During class suspension at HKU, instructors have to switch to online teaching to deliver course content. There are two effective ways for instructors to deliver online teaching:  one is to produce pre-recorded videos and the other is to schedule live teaching sessions with students. They serve different purposes. We provide students with basic knowledge of a subject by producing pre-recorded videos, in which instructors may prepare PowerPoint slides and explain the subject content with their voice and talking head recorded. After students gain sufficient basic knowledge of a subject, in live teaching, instructors can make use of the precious time to interact with students to probe their understanding of the subject, address their questions and discuss more advanced topics. Live teaching is an invaluable opportunity for students to interact with and learn from their peers and their instructors. 

The HKU Learning Management System Moodle (https://moodle.hku.hk/) is our central online learning resource for course teachers to share engaging online learning content with their students. In particular, the Panopto system (http://lecturecapture.hku.hk/), a centrally managed video capture solution, is integrated seamlessly with the Moodle system to enable instructors to record or upload lecture videos for sharing with students in Moodle. A step-by-step guide for instructors can be found here: https://hku.to/elearn_video

As for live teaching, HKU ITS has entered a campus license with Zoom (http://hku.zoom.us/). Using features like screen sharing, chatroom and whiteboard, instructors can schedule meetings to have rich real-time interaction with their students. In addition, meetings can be recorded and put on Moodle for students to revise later. 

The following diagram summarizes the use of different tools for online teaching. More advice for instructors can be found here: https://hku.to/elearn_quickstart

In TELI, we are working closely with ITS colleagues to provide prompt support to teachers and students as to the use of the above-mentioned tools. For example, we are monitoring the workload and response time of the Moodle and Panopto systems. When needed, the capability of the two servers (i.e., processor, memory and disk space) will be enhanced. In addition, TELI colleagues Leon Lei (9162 3384) and Tyrone Kwok (5964 8396) are happy to provide individual consultation to teachers via WhatsApp. 

Written by Dr Tyrone Kwok, Dr Leon Lei, Ms Crystal Luo and Ms Sharon Keung