How far has Hong Kong advanced during the 21st century on...

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How far has Hong Kong advanced during the 21st century on the road towards transforming learning compared to its international peers?

Nancy Law Centre for Information Technology in Education

University of Hong Kong

Curriculum Reform Efforts in HK since 2000

Curriculum Reform Efforts in HK since 2000

Curriculum Reform Efforts in HK since 2000

IT in education strategic plans in Hong Kong

1998

2004

2008

Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology

Information Technology for Learning in a New Era

Right Technology at the Right Time for the Right Task

What have we achieved in all these reform efforts?

How do we compare with our neighbours in the region and countries in Europe?

What have we learnt from our past reform efforts?

Have our pathways of change/reform been effective at different levels of the system, from classroom to the entire education community?

How can we improve our innovation/reform efforts to achieve sustainability and scalability as a system?

QUESTIONS TO BE EXPLORED

Teachers are NOT the only actors for change in the classroom: nested ecologies in the global education biosphere

Source: Influences of IT in the global biosphere of education, including nested ecologies (source: Davis, 2008, p. 509)

Ecological model—a new way of looking at change and innovation

Not simple diffusion, dissemination

Multiple nested levels of change

Sustainability is NOT maintaining the status quo

Scalability is NOT replication

Change is the norm, and innovations will only be sustainable if there is evolution—the environment is always changing

SCALE CCR was designed as an ecological approach to studying the scalability of innovations

5-dimensional framework for characterizing learning innovations

http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=5159

Nature of Innovation

Impact Area

Target

Access Level

Implementation Phase

Disruptive

Mainstream

Cross-border Organization

Wide Range of Actors

Radical

Incremental

Scale Pilot

Regional/National

Local

Service

Process

Multiple Actors Single

Actors

Nature of Innovation

Impact Area

Target

Access Level

Implementation Phase

Disruptive

Mainstream

Cross-border Organization

Wide Range of Actors

Radical

Incremental

Scale Pilot

Regional/National

Local

Service

Process

Multiple Actors Single

Actors

Why focus on innovation?

Why study ICT-enabled innovations?

Why focus on sustainability & scalability?

Acknowledgement: slides on eTwinning from Dr Yves Punie, European Commission

European Commission-funded initiative www.etwinning.net

34 countries 1 CSS - 35 NSSs 25 languages 200,000+ registered users 105,000+ schools 28,000+ projects (~5,000 active)

Scale and geographical coverage

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/news/press_corner/statistics.cfm

A Lifelong Learning Programme initiative

- within Comenius Launched January

2005

2005-2008 Phase 1: Collaborative projects

2008-2013 Phase 2: The community for schools

2014 Entering Phase 3 Widening and deepening

« Erasmus for all »

Brief history #1

eTwinning stakeholders

eTwinners Teachers from various participating countries

Central Support Service - General co-ordination (run by European Schoolnet) - Platform, services (service provider, data processor) National Support Service in each participating country EC (contractor, data controller)

Cross-border collaboration in eTwinning

Mapping eTwinning

JRC -IPTS in collaboration with European Schoolnet (Jan to Dec 2012) Target: Primary and secondary schools Focus: notion of 1:1 learning rather than 1:1 device Inclusion criteria: • ‘True’ 1:1 initiatives according to the definition: “equipping all students of a

given school, class or age group, with a portable computer device” • Launched within an educational framework • Recent 1:1 initiatives at local, regional, national or international level • Significant scale and/or impact

The 1:1 Learning study

31 recent initiatives in 19 European countries, 47.000 schools, 17,5 million students

1:1Learning study

Laptops and netbooks in most of the cases; tablets in some cases; smartphones in few initiatives

Local/regional pilot

System-wide pilot

System-wide implementation

Pedagogical theory underpinning innovation

Outcomes from 1:1 Learning

28

• Improved participation levels and students’ motivation • Extended learning opportunities outside the school • Student ownership important (-> BYO device) • Development of 1:1 pedagogies • Mixed results on learning outcomes

• Impact beyond technology: CPD, Training, School organizational practices, involvement of parents, etc.

