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.

This presentation depicts the experience of integrating web-based technology in an ESL module in a Hong Kong teacher training college. The use of these tools facilitates the process of language acquisition, namely through increased interaction between not only teachers and students but also more collaboration between learners. The case study shows that students have responded well to technology enhanced learning and consequently gained a better understanding of the course content. Students were also more motivated in completing the module.
[Copyright © 2009 The Association for Advancement of Computing in Education.]

This presentation describes the College_Asia project, where undergraduate ESL students from Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand uploaded photos on Flickr.com and commented on each other's photos and postings. This practice can be used as generating ideas/topics for class discussions as well as to provide a platform for students to use English in authentic situations. Based on students' response to a questionnaire survey of the College_Asia project, it is concluded that the project has a lot of potential in improving learner motivation and possibilities of international collaboration in English language classrooms.
[Copyright © 2009 The Association for Advancement of Computing in Education.]

Conducting teaching supervision is one of the prominent teaching and learning activities of education programmes in Hong Kong. The objective of this paper is to design a platform integrating web-enabled technologies for remote teaching supervision so as to maximize the quality of supervision and minimize the workload of supervision. This paper reports on the physical architecture of the design: remote-controlled video/audio browsing/recording system, as well as the online interface for supervisors to evaluate student-teacher’s performance during remote teaching supervision. By utilizing the video browsing system, constraints of time, fading of memory and diffused locations of sites can be eliminated in teaching supervision, making more in-depth and extensive feedback given by supervisors and additional time for student-teachers to learn possible. A case-based empirical study will follow to investigate the effectiveness of the designed system.
[Copyright © 2009 The Association for Advancement of Computing in Education.]

In the last two years, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been actively promoting the use of IT in schools. Virtually every school in the region is now well aware of the implications of these government initiatives and has embarked on the path toward integration of new learning technologies in the classroom. While many teachers may already be well down the track toward use of IT in teaching and learning, the impetus of government initiatives has meant that, all teachers now need to have clearer notions and directions about how to make the transition. Teachers need a strong foundation on which to build their skills toward modifying their teaching strategies to realize the potential of emerging technologies in enhancing student learning outcomes. In the Hong Kong context it would appear that several things would have to occur before schools are able to mount any meaningful use of IT and where teachers are then able to integrate use of IT in their daily teaching and learning activities. It is with this focus that this paper will address some of the broad issues related to change in schools associated with the use of IT and attempt to provide some suggestions based on research findings and worldwide experience.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using mobile devices for promoting subject learning in school education. A total of 43 Chinese students from two Primary 4 classes in a primary school in Hong Kong participated in this study. One class was randomly assigned as the experimental class, while the other class as the control class. Students in the experimental class used mobile devices to learn about perimeter of polygons while those in the control class learned the same topic with paper-based materials. The results of pre-test and post-test show that students in the experimental class achieved a significant improvement in their learning performance. Furthermore, the responses from student interview indicate that students in the experimental class were generally satisfied with classroom learning with mobile devices because of two reasons: i) an increased level of student control, and ii) an enhanced communication between peers and between the teacher and students. These findings reveal the pedagogical potential of mobile devices to promote deep learning through classroom-based dialogic interaction in class time.
[Copyright © 2012 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.]

This primary school (students aged 6 to 12), uses small class teaching, cooperative learning, promotion of self-learning skills, and "invitation education" (i.e., teaching practices based on respect, trust, optimism and intentionality). The school widely employs ICT facilities: Teachers, students and parents can share materials (e.g., with the "electric schoolbag"), there is a distance-learning classroom for joined projects with other schools, and a "smart classroom" equipped with electric whiteboards. The school has a garden and library that are both taken care of by student teams. Every classroom has a mini performing stage and a reading corner; books are also spread all over the school to stimulate children to read there after school. The school offers reading programmes for children who arrive early in the morning at school, and intensive after-school tutoring and supervised homework sessions. Social activities include mixed-age "caring groups" who have one mentoring teacher and meet monthly, commendations for academic and social behaviour, and celebrations like birthday parties. The staff regularly attends seminars for professional development and engages in collaborative lesson planning, and peer lesson observation.
[Copyright © OECD, 2012.]

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].

Peer teaching and learning are learner-centred approaches with great potential for promoting effective learning, and the fast development of Web 2.0 technology has opened new doors for promoting peer teaching and learning. In this study, we aim to establish peer teaching and learning among students by employing a Wikibook project in the course 'Introduction to Linguistics' in the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Students were asked to work in groups to write an academic book online, and the Wikibook technology allows students to peer-edit and peer-comment on each other's academic works online. Peer teaching sessions were arranged as well based on the content of the Wikibook. To determine students' perceptions on peer teaching and learning occurring in the course, two surveys and follow-up interviews were conducted. The findings suggest that the Wikibook project is an effective way to promote peer teaching and learning in higher education.
[Copyright © Springer Science+Business Media New York].

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) allow teachers to manage learning activities efficiently and effectively. Teachers can use an LMS to upload course materials, organize online discussions, share files, and collect assignments online. In 2002, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the largest teacher education provider in Hong Kong, started to employ the popular Blackboard online learning platform. The Institute attempted various ways to explore the delivery of traditional academic courses via this online learning platform. The primary aim of using Blackboard is to provide in-service teachers with a new way to facilitate their learning. In addition to LMSs, we are aware that our students are able to collaborate, create, and share new information on the Web through various Web 2.0 tools (such as social bookmarking systems, blogs, wikis, social networks, video sharing platforms, etc.). However, how can these Web 2.0 tools be used alongside LMSs to facilitate the implementation of e-learning in teacher education courses? This study aims to investigate the synergistic effects of integrating LMSs and free wikis in teacher education courses. First, we discuss the pros and cons of using LMS and wiki-based learning activities from a user's perspective. Secondly, we discuss the approach for building our own learning model that integrates both online tools in course delivery.
[Copyright © Common Ground Publishing].