Session 5

What do I know?
According to EMB’s Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology (p.2), by the end of 2002/03 school year, all teachers had completed IT training at the Basic Level, 77% at Intermediate Level, 27% at Upper Intermediate Level and 6% at Advanced Level. Although all teachers have acquired basic skills, they are still at entry, utilisation or adaptation stage of integrating IT in education (Hooper & Rieber, 1995). This was further supported by the result of self-ratings on stages of adopting IT by teachers in the EMB’s Overall Study on Reviewing the Progress and Evaluating the Information Technology in Education (ITEd) Projects 1998/2003 (p.300) (herein Overall Study). Most of them reported themselves to use computers to prepare notes/course materials, search for information and to a lesser extent design activities and assignments (Overall Study, p.304). Teachers’ proficiency of applying IT into curriculum is not high enough (Overall Study, p.301). Besides, if teachers have little opportunity to use or apply what is learnt from training, they may quickly forget what they have learnt.

What do I want to know?
What are the teachers’ perspectives about curriculum reform?
What challenges do teachers have in meeting the demands of curriculum reform?
What is the connection between successful curriculum reform and good teaching?

What have I learnt at the end of this session?
The role of teachers is changing. Traditionally, teachers are knowledge transmitters. They provide all the primary source of information and sources of all answers. They control and direct all aspects of learning. But now, teachers are working as learning facilitators, collaborators, coacher as well as co-learners. They give students more options and responsibilities for their own learning. In recent years, project-based learning or investigative study is emphasized more than in the past for certain subjects, such as science and mathematics. As integrating ICT into teaching and learning is a global occurrence, teachers and students in Hong Kong will have more chance to undergo this new way of teaching and learning, especially under the coming new senior secondary curriculum. Curriculum reform can provide a drive for people to incorporate innovative instructional ideas and retaining some good traditional values.

Teachers need to spend considerable amount of time to learn the basic commands for working with emerging software and technology. This adds more burdens to the existing workload of teachers. No one can guarantee that more students will get A’s in the public examinations with the use of ICT in teaching and learning. Especially for some teachers in Band 1 schools, many of their students will certainly get A’s in the public examinations using traditional way of teaching and learning. How can one persuade such kind of teachers to give up traditional way of teaching and try a new of teaching that no one will ensure that students will get more A’s in the public examination?

To ease the burden of teachers when integrating ICT into teaching and learning, a community of learners among teachers should be developed to exchange teaching experience and practices. As long as collegiality favours professional development (Clement & Vanderberghe, 2001), sharing and collaboration among teachers should be continued and encouraged.

References
Clement, M. & Vanderberghe, R., (2001). How school leaders can promote teachers’ professional development: an account from the field. School Leadership & Management, 21(1), 43-57.

Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) (2004). Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology. Hong Kong: EMB. Retrieved 13 June 2006 from:
http://www.emb.gov.hk/index.aspx?langno=1&nodeID=2497

Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) (2005). Overall Study on Reviewing the Progress and Evaluating the Information Technology in Education (ITEd) Projects 1998/2003. Final Report. Retrieved 13 June 2006 from:
http://www.emb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_4447/finalreportfinalver.pdf

Hooper, S., & Rieber, L. P. (1995). Teaching with technology. In A. C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into practice, (p.154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Retrieved 13 June 2006 from:
http://www.nowhereroad.com/twt/index.html