ICT in Education: A Hong Kong Perspective

1. ICT in Education: A Hong Kong Perspective OER Symposium 2012 18 April 2012 Kenneth Chen Under Secretary for Education Education Bureau, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Email: kenneth_chen@edb.gov.hk

2. Briefing Outline • ICT in Education – Where we are • Vision for the Future – Where we want to be • Game plan – How we get there • Useful Links for Follow-Up

3. Status at System Level Total capital and recurrent spending (1998 – 2012): Nearly $9 billion Infrastructure at schools: Student : Computer ratio – 4 : 1 (secondary) 4.66 : 1 (primary) All computers are networked and connected to the Internet via Broadband plus wireless network All have some kind of e-learning platform Teachers: All trained and “retrained” on skills and pedagogy Support: Recurrent grant to schools – $300 million per annum

4. Status at School level (general observations) • There should be few, if any, reallylagging behind schools on IT in education, however there exist differences amongst schools in terms of degree and sophistication of IT in education practices • Nearly all schools have IT in education development plan incorporated into their school development plan in which improving students’ learning outcome is the most common goal • On average, about 13% of the annual school budget is on implementation of IT in education • Normally schools have 3 – 4 teachers responsible for coordinating IT in education development and 1 – 2 technicians to take care of the IT infrastructure

5. Status at School Level (practices) • Basic – • Teaching students computer skills through formal lessons in computer rooms and in a detached manner • Limit students access to computers for learning • Using IT as a presentation tool • Characterized by having one computer rooms with training-room setting and one desktop computer with projection device in most classrooms • Use of computer facilities by subject teachers not facilitated

6. Status at School Level (practices) • Intermediate – • Students acquired most of their computer skills through application of IT in the learning of school subjects • Students are required/encourage to access learning or revision materials online and are required to submit some of their assignments online • Wide application of multimedia and interactive resources for learning and teaching as well as the Internet for information searching by students • Computers were relatively dispersed with sufficient number in library and other shared spaces for use by students • Campus TV available to engage in media education

7. Status at School Level (practices) • Advanced – • Students well versed with computer skills and are considered to be reasonably IT-literate • e-classes or e-courses are offered online (via e-learning platform) to complement classroom teaching and to cater for diverse learning needs. Students learning records are captured through the e-learning platform • Wide application of collaborative learning tools such as blogs and wikis for learning and teaching • Mobile devices are used for learning outside classroom and campus • Engage in global communication and collaboration with peers through the Internet and/or video conferencing

8. Status at teacher level • All teachers are competent in using IT • Survey results (2005 – 07): • 86% primary and 71% secondary school teachers agree that use of IT can make teaching more effective • 62% primary and 52% secondary school teachers are confident in selecting appropriate digital resources to teach • Just over 50% of teachers frequently use IT in class • Difficulties cited for not using IT zeroed on the extra time required to source appropriate digital resources and to a lesser extent technical and classroom management problem in deploying IT in classroom teaching.

9. Status at student level • Students embraced the use of IT to learn, the same survey mentioned in the last slide indicated that: • 90% primary and 80% secondary school students like to use computers to learn in class • 85% primary and 60% secondary school students like to use computers to learn beyond school hours • According to Government survey in 2009, 97.3% of households with a primary or secondary school student aged 10 or above has at least one computer at home. Among those computers, 99.1% have access to the Internet (for all school children, the percentage is about 95) • Concern of parents and teachers has shifted from deprivation of digital access to the problems arise from the extensive use of the Internet

10. … calls for more de-centralization Strong system performance… • Encourage school-led innovation and experimentation • Create additional support mechanisms for teaching professionals • Cultivate peer-led learning for teachers and principals • PISA 2009 shows significant system performance in reading, mathematics and science • McKinsey’s 2010 study characterizes HK as one of five “great to excellent” systems that have achieved “sustained improvements” System-level context Sources: OECD-PISA 2009, McKinsey analysis

12. Why e-Learning in HK? To achieve learning objectives through various learning strategies with the aid of information technology. The overall goal of all IT in Education initiatives is to transformschool education – from a textbook-based and teacher-centred mode toan interactive and learner-centred mode of learning Self-directed learning… Catering to diversified learning needs… Foundation for life-long learning

13. Measures to be implemented Enhancement of “Depository of Curriculum-based Learning and Teaching Resources” Extra grants for schools to experiment with e-Learning resources Pilot Scheme on the Promotion of e-Learning in schools Building a marketplace for the e-Learning industry 12

14. Pilot Scheme To look into when and how e-Learning should be implemented in different contexts, as well as the support measures required. Aims • develop, try out and evaluate when and how e-Learning works best to bring about effective interactive learning,self-directed learning, and cater for learner diversity in different curriculum and school contexts in Hong Kong to facilitate the charting of the way forward for wider adoption of e-Learning in schools; and • explore commercially viable business models for the development of e-Learning resources, to meet needs of schools, teachers and students.

15. Pilot Scheme Projects Highlights Participant profile • Cross-sector collaboration across schools, educational publishing and IT sectors • Diverse set of projects covering development of resources, learning objects and tools across different technology platforms • Technology neutrality ensured • Rigorous progress monitoring and effectiveness assessment • Total 98 project proposals submitted • 21 projects selected, representing 32 primary schools, 18 secondary schools and 11 special schools • All subject domains are covered across key learning stages • Average grant of $2.5 million per project

16. Market Place • On-Line Ed-Mall to be rolled out by Hong Kong Education City (www.hkedcity.net) with micro-payment and digital rights management capabilities. • Learning and Teaching Exposition to be held for third consecutive year in HK in second half of 2012.

17. Useful Links for Follow-Up