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Chapter 8
Action 6 Sustaining a coherent development of IT in Education
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Way Forward
Synergizing resources and professional support
8.1 An overview of our previous strategies on ITE and e-learning initiatives is presented in paragraph 2.3 (Chapter 2). Hong Kong has taken proactive steps in developing three strategies on IT in education since 1998, various school support initiatives and the current ITE4. They demonstrate the policy continuity and our commitment to the development and implementation of e-learning in schools.
8.2 To sustain the impact on the school community, it is worth consolidating and integrating various experiences such as the pedagogical innovations of e-learning, knowledge and practices developed in previous ITE strategies, evaluation studies and other projects. To this end, EDB will formulate a platform for knowledge building among the school community to integrate and synergize different e-resources for effective learning and teaching as well as professional development of teachers. We will commence the preparation in the 2015/16 school year working in collaboration with the HKECL and partnership with other sectors.
8.3 In alignment with the building up of learning communities for the enhancement of professional leadership and capacity as deliberated in Chapter 6, EDB will renew the roles of the CoE Scheme and line up various means of professional support, e.g. the QEF Thematic Network (QTN), tertiary institutions, IT associations and industry as well as schools/teachers with exemplary practices in KLAs and pedagogical issues in e-learning, etc., to provide district-based/onsite thematic support to schools on request. This ongoing school support services will start in the 2015/16 school year.
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8.4 To sustain the role of CoE schools as pedagogical innovators, we will involve the IT industries to facilitate CoE schools to further strengthen themselves and try out new technologies in their schools. In collaboration with the Professional Development Schools Scheme (PDS) and the school-based support team of EDB, selected CoE schools will be transformed to provide intensive mentorship to several schools for trial purposes as well as providing hand-in-hand development opportunities to schools starting in the 2015/16 school year respectively.
8.5 To capture the outcomes and fine-tune the implementation of ITE4, EDB will maintain ongoing researches, including annual school survey on use of ITE, curriculum implementation survey, case study on the impact of e-learning and evaluation study of ITE4, etc. in the process to examine the changes resulting from the implementation, and to identify support measures as appropriate. Institutions are also welcome to initiate relevant research studies to inform future pathway of e-learning.
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Chapter 9
Funding Arrangements and Way Forward
This chapter outlines the funding arrangements for ITE4.
9.1 We will re-deploy existing resources of the EDB to implement measures under the following actions –
(a) reviewing curriculum, transforming pedagogical and assessment practices in light of latest development in IT; and (b) building professional leadership, capacity and communities
of practice in schools to support school leaders and teachers in using IT for enhancement of learning and teaching.
9.2 In addition, we have obtained funding approval of $105 million non-recurrent fund from the Legislative Council to implement the following measures.
Enhancing schools’ IT infrastructure and re-engineering the operation mode
9.3 We have already disbursed a one-off grant at an average of $100,000 per school for the 100 public sector schools under the “Support Scheme on e-Learning in Schools” in March 2014 to acquire around 50 mobile computing devices for shared use among students in class.
We will likewise disburse the same average amount of one-off grant to the remaining 900 public sector schools to acquire mobile computing devices to tie in with their acquisition of WiFi services covering all classrooms. The total funding involved will be about
$90 million.
9.4 Separately, EDB will increase the amount of recurrent subsidy to enable all public sector schools to subscribe for WiFi services on a recurrent basis. The increased subsidy will also cover the expenses of replacement/maintenance of the mobile computing devices.
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Enhancing the quality of e-learning resources
9.5 We will provide $10 million as one-off subsidy for HKECL to make use of its well-established platform to acquire quality e-learning resources from local and overseas developers, with a view to enriching the pool of quality and readily available e-learning resources for use by both teachers and students. Through this initiative, the HKECL can coordinate evaluation, acquisition and licensing of e-learning resources to support implementation and adoption of e-learning on a large scale, so that the costs of acquiring and using e-learning resources could be lowered in the long run.
Involving parents, stakeholders and the community, and other support measures
9.6 We will further set aside $5 million for the provision of other support measures for stakeholders, such as advice on technical support services for schools, development of web-based tool kits for teachers and supporting services to parents as well as project management on various initiatives under the ITE4.
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Glossary
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Bring your own device (BYOD) begins in business sector, in particular IT industry, where employees are allowed to use their personal mobile computing devices to access enterprise data and systems. In education, it refers to the practice of allowing students/teachers to bring personally owned mobile computing devices to schools for learning and teaching activities. BYOD often comes with Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) which includes acceptable practices to be performed using the personal mobile devices in schools.
Cloud computing
It is a general term that describes different services delivered via the Internet. Cloud computing is used for sharing resources and information and providing web-based applications for users working on different computer devices with a web browser. Furthermore, it can also provide virtual server services for users.
Co-construction
“Co-construction” refers to a family of learning and teaching approaches that puts the focus on the class as a community of learners. Tasks are usually about creating knowledge as well as building criteria for judging that knowledge collectively.
