust the layout.

Customise your Page with Blocks and Databases

If you already have an account and have started to use Notion, and would like to explore more on the design and customisation, feel free to check out the below content!   The Block and Database are characteristic features in Notion which allows you to create a multi-level hierarchy inside the Notion page for different purposes. You can design your page with Blocks and Databases like having LEGO bricks to build a LEGO castle. Please check out the following tutorials supported by Notion for more information: For blocks:

• Types of content blocks
• Transforming content blocks

For databases:

• Using database views
• Full page & inline databases
• Using database templates
• Using advanced database filters

Recommended In-app Templates

For first-time users, it is great to start your Notion journey with different templates provided by Notion. Notion provides more than 50 in-app templates that you can adjust and customise as your own. You can easily find the ‘Templates’ on the bottom of the sidebar, or click on this link for more information.

For Teachers

Notion is not just designed for individual use, it also shows the potential to enable team collaboration. There are some templates that can help with classroom management, or facilitate collaboration in your classroom:

• Classroom Management: Syllabus, Classroom Home, Lesson Plans, Course Schedule, Class Directory
• Facilitating Team collaboration: To-Do, Meeting Notes, Content Calendar, User research database

Click this link for more information.  

For teachers, if you are interested in using Notion in the classroom but still need some help, you are welcome to book a consultation with Technology-enriched Learning Initiative (TELI) for more ideas. Contact via email: enquiry@teli.hku.hk. 

For Students:

You can use Notion to manage your study, personal life or other fantastic uses. There is a list of templates for your reference:

• Study Management: Class Notes, Course Schedule, Thesis Planning, Cornell Notes System
• Personal use: Weekly Agenda, Travel Planner, Reading List, Habit Tracker
• Others: Meeting Notes, Team Tasks, Roadmap, Process Docs

Click this link for more information.  

For HKU students who are interested in using Notion and would like to explore more, you can book a consultation with Digital Literacy Lab (DLL) via https://www.diglit.hku.hk/book.

To check out this blog post in Notion page: Link