Online and blended learning (OBL) requires a different skill set than face-to-face teaching. The ability to facilitate student-centered teaching by integrating technological information and communication technology (ICT) in pedagogically effective ways is urgently needed. This study explored the microlearning experience of twelve English as a second language teachers at a Hong Kong university as a form of teacher professional development (TPD) to prepare them for the transition to OBL during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews to capture a holistic overview of teachers’ experience with bite-size, practical, and easily digestible TPD directly relevant to teachers’ practice. The findings indicate that teachers found the microlearning TPD activities to be quick, relevant, and engaging; they provided practical knowledge and confidence. Such activities are suggested to create favorable conditions to equip teachers with the necessary skills in OBL. Effective TPD for English as a second language teachers should focus on improving digital competence through short learning activities situated in the specific teaching context and providing input through activities in various modalities. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Little attention has been given to computer-assisted language teaching (CALL) lecturers in community colleges in Hong Kong. In this chapter, we present a novel study of CALL lecturers’ emotions and well-being while coping with emergency remote teaching (ERT) at a community college in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this study sheds light on emergency CALL teaching design and technical preparation, as well as synchronous and asynchronous online teaching and assessment in this context. We employed interviews to give vivid accounts of four CALL lecturers’ inner voices. The resulting data were coded and grouped into themes, and we report the findings as narrative accounts from the representative lecturers and in-depth thematic descriptions. We found that, overall, the CALL lecturers were stressed and overworked, and their physical conditions, especially eyesight, were impaired due to long-term online activities. They were also concerned about the quality of delivery, student feedback, student learning outcomes, and privacy issues. The analysis further revealed practical strategies that the lecturers adopted to address the difficulties they faced during the pandemic. Based on these strategies and the interviews, we present a conceptual emergency adjustment (EA) model to help understand the experiences, emotions, and well-being of CALL lecturers in community colleges in Hong Kong under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research offers a significant contribution to the EA literature and the contextual adaptation of CALL lecturers in Hong Kong and elsewhere. In addition, the use of narrative accounts to present data could contribute to methodological developments in studying teaching and learning in an ERT environment. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

This chapter draws on the Global Childhoods ethnographic data from Year 4 classrooms in Hong Kong, Melbourne and Singapore to elucidate what everyday learning looks like in the three global cities. Acknowledging that learning assumes varied shapes and forms, our primary focus aims to explicate some key features of everyday classroom life in each city, with a focus on time and space. In doing so, we examine the class timetables and explore how time was organised in the schools, and consider the design of classrooms and playgrounds, including the ways in which these spaces were typically used by students and teachers to create learning opportunities. Our analyses are situated within the position of critical onto-epistemological perspective though which we offered critical insights to provoke new understandings about how educational practices are deeply situated within local sociocultural contexts with greater implications for broader learning outcomes and students’ educational success. We seek to provide discussions that are both critical and comparative for rethinking the ways in which opportunities, challenges and diversity in the three education systems became evident from the classroom ethnographies. We also consider the implications of structured learning for shaping children’s multiple ways of being, belonging and becoming learners. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The use of educational apps in teaching the humanities in higher education is increasingly widespread and commonplace. Understanding the efficacy of using such apps, however, presents a challenge due to the proliferation of countless different apps, each with unique and overlapping functions, often used in courses with very different content and objectives. The PICRAT model provides a framework to compare the educational efficacy of integrating various education apps, even when used in a variety of different courses. This paper presents the results of a project conducted at the Faculty of Humanities at a Hong Kong university. The objective was to develop examples of effective technology-enhanced teaching in the humanities that could be shared as models with other instructors teaching in the humanities. The PICRAT framework focuses on the students’ and teachers’ roles in using technology. All the project courses aimed to change the students’ role from one of more passive to more active and ultimately more creative engagement; and to advance the teachers’ use of technology from merely replacing traditional pedagogy to providing a more amplified and, whenever possible, transformative approach to its use. Examples from three of the twelve project case studies will be described; teacher and student perspectives of the efficacy of using the apps will be analyzed; and the PICRAT model will be used to analyze the overall conclusions that can be drawn from the range of diverse exemplars developed in the project. Copyright © 2023 ICLT.

The issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy is gaining popularity in the field of education. Most research on AI literacy has focused on primary, secondary, and higher education, and there has been limited examination of AI literacy programs in early childhood education. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an eight-week AI literacy program on young children’s AI literacy, AI-related creativity, and their perceptions of the AI4KG program. A total of 26 young children (average age of 4 years) enrolled in the program at a kindergarten in Hong Kong were the subjects of the study. The results indicated that (1) young children were capable of learning basic AI concepts and knowledge; (2) in terms of AI-related creativity, younger children were able to design a chatting robot via imagination, while older children created an AI robot to assist people in their drawings; (3) in regards to the children's perceptions of the AI4KG program, older children who enjoyed the activity were able to train AI, while younger children preferred to draw the future AI city and participate in the AI story activity. This study highlights the positive benefits of AI literacy education in preparing young children for an AI-driven future. Copyright © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Little research has been done to examine the development of thinking skills in the context of second language learning and teaching. This article reports the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a Philosophy in Schools (PIS) programme in developing English as a Second Language (ESL) students’ thinking skills in Hong Kong. In the study, training and support were provided for two English teachers to enable them to teach PIS to their Secondary 4 ESL students during English lessons. The students were found to be capable of reasoning and arguing about philosophical problems arising from various stimuli prepared by their teachers according to the English curriculum. Also, PIS was found to play an important role in promoting the students’ critical and creative thinking. The findings of this study suggest that integrating philosophy into the English curriculum can promote critical and creative thinking in ESL students. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Curriculum reforms in Hong Kong have put more emphasis on play pedagogy juxtaposed with teacher-directed academic learning. Against this background, this study investigated the nature of the play-based learning approach by reviewing Fröbel’s play pedagogy (Spielpädagogik) and comparing it with the policies and practices of the play-based curriculum in Hong Kong. Data collection consisted of observations, interviews, and analyses of curriculum documents. Based on Fröbel’s educational philosophy on Spielpädagogik, policy documents and the results of empirical studies were analyzed and critically compared. The findings showed that Hong Kong’s play-based learning curriculum had some elements in common with Fröbel’s Spielpädagogik; however, the child-initiative (Selbstbestimmung) aspect emphasized in Fröbel’s Spielpädagogik was not commonly observed in Hong Kong’s classrooms because of time constraints and other sociocultural factors. There were also similarities between Fröbel's “play care” (Spielpflege) and teachers’ roles in children’s play advocated by Hong Kong’s curriculum policies. Yet, comparatively, Fröbel’s play care gave clearer directions on teachers’ roles, particularly on how to use language to guide children’s play. The research findings provide clearer insights into how the play-based approach in Hong Kong should move forward, and suggestions for which direction other places advocate play-based approach should take. Copyright © 2023 EECERA.

The Education University of Hong Kong has launched various animation projects, such as "Jockey Club From Words to Culture Programme: An Animated Way to Learn Chinese", "The Animated Chinese History for Curious Mind Project" and "The Life and Values Education Animated Series", to enhance children's interest in learning Chinese language, history, culture, developing their moral characters and positive values through learning the good deeds and achievements of the figures. Past studies have shown that animation teaching can enhance local children's language ability and interest in learning, and is even more effective in developing children's moral values. In this study, students from the Education University of Hong Kong adapted animation materials to suit the age and language proficiency of NCS children. The students used animation as a novel way to teach NCS children. NCS children from four social welfare organizations and schools were used for four to six weeks of intervention. The research questions include (1) How to adapt the animation materials for NCS children? (2) Does the language ability of NCS children improve through teaching with animation? (3) Does the interest of NCS children in language learning improve through teaching with animation? In this way, the features of the teaching materials and pedagogies that can effectively enhance the learning of the Chinese language and culture of NCS students are also summarized in this study. Copyright © 2023 ACEID.

University closures due to the pandemic have taken learning and teaching from the confines of the physical campus to virtual spaces enabled by digital technologies. In order to ensure the quality of higher education learning and teaching, teaching staff need to be supported with quality professional development (PD) for building their capacity to plan for and implement online learning. It is crucial for universities to design and implement customised PD to address the professional learning needs of the teaching staff. This chapter examines how a faculty-based learning innovation team at a university in Hong Kong has adopted an experiential learning approach to design customised PD programmes for teaching staff to build their capacity to enhance the quality of online learning and teaching. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kevin Wai Ho Yung and Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.