Coding
Coding refers to the process of converting a program design into a detailed representation of the program using a suitable computer language/programming tool. Sometimes, the term "programming" would be considered as a synonym to coding in day-to-day usage.
Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning is an instruction method in which two or more students learn together on a shared assignment toward an agreed-upon goal.
There is a sharing of knowledge and acceptance of responsibility among group members for the group’s actions.
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Computer programming
Computer programming (often refers to as "programming") is a process that leads from an original formulation of a computing problem to executable computer programs. Programming may cover processes such as problem definition and analysis, design of solution, coding, testing and evaluation. Sometimes, the term "coding" would be considered as a synonym to programming in day-to-day usage.
Digital resources depository
It is a collection of contents hosted on the Web through Internet technologies where text, images, audio, videos, and/or other multimedia files are linked / and stored. The “EDB Depository of Curriculum-based Learning and Teaching Resources” is an example.
e-Assessment
e-Assessment is an electronic tool which makes use of IT for presenting assessment activities, recording responses and providing feedback and assessment statistics. It can address the needs of various users including learners, tutors, learning establishments, awarding bodies and regulators.
e-Learning
e-Learning refers to an open and flexible learning mode involving the use of the electronic media, including use of digital resources and communication tools to achieve learning objectives. The essence of e-learning is the use of technology to deliver learning content more effectively and the learning process in e-learning environment is expected to consider three key elements for maximising learning opportunities conducive to 21st century skills development. They include blending formal and informal learning approaches, balancing individualised and collaborative learning to help learners to increase awareness of learning achievement and collecting evidence of improvement.
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e-Learning platform
It is an online system or learning management system that provides the technical infrastructure for managing student electronic learning activities.
Usually, an e-learning platform includes interactive exercises and tools for generating individual students’ test scores. It also includes communication tools for peer-to-peer and student-teacher communications to support collaborative learning.
e-Textbook
An electronic textbook is a comprehensive and self-contained curriculum package with digital print-on demand contents and electronic features (e-features include multimedia like video, audio and animation, and interactive learning, teaching and assessment activities) that are designed to support the implementation of a school subject according to the curriculum guide prepared by the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) in Hong Kong. The package should address all the requirements for learning and teaching in classroom lessons in local school settings and for learning in the home environment.
Information Literacy
Information literacy is the adoption of appropriate information behaviour to identify, through whatever channel or medium, information well fitted to information needs, leading to wise and ethical use of information in society.
Innovation
Innovation is about a new idea, more effective device or process in forming a new attitude, creation and application of better solutions in response to social requirements. In business and economics, innovation is considered the catalyst to growth.
Mobile device
Mobile devices include smartphones, tablet computers and laptop computers, which are portable and have WiFi connection capability for access to the Internet.
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Mobile learning (m-learning)
M-learning takes place via mobile devices and it is particularly useful for outdoor learning activities like field work and museum visits.
Self-directed learning
Broadly speaking, self-directed learning is an umbrella notion related to self-regulated learning, self-learning and independent learning. Each has its features to enhance the learning autonomy of students through building a sense of agency in their learning process. The individual takes the initiative and the responsibility for what occurs and the individual selects, manages, and assesses his or her own learning, which can be pursued at any time, in any place, through any means and at any age. In the context of IT use, self-directed learning generally has four key characteristics:
Learners’ control;
Learners’ self-management;
Personal autonomy; and
Tendency of self-learning – the independent pursuit of learning outside formal settings.
STEM
STEM is an interdisciplinary learning approach engaging specifically Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. When students are making applications of these academic concepts and skills, they will involve in real-world context in connection with the school, community, work, and the global enterprises. This also enables students to develop their STEM literacy. With a view to acquiring higher productivity, technological adaptation and research-based innovative entrepreneurships in society, it has been a world-wide education trend to enhance students’
STEM competence.
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List of Abbreviations
AUPs Acceptable Use Policies
AQP Assessment Quality-assurance Platform
BYOD Bring-your-own-device
CITG Composite Information Technology Grant
CoE Centre of Excellence
CPD Continuing Professional Development
EDB Education Bureau
EMADS e-Textbook Market Development Scheme eRTL Recommended e-Textbook List
HKECL Hong Kong Education City Limited HKPL Hong Kong Public Libraries
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IT Information Technology
ITE / ITEd Information Technology in Education
ITE4 Fourth Strategy on Information Technology in Education
KLA Key Learning Area
KS Key Stage
LCSD Leisure and Cultural Services Department LMS Learning Management System
MIS NAS Management Information System New Academic Structure
NGO Non-government Organisation
NSS New Senior Secondary
OGCIO Office of the Government Chief Information Officer PDP Professional Development Programme
PDS Professional Development Schools Scheme PISA Programme for International Student Assessment PSM(CD) Primary School Master/Mistress (Curriculum
Development)
QEF Quality Education Fund
QTN QEF Thematic Network
SA Student Assessment
SSO Single Sign-on
STEM Science, Technology and Mathematics Education TEKLA Technology Education Key Learning Area TPACK Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge
TSS Technical Support Service
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Appendix 1