The University of Hong Kong s6

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

KNOWLEDGE TEAM

Minutes of a meeting of the Knowledge Team held on Friday, 19 March 2010 at 12:30 – 2:00 pm in the Conference Room, 4th Floor, Main Library.

Present: Dr Anthony W. Ferguson (Convener) Professor J.H. Bacon-Shone Dr Cecilia Chan Professor Francis Chin Dr Daniel Churchill Mr Geoffrey Dengate Dr Bob Fox Dr Mark King Professor Nancy Law Mr David Palmer Ms Tina Pang Professor Mike Prosser Mr Peter Sidorko Ms Antonia Yiu Dr Y.C. Wan (Secretary)

Apologies: Dr Susan Bridges Mr K.W. Chan Professor Y.Y. Chan Dr Bruce Cheung Mr Michael Duckworth Ms Irene Fung Professor J.G. Malpas Dr Elaine Martyn Dr John Nicholls Ms Nicol Pan Mr Haggen So Mr Benny Tai Dr Frank Tong Mr David Wan Dr Beverley Webster Dr Lillian Wong Mr Pindar Wong

The Convener extended his warm welcome to Dr Cecilia Chan who attended the meeting for the first time.

1. Minutes

The minutes of the last meeting, held on January 29, 2010, were confirmed without amendment (documents distributed).

2. Matters arising from the last meeting

a) C omputer labs and portable computing

The Convenor remarked that he had pursued the idea of setting up a small group to look at issues of portable computing and computer labs with PVC Professor Amy Tsui and subsequently with Dr Cunich and PVC Professor John Malpas. Professor Malpas would like to meet with group members but the meeting had been re-scheduled to April since he was ill yesterday.

3. A Revisit of the 20 brown bag luncheon issues for 2003 – results of a questionnaire survey among KT members and what are the high priority issues today

The Convenor distributed at the meeting a paper entitled 2003 Brown Bag Luncheon Issues – A Revisit in 2010, which compares the 2010 ranking of the 20 brown bag luncheon issues with that of 2003. He remarked that eight members responded to the 2010 survey and the results are listed in four quartile (five issues in each quartile), with those issues which were ranked quite differently between 2003 and 2010 shaded in dark.

He went through the new ranking with members, with special attention to those issues which are important in 2010 and those which have ceased to rank high on the list. Members shared their views on some of the issues. The following were noted: - At a recent meeting DVC approved the policy that the university maintains email contact with students using the university email address. However, students may forward emails from this account to the ones they prefer. - Spamming is a problem that CC is trying very hard to deal with. - It was suggested that special teaching awards should be given to teachers who are innovative in the use of new methods in teaching.

4. Innovating the 21 st -century university: it ’ s time by Don Tapscott & Anthony D Williams ( http://www.educause.edu/library/ERM1010 ): summary and observations

Professor Law led the discussion with a PowerPoint presentation which outlines some of the key points made in Innovating the 21st-century university: it’s time by Don Tapscott & Anthony D Williams. She shared with members the claims made by the authors in the paper and noted their belief in the university’s opening up and embracing Collaborative Learning and Collaborative Knowledge Production as the means to secure a chance of surviving in the networked, global economy.

Members shared their comments on the paper and the following were noted: - The paper has been written from a US perspective and universities in Hong Kong and China are facing different sets of problems. Yet, the paper rightly

2 points out that the world is changing and universities and teachers need to respond to these changes. - Many Hong Kong students do not like collaborative learning. The preference has been influenced by their learning experiences in secondary schools. - Equipping students with life skills in the workplace is of high priority in Hong Kong. - HKU needs an e-learning policy and strategic visions for the use of IT. - Need to develop skills for students to understand knowledge, how to work with knowledge and how to work with others. - Learning Commons can help support collaborative learning.

5. ICT for teaching and learning@HKU ( http://lib.hku.hk/tl/ ) – webpages need updating

Dr Fox noted the website could be further improved by providing links to good practices in IT in teaching and learning, LMS and parties supporting ICT technologies. The ICT website can also be part of a bigger website on learning and learning at HKU too. Professor Prosser remarked that the website issue is being looked at and that the ICT website would not be left out.

Members agreed that for the time being, a message should be added on the first page of the website soliciting other groups on campus to send in relevant links.

6. A.O.B

a) Springer Open Choice at The University of Hong Kong

The Convenor gave an overview of Springer Open Choice at The University of Hong Kong and highlighted what its benefits are. He encouraged members to publish with Springer.

b) Learning Management System (LMS) at HKU

Professor Law noted the e-Learning Working Group is working on identifying one LMS for HKU. A recommendation will be made before summer. In this regard, she would like to seek the help of KT members in the following two ways: - A set of criteria for assessing the LMS will be drawn up. She will send the report to members. Members are welcome to let her know their views. - The Group will be running workshops and group discussions to gauge feedback. She will invite members to join and give feedback.

7. Date of the next meeting

Date of the next meeting is to be fixed.