This article mainly addresses the Hong Kong new Information Technology in Education policy to have further integration of information technology into the learning and teaching process, particularly on the design of IT-supported inquiry learning in the primary General Studies. The article focuses on the collaborative effort of the teacher educators from the Institute of Education and the curriculum developers of the Hong Kong Education City in the design of a web-based learning unit on "Earth Movement" to support pupils' inquiry learning of science. The article discusses the different modes of inquiry learning with the web-based learning unit in primary General Studies

Background: During the era of education reform, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has launched a series of measures to enhance the learning of the students and the effectiveness of teaching. In the Curriculum Development Council document, Learning to Learn--the Way Forward in Curriculum, the policy of school-based curriculum is advocated. The aim is to allow "schools to have more autonomy in choosing some contents more relevant to their students so long as they are in line with the curriculum aims, strands, principles of learning/teaching, with justifiable modifications that suit their students most", This paper reports a case study of a local primary school in implementing the school-based curriculum in General Studies (GS) from 2003 to 2006.
Aims: To study why the school initiated such educational change, the strategies teachers employed and difficulties they encountered. Recommendations are made for teachers and administrators who want to initiate educational change in schools.
Sample: The head teacher, the subject panel, level coordinators and subject teachers were interviewed. Parents and students were also invited to fill in questionnaires by the end of the school year.
Method: Qualitative research method such as in depth interview and quantitative research method such as filling in questionnaires were employed.
Results: Most of the teachers claimed that it is the school administration who initiated the adoption of the school-based curriculum policy. Though they tried their best to deal with various difficulties, worked hard, prepared lessons jointly, and claimed that students showed more interest in lessons, some did not have the ownership of the school-based curriculum development.
Conclusion: The implementation and institutionalization of any educational change requires more than willing individual teachers, e.g. the subject panel or level coordinators. Rather, there needs to be a deep re-conceptualisation of the

In Hong Kong, various changes in education policy have taken place since the 1980s in response to the different impacts generated by globalization, the application of information technology and changes in political, economic and educational en vironments. During the transitional period, various education policies on curriculum reform were implemented for the preparation for the return of sovereignty to China. In 1996 General Studies, a new integrated subject, was introduced as one of the core s ubjects in the primary curriculum. It aims at preparing children for a comprehensive education in the course of the primary education. Children are guided to acquire basic knowledge related to the individual, family, society, science and technology and th e natural world. General Studies also aims to equip children "with skills and attitudes and enable them to solve problems which they encounter now and in the future so that they can gain understanding of their world, develop positive attitudes and be read y to be good citizens". As Hong Kong was going to reintegrate with the People's Republic of China, in order to help pupils to have increased knowledge about China, the syllabus contents of Primary five and six were extended beyond Hong Kong to China and t he world as a whole. This paper analyses the aims, objectives, contents and the implementation of the General Studies syllabus. The aim is to study whether the subject helps develop the national identity in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the P eople's Republic of China. The significance of this study is to provide suggestions to strengthen pupils' awareness of their Chinese national identity.
自80年代以來，因應全球化、資訊科技的應用、政治、經濟和教育環境 的轉變，香港推行不少教育改革。過渡期間，香港的課程亦作出不少改革。一九九六年 開始常識科已成為香港的小學的共同核心課程中的一科。常識科不單培養兒童獲取 知識，亦著重技能和正確的態度。 目的是讓兒童學會如何解決問題、培養積極的態度、和做個良好的公民。因中國對 香港恢復行使主權，常識科的課程選材亦由香港擴闊至中國和世界。本文分析常識科 課程的目標、宗旨、內容和推行的情況，旨在研究常識科能否培養學生認同中國人的 身份，並提出建議以增強學生對中國人的身份的醒覺。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education

為配合香港政府積極推行的資訊科技教育政策，教育工作者正努力發展不同的方案，應用資訊科技改善教學。本文介紹專為小學常識科而設的數碼錄像短片資源庫，探討短片如何協助教師在教學應用資訊科技。文章首先討論推行是項計劃的目標及成果，然後就使用者的問卷調查所得，歸納意見，討論如何改善資源庫的使用介面和怎樣增潤短片的內容。文章進一步討論研究的啟示：錄像短片在教學上的應用及教師在發展數碼錄像短片資源庫的角色。
In respond to the Government's policy of using Information Technology (IT) in education, various approaches are attempted by educators to enhance the effectiveness of using IT in learning and teaching. This article describes a resources bank of digital video clips, which is especially designed for General Studies in Hong Kong primary curriculum, and explains how digital video clips can assist teaching in classrooms. It starts with objectives and outcomes of the project, which followed by a discussion of the findings from a survey conducted with users. Based on the users' opinion, ways of improving the interface and content will be discussed. The article further discussed the implications inferred by the result. They are the use of digital video clips in teaching and learning, and the roles of teachers in the further development of the resources bank of digital video clips.
[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/]