With ambitions of becoming an English teacher, Wong Yuen Shan had no hesitation in agreeing to be an intern at HKMU's School of Education and Languages. The role mainly involved handling applications, as well as processing multiple documents for student teachers enrolled in the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary). “I thought it would be a great opportunity to improve my understanding of what that course covers.” says Wong, who gained much more than she expected from the three-month stint.
Widespread use of online conferencing software, required as part of social distancing measures, inspired Wong and her supervisor to adopt a more efficient method for disseminating essential information to the nearly 200 student teachers enrolled. “Previously, the intern's duties involved one-to-one phone briefings to explain more complex matters, plus giving instructions on duplicating documents, providing campus maps, and confirming teaching schedules for professors to visit classes and conduct evaluations,” Wong says. “Phone briefings can be time-consuming, follow-up calls are sometimes necessary and, most importantly, information may inadvertently be missed out.”
An ingenious idea hit Wong and her supervisors one day when they were rehearsing the “script” for the phone briefings. “I suggested we could produce several videos for the briefing, which enrolled student teachers could view when they preferred. Also, we would not then need to worry about any essential information being missed,” she notes. “The department accepted my suggestion, and I was put in charge of producing the videos.”
Given the green light, Wong proceeded to plan and record the videos. “One of the most challenging parts was recording using Zoom, which I hadn't done before. I also encountered some initial difficulties using the video-editing software. But then I consulted some teammates who helped me resolve those problems.” She adds that many of the enrolled student teachers viewed the two videos, each of which ran for around 10 minutes. Once completed, the videos also freed up Wong's time, meaning she could help with the processing of applications and related data entry. “The internship gave me good experience of how a team can brainstorm and develop ideas together, so as to make their work more efficient and effective.” she says.
