Non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in Hong Kong have long been facing tough challenges in learning Chinese language and assimilating into mainstream society due to their lack of understanding of the Chinese culture in Hong Kong. Culture learning is often perceived as a boring experience with heavy reliance on plain textbooks and a teacher-centred approach, which will easily drive away student interest in learning history and culture. With innovative technologies, how can we help NCS students to have an authentic taste of Hong Kong’s history and culture in a more interactive and self-directed way?

The team aims at enhancing NCS students’ understanding of Hong Kong’s culture and history through an innovative, interactive, inquiry-based outdoor learning system — EduVenture®. It is a GPS-supported mobile learning system to enrich students’ outdoor learning experience by providing interactive inquiry-based tasks to scaffold them in a complex authentic learning environment. With EduVenture®, NCS students will step into an outdoor museum to taste the cultural sensation of the city by walking along the pre-designed outdoor learning trails where different exploratory stops are pre-marked for inquiry learning, from collecting primary historical evidence, analysing data to developing evaluative judgements. The project implementation will be divided into two stages. In the preparation stage, school-based workshops will be held to train teachers to design interactive outdoor teaching resources with EduVenture®. In the practice stage, students will try out the EduVenture® culture learning trails in different historical sites of Hong Kong. Upon completion of the project, the culture learning resources will be shared via EduVenture® with all schools.

EduVenture® has transformed the traditional teaching practice in humanities education. Not only will NCS students gain more insights into the city’s past, but they will also be given more opportunities to practice using Chinese language through engaging in interactive, inquiry-based outdoor learning. This helps enhance their motivation and interest in learning Chinese culture, thus fostering their integration into the local community.Moreover, EduVenture® is an effective solution to teachers’ common challenges in conducting field trips. The system provides game-like learning experience that can transfer knowledge to students more effectively and interactively during field trips. All schools in Hong Kong will be able to access the culture learning resources tailor-made for NCS students.

• 250 non-Chinese speaking students


• 50 teachers


• 1,200 education practitioners

2021

Culture, Education, Social Inclusion