The present study explored the use of digital tools by English language schoolteachers in Hong Kong. Using a qualitative-dominant sequential mixed-methods design, wherein an online mixed-methods survey of primary and secondary school English language teachers (N = 83) and follow-up in-depth interviews (N = 22) were employed, this study collectively explored which digital tools the participants used, why the participants used these tools, and how the participants used them. Fourteen categories of tools utilized by teachers in their professional practice were identified. These were further categorized into core, additional, and remote digital tools based on their mode and frequency of use. Affordances of the core digital tools for language teaching were identified, with examples of teachers’ pedagogical uses of the tools presented. By providing an overview of digital tool use, teachers, school leadership, and professional development providers can better understand how teachers should be prepared for the digital realities of schools. In addition, this study provides a model for understanding the context and subject-specific bidirectional relationship between tools, their affordances, and teachers’ professional tasks. © 2023 by the authors.

After the pandemic, education will not go back to a 100% offline mode since the application of e-learning technologies (ELTs) cannot be avoided. Therefore, their impact should be studied for future education development. Most future entrepreneurs are attending school today. Therefore, universities need to supply necessary education to encourage students to cope with future conditions and development. At the same time, due to the increasing attention being paid to the harmony between ecology and prosperity, the sustainability aspect of entrepreneurship education needs to be emphasized as well. This study investigates the impact of ELTs on entrepreneurial education performance (including personal skills, product skills, and business skills), sustainability efficacy, and their impact on sustainability awareness. Data were collected from a master’s degree class on entrepreneurship at a Hong Kong university and SmartPLS was used to analyze the data. It was found that ELTs have a significant relationship with entrepreneurial performance and sustainability efficacy. Meanwhile, sustainability efficacy also has a significant relationship with sustainability awareness. However, no significant relationship between entrepreneurial skills and sustainability awareness was identified. The results indicate that ELTs can improve students’ entrepreneurial skills and sustainability awareness, which proves the effectiveness of ELTs and provides support for their application in future entrepreneurship education. © 2023 by the authors.

This article reports on the findings from a technology-enhanced teacher learning project where the SETTVEO app (Self Evaluation of Teacher Talk through Video Enhanced Observation) was used to support teachers’ reflective practices and professional development. Participants in the project were a group of 40 student teachers (ST) from Hong Kong, who took part in a teaching practicum taught online owing to COVID-19 restrictions. They formed online professional learning communities (PLCs) with peers and tutors, shared their class recordings (tagged using the on SETTVEO app), and reflected on their teaching through weekly discussions. This study aims to characterize teacher learning mediated by video technology and dialogue, and to evaluate the impact of the app on STs’ reflective practices and emerging Classroom Interactional Competence (CIC, Walsh 2013). In this article, we focus on an individual ST's development over a period of eight weeks. Two sources of data are transcribed and analysed using an applied Conversation Analysis (CA) method: the first records the teacher's interactions while teaching, the second their dialogic reflections based on observations of these class recordings. Findings from the study enhance our understandings of the role of technology in influencing classroom practice and highlight its importance in promoting teacher noticing and professional development. © The Author(s) 2023.

Background The existing literature has predominantly focused on instructor social presence in videos in an asynchronous learning environment and little is known about student social presence on webcam in online learning in the context of COVID‐19. Objectives This paper therefore contrasts students' and teachers' perspectives on student social presence on webcam in synchronous online teaching through co‐orientation analysis. Methods Data were collected through an online questionnaire with 14 statements that measured participants' perceptions of webcam use in three constructs in social presence (i.e., emotional expression, open communication, and cohesion). 154 students and 36 teachers from two higher education institutions in Hong Kong responded to the questionnaire, and their responses were analysed using the co‐orientation model. Results and conclusion Results reveal the perceptual gaps between teachers and students on the use of webcam to promote student social presence by showing how teachers were comparatively more positive about its impacts for learning and consistently overestimated students' preference for it. Through analysing individual constructs/items, this paper argues that using webcams in synchronous online learning could enhance student social presence only to a limited extent in that it may help improve emotional expression and open communication but not cohesion. Implications The paper advises against the adoption of a clear‐cut policy that webcams should be either recommended or not recommended for online learning. Instead, teachers should take into account students' perspective to find out the types of activities that are apt for using webcams in online learning, and reflective tasks and oral assessments were amongst the ones considered appropriate by students in the study. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

In this editorial, we discuss the affordances and challenges of emerging technologies in designing and implementing STEM education as a planned theme of this special issue. We view that emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality, have a double-edged sword effect on STEM learning and teaching. Exploring the effect will help provide a balanced view that simultaneously recognizes the benefits and pitfalls of the technologies and avoids overstating either one. This themed issue highlights how immersive and AI-driven learning environments advance and transform STEM education in different contexts. It consists of this editorial, three research reviews, and two empirical research articles contributed by scholars from five different regions, including Australia, Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore, and the USA. They discussed the educational, social, and technological effects of emerging technologies. Each article discusses to various extent about the current research status, what and how the technologies can afford, and what concerns the technologies may bring to STEM education. © The Author(s), 2023.

