Programming is perceived to be an indispensable type of literacy in the digital era. To effectively promote and implement programming in K–12 education, it is necessary to understand school principals' perception of programming education. This study adopted a mixed methods design to explain principals' understanding, expectations, and support for programming education in primary schools using Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). In study 1, survey questionnaires were distributed to all principals from public primary schools in Hong Kong. Two hundred and sixty-six principals responded to the survey (response rate = 55.6%). In study 2, a follow-up interview study with 13 principals was conducted to further explore their perception of programming education. The results of study 1 indicated that principals with a better understanding of programming education tend to have clearer expectations of how to implement programming education in their schools, which consequently leads to greater support for the implementation of programming education. In study 2, the thematic analysis further supported the results obtained in study 1. Specifically, the results of study 2 demonstrated that most principals show understanding, expectation, and support for the implementation of programming education, which in turn results in various positive student and teacher outcomes. The results also showed that challenges are inevitable during implementation, principals show capabilities and willingness to adjust their expectation and support to better integrate programming education into their school curricula. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The applications of technology-enhanced learning spaces have become a topical subject of research, with many studies conducted on the impact of technology-enhanced learning spaces on students' learning; however, only a small number of these focus on how the spaces affect students' learning. This article will elaborate on how technology-enhanced learning spaces facilitate the learning of students and explain in detail the impact of such spaces on them. Interviews were conducted with 48 postgraduate students who had experienced learning in technology-enhanced learning spaces. The interview data were analysed using the grounded theory approach and a theoretical model was proposed for the process of student learning in technology-enhanced learning spaces. The results demonstrate that three factors: academic motivation, extension of time and space, and externalization and expression, can facilitate student engagement in learning in technology-enhanced learning spaces. In addition, student characteristics is an influential factor in student engagement, while pedagogies also determine the effectiveness of these spaces.
[Copyright of Asia Pacific Journal of Education is the property of Routledge.]

A study was conducted for creating digital classrooms to support students to develop information literacy competency and critical thinking skills through domain knowledge learning in digital classrooms. A total of 107 students from four Secondary 1 classes were invited from a secondary school in Hong Kong to participate in the study. In the 13-week trial teaching, every three students shared a Tablet PC for learning two topics in the Integrated Humanities subject. The pre- and post-tests of the two target subject topics found that the students had a statistically significant growth in domain knowledge. The three identical information literacy tests and critical thinking tests throughout the trial teaching found that the students had a statistically significant growth in information literacy competency and critical thinking skills. The semi-structured interviews found that the students and teachers positively perceived the effectiveness of the pedagogical designs of the digital classrooms on supporting the development of information literacy competency and critical thinking skills. Three implications are drawn for enhancing the pedagogical designs in digital classrooms that put emphasis on fostering students' development of information literacy competency and critical thinking skills through day-to-day domain knowledge learning in class.
[Copyright © Pergamon Press].