In 1998, a Five Year Strategy outlined new initiatives for information technology in education (ITE) in Hong Kong schools. The 'vision' for ITE involved a 'paradigm shift' in teaching and learning activities, ' from a largely textbook-based teacher-centred approach to a more interactive and learner-centred approach'. However, strategies to bring about these changes were not elaborated. Two years later, when other educational reforms were proposed, it was recognised that current practices in teaching and learning would be resistant to change. Hence, an 'incremental and interactive approach' to change was suggested, in which 'generic skills' including ITE were to be gradually 'infused' into school curriculum over time. The research reported in this paper aimed to investigate whether an 'incremental and interactive approach' could be an effective way to promote greater use of information technology in history teaching in secondary schools. Over a two year period, a small group of teachers made personal decisions about using new technology in their teaching, then met to discuss what happened when they did so. Initially, teachers believed that ITE and PowerPoint presentations were synonymous, and that the role of new technology was to facilitate expository approaches to teaching. However, ideas about ITE gradually changed and teachers became more willing to try 'new' activities involving information technology as ideas about curriculum and pedagogy were examined. It is suggested that professional development activities which provide opportunities for teachers to investigate ITE could be an important initiative in implementing curriculum reforms in schools.

The research reported in this paper used the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) as a tool to evaluate e-learning environments. Data gathered from university classes in Hong Kong using blended e-learning were used to illustrate the value of OLES in helping educators reflect on the online learning environment provided for students. Comments from interviews were used to verify the data gathered online. OLES was found to be a valuable instrument for gathering data to help educators reflect on what had worked or what might be improved in their classes. These educators were also able to see the extent to which the actual experiences of students in the module matched their preferred online learning environment.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]