Kam Cheong Li

An Overview of Open Education Resources for Higher Education

Since adopted in early 2000’s, open education resources (OER) have evolved as a major source of learning materials for higher education. In general, there are four categories of OER, namely, open textbooks, open courseware, open online courses, and open-source software and tools to support teaching and learning. This paper attempts to characterize these four categories of OER with representative examples, and elaborates various commonly adopted open licensing options for OER.

Designing Open Textbooks for Effective Teaching and Learning

Printed textbooks are often criticized for only ‘transmitting’ knowledge to readers in a linear fashion whereas in e-textbooks, interactivity can be built in; so learners are ‘connected’ with other resources. There are e-tools for learners to communicate with the teacher and their peers, and they can also support individualization in the learning process. Here we will need appropriate design elements in language usage, conceptual organization, spatial arrangement and levels of interactions. Electronic textbook content in various file formats (e.g. web, PDF, e-Pub, audio) can be used in different devices to suit learners’ reading preferences. Open textbooks on the other hand, allow teachers to reuse, revise and remix the content. Linking to a repository of learning assessment items, an open textbook can also provide effective assessment of learning outcomes, an important requirement in Hong Kong schools. The paper first describes how an open textbook system for Hong Kong comes to fruition. It will then discuss in detail the pedagogical, quality assurance and technological considerations in the development of the open textbooks.

Open Educational Resources in Hong Kong

This paper attempts to review the status and development challenges of open educational resources (OER) in Hong Kong. It highlights that Hong Kong is provisioned with pervasive information technology facilities and broadband connectivity. Its education sector is advanced and well equipped with a robust technology infrastructure. Together with the population’s ICT skills and educational institutions investments to promote the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning, these make Hong Kong an excellent breeding ground for OER. However, through examples of major types of online resources, this paper argues that the development of OER has been sluggish in the vibrant city. Also by reporting results of a survey conducted with people from a cross-section of the major tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, it highlights that educators’ attitudes towards reuse and sharing of open content and material tend to be conservative. Based on these observations, this paper highlights a number of major challenges in the development and adaptation of OER in the city.

Knowledge Sharing through Technology

The recent interest in utilizing a large collection of authentic electronic language resources, called a corpus, has increased in tertiary institutions to facilitate student language learning. The examination of a corpus has made it possible for students to analyze multiple language examples and the patterns of co-occurred words. This approach, referred to as ‘data-driven learning’, assists students in becoming more aware of language use and patterns of various forms. This paper outlines the research conducted for the purpose of examining how Japanese students perceive the efficacy of exploring different types of corpora: one corpus familiar to students, and the other, the Brown Corpus which was unfamiliar to students. Specifically, the focus was on examining the relationships between the students’ proficiency levels and their perceptions of using different types of corpora.

Encountering pedagogical challenges: a case of three pilot blended learning courses

Through a brief analysis of the notion of blendedness, this paper first examines the core elements in and possibilities of blended learning. It reports on the pilot implementation of three blended learning courses at an open university as example. The three courses integrated highly diverse instructional strategies according to the nature of course content. Two courses adopted different types and forms of web-based multimedia material and the third course was blended with non-electronic learning material. By highlighting results from a student survey, log-in records and focus group interviews, pedagogical challenges to the design and implementation of blended courses are discussed.

Engaging Learners Through Emerging Technologies

This paper attempts to offer a brief review of literature on the construct of student engagement. It summarizes key aspects of how student engagement has been interpreted and researched. It explains how the construct has been anatomised into components of academic, behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement. By delineating the relationship between engagement and learning outcomes as well as environmental and student factors in play, it outlines the versatility and value of the construct. It also highlights the niche role of information and communication technology in facilitating and enhancing student engagement.

A Review of Learning Analytics in Educational Research

An increasing amount of research work is now focused on the topic of learning analytics. Gathering the facts from the literature is important for identifying issues and features in ‘the state of the art’ and the way forward. This paper aims to examine the research literature published in the last five years and construct a systematic review of learning analytics. A document analysis method is used to classify the research work in 51 articles, selected from the Web of Science, which report educational research studies using a learning analytics approach. The details of the studies are categorised according to their research questions or objectives, the methodology (such as input data, techniques used or software tools for data collection and analysis) and the findings. This paper offers an overview of the emerging field of learning analytics, provides a foundation for exploring this promising area of educational research, and identifies a series of future challenges.

How Hybrid Is Referred, Inferred and Preferred?

Conventional definition of hybrid learning has been criticised as sketchy and confusing. This paper critically reviews the literature on hybrid learning and attempts to offer an overview of the state of art in the understanding of the notion of hybrid learning through a meta-analysis of relevant studies. What hybrid learning refers to will be analysed by examining its denotative and connotative senses. Through investigation of the components of the notion, the core and associated elements in the meaning of hybrid learning will be analyzed. Since several terms have been used as synonyms of hybrid learning, their currency and suitability will also be examined.

Computer Literacy and Use of Open Educational Resources: A Study of University Students in Hong Kong

This paper reports a preliminary study on the relationship between computer literacy and use of open educational resources (OER) of university students in Hong Kong. It reviews the technology infrastructure and Government support for enhancement of students’ computer literacy, and development of resources in the city, showing that Hong Kong has laid a foundation for OER to grow and bloom. However, by reporting the results of a survey conducted with university students, it highlights that most students, despite their high computer literacy, have a low level of awareness and limited experience of OER, and have been exposed to only a few popular types of resources. The observations call for further institutional and instructional support to enhance students’ awareness of available resources and understanding of their proper use.

Technology in education. Technology-mediated proactive learning: Second international conference, ICTE 2015, Hong Kong, China, July 2-4, 2015, revised selected papers

Technology has become virtually an integral part of all areas of educational delivery. While technology brings new means and ways of learning to students and teachers, it also poses challenges to them. This paper attempts to offer glimpses of the transformation of technology-mediated learning that are taking place, with examples in three key areas: learning spaces, learning modes, and learning materials. It highlights the pervasive permeation of technology. Noting the challenges confronting educators in the adoption of the fast changing technology, it proposes a model to systematically identify the difficulties to tackle now and in time to come. The model takes into account the general environment that the educational institution operates in, as well as the readiness of the insti‐ tution, the instructor and the learner.