The "CoolThink@JC" program held its fourth Parent Seminar, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computational Thinking: Leading a New Direction in Learning Trends" on August 17, at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK). The event aimed to help parents better understand how emerging technologies can be utilized by both themselves and schools to enhance children's learning and maximise the development of their potential. The seminar also featured an AI interactive experience session, showcasing various AI technologies for parents and children to explore and try out.

 

 

A welcome note was given by the project leader, Professor Matthew Lee, Chair Professor of Information Systems and E-Commerce of CityUHK. Professor Lee mentioned that the rapid development of AI technology and application has brought new challenges and opportunities to the education sector. Parents’ support on learning AI and computational thinking is indispensable which can produce synergy to help children enhance competitiveness in the transforming digital era.

 

Professor Ray Cheung, Associate Provost (Digital Learning) of CityUHK, shared his insights on how technology can aid teaching and learning. Additionally, the seminar featured three distinguished guests with extensive experience in promoting computational thinking and digital creativity education: Professor Nancy Law, Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Education of The University of Hong Kong; Principal Chan Yu-kwan of S.K.H. St. Michael's Primary School; and Principal Wu Kwok-chu of PLK Women’s Welfare Club (WD) Fung Lee Pui Yiu Primary School. They discussed how the development of AI is influencing the learning habits of students and the changes in curriculum design in schools.

 

In Professor Nancy Law's keynote speech, she shared her insights on the development of AI, encouraging parents and students to leverage its advantages as a tool to analyze and optimise their work. She emphasized that it is similar to coding, which is only the means of learning computational thinking. The most important aspect is the ability to transfer skills learned to other contexts. Following her speech, Professor Law, along with the two school principals, engaged in a discussion moderated by Professor Ron Kwok, Associate Professor of the Department of Information Systems of CityUHK. They explored AI educational resources and the collaboration between schools and families. The principals introduced special projects using AI to teach computational thinking at their schools, such as “3D-printed Flower Pots”and the "AI Spell Drawing Master" competition.

 

Professor Law and the principals also answered questions from both on-site and online participants, reminding parents and children that computational thinking can be practiced in everyday activities.

 

This seminar also featured an AI interactive experience session for the first time. An interactive zone was set up on-site, where participants could experience various AI platforms firsthand. Junior CoolThinker Justin, along with the CoolThink@JC team, introduced and demonstrated different AI generation platforms and their applications, including AI-assisted scheduling, image and music generation, and image recognition. They also highlighted key points for participants to consider when using different AI technologies.

 

 

CoolThink@JC is a substantial STEM education outreach project funded by the HKJC Charities Trust. The CoolThink@JC team at CityUHK, led by Professor Matthew Lee, Chair Professor of Information Systems and E-Commerce, has supported over 200 primary schools and 30,000 parents on computational thinking education over the years.  In the coming year, the team will organize more Parent Seminars on various STEM-related themes to better prepare parents and children for the future technological world and to help them meet the challenges of the digital age.