The lack of a sharing and collaborative culture within schools was identified as a key barrier to the successful implementation and scaling up of innovative practices using technology in education in Hong Kong, according to a government report (EMB, 2004). The report identified a need to develop more supportive structures and mechanisms to foster a shared culture and to establish communities of practices between teachers to encourage the sharing and the exchange of classroom experiences as well as to collaborate in curriculum and pedagogical innovation in and across schools. This paper outlines how a supportive structure was built by establishing the environments and infrastructure, focusing on building communities and partnerships. The paper presents the framework which guides the establishment of the communities and identifies mechanisms to foster a sharing and collaborative culture.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]

Monitoring the use of web technology in teaching and learning activities at an institutional level can provide universities with valuable data to guide policy decision-making for eLearning support services. Like many other universities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong has centralized support to teachers and students through the provision of eLearning platforms, and training and educational advice on eLearning strategies. The paper examines how the logs kept in the centralized platforms support the University in monitoring eLearning at an institutional level. The logs provide information on three common areas of interest concerning web use: its popularity, nature of use and the engagement of the participants. The paper also illustrates, with data from the University, the analysis and reporting that can be done with the logs to enrich our understanding of the University's eLearning in these three areas.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]

There will almost always be a number of students who are reluctant to actively contribute in face-to-face learning situations because they are shy or are culturally concerned about potential loss of face. Audience Response Systems (ARS) are part of a technology that, principally through its feature of anonymity, offers the opportunity for all students to safely contribute in face-to-face learning situations via individual keypads. Greater feedback from a group of learners poses benefits for both learner and teacher. For the teacher it can help identify areas where student understanding may be weak or incorrect and thus allow appropriate feedback to be applied. For the learner it allows them to see how fellow students are coping and to gauge their own relative performance. This paper reports on the use of an ARS with a group of students in Hong Kong studying a second year undergraduate decision support course. The ARS was used to provide process support for a revision session that explored decision support systems (DSS) and decision making and also to gather some details about the students as a population of learners.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]