Chapter 3

1. How are teachers coming from a 'non digital' age supported at your school to adapt and change their practices to meet the needs of learners who are very much 'digital' in their experiences and thinking?

IT training courses should be provided to teachers from a 'non digital' age. The course should first focus on training their basic personal computer skills and IT skills so that they can feel more confident and comfortable when using computers. Then the course should let them know how to apply ICT to enhance the effectiveness of learning and teaching. Teachers who are experienced in using ICT can be invited to share their experience in terms of teaching method, digital resources, difficulties encountered and the solutions. The less experienced teachers can also attend some lessons of those who are experienced in using ICT to see and appreciate how ICT can benefit. Besides, teachers from a 'non digital' should be encouraged to attend workshops or conferences with educators who are influencing thinking in relation to the place ICT is playing in teaching and learning.

Note: I will answer Questions 2-4 from a member of a textbook publisher.

2. Where have you found a school/ principal in the continuum of change? Confused, anxious, resistant, frustrated, restarting, isolated? Why?

Optimistic. The integration of ICT into learning and teaching is an evolution process and so it takes time. From the two documents Information Technology for Learning in a New Era: Five-year Strategy – 1998/99 to 2002/2003 and Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology. Prepared by EMB in Hong Kong, they show the Government's commitment do driving Hong Kong to integrate ICT into learning and teaching.


3. Refer to Figure 3: Planning to Change Model in relation to principals (page 33) and what does your school/ principal need to implement to overcome your schools needs?

In my workplace, incentive is quite difficult to create for the time being. As my company needs to strive commercially, we need to do our best to serve our clients (teachers and students). If the demand of using ICT in learning and teaching of teachers is not that much, it would not be high on the list of priorities.
However, from a publisher's view, such trend is inevitable. Therefore, most of the publishers in Hong Kong now are developing online platform for certain subjects (such as liberal studies) and upgrading their online assessment systems.
As a member in a textbook publisher, I need to keep abreast of the trend of using ICT in schools. Similar to teachers, I need to learn new ICT skills and acquire more knowledge about good practices by attending workshops and conferences related to ICT.


4. Who do you consider to be the most influential person in your school for implementing the use of ICT to support teaching and learning programs? Why?

In my workplace, the Editorial Director is the most influential person. He is responsible to establish visions and goals for his editorial team. Besides, he is an expert in ICT. He is able to lead change in integrating IT into learning and teaching effectively in my workplace if it is found that the demand of using ICT in learning and teaching of teachers and students is high on the list of priorities.