Important message from Vice President (Teaching and Learning)
Dear colleagues,
As mentioned in my message yesterday, classes on the Main Campus will be converted into online teaching and learning for the remainder of the semester. I am writing further to provide you with online teaching and learning resources currently available at HKU.
The HKU Learning Management System (Moodle) is our central online learning resource for course teachers and their students. Moodle integrates tightly with the Student Information System to feed in up-to-date course information. This e-learning platform supports Forum, Assignments Submission; Online Quizzes and Grade & Feedback Marking. Teachers can design and create a variety of assessments on Moodle as an alternative to proctored exams. For e-learning support by Information Technology Services (ITS), please visit http://moodle-support.hku.hk/resources, email ithelp@hku.hk, or call 3917 0123 in office hours.
There is also a good collection of e-resources (e-journals, e-books, etc) available for access online. Visit Find@HKUL (http://find.lib.hku.hk) or the Electronic Resources (https://libguides.lib.hku.hk/az.php). Teachers can set up a recommended resource list using ReadingList@HKUL (https://libguides.lib.hku.hk/readinglist). Ask-a-Librarian (Email: libis@hku.hk) if you have questions.
A one-stop resource page to support both asynchronous and synchronous online learning can be found at the University’s Teaching and Learning website: https://tl.hku.hk/. Please check this page from time to time as we provide more updates over the next few days.
Some suggested online teaching and learning resources kindly provided by the Faculty of Education are listed below.
Synchronous: Hosting a live online meeting with students.
- Skype for Business. HKU has purchased Office 365, so we can have unlimited hours and sections of online meetings with students. This handout shows how to schedule an online meeting with students. However, students cannot review the meeting if they miss the online session. You may follow a procedure to record and play back a Skype for Business meeting. Of course, you can use alternative software (e.g. Screencast-o-Matic) to record the online meeting and upload to HKU Panopto.
- Zoom. 40 mins limit on group meetings with a maximum of 100 participants. Zoom does have a recording function to allow you to record the online meeting and upload to HKU Panopto. You can always create another online meeting after the 40 mins limit.
Asynchronous:Uploading pre-recorded videos to Moodle
- For recording. The following tools allow you to record your own teaching.
- Panopto Recorder: After installing, please follow the step to record and upload your recordings.
- Office 365’s PowerPoint allows you to record your screen in PowerPoint then save your screen recording as a separate file from PowerPoint. Please update your office 365 if you do not have the recording function.
- Screencast-o-Matic : A free online screen capture tool. In case your lectures are not PowerPoint based and you would like to capture your computer screen.
- Use your own smartphone camera to record videos.
- For uploading to HKU Panopto and Moodle:
- Upload video files with Panopto Unison
- Please remember to add a Panopto block in your Moodle course to allow your students to access it.
- If you prefer, upload your recording to a public streaming platform. e.g. Youtube, please remember to set the privacy to “unlisted”.
Tips:
- Try a 1-2 minute test to check the video/audio quality before starting a full lecture recording.
- Use a standalone microphone attached to your laptop/PC or earphones with microphones for better audio quality.
- Keep the recording to a reasonable length or separate it into sections.
Please feel free to email me with any specific requests.
Best wishes, Ian
Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning)
The University of Hong Kong