Jacky Pow

The interactive use of a video database in teacher education: Creating a knowledge base for teaching through a learning community

This study explores how pre-service student teachers acquired knowledge of good teaching practices through the interactive use of a video database and an online discussion forum, where the student teachers shared their teaching videos and received comments or suggestions from members of a learning community. A small group of student teachers was involved in this collaborative learning community during their teaching practicum in their third and fourth years of study. Content analysis of the sharing in the discussion forum and individual student teacher reflections provides insight into the use of a collaborative learning community to create a knowledge base for teaching. Suggestions regarding how this new technology can support teacher education are discussed.

Empowering student learning through Tablet PCs: A case study

Empowering students to learn through ICT is seen as a way to address the growing awareness and demand for preparing students to effectively participate in the emerging global knowledge economy. It is believed that, in order to maintain competitiveness in a global economy, traditional classroom practices must be re-conceptualized in a way that enables students to engage themselves in knowledge building, to become more self-directed, and to assume greater autonomy and social responsibility over their own learning. In this article, we report a case study on the use of Tablet PCs to support teaching and learning in a primary school in Hong Kong, and provide insights into how schools can harness and capitalize on the opportunities offered by such emerging technologies.

Information access behaviour and expectation of quality: two factors affecting the satisfaction of users of clinical hospital information systems

Although the use of clinical hospital information systems (HIS) has been gaining some acceptance in the health care industry, cases of successful implementation are rare. Many clinical HIS users (who are primarily medical practitioners) are still experiencing a low level of user satisfaction with their systems. This paper argues that, in order to improve user satisfaction for clinical HIS users, due attention must be paid to the non-functional aspects of user requirements.

The Relation of Internet Use to Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Chinese Adolescents

Prosocial and antisocial Internet use is investigated in this study by constructing an objective measure called the Adolescent Internet Use Questionnaire (AIUQ). The sample consists of 509 secondary school students in Hong Kong. Based on the previous review of the literature, the present study tests the following two hypotheses: (a) sex difference hypothesis: boys are more delinquent in Internet use than are girls; (b) positive association hypothesis: there is a positive association between Internet behavior and daily social behavior. In other words, positive Internet behavior is positively associated with positive daily social behavior, and negative Internet behavior is positively associated with negative daily social behavior. In general, the two hypotheses are supported by the data in this study. The internal consistency reliability and predictive validity of the major indices of the AIUQ are also substantiated by the present data.

Fostering Digital Literacy through Web-based Collaborative Inquiry Learning - A Case Study

Digital literacy (DL), a term that emerged with the explosion of digital information and multimedia technology, refers to basic competence in using digital technology. The present study first analyzed the evolvement from media literacy to digital literacy and developed a four-branch theoretical framework of DL by investigating related definitions of it. For the purpose of fostering DL, a set of web-based collaborative inquiry learning (WCIL) activities was designed and were implemented on weblog to further the DL of secondary 3 students (aged 14 to 15). To provide students with the necessary support and facilitate their progress, eight fortnightly lessons of one to one and a half hours each were arranged, at which students were asked to report/present the latest progress of their WCIL project, and their teacher gave suggestions and offered the students resources to deal with the problems they had encountered.

Developing Digital Literacy through Collaborative Inquiry Learning in the Web 2.0 Environment – An Exploration of Implementing Strategy

This study explores a strategy for Web-based collaborative inquiry learning (WCIL) for the purpose of developing students’ digital literacy (DL). In view of the problems and difficulties identified in a previously published case study of WCIL practice in a class of secondary 3 students (aged 14 to 15), another round of WCIL activity was carried out in the same class. A series of measures designed to help students deal with the identified problems and difficulties were adopted to enhance WCIL for developing students’ DL. We explored the effectiveness of the implementation strategies through focus-group interview, weblog postings, and subject teacher interview. Initial findings indicated that these measures are effective in facilitating the implementation of WCIL. To sum up the measures adopted in this round of WCIL, a preliminary implementing strategy model is proposed. Although it is not sufficiently verified, and is still subject to revision and adjustment by future studies, it gives a visual and more manageable model for reference of teachers planning and implementing instructional activities of this kind.

Students’ Inquiry Learning in the Web 2.0 Age

The information proliferation in the Web 2.0 age has led to several emerging issues, namely, the authenticity of information, disorientation, and information searching and citation issues in the academic field. Students often find themselves in a difficult situation when they are doing Web-based inquiry learning when the usefulness and truthfulness of the Web information are doubtful. Based on the study of pre-reading activity and Web searching behaviour of Lawless, Schrader, and Mayall (2007), and the Web information evaluation work of Eagleton and Dobler (2007), this paper proposes a guiding framework to help students determine the usefulness and truthfulness of information in their inquiry process. This framework also provides guidance on how to store and cite Web 2.0 information. However, the effectiveness of the guiding framework has not been empirically tested and further study regarding its applicability is called upon.

Initiating small class teaching in Hong Kong: video reflective narratives and the professional developmental learning model

This study explores the use of video reflective narratives. It reports on data derived from 28 in-service primary school teachers undertaking professional development to support small class (n = 25) teaching in Hong Kong. The findings serve to highlight that such professional development is fraught with confounds, for professional development works at the level of the individual, and is complex and interactive. Analysis of data derived from video reflective narratives suggests that such phenomenon may be explained by reference to a professional developmental learning model. Findings suggest that such interactions are predictable and accordingly, the effects of specific professional development programs can be monitored.

Developing and Managing School Human Capital for Information and Communication Technology Integration: A Case Study of a School-Based E-Learning Project in Hong Kong.

Abstract The application of information and communication technology (ICT) in education has been gaining attention worldwide. Educators and school administrators are interested in the myriad possibilities offered by new technologies to enrich teaching materials and to provide ubiquitous learning environments to enhance students’ learning. This case study examined the implementation of a school-based e-learning initiative in a primary school in Hong Kong by focusing on the development and management of forms of school human capital. The findings drew from interviews with 25 staff members in the case school and elucidated how school reform and transformation were effected through the development and management of intellectual, social, and organisational capitals. The interplay between these three forms of school human capitals highlighted the significance of shared vision, differentiated leadership as well as a culture of learning community in advancing towards ICT integration. Suggestions are made for establishing practices of distributed leadership and professional learning communities in the case school and other settings undertaking ICT integration.