In the last two years, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been actively promoting the use of IT in schools. Virtually every school in the region is now well aware of the implications of these government initiatives and has embarked on the path toward integration of new learning technologies in the classroom. While many teachers may already be well down the track toward use of IT in teaching and learning, the impetus of government initiatives has meant that, all teachers now need to have clearer notions and directions about how to make the transition. Teachers need a strong foundation on which to build their skills toward modifying their teaching strategies to realize the potential of emerging technologies in enhancing student learning outcomes. In the Hong Kong context it would appear that several things would have to occur before schools are able to mount any meaningful use of IT and where teachers are then able to integrate use of IT in their daily teaching and learning activities. It is with this focus that this paper will address some of the broad issues related to change in schools associated with the use of IT and attempt to provide some suggestions based on research findings and worldwide experience.

Creating ICT-enriched learner-centred environments requires a holistic approach that calls for changes at three levels — teacher, schooling environment and learning activities. Fundamentally, however, it is teachers who, with support from parents, administrators and policy makers, can optimise the benefits of ICT-enriched environments to make learner-centred learning a reality. This chapter therefore pays due attention to the salient issues confronted by teachers in the creation of ICT-enriched learner-centred environments, by using Hong Kong as an example to highlight the myths, gaps and challenges. Reviewed in the chapter are three myths that many educators in Hong Kong subscribe to, including ICT having limited values, ICT being a panacea to learning problems and technical knowledge of ICT being paramount. Highlighted are the gaps that can be observed in the field, of which include gaps in perception; the theory and practice of teaching every student; team-building; and the desire to use ICT. The challenges discussed include teachers encouraging students to become active participants; teachers assisting students to understand their weaknesses and strengths; changing classroom dynamics; leadership in existence; and teachers having an individual sense of how they are able to successfully influence student learning. In the discussion, literature is reviewed and practical solutions are offered.
[Copyright © 2006 Springer.]

This paper draws on practical experience in the development and implementation of an integrated learning environment (ILE) that allows teachers to take advantage of improved connectivity to use the web as a medium for teaching and learning activities in Hong Kong primary schools. It explores the critical issues of implementation, the ingredients needed for creating an infrastructure to support a rich mix of learning to facilitate an active learning community involving school administrators, teachers, students and parents and school culture change in adopting a new paradigm.
[Copyright © 2002 The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.]

In the last two years, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been actively promoting the use of IT in schools. Virtually every school in the region is now well aware of the implications of these government initiatives and has embarked on the path toward integration of new learning technologies in the classroom. While many teachers may already be well down the track toward use of IT in teaching and learning, the impetus of government initiatives has meant that, all teachers now need to have clearer notions and directions about how to make the transition. Teachers need a strong foundation on which to build their skills toward modifying their teaching strategies to realize the potential of emerging technologies in enhancing student learning outcomes. Teachers themselves need to be willing to change. In the Hong Kong context it would appear that several things would have to occur before schools are able to mount any meaningful use of IT and where teachers are then able to integrate use of IT in their daily teaching and learning activities. It is with this focus that this paper will address some of the broad issues related to change in schools associated with the use of IT and attempt to provide some suggestions based on research findings and worldwide experience.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Many researches in science education indicate that self-reflection is an important step in achieving meaningful learning. Those who engage in self-reflection score higher in conceptual test than those who do not. A variety of strategies has been devised to foster the process of selfreflection in students in recent years. Nearly all of these strategies, however, are embedded in the teaching rather than problem solving. In the present article, I will discuss how on-line multiplechoice questions can be used to foster self-reflections in science learning.

With the encouragement of IT in education policy promoted by the Hong Kong Government, students at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) are requested to submit multimedia assignments in VCD, CD-ROM or web-based formats. Irrespective of the submission, the production of video clips is one of the key elements. Self-directed learning activities for video editing provide a means for student teachers to learn knowledge and skills to complete video clip production. This paper is a case study reflective paper about the development of web-based self-directed learning activities for video editing within the HKIEd.

This paper reports the findings of a study by survey questionnaires that reviewed the utilization, rate and the extent of implementation of computers in learning environment of kindergartens in Hong Kong. The study provided an opportunity to investigate the computer-learning environment from a formative and a summative perspective. For example, it considered the selection of software, the location and role of the computer corner or laboratory and the integration of computer program in kindergartens of Hong Kong. Findings indicated a total of 233 out of 235 (99.1%) kindergartens provided computer activities for young children from 3 to 6 years old. More than half of these kindergartens set up computers in the computer laboratory or a centre as opposed to having a computer corner in classrooms. Almost half of them (46.4%) have implemented computer activities in less than 3 years. The findings indicate that there is a vast growing trend of implementing computer activities in kindergartens in Hong Kong in the technological age.

As many educational institutions move education online, educators have found it difficult to use such environments to their advantage. E-leaning environments offer the potential to take teaching and learning beyond the four walls of the classroom where learning can be based on real-world problems and learners become active participants in constructing their own learning. The paper describes a process used with 65 Hong Kong teachers to develop e-learning projects that use computer-based learning resources; linked with networked communities of peers and others in online collaborations in and beyond the classroom while accessing information that goes beyond the textbook. It was found that once the process of learning was understood from its many perspectives, and the critical selection of strategies to ensure learning takes place, teachers could reflect on their own pedagogical practice in creating, maintaining and working in such e-learning environments applying to their own practice.

In recent times the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been very active in promoting the use of information technology (IT,) in schools. in light of (he urgent need to, mount extensive and comprehensive training programs for teachers, this paper will present some recent findings of teacher responses obtained from a staff development activity conducted for primary school teachers. Teacher use of IT, teacher perceptions related 10 issues of IT infrastructure and support, as well as leadership issues in schools will be discussed. The findings reveal how teachers currently view their capability to cope in light of government initiatives to encourage teachers to make effective use of IT. The three key elements of teachers ‘perceptions were (1) lack of time to explore and experiment: (2) need for personalized/customized on-site training with on-going support; and (3,) easy access to facilities. Despite the constraints teachers and principals were very supportive of government initiatives and were keen to he proactive in meeting this challenge.

Many Hong Kong students find learning organic chemistry hard as the subject requires them to master complex knowledge and higher order thinking skills. This paper reports a case study of adopting ChemSense, a computer-supported collaborative learning package for learning and teaching of chemistry, to support the learning of organic chemistry for a group of matriculation level students in Hong Kong. Data regarding the students' views of the usefulness of collaborative learning and ChemSense were collected and analyzed. Although there is no statistical evidence to conclude that students who worked collaboratively can improve their individuals' knowledge of the subject matters better than those who did not, evidence of knowledge construction was identified when examining the content of students' discussions. The students in the experimental group also showed improvement in learning attitude and were positive towards the adoption of collaborative learning in studying organic chemistry.