Communications of the ACM
Computer Scientist Will Kick Off Teaching and Learning Week
"All of us teachers should be helping our students better equip themselves in their AI-proliferated world," says Ricky Kwok (left), associate vice president of teaching & learning at the University of Hong Kong.
Ricky Kwok's computer science research career "accidentally" swerved into academic leadership, but the combination of expertise now makes him one of the world's top e-learning experts.
Kwok, the University of Hong Kong's Associate Vice-President (Teaching & Learning), will deliver the keynote address at The University of Queensland's 2019 Teaching and Learning Week on October 28.
"After 20 years of teaching I 'converted' to e-learning and reinvented myself," Kwok says.
Kwok says his keynote, "Learning Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone," will give insight into his e-learning experiences, and into applying technology in pedagogy.
"I'll look at topics like online interaction, classroom activities, and embracing artificial intelligence," he says. "All of us teachers should be helping our students better equip themselves in their AI-proliferated world."
The global higher education sector in general is not adapting well to the digital revolution, Kwok says. "The inertia is too massive," he says. "We're not seeing enough innovation at the teaching-research nexus that genuinely treats students' learning as the absolute top priority. Too often it is just window-dressing or lip service to e-learning."
Kwok says developing teachers' digital literacy is as important as developing those skills in students.
Kwok says his transition from computer science teacher to university executive came about because he "was too talkative or vocal in a meeting with the former Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor on some learning data interpretations." Kwok says she "invited" (or "dragged") him to some of her committees/working-groups related to e-learning. Her replacement subsequently "invited" (or "dragged") Kwok to work alongside him as the Associate Vice-President (T&L), with one single mandate — e-learning."
Why? To answer Kwok quotes Forrest Gump: "I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just . . . keep right on going!"
Professor Kwok earned his Master's degree in 1994 and his Ph.D. in 1997, both in Computer Science, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He earned his Bachelor of Science at the University of Hong Kong in 1991.
Before returning to the UHK in 1998 as an assistant professor, Kwok spent a year as a visiting scholar at Purdue University. He also worked as a visiting Associate Professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and from 2007 to 2009 was an Associate Professor at Colorado State University.
Kwok says his "accidental" career change opened a vast area of interesting computer system research problems "with very meaningful application in education. "All my Ph.D. students are working on e-learning related computer systems issues," he says. "I'm proud to say our team's work has generated impact, potentially leading to global culture change."
Asked about the biggest problems in teaching today, Kwok responds, "Teaching needs to be properly — or at least fairly — incentivized and recognized."
Other forums, discussions, and presentations that will take place at 2019 Teaching and Learning Week include an industry panel titled Defining the Future of Work: Collaboration Between University, Industry, and Research, with panel members including Practera co-founder and co-CEO Beau Leese; Infosys Vice President Ashok Mysore; Siemens' head of Professional Education Asia & Australia Friedrich Beisser; Cisco Systems General Manager, Education and Industry Development Reg Johnson; and visiting fellow from San Diego State University Thomas Carey.
In addition, Masterclass: Humanizing Digital Learning in Large Classes, will be presented by Jaclyn Broadbent, Associate Head of School (Teaching and Learning) at Deakin University.
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