Newsletter No. 413

4 No. 413, 4.3.2013 A half-century ago, Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian scholar, coined the term ‘global village’ for the first time in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (1962). McLuhan described how the globe has been contracted into a village by information technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time. Today, thanks to the Internet and popular social media, McLuhan’s prophecy is fulfilled. In such a rapidly globalizing era, how can students keep up with the changing world? United College launched the Globe-Oriented Active Learning (GOAL) Programme in 2008 to offer various scholarships and financial awards to students taking part in long- or short- term overseas learning activities. Prof. Jimmy C. Yu , Head of United College, said, ‘The College is not only meant to transmit knowledge and help students to find employment. It also serves to nurture their self-learning ability, facilitate their holistic development, and help them to appreciate the beauty of the world.’ The GOAL Programme provides a wide range of activities such as language and cultural learning, social services, internship and studies. So far, about 1,600 students have participated in the programme and visited Australia, France, mainland China, the Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan, and the US. 放 眼 看 世 界 邁 向 地 球 村 E y e o n t h e W o r l d : A S t e p C l o s e r t o a G l o b a l V i l l a g e 半 世紀前，加拿大學者Marshall McLuhan 於其著作 The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man （1962）中，預言科技不 斷進步，終會發展出能把資訊即時傳送到世界每一角落、將各地人民連繫 起來的科技，他並首次提出「地球村」的概念。McLuhan的預言應驗了，互 聯網、臉書、Youtube、Twitter、微博，造就了今日的天涯若比鄰世界。 在這全球化發展急速的年代，學生當如何 裝備自己，以應對瞬息萬變的社會？聯合 書院自2008年起，推出「邁進地球村系列」 （GOAL），透過獎助學金資助，讓他們有更 多機會到外地作長期或短期交流學習。聯合 書院院長 余濟美 教授說：「書院不只是教授學 術知識，協助學生就業的地方，更應協助他們 培養自學能力，全人發展，學會欣賞世界的美 麗。」 GOAL活動多采多姿，既有語言和文化學習， 又有社會服務、實習和進修等，讓學生各適其適。至今已有近一千六百名學 生參與各項活動，他們的足跡遍及澳洲、法國、內地、荷蘭、西班牙、台灣 和美國。