This study explores how an online integrated learning environment (ILE) to cater for individual learning differences is used by teachers in two primary schools in Hong Kong. The findings reveal a positive change in both perception and pedagogy of the participants. The results indicate that scaffolding activities led to an enhanced ability to engage in independent learning. Principals and teachers were prepared to alter systemic structures to support the use of the ILE. During the 3-year period teachers developed coping strategies which led to ICT-enriched learning, provision of extended learning opportunities and development of study units for online delivery. Evidence also suggests that adoption of the ILE allowed teachers to pay fresh attention to the need to engage students, to respond to them properly and efficiently and to ensure that at each step of the way the students fully understand the work they are doing and that the work set is at an appropriate level.
[Copyright of Educational Media International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523980500237807]

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of the first online self-directed inventory on the measurement of academic programme preferences (MAPP) for potential students at the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). In this study, trait-factor theory and personality type theory were employed. 1,963 respondents in Hong Kong were surveyed using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling technique. The inventory, consisting of 132 items, was developed and eight personal attributes were found: Influential , Enterprising , Social , Helping , Explorative , Technological , Logical , and Reflective . The minimum desirability of each of these attributes for all programmes offered at the OUHK was assessed by course administrators. Students' ratings on the eight personal attributes were evaluated against the minimum ratings, based on a nine-point scale, to determine their academic preferences. A computer-assisted multidimensional MAPP was set up online in both English and Chinese and was linked to the University's homepage. By completing the MAPP online, distance learners could obtain their personal profiles and a list of suggested OUHK programmes instantaneously. Connected to the University's aim to foster lifelong learning, the MAPP is expected to ease the academic selection process and reduce the number of dropouts by enhancing students' success with their chosen programmes.
[Copyright of Distance Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0158791032000127482]

The present study explores the learner stories of two Hong Kong English language students: a returnee student (a native speaker of English) and those of one of his local classmates (a native speaker of Cantonese). With the high level of migration from and to Hong Kong over the last 25 years, the number of children returning to Hong Kong from English-speaking countries has increased dramatically. Many of these returnee children enter the local Hong Kong education system and study English as a foreign language alongside Cantonese-speaking students. Through biographical interviews, this study investigates the complexities of the Hong Kong EFL classroom contexts and the implications on bilingual identity formation. The interview data provide insight on the negotiation of and limitations on bilingual identity formation in educational settings.
[Copyright of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/illt052.0]

This study focuses on primary students' self-learning strategies, using a sample of 1253 students from 20 Year 3 and 20 Year 5 classes from 10 primary schools in Hong Kong. Students were asked to name sources from which they could learn. They were then asked to rate 10 self-learning strategies on perceived usefulness and personal deployment. Students named an average of 2.5 learning sources, with print exposure (reading) being the most commonly nominated source. Multilevel analysis revealed substantial differences (27% of attributable variance) between classes on student ability to name learning sources. In general, the students indicated that all 10 suggested learning strategies were useful. The two most commonly deployed strategies were help-seeking and locating a quiet study environment. Gender differences were not found on naming learning resources, but girls indicated relatively higher levels of strategy awareness and deployment.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0144341042000294930]