(A) Objectives
To recommend direction and strategies on the development of e-Learning building on existing strengths and facilitating diversified development.
To encourage schools to make flexible use of e-Learning in order to promote self-directed learning and interactive learning as well as to cater for learners’ diversity, with a view to enhancing learning effectiveness.
To optimise and rationalise the existing textbook system.
(B) Development of Textbooks and e-Learning Resources to Improve the Existing Mechanism and Enhance Learning and Teaching
1. A three-year pilot scheme on “Promoting e-Learning” will be launched in 20 - 30 local schools in the 2010/11 school year.
Aims:
To develop, try out and evaluate different modes of teaching and learning, in order to identify the effective ways of implementing e-Learning in different subjects.
To explore a sustainable and commercially viable business model for the e-Learning resources market, in order to cater for the needs of schools, teachers and students.
2. From the 2009/10 school year onwards, additional resources will be provided to strengthen and expedite the development of the existing Depository of Curriculum-based Learning and Teaching Resources (including Primary Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and General Studies). In the meantime, measures will also be
to expand the coverage of the Depository in terms of Key Stages and Key Learning Areas.
Aims:
To develop the Depository of Curriculum-based Learning and Teaching Resources which serves to provide practical advice on the use of IT in teaching and learning and recommendations on the selection of appropriate digital resources so as to relieve teachers’ workload in implementing e-Learning.
To help teachers and students acquire diversified and quality e-Learning resources from the Internet to facilitate e-Learning.
3. In the 2009/10 school year, a one-off grant will be provided to all local schools for purchasing e-Learning resources for students (the grant to be used by schools in the next three years).
Aims:
To further promote the use of fee-charging e-Learning resources in schools.
To encourage the publishing sector and other sectors to expedite the development of e-Learning resources and enhance the quality of the resources.
4. To set up an e-commerce platform for e-Learning resources and an online community for teachers at the HKEdCity website.
Aims:
To provide an infrastructure platform to promote the development of the market for e-Learning resources.
To help students and teachers acquire quality e-Learning resources from the Internet.
To encourage the publishing sector, the IT sector and the education sector to jointly develop e-Learning resources.
To enhance the evaluation of e-Learning resources via on-line communities.
5. From the 2010/11 school year onwards, textbooks and teaching and learning resources will be debundled for pricing so as to allow the market to operate on a user-pays basis.
Teachers and parents may choose to buy only the resources that fit their needs. The EDB will issue guidelines stating clearly that schools are not allowed to solicit any free teaching or learning materials from textbook publishers. The EDB will closely monitor the situation after the debundling of textbooks, as well as teaching and learning materials. If schools have any financial difficulties in purchasing teaching materials, the EDB will, where appropriate, provide more funding for schools to ensure that they have the materials required for teaching.
Aims:
To rationalise the current situation of bundled sale and purchase of textbooks and teaching materials.
By adopting the user-pays principle, textbook publishers will be encouraged to produce the appropriate amount of teaching materials as required by schools. This will help reduce cost and avoid waste, thereby lowering the price of textbooks. As such, the stakeholders’
interest will be safeguarded and the public’s expectation can be met.
To allow schools to buy the appropriate teaching materials that fit their specific needs.
6. From the 2010/11 school year onwards, the “three-year rule of no revision” will be changed to “five-year rule of no revision”.
Aims:
To rationalise the arrangements for application for textbook revision – Since the implementation of the Curriculum Reform in 2000, the curriculum framework for each Key Stage has now been basically established and is subject to less change. There is an obvious decline in the need for textbook revision in the light of the Curriculum Reform.
Under the new academic structure, each Key Stage lasts for three years. Hence, it takes teachers three years’ time to complete using a set of textbooks before they can make any concrete suggestions on issues such as the compilation and contents of textbooks as well as the coherence and articulation of the learning activities and themes. For publishers, it is not until the relevant Key Stage has been completed that they can carry out specific analysis and reviews on the textbooks to see if there is any need for revision. All these take time. Taking into account that textbooks submitted for revision are required to make quality amendments and that the principle of cost control should be adhered to, we estimate that the publishers need at least 24 months to complete the reviews and development. It is therefore more reasonable to allow publishers to apply for revision after a five-year period, as compared with the existing three-year rule.
The above measure can reduce the frequency of textbook revision, thus addressing the complaints of the public. In the long run, it can also help to stabilise textbook prices.
(C) Other Support Measures
7. To effectively steer the e-Learning pilot scheme, the Government may consider setting up a steering committee as well as encourage and support the establishment of a cross-sector working group. Apart from supervising the implementation of the pilot scheme, the duties of the steering committee will also include evaluating the outcomes and effectiveness of the pilot scheme and making recommendations to the Government regarding long-term strategies on using e-Learning resources. The cross-sector consortium will endeavour to promote collaboration and partnership among schools, the publishing sector and the information technology sector with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of the pilot scheme.
8. In-depth studies on the copyright of e-Learning resources and the possible impact on students’
health due to the frequent use of such resources will be carried out in order to formulate relevant strategies and support measures.
9. During the consultation period of any major curriculum change, communication with textbook publishers will be strengthened to help them get hold of the development of the curriculum at an early stage and get well prepared for textbook compilation.
10. The existing textbook review mechanism will be further improved and the feasibility of allowing other educational organisations to be involved in textbook reviews will be explored.
11. Communication with parent organisations will be enhanced. Parents’ views and suggestions on textbook quality and prices will be collected and reflected to textbook publishers for improvement.
12. The transparency of textbook prices will be increased. Continued efforts will be made to upload the prices of all books (including both old and new textbooks) in the Recommended Textbook List onto the website of EDB in April each year, so that teachers can take the prices into consideration when preparing the booklist for the next school year. Seminars and workshops for teachers will be held to sharpen their professional judgement in selecting textbooks.
13. The EDB will provide supplementary teaching and learning materials for schools whenever there are minor changes or updates in the curriculum in the future.
14. Educational organisations, universities or other non-profit-making organisations are encouraged to participate in the development of textbooks, and teaching and learning materials so as to provide teachers with a wider range of choices.
15. Schools may launch various kinds of textbook recycling programmes, such as the donation or sale of second-hand textbooks and the purchase of story books for loan to students according to school-based contexts (such as teaching needs, parents’ wishes, etc.) so as to encourage students to re-use textbooks.