Monitoring the use of web technology in teaching and learning activities at an institutional level can provide universities with valuable data to guide policy decision-making for eLearning support services. Like many other universities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong has centralized support to teachers and students through the provision of eLearning platforms, and training and educational advice on eLearning strategies. The paper examines how the logs kept in the centralized platforms support the University in monitoring eLearning at an institutional level. The logs provide information on three common areas of interest concerning web use: its popularity, nature of use and the engagement of the participants. The paper also illustrates, with data from the University, the analysis and reporting that can be done with the logs to enrich our understanding of the University's eLearning in these three areas.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]

The open source learning management system (LMS), Moodle, has been adopted by many people and organisations around the world because it offers a tightly integrated set of tools said to be designed from a social constructivist perspective. However, what advantages does Moodle really offer over other commercially available LMSs such as Blackboard, from the perspective of the lecturer or the student? In this study, Moodle was used in five teacher education classes in Hong Kong in a variety of ways. The experience of these classes was evaluated by institutional evaluations of teaching and a questionnaire specific to the use of Moodle. The results indicated only a partial preference for Moodle over Blackboard. Implications for pre-service teachers are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]

An information literacy (IL) framework has been proposed for Hong Kong students to adapt to the emergence of the knowledge-based society, digital culture and globalisation. The aims of the study reported herein were to validate the proposed IL model and collect the views of practitioners and representative stakeholders on the possibility of its successful implementation. The findings of a survey, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews indicate that the aims and scope of the IL model were recognised as being relevant. Three key issues of professional development in the IL education--the realisation of capacity building, obtaining the consensus and support of school principals and teachers, and allowing practitioners the flexibility to organise their own development--were identified from amongst the concerns of practitioners and representative stakeholders. Nine modules for teacher professional development are proposed here to address these issues.
[Copyright of Technology, Pedagogy and Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14759390601168031]