• Shift from initial 1to1 devices to 1to1 Learning

• Different funding models but sustainability is an issue

Mapping 1:1 learning

Hellerup School, Denmark

public primary and lower secondary school (6-16 years old), since 2002

750 pupils and 65 teachers and assistants

Keywords: flexibility, creativity, learning styles and systemic innovation

Implements a systemic approach to educational innovation that involves and impacts the whole school community.

Innovative physical space – Emphasis on stakeholder and user participation in the design process

Hellerup School, Denmark

Integrated flexibility for learning: no classrooms, personalized and self-regulated learning

Wi-fi everywhere, BYOD, mobile learning

Teachers work autonomously in small teams

Wide-ranging partnerships (e.g. European SchoolNet)

Distributed leadership

Hellerup school

Mapping Hellerup School

1:1 Learning

eTwinning

Hellerup school

Mapping the three cases

Singapore’s Masterplan for ICT in Education (mp3)

Chee-Kit LOOI

National Institute of Education (NIE) Nanyang Technological University

Singapore

34

Presentation in CSCL 2013

Need for ICT in Ed Masterplans

• Human capital development – key national focus

• Alignment of economic, manpower & education policies

• ICT in Ed: – Preparation for knowledge-based environment – Enhance learning experiences

Acknowledgements: Slides 3-8, 11-12 are courtesy of Dr Cheah Horn Mun, Director, Educational Technology Division, Singapore

ICT in Ed Masterplan Journey

Building the Foundation

Seeding Innovation

Strengthening & Scaling

Masterplan 1

Masterplan 2

Masterplan 3

Building the Foundation 1997: Masterplan 1

Core ICT Training for all teachers

ICT Infrastructure & Support for all

schools

Educational software &

resources for relevant subjects

ICT became an accepted tool for teaching & learning

2003: Masterplan 2 Seeding Innovation

Baseline ICT Standards for all FS@SG

5% schs

LEAD ICT Schools

15-20% schs

Remaining Schools

Gave autonomy through devolved

ICT funds

Generate innovative practices through schemes

Established Baseline ICT

Standards for pupils

Orientation of the Innovation – Intended Outcomes

Confident Person Thinks independently

Communicates effectively Has good inter-personal skills

Self-directed Learner Takes responsibility for own learning

Questions, reflects, perseveres Uses technology adeptly

Concerned Citizen Is informed about world and local affairs

Empathises with and respects others Participates actively

Active Contributor Exercises initiative and takes risks Is adaptable, innovative, resilient

Aims for high standards

‘Curriculum 2015’ Student Outcomes

mp3 Goal Students develop competencies for self-directed and collaborative learning through the effective use of ICT as well as become discerning and responsible ICT users

Strengthening and Scaling 2009: Masterplan 3

Necessary Transformation

Curriculum, & Assessment

Professional Development

Research & Development

Infrastructure for Learning

1st Masterplan Build Foundation

2nd Masterplan Seed Innovation

3rd Masterplan Strengthen & Scale

~ ICT supporting curriculum

~ ICT integrated into curriculum &

assessment

~ ICT embedded into syllabuses & teaching guides

~ Core training for all teachers and school

leaders

~ Differentiated Prof Development ~ Consultancy to

school leaders

~ ICT Mentorship ~ Professional

Learning Communities

~ Spearheading R&D efforts in

collaboration with industry & schools

~ Seeding innovation in

schools

~ Translating research

to influence classroom practices

~ Central provision to equip all schools ~ One-size-fits-all

~ Flexible provision to suit

schools needs

~ Closer alignment to

curriculum changes and

schools needs

Nature of Innovation

Impact Area

Target

Access Level

Implementation Phase

Disruptive

Mainstream

Cross-border Organization

Wide Range of Actors

Radical

Incremental

Scale Pilot

Regional/National

Local

Service

Process

Multiple Actors Single

Actors

Mapping mp3 to the spider framework

What are the most important impacts?

