Jointly organised by Cyberport, International Coding Education Foundation, and the Hong Kong Association for Computer Education, the virtual ICE Festival 2022 held from 21 to 22 May has been concluded successfully under massive support. The two-day ICE Festival 2022 themed “Empower Future Tech Leaders” has gathered over 60 renowned scholars, experts, teachers, and students to explore the global trend for STEAM education. ICE Festival featured 4 major events, including keynote speeches, thematic panels, seminars, and fireside chats, which attracted thousands of participants from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

ICE Festival 2022 was kick-started on 21 May. Alfred Sit Wing-hang, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR, was the officiating guest of the Opening Ceremony. He pointed out in his opening speech that, “The ongoing pandemic underlines the importance of innovative technology to all industries, and opened up considerable opportunities for different technologies.” The ICE Festival was a success, owing to the support of innovative technological and educational organisations. Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co. Ltd., co-organiser of the Festival, said that, “Coding education is gaining popularity in secondary schools in Hong Kong. Through such programmes, students could develop computational thinking and problem-solving skills, becoming prepared for the challenges ahead in society. Cyberport is pleased to support this ICE Festival through the Esports Industry Facilitation Scheme. By incorporating esports into the coding competition, the gamified learning platform can encourage students to learn coding and put it into practice. Cyberport will continue to work closely with the educational industry, launching different schemes to nurture digital literacy in the young generation.”

Through a series of keynote speeches, leaders of different fields shared their insights on hot topics including STEAM education, e-learning, and artificial intelligence. Among them, Jimmy Kam Yiu-wong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, believes that STEM education is crucial for enhancing the competitiveness of students. He remarked, “In five to ten years, the most popular jobs will all be STEM- and IT-related. We should not only train students in their mindsets and other soft skills, but also provide education on relevant knowledge.” Regarding the role of code in future society, Ray Cheung Chak-chung, Associate Professor of Department of Electrical Engineering at CityU, suggests, “Coding is the stepping stone for achieving everything.” Victor Cheng Pat-leung, Executive Director of Hong Kong Education City sees e-learning as equally important in the post-pandemic era. He said, “In Hong Kong, schools should highly value the nurturing of digital literacy in students and teachers.” In terms of the development of artificial intelligence, Philip Yu Leung-ho, Professor and Head of Department of Mathematics and Information Technology at the Education University of Hong Kong, said, “Unlike in the past, there are now considerable amounts of data, faster computational speed, and stronger computer backup devices. We can build models with increasing complexity to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence.”

Experts from different fields and domains are invited to ICE Festival 2022 to share in over ten seminars and thematic panels. The discussion topics include STEAM curriculum planning, the career development of women in technology, sustainable technology, financial technology, and the metaverse. In the thematic panel “Start Them Young! How Early Should Kids Begin STEAM Education”, scholars from Taiwan and Hong Kong shared about how STEAM-based content could be delivered to preschoolers to stimulate their interest in STEAM from an early age. Allan Yuen, President of Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education, commented, “STEM learning was meant to be a natural process all along. We should do our best to introduce preschoolers as early as possible to STEM or STEAM.” Meanwhile, in the thematic panel “Towards an Equal Future: The Next Woman Technopreneur”, female leaders in the field of technology shared about how to create an encouraging and inclusive learning environment to inspire and encourage more female students to study STEAM-related subjects, equipping themselves for future challenges. Among them, Justina Ho, Immediate Past Chairlady of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said that, “One of the key points is to allow girls to get to know females currently working in the technological field. Girls who learn from their seniors of the joy in such work will recognise their value and exploit their potential. They will then have the motivation to treat them as their role model and goal, encouraging them to work in related fields.”

Apart from the sharing of professionals, a series of free workshops have been held online successfully, attracting over 300 participants. The workshops cover many topics not limited to the coding of robots and applications. Participants are even given numerous opportunities for hands-on experience on hydroponics, and upcycling old clothes into reusable bags, etc. In the workshops, students and parents could not only learn STEAM-related knowledge but also enjoy parent-child bonding time at home; teachers, on the other hand, could bring new concepts they have learnt in the workshops into their teaching so that students could also experience the fun of STEAM learning.

ICE Festival 2022 is still accepting registrations. If you are interested in participating, you can login the platform from now until 6 June to rewatch the virtual sessions. For more details, please visit https://bit.ly/icefestival2022.

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Sarah So      T: (+852) 3652 1761         Email: [email protected]

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