Leveraging ICT for Educational Leadership:

Masterplans inHong Kong and

Singapore

ICTStrategies

and Policies in Hong Kong

The First ICT Strategy in HK- Information Technology for Learning in New Era

-Five year strategy: from 1998 to 2003

Four missions

of the 1st ICT

strategy

Mission1 access

and connectivity

Mission2 teacher

enablement

Mission3:curriculu

m and resource

support

Mission4 community-wide

culture

aim provide sufficient IT

facilities;

funding flexibility;

encourage front-line

teachers;

arrange technical support

service

aim

integrate IT into school

education;

foster better software and

supporting materials

aim

foster the emergence of a

community-wide environment

conductive to culture change

aim

The vision of the First Strategy:to promote a paradigm shift in school education from a traditional textbook-based teacher-centered

approach to a more interactive and student-centered approach to equip students for information era.

to encourage students, teachers, schools and other stakeholders touse ICT effectively as a tool for enhancing learning and teaching, witha view to preparing the younger generation for the information age,turning schools into dynamic and interactive learning institutions, andfostering collaboration among schools, parents and community.

The Second ICT Strategy in HK-

Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology:

form 2004 to 2007

The vision of the second strategy:

The Second ICT Strategy in HK-Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology

form 2004 t0 2007Seven strategic

goals of the 2nd ICT

strategy

Goal 1: Empowering Learners with IT – empowering students with IT skills and

knowledge, creative problem solving skills and attitudes for lifelong learning.

Goal 2: Empowering Teachers with IT – empowering teachers with IT through the

provision of professional development opportunities and support for the use of IT in

curriculum and pedagogical innovations that aligned with the goals of Curriculum

Reforms.

Goal 3: Enhancing School Leadership for the Knowledge Age – providing guidance and

support so that individual school heads and their associates could establish their own

blueprints for the integration of IT to enhance the learning and teaching process.

Goal 4: Enriching Digital Resources for Learning – establishing platforms for updating resources and sharing experiences to meet school needs.

Goal 5: Improving IT Infrastructure and Pioneering Pedagogy Using IT –

helping schools upgrade and replace hardware and encouraging innovative

use of IT to enhance learning and teaching.

Goal 6: Providing Continuous Research and Development – providing continuous research and development to evaluate the effectiveness of IT in education strategies and their impact on students’ learning outcomes,and to pioneer innovative IT applications in education.

Goal 7: Promoting Community-wide Support and Community Building –enhancing partnership between the IT industry and the education sector, and encouraging support from parents.

The Third ICT Strategy in HK-Right Technology at the Right Time

for the Right Task: from 2008-2014

Six Strategic

Actions of 3rd ICT

strategy

Action1: To provide a

depository of curriculum-

based teaching modules with

appropriate digital resources

Action2: To continue to

sharpen teachers’ IT

pedagogical skills

Action3: To assist schools in

formulating and

implementing school-based

IT in education development

plans

Action6: To collaborate with non-

government organizations to improve

parents’ information literacy and

launch parental guidance programs on

e-learning at home

Action5: To strengthen

technical support to

schools and teachers

Action4: To enable

schools to maintain

effective IT facilities

The Third IT Strategy declared that “the key to success of taking IT in education forward is to enable teachersto use the right technology at the right time for the right task’’.

1998 2004 2008 2014

Mission1: ICT facilities

and access

Goal5: infrastructure and

pedagogy using ICT

Goal 1: empowering

students with ICT

Action4:effective ICT

facilities

Action5: technical

support

Action1: enhance

school’s IT infrastructure

Mission2: teacher

enablement

Goal 2:teacher

development focusing on

pedagogical innovations,

curriculum reform,and

research

Action2: teachers’ ICT

pedagogical skills

Action 4: professional

development of teachers

Mission3:curriculum

and resource support

Goal 4: enriching digital

resources for learning

Action1: depository of

digital resources

Action 2: the quality of e-

learning resources

upgrade

Action3: curriculum

renewal

Mission4: community-

wide environment

conductive to the culture

change

Goal 7: community-wide

support and community

building

Action6: information

literacy of parentsAction5: parents, skate

holders and the

community involvement

Goal 3: school leadership

for knowledge age

Action 3: school-based

ICT in education

development plans

Action4: professional

leadership building

Goal 6: research and

development

A comparison of the key strategic elements identified in the four ICT policies in Hong Kong

IT infrastructure

community culturebuilding

digital resource&IT support

teacher competence

e-leadership building

The First ICT Strategies The Second ICT Strategies

Infrastructure

and access

1. the average student-computer ratios in SS and

PS reduced from

36:1&53:1 in 1999 to 7.5:1& 13.4:1 in 2001, then

to 7.4:1&4.6:1 in 2005;

