Sandy C. Li

Framing ICT Implementation in a Context of Educational Change: A Multilevel Analysis.

Despite frequent attempts to address educational changes and the roles of information and communication technology (ICT) in effecting changes in student learning, few have conceptually examined ICT implementation within a wider context of managing change in schools. Methodologically, it has been argued that ignoring the multilevel nature of the data collected might incur significant discrepancies in the results. These research gaps direct us to develop multilevel models to explore how the relevant contextual factors contribute to effective ICT implementation, in particular the school-level factors. Results indicated that from teacher perspectives, ICT was able to act as a lever to bring about changes in student learning in the context of establishing collegiality in schools. Sociocultural setting rather than structural characteristics of the school accounted for the variation of school mean for perceived changes in student learning. Specifically, perceived changes in pedagogy modulated perceived changes in student learning among schools.

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.

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.

Does social capital matter? A quantitative approach to examining technology infusion in schools

Changing teachers’ perceptions about the value of technology and equipping them with appropriate knowledge and skills in pedagogical use of technology is often regarded as a key determinant of success in technology infusion in schools. However, recent studies have indicated that changing teachers’ epistemological beliefs about the use of technology in teaching and learning may not necessarily bring about change in their practice, and that technology implementation in schools can be affected by other instrumental forces, such as collegial trust, support for risk taking and access to expertise within an organization. In this article, we delineate collegial trust, access to expertise, willingness to take risks, etc. as manifestations of social capital in an organization. We argue that social capital plays a pivotal role in leveraging pedagogical change in schools. To gauge teachers’ self-perceived change in their pedagogical use of technology, we take a constructivist perspective to explore how technology serves as a tool for facilitating students to articulate their thoughts, to explore and construct knowledge, and to become more autonomous in learning. The results of our questionnaire survey indicate that (1) the social capital of a school had a strong direct effect on teachers’ self-perceived changes in their pedagogical use of technology, and that the effect of social capital on pedagogical change outweighed that of teachers’ perceived effectiveness of professional development; (2) teachers’ receptivity towards technology use had a direct effect on their perceived effectiveness of professional development but a very weak effect on fostering changes in their pedagogical use of technology; and (3) the social capital of a school had a direct influence on teachers’ receptivity towards technology use and their perceived effectiveness of professional development. To further unfold the complexity of technology implementation, more in-depth qualitative studies on how social forces shape the change process are deemed necessary.

High-spin states in boson models with applications to actinide nuclei

We use the 1N expansion formalism in a systematic study of high-spin states in the sd and sdg boson models with emphasis on spin dependence of moment of inertia and E2 transitions. The results are applied to the high-spin states in the actinide nuclei 232Th, 234–238U, where the need for g bosons is especially acute but until now, no realistic calculation existed. We find that the d-boson energy plays a crucial role in description of the high-spin data.

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.

Supporting collaborative group projects with Web 2.0 tools: A holistic approach

Abstract This study seeks to understand how first-year teacher education students in a Hong Kong university employed wikis, together with other Web 2.0 tools, in support of group work. Taking a holistic approach, the investigation included the technological tools designed by the instructor, and those tools employed by students themselves outside the classroom. This study uses questionnaire, interviews, and online artefacts as the main source of data. The results show a departure from the instructor’s intended design of having wikis as the unified group space. The students deployed multiple tools together with wikis based on their needs, strategies, and habits. The study has implications for researchers and practitioners in examining and designing group work with multiple technologies.

An advanced organizer for asynchronous discussion forums

This paper presents an advanced organizer called SmartTag as a solution to ease the effort in identifying relevant messages in asynchronous discussion forums. SmartTag includes two tools for solving the problem: first, a message organizer for tagging relevant messages for future references, and second, a message filter that computationally evaluates the relevance of new messages for a user based on the personal preferences of this and other users. SmartTag employs techniques in statistical text analysis, recommender systems and collaborative filtering.

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.

Does middle leadership matter? Evidence from a study of system-wide reform on English language curriculum

ABSTRACTThis quantitative study was designed to examine how the interplay of middle leadership and other contextual factors such as teachers’ receptivity toward the reform and teacher professional ...