Self-directed learning (SDL) is acknowledged as an effective language learning paradigm because learning a language is time-consuming. As language and literacy education is now embracing a more multimodal approach in writing instruction, teachers' multimodal technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) receives growing attention in language education. Based on a VR-supported L1 Chinese writing program, the present study collected and analyzed the VR courseware, lesson plans and student worksheets developed by a group of Chinese language teachers in Hong Kong. A coding scheme regarding multimodal TPACK for SDL was employed to assess the learning activities and to understand teachers' multimodal TPACK literacies in L1 Chinese writing instruction. The findings revealed that teachers were able to use VR to immerse students in an authentic environment to develop students' SDL ability and comprehension of nuanced socioemotional aspects of L1 Chinese writing. Nonetheless, there existed some limitations in the utilization VR for teaching L1 Chinese writing which might be compensated for by pedagogical design. Moreover, teachers' pedagogical conception revealed their teaching was driven by syllabus requirements and focused students' completion of writing, which might disregard the process of SDL in pedagogical implementation, and thus the process of collaborative knowledge building might be less developed. This study may contribute to the development of VR-based multimodal TPACK, which enhances multimodal lesson design for self-directed writing. Copyright © 2024 International Forum of Educational Technology and Society .

Recent research in student learning has focussed on areas of individual differences such as the cognition of causal attributions and attributional styles. Studies in these areas have flourished in the last two decades and have received much attention especially within the context of academic setting. Academic causal attributions reflect the ways students perceive and explain the causes for their academic outcomes. It has been reported that causal attributions have influence on students' emotional responses, performance, and motivation depending on the locus of causality, stability and controllability. Research findings have also suggested that causal attributions are related with a number of variables including self-concept, learning approaches and achievement outcomes. This study investigates into a group of Hong Kong preservice student teachers' causal attributions and their implications for teacher educators. The participants' attributional dimensions were assessed by McAuley's Causal Dimension Scale (II) which comprised four subscales: locus of causality, personal control, stability and external control. The results showed that the internal consistency reliability estimates were of adequate value for research purposes. Construct validity was tested by confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 8 and the goodness of fit indices supported the factor structure of the scale. Statistical results also showed that the participants scored lower in locus of causality and personal control but scored higher in stability and external control. On comparison with other local university students, these student teachers were shown to be less internal in locus of causality and have a weaker belief in personal control. They also showed higher scores in both stability and external control than their university counterparts. It is suggested that teacher educators could help facilitate the development of an adaptive attributional style which emphasizes internality and personal control

Education Ordinance 1971 in Hong Kong not only provided girls with a much greater chance of receiving education than had hitherto been the case, it also had the effect of incorporating them into the regulatory framework of the school system. This paper examines how the discourses of civic education and sex education before and after reunification with mainland China have interchanged the concept of gender with the biological sex in the construction of the girl. In particular, it argues that, in the name of maintaining the stability of society, the developmental path for girls has been limited in the discourses of sex, personal and social education. As a result, girls are only presumed to become women and take up their appropriate gender roles according to the social norms of contemporary Hong Kong.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2011.627737]

Some past studies find that older students have more confidence in using technology for learning than younger students but some other studies find the opposite result. However, it is found that there are a few researches studying on the age difference in the perception of using technology for learning in Hong Kong. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the age difference of confidence in using technology for learning in the Hong Kong higher educational institutions. In this study, it employed a survey methodology to collect a total of 211 questionnaires from one of the universities in Hong Kong. The findings show that older students had more confidence in using technology for learning than younger students.
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Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.tojet.net/]