You or your representatives are cordially invited to cover the International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2018 (14-16 June) and Coding Fair (14-17 June) by CoolThink@JC, as well as a press conference on the Opening Up of CoolThink@JC Educational Resources at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK).

The International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2018, which provides a platform for sharing and discussion on computational thinking by international scholars, will be kicked off by Mr Nicholas W Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR, Mr Leong Cheung, Executive Director, Charities and Community of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, President of EdUHK, and Professor Horace Ip Ho-shing, Vice President (Student Affairs) of City University of Hong Kong. The Coding Fair will feature coding workshops, parent seminars, STEM workshops and a bouncy castle, among other activities. To facilitate further learning after the fair, the organiser will give out 1,200 mico:bits (mini programmable devices) to participating children who complete designated activities.

On the same day, there will be a press conference on the Opening Up of CoolThink@JC Educational Resources. After two years of curriculum implementation and data analysis on learning effectiveness, the Programme has decided to provide the electronic version of the CoolThink@JC coding curricular materials free to all local primary schools, starting this September, along with training courses for school teachers.

【Opening ceremony of the International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2018 and  Coding Fair】

Date: 14 June 2018 (Thursday)
Time: 9:30am-10:15am
Venue: Conference Centre, Block E, EdUHK
Language: English
Officiating guests:

• Mr Nicholas W Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR
• Mr Leong Cheung, Executive Director, Charities and Community of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
• Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, President of EdUHK
• Professor Horace Ip Ho-shing, Vice President (Student Affairs) of City University of Hong Kong

Contents:

1. Opening ceremony of International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2018 and Coding Fair
2. Opening remarks by officiating guests

【Press conference on the Opening Up of CoolThink@JC Educational Resources】

Date: 14 June 2018 (Thursday)
Time: 11:00am-12:00noon
Venue: Special Collection Room, 1/F, Library, Block C, EdUHK
Language: Cantonese
Hosts:

• Ms Winnie Ying, Head of Charities (Grant Making – Youth, Education & Training, Poverty) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
• Professor Kong Siu-cheung, Department of Mathematics and Information Technology of EdUHK
• Mr Daniel Lai, Programme Director of CoolThink@JC
• Dr Mark Sherman, Postdoctoral Research Associate of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Principal Chu Tsz-wing, Baptist Rainbow Primary School

Contents:

1. Brief introduction of the CoolThink@JC Programme and implementation in the past two years
2. Introduction of the CoolThink@JC computational thinking curriculum
3. Application procedure for free CoolThink@JC computational thinking curricular materials
4. Brief learning report on 32 pilot schools
5. Training and support for students, teachers and parents
6. Q&A

About CoolThink@JC

The four-year CoolThink@JC Programme is an initiative created and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, and co-created by The Education University of Hong Kong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and City University of Hong Kong. CoolThink@JC aims at inspiring students to apply digital creativity in their daily lives and preparing them to tackle future challenges in any field. Promoting computational thinking education can empower students to move beyond mere technology consumption and into problem-solving and innovation. The Programme will train 100 teachers for the benefit of 16,500 primary 4-6 students in 32 schools. Funded with a Trust donation of HK$216 million, the Programme also supports pilot schools to equip their classrooms, to develop an evidence-based curriculum, and to provide corresponding training for school teachers.

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For media enquiries, please contact Principal Chu Tsz-wing at Baptist Rainbow Primary School (Mobile: 9333 4105).