Implications
Part 4: Consultation Seminars
A Report of the Four Consultation Seminars on the ‘Revamp of the Teachers’ IT Training Framework’
Four two-hour consultation seminars were conducted from April to May 2007. About 300 practitioners had participated in these consultation seminars and made enquiries and comments upon the implementation of the proposed framework. Table 1 shows the details of the consultation seminars.
Table 1: The details of the consultation seminars
Date Venue Language Number of participants
17 April 2007 The Hong Kong University English 21
24 April 2007 Kowloon Tong Education Service Centre Chinese 93 2 May 2007 Kowloon Tong Education Service Centre Chinese 180 4 May 2007 The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chinese 45
Total: 339
The key points made by the participants and the major responses made by the Consultation Team in terms of nine aspects are summarised below.
1. Mode of Delivery
Enquiries from the Participants:
Participants enquired about the types of supports that will be provided by the teacher professional development programmes under the proposed framework to realise the pedagogical use of technology.
Some participants further asked about the measures of the proposed framework to address the two major problems of previous ITEd professional development programmes, viz. the lack of fundamental training in IT skills and the lack of enrichment training in pedagogical strategies for using IT in teaching.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
Two major modes of delivery will be adopted in the teacher professional development programmes under the proposed framework to address such issues. The first mode is the organisation of intensive workshops. Such workshops will include the instruction in IT skills, the recommendations on relevant effective pedagogical strategies and the introduction of relevant incorporation of IL elements. Taking the professional development programmes for using blogs to teach language subjects as an example.
In such programmes, the teacher participants will be equipped with technical knowledge and pedagogical strategies for using blogs, such as collaborative learning strategies, and the pedagogy of incorporating IL elements in the context. The second mode is the provision of continuous professional supports in a school-clustering approach. Professional discourses among teachers in school clusters and supports from the professional bodies in the education sector are the two key elements of such support.
Suggestions from the Participants:
Concerning the future teacher professional development under the proposed framework, some participants suggested that the span should be in five to eight weeks so that teachers can share their gains with their colleagues within school after the completion of the professional development programmes.
Post-seminar remark:
It is worthwhile to consider the abovementioned suggestion in planning the span of future teacher professional development programmes.
2. Support for Experience Sharing
Sharing from the Participants:
A participant demonstrated a good model of promoting ITEd by describing her successful experience in fostering the use of the Multi-media Learning Centre (MMLC) in the teaching of language subjects. This participant used the simple recording technologies in the MMLC for teaching oral skills in Chinese Language.
Her work was recognised by her supervisors and colleagues after a series of within-school sharing. This participant stated that her teaching hours was reduced by the school senior management for the promotion of ITEd in her school. Based on her
experience, the centrepiece of insightful sharing is related to the issues about pedagogical strategies rather than the issues about technical knowledge of IT innovations.
On the other hand, another participant expressed his worry about the administrative constraints on the organisation of experience sharing within school. This participant asserted the rationale behind the emphasis on experience sharing, particularly in the area about the inclusion of IL elements, in the proposed framework. However, he pointed out that teachers were usually lack of time, resources and supports to share successful experience in using IT innovations in teaching even the teachers were self-initiated to try innovative IT and develop effective pedagogies.
Post-seminar remark:
Two implications in relation to the implementation of the proposed framework can be drawn based on the above two cases.
The first implication relates to the need of sharing of pedagogical experience in using IT for teaching and learning. The abovementioned cases imply that there is a possibility of organising schools to share the successful and failed experiences in the use of IT for enhancing teaching and learning.
The second implication relates to the allocation of resources in promoting the teacher participation in the future ITEd professional development programmes. The participant in the first case was provided with resources (in the form of reduction of teaching hours) to support the promotion of ITEd professional development programmes, whereas the participant in the second case had not received such kind of resources. This implies the need to motivate the school leadership to allocate resources for promoting teacher participation in ITEd professional development programmes. The Consultation Team will make reference to these two cases for the recommendations on the allocation of manpower resources in the implementation of the proposed framework.
3. Introduction of Incentive Scheme
Enquiries from the Participants:
Some participants asked about the incentives of the proposed framework to promote school encouragement to teachers for the participation in ITEd professional development programmes.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
Certain issues related to the development of ITEd are a part of criteria in the existing External School Review (ESR) system to some extent. Perhaps there is a need for explicitness in this area. It may be possible to make ‘whether the school has organised ITEd professional development programmes’, for example, as a criterion in the ESR system. The Consultation Team understands that this is a sensitive issue for schools.
Further investigation on this issue should be conducted.
Instead of the incentives that focus on the ESR system, the Consultation Team suggests the incentives in relation to the development of school-based model to cater for the diverse levels of use of IT of individual schools. Such school-based model encourages schools to develop plans on the ITEd professional development programmes according to their own need. The central issues of such school-based model include the emphasis on the mission for ‘making students learn better’ and the belief of using IT for enhancement of teaching and learning.
4. Extent of Teaching Supports
Enquiries from the Participants:
Some participants enquired about the extent of teaching supports in offering resources, such as lesson plans and teaching materials, which the beacon schools and the needy schools would provide and receive, respectively, under the proposed framework.
There were also proposals for building up a repertoire of central resources to support teaching and learning with IT.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
Under the proposed framework, all professional development programmes will provide teacher participants with at least one subject-specific and level-specific example on the implementation of the introduced pedagogical strategies and a set of corresponding teaching materials for the use of innovative IT in teaching. The
resources will be so detailed that teacher participants are enabled to try or adopt the acquired pedagogical strategies and the relevant resources with the least adaptation in their daily teaching. There should be a mechanism to build up a repertoire of central resources to support teaching and learning with IT.