2. Internet connectivity of computers in the lab

was improved to 100% until 2005

1. additional ICT-related equipment was

purchased, the gross student-computer ratio

reduced to 3.91:1;

2. All schools had access to the Internet through

broadband connectivity

Support ICT coordinating team was equipped in school to

support teaching

school-based technician support service was

strengthened

Digital resource more and more educational software package

are available in school

two-thirds of teachers used digital resource to

teach

Teacher

competence

all teachers had completed IT training at the

basic level, 77% at the intermediate level or

above

1. teachers are more proficient in using new

software and hardware;

2. More IT training programs provided to meet

teachers’ demand

Pedagogical

use of ICT

Increasing rate of using IT in teaching, but the

ratio is relatively low

over 80% of teachers had used ICT to conduct

learning and teaching activities

Student

learning

More than 80% students have developed

confidence in using IT for learning

different types of learning activities were

engaged with the use of IT, not only for

information search, but also for self-evaluation

Community

culture

a growing culture of IT use by school heads,

teachers in school and outside school

a sharing or collaborative culture was fostered

in a high rate

Key Implementation outcomes arising from the first and second ICT strategies(based on the

Preliminary Evaluation of the First ICT strategy in 2001, the over Evaluation of the First ICT strategy in 2005, and thePhase I Evaluation of the second strategy)

The Fourth ICT Strategy in HK-Realizing IT potential, Unleashing Learning Power: from 2014

Five

recommende

d actions of

the 4th ICT

strategy

Action1 Enhancing school’s IT

infrastructure and re-engineering

the operation mode

Action2 Enhancing the

quality of e-learning

resources

Action3 Renewing curriculum,

transforming pedagogical and

assessment practices

Action4 Building professional

leadership, capacity and

communities of practice

Action5 Involving parents,

stakeholders and the community

The goal of the Fourth Strategy:

to unleash the learning power of all our students to learn to learn and to excel through realizing the potential of IT inenhancing interactive learning and teaching experiences, and aim to strengthen students’ self-directed learning, theircreativity, collaboration, problem- solving and computational thinking skills, as well as ethical use of IT

1.1 Providing a WIFI campus for all1.2 Adopting a diversified service model 1.3 Using mobile devices wisely

2.1 Developing an e-textbook market2.2 Leveraging global e-learning resources2.3 Enriching the free resources on EDB one-step portal 2.4 Sharing of resources by teachers2.5 Enabling Single Sign-on2.6 Integrating e-learning platforms

3.1 Articulating clear learning objectives3.2 Enhancing problem-solving and programming-related skills3.3 Applying IT skills across school curricula3.4Promoting an e-learning repertoire3.5 Using e-assessment for student learning3,6Engaging students in IT-related life-wide learning3.7 Exploring IT-related career paths3.7

4.1 Empowering e-leadership4.2 Providing a self-learning web-based tool kit4.3 Enhancing professional development of teachers4.4 Rendering support services4.5 Building communities of practice

5.1 Communicating with parents5.2 Working with stakeholders and community5.3 Leveraging community resources

ICTMasterplansin Singapore

Masterplan 1：key dimensions of the masterplan 1

Curriculum

&Assessment

Content

&Learning

Resource

Human

Resource

Management

Physical&

Technology

Infrastructure

Shift towards better balance between acquisition of factual knowledge& mastery of concept of skill

Encourage pupils to engage in moreActive & independent learning

Include assessment measuring Abilities in applying information, thinking&communicating

Acquire & Stimulate developmentOf education software to meet curriculum needs.

Facilitate use of relevant international resources for T&L

Provide a system of Convenient procurement

help schools obtain software easily & on

time

Train every teacherIn purposeful use ofICT for teaching

Equip trainee teachers with core skills in teaching with ICT

Involve institutions of higher learning & industry partners in school

Provide pupils withAccess to ICT in learningAreas in school

Provide school-wide network & Link all schools through wide-Network eventually connected to Singapore ONE, enabling speedDelivery of multimedia services On island-wide basis

