Scaffolding Scientific Conceptualization: Multiple Representation and Multilevel Visualization Using an Iconic Modelling Tool

Difficulties in the teaching and learning of scientific concepts and theories have been well documented in many areas of science, including the physical and life sciences, over the last two decades. Different psychological theories have been put forward as explanatory models for such difficulties. However, another perspective for understanding such learning difficulties and consequently to better support learning is to understand the relationship between the theories and the phenomena they explain. Often, scientific theories involve the postulation of explanatory models that operate at an entirely different level (or scale) in terms of the magnitude and time span from the natural phenomena that it seeks to explain. This paper elaborates the challenges to learning that this poses and introduces how an iconic modeling tool, WorldMaker, can scaffold conceptualization in the learning of a variety of scientific theories.published_or_final_versio

Precarious school level scalability amid network level resilience: insights from a multilevel multiscale model of scalability

Meeting Theme: Toward Justice: Culture, Language, and Heritage in Education Research and PraxisThis paper presents the scalability analyses of two teacher networks in Hong Kong supported by university researchers. The Learning Community Projects (LCP, 2001-2012) promoted knowledge building pedagogy (Scardamalia 2002) using Knowledge Forum® for online discussions and networked with the Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP). Learning 2.0 (L2.0 for short) was a local network that provided a Moodle-based online learning platform and pedagogical design support to teachers for implementation of Liberal Studies, a new school subject stipulated as compulsory in the education reform process for nurturing critical thinking and lifelong learning skills during 2008 to 2012. Funding for both projects ended in 2012. All network activities in LCP ended, but a number of the L2.0 schools still sought to maintain the pedagogical practices and the online platform using their own resources. This paper proposes a multilevel multiscale model for analyzing the architecture for learning in the specific contexts of three teachers, two connected with LCP and one with L2.0. The analysis reveal that different raison d’être for the SUNG projects, system level involvement, school level conditions and how the learning technology relate to the wider technologic environment interact, leading to the different scalability outcomes observed. The implications of these findings and the utility of the analytic model are discussed.postprin

ICT implementation and school leadership: Case studies of ICT integration in teaching and learning

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government launched a five-year ICT strategy in schools in late 1998. This paper reports the findings of the analysis on models of change in 18 schools striving to integrate the use of ICT in teaching and learning across the school curriculum. The study shows that the strategy adopted by a school in instituting such change and the resulting variation of pedagogical practices using ICT is strongly dependent on the school leaders’ vision and understanding of the role and impact of ICT in the curriculum, their goals and objectives for ICT integration, as well as the history, culture and background of the school and its general vision and mission.published_or_final_versio

Comparing Innovations: Educational and Institutional Issues

Based on the analysis of 83 case reports developed from the Module 2 of the Second International Information Technology in Education Study (SITES M2), this paper explored the contextual factors influencing change at the institutional level within which innovation took place. We identified six contextual factors including initiation, school background, principal leadership, school strategies, government and community support, and school ICT infrastructure. We then characterized patterns of findings on such contextual factors in association to the innovative pedagogical practices that had been in place in classrooms through cluster analysis and qualitative comparison, with the aim of examining the contextual factors contributing to the emergence and sustainability of the innovations to inform policy decision makers at all levels as a support for their policy and strategic planning.published_or_final_versio

家長管教對青少年網上行為及態度的影響

眾所周知，互聯網對青少年的成長與發展有着重要的影響。然而影響是好是壞至今還沒有定論。近期的研究顯示，影響的好壞取決於青少年的社會及心理調整，對此家長的管教起著甚麼作用？有關家長管教行為對子女影響的研究不少，然而很少觸及互聯網或資訊科技的管教行為、及它們對青少年網上行為或態度的影響。本文報告一項包括1,212個隨機抽樣香港家庭的研究，探討互聯網對青少年的影響、及他們就互聯網有關的道德態度、以及它們與各類家長管教行為的關係。postprin

A Multilevel System of Quality Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching Indicators

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Thematic Working Group 7: Indicators of Quality Technology: Enhanced Learning and Teaching

EDUsummIT 2015 was co-hosted by UNESCO Bangkok (the Asia and Pacific regional bureau of UNESCO) and Curtin Universitypublished_or_final_versio

A Self-Organizing Network of Schools that Transform Teacher and Student Learning through Socio-Technical Co-evolution

Scaling up educational innovations through networks has attracted much interest in diverse research and education policy communities. Literature on scaling are often associated with top-down or partnership models of change, and the goals, resources and technology tools used are generally defined and developed by stakeholders outside of schools. This paper reports on the sustained efforts of a self-organizing network of special needs schools in Hong Kong that has worked together for more than a decade to realize the vision of providing the same educational opportunities to children with various degrees of learning disability. The analysis focuses on how their engagement in the development of a collaborative platform for teacher learning started a journey of socio-technical co-evolution that resulted in exponential scaling of the innovation both qualitatively and quantitatively. The evolution trajectory of this network shows characteristics and susceptibilities similar to those in the socio-technical innovation literature.published_or_final_versio

《學習2.0》：一個支援新高中通識教育及專題研究的學習及評估平臺

Liberal Studies as a mandatory subject in the New Secondary School curriculum will be implemented starting from September 2009. This subject adopts an inquiry-based approach and the content is structured around a range of important contemporary issues. Teachers face new challenges in teaching and assessing this subject: how to guide students to read critically, find useful information from the internet, formulate inquiry questions and to undertake evidence-based inquiry; how to support student collaboration and at the same time be able to assess the efforts and achievements of individual students; and how to provide adequate feedback to students at various stages of inquiry such that assessment can be both formative and summative. In addition, facilitating students to work autonomously online generally brings heavy workload on teachers. This paper introduces the Learning 2.0 project which comprises the development of an open-source online learning and assessment platform using Web 2.0 technology to provide support for the learning and teaching in the NSS Liberal Studies Curriculum.published_or_final_versio