Hong Kong Virtual University (HKVU) Project
I am participating in the Hong Kong Virtual University (HKVU) project (http://hkvu.ust.hk/hkvu/). This collaborative project is funded by Hong Kong's University Grants Committee (UGC) Restructuring and Collaboration Fund and the project’s objectives are to provide a networked virtual campus for connecting local tertiary institutions and to provide students with a wider range of subject choices and greater flexibility in learning. HKVU offers a wide range of courses jointly provided by several Hong Kong universities (including, City University of Hong Kong, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Institute of Education, The University of Hong Kong, and of course, HKUST). One is my SOSC 111 course. All my lectures during the Fall of 2007 were recorded by HKUST's Publishing Technology Center (PTC), edited, and posted online. This course has been offered virtually as a ‘Certificate Program’ course to secondary school students since March 2008 and, in the summer of 2008, it was offered to two groups of students: early admission scheme (EAS) students and regular university students from participating universities. Since March 2008, well over 550 secondary school and university students have taken my SOSC 111 course online. I am in this respect the pioneer within the Division of Science in Internet-based education. I view this experience as valuable training for the increasingly networked education of the future.