Learning platforms and c organization of professional

Learning platforms, and (c) organization of professional development programs to train
teachers on the theories and practices of implementing e-Learning in schools.
Hong Kong is a small country, where students can easily travel to school and meet their
teachers every day. E-Learning is used in Hong Kong as a means to provide educational
support to students and to cater to their individual needs. E-Learning is not likely to take
over face-to-face teaching in Hong Kong; however, the use of Information Technology,
including e-Learning, is enhancing student learning and is practiced daily in Hong Kong
schools. The development of e-Learning in local primary and secondary schools for the next
few years was discussed in the new IT in Education Strategy 2004, which can be
downloaded at:
Currently, there are no schools which provide entire online courses for students to complete
all of their studies from home. Instead, local teachers create additional learning activities for
students to work on online after school or at home as a means to strengthen the classroom
teaching which occurs during regular school hours. Students also complete tasks, collaborate
with one another, and receive feedback from their peers and teachers online.
Teachers develop their own e-Learning materials which best fit the needs of the students in
their individual schools. Professional development programs for training teachers to apply
e-Learning and for using web resources in their classrooms occur in refresher and in-service
courses, which are regularly conducted.
The EMB has not created any standards for developing and distributing online education in
schools. There are two major e-Learning platforms used by schools and teachers to create
online courses/learning activities. Implicitly, some standards exist in the online materials
developed by local schools and in their delivery. No mechanisms to measure the quality of e-
Learning have been developed at this time. However, collaborative brainstorming sessions
are regularly conducted with guest speakers from local schools and other organizations who
present their personal experiences on how e-Learning could be effectively used in different
aspects to enhance learning and teaching in schools.
All schools in Hong Kong have adequate computer equipment with broadband Internet
access installed. Teachers and students have excellent IT skills, and most of them are
considered to be technologically savvy, and are willing to accept new models of teaching and
learning. The already heavy workload of teachers is a potential obstacle for the

expansion of e-Learning as teachers find it hard to find time to develop additional materials
for students and to provide extra support for students online after school. Another obstacle is
the limited amount of online resources and learning objects which are available on the market
for teachers.