Growing with HKMU alongside its transformation
Ross Vermeer
One of the original aims of the OLI was to develop autonomous learners. I think that is absolutely crucial for instructional designers.
Ross Vermeer (Senior Instructional Designer, Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching)
“HKMU has indeed come a long way, maturing into today's modern comprehensive university that offers a variety of study modes for both post-secondary students and working adults.” This line — taken from an introductory video launched after the University took on its present name — sums up a familiar story told repeatedly as HKMU strives to establish its new identity in our fast-changing society. But for Ross Vermeer, the voice behind the video, this institutional story also reflects a significant part in his personal story. From the Open Learning Institute (OLI) to The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) to Hong Kong Metropolitan University, he has not only witnessed its growth, but has also grown with it.
Ross joined the University — the OLI back then — as an assistant editor in 1992, editing semi-finished materials prepared by course developers and instructional designers. In those early days, the Institute was quickly shaping up as the only tertiary institution offering distance-learning courses on an open admissions basis in a city in which a massive proportion of working adults were thirsting for higher qualifications. Enthusiastic applicants kept rolling in, presenting huge demand for new courses to be developed. Soon, Ross jumped at the opportunity and began a three-decade journey of learning to be an effective instructional designer. “I've worked on all courses imaginable at the University. It's been quite challenging to have to learn new things very quickly, but it's also fun. It keeps the job fresh and interesting,” he says.
The core business of instructional designers is intertwined with that of the University at its beginning: to work with the course developers — academics — to develop self-directed learning materials. The efforts involved are more complicated than it seems. While course developers are subject experts, instructional designers bring their own expertise in pedagogy, educational technology and project management to course teams. They also strive to understand the subject matter from the learner's point of view. . As Ross puts it, “Most importantly, I put myself in the students' place and read or watch as a student would.” Instructional designers' work involves not only editing and rewriting the text to make sure that it is easy to follow. They also make suggestions on things like where to add interactive and multimedia elements, and take part in producing the multimedia materials themselves. The self-directed learning materials that eventually arrive in students' hands are products of collaborative work in which instructional designers play a large part.
This is how Ross has been learning while helping students learn over the years. Coming from a humanities background, he particularly enjoys the challenge of something at the other end of the academic spectrum, “such as advanced computing and machine learning,” he says.
As the University has evolved and expanded, so has the role of instructional designers. The introduction of face-to-face programmes gradually extended their supporting role into the classroom. But the most drastic changes arrived more recently. With the University reorienting itself towards a more comprehensive model, the massive expansion of face-to-face programmes called for new professional development needs.
Several years ago, the instructional designers started giving professional development seminars and workshops to academic staff on a wide range of subjects, such as technology, pedagogy, outcome-based education, learning activities, assessment and other current issues related to education. To give some recent examples, when COVID-19 struck, Ross and his colleagues were among the first to assess the functionalities of Zoom to help academic staff make a seamless switch to online classes. As ChatGPT stirred debate in the higher-education sector, they immediately studied its pedagogical implications and how to make positive use of it. “We've had to work very hard to keep ahead of the curve in order to offer professional seminars on those subjects,” says Ross. “Sometimes our learning curve is very steep.” To do so, he has drawn on a spirit advocated by the University: “One of the original aims of the OLI was to develop autonomous learners. I think that is absolutely crucial for instructional designers.”
Ross is familiar to HKMU staff as a frequent emcee at staff development events. He is also often heard and seen in multimedia materials produced by his team. Surprisingly, he recalls his initial experience with multimedia-related work as being “very challenging”. “Have you ever watched yourself on TV?” he jokes, and then quickly follows with, “It can be a bit uncomfortable, but you'll never learn faster.” Such experiences have helped him train academic staff in related skills, like producing course-introduction videos.
Ross's greatest satisfaction in his long service as an instructional designer is in his team's consistent reputation for dependable quality in the midst of all the changes the University has seen. “I've worked with hundreds of course development teams over the years. There have been wonderful experiences, as well as awful ones, but I can say proudly that we have never failed to deliver a course,” he says. Presently, his team is buckling down to facilitate another big move in the University: the Academic Reform, which requires that all courses be condensed to fit the three-credit-unit denomination system. This has prompted the Schools to revise the courses at the same time. “I assure you, there are no courses from 1989,” he concludes on a witty note.
