Although spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) has gained attention as an effective tool for technology-enhanced learning, little research has been conducted on its integration in formal education settings and the role of teachers in facilitating its pedagogical use. In this study, a design-based research (DBR) approach was used to develop teacher-facilitated tactics for SVVR-supported learning based on virtual inquiry fieldwork in formal senior secondary geography education in Hong Kong. Over a period of 2 academic years, we engaged with nine teachers (from nine schools across the upper, middle, and lower academic bands in Hong Kong) and their Grade-10 classes, which comprised a total of 504 students. In addition to reporting and discussing the pedagogical effectiveness of the teacher facilitation practices designed, enacted, analysed, and refined in the iterative DBR process, this paper presents the teacher facilitation principles deduced from these practices. Overall, the findings and implications of this DBR are academically and practically relevant for researchers and educational practitioners who seek to utilise SVVR for educational purposes and strive to enhance its pedagogical effectiveness. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier.

The New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum has been implemented in Hong Kong since September, 2009. One major objective of this initiative is to help students acquire critical thinking, information technology and life-long learning skills through the Independent Enquiry Learning (IEL) approach. Geographical Information System (GIS) and Satellite Remote Sensing (RS) can be very effective tools for multiple subjects in the NSS curriculum, particularly in Geography and Liberal Studies. However, there exists a huge technical barrier for teachers to apply the technologies in the ordinary classrooms. Hence, this project, funded by the Quality Education Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government, aims to support the teachers of Hong Kong using GIS and satellite remote sensing in their classrooms. The implementation approach is designed totally from a practitioner's perspective; hence, the fundamental brief of this project is to develop useful resources for teachers and the products shall be; 1.) Teachers and Students - Friendly; 2.) Encourage students to practice critical thinking and spatial thinking skills; 3.) Encourage students to apply knowledge / experience acquired through the learning activities to the other field of interests; 4.) Lowering the barrier of transforming teachers’ / students’ creativity to practical GIS / Remote Sensing projects and learning activities. Products of this project include a comprehensive resources pool of GIS Data and Remote Sensing Images; a teacher-friendly GIS and satellite image processing software; teachers’ training workshops and mostly important, school-based supports. This paper will highlight the first batch of achievements and products, evaluations, successful cases of classroom implementation as well as the feedback from the frontline teachers.
[Copyright © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Yasushi Asami.]

This study attempted to investigate Hong Kong junior secondary students' conceptions of China before and after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, with a view to finding out any changes in their conceptions, and if any, the factors that might have contributed to these changes. The study found that, over the years from 1997 to 2009, students still viewed China as backward in many aspects, and still held superficial, fragmentary and even contradictory and inaccurate conceptions of China, but their conceptions were getting more positive and deeper in 2009 than 12 years ago. This paper maintains that students' greater exposure to China's development in various aspects through various information sources played a prominent role in shaping their conceptions of China. The implications for learning and teaching are discussed.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2012.698083]