Digital learning initiatives
Microsoft is partnering with Hong Kong's schools to enhance e-learning in the city.
While Hong Kong hasn’t been right at the forefront of the e-learning revolution, the use of educational websites such as Khan Academy, which offers practice exercises and instructional videos, and of digital tools in the classroom, is growing all the time.
Last month’s Microsoft in Education Forum 2017, held at the HKCCU Logos Academy, featured 14 local schools. They were there to showcase their latest e-learning projects utilising Microsoft technology and solutions.
Gavin Choi teaches Computer Literacy, Information and Communication Technology, and Physics, at St Stephen’s College secondary school. He believes e-learning can make lessons more interactive, both between teacher and student, and among the students themselves.
“With digital tools, students can collaborate and share feedback on any given task,” Choi says. “Furthermore, I think the 4Cs of Learning - Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Collaborating and Communicating - can be achieved more quickly and successfully through the use of digital tools.”
In his role as e-learning coordinator at St Stephen’s, Patrick Yuen is in an ideal position to observe the use of such technology, not just in science subjects but across the curriculum.
“I think that most subjects can make use of IT to enhance learning and teaching,” Yuen says. “Even for Chinese composition, some teachers will ask students to record a video about the scene, listing details that will help them write the composition.”
Nonetheless, he points out, the tools themselves cannot make learning ‘happen’.
