Message from Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative

Miro’ the blended learning design: Hands-on Workshop
(For HKU staff and students only)

Date: 20 September 2022 (Tuesday)
Time: 12:30pm – 1:45pm
Venue: Virtual Venue – via zoom
Speaker: Dr Leon Lei, Ms Lynn H. Lin, Ms Marie Tao, Ms Colleen Chung, Mr Sunny Kong
Number of seats: 60
Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?UEID=84104

The university has been exploring and incorporating various technologies to embrace the challenge of distance learning and enrich student learning experiences. Miro is one of the popular whiteboard tools that is often integrated in the learning activities to enhance online collaboration.

To help both teachers and students get better prepared for the new semester and bring some insights to the blended learning design, in this workshop, we will demonstrate some basic and advanced Miro functions. While practicing the Miro functions, we will together brainstorm and walk through some good practices of online assessment and the application of Bloom Digital Taxonomy (BDT) in coursework development under different classroom settings.

To have hands-on practices in the workshop, it would be helpful for participants to register the Miro Education Plan to have full access to the functions before joining the workshop. Please join the workshop with a computer / laptop.

For students, please register via: https://miro.com/contact/education/?ref=Student
For teachers, please register via: https://miro.com/contact/education/?ref=Educator

All are welcome!

For enquiries, please contact us at enquiry@teli.hku.hk

Multimedia (e.g., infographics and educational videos) have become essential to teaching, learning and assessment. Educators can integrate multimedia content for delivering content in many online/hybrid classes. Students can also produce multimedia content for their assignments. The challenge is understanding and exploring how best we might produce multimedia effectively.

Upon completion of the workshops, participants will be able to identify the opportunities, challenges, and tactics of producing multimedia for teaching and learning.

In the Canva workshop, we will introduce:

• the interface of Canva 2021
• recording, editing and sharing your first infographic
• exporting and sharing your first infographic

In the Camtasia (Basic) workshop, we will introduce:

• the interface of Camtasia 2021
• recording, editing and sharing your first video
• exporting and sharing your first video

In the Camtasia (Advanced) workshop, we will introduce:

• selecting area that you want to record
• adding annotations and transitions
• creating advanced animations
• adding sound effects, including removing noise

HKU Faculty of Dentistry presents a 4-Week Biomaterials and Your Health Massive Open Online Course on edX platform (https://www.edx.org/course/biomaterials-and-your-health). In this course, you will explore novel biomaterials and biotechnologies in oral health care with Professor Jukka Matinlinna and Dr James Tsoi along with more than 20 dental practitioners and researchers across 10 dental specialties in different parts of the world, Europe, the United States, China and Hong Kong. You will learn about the development of biomaterials and biomaterial research in dental health care. The course starts on 19 July 2022.

Click here to sign up and learn

What is this course about?

Would you be interested to go inside the laboratories of researchers and hear their stories of exciting biomaterials research? Would you be curious to find out what they discovered about cutting-edge technologies such as nanoneedle in oral cancer? And learn about biomimetic dentistry and the implications and applications of polymeric materials, resin composites, and silicon in today’s oral health care? In this 4-week course, you will find out about these and more.

How do you join the course?

This 4-week online course is available free of charge with no entry requirements for participants around the world. The first course run starts on 19 July 2022. The course is recurrent and will be re-run after this debut. 

Who is this course for?

The course is specially designed to serve multiple groups of learners: From dentistry students to dental practitioners who wish to broaden their knowledge in dental materials science and practitioners in related fields such as clinical medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, material science, and engineering, and in particular those who wish to make a difference in materials research in tomorrow’s oral health care development.

General information about Biomaterials and Your Health on edX:

Course Registration: https://www.edx.org/course/biomaterials-and-your-health 

For enquiries, please send your message to gdco@hku.hk.

Coursera launches a free Coursera for Campus Student campaign and HKU is eligible for participating in this campaign, therefore HKU students and staff now can enjoy a wide range of massive open online courses (MOOCs) sponsored by HKU and supported by Coursera. With the sponsorship, you may enroll in courses under the course catalog and get a certificate for free after course completion. This guide will introduce you to more details about learning with HKU Coursera.

What is Coursera?

Coursera is a worldwide MOOC learning platform that offers access to online courses, certifications, and degrees in various subjects. You can learn from leading universities and companies anywhere and anytime. Some universities join the Coursera partnership to enable university students to have free access to limited courses such as Guided Projects, Courses, and Specializations. HKU is one of the participating partners. 

Create an account with HKU license on Coursera

For current HKU students and staff, to create an account with HKU sponsorship on Coursera, you will need to fill in an application form. Following steps may help:

1. Click ‘Join for Free’ on https://www.coursera.org/;
2. Sign up for a new Coursera account with your HKU email and set a password in the pop-up window;
3. Join “Coursera for Campus” and send the registration form via this link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?ueid=70153 (HKU Portal required);
4. Submit the form and wait for confirmation.

Start learning by identifying your learning goals

You can search for any specific courses with the keywords on the searching bar. Specifically, you can search courses by themes, categories, or the name of any university. On the course information page, you can see the course description, syllabus, instructor information, difficulty level, references, etc. You can also set your weekly goals and link the course reminder to your Google Calendar. You are advised to watch the video for more information.

