HKU and Hailiang Education Group sign MOU for the sales agreement of the iClass LMS Interactive Learning Platform
Versitech Limited, the wholly owned technology transfer arm of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and Hailiang Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 3 (Tuesday) for the sales agreement of the iClass LMS Interactive Learning Platform. This software was developed by the e-Learning Development Laboratory of HKU. It will be enhanced, marketed and operated by Hailiang Group.
The iClass Cloud-based Interactive Learning Platform technology was developed by Dr. Wilton Fok and his team in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of HKU. It was initially developed for the e-learning classroom in those reconstructed schools after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. Then iClass was deployed not only in HKU but also many other schools in Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas for interactive e-learning. Students can interact with teachers through the cloud network with different mobile devices. Functions like multimedia, big data and intelligent assessment are supported. This technology received the Hong Kong Information and Communication Technology Award and the National Internet Plus Start-up Award.
The Chairman of Hailiang Group Mr. Feng Hailiang said: "We appreciate the technological innovation and advancement of the HKU R&D team. Under the policy driving force of Internet Plus Education, we believe that our collaboration will be a good model for the development of IT in education for our country."
Professor Andy Hor, Vice-President (Research) of HKU said: "I am glad that apart from fundamental research, our R&D team can successfully transfer our technology to the industry through applied research. This technology can provide a high quality e-learning environment for Mainland students and nurture more talents for the future."
In the future, HKU and Hailiang will capitalise on their own strengths and continue to strategically collaborate in some new areas in online learning and IT in Education, such as artificial intelligence, educational big data, intelligent question bank and student development activities. The collaboration will make good contributions to the technology education for the Greater China and the world.
