Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

development of online teaching and learning. Since the end of 1997 ， the campus backbone ne t wo rk has m i g r a t ed f r om F D D I to A T M technology, data delivery has been sped up to 622Mb per second, the number of local area ne t wo r k s has increased to cover a larger number of departments and offices. Students and staff o f the Un i v e r s i t y can access the campus n e t wo r k or the Internet f r om the computers i n their departments, colleges, hostels ， or homes. Recently the University has introduced a series of classroom networks that are linked t o the campus backbone network wh i c h allow teachers to lecture, students to submit homewo r k , and topica l study to be conducted using laptop computers. New Culture of Teaching Online teaching is gaining popularity at the University. According to statistics released by the ITSC, by Ap r il 2000, some 500 courses offered by different faculties and departments have gone online, w i t h another 180 preparing to follow suit. On l i ne t e a c h i n g s hou l d h owe v e r no t replace classroom teaching. The two are expected to complement each other. Wi t h the assistance of IT , teachers are not only teachers, but also me d i a t o r s e n a b l i n g students to communicate w i th their peers and cultivating i n t h em the s p i r i t o f s e l f - l e a r n i n g . The emphasis of teaching has accordingly shifted f r om lecturing to the nurturing of analytical skills and independent t h i n k i ng through in- d e p t h d i s c u s s i o n . I T has s l o w l y a n d unobtrusively changed the culture of teaching on campus. o f f e r i ng New Programmes I n response to the increased demand for expertise i n IT ， the U n i v e r s i ty has also launched a number of new programmes, which have proved extremely popular. E-Commerce A Maste r o f Science i n E - Comme r ce (Business Programme) and a Master of Science in E-Commerce (Technologie s Programme) have been launched j o i n t l y by the Faculty o f Business Adm i n i s t r a t i on an d the Faculty o f Engineering. The three b r i e f i ng sessions for potential applicants held on 12th February saw a f u ll house each time in the 276-seat lecture theatre at the H o S i n - Ha ng E n g i n e e r i n g Building. A total o f over 1,500 applications were received for the 100 odd places offered. New Media T h e S c h o o l o f J o u r n a l i s m a n d Communication is offering a two-year part- time Master of Science Programme i n New Media for people wishing to enter the field o f new media. The programme's 20 opening s attracted 170 applications. Minor in IT To help students master I T skills, the Faculty o f Eng i nee r i ng launche d a M i n o r Programme in I n f o r ma t i o n Technology for students no t ma j o r i n g in e n g i n e e r i ng or students wh o do not have a background i n mathematics or science. The programme is also very well-received. A full-house for the briefing session on the M.Sc. in E-Commerce Programmes IT: The Name of the Game 7