A Multifunctional Platform for Learning and Teaching of Infrastructure Development and Its Impacts

Abstract

Infrastructure development is cross-disciplinary and complex, with significant impacts to our society, economy and environment. Recent infrastructure projects like the Central Reclamation (中環填海), the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (廣深港高速鐵路)and the extension of Tseung Kwan 0 Landfill site (將軍澳堆填區) clearly reveal the growing public concern about the significant impact of these development projects. In view of such growing public concerns, a General Education course - Infrastructure and People, was proposed by the project investigators (and very recently approved by EDGE) to arouse students' interest to inquire into the science and technology involved in infrastructure development and their associated impacts on our local community as well as the society at large. It also provides an opportunity to educate our students to participate as responsible members in a contemporary society. To facilitate learning and teaching of the subject, a multifunctional learning platform, comprising both an e-learning module for in-class learning and an m-learning (mobile learning) module for out-of-classroom activities, with integration of additional tools from Google, Blackboard and Qualtrics, is proposed herein that aims to facilitate students to: 1. understand the science and technology associated with infrastructure developments; 2. develop their ability to appraise project impacts from different perspectives; and 3. process, record, reflect and share their learning experience during and after visits to project sites that would form an integral and important part of the course."