Background
PolyU’s latest Strategic Plan for Teaching and Learning has, among them, many ambitious goals to achieve. For example, internationalization, enrichment of students’ learning experience, learning to learn, and embedding research into the undergraduate curriculum. Although there are many pockets of successes and excellence in different departments, there is no centralized place, platform or crowd for the consolidation and sharing of such knowledge. The first two rounds of CoPs focused on holding seminars and workshops with the primary goals of raising awareness and sharing existing knowledge. In contrast, this proposed CoP will go a lot further; this CoP on Online Learning and Teaching aims to support knowledge transfer as well as to identify, nurture and groom future leaders of teaching and learning at PolyU. The theme for this CoP resonates an increasingly connected society plus the advancement of technology.
Learning is no longer confined to one direction (from teacher to students) and in a physical setting (classroom). Instead, learning should be multi-directional, teachers, students, graduates and practitioners should be co-creating the process of learning, the learning environment and its experience by co-learning together and co-learning from multiple sources in the network. In the center, the proposed CoP will demonstrate how such learning can occur over an extended network (that spreads across institutions and role types). For example, in a hybrid classroom, students and teachers from different institutions can co-deliver a lecture. Students from different institutions can take turn to ask and answer questions, and common assignments can be set for all students, including students from different institutions form a virtual project team to co-deliver project deliverables. As for the membership of this CoP, while members are, in principle, welcome from all academic/teaching colleagues, we especially value those who were active members from previous relevant CoPs (see attached), new joiners to PolyU (teaching and research tracks), Teaching and Learning grant receivers and applicants, attendees of IUT and BOLT trainings, T&L award winners and exemplars (external and internal awards), students (who have shown active/persistent interest in areas covered by the CoP theme) and graduates (especially those working in the eLearning and LMS areas). Due to the recent incidents that happened on the university campus, PolyU staff are encouraged to adopt more technologies in teaching and learning activities especially in online classes.