Fostering non-aviation undergraduates' aviation literacy in an online aviation laboratory: effects on students' perceptions, motivation, industry optimism.

Aviation is a multidisciplinary subject that has influenced human development over the last century. Learning about aviation exposes students to principles of flight, earth science, aeronautical engineering, language, aviation communication and airmanship. In higher education, many non-aviation undergraduates participate in aviation related activities to have a first glimpse of the aviation industry and equip themselves with basic concepts. This study aims to examine learning perception among 82 university students who have participated in a series of online aviation career exploration activities during the pandemic in Hong Kong and China. They participated in virtual visits and career talks led by aviation professionals, hands-on flight simulation activities and online discussion in an online lab setting. A mixed research method was employed with the use of a motivational survey, teachers' observation and semi-structured interviews to understand students' learning perceptions. This study found that flying laboratory activities could effectively motivate students to learn aviation and improve their aviation knowledge. This could promote students' aviation industry optimism, which may help the industry to recover in the post-pandemic world. This article offers recommendations for online engineering educators to use emerging technologies to teach aviation for future career preparation.

Teachers' AI digital competencies and twenty-first century skills in the post-pandemic world.

The pandemic has catalyzed a significant shift to online/blended teaching and learning where teachers apply emerging technologies to enhance their students' learning outcomes. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has gained its popularity in online learning environments during the pandemic to assist students' learning. However, many of these AI tools are new to teachers. They may not have rich technical knowledge to use AI educational applications to facilitate their teaching, not to mention developing students' AI digital capabilities. As such, there is a growing need for teachers to equip themselves with adequate digital competencies so as to use and teach AI in their teaching environments. There are few existing frameworks informing teachers of necessary AI competencies. This study first explores the opportunities and challenges of employing AI systems and how they can enhance teaching, learning and assessment. Then, aligning with generic digital competency frameworks, the DigCompEdu framework and P21's framework for twenty-first century learning were adapted and revised to accommodate AI technologies. Recommendations are proposed to support educators and researchers to promote AI education in their classrooms and academia.