Brief comments from HK

[Peter Muir]

Hi everyone
We have just kicked things off with a new cohort this year. We run our programme in the second semester - from now until the end of June. A couple of things from last year that will guide us in our practice this year.
1. We will continue to use an online forum, where discussion topics and resources are posted. Participants are required to add posts and comment on those of others. We use a moodle platform for this, and all relevant resources are shared here. This reduces our face-to-face time (finding a regular lunchtime or after school slot is quite difficult), though students do need regular reminders to contribute.
2. With a greater number of participants last year, it made it difficult to had
enough time to have all students present to their peers. We decided to group participants, and have each member of the group (of 4-5 students) present to that group. We created a googleform with questions and space for comments for the audience members of the group to provide feedback to the presenter.
3. We had some students who did not initially meet the award requirements. We gave these participants tasks to complete over the summer break that would allow them to meet requirements. Allowing more time rather and eventually giving them the award was a better option.
Being involved in the award continues to be pleasing - the best moments are when you see change in the students. Though it does not happen with all students, but when you see students become more concerned about global issues, and become more active in community engagement activities, it is certainly worth the effort.
Peter