The COVID-19 pandemic posed novel challenges to language teachers and learners, as 'emergency remote teaching' became a necessity in order for teachers and learners to isolate from one another. Much has already been written about the nature of those challenges and language teachers' response to them, which response frequently made use of video-conferencing technology like Zoom in order to facilitate remote interaction, teaching and learning. The existing work has focused heavily on teacher experiences, including the kinds of strategies and competencies that teachers made use of when 'doing' synchronous online learning. However, much less work has examined the student experience. In addition, one challenge consistently identified in the literature is that of fostering meaningful interaction and engagement. In this viewpoint article, we apply the concept of 'virtual distance' to the activity of project-based learning taking place at a university in Hong Kong and mediated by digital technologies as part of emergency remote teaching. We report on the emergence of a socio-technical divide in one particular student team and teacher strategies that tend to bridge the divide. We offer suggestions on how the lessons learned from this experience can inform project-based learning in the post-pandemic future. Copyright © 2023 SAGE Publications.

The adoption of online learning approach in education is becoming more popular around the world to overcome the time and spatial barriers of traditional face-to-face learning. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the normality of learning and avoiding face-to-face activities is one tactic to minimise the spread of COVID-19. This study investigated the perception of online learning from students' and teachers' perspectives compared to traditional face-to-face learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten focus group interviews were conducted, nine of which involved fifty-five students, while the remaining one involved eight full-time teachers. All informants were recruited from two Hong Kong tertiary educational institutions: the Hong Kong Community College, and the School of Professional Education and Executive Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The Community of Inquiry model and Pedagogy-driven, Learner-Centred, Objective-Oriented and Technology-Enable model were adopted as a framework to analyse students' and teachers' perceptions of social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. Qualitative content analysis indicated that teacher-student and student–student interactions were the biggest challenge in online learning, and this affected the acquisition and application of knowledge in terms of cognitive presence. Other factors such as personality, learning environment, and technical skills affected the perception of both online and face-to-face learning. Copyright © 2023 Springer Nature.

The COVID-19 global pandemic continues, and in Hong Kong numerous measures have been put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus. One of the many facets of life that is being affected is education, with many face-to-face classes suspended and students having to go online for lessons. The virus continues to be active in the city, so our usual way of assisting secondary school students' character-building through visitation to elderly homes is restricted. Now we can only provide such service-learning in online mode. This paper explores how an online project helped adolescents in a boys' secondary school apply and adapt principles taught previously in their course dealing with positive character strengths such as kindness, love, social intelligence, gratitude, teamwork, and perseverance. Copyright © 2023 Routledge.

This article examines the evolving concept of Hong Kong as an education hub, with a focus on the influence of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) strategy on higher education development. It begins by reviewing the impacts of the policy of developing Hong Kong into an education hub on the city's educational landscape and global competitiveness. Subsequently, the article investigates the GBA's role as a subnational higher education region, highlighting the heightened strategic cooperation between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland in the higher education arena. The cases of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou are examined as examples of cross-border education in the GBA, shedding light on their role in fostering research collaboration and knowledge exchange. The article reimagines the notion of an education hub, underscoring Hong Kong's transition from a gateway to a radiator , and discusses the implications of this shift for the city's global and national positioning. Through this analysis, the article examines the dynamics and future prospects of education hub in Hong Kong, particularly within the context of emphasising integration with the Chinese Mainland. • Reviewing Hong Kong's education hub policies, strategies, and outcomes. • Revealing China's the Greater Bay Area as a subnational higher education region and its implications for Hong Kong's position in the global and national higher education landscape. • Introducing and coining the term "radiator" as a conceptual representation of Hong Kong's repositioning. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier.

Colleges around the world have adopted emergency online learning to continue with teaching and learning activities during COVID-19. Existing research has indicated that this teaching mode is perceived negatively by many college students. The difficulty students encounter in emergency online learning can adversely affect their mental health and academic performance. To shed further light on how emergency online learning may have impeded college students' academic functioning and adjustment, this study examined the association between online learning stress and academic coping and the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and academic hope. It was conducted in early 2021, a year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Ninety-nine Chinese college students in Hong Kong were recruited and they completed an online questionnaire for this study. Results showed that online learning stress was negatively associated with approach academic coping and social support seeking, and the associations were mediated by academic hope. On the other hand, online learning stress was positively associated with avoidance academic coping, which was not mediated by academic hope. The mediation effects of academic self-efficacy were all non-significant. In sum, college students used more passive and maladaptive coping to handle academic problems when they experienced more online learning stress, and this was partly explained by lower levels of academic hope. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

