Cyber-active students get down to business
YOU MAY have already discovered that shopping on the internet can be a breeze. However, have you ever thought of starting a business in cyberspace?
The Project-based Teamwork Game in E-Commerce: E-Shop Competition, organised by the Department of Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and sponsored by the Quality Education Fund (QEF), attracted 47 school teams who designed their own online businesses.
Aimed at promoting e-commerce education among students and stimulating creativity, the contest provided participants with a series of workshops and online tutorials about Web design. Apart from designing an e-commerce shop, each team had to submit a business plan and an evaluation report containing details of their online venture.
The five-member team from Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of MFBM, who won the junior section championship, said the project helped them understand more about e-commerce and how to attract customers.
'I was so happy whenever we sold a product,' team member Anna Leung Chun-wing said.
Having spent five months developing their online festive ornaments shop, the students have not only honed their computer skills but also got a good grasp of the principle - 'assigning the right task to the right people'.
'We split ourselves into two teams: one worked on the products, while the other was responsible for setting up the homepage,' team member Joan Kwok Wing-sheung said.
'And then our progress speeded up,' teammate Tracy Lee Chui-ting added.
Chow Pat-kan, senior curriculum development officer (technology education) and one of the adjudicators, said students showed creativity and had genuine ideas about launching innovative products and services. '[Their works] have originality, flexibility and feasibility,' he added. QEF steering committee member Wong Po-choi compared running a business to life at the award presentation ceremony.
'Before deciding what to sell, students have to analyse the market, come up with marketing plans and estimate costs and revenue,' he said. 'Therefore running a business is not simple, and so is life. Both require a lot of planning.'
Diocesan Girls' School took the top honours in the senior category.
Online honours :
Junior Section (Form 1-3 students):
? Champion, Best Design and Best Report - Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of MFBM
? First runner-up - Ning Po No 2 College
? Second runner-up - Kau Yan College
Senior Section (Form 4-7 students):
? Champion - Diocesan Girls' School
? First runner-up - TWGHs Wong Fut Nam College
? Second runner-up - Tin Ka Ping Secondary School
? Best Design - Caritas St Joseph's Secondary School
? Best Report - STFA Leung Kau Kui College
