Yau Ma Tei Catholic Primary School pupils log on to a pioneering e-book project English learning could soon be a combination of sounds, music and images tailored to students' needs after the launch yesterday of the city's first electronic book scheme. The project, at Yau Ma Tei Catholic Primary School, was funded by more than $1 million from Fujitsu and $760,000 from the Quality Education Fund for the project. After the English e-Book Centre, designed by Fujitsu, opens by the end of the year, the school's 200 Primary Four students will no longer have to bring their textbooks to English lessons. Instead, they will access electronic learning materials through their tablet PCs or personal digital assistants, which will be connected to the school's intranet. The computers can record students' work in the form of text, sound or images, send the data back to the server, and offer instant assessment. Teachers may follow up with the data and tools provided by the system. Students may use the resources stored on the server through computers outside of school. Fujitsu director Yau Kan said the company hoped to further integrate IT and education. 'After the first five-year strategy of IT education, we see that Hong Kong is now ready for more integration of IT with teaching materials and curriculums,' he said. School principal Tsoi Kai-chun said he hoped the first e-book project would boost students' English standard. The school had spent more than $700,000 on hardware and software involved in the project. 'We wish to promote the e-book approach to Primary Five and Six students, and extend it to different subjects in the future,' he said. But Lam Yiu-sing, adviser to the project, said the e-book approach was more likely to succeed in English-language learning than in other subjects. 'Language is learnt through imitation and repeated practice. Each of the students may find themselves learning at a different pace in a different style,' Dr Lam said. 'The e-book learning approach makes it possible for each student to personalise their learning approach, especially in practising speaking English and listening to it. 'However, non-language subjects, such as history and geography, involve skills in research, analytical thinking and knowledge construction. 'The change in teaching methods, the roles of teachers and students will be more drastic than in English learning. In time, however, it is possible that all lessons will become textbook-free.'