The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to education systems around the world, resulting in a ‘new normal’ for school music education in which teaching and learning can no longer rely only on conventional classroom practices. Concerns have also been raised over music teachers’ digital competencies, given the perceived importance of the use of technology within the new educational landscape. This article presents the results of a study that examined the challenges and experiences associated with the digital competencies of music teachers during the pandemic period. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with full-time music teachers (N = 18), all of whom taught music as a subject at mainstream primary or secondary schools in Hong Kong. The findings revealed challenges and upskilling of music teachers during the lockdown period, including the technological constraints imposed by the school and the online environment, how they made use of technology to teach music online, and the different ways they developed their digital competencies. Alongside with the catalyst effect of the pandemic that stimulated their upskilling, curriculum changes in teacher training programmes are necessary to better prepare music teachers for the digital transformation of music education and future challenges under the post-pandemic ‘new normal’ situation. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

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.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to families around the world. The prolonged school closures in Hong Kong have forced young students to stay at home and adapt to remote learning for over a year, putting their mental health conditions at risk. Focusing on primary school students and their parents, the main objective of our research is to investigate the socioemotional factors and their associations with mental health conditions. Methods: A total of 700 Hong Kong primary schoolers (mean age = 8.2) reported their emotional experiences, loneliness, and academic self-concept via a user-friendly online survey; 537 parents reported depression and anxiety, perceived child depression and anxiety, and social support. Responses from students and parents were paired to account for the family context. Structural Equation Modeling was used for correlations and regressions. Results: The results of students’ responses showed that positive emotional experiences were negatively associated with loneliness and positively related to academic self-concept among students. Furthermore, the paired sample results showed that, during the one-year societal lockdown and remote learning period, the socioemotional factors were associated with mental health conditions among primary school students and their parents. Among our family sample in Hong Kong, evidence supports the unique negative association between students-reported positive emotional experiences and parents-reported child depression and anxiety, as well as between social support and parents’ depression and anxiety. Conclusions: These findings highlighted the associations between socioemotional factors and mental health among young primary schoolers during the societal lockdown. We thus call for more attention to the societal lockdown and remote learning context, especially since the social distancing practice could be “the new normal” for our society to handle the future pandemic crisis. Copyright © 2023 The Author

In K-12 schools, classes are forced to transform online due to the class suspension amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators began to design alternative ways to conduct some meaningful learning activities for their students. However, not all subject disciplines could be easily transformed online, especially for those requiring much social interaction and creation processes. In this article, we explore the learning processes through learning Shubailan, a form of music folk-talk-singing, with a mobile instrument application called muyu in an online flipped classroom among 122 secondary school students in Hong Kong. The opportunities can encourage students to learn music theories and instruments about Shubailan, and create a Shubailan piece through 6-lesson music learning. To gain more online face-to-face time for collaboration, flipping the online classroom is adopted in this study to engage students in lesson preparations via preassigned recorded videos and collaborative activities during face-to-face online lessons. In this study, a mixed research method was employed with the use of a learning satisfaction survey, teachers’ observations and semi-structured interviews. We found that this strategy could effectively motivate students to learn music and improve their music knowledge in Shubailan. This article presents evidence of implementing the online flipped classroom approach to enhance students’ satisfaction and knowledge acquisition throughout Shubailan music making processes, and offers recommendations for online music educators. Results provide a set of innovative pedagogical approaches to teach music in an online alternative mode during the difficult times. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

Hong Kong was one of the first places hit with the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020 and has since responded with several periods of full or partial school suspension, during which teaching and learning often occurred remotely using digital means. During this time, collecting research data and testing students have become more difficult than before. In this article, we report on a large-scale digital literacy (DL) performance assessment in Hong Kong that had to be conducted in a mix of modes--onsite, online supported, and online self-directed--during the pandemic. We discuss the administrative and methodological challenges of assessing DL, and explore preliminary data on the associations between student performance and the assessment mode adopted. We further discuss potential implications, including for high-stakes testing, and make recommendations for assessing DL remotely. Copyright © 2022 Wiley.

