ICT integration in Hong Kong Education Arnold Pang Before the late 1990s, ICT in education had not

drawn much attention u!licl" in Hong Kong# Educational com uter rograms were mostl" de$elo ed in a tailor%made manner !" com uter su!&ect teachers in schools rather than !" ICT rofessionals# Being a com uter teacher, I de$elo ed some com uter rograms in BA'IC, a rogramming language commonl" used in the (0s to earl" 90s# I am res onsi!le for conducting ICT training rograms for m" colleagues in m" school# I had also wor)ed as a mem!er of a wor)ing grou formed !" com uter teachers from different schools to romote the use of a tailor%made assessment s"stem# *e did not get man" resources from the Hong Kong go$ernment until the mid 1990s# The use of ICT in education in Hong Kong was introduced mainl" !" the go$ernment through a series of education olicies +Tung, 199,- E.B, /00,0# In 1991, with the fi$e%"ear Information '"stems 'trateg" lan !" the Education .e artment +E.01 the 'chool Administration and 2anagement '"stem was de$elo ed# This s"stem was not mandator" for the schools# 'chools were allowed to decide to use either this s"stem or their own s"stems for school administration and management tas)s# The use of ICT in school management was the first ste towards ICT integration, which was followed !" the use of ICT in teaching and learning# 'ince the Polic" address +Tung 199,, Paragra h 34, 3, 0 in 199, and the resulting IT Education 'trateg" 5Information Technolog" for 6earning in a 7ew Era8 9i$e%"ear 'trateg" 199(:99 to /00/:015 + shortl" the 9i$e%"ear IT 'trateg" 0 launched in 199( +E2B, 199(0, the use of ICT in education has !een foreseen to !e a feasi!le ath for enhancing teaching and learning in Hong Kong# 'chools !egan to recei$e more resources for ICT integration# 'chool%!ased ICT reforms were then initiated in man" schools# To ut teacher ICT training into ractice, the E2B included a lan in the 9i$e%"ear IT 'trateg" to ro$ide (0,000 training laces for ser$ing teachers# Each school could use the cash grant to ro$ide training for its teachers either !" a ointing teachers of own schools as trainers or training su liers +including uni$ersities, ri$ate training centres0 listed !" the E.# These rograms were mainl" carried out in the form of short
The Education .e artment +E.0 was res onsi!le for education matters while the Education and 2an ower Bureau +E2B0 was res onsi!le for !oth education and man ower# To ensure !etter s"nerg" !etween olic" formulation and im lementation and to reduce du lication of efforts, the two organi;ations merged in /001# The new organisation retained the title of E2B +E2B, /00/!0# In /00,, the man ower ortfolio of E2B was transferred to the 6a!our and *elfare Bureau and the E2B was restructured and carried the name of Education Bureau +E.B0#
1

courses, seminars and wor)sho s +HKIEd, /00,0# In m" school, I ha$e !een the main ICT trainer of m" colleagues since the 9i$e%"ear IT 'trateg" !egan in 199(# <ne of the main su!&ects of the ongoing education reform, as ad$ocated !" the Hong Kong =o$ernment, is the wa" educators $iew the learning and teaching rocess# 'ince the release of the document 5>eform Pro osals for the Education '"stem in Hong Kong5 in /000 +EC#, /0000, teaching has !een e? ected to change from teacher% centred to student%centred +EC#, /004, #1@0 and schools ha$e !een recommended to use ICT for interacti$e learning as one of the entr" oints to achie$e the learning goals and targets of the su!&ect curricula +EC#, /004, #110# After the first 9i$e%"ear IT 'trateg" ended in /001, two more IT Education 'trategies were launched, namel" 5The /nd strateg" on ITE. % Em owering 6earning and Teaching with Information Technolog"5 +E2B, /0030 and 51rd strateg" on IT in education % >ight Technolog" at the >ight Time for the >ight Tas)5, in /003 and /00( res ecti$el"# To further romote e%learning, the E.B launched the 5e%Te?t!oo) 2ar)et .e$elo ment 'cheme5 in /01/# *ith the release of the 9i$e%"ear ICT 'trateg" +E2B, 199(0, the $ision and mission on romoting and im lementing ICT in Education in Hong Kong !ecame e? licit# The go$ernment ut an em hasis on de$elo ing teachersA s)ills in using ICT in the initial stage of the ICT integration in education +6aw B Plom , /0010# The E2B s ecified four le$els of IT Com etenc" for teachers, namel" the Basic 6e$el, the Intermediate 6e$el, the C er 6e$el and the Ad$anced 6e$el# In /001, the go$ernment +E2B, /0010 re orted that all the @0,400 teachers in Hong Kong fulfilled this com etenc" reDuirement# The distri!ution of each le$el from /000%01 to /00/%01 is shown !elow8 Level of IT Competency Basic Intermediate !pper Ad$anced 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03

100% 21.7% .0% 1#9E

100% 50. % 12.0% 3#(E

100% 75.0% 25.0% 4#,E

Ta!le /#1 8

IT Com etenc" for teachers in each le$els from /000%01 to /00/%01 +E2B, /0010

Howe$er, teachersA ICT com etences do not guarantee satisfactor" ICT integration# 5The research literature offers little su ort for the o ular +though erha s unrealistic0 rhetoric a!out technolog" re$olutionising teaching and learning or teachers fundamentall" re%wor)ing their lesson lans and edagog"5 and teachers 5are sim l" using the technolog" to do what the" ha$e alwa"s done5 +Henness" et al#, /00@, #10# The t" e of ICT use remains limited to 5whole%class technologies and the use of office tools and internet search tools5 +BECTA, /00,, #490 such as resentation software, 5word rocessing and internet search5 +'utherland et# al, /009, #10, which ma" 5)ee learners in a assi$e role F where learners are on the recei$ing end of )nowledge transmission5 +i!id, #30# Get, it is ossi!le to teach in a more interacti$e st"le with these !asic ICT# The )e" oint is how the teachers use the technologies in their classes# To ut ICT into classroom ractice, teachers ha$e to de$elo meta%)nowledge and s)ills in using ICT in meaningful wa"s to reform edagogical ractices +6aw B Plom , /0010# Both the teachersA edagogical !eliefs and ICT s)ills are im ortant in ICT integration +<EC., /0010 and therefore teachers are not onl" reDuired to !e trained in ICT s)ills !ut also edagogical )nowledge of using ICT +=illes ie, /0040# In order to 5utili;e the otential of technologies for more learner%centred a roaches5 and 5gi$e learners more autonom" and choice5 a!out learning, a 5 edagogical change is needed5 +'utherland et# al, /009, #30# The shift in edagogies is su orted !" rele$ant training for teachers in Hong Kong, as 5the focus of rofessional de$elo ment for teachers had !een switched from IT s)ills to effecti$e edagogical use of IT5 +HKIEd, /00,, #3@10#