Annual Report 2019–20

校長前言 Foreword by the Vice-Chancellor and President 9 In fact, the new pedagogies that have been developed as a result of COVID-19 are not mere second-best options; but very often, they are novel practices that broaden our horizons in ways we have never imagined before. In this regard, universities across Asia should work more closely together to promote international collaboration and intercultural exchanges. University networks such as the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) present perfect platforms for institutions of higher education to deliberate and collaborate on novel ways to deliver teaching and learning. CUHK has played a very active role in this endeavour. One good example is the innovative APRU Virtual Student Exchange programme led by CUHK. With the current participation of 14 APRU member universities from nine economies, the programme enables students to receive international education and experience from some of the best universities in the world without having to leave home. A total of 78 online academic courses have been offered during the programme’s first semester on a plethora of topics, ranging from the culture of Hong Kong, impact of climate change, business in Latin America, to indigenous languages. A series of co-curricular programmes have also been introduced to facilitate encounters with new ideas, cultures, experts, academics and students around the world, in order to provide an experience which simulates physical study abroad. The ingenuity of the programme has won it a finalist nomination to this year’s ‘Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year’ issued by the Falling Walls Foundation, a non-profit organization supported by the German Ministry for Education and Research. In terms of research and community service, the University also made important contributions towards curbing COVID-19 幫助受疫症影響的中大成員。基金旨在 發揚中大人同心同德的精神，紓緩有需 要員生的經濟困難，提升他們的抗逆能 力，協助他們度過刻下和未來的挑戰。中 大支援基金得到十分熱烈的響應，我非 常感謝大家的支持。 網上學習現今已發展成大勢，惟我們不 應忽視數碼鴻溝所帶來的不公問題。大 學的責任是培育懂得善用科技去改善個 人及大眾生活的未來領袖，我們必先要 確保所有學生都能連接網絡。為了確保 每一位學生都能在網上學習，大學投放 了不少努力及資源提升硬件及軟件配套。 而同樣重要的是心理配套，讓有需要的 同學可以便捷地得到實際支援，尤其是 幫助有特殊學習需要的學生，使他們能 安心地獲得網上學習的益處。 大學教學人員因應疫情開發了不少創新 的教學方法，並不純粹是折衷的方案，而 是全面地開拓了教學的新領域。這些寶 貴的經驗值得學界互相借鏡，而亞洲區 的大學應當藉此更緊密合作，推動國際 合作和跨文化文流。「世界大學聯盟」及 「環太平洋大學聯盟」等國際大學網絡， 是探討及交流教與學新概念的理想平 台。中大正積極進行這方面的工作。 由中大倡導的網上學生交流計劃是其中 一例。此創新的計劃目前已有十四所來自 九個經濟體的「環太平洋大學聯盟」成員 大學參與，其學生可以足不出戶，體驗世 界不同頂尖學府所提供的國際化教育。 此計劃推出的第一個學期，提供了七十八 個網上課程供學生修讀，內容涵蓋香港 文化、氣候變化的影響、拉丁美洲商業、 原住民語言等等。網上學生交流計劃同 時提供一系列豐富的課外活動，模擬實