This study investigates designs for developing knowledge building (KB) and higher order competencies among academically low-achieving students. Thirty-seven low-achieving students from a ninth-grade visual arts course in Hong Kong participated. The design involved principle-based KB pedagogy, with students writing on Knowledge Forum® (KF), enriched by analytics-supported reflective assessment. Analysis of the discourse on KF showed that the low achievers were able to engage in productive discourse, with evidence of metacognitive, collaborative, and epistemic inquiry. Analysis illustrates how the design supported student engagement, including (1) reflective inquiry and social metacognition; (2) reflective meta- and epistemic talk; (3) evidence-based reflection for collective growth; and (4) reflection embedded in community ethos. Implications of reflective assessment for supporting low achievers for inquiry learning and KB are discussed. Copyright © Sage Publications Ltd.

A school-based planning for technology enhanced learning (TEL) in both the traditional school curriculum and the development of the Twenty-first Century Knowledge is considered crucial for school education in Hong Kong. This study aimed to analyze the status quo and provide recommendations on the planning for TEL. Focus group discussion and case study were conducted to collect views of school practitioners on the need and areas of school-based planning for TEL. Results of the study showed that schools in Hong Kong recognized the importance of the Twenty-first Century Knowledge in school education, and asserted the adoption of TEL for delivering traditional curriculum and fostering the Twenty-first Century Knowledge. In this regard, three recommendations in response to the roles of IT on enhancing school education in the twenty-first century are made. They are the use of information technology for fostering independent inquiry learning, the promotion of self-regulated learning involving the use of digital resources, and the use of digital student learning records for encouraging assessment for learning.