This paper sketches major developmental processes of building a web for workplace professional communication through Chinese and English languages at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The strategic development of the web comprised three phases, namely, pre-design, design and post-design ones. In the pre-design phase, learners' needs in terms of the levels of web support and the necessary contents were assessed. Together with a comparative analysis of similar relevant webs offered by tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, the tentative assessment results were employed to generate a site plan for the web. In the design phase, when the web pages were written, a number of strategic factors were taken into consideration. In the post-design phase, the web was tested, modified and finalized through an evaluation survey. Eventually, new research issues relating to online distance learning and its further web advancement will be briefly addressed.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

This paper explores the effect of globalization on the community college in China's two systems -Hong Kong and the mainland, and the extent to which globalization was resisted in the implementation of the American community college model. It also assesses the future prospects of the community colleges in these two regions, especially in terms of the values of democracy and equality that helped sustain it in the United States.
本文旨在探討在全球化的影響下，中國兩個不同制度的地區，即大陸與香港在實踐以美式社區學院為楷模的概況。同時亦評估這些社區學院在兩地區的未來發展，特別是對民主價值及平等理念等，而這些觀念向來都是美國社區學院所珍視的辦學理念。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

在全球經濟一體化下，持續教育提供了一個提升及保持個人競爭力的出路，在過去十年，很多香港人透過持續教育提升學歷，甚至取得大學學位或以上資格。香港經濟轉向知識型，為配合此結構性的經濟轉型，政府於2001年提出要在10年內將適齡的大專教育參與率提升到60%，預期增長部分主要來自在2000年引入香港的副學士學位課程。各院校已承諾所開辦的副學士學位課程需符合一個通用指標，而政府亦帶頭承認了畢業生就業的資歷，至於私人機構對這新制度則有待逐步接納。
Continuing education provides an avenue to increase and maintain competitiveness of individuals within the context of economic globalization. During the past decade, many people in Hong Kong have substantially raised their education attainment, including at degree level and beyond, through continuing education. The Government proposed to increase the participation rate of post-secondary education of the relevant age group to 60% within the next ten years in response to the structural change of the economy to a knowledge-based one. It is expected the increase will be from the Associate Degree sector, which has been introduced in Hong Kong in 2000. A common set of descriptors for the Associate Degree has been agreed upon and the Government has taken the lead in recognizing its value for employment purposes, while recognition by the private sector it is estimated to be a gradual process.
[Copyright of Journal of Youth Studies is the property of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups at http://yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/]

探討校外課程於東南亞各大學中所擔任的角色，並就課程計劃提出具體建議。

In recent years the number of students entering higher education in China’s inland has soared to unprecedented levels. Courses at colleges of further education offering access to higher education are now commonplace. Opportunities for mature students to return to higher education have also increased. Partnerships are being formed with employers and others to provide lifelong learning for employees.
As a result of the sheer physical size and population dispersion in China’s inland, many potential students have been denied equal access to courses because they are not geographically convenient. To satisfy both the demands of students and to maintain quality, a long-term view of flexibility in higher education would prove more practical. Web based learning and more traditional on-site methods of delivery can co-exist and, with rigorous quality control, lead to substantial improvements to both modes of delivery as well as research activity.
In this paper, the author argues that web based teaching may provide the best solution to the difficulties involved in higher education reform in China’s inland. The future, in terms of information technology, is here to be exploited. Meeting the challenges of such a large educational market, whilst maintaining quality, will entail a radical review of how course quality is assessed. The author further compares the situation in Hong Kong and China’s inland.

The Hong Kong University Master of Social Work programme is designed to be a socially sensitive and responsive programme to train competent and continuously developing professional social workers who can make contributions both to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and internationally. The values, knowledge and skills conveyed in the programme should enable social workers so trained to deliver social services to individuals, groups and the community in an appropriate, competent, ethical and humane manner, and be committed to self- directed life-long learning to maintain the high standards achieved upon graduation. In view of rapid changes in modern societies and the increasing complexity involved in helping people to survive psychosocial challenges, there should be corresponding adjustments in professional training to keep up the necessary performance standard. This paper reports on the efforts made by a team of enthusiastic social work teachers over the summer of 1999 to change an established Master of Social Work programme into problem-based learning mode and includes some initial feedback from the staff and students concerned. Certain useful strategies as well as some points for improvement will also be discussed.

As is typical of distance learning institutions, the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) provides regular face-to-face tutorials to facilitate students' learning in addition to the self-instructional course materials. Attendance is non-compulsory, so there is often little similarity in the group of students attending from one tutorial to the next. The nature of tutorial support is contingent upon the needs of each individual course, but the basic requirement is that students must have the option to seek he from the tutor to resolve any problems being faced in the course. Consequently, although tutors are urged to encourage student involvement and are discouraged from lecturing teacher-centred learning is still dominant in the face-to-face sessions. Whereas, in conventional settings, most PBL activities are conducted in and around tutorials, at OUHK it is less straightforward to do this because of the time constraints and students' expectations of assistance. The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore the place of PBL in OUHK tutorials, and the compromises that need to be made to enable it to be used successfully. Many studies have placed emphasis on the roles and responsibilities of PBL tutors in conventional face-to-face learning. However, little research has been done on the tutor's role as facilitator in a distance learning PBL environment, and how this can be balanced with the role of help-giver. As a preliminary investigation of this issue, a group of tutors was asked to introduce some PBL activities into their tutorials. Apart from observations, data about tutors' perceptions of using PBL in this context was gathered from semi-structured interviews. The difficulties that tutors experienced during the PBL tutorials and suggestions for modification have been highlighted in the paper.