Message from the Director of CETL – Susan Bridges
Dear colleagues,
Welcome to this 14th issue of Teaching and Learning Connections.
In the previous issue, we discussed the challenges and opportunities of motivating students in online learning. This issue will introduce several effective approaches adopted by our colleagues to inspire, engage, and support their students in order to deepen their learning. My sincerest thanks go to all of the authors for their time and generosity.
At CETL, we embrace every opportunity to connect with you, our dedicated educators. The current HKU Teaching and Learning Festival 2021 has provided a refreshing reminder of the stellar achievements of our academics and students in online and hybrid course design and delivery. The keynote speech delivered by Prof. Neil Morris, University of Leeds, reinforced the need for active, dialogic approaches to online teaching while the online poster showcase using Miro was a major success. The virtual open classrooms are not only sharing excellent practices but also stimulating wider sharing among colleagues. I was able to join an inspiring Common Core zoom class led by Dr Peter Cobb with ~100 students sharing their views on the ethics of archaeology and have heard similar feedback from colleagues across all the open classroom sessions. I would like to express our gratitude to all the teachers who have generously offered their classes: Dr Peter Cobb (Faculties of Education and Arts), Dr Marty Forth (Faculty of Social Sciences), Dr Fraide Ganotice (Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine), and Ms Nicole Tavares (Faculty of Education).
There are still many T&L Festival activities forthcoming and I encourage you to register for a place: https://www.cetl.hku.hk/tdgfest21/
Finally, CETL’s new Quote of the Week initiative is featuring thoughts and provocations shared within our HKU community or through our encounters with local and international partners. Do share any inspiring words with Dr Cecilia Chan at cecilia.chan@cetl.hku.hk!
With marking and examiner reports coming due, do take time to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine and rejuvenate!
Susan
