With healthcare staff called upon to use ever more sophisticated medical techniques and computer technology, there has been an increasing importance placed upon Continuing Nursing Education (CNE). In response to this, we decided to investigate whether recent developments in Internet technology might provide an innovative way to design and develop a cost effective, flexible, multilingual, CNE system to help staff learn specialist knowledge required to work within our Department of Neurosurgery. This was the basis for our Nursing Intranet Learning System (NILS). This paper discusses the issues involved in developing and delivering courses via this new medium. It will also describe some of the significant advantages of web-based learning over traditional computer based learning systems, as well as highlight some of the difficulties encountered in utilizing this rapidly evolving technology. Finally, future work for the system will be mentioned.
[Copyright of Innovations in Education & Teaching International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703290110074939]

In order to build a knowledge‐based society and meet the needs of lifelong education, open learning opportunities are growing at exponential rates. While such growth is commendable, there appears to be a very strong demand for distance guidance services in open education programme selection. The purpose of this study was to develop the online self‐directed inventory, the Academic Programme Preference Instrument (APPI), for the lifelong learners in Hong Kong. The methods of questionnaire survey and standardized psychological measurement were employed. In this study, 2775 respondents were surveyed in order to identify and verify the inventory, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. The inventory consists of 112 items under nine personal attribute types, namely: organizational; mechanical; scientific; sociological; mathematical; literary; musical; aesthetic; and social service. Eighty‐nine distance and continuing education professionals were invited to help to determine the most important personal attributes that a learner should possess in order to meet the minimum entry requirements of each of the 73 education programme categories that account for over 800 open education programmes in Hong Kong. The online APPI, in English and Chinese versions, has been linked to the homepage of the Hok Yau Club in Hong Kong for the public to use freely. As Hong Kong aims to foster lifelong learning in a knowledge‐based society, it is expected that the APPI can help lifelong learners to make wise open education programme selection and to enhance learners’ success in pursuing continuing education.
[Copyright of International Journal of Lifelong Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02601370600990952]

This paper uses the case-study method to examine detailed data related to student and tutor usage of an asynchronous discussion board as an interactive communication forum during a first-semester associate degree course in applied psychology at the City University of Hong Kong. The paper identifies 'what works' in relation to discussion board use, demonstrating how students might gradually create an online community of their own, but only if prompted in a timely and appropriate way by the course structure. It also identifies three distinct phases in online interaction and suggests these might, to some extent, be mediated by assessment tasks.
[Copyright of ALT-J: Research in Learning Technology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687760701673592]

With the current state of web technology, multimedia materials are readily accessible by students. This paper reports on the design and evaluation of three online courses from a university in Hong Kong which incorporate media‐enhanced learning materials. These cases are at different positions with respect to the types of knowledge and levels of cognitive reasoning outlined in the revised Bloom's taxonomy. Evaluation data give qualified support for media‐enhanced aspects of the courses being beneficial to student learning. The study has also highlighted factors that influence the success of the learning experience: attention to the quality and design of the media, considering student motivation and focusing on feedback on learning during the course. Media and learning design, thus, are inextricably intertwined in a complex relationship.
[Copyright of Educational Media International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523980600641403]

This paper discusses cost-effectiveness as it applies to education, focusing particularly on the delivery of online courses in open and distance learning. The general concept of cost-effectiveness is discussed, and issues concerning the costs and effectiveness associated with using online technology in distance education are then addressed. Finally, a pilot project on an online course at the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) is used as an illustrative example. The key features of the pilot project relating to costs and effectiveness are outlined, and ways to improve its cost-effectiveness in implementing its second stage are suggested.
[Copyright of Open Learning is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026805100750036908]