e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015

e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015 14 November 2011 (version 1.5)

Introduction This “e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015” elaborates and expands upon our e-learning strategic directions and goals that were initially defined in the University’s “2010-2015 Strategic Plan,”1 which spearheads new approaches to professional education and aims to train a new breed of professionals for the fast-changing, knowledge-driven global environment of the 21st century. The University’s vision of e-learning is part of the “Student Learning and Career Development” Strategic Area – to “improve language instruction, e-learning and library support to enhance effective learning”: • • •

To implement a unified e-learning platform to deliver high quality teaching, learning, assessment, and the implementation of a more outcome-focused learning method.

To promote the use of e-portfolios for learning and make our information technology system accessible to those with physical and other disabilities.

To continuously upgrade our e-learning environment to ensure that our information technology platforms and systems are up to speed, able to keep pace with the technological competence of our students and to provide them with new models of learning to enhance effectiveness.

E-learning is also a crucial component and strongly emphasized in the University’s “Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan 2010-2015.” Historically, CityU has been a visionary and a pioneer in the use of IT for teaching and learning in Hong Kong. Our previous IT Plan identified “A Unified e-Learning Platform” as one of the strategic areas, establishing the University to be among the first in Hong Kong to implement a centralized learning management system (LMS). We have consistently upgraded and expanded the e-learning platform to enable a technologically-advanced and pedagogically-rich environment supporting a diverse range of teaching and learning needs. We will continue to move aggressively as a leader in this area. In particular, we will address specific teaching/ learning needs to support the new 3+3+4 academic reform.

Moving forward, our IT Strategic Plan identified e-learning as one of the technology areas within our strategic goal to “Enable Transformational Change.” The University plans to move aggressively in adopting new technologies to support teaching and collaborative learning, both inside and outside of classrooms. Our e-learning platform will be enhanced with mobile-learning and social-learning capabilities. This technology-rich learning environment will be transformational in how we apply modern and innovative pedagogical methods to enhance the competitiveness of our students.

Students will have ample opportunities to equip themselves with modern IT skills that are essential for their future career in a knowledge-based society that depends increasingly on technology.

Our e-learning strategies also directly support the University’s “Academic Development Proposal (ADP) 2012-2015.” The ADP outlines a bold new vision in the education CityU offers and how it will be delivered. The University’s Discovery-Enriched Curriculum (DEC) has as its foundation the notion that every undergraduate and postgraduate student will have the chance to make an original discovery

1 http://www.cityu.edu.hk/provost/strategic_plan/

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whilst at City University. The slogan “Discover & Innovate @ CityU” captures the core competencies we seek to nurture in our students: experiencing what it means to discover new knowledge; communicating, curating and applying new knowledge; recognizing and protecting intellectual property that can be the basis for bringing new ideas to the marketplace to benefit society; thinking from a global and collaborative perspective; capitalizing on technology and social networks; and embracing a strong sense of social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics. City University believes that the DEC approach to teaching and learning will motivate and ignite a passion for knowledge and discovery in our students, prepare them to practice professionally at and beyond the level of international standards, and promote a culture of knowledge and innovation that spurs local and global advancements in professional practice.

E-Learning Strategic Goals Based on the University’s “2010-2015 Strategic Plan,” the “IT Strategic Plan 2010-2015,” and the “Academic Development Proposal 2012-2015,” we have identified five strategic goals for e-learning: • • • • •

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Goal #1. Provide Transformational Change to Support DEC Goal #2. Leverage Technology for Gateway Education Goal #3. Enable Next-Generation E-Learning Goal #4. Cultivate IT-Savvy Professionals Goal #5. Ensure Quality E-Learning

City University of Hong Kong — e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015

Goal #1. Provide Transformational Change to Support the DEC We believe technology provides the transformational change needed for achieving the goals of our Discovery-Enriched Curriculum.

As stated in our Academic Development Proposal 2012-2105: “… At the heart of our academic planning for teaching and learning is DEC with its emphasis on discovery and innovation. The DEC has as its foundation the notion that every student will have the chance to make an original discovery whilst at City University. Technology is a critically embedded element of DEC. Whether using new mobile platforms for students and faculty to communicate about assignments, creating Facebook pages that allow social networking for class projects, using software that enables students to reflect on their learning, or facilitating the collection of student work through an ePortfolio, technology is an irresistible force in shaping education. City University is now fully wi-fi-enabled, with every corner of the campus furnished to create miniature learning commons, making the entire campus an open learning environment that facilitates students’ ability to share, discuss and learn from each other.”

