On 5 October 2026, over 500 educators and educational professionals gathered at a major seminar organized by the Curriculum Development Institute of the Education Bureau (EDB) of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, themed "Multimodal Reading in Digital Education: Reshaping How We Read and Learn."
Representing The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Prof. Xinhua Zhu delivered a keynote speech titled "Multimodal Reading: Theories, Research Findings, and Development Strategies" showcasing PolyU’s profound impact and leadership in knowledge transfer (KT) and educational innovation.
During his keynote, Prof. Zhu dissected the essence and challenges of reading in the digital and AI eras, noting that students frequently encounter hurdles such as weak reading path management, insufficient cross-modal and hypertext integration, difficulties in evaluating information quality, and heavy cognitive loads. To address these challenges, he highlighted five empirical research projects conducted by his team on online multimodal reading. By integrating advanced technologies like eye-tracking, the research explores students' cognitive processing characteristics and offers actionable development strategies for curriculum planning, classroom teaching, and learning assessment.
PolyU’s active participation and leadership in this initiative underscore the University's steadfast commitment to knowledge transfer, actively empowering curriculum and pedagogical innovations.
