University closures due to the pandemic have taken learning and teaching from the confines of the physical campus to virtual spaces enabled by digital technologies. In order to ensure the quality of higher education learning and teaching, teaching staff need to be supported with quality professional development (PD) for building their capacity to plan for and implement online learning. It is crucial for universities to design and implement customised PD to address the professional learning needs of the teaching staff. This chapter examines how a faculty-based learning innovation team at a university in Hong Kong has adopted an experiential learning approach to design customised PD programmes for teaching staff to build their capacity to enhance the quality of online learning and teaching. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kevin Wai Ho Yung and Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.

Based on a case study of an undergraduate course for a teacher education program at a university in Hong Kong, this chapter examines how technology-enabled case-based learning engages pre-service teachers behaviorally, cognitively, and emotionally and prepares them for teaching in schools. Qualitative data obtained from individual interviews with four pre-service teachers and online discussion threads were analyzed using a content analysis approach. This chapter describes how the use of 360-degree panoramic videos and asynchronous discussion forums supports the development of pre-service teachers’ problem-solving skills in tackling school students’ undesirable classroom behaviors, enhancing their reflective skills, and consolidating their content knowledge in classroom management. This study sheds light on how technology-enabled case-based learning may contribute to teacher education programs and prepare pre-service teachers for effective classroom management. Copyright © 2022 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Based on a case study of a faculty at a university in Hong Kong, this chapter examines how a grassroots approach to professional development enhances the capacity of the teaching staff for blended learning. Professional development plays a pivotal role in supporting the teaching staff to adopt blended learning in their courses to enhance the quality of learning and teaching. However, professional development policies and practices do not always meet the professional learning needs of staff, and many of them do not feel supported in their blended learning practices after attending the professional development sessions. This chapter first discusses how the grassroots approach to professional development in blended learning was developed and implemented in the faculty. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed to document the impact of the professional development on staff’s adoption of blended learning in their courses. Based on the key findings from this set of data from the faculty, the grassroots approach is refined and customised for each faculty at the university as part of the scaling-up process. Copyright © 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

ePortfolio is implemented in a higher education institute in Hong Kong with the objective of building the capacity of students in managing and monitoring their own learning in technology-enhanced environment, and at the same time, it is important for the institute to understand the students’ perspectives in creating the ePortfolios for the ongoing development. As a student-centered learning tool, the study aims to find out whether the ePortfolios could help students learn to document their learning process, showcase their learning outcomes and perform self-reflection on their own learning. Moreover, the purpose of this study was to gain insights from students’ perceptions of the usefulness of ePortfolios for further implementation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on seven students selected from different programs to understand their perceptions of learning and how they perceive the benefits of ePortfolio creation to learning. It is found that not all students could perceive the objectives of ePortfolio creation which would help them to organize, manage, and reflect on learning and that it is still a long way for freshmen to perceive the benefits of student-centered learning by creating ePortfolios. It is crucial for the institute to consider how to develop the awareness of students to become active learners with the creation of ePortfolios and with the guidance of teachers.
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