Welcome to the first edition of the EdUHK MIT Newsletter named “MIT DATUM”.  Let me tell you the formation of this name. 

The first part of the name is “MIT”. It is the abbreviation of our Department. The second part of the name is “DATUM”. It is the name of the bulletin first issued in 1969 by the Mathematics Department of the former Northcote College of Education (merged with other educational institutions to form the Hong Kong Institute of Education (now The Education University of Hong Kong) in 1994). The aim of this bulletin is to provide a platform for mathematics educators to share and exchange their insights so as to enhance mathematics teaching. It had been a popular publication in Hong Kong’s primary and secondary schools. Owing to a lack of resources, the bulletin stopped publishing in recent years. 

When putting the abbreviated name of our Department “MIT” and our former mathematics bulletin “DATUM” together, it forms a German phrase “MIT DATUM” which means “with date”. Tying together our alumni, students and staff, we hope this annual Newsletter MIT DATUM keep all of us updated and better connected. 

I hope you will enjoy reading the tidbits offered by this Newsletter. If you have any suggestions on the Newsletters, or if you would like to share with us your professional work or personal life, please contact us at mit@eduhk.hk. 

This first Newsletter provides you the details of the major milestones of our MIT, our programme updates, our research accomplishments, and our public engagement. At present, the Department consists of 28 academic and teaching staff. We are hiring two associate/assistant professors and one lecturer. As of October 2021, there are 532 undergraduate majors in primary-mathematics, secondary-mathematics, and Information and Communication Technology. The enrollments in MIT classes topped 3,500 seats last year. In addition, we offer a number of postgraduate programmes including the Master of Arts in Mathematics and Pedagogy, more than ten Professional Development Programmes, and MPhil/PhD programmes, and get involved in teaching in the Master of Education, Doctor of Education, and Postgraduate Diploma in Education Programmes. 

To address the challenges of the educational transformation driven by the fourth industrial revolution and to meet the societal needs for qualified professionals in artificial intelligence and educational technology to support the future development of schools, tertiary education, government and corporate sectors, our Department has just offered a new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Educational Technology programme in September 2021. A new Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Artificial Intelligence and Educational Technology programme will also be launched in September 2022. Besides, this year is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Master of Arts in Mathematics and Pedagogy programme. The details of these programmes are described in the link above. 

Please enjoy reading this Newsletter and let’s keep in touch. You are welcome to provide us any accomplishments you achieved for sharing in the coming Newsletters.    

Philip Yu, Head