5. Effect of ITEd Professional Development
Opinions from the Participants:
Some participants stated that the crux of unsatisfactory results of previous local ITEd professional development programmes was the generally low self-motivation of teachers. They indicated that a large number of teachers refused to use IT in teaching because they thought that IT was not very helpful in this aspect. In addition, the lack of sufficient IT resources and supportive working conditions in school also hindered teachers from applying innovative IT and relevant pedagogies that were learnt from the professional development programmes in their teaching. One of these participants pointed out that the new framework should focus on the sharing of successful experience in the pedagogical use of innovative IT rather than the training in technical knowledge about and skills in using IT innovations.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
The school-clustering approach adopted by the proposed framework emphasises the sharing culture.
Post-seminar reflection:
Two implementation issues are reflected from the abovementioned opinions. First, there is a need to further consider the incentives for teachers and schools to voluntarily participate in the professional development programmes under the proposed framework. Second, there is a need to further look into the extent of sufficiency of IT infrastructure in some schools.
6. Uncertainties of Teacher Participation
Opinions from the Participants:
Some participants pointed out that there would be two uncertainties in the future ITEd professional development programmes. The first one concerned the fear of IT innovations among teachers. One of these participants stated that local teachers generally felt stressful to use innovative IT in teaching because such teachers were doubtful about their mastery of using IT innovations, the teaching effectiveness of IT innovations, the technical support for using IT innovations, and the social issues involved in using IT innovations. This might hinder the eagerness of teachers to acquire the latest information about IT innovations. The second one concerned the lack of feasibility studies on IT innovations in Hong Kong. These participants stated that some local teachers felt disheartened to spend time on testing the innovative use of IT in teaching without teaching effectiveness assurance. To address these two issues, these participants pointed out that apart from encouraging experience sharing, the future ITEd professional development programmes should allow teachers to realise the ratio of cost and gain in using the targeted IT innovations for teaching before joining the relevant professional development programmes. This would help to reduce the pressure of teachers, especially for the non-IT teachers, in attempting the use of innovative IT for teaching.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
The proposed framework will be integrated into the current Continuing Professional Development (CPD) system. The content of the framework is opened to be designed flexibly. The central concern of the proposed framework falls on the organisation of clusters of schools which share common understanding and vision of ITEd and have willingness to attempt the use of innovative IT for teaching.
In line with the current global trend that there is an integration of introduction of pedagogical strategies and sharing of successful experience in teacher professional development, the professional development programmes under the proposed framework will have a diversity in the introduction of pedagogical strategies and a continuity in the sharing of successful experience in using innovative IT for teaching.
7. Difficulties in Framework Implementation
Opinions from the Participants:
Some participants asserted the design of content and the mode of delivery of future teacher professional development under the proposed framework. They indicated that the provision of online platform for course materials retrieval and telephone hotline for after-trial enquiries would be welcomed for smooth operation of the relevant professional development programmes. However, these participants were worried about two implementation issues in relation to the support by the school leadership and the government for the proposed framework. They were concerned about the willingness of school heads to fully support their teachers to join the ITEd professional development programmes. They were also concerned about the willingness of school heads to strictly follow the conditions from the government on allocating the financial resources for teachers’ ITEd professional development.
Some participants expressed their anxiety over the school-wide ITEd professional development for teachers. These participants thought that the use of IT was not applicable for all of the subjects. There would be difficulties in drawing the willingness of teachers in all subject fields to participate in the ITEd professional development programmes and then apply the learnt knowledge and skills in their teaching. In addition, these participants were anxious about the successful organisation of intra-school and inter-schools experience sharing among teachers.
Post-seminar remark:
Two remarks are made regarding the above opinions. The first remark is that the proposed framework concerns the support from the school leadership. The second remark is that there is a need to look into the measures to ensure the designated resources are used for the purposes of teachers’ ITEd professional development.
8. Certification of ITEd Professional Development
Opinions from the Participants:
Some participants indicated that the certification of future ITEd professional development programmes was very important because the current social trend was certificate-oriented. However, there were also concerns about the huge amount of human resources required in conducting the certification process. There were also opinions on offering certificates or rewards on the individual-teacher basis rather than
on the whole-school basis. Some participants also concerned about the assessment areas for certification by indicating that both the pedagogical use of IT and the technical knowledge of using IT should be included in the relevant assessments.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
The above opinions were in line with the consideration of the Consultation Team. One of the solutions was introducing the peer-reviewing system to resolve the labour intensive problem of conducting the certification system. In addition, certificates or rewards could be offered to recognise both the efforts of teachers on the individual basis as well as the efforts of school on the team basis. The four teacher education institutes should consider providing certification to competent and qualified school teachers who have completed the CPD. The proposed framework for designing the content of teacher professional development should include all four dimensions, which are technical knowledge, pedagogical integration, managing and leading ICT, and socio-cultural awareness.
9. Motivation for Less Self-initiated Schools
Enquiries from the Participants:
Some participants showed their positive views on the inclusion of IL elements and the school-based implementation model in the proposed framework. They noticed that the proposed framework emphasises the school awareness of ITEd professional development, and asked about what types of measures would be adopted to motivate and support the school which had less awareness in this aspect.
Responses from the Consultation Team:
A school-based model will be adopted to address this issue. Schools will be invited to make the ITEd plan according to their own needs and development paces. All parties in schools, viz. school leadership, teachers and students, will be included in the planning stages. In this regard, schools can select an integration model or separation model for their teachers to participate in the relevant ITEd professional development programmes.