Launched incubator

schools Scheme

Initiated devolution

Scheme for ICT funds

Formed ICT

consultancy teams

Launched MS-MOE l

Development Award for

Teachers

Set up learning Sciences

Lab in the national Institute

of Education

Launched ISHARE on

inter-cluster resource sharing platform

Initiated roll-out of

baseline ICT standards

for school

Launched LEAD ICT@

Schools programme

Introduced graphic

calculators for A level

Mathematics

Introduced data loggers

for O level Science

Practical assessment

Launched FutureSchool

@Singapore programme

Launched Lenovo

Innovation Award for

teachers

Masterplan 2 ：Implementation of Milestones

Ensure baseline level

of ICT use

Develop schools’ capacity

for ICT implementation

Strengthen the integr

-ation of ICT into C & A

Encourage higher levels

of ICT use

Masterplan 3 ：Implementation

• MOE & MCI

Build up

coordinates

well

• still

government-

driven overall

• Driven from

the top

• Key

constructs like

SDL & CoL

Centralized

Top-down

Decentralized

Top-down

Decentralized

Bottom-up

Centralized

Bottom-up• Top-down

support for

bottom-up

• Policies to

encourage

innovations

• Agency from the grassroots

• Build up

constituency

• Collaboration

with industry

partners

Implementation outcomes arising from MP3

• A high usage of ICT

• The integration of ICT into curriculum

• Formal Learning

Masterplans in future

• Different outcomes toward different masterplan strategies projects

• Masterplans in future towards 21CC

Necessary Transformation of MP

C & A ICT supporting

Curriculum

ICT integration into C & A

ICT embedded into syllabuses teaching

guide

Professional Development

Core training for all teachers and school

leaders

Differentiated prof Development

Consultancy to school leaders

ICT mentorship

Professional learning communities

R & DSpearheading 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 change and schools needs

Infrastructure for Learning

MP1 MP2 MP3

Key Differences from ICT Masterplans of

Singapore and Hong kong

Hong Kong

Strengthen &maintain R&D

E-Leadership from MP2

Community-wide support and

community building

Focus on Post-PC era, the 4st strategy

Singapore

SDL+COL with two types of goals

Centralized

Research & Development

Focus on cyber wellness

&sustainablty

Learning without ICT

Homework is so difficult without ICT.

Just killing me!

Learning without ICT

Math, I don’t know!Chinese , I don’t know!Science ,I don’t know!

Everything ,I don’t know!Help! Help! Help!

Learning with ICT

So easy!

媽咪，再也不擔心我的學習了！

Summary of Hong Kong

and SingaporeICT Masterplans

Hong Kong ICT strategy

The First Strategy focused on access

to computing equipment and the development of a

network infrastructure within schools.

The Second strategic focus was

on the further integration of ICT into the teaching

and learning process.

The Third Strategy focused on the human factor

necessary for the integration of IT into

learning and teaching and the appropriate

use of IT.

The fourth strategy focus on

strengthening students’ self-

directed learning, creativity,

collaboration, problem- solving and

computational thinking skills

Singapore Masterplans

MP1 laid a strong foundation for schools to harness ICT, particularly in the provision of basic ICT infrastructure and in equipping teachers with a basic level of ICT integration competency.

MP2 focused on strengthening the integration of ICT into the curriculum, establishing baseline ICT standards for students, and seeding innovative use of ICT among schools.

MP3 focuses on both students and teachers as learners .It envisages that through the use of ICT, learning will not just take place in the classroom ,but wherever and whenever the learner chooses..

Which policy is better?--Funding

Hong Kong Singapore

ICT exp (US$million) 922(98-07) 1000(97-02)

Annual exp per head(US$)

14.6 39.4

The investment of Singapore has been much larger than the Hong Kong. Singapore’s determination in the development of ICT in education is clear.

Hong Kong Singapore

-- Initial Goal

The effort to integrate IT in support of learning and teaching as primarily a technological transformation rather than an educational one.(The first strategy)

ICT was regarded as educational linkages between the school and the world, generate innovative processes in education, enhance creative thinking, lifelong learning and social responsibility, and promote administrative and management excellence in the education system.（MP1）

The educational property is important.

-- Research &Development

Hong Kong:

Promoting research & development in the

second strategy.

Singapore :

Improve research & development in the

MP1

Research & Development can promote and affect the progress of ICT.

Hong Kong Singapore

-- Curriculum and Pedagogical

Reform

Building leadership capacity, fostering the establishment of communities of practice for pedagogical innovation and supporting continuous research and development were distinctive strategic goals that were not found in the first IT in Education policy document. The identification of these omissions indicate a recognition of the challenges that needs to be overcame to achieve deep curricular and pedagogical reform.

In parallel to the sustained systemic efforts on curriculum and pedagogical reform, the Singapore government made a landmark commitment to education research on schools and pedagogy through the establishment in 2002(MP1) of the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP) within the National Institute of Education, which is affiliated with the NanyangTechnological University and is the sole teacher-training institution in Singapore.

An efficient government Institution will determine execution and development of ICT