Figure 1: The City University e-learning ecosystem (2011)

Our e-learning goal is to provide a technology-rich environment that will facilitate and support our novel DEC approach to teaching and learning. This involves a multitude of new technologies ranging from social networks to mobile technology. The aim is to ensure that the technology environment broadly covers all the different needs of DEC-based teaching. We also want to ensure that our

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technology environment is one that supports modern student-centric learning – an environment that our digital-native students feel most effective and productive in; an environment that supports seamless anywhere-anytime-learning, sharing, and collaboration. This technology-rich environment will expand upon the existing e-learning ecosystem (Fig. 1) already enjoyed by staff and students at CityU. For example, in the past year, we have been rapidly expanding the ecosystem with various cloud-based services to supplement e-learning needs. This learning environment will also enable CityU students to be future technology-savvy professionals to support Goal #4.

We understand that a technology-rich environment by itself is not enough. The University will need to ensure that both our faculty members and students are properly trained to take advantage of these tools as well as adopt modern pedagogical approaches that leverages upon these new capabilities. It is evident that the traditional approach of lecturing with students passively listening is no longer effective in the twenty-first century. E-learning enables modern pedagogies, by providing interactive and collaborative tools, allowing students to actively participate in the learning process.

The University will need to review its various staff performance measures to include incentives for adoption of more innovative e-learning approaches.

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City University of Hong Kong — e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015

Goal #2. Leverage Technology for Gateway Education We believe technology is a strong enabler in the discovery and innovation process to support our D&I GE courses.

The first year of the curriculum is critical for setting the tone of the DEC and will determine the culture of succeeding courses. CityU has developed a set of first-year Gateway Education (GE) courses that provide critical core skills and broad perspectives, whilst simultaneously setting the stage for students to participate in discovery-making and innovation. As part of our e-learning strategy, we would like to encourage the development of special technology platforms to support these interdisciplinary and unique GE courses. For example, a mock police forensic database might be useful for a GE course on forensic science; or a stock market trading simulator to support a GE course on explaining how the stock market works. We plan to create a central e-learning fund to support course leaders in developing new IT tools to enhance student learning experiences. Of course, support to staff development on pedagogy and technology, provided by the Office of Education Development & Gateway Education (EDGE) and Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) respectively, is also essential.

In addition, as part of the campus’s initiative to merge the DEC with the Outcomes-based Teaching and Learning (OBTL) framework, GE courses will build in elements that prepare students for the discovery process and for innovation and creative thinking. In some cases these GE courses are project-based. The idea is to use project or product design innovation as the vehicle for motivating and inspiring students to explore real issues and to create prototypes or pilots in the form of concrete action plans. E-learning technology has a major role to play in support of the discovery and innovation process. Technology facilitates research, sharing, and teamwork and collaboration.

To further nurture young discoverers and inventors, the University is planning to create “Idea Incubators” space that gives students access to software, hardware, tools and campus experts so that they can discover and innovate in various fields of scholarship. E-learning tools and platforms will be part of the Idea Incubators space to facilitate brainstorming and idea sharing.

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Goal #3. Enable Next-Generation E-Learning We believe formation of mobile-learning, social-learning and virtual-learning communities will be key directions for e-learning in the near future.

We have seen, in the past few years, a major shift in both the hardware devices and software environments that our students prefer to use to obtain information, communicate, share, and collaborate. Students are spending more time on social networks using smart phones than ever before. A 2010 TNS survey shows that roughly half the Hong Kong population owns a smart phone.2 Another study shows that one out of every six persons in Hong Kong already owns a tablet PC.3 Hong Kong is definitely one of the most “mobile-connected” cities in the world. This combined with readily available wi-fi service explains why mobile devices are so popular among our digital-native Generation Z students.4 Those are just some of the reasons why the University sees mobile-learning and social-learning to be important components in our e-learning strategy. The University already has full wi-fi coverage.

Outside the University, we give students and staff free access to JUCC University wi-fi, EduRoam, and over 12,000 PCCW/ Y5Zone hotspots around Hong Kong, located at popular locations, such as convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, fast food outlets, shopping malls, subway stations, trains, etc.

We have improved our e-learning technology suite with numerous new additions, such as by upgrading our Blackboard learning management system to the new Bb Mobile Learn platform.

This mobile app platform allows smart phone and tablet access to the University LMS and supports iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and BlackBerry.

In addition, to engage students in class through surveys, informal quizzes, and questionnaires, we have piloted a subscription to the Qualtrics-hosted cloud service. Teachers can use this tool to gauge student learning. Teachers can easily create questionnaires without prior training with this userfriendly tool.

Besides off-the-shelf apps, the University is encouraging academic departments and faculty to explore the development of discipline-specific mobile apps to further enrich the students’ learning experience. Central IT will provide infrastructure and training support.

