Self-access centres are sometimes portrayed as being at the forefront of pedagogical innovation. They are also said to be technology-rich language learning environments. In practice, however, the application of technology in a self-access environment has proven to be a challenge. This article focuses on 10 self-access centres that were found to be the most intensive users of technology out of a total of 45 centres investigated worldwide. The article describes the range of technologies used by these centres and the types of administrative procedures and student learning supported. It also compares these centres with the other 35 in the study to identify how they differ in the way they make use of technology.
[Copyright of Computer Assisted Language Learning is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588220701331428]

The growing popularity of e-learning may pose one of the greatest challenges currently facing traditional educational institutions. The questions often asked are how, rather than whether, to embrace this new form of instructional delivery and how to create an appropriate learning environment for the learners. Educational institutions in Hong Kong have the option of adopting programmes or learning materials developed in other parts of the world for local learners, or not. Such an approach of acquiring learning materials is not without risks in terms of the suitability of materials embedded with cultural contents 'foreign' to local learners, or in terms of the suitability of assumptions in the communication context. What are the issues involved in the globalization of education through e-learning? This paper explores - from a critical-dialectical perspective - the implications of globalization on educational policy through cross-border delivery of educational programmes by e-learning, with particular attention given to the threat of cultural imperialism. The paper concludes that Hong Kong seems to be coping with 'cultural imperialism' rather well because of its unique history of being a cross-road for East and West, and also with some recommendations to e-learning providers to mitigate the potential damage of cross-cultural delivery of e-learning.
[Copyright of International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning is the property of Athabasca University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.irrodl.org]

Increasingly, there is advocacy for parents to be included in partnership roles with schools. Indeed, the term 'partnership' seems to have acquired the connotation of an ideal form of parent-school relationship. This paper argues that the notion of partnership, with its accompanying suggestion of equality as a framework for the complementary sharing of responsibilities, is problematical. Based on the findings from an in-depth study of teacher leadership in three Hong Kong schools that involved as participants parents, teachers, and students, it is proposed that a more reasonable understanding of this relationship is that of a professional and client association, where both parents and teachers are aware of their responsibilities and that these responsibilities are at once both demarcated and shared according to that understanding. At the same time there is also a need for teachers and parents to concentrate on building more concrete links for consistent and regular teacherVparent communication, as significant student learning now takes place informally at home, via the Internet.
[Copyright of Teaching Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10476210601151573]

This paper focuses on reconfiguring assessment processes so that they support a learning function, in addition to the more traditional measurement function. In the first half of the paper we discuss a framework for 'learning‐oriented assessment' derived from a project carried out in Hong Kong. We conceptualize learning‐oriented assessment as containing three key components: assessment tasks as learning tasks; student involvement in assessment; and explicitly forward‐looking feedback. The second half of the paper presents an action research case in which the first author implemented some of the principles of learning‐oriented assessment within a module in a teacher education context. The module, focusing on multimedia and web authoring, was taught through blended learning with an emphasis on peer learning and project‐based learning. A particular feature was the interplay between students' learning experiences and the module assessments.
[Copyright of Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09695940600703944]

作者以Kahn（1997）所提的網絡教學（Web-based Instruction）為架構，探討互動學習環境在工商管理課程的應用設計，包括如何篩選有用的資料以及如何善用電腦網絡裡龐大的資訊資源，以及如何善用電腦聯網的工具，以營造一個學習氣氛濃厚的虛擬課堂於營銷管理課程裡。

The authors aim at heightening Hong Kong college students' phonetic awareness and improving their pronunciation by developing an interactive Internet-based program with special reference to Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. The authors report that the program comprises four modules, and that efforts are also made to ensure that students will have an enjoyable learning experience.