The Blended & Online Learning & Teaching (BOLT) Project: Collaborative professional development for capacity building in blended and online learning and teaching in Hong Kong

Professional development for tertiary teaching in Hong Kong is conducted in many different ways. Each institute of higher education has its own approaches, provisions and requirements, and varied resources to address this issue. In most of Hong Kong’s universities resources for supporting professional development for teachers on blended and online learning are limited and ad hoc in approach, with funding for such work competing against many other priorities. To address the apparent gap in consistent professional development provision in relation to online and blended learning and teaching, this project proposes a common foundation course open to all collaborating partners, and a range of other activities through which collaborating partners will build-on and share resources in different ways. By taking a coherent and coordinated approach to address a complex educational challenge, the project benefits staff and students of all collaborating partners. A greater range of activities can be offered than any one institution could provide alone, and all benefit from sharing varied approaches and considering different priorities and contexts. At the same time each partner is able to address their own institutional needs. The overall aim of this project is to provide a graduated professional development support experience across all participating UGC funded institutions to facilitate the development of teachers’ skills in online and blended teaching. Coordinating this effort across institutions and conducting in a blended mode will: a) encourage consistency and quality through good practices and broad evaluation b) add authenticity through offering blended professional development experiences to teachers located in different institutions c) allow the pooling of professional development staff and resources for the benefit of all. The project involves five institutions (PolyU, HKIEd, HKBU, HKU and HKUST) who will work collaboratively towards the overall aim of the project, whilst further developing strategies and initiatives that contextualise and address their own institutional needs. The collaboration between EDC in PolyU and academic staff in the Faculty of Education and Human Development in HKIEd provides a strong foundation for this project. It signifies the importance and synery between professional development activities in elearning, and its direction connection to learning and teaching delivered by academic staff in faculties. PolyU will provide a top-down approach through a formal professional development foundation course while HKIEd will provide a bottom-up approach via the formation of learning communities within academic faculties. Combining both these perspectives within one overall project provides valuable benefits and greater impact to advance blended learning within the sector.

Funding Source: UGC - Block Grant