• A cultural change has permeated the schools – there is a sense of readiness of school leaders, teachers

and students to embrace and use ICT. • The floor is raised with regard to the integration of ICT

into the curriculum – The type of adoption and adaptation varies across schools,

and within a school, across teachers • Teachers have encouraged students’ SDL and CoL by

harnessing the use of ICT – But they tend to associate SDL with fulfilling formal

curricular goals, giving less emphasis on encompassing informal learning pursuits

42

How relevant is CSCL and Learning Sciences research to large-scale education reform?

• mp3 has a specific focus on CL! • MOE folks are investing into assessment of CL

(Centralized top-down) – Policy-makers are more informed by research

communities of CSCL and Learning Sciences • Centralized bottom-up innovations like

GroupScribbles, Knowledge Building, and productive failure have spread to many schools – Different school profiles, different contexts – Schools` are taking more ownership of these

innovations 43

How relevant is CSCL and Learning Sciences research to large-scale education reform?

• As CSCL and LS researchers , we also need to: – Study and enable distributed leadership

• so that collective decisions can be made at every level of the school system, increasing accountability and buy-in

• enable leadership sustainability when there is change in leaders.

– Continue to finetune and distill critical success factors for the innovations

• so that all actors are aware of the non-negotiables of policy implementation and lesson enactment

44

What unique contributions can research on learning make to the sustainability and scalability of ICT-supported learning innovations in schools?

• First, that we know enough about improving the teaching and learning to engage in large-scale implementation of the education we envision (Sabelli, 2010).

• Second, that we do not yet know enough about expanding, disseminating, accessing, and sustaining what we already know.

Based on these premises, we must engage in the second:

• Implementation research— to achieve long term, sustainable, improvements in education. 45

Implementation: Centralized or de-centralized?

Top-down or bottom-up?

46

Centralized Top-Down

Decentralized Top-Down

Centralized Bottom-up

Decentralized Bottom-up

mp3 strategies

47

Coordination, management and evaluation by MOE

A tier structure comprising FutureSchools, LEAD school and mainstream schools for experimentationand diffusion

Defining key constructs like SDL and CoL

Installing ICT champions, ICT Mentors, baseline ICT standards for students

Supporting school-based innovation Supporting research & development by university researchers Supporting schools to launch their own ICT initiatives with funding from the eduLab programme

School-based innovations Partnerships with university researchers & industry

Centralized Top-Down

Decentralized Top-Down

Centralized Bottom-up

Decentralized Bottom-up

Case Study from Hong Kong

From e-Learning Pilot Scheme to Scalable e-Learning Innovations: Wishful thinking or reality?

Pilot proposals awarded: 21 projects, 61 schools

jjj 21 projects are pioneering for the future of elearning in Hong Kong in the 3 years (2011-2014): ➚ Model of elearning ➚ Model of professional development and school change ➚ Model of partnership with different stakeholders ➚ Model of scaling up innovation

Main goals of e-learning pilot scheme http://edbsdited.fwg.hk/e-Learning/eng/

IT in education strategic plans in Hong Kong

1998

2004

2008

Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology

Information Technology for Learning in a New Era

Right Technology at the Right Time for the Right Task

Is this a top-down or bottom-up innovation?

What are the pilot schools’ vision for ICT use?

Objectives No. of schools

Category

Enhance communication between teachers and students 2 Communi-

cation Enhance communication between parents and school 2

Reduce administration workload 3 Adminis-tration

Foster students’ self-directed learning 7

L & T

Provide a student-centered learning environment 3 Cater for individual differences 2 Nurture information literacy 3 Enhance other 21st C skills (e.g. creativity, problem solving) 3 Facilitate assessment for learning 6 Promote sharing culture 2 Others

What do the pilot projects focus on?

Is there evidence that this elearning pilot scheme has benefited from previous ITE experiences?

