Annual Report 2006–07

86 Computer and Information Technology Services Support for Teaching and Research A computational grid was launched in April 2007 to provide computing power of 1.1 trillion operations per second for research. The first-of-its-kind in Hong Kong, the system works by connecting disparate computer resources across a network and forming a grid to fulfil high performance computing needs. The system has been extensively used in research areas including computational physics, fluid dynamics and bioinformatics. Usage of the eLearning platforms continued to grow in 2006–07. The number of courses hosted at WebCT, CUForum, iHome as well as the free open source software package Moodle reached 2,825, an increase of 15% over the previous year. Survey findings showed that these eLearning platforms had blended well with traditional teaching approaches and provided a satisfying and dynamic learning experience. Besides, a series of online examinations conducted for 900 students of the English Language Teaching (ELT) Unit had received good feedback. The ELT Unit also used the SMS Gateway to expand students’ vocabulary. In December 2006, a selection of Cable TV channels was brought to the University community through the campus network to support teaching, learning and other work-related activities. Enhancement of Information Infrastructure The exponential growth of the Internet has nearly exhausted the capacity of existing IPv4 addresses which only supports four-byte IP address. In view of this, the campus network was upgraded to support both IPv6 and IPv4 in December 2006 to enable further growth of IP addresses. To offer additional convenience to staff and students, wireless network coverage was extended to New Asia College’s student canteen and Mrs. David Lam Hall. More wireless access points are being installed across campus. ༅঩ޫҌ ר ৻ 支援教學與研究 資訊科技服務處於二零零七年四月推出全港首個 高速浮點運算能力的「計算網格」。這是一個高 性能的運算平台，原理是利用互聯網把分散在不 同地理位置的電腦組織成一個「超級計算機」。 目前，多項需密集且複雜運算的科研項目如計算 物理、流體力學和基因分析等，均利用這項新系 統。 校內的網上教學平台如WebCT、CUForum、iHome， 以及開放原始碼的Moodle，使用人數與日俱增。 二零零六至零七年度共有二千八百二十五個課 程在網上教學平台發布，較前一年上升百分之 十五。調查顯示網上教學與傳統教學模式相輔相 成，可增加學習興趣、加強學習效果。年內， 九百名學生透過網上教學平台進行英語考試，效 果理想。另外，英語教學單位亦採用新開發的系 統，發放每日短訊，供學生學習英文詞彙。 由二零零六年十二月起，校內成員可於校園網絡 收看有線電視的資訊頻道，配合教學與工作的需 要。 改良資訊科技基礎設施 隨著互聯網迅速發展，目前的IPv4位址空間將不 敷應用。有見及此，校園網絡已於二零零六年十 二月起同時支援 IPv6 及 IPv4，大大擴充了位址空 間。此外，校園內的無線網絡亦延伸至新亞書院 的學生飯堂及林耀明夫人堂，並計劃覆蓋更多校 內地點，方便師生隨時上網。 位於碧秋樓的中央電腦房為大學的數據心臟地 帶，裏面的二百多台主體電腦及伺服器，需要可