Overview

Programme Aims

This programme aims at enhancing teachers’ knowledge and skills in utilising emerging technologies in teaching English at both the primary and secondary levels, with special attention given to nurturing digital literacy and the ethical uses of technology. It will focus on areas of English language knowledge and skills relevant to the current needs of teachers in the local school sector, with emphasis on the implementation of recent updates in the English Language curriculum, including expectations related to digital education, media and information literacy and multimodal digital texts.

Upon completion of the programme, participants should be able to:

Content Objectives

• Demonstrate an understanding and ability to integrate emerging technologies, including AI tools, into lesson planning for productive and receptive language skills and enhanced digital and multimodal literacy; and
• Demonstrate the ability to guide students to become ethical and informed users of emerging technologies, including responsible online communication and the critical evaluation of digital content.

Pedagogical Objectives

• Demonstrate enhanced skills in teaching English to primary and secondary students, including the design of learning activities that draw on authentic digital texts and support students’ participation in contemporary digital communication practices; and
• Demonstrate enhanced skills in integrating emerging technologies in English language teaching in ways that support language development and the cultivation of age-appropriate digital literacy, the ethical uses of AI and self directed learning.

Programme Structure

The programme comprises the following course:

Innovative Approaches to English Language Teaching: Integrating Emerging Technologies and Ethical Uses of AI (3 credit points)

This course equips English teachers at the primary and secondary levels with the skills to integrate emerging technologies and the ethical uses of artificial intelligence (AI) into the English curriculum, in alignment with recent English Language curriculum updates on digital and information literacy. It focuses on the integration of innovations such as generative AI, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), and wearable technologies, to enhance teachers’ information and digital literacy skills to meet diverse student needs and educational goals of the curriculum. Teachers will explore strategies to complement traditional learning, enhance student interaction, and promote digital literacy and differentiated, self-paced, and self-directed learning. The course emphasises the design of technology-enhanced lessons, the use of multimodal texts, and the implementation of e-assessment to support assessment for and as learning. Ethical and responsible uses of digital tools, including AI, is a key theme, preparing teachers to guide students in evaluating digital content and becoming literate users in digital environments. By the end of the course, teachers will be equipped to create engaging, inclusive and future-ready English Language learning environments.

More detailed course outline can be found in https://www.eduhk.hk/ele/programmes/professional-development-programmes

Medium of Instruction

The medium of instruction is English.

Entrance Requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants should be: 

• in-service primary or secondary school English Language teachers in Hong Kong; and
• recommended by school principals.

Award

To be awarded a Certificate of Completion, participants must obtain a pass in all assessment tasks required and successfully fulfill the attendance requirements as stipulated by the programme. 

Other Information

Remarks: Each school can recommend more than one teacher.