Welcome to the e-bulletin of Communities of Practice (CoPs), where you will be able to catch up with our most updated events and information of the five CoPs in PolyU.

Dr Robert Wright, the facilitator of the Roundtable session on 29 September, introduced his "Stay F.O.C.U.S.E.D" mobile app. This app was developed based on an innovative teaching framework designed to help prepare the next generation of thought-leaders for the complicated world. Through this framework, students can learn better and faster than they used to. It provides them with a new way of thinking on complex, unstructured and non-routine problems.

You can download the free “Focused Dice” Mobile app from any app store (i.e. Apple App Store for iOS devices or Google Play for Android devices) and install it on your own mobile device.

The development of "Stay F.O.C.U.S.E.D." mobile app is funded and supported by the Developing, Recognising and Rewarding Excellent Teaching CoP.

In a student-centered classroom, it is important for students to take ownership of their learning and make it meaningful in a way that fits their needs and learning styles. This is much easier said than done. As a teacher, it can be difficult to get out of the way and let students take the reins. Ideally, we must take on the role of partner, guiding and facilitating learning. One crucial piece of the learning process is reflection, which can take many forms, but most agree that time to reflect is critical for learners of all ages.

The Swivl Robot, Swivl Capture App and Swivl Cloud support and make student ownership of learning possible in the classroom. When students are able to create peer-to-peer instruction videos, review performances and presentations, and see progress over time, video becomes a powerful tool to support the learning process.

The CoP is now offering two sets of Swivl self-video camera for all PolyU teaching staff on a loan basis. Please write to ask.cop@polyu.edu.hk for more information.

On 9 June, Prof. Curtis J. Bonk at Indiana University visited PolyU and shared several technologies and web resources that emerged over the past few years to transform corporate training as well as higher education. Some of these technologies tools included smartphones and smart watches, digital course resources, social books, social media, online talking dictionaries, video walls, virtual assistants, and web conferencing.

Please click here to download the PowerPoint slides of his presentation.

The Online Survey of Blackboard Usage was conducted from 7 August to 25 September by CoP on Using Blackboard LMS to Enhance Learning and Teaching and supported by Pao Yue-kong Library and EDC. The aim of the survey is to collect data from students and teachers about their experience in using Learn@PolyU in the academic year 2014/15. There were more than 4,300 participants, of which around 2,200 students and 250 teachers have completed the survey. The data will help to better develop the learning environment of Learn@PolyU.

CoP on Using Blackboard LMS to Enhance Learning and Teaching would like to take this opportunity to thank all participants for their contributions.

Date:	9 October 2015 (Fri)
Time:	12:30-2pm
Venue:	TU411
Facilitators:	Dr Damian Fitzpatrick (CUHK) Dr Tracey Costley (CityU) Dr Julia Chen (PolyU)

This workshop is for academic staff members on how to (i) write more effective exam/essay questions and titles, (ii) assess language performance in oral presentations, and (iii) encourage students to pay attention to English use in their assignments. Participants will be introduced to practical suggestions, established methods, and concrete resources. The workshop, with speakers from PolyU, CUHK and CityU, is organised by the UGC-funded inter-institution project Professional Development in Enhancing English Across the Curriculum, and supported by the CoP on Enhancing Students’ English Abilities.

To register, please click here. Registration priority will be given to academic faculty with teaching responsibility.

Date:	27 October 2015 (Tue)
Time:	12:45-2:00pm
Venue:	Teaching and Learning Lab 3, L017, G/F, Pao Yue-kong Library
Facilitators:	Dr Henry C. B. Chan (COMP), Dr Jack K. C. Chun (GEC), Prof. Haibin Yang (Department of Marketing, CityU)

If you want to fail less, you need to fail more! The quickest way is the longest way! And it is because we are incomplete, we are whole! These and many more reflections of our everyday coping bring us powerful insights to what real knowledge and understanding can do. This is philosophy at its most profound. Come and join us and engage with three world-class educators in how they have consistently used the power of philosophical thinking in their research and teaching and in the process, open up new ways of thinking and doing.

Click here for further information and registration.

*This activity is co-organized by Community of Practice (CoP) on Developing, Recognising and Rewarding Excellent Teaching, EDC and Centre STARS.

Date:	14 - 15 December 2015
Venue:	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Keynote Speakers:	Prof. Terry Myers Zawacki, George Mason University, USA Prof. Rainer Glaser, University of Missouri, USA Dr Ursula Wingate, King’s College London, UK

As an extension of the CoP on Enhancing Students' English Abilities, Dr Julia Chen, the CoP facilitator received a UGC competitive Learning & Teaching fund to lead an inter-institution project on Professional Development in Enhancing English Across the Curriculum, and the project now is in effect. This December, an international conference on English Across the Curriculum will be held here in PolyU.

The International Conference on English Across the Curriculum 2015 is a two-day conference that aims to bring together academics from different disciplines and language teaching units to explore ways to enhance students’ English in discipline content subjects. For further information of the Conference, please click here.