This study explores teachers’ perspectives with regards to teaching English in virtual classrooms, specifically with regards to teaching English as a second language within the context of emergency remote learning in Hong Kong during COVID-19. Through undertaking thematic analysis of six interviews with English language teachers at a university in Hong Kong, this study explores how teachers view the benefits, challenges and personal and professional consequences of the shift to emergency remote teaching during the pandemic. Taking a social constructivist approach to the topic, the study also seeks to uncover how teachers view such provisions as being improved under future emergencies and with respect to online English language teaching moving forwards generally. This research topic contributes both to a longstanding debate on the ways in which digital technologies can enhance education and language learning, as well as the emerging body of literature examining how teachers and students have responded to the implementation of digital learning in online classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. © The Author(s) 2023.

This study explores the trends of chatbots in education studies by conducting a literature review to analyze relevant papers published in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) journals by searching the Web of Science (WoS) database. From the analysis results, it was found that the United States, Taiwan and Hong Kong are the top three contributing countries or regions. In addition, most studies adopted quantitative methods in their research design, such as ANOVA (Analysis of variance), descriptive statistics, t test, and correlation analysis. ANCOVA (Analysis of covariance) was the most frequently adopted approach for comparing the performances or perceptions of different groups of students. From the analysis results, the greatest proportion of studies adopted guided learning, followed by no learning activities. It was determined that the studies related to chatbots in education are still in an early stage since there are few empirical studies investigating the use of effective learning designs or learning strategies with chatbots. This implies much room for conducting relevant research to drive innovative teaching in terms of improving the learning process and learning outcomes. Finally, we highlight the research gaps and suggest several directions for future research based on the findings in the present study. © 2021 Informa UK Limited.

In-person teaching abroad experiences, where pre-service teachers spend a defined period teaching in schools in a foreign country, have received considerable research attention in recent years. However, virtual alternatives have yet to be explored. This exploratory study sought to understand the effects a virtual teaching abroad experience had on pre-service teachers' professional learning. Data included teaching logs and reflective writings of two groups of pre-service teachers from Hong Kong who participated in a virtual teaching abroad experience hosted by a university in the United Kingdom and interviews with their course coordinators. The findings suggest that the PSTs found the virtual teaching abroad experience novel and unique, contributing to professional learning. Specifically, the experience (a) increased the PSTs' confidence and flexibility; (b) improved their synchronous online teaching skills; (c) gave them greater awareness of learner differences and needs; and (d) exposed them to innovative pedagogical approaches. The study suggests that virtual teaching abroad experiences could have a place within initial teacher education, especially as the financial costs associated with them are lower than in-person experiences. However, they do not seem adequate to replace a sustained period immersed in an overseas school context. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

Studies have shown that teacher leaders take the initiative to shape and exercise pastoral care practices to meet the rapid changes in student learning and well-being. The present study aims to examine and conceptualize the relationship between teacher entrepreneurial behaviour (TEB) and the renewal of pastoral care practices while accounting for any possible mediating effects of new technologies. We collected 446 responses to survey questions from teacher leaders from 53 secondary and primary schools in Hong Kong. We then employed structural equation modelling to test the associations between TEB, renewing pastoral care practice, and technological opportunism. The results support three proposed hypotheses insofar as higher levels of TEB are positively associated with renewing pastoral care, which is in turn mediated by technological opportunism. The results advance teacher leadership research regarding how TEB contributes to the sustainable development of pastoral care strategies in schools. They also demonstrate that teacher leaders with strong TEB are more willing to seek new technologies and treat them as opportunities for change, which contributes to the literature showing that information and communication technology (ICT) resources not only support teachers initiatives but also help them develop new ideas. Copyright © 2023 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

This paper explores the pedagogical approaches teachers employ and the strategies that school leaders implement to promote the use of an Adaptive Learning Platform (ALP) in a high school in Hong Kong. It assesses how such an AI-powered platform can support teachers in enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes. The study employs a case study methodology to identify the factors influencing the incorporation of ALP. Qualitative data were collected through teacher interviews, and an in-depth analysis was carried out to identify effective pedagogies and strategies for implementing adaptive learning. The findings of this study underscore the significance of supportive school leadership that encourages teachers to embrace ALP as a tool for promoting student learning. Additionally, effective implementation of ALP necessitates a shift in pedagogical practices from traditional teacher-centred approaches to more student-centred strategies. The study concludes that the integration of ALP into teaching practices can boost student engagement and elevate the quality of learning outcomes. In summary, this research contributes to understanding the successful implementation of ALP in high schools, emphasising the critical roles of school leadership support and the adoption of student-centred pedagogies. The findings provide valuable insights for educators, administrators, and policymakers interested in utilising ALP to improve student learning outcomes. Copyright © 2023 by the owner/author(s).