Background: Information and communications technologies (ICT) are often characterized as offering new and exciting possibilities for changing and enhancing the way people work and play. Similarly, ICT-based learning environments offer opportunities for new types of learning and cognitive activity that have not been previously available in formal educational settings. Lessons from business reveal that technology can be a powerful accelerator of change, however it must be focused on productive applications.
Focus of discussion: In education, there have been calls to more closely examine some of the claims for ICT and to re-think the ways it has been used to date. This paper argues that at the school-level, the form ICT will take and the functions it will serve for teaching and learning are still yet to be determined.
Argument: It is clear from studies of highly successful organizations that that they think differently about technology and work hard to develop thoughtful and creative applications. The continuing challenge for Hong Kong schools is to demonstrate that ICT has a credible place in the development of collaborative learning environments that emphasize knowledge production over knowledge reproduction.
Conclusion: The educational leadership that is required for the new millennium is to look for smart uses of technology that are designed to foster knowledge creation and productive learning.
眾所周知，資訊與通訊技術給人們帶來新的機遇，並且改變著人們工作與休閒的方式。同樣，基於資訊通訊科技的學習系統也向人們提供了傳統教育所無法提供的新的學習與認知方式。實踐經驗表明，技術可以成為促使改善認知方式的強有力的催化劑，但是選擇技術時必須注意這種技術是否的確可以提高效率。已經有人呼籲要密切關注資訊通訊技術在教育領域的應用方式。筆者認為在中小學階段，資訊通訊技術服務於教學的方式還有待於研究。香港中小學目前所面臨的挑戰是如何證明在開發側重於知識開發的協作學習環境時，資訊通訊科技佔有重要的地位。我們對一些在這個領域內取得成功的機構作分析的結果顯示，這些機構對技術的認識與其他機構有所不同，並且這些機構致力於開發出富有創新的應用系統。教育領域領導階層需要尋求合理利用技術來服務於知識獲取及高效率學習的新方法。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

As a subject in Hong Kong secondary schools, Design & Technology (D&T) is influenced by four factors. First, for many years, the subject of Design & Technology was offered almost exclusively to boys, with girls only being allowed to take Home Economics. Recently however, girls are now having the opportunity to take D&T as a required subject in schools. Second, although some schools have allowed girls to take D&T for several years, some have only just started this practice. As a result, some girls have studied D&T from secondary one to three, while others may only be having their initial experience as a secondary three student. Third, the content and teaching of D&T varies from school to school, and depends on the type of syllabus followed and facilities available. Fourth, not all secondary schools in Hong Kong offer D&T, meaning a large number of both boys and girls have never experienced the subject.
To examine Hong Kong pupils' attitudes toward technology, a Pupils' Attitudes Toward Technology (PATT2-HK) study was conducted with over 2,800 students in 22 secondary schools. This study duplicated the first PATTHK research conducted earlier (Volk & Yip, 1999), and the findings were compared. More specifically, given the immense changes that occurred in just a few short years relating to D&T program availability, facilities, and subject content, this study was undertaken to determine whether or not the proactive measures to ensure that all students have the opportunity to participate in D&T were in fact having a positive impact on pupils' attitudes toward technology. From this PATT2-HK study and examination made of current factors, recommendations as to the impact and future direction of D&T in Hong Kong are made.
[Copyright of Journal of Technology Education is the property of Columbus State University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/]

In order to build a knowledge‐based society and meet the needs of lifelong education, open learning opportunities are growing at exponential rates. While such growth is commendable, there appears to be a very strong demand for distance guidance services in open education programme selection. The purpose of this study was to develop the online self‐directed inventory, the Academic Programme Preference Instrument (APPI), for the lifelong learners in Hong Kong. The methods of questionnaire survey and standardized psychological measurement were employed. In this study, 2775 respondents were surveyed in order to identify and verify the inventory, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. The inventory consists of 112 items under nine personal attribute types, namely: organizational; mechanical; scientific; sociological; mathematical; literary; musical; aesthetic; and social service. Eighty‐nine distance and continuing education professionals were invited to help to determine the most important personal attributes that a learner should possess in order to meet the minimum entry requirements of each of the 73 education programme categories that account for over 800 open education programmes in Hong Kong. The online APPI, in English and Chinese versions, has been linked to the homepage of the Hok Yau Club in Hong Kong for the public to use freely. As Hong Kong aims to foster lifelong learning in a knowledge‐based society, it is expected that the APPI can help lifelong learners to make wise open education programme selection and to enhance learners’ success in pursuing continuing education.
[Copyright of International Journal of Lifelong Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02601370600990952]