The main advantage of mobile-learning is obviously the mobility aspect. Learning activities are no longer restricted to inside the classroom. Out of class, students can use mobile devices to take and upload photos/movies for field studies, as well as share ideas through social networks or collaborate virtually. In essence, the whole city becomes our learning campus.

We believe mobile-learning is the next crucial extension of students’ e-learning space to “anywhere and anytime” learning, opening up new possibilities, new ways to engage students and new pedagogies. It is very powerful to be able to quickly formulate and present ideas anywhere using a mixture of different media - text, images and videos taken on the spot and shared instantly through LMS or social networks. In our modern world, discoveries and innovations are seldom made in isolation. They are often made through a collaborative process. Mobile technology and social networks greatly facilitate and streamline collaboration and sharing to enable discovery and innovation to happen. Mobile technology really frees the discovery and creative process to take place anywhere and encourages self-directed learning.

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City University of Hong Kong — e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015

Another area where we see social network technology to be beneficial is in supporting our First Year Learning Community (FYLC). A learning community is one that is actively engaged in learning together and from one another, with a sense of membership achieved through being part of the group process, experiencing a response to personal needs, and by expressing personal opinions and having shared emotional experiences. On the e-learning side, we plan on supporting the learning community effort through a “virtual learning community” platform, based on social networks. This will allow both formal and informal learning communities to be quickly established in self-service fashion. It will also allow these learning communities to continue throughout the students’ study at the University and beyond.

This social networking platform will be independent of our Blackboard learning management system (LMS). Besides supporting “virtual learning communities,” we envision this platform to be useful in supporting the formation of virtual research groups, peer mentoring groups, as well as international learning activities across different Universities.

This platform is a part of our business continuity plan (BCP) to support the continuation of e-learning activities even in the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure of the LMS. In the longer-term, we see the University moving toward a teaching/learning environment where technology is pervasively available with effortless access anytime and anywhere. This will be achieved through a combination of cloud services, mobile devices, innovative apps, and tools for collaboration and social-learning.

1 http://www.tnsglobal.com.hk/images/news/TNS_GTI_Smartphone_Eng_final.pdf 2 http://asiancorrespondent.com/61798/hong-kong-people-top-tablet-computer-users/ 3 Generation Z usually refers to people born between early 1990s and into the 2000s, after the World Wide Web.

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Goal #4. Cultivate IT-Savvy Professionals We believe technology will play an important role in any future profession our students may want to pursue.

The City University graduate outcomes include skill sets which prepare students for a knowledgebased society and “future-proof” them to face a fast-paced world. One of the key outcomes is the ability to: “Apply effective communication, language, numerical and IT skills to a variety of professional settings.” Most modern professionals in any discipline will require a “Swiss army knife-ful” of IT skills. Our sophisticated e-learning environment provides many opportunities for students to acquire a wide range of essential IT skills.

In addition, a modern professional will need to know how to create an e-Portfolio to showcase his/ her achievements, understand how to interact in and leverage professional social networks, etc.

Most importantly, s/he will need to acquire IT research/study skills to become life-long learners. Our e-learning strategy encompasses these areas as well.

Related to becoming a professional is “honesty.” Honesty remains one of the core values of a professional. At CityU, e-Learning not only supports delivery of an Academic Honesty Online Tutorial to all students, but also supplies online tools to identify plagiarism.

In a more pragmatic sense, a self-assessment scheme will be promoted to support coursework and self-directed learning. At the same time, peer assessment solutions will be implemented to extend a student’s learning scope from being an assessee to an assessor. All these transferable skills support graduates to become life-long learners.

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City University of Hong Kong — e-Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015

Goal #5. Ensure Quality E-Learning We believe benchmarking helps drive e-learning change, ensures quality, and positions the University globally.

The recent 2010 UGC Quality Audit commended the quality of City University’s teaching and learning activities, the focal point of our vision of professional education. The commendations included our proactive approach to improving quality assurance for teaching and learning; our data analysis and benchmarking activities; our Teaching Excellence Awards scheme; etc. It is clear from the panel’s findings that we are making major strides in quality education. The panel also commended the University’s excellent quality assurance work in creating an evidence-based culture. This is an area of great importance and provides verifiable evidence and indicators of our progress to ensure that we achieve our strategic and academic goals and identify areas for future development. We remain determined to rigorously apply principles of continuous quality improvement to all areas of our teaching and learning.

To ensure quality and sustainable development of e-learning at CityU, benchmarking exercise will be performed. To be certain that our e-learning quality assurance work follows global best practices, we plan to seek consultation from external parties with particular experience in this area. The University will also continue with our Teaching Excellence Awards, which has been highly commended by external reviewers. The process is highly selective and rigorous.

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Copyright Š 2011 City University of Hong Kong

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