Secondary school students' perceptions of learning with ICT

by Chau, Mei-wah

The study investigated secondary school students' perceptions of

learning with ICT under the Five-Year Strategies of promoting

information and communication technology in education which was

launched in 1998 in Hong Kong. With considerable investment in the

infrastructure and teacher training, it is hoped that information and

communication technology can playa catalyst role in bringing about 'a

paradigm shift - from a largely textbook-based teacher-centred

approach to a more interactive and learner-centred approach' to prepare

the students to meet the challenge of the information age. The study

was carried in an aided secondary school on the Hong Kong Island in

2003, the last year of the Five-Year Strategy. Form five students were

selected as the target group since their secondary school years coincide

with the time frame of the Five-Year Strategy. Individual face-to-face

in-depth interviews were carried out with fourteen students. The study

focused on the research questions of identifying the benefits and

changes brought about by learning with ICT, its constraints and pitfalls

as well as inviting suggestions for the improvement of learning with

ICT.

The conceptual framework of the study is a combination of the work of

Law (2000) and that of Lim (2002). It emphasizes the importance of the

roles played by and the interaction conducted among the three

components, namely ICT, teacher and students in the learning process

as suggested by Law while realizing the importance of the broader

context - the school, education and Society-at-large as illustrated by the

'Culture-as-Garden'Metaphor (Cole, 1995) adopted by Lim.

The study investigated the perceptions of secondary school students'

perceptions of learning with ICT while examining the underlying

factors which may influence ICT in education in Hong Kong. As

revealed in the study, the benefits brought about by ICT in learning

include increased attention and motivation, better understanding of the

contents with the graphical point-form PowerPoint presentation, maps,

graphs and audio-visual movies, increased scope and depth of learning

with the great resources on the Internet, enhanced collaboration and

communication with the characteristics of the Internet as a multi-user

network. The constraints and pitfalls of learning with ICT include the

dominance of and hindrance brought about by PowerPoint as a 'didactic

teaching tool' (Ruthstrom, 2001), hardware problems, lack of quality

educational software as well as IT competency of teacher and students.

There are few changes to pedagogy and the roles of teacher and

students as perceived by the students. There are suggestions which

related to pedagogy, hardware, software, network, communications

between teacher and students as well as the culture of self-learning in

the school.

The findings have highlighted the importance of the roles played by and

the interactions conducted among the three components i.e. leT,

teacher and students in the learning process. It is important for the

teacher and students to take up the new roles in order to bring about

drastic changes to the learning process. However, as revealed in the

findings, not only the teachers but also the students are not

well-prepared to take up their new roles. The education system has an

important impact on the pedagogy of the teacher as well as the

student's ways of learning as all are driven by the examination. It is

suggested that changes in the curriculum and assessment methodology

are of critical importance while preparing the students to take up the

new role in order to bring about the paradigm shift.