Archive Consultation Papers and Consultancy Reports Information Technology for Learning in a New Era Five-Year Strategy 1998/99 to 2002/03

Annex A Examples of Application of IT in Teaching and Learning (A) Exploring mathematical concepts In a Primary 4 Mathematics lesson, the teacher guides the pupils to explore properties and relationship of 2-D shapes and 3-D solids with the help of software programme. The programme provides a virtual reality environment where the pupils can study the characteristics of common solids such as pyramids and prisms, create new 3-D solids by cutting the solids vertically, horizontally and in a slanting direction, and view 3-D solids from different perspectives. These activities help engage the pupilsÕ interest, enable them to grasp the underlying mathematical concepts, and develop a spatial sense. The teacher also guides the students to match the various solids with real-life examples such as buildings in large cities around the world, of which the pictures are obtained from sight-seeing web-sites on the Internet. (B) Cross-cultural studies In a Primary 5 General Studies lesson, the teacher asks the pupils to work in groups on a project on the postal service in Hong Kong and the neighboring regions. The pupils obtain information on postal history and service in Hong Kong from the "Hong Kong Stamps" CD-ROM. They are guided to examine and analyse the characteristics of the stamps issued in Hong Kong. Some groups are asked to focus on the cultural aspects of the stamp designs. Some are asked to study the changes in design with reference to the social, economic and political changes in Hong Kong. Others are asked to get information on the stamps of Mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan from the various web-sites on the Internet, and to comment on the cultural characteristics of these countries as reflected in the stamp designs. The teacher gives feedback to pupils on their analysis. The project enables the pupils to appreciate and respect different cultures. (C) Research project A group of Secondary 6 students work on a research project titled "Later and Future" to examine the relationship between water supply and drainage and the future development of a society. To stimulate thinking, at the beginning of the project, the teacher provides the students with background information on water supply and drainage in Hong Kong and the Mainland, recent reports on the drainage system in Israel etc. The teacher solicits support from a group of volunteer advisers including an interested parent, two professionals and an academic. Through e-mail communications, the students seek advice and guidance from the advisers as regards source of information, research topic, research methodology, etc. Throughout the project, the students need to search and analyse information, communicate frequently and clearly among themseleves as well as with the teacher and advisers. At the end, the students give a presentation to share their findings with their classmates. The learning processes in the project enable the pupils to develop independent thinking abilities using IT-related resources. (D) Research project A group of senior form Economics students have chosen to study how Hong Kong developed into an international financial centre between the seventies and nineties. They search archives of government yearbooks and newspaper cuttings from the Internet and other sources to look for information as well as relevant commentary. They then set up a newsgroup in their school's web-site with the teacher acting as the discussion facilitator. They discuss the materials they have found and invite other students to give their views. The web-based discussion runs for three weeks during which the students learn to organize their thoughts and present their ideas systematically and logically, comprehend others' opinions, critically evaluate their own ideas as well as others' on the basis of further research, and formulate judgement. With the help of the teacher, the students summarize the research findings and discussion into a report discussing the political, economical and social developments leading to the emergence of Hong Kong as an international financial centre in the past, and projecting future developments in this regard. (E) Inter-regional project A group of Secondary 3 students take part in an inter-regional science investigation project which measures and compares the suspended particulate pollutants in territories in the Asia-Pacific region. The students collect samples in their districts and analyze the samples with data logging devices. The processed data from all participating schools in Hong Kong are posted on the homepages of the schools and/or sent through e-mail to a school which is responsible for producing a suspended particulate pollutant distribution for Hong Kong on a web-site accessible by all participating schools in the region. Participating students are encouraged to consider the causes of the problems in their own territories and discuss whether there is correlation between activities in one territory and the effects in others. The project helps heighten awareness of air pollution among students, as well as understanding of the need for collaboration and interdependence in tackling global issues. (F) Mutual support among teachers A few secondary schools in the same district jointly run a teaching resource database which contains resource material for secondary school subjects contributed by experienced teachers. The database is organised by subject, key stage, learning dimension, topic, student ability, teaching approach, and type of resource. The database helps teachers, new or serving, in preparing lessons. It also helps the teachers to adopt appropriate teaching approaches and methodologies to suit the different needs of their students. In return, the teachers are encouraged to make contributions to the database, comment on the material in the database, comment on one another's works, discuss their experience with one another etc.