:: Testimonial (3^rd Cohort) ::

Enrico Bertelli, Hong Kong, China

The course was valuable in helping me develop a clearer and more structured understanding of key issues in digital ethics. I found it useful to learn how colleagues in different institutions are approaching similar challenges in their daily teaching and decision-making. This helped make the ethical questions feel less abstract and more situated.

The structured ethical frameworks provided a shared language that helped me articulate why these issues matter pedagogically, and how to explain their relevance to students in a grounded and accessible way. The use of case studies was especially effective in connecting theory to lived educational practices. One example that stood out was the discussion around automated student-tracking systems used to promote courses. Reflecting on this made me more aware of my own preference for tutor-led recommendations, which feel more relational and context-sensitive. Overall, the course encouraged me to reflect critically on how efficiency-driven technologies can subtly reshape educational values, agency, and trust.

At university level, I am now embedding key concepts from the course into my teaching, making extensive use of AI across modules (AI Band and GenAI for Public Engagement). I am also more receptive to these issues and plan to reference relevant literature in upcoming publications. Beyond the university context, I am planning to design a Continuous Professional Development course for non-specialist primary and secondary school teachers. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into lesson planning, assignments and assessment, there is a clear need to develop a shared understanding of how AI works, which LLMs are appropriate for specific purposes, and what ethical implications teachers, and their students, should be aware of.

Finally, this course has made me more attentive to related research areas. I have become particularly interested in explainable AI (XAI) and work that focuses on making AI decision-making more transparent, with the aim of building more trustworthy, human-centred systems.

Jansi Rani Amalraj, India

The programme was thoughtfully organised, featuring well-structured Moodle content, meaningful assessments, and engaging live sessions that encouraged active participation and reflection. The course highlighted the growing importance of digital ethics in both personal and professional contexts. It deepened participants’ understanding of key areas such as data protection, generative AI, and digital wellbeing, reinforcing the idea that ethical practice goes beyond mere compliance to encompass trust, responsibility, fairness, and respect for human dignity. Particularly valuable were the discussions on generative AI, which addressed issues of bias, accountability, and misinformation while emphasising the need to keep technology human-centred. The focus on digital wellbeing also underscored the importance of balance, reminding participants that technology should support learning and life rather than dominate them. Overall, the course was informative, engaging, and deeply thought-provoking. It equipped participants not with fixed answers, but with the capacity to ask better and more ethically grounded questions. Congratulations to the organisers and tutors for delivering such a timely and impactful programme, and sincere thanks once again for this enriching learning experience.

With digital ethics policies already in place and overseen by the Research and Ethics Committee, along with active engagement through initiatives such as the Cyber Club, the next steps would focus on deepening integration, awareness, and practical application across the institution. At the individual level, this would involve maintaining ethical vigilance in teaching, assessment, research, and daily digital practices, while staying informed about emerging challenges such as generative AI and data-driven technologies. At the institutional level, efforts could be directed towards strengthening collaboration between the Research and Ethics Committee and student-led initiatives like the Cyber Club. This may include joint workshops, campaigns, or projects aimed at raising awareness of digital ethics, responsible AI use, data privacy, and digital wellbeing among both faculty and students. Further steps may involve leveraging these platforms to proactively address emerging issues, share best practices, and foster an ongoing culture of ethical reflection and responsible digital engagement. By combining structured oversight with active student participation, the institution can ensure that digital ethics remains dynamic, actionable, and embedded in all aspects of academic and campus life.

Kar Yan Alice Wong, Hong Kong, China

CHTL & CISL have provided many Learning and Teaching programs with topics covering Artificial Intelligence (AI) in waves of monthly or even on weekly basis via ZOOM to equip academic staff with skills to use AI tools more effectively. Yet former experiences without sufficient interactive online and offline participation except occasional participation on poll responses only, my mind got distracted so ended up I could not put my wish list in action mode. This online course approach of "Introduction to Digital Ethics" was comprehensively designed over two months that the content stimulated me to think twice when (i) watching the video, (ii) followed by doing the quizzes, and (iii) elaborate further in detail by postings on discussion forum after reading some materials truly helped me to drill deeper for future planning which I think it helped a lot on getting into the action mode. I did not habitually use AI before this online course because I thought I was doing fine for email and drafting course assignment instructions. But after this course, I gained more understanding of its power and admitted using AI generative tools with improved effectiveness in clarity for its unbeatable three to five seconds turnaround time!

Now that I am convinced students can still solicit own ideas first along with AI generated options, their utilization at the end with humanistic and machine generated lenses to support their learning will enrich the reflection as a learning process in getting themselves familiar with the AI tools. By having the emerging experience to have their assignment enhanced by AI, as part of the educator community, the use of AI as a discussion is timely and not put it as a disgrace of cheating, but to incorporate the attitude how the AI can be used as tipping point in personal and professional level. I admire this course continued to address the ethical consideration is not only at beginning and should keep this in mind all the time during the process as learning opportunity. Even though one of our master programs collaborating institution banned students from using AI generative tools in any assignment submission at this moment in Year 2026, I believe they may consider familiarizing themselves with various AI tools such as AI note-taking apps effectively at personal and professional level as lifelong achievement while maintaining the HKBU guiding principles on use of generative AI through AI-Empowering, AI-Critical, AI-Ethical, and finally on building & sustaining human uniqueness.

N. Gunavathy, India

"An Introduction to Digital Ethics" online course was an eye-opening journey that deepened my understanding of ethical decision making in the digital age. I learned to critically assess the societal impact of technology, balance innovation with responsibility, and embed ethical frameworks into everyday digital practices. The course emphasized the importance of transparency, privacy, and inclusive design, which I believe are essential for building trustworthy digital environments. My key takeaway is the need for continuous ethical reflection and proactive measures to mitigate digital harms.

Moving forward, I plan to integrate the ethical principles I have learned into our institutional policies and curricula which will involve developing workshops for staff and students on digital responsibility, revising our technology - use guidelines and fostering collaborations on ethical research projects. For the institution, the next steps include embedding a culture of ethical awareness in all digital initiatives and encouraging interdisciplinary discussions on emerging ethical challenges in technology.