HK universities get HK$165m to develop virtual teaching and learning

Hong Kong’s eight UGC-funded universities will get an additional funding of HK$165 million to promote the strategic development of virtual teaching and learning in the coming three years.

The funding was approved by the University Grants Committee and the Quality Assurance Council.

The universities will be able to use the funding to develop the governance framework under virtual teaching and learning, organize staff development or explore new strategies, pedagogies, platforms and facilities for virtual teaching and learning.

The committee said since the outbreak of the Covid epidemic, online teaching has been widely adopted and has become the prevalent mode of teaching and learning as the universities suspended face-to-face classes.

“We believe that, after the pandemic, universities will continue to make use of virtual teaching and learning to enhance the overall effectiveness and experience of teaching and learning,” the committee added, saying the funding will facilitate more systemic collaborations among them to promote the strategic development of virtual teaching and learning.

Several UGC-funded universities have expressed their welcome for the additional funding. 

“Thanks to the additional funding...there will be more resources to further develop innovative teaching and learning on our existing solid foundation, including upgrading hardware equipment, conducting teacher and personnel training, and enhancing the learning environment of students’ online learning,” said Isabella Poon Wai-yin, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

President of Lingnan University of Hong Kong Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon said the university has plans to use online teaching to assist face-to-face teaching in a long run to improve overall teaching quality.

The additional funding will provide more resources to promote the development of related teaching and learning strategies, quality assurance, research on teaching methods, and teaching staff development, Cheng added.

The Education University of Hong Kong wrote in the statement that the funding highlighted the government's commitment to education and it will help local universities to improve the quality of teaching and respond to the challenges posed by the new normal.