The internationalization of higher education has become a key policy within the global higher education sector. Yet a large body of literature suggests that simply having a diverse group of students does not guarantee meaningful intercultural engagement. This paper presents a qualitative study intended to gain a richer understanding of Hong Kong's higher education environment. In-depth interview data were collected from students of different cultural backgrounds and from academic, non-academic, and managerial staff at three Hong Kong universities. The data collection period covered local political turmoil in Hong Kong as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicate that, due to language barriers and potentially opposing political ideologies, all students faced challenges engaging with others who were culturally different from themselves. These findings can facilitate the development of an adaptable cross-institutional framework for meaningful intercultural learning. Copyright © 2023 Comparative and International Education Society.

This paper explores how mobility is experienced differentially in international education, through a comparison of two ostensibly very distinct student groups. Both groups have non-UK citizenship and have studied, or are studying, for a British higher education degree – one in the UK, the other in Hong Kong. Through a dual focus on the materialities and mobilities within international higher education, we consider the extent to which physical mobility across borders is a defining feature of the experiences and outcomes of those engaging in international education. We argue that combining perspectives of mobilities and materialities challenges simplistic dichotomies of im/mobility amongst students and unsettles the boundaries between onshore and offshore international education. Our paper provides a more granular and nuanced understanding of the relationship between im/mobility, international higher education and social reproduction. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

Due to the varied social inequities, the pandemic has prompted unprecedented attention to the social divides in learning gains via online/blended learning. It has been identified that approximately 27,000 Chinese cross-border students live on the Mainland but attend Hong Kong schools every day. The pandemic has restricted the passage of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border, and these students suffer greatly as they may still be forced to attend online lessons at home for over two years, even if schools return to face-to-face teaching. This study is a 2-year longitudinal case study with a purposeful sampling of a primary school that has over 70% of Chinese cross-border students. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to examine students' online learning experiences via teachers' interviews. Regarding their learning challenges, 35 students were invited to complete a 5-point Online Self-regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ) and an open-ended opinion survey, which was then triangulated with teachers' feedback. First, this study has identified three major challenges that cross-border students suffer the most in online learning: self-regulation strategies, technical challenges, and social interaction. Second, several teaching strategies have been found to offer additional support (e.g., after-school classes and learning centers in Shenzhen) for cross-border students to sustain their online learning and alleviate their learning challenges. Based on these findings, this study contributes to documenting the learning challenges for cross-border students during the pandemic, which provides insights for other schools to facilitate cross-border education and develop appropriate online learning strategies for cross-border students. Copyright © 2023 International Forum of Educational Technology & Society.

Purpose: This study empirically investigates the influence of students' brand attitudes and perceptions of brand fit on their study intention vis-à-vis international brand alliances and individual brands after alliance. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used in data analysis, and a questionnaire was administered to a sample of sub-degree business management students recruited from a self-financing higher education institution in Hong Kong. Findings: The results indicate that students' prior attitudes towards the brands of foreign and local institutions and their perceptions of brand fit positively affect their study intention, providing evidence that post-attitudes towards individual brands fully mediate the relationship between attitudes towards international brand alliances and study intention towards individual institutions. Originality/value: International brand alliances between higher education institutions are becoming increasingly important. In Hong Kong, despite the emerging trend of collaboration between foreign and local universities, an evaluation of the effect of international brand alliances on study intention has been seriously overlooked. Copyright © 2023 Emerald.

In light of its low fertility rate and long life span, Hong Kong is facing the challenge of a rapidly ageing population. To foster successful ageing, learning throughout life regardless of age is promoted as lifelong learning. A total of 20 older adults who are studying the Diploma in Active Ageing at the School of Professional Education and Executive Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University participated in a questionnaire survey while 16 older adult students participated in individual in-depth interviews in the present study. The results show that those who have received both informal and formal learning opportunities experienced positive changes to their physical, psychological and social health. The participants reported that the current lifelong learning policy provides insufficient financial support and insufficient promotion of formal education for older adults. For older adults to pursue further education, there is a need to provide more generous subsidies and relax age eligibility restrictions. To sustain lifelong learning, both informal and formal education for older adults should be promoted equally in order to meet the diverse interests and ability of older learners. Copyright © 2023 SAGE Publications.