Dear colleagues,

I am delighted that the theme of this e-newsletter is “Teaching Innovation and Development”. As colleagues have nimbly adapted to teaching at various points along the ‘online – in-person’ continuum, it is timely to celebrate HKU innovations and learn from each other. My thanks go to those colleagues who have generously shared their practice.

Launch of the CETL Learning Lab
At the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), we were privileged to be allocated UGC AA&I funding with a rather daunting carte-blanch remit to create a “HKSAR Showcase Innovative Learning Space”. After two years of planning, we launched the CETL Learning Lab (https://learninglab.cetl.hku.hk/) in May 2022. Building on initiatives in blended learning in the era before campus closures, CETL’s academic developers and researchers have collaborated to creatively meet the design challenges created by new demands on university learning spaces. We adopted three key principles to reimagine and re-design our existing, fixed-tier professional learning rooms for HKU’s academic teachers – flat, flexible, and interactive.

We were privileged to have the UGC Secretary-General Professor James Tang, as our guest of honor with HKU’s Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), Professor Ian Holliday joining Faculty Deans and senior leaders in teaching and learning for the event (see Fig 1 & 2). The CETL Learning Lab design concept has drawn attention globally with a featured case for ‘hybrid learning’ in the 2022 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning.

Colleagues are welcome to visit and experiment in our new imaginarium!