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The Education Bureau (EDB) today (January 3) announced that 21 school projects had been selected from 98 eligible applications to participate in the Pilot Scheme on e-Learning in Schools.
"The selected projects came from the primary, secondary and special school sectors. About 57% of them involved school clusters, highlighting close collaboration among schools, while 43% of the schools will be working independently in the scheme.
"School partnerships in the selected projects are diverse, with the involvement of academics, educational publishers and the IT sector. Generally, each project has more than one partner, fully exhibiting the synergy of collaboration," an EDB spokesman said.
The pilot projects were selected according to the merits of their proposals and the schools' commitment to developing and promoting e-Learning, the spokesman added. Emphasis was placed on the projects' implementation strategy, pedagogies and curriculum design, benefits to learning and teaching through partnership collaboration, and sustainable development of the e-Learning resources as well as the project budget and cost-effectiveness.
The 21 selected projects involve a total of 61 schools, comprising 32 primary, 18 secondary and 11 special schools. The average cost of each project is about $2.8 million and the total government funds allocated will be about $59 million.
Overall, the selected projects have fully covered all key learning areas and learning stages and the project objectives also include the enhancement of students' information literacy and learning effectiveness through the use of IT, and the enrichment of the depository for learning and teaching materials.
The Under Secretary for Education, Mr Kenneth Chen, said, "I am pleased with the results as the selected pilot schools have fully demonstrated diversified partnerships with other sectors. With the curriculum design focused on student learning and the adoption of innovative pedagogies, the diverse needs of the local school community and parents are met. The school-based and commercially viable business models will also enable sustainable development of the projects and foster wider use of e-Learning resources.
"As regards other schools which have not been shortlisted, I give my heart-felt thanks for their enthusiasm and support for the scheme. Many of their projects presented useful ideas and we will be inviting all schools to participate in sharing sessions for professional exchanges."
The implementation of the scheme will be spread across three school years with some selected pilot schools to start off in early 2011 and no later than September 2011.
To benefit the education sector and sustain the pedagogical innovations, pilot schools are required to disseminate their project outcomes / experiences with other schools. To this end, the EDB will organise a series of professional seminars and workshops for interested schools and teachers with a view to strengthening the effectiveness of learning and teaching through the development and use of IT.
The EDB will sign an agreement with the successful pilot schools which sets out the relevant administrative, financial and reporting arrangements and requirements. To monitor the project progress and management, pilot schools will be required to submit annual progress reports on the development of the project and the financial situation.
The Chief Executive announced in his 2008-09 Policy Address that the Government would look into the development of e-Learning resources. In this regard, the Working Group on Textbooks and e-Learning Resources Development (WG) was set up soon afterwards to study the use and development of textbooks and e-Learning resources. In October 2009, the WG released a report and among its recommendations was the launch of a pilot scheme on e-Learning in schools to explore suitable modes and necessary support measures for the development of effective e-Learning solutions for Hong Kong.
A list of the 21 selected school projects is attached.
Ends/Monday, January 3, 2011
Issued at HKT 10:02
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