This study compares and contrasts teachers' and students' perceptions of online teaching and learning during the COVID-pandemic in higher education using the co-orientation model. Data were collected from 145 students and 31 teachers in two Hong Kong higher education institutions. The findings show that teachers were generally more negative about online teaching and learning than students, but such negative views should be reconsidered as students positively evaluated teachers' efforts to various degrees. It is suggested that during future online learning experiences (1) teachers and students set up expectations together to evaluate online interactions, (2) teachers should not be overly concerned about the potential embarrassment of using camera for class activities, and (3) teachers pay more attention to feedback delivery. Understanding these gaps will provide teachers with insights into more strategic communication and planning to manage the expectations and optimise the online experience for both parties. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier.

Making online education effective and engaging has been a policy priority in the higher education (HE) sector since the COVID-19 pandemic arose in 2020. Based on an online survey and qualitative interviews, we examine experiences of HE students and teachers in Hong Kong, and provide recommendations that can enable countries/economies to leverage on the good practices of online education to rejuvenate HE in the post-COVID era. We find a need for greater institutional support beyond its current availability. Students’ perception of online education is less optimistic than what such labeling as “digital natives” suggests. However, with time, online education is being viewed more positively. Teachers find their online education workload to be higher. More female teachers cite difficulties in balancing work and life, while older teachers report more technological difficulties. Since many respondents come from public affairs programs, which emphasize interaction in the classroom, the findings suggest that a rethinking of pedagogical strategies of public affairs education is required. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s).

Despite the increasing number of studies on educational leadership during COVID-19, little attention has been paid to the intersections of different educational experiences and perspectives of school leaders, students, and their families that occur both inside and outside of schools. Drawing on eight case studies of public primary schools in Hong Kong, this article explores the challenges and strategies of online learning with a focus on effective leadership practices for supporting economically disadvantaged students during COVID-19. To incorporate the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, a series of questionnaires were distributed to principals (n = 8), teachers (n = 150), parents (n = 775), lower primary students (n = 855), and upper primary students (n = 850) and interviews were conducted with principals (n = 8), teachers (n = 37), parents (n = 32), and students (n = 62). Findings indicated that school leaders and teacher teams demonstrated strategic leadership practices prioritising and responding to the needs and constraints of economically disadvantaged students and their families. The present study draws attention to leadership encouraging collaboration among schools, families, and the wider community, which has become necessary during the shift to online learning during COVID-19. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s).

The first COVID-19 case in Hong Kong was detected on January 22, 2020. The disease spread quickly. Schools were suspended from January 25 to May 24. During these four months, the Government promoted online learning to replace face-to-face learning. However, as online teaching was very new, school music teachers had found tremendous difficulties, especially in recorder playing and ensemble training.On the other hand, the Hong Kong Diploma for Secondary Education Examination was postponed from March 11 to April 24 in the same year. New measurements for disease prevention were implemented. For example, Paper-II Performing was cancelled as it involved ensemble playing, which was not in line with the Government’s disease prevention policy. In this study, I have invited two primary school music teachers and two secondary music teachers to share the challenges and opportunities they have faced in teaching during the pandemic. Copyright © 2022 International Society for Music Education.

Background: Face-to-face class suspensions during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019 increased telepractice in speech and language therapy. However, little is known about speech and language therapists’ (SLTs) perceived effectiveness of telepractice and its antecedents.Aims: To examine the use of telepractice and the factors affecting its perceived effectiveness in Hong Kong mainstream schools during COVID-19.Methods & Procedures: Seventy-two school-based Hong Kong SLTs completed a 110-item online survey with six structural components: (1) concerns, (2) adoption, (3) student selection criteria, (4) perceived effectiveness, (5) continuous professional development and (6) attitudes/beliefs.Outcomes & Results: Over 90% of respondents adopted telepractice during the pandemic. Confirmatory factor analysis identified reliable constructs from their component measures. These participants reported great telepractice difficulties (especially in therapy preparation and managing students’ attention and/or communication). Mixed-response analysis revealed that psychosocial factors (i.e., students’ engagement and SLTs’ attitudes towards telepractice) but not professional practice skill factors (i.e., student client selection criteria and SLTs’ years of experience in school settings) contributed to SLTs’ self-perceived effectiveness of telepractice.Conclusions & Implications: Our findings suggest that psychosocial factors play a more important role than professional practice skill factors in the self-perceived effectiveness of telepractice. Copyright © 2022 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.