Abstract
Background: Information and communications technologies (ICT) are often characterized as offering new and exciting possibilities for changing and enhancing the way people work and play. Similarly, ICT-based learning environments offer opportunities for new types of learning and cognitive activity that have not been previously available in formal educational settings. Lessons from business reveal that technology can be a powerful accelerator of change, however it must be focused on productive applications.
Focus of discussion: In education, there have been calls to more closely examine some of the claims for ICT and to re-think the ways it has been used to date. This paper argues that at the school-level, the form ICT will take and the functions it will serve for teaching and learning are still yet to be determined.
Argument: It is clear from studies of highly successful organizations that that they think differently about technology and work hard to develop thoughtful and creative applications. The continuing challenge for Hong Kong schools is to demonstrate that ICT has a credible place in the development of collaborative learning environments that emphasize knowledge production over knowledge reproduction.
Conclusion: The educational leadership that is required for the new millennium is to look for smart uses of technology that are designed to foster knowledge creation and productive learning.
| Keywords: | information and communication technology (ICT); learning; design |
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