The government is in consultations for the Fourth Strategy on Information Technology in Education and plans to have Wi-fi facilities in all schools in Hong Kong.
It is a move to be applauded, as it will facilitate teaching and learning with the aid of the internet. As commendable as the effort is, authorities should also review or reaffirm the purposes of introducing IT in education and the direction of its development.
Using IT in education has been a main goal worldwide, as it is an essential skill to nurture so that each nation's competitiveness will not be compromised by low digital capability.
However, in education, IT should be regarded as not only an end, but also (or more so) a means to an educational end - the know-what and know-how as well as the know-why and know-what-should-not. Curiosity and knowledge about the new technology is never the main educational issue for youngsters, as they are motivated to use it from a tender age. But how they can use it for learning, especially through the internet, is. So is the issue of adopting proper moral and ethical conduct associated with its use.
Teachers, of course, are expected to learn faster than their charges. This can be challenging as most of them are less IT-adept than their students. Timely training or retraining is needed to help them catch up with the fast-developing technology, especially applying skills to sharpen teaching and learning. A mindset for innovation and efforts to marry IT and pedagogical renewal are indeed called for.
The government has an important role to play in all this. While it can line up the financial resources to upgrade the hardware and infrastructure for schools as it has done recently, it can also do more to foster a learning environment and culture and lead schools in the right direction.