TEACHING AND LEARNING THE REVIEW2020 Ready to Leap The move to online learning did not catch Dr Vichy Ho Wai-chi of the School of Chinese unprepared. For the past five years, he has been embracing the possibilities of learning and teaching online. With COVID-19, he was able to take this to the next level. Dr Ho first started developing what he calls ‘homemade videos’ in 2015 for his courses and in 2017 received a Teaching Development Grant (TDG) on the flipped classroom, which enabled him to enhance the standard of his videos. “The courses where I was course coordinator were 100% ready to be flipped by the 2018–19 academic year,” he said. In 2019 he was part of a team that received another TDG on experiential learning, which consists of a ‘super website’ to offer online language support with videos, databases and exercises. In the wake of the campus closure, he decided to record and edit all his lectures for students to use in revision and he made use of the VideoVox system invented by Professor Michael Botelho of the Faculty of Dentistry that uses time stamps, tags and data analytics to make videos more interactive and multifunctional. Dr Ho also uses WhatsApp during live Zoom sessions to enhance communication with students and has weekly Instagram Live sessions. Using all these tools, he held his first course entirely online in 2020 and received his highest-ever marks in student evaluation. “This is proof that online learning can be even better than face-to-face if teachers and students treat it seriously,” he said. “Students are the centre of learning and they are far more adaptive to learn online than teachers. My conclusion is that we should emphasise ‘online learning’ rather than ‘online teaching’.” Taking a Virtual Field Trip Field trips are central to programmes like Landscape Architecture, where students need to see real-life applications of the lessons they are learning. So division head Mr Mathew Pryor and colleague Mr Gavin Coates were determined that the COVID-19 restrictions would not get in the way of delivering their lessons. The pair developed virtual field trips to sites they would normally take classes to in person, with support from HKU’s Digital Literacy Laboratory and teaching assistants. The trips were live-streamed and recorded and accommodated real-time communication with students. “Landscape happens outside, it is a very tactile experiential subject, and we were very keen to continue to let students feel the landscape even in online classes. Gavin and I had been creating course videos for some years, so we saw it as an extension of that process,” Mr Pryor said. They visited sites on campus, in urban areas and across the New Territories for undergraduate, postgraduate and Common Core courses, and for groups ranging in size from 15 to 160. Students were not only able to watch these trips live, but also follow the progress on Google Earth or Google Street and simultaneously research the subjects being covered. “There are advantages to this approach – everyone has the same access, they can see and hear clearly unlike being there in person, recordings can be annotated, and it is easier to ask questions,” Mr Pryor said. Jessica Tsim, a student in Postgraduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture, followed a site walk on urban trees at HKU and another in Wan Chai to trace its historical development. “Although the experience is weaker online, it had good points like saving time and being able to jot notes online and research related information. I was able to Google a tree species that was new to me during one session,” she said. She also followed up on her own time to visit some of these sites in person and reinforce her learning. Tech’s Time to Shine The rapid shift to online learning put the spotlight firmly on HKU’s tech support. The Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI), which previously provided training on a small scale and through individual consultations and produced high-quality MOOCs (massive open online courses), found itself doing a 180-degree turn. It now had to serve all teachers and get them quickly up to speed on simpler technologies, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, so they could produce their own videos and conduct lectures online. This meant creating a lot of original training materials and resources for both staff and students within a few weeks. Since the beginning of the year, TELI has produced more than 70 videos that have had more than 20,000 views. A five-part webinar series on the virtual flipped classroom was also organised for teachers, and facilities were set up at studios in Chi Wah Learning Commons so teachers could record their own videos. The team also established a quick-response system through WhatsApp that responded to teachers’ messages within 10 minutes and they provided individual Zoom and in-person training as needed. An example of the assistance they gave was helping a mathematics professor capture blackboard writing on camera, which required testing different cameras and settings (a mobile phone proved the best option). TELI also produced six webinars for teachers, proctors and students to provide advice and training in using the HKU Online Examination System, OLEX, which was developed by the Information Technology Services and Examinations Office. Together, the three units answered more than 1,000 questions through the webinars. Dr Leon Lei, E-learning Technologist with TELI, said the work they had done prior to the campus closure was key to their success. “It gave us the confidence and competency to scale up and it also provided examples to showcase to other teachers,” he said. Dr Vichy Ho is keen to integrate technology and pedagogy to flip his classroom. Mr Mathew Pryor taking Landscape Architecture students on virtual field trips in and around Hong Kong. Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI) provides training and professional advice to teachers through a series of videos and webinars, to assist them in delivering quality teaching online. ADAPTATION Where e-learning was already being applied, COVID-19 opened new avenues to expand and experiment. 12 | 13
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