L & T focus Information

literacy Self-directed

learning Creativity

Catering for individual differences

Assessment for learning

Motivate learning

Building a learning

community

Promote a sharing culture

No. of projects 6 11 4 10 7 4 2 4

Difficulties reported by the pilot projects

Parental concern on use of e-textbook—do not know how to help their children to revise

Teachers’ concerns Inadequate experience in e-learning pedagogy Doubt about the effectiveness of the e-learning pilot Concern about electronic devices as a distraction to studies Heavy workload

Scaling up and sustainability of project at the end of the pilot scheme

Teacher learning for pilot scheme teachers

Schools were expected to build in innovation-specific professional development costs and to arrange such by themselves

Education Bureau only offered ad hoc training on some new technologies

The longitudinal evaluation study reveals that teachers are not pedagogically ready in most of the project schools

Learning/Pedagogical orientations of the innovations

General directive for TEL to support transformations in education, not “translations” (digitized versions of traditional teaching & learning), the discourse does NOT involve learning/pedagogical theories.

Selected projects reveal that the selection panel does not :

Differentiate self-accessed mastery learning from self-directed learning

Understand that constructivist forms of learning to cater for learner diversity need to go together with socially-organized, inquiry-oriented forms of learning organization

That knowledge construction depends on both learners’ individual agency and collective cognitive responsibility

What impact, if any, does this agnostic stance towards learning theories at policy level have on HK’s ability to learn from past innovations?

What are the important impacts so far?

The projects act as hubs of activity for continuing experimentation with technology-enhanced learning (TEL)

Some projects are fostering learning communities around TEL practices

The Education Bureau is trying to build communities for sharing of experience and resources

Link with previous/other innovation projects

How the current scheme builds on previous initiatives is not clear

Innovative practices that emerged in 1999 is still innovative and rare!

Understanding about 21st C outcomes, assessment, etc. have not advanced much

Link with literature on learning sciences & TEL

ITE related policy makers have been exposed to many scholars and their theories related to learning and TEL

Policy initiatives have generally taken an agnostic stance towards learning theories so that a hundred flowers can blossom

At school level, principals and teachers are becoming more exposed to learner-centered pedagogy, changes at the practice level are still slow

Link with literature on innovation, change & sustainability

Policy makers, school leaders & teachers have been exposed to world renown scholars such as Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves

Concept of e-leadership is still vague & taken more from an administrative managerial perspective

Not much awareness of learning leadership at various levels of the pilot scheme

Prospects for further development

Not sure, the government has not made announcements on plans beyond the current pilot scheme

Recent change in Government, not sure about policy continuity for e-Learning

There have been pilot schemes of various sorts before, but no clear pathway of continuing progress/development

What is the key take-away lesson?

Our ICT-enabled creative classroom innovations would

not be sustainable or scalable without ensuring

deep learning at the system and institutional levels about

what happens at the micro-level

LEARNING THEORIES MATTER! Education Innovations & Reform Need Learning Scientists

Multiple pathways and sources of agency for change and innovation

ICT’s innovation role & its sustainability

The nature of technology used and their roles in the seven innovations

Scale, impact and strategic leadership: importance of constructive alignment

Key agencies, strategic focus & mechanisms for change

67

Multiple pathways to innovate and scale

Ecological diversity of innovations foster scalability

Leadership for strategic alignment and system level knowledge building as a necessary condition for scalability

Foster multilevel, system-wide connectivity and strategic partnership as architecture for learning

Learning from SCALE CCR: An ecological model of scalable innovation

Learning from SCALE CCR: Effective scaling strategies

Encourage learning that is experiential, generative and self-organizing

Provide architectures (i.e. structures and mechanisms) for learning across sites and levels

Propagate and consolidate learning to higher levels of the system hierarchy through changes to services and organization

Technology as an integrated infrastructure for learning at multiple levels

How far has Hong Kong advanced during the 21st century on the road towards transforming learning compared to its international peers?

How can HK learn better as a system in education innovation/reform endeavors?

Nancy Law nlaw@hku.hk

Centre for Information Technology in Education University of Hong Kong

Thank you!

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