On 12th Jan 2013, I attended an open lesson at The Hong Kong Institute Of Education Jockey Club Primary School (JCPS). This was the first parent event for JCPS in academic year 2012/13. This event was sponsored by Microsoft and got some media exposure.
Mr. Chu Tsz Wing (Chu Sir) was the teacher-in-charge of the event. He was a star teacher in local primary education and a Microsoft Valued Teacher (MVT). Chu Sir was a friend of our CEO, Erwin Wang, and he reserved a booth for us.
On that day, I just joined WebOrganic for a month. Due to the short notice before the event, things were not perfectly-prepared. Nic and I could only leverage existing materials on hand. We brought some colorful marketing materials in order to cover the whole booth. Luckily the effect was quite impressive and we attracted good traffic to our booth.
There were over 100 parents attending the open lesson. Most of them were parents of the P.4C class, which was the prestigious e-School bag (e-Bag) class. Students applied to join such class when they were in primary three. They needed to have good average grade for all subjects and be self-disciplined. This was like a social status for the smart students.
e-Bag was more than exclusive right for bringing a learning device to school. Instead, this was associated to a shift in pedagogy (teaching methodology). Primary school students started acquiring knowledge and skills according to their own pace (student-centric) through discussion, collaboration, problem solving, and creative inquiry.
Mr. Chu Tsz Wing (Chu Sir) was the teacher-in-charge of the event. He was a star teacher in local primary education and a Microsoft Valued Teacher (MVT). Chu Sir was a friend of our CEO, Erwin Wang, and he reserved a booth for us.
On that day, I just joined WebOrganic for a month. Due to the short notice before the event, things were not perfectly-prepared. Nic and I could only leverage existing materials on hand. We brought some colorful marketing materials in order to cover the whole booth. Luckily the effect was quite impressive and we attracted good traffic to our booth.
There were over 100 parents attending the open lesson. Most of them were parents of the P.4C class, which was the prestigious e-School bag (e-Bag) class. Students applied to join such class when they were in primary three. They needed to have good average grade for all subjects and be self-disciplined. This was like a social status for the smart students.
P.4C parents wanted to know how their students use the e-Bag for learning. Some participants were parents of JCPS's primary three students, and they would like to know more about e-Bag project. This was a carefully-crafted event to prepare the pipeline for next year's e-Bag project.
e-Bag was more than exclusive right for bringing a learning device to school. Instead, this was associated to a shift in pedagogy (teaching methodology). Primary school students started acquiring knowledge and skills according to their own pace (student-centric) through discussion, collaboration, problem solving, and creative inquiry.
In the open lesson, team work and collaboration were crystal clear. It was an English lesson taught by Ms. Koo. Each team distributed their tasks and finally merged each piece of their teammate's work. Students helped their teammates resolve problems that affect the team's overall progress. Originally, they are a team of best. At that moment, they are becoming a best team.
From Chu Sir's wrap-up presentation, he cited the 21 Century Skills and PISA figures. It was really impressive and I got answers to my many questions in e-Learning, especially for the latest situations of some leading schools.
The pace of e-Learning has reached a speed that most parents can never catch up. Being a parent, parenting is increasingly challenging. How could we lead our children when they run so fast even in primary school stage? This area touched the limitation of many teachers and I believe society has an urgency to educate parents to become competent parents in new digital era. We need a culture that could make most parents successful in parenting.
The pace of e-Learning has reached a speed that most parents can never catch up. Being a parent, parenting is increasingly challenging. How could we lead our children when they run so fast even in primary school stage? This area touched the limitation of many teachers and I believe society has an urgency to educate parents to become competent parents in new digital era. We need a culture that could make most parents successful in parenting.