Course management and Name verification

When you land on Coursera, you can access ‘My Courses’, ‘Profile’, ‘My Purchases’, ‘Settings’, ‘Updates’, ‘Accomplishments’, and ‘Help Center’ through the button (the one with your name on it) on the top-right corner.

You may need to verify your real name to ensure you are able to receive a certificate after you complete a course. Therefore, you may go to your account and verify your name with a few steps:

1. Go to ‘Settings’, and
2. Click on ‘Verify My Name’ and complete the verification.

You may watch the video for a demonstration.

Learning record preservation

You will lose all access to Coursera after graduation (for students) or resignation/retirement (for staff). Therefore, you are strongly advised to back up your learning records by changing your login email account from the HKU one to your personal one. You can add/change your personal email account by following these steps:

1. Click on the top-right side button (the one with your name on it);
2. Select and click on ‘Settings’;
3. Check out the section ‘Personal Account’ and add an alternative email;
4. Save the setting.

Note: Please make sure you did not register a Coursera account with your alternative email previously. Otherwise, you cannot combine the learning records from two existing email addresses.

Four types of learning programs on Coursera

Coursera offers four types of learning programs, Guided Project, Course, Specialization, and Professional Certificate respectively.

• Guided Project: Guided Project provides step-by-step instructions and you may complete a Guided Project within 2 hours. You can learn job-relevant skills guided by a subject matter expert and may earn a shareable e-certificate after completing a Guided Project.
• Course: A Course usually includes video lectures, auto-graded and peer-reviewed assignments, and discussion forums. Courses are provided by universities or organizations all over the world. You may earn a shareable e-certificate after completing a Course. 
• Specialization: A Specialization includes several courses to support learners to earn a specific career skill. After completing a series of rigorous courses, you can receive a shareable Specialization Certificate.
• Professional Certificate: Professional Certificate provides knowledge and skills to help learners to start a new career. There are several courses in one Professional Certificate and you can apply new skills to hands-on projects. After completing, you can receive a career credential.

Add Certificates to your LinkedIn Profile

You will receive a course certificate to show your accomplishment. After receiving the e-certificate(s), you can add to your LinkedIn profile to showcase your knowledge and professional achievements. 

You can find your certificates in ‘Accomplishments’, then click ‘Add to LinkedIn’ to view the details of the certificate. Following steps will guide you to add the certification details to your LinkedIn profile:

1. Go to your LinkedIn homepage and log into your LinkedIn account;
2. Click on ‘Me’ at the top-right corner and then click ‘View Profile’;
3. Click ‘Recommended’ and ‘Add licenses & certifications’;
4. Fill in the blanks with the Coursera course and certification details (i.e., Name, Issued Organization, credential ID, and URL);
5. Save the change.

You can also refer to the video for more information.

HKU Courses on Coursera and edX

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) launches courses on the e-learning platforms Coursera and edX. You can browse the HKU web page – https://tl.hku.hk/hkuonline/ for the course lists. You can also view courses on two platforms:

• HKU Courses and Specializations on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/hku
• HKU Courses and Specializations on edX: https://www.edx.org/school/hkux

Managing Study and Work with Digital Tools: Notion, OneNote and Evernote

Whether fully online mode or blended mode, digital tools can help teachers and students manage projects and resources across different subjects more effectively and efficiently. This article explores and compares the prominent features of three digital tools: Notion, OneNote, and Evernote. HKU teachers and students may see this article for a reference to select tools to help facilitate work and study. 

Access to three apps

To sign up for these apps, you can visit official websites and create an account with your HKU email. Notion now offers an educational free plan link for educators and students, and HKU teachers and students can enjoy Microsoft OneNote for free with the HKU license for Microsoft Office 365. There is no educational plan offered by Evernote but there are still some good features to help users to manage work or study.

How digital tools help teachers and students

For teachers, these tools may help:

• create a 24/7 digital learning space for students to access;
• enable student collaboration and extended learning outside the classroom;
• track students’ learning progress;
• design and provide summative and formative feedback to students.

For students, these tools may help:

• organize school work and projects;
• take notes for on-the-spot exercises;
• visualize learning progressions.

Features: Similarities and differences

The table below compares features among Notion, OneNote and Evernote. You can refer to the given information to help you select the tool that suits your teaching or learning needs:

After the comparisons, it shows that Evernote helps users to organize work and study but with limited functions and features for free. Notion and OneNote may benefit teaching and learning activities more. The following highlights more functions and features that teachers and students can realize with the tool Notion or OneNote:

For teachers who are interested in using e-learning tools in the classroom but still need some help, you are welcome to book a consultation with Technology-enriched Learning Initiative (TELI) for more ideas by contacting via enquiry@teli.hku.hk.

Extended readings

• User Guide to Notion for Education: https://tl.hku.hk/2021/11/user-guide-to-notion-for-education/ 
• User Guide to OneNote for Education: https://onenoteforteachers.com
• User Guide to Evernote for Education: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/sections/204079098-Ways-To-Use-Evernote

Written by Mr Abdul Hasan Ai Asyari, Ms Han Xiurong

Reviewed by Ms Cindy Liang, Dr Leon Lei