CoolThink@JC Programme – Seminar for parents and sharing of fun in developing apps
We would like to invite you to cover the following event:
Event: CoolThink@JC Programme – Seminar for parents and sharing of fun in developing apps
Date: 24 June 2017 (Saturday)
Time: 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Venue: Wong Cheung Lo Hui Yuet Hall, 5/F, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, CityU
Speakers: Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, former Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR government
Professor Tsui Lap-chee, Founding President of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong
Mr Lau Chun-hung, Principal of Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School
Mobile phones and tablet computers have become a part of our life but parents may worry whether their children will over-indulge in digital products. However, would parents be willing to let their children change from a technology consumer to an application developer by using digital technology to nurture their computational-thinking and problem-solving skills?
In a seminar titled “Programme or let your children’s future be programmed?”, Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, former Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR government, and Mr Lau Chun-hung, a secondary school principal, will discuss whether parents should allow their children to learn coding and programming skills.
Cooking soup is routine homework for many parents. However, it can be quite complicated as there are a variety of choices of soups with different ingredients and the correct mixture and portions for a different number of people to consider. These problems can be solved by the Soup Recipe app developed by primary school students who have participated in the CoolThink@JC Programme. The app shows how to cook various soups and their ingredients, and it can compute the portions needed after users input the number of people into the app. The primary school students and their parents will share the fun and demonstrate how to use apps to solve problems in daily life. Mr Tsang will also join them for discussion.
Hong Kong has been actively promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education in recent years. The aim is enabling students to tackle problems in their daily life by boosting their ability to integrate and apply knowledge acquired in different disciplines. In the talk titled “Future of STEM education”, Professor Tsui, Founding President of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong, will share his views on STEM education with parents.
The CoolThink@JC programme is funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. It is a collaboration with City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, and The Education University of Hong Kong. It aims to equip senior primary school students with fundamental coding skills in order to boost their computational thinking. It also helps teachers understand the pedagogy.
CityU will provide teaching and learning support to 32 pilot schools as well as organise parent education activities.
Media enquiries:
Cathy Choi, Communications and Public Relations Office, CityU (Tel: 3442 